Mike is back for the new year and sharing his list of the best 10 movies he watched in 2022. He also shares his top 5 movies that left him disappointed by not living up the expectations he had going into them. In the movie review, Mike talks about Knives Out: Glass Onion on how it compares to the original, the stand outs from the ensemble cast, and what this movie means for Netflix.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome back, and it is the first episode
of three Movie Mix Movie Podcast. I am your host
movie Mike. Today I'm sharing with you my top ten
movies of the last year, plus my top five disappointments
movies I thought I was going to love and they
just let me down. I'll let you know why they did.
And in the movie review, we'll talk about Netflix's Knives
(00:20):
Out sequel Glass Onion, which came out over the break.
So so many things to talk about. Thank you for
being here, thank you for joining me for another year
of the podcast. Shout out to the Monday Morning Movie crew.
And now let's talk movies. In a world where everyone
and their mother has a podcast, one man stands to
infiltrate the ears of listeners like never before in a
(00:42):
movie podcast. A man with so much movie knowledge, he's
basically like a walking audim TV Who's glasses from the
Nashville Podcast Network Movie Movie Podcacast. Let's get right into it.
My top ten movies of twenty two. At number ten,
I'm going with the biopic Elvis. Music biopics they're usually
(01:04):
just not my favorite thing. I feel like it's really
hard to get them down to where you do the
artist justice and telling their story and telling and learning
things that we haven't learned about that artist without kind
of glamorizing it and glossing over a lot of the details.
But this movie had a decent enough run time that
it was able to explore all of the points I
(01:26):
wanted to learn about Elvis. And it was also done
in a way which it was directed by Bo's Lehman,
that I wasn't expecting, and I felt like it added
to the theatrics of Elvis. It made this movie feel
kind of like a fairy tale, which I hadn't really
seen in a music biopick before. And I feel like,
if you're gonna do somebody's life like a fairy tale,
it has to be one of the biggest names in
(01:47):
music of all time, Elvis, So I felt like that
style really lent itself to the vision of this movie
and the telling of his story. And then you also
have Tom Hanks, which you don't root for him in
this movie, and it's very rare not to route for
Tom Hanks, but I liked seeing him as the villain,
playing Elvis's manager. And then you have Austin Butler, who
(02:07):
wouldn't have been my first pick to play Elvis. He
doesn't exactly look like him, and I know a lot
of criticism for this movie was saying that he didn't
look like Elvis at all, and after watching this movie,
it kind of added more to my point of you
don't really have to look exactly like the person you
are playing, as long as you're willing to put in
the work to really take on this character. And I
(02:28):
felt like, ever since Austin Butler played Elvis like he
is still Elvis to me. I saw him host Saturday
Night Live, I still see Elvis, so I think this
will be kind of a hard role for him to shake.
So I'm kind of excited to see what he does
next after this role. But I thought this was a
great movie, probably a movie I will revisit at least
a couple more times. So I put Elvis at number ten.
(02:50):
At number nine, I'm going with Jackass forever. I'm a
huge Jackass fan. I have been a fan of their
work ever since I was a kid in middle school,
and that's when they blew up in the two thousands,
and I was one of those kids who saw them
on TV and then wanted to go recreate everything. They did.
I still have a lingering injury on my hand from
watching Jackass and wanting to be like Johnny Knoxville and
(03:12):
Steve Oh And I know you look at Jackass and think, oh,
they're just a bunch of idiots, But there are a
bunch of idiots that I feel don't get credit for
some of the things they've been able to do over
the careers and all these movies and TV shows. Is
they are able with their work to really bring people together.
And that is the vibe I got while watching Jackass Forever.
It was a full theater of people there just wanting
(03:34):
to laugh at the most ridiculous things. And I feel
like that sense of camaraderie in a movie theater doesn't
happen anymore, and I really have only ever had that
feeling while watching a Jackass movie from one, two, three,
too Forever. It's unlike any other theater experience. And it's
also a movie format that no one else can really do.
It's just a bunch of sketches back to back to back.
(03:55):
There's no real plotline, so just the fact that they
were able to get paramount you pay for this movie
and to agree to all the crazy things they have
done over the years. I think they don't get enough
credit for that. But another thing I feel they have
been able to do in these movies and really through
all their projects is their storytelling and their commitment to friendship.
(04:16):
I mean, they've all been friends for such a long time,
and I feel like we've watched them kind of grow
and show all these things and have us really invested
in them as people. And that's why these movies work
is because they are big characters that have great personalities.
Anybody can do a random stupid things in filment, it's
all over TikTok and YouTube. To really have a sense
(04:38):
of like it feels like your friends doing these stunts
and these people that you've known for your entire life.
Now that is something that no one else has really
created anywhere else. So and they're also bankable. They made
a lot of money doing stupid things and risking their
lives and they need credit for that. So at number nine,
one of my favorite theater experiences of the year goes
(04:58):
to Jackass for Ever, which I gave a four out
of five rating, and going back one for Elvis also
gave that one a four out of five rating. At
number eight, is another movie I gave a four out
of five rating, and it is Top Gun Maverick. Going
back to that feeling in a sense of camaraderie in
a movie theater. I really felt that in Top Gun Maverick,
that kind of electricity when you go into a theater
(05:19):
and everybody's excited. That is also what I experienced in
Top Gun Maverick. And I'm not even the biggest fan
of the original movie. Before a movie to come out
thirty years after the original one, I had some interest
in it, and I felt like this movie really resonated
with a lot of people because of that reason. I
saw people who had never been to a movie in
(05:39):
the last ten, fifteen, twenty years want to go see
this movie in theaters. And it was also a movie
that everybody I know who watched this movie loved it.
And the word of mouth that got around because of
this movie is really what boosted it so much. So
everybody had seen it, and when I went to go
watch it, I was like, all Right, I'm gonna next
(06:00):
to not really enjoy this movie. But Tom Cruise really delivered.
He brought a big action movie that you had to
see on the big screen, and for this movie to
be plagued with delays and delays. It was supposed to
come out so long ago. I didn't think it could
live up to that expectation. But I'm so glad that
we ended up having to wait this long to see
this movie, because it really did it justice. Was it
(06:23):
a little cheesy, Yeah, but that's all right in a
big summer blockbuster, and that's exactly what this movie was.
I think it's exactly what the film industry needed and
what America needed. So at number eight, I'm going with
Top Gun. Maverick at number seven is a movie I
wish more people would have seen, but it is an
independent movie. It's called Breaking starring John Boyega. You also
(06:45):
have Michael K. Williams and Connie Britton. But it's based
on a true story from ten a man named Brian
Brown Easily who was a decorated Marine Corps veteran and
in the movie, he holds a bunch of people hostage
inside a Wells Fargo Bay, threatening to blow it up,
and it's all because he didn't get his payment. He
(07:05):
was owed from the Department of Veteran Affairs and all
he wanted was his eight hundred and ninety two dollars.
That was actually the original title of this movie was
eight two. He doesn't want to steal any money from
the bank, he doesn't want to make any other negotiations.
He just wants his payment from Veteran Affairs so he
can get his daughter a birthday present and go on
(07:26):
with his life. So I thought the movie also shed
light on a very important subject, something that we don't
always think about when it comes to our veterans. And
then you also have John Boyega, who was so powerful
in this movie and the way he played this real
life person to where you feel so sympathetic for his
character because even though he is doing something this extreme,
(07:49):
you don't really see him as a villain. And I
found his performance in that to be a very delicate
thing to where you don't hate him for doing this,
You really sympathize with him and you want things to
work out for him. So a very emotional movie. It
was also the last film that Michael Kay Williams did
before he passed away, so there was another emotional level there.
(08:09):
But I felt like this was a sleeper pick. I
wish it would have been shown in more movie theaters,
and I even wish that a streaming service would have
picked up this movie. Because it's not on Amazon, it's
not on Netflix, it's not on Hulu. You can still
rent it, but you have to pay for it. I
think the cheapest is on Amazon for five bucks. So
if you like movies based on real life, if you
like dramas slash thrillers, I think you'll really enjoy this
(08:32):
movie because I loved it, so at number seven, I
went with Breaking at number six, kind of along the
same vein. I watched these movies around the same time
in theaters, and it's another thriller. I think that is
like my second favorite category of movies. You go superhero
movies for me, and then psychological thrillers slash crime thrillers.
Those are my favorites. I just think the emotion you
(08:54):
get from watching a thriller is what I enjoy so much.
And then I would probably put Horror at three. Now
it or used to be number two, so I think
it's kind of slid down in the last couple of
years because there have been so many great thrillers. But
at number six, I went with Emily the Criminal, which
I gave a four point five at a five rating,
starring Aubrey Plaza. You would probably know from Parkson Wreck,
(09:15):
and she's really more known for her comedic roles, and
in this movie, she plays a woman who is haunted
by her student debt and she is trying to get
her dream job but isn't able to land it, so
it was working a different job that really doesn't allow
her to pay off those loans, so she's trying to
find ways to make money and she gets involved in
(09:36):
this underground crime ring. It all starts with her purchasing
products with stolen credit card. So the movie really kind
of brings up to question, kind of like we did
in Breaking, but this time focusing on people with student
debt and the extremes you would go to get out
of that situation. And this was before I saw her
(09:58):
in White Lotus Season two. I still think she is
better in Emily the Criminal because she really gets to
be the star of this film. And the movie is
also available now on Netflix, so I feel like more
people are getting a chance to see this, and I
think everybody I've recommended it to has really enjoyed it.
So if you've been seeing this movie pop up on
your Netflix, I encourage you to check it out. If
(10:18):
you love a thriller, and at number six that's where
I'm putting it. Emily the Criminal getting into the top
five now at number five, I went with Jordan's Peel's Nope,
which I gave a four point five at a five rating.
The movie is now on Peacock, so if you have that,
you can watch it for free. I think the problem
I saw most people have with Nope was the fact
(10:40):
that this was billed as a horror movie, and it
is at its core, And that is why I like
Jordan Peel. I feel like he really knows how to
make a modern horror movie. But I feel when you
give people the expectation of a horror movie is meant
to make you scared, and they watch a movie and
they are not aired at all, then it makes them
(11:01):
not like the movie. I don't really think that's what
horror movies are meant to do anymore. I think at
the core of it, it's meant to have some horror
elements in the cinematic style of a horror movie, but
it doesn't really need to make you feel scared. I
think we've kind of evolved from that. Yes, maybe the
slasher movies of the eighties, the teen slasher movies of
(11:22):
the nineties, and kind of the transition we've been from
the two thousands to the twenty tens. I think the
new way to make a good horror movie is to
make something as novel as possible, and I think that
is exactly what Jordan Peel has done in his first
three movies. And I also love movies where you can
really hone in on all the symbols and everything has
(11:43):
a particular reason, Everything has a meaning. Maybe you have
to do a little deep dive after you watched the movie.
But I like movies that raise a lot of questions,
but if you are willing to look for them, have
a lot of answers. And I think that is exactly
what Nope did. Maybe for some people that doesn't really
play and exactly into what you like watching, but I
had only good things to say about Nope. That's why
(12:05):
I give it a four point five out of five
rating and put it at number five. At number four,
I went with The Batman, which I also gave a
four point five out of five rating. I loved everything
about director Matt Reeve's vision for The Batman to have
still that same realism and kind of dark tones as
(12:25):
The Dark Night, but really making its own and focus
in on the story of Batman as the great detective
that he is, and also the commitment of not making
Bruce Wayne and Robert Pattinson be the same billionaire very cool,
calm and collected Bruce Wayne, making him kind of a recluse,
kind of a weirdo. And when you really think about
(12:47):
what Batman does and all the things he has to
change in his life, it really plays more into that
vision of Batman of being this weird dude. Who else
would really do this job? And I'd just loved the
cast in this movie, with Zelee Kravitz as Selina Kyle
a k A Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler was
one of my favorite Batman villains of all time, and
(13:10):
then Colin Farrell as Penguin, which was one of the
most curious castings I felt going into this movie, but
surprisingly worked really well in a movie with a three
hour run time. I found myself sucked into every single
minute of The Batman and I still remember exactly when
I realized I was watching something that altered the way
(13:32):
I feel about movies, and I felt like this little
moment kind of happened in my brain like a new
wrinkle went into my brain whenever the chasing happened between
the penguin and Batman, and how epic that was. I
was so excited, and I had this smile on my face.
And for a movie to give me that feeling, that
(13:53):
is something that for me, who watches so many movies
and doesn't really get moved by a whole lot anymore.
I really enjoyed that moment and love this movie. And
I've rewatched this movie three times since it came out,
and that is a lot for me to rewatch a
movie when I'm watching all these other movies for this podcast,
like just out of pure enjoyment, I could sit down
and watch The Batman. So at number four is The Batman.
(14:17):
At number three is one of the movies I watched
most recently. It is The Whale with Brendan Fraser, and
I love this movie so much. I believe that it
should and will win Best Picture at the Oscars this year.
I also think Brendan Fraser should win for Best Actor.
And I love this movie so much that I want
(14:39):
to wait and do the full review because I feel
like this movie deserves that and I have so many
things I want to say about The Whale, but I
couldn't do my top ten lists without including this movie.
And if it wasn't for number two and number one,
this easily could have been my number one given any
other year. But two other really great movies came out
(15:00):
this year. Is that just ranked above the Whale? And
for a movie to be a pretty straight on drama
to land in my top five, maybe that says something
to you. Maybe it doesn't. But all the other movies
in this top five have a spectacle to them. They
have this big reason that you need to watch them
on the big screen. And for The Whale to really
kind of move me in a way just by the
(15:21):
telling of somebody's story and landing at number three, I
feel like it deserves a full movie review on its own,
so I will be doing that one next week. So
this is just the preface to that. The Whale is
already at number three with a four point five out
of five rating that brings me to the top two.
At number two, I'm going with Waconda Forever, the only
(15:42):
movie I've given a five out of five rating in
the last year. This movie checked all the boxes for
me superhero movies, which I love. Yes, I am a
bit of a Marvel stand but this movie. I actually
saw it twice in theaters and loved it more the
second time because of the way it served as a
tribute to the death of Chadwick Boseman, but also how
(16:05):
they chose to continue on the story and the introduction
of one of my favorite Marvel villains in a very
long time, nay More easily now lands in my top
five Marvel villains of all time. But it is the
last Marvel movie to come out and me to instantly
want the next one to come afterwards, and I know
it's going to be a long time before that one,
(16:26):
if that one ever gets made. But it's a Marvel
movie that left me so excited after watching it, and
that was even after me anticipating it so much and
for something to live up to that expectation, and me
still wanting to see it again and again and again
and tell people about it. And I know I've already
spoken so much about this movie, so obviously it was
(16:46):
going to land at number two. At number one, my
top movie of two is Everything Everywhere, All at Once,
from A four, which I actually gave a four point
five at a five rating when I first reviewed this movie,
and it is the first movie I have retroactively looked
(17:08):
back on and realized why I did that. I should
have given this movie a perfect score, but I'll leave
it at a four point five out of five. There
are so many great things I can say about this movie,
how it deals with the multiverse, and how it was
so original and did so well. I think that is
really my favorite thing about this movie, because what I
(17:30):
see a lot that people criticize Hollywood for are remaking
movies or just making superhero movies. There's nothing original anymore.
But here in two you have one of the most
original movies, a movie not set in any known franchise,
a movie that didn't bank on it's a list stars,
even though you have some great people in this cast,
(17:53):
a movie that didn't have the most fancy budget but
was able to do something so novel, and a movie
that resonated with me in so many different ways, and
overall just really an exciting and fun movie that it's
the only movie that I've watched in the last five
years that I wish I could watch again for the
first time, like I've never seen it because That is
(18:13):
how much I love this movie. If you love a
story about an unlikely hero, you need to watch this
movie if you haven't yet. The movie centers around this
family who is down on their luck, having issues with
the I R s and their small business, and then
their entire world kind of comes crashing down and the
main character, played by Michelle Yao, has to navigate all
(18:35):
this madness while learning how to use her newly found powers.
But it is a movie that is so much fun
to watch, and so many crazy things happened in this movie.
I felt like it was things I would experience in
a dream, and the directors that Daniels were able to
bring to life. So between this movie and The Whale,
I hope they both together clean up at the Oscars
(18:57):
because they very much deserve it. So at number one
with the four point five out of five rating and
my number one movie of two, everything everywhere, all at once,
and I do have quickly some honorable mentions. I watched
about a hundred new movies this year, so obviously couldn't
fit all of them into a top ten list, But
some other great movies I watched were Vengeance with b. J. Novak,
(19:19):
I think a really great debut for him if you're
into more independent thrillers. Again, continuing my kick of thrillers,
that was probably my third favorite thriller of the year. Also,
most recently, Avatar The Way of the Water. I ended
up enjoying a lot more than I thought, and I'm
ready for all other Avatar movies despite its three hour
runtime a really great theater experience. Clerks three, which I
(19:43):
love Kevin Smith and maybe on paper wasn't the best movie,
but I just love all of the other Clerks movies.
I felt like that one really tied up that entire
franchise really well. Don't worry, Darling, I probably enjoyed more
the second time I watched it. It was a movie
that I was a specting to. It be instantly one
of my favorites of all time. It just had that
(20:04):
aesthetic going into it. So maybe I was a little
disappointed the first time I saw it in theaters, but
I still recommend it if you haven't seen it yet,
it is on HBO Max and I also want to
shout out to Sonic the Hedgehog too, which I don't
know why I love this first and second one so much.
Maybe it's because I was just such a big fan
of the video game on Sega. Maybe it's just because
(20:25):
I love Jim Carey, but there is something about watching
the Sonic the Hedgehog movies that I just love. Sometimes
you just need a movie to make you feel like
a kid again. So I feel like if I had
one guilty pleasure of the movie that I gave a
really high rating two just because of the way it
made me feel, I would go with Sonic the Hedgehog too,
which I gave a four out of five rating. Also
(20:46):
Light Year, which I felt like a lot of people
ripped to shreds, but I thought was actually a pretty
good love letter to sci fi. And I'll also throw
in thor Love and Thunder and Chat Show Real Smooth
on Apple TV Plus, or some other of my favorites
of the year. So I'll come back give you my
top five disappointments. I'll give you my review of Knives
Out Glass Onion. So I gave you my top ten
(21:11):
movies of two But now here are my top five
disappointments in the last year. And these are movies that
I was expecting to love because on paper they seem great,
great director, great actors. The trailer won me over, but
when I went to go see them in theaters, they
really let me down. So they didn't make my Worst
(21:31):
of two episode that I did a couple of weeks ago.
But there were just movies that I watched and was like, huh,
I thought I was gonna lave with that movie. At
number five is Halloween Ends, which I love the Halloween movies.
The original Halloween is my favorite horror movie of all time,
and this entire franchise kind of threw me for a
loop when it had such great introduction back in eighteen.
(21:54):
It really went downhill from there, and I thought this
movie was going to do a good job and kind
of closing out the chapter not only in this series
of reboots, but on the entire Halloween Michael Meyer's story.
But this movie really missed the mark. I enjoyed maybe
twenty minutes of this movie and then I was like,
all right, wrap this thing up. It's not what I expected.
(22:15):
So at number five, one of my biggest disappointments of
the year is Halloween Ends. At number four is another
movie I just watched on Apple Plus, and it was
Emancipation with Wolf Smith. I did a breakdown for the
trailer in the Trailer Park, and this movie was kind
of builled as being one of Will Smith's best performances
to date, and it came at a weird time of
(22:35):
him having the whole Oscar slap situation being his first
role after that, and people were quick to say that
this could be a movie that he would, you know,
be nominated for again. So I think given the subject matter,
given the trailer we saw from this movie, I thought
I was really going to love it and kind of
be on that team too, of like, oh yeah, he
should be nominated again. And weird that he's not invited
(22:57):
to the Oscars for another ten years. And it wasn't
so much his performance that I was disappointed with, but
I was kind of thrown off by the style of
this movie because it has a great story. I just
felt like the direction didn't do the story justice, which
is a very powerful story about him being a slave,
escaping and finding his way to Louisiana where he joins
(23:20):
to fight in the Civil War. But I was so
distracted by maybe it was the black and white style
and all the other effects that this movie had on
which I know, when you watch a movie on Apple
TV Plus, you usually get the best quality, but it
almost felt like the movie was overproduced, that it took
away from the rawness that I was expecting. And Will
(23:40):
Smith's whole dramatic intentions just were completely watered down because
of all the kind of flashy effects, So it took
away all the heart in this movie. So now I
don't even feel like it's a movie that people need
to see, and I don't even think he needs to
be in the consideration for Best Actor anymore. So that
really let me down. At Number three is Smile, which
(24:03):
I love horror movies. I went to go see this
movie in theaters and I was so excited. I went
to watch it by myself because my wife does not
like horror movies, so I had my middle seat ready
to enjoy this movie. And it let me down because
all of the scary parts are in the trailer. Why
do you do that for horror movies? It completely takes
(24:25):
the fun out of it. Even now, when I see
commercials for the Blue Ray, they're showing all the best
scary parts, so you don't even need to watch the movie.
And I know I was talking about Jordan Peel's Nope
and how not every horror movie has to be scary,
but that exactly is what this movie was wanting to do,
and it did a lot of it through jump scares,
which I feel are very cheap. So it was wanting
(24:49):
to give you that feeling of like, oh, we got you,
but it didn't really do that. And for a movie
that had such great marketing and a movie that people
were talking about just by the trailer and by all
the things they did with the MLB games, I thought
that was amazing for a movie to cut through like
that and people just to be talking about organically. I
think that is why the movie did so well. But
(25:10):
I found myself so bored at a certain part of
this movie, and I felt like it dragged on for
at least forty minutes before it got to the finale.
I was so let down by this movie. And I
know there's gonna be a Smile too eventually, and I'll
go watch that one and be let down again, but
I won't like it. I'll tell you that. So at
number three, my disappointment is Smile. At number two, it's
(25:32):
Black Adam, a movie I had seen the Rock talk
about for almost two years on his Instagram, a movie
I thought was going to save d C. I thought
we were going to have our next big d C hero.
I went to see this movie and the Rocks performance
was so flat. He added nothing to the character. He
(25:53):
was really just this big, muscled up dude in a
cool suit. But that is not enough to carry the
or gen story of a superhero. The entire plot of
this movie was very minimal. And don't get me wrong,
the action was pretty good. The visuals were actually really
great when it comes to V effects and superhero movies.
This one had it down really well, but everything else
(26:16):
was just now working for me. The supporting cast was terrible.
I think Pierce Bras's character deserved to really have the
leading rollman's movie. It should have been about his character,
because I actually learned nothing about Black Adam that maybe
want to see another Black Adam movie. And now that
d C is completely scrapping the character for a while,
we won't even see the Rock as Black Adam. Maybe
(26:38):
ever probably not. And as much as I love superhero movies,
I couldn't get into this one. It let me down.
So that's at number two and number one is the
last movie I saw in theaters. And sometimes I just
like a movie for the aesthetic, and there are certain
movies that I see the trailer for, I see the
directors and the actors attached to the movie. I'm like,
(26:59):
that is a movie I'm going to enjoy. I'm calling
it now. I had that expectation going into movies like
Nope and The Batman. Obviously, in Black Panther or oftentimes
I just have my favorite directors like Christopher nolh Wan,
Quentin Tarantino, I know I'm just going to like their movies.
And for Babylon, for a movie to have Brad Pitt,
(27:20):
one of the best A List actors of all time,
Margot Robbie, Toby Maguire, the list goes on and on
for a stacked cast, and the trailer won me over.
But the first thirty minutes in this movie, Given is
a three hour movie, probably the worst thirty minutes I've
seen in any movie, and it kind of reminded me
(27:41):
of when I went to see another movie I rated
a zero out of five this year Amsterdam. You have
this big ensemble cast that you can't direct them, and
it feels like there's no direction in this movie and
everything just happens, and I know it's supposed to be
this big, intertwined story. It takes place in the twenties,
and it's supposed to be sho wocking, it's supposed to
(28:01):
be graphic. There's a lot of nudity, people doing drugs,
and all of these crazy things that are happening that
are supposed to, you know, have this shock value. But
you can't really do all those things and expect it
to also land and resonate with the viewer. You have
to create something, You have to create some kind of storyline.
And it just felt like things were coming out of nowhere.
(28:22):
And if that was intentional and I totally missed that,
let that beyond me. But there was no enjoyment I
found in this movie. And I just don't know how
you waste that much talent. And yes, maybe if you
looked at each actor's individual performance, there are some things
you can pick out that are actually good. Yes, to
see Brad Pitt doing a character like this is impressive
(28:43):
in some ways. To see Margot Robbie, although I kind
of feel like she was just being a version of
Harley Quinn. And maybe the cinematography in this is something
you would be like, oh, well, they have all these
people on screen at the same time, that's a feat
in itself. Yes, maybe technically there are some things in
this movie, but when it comes to substance, there is
absolutely nothing in this movie that I would pick out
(29:05):
and think that was actually something I needed to see
in the movie. So I feel like this is the
Little Debbie Snacks of desserts when it comes to movies.
Just like there is no nutritional value to a little
Debbie Snack, there is no cinematic value to Babylon, and
the movie just really let me down. So my number
one disappointment of two was Babylon, and some honorable mentions
(29:28):
for some disappointments were Scream five. I thought that was
gonna make me a little bit more interested in the
reboot of the screen franchise, and they kind of banked
a lot on nostalgia and bringing back some of the
original cast from the first movie, but it ended up
just being just another generic horror slasher movie. So that
movie kind of let me down. Also a Christmas Story Christmas,
(29:49):
which made my worst movies of the year, and Barbarian,
which I saw so many people loving this movie and
I just thought it was pretty average. I like the
style of the movie more so than I like the
actual story. The first thirty minutes and third of this movie,
we're great, but it kind of fell off for me
there at the end. I thought it was gonna be
my favorite horror movie of two and it wasn't. All right,
(30:10):
So we'll come back and wrap things up with my
review of Knives Out back with my first movie review
of Let's Get Into It now Knives Out Glass Onion
on Netflix. This is the level of movie that Netflix
needs to put out more often. We really only get
one year on this scale from Netflix. Maybe that's all
(30:33):
I can afford at this point, but if they put
out more movies at the quality of Glass Onion, I
feel like it would really set them apart from all
the other streaming services. And this movie was a great
get for them after the first one was such a
big success to get the sequel to be on Netflix exclusive.
When it comes to all the streaming services and their
(30:55):
original movies, Netflix was one of the first ones to
have a big hit back when everybody watch bird Box
over the holiday break back in the day, and now
it's had them very far and few between. I feel
like Kulu has actually done surprisingly well when it comes
to having great original movies. But then Netflix comes out
and puts a movie out like this to remind everybody
(31:16):
we are the king of streaming. So let's get into
how this movie stacks up from the original one. It
is somehow better to me, but also not as good
as the original, and for different reasons. I feel like
the first one was a little bit more novel in
its approach, and we had no real expectations going into
the first Knives Out movie, but this one really kind
(31:39):
of turned up the campion nous, which I feel like
some people view this movie as being a little bit cheesy,
but I feel like this movie is pretty self aware.
But I feel like when it comes to a murder
mystery movie, it has to have that kind of level
of cheesiness to get the story across. But I feel
like it handled it very well. And I just have
to say, this is how you make a movie with
(32:01):
an ensemble cast, because there are so many great A
list level actors in this movie, and I feel like
no other movie has done it like Knives Out, glass
Onion has a lot of the other ensemble cast movies
I have hated this one. I love from Daniel Craig
to Dave Batista, Kate Hudson, Janelle Money. I feel the
reason this one works so well is because each individual
(32:25):
actor has their own time to shine. You often don't
get that in some of the other ensemble cast movie
is just like, oh, look at all these A list
actors trying to prove that they are great. Everybody in
this movie has a very specific role and it's very
character driven. All of these people who you're trying to
figure out are they the ones who did it have
(32:45):
their very own individual characteristics and they all do that
very well. So I think that is what makes this
movie work. And I never really found myself to be
one to love a murder mystery, but now I'm totally
into the genre. I'm even going back and watch like
Death on the Nile and Death on the Orient Express
just to get my fixed now. And I think that
(33:05):
is why this movie works so well. It is a
very fun movie to watch with family. That is what
I did over the holiday break. We all sat down
and watch Knives Out, and there is an element of
kind of like playing a game, because everybody, as you're
watching it is picking who they think did the murder
in this movie. And I think for that reason, the
whole Knives Out franchise has the ability to go on
(33:28):
forever because you can just keep bringing on new characters.
You probably keep Daniel Craig to keep that one thread
to make it feel like a Knives Out movie, but
you have a whole new story, You have a whole
new set of characters, you have a whole new murder
mystery with all new twists and turns. So you could
keep this format and keep on doing it. Eventually, when
(33:49):
Daniel Craig doesn't want to do it anymore or he
becomes too expensive, you bring someone else in and you
continue on this franchise, and just with this formula, it
still makes it entertaining to watch. I mean, when we're
going on getting into the double digits in the Fast
and the Furious movies, I feel like Knives Out would
have no problem doing the same and keeping people around
and keeping people interested. When it comes to the standout
(34:12):
performances in the cast. I guess because I never really
got two into the James Bond movies. I've never really
been a particular fan of one individual Daniel Craig movie,
and I feel like some people find his character annoying
in this movie because he has the fog Horn and
Leghorn KFC accident, but I find it kind of beendeering
and it's fun to see him playing such a witty, smart,
(34:34):
cool character, and I find myself analyzing as he is
analyzing things. So I really enjoy following along his character
in this movie and felt like he really honed in
on that more so than in the original movie. But
I have to say, hands down, who I think is
the best and knives out Glass Onion is Dave Batista.
And I do not think Dave Bautista that gets enough
(34:57):
credit for how good of an actor he is. I
think everybody just compares them to The Rock, but I
think he is a far far better actor than The
Rock because he is not just muscles and charisma. Dave
bautistaa actually has some range and he shows that a
lot in The Glass Onion, and I think that is
something that The Rock should be jealous of. Yes, they
(35:19):
are comparable in the sense that they both came from
W W E and both transitioned into an acting career,
but when it comes to individual movies that they have
both done, I find myself being a bigger fan of
Dave Batista's acting, whether it be in Guardians of the Galaxy,
in Dune, Army of the Dead, Blade Runner, and now
(35:39):
Knives Out, and I'm very much looking forward to his
performance and Knocked at the Cabin in the new m
Night Shamalan movie. I think he has really proven himself
to have some range and to have some depth, and
unlike the Rock, actually have some acting ability, and you
see that in this movie. So I think when it
comes to wrestlers turned actors, John Cena Dave Batista are
(36:00):
right there at number one and number two. So obviously
this is a spoiler free review and I don't want
to get into what happens at the end of this movie,
but I will say the entire story I felt this
time was a lot more satisfying than the original one
and maybe even more so a little bit easier to
follow along with. Throughout this movie, I felt like they
(36:20):
streamlined the entire mystery process very well in this one.
So I like the direction they went from the original
to the sequel. And I'm ready for a Knives about three,
four or five, six, seven eight. I will watch them
all back to back. So I think this is a
big win for Netflix of having such a hit putting
out such a good movie over the holiday to give
(36:41):
a lot of people I think to watch, especially like
I did with my family. I think it's a great
movie to watch and make a game out of it.
I think it is a big win for all the
actors in this movie. I think a movie like this
is fun for actors like Ed Norton to do and
be a part of. I even love the smaller cameos
like Ethan Hawk the very beginning of the movie. The
cameos in no way feel forced or cheesy like they
(37:04):
would in another movie. And third, it has made me
a believer in the who Done It? Genre? So I
give Knives Out glass Onion a four point five out
of five Mona Lisa's and that'll do it for another
episode here of the podcast. The Trailer Park will return
next week, but I know this episode already ran super long,
and I don't want to take up any more of
(37:24):
your precious time. Any amount of time that you spend
listening to this podcast I greatly appreciate, and I still
want to do the listeners shout out of the week.
How do you get a listeners shout out of the week.
If you are new to the podcast, all you have
to do is send me an email movie Mike d
at gmail dot com or hit me up on my
social at Mike destro on Everything. And as always, all
(37:46):
of those links are in the episode notes of this
podcast wherever you're listening to this right now. But this
listener shout at is from a d M I got
on Instagram that really made my day and it is
from at Polly Picks, and Polly wrote, Hey, Mike, I
just want to say your movie podcast is new to
me and I love it. I've been hopping around and
loving them all so much. I told my husband about
(38:07):
the random facts like what actors get paid the most,
and your hot takes on Christmas movies and just all
the things. I love how you also talk about the
stuff that's not in theaters and I would like to
know your favorite TV show series to binge And anyway,
I was wrapping presents and had to let you know
I found a new podcast to add to my face
for Also, your wife is adorable, So thank you Polly
(38:29):
for being a new listener to the podcast. I love
that you were hopping around different episodes. Welcome to the
movie crew. I hope you stay a while. And to
answer your question about TV shows. I think my favorites
of the last year. Probably my favorite show of three
was Stranger Things season four. I feel like some people
dipped out after season two and haven't revisited that. But man,
(38:52):
season four was so good and I can't wait for
season five, especially because they're all getting older now. But
season four was just so great. I can't wait for
season five, and hopefully they can get that done pretty soon.
I'm a big fan of the show Atlanta, which is
on Hulu. I love Donald Glover a k A childish Gambino,
and this last final season is exactly what I look
(39:13):
for in a comedy series. It is very dry, but
this type of humor in that TV show is so
much of like my own personal taste and humor, so
I don't think it's a show for everyone. And it's
also a show that you don't really have to watch
every season or even every episode in order to get it.
I feel like there is a very loose storyline, but
(39:35):
it almost kind of feels like a modern day Seinfeld
type of show. It is just so original and the
only show that really makes me laugh out loud while
watching it. Also, being a fan of superheroes, Two of
my other favorite shows were The Boys on Amazon and
Peacemaker on HBO Max. And then to round out the
top five was a drama I just watched on Hulu
(39:58):
which is Fleischmann Isn't Trouble starring Jesse Eisenberg. I think
when it comes to TV series, I like drama comedies
and that is one of my favorite drama comedies of
the year. So those are five of my favorite shows
of the last year. I don't talk about TV shows
a whole lot on this podcast because it is a
movie podcast. But if there's some kind of connection to
another TV show, that's usually when I bring it up.
(40:20):
But since you asked, Paulie, and because I love new
listeners of the podcast, there you go. That's for you.
Thank you for listening, And until next week, go out
and watch good movies and I will talk to you later.
Hello and welcome back, and it is the first episode
of three Movie Mix Movie Podcast. I am your host
movie Mike. Today I'm sharing with you my top ten
movies of the last year, plus my top five disappointments
movies I thought I was going to love and they
just let me down. I'll let you know why they did.
And in the movie review, we'll talk about Netflix's Knives
(00:20):
Out sequel Glass Onion, which came out over the break.
So so many things to talk about. Thank you for
being here, thank you for joining me for another year
of the podcast. Shout out to the Monday Morning Movie crew.
And now let's talk movies. In a world where everyone
and their mother has a podcast, one man stands to
infiltrate the ears of listeners like never before in a
(00:42):
movie podcast. A man with so much movie knowledge, he's
basically like a walking audim TV Who's glasses from the
Nashville Podcast Network Movie Movie Podcacast. Let's get right into it.
My top ten movies of twenty two. At number ten,
I'm going with the biopic Elvis. Music biopics they're usually
(01:04):
just not my favorite thing. I feel like it's really
hard to get them down to where you do the
artist justice and telling their story and telling and learning
things that we haven't learned about that artist without kind
of glamorizing it and glossing over a lot of the details.
But this movie had a decent enough run time that
it was able to explore all of the points I
(01:26):
wanted to learn about Elvis. And it was also done
in a way which it was directed by Bo's Lehman,
that I wasn't expecting, and I felt like it added
to the theatrics of Elvis. It made this movie feel
kind of like a fairy tale, which I hadn't really
seen in a music biopick before. And I feel like,
if you're gonna do somebody's life like a fairy tale,
it has to be one of the biggest names in
(01:47):
music of all time, Elvis, So I felt like that
style really lent itself to the vision of this movie
and the telling of his story. And then you also
have Tom Hanks, which you don't root for him in
this movie, and it's very rare not to route for
Tom Hanks, but I liked seeing him as the villain,
playing Elvis's manager. And then you have Austin Butler, who
(02:07):
wouldn't have been my first pick to play Elvis. He
doesn't exactly look like him, and I know a lot
of criticism for this movie was saying that he didn't
look like Elvis at all, and after watching this movie,
it kind of added more to my point of you
don't really have to look exactly like the person you
are playing, as long as you're willing to put in
the work to really take on this character. And I
(02:28):
felt like, ever since Austin Butler played Elvis like he
is still Elvis to me. I saw him host Saturday
Night Live, I still see Elvis, so I think this
will be kind of a hard role for him to shake.
So I'm kind of excited to see what he does
next after this role. But I thought this was a
great movie, probably a movie I will revisit at least
a couple more times. So I put Elvis at number ten.
(02:50):
At number nine, I'm going with Jackass forever. I'm a
huge Jackass fan. I have been a fan of their
work ever since I was a kid in middle school,
and that's when they blew up in the two thousands,
and I was one of those kids who saw them
on TV and then wanted to go recreate everything. They did.
I still have a lingering injury on my hand from
watching Jackass and wanting to be like Johnny Knoxville and
(03:12):
Steve Oh And I know you look at Jackass and think, oh,
they're just a bunch of idiots, But there are a
bunch of idiots that I feel don't get credit for
some of the things they've been able to do over
the careers and all these movies and TV shows. Is
they are able with their work to really bring people together.
And that is the vibe I got while watching Jackass Forever.
It was a full theater of people there just wanting
(03:34):
to laugh at the most ridiculous things. And I feel
like that sense of camaraderie in a movie theater doesn't
happen anymore, and I really have only ever had that
feeling while watching a Jackass movie from one, two, three,
too Forever. It's unlike any other theater experience. And it's
also a movie format that no one else can really do.
It's just a bunch of sketches back to back to back.
(03:55):
There's no real plotline, so just the fact that they
were able to get paramount you pay for this movie
and to agree to all the crazy things they have
done over the years. I think they don't get enough
credit for that. But another thing I feel they have
been able to do in these movies and really through
all their projects is their storytelling and their commitment to friendship.
(04:16):
I mean, they've all been friends for such a long time,
and I feel like we've watched them kind of grow
and show all these things and have us really invested
in them as people. And that's why these movies work
is because they are big characters that have great personalities.
Anybody can do a random stupid things in filment, it's
all over TikTok and YouTube. To really have a sense
(04:38):
of like it feels like your friends doing these stunts
and these people that you've known for your entire life.
Now that is something that no one else has really
created anywhere else. So and they're also bankable. They made
a lot of money doing stupid things and risking their
lives and they need credit for that. So at number nine,
one of my favorite theater experiences of the year goes
(04:58):
to Jackass for Ever, which I gave a four out
of five rating, and going back one for Elvis also
gave that one a four out of five rating. At
number eight, is another movie I gave a four out
of five rating, and it is Top Gun Maverick. Going
back to that feeling in a sense of camaraderie in
a movie theater. I really felt that in Top Gun Maverick,
that kind of electricity when you go into a theater
(05:19):
and everybody's excited. That is also what I experienced in
Top Gun Maverick. And I'm not even the biggest fan
of the original movie. Before a movie to come out
thirty years after the original one, I had some interest
in it, and I felt like this movie really resonated
with a lot of people because of that reason. I
saw people who had never been to a movie in
(05:39):
the last ten, fifteen, twenty years want to go see
this movie in theaters. And it was also a movie
that everybody I know who watched this movie loved it.
And the word of mouth that got around because of
this movie is really what boosted it so much. So
everybody had seen it, and when I went to go
watch it, I was like, all Right, I'm gonna next
(06:00):
to not really enjoy this movie. But Tom Cruise really delivered.
He brought a big action movie that you had to
see on the big screen, and for this movie to
be plagued with delays and delays. It was supposed to
come out so long ago. I didn't think it could
live up to that expectation. But I'm so glad that
we ended up having to wait this long to see
this movie, because it really did it justice. Was it
(06:23):
a little cheesy, Yeah, but that's all right in a
big summer blockbuster, and that's exactly what this movie was.
I think it's exactly what the film industry needed and
what America needed. So at number eight, I'm going with
Top Gun. Maverick at number seven is a movie I
wish more people would have seen, but it is an
independent movie. It's called Breaking starring John Boyega. You also
(06:45):
have Michael K. Williams and Connie Britton. But it's based
on a true story from ten a man named Brian
Brown Easily who was a decorated Marine Corps veteran and
in the movie, he holds a bunch of people hostage
inside a Wells Fargo Bay, threatening to blow it up,
and it's all because he didn't get his payment. He
(07:05):
was owed from the Department of Veteran Affairs and all
he wanted was his eight hundred and ninety two dollars.
That was actually the original title of this movie was
eight two. He doesn't want to steal any money from
the bank, he doesn't want to make any other negotiations.
He just wants his payment from Veteran Affairs so he
can get his daughter a birthday present and go on
(07:26):
with his life. So I thought the movie also shed
light on a very important subject, something that we don't
always think about when it comes to our veterans. And
then you also have John Boyega, who was so powerful
in this movie and the way he played this real
life person to where you feel so sympathetic for his
character because even though he is doing something this extreme,
(07:49):
you don't really see him as a villain. And I
found his performance in that to be a very delicate
thing to where you don't hate him for doing this,
You really sympathize with him and you want things to
work out for him. So a very emotional movie. It
was also the last film that Michael Kay Williams did
before he passed away, so there was another emotional level there.
(08:09):
But I felt like this was a sleeper pick. I
wish it would have been shown in more movie theaters,
and I even wish that a streaming service would have
picked up this movie. Because it's not on Amazon, it's
not on Netflix, it's not on Hulu. You can still
rent it, but you have to pay for it. I
think the cheapest is on Amazon for five bucks. So
if you like movies based on real life, if you
like dramas slash thrillers, I think you'll really enjoy this
(08:32):
movie because I loved it, so at number seven, I
went with Breaking at number six, kind of along the
same vein. I watched these movies around the same time
in theaters, and it's another thriller. I think that is
like my second favorite category of movies. You go superhero
movies for me, and then psychological thrillers slash crime thrillers.
Those are my favorites. I just think the emotion you
(08:54):
get from watching a thriller is what I enjoy so much.
And then I would probably put Horror at three. Now
it or used to be number two, so I think
it's kind of slid down in the last couple of
years because there have been so many great thrillers. But
at number six, I went with Emily the Criminal, which
I gave a four point five at a five rating,
starring Aubrey Plaza. You would probably know from Parkson Wreck,
(09:15):
and she's really more known for her comedic roles, and
in this movie, she plays a woman who is haunted
by her student debt and she is trying to get
her dream job but isn't able to land it, so
it was working a different job that really doesn't allow
her to pay off those loans, so she's trying to
find ways to make money and she gets involved in
(09:36):
this underground crime ring. It all starts with her purchasing
products with stolen credit card. So the movie really kind
of brings up to question, kind of like we did
in Breaking, but this time focusing on people with student
debt and the extremes you would go to get out
of that situation. And this was before I saw her
(09:58):
in White Lotus Season two. I still think she is
better in Emily the Criminal because she really gets to
be the star of this film. And the movie is
also available now on Netflix, so I feel like more
people are getting a chance to see this, and I
think everybody I've recommended it to has really enjoyed it.
So if you've been seeing this movie pop up on
your Netflix, I encourage you to check it out. If
(10:18):
you love a thriller, and at number six that's where
I'm putting it. Emily the Criminal getting into the top
five now at number five, I went with Jordan's Peel's Nope,
which I gave a four point five at a five rating.
The movie is now on Peacock, so if you have that,
you can watch it for free. I think the problem
I saw most people have with Nope was the fact
(10:40):
that this was billed as a horror movie, and it
is at its core, And that is why I like
Jordan Peel. I feel like he really knows how to
make a modern horror movie. But I feel when you
give people the expectation of a horror movie is meant
to make you scared, and they watch a movie and
they are not aired at all, then it makes them
(11:01):
not like the movie. I don't really think that's what
horror movies are meant to do anymore. I think at
the core of it, it's meant to have some horror
elements in the cinematic style of a horror movie, but
it doesn't really need to make you feel scared. I
think we've kind of evolved from that. Yes, maybe the
slasher movies of the eighties, the teen slasher movies of
(11:22):
the nineties, and kind of the transition we've been from
the two thousands to the twenty tens. I think the
new way to make a good horror movie is to
make something as novel as possible, and I think that
is exactly what Jordan Peel has done in his first
three movies. And I also love movies where you can
really hone in on all the symbols and everything has
(11:43):
a particular reason, Everything has a meaning. Maybe you have
to do a little deep dive after you watched the movie.
But I like movies that raise a lot of questions,
but if you are willing to look for them, have
a lot of answers. And I think that is exactly
what Nope did. Maybe for some people that doesn't really
play and exactly into what you like watching, but I
had only good things to say about Nope. That's why
(12:05):
I give it a four point five out of five
rating and put it at number five. At number four,
I went with The Batman, which I also gave a
four point five out of five rating. I loved everything
about director Matt Reeve's vision for The Batman to have
still that same realism and kind of dark tones as
(12:25):
The Dark Night, but really making its own and focus
in on the story of Batman as the great detective
that he is, and also the commitment of not making
Bruce Wayne and Robert Pattinson be the same billionaire very cool,
calm and collected Bruce Wayne, making him kind of a recluse,
kind of a weirdo. And when you really think about
(12:47):
what Batman does and all the things he has to
change in his life, it really plays more into that
vision of Batman of being this weird dude. Who else
would really do this job? And I'd just loved the
cast in this movie, with Zelee Kravitz as Selina Kyle
a k A Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler was
one of my favorite Batman villains of all time, and
(13:10):
then Colin Farrell as Penguin, which was one of the
most curious castings I felt going into this movie, but
surprisingly worked really well in a movie with a three
hour run time. I found myself sucked into every single
minute of The Batman and I still remember exactly when
I realized I was watching something that altered the way
(13:32):
I feel about movies, and I felt like this little
moment kind of happened in my brain like a new
wrinkle went into my brain whenever the chasing happened between
the penguin and Batman, and how epic that was. I
was so excited, and I had this smile on my face.
And for a movie to give me that feeling, that
(13:53):
is something that for me, who watches so many movies
and doesn't really get moved by a whole lot anymore.
I really enjoyed that moment and love this movie. And
I've rewatched this movie three times since it came out,
and that is a lot for me to rewatch a
movie when I'm watching all these other movies for this podcast,
like just out of pure enjoyment, I could sit down
and watch The Batman. So at number four is The Batman.
(14:17):
At number three is one of the movies I watched
most recently. It is The Whale with Brendan Fraser, and
I love this movie so much. I believe that it
should and will win Best Picture at the Oscars this year.
I also think Brendan Fraser should win for Best Actor.
And I love this movie so much that I want
(14:39):
to wait and do the full review because I feel
like this movie deserves that and I have so many
things I want to say about The Whale, but I
couldn't do my top ten lists without including this movie.
And if it wasn't for number two and number one,
this easily could have been my number one given any
other year. But two other really great movies came out
(15:00):
this year. Is that just ranked above the Whale? And
for a movie to be a pretty straight on drama
to land in my top five, maybe that says something
to you. Maybe it doesn't. But all the other movies
in this top five have a spectacle to them. They
have this big reason that you need to watch them
on the big screen. And for The Whale to really
kind of move me in a way just by the
(15:21):
telling of somebody's story and landing at number three, I
feel like it deserves a full movie review on its own,
so I will be doing that one next week. So
this is just the preface to that. The Whale is
already at number three with a four point five out
of five rating that brings me to the top two.
At number two, I'm going with Waconda Forever, the only
(15:42):
movie I've given a five out of five rating in
the last year. This movie checked all the boxes for
me superhero movies, which I love. Yes, I am a
bit of a Marvel stand but this movie. I actually
saw it twice in theaters and loved it more the
second time because of the way it served as a
tribute to the death of Chadwick Boseman, but also how
(16:05):
they chose to continue on the story and the introduction
of one of my favorite Marvel villains in a very
long time, nay More easily now lands in my top
five Marvel villains of all time. But it is the
last Marvel movie to come out and me to instantly
want the next one to come afterwards, and I know
it's going to be a long time before that one,
(16:26):
if that one ever gets made. But it's a Marvel
movie that left me so excited after watching it, and
that was even after me anticipating it so much and
for something to live up to that expectation, and me
still wanting to see it again and again and again
and tell people about it. And I know I've already
spoken so much about this movie, so obviously it was
(16:46):
going to land at number two. At number one, my
top movie of two is Everything Everywhere, All at Once,
from A four, which I actually gave a four point
five at a five rating when I first reviewed this movie,
and it is the first movie I have retroactively looked
(17:08):
back on and realized why I did that. I should
have given this movie a perfect score, but I'll leave
it at a four point five out of five. There
are so many great things I can say about this movie,
how it deals with the multiverse, and how it was
so original and did so well. I think that is
really my favorite thing about this movie, because what I
(17:30):
see a lot that people criticize Hollywood for are remaking
movies or just making superhero movies. There's nothing original anymore.
But here in two you have one of the most
original movies, a movie not set in any known franchise,
a movie that didn't bank on it's a list stars,
even though you have some great people in this cast,
(17:53):
a movie that didn't have the most fancy budget but
was able to do something so novel, and a movie
that resonated with me in so many different ways, and
overall just really an exciting and fun movie that it's
the only movie that I've watched in the last five
years that I wish I could watch again for the
first time, like I've never seen it because That is
(18:13):
how much I love this movie. If you love a
story about an unlikely hero, you need to watch this
movie if you haven't yet. The movie centers around this
family who is down on their luck, having issues with
the I R s and their small business, and then
their entire world kind of comes crashing down and the
main character, played by Michelle Yao, has to navigate all
(18:35):
this madness while learning how to use her newly found powers.
But it is a movie that is so much fun
to watch, and so many crazy things happened in this movie.
I felt like it was things I would experience in
a dream, and the directors that Daniels were able to
bring to life. So between this movie and The Whale,
I hope they both together clean up at the Oscars
(18:57):
because they very much deserve it. So at number one
with the four point five out of five rating and
my number one movie of two, everything everywhere, all at once,
and I do have quickly some honorable mentions. I watched
about a hundred new movies this year, so obviously couldn't
fit all of them into a top ten list, But
some other great movies I watched were Vengeance with b. J. Novak,
(19:19):
I think a really great debut for him if you're
into more independent thrillers. Again, continuing my kick of thrillers,
that was probably my third favorite thriller of the year. Also,
most recently, Avatar The Way of the Water. I ended
up enjoying a lot more than I thought, and I'm
ready for all other Avatar movies despite its three hour
runtime a really great theater experience. Clerks three, which I
(19:43):
love Kevin Smith and maybe on paper wasn't the best movie,
but I just love all of the other Clerks movies.
I felt like that one really tied up that entire
franchise really well. Don't worry, Darling, I probably enjoyed more
the second time I watched it. It was a movie
that I was a specting to. It be instantly one
of my favorites of all time. It just had that
(20:04):
aesthetic going into it. So maybe I was a little
disappointed the first time I saw it in theaters, but
I still recommend it if you haven't seen it yet,
it is on HBO Max and I also want to
shout out to Sonic the Hedgehog too, which I don't
know why I love this first and second one so much.
Maybe it's because I was just such a big fan
of the video game on Sega. Maybe it's just because
(20:25):
I love Jim Carey, but there is something about watching
the Sonic the Hedgehog movies that I just love. Sometimes
you just need a movie to make you feel like
a kid again. So I feel like if I had
one guilty pleasure of the movie that I gave a
really high rating two just because of the way it
made me feel, I would go with Sonic the Hedgehog too,
which I gave a four out of five rating. Also
(20:46):
Light Year, which I felt like a lot of people
ripped to shreds, but I thought was actually a pretty
good love letter to sci fi. And I'll also throw
in thor Love and Thunder and Chat Show Real Smooth
on Apple TV Plus, or some other of my favorites
of the year. So I'll come back give you my
top five disappointments. I'll give you my review of Knives
Out Glass Onion. So I gave you my top ten
(21:11):
movies of two But now here are my top five
disappointments in the last year. And these are movies that
I was expecting to love because on paper they seem great,
great director, great actors. The trailer won me over, but
when I went to go see them in theaters, they
really let me down. So they didn't make my Worst
(21:31):
of two episode that I did a couple of weeks ago.
But there were just movies that I watched and was like, huh,
I thought I was gonna lave with that movie. At
number five is Halloween Ends, which I love the Halloween movies.
The original Halloween is my favorite horror movie of all time,
and this entire franchise kind of threw me for a
loop when it had such great introduction back in eighteen.
(21:54):
It really went downhill from there, and I thought this
movie was going to do a good job and kind
of closing out the chapter not only in this series
of reboots, but on the entire Halloween Michael Meyer's story.
But this movie really missed the mark. I enjoyed maybe
twenty minutes of this movie and then I was like,
all right, wrap this thing up. It's not what I expected.
(22:15):
So at number five, one of my biggest disappointments of
the year is Halloween Ends. At number four is another
movie I just watched on Apple Plus, and it was
Emancipation with Wolf Smith. I did a breakdown for the
trailer in the Trailer Park, and this movie was kind
of builled as being one of Will Smith's best performances
to date, and it came at a weird time of
(22:35):
him having the whole Oscar slap situation being his first
role after that, and people were quick to say that
this could be a movie that he would, you know,
be nominated for again. So I think given the subject matter,
given the trailer we saw from this movie, I thought
I was really going to love it and kind of
be on that team too, of like, oh yeah, he
should be nominated again. And weird that he's not invited
(22:57):
to the Oscars for another ten years. And it wasn't
so much his performance that I was disappointed with, but
I was kind of thrown off by the style of
this movie because it has a great story. I just
felt like the direction didn't do the story justice, which
is a very powerful story about him being a slave,
escaping and finding his way to Louisiana where he joins
(23:20):
to fight in the Civil War. But I was so
distracted by maybe it was the black and white style
and all the other effects that this movie had on
which I know, when you watch a movie on Apple
TV Plus, you usually get the best quality, but it
almost felt like the movie was overproduced, that it took
away from the rawness that I was expecting. And Will
(23:40):
Smith's whole dramatic intentions just were completely watered down because
of all the kind of flashy effects, So it took
away all the heart in this movie. So now I
don't even feel like it's a movie that people need
to see, and I don't even think he needs to
be in the consideration for Best Actor anymore. So that
really let me down. At Number three is Smile, which
(24:03):
I love horror movies. I went to go see this
movie in theaters and I was so excited. I went
to watch it by myself because my wife does not
like horror movies, so I had my middle seat ready
to enjoy this movie. And it let me down because
all of the scary parts are in the trailer. Why
do you do that for horror movies? It completely takes
(24:25):
the fun out of it. Even now, when I see
commercials for the Blue Ray, they're showing all the best
scary parts, so you don't even need to watch the movie.
And I know I was talking about Jordan Peel's Nope
and how not every horror movie has to be scary,
but that exactly is what this movie was wanting to do,
and it did a lot of it through jump scares,
which I feel are very cheap. So it was wanting
(24:49):
to give you that feeling of like, oh, we got you,
but it didn't really do that. And for a movie
that had such great marketing and a movie that people
were talking about just by the trailer and by all
the things they did with the MLB games, I thought
that was amazing for a movie to cut through like
that and people just to be talking about organically. I
think that is why the movie did so well. But
(25:10):
I found myself so bored at a certain part of
this movie, and I felt like it dragged on for
at least forty minutes before it got to the finale.
I was so let down by this movie. And I
know there's gonna be a Smile too eventually, and I'll
go watch that one and be let down again, but
I won't like it. I'll tell you that. So at
number three, my disappointment is Smile. At number two, it's
(25:32):
Black Adam, a movie I had seen the Rock talk
about for almost two years on his Instagram, a movie
I thought was going to save d C. I thought
we were going to have our next big d C hero.
I went to see this movie and the Rocks performance
was so flat. He added nothing to the character. He
(25:53):
was really just this big, muscled up dude in a
cool suit. But that is not enough to carry the
or gen story of a superhero. The entire plot of
this movie was very minimal. And don't get me wrong,
the action was pretty good. The visuals were actually really
great when it comes to V effects and superhero movies.
This one had it down really well, but everything else
(26:16):
was just now working for me. The supporting cast was terrible.
I think Pierce Bras's character deserved to really have the
leading rollman's movie. It should have been about his character,
because I actually learned nothing about Black Adam that maybe
want to see another Black Adam movie. And now that
d C is completely scrapping the character for a while,
we won't even see the Rock as Black Adam. Maybe
(26:38):
ever probably not. And as much as I love superhero movies,
I couldn't get into this one. It let me down.
So that's at number two and number one is the
last movie I saw in theaters. And sometimes I just
like a movie for the aesthetic, and there are certain
movies that I see the trailer for, I see the
directors and the actors attached to the movie. I'm like,
(26:59):
that is a movie I'm going to enjoy. I'm calling
it now. I had that expectation going into movies like
Nope and The Batman. Obviously, in Black Panther or oftentimes
I just have my favorite directors like Christopher nolh Wan,
Quentin Tarantino, I know I'm just going to like their movies.
And for Babylon, for a movie to have Brad Pitt,
(27:20):
one of the best A List actors of all time,
Margot Robbie, Toby Maguire, the list goes on and on
for a stacked cast, and the trailer won me over.
But the first thirty minutes in this movie, Given is
a three hour movie, probably the worst thirty minutes I've
seen in any movie, and it kind of reminded me
(27:41):
of when I went to see another movie I rated
a zero out of five this year Amsterdam. You have
this big ensemble cast that you can't direct them, and
it feels like there's no direction in this movie and
everything just happens, and I know it's supposed to be
this big, intertwined story. It takes place in the twenties,
and it's supposed to be sho wocking, it's supposed to
(28:01):
be graphic. There's a lot of nudity, people doing drugs,
and all of these crazy things that are happening that
are supposed to, you know, have this shock value. But
you can't really do all those things and expect it
to also land and resonate with the viewer. You have
to create something, You have to create some kind of storyline.
And it just felt like things were coming out of nowhere.
(28:22):
And if that was intentional and I totally missed that,
let that beyond me. But there was no enjoyment I
found in this movie. And I just don't know how
you waste that much talent. And yes, maybe if you
looked at each actor's individual performance, there are some things
you can pick out that are actually good. Yes, to
see Brad Pitt doing a character like this is impressive
(28:43):
in some ways. To see Margot Robbie, although I kind
of feel like she was just being a version of
Harley Quinn. And maybe the cinematography in this is something
you would be like, oh, well, they have all these
people on screen at the same time, that's a feat
in itself. Yes, maybe technically there are some things in
this movie, but when it comes to substance, there is
absolutely nothing in this movie that I would pick out
(29:05):
and think that was actually something I needed to see
in the movie. So I feel like this is the
Little Debbie Snacks of desserts when it comes to movies.
Just like there is no nutritional value to a little
Debbie Snack, there is no cinematic value to Babylon, and
the movie just really let me down. So my number
one disappointment of two was Babylon, and some honorable mentions
(29:28):
for some disappointments were Scream five. I thought that was
gonna make me a little bit more interested in the
reboot of the screen franchise, and they kind of banked
a lot on nostalgia and bringing back some of the
original cast from the first movie, but it ended up
just being just another generic horror slasher movie. So that
movie kind of let me down. Also a Christmas Story Christmas,
(29:49):
which made my worst movies of the year, and Barbarian,
which I saw so many people loving this movie and
I just thought it was pretty average. I like the
style of the movie more so than I like the
actual story. The first thirty minutes and third of this movie,
we're great, but it kind of fell off for me
there at the end. I thought it was gonna be
my favorite horror movie of two and it wasn't. All right,
(30:10):
So we'll come back and wrap things up with my
review of Knives Out back with my first movie review
of Let's Get Into It now Knives Out Glass Onion
on Netflix. This is the level of movie that Netflix
needs to put out more often. We really only get
one year on this scale from Netflix. Maybe that's all
(30:33):
I can afford at this point, but if they put
out more movies at the quality of Glass Onion, I
feel like it would really set them apart from all
the other streaming services. And this movie was a great
get for them after the first one was such a
big success to get the sequel to be on Netflix exclusive.
When it comes to all the streaming services and their
(30:55):
original movies, Netflix was one of the first ones to
have a big hit back when everybody watch bird Box
over the holiday break back in the day, and now
it's had them very far and few between. I feel
like Kulu has actually done surprisingly well when it comes
to having great original movies. But then Netflix comes out
and puts a movie out like this to remind everybody
(31:16):
we are the king of streaming. So let's get into
how this movie stacks up from the original one. It
is somehow better to me, but also not as good
as the original, and for different reasons. I feel like
the first one was a little bit more novel in
its approach, and we had no real expectations going into
the first Knives Out movie, but this one really kind
(31:39):
of turned up the campion nous, which I feel like
some people view this movie as being a little bit cheesy,
but I feel like this movie is pretty self aware.
But I feel like when it comes to a murder
mystery movie, it has to have that kind of level
of cheesiness to get the story across. But I feel
like it handled it very well. And I just have
to say, this is how you make a movie with
(32:01):
an ensemble cast, because there are so many great A
list level actors in this movie, and I feel like
no other movie has done it like Knives Out, glass
Onion has a lot of the other ensemble cast movies
I have hated this one. I love from Daniel Craig
to Dave Batista, Kate Hudson, Janelle Money. I feel the
reason this one works so well is because each individual
(32:25):
actor has their own time to shine. You often don't
get that in some of the other ensemble cast movie
is just like, oh, look at all these A list
actors trying to prove that they are great. Everybody in
this movie has a very specific role and it's very
character driven. All of these people who you're trying to
figure out are they the ones who did it have
(32:45):
their very own individual characteristics and they all do that
very well. So I think that is what makes this
movie work. And I never really found myself to be
one to love a murder mystery, but now I'm totally
into the genre. I'm even going back and watch like
Death on the Nile and Death on the Orient Express
just to get my fixed now. And I think that
(33:05):
is why this movie works so well. It is a
very fun movie to watch with family. That is what
I did over the holiday break. We all sat down
and watch Knives Out, and there is an element of
kind of like playing a game, because everybody, as you're
watching it is picking who they think did the murder
in this movie. And I think for that reason, the
whole Knives Out franchise has the ability to go on
(33:28):
forever because you can just keep bringing on new characters.
You probably keep Daniel Craig to keep that one thread
to make it feel like a Knives Out movie, but
you have a whole new story, You have a whole
new set of characters, you have a whole new murder
mystery with all new twists and turns. So you could
keep this format and keep on doing it. Eventually, when
(33:49):
Daniel Craig doesn't want to do it anymore or he
becomes too expensive, you bring someone else in and you
continue on this franchise, and just with this formula, it
still makes it entertaining to watch. I mean, when we're
going on getting into the double digits in the Fast
and the Furious movies, I feel like Knives Out would
have no problem doing the same and keeping people around
and keeping people interested. When it comes to the standout
(34:12):
performances in the cast. I guess because I never really
got two into the James Bond movies. I've never really
been a particular fan of one individual Daniel Craig movie,
and I feel like some people find his character annoying
in this movie because he has the fog Horn and
Leghorn KFC accident, but I find it kind of beendeering
and it's fun to see him playing such a witty, smart,
(34:34):
cool character, and I find myself analyzing as he is
analyzing things. So I really enjoy following along his character
in this movie and felt like he really honed in
on that more so than in the original movie. But
I have to say, hands down, who I think is
the best and knives out Glass Onion is Dave Batista.
And I do not think Dave Bautista that gets enough
(34:57):
credit for how good of an actor he is. I
think everybody just compares them to The Rock, but I
think he is a far far better actor than The
Rock because he is not just muscles and charisma. Dave
bautistaa actually has some range and he shows that a
lot in The Glass Onion, and I think that is
something that The Rock should be jealous of. Yes, they
(35:19):
are comparable in the sense that they both came from
W W E and both transitioned into an acting career,
but when it comes to individual movies that they have
both done, I find myself being a bigger fan of
Dave Batista's acting, whether it be in Guardians of the Galaxy,
in Dune, Army of the Dead, Blade Runner, and now
(35:39):
Knives Out, and I'm very much looking forward to his
performance and Knocked at the Cabin in the new m
Night Shamalan movie. I think he has really proven himself
to have some range and to have some depth, and
unlike the Rock, actually have some acting ability, and you
see that in this movie. So I think when it
comes to wrestlers turned actors, John Cena Dave Batista are
(36:00):
right there at number one and number two. So obviously
this is a spoiler free review and I don't want
to get into what happens at the end of this movie,
but I will say the entire story I felt this
time was a lot more satisfying than the original one
and maybe even more so a little bit easier to
follow along with. Throughout this movie, I felt like they
(36:20):
streamlined the entire mystery process very well in this one.
So I like the direction they went from the original
to the sequel. And I'm ready for a Knives about three,
four or five, six, seven eight. I will watch them
all back to back. So I think this is a
big win for Netflix of having such a hit putting
out such a good movie over the holiday to give
(36:41):
a lot of people I think to watch, especially like
I did with my family. I think it's a great
movie to watch and make a game out of it.
I think it is a big win for all the
actors in this movie. I think a movie like this
is fun for actors like Ed Norton to do and
be a part of. I even love the smaller cameos
like Ethan Hawk the very beginning of the movie. The
cameos in no way feel forced or cheesy like they
(37:04):
would in another movie. And third, it has made me
a believer in the who Done It? Genre? So I
give Knives Out glass Onion a four point five out
of five Mona Lisa's and that'll do it for another
episode here of the podcast. The Trailer Park will return
next week, but I know this episode already ran super long,
and I don't want to take up any more of
(37:24):
your precious time. Any amount of time that you spend
listening to this podcast I greatly appreciate, and I still
want to do the listeners shout out of the week.
How do you get a listeners shout out of the week.
If you are new to the podcast, all you have
to do is send me an email movie Mike d
at gmail dot com or hit me up on my
social at Mike destro on Everything. And as always, all
(37:46):
of those links are in the episode notes of this
podcast wherever you're listening to this right now. But this
listener shout at is from a d M I got
on Instagram that really made my day and it is
from at Polly Picks, and Polly wrote, Hey, Mike, I
just want to say your movie podcast is new to
me and I love it. I've been hopping around and
loving them all so much. I told my husband about
(38:07):
the random facts like what actors get paid the most,
and your hot takes on Christmas movies and just all
the things. I love how you also talk about the
stuff that's not in theaters and I would like to
know your favorite TV show series to binge And anyway,
I was wrapping presents and had to let you know
I found a new podcast to add to my face
for Also, your wife is adorable, So thank you Polly
(38:29):
for being a new listener to the podcast. I love
that you were hopping around different episodes. Welcome to the
movie crew. I hope you stay a while. And to
answer your question about TV shows. I think my favorites
of the last year. Probably my favorite show of three
was Stranger Things season four. I feel like some people
dipped out after season two and haven't revisited that. But man,
(38:52):
season four was so good and I can't wait for
season five, especially because they're all getting older now. But
season four was just so great. I can't wait for
season five, and hopefully they can get that done pretty soon.
I'm a big fan of the show Atlanta, which is
on Hulu. I love Donald Glover a k A childish Gambino,
and this last final season is exactly what I look
(39:13):
for in a comedy series. It is very dry, but
this type of humor in that TV show is so
much of like my own personal taste and humor, so
I don't think it's a show for everyone. And it's
also a show that you don't really have to watch
every season or even every episode in order to get it.
I feel like there is a very loose storyline, but
(39:35):
it almost kind of feels like a modern day Seinfeld
type of show. It is just so original and the
only show that really makes me laugh out loud while
watching it. Also, being a fan of superheroes, Two of
my other favorite shows were The Boys on Amazon and
Peacemaker on HBO Max. And then to round out the
top five was a drama I just watched on Hulu
(39:58):
which is Fleischmann Isn't Trouble starring Jesse Eisenberg. I think
when it comes to TV series, I like drama comedies
and that is one of my favorite drama comedies of
the year. So those are five of my favorite shows
of the last year. I don't talk about TV shows
a whole lot on this podcast because it is a
movie podcast. But if there's some kind of connection to
another TV show, that's usually when I bring it up.
(40:20):
But since you asked, Paulie, and because I love new
listeners of the podcast, there you go. That's for you.
Thank you for listening, And until next week, go out
and watch good movies and I will talk to you later.
Host
Mike D
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