Movies

The Best Of: 2022

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best of 2022 collage

The year 2022 might be remembered as the year we got back to “normal”. In the spirit of that, let’s revisit all the best things that happened this past year, even if 2022 wasn’t the best year for everyone.

Best Movie
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
The next entry in one of my favorite movies from 2019, Glass Onion is another murder mystery led by Daniel Craig. We first saw him in Knives Out which surprised many as a breakout hit and a fresh take on the murder mystery genre. Glass Onion is different, but good in similar ways. My favorite thing about Glass Onion is how the story unfolds and you aren’t trying to solve the puzzle the entire time.

Best TV Show
Severance
Seems like Severance came out so long ago that I had to check if it was indeed released in 2022. It premiered in February and was released weekly like the good old days. If you haven’t yet watched Severance (Apple TV+) be sure to check it out before season 2 premieres. It’s such a good show and I don’t think I can do it justice trying to explain it here. What I will do is say that it’s a sci-fi/thriller series set in an office.

Best Music Album
Dirty Heads – Midnight Control
In 2022 we began to see the fruits of labor from the lockdown and we got a lot of great music this year. The Dirty Heads have released their 8th album Midnight Control and it might be their best yet. Give it a listen, even if you don’t necessarily like their other music. They are definitely a genre-bending band and with each new album they introduce a refined sound.

Best Song
Morgan Wallen – You Proof
A country song about whiskey and breakups, what’s so good about it? I’m not sure, but You Proof is the song I listened to the most this year and almost all of those listens were by choice. Morgan Wallen is someone who keeps churning out good music and I’m not even a country music fan.

Best Video Game
Vampire Survivors
Lots of great games were released in 2022 (mostly for Playstation) and none struck me and reeled me in like Vampire Survivors. I actually didn’t notice this game until recently and I played it for hours on Xbox Game Pass, then bought it on Steam to play it on the go. it’s a simple game too. The only control mechanism is the direction your player moves. It has been described as a “pure hit of Dopamine”.

Best Mobile Game
Marvel Snap
Look… I’m not a big Marvel fan. I’m not a fan of card strategy games. I rarely play mobile games more than a few times. For some reason, I can’t put down Marvel Snap. It’s a simple card-based game that is absolutely free. Try it, but remember, I warned you that it’s addicting.

Best Podcast
SmartLess
Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes have a comedy podcast where they interview famous people but end up spending a lot of the time joking with one another. It’s a welcome change in my podcast rotation apart from my usual tech and movie/tv podcasts. I’m a Jason Bateman fan and his personality on SmartLess is a lot like some of his movie characters.

Best New Tech Product
Steam Deck
A mobile computer gaming machine that’s better in a lot of ways than the Nintendo Switch. I did an in-depth review on this beast, that you can read over here.

Best Apple Product
Apple Watch Ultra
Apple finally made a watch worthy of my lifestyle. No I don’t rock climb, SCUBA dive, or run marathons, but I am rough on technology. Read my in-depth review on the Apple Watch Ultra over here and let me know what you think!

Let me know your thoughts on Facebook, Twitter, or where ever you saw this post!

Last year’s The Best of 2021

Movie Ratings

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I like movies and I’m a collector, so I love seeing how many movies I can mark off my to-watch list. I recently started rating every movie I’ve even seen and that process taught me about a lot of great (or critically acclaimed) movies that I have never seen.

I use the movie rating site Letterboxd and as of posting this, I’ve rated over 1,200 films.

View my ratings on Letterboxd

This wouldn’t be a Beard Blog post without a Top 10 list so based on my ratings found on Letterboxd, here are my top 10 movies of all time:

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The Best of 2020: Movies

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Movie theaters were open for like five minutes this year and it doesn’t look like their reopening anytime soon. Most all big movie releases this year were either delayed or went directly to streaming so it’s been a crap year for new movies. There were a handful that snuck out before the pandemic hit, but all the blockbusters haven’t seen the light of day yet. In fact, this past Christmas day, Wonder Woman 1984 was released on HBO Max, for no additional cost. This is the first giant movie to do this and Warner Media is continuing this strategy into 2021. All in all, 2020 was a crap year for movies, hopefully next year is better.

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Oscar Nominations 2020

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The 92nd annual Academy Awards (Oscars) air Sunday February 9, 2020 on ABC

Back again for 2020 are the Beard Blog Oscars picks.

I made a determined effort to see as many nominated films this year before the awards.

Overall I feel like this year was a hell of lot better than last year. Some big names really showed out this year and put forth a plethora of legendary performances. This is a very difficult year to not only predict but also decide on which film / whom I thought was the best.

Overall, Once upon a Time…in Hollywood was my favorite movie but I’ll admit I’m partial to both QT2 and LDC3 and I think they put together a great movie. Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie also had great parts in OUATIH.1

Scarlett Johansson had a great year with an amazing performance in Marriage Story and an interesting portrayal in Jojo Rabbit.

Parasite seemed to come out of nowhere and while I wasn’t excited about reading subtitles throughout an entire movie, they disappear into the great story behind them. This is also the 12th time a foreign language film was nominated for Best Picture. And also for the second year in a row after last year’s nomination for Roma.

1917 was a great war epic that was uniquely shot and looks fantastic. This will probably win a lot of awards thanks to the director/writer’s personal ties to the film.

I felt like Joker was a bit overrated, but I can see why people hold it highly just based on the performance by Joaquin Phoenix. This is considered to be another comic book movie, but if you’ve seen Joker, you’ll realize it was just set in the world of Gotham City.

One of the longest movies ever nominated (Gone With the Wind holds the record) The Irishman. This seems like the final chapter in a long career of great films between Martin Scorsese, Robert DeNiro, and Joe Pesci. If you can get through the over three and a half hours this clocks in at, you’ll be delighted by how the story wraps up.

Knives Out was a great take on murder mysteries that also seemed to come out of nowhere. A great cast and superb writing could make this a sleeper this year.

I felt Ford v. Ferrari was a great bio film but may leave some audiences out if they don’t appreciate motorsports and/or the history of cars.

Jojo Rabbit is a weird look at WWII Germany. I found it entertaining and witty, but not Best Picture worthy.

The nominees are below, in bold is who I think should win, and in italics are what I think the academy will give the Oscars to.

  • Best Picture
    • Ford v Ferrari
    • The Irishman
    • Jojo Rabbit
    • Joker
    • Little Women
    • Marriage Story
    • 1917
    • Once upon a Time…in Hollywood
    • Parasite
  • Actor in a Leading Role
    • Antonia Banderas – Pain and Glory
    • Leonardo DiCaprio – OUATIH1
    • Adam Driver – Marriage Story
    • Joaquin Phoenix – Joker
    • Jonathan Pryce – The Two Popes
  • Actress in a Leading Role
    • Cynthia Erivo – Harriet
    • Scarlett Johansson – Marriage Story
    • Saoirse Ronan – Little Women
    • Charlize Theron – Bombshell
    • Renee Zellweger – Judy
  • Actor in a Supporting Role
    • Tom Hanks – A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
    • Anthony Hopkins – The Two Popes
    • Al Pacino – The Irishman
    • Joe Pesci – The Irishman
    • Brad Pitt – OUATIH1
  • Actress in a Supporting Role
    • Kathy Bates – Richard Jewell
    • Laura Dern – Marriage Story
    • Scarlett Johansson – Jojo Rabbit
    • Florence Pugh – Little Women
    • Margot Robbie – Bombshell
  • Directing
    • Martin Scorsese – The Irishman
    • Todd Phillips – Joker
    • Sam Mendes – 1917
    • OUATIH1 – Quentin Tarantino
    • Bong Joon Ho – Parasite
  • Writing (Adapted)
    • Steven Zaillian – The Irishman
    • Taika Waititi – Jojo Rabbit
    • Todd Phillips – Joker
    • Greta Gerwig – Little Women
    • Anything McCarten – The Two Popes
  • Writing (Original)
    • Rian Johnson – Knives Out
    • Noah Baumbach – Marriage Story
    • Sam Mendes – 1917
    • Quentin Tarantino – OUATIH1
    • Bong Joon Ho – Parasite

Disclosure – Movies on this list I have not yet seen at time of publishing:

  • A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
  • Harriet
  • Little Women
  • Pain and Glory
  • Richard Jewell
  • The Two Popes

Check out my Oscars predictions from last year!

1 Once upon a Time…in Hollywood
2 Quentin Tarantino
3 Leonardo DiCaprio

Oscar Predictions 2019

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The 91st annual Academy Awards airs Sunday February 24, 2019 on ABC

Back again for 2019 are the Beard Blog Oscar picks.

I made a determined effort to see as many nominated films this year before the awards.

Overall I feel like this was a weak year compared to last. A lot of mediocre films made the list and we’ve now seen our film superhero / blockbuster move, Black Panther, make the nominee list several times. This could be signaling a shift in how the academy picks award winning films, but we shall see how the results play out.

My picks, based on my opinion, of which film or which person should win, are below in bold:

  • Best Picture
    • Black Panther
    • BlacKkKlansman
    • Bohemian Rhapsody
    • The Favorite
    • Green Book
    • Roma
    • A Star is Born
    • Vice
  • Actor in a Leading Role
    • Christian Bale – Vice
    • Bradley Cooper – A Star is Born
    • Willem Dafoe – At Eternity’s Gate
    • Rami Malek – Bohemian Rhapsody
    • Viggo Mortensen – Green Book
  • Actress in a Leading Role
    • Yalitza Aparicio – Roma
    • Glenn Close – The Wife
    • Olivia Colman – The Favourite
    • Lady Gaga – A Star is Born
    • Melissa McCarthy – Can You Ever Forgive Me?
  • Actor in a Supporting Role
    • Mahershala Ali – Green Book
    • Adam Driver – BlacKkKlansman
    • Sam Elliott – A Star is Born
    • Richard E. Grant – Can You Ever Forgive Me?
    • Sam Rockwell – Vice
  • Actress in a Supporting Role
    • Amy Adams – Vice
    • Marina de Tavira – Roma
    • Regina King – If Beale Street Could Talk
    • Emma Stone – The Favourite
    • Rachel Weisz – The Favourite
  • Directing
    • Spike Lee – BlacKkKlansman
    • Pawet Pawlikowski – Cold War
    • Yorgos Lanthimos – The Favourite
    • Alfonso Cuaron – Roma
    • Adam McKay – Vice
  • Writing (Adapted)
    • Joel & Ethan Coen – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
    • Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowtiz – BlacKkKlansman
    • Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty – Can You Ever Forgive Me?
    • Barry Jenkins – If Beale Street Could Talk
    • Eric Roth & Bradley Cooper – A Star is Born
  • Writing (Original)
    • Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara – The Favourite
    • Paul Shrader – First Reformed
    • Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, & Peter Farrelly – Green Book
    • Alfonso Cuaron – Roma
    • Adam McKay – Vice

Beard Blog Movie Review: The Shape of Water (2017)

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Academy Award Winner: Best Picture – 2018

shape of water
The beast and the beauty

The Shape of Water is a fantasy love story about an amphibious god and a mute woman, taking place during the Cold War era. It’s a very simple movie that seems to draw some inspiration from The Beauty and the Beast tale. [perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The Shape of Water is filled with glorious scenes of cinematography and color.[/perfectpullquote]

Directed by Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, and Octavia Spencer. Sally Hawkins plays a mute middle-aged woman named Elisa who lives alone and works the night shift at a Navy research center near DC. Her neighbor, played by Richard Jenkins struggles with both his sexuality and his art career. Elisa and her neighbor Giles find comfort in each other during various struggles in this film.

Michael Shannon plays an eccentric antagonist who is set to torture and kill the amphibian man.

The Shape of Water is filled with glorious scenes of cinematography and color. The story is a little weak in the fact that we have no idea why the government wants this thing or what Elisa’s backstory is. There’s a lot of moving parts put into this two hour movie, but by the end, we’re left wanting more information about what just happened.

It’s easy to see what The Shape of Water won this year’s best picture award, but all in all it proved to be a weak year in terms of everlasting classic movies.

Who should see this movie? Fans of fantasy love stories, people who like the previous work of Guillermo del Toro, and if you want to see what the best movie of the year is.

Who shouldn’t see this movie? People who can’t grasp the fact of a “human” loving a “beast” and children because of sexual content.

Score

8 / 10 – A great movie overall, still not convinced it was this year’s best. After watching The Shape of Water you might find yourself saying “That was weird…”.

Read more of my movie reviews

Spoilers

 

Caution! Spoilers ahead.

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Beard Blog Oscars Predictions – 2018

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The Beard Blog Academy Awards Predictions

This is definitely a strong female year.  Most of the great movies from this past season feature strong female performances and even a female director.

I have chosen my favorites from this past year and given out my own “awards”:

Beard Blog Outstanding Performance Awards:

Director:

  • Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird
  • Jordan Peele – Get Out
  • Aaron Sorkin – Molly’s Game

Actress:

  • Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water
  • Margot Robbie – I, Tonya
  • Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird
  • Laurie Metcalf – Lady Bird
  • Octavia Spencer – The Shape of Water
  • Jessica Chastain – Molly’s Game

Actor:

  • Michael Shannon – The Shape of Water
  • Tom Hanks – The Post
  • Idris Elba – Molly’s Game
  • Ansel Elgort – Baby Driver

 

90th Academy Awards:

Best Picture:
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Actor:
* Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour

Best Actress:
* Francis McDormand – Three Billboards…

Best Supporting Actor:
* Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards…

Best Supporting Actress:
* Allison Janney – I, Tonya

Best Director:
* Guillermo del Toro – The Shape of Water

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Molly’s Game

Best Original Screenplay:
Three Billboards…

* = correct prediction

See my movie reviews here

Beard Blog Movie Review: The Post (2017)

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To publish, or not to publish.

In the early 1970s The Washington Post has to decide whether they owe it to the nation to publish secret White House documents or forever be controlled by the government.

post
The Washington Post

Meryl Streep stars a Kay Graham, the first female newspaper publisher, as she navigates through one of the most important times in media / White House relations. The New York Times uncovers a report written by a former member of the Department of Defense that details the why the United States could not win the Vietnam war.

Tom Hanks co-stars as the editor of the Washington Post who desperately tries to get the papers published after the NYT was barred from doing so.

This movie is not that deep, not that complicated, and if you are up on American history, you already know the outcome. That being said, the acting in The Post is superb. Streep and Hanks show off their seasoned skills and Steven Spielberg shines through as usual.

The Post starts off slow giving us background information on how this whole thing came about. It isn’t until about half way through when it pulls you into the suspense.

This is one of the year’s best movies, but I wouldn’t call it the best. True to history stories can be entertaining and rewarding, but most of the time they are just average.

Who should see this movie? People who like American history especially dealing with Vietnam-era details, Fans of Streep, Hanks and/or Spielberg, and lovers of dramatic-suspenseful stories.

Who shouldn’t see this movie? People who find true stories or political dramas boring and viewers who may not fully understand the relationship of the media to the White House.

Score

8 / 10 – The Post tells the story of the Pentagon Papers very well and Streep & Hanks make it entertaining to watch.

See more of my movie reviews here

No Spoilers

If you want to know what happens, read this Wikipedia article.

Oscar Nominations 2018

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The 90th annual Academy Awards airs Sunday March 4, 2018 on ABC

Here are my picks for this years Oscars. These are not my predictions (those will come later). These are my votes as if they let me into the Academy.

Oscars

*Unfortunately, I have not see all the films listed below as of writing this (which could change), so I only voted for those I have seen.

My picks are highlighted in gold.  Visit the links to see my reviews.

  • Best Picture
  • Actor in a Leading Role
    • Timothy Chalamet – Call Me by Your Name
    • Daniel Day-Lewis – Phantom Thread
    • Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out
    • Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour
    • Denzel Washington – Roman J. Israel, Esq.
  • Actress in a Leading Role
    • Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water
    • Frances McDormand – Three Billboards…
    • Margot Robbie – I, Tonya
    • Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird
    • Meryl Streep – The Post
  • Actor in a Supporting Role
    • Willem Dafoe – The Florida Project
    • Woody Harrelson – Three Billboards…
    • Richard Jenkins – The Shape of Water
    • Christopher Plummer – All the Money in the World
    • Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards…
  • Actress in a Supporting Role
    • Mary J. Blige – Mudbound
    • Allison Janney – I, Tonya
    • Lesley Manville – Phantom Thread
    • Laurie Metcalf – Lady Bird
    • Octavia Spencer – The Shape of Water
  • Directing
    • Christopher Nolan – Dunkirk
    • Jordan Peele – Get Out
    • Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird
    • Paul Thomas Anderson – Phantom Thread
    • Guillermo del Toro – The Shape of Water
  • Writing (Adapted)
    • Call Me by Your Name – James Ivory
    • The Disaster Artist – Nuestadler & Weber
    • Logan – Frank, Mangold, and Green
    • Molly’s Game – Aaron Sorkin
    • Mudbound – Williams & Rees
  • Writing (Original)
    • The Big Sick – Gordon & Nanjani
    • Get Out – Jordan Peele
    • Lady Bird – Greta Gerwig
    • The Shape of Water – del Toro & Taylor
    • Three Billboards… – Martin McDonough

Beard Blog Movie Review: I, Tonya (2017)

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”It wasn’t my fault.”

The true story of how Olympic ice skater Tonya Harding became one of the most well-known people in the world, for all the wrong reasons.

tonya
Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding

I, Tonya is told from the perspective of Tonya Harding through recreations of interviews over the last 40 years. She always maintains her innocence and we get to see the (supposed) true story of what really went down.

Being a young kind in the early 90s, I wasn’t fully aware of everything that had happened between Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. Up until seeing this film, I always believed the narrative that Tonya smashed Nancy’s knee with a lead pipe of some sort. This was incorrect, and I’m glad to know the truth.

This film’s writing is stellar and makes me feel like I’m getting the whole life experience of Tonya Harding. Better than the writing is the acting. Margot Robbie is phenomenal as Tonya; she is perfect for this role. Allison Janney steals the show with her tough love, foul-mouthed, hard working persona. I know Janney is getting a lot of press for this role, but I still think it’s underrated.

The other acting is passable by themselves, but without Robbie and Janney this movie would never leave the cutting room floor.

Before seeing I, Tonya I thought there would be less actual ice skating and more about her life outside of skating. I was wrong and that’s not a bad thing. Turns out, I, Tonya is a biopic that paints Tony Harding in a very good light.

This movie may also help victims in a abusive relationship see how things really look from the outside. Hopefully anyone going through that can find a way to get help.

Who should see this movie? Ice skating fans, people who follow(ed) the Harding/Kerrigan story, and viewers who like a good biopic with dark comedy.

Who shouldn’t see this movie? Viewers who do not like profanity or domestic violence, people who hate ice skating, and those who can’t find the humor in this story.

Score

8.5 / 10 – I, Tonya is a fun, emotional, and riveting tale of one of the biggest news stories from the 90s.

See more of my movie reviews here

Spoilers

Caution! Spoilers ahead.

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Beard Blog Movie Review: Molly’s Game (2017)

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Deal with her.

Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut is the true story behind skier turned poker criminal Molly Bloom. The film is based on the book by Molly Bloom of the same name and it’s referenced throughout the movie as it takes place after the books release. 

Molly bloom
Jessica Chastain as Molly Bloom

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”I don’t recall a point during the whole movie that I was waiting for something to happen.”[/perfectpullquote]

As always with Sorkin films, there is a lot of intense, descriptive dialogue and Molly’s Game is no different. Idris Elba and Jessica Chastain are great on the screen together as they argue why Molly is not the real criminal. 

The story is told in sort of a flip-flop fashion with the scenes cycling between early in Molly’s life and then after her book was published. This allows the story to be told from Molly’s point of view while her legal issues get worked out on screen.

I don’t recall a point during the whole movie that I was waiting for something to happen. The next scene is beautifully woven into the story as to not leave you hanging. It’s a long movie, but goes by very quick.

Can’t wait to see more movies from the great Aaron Sorkin. This is one of the few films I can’t wait to watch again.

Who should see this movie? Fans of Molly Bloom’s story/book, fans of crime and gambling movies, and those who like Aaron Sorkin’s writing style

Who shouldn’t see this movie? People who find it hard to keep up with Sorkin’s writing style, movie-goers who aren’t into real-life drama tales, or those who can’t sit through a 2.5 hour film.

Score

9 / 10 – Molly’s Game is a well-written, well-acted, true story with all the high stakes of an action movie.

See more of my movie reviews here

Spoilers

Caution! Spoilers ahead.

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Beard Blog Movie Review: Star Wars – The Last Jedi (2017)

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Star Wars: Episode VIII

Now that Disney owns the Star Wars franchise we will be treated to a new movie every year for the foreseeable future. In 2015, a new trilogy taking place after the original trilogy, started with The Force Awakens. With so many Star Wars fans having a salty taste in their mouth after the prequel trilogy from the early 00s, everyone was eager for a fresh start. Episode XIII brings us The Last Jedi.

the last Jedi
Luke, Rey, and Kylo

The Last Jedi picks up right where we left off in The Force Awakens with Rey and Luke on some random island planet. That’s about all The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi have in common. A new director brings new storytelling and style to the same characters. Rian Johnson lends his talents from directing Looper to Star Wars. The changes he makes are for the better, and hopefully this trend continues. The next episode will be directed by J.J. Abrams again who brought Episode VII to life. We will see how he brings everything together.

Due to the high profile-ness of this movie, I’m not going to go on and on and on about it. If you want to read more, just Google the movie and you can spend the rest of your life reading about rumors, spoilers, theories, and opinions.

However, I will give you my opinion about The Last Jedi, in short.

The Last Jedi was much better than The Force Awakens because we didn’t have to deal with backstories or introduction of characters. This is one of the few times a sequel excels and gets right to the action. We already know and love Rey, Finn, and Poe, so now we get to see them do what they do best, fighting the New Order.

Episode XIII is a great continuation of the story set by The Force Awakens. There are a few points where it could have been better, but that’s not worth mentioning. I’m definitely looking forward to the finale in Episode IX coming in 2019.

Who should see this movie? Star Wars, sci-fi, and Rian Johnson fans.

Who shouldn’t see this movie? Haters of Star Wars and people who aren’t into fake futuristic space tales.

Score

8.5 / 10 – The latest episode of the Star Wars proves that similar stories can be retold in new and better ways.

See more of my movie reviews here

Spoilers

Caution! Spoilers ahead.

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Beard Blog Movie Review: The Disaster Artist (2017)

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“You are tearing me apart Lisa!”

The Disaster Artist is the (mostly) true story of about how the cult classic movie The Room came to be. Tommy Wiseau’s The Room has been a hit since 2003 for all the wrong reasons. The production, writing, acting, and directing is awful, but that is what makes it so popular. The Room is one of those films where you just shake your head and laugh at the mess you’re watching. Fans now gather around the country at midnight screenings to watch The Room to laugh and carryon throughout the showing. Sometimes Tommy Wiseau stops by, adding to the fanfare.

disaster artist
James Franco as Tommy Wiseau

I went to see The Disaster Artist knowing three things; 1. This movie was directed by and starring James Franco (I love most of his stuff). 2. It was a movie about making a movie. 3. It was a comedy. That’s all. I hadn’t seen The Room and never heard about what makes it so appealing. [perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”This is one of those movies you can quote with your friends and always get a laugh.”[/perfectpullquote]

In a crowded theater my wife and I sat through roughly 100 minutes of audience laughter and inside jokes we didn’t understand. The movie was very well done and I found a lot of it funny despite not knowing what they were poking fun at. After the movie I was kind of in shock, and continually asked myself, “what did I just watch?”.

I continued to think about The Disaster Artist for three days before writing this review. The more I thought about it, the more I enjoyed it. James Franco was great as always and he seems to have a knack for portraying Tommy Wiseau and his unusual accent.

This is one of those movies you can quote with your friends and always get a laugh.

I highly recommend The Disaster Artist, but please do yourself a favor and watch The Room first. Even if you can’t get through the whole thing, at least watch the first 45 minutes.

Who should see this movie? Fans of the subject matter The Room, comedy fans especially of James and/or Dave Franco, and people who enjoy true stories about movie production.

Who shouldn’t see this movie? People who have never seen The Room or viewers of The Room who thought it was not funny and stupid.

Score

8 / 10 – The Disaster Artist continues to grow on me and I am already looking forward to watching it again.

 

See more of my movie reviews here

 

No Spoilers

Beard Blog Movie Review: Lady Bird (2017)

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Lady Bird, time to fly.

lady bird
Saoirse Ronan as “Lady Bird”

Lady Bird is an odd-titled coming of age story set in the early 2000s. The film follows Christine “Lady Bird” MacPherson played by Saoirse (Sir-sha) Ronan as she navigates high school, sex, family, and getting into college. [perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”With great writing and even better acting Lady Bird will be a film to remember.”[/perfectpullquote]

To put in bluntly, Lady Bird is a roller coaster of emotions. You get the sense of how tough it is to be a teen getting ready to enter the real world. This film feels very nostalgic to me, mainly because I was also in high school in the early 2000s.

Lady Bird offers laughter, tears, hatred, and compassion. There’s rarely an emotionless scene. You won’t get a lot of sugar-coating or TV sitcom scenarios. This film delivers a lot of truths and a lot of real family experiences.

Saoirse Ronan is fantastic in Lady Bird. She will be deserving of a Best Actress nominee for this role. Throughout the whole movie Ronan’s character is ever-changing and she plays those changes so very well. Normally she has a thick Irish accent, but I would have never guessed that from this role.

Laurie Metcalf, who I grew up watching play Rosann’s sister, is fantastic as Christine’s mother. She’s tough and loving, just like all the best moms. Her character’s actions at the end of the movie really pull on the heartstrings.

The rest of the cast was amazing as well. The director, Greta Gerwig, who also wrote the script, did a great job delivering the emotion to the screen. With great writing and even better acting Lady Bird will be a film to remember.

Who should see this movie? People who like realistic tales, viewers who want to see great screen acting, and “coming of age” fans.

Who shouldn’t see this movie? Young children and people who don’t have a heart. This is another movie I feel that almost everyone needs to see.

Score

9 / 10 – I loved this movie. Everything about it makes me smile. Great movies impart lots of emotion and Lady Bird does just that.

 

See more of my movie reviews here

No Spoilers