Ready Player One. More like, Ready Player Fun. Am I right!?
(WARNER BROTHERS)
“When the creator of a virtual reality world called the OASIS dies, he releases a video in which he challenges all OASIS users to find his Easter Egg, which will give the finder his fortune.”
Nostalgia literally means “wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one’s life,” and when you enter the OASIS that’s exactly what you get. The feeling of nostalgia can bring about all sorts of emotions and feelings, some good, some bad, most of the time it brings you back to a “better” time in your life. Enter Ready Player One, the newest Steven Spielberg (yeah that guy) epic based on the 2011 Ernest Cline novel that shares the same name. The world right now is kind of in a pseudo nostalgia phase. Obsessed with once was, things like Stranger Things, IT and now Ready Player One. The thought of going back to maybe a time when things were a little simpler seems to be a trend in Hollywood these days.
So when beloved game maker James Halliday (Mark Rylance) dies, the world is heartbroken. Halliday is responsible for creating the OASIS, and as our hero Wade Watts/Parzival (Tye Sheridan) puts it “People come to the OASIS for all the things they can do,” and “They stay for all the things they can be.” It is now 2045 and people need an escape from their miserable lives. The world has lost some important resources and people are sick and tired of the dreadful world they live in. You can be anyone you want in the OASIS, big, small, beautiful, a giant, a robot, an orc, anything your imagination can think of. The OASIS gives you the freedom to do so. When he died Halliday left behind an “Easter Egg,” and the first person to find this egg would take over complete control of the OASIS and essentially the future of the world. The wonderful thing about the OASIS is well freedom, like I mentioned, freedom to be and do whatever you can imagine. The possibilities are endless inside this virtual reality, until well an evil corporation is trying to find this egg, so they can run a profit off this game and ruin all the fun for everyone. IOI is this corporation and they are run by Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelssohn) and they will ultimately stop at nothing until they find this egg. Halliday was a man who grew up in the 80’s, he loves Atari, War Games the movie, any arcade game you can think of. So when he died, the popular culture within the 80’s blew up, because the more you know about Halliday, the better your chance at finding the egg are. Parzival isn’t alone on his quest to find this egg, his best friend Aech/Helen (Lena Waithe), the love of his life Art3mis/Samantha (Olivia Cooke), Sho (Phillip Zhao and Daito (Win Morisaki) are all in this hunt together. Together they make the “High Five,” and one hell of a team. The hunt consists of finding three hidden keys, that will lead you to the prize. It had been years since the death of Halliday and not a single key had been found. Not until Parzival stumbles upon a clue that leads him to the Copper Key. From there it’s a race against time, winner take all battle royale if you must to find this egg. There won’t be another movie where you can see King Kong, Chucky, the T-Rex from Jurassic Park and the little twins from The Shinning all make an impact on your movie, and for me, that is pretty special.
When I first walked out of the theatre Wednesday night, I didn’t know how I felt about this movie. I love the novel, I read it twice and I wanted to see it come to life on the big screen. This is Ready Player One the movie, it doesn’t really capture the spirit of the book. Sure it takes the most important elements, but this is not a faithful adaptation and I didn’t know how I felt about that. Because I wanted to see this incredible fun story come to life, but I know adapting a book onto the big screen, especially one like Ready Player One can be extremely difficult. So I needed to go in a second time, so I could just sit back, relax and watch this as a movie. And I must say, I absolutely love Ready Player One.
People will be on the fence with this film, I think you can immerse yourself into this world pretty easily, but others will have a hard time doing so. The references and the amount of characters and easter eggs inside this movie alone are too many to count. Here’s the thing they don’t do it in a way, where it’s just “Hey, look at thing that, I know that!” They aren’t shoving these references down your throat. Everything intertwines perfectly, and I thought Spielberg did an incredible job building this world. I was just caught off guard with how different the movie was from the book, so I was disappointed in that sense. But this is a film review and it’s a pretty damn good movie. No one really knows how to do a great chase scene like Spielberg, and there’s a pretty fantastic one in this, if I say so myself. He has a knack for fast, clean, precise and well shot action, he’s a legendary director and you’re basically giving him the keys to the kingdom here. How he manages to shoot scenes with so much going on and so many pieces and characters all at once, but it feels so natural. You can understand what is going on at all times, and how he was able to pull this off is just remarkable. Whenever we are transported to the OASIS I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen, so inevitably when we are back in the real world, all you want to do is go back, where everything is brighter, faster and way more entertaining.
The cast is great, Tye and Olivia are great leads, and Mendelssohn continues to prove he can play a really good corporate asshole, he’s such a fantastic villain. But you almost learn to love their avatars more then their human counterparts. Especially for a character like Aech, who just had one of the best looking character designs I’ve seen in a movie. Ready Player One is very Spielbergian at times, all the things we love about his movies come to life here, and I’m happy he was the man to tackle this. There are moments of sheer delight, where my face was hurting due to the amount of smiling I was doing. This is more than just a pop culture nostalgia-fest. There’s heart and real life connections to be made. About how reality is real, and you can’t hide forever. That no matter who you are or what you do inside a game or on the internet, none of that really matters, it’s what happens in reality that counts. Reality can be scary, but it can also be great and as James Halliday puts it – the only place to get a decent meal.
Yes it’s a ton of fun, pointing out all the different characters you see, all the songs you recognize, but I think at the end of the day, Spielberg just made a really enjoyable popcorn flick. I think he knows it, and I think that was his main goal. No Oscar bait, no awards, just pure fun and a trip down memory lane. Imagine Willy Wonka decided to created a virtual reality instead of making candy, and he had all the money in the world to do so, that’s what the OASIS is. The more I think about it, the more I fall in love with the movie. I don’t think it’s ground breaking or anything like that, I just think it’s such a fun ride, and if you get on board with it, you’ll love it. My displeasure of them not being more faithful to the book is a nitpick, but one that can’t take away from the actual movie itself. That would not be fair to the movie. It gives me hope that perhaps down the road we will get that adaptation, but for now I am perfectly okay with the version we have right now. It’s a movie about the future but deals a lot with our present and again Spielberg just made another incredible movie. If you like the movie or didn’t like the movie but haven’t read the book, I highly recommend that you give it a try, because it’s an easy, short and super fun read!
Check ya later.
Nate’s Movie Tour Reviews – Ready Player One = 85/100
After saving all my movie tickets from 2017, I can officially say, I have a movie problem.
Another movie going season is in the books! Time flies when you’re at the theatre, and for me, that was pretty much every week. Upon further review, I believe I sat in a movie theatre seat roughly 50 times in the year 2017, by far the most in a single year for me. But hey, there were a ton of great movies this year, and some of the very best of 2017; I haven’t even had the opportunity to go see, because my local theatres haven’t gotten them yet. That’s why I haven’t written my top ten movies of 2017 list, because I feel some of the movies I haven’t seen yet are going to make the list! 2017 was full of incredible movies, but every time I went, it certainly wasn’t a home run. In fact, I think 2017 was full of the most disappointments that I can remember (I’m looking at you JusticeLeague and Alien: Covenant), but that’s all in the past. We are looking to the future now, 2018 to be exact, and boy oh boy are there some goodies coming up. The very first blog post I did on this site was “Most Anticipated Movies of 2017,” some lived up to expectations, while others fell flat on their face. Last year I did 10 movies, well this year, I’m doubling down because I’m going BIG! 20 movies are about to be listed, and I’m even going to do it in order! If you were upset, or underwhelmed with the movies in 2017, I think 2018 could be the year for you, or if you are like me and see roughly 50 movies a year, well start saving your pennies now, because 2018 is going to be awesome. Just like last year, I will miss some movies on this list, well some movies haven’t even be announced yet, but these are the 20 movies right now, that I cannot wait to see.
(FOX)
20.) X-Men: Dark Phoenix. director/ Simon Kinberg. 2/11/18
The wonderful band of misfits is back. The fourth entry into this new X-Men saga will be the follow-up to 2016 X-Men: Apocalypse, which wasn’t met with great reviews by fans and critics. This time we get the story of Dark Phoenix, Jean Grey’s split personality, where we will see her go to the dark side. This was explored in the first X-Men trilogy, but it wasn’t done very well, so I’m excited to see them tackle it again. This is director Simon Kinberg’s first time up to bat, being a producer on pretty much every X-Men movie ever made, he should have a good feel and understanding on what the fans want to see. These movies always have a fantastic cast, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Sophie Turner, and Evan Peters and now add in Jessica Chastain to play the villain role, sounds good to me. They just need great execution on that villain part, because that was the major flaw in Apocalypse. I dig these X-Men movies, but after the last outing I’m a little skeptical, so that’s why I have it last on my list! This will also be the last X-Men movie done by FOX, seeing how Disney bought them, so if you really love these movies, well this will probably be the last one, until we see these characters reintroduced into the MCU. For the love of god, send a garbage truck full of money to Hugh Jackman’s house so he can play Wolverine again.
(PARAMOUNT)
19.) Bumblebee. director/Travis Knight. 21/12/18
I bet at first glance you thought this was a sequel to Bee Movie didn’t you? Well if you did I’m sorry to disappoint you, it’s actually the first spin-off of the Transformers franchise! Now before you start to roll your mechanical eyes at me, you need to know that I am indeed a sucker for these movies. Guilty pleasures, but I will say the last two installments have just been awful, and I’m hoping this movie provides a much-needed spark to this franchise (That was a transformers pun, in case you missed it). Bumblebee for me at least, was always the best part of these movies and now you’re telling me he gets his own movie? That’s pretty cool. We’re also going back in time, because this is taking place in the late 80’s, everyone’s favorite time, and we will see John Cena and Hailee Steinfeld (Charlie Watson) team up with this loveable robot. If director Travis Knight, who did the fantastic Kubo & The Two Strings, can keep things simple, and make the action easy to follow, I think Steinfeld and Cena can carry this movie together, I’m really interested to see how this turns out, because it could actually be the worst movie of the year, Autobots, roll-out.
(MARVEL)
18.) Ant-Man & The Wasp. director/Peyton Reed. 6/7/2018
If someone would have told me, that back in 2015 when Ant–Man was released, that I would have watched it once, forgotten about it, and now we are getting a sequel, I would have said, “Yeah, that sounds about right.” Jokes aside, I did enjoy Ant-Man when it came out, it had great humor and Paul Rudd was fantastic as Scott Lang. He even had a great moment in Captain America: Civil War, but now this will apparently be the first “Rom-Com” Marvel movie. That’s right, they are going Rom-Com on us folks, and we will probably all love it. Kevin Feige and the people over at Marvel are about to deliver the greatest love story every told. Move over Romeo and Juliet. Ant-Man is struggling being a Dad and a Super Hero, so when a mission comes along about his past, he needs to team up with The Wasp. I’m a big fan of Evangeline Lilly who plays The Wasp, her and Paul had great chemistry in the first. They added Michelle Pfeiffer and Laurence Fishburne to the cast, I’m sure this movie will be great. On a serious note, we now have more solo Ant-Man movies then Batman movies since the year 2012 what a strange and wonderful world we live in. Fun fact, this movie and Bumblebee have something in common, actress Vanessa Ross, who plays “The mean girl” in Bumblebee and “The hot jogger” in Ant-Man, you go girl!
(NEW LINE CINEMA)
17.) Rampage. director/ Brad Peyton. 4/20/2018
“I was just thinking, the only thing missing is a giant crocodile”
Coincidence that a movie about giant animals smashing through buildings is being released on 4/20, I think not!! Seriously the trailer alone sold me on this goofy concept. Like what more do you want? Dwayne Johnson kicking ass, check. Giant monsters running around Chicago destroying everything in sight, check. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, check. This is looking like the leading candidate to be the best video game movie of all time people; the curse could finally be over! Video game movies are like airport sushi, you think it’s a good idea, until about 90 minutes later. If this movie turns out to be a huge pile of well, monkey shit, I won’t be shocked. But it’s got a great cast, toss in Joe Manganiello, Malin Akerman and Naomie Harris, alongside Dwayne. Here’s the thing, the trailer is so awesome, and they didn’t really even show anything, it helps when you have a Smashing Pumpkins song playing during the trailer, but I think this movie is going to be a ton of fun. Wouldn’t it be nice if this was the turn around video game movies needed. I will also see anything with Dwayne Johnson in it, because that’s the bottom line, because Nathan Wallace said so.
Okay so very little is known about this movie so far. But, I’m fairly confident they are just re-making Diehard, but replacing Bruce Willis with Dwayne Johnson. If that doesn’t make a little pee trickle down your leg, then I don’t really know what will. Seriously nothing on IMDB about the plot, it stars Dwayne and Neve Campbell, who never really had the career I thought she would, but we all know she can throw down if she has too. I didn’t purposely put the two Dwayne Johnson movies back to back, I actually don’t know which one I’m more excited for. One has a trailer the other movie does not. Judging from his social media though, Skyscraper appears to be one epic movie, tons of stunts and explosions going on. Rawson Marshall Thurber, who might have the best directors name going, did Easy A, so I have high hopes for this, because that movie is awesome. I’m hoping for this to be a little more serious in tone as well, I like to see Dwayne act a little more, and be in some tense and serious scenes would be a nice change.
This movie should probably be a lot higher on my list, but that’s just a testament on how good some of the movies are in 2018. It also doesn’t help that I HATED the trailer, and I think this movie is going to flop at the box-office. I don’t know, they seem to think, “bigger is better” with these new Jurassic Park movies, and that shouldn’t be the case. I love Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard is great also, and I think she won’t be running away from a T-Rex in high heels in this one (lets pray). I’m just so uncertain about this movie, I really hope I’m wrong about it, because I want to love it, I want to go back to 1993 and feel the same way I did when I saw the original. Just make it rain, have it be dark and make humans try and get away from scary ass dinosaurs, it’s not complicated. We don’t need hybrids, we don’t need humans and dinosaurs being friends, just stick to what works. A guy getting eaten when sitting on the toilet is a fail-safe plan. J.A Bayona has pretty big shoes to fill after the historic and massive success of Jurassic World, that can be a lot of pressure for a guy. The last one made over a BILLION dollars, so I’m sure they are going to try and one-up everything from its predecessor. I don’t even think the return of Jeff Goldblum will be enough to save this bloated and forgettable sequel. Sorry Chris Pratt, I still love you.
(PLATINUM DUNES)
14.) A Quiet Place. director/ John Krasinski. 4/618
If you make noise, you die! I would be screwed, because I am a very loud chewer. That’s the premise for what appears to be 2018’s breakout horror film. Real life husband and wife, John Krasinski and Emily Blunt are teaming up! When I first saw the trailer I was hooked, after the success of IT this past year, I have tried giving the horror genre another chance, and this looks really good. Krasinski even has a pretty awesome beard in it, so you know it’s going to be serious as hell. Like I said, you make noise, something comes out to try to kill you. Seems like a pretty difficult task, and when some dipshit kid knocks over a lantern, well all hell breaks loose. The trailer just leaves everyone very intrigue about the concept of the film. Why can’t you make noise? What are those creatures that come out when you do? When was the last time anyone in this movie farted? All these questions I’m sure will be answered in due time. The two stars of the movie are a real life couple, the chemistry will be undeniable, and I think this movie is going to crush it at the box-office. Krasinski is even directing this, so you know this is a passion project for him, which makes me believe that this movie is going to be really special.
13.) Super Troopers 2. director/ Jay Chandrasekhar. 4/20/18
Okay I definitely know this one isn’t a coincidence being released on 4/20. Am I happy to have a Super Troopers 2 in my life? Yes. Do I wish it were Weed Fest instead? Absolutely. I’ll settle for some more Car RamRod fun though. I love these guys, they work so well together and this was something they wanted to make for a really long time. They even got some fan feedback about what they wanted in the sequel. I’m sure they will even bring back some of the old jokes we have all come to love, after watching this movie a hundred times over the last 17 years. That’s right, 17 years since SuperTroopers was released, that is crazy talk. I know it’s kind of a cult classic at this point, but die-hard fans can’t wait for this one, and everything these guys put out is really good. Sometimes you got to root for the little guys, because in a world chalk full of blockbusters this one certainly won’t be on many people’s radars. And if you haven’t ever seen SuperTroopers, well shame on you.
I bet you one million dollars, that at some point during this movie, Tom Cruise will be running. It’s a Tom Cruise movie tradition now, and I love it. He also does all his own stunt work, and I’m sure like most Mission Impossible he will go bigger in the latest installment. If you thought Henry Cavill looked stupid in JusticeLeague, you can blame this movie. That’s right, they added Superman to the already packed cast of this franchise, and I couldn’t be happier. Plot is unknown at this time, but I’m sure that Ethan Hunt will be saving the world with a little help from his friends. The Mission Impossible franchise kind of reminds me of the Fast & Furious franchise. It was kind of dead in the water and forgotten about after the third, and then Ghost Protocol came out and everyone was blown away by it. 5 years had passed since MI3, but that kind of jump-started the franchise back to life. These are always just really well made, fun action/adventure movies, Tom Cruise and Simon Pegg work so well together, and I’m really curious to see Henry Cavill’s role in this movie. I hope he becomes a regular addition to this franchise, Ethan Hunt kind of needs some muscle on his side. The movie also boasts a stellar female cast; Ethan Hunt might have his hands full.
(PIXAR)
11.) Incredibles 2. director/ Brad Bird. 15/6/18
“You have powers! Yeah baby!”
A sequel 14 years in the making. What I love most about the fact that we are finally getting a sequel to the greatest Pixar movie ever made, is that, well 14 years have passed, but they are starting right where they left off. That’s right its been a long time since we last saw the Parr family, and honestly I thought they were going to do a time jump, but I’m really glad they aren’t. Jack Jack is so awesome, and now he’s got powers and that’s going to be really cool to see. I love the first one so damn much; I’m really nervous and excited all at the same time for this. I just want it to feel right, not over done, and I pray they just don’t ruin a good thing. They told such a great story the first time, and I know Brad Bird, the director cares so much and has so much passion for these characters that I know this won’t be a waste. Everyone does such fantastic voice work, I’m excited to see Frozone back, and my guess is, they will have a female villain this time around. I have extremely high hopes for Incredibles 2. Just remember, no capes!
(LEGENDARY)
10.) Pacific Rim: Uprising. director/ Steven S. DeKnight. 3/28/18
PacificRim all the way back in 2013 is a movie going experience that I will never forget. I thought it would be a loud, clunky mess, which featured cool looking robots and gigantic monsters. That wasn’t the case at all, watching Guillermo del Toro’s monster movie epic. Was like watching poetry in motion. It was simply beautiful to look at; something that chaotic, yet you could fully comprehend what exactly was going on, and it really blew me away. It was one of my favorite movies of the year and I couldn’t wait for a sequel. Well here we are 5 years later, and John Boyega is trading in his light sabre for a Jaegar. It looks like 10 years have passed, he’s playing the son of Idris Elba’s character from the first, and I bet giving bad ass speeches about the world ending runs in the family. Charlie Day is back as well as Rinko Kikuchi, and adding Scott Eastwood. I’m fearful about Del Toro not coming back to direct, but hopefully he left this franchise in good hands, because my expectations couldn’t be any higher. It’s cool looking larger than life robots fighting these incredible looking monsters, it won’t take that much to please me, and the trailers have even been really good. They used a giant submarine as a ninja sword in the first one, can’t wait to see what they use in Uprising!
(DISNEY)
9.) Black Panther. director/Ryan Coogler.16/2/18
Yes another MCU movie is on my list, and it certainly won’t be the last. Black Panther is finally getting his own movie, a comic book movie centered on a black character, about time. Who better to do it than Chadwick Boseman, who’s Black Panther ripped his way onto screen in Civil War back in 2016. The cast is simply brilliant, and I’m not going to name the 20 or more incredible actors and actresses appearing in this movie. Ryan Coogler is behind the camera and he does fantastic work. I loved Creed so I know this will be something special, some say this could be the best MCU movie to date. This movie looks hip, it’s got all sorts of style and it appears to be different from any MCU movie that has come before it. It looks like Marvel and company just let Coogler make the movie he has envisioned for a long time. When you have a terrific filmmaker behind the camera you want them to be able to spread their wings on the project, and that appears to be the case for Black Panther. Really excited about this one!
(SONY)
8.) Venom. director/Ruben Fleischer. 10/5/18
If you could create a time machine and replace Tom Hardy with Topher Grace in Spider-Man 3, that would be really nice. That can’t happen, so we are getting a Venom movie, Hardy is playing Eddie Brock, and very little is known about it. I’m fairly confident that Spider-Man, or even Tom Holland won’t be showing up in this movie. Which is a really weird thing to say, because I feel like you need those two people together in the same movie to really make it work. Don’t get me wrong, I think Hardy is going to crush this role, he did a fantastic job as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, and he’s a phenomenal actor, so I think he’s really going to dive deep into this role. Venom is one of my favorite characters in all of comics, so to think we are getting a standalone movie about him, wets my beak a little. Michelle Williams, Woody Harrelson and Riz Ahmed round out the cast, and it’s been rumored that Riz could be playing Carnage. If that happens, boy oh boy. I just don’t see them passing up the opportunity to introduce Spider-Man as well in this, I think it would be a failure if they don’t. This is a trailer I’m really curious to see, because I really have no idea which kind of direction they are going to take this movie. It can’t possibly be worse than the version we got to see in Spider-Man 3.
(FOX)
7.) Untitled Deadpool Sequel. director/ David Leitch. 6/1/18
Here’s the thing, I’m pretty sure that will be the actual title to the movie. Which makes perfect sense given the movie. Deadpool was a colossal box-office hit back in 2016. It was the reason for Logan, and it’s the reason for any rated R Super Hero movie you will see going forward. It broke so many boundaries for movies like these, and on top of that, it’s one of the best Super Hero movies ever made. Josh Brolin was added for this sequel, he’s playing Nathan Summers, AKA Cable. Who is a complete and utter badass, and I can’t wait to see the chemistry between Reynolds and Brolin. The comedy in Deadpool was perfect, the whole movie was pretty much flawless, now they have more money, and I’m sure a really good story to tell. Ryan Reynolds was born to play this role, and he loves playing Deadpool, he’s pretty much Van Wilder, but a Super Hero. Nothing really has come out yet, plot wise, and there hasn’t even been a real trailer yet, but you don’t need to sell people on this movie. I just hope it doesn’t suffer from sequel fatigue, but since there is so much passion behind this project, I highly doubt that will happen. Like they brought back Dopinder, this movie cannot fail!!!
(FOX)
6.) The Predator. director/Shane Black. 3/8/18
Predator was released before I was even born. I saw that movie maybe a little too early into my childhood, but hey, it’s one of the reasons why I fell in love with movies at such a young age. I’m talking like 6 years old here, and Predator is a hard R movie, thanks Grandpa! I love the Predator so goddamn much, they are bad guys, but I always want them to win. I actually love seeing them get the best of the human characters in their movies. All three “Predator” movies that have come out, in my opinion are fanfuckingtastic. The AVP movies, not so much, but again the Predators are the best things about those movies. So when Shane Black (director) who also happens to star in the 1987 original, he’s the first guy to meet the Predator, yeah not good. So you know a couple things, one Shane Black is an extraordinary filmmaker, he even helped write the original, and like I just mentioned, he was in it. So you know he’s got a taste and a ton of passion for this character and this franchise. The cast is chalked full of incredible people that I can’t wait too see meet their demise in this movie. Reek from Game of Thrones is in this and if he thought getting his wee-wee chopped off was brutal, well just you wait pal. My one big fear about this movie, is doing what all movies seem to do these days, some how find a way to make it “BIGGER AND BETTER.” We don’t need a modified Predator, which the government has cooked up in a lab. We don’t need a new and improved Predator, drop some people somewhere and have them be hunted one by one, pretty simple. Toss in some jokes, which Shane Black is known for and you’re golden. He’s been part of this mythology since the beginning; there is no way he screws this up right?
(PARAMOUNT)
5.) Annihilation. director/Alex Garland. 23/2/18
I don’t know what it is about this movie. Perhaps it’s the insanely strong female cast? Maybe it’s because Alex Garland makes it? The fact that I still don’t know what the hell is going on in the trailers? Whatever it is, I’m fully onboard with Annihilation. Shrouded in mystery, like most good science-fiction stories, this one is no different. Something wicked has come to Earth, and we still can’t explain it ourselves. So when Natalie Portman’s husband (Oscar Issac) comes back from the “Shimmering” he is infected with some sort of disease. I’m getting some District 9 vibes, and a little Aliens, if that’s not a compliment, I don’t know what is. I think it’s so high on my list because of just the secrets involved in the movie, and I can’t wait to see them play out on the big screen. The acting will be top notch, I’m not worried about that, I just hope the story doesn’t become some crazy web of messiness, I guess is the best way to describe it. For science-fiction junkies, where it seems the laws of nature have been tossed out the window, Annihilation might be their most anticipated movie of the year.
(WARNER BROS.)
4.) Ready Player One. director/Steven Spielberg. 30/3/18
“My name is Wade Watts. My Dad picked that name because it sounded like a Super Heroes alter ego”
There’s a saying, that when a movie is adapted from a book, it’s never as good. That is the case yes, but it doesn’t mean that the movies aren’t just as fantastic. Example, ReadyPlayerOne. Without doubt, one of the most enjoyable reads of my entire life, I felt like I myself was rushed off to the Oasis, and disappeared from reality. The legend himself, Steven Spielberg is helming what appears to be a masterpiece. I know it will vastly differ from the book, I understand that, but it’s the concept of the book that will make the movie so intriguing. The trailers have even been really well done; Ernest Cline (author of the book) is going to be really proud of the film that gets released. I just can’t wait to see all these different characters from so many different things I love come together. Iron Giant, Chucky, Joker and Harley Quinn and that is honestly 1 percent of the characters we will see in this movie. It’s going to be a ton of fun, and I highly recommend reading the book, because well reading is good for you. This has all the potential to be my favorite movie of 2018.
3.) Creed 2. director/Steve Caple Jr. 21/11/18
That’s right! Apparently I can see into the future, that tweet is from 2 years ago. Moments after I saw Creed, which was one of my favorite movies of 2015, I just knew the direction the sequel had to go. Adonis Creed needed to fight Ivan Drago’s son, because well why wouldn’t you bring back Ivan Drago, and now have his kid be a boxer as well. It all made perfect sense, to me at least. Now here we are, Creed 2 is in the works, and guess what? Adonis looks to get revenge against the man who killed his father. BOOM! Now there is no way he’s actually fighting Dolph Lundgren, that would be insane, but rather he will get his revenge by beating his son. Sly Stallone and Michael B Jordan are both back, but unfortunately, Ryan Coogler is off making Black Panther, and so Creed 2 is falling into the hands of Steven Caple Jr., who seems up to the task. Now I love Creed so much, I love the entire Rocky franchise and universe so damn much. I love Rocky 4 more than almost any movie ever. So when you tell me Ivan Drago is coming back into my life, please don’t screw this up! There is so much potential and incredible story telling that can happen here, and I’m so curious to see where they take this. I can’t possibly be wrong about his son getting involved, so who will play him? Will they get an unknown? So many questions, so many possibilities, but one thing is certain, this movie is going to kick so much goddamn ass. Sage Northcutt a UFC fighter auditioned for the role of Drago’s son, and my god, he certainly has the look. He’s a genetic freak, who happens to look like a mini Ivan Drago, so if he’s got the acting chops to stand in the ring with Michael B Jordan, that’s my pick.
(WARNER BROS.)
2.) Aquaman. director/James Wan. 21/12/18
Did Justice League kind of suck? Yes it did. Do I blame the studio for interfering and destroying Zack Snyder’s original vision? Yes. Was Aquaman totally badass and I can’t wait to see his solo film? Yes again. Justice League is a thing of the past; let it go, let the past die. Aquaman has all the makings to be a terrific solo movie, much like WonderWoman. You have a passionate and fantastic filmmaker behind the camera in James Wan. The star of the show LOVES playing the titled character, and I mean he loves being Aquaman. Jason Maoma looks like be could live underwater and be King of Atlantis. Everything we saw from Aquaman in JusticeLeague was incredible, and I can’t wait to visit Atlantis again, and learn more about Arthur Curry. Amber Heard is back as Mera, who little screen time that she got, was pretty kick ass. She looks like she will have great chemistry with her co-star Mamoa. Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren, William Dafoe, Patrick Wilson and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II round out this amazing cast. Lets talk about Yahya for a second, because he is playing Black Manta, who is honestly one of the most badass characters in DC comics, for me at least. I pray they get his look right, because he’s a pretty powerful villain for Aquaman, and I can’t wait to finally see him on the big screen. I get it; the DCEU is on its last legs. This is the next movie they are releasing, so to say there is a lot riding on Aquaman, is an understatement. They need not only for this to be received much like WonderWoman, but it also needs to crush it at the box-office. Personally I have a ton of faith in this project because all the people involved, and believe that Warner Brothers is going to let James Wan make the his own movie and not get to involved. That’s what they did for Patty Jenkins and that turned into a massive success. Everyone sleeps on Aquaman because they think he isn’t cool or has stupid powers, I’m telling you this right now. Remember how big Aquaman was in Entourage?Well think of that but actually good. Another trailer I can’t wait to see!
(MARVEL)
1.) Avengers: Infinity War. director/Russo Brothers. 4/5/18
Cliché I know. I can’t help myself when it comes to the MCU. Back off because this movie looks like the bees knees. I’ve been waiting a decade to see Thanos come to Earth and really mess some shit up. It’s all hands on deck for his epic showdown and its only part 1! Let me tell you something, people will die. This movie looks to pack an emotional punch. A lot is at stake here, and that’s something very uncommon in an MCU movie. I can’t wait to see it all play out. Nothing ever seems to be at stake in these movies, because they certainly play it off like everything is hunky dory. There are far too many characters to even list, but anyone who is anyone who has shown up in an MCU movie will appear in Infinity War. Actually a pretty ballsy task if you ask me, that’s a lot of characters for probably a movie that will run 2 hours and 30 minutes long. Unlike this years JusticeLeague I know going in that this movie will be great, they do such a fantastic job with these movies, and this is the end of everything, no one will be safe. I just hope they don’t play it safe, I want to see blood and carnage and legit heroes dying. I want a “Holy shit – did they just do that!” kind of moment in this movie. I’m just excited to see Thanos on screen; no villain has been built up like him in movie history. It’s been 6 years since we first saw him smile at the end of Avengers, and ever since I wanted to see our heroes throw down with this guy. It just makes me sad at the same time, because I’m a DC guy through and through and I wish this were a DC property we were talking about. I wish the DCEU had this much success; I just want them to get it right. Marvel makes it look so easy, and if this movie is as good as I think it’s going to be. DC is never catching up to Marvel. Rocket Raccoon and Spider-Man better have a scene together or we riot!
Well that’s all she wrote. My 20 most anticipated movies of 2018! So I know for a fact I will be seeing at least 20 movies this upcoming year, plus multiple viewings of some add in the movies I didn’t put on the list and the movies I don’t even know about yet. Add all that together and I think reaching 60 visits to the theatre isn’t out of the question. Writing this and saying it out loud back to myself, makes me realize one thing……I’m awesome!
Really curious to know how they got the rights to all these characters.
So the new trailer for Ready Player One just dropped and it’s a real doozy. Being a massive fan of the book, when I heard this was being adapted into a feature length film, I was pretty happy to say the least. When they debut the first trailer at Comic-Con this summer, I wasn’t really that impressed with what I saw. I have changed my mind about this movie after this trailer, because it really does look spectacular.
Now I know going into this movie, it can’t be exactly like the book, but from this trailer a lot of things I was hoping would pop up did. There are actually too many characters to even name that appear in this trailer, and I’m really excited to see all these people on screen together. Look it’s Steven Spielberg, you already know it will be an enjoyable film. But he has the ability to make a truly special piece of film, and I think he might be hitting a home run with Ready Player One. It’s got a great cast and it’s based off a phenomenal book. This has all the makings to be extremely successful. Let’s hope so!
Style for miles. – That’s the best Harry Styles pun I could think of.
(WARNER BROS.)
Over time, I believe that Dunkirk will be remembered more for what’s missing, rather than what we witness on screen. It’s tense, it’s loud, and it makes you feel like you are standing on that beach with 400,000 other soldiers. I felt like I was part of the war, and Christopher Nolan really encompasses what I imagine it would literally be like to be stranded on that beach, waiting for a way home. It’s visually beautiful, in terms of filmmaking, its damn near perfect. With all that being said, I walked away from Dunkirk a little confused. For the first time in a very long time, I couldn’t remember any characters, not a single name. That’s not because there aren’t any characters, there is ZERO characterization within Dunkirk, and I’m not sure if that was done on purpose or not. It’s a war movie, so you usually find yourself rooting for certain characters or certainly getting attached to a few, but it was difficult to do so within the realm of Dunkirk. It just felt weird that even our greatest heroes within the movie, don’t receive any kind of backstory or personality that really bummed me out. That is Dunkirk’s biggest problem, there’s just a serious lack of substance to it, but that doesn’t take away from the actual movie. It’s just kind of something you have to deal with, and either you’re going to hate that aspect of Dunkirk, or you won’t mind at all.
The opening is so hauntingly beautiful, for me it was the best part of the movie, and it was a mere two minutes long. I won’t go into it, because I want this to be a spoiler free review, but it was really the only moment of the entire movie, that felt stress free. Any real moment where you weren’t worried about these poor helpless men. It’s a peaceful moment, right before we get 106 minutes of sheer action, suspense, chaos and death. Christopher Nolan once again delivers, I’ll say this isn’t his best movie overall, but the man really knows how to make a movie! He’s been on such an incredible streak, that it’s hard not to justify that he is the best filmmaker working today. I expect a best director nomination at next years Oscars, and he’s probably the front-runner right now to win the award. This movie screams Oscars. I’m going to say best supporting actor, best director, best picture, sound editing, sound mixing, best cinematography, and best costumes are pretty much all locks for Oscar noms. I’m looking forward to coming back and seeing if I’m right or not. That’s the thing about Dunkirk; it’s just so well made, but has other serious flaws, that for me weigh it down.
The cast is unique, because well the lead of the movie (Fionn Whitehead) might have 10 lines of dialogue throughout the whole movie. Which suited his character, but again it was tough to get behind a guy, who doesn’t speak and we know little to nothing about him. Tom Hardy plays a badass jet fighter, and in classic Nolan form, covers up his entire face. Also what’s with Tom Hardy and not being able to understand ONE word he says? I swear he puts peanut butter inside his mouth before he speaks. So that was frustrating, but he does pull a serious Kramer on his jet’s gas tank, that thing just kept going! Mark Rylance will get the supporting actor nod, I just couldn’t see this movie without him, and they needed his character, as he added the much-needed humanity and hope aspect. I’m shocked guys, Harry Styles is a good actor people. Like he works really well in this. Nolan making him a pretty boy d-bag is a masterstroke of genius. He’s part of some of the best scenes in the movie and is involved in arguably the tensest moment of the film.
With a run time of only 106 minutes, this is go go go from the start. You really don’t have a chance to breathe, after the opening few minutes. I found that ironic, in the sense that about every 10 minutes we find soldiers fighting for their lives in water trying not to drown themselves. For myself, watching people drown in movies is insanely stressful and there’s a ton of it in Dunkirk. There’s music going on throughout the film, which adds to the suspense, and builds on tense moments, the use of sound is extraordinary. When planes are flying over the heads of shoulders, it’s so loud and so effective, you almost have the urge to look up yourself. That’s how you make a movie, that’s how you get the most out of the audience experience.
One thing I wanted more of was some historical context. I wanted to know more about why the British and the French were in this situation. They really didn’t dive deep on that, and maybe they were expecting everyone to already know the backstory, but I think it could have been really effective if they were to touch on it a bit more throughout the movie. This was a really huge event in human history; I felt they should have maybe touched on that just a little bit more. This was about 400,000 men trapped on a bench, with nowhere to go, planes flying overhead dropping bombs. They were helpless, they were hopeless, and you felt that, but for me, it just needed a little more gravity to it.
A spectacle is the best way to describe Dunkirk, you have to see it in IMAX, and it’s something that everyone should see. It’s why movies are made, and it’s the definition of movie making. It also can be described as an art house war movie because it’s just so different from anything that has come before it. It’s extremely powerful, and you feel the pressure, you feel the tension. I felt for every single man on that beach and you understand and realize pretty quickly just how bad they wanted off. I just wonder if our main hero ever got the chance to take his number two.
Iron Giant check, Freddy Kruger check, the DeLorean check.
Earlier this year, I picked up a little book called Ready Player One. I had heard great things about it, and was told that if you love pop culture, you will absolutely fall in love with this book. It took no more than 4 pages, and boom, a Ghostbusters reference and I was instantly hooked. The book was simply like nothing I had ever read before, and I flew through the book in a matter of days. The best books are the ones that really make you use your imagination in the grandest ways possible, and Ready Player One was the pinnacle of that. When I heard that it was being adapted into a movie and none other than Steven Spielberg himself was directing it, lets just say I was a little more than curious. This has all sorts of MinorityReport vibes, one of Spielberg’s greatest achievements to date. This was the perfect man for the job, because he’s a great world builder and that’s exactly what you needed when tackling Ready Player One.
When books you read get adapted into movies, it’s really cool and interesting to see how the directors vision differs from your imagination and how you saw things when reading the book. Spielberg’s vision of the OASIS is interesting and the trailer is beautiful. What he thought the world of OASIS and what I thought it looked like are two vastly different things, but that doesn’t mean anything. Everyones imagination is different, and I’m just excited for this incredible story to be told on the big screen, and by none other than the GOAT of directors. It’s a complicated story and the trailer really doesn’t give you much, it’s a trailer to get people intrigued about the movie and more importantly I feel like it’s some serious fan service. I don’t even really want to say anything about the story (but I will) because it’s truly unique and I think that if you are a geek, or just so happen to like movies and pop culture references you need to read this book. I know I’ll be reading this book again in the near future, to prep myself for the movie.
Along with a great director the movie has a really stellar cast, Tye Sheridan, T.J Miller, Simon Pegg, and Olivia Cooke are playing our heroes in the movie. With Ben Mendelssohn rounding out the cast playing the bad guy, a role he is all too familiar with these days. Oscar winner Mark Rylance is playing James Halliday, the inventor of the OASIS, the virtual reality environment that everyone goes to in the not so far future. The real short Coles notes for the book. A guy invents a virtual reality in the future, and when he dies, he hides all of his money which is astronomically high inside the game, and everyone is on a mission to be the first person to solves all the riddles and puzzles that will lead to his riches.
