Month: March 2024

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date March 31, 2024
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As of now, I have seen only thirteen movies involving Godzilla and/or King Kong (about 19 percent of them all according to Letterboxd).

I mention this at the outset because I now only realize how all the movies have one key challenge to face: balance the monster scenes with the human character scenes. Of course, a vast majority (if not all) of audiences will be going to these films for the CGI monster mashing, making most of the human stories somewhat forgettable (unless you are Godzilla Minus One, the film that finally won Godzilla an Oscar).

Tags 2024, Brian Tyree Henry, Godzilla, Godzilla Minus One, Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla x Kong The New Empire, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Katie Hottle, King Kong, Rated PG-13, Rebecca Hall

3 Stars

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date March 25, 2024
No Comments on Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

I was very wary about this movie, perhaps mainly because I was wary about the franchise as a whole.

The original Ghostbusters from 1984 is an undoubtable bona fide comedy classic. The sequel,…I saw it once and don’t remember much from it. While I have yet to see the 2016 female reboot, the 2021 sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife showed that, with adding some new characters, the franchise still had a little bit of,…well, life. Still, with the film being pushed back from it’s original December release (albeit due to the SAG strike) still had me less than eager to see this. Thankfully, this franchise still has not yet frozen over.

Tags Bill Murray, Carrie Coon, Celeste O' Connor, Dan Akroyd, Ernie Hudson, Finn Wolfhard, Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Grace Mckenna, Harold Ramis, Ivan Reitman, Paul Rudd, PG-13, Rated PG-13, William Atherton

2 1/2 Stars

Arthur the King (2024)

One viewing of the trailer of Arthur the King is more than enough to see where this film is going.

When asked what movie I was going to see, I mentioned the title.

“What is that?”, I was asked.

“The Mark Wahlberg/Dog movie.”

Tags Arthur the King, Based on a True Story, Mark Wahlberg, Movie Reviews, PG-13, Rated PG-13, Simon Cellan Jones, Simu Liu

"Top Tens", and others Movies

Predictions for the 96th Academy Awards

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date March 9, 2024
No Comments on Predictions for the 96th Academy Awards

I am really coming in to the 11th hour.

With the only a few days left until the Academy Awards, my predictions are finally done, but at the cost of a few things, namely, that I don’t have all the photos I would normally have with this post.

(On the plus side, I did have time to see all the shorts).

Much of that has to do with the same old story of me overthinking certain categories and not knowing what to pick. That is not to say that there are not certain categories that are easy to predict. the real question of Oscar night will be how many awards will Oppenheimer sweep and how many will the rest get?

Here are my predictions

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Tags 96th, 96th Academy Awards, Academy Awards, american fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Oppenheimer, Oscar Predictions, Oscars, Past Lives, Poor things, Predictions, THe Holdovers, The Zone of Interest

4 1/2 Stars Movies

Dune: Part Two (2024)

“Dune Part 2 is the The Godfather 2 of Sci-Fi films.”

– My buddy Rudy

Like many, Rudy was able to see this movie this past Sunday (I was unaware of this early showing until I had already had my tickets). As great a movie lover (and friend) that he is, Rudy does tend to over hype things a bit (I fall into this same trap, but I am gradually improving a little).As the storytelling is more gradual and less bombastic as other sci-fi films, so was my appreciation for this epic sequel.