A Non-Spoiler Review of Solo: A Star Wars Story

As per usual, we saw the newest Star Wars movie on opening night. Solo: A Star Wars Story is one of the “off-shoot” movies (like Rogue One), as in it’s not part of the episodic saga like The Force Awakens or The Last Jedi. I felt a great deal of conflict about this movie. Han Solo is my favorite Star Wars character and only one actor can play him, the beloved Harrison Ford. Was this movie going to be good? Did it have a chance of me liking it? These were the thoughts leading up to the movie. Hungry and I have the joy of living walking distance to Disney’s El Capitan theater and we try to see new Disney movies there (and that does include Star Wars movies now) because they usually have cool shows or behind-the-scenes stuff. And we did so last night, walking our way over to the theater. It wasn’t as huge and high-energy as the Last Jedi release, but still plenty of Star Wars fans buzzing. There was a fun photo op with Chewbacca and some Stormtroopers and they had props from the movie downstairs. But you’re not here to hear this, you want to hear what I thought of the movie!

May082018

Avengers: Infinity War Review

Spoilers, spoilers, spoilers.

A lot of speculation manifested before the Avengers: Infinity War was released based on discussions and rumors about the contracts of some of the biggest stars in the MCU. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has dished out nearly 20 movies over the past decade or so and it is hard to see anyone other than Chris Evans as Captain America or Chris Hemsworth as Thor. For us, that remains extremely true for every character and recasting would greatly tarnish the legacy of the entire MCU.

Based on these rumors, I thought they were going to kill Captain America, especially since he survived Civil War, which he does not in the comics. Even though there are multiple timelines and realities in the comics, that one is key and I was shocked when he didn’t die in Civil War. Add the rumors of Evans’ desire to end his role as Captain, and I thought that he definitely wouldn’t make it through Infinity War.

May282017

Top 10 Movie Braintrust & Honorable Mentions

We’ve made it to the (kind of) beginning of our great list–our top 10 movies of ALL time! Remember, for some of us, it’s our favorite movies, for others, it’s what they consider to be the best of the best. That’s what makes it fun–we basically didn’t set any rules and let the creators go wild. We collected a fun bunch of people for you to enjoy. Some you’ve seen before in our last Top Whatever list, but there will be new faces this time around! To start of this exciting Top 10 Movie series, we are going to introduce everyone (or have them introduce themselves) and have them state any honorable mention(s) they may have. Can’t wait to see the whole list!

Kai

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(guy on the right)

I’m Kai, Alana’s brother. I’m partially responsible for all the nerdy movies on Alana’s list due to all the Star Wars RPG and computer games we played as kids. I love imaginative cinematography, clever twists, and futuristic/sci-fi movies.

Honorable mention: Fight Club
I didn’t see Fight Club when it came out, but instead watched it at a friend’s house in high school. The movie has beautiful, almost cartoon-y cinematography and wonderful pacing as it accelerates inevitably towards its fantastic twist ending. It challenges the boring corporatism of the 90s with a dark, gritty world and anti-conformist message. Is there a 90s teenager who didn’t love this movie? The movie’s prescription feels a little silly now, but the values it propagates still resonate. It commands the audience to wake up and listen the small voice that wonders “is this it?”.

Mar152017

A Closer Look into Kedi

Kedi was an absolutely beautiful movie. The soundtrack was so well-integrated with the content of the film that you barely even noticed it was there. The acting was delightful because it was all about people being genuine. What makes that so interesting is the fact that it was set in Istanbul, where many of the viewers of the film probably haven’t been. The camera work and editing highlighted the stunning visual prowess and character of the city and its inhabitants. The most important citizens of Istanbul were the human and feline populations that seem to get along so naturally.

Kedi makes you think about our relationship with what Americans would call stray cats. They probably wouldn’t identify them as feral or alley cats because it’s just not the most common terminology among the general public nowadays. There’s a very negative connotation and feeling in many parts of our country about cats being out and about in the streets, but after watching Kedi one might wonder, why?