Dodger Giffin

You will die laughing. I promise! It's been 5 years since I'd seen the first magnificent 3, but this may just be the most comedic, humorous, flat out hilarious cop buddy film of the series!👮🏾‍♀️👮🏾‍♀️🪪🤣🤣🤣 Marcus Burrnett (Martin Lawrence) always has 75 % of the humor, while Mike Lowery (Will Smith) shows his supporting humor, which create the perfect duo😁 I was also so grateful to witness Vanessa Hudgens back! She was hands down my childhood in "High School Musical." That's a lifetime mark for myself thanks to her❤️

The 1963 Pierre Boulle Novel is what launched this spectacular phenomenon of brilliant, talking, horse riding apes that are go to war with the human race. All are worth watching either once or many times over, except for the awful 2001 remake with Mark Wahlberg that left you with the dumbest ending you can imagine with no follow up. On the other hand, Kingdom is far from that level but doesn't meet the level ups of most of the original films but especially the emotional tone of darkness that Rise (2011), Dawn (2014), and War (2017) brought to life. Those are worth re-watching again and again, while their "many generations later" sequel lacks. Rather a more tone friendly, slow paced, just another story to keep the plot going, leaving its legacy behind. Unlike the 2010's Star Wars sequel trilogy, which made it on point with the original characters featured throughout and references from the six previous movies that bring everything significant of new and classic elements. Andy Serkis' Planet of the Apes latest story didn't do much of that except for hailing Caesar's name and mentions Nova from War of the Planet of the Apes. Entertaining as is, just lacks the significance.

"Challengers" takes Tennis to a whole new level, but not in a good way like Venus and Serena do. I was under the impression that this was recent history for those who feel like history class is like going to the movies. Didn’t even need to see the trailers for it, just by your own judgement when the opening scene is set in August 2019. But with no informational credit right before the credits roll, I started to wonder. Turns out its all fictional, so what was the point of dialing back from the present day??? After all, it is a work of fiction and we’ve reached the pandemic’s exit point for sports restrictions. As I love long movies, this one could’ve just cut the BS and been shorter due to its boring lengthiness of unnecessary, random, unrealistic, unnatural scores and dialogue. The opening sequence almost feels like a Christmas movie with children’s choir music that is repeated in multiple scenes throughout the flick that just doesn’t match. Basically, its a tennis romance with intensity only on the court, steaminess in the bedroom, and some credit for cinematography such as GoPro and 3D style volleying. Zendaya delivers as always; the two lover boys had something to say as well. The injury looked so graphic and sounded so real it reminded me of watching Kevin Ware in basketball land on his leg the wrong way. Beyond that, its just slow, flat and brain numbing. I expected less of this and more sporty zip zap. After a couple hours, I was checking the time when it would end. The confusion cannot be ignored because I felt distracted by several missing elements as well as the unanswered questions due to the missing message I couldn’t find. I just do not understand all the “love” critics are giving it. The premise is 2 tennis players, Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) and Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor), introduced as good friends playing on the same side. Their friendship is disrupted when the rising all star Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) comes along and both of them fall in love with her gorgeous self and arousing movement, on the court and in bed. The three of them are at a cross road (or should I say love triangle) when Tashi has relations with both of them and only one can win the game, holding her and the racket. Love of the game is quite the opposite. Tashi marries Art and is determined that he wins over her ex boyfriend due to her accident which ends her tennis career. Going from best friends to bitter rivals, they are both challengers for her. Will their friendship survive? Will her goal be reached? Honestly I wasn’t even sure what happens next when I left the theater. Didn’t get what I went in for and walked out unsatisfied. If director Luca Guadagnino is trying to copy Christopher Nolan’s style of story telling, then he is trying way too hard with the jumps between past and present. Plus, moments of drawn out silence followed by random techno music that wasn’t needed before the music just stops for no reason. All of this leads up to the match point that I was so waiting to see. Not necessarily for who wins, but when I can leave. Too many times when the random techno music that forces itself back out of nowhere and just stops, I was literally saying “Oh, MORE of this” and just laughing. I’m one who likes revelations and there was no build up whatsoever in this. That’s worse than building up suspense and dropping it flat like in Alex Garland’s Civil War. Melodramas are a genre of emotional appeal. If there was any appeal, then a lot of it was laughable, and full of nothing but emptiness. Abandoning the structure of the trailer is not acceptable. This has been the most overrated movie of the year.

I walked out after less than 30 minutes, which I never do!!! Right off the bat, the fact that the narrative is part religiously/part politically based, I was at the point where 1: Either I completely disagree with it and viewed it as hating on or alienating certain people and I can't have any clarification or conversation because there's no one to speak with behind the scenes, or 2: It didn't make any sense and idk what they're trying to say with something like this and I'll guess I'll never know because you can't talk to the screen!! Also just thought it was such a druggy wack job of a crime movie, NOT John Wick style as I thought it was in the trailer. I like Dev Patel, but this is his worst movie by far.

Riveting Premise but it lacks the opportunity for a political impact on America in 2024. Basically, it was great and I really liked that the writer/director didn't want it to have any political bias whatsoever. But it seriously lacked the political impact that everyone thought it would have just by seeing the trailers especially when the Lincoln Memorial was destroyed. Multiple suspense build ups that were just flat dropped and left blank with no revelation, including the ending! But I love Kirstin Dunst and I love how it visualizes what can truly happen in any society when civil discussion is gone, and it's terrifying!

WOW! "Rosemary's Baby" meets "The Nun" and if you liked both of them, you'll be STUNNED by the time the credits roll! Sister Cecilia is in the same position as Rosemary Woodhouse with a "doctor" who refuses to give her the right treatment, only the plot is reversed (not Satanist cult, rather a "God honoring" organized religion cult who keeps invoking the bible verse Matthew 5:9 because her child birth is imperative for them; "Blessed are the peacemakers for they will inherit the earth.") And as for "The Nun"....do I really need to draw the horror genre and character/plot similarities there? LOL I guess I forgot originally that the plot was about a nun who is pregnant and we all know the chaos that can spawn from that in pop culture catholicism. When that scene came about, I immediately was thinking of the issue of abortion although did not receive any vibes for it...until the VERY ENDING SCENE right before it cuts to black. No spoilers there - you'll see what I mean. it's a perfect reflection on organized religion, the female reproductive system, and women's issue in general especially regarding pregnancy and abortion which in turn reflects women's rights in the aftermath of SCOTUS overturning Roe V. Wade. After Sister Cecilia is informed that she is with child via sonogram, her life is changed forever as she simply wanted to belong in a place that she feels God has led her to be in the world. But during the first 2 trimesters, the cathedral becomes a place of suspicion, misery and staying in line authority. Towards the end of the 3rd trimester, Cecilia discovers the horrors right before her eyes in the place where she took her vows. I tell ya, Sydney Sweeney, who also served as producer, can ACT! One of the best nun performances I'd ever seen. Her voice is such an example of why so many people just continue to leave any sense of Christianity due to oppression like legalistic, politically alienation, Christian nationalism that does NOT reflect the values of Jesus. I myself firmly believe in Jesus and love Him very much but these kinds of religious institutions are to blame for the cultural issues and struggles people have towards modern day Christianity especially in the organized Catholic Church where you basically can't entirely be yourself, and Sweeney's sister Cecilia is no exception. No wonder the religion gets less popular as time goes on. Jump scares a lot of the times in horror can be so predictable and/or laughable but as time goes on in this movie, you almost forget about the previous ones because they just kept coming and it works every time. The nice balanced amount of blood and gore if that's what you were coming in for unlike 2013's "Evil Dead" when it literally rained blood from the sky. The cinematography was well done, the score and music matched the style and just the elements made you feel what the characters were feeling, even painfully because don't even get me started on the TONGUE scene! The title matches perfectly too because just like the virgin Mary, Cecilia was with child conceived without any sexual intercourse. Even the definition of "Immaculate" actually means perfect, pure, free of flaws, neat, etc. so there's that. All in all, director Michael Mohan delivers such a remarkable picture of exposing purity culture and the dangers behind it all. I love when I'm given what I go in for. HIGHLY RECCOMENDED!

When it comes to going into an ''Empire,'' if you expect to walk out freezing to death, you'll feel hotter and more alive than ever.... What I'm saying is that A LOT was missing from this movie as the trailers showed, built up, and/or hinted at. IDK for sure but despite the differences of location as well as screen time for the original ghost busting legends, ''Afterlife'' may just be better than this one. First, I realized there was ZERO featuring of those new, beautiful, red jackets that Trevor, Callie, Gary and Phoebe wore in the first trailer on top off the roof when Paul Rudd expressed his comedic enthusiasm for what is to come in what was supposed to be a second Ice Age; deleted scene apparently. Secondly, it was too slow executing the underused suspense of Garraka, only then to speed it up and not take advantage of the potential for apocalyptic vibes that got new and diehard fans from the 80s hooked on. I expected midway at the latest, not towards the final showdown. Finally, after the twist cameo of Sigourney Weaver's Dana Barrett in ''Afterlife,'' she's not even MENTIONED in this one. She's married to Bill Murray's Peter Venkman and it's all unanswered with no exploration. Makes you think all the OGs are back (except Harold Ramis' Egon Spengler, Rest in Peace Twinkie man), you would think even the introduced MRS. Venkman would share her perspective thus far. However though, I really enjoyed the introduction of Emily Alyn Lind. It's not that her type of character is new, but the way people of the audience, like myself, drew connected to her and feel her desire for who she is and where she's at. Never seen that kind of social dialogue in ANY of the ghost busters movies, not even "Afterlife" or even the all female disappointing 2016 reboot. Full disclosure, I would give it 3 and a half stars but Google just lets one full filling per the glamorous white dots that shine down on us at night from beyond our reach LOL. I thought "Frozen Empire" was really good and fun as is because like its prequel, it allows room for the Boomers and Gen Xs who were all there watching the giant stay puft marshmallow man on screen, and room for the of Millennials and Gen Z walking into the cinema. It also opens up the door for an expansive universe only who knows where it could go. I just hate it when I'm not given what go in for.