In Theaters: January 25, 2019

Only one release to talk about today.

The Kid Who Would be King

Every now and again a kids' movie comes along that just looks really solid.  As opposed to the brainless wacky-for-wacky-sake stuff you see in most children's movies.  This one doesn't look brainless.

The Kid Who Would be King is about a young boy named Arthur who winds up finding a sword, and he pulls it out of a stone.  This take on King Arthur takes place in modern times, and Arthur is twelve.  He says so in the trailer.

Merlin is played by Patrick Stewart, but the character is most often "in disguise" as a sixteen year old boy, so he can attend school with Arthur and have more time to train him.

The Kind Who Would be King is rated PG for fantasy action violence, scary images, thematic elements including some bullying, and language.

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: January 18, 2019

There is only one to talk about today.

Glass

Well, the return of Mr. Glass has been a long time coming, hasn't it?

I should mention that Split had what was for me, personally, the greatest twist of all time.  I had the twist in The Sixth Sense spoiled for me when I was a kid, so I never really experienced the full effect.  But I had absolutely no idea about the twist at the end of Split, and it truly blew my mind.  You can ask my friend, Kela.  He was there.  He saw it happen.

Split was also too gross of a movie for me to ever want to see again, unfortunately.

Anyway, here we are at Glass, and now Mr. Glass and Split guy (Legion?  Do they call him Legion?) are teaming up against David Dunn.

M. Night I'm-not-even-gonna-try-to-spell-his-last-name was WAY ahead of his time with Unbreakable back in 2000.  Superhero films weren't even a big deal yet and he was already pulling them apart and putting them back together in interesting ways.  That practice didn't even become mainstream until, like, 2014 (you could make the argument for 2004 with The Incredibles).  Crazy.

Critics don't like Glass very much, but the audience score is at a sturdy 78%.  So I'd say it's probably pretty good.

Glass is rated PG-13 for violence including some bloody images, thematic elements, and language.

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: January 11, 2019

It's 2019 now.  I have to type 2019 instead of 2018.  I'm getting there.  This week we have three wide releases to talk about.

A Dog's Way Home

I'm getting pretty sick of these dog movies.  I'm not a dog person.  Dog's are fine, but going to see a dog movie is kinda like buying a mug with a picture of your dog on it, isn't it?  Disturbingly, some readers will think "What's wrong with my mug with my dog's picture on it?"

Anyway a dog gets lost and makes its way home.  It's like Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, except it doesn't look good at all, and there's only one dog and no cat.  And no old man that yells to the cat: "And stay clear of the river!"

A Dog's Way Home is rated PG for thematic elements, some peril and language.

Replicas

So this one looks pretty weird.  And not very well-made.

Keanu Reeves plays some kind of scientist man working on cloning, or robots, or some kind of clone robot things that are a lot like people.  Let's just call them replicas.

Scientist man loses his wife and kids in a car crash.  Scientist man brings them back as replicas clone robots (clone robots just sounds better).  The clone robot family finds out they are clone robots.  Scientist man's boss finds out he made a clone robot family.  Scientist man gets fired and pursued by the government so they can put an end to scientist man's clone robot family.

Replicas is rated PG-13 for thematic material, violence, disturbing images, some nudity and sexual references.

The Upside

This really is the upside of this weekend.

The Upside is basically a bromance version of Me Before You.  Literally, that's it.  I just explained it.

The Upside is rated PG-13 for suggestive content and drug use.  And it actually looks decent.

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: January 4, 2018 (and some I missed)

So I've been busy.  I got lazy.  Holidays, girlfriend, whatever.  You know.  You don't?  Whatever, deal with it.

The Highlights:

Creed II (November 21, 2018)

This one was really good.  Michael B. Jordan does a wonderful job.  The writing is great.  I really liked it a lot.  Go see it.

Creed II is rated PG-13 for sports action violence, language, and a scene of sensuality.

Ralph Breaks the Internet (November 21, 2018)

I haven't seen this one, but I would like to see it.  I really liked the first one.  I know a few people who have seen it and they really liked it.  Should be good.

Ralph Breaks the Internet is rated PG for some action and rude humor.

Mortal Engines (December 14, 2018)

If you see a Mortal Engines poster, TV spot, trailer, or any kind of ad, they all say "from the filmmakers of The Lord of the Rings".  This is true.  All the big wigs from those movies are on board as producers of this movie.  Christian Rivers directs, and he has been Peter Jackson's protogé for decades.  Is this gonna get him out from Peter's shadow?  Not likely, but it is potentially a start.

I haven't seen it, but I would kinda like to see it.  The ads make it look very YA Adaptation-y, which is not a good thing.  Proceed with caution.

Mortal Engines is rated PG-13 for sequences of futuristic violence and action.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (December 14, 2018)

This one was good.  I did see it, and I did enjoy it.

When I first heard that Sony was doing another Spider-Man but animated and centered around Miles Morales, I was like that's too confusing for the masses.  They don't know who Miles Morales is, and there's another Spider-Man franchise running around that's already popular.  Just a cheesy cash grab.

But hey, cheesy or not, it worked.  Bravo, Sony.  Well done.

The animation style is very unique.  Imagine if Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk was animated.  It's a lot of fun.  The humor is great.  The music is awesome, and I had a good time.

Some people are saying this is the best Spider-Man movie ever made.  Don't listen to these people.  Spider-Man 2 is still the best.  But this one is good.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is rated PG for frenetic sequences of animated action violence, thematic elements, and mild language.

Once Upon A Deadpool (December 12, 2018)

www.impawards.com doesn't even have a poster.  Hmm.

It was really funny.  I don't think it's even in theaters anymore because it was a limited run.  But it was funny.

Aquaman (December 21, 2018)

This one was great.  Best popcorn movie of the year, easily.  Not a lot of brains, but TONS of fun.  Just go see it.  It was a hoot.  Plus, Amber Heard is really good-looking.

Oh, and it's been ruling the box office for a while now.  I think it's already made more money than any DC movie since Dark Knight Rises.  Well ... it hasn't caught Wonder Woman yet.  But it's only been two weeks.  I think it will.

Aquaman is rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language.

Bumblebee (December 21, 2018)

People are saying it's actually good.  Maybe they're telling the truth.

The Transformers franchise lost a lot of good will with The Last Knight in 2017, so I don't think people turned out very much for Bumblebee.  But it's not directed by Michael Bay, if that makes any difference for you.  I'm interested to see this one.

Bumblebee is rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action violence.

Second Act (December 21, 2018)

The concept sounds alright, but my faith really lies in the lead.

Second Act is about a blue collar woman who lands a white collar job because someone makes a fake resumé for her that looks amazing.  She has the skills, but she's a fish out of water.  I don't think this would look half as interesting without Jennifer Lopez in the lead role.  It looks like she nails the part.

I haven't seen it, but I would like to.

Second Act is rated PG-13 for some crude sexual references, and language.

Mary Poppins Returns (December 19, 2018)

I don't know anything about Mary Poppins.  Okay, I know some things.  Dick Van Dyke is a chimney sweep, she sings, she dances, something about a spoonful of sugar, and she's a magical nanny who flies on her umbrella, originally portrayed by Julie Andrews.  And she saves the kids or whatever.

I still want to see this one.  People seem to like it.  And Emily Blunt.  She's great.

Mary Poppins Returns is rated PG for some mild thematic elements and brief action.

They Shall Not Grow Old (December 19, 2018)

This was a limited release, so it is not playing in theaters anymore.  But it should be available to rent or buy here soon.

This is a one-of-a-kind documentary.  It's about World War I, and it features dramatically restored footage, and interviews given by people who served in The Great War.  It's Peter Jackson, so it will probably be really amazing.

They Shall Not Grow Old is rated R for disturbing war images.

Escape Room...

... comes out tomorrow, on the actual 4th of January, but it looks really really stupid and I don't care.  Welcome to January!  Hollywood's dumping ground!

      Big Shot Critic