Category: Good Solid Movie

Trap “Review”

Release date: August 2, 2024 (USA)

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures

Cinematography: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom

Music by: Herdís Stefánsdóttir

Production company: Blinding Edge Pictures

How should we start this “Review”. It’s M. Night Shyamalan’s best movie post 2020? Not on the level of Split but maybe Glass? If that gives a pictures lets open the door to Trap.

I applaud the trailer for setting up this movie. It does a great job of setting the scene and informing the viewer what this movie is about. The movie dives a little deeper in than the trailer reveals but the intro and the trailer work nicely hand in hand to one another without revealing anything futher.

Thoroughly enjoyed the dynamic relationship between the daughter and her dad as we navigated the scenes developing during this feature. I can’t go into much detail to contain the trap and the inner webbing of threads revealed throughout the movie.

I was very entertained throughout the majority of this feature. Hitting 8/10. Sadly without going into much detail the “plot twist” that M. Night placed on this movie could have audiences split. It brought my score down to a 7.5. However depending what they do next with this world/universe could bring it up or drop further without some solid writing.

I recommend everyone interested in the trailer / film go watch it. Then lets discuss the feature afterwards because there’s a lot to be discussed. A small post feature scene before the credits fully role. Nothing to stick around for at the end of the credits. Save yourself 5 minutes :D.

Appreciate you for reading this Popped “review” and next up should be Borderlands next week sometime after the movie premiers Thursday 8th.

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Fly me to the moon “Review”

Release date: July 12, 2024 (USA)

Director: Greg Berlanti

Story by: Bill Kirstein; Keenan Flynn

Distributed by: Columbia Pictures

Budget: $100 million

Music by: Daniel Pemberton

With this being an early showing and yet to be released I wont go into spoilers. However the trailer does pretty much set the scene for this just over 2 hour ride.

“Fly Me to the Moon” takes viewers on a journey that’s both emotional and visually captivating, albeit with a few bumps along the way. The film’s greatest strength lies in its stellar cast, who deliver performances that truly elevate the narrative. Each actor brings depth and authenticity to their roles, making the characters memorable and relatable.

One of the unexpected delights of the film is the cat, whose presence adds a quirky charm to the story. It’s amusing to see cats becoming such a prominent feature in movies this summer, but hey, I’m not complaining! This feline actor holds its own among the human stars, providing moments of levity and even some surprising emotional weight.

The film does take its time to get going, with a first hour that feels a tad slow. However, this deliberate pacing serves to set up the second half, which is where “Fly Me to the Moon” truly shines. The buildup pays off with a gripping and impactful conclusion that is both satisfying and thought-provoking.

In summary, “Fly Me to the Moon” is a film that rewards patience. It’s not without its flaws, but with great acting and a powerful ending, it manages to leave a lasting impression. If you can appreciate a slow burn and have a fondness for well-acted dramas (and cats), this movie is worth the watch.

I was back and forth on the rating, however using my scaling chart I’d go with a 7/10 just locking in the 7 as I could see myself watching this again down the road. Great watch and excited to hear your thoughts once the movie officially releases come July 12th.

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Thelma “Review”

Release date: June 21, 2024 (USA)

Director: Josh Margolin

Distributed by: Magnolia Pictures

Produced by: Zoë Worth; Chris Kaye; Nicholas Weinstock; Benjamin Simpson; Karl Spoerri; Viviana Vezzani

Production companies: Zurich Avenue; Invention Studios; Bandwagon

Thelma’s trailer got me with a real life comparison and I had to check it out.

For those that haven’t seen the trailer or know nothing about Thelma. This is a mission impossible story inspired by Tom Cruise doing his own stunts for a 93 year old woman when she’s scammed of $10,000.

When you’re told theirs’s nothing the authorities can do and you’re embarrassed and upset to involve your family. It’s up to yourself and maybe some helpful friends to assist in getting this money back.

If you’ve ever seen any of the “100 year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared” movies then you’re going to enjoy this as their a tier below what Thelma is.

Thelma has so much heart. So much emotion and emotional self journeys by multiple characters as they come to terms with either growing old, bettering themselves for the sake of others. The loss of friends and family or the eventual inevitable and what’ll it mean to one another. On the other hand there’s this epic 93 year old action movie which is fairly grounded and will relate to those in their elder years along with adults 25+ I’d say.

Such a good solid watch I’d recommend to check out this summer movie going season. Thelma gets a solid 7.5/10 getting the closest to a 8/10 as possible.

Stand out performances from June Squibb playing Thelma Post along with Richard Roundtree playing her friend Ben. The supporting family were good but mostly saved by Clark Gregg playing Alan the Son in law to Thelma. Gail the mum played by Parker Posey & Danny the grandson of Thelma played by Fred Hechinger had some good scenes but the other characters are what kept this movie going in the solid 7 tier. Maybe I’d watch again if someone wants to see for first time but happy to have spent an hour and a half with Thelma.

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Haikyu!! The Movie “Review”

Release date: May 31, 2024 (USA)

Director: Susumu Mitsunaka

Distributed by: Toho Co., Ltd.

Adapted from: Haikyu!!

Welcome back to Popped everyone it’s been a little while and same goes for this anime Haikyu!!

Looking up when this series last released it was back in 2020 if you want to revisit those times. This series began back in 2014 and decided to wrap up with anime with 2 movies.

Dumpster Battle is part 1 of those 2 movies. Literally without missing a beat I felt as the film picked up from the end of season 4. Doing a great job for those new to this series you could jump in and get hyped with this movie alone and watch these parts alone or catch up with the 4 seasons prior to part 2 releasing.

Honestly a shorter review of sorts as this is literally a part 1 of a series finally so going over story would spoil the series. That being said if you came because you enjoyed the show then you’re going to love it as it felt like an extended episode focused on our main character and his friend/rival in the tournament that’s occurring to wrap this series up.

It feels like part 2 will have to pack a lot into it however that’s the path chosen for this show and I’ll be there for the finale. A solid 7 /10 from myself. Looking forward to the next sports anime unless I give Blue Lock a go prior to his first feature length film.

Let me know your thoughts down below of this movie for Haikyu and I’ll see you again in the next batch. Potentially Furiosa & Babes which I’ve yet to catch up on.

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The Garfield Movie “Review”

Release date: May 24, 2024 (USA)

Director: Mark Dindal

Distributed by: Sony Pictures Releasing

Adapted from: Garfield

Box office: $49 million

Music by: John Debney

As we wrap up the first half of 2024 and enter the second half of my 50 movie goal with #26. The Garfield Movie was somewhat a rollercoaster ride from mediocre beginnings to entertaining bliss.

I’m still back and forth on my final verdict but will hold firm based on if I’d watch this movie again over IF. Am I still feeling strongly that Garfield will sweep IF? Hmmmm it’s a coin toss to be honest. I think Garfield landed on a better weekend even if it’s releasing alongside Furiosa.

At first Garfield’s latest escapade seemed like a snooze-fest. The first 30 minutes were rather painful. I’m not sure if its Chris Pratt or Garfield’s character writing however the performance was lackluster and the slow progress left me unimpressed, barely managing to stay engaged.

Once Garfield and Odie find themselves in a sticky situation with another (No Spoilers) intriguing character, did things begin to pickup. The final hour was a whirlwind of excitement, filled with great characters that outshined Garfield himself. The supporting cast brought life to the story, overshadowing Garfield’s underwhelming presence.

With quirky personalities, hilarious dialogues, and unexpected twists, the characters stole the spotlight and carried the movie to a satisfying conclusion.

In the end Garfield managed to salvage its rating by delivering a fun final hour, thanks to the fantastic supporting cast. While Garfield may not have been the star of his own movie, the enjoyable ensemble cast made up for his shortcomings, turning this film into a surprisingly entertaining ride.

Overall, Garfield’s journey from a painful start to a captivating finish earns it a 6.5 star rating, just barely making it to a 7/10 in the end.

Stay tuned for this weekend as we journey into Mad Max Furiosa here on Popped.blog :D. Thank you all for coming by for the latest batch and I’ll seen you very soon.

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Boy Kills World “Review”

Release date: April 26, 2024 (USA)

Director: Moritz Mohr

Story by: Arend Remmers; Moritz Mohr

Distributed by: Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate Films

Box office: $1.7 million

Music by: Ludvig Forssell

For a movie not even on my radar a couple weeks back, the word of mouth and late feedback this week drew me in to watching this movie yesterday. I watched the trailer afterwards and wow that’s a fun entertaining trailer.

The movie opens up with a narrative voice over almost to that of Sin City meets Dead Pool humor. Throughout the movie this voice sat with me and then it hit! This is Bob from Bob’s Burgers. This honestly may have been what stole the entire film for me as I loved! Watching this movie with his commentary over the top.

Back to the opening however the story was to that of a Hunger Games meets Squid Games. Within this world is a yearly event called “The Culling” when people are rounded up based upon a list and killed. The villains in control of this entire thing is a family called Van Der Koy which have some interesting personalities. Sadly not enough to have kept me entertained when the fantastic H. Jon Benjamin isn’t voicing over the scenes occurring.

Without Boys voice over the later half of the movie does get a little boring and I waited for the next scene we get to have him back.

The reason why the voice over is so important and crucial to this movie is due to “Boy” played by Bill Skarsgård who’s also staring in the upcoming Crow movie. Is deaf and mute only able to read lips, which is rather funnily implemented and used during this feature. Boy is raised by a shaman due to loosing his entire family in The Culling and has one mission and purpose in life. To Kill Hilda Van Der Koy!

With his voice over inspired by a video game voice over from Boy’s childhood I love his interactions with other individuals throughout the movie. The fight choreography and cinematography used in this film is excellent and worth checking out as you go along this revenge plot with some intriguing tid bits that I’ll leave out for your discovery as you watch Boy Kills World.

Again word of movie drew in me into watch this title so I had a score in mind I wanted it to be at. In addition to having the bar set high with Challengers the previous day I was thinking of this title around an 8. Until sadly the lack of Boy’s voice over was truly felt and sadly the Van Der Koy family not being engaging enough for me personally when Boy isn’t interacting with them.

I couldn’t get to an 8 personally so felt 7.5 for Boy Kills World felt right sitting along side Monkey Man for 2024. Now if you’re not into the voice over for some reason this maybe a harder watch but maybe the action and other aspects of the film will be enjoyable enough viewing experience for you.

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Civil War “Review”

Release date: April 12, 2024 (UK)

Director: Alex Garland

Distributed by: A24, Entertainment Film Distributors

Budget: $50 million

Cinematography: Rob Hardy

Produced by: Andrew Macdonald; Allon Reich; Gregory Goodman

When Grace from beyond the trailer dropped an early review stating how bad this film was. I knew something controversial was upon us leading up to release. Once others started to review this film and praising it the other way I had tampered my expectations but never actually looked at the reviews other than their scores.

Apparently the add campaign was an issue giving misleading message on this film? I understood going in that we were following these journalist within a Civil War setting as they complete their objective story.

Apparently others thought we were going to see a War Film filmed around the Civil War. Not sure how the Press part was missed from that but anyway that’s the story being told.

I’ve absolutely loved Kirsten Dunst since Spiderman days and even further back to the days of Jumanji in 1995. I haven’t seen her since Melancholia unless I just forgot movies since 2011? Which is interesting as 2012 was when I moved to America from England. Looking up her Bio I see 2016 Hidden Figures however totally don’t remember her in that movie sadly.

This movie had very impactful moments which will grasp you in intense ways of fear and awe. From the chilling sounds of gun fire or the breath taking silence as you’re left waiting in knowingly what’s to come fear of an uncontrollable action.

All the actors played their roles well most of the movie. For two thirds of this movie I was with our characters on their journey from NYC to DC in attempts to interview the president on answers for how he’s dealing with this Civil War. A War mind you that has California & Texas on the same side :O what happened! I have no idea as this movie placed the viewer within the midst of the battle without any lead up or information outside what we’re seeing with our Press characters.

Maybe that’s where the dip in ratings for this movie comes from. The lack of context for the war or information on everything surrounding it. It was a great ride worth watching at least once. Sadly that final act went from a 7 to an 8 and back down to a 7 real quick as those epic action moments and final revelations of the strings being pulled quickly snapped and all came loose with odd direction and sadly unbelievable character decisions which came out of no where. Maybe another scene for them to develop those decisions but sadly wasn’t it for me.

I had a great time though and believe Civil War was a solid movie being scored personally as a 7/10. It offered something different of a War film but left me wanting a stronger conclusion on what was an intense enticing journey.

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Monkey Man “Review”

Release date: April 5, 2024 (USA)

Director: Dev Patel

Budget: 10 million USD

Producers: Dev Patel, Jordan Peele, Samarth Sahni, Erica Lee, MORE

Distributed by: Universal Pictures

Music by: Jed Kurzel

Monkey Man was a rollercoaster on where to rate this feature. I had a personal journey ranging between a 7 and an 8 /10.

Monkey Man is an intriguing entry into the revenge-thriller genre that manages to differentiate itself enough to stand on its own. Many individuals prior to my performance compared this to the John Wick series. This film, while steeped in the same visceral action and relentless pursuit of justice, deviates by weaving a more spiritual tapestry around its narrative core.

I found Monkey Man had strength in it’s ability to oscillate between its action packed sequences and the more serene moments of philosophical contemplation.

Unlike John Wick’s more personal vendetta, the protagonist is driven by a broader mission to avenge not just his own losses but the sufferings of others who have been wronged by the same villains.

Hearing after my viewing that no one wanted to pick this title up I was rather happy and thankful that Jordan Peele came to Dev Patel’s aid in producing this feature.

It may bounce between a 7 and an 8 in various aspects. I felt a 7.5 feels right for a movie that offers a satisfying blend of action and a deeper spiritual quest. A journey well worth taking those seeking more than just bullets and bloodshed.

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Sting (2024) “Review”

I was rather lucky to have seen this movie ahead of it’s release. My local theatre started to run mystery movies and this was the first in their mystery horror line up.

Going in I thought the movie was The Last Omen until I saw the trailer play prior. Once this title begun I was rather excited to finally see a new movie that I had not seen a single trailer for prior. In fact I’ve seen very little being mentioned of this title leading up to it’s release on April 12th.

I absolutely loved the setup of this feature introducing us to the situation and then going back 4 days prior to how these events unfold.

Now I’d like to keep this spoiler free but there’s a giant spider in front of our faces so let’s address that first. Despite Charlotte’s grand mother calling the exterminator to deal with noises going on within her walls. Charlotte is introduced as a meteor crashes though the attic window and reveals to her in a form of a spider (Alien Spider? o.O) lets name it “Sting”.

Charlotte is a rebellious 12 year old girl who takes quite a liking and fascination of this spider and uses the pipes to descend down from this apartment building of flats to her living quarters with her mother, brother and mothers boyfriend. The cinematography was remarkable and I can see this movie either being a niche film with strong followers or a solid good film for the masses.

As the poster suggests, this fear just gets bigger and I’ll allow you to dive into this 1 Hour 30 Minute feature to see just how deep this tale goes and if you’re strong enough to prevail against the webbing and do battle with moth balls.

On the descent down to Charlotte’s room I loved the use to get glimpses into all our supporting characters and taking perfect snap shots of their daily lives to grow and connect with throughout. I was pleasantly surprised by this feature and happily give it 7.5. Let’s not bash Imaginary once more but considering this was an R rating film you can see what having that safety net what can be done with your big bad.

Look forward to this title coming April 12th hopefully to a theatre near you. This was a first getting to review a title early and hope I intrigued and left mystery for you to enjoy what horror’s to come.

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Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire “Review”

Release date: March 29, 2024 (USA)

Director: Adam Wingard

Distributed by: Toho Co., Ltd., Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Pictures

Based on: Godzilla; by Toho Co., Ltd.

Budget: $135 million

Music by: Tom Holkenborg; Antonio Di Iorio

How does one begin to write this other than going all in with a mighty titan rawr!

Godzilla X Kong is a monster movie through and through. Switch off your brain. Grab the bag of popcorn and let’s get into some mighty titan action in this epic feature. The New Empire maybe crossed over with ghostbusters Frozen Empire last week but that doesn’t get in the way with introducing the epicnes that is Godzilla & Kong.

Since their battle with Mecha Godzilla in the last installment Godzilla now watches over and protects that of the human world. Kong has resided to the hollow earth and protects its lands whilst in search for his family and home.

Sadly once these beautiful titans have been introduced we have the humans. Which are the weakest point of this film and could have easily been reduced by half their screen time for a better monster flick.

For those that have seen the trailer you’ve seen a lot of beats from the film including the poster. However this movie can’t really be spoiled as the amount of depth / lore is king of tarnished by the humans storylines. Kong easily has the best story and reminds me of Kong X God Of War.

Speaking of human storylines, we’re introduced to our merry band of human characters when Kong goes to the dentist. A mini series I’d love to watch as a joke. Kong despite taking a beating from Godzilla in the previous movie seems to be in more pain going to the dentist than almost dying to Godzilla.

Something is calling to Jia whom is connected to Kong, she’s an orphaned Iwi Native to Skull Island. In addition something is calling to Godzilla as he goes around powering himself up against other titans.

Godzilla X Kong is a beautiful movie and truly something to behold. Each time we visit locations on earth and Hollow Earth its breath taking. Diving back to Hollow Earth Kong enters into a deeper earth undiscovered and finds a tribe of other Kong’s before epic battles with rather funny attacks with a certain new friend.

This is where I couldn’t see Kong outside of him playing Kratos and our new friend being Atreus. Which I absolutely loved and would have cut all the humans out of the movie from here out to just see more Kong and Godzilla.

Godzilla took the meme a little far with “ima firin mah lazer” which was so cool to see but got comical. If the humans took a backseat I’d have given this movie an easy 8/10 however I settled with a 7.5 due to how cool Kong’s scenes / story were. How epic the battles got with Kong & Godzilla and all the visuals which I’d love to see this movie once more for.

I won’t go into spoilers from here despite seeing a lot of this in the trailers / poster. I’ll just say that after Kong finds the movies big bad it’s voiced over in my head as “It was at this point this movie became a popcorn action monster movie and went over 9000% insane!”

I’ll sum it up as Kong going into the MCU and securing the infinity gauntlet and thors hammer. Godzilla came from power rangers and called out It’s Rawring time. Other characters maybe X Avatar? But what do I know the scenes were insane!

Nothing to stay for at the ending, no mid nor end credit scene. Movie ends pretty nicely and I’m curious where the series can go from here? For those that know this lore. What Titans are yet to appear or lands yet to be discovered? Love to hear in the comments.

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