Movies rock. I’ve spent more money and more hours than I can count watching movies. I know a lot of people are like me, since movies — along with memes — are one of the few things that distract our generation from the fact that we are all just cogs in this never-ending machine called society. So let’s get going.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story: Maybe it’s just the fact that I saw this at the Seattle Cinerama Theatre and was blinded by the fully leaning-back seats and the chocolate popcorn, but I loved this movie. The only critiques I have heard is that it didn’t focus on the Jedi, which is true, but also a plus of the movie. This look at the the non-powered people of the Star Wars universe makes it feel more real. It makes the heroes more relatable by making them very human — minus the droid — and I enjoyed that aspect of the movie a lot. It was very much worth the moniker of Star Wars, and it breathed new refreshing life into the old franchise.
Moana: An instant classic beautifully created. The animation is incredibly stunning and the characters are interesting. The music is so good I could float along a crystalline Hawaiian stream with a pineapple in my hand just by listening to the phenomenal lyrics. However, one thing I noticed is that the overall plot is quite similar to the The Croods. A daughter wants to go out and explore the world but the father keeps her stuck a certain place because he wants to keep her safe. Ring any bells?
The Martian: Though some may think the science in this movie is … not good. (Especially how he grows potatoes.) But a lot of the science is actually sound. Seriously, it is, a guy even experimented, and while a man can’t live on bread alone, he can apparently live on potatoes. The movie itself is extremely interesting. Matt Damon does an incredible job flexing his acting chops, keeps it suitably entertaining and funny throughout the entire film. I’d almost be willing to go alone into outer space and steal stuff on Mars just to be able to call myself a space pirate. Seriously, on the scale of epicness, I’m pretty sure it caps off at space pirate. Blab all you want about the scientific discovery of water on Mars on the same day the movie came out — obviously a conspiracy — but it still doesn’t diminish the overall enjoyment you’ll have with this movie. Fun fact: the team on The Martian decided to name themselves after a secret meeting in Lord of the Rings. This is doubly funny because Sean Bean — who played Boromir in Lord of the Rings — was actually in this scene in The Martian.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: I swear this isn’t on here just because Eddie Redmayne is my Man Crush every Monday, I promise. This is similar to the Harry Potter franchise as Rogue One is to Star Wars. This Harry Potter spin-off focuses on Newt Scamander, a famous wizard zoologist, and his affinity for magical creatures. This exposed us both to how America is in the wizarding world and many magical creatures. This combination of an expanded view of the fascinating world, an interesting cast of characters, great scarves, and good effects makes this an incredibly interesting movie to watch. If you enjoyed the original Harry Potter movies, you should definitely give this a try. Just saying though: J.K. Rowling hired Eddie Redmayne without him even having to audition. He’s just that good.