Movie Reviews

Had a chance to see a few movies lately. While on the cruise ship, they apparently have a couple theaters on board. I mean, why not? So, I took the kids to the 10:30 pm showing of "Finding Dory" in 3D. I believe that was my first 3D experience other than IMAX stuff at amusement parks. Both were okay. The movie and the 3D. I guess I expected more images in the film to feel like they were coming at me. I'm a big fan of "Finding Nemo" and "Dory" didn't meet the same enjoyment. But again, kids loved it and it was free. I'm probably not going to look for a 3D experience any time soon though. Seemed overrated.

The next night they had an 11 pm showing for "Captain America: Civil War." I knew there would be a chance I'd fall asleep around 1 am, but it was worth the risk. My wife actually left around 12:15 am to go back to the stateroom for bed. Great movie. I couldn't remember how many post-credit scenes there would be, so I stayed for the mid-credit scene. 99% of the audience left after the mid-credit scene, so I thought they knew more than I did. Man, at 1:25 am, it felt like forever to get to the very end of the credits, just for the slim possibility of another scene. But I stuck it out, me and 3 other people, for the Spidey tease.

On the flight from ATL to Orlando we had a geeked out tech plane. Tons of free movies to watch. The problem is it's only about a one hour flight once you get going. It's pretty pointless to start a new movie. At least they let you start watching during the taxi portion of the flight, pre-takeoff and post-landing. (That can buy you almost another 20 minutes of the movie.) But, they rudely interrupt the movie every time the Captain or stewardess feels the need to explain something. I chose "The Revenant." I knew this would not be a movie for the wife and children, even though they are sitting right next to me, but hey, that's why they invented headphones...and why you have your own "Zootopia" to watch in front of you. Like I was saying, I only made it about 40 minutes into the movie but well worth it. A week later on the flight back from Orlando to ATL, pretty much the exact same plane...so, you guessed it, que up "The Revenant!" Yup, another 40 minutes. Now I just need to rent it for $3 so I can watch the last 60 minutes. Yes, I chose a 2 hour 36 minute movie that I knew would be impossible to finish...and strain my eyes on a 7 or 8 inch screen. Side note: On the flight back, the option to watch "Batman vs Superman" was available. Didn't feel like I could watch 40 minutes of two different movies and not even get half the story.

Back on land, and in CC, I had a little time to catch up on some "classics" because my wife was out of town. She's not a big fan of black and white movies, so this was my chance. Ever since I saw "12 Angry Men" about 15 years ago, I've kind of put that as the gold standard for classics. It's better than "Casablanca" and "Gone With the Wind." Dave W. let me borrow "Rear Window." It's an Alfred Hitchcock classic that I've always heard about but hadn't seen. Then, I've had "To Kill A Mockingbird" queued up for a long time on Netflix, so I finally had the time to watch it. I'd say "12 Angry Men" is still better than both and I'd give a slight edge to "Mockingbird" over "Rear Window."

Finally, we watched "Spotlight" a few nights ago. Again, another movie that I had queued up. I knew it won a bunch of awards, but that can be misleading because sometimes those aren't the types of movies I like. I'd say it was worth watching on Netflix. Not sure I'd see it in a theater, but I'd probably rent it.

That's all for now. Feel free to send me some recommendations, especially Netflix stuff. I'd still like to rent "The Martian" and a few others...and finish "The Revenant."

Oh, and, I've been watching a lot of stand up comedy by Tom Segura lately...without my wife. Lots of bad language, but not necessarily a dirty or crude joke/story teller. Just bad language. The Mike Tyson story at the end of his "Mostly Stories" show was really good.