Thor: Ragnarok

Jean, This is a big movie. It has a big cast, world class visual effects,  a worthy story line, with great humor throughout and even two post credits short scenes. Chris Hemsworth is more than an imposing action hero but also has a great comic light touch. Cate Blanchett literally jumps off the screen as the queen of evil. The movie starts off with the hero in a cage and bound with chains and yet performs better than Harry Houdini. And it ends in a climax that the entire cast is pushed to their limits. This film is 135 minutes.  Dad

P.S. The 7 previews are:

12 Strong
Maze Runner: the Death Cure
Den of Thieves
Black Panther
Wonder
Just Getting Started
Star Wars: the Last Jedi

Murder On The Orient Express

Jean, This is a big, very good looking and very entertaining version of the Agatha Christie story. From the streets of Jerusalem to Istanbul and onto the Orient Express train for Paris this is a beautiful looking movie. Then we have a loaded cast performing inside the train and outside when the train runs into a snow blocked mountain pass. There is also action and gun play, not usually seen in a Christie story. What is a source of distraction is the mustache of Hercule Poirot which is something to see. A big movie version of a famous British detective story that keeps you involved to the big Kenneth Branagh theatrical solution.  Dad

P.S. The previews are:

Mollie's Game
Isle of Dogs
The Leisure Seeker
Darkest Hour
Murder On The Orient Express

IT

Jean, This is a big, great looking, horror/supernatural movie. It has an actual  Spielberg feel to the whole production. There are some of the best scary basements, old houses, large sewer drainage pipes and open doors at the end of the hall you will ever see. The young cast is just about perfect in every way. The lead character , a  scary clown played by Bill Skarsgard is just superb in his use of humor and threat and sarcasm. He comes out as a real, fully formed character. I would put this up there as nudging "The Shining". (There are a week of nightmares in this movie, for sure.) Dad

P.S. The previews are:

Thank You for Your Service
Flatliners
Justice League
Jigsaw
Thor:Ragnarok
Blade Runner 2049

Spiderman - Homecoming

Jean, This is a new and fresh Spiderman. It starts with Tom Holland as the very young Spiderman. He is in high school and he looks and acts like it. (This has almost a John Hughes feel to many parts of this movie.) Then add Michael Keaton and Robert Downey Jr. and you have a great combination. Just listen to the dialogue between Spiderman and Downey Jr. it is so fast and clever and very ,very funny. Like he comes back so fast with such comments as "that has a very Springsteeny  feel to it." They list six writers for the movie and the results show it.

The action scenes are top-notch and so imaginative. So much fun. Both Ironman and Captain America show up but the entire movie is so lighthearted and almost buoyant.  I see it as one of the best of he Spiderman movies. Dad

The previews are:

Pitch Perfect 3
Kinsman:The Golden Circle
Daddy Home 2
Wonder
The Dark Tower
Justice League

The Beguiled

Jean, I think this was one of the best films I have seen in a long time. It has the setting and costumes and acting by the entire cast and a well directed story line. From beginning to end, it has a consistent excellent handling of the material. (Some reviewers thought it was limited by being, maybe, from the women character's view , with stylist touches and not embracing the true violence of the story. I did not see any of that .) The main characters of Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell and Kirsten Dunst all give very believable performances. In only 93 minutes, I think you get a great bit of arresting story-telling by Sofia Coppola. There are periods where I do not think I moved a muscle so absorbed was I. Dad

P.S. The Previews are:

Landline
A Ghost Story
The Glass Castle
Atomic Blonde
Dunkirk

Baby Driver

Jean, This has to be on of the most entertaining and over the top heist and crazy get -a -way movies ever made. They do things with cars that are beyond understanding.  On top of that is the soundtrack which is a star in this movie. (The driver listens to his music on his iPod as he drives away from the bank robberies ) There some stars in this one especially Kevin Spacey at his most mean. The lead  is played by Ansel Elgort who is perfect for the young driver.  Dad

P,S. The previews are:

Flatliners
I T
Home Again
Kinsman:The Golden Circle
Pitch Perfect 3
The Dark Tower

Wonder Woman

Jean, This is a big-time action film starring Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman who easily carries the role with great confidence and  some amazing force. She plays the lead Diana who leaves her Isle of Amazons and comes to battle the Germans in World War I. There is plenty of man to man  and women to women combat using swords, bows and arrows and spears. Chris Pine joins the film as her love interest and adds some humor as well. The film is 2 hours and 22 minutes which is much too  long and there are  some very slow stretches. We end up with the biggest  finale ,an  explosion extravaganza battle between Diana and Ares, the God of War. Gal Gadot provides the thoughts about mankind and the waste of man killing one another.  But I was expecting a softening of the sword play and shield bashing and throwing of thunderbolts against German tanks. It was entertaining mainly due to watching a  Wonder Woman with such an easy authority. Dad

P.S. The previews are:

Hitman Bodyguard
Geostorm
Atomic Blonde
Transformers:The Last Knight
Murder on the Orient Express ( looks so interesting)
Blade Runner: 2049

Logan

Jean, This is the 10th  in the X-Men series of movies and stars Hugh Jackman. I found it had a very interesting plot, one of the best in the entire series. But it is so violent and bloody. Those sharp knives hidden in their fists slice up every one, cuts off arms and even beheads a number of people. Even the young girl has those kind of fists and wreaks havoc as good as does Wolverine himself. The actors are excellent including Patrick Stewart. But movie is quite long at 140 minutes and it begins to drag in the middle. I guess you have to accept all that violence for it to be an  X-Men movie. Dad

The previews:

King Arthur
Life
Pirates of the Caribbean
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
Alien Covenant
Deadpool

Collide

Jean, This is a sleeper of heist movie. By that I mean it has not received the  attention it deserves and it is not all that bad. It stars Anthony Hopkins, Ben Kingsley, Felicity Jones and Nicholas Hoult. When a heist goes wrong, the crime lords of Hopkins and Kingsley go after the young couple of Jones and Hoult. I had forgotten how scary Hopkins can be without raising his voice. Kingsley plays an ethnic character to the hilt as expected. But Nicholas Hoult is a very attractive and athletic hero, doing all the stunts required with such ease. The story takes you on wild and imaginative car chases along the autobahns of Germany as well as the most picturesque lanes of the villages. Hoult jumps into one super hot german car after another in the chases. The overall story is weak but if you are into reasonably well acted action films with a lovely European backdrop, this is the film.  Germany never looked more neat and attractive as the background of the movie.  Dad

The Previews were:

Kong Skull Island
Before I Fall

The Great Wall

Jean, This is a Chinese action/adventure movie starring Matt Damon, Willem Dafoe, Pedro Pascal and Tian Jing.The story revolves around two westerners entering China in search of gunpowder. In their quest ,they run into a long running battle between the resident Chinese armies and a immense group of marauding reptiles . Their primary defense against these reptiles is the Great Wall. (In the introduction, this story is identified as a Chinese legend.) The actors give us each a believable performance, but the highlight of the film is the battle scenes featuring waves of the attacking reptiles. It reminds me of scenes from the movie "Kingdom of Heaven"  but with touches of Busby Berkeley. The movie  has marshaled  the clashes of these overwhelming forces into amazing and powerful action vistas. You get your money's worth at only 104 minutes.  Dad

The previews are:

Lowriders
Power Rangers
Lost City of Z
The Mummy