2018

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

82/100
Like Manchester By The Sea, it's a tragedy with enough little laughs to balance it out.
Reviewed on January 6, 2018

Call Me By Your Name

80/100
I'm crying watching the last scene again. The lights came on for the credits so it didn't hit me the 1st time.
Reviewed on January 10, 2018

The Post

72/100
So many people I like in it, but they didn't give them anything to do but pat US journalism on the back. Kinda repetitive.
Reviewed on January 13, 2018

The Shape of Water

76/100
A bit rougher than I expected. I miss Sally Hawkins' awkward voice, but had to settle for her nude a whole heap.
Reviewed on January 13, 2018

Paddington 2

83/100
Might even be more fun for the adults than the kids. Reminded me of Woodley with it's slapstick humour. Harmless fun.
Reviewed on January 13, 2018

Darkest Hour

77/100
I've always held Oldman's role in Leon against him, but now that he's unrecognisable I think he should win Best Actor.
Reviewed on January 13, 2018

Ferdinand

68/100
Maybe I'm still upset about the time I slept in and missed The Running of the Bulls, but I didn't enjoy it. A bit too simple.
Reviewed on January 31, 2018

Molly's Game

65/100
So much exposition and dialogue it's exhausting. And looong. Better off not knowing anything about poker, because the little that's in there is spelled right out for you.
Reviewed on January 24, 2018

I, Tonya

79/100
It's hard to find the comedy funny when I was so far on Team Tonya. And then it's hard to know if that was the true story. I found it pretty sad actually.
Reviewed on January 24, 2018

The Greatest Showman

75/100
Apart from This Is Me, I just wasn't a fan of the songs. If ya made half the songs spoken word instead, it'd make a pretty good prequel to The Prestige.
Reviewed on January 24, 2018

The Florida Project

81/100
Dafoe was pretty good in his limited time. The kid who plays Mooney was the real star. Best kid performance since Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Reviewed on January 22, 2018

Lady Bird

84/100
Some smiles and a few little tears. Really well made. I'd vote for Greta Gerwig for best director. Laurie Metcalfe has a good shot at best supporting actress too.
Reviewed on February 11, 2018

Phantom Thread

74/100
Watching someone else try on clothes is boring enough. Watching someone else watch someone else try on clothes is even worse! When it became a movie in the second half it wasn't too bad though.
Reviewed on February 11, 2018

Jumanji : WttJ

81/100
It's fun, but it feels like you're watching someone else play a video game. Never as much fun as playing the game yourself. Jack Black snubbed for Best Supporting actor.
Reviewed on January 31, 2018

Game Night

78/100
A bit over the top, but it is enjoyable. There were probably more twists than there were laughs, but it was still fun to watch.
Reviewed on March 14, 2018

Black Panther

77/100
It's a good movie, it just lacks either the humour or the heart to make it a great movie.
Reviewed on March 14, 2018

Love, Simon

75/100
It's nothing spectacular. I think they played it too safe, as there were no real surprises and it goes very easy on the drama. It's a pleasant movie to watch, and has a nice message. I just found it a bit shallow.
Reviewed on March 29, 2018

Ready Player One

65/100
I loved the book because it had a way of turning fun nostalgia into a puzzle solving quest you could feel a part of. The movie has almost none of that, where you get the answers before you even know there's a question. Pretty boring actually.
Reviewed on March 29, 2018

A Quiet Place

85/100
I wouldn't say it's very scary, unless you find a movie like Signs scary. It's just that the tension level is turned up to eleven, so don't avoid it just because you hate scary movies, because you're missing out.
Reviewed on April 9, 2018

Blockers

81/100
It's like a girls version of Superbad, but with more of a parent's point of view. Some bits are really funny, and the tender moments are surprisingly good too.
Reviewed on March 30, 2018

The Death of Stalin

74/100
I was expecting something like In The Loop, with quickfire jokes all over the place. It was alright, just a bit spread out for my liking.
Reviewed on March 30, 2018

Cargo

74/100
Like an Aussie episode of The Walking Dead. It'd easily be the best episode of that show in years. But then again I've hated The Walking Dead the last few years.
Reviewed on May 23, 2018

Infinity War

50/100
It's a shame with all those movies leading up to this one it still had to be so slow with exposition. Way too overblown and overacted, and then I had to knock even more points off for the ending.
Reviewed on May 20, 2018

Breath

83/100
The first 2/3rds it was the best movie I'd seen all year. Felt so real it coulda been a prequel to Endless Summer. I wish they had've followed the other set of characters for the last third though!
Reviewed on May 3, 2018

Super Troopers 2

82/100
It's a tough one to rate, because it's funny, but only for fans of the first one. The majority of the jokes are call backs to the original. The first one got better the more you watched it, so we'll have to wait and see again and again.
Reviewed on April 20, 2018

Isle of Dogs

79/100
It was really well made and interesting, I just didn't find it that fun or funny. And is it even a dog movie if it doesn't make you cry?
Reviewed on April 12, 2018

Incredibles 2

79/100
It's very watchable and well made, but it didn't make me feel anything. No laughs or tears, never scared or excited. It's all very safe in the pleasant zone, without ever risking being more.
Reviewed on June 14, 2018

Hereditary

47/100
The first half was so slow that I felt it hard to engage when they started throwing all the horror cliches at the screen in the second half. Just seemed silly rather than scary, and then the ending, ridiculous!
Reviewed on June 7, 2018

Solo

45/100
Like an unintentional parody of a Star Wars movie. It re-uses a lot of great moments from the originals and makes them groan-inducing. They just made the post-original trilogy hole way bigger. Dig up stupid!
Reviewed on May 27, 2018

Deadpool 2

72/100
I wasn't a big fan of the first one, but I liked this one better. I feel like I get the jokes, but I'm not inside enough to be fully allowed to find them funny. I wish sometimes they'd want to be more like Lethal Weapon than Loaded Weapon.
Reviewed on May 23, 2018

Tully

80/100
It started off so heavy on the drama I thought it might be a horror movie, but it did get sweeter. It wasn't that funny, but it did make me wish for more Halt and Catch Fire.
Reviewed on May 23, 2018

Sicario : DOTS

78/100
It certainly doesn't baby it's audience, as it's sometimes hard to follow and fairly harsh. It does have the occasional moment of brilliance that reminded me of Generation Kill though.
Reviewed on July 4, 2018

Upgrade

79/100
It's like John Wick as an episode of Black Mirror. The concepts and action sequences were really impressive, but letdown a little by the basic dialogue and plot. Twisted it's way to victory in the end though!
Reviewed on June 28, 2018

Tag

74/100
I love all the actors individually, but as a group they just didn't work for me. I think I'd rather watch it in doco form because then there might have been at least some friendly banter. It did have some fun moments though, and the ending kinda saved it.
Reviewed on June 14, 2018

The Breaker Upperers

63/100
Too inconsistent. It had some great moments, but some really bottom of the barrel stuff too. Rather than celebrate the cameos by some of my favourites, it only made me realise how much potential it squandered.
Reviewed on July 31, 2018

Ant Man and the Wasp

78/100
They shrank down the action, but enlarged the expositon needed to tell the story, which made it a bit boring. I loved the comedic moments, but they just sprinkled it on top when they've should've poured in on like gravy.
Reviewed on July 31, 2018

Mission : Impossible - Fallout

72/100
I must've seen too many movies because there were very few good surprises hidden amongst all the clichés. Nice to see Paris and London again though!
Reviewed on August 2, 2018

Crazy Rich Asians

50/100
Maybe I was too drunk when I saw it, but where was the actual movie? I mean there was no struggle. If it was supposed to be funny, I didn't get it. It was just a wedding video of some people I didn't know.
Reviewed on October 20, 2018

A Simple Favour

80/100
They could've done away with the plot and just had Lively and Kendrick hanging out and it would've been a fun movie. I didn't mind all the twists though because there was always a hint of comedy to not take it too serious.
Reviewed on October 20, 2018

Bad Times at the El Royale

75/100
It was good, but it often seemed like it was wasting the talent it had at it's disposal. The suspense to pay-off ratio was tipped too far in suspense's favour, which made it a bit slow.
Reviewed on October 20, 2018

Whitney

79/100
She's so gorgeous and talented it makes it hard to watch the sad journey she went on.
Reviewed on August 7, 2018

Shoplifters

81/100
A bit like a Japanese version of The Florida Project with the similar thought provoking found in Gone Baby Gone. It's got some dark bits, but it's got a nice amount of sweetness too.
Reviewed on November 26, 2018

Wildlife

77/100
It's like The Wonder Years if it had all the humour taken out because Kevin's parents were from Blue Valentine. It's good, but it's a bit slow and hard to watch at times.
Reviewed on November 26, 2018

A Star is Born

86/100
Best movie I've seen so far this year. Should win plenty of oscars. Actor, Actress, maybe Director & Film. It got a few little tears outta me in the end.
Reviewed on October 23, 2018

First Man

72/100
If you like shaky extreme close-ups, then this is the movie for you. I guess it was useful for trivia knowledge, but it was very dry and not that suspenseful if you already know what's going to happen in the end.
Reviewed on October 21, 2018

Hearts Beat Loud

83/100
Little indie dramedy that's like a father/daughter version of Once crossed with High Fidelity or Empire Records. Got a few little happy tears out of me. Good soundtrack. Ron Swanson playing me. What's not to like?
Reviewed on October 21, 2018

Creed II

79/100
It relies so much on past glories that it becomes way too predictable. It's still fun to watch though.
Reviewed on December 19, 2018

Overlord

78/100
The first half was awesome and wouldn't have looked out of place in as a Band of Brothers episode. The 2nd half was a bit too ridiculous for me though.
Reviewed on December 19, 2018

The Old Man & The Gun

73/100
Butch & Sundance is my favourite old movie, but I've always been more Newman than Redford. This was his last chance to overtake him, but I felt like there wasn't much meat to the role or the movie. Pleasant, but not that interesting.
Reviewed on December 5, 2018

Widows

78/100
It spreads itself a bit thin with competing story lines. It's like me driving a manual in the city. It gets you where you need to go, but there's so much awkward changing of gears that it's not a very smooth ride.
Reviewed on December 5, 2018

Free Solo

90/100
I'm so scared of heights I don't even like wearing socks, so it's as close as I'll ever get to climbing a mountain. Just an amazing doco, up there with Touching the Void and TT Closer to the Edge.
Reviewed on December 19, 2018

Spiderman : Into the Spiderverse

82/100
It's like a family friendly version of Deadpool with it's humour. I wanted to love it, but after spending the last month watching 12 Monkeys, the multiverse concept seemed a bit basic and gimmicky.
Reviewed on December 30, 2018

Bumblebee

72/100
It's a kids movie, but all the jokes are about the 80s, so it might be hard to find a appreciative audience without a time machine. If it had've been released in the late 80s, I would've absolutely loved it.
Reviewed on December 30, 2018

Ralph Breaks the Internet

73/100
It swapped out the sweetness and nostalgic fun of the original for mostly cynicism about today's society. It had a good message, but was a bit heavy-handed in telling it.
Reviewed on December 27, 2018

Can You Ever Forgive Me

82/100
It had an understated, dry humour about it which was nice, but didn't provide too many laughs. It was the tenderness it showed it's characters though that made it a really good movie.
Reviewed on December 20, 2018