The Beach Bum

Rated R

1 hour 35 minutes

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Snoop Dogg, Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill

This movie was horrible!!!  It was easily one of the worst movies I’ve seen in a long time!  I can’t believe Matthew McConaughey even took this role.  He plays Moondog, a stoner just living life and having fun, all on his own terms.  I’m still not even sure what the point of this movie was!  I guess he was a poet at some point and had some of his works published, but had gone downhill enjoying his alcohol and drugs a little too much.  Now, he needs to get his life back together enough to be published again so that he can inherit a fortune from his wife that died in a car accident.  I can kind of see what this movie was trying to do, but even with all of the big names in it, it still failed on almost every level that you could fail!  The whole film felt like I was following a guy around that was almost always either drunk or stoned or just not following the rules of society.  It wasn’t fun, it wasn’t funny, and it wasn’t even a good story.  It was just a waste of time!

Library Link: The Beach Bum (DVD) 

The Mule

Rated R

1 hour 56 minutes

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Bradley Cooper, Dianne Wiest

I’ve always liked Clint Eastwood movies and this one is no exception!  Eastwood directed and stars in this film as Earl Stone, a man in his 80s who is broke and facing foreclosure of his horticulture business.  He’s also alone in life and just when things are about as bad as they can be for him, he is offered a job that simply requires him to drive.  He’s never had a ticket or even been pulled over, so seems like the perfect person for the job – and he does well at it – very well.  He enjoys the work and makes great money, but what he doesn’t realize is that he has just become a drug courier for a Mexican cartel.  Everything’s fine for a while, but the better he does, the more cargo he carries, and the more DEA agents start trying to track him down.  Eventually, Earl finds himself caught in the middle between the cartel’s enforcers and law enforcement, and it’s only a matter of time until something has to give!

Library Link: The Mule (DVD)

Apollo 11

Rated G

1 hour 33 minutes

Starring: Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins

This was incredible!  I can’t say enough about how much I enjoyed this documentary.  I was transfixed the entire time watching the Apollo 11 Mission from getting ready to launch to setting foot on the moon for the first time to their return to Earth.  The entire film is made up of newly discovered 65mm footage and sound from more than 11,000 hours of uncatalogued audio recordings.  I had never seen or heard any of this and it felt like I was “there” experiencing the launch and moon landing right along with the people in the film.  The quality of the video was also amazing for the time it was recorded.  I liked that the footage was all played without anyone narrating and no interviews or anything – you were just watching things exactly as they happened.  It was intense and exciting and just really captured everything you would want in a film like this!

Library Link: Apollo 11 (DVD)

Holmes & Watson

Rated PG-13

1 hour 30 minutes

Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly

I saw the previews for this movie and thought it looked absolutely horrible!!!  I’m still not quite sure why I watched it, but I’m glad I did!  It’s dumb.  It’s ridiculous.  It’s just one stupid thing after another!  It only has 3.7 stars on IMDB.com and won some Razzie Awards this year.  Even with all that, I still liked it.  I liked it a lot!  Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly team up to play Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson solving mysteries.  It’s a total parody of Sherlock movies and is full of hilarious satire and mocking everything about them along with current day issues, too.  I’d say it’s what I like to call “smart” dumb humor.  Maybe I had low expectations going in, but that’s still better than being let down by something that’s “supposed” to be really good.  I still can’t believe I liked it so much.  It was just a goofy, fun movie!

Library Link: Holmes & Watson (DVD)

Replicas

Rated PG-13

1 hour 47 minutes

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Alice Eve, Thomas Middleditch, John Ortiz

In this movie, Keanu Reeves plays a scientist that has been working on cloning and trying to preserve the human mind on a computer just like you would any other data.  Just as he’s getting close to a breakthrough, his wife and kids are all killed in a car accident.  Lucky for them, he’s there to “download” their mind and thoughts to be able to load them into new bodies he is able to grow for them.  Of course, not everything goes perfect and there are things he hadn’t thought about ahead of time.  You might think it all sounds a little far-fetched and hard to believe – that’s because it is!  This wasn’t a great movie, but it wasn’t the worst, either.  I actually did enjoy it once I was able to suspend disbelief and just go with the story.  If you like Keanu Reeves  and just want a movie that’s interesting and a little different, you might like this one.

Library Link: Replicas (DVD)

Aquaman

Rated PG-13

143 minutes

Starring: Jason Momoa, Nicole Kidman, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson

Aquaman is a visual sight to behold!  This movie takes us to underneath the seas like Star Wars took us to galaxies far, far, away.  I liked Aquaman.  It didn’t take itself too seriously so if you’re looking for a dark gothic adventure like Batman – you’ve got the wrong comic hero.  But can I just say, Jason Momoa is a macho, kick butt superhero!  Even though the movie is a little too long.  A little too fishy in characters. A little too many side stories . . .you get a good history of who Aquaman is, who his parents are and what happened to Atlantis.  The movie has lots of action sequences and fun one-liners. Jason Momoa’s character and Amber Heard, who plays Mera, have a lot of chemistry.  If you watch this film, grab your popcorn, prop your feet up and get ready for some fun entertainment.  Will there be a sequel?  I’d bet on it!  Will I go see it? Absolutely!

Library Link: Aquaman (DVD)

Aquaman

Rated PG-13

2 hours 23 minutes

Starring: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Nicole Kidman, Patrick Wilson

Growing up, Aquaman was one of my favorite superhero characters.  This is definitely NOT the Aquaman I grew up with!  He’s better!  He’s actually tough and has a sense of humor and seems like a good guy to have around in a bad situation.  Jason Momoa plays the heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, but not everyone is happy about this because his mother is the queen of Atlantis and his father is from the land.  Eventually, he realizes he is the “chosen one” and tries to prevent the ultimate war between the worlds of the ocean and the land.  I wasn’t too sure about some of the cheesy lines and dialogue early on, but that wound up being one of the things I liked about the movie.  I’ve seen it twice and liked it much more the second time.  I think Aquaman is going to continue being one of my favorite superheroes! 

Library Link: Aquaman (DVD)

Green Book

Rated PG-13

2 hours 10 minutes

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali

To say I was captivated by this movie doesn’t even begin to capture how I felt watching this film!  I can see why it won the Academy Award for Best Picture this year.  The story follows an African-American classical pianist that is going on tour through the Deep South in 1962.  It was a very dangerous time for him to be doing this, so he hires an Italian-American bouncer to drive him and be there to handle any situations that might arise.  Their journey lasts 2 months and winds up being very eye-opening for both of them, to say the least.  The movie was based on a true story and said they remained friends for the rest of their lives until they died within months of each other in 2013.  This was another one of those movies that I can’t stop thinking about and I’m sure will be with me for a long time.  I truly enjoyed it!

Library Link: Green Book (DVD)

Crazy Rich Asians

Rated PG-13

2 hours
Starring: Constance Wu and Henry Golding

How fun was this movie?  The actors in the movie were fun!  The music was fun! The storyline was fun! 

You may not be familiar with the actors in this film, but don’t let that stop you from watching it.  Constance Wu (from Fresh Off the Boat) plays Rachel Chu, an American born Chinese professor.  Henry Golding, plays her love interest, Nick Young. Rachel and Nick are in love, but unbeknownst to her, he comes from a very wealthy family in China.  He takes her home to Singapore for his best friend’s wedding and to meet his mom and the rest of the crazy family.  She has no idea until they arrive how very rich his family is and how very cultured into the Chinese traditions his mom is.  As the movie progresses we find out that things are not as “nicey nice” as they seem.  Nick is the most eligible bachelor in Singapore and Rachel ends up becoming the target of a mean girls’ club and a family that doesn’t see her as “up to their” standards.  Nick and Constance must decide if their love is worth going against the family’s heritage and customs or move forward with their marriage regardless.

I found it to be enjoyable, warm and romantic.  Good for any girl’s night or an escape from the hum-drums of life.

Library Link: Crazy Rich Asians (DVD)

Bohemian Rhapsody

Rated PG-13

2 hours 14 minutes

Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton

I really liked this movie!  I agree with what Eric had to say about it.  I didn’t know much about Queen or Freddie Mercury other than the music that was played on the radio in the 80s.  I loved the performance that Rami Malek gave as Freddie Mercury.  I really felt like him and the other actors hit the nail on the head as Queen!  People were talking “but that’s not him really singing!!”  Of course not, he’s an ACTOR doing an amazing job and I saw him as Freddie Mercury and I wanted to hear the “real” voice belting out “We are the Champions” or “Bohemian Rhapsody.”  I got goosebumps as I watched the group’s most popular performance at Live Aid.  You really felt like you were there and by this time you knew Freddy was dying from AIDS.  This movie may not be for everyone.  But it’s one I’ve already seen three times and will watch again because it was entertaining and told the story behind the success and the pain of the making of Queen.

Library Link: Bohemian Rhapsody (DVD)

Creed II

Rated PG-13

2 hours 10 minutes

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone

I thought the first Creed movie was great!  It re-energized the Rocky series for me.  This one, not so much.  Not that it was bad, it just felt like “Rocky IV, Part 2” or more of a reboot or something.  I liked the idea of Adonis Johnson (who is the son of Apollo Creed) fighting Viktor Drago (who is the son of Ivan Drago).  For those who saw Rocky IV, that’s a good storyline knowing that Apollo died fighting Ivan in that film.  I enjoyed seeing Ivan again and definitely felt some nostalgia for the old Rocky movies.  It just didn’t feel that fresh or new – pretty much the same formula as almost every other movie in the series.  But if it works, it works.  If you liked the original Rocky movies, you’ll probably like this one, too.  Just don’t be expecting much of anything that’s new or different.

Library Link: Creed II (DVD)

A Star Is Born

Rated R

2 hours 16 minutes

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliott

I loved this movie!  I like Bradley Cooper in most roles and Lady Gaga is starting to grow on me, but this was as good as I’ve seen them.  They were both great and had amazing chemistry together!  This is the fourth release of this movie going all the way back to 1937, though this is the only one I’ve watched.  The story isn’t all that original – a veteran singer helps a young newcomer on the scene gain some attention and turns her into a star.  Also, they fall in love and get married, but eventually he goes back to battling his old demons of drugs and alcohol trying to make everything work.  As she becomes more popular, his career and stardom are fading, which makes for a lot of tension all around!  It all felt very genuine and real and made me care about the characters and their lives.  It was exactly what I like in a movie and I can’t wait to watch it again!

Library Link: A Star Is Born (DVD)

Bohemian Rhapsody

Rated PG-13

2 hours 14 minutes

Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton

Some of my earliest memories of listening to music are hearing songs by Queen, so I was excited to see this movie!  I won't lie, I was a little skeptical of anyone playing Freddie Mercury and didn't know if they could really pull it off and make a decent movie, but Rami Malek was amazing! He BECAME Freddie Mercury!  His talk, his walk, his mannerisms, etc.  I remember watching the original Live Aid and can't believe how well they were able to recreate that concert, along with the rest of the actors playing their parts all being spot on.  I actually saw this one in the theater and found myself (and everyone else there) singing along to the songs over and over.  I also didn't know much of what was going on at the time of the original concert or about Freddie's history, but feel like I understand more of what he'd gone through during his life and how incredible it was they were able to play the way they did in that show.  I've seen many, many live concerts and that set in the Live Aid show is still one of the best performances ever!  This movie was much more than just a concert film, though - it took you behind the scenes of Freddie growing up, Queen forming, and all of their highs and lows through the years leading up to that iconic performance.  The critics didn't love this one, but the public sure did!  And I did, too!!!

Library Link: Bohemian Rhapsody (DVD)