Month: August 2022

Nope review

Posted on by jacobsonbblog

Jordan Peale of Key and Peale is not someone you would expect to direct and write horror movies. Nope is Jordan Peale’s third film he’s directed and wrote. Unlike his previous films that are more psychologically scary, Nope I think I can best compare with is Jaws in terms of horror. I really liked the dynamic between the siblings OJ Haywood played by Daniel Kaluuya and Em Haywood played Keke Palmer. Both characters are great foils to each other and both actors do a terrific job.  

Spoilers: The central themes of Nope are about spectacle, animal cruelty and trying to train the untrainable. The flying saucer named Jean Jacket wonderfully embodies these themes. This is such a great unique take on UFOs where unlike something like Close Encounters, there’s no aliens in the UFO, the alien is literally the UFO. I also love how it sometimes changes shape; one point it looks metal but the next it looks soft like one of those parachutes’ kids play with at school. I think my main gripe involves the chimp Gordy. Actually, I think Gordy brilliantly ties well into the theme of trying to control animals. The problem is mostly that the incident doesn’t factor into the story and it’s just dropped after Jupe dies.

All of these films manage to balance being both really scary and really funny. Nope is no exception. Jordan Peele is one of those directors that so far has not wrote and directed a bad movie yet. The title may be Nope but this film is ironically gets a giant YES from me. Also who ever thought up the “Jupiter’s Claim” website to promote the movie should get a promotion.

Verdict:

+ Funny

+ Jean Jacket

+ OJ and Em Haywood

+ Scary

+/- Gordy

Score: A

2022 recap part 2

Posted on by jacobsonbblog

Movies:

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: This movie is half Marvel, half Sam Raimi movie with great visual effects. A-

Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers: Weird movie that I didn’t think Disney would make. B

Top Gun: Maverick: Similar plot beats from the first but the flying scenes are an improvement. B+

The Bob’s Burgers Movie: A love letter to the show. A

Jurassic World: Dominion: The Rise of Skywalker of the series. Why did they introduce goddamn giant locus?! D

Lightyear: Bland planet but Chris Evans makes Buzz very likable. A-

Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe:  80 minutes of these two causing mayhems while finally scoring in the end. C

Elvis: Visually amazing and amazing acting. A

Thor: Love and Thunder: While not as good as Ragnarok, it still has Watiti’s charm. A-

Nope: Scary good fun, my type of horror movie. A

Luck: An absolute generic animated movie that lucky enough to be free. D

Bullet Train: Enjoyable characters and fun action. B

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie: Nice animation but not a fan of asshole Leonardo. C+

TV:

Moon Knight: While Steven Grant is likable, I was not a fan of this show. Marc’s mother pissed me off so much.

Kenobi: Not bad but it felt like just another Star Wars show.

Dead End: Paranormal Park: This surprised me. I like the amusement park setting and the characters were very likable.

Solar Opposites season 3: Probably the best season of the show so far. One of the best episodes involves them waiting in a line.

Primal season 2: This really is Genndy Tartakovsky’s best work. My favorite episode is episode 5 which I won’t spoil.

The Harley Quinn show Season 3: The idea of Joker having a normal healthy family is funny alone but having him run for mayor and actually being a good candidate is hilarious.

The Cuphead Show season 2: Fun, but some episodes like Say Cheese weren’t that great.

Elvis review

Posted on by jacobsonbblog

It’s ironic that in Forest Gump Tom Hanks played a character who inspired Elvis and now he’s playing Elvis’s manager. Elvis is directed by Baz Luhrmann who also did Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby. The best way to describe Baz Luhrmann is that he’s an eye candy director meaning his movies are visually amazing to watch no matter how bad the story is. This movie is extremely colorful and uniquely shot and edited. It was kind of like a drug trip but without the drugs.

The two biggest standouts in terms of the cast were Austin Butler as Elvis Presley and Tom Hanks as Elvis’s manage Colonel Tom Parker. I wasn’t sure if Austin Butler was actually singing or if the film just used audio from the real Elvis but he really was singing he did an excellent job recapturing the charm of Elvis. Seeing Elvis deteriorate is really heartbreaking and unlike other musician biographies like Bohemian Rhapsody or Rocketman, this film ends more on a depressing note. The Colonel is such a vile despicable lonesome monster and one of those villains that you love to hate. He felt like an animated villain put in a live action film but Tom Hanks managed to give such a terrific performance.

Honestly the one problem I do have is the long runtime which I kind of felt near the end but’s really a nitpick. I also would’ve liked it if the film ended with Elvis dying the toilet but that’s just the inner “black comedy loving” me speaking. Elvis is probably my favorite musician biography and anyone who loves Elvis and his songs will love it. This is a film that will definitely not leave the building anytime soon.

Verdict:

+Austin Butler as Elvis

+Baz Luhrmann’s directing

+The editing

+Tom Hanks as the Colonel 

-Long runtime

Score: A