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As I was watching the movie I reminisced about where I was when this movie came out. I just graduated high school and Peter was so relatable to me. I had friends with the same personality and I saw a lot of myself in Peter. I really loved this movie and how it tried to separate itself in every way from the Sam Raimi movies. I realize the Gwen romance was awkward but that's how it is in real life. The New Yorkers coming to his aid with the cranes hits just like the bridge scene in Spider-man 1. It has its flaws, but it tried to make Peter more relatable to the modern day rather than the golden age comic Peter. Story - 17% Characters - 18% Pacing - 16% Spectacle - 18% Entertainment - 17% Total score: 86% Grade scale: 90%-100% = must watch 80%-89% = solid, but could be better 70%-79% = Not terrible, watch if the characters or story interests you 60%-69% = only watch for completionist reasons 0%-59% = just skip it, I find the positives and they don't exist here

This movie actually shocked me a little bit. It had nice reveals and clever jokes that play on the stereotypes you’d expect in a film like this. It also subverted expectations pretty well in the back half. It still ultimately followed a lot of the generic horror tropes. It is a fine horror comedy. Whether you want to wait for streaming or not is up to you. It has good moments and not too many jumpscares. It’s a fun, silly time. Story - 17% Characters - 17% Pacing - 16% Spectacle - 16% Entertainment - 18% Total score: 84% Grade scale: 90%-100% = must watch 80%-89% = solid, but could be better 70%-79% = Not terrible, watch if the characters or story interests you 60%-69% = only watch for completionist reasons 0%-59% = just skip it, I find the positives and they don't exist here

The fan service is what really pushes this movie over the top. It basically gave the middle finger to Marvel’s explanation of time travel issues. My biggest gripe overall is there were a couple of scenes that were a little too silly and one of them was at the beginning so I disliked the movie at first. With a movie of these high stakes, you can have jokes and one-liners but the tone should be balanced. They also gave no love to Henry Cavill’s Superman or Ray Fisher’s Cyborg. Just casually tossing them to the side in quick, throwaway lines. On paper, this is a decent movie, but this whole movie was essentially done on the CW counterpart. At times, the CGI wasn’t even that much better. This movie was supposed to come out 5 years ago, and honestly, I’m a bit disappointed. It nailed some of the emotional moments, but it felt too busy squeezing the nostalgia juice throughout the movie. IDK, I’m honestly fairly mixed about the movie. You get your money’s worth, but it could have, should have been better. Story - 18% Characters - 18% Pacing - 17% Spectacle - 20% Entertainment - 17% Total score: 90% Grade scale: 90%-100% = must watch 80%-89% = solid, but could be better 70%-79% = Not terrible, watch if the characters or story interests you 60%-69% = only watch for completionist reasons 0%-59% = just skip it, I find the positives and they don't exist here

Deep fake technology was not ready in this movie. JFK in the opening is horrifying. Anyways, This movie was ok. Much like the previous entry, it was more of the same, just on a bigger scale. The human characters feel unnecessary a lot of the time and serve mostly to try and make it more relatable. And did your sci-fi blockbuster really have a climax if it didn’t have a blue sky beam portal? These really are here to be popcorn flix and sell toys. They are fun but need to be more than live-action Saturday morning product placements. Story - 15% Characters - 14% Pacing - 16% Spectacle - 20% Entertainment - 17% Total score: 82% Grade scale: 90%-100% = must watch 80%-89% = solid, but could be better 70%-79% = Not terrible, watch if the characters or story interests you 60%-69% = only watch for completionist reasons 0%-59% = just skip it, I find the positives and they don't exist here

The scale of the movie was definitely larger than the previous film. More robots and a more global scale conflict. The story itself was similar to the first with a macguffin at its center. Shia acted like he was on cocaine and had Tourettes at the same time for ⅓ of the movie. Megan Fox is honestly underutilized in these movies. She plays the confident hot chick but she can be so much more than emotional support. This one just wasn’t as good as the first. It is always a blast to see the action. This is definitely more of a popcorn flick than a proper cinematic masterpiece. I will say though, the CGI for the robots in some scenes seemed very unpolished, especially in the second half. It’s a fun watch but not a necessary one. You get the same fun and nostalgia from watching the first one. This sequel added very little outside of more action figures…I mean, more Transformers characters. Story - 14% Characters - 14% Pacing - 17% Spectacle - 20% Entertainment - 17% Total score: 82% Grade scale: 90%-100% = must watch 80%-89% = solid, but could be better 70%-79% = Not terrible, watch if the characters or story interests you 60%-69% = only watch for completionist reasons 0%-59% = just skip it, I find the positives and they don't exist here

The third act of the story has the character at rock bottom. The villain has the upper hand. The hero, with the help of their allies, works together to save the day. The plan seems to be falling just short and the hero comes in and makes the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the people. The Nolan movies as superhero movies are meh, but as stories…they are top-tier. The best superhero movies have spectacle and punches you feel. The Batman trilogy brings a man with fancy gadgets to a realistic level. I call BS on the back recovery timeframe, but this movie is about Bruce trying to come back, failing miserably, then coming back even stronger. The trilogy tells a fantastic story and deserves to be seen all together. The three-act structure that was crafted is second to none. It’s up there with the OG Star Wars trilogy in terms of storytelling quality. This one fell short of the Dark Knight, but it is a must to get the whole story of this Batman. Story - 17% Characters - 16% Pacing - 16% Spectacle - 17% Entertainment - 17% Total score: 83% Grade scale: 90%-100% = must watch 80%-89% = solid, but could be better 70%-79% = Not terrible, watch if the characters or story interests you 60%-69% = only watch for completionist reasons 0%-59% = just skip it, I find the positives and they don't exist here

This was my favorite movie for the longest time and god damn it still slaps. The dialogue was comic book-y. Reliving the build-up and payoff for the OG Avengers to team up still puts a huge smile on my face. I was quoting the whole movie and enjoyed the whole thing. Character arcs were minimal but the whole point was getting these very different characters to team up for a single purpose. I still remember seeing this movie's opening night (shout out to the dude behind us getting so hyped for Hulk). This is equal parts nostalgic and equal parts outright awesome. A part of me wanted to give this a 100% but I know what’s coming down the line so I held back a few points. Story - 18% Characters - 18% Pacing - 18% Spectacle - 20% Entertainment - 20% Total score: 94% Grade scale: 90%-100% = must watch 80%-89% = solid, but could be better 70%-79% = Not terrible, watch if the characters or story interests you 60%-69% = only watch for completionist reasons 0%-59% = just skip it, I find the positives and they don't exist here

I wanted to post about this show here because it is honestly the best project ever to come out from a youtube channel. When you finish reading this, I implore you to watch the series on Youtube. For background, back around 2010, a youtube channel, RocketJump, known for making effects-heavy videos ran a gofundme to create a web series funded entirely by the fans. The first season managed to raise a quarter of a million dollars to fund nine episodes. The premise is this everyday gamer is playing with friends and one of the best FPS players in the world joins the game during an interview. The main character, Brian, manages to kill the professional player. Because of the publicity, he manages to get a scholarship to Video Game High School. As the name implies, rather than learn normal subjects, they learn video games. The series follows Brian as he makes his way through high school and navigates the relationships with his friends. The style of the show gives hardcore young youtube vibes but with a slightly bigger budget. The show was a success and the third season managed to get 2 million dollars raised which allowed them to finish big. Despite having a relatively small budget, they made every word and shot have a purpose. The storytelling is wacky but very real. The acting is very over-the-top but it is done on purpose. The show managed to get pretty awesome cameos like Stan Lee, Zachary Levi, Joel Mchale, Tony Hawk, and Nathan Kress (who had a fairly big role in season 3). It has so many YouTubers and friends of the creators. This allowed the fun and creativity to truly shine through. While I don't want to spoil too much plot-wise, I want to talk about an episode that made me decide to write this essay. There is an episode in season 3 where the father of one of the main characters passes away. The entire episode did a really great job of showing all the sides of grief. The death affected each of the characters in a specific way. It is actually heartbreaking and unforgettable. The only other pieces of media that focus this heavily on the grieving process that seemed this level of realistic are Buffy and A Good Person. I highly recommend the latter if you can find it. The finale cannot be overstated. It did a great job of showing the two sides of gaming that is relatable to not just gaming but sports as a whole, the love of the game and the love of the fame. The main characters are facing the end and they want to play together one last time. It all comes full circle and everyone gets the perfect ending. The whole series is a fantastic watch. Relationships feel real and each season gets more and more serious without losing its charm. It is impressive what a few dudes on the internet were able to create. I rewatch it every few years because it genuinely is an enjoyable watch, even if you know what is coming. This series is free on youtube and you can binge this in a day. It is quirky in all the right ways and shows what was possible a decade ago with the right team and a fun idea.

While I appreciate the effort of trying to be faithful to the cartoon from back in the day, it does the usual plot devices. I think they are trying to erase a lot of the other movies. Technically, Dark of the Moon has Omicron. They reference Mark Walberg, the performer/actor which has weird implications if the Michael Bay movies are canon. This has the usual macguffin device and previously unknown or mentioned robots want it. I’m starting to think the only intelligent life outside of Earth is different robot races. This movie I would say is the second-best attempt at a Transformers movie. Bumblebee is the gold standard for the franchise. This felt hit or miss for me, but definitely better than the Bay pentalogy. Also, the title totally should have been “Rise of Omicron”. The beasts were in maybe a third of the movie but Omicron was the overarching villain of the week. It’s good, but really only needs to be seen if you grew up with the cartoon or love the franchise as a whole. Story - 16% Characters - 18% Pacing - 17% Spectacle - 19% Entertainment - 17% Total score: 87% Grade scale: 90%-100% = must watch 80%-89% = solid, but could be better 70%-79% = Not terrible, watch if the characters or story interests you 60%-69% = only watch for completionist reasons 0%-59% = just skip it, I find the positives and they don't exist here

I remember as a kid seeing this movie in theatres. I went with my aunt and cousin to see it. The entire drive home, me and my cousin were trying to figure out how to make transformers a reality. The logistics are a nightmare but I would love to make a real transformer. Anywho! This movie felt straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon. It was the 80s series come to life in live action which was finally possible thanks to the advancements in CGI. There were several moments of spotty effects but I could not complain about the look of the transformers. The characters in the movie were…there. Some of the jokes got a genuine chuckle from me but the actors used up all their top-tier acting on talking to robots that weren’t there. You can’t expect much from a Transformers movie but this thing was filled to the brim with action and that is really why we are here. If you haven’t watched this movie, do it. Dialogue is cringe but the action makes up for it. Story - 16% Characters - 15% Pacing - 17% Spectacle - 19% Entertainment - 17% Total score: 84% Grade scale: 90%-100% = must watch 80%-89% = solid, but could be better 70%-79% = Not terrible, watch if the characters or story interests you 60%-69% = only watch for completionist reasons 0%-59% = just skip it, I find the positives and they don't exist here

I really should have watched this before watching the live-action movies since the live-action movies were obviously heavily inspired by the movie and the show in general. This movie was a bit of an acid trip with 80s rock as the soundtrack. This movie gave us the song “The Touch” by Stan Bush which is just amazing. I do wish there were more of space battle adventures in live-action movies like this. No one cares about Earth! Give us Cybertron and Unicron. Give us that in a beautiful CGI masterpiece. Also, the human characters that are in this have suits that actually make them useful. This is an incredible blast from the 80s but there is no real direction. It’s just a movie focused on defeating Unicron and the Decepticons. If you want to see what inspired the modern movies, give this a watch. Story - 15% Characters - 15% Pacing - 16% Spectacle - 18% Entertainment - 16% Total score: 80% Grade scale: 90%-100% = must watch 80%-89% = solid, but could be better 70%-79% = Not terrible, watch if the characters or story interests you 60%-69% = only watch for completionist reasons 0%-59% = just skip it, I find the positives and they don't exist here

I may be a bit biased toward Ryan Reynolds, but I don’t think this movie deserves as much hate as it gets. There are parts of it that are a bit cringy, but that falls on the writers. Hal also should have been more creative with his powers. He can create anything; most things he created could be thought up by a 12-year-old. I enjoyed the movie. It just needed a better script, especially for the dialogue. Story - 14% Characters - 12% Pacing - 16% Spectacle - 15% Entertainment - 15% Total score: 72% Grade scale: 90%-100% = must watch 80%-89% = solid, but could be better 70%-79% = Not terrible, watch if the characters or story interests you 60%-69% = only watch for completionist reasons 0%-59% = just skip it, I find the positives and they don't exist here