2021 JenEric Movie Reviews

Hello Movie Lovers,

This year I seem to have watched, and reviewed, 53 films. Not bad. Below is a list of them in decending star order. Within each catergory they are in alphabetical order.

5 Stars out of 5

4.5 Stars out of 5

4 Stars out of 5

3.5 Stars out of 5

3 Stars out of 5

2.5 Stars out of 5

2 Stars out of 5

1.5 Stars out of 5

1 Star out of 5

Monster Trucks – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2016 film Monster Trucks.

Story

This felt like a trippy 80’s plotline, however it was much more coherent and actually had some good messages. It’s scientifically ridiculous, but a great parable. I appreciate that they didn’t go into wish fulfilment with the father storyline. I also liked the emotional twist with the stepdad.

Score: 0.5

Character

The main female lead is smart and capable, the male lead isn’t an idiot, the majority of the other characters feel pretty well fleshed out. They’re all a little cartoony, but acted in a believable way.

There’s a huge lack of diversity and I’m not very comfortable with the “Wise Mentor” trope being a black disabled person.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The movie is worth it just for the dialogue and the way the actors deliver it. Jane Levy and Lucas Till are brilliant as are the rest of the cast.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

To balance off the heavy use of special effects, the film makers gave us beautiful nature shots and vistas. Every shot is thought out in advance and works really well.

The music is used perfectly, as a movie where the monster isn’t supposed to be scary, the use of music makes all the difference in the early scenes. Had they used more dramatic music it would have been terrifying, had they used lighter it would have been ridiculous.

Score: 1

Fun

This movie was designed to be fun and slip in some environmental and emotional messages. It succeeds and has more than one awesome moment. Both kids were glued to the screen and my wife and I laughed a lot.

Score: 1

Overall

This movie is much better than it has any right to be considering the premise. It’s an exciting and wholesome movie with great comedic moments and awesome action sequences. The moral and environmental questions are subtle, but present and the movie values intelligent characters. Plus the monsters are really cute.

Score: 4 Stars out of 5

2017 Movie Rankings

Hello My Imaginary Friends,

2017 was a surprisingly good year for movies. I managed to see 21 movies that came out in theatres but there were so many more that I wanted to and didn’t get a chance.

This is the ranking of movies I saw in theatres (or rented) that were released in 2017. This doesn’t include Netflix originals, made for TV Movies, or straight to DVD releases.

  1. Coco (GAH! This was amazing in every way.)
  2. Wonder Woman
  3. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
  4. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
  5. Murder on the Orient Express
  6. Beauty and the Beast
  7. The Lego Batman Movie
  8. Thor: Ragnarok
  9. Spider-Man: Homecoming
  10. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
  11. Monster Trucks
  12. Power Rangers
  13. Cars 3
  14. Despicable Me 3
  15. Baywatch (It had its moments but I was a little disappointed.)
  16. Justice League (Better than I expected but not by much.)
  17. Logan (This was a grittier X-Men movie despite being told it was different it was the same old plot holes.)
  18. Kingsman: The Golden Circle (Disappointingly this didn’t capture the fun and pace of the first one.)
  19. The Greatest Showman (Meh!)
  20. Atomic Blonde (I was expecting a Bond movie, not a half-assed mystery with brutal fight scenes. Not my kind of movie.)

I’m not sure what 2018 holds, but I’m guessing more movies and lots more superheroes.

What were your favorite movies for 2017?

Éric