JULY MOVIE RANKINGS:

Yes, a full-plated month of reviews! Just what I wanted after such a crappy year of analysis. We’re chugging now boys (at least until I go back to college, that is). While I wanted to dive into more marathons, I ended up with only the Mel Brooks’ directorial one. I promise to release more in the coming month, as I have some lined up already. Overall, I would say July was a satisfying month for viewing; at least for me, that is. I saw some interesting releases that I’ve been waiting to see for a long time (“The Room” being at the top of the chart), and am happy that I did. However, in terms of the theater, nothing too grand has come up. Sure, “Dunkirk” was really good and “Spider-Man: Homecoming” was entertaining, but I’m looking for something of substance. Let’s see if we get that later this year…

#11- “The Room”
3%= Burnt Popcorn
Pros: It was hilariously awful.
Cons: Read the review; there is not enough space to vent about it.

#10- “The 9th Life of Louis Drax”
68%= Burnt Popcorn
Pros: Different concept, solid cinematography, and decent performances.
Cons: Predictable, I couldn’t relate to any of the characters, and the story came off as either too silly or wacky for its own good.

#9- “The LEGO Batman Movie”
69%= Burnt Popcorn
Pros: Amazing animation, fun colors and style, great voice acting, and had some funny parts.
Cons: After the first act, the story became slow and dull; on top of that, it was highly predictable.

#9- “The Twelve Chairs” (1970)
69%= Burnt Popcorn
Pros: Great acting, original concept, had good atmosphere and locations, and was fairly funny.
Cons: While original, the story was often dry, moving at a very slow pace.

#8- “The Resurrection of Gavin Stone”
72%= Burnt Popcorn
Pros: Wholesome, well-acted, good message, and entertaining for a Christian movie.
Cons: Predictable, can get hokey, and there isn’t much character depth.

#7- “Spider-Man: Homecoming”
82%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Good acting, fun adventure, Tom Holland did great as Spider-Man, awesome visual effects and fight scenes, colorful cinematography, and funny.
Cons: The villain was a bit bland, some comic characters were changed based on grounds of company diversity, and the plot follows the same beats and patterns of any superhero tale.

#6- “Paterson”
84%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Interesting, engaging for such a basic concept, “poetic,” and the performances were good.
Cons: Not much was accomplished in the story nor was there much point to it (though that was the concept). Even though I liked its difference from big budget films, it didn’t offer much as a feature.

#5- “Juno”
87%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Fantastic cinematography and Indie feel, great acting, witty dialogue, funny, engaging, and awesome music.
Cons: There could’ve been better character development in the adoptive parents and the situation with the newborn baby could’ve been handled a bit better on the story’s end.

#4- “The Producers” (1967)
88%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Hilarious, great chemistry amongst main cast, original plot, and catchy musical number for “Springtime for Hitler.”
Cons: There were some unnecessary scenes sprinkled throughout the plot that made for dull or distracting moments.

#3- “Dunkirk” (2017)
89%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Beautiful cinematography and direction, seamlessly pieced together in an original way, great performances, and an overall engaging story.
Cons: There could’ve been more character depth, though the plot was more geared toward the event than the people involved; there also wasn’t much memorable about the movie as a whole.

#3- “A Cure for Wellness”
89%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Fantastic cinematography and color tones, engaging concept, chilling performances, and a haunting musical score.
Cons: The ending was an unsettling shift of genres and the big plot twist was a bit disappointing (and should’ve been predicted easily!).

#2- “Blazing Saddles”
90%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Funny, charming, great acting for a comedy, and completely unpredictable.
Cons: There are many scenes written solely for joke-sake, so when they fall flat or don’t land the scene feels like filler.

#1- “Young Frankenstein”
93%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Entertaining, funny, fantastic performances, classic, wonderfully shot to mimic old horror flicks, and filled with memorable quotes/scenes.
Cons: Some scenes may feel dull.

#1- “Watchmen”
93%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Awesome cinematography, cool color tones, great action sequences, killer music, nice costuming and design, great acting, and interesting superhero story.
Cons: Certain exposition and revelations throughout the plot were predictable.

Juicy Hall of Fame Inductee– “The Passion of the Christ”
97%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Engaging, thought-provoking, brutal, terrific acting, great use of old language, and masterful cinematography and design.
Cons: I would’ve liked some focus on characters rather than torture, but Mel Gibson set out to depict Jesus’ last trial, and he succeeded.

And so, the tie that is “Young Frankenstein” and “Watchmen” will go on to battle (separately) “La La Land,” “The Fall” (2006), “Arrival,” “Midnight in Paris,” “Moana,” “Lion,” “A Monster Calls,” and the rest of the months leading up to January 2018 to decide…well, you know. Stay tuned for further reviews in August!