The Only 2019 Calendar I Care About

2018 was obviously the worst. I only posted 5 posts--with one of them promising the 'rebirth' of this blog. Pretty sure people are not using blogger anymore. But I have been doing this watchlist thing for so long (2009 I think--wait, I HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR 9 YEARS? DOES THAT MEAN I DID NOT GROW CHARACTER-WISE). Fuck it, I'm not doing this for anyone else but me anyway.

Anyway just quick update: I managed to do my 2018 resolution which is to log all movies and series that I saw, Soderbergh-style. Well, I managed to do the movies--logged 206 movies, thanks to Letterboxd (YES FIND ME THERE), the series are behind and probably wouldn't catch up, ever. But have been seeing a lot of great new series, which I think they should all stop creating so much. I can't even be bothered to follow the second seasons.

Uh, so this was planned since January 10. But I was lazy. So here's to being late for 2 months rather than nothing at all.

JANUARY

Glass James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, M. Night Shyamalan (director) 

Serenity Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Steven Knight (director) 

Escape Room literally will watch just for Deborah Ann Woll

FEBRUARY

Alita: Battle Angel Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Robert Rodriguez (director) 

The Lego Movie 2 Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Mike Mitchell (director) 

Cold Pursuit Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Hans Peter Moland (director) 

Happy Death Day 2U Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Christopher B. Landon (director) 

Isn't It Romantic Rebel Wilson, Liam Hemsworth, Todd Strauss-Schulson (director)

MARCH

Us Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Jordan Peele (director) 

Captain Marvel Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck (directors)

Triple Frontier Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, JC Chandor (director)

The Beach Bum Matthew McConaughey, Jonah Hill, Harmony Korine (director) 

Dumbo Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Tim Burton (director) 

Wounds Dakota Johnson, Armie Hammer, Babak Anvari (director) 

Chaos Walking Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, Doug Liman (director) 

APRIL
Avengers: Endgame Chris Evans, Josh Brolin, Russo Brothers (directors) 
Shazam! Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, David F. Sandberg (director) 
The Curse of La Llorona Linda Cardellini, Raymond Cruz, Michael Chaves (director) 
Hellboy David Harbour, Milla Jovovich, Neil Marshall (director) 

MAY

John Wick Chapter 3 - Parabellum Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Chad Stahelski (director) 

Godzilla: King of Monsters Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, Michael Dougherty (director)

Ma Octavia Spencer, Luke Evans, Tate Taylor (director)

Aladdin Mena Massoud, Will Smith, Guy Ritchie (director)

Rocketman Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Dexter Fletcher (director)

Brightburn Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, David Yarovesky (director)

Tolkien Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Dome Karukoski (director)

Ad Astra Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, James Gray (director)

JUNE

Dark Phoenix Sophie Turner, James McAvoy, Simon Kinberg (director)

Toy Story 4 Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, Josh Cooley (director)

Ford v Ferrari Christian Bale, Matt Damon, James Mangold (director)

Yesterday Himesh Patel, Lily James, Danny Boyle (director)

Men in Black International Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, F. Gary Gray (director)


JULY


Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Quentin Tarantino (director)
Spider-Man Far From Home Tom Holland, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jon Watts (director)
The Lion King Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover, Jon Favreau (director)
Annabelle 3 Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Gary Dauberman (director)



AUGUST

The New Mutants Anya Taylor Joy, Maisie Williams, Josh Boone (director)
Where'd You Go Bernadette Cate Blanchett, Richard Linklater (director)
Angel Has Fallen Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Ric Roman Waugh (director)
Hobbs & Shaw Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, David Leitch (director)
Dora The Explorer Isabela Moner, Michael Pena, James Bobin (director)



SEPTEMBER

It: Chapter Two James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Andy Muschietti (director)
Downton Abbey Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Michael Engler (director)



OCTOBER

Joker Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Todd Phillips (director)
The Woman in the Window Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Joe Wright (director)
Zombieland Double Tap Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Ruben Fleischer (director)
Gemini Man Will Smith, Clive Owen, Ang Lee (director)



NOVEMBER

Knives Out Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Rian Johnson (director)
Doctor Sleep Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Mike Flanagan (director)
Kingsman: The Great Game Daniel Bruhl, Ralph Fiennes, Matthew Vaughn (director)
Terminator Dark Fate Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis, Tim Miller (director)
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Tom Hanks, Marie Heller(director)
The Rhythm Section Blake Lively, Jude Law, Reed Morano (director) 



DECEMBER

Star Wars: Episode IX Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, JJ Abrams (director)
Little Women Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Greta Gerwig (director)
Cats Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, Tom Hooper (director)
Call of the Wild Harrison Ford, Dan Stevens, Chris Sanders (director) 

Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies

10. Joker - Curious for Phoenix' performance

9. Glass - Shyamalan's biggest film! (doesn't disappoint!)

8. Knives Out - look at the cast!

7. Yesterday - Danny Boyle's films are always YES

6. Us - Whatever Jordan Peele makes I'm game

5. It Chapter Two - the cast is so goood

4. Avengers: Endgame - hmmm

3. Once Upon A Time in Hollywood - also crazy cast 

2. Alita Battle Angel - I broke down some factors on why I was excited

1. Star Wars: Episode IX - I hope it's something new and exciting

So, to review my 2018. I think I picked really bad movies among the top 10 most anticipated. I picked The Cloverfield Paradox and Robin Hood among the top 10, Cloverfield was even on number 3. In my defense, I solely picked them because of the talent involved (still does not justify choosing them over Widows).

For 2019, there are movies that I couldn't care less, like Jumanji 2 (I hated The Rock's Jumanji), Detective Pikachu (I don't play Pokemon), or Frozen 2 (Frozen fatigue after that revolting 20-minute short). Even I'm not that excited for some big movies I listed here, like Godzilla 2 (I sighed after knowing their endgame is to have Godzilla vs Kong--I didn't like Skull Island), Hellboy (why would you take over from Guillermo del Toro?), or MIB International (dated IP, but will watch for Hemsworth and Thompson).

Let's see how 2019 plays out. So far I'm liking the films. Escape Room was unexpectedly good. Alita is a bit disappointing. Serenity... please watch it before you get spoiled! It has... interesting choices.

Summer Recap 2018

If it were not for these regular posts, this blog would be dead. I mean, there's Letterboxd, where I post (lazier) reviews/comments on the films that I watch. I use Medium to rant about some things. Where does that leave this blog?

Anyways, this one comes a bit late. But here is Summer 2018 films recap! Most of this year's summer films have been verging on the 'uh, okay' like Solo, Ocean's 8, Equalizer 2 (but super awesome Denzel). At least it's better than the trainwrecks last year. I'm omitting the 'most surprising film' because there isn't any.

Top 3 Films

1. Mission Impossible: Fallout

Overall, this film isn't better than the next two. But, in terms of big blockbuster summer movies, this one takes the crown. Great action scenes. Amazing in IMAX. Committed performance from Tom Cruise. Christopher McQuarrie is now officially top-tier director. This film deserves all the universal praise its getting.

2. Hereditary

Firstly, the film's biggest achievement is its marketing. It's misleading by design. Once you think was gonna happen didn't happen, you were left with pure horror. Oscar nom for Toni Colette and such a promising debut feature by Ari Aster. You don't need jumpscares, just terror.

3. Searching

Searching's valuable assets are inventive direction, strong screenplay, John fucking Cho, and the producers' learning lessons from Unfriended. The opening montage is just behind the heartbreaking opening scene from Up. Such a modern, unique thriller that will definitely spawn copycats but will remain far above them.

Honorable mentions

- Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, for being pure joy regardless of its continuity holes.

- Deadpool 2, better, more focused, funnier.

- Crazy Rich Asians, it's above the 'uh, okay' but the film's just really fun and historic.

Most Disappointing Film

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Not as disappointing as the films previously mentioned in this section but it's such a wasted potential. The confined third act was a weird one especially when the title includes the words 'world' and 'kingdom'. I already forgot that it actually came out this summer.







Honorable mention
- Solo: A Star Wars Story, which shouldn't have been made because this ain't it, mate.


Worst Film

Mile 22
Peter Berg-Mark Wahlberg combo's worst so far. Bad direction, stupid story and even worse, incoherent editing. This film also dedicated a subplot for a divorce app where people can decide to limit interactions. Wtf. A waste of time and talent.

Star Wars Fans Are (Officially) The Worst

Hey, I like Star Wars. I hated the Ewoks. I liked Midichlorians. I hated Jar Jar Binks. I like The Force Awakens. I'm indifferent towards the spinoffs. I'm okay with the prequels. I really like The Last Jedi. 

There's a vocal fan group that really hated Star Wars because Rian Johnson killed their childhood dreams and their expectations. Honestly, no one asked you to make your life all about Snoke theories and Rey's parentage. So if Johnson had another idea than you did, deal with it. He's the filmmaker and you're supposed to watch it.

I didn't really like Solo and some people have been boycotting the movie. They boycotted the film not because it was an unnecessary move by Disney in attempt to cash in from the IP, but because The Last Jedi sucked according to them. Which is sad because people who hated The Last Jedi pretty much would love Solo. In a The Last Jedi quotable quote, Kylo Ren said, "let the past die, kill it if you have to." And boy did TLJ, killed all traces of nostalgia in exchange for a fresh, unexpected take. It didn't feel right at first because Star Wars had been all about throwbacks. But I decided to give it another watch and some thought and I like the direction they're going. While Solo, fully embraced the nostalgia, even milking it. So them TLJ haters would definitely dig Solo, but they wouldn't know.

Recently a sub-group launched an initiative to remake The Last Jedi. Haha. yes, they wanted to remake a 200 million movie which had people all around the world working on it and that movie actually made over a billion dollars. I'll just put this poll that they made here.

That is just sad. Haha. No one wanted The Last Jedi remake. 

And who made their hashtag? Donald Trump?

Really, #LastJediAwful could really belong in a Trump tweet.

If only they realized that they actually got a well-made, singular-vision film.

Unlike the DCEU. #ReleaseTheSnyderCut right?

Was It Trailers Week or Something

First of all, someone said in the last post that he would post a review of Avengers: Infinity War. Where is it now?

In the past three days, there has been a boatload of new film trailers for 2018 (also for 2019). Let's see which one looks promising. 

Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck-It-Ralph 2
Starring: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman
Director: Rich Moore

Really, really unnecessary long title, also outdated too. 'Break the internet' was a thing in 2014 I think. It also has that Emoji Movie vibe and a really bad Disney advertising. "Take me to a website that's super intense and really nuts!" Goes to Walt Disney website and meets Disney princesses. *Eyerolllllll. I look forward to have my doubts lifted.

Mortal Engines
Starring: Hera Hilmar, Hugo Weaving
Director: Christian Rivers

Not familiar with the book but I'm glad that this film don't have the ugly, obvious-CGI look that The Hobbit trilogy has.

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks
Director: Mike Mitchell

Looks solid, even if it's half as funny as the first one it's going to be alright. Let's just hope it's not as bad as Ninjago. 

Operation Finale
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Ben Kingsley
Director: Chris Weitz

Great ensemble led by Oscar Isaac. So great to see Melanie Laurent, Joe Alwyn and even Nick Kroll in a serious role in the trailer. Also, how fun it is to see Ben Kingsley from playing Itzhak Stern to Hitler's lieutenant.

Bumblebee

Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena
Director: Travis Knight

This one looks promising. Very 80s Spielberg vibe and that could work. I'm still going to laugh for the fact that this was the only thing that the much publicized writers room can conjure up as a spinoff. Excited to (not) see John Cena, because that guy's on track to surpass The Rock. The film is going to face stiff competition though in Christmas.

Suspiria
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton
Director: Luca Guadagnino

Full disclosure I have never seen the original, but this one looks terrifying and great. I am all in for Dakota Johnson in anything but the Fifty Shades franchise. Also Tilda Swinton in everything.

Sharp Objects
Starring: Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson
Director: Jean Marc Vallee

A yes for any film that utilizes Amy Adams' talents to the full potential. Also, a big yes to Jean Marc Vallee who directed Big Little Lies with such a style (that bleeds over to this one).

White Boy Rick
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Richie Merritt
Director: Yann Demange

Very cool trailer, very badass McConaughey. Great ensemble cast too.

The Old Man and the Gun
Starring: Robert Redford, Casey Affleck
Director: David Lowery

I'm sold already with the vibe and the cast. I think this was meant to be Redford's last film before he retires. But there's also the fact that David Lowery directed this! A Ghost Story was the weirdest but reflective experience ever and I'm looking forward to this one.

Widows
Starring: Viola Davis, Cynthia Erivo
Director: Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen. Gillian Flynn. Daniel Kaluuya. Viola Davis. Jon Bernthal. Michele Rodriguez. Brian Tyree Henry. Liam Neeson. Elizabeth Debicki. Cynthia Erivo. Michelle Rodriguez. Jackie Weaver. Colin Farrell. Robert Duvall. Carrie Coon. I am here for this movie.

I tried to rank the trailers but they all look so good (except for Wreck it Ralph 2, which I personally don't like).

I hope there's more posts from me too.

Back in Business

Hi everyone. I'm announcing that I'll be more active in this blog.
First up tomorrow will be my review of Avengers: Infinity War.

For now, here's a treat for you all:
Nicolas Cage as The Avengers