The Good, The Blah, & The Bad: 1/2 way through 2019

Welcome to June!  The summer movie season is in full swing, as is the heat, and annoyingly long hours of day light.  The year is also approximately half way over.  

Every year in December I post my annual top ten list of the year.  I think it be fun to give an update of what I’ve seen this year.  I’m breaking it down in to three categories: The Good (movies I’ve really liked), The Blah (movies that I enjoyed but wanted more out of) and the bad (movies I really hated).  Enjoy and stay tuned for my top ten list in December and other movie postings.

THE GOOD:
Glass

First up is M. Night Shyamalan’s Split and Unbreakable crossover.  I loved both films and was was super excited to see this one.  The movie took its time building to an exciting climax and had great performances sprinkled in from all of its performers.  

Rocketman

Easily the best soundtrack of 2019, so far, and 2019 has had some incredible movie soundtracks.  I loved how the movie blended fantasy elements into its story of a genuine legend.  I also like how the movie didn’t shy away from the rough part of Elton John’s life.  Before you ask, yes I liked it better then Bohemian Rhapsody.  

The Best of Enemies

The Best of Enemies tells an important part of North Carolina history.  It’s a part of history I didn’t know and it fascinated me.  The story had moments that were designed to be uncomfortable that built up to a stand up and cheer ending.  The performances from leads Taraji P. Henson (who is an incredibly diverse actress) & Sam Rockwell (who’s alway great) make the movie special.

Honorable mentions to Long Shot (hilarious, the best comedy of the year so far), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (I loved the 2014 Godzilla and 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, this one was a blast to watch as well.  Just a lot of fun) and Us ( easily one of the most unique films this year).

THE BLAH:

The Public

This movie had an interesting cast and a really interesting premise.  It fell short in the execution.  The movie couldn’t decide if it wanted to me odd and unique in its story telling or drive home a strong point in a strong manner.  What was left was a bit of a mess.

Avengers: Endgame

Don’t misinterpret this one in the blah section, I still really enjoyed it.  I really loved the first forty five minutes of this three hour movie.  It opened some really interesting plot points.  Sadly they were never revisited and the movie fell quickly into the superhero fatigue that has set in. 

Little

The trailer for this movie was really funny.  Outside of the trailer the movie had very few funny parts.  I still enjoyed the movie but not as much as I was expecting.

THE BAD:
Gloria Bell

Man did I hate this movie.  Director Sebastian Lelio has made some great movies, A Fantastic Woman and Disobedience.  He remade his film Gloria (which I disliked as well) in English.  He put Julianne Moore in the lead, which wasn’t enough to make the movie interesting.  I was bored and wanted it to end really badly.

Dumbo/Aladdin

Both movies were awful.  Dumbo was just boring and did nothing for me.  The popcorn I had was far superior.  Aladdin was disappointing.  I love the original and love Robin Williams voice over work.  It felt like almost everyone was whining for the sake of whining.  I never cared for any of the characters in the film.  I dread seeing the “live action” remake of The Lion King.  Disney seems to to really be pushing it with that one.  Dumbo was enough of a stretch.  

Please note I’ve enjoyed Maleficent and 2016’s The Jungle Book.