Worst Movies of 2018

It’s that time of year when I present my worst movies of the year list and this year I decided to do things a little bit differently. Instead of a strict bottom 10 I chose to spread the wealth and talk about a bunch of groupings of films I disliked. You can watch the video above to hear more of my explanations but here they are for the blog

Blockbusters that Stunk!

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My first category is big studio releases that fell flat:

The Meg– disappointing shark movie that took itself seriously when its trailers promised camp. Instead of being fun it was mega-boring

Pacific Rim Uprising- removed any of the artistry or interesting choices of the original and replaced it with loud hard to visualize action filled with annoying characters

The Nutcracker and the 4 Realms- I was so hoping this would be a fun surprise but it was a dud. There was no conflict and most of the Clara was watching stuff happen (even on stage sometimes). Boring!

Once Upon a Deadpool- I’ve never seen either of the Deadpool movies and judging by this PG-13 version of Deadpool 2 I don’t want to. It was boring, unfunny and the acting by many was weak

Fantastic Beasts and the Crimes of Grindelwald– This whole movie was a crime. I felt exhausted after I saw it. There were so many plot threads and characters and none of it made a lick of sense to this muggle. Worst fantasy film I’ve seen since Warcraft.

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Romantic Comedy Duds-

Everyone knows I love romantic comedies but when they fail, they fail badly:

Destination Wedding- what everyone hates about romcoms all in one movie. Both characters were miserable and irritating and did nothing but argue for 2 hours. No chemistry and one of the least sexy sex scenes I’ve ever seen.

Little Italy- the leads were decent but the humor fell so flat with its constant sex jokes that were not funny. The stereotyping and plot were terrible. Yuck!

The Kissing Booth- an awkward film where the director seemed to linger the camera over its teenage protagonist in uncomfortable ways. Both male leads were terrible especially her BFF who was the worst

The Spy Who Dumped Me- this film has some decent action but it swings so strongly between slapstick comedy and extreme violence that I was very turned off by it. Let’s just say it was not for me

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Adaptations that Bombed-

Some of my favorite novels were adapted in 2018 but unfortunately not adapted proficiently:

Wrinkle in Time- what a disappointment. With such a cast, budget and promising director to get this dud. They failed to capture the spirituality of the novel and put in place speechifying where Meg is told she is a warrior instead of coming to realize it herself. The plot was muddled and George Wallace irritating. It just failed

Little Women- I’m up for a modern take on Little Women but not one where they turn Jo into an obnoxious judgemental jerk, which is what this version did (amongst other problems)

Sherlock Gnomes- after Sherlock series 4 sucked so badly I guess everyone decided it was time to follow suit with awful Sherlock Holmes stories like Sherlock Gnomes. This movie was irritating in so many ways especially the villain

Ophelia- I kept having to thwart my laughter at this ridiculous feminist take on Hamlet with Ophelia outwitting all and storming the castle along with the Queen’s secret twin who lives in the forest brewing potions…Embarrassing

Robin Hood- could have been a dopey action movie but it wasn’t even that. Everything from the costumes to the action to the script to the terrible acting was so misguided. I don’t know what they were thinking?

White Fang- some nice animation is hurt by a long, brutal exploitative dog fight sequence I could not forgive. The child next to me was in tears. It was way too much. No thank you

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Gravitas that Failed

My next category is films that were presented with gravitas as great and innovative that failed to entertain or please me in any way. Unpopular opinion time!

Annihilation- some claim this scifi/horror film is a masterpiece but I thought it was a slog that couldn’t decide what it was trying to say so it just keeps piling on metaphor after metaphor to the point of exhaustion. None of the character motivation was well done and aside from pretty visuals it didn’t work

Fireworks- this anime is obviously trying to rip off Your Name (one of my favorite movies) and it failed. It is all over the place storywise and the characters make strange choices. The romance feels off. The animation is pretty and then terrible at spots. Just bad.

Bohemian Rhapsody- Freddie Mercury should be an interesting character but in this film he is so bland and generic rebel rocker it irritated me. Plus the script was so bad having his wife explain his sexuality to him and have him reunite with a boyfriend, make up with his family, and play Live Aid all in the afternoon. Give me a break

Gotti- John Travolta decided to play mob boss Jon Gotti as a ill treated persecuted civil servant in this ridiculous movie. The non-linear storytelling doesn’t work. The script, makeup, cinematography and everything else is terrible. Not even so bad it’s good.

Winchester- a haunted house movie with potential but instead it was just very boring

Life Itself- the movie that put me to sleep so hard I actually started snoring. It was a snooze but it was also surprisingly cynical and not hopeful abotu life at all. Everyone either gives up or kills themselves. What a heartwarming message…

MTKZ- some people think total chaos is creative. I don’t. This movie was completely random from the first image. Everything from the characters to the story to the visual choices felt like an assault on the viewer and was exhausting.

Sorry to Bother You- I was with this movie for the first 30 minutes and then it went completely off the rails once they get to this party. The movie felt like it was trying to be 12 different movies and especially once it went equine it completely lost me

Journey’s End- a war movie where the soldiers talk about rations a lot. I never need to hear about rations again. It was so boring.

The Party- a comedy with no jokes. Like seriously I didn’t see why any of these pedantic twerps talking at this party was funny. I just didn’t get it.

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More Animation I Hated-

I mentioned some animated films I disliked already but these 3 were not great:

Duck Duck Goose- the worst movie I saw in 2018. It is garish and unpleasant in every way. The jokes with the Chinese people and the cat were bizarre and I just wanted the whole experience to be over as soon as I started watching it

Lu Over the Wall- a movie that is so spastic and insane that it made me nauseous. This director made another bonkers movie this year The Night is Short Walk On Girl that really worked for me but this one was too much. Plus, the story that it had felt like a ripoff of Ponyo so I didn’t even have that.

Ice Dragon: Legend of the Blue Daisies- a weird fantasy animation made to teach lessons to evangelicals but if you aren’t in that group it will not engage you either with the songs, story or morality.

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Two Bad Comedies

Finally I will end with 2 comedies that didn’t make me laugh:

Night School- Tiffany Haddish is not on my good side after both of these films but especially Night School where she shrieked her way through her performance.

Uncle Drew- I know other people found this funny but I didn’t laugh one time. The lead character is unlikable and I wasn’t interested in the sports story. A real dud.

So there you have it! There are my worst films of the year

If you are dying to know what the actual bottom 10 is here goes:

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You’ve Got Mail Podcast

Anyone who follows this blog knows one of my all time favorite movies is the 1998 film You’ve Got Mail. I love pretty much everything about it especially Nora Ephron’s witty dialogue. It is perhaps my favorite remake ever and one of the best romantic comedies ever made. Recently my friend Christine sat down with me to talk about the film and why we love it and what it has to say about work, life, love and the human experience. It’s a really fun podcast that I think you will all enjoy. Give it a listen 🙂  You can also listen on itunes here.

Rachel’s Reviews on Itunes

Hey guys! This is just a quick update to share some exciting news. This week I finally figured out how to get my podcast on Itunes and was officially approved!  Now you can listen to my discussions with my friends about mostly movies on Rachel’s Reviews Itunes Channel.

Here is a link to the podcast:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/rachels-reviews/id1278536301?mt=2

I have currently uploaded a lot 49 of my past podcasts with more coming each week. There are discussions on all kinds of films including recent posts- Fall Movie Preview, Chicks on Flicks, Hallmarkies podcast of Hallmark movies and Talking Watership Down. I think there is something for almost any media interest. If you have suggestions for the podcast please let me know or if you would like to participate in a discussion I would love to hear your ideas .

In the next few weeks we are going to be talking about the new and old Blade Runner, My Little Pony Movie, more Chicks on Flicks, Hallmarkies and more. You will definitely want to subscribe and it would be a big help to me if you do. It would also be nice if you would positively rate and review the podcast.

Thanks so much!

Your Name in Theaters this Weekend

This weekend the anime film Your Name comes to US theaters. This was my favorite film of 2016 and I saw nearly 150 releases. But don’t take my word for it. I compiled this video of a bunch of youtubers talking about why it is so special.

And here is my original review:

At least by me Your Name is getting a pretty big roll-out and is in 4 theaters, so hopefully that is emblematic of other places across the country. If not ask your local theater to carry it. This actually can make a big difference. I communicate with my local theater all the time about releases I want to see and more often than not they end up getting them if only for one weekend.

Your Name is the kind of film that doesn’t happen very often. It has layers of enjoyment. It’s funny, sweet, tragic, exciting and everything else. The animation is stunning and it’s one that gets better each time I watch it.

If you can please see it and support it.

Animation Pitch Session!

So I just participated in a really fun podcast over on my youtube channel. My friend’s Josh and Mark joined me to do a pitch session for ideas for animated films and series. I got the idea after I was so depressed with the upcoming 2017 slate. So I decided the studios need better ideas and my friends and I could give them some!

The way the pitch session worked is there are 4 sessions. Each of us pitched an idea of why it would be good. Then we could ask questions to flesh out the ideas. Then at the end of the round we each must vote for an idea that is not our own. The idea with the most votes wins the round. Then we do the same thing for the final 4 ideas and a winning idea is selected!

I liked all of our ideas and would love to hear your feedback. Here are polls so you can vote on what you like

We really had a blast doing this so hopefully we will do it again soon. The beginning of the video google hangouts wasn’t switching off the way it should but hopefully you can listen to it just fine.

Anyway, let me know what you think!

Movie Monday: Underrated Disney Films

There is a new series I am participating with other youtubers called Movie Monday! In this series we get topics and give 5 movies that fit that topic. This last Monday the topic was underrated films, so I decided to narrow the focus to Underrated Disney Films. I wanted to do 5 that most people haven’t heard of or are more obscure.

Here’s my list:

  1. Rocketeer- Charming superhero movie set in the 1930s with charismatic cast and a stand a lone story. This is refreshing to see in the days of the cinematic universes.
  2. Iron Will- a nice heart filled story about a boy who is trying to save his family farm and go to college enters a dog sled race in the great North. This is engaging and sweet with good performances and a nice inspirational ending.
  3. North Avenue Irregulars- very funny madcap comedy featuring some of the funniest ladies ever including Cloris Leachman and more.
  4. Pirate Fairy- I think all the Tinker Bell movies are underrated but this is my favorite one. It has the most links to the original Peter Pan which is fun and a nice story not centered on Tinker Bell. I like seeing the fairies loose their skills and having to figure out new skills. It’s just a lot of fun.
  5. John Carter- underrated space opera that has good battle scenes with a charismatic lead from Taylor Kitsch. I think people think because it was a box office bomb it must be a terrible movie but I don’t think this is terrible. In fact, I think it is a lot of fun!

So there are 5 underrated Disney films.  What do you think of them and what would be your 5?

Talking Summer Movies with Mark Hobin

Yesterday I had the fun opportunity to talk the highs and lows of the summer movie season with my blogging friend Mark Hobin. Some we agreed on. Others we did not but it was always a fun conversation! Check out Mark’s blog at http://fastfilmreviews.com/

I only need 15 subscribers to get to 1000 on my youtube channel so if you aren’t subscribed please do. I think you will love the daily content I provide on the channel.

Talking Hunchback of Notre Dame

Recently over on my youtube I posted my Disney canon review of Hunchback of Notre Dame. My friend Christine mentioned it is her favorite Disney movie so she agreed to join me and discuss the film. I thought it was a cool experience to see both sides of a polarizing movie without things getting mean like so often happens online (see it can be done folks!). I had a great time and think you guys will like this video. Check it out!

Star Trek 1-3 Podcasts

Hey guys! I just wanted to share with you guys 3 videos from my youtube channel. You might remember last year I discussed the Star Wars movies with my friends Abby and Jeremy.  Well, this year I decided to tackle Star Trek and my Trekie friend Tom has been kind enough to join me.  We just finished the 3rd film today and I think you will enjoy them even if you haven’t seen the movies.

My overall thoughts of the first 3 are:

Star Trek: The Motion Picture- I admire its ambition but the birth metaphor and long tracking shots of the ship bored me. Very self-indulgent and the story just isn’t there. It’s trying to be 2001 without challenging you with ideas the way that film does.  Grade- D

Star Trek 2: Wrath of Khan- A terrific sci-fi movie with horror elements and a formidable foe in Khan. The finale is heart wrenching and the movie builds tension well. I see why this is genuinely considered the best of the franchise. Grade- A

Star Trek 3: The Search for Spok- Solid entertaining entry that fleshes out the side characters a lot more. I really enjoyed getting to know Uhura and Sulu more and seeing their banter. Shatner is good in his more emotional scenes and the mystery around Spok works pretty well. It’s not as good as Khan but I enjoyed it even if it is a little forgettable. Grade B-

What do you think of the first 3 Star Trek movies? Let me know in the comments section and I’d love your feedback.  The first podcast is had some technical challenges but if you can get through that the content is quite good.

We are going to pack in 2 podcasts next week before I leave for Spain (I’m going to Spain if you didn’t know). And then when I get back we will finish up the original series and do the JJ Abrams reboot films before Star Trek: Beyond comes out.  We will then do Next Generation in August.

Anyway, thanks again!  I am also doing my His Picks/Her Picks with my friend AJ this Saturday and next Saturday will be talking Harry Potter with Abby, Jeremy and Richard.

Make sure you are following the channel to get all the fun! And if any of you have an idea for a podcast or discussion I’m totally game. Just let me know!