Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)

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Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)

Director:

Ol Parker

Starring:

Lily James

Amanda Seyfried

Plot:

Five years after the events of Mamma Mia! (2008), Sophie prepares for the grand reopening of the Hotel Bella Donna as she learns more about her mother’s past.

Review:

I’ve been waiting to rent this for what feels like forever. I would have loved to have seen it in theaters, but oh well. I think all of that excitement ended up working against me. I was hoping for a light hearted, music filled, fun story and that’s only kind of what I got.

Donna, Meryl Streep, is dead and her daughter Sophie, Amanda Seyfried, has built the hotel into what Donna had always planned. The movie was a prequel and sequel, and while I normally hate prequels that part was what I enjoyed the most. Young Donna, Lily James was fun to watch, she was sweet and beautiful and completely optimistic. Her daughter, on the other hand, was in mourning and it was a harsh tonal shift for me. I think I might have enjoyed it more if it was a prequel and that’s a bit crazy to me.

We got to see everyone from the original, but not much has really changed there. In fact none of the side characters seem to have grown in any way since the 70s.

All in all I was a bit disappointed by Mamma Mia Here We Go Again, it lacked a lot of what I loved about the original. I am still kind of hoping for a third, but maybe it can be something much more positive and happy.

3/5

Maniac (2018-?)

Maniac

Maniac (2018-?)

Network:

Netflix

Creators:

Cary Joji Fukunaga

Patrick Somerville

Starring:

Jonah Hill

Emma Stone

Sonoya Mizuno

Sally Field

Plot:

Two strangers are drawn to a mysterious pharmaceutical trial that will, they’re assured, with no complications or side-effects whatsoever, solve all of their problems, permanently. Things do not go as planned.

Review:

This started out super weird and I wasn’t sure what was real or not. The world was not our own, they had tech we don’t, but it wasn’t magical. It was very odd. As the show progressed I no longer had that issue, even though, they were reality hopping. Things were still weird, but I knew what was happening.

I never warmed up to Jonah Hill’s character. He seemed very devoid of emotion and I had a hard time caring about him at all. Emma Stone, on the other hand, I loved. She wasn’t a very likable character, but I got her emotion and I enjoyed watching her.

I hesitate to say the show was entertaining. I don’t think I enjoyed hardly any of it, but it wasn’t bad. It just ended up not being my cup of tea.

3/5

Pitch Perfect 3 (2017)

Pitch Perfect 3

Pitch Perfect 3 (2017)

Director:

Trish Sie

Starring:

Anna Kendrick

Rebel Wilson

Brittany Snow

Plot:

Following their win at the world championship, the now separated Bellas reunite for one last singing competition at an overseas USO tour, but face a group who uses both instruments and voices.

Review:

Pretty sure this movie didn’t need to be made. It lacked a lot of what I enjoyed about the previous movies and was honestly a constant barrage of awkward moments. I like Rebel Wilson and her character but her arc was out there.

I can’t remember a single thing I liked about this movie now that I’m thinking back on it. They used the plot device that I hate where it starts off and then flashes back. The characters were all floundering in life and being very foolish. It was just an unnecessary movie.

2/5

Skyscraper (2018)

Film Title: Skyscraper

Skyscraper (2018)

Director:

Rawson Marshall Thurber

Starring:

Dwayne Johnson

Neve Campbell

Chin Han

Plot:

A security expert must infiltrate a burning skyscraper, 225 stories above ground, when his family are trapped inside by criminals.

Review:

Die Hard on a skyscraper. This was a fun, stupid movie that didn’t always make sense but was entertaining to watch.

Dwayne Johnson was great. I loved that his character was missing a leg. He was smart, a dedicated father and husband, and just an all-around good guy who was friends with the wrong people and in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The movie was over the top and ridiculous and just enjoyable to watch. There was nothing deep here. It was completely unbelievable, but that didn’t matter. It was easy to turn my brain off and just watch.

I liked that the wife, Neve Campbell, wasn’t helpless and that she had her own part to play in things. It would have been easy to make a damsel in distress or too much of a badass and they didn’t. I appreciated that a lot.

4/5

Murder at 1600 (1997)

Murder at 1600

Murder at 1600 (1997)

Director:

Dwight H. Little

Starring:

Wesley Snipes

Diane Lane

Alan Alda

Daniel Benzali

Plot:

A 25 year old female White House staffer, Carla Town, is murdered in the White House. D.C. homicide detective Regis is assigned to investigate, only to find evidence suppressed by the Secret Service.

Review:

This movie did not age well in my opinion. Wesley Snipes was shit on by people and then he in turn shit on Diane Lane. It was obvious who the bad guy was going to be but I refused to believe it was going to be him and went after the red herrings and then it was the person I didn’t want it to be anyway.

This wasn’t an action movie, even with Snipes, so when there was some it was poorly shot. It was definitely a drama.

Basically, someone is murdered in the White House and for some reason the Secret Service or the FBI isn’t tasked with investigating it’s the DC cops. The Secret Service hides information and things are really frustrating because no one should be above the law and then ultimately none of that mattered. It was just a poorly done red herring because it ended up not making any sense with the story.

It was a very eh movie and not one I ever have to watch again.

2/5