Mac's Movie Reviews

No Other Choice (2025)

2026-03-05T00:00:00+00:00

My movie scoring system is based a lot around "missed opportunities". I'm pretty bad at film analysis, so if I can notice something I think would have made the movie better, it must be really bad. In No Other Choice, I found no such cases.

Re-reading the plot summary after watching the movie, I wouldn't change a single thing. Everything in the movie-- every character, every line of dialogue, every visual element-- all weaves together.

This is a spoiler, but one of my favorite scenes was when the main character's son (Si-one) asks his father (Man-su) about how his grandfather died. In any other film, this would be a throw-away scene, just used to tell us something about the family or used for a throwaway joke, and originally it seems like that. Man-su responds that his grandfather had a pig farm, but they caught a disease so he killed them all, by burying them alive no less. Man-su adds that the grandfather was really mentally affected after his involvement in the Vietnam War, later dying by suicide on the property they live on.

This 30-second scene basically foreshadows the entire rest of the movie. Man-su goes on to wage his own war that affects him mentally too (he even calls it a war explicitly). He kills people and takes a dead man's gun, just like his father did. He buries someone alive. One of his murders is covered up as the murder of a pig, which strengthens this thematic link. Ultimately, when Man-su wins his war and gets the job at the paper plant, its revealed to be a Pyrrhic victory since the job is soul-crushing. When the credits roll, one wonders if Man-su is not finished following in his father's footsteps. Not one second of screen time wasted. 10 out of 10.

Avatar: Fire and Ash

2026-02-19T00:00:00+00:00
Same plot beats as the previous movie? 4 out of 10.

Avatar: The Way of Water

2026-02-12T00:00:00+00:00
Jake and Miles need to get a room. 4 out of 10.

Modern Times (1936)

2025-11-14T00:00:00+00:00

I got interested in watching this film after reading the first chapter of Jenny Odell's Saving Time, which talks about how much we've lost in the pursuit of maximum efficiency for our bosses. Odell mentions Modern Times as an illustration of her point, so it was nice to see the movie to understand how great of an illustration it is.
For an old black-and-white film without much talking, it's surprisingly watchable. It certainly helps that The Tramp's struggles are still very relatable to today's working-class audience.
There was even a scene that made me laugh out loud! When the main couple moves into a ramshackle old house, there was a lot of physical comedy involving the house falling apart around them. At one point, I thought the scene was over, until The Tramp leans against a wall which falls outward, as the camera cuts to an outside view which shows Charlie Chaplin rolling backwards into a swamp. The unexpectedness of it and the over-the-top reaction got to me somehow, then I kept laughing afterward at the idea of finding it so funny in the first place.
My one gripe (well aside from the casual sexism) is that there were a few too many scenes of The Tramp getting extraordinarily lucky, often at the expense of other people, like getting the factory job over thousands of other workers, stopping a jail break, and avoiding blame for making someone drop a bunch of dishes in the restaurant scene. On its face, I think these are great depictions of the zero-sum game we are forced to play, where any time we get ahead in life often comes at the expense of others. However, the film seemed to play these scenes off as jokes rather than seriously examining them.
Today, I feel like a lot of tech workers have bumbled their way into success at the expense of others in the same way The Tramp did (myself included). But due to cognitive biases, we begin to think we deserve the success we have and can't imagine it being taken away. With a cooling labor market, stagnant wages, and a tech bubble on the verge of bursting, a series of tragicomic events like the Tramp experiences could be in our own futures as well. The message is still modern almost 90 years later. 8 out of 10.

Young Frankenstein (1974)

2025-10-23T00:00:00+00:00
A great movie—as a compromise to get me to watch any Halloween-themed movie. 6 out of 10.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

2025-06-19T00:00:00+00:00

Walking into my first Wes Anderson film without any context is maybe not the smartest move, but it turned out well, all things considered. You don't need context to marvel at the intricate details of the hand-made sets and characters. You don't need context to laugh at the sharp and witty dialogue. And you don't need context to enjoy a damn good story about never feeling satisfied.
The uniqueness of this movie kinda breaks my scoring scale though. I usually subtract points for having predictable characters, but it works here. Ash's feelings of inadequecy or Mr. Fox's recklessness could be described as "one note", but it's one really funny note. I usually subtract points when movies make me suspend my disbelief, but the kind of liminal space that Wes Anderson is known for building makes the suspension of disbelief so natural that I don't question why the dogs can't talk; it's just purely funny. And I subtract points for obvious tropes like Mr. Fox's redemption arc and ending a movie with a dance scene, but somehow it just makes sense here. Clearly I'm out of my league here, so a "high but not perfect" score is warranted at the very least. It really transports you into a strange but highly entertaining world. 8.5 out of 10.

Rogue One (2016)

2025-06-17T00:00:00+00:00

After watching Andor, I heard a lot of people saying they found a new appreciation for Rogue One, as a kind of dramatic conclusion to the series. I was really excited to check it out right after finishing Andor S2, which got a 10/10 from me.
Unfortunately, I found Rogue One to be a disappointment. It had none of the qualities that made Andor great. Andor thrived on its historically-informed depiction of resistance movements, where progress is slow, alliances are numerous but tenuous, morality is messy, and stakes are high. Rogue One replaces all that with movie tropes.
A handful of characters play key roles, with everyone else being cannon fodder. People seem to act irrationally to further the plot. The Rebellion is no longer a storied history of standing up to oppression, it's just a catch-phrase. I physically rolled my eyes when I heard "rebellions are built on hope" used to win an argument.
I think some people liked the action, but even that was super trope-y. I mean cmon, they did the New Hope thing again where they let the inspection crew board the ship, then steal their clothes. Andor also shied away from mentioning the Force too much, which was really effective at grounding the story, but Rogue One has no such qualms, making some battles unrealistic. Also they really nerfed K-2SO. Those droids were immune to blasters during the Ghorman Massacre, but one shot took out a droid in Jedha City and a few shots ultimately took down K-2SO.
There were even several scenes where I felt like they could have just totally cut them. Like why did Jyn have to be blown back by the ship's thrusters on Eadu, only to clamber back on to the platform? Why was there a weird air vent at the top of the citadel that opens and closes?
I guess I'm nitpicking now, but overall my main issue is that it seems Andor learned from the mistakes of all other Star Wars properties, so going back to Rogue One felt like a shocking regression of quality. It's like Andor but replace all the good parts with tropes. 4.5 out of 10.

Office Space (1999)

2025-06-10T00:00:00+00:00
Not as many punchlines as I wanted, but a surprisingly prescient message. 5 out of 10.

Thunderbolts

2025-04-25T00:00:00+00:00
James Buchanan Barnes did not get turned into dust and then abandoned by his best friend for this. 6 out of 10.

The Wedding Banquet

2025-04-21T00:00:00+00:00
"My Old Ass" vibes, artsy sad and queer, but not that funny. 7.5 out of 10.

Amateur

2025-04-15T00:00:00+00:00
Fantastic start but fizzled out to fit the tropes. 8 out of 10.

Minecraft

2025-04-07T00:00:00+00:00
Hilarious with an inoffensive message, which is all you can ask for these days. 7.5 out of 10.

Snow White

2025-03-25T00:00:00+00:00
Bad story, bad visuals, bad acting, and forgettable music. 3.5 out of 10.

Rule Breakers

2025-02-04T00:00:00+00:00
Good, but a little long. I just wanted more robot competition drama. 6.5 out of 10.

Sonic 3

2024-12-31T00:00:00+00:00
Glad they gave us more of the only good thing about this series: Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik. 6.5 out of 10.

Wicked

2024-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Social media was inundated with advertising about Wicked, more so than any other movie I've seen in the last few years. So it's really my own fault that I knew so little about it before walking into the theater, but I was hoping that would make me fit right into the target audience. All these remakes and sequels seem designed to painstakingly carry the viewer through the plot in a way that frustrates dedicated fans.
But when I watched Wicked, I needed some carrying. I left the theater saying I don't really "get" the friendship between Elphaba and Galinda. Seemed to me they were just jerks to each other the whole film. Turns out I had just completely misread a key scene (spoilers below).
The whole first part of the movie, Elphaba and Galinda can't stand each other. One might call it unadulterated loathing. Their weapon of choice against each other seems to be petty, tit for tat retaliations culminating in the events right before the students go to the Ozdust Ballroom. So when Galinda gives Elphaba an ugly hat and an invititation to the party at the Ballroom (which Elphaba accepts quite cautiously), I was expecting Elphaba to retaliate. At the party, Madame Morrible unexpectedly arrives and begrudingly offers to accept Galinda as her student, adding that she's only doing it because Elphaba demanded she come to the Ballroom to do it tonight.
Demanding for Madame Morrible to come to the Ozdust Ballroom (which was off-limits for students) struck me as something you'd only do if you wanted revenge. Galinda could have gotten in trouble for being caught there, and was prevented from getting closer to Prince Fiyero in the process, in addition to being embarrassed by her would-be teacher.
Apparently this wasn't the right interpretation. Apparently Elphaba was thanking Galinda for connecting her sister Nessarose with Boq. Elphaba's act of selflessness is supposed to be so grand as to be the catalyst for Galinda's character transformation, leading to their friendship. Needless to say, I was quite confused why they were suddenly buddy-buddy after (what I assumed was) just another round of retaliations between them and a random dance scene.
So if my own lack of attention caused this confusion, surely I don't blame the movie, right? Actually, I do. I understand the movie has to be somewhat faithful to the original, but every adaptation has a little wiggle room, and that's all it would take to fix this scene. Just have Madame Morrible not say "Elphaba demanded I give you the wand here, tonight". She could say "I thought I'd just go ahead and give you the wand tonight" or something instead. Problem solved!
Well, there were other things confusing to me too. A minor one is why Madame Morrible was so quick to turn, and why she's motivated to side with the Wizard. But a major one is: what's the deal with the animal hatred subplot?
Here's where I could offer a unique perspective as a vegan movie reviewer, but really there's so little substance to "the animal hatred subplot" that there's not much to say. Who hates the animals? Why do we never see anyone (not even the Wizard) expressing anti-animal sentiments? I get that the animals are supposed to be an allegory for racism, possibly mirroring the scapegoating (literally with Professor Dillamond) of Jewish people in between the World Wars. But that's the problem with movie depictions of evil people: you have to actually show them doing the evil thing.
Lack of on-screen evilness is one reason I believe the political messaging of the original Star Wars trilogy flew over peoples heads. Darth Vader's evilness largely happened off-screen or in the past, so now people put Empire insignias on their cars and dress up as Darth Vader for Halloween. You don't see people idolizing President Snow after you seem him personally order the bombing of a hospital in Mockingjay Part 1, (well until they made him hot in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes).
Anyway, Wicked is still quite a beautiful film and the songs are wonderfully performed. I just feel like the plot, characters, and messaging have struggled to survive through a movie adaptation of a musical adaptation of an extended universe of a movie adaptation of a novel. Defying gravity and my understanding. 5 out of 10.

Saturday Night

2024-10-23T00:00:00+00:00
Like many SNL sketches, this has a long, uncomfortable setup and no punchline. 4 out of 10.

My Old Ass

2024-10-01T00:00:00+00:00
Exceeds expectations and is a model for good queer representation. 9.5 out of 10.

The Wild Robot

2024-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

The Wild Robot is a beautiful film that strikes a great balance between kid-friendliness while also having mature themes that appeal to parents. Between the heart-wrenching (in a good way) scenes of love and loss, there's even good comic relief that the whole theater enjoyed. My one complaint is the incoherent moral message with regard to animals.
Popular media with talking animals usually treats the main characters like humans, then overlays the familiar speciesism</a> on top. If a main character suffers or dies, it's treated seriously, but there may be "lesser" animals whose suffering is unaddressed or even treated as a joke (Shark Tale comes to mind). The Wild Robot falls into the same trap despite trying to avoid it. The first two kinds of animals we see are cute otters that are protected from harm and crabs ("lesser" animals) that are killed and eaten as a joke several times in the movie. The crabs are not given the ability to talk to further reinforce this hierarchy.
Additionally, I saw one review praising the movie for not shying away from showing dead animals to kids. I hate that kind of intentional desensitization of kids. Sometimes, the inconsistencies of our carnist</a> society are so clear that even kids pick up on them, like being taught to help an injured bird while also being taught to "get used to" slaughtering chickens for food. The Wild Robot does at times try to tell us that an overwhelming amount of animal suffering is "just the way things go", which is exactly that kind of desensitization I dislike (while also being untrue</a>).
But overall, given that no major motion picture I've seen has ever intelligently addressed the concept of animal suffering, my rating is only minorly affected by this oversight. It really is the only flaw I could find in an otherwise amazing movie. Imagine if I subtracted several points every time a movie did something else that was wildly common like including establishing shots... This movie really soars, despite a few bugs in the system. 9.5 out of 10.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

2024-09-18T00:00:00+00:00

Note: This review contains indirect spoilers. </blockquote>
If Beetlejuice was "probably good, but I don't get it", Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is firmly in the "not good but I guess it's okay if you like it" camp for me.
For one, the original film had its fair share of gore and gross-out humor, but it was never the main point and always had that classic Tim Burton goofiness that made it fun. But this sequel has lost sight of that balance, choosing instead to bring it into (the already crowded) spotlight.
The crowdedness is another problem. This movie has a B, C, and D plot, which sucks up all the screen time. There's the funeral plot, the wedding plot, the teens' plot, the ex-wife plot, the actor-turned-police-chief plot, the shrunken head plot, the grieving wife plot, the toxic boyfriend plot, and the mother-daughter plot. By jamming all of this into one movie, many of these plots don't conclude in a satisfying way. Especially the wedding plot, which is resolved with a single hand-wavey sentence from Astrid (Jenna Ortega).
In addition to having too much gore, there's also too many gross manipulative relationships: three of them! Having one would be good social commentary, but three feels like reducing this movie's women to mere plot devices, used to increase the notoriety of the male villians.
Finally, Everyone is wacky in this movie. There are just no normal people in this movie to act as foils to all the wacky characters. In the original, you have Barbara and Adam to contrast against the Deetz family. When everyone's unhinged, it starts to be a little one-note. Why revive a 36-year-old franchise just to be one-note? This juice is an acquired taste, if you have none. 4 out of 10.

Borderlands

2024-08-22T00:00:00+00:00
Bordersnooze. So many missed opportunities. 3 out of 10.

Deadpool and Wolverine

2024-07-31T00:00:00+00:00
Bloody, funny, but predictable and rough story-wise. 7 out of 10.

Twisters

2024-07-19T00:00:00+00:00

I loved Twisters, and I'm not even a fan of the genre which is a testament to its quality. The concept of a smug influencer storm chaser meeting a by-the-books meterologist is just inherently entertaining. Glen Powell has made a fan of me due to his performance that another reviewer called worthy of "an Oscar for smugness".
Seeing this movie near the opening night in a packed theater also helped the experience. With so many movies coming out in theaters and on streaming services, it's like the concept of a "blockbuster" has been lost in recent years. You can't have a cultural moment centered around a dozen different movies every year, much to the chagrin of studio execs. It's only possible in moderation.
Given Twister (1996) already had a committed fanbase, people showed up to the theater wearing custom T-shirts and left with big smiles. Critics didn't like either the original movie or this remake very much, but I can tell you this is one of those times where the critics are missing the forest for the trees.
If you're entertained by artsyness, then Twisters is not for you. If you're entertained by endearing idiots shooting fireworks into a tornado while blasting Ain't No Love In Oklahoma, then this movie is pure entertainment from start to finish. Is this what it feels like to watch a "blockbuster"? 9.5 out of 10.

Despicable Me 4

2024-07-05T00:00:00+00:00
Not even the kids were laughing. 3.5 out of 10.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die

2024-06-15T00:00:00+00:00
Funny but tropey. 5.5 out of 10.

Inside Out 2

2024-06-15T00:00:00+00:00
Hilarious and a good depiction. 8.5 out of 10.

Garfield

2024-05-23T00:00:00+00:00

My score is a bit inflated here because of the kinda-accidentally-vegan message. A black hole of talent from which no good cinema emerges. 6 out of 10.

If

2024-05-17T00:00:00+00:00
Ambitious but... 5 out of 10.

The Fall Guy

2024-05-03T00:00:00+00:00

"Punchy" is an adjective I often use to describe delicious, strong-tasting food when I can't come up with a better word (I'm barely a film critic, definitely not a food critic). I think it describes this movie perfectly, and the pun is definitely intended.
There's a lot to love about this movie. Obviously the stunts are great, but the writing and acting are equally great. The cover of I Was Made For Lovin' You is great, including the little instrumental motifs every now and then.
But more than anything, this movie really succeeds in writing a love letter to stunt performers and the art of movie-making in general. I wouldn't be surprised if this movie inspires some people to persue a career in film-making. It's definitely inspired me to read more about it.
We re-watched this movie again about a week later, where my score lowered to a 5 due to discovering a few more plot holes, like why did the drug dealer guy even need to exist? Just to have a trippy fight scene? But my original score still stands. Punchy! 8 out of 10.

Insung Hero

2024-04-25T00:00:00+00:00
My average emotion was discomfort. 7 out of 10.

Spy x Family: Code White

2024-04-19T00:00:00+00:00

Spy x Family sets a great example for how to make a good movie based on an anime. There's just so much room for entertainment when you have a concept like a spy father, an assassin mother, and a mind-reader daughter that it would be hard to mess this up. With great action and a great ending, they stuck the landing (no pun intended). When Lloyd finds the cherry liqueur 🥹 8 out of 10.

Shrek 2

2024-04-12T00:00:00+00:00
I need a hero. 7 out of 10.

Luca

2024-03-23T00:00:00+00:00

The trailers made this movie look wildly uninteresting, but the movie itself is good! A good movie with horrible trailers. 8 out of 10.

Arthur the King

2024-03-14T00:00:00+00:00
Dog peril. Buckets of it. 7.5 out of 10.

Ordinary Angels

2024-02-23T00:00:00+00:00
Feel-good movie of the year. 9.5 out of 10.

Demon Slayer: To the Hashira Training

2024-02-22T00:00:00+00:00
Better than the last time at least. 6 out of 10.

Bob Marley: One Love

2024-02-18T00:00:00+00:00
Like the Eras Tour, but slow and boring. 4 out of 10.

Madame Web

2024-02-15T00:00:00+00:00
A great script ruined by being a superhero movie. So goofy it's fun. 8 out of 10.

Turning Red

2024-02-09T00:00:00+00:00
4town is the only good part of this cringy movie. 4 out of 10.

Grown Ups (2010)

2024-02-01T00:00:00+00:00
Predictable and sometimes funny. 5 out of 10.

The Boys in the Boat

2024-01-27T00:00:00+00:00
An okay sports movie. 6 out of 10.

The Holdovers

2024-01-27T00:00:00+00:00
Excellent writing and acting. 9.5 out of 10.

Migration

2024-01-21T00:00:00+00:00
A nothing story with no writing, no jokes, no message, but a nice intro song. 3 out of 10.

Anyone But You

2023-12-26T00:00:00+00:00
Artsy and funny for a "hot people do hot things" movie. 8 out of 10.

Elf (2003)

2023-12-25T00:00:00+00:00
The last great Christmas movie blockbuster. 9.5 out of 10.

Wonka

2023-12-15T00:00:00+00:00
It's good-- nope scratch that, reverse it. 5.5 out of 10.

Time for Us to Come Home for Christmas

2023-12-10T00:00:00+00:00
It's not offensive, but it's not good either. 3.5 out of 10.

The Boy and the Heron

2023-12-07T00:00:00+00:00
There's this boy, oh and there's a Heron... 7 out of 10.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

2023-12-03T00:00:00+00:00
Good quality, good music, but it dragged toward the end. 6.5 out of 10.

Three Wise Men and a Baby

2023-11-30T00:00:00+00:00
It's goofy, but endearing. 4 out of 10.

Next Goal Wins

2023-11-29T00:00:00+00:00
Slow start, killer ending, good acting 8 out of 10.

Wish

2023-11-25T00:00:00+00:00
Feels like the lyrics were written by AI or something. 4 out of 10.

Take Me Back for Christmas

2023-11-15T00:00:00+00:00
Bad acting, good ending. 6.5 out of 10.

Christmas Bedtime Stories

2023-11-14T00:00:00+00:00
A worthy Hallmark movie with a offensive message. 3 out of 10.

The Marvels

2023-11-12T00:00:00+00:00
Carol should have aimed for the head. 5 out of 10.

A Royal Christmas Crush

2023-11-04T00:00:00+00:00
The Christmas and romantic vibes were good, but the ending was annoying. 4 out of 10.

What Happens Later

2023-11-03T00:00:00+00:00

As of 2024, this movie has the lowest score of any movie I've watched, and for good reason. This is the only movie that was so bad I walked out of the theater.
It's a movie of inexplicable contraditions. The characters feel flat and rigid despite their loose attempts at ad-libbing. The comic relief is inserted very intentionally by an airport announcer voice, but it seems no intentionality was expended on the writing of these jokes. The story is bizarre and unique but somehow utterly boring. The conversational topics are so relatable that they become banal (phones are bad, people age, weather exists).
The strange technique of revealing major pieces of information in the middle of unrelated conversations became an inside joke for me and my wife. Nobody talks like that, which makes it funny but also breaks the illusion. Suddenly you're not experiencing a story, you're sitting in a theater watching a movie with a shoe-string budget that has nothing compelling other than this artificial drip-drip of backstory. It's just one long boring conversation. 1.5 out of 10.

Inspector Sun

2023-10-28T00:00:00+00:00
A trope-y movie that is also just bad. 2 out of 10.

Homeward Bound (1993)

2023-09-15T00:00:00+00:00
A bit spooky but otherwise an alright movie 6.5 out of 10.

Blue Beetle

2023-08-31T00:00:00+00:00
I like the jokes, but not the writing. 5 out of 10.

Captain America: The First Avenger

2023-08-08T00:00:00+00:00
So goofy, but somehow still a little endearing. 7 out of 10.

Jujutsu Kaisen 0

2023-08-07T00:00:00+00:00
Good arc and good action, but didn't like the vibes (not "movie" enough). 8 out of 10.

Haunted Mansion

2023-08-06T00:00:00+00:00
Surprisingly fun and well-written. 9 out of 10.

Erin Brockovich (2000)

2023-07-30T00:00:00+00:00
"I like lawyer, it make me cry, environmentalism". 7.5 out of 10.

Barbie

2023-07-21T00:00:00+00:00

I heard this movie was re-written over and over again throughout the years. I think it shows, in a good way. It was able to navigate the fraught waters that Barbie exists in.
Given this is an official Mattel product, audiences will walk in with an air of skepticism (I know I did). If they couldn't laugh at themselves, then it would have flopped. But the decision to cast an unhinged Will Ferrell as the CEO of Mattel alleviated those concerns right away.
But let's focus on the real strength of this movie: Margot Robbie and America Ferrera's stand-out performances, under the expert direction of Greta Gerwig, expert writing, expert supporting actors, iconic wardrobe, ingenious set design, and amazing music. One of the only times I wanted a single movie to absolutely sweep the Oscars.
Something I don't see many people talking about is how all the scenes in "Barbie-land" are written like a scenario a kid would come up with. Like Ken running into the ocean to impress Barbie, then bouncing off the (plastic) waves, flying through the air, and landing on the (plastic) beach. It's a testament to the writers that the childish whimsy blends cleanly into the background, since too much of it would of course feel like it was written by a child.
And I'm a sucker for a good monologue, since they always remind me of Independence Day. They have to be both well-written and well-performed, and America Ferrera's delivery ensured this monologue can stand with the greats.
This is another movie we rewatched, which is high praise coming from me. Funny, smart, and topical without being cringy. 8.5 out of 10.

Oppenheimer

2023-07-21T00:00:00+00:00

We watched this at 10:30AM, then Barbie at 4:30PM. Happy to have particiated in an unhinged internet meme. More like a History Channel special than a movie. 7 out of 10.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken

2023-07-05T00:00:00+00:00
Enjoyable, but a little ugly and unoriginal. 7 out of 10.

Indiana Jones And The Dial of Destiny

2023-07-02T00:00:00+00:00
One long tropey chase scene with plot holes. 4 out of 10.

No Hard Feelings

2023-06-24T00:00:00+00:00
Hilarious and well-acted. 9 out of 10.

Elemental

2023-06-17T00:00:00+00:00

Okay, so ostensibly this is a movie about the immigrant experience in New York City. This theme is about as subtle as a very unsubtle thing, which isn't bad! Subtle themes fly over the heads of most audiences, and this is a story worth telling clearly. It's based on the director Peter Sohn's experience as the son of Korean immigrants in the 1970s. Promising idea, right?
Well Elemental starts off on the right foot. It constructs a beautiful and fantastical place called "Element City" that manages to be a fine depiction of New York City. It's a bustling city with a diverse and growing immigrant population. Everyone's just trying to carve out a happy life for themselves in a society that is structurally stacked against them.
The main character— Ember Lumen (Leah Lewis)— and her family own a convenience store which mirrors Sohn's own childhood in the Bronx. The Lumens have to work long hours, money is tight, and they have to deal with vandalism and poorly maintained infrastructure with seemingly no support from the local government or community.
That poorly maintained infrastructure is exactly how the shoehorned romance plot begins because a water person named Wade (Mamoudou Athie) floods into the basement of their convenience store. Like the start of all good romance plots, the characters apologize after bumping into each other, clean up the mess, and the spark of romance becomes a flame of passion (heh).
Just kidding, that's not what happened at all! Wade is a city inspector who does nothing to clean up the mess. Instead, he plans to report the broken plumbing to the city while being fully aware this would result in Ember's family store being shut down and them losing their livlihood. All of this over some plumbing that was apparently overloaded due to a leak in the canal that the city maintains. Nothing's dreamier than a guy who's willing to destroy your family over a technicality I guess.
Trying to get Wade's boss, Gale (Wendi McLendon-Covey) to forgive the unfair citation Wade wrote in the first place is the main driver of the rest of the plot. Gale agrees to forgive the citation in exchange for finding the source of a leak in the canal. This was Wade's job to begin with, but now Ember is essentially being blackmailed to help out too. Gale even tells them to hire a crew to fix the leak! What kind of a city is this?
To me, the only rational explanation is that this is a depiction of systematic racism</a>. It evokes things like "broken windows policing</a>", the Flint water crisis</a>, the injustice of San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez</a>, or any other case of racial hierarchies being systematically enforced.
And that's exactly what's happening in Element City. The city is literally built to be hostile to fire people, such as the elevated subway that sends deadly splashes of water down to the streets where Ember does deliveries. At some point, Ember visits Wade's family, which lives in the richer part of town in a giant skyscraper surrounded by deadly water features, showcasing the wealth disparity in the city. So it's no wonder that a city built and run entirely by non-fire people would subject the community of fire people to unsafe living conditions and refuse to do anything about it.
Now we're at a crossroads in the plot. Will the movie maturely engage with its own depiction of racism? The answer is no. I'm not expecting the characters to rise up and single-handedly "solve" racism, but to totally brush off the situation they're in at every turn feels like the writers are normalizing</a> it.
Ember and Wade did find and fix the leak in the canal using sand melted into glass. Gale inspects the (clearly fragile) fix and deems it safe. But of course, it breaks, massively flooding the area where most of the fire people live.
In real life, floods of that size are generally deadly, so I can't imagine all of the fire people survived even though there were no on-screen deaths. So Gale's incompetence lead to the likely deaths of many people and the destruction of their homes, but suffers no consequences and doesn't even appear in the film after inspecting the fix. Also in real life, when marginalized groups experience hardship, sometimes they come together as a community in beautiful ways, just like what happened in the Bronx in the 70s</a>. Grassroots groups organized to keep city services running when "the area’s elected officials... were mostly corrupt and disinterested in helping their constituents".
No similar grassroots organizing happened in Elemental, which I feel like is a pretty glaring omission. Seeing that preventable disaster happen and having the focus suddenly shift to the Ember-Wade romance plot just felt so unsatisfying. It really broke the spell and made me realize I was just sitting in a theater consuming a piece of mass media that has nothing revolutionary to say, despite teeing it up very well. Revolutionary things and big box office numbers don't mix, and Elemental didn't have either. Well animated, but extremely tone-deaf. 3 out of 10.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

2023-06-11T00:00:00+00:00
Does what it says on the tin. 6 out of 10.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

2023-06-04T00:00:00+00:00
The better animation and the cool reveal made the cliffhanger tolerable. 9 out of 10.

Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

2023-06-03T00:00:00+00:00
Beautifully animated, sharp script, and just plain fun. 8 out of 10.

The Little Mermaid (2023)

2023-05-30T00:00:00+00:00
Everything's better down where it's wetter, but I still give it a C. 4 out of 10.

About My Father

2023-05-28T00:00:00+00:00
A whole lotta fun the whole way through. RIP Sgt. Feathers. 9 out of 10.

Blackberry

2023-05-22T00:00:00+00:00
An absurdist movie which ended up being just kinda sad. 6 out of 10.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

2023-05-14T00:00:00+00:00
An excellent conclusion to Marvel's best series. 9 out of 10.

Book Club: The Next Chapter

2023-05-11T00:00:00+00:00
A disappointing sequel filled with cringy jokes. 3 out of 10.

Big George Foreman

2023-05-05T00:00:00+00:00
An ambitious film with an abrupt ending. 6 out of 10.

Are you there God? It's me, Margaret

2023-04-27T00:00:00+00:00
Yes there's cringe, but there's also humor, heart, and a great B-plot. 9.5 out of 10.

Polite Society

2023-04-22T00:00:00+00:00
Unique, funny, and action-packed, just an abrupt ending. 7 out of 10.

The Parent Trap (1998)

2023-04-21T00:00:00+00:00

I think I've definitely got a soft spot for 90's-00's movies, and The Parent Trap is an exemplar, which earns its high score from me.
I can't remember exactly why I knocked off half of a point, possibly it was the fake British accent (Lindsay Lohan did her best). Funny, heart-felt, and easily rewatchable. 9.5 out of 10.

Suzume

2023-04-19T00:00:00+00:00
A pointless romance and an ugly worm in an otherwise beautifully-animated, intriguing movie. 7 out of 10.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

2023-04-07T00:00:00+00:00
Even worse than you would expect from a soulless cash grab. 3 out of 10.

Air

2023-04-05T00:00:00+00:00

Initial discussion around this movie decried it as a cash-grab, since it's "just" people talking in an office building. Easy to shoot, easy to light, no need to deal with weather, no stunts, no CGI, etc.
That's all true, but another way to think of it is that the script and the actors can't hide behind anything. I watch a lot of competition shows, and every time a contestant says "I'm going for something simple", the judges always say "alright, but it better be absolutely perfect". Air does just that. Funny, emotional, compelling, and Viola Davis absolutely did it to 'em. 10 out of 10.

Everything Everwhere All at Once

2023-03-20T00:00:00+00:00

I don't think I need to write much to justify giving a perfect score to probably the greatest independent film to come out this decade.
My scoring system gives a lot of weight to "missed opportunities", and this film doesn't miss. Amazing story, characters, acting, message, visuals, and everything else I can think of.
The other part of my scoring system is more feeling-based. How I see it, movies either show a fake, fantastical world where the good guys always win, or they show the real, messy world that has no rhyme or reason. By embracing absurdism and approaching it honestly, the movie manages to do what I thought was impossible: present a unique message that rings true, while also managing to be uplifting. Entrancing, impressive, and oddly reassuring. 10 out of 10.

Moving On

2023-03-19T00:00:00+00:00
An excellent successor to EGBOK, just needed to tie up a few loose ends. 8 out of 10.

Jesus Revolution

2023-03-07T00:00:00+00:00
Surprisingly deep characters, but made shallow by reality. 6 out of 10.

Magic Mike: Last Dance

2023-03-05T00:00:00+00:00
It draws much comedic effect from Channing Tatum standing out in every scene, but it could take itself a tad less seriously. 7 out of 10.

Demon Slayer: To the Swordsmith Village

2023-03-03T00:00:00+00:00
Is 20 minutes of good anime worth suffering through 1.5 hours of copy/pasted content? 3 out of 10.

Spider Man: No Way Home (2021)

2023-02-26T00:00:00+00:00
It may be fun Marvel fanservice, but the death was silly and the moral message was bankrupt. 6 out of 10.

Ant Man: Quantumania

2023-02-25T00:00:00+00:00
Immersive setting, and important in the MCU, but struggles with storytelling (and some awkward acting). 7 out of 10.

80 for Brady

2023-02-10T00:00:00+00:00

80 for Brady had great marketing since the concept is so inherently funny. We watched all three of Jane Fonda's movies in 2023 (how does she do it?) and this is the best one. But with such a great concept comes high expectations of the comedy, which didn't land for me.
Despite this flaw, I think it can hold up as any other classic feel-good comedy. Something about the editing or the music feels nostalgic, hearkening back to sport-comedies around the 2000s like maybe Talladega Nights, The Waterboy, or Dodgeball. I guess 80 for Brady is a bit more serious than those movies, especially the thing Jane Fonda's character is being secretive about, culminating in her (amazing) monologue. But like all those other movies, they aren't that laugh-out-loud funny, but consistently funny enough and well-written enough to become classics.
For all those reasons, we ended up watching this movie again a year later. Just like those other classic movies, it's eminently rewatchable, which is higher praise than the middling score implies. Enjoyable, but didn't live up to its comedic potential. 7 out of 10.

Puss in Boots 2

2023-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

This was our first movie since we started tracking movie scores. In a way, it inspired us to start keeping track and to sign up for a movie theater subscription! Great characters, a clear plot, and punchlines that hit, unlike the musical numbers. 8 out of 10.