Tag / t.j. miller

by Jaime Rebanal

Deadpool 2 is What You’d Expect It To Be: A Review

✯✯½

The first Deadpool film was fun when I saw it in theaters but upon further thought I’d only come to dislike it because the most it really presented itself to be was merely a typical superhero origin story posing as different through its meta humour only giving it a feeling of smugness that only became irritating as it went on. Having this mixed together with David Leitch, who had come fresh off John Wick and Atomic Blonde made me feel unsure because I also disliked the latter film so the idea of Leitch directing this only pushed me away from Deadpool 2. To say the least, my expectations already had given myself an idea of the audiences that I knew a Deadpool movie would have found itself appealing to but to my own surprise it didn’t get on my nerves nearly as much as the first film did and felt more like a nice step up. Despite qualms that echo what bothered me about the first Deadpool, it felt nice to see that not much of the cynicism that struck me from said film had lingered terribly in this one.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Ready Player One – Review

✯✯✯

I had no set expectations for Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One because I do not have very fond memories of the novel. I disliked the novel when I read it years back because all that I remember of it was that it felt so alienating being unfamiliar with the pop culture icons references at the time, and looking back through Ernest Cline’s writing; that seemed to have been all that he struck me as. With the fact that Steven Spielberg was set to direct a film adaptation set on this novel, I was uncertain. I was uncertain because of the fact that Spielberg and Cline have different understandings that both creators have of pop culture for Spielberg was a key figure in defining the era commonly referenced in Ready Player One whereas Ernest Cline grew up during that time. But despite my suspicions, I came out quite pleasantly surprised by Ready Player One.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Office Christmas Party – Review

½

You can already look at the title “Office Christmas Party” and soon it’ll spell out where your expectations are going to be set. But even with a low bar being set in stone, Office Christmas Party still somehow manages to disappoint. You can’t seriously look at a title like “Office Christmas Party” and expect anything more than a crude sex-crazed comedy about a party that happens to be within an office setting during Christmastime, but even on that level it doesn’t seem like it has enough to sustain its running time of 105 minutes. At the very least one can be thankful enough that it isn’t the sort of mess that Project X was but that’s the most a movie like Office Christmas Party can really be given.

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by Jaime Rebanal

The Emoji Movie – Review

½

Actually did not want to be among the dogpile of half-stars that this movie was receiving from peers, so much to the point I was even remembering that I’ve seen much worse this year as I watched The Emoji Movie. And while said thought still remains rooted in my head, I can only come out of The Emoji Movie confirming that it truly is as bad as it is being made out to be. Not since Foodfight! have I come across such a lazy mishmash trying to pose as family entertainment in the most cynical manner and while showing it off with pride at full display. The whole time I was sitting through The Emoji Movie I had only refused to believe that a conceptualization so asinine would be made into a real product by a major studio given what Foodfight! has proven and it seems clear enough that within later years to come, this will only go down along the like.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Big Hero 6 – Review

✯✯½

I’ve always grown up a big fan of Disney but Big Hero 6 was, much like Frozen, a title amongst their recent catalogue I was never compelled to rush out to see in theaters on its first day. There was an idea that came by to which I was vaguely interested in the product, for the fact it was based on a Marvel comic at least had a clear calling for subversion because of the fact that the times are being overpopulated with superhero films (especially the Marvel Cinematic Universe, whose films have gone amidst a pattern that has only grown tedious). It was clear that Pixar has managed to turn such rules around on their own knees when The Incredibles had come out ten years prior, and now with an actual Marvel source, where did Big Hero 6 end up landing? It was only in part what I feared it would be. In some sense a subversion and another, the same old superhero film I’m tired of.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Deadpool – Review

✯✯

It’s as if there’s a film that calls out to be different on the inside and it’s not breaking out enough. Deadpool isn’t a disaster by any means but what sort of joy I had on a theater viewing just faded away rather fast on a rewatch. I’d assume it’s probably because I was with the family when I watched it, but on another watch, my main issue with the film became clear. I’ve no doubt there are going to be fans who will admire what they get because of how well they connected with the character (I’ve admittedly never read a Deadpool comic) but there’s an inherent problem when only they are among the crowd that gives such high raves. I’d like the reader to understand that I’ve no issue with the fans as I respect how well they’ve grown to the character, but as one from the outside, there’s not so much offered. Continue reading →