Mickey Lifting Advice

New Release Tuesday

I was away for Spring Break last week, went somewhere new, out of the country, and completely unplugged from media and emails.  It was really nice and I suggest you do it sometime too.  Let’s get caught up on the last couple of week’s releases.

The Shape of Water- At a top-secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.  Finally, a deserving winner of best picture and it has a monster in it.  I love Guillermo Del Toro’s work and I was glad to see his peers love his work too.  This is a fantastic movie and I consider it like an unofficial sequel to ‘The Creature from the Black Lagoon’.  Think of it like that when you watch it, it makes it even better.

Justice League- Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.  The crowd is divided over this and the box office take was weak on the opening week end and overall way less then expected.  I suspect the best movie coming from this will be a documentary in ten years or so about all the behind the scenes drama with different directors, extensive reshoots, and how the studio interference ruined this movie.  I still enjoyed it and I like the foundation they have laid down and I hope they build on that.  I am not sure who can fix this ship, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins perhaps?  It looks the Justice League takes a back seat for a while as Aquaman, Shazam, and Wonder Woman 2 are next in line for DC.

Kickboxer: Retaliation- One year after the events of "Kickboxer: Vengeance", Kurt Sloan has vowed never to return to Thailand. However, while gearing up for a MMA title shot, he finds himself sedated and forced back into Thailand, this time in prison. Kurt soon learns he has no choice but to fight and will undergo his most rigorous training yet under some unexpected mentors in order to face The Mountain in hopes to regain his freedom.  This is a fun action movie that is not as good as the first one but very watchable.

I, Tonya- Competitive ice skater Tonya Harding rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the activity is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes.  I am just interested in this because of the true story aspect and just reexamining this reminds me of how crazy and unbelievable it was and how it unfolded in front of our very eyes.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle- Four teenagers are sucked into a magical video game, and the only way they can escape is to work together to finish the game.  I missed this but I intend to see what the Rock has cooking here. 

Pitch Perfect 3- 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.  I liked the first two but this one was hard to sit thru.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi- Rey develops her newly discovered abilities with the guidance of Luke Skywalker, who is unsettled by the strength of her powers. Meanwhile, the Resistance prepares for battle with the First Order.  I absolutely loved this because it’s a two-hour chase movie ala Mad Max: Fury Road.  I did not mind where the story went (Always spoiler free here) but it sure seems to have painted the next part into a corner so the returning JJ Abrams has his work cut out for him.

The Last Movie Star- An aging, former movie star is forced to face the reality that his glory days are behind him. On its surface THE LAST MOVIE STAR is a tale about faded fame, but at its core, it's a universal story about growing old.  This look like a Burt movie I need to check out.

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon- The next great psycho horror slasher has given a documentary crew exclusive access to his life as he plans his reign of terror over the sleepy town of Glen Echo.  This and Hatchet are the two best horror movies to come out in the last decade and I still hope we get a sequel to this soon.  This is from Shout Factory so it will be very worthy of making the upgrade. 

The Americans- This is a great show that I need to get caught up on.  I think I stopped at the end of season 3.  Just more episodes to add to the queue.