2022 APRIL MOVIE RANKINGS

I’ve expressed this month to friends as the “month out of hell.” April was a weathering time to endure. I have grown immensely in my personal life as a follower of Christ, and with that came a lot of trials and pain. I’m better for it, though the consequence of these personal obstacles has been a lack of reviews (at least, in accordance to the quota I am trying to make).

I managed to watch quite a bit of movies in spite of everything; some newer and older. 2022 is shaping up to be a solid year for film, as new releases are becoming a bit more enticing and bold.

Read away as we see how everything stacked up…

#8- “The Hunchback of Notre Dame II”
65%= Burnt Popcorn
Pros: Solid voice acting, harmless story (good for the kids at least), and an easy watch.
Cons: Animation is worse in quality and the narrative repeats several elements of the first outing (making it highly predictable).

#7- “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”
67%= Burnt Popcorn
Pros: Decently structured story, good acting, and wonderful production design/cinematography.
Cons: Story is a dead horse, Newt isn’t much of a lead anymore, and everything gets resolved besides Grindelwald (why make another movie?).

#6- “Trespass” (2011)
68%= Burnt Popcorn
Pros: Entertaining, Nic Cage and the cast do well, solid cinematography, and a surprisingly decent story.
Cons: Not as captivating as it might think, and there were story elements that weren’t executed well (like Kidman’s affair).

#5- “Hail, Caesar!”
71%= Burnt Popcorn
Pros: Stupendous cinematography, star-studded cast, fun look on old Hollywood, and fantastic production design.
Cons: The story didn’t really rope me in nor was it as funny as it led itself to believe. The Coens have done better.

#4- “Here Today” (2021)
74%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Lovely chemistry between Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish, harmless story, cool way of showing flashbacks, and has a neat side story involving how a variety show is produced.
Cons: Not much depth to be found here. It isn’t as emotionally enriching as I would’ve wanted, as most story elements are hokey/typical.

#3- “The Matrix Resurrections”
80%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Added more to the story than taking away, has some fun action moments, interesting journey, and it’s great to see Neo and Trinity back at it again.
Cons: Very expositional, causing the pacing to waver.

#2- “Columbus”
87%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Great performances, interesting lead character chemistry, beautiful cinematography/locations, and an eloquent story (for the most part).
Cons: Can get a bit too poetic (as if it’s reaching too much).

#1- “Everything Everywhere All At Once”
90%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Wickedly original, hilarious, fantastic performances, beautiful story, and phenomenally directed/shot.
Cons: The plot gets a bit too exhausting by the third act, and the storyline between the mother and daughter didn’t hit as hard for me (though the husband and wife tale was great).

“Everything Everywhere All At Once” sweeps April, and will go on to face “The Princess Bride,” “Luca,” “The Batman” (2022) and the rest of the monthly winners to see who will be crowned the next Movie of the Year!