Top 5 Thursday: Movies I Watched For My Challenge (November 2017)

I saw a lot of newer film and with that some really great ones too. Here are my favorites for my challenge for the month of November.

1. Lion
A heartfelt and touching story about a young boy getting lost from home. Years later it still haunts him and he starts a search for his biological family. Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman are rock solid in “Lion” and I think this is one of the best films of the year.

4. Mother!
I love Darren Aronofsky’s movie, even if he always makes me feel miserable. If I have to describe “Mother!”, I really can’t. You have to experience it yourself. What I do know, it’s that it’s pretty disturbing, fucked up actually. Not for everyone, but I really loved it.

3. Spider-Man: Homecoming
Skeptical at first, another Spider-Man movie. Did we really need that? It appears to be yes! Tom Holland is a breath of fresh air, the Peter Parker that we needed. I love his enthusiasm.

2. The Beguiled
Let’s hear it for the girls! Sofia Coppola directs and she got her signature all over this movie. She is back! And all the actresses are amazing. A very strong story, well performed by all the actors. Also Colin Farrell holds up great between all those fabulous women.

1. Thor: Ragnarok
The first two movies are not the best un the MCU, but still enjoyable. Director Taika Waititi turned it all around and gave us “Thor: Ragnarok”, one of the best movies in the MCU! More colorful, in every way of the word. What a great spectacle and so unexpectedly funny!

They Almost Made the Top 5: Little Evil, Toni Erdmann, Murder On the Orient Express, Lady MacBeth, The Founder

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 122: Spider-Man: Homecoming

Director: Jon Watts
Genre: Action/ Comedy/ Adventure/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 133 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Donald Glover, Tony Revolori, Jennifer Connelly, Angourie Rice, Logan Marshall-Green, Martin Starr, Gwyneth Paltrow

Description: Peter Parker (Tom Holland) balances his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens with his superhero alter-ego Spider-Man, and finds himself on the trail of a new menace prowling the skies of New York City.

Review: Spider-Man has always been one of the most popular superheroes. Iron Man got more popular because of the movies and Robert Downey Jr. The two work together in “Spider-Man: Homecoming”.
Spider-Man has had his ups and downs. “Spider-Man 3” couldn’t keep up with the two previous movies. The reboot films did okay, but weren’t as amazing as the title let us believe. Sony and Marvel had to come up with something new to give the popular webslinger the movie he deserves. The result: Spider-Man is part of the shared universe of Marvel. In “Spider-Man: Homecoming” there are many moments were they show us that. Teen Peter Parker is constantly reminded of his adult colleagues. It’s all sounds like a big marketing trick, but it’s all relevant. Peter struggles with the inner conflict of being the little fish in a small pond.
Tom Holland’s Spider-Man was shortly seen in “Captain America: Civil War”. And that guest appearance is the starting point for “Spider-Man: Homecoming”. In a world where superheroes are common, Peter Parker thinks it’s an honor to work with the team of Avengers. But after an experience like that, it’s hard for Peter to pick up his old life. Especially when Tony Starks tells him that he might receive a call, but Peter never does. Spider-Man is in the Marvel universe, but he is not yet an Avenger.
This is the sixth Spider-Man film in fifteen years, so it isn’t good enough to let the superhero just do his tricks and fight a random villain. Marvel is clever enough and uses a lot of variation. The origin story, of how Peter Parker became Spider-Man, is left behind. And it’s not Spidey just swinging from huge buildings, he goes further than that.
What keeps it all together? Tom Holland! Where predecessors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield were about 10 years to old for the role, the young British actor is perfect to play Peter Parker. His enthusiasm is a breath of fresh air. And his great comedic timing make you almost forget that he is also very capable of performing in more dramatic scenes. Even opposite of veterans like Robert Downey Jr. and Michael Keaton.
Peter Parker still has to prove himself as an Avenger, but this version of Spider-Man promises a very bright future.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (294)

Here are this wee'k's trailers.

From the Land of the Moon Director: Nicola Garcia
Description: In 1950s France, Gabrielle (Marion Cotillard) is a passionate, free-spirited woman who is in a loveless marriage and falls for another man when she is sent away to the Alps to treat her kidney stones. Gabrielle yearns to free herself and run away with André.
Starring: Marion Cotillard, Louis Garrel, Alex Brendemühl
Trailer: Trailer "From the Land of the Moon"
Comment: I love Marion Cotillard, she is Always fantastic in these smaller films.

Wonder Director: Stephen Chbosky
Description: Based on the New York Times bestseller, WONDER tells the incredibly inspiring and heartwarming story of August Pullman (Jacob Tremblay), a boy with facial differences who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time.
Starring: Owen Wilson, Julia Roberts, Jacob Tremblay, Mandy Patinkin
Trailer: Trailer "Wonder"
Comment: I hope this isn't a cheesy movie.

Wind River Director: Taylor Sheridan
Description: An FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen) teams with the town's veteran game tracker (Jeremy Renner) to investigate a murder that occurred on a Native American reservation.
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Jon Bernthal, Graham Greene
Trailer: Trailer "Wind River"
Comment: It reminds me of "Thunderheart", but then in the snow.

War Machine Director: David Michôd
Description: An absurdist war story for our times, writer-director David Michôd (Animal Kingdom) recreates a U.S. General's roller-coaster rise and fall as part reality, part savage parody - raising the specter of just where the line between them lies today. His is an exploration of a born leader's ultra-confident march right into the dark heart of folly. At the story's core is Brad Pitt's sly take on a successful, charismatic four-star general who leapt in like a rock star to command NATO forces in Afghanistan, only to be taken down by a journalist's no-holds-barred exposé.
Starring: Brad Pitt, ANthony Michael Hall, Anthony Hayes, Alan Ruck, Will Poulter, Ben Kingsley, Topher Grace, Tilda Swinton, RJ Cyler, Scoot McNairy,
Trailer: Trailer "War Machine"
Comment: I love that this is coming to Netflix. Going to find this very funny, I think!

Spider-Man: Homecoming Director:
Description: Following the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016), Peter Parker attempts to balance his life in high school with his career as the web-slinging superhero Spider-Man.
Starring: Tom Holland, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Chris Evans, Martin Starr, Michael Keaton, Donald Glover, Angourie Rice, Jon Favreau
Trailer: Trailer "Spider-Man: Homecoming"
Comment: Why is Tony Stark's image bigger than Peter Parker's on the movie poster?

Movie Trailer Sunday (271)

Here are this week's trailers.

The Mummy
Director: Elx Kurtzman
Description: An ancient princess is awakened from her crypt beneath the desert, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia, and terrors that defy human comprehension.
Starring: Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis, Russell Crowe, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance
Trailer: Trailer "The Mummy"
Comment: Last week I shared the teaser, this is the first official trailer.

The Circle
Director: James Ponsoldt
Description: A woman (Emma Watson) lands a job at a powerful tech company called the Circle, where she becomes involved with a mysterious man (Tom Hanks).
Starring: Emma Watson, Tom Hanks
Trailer: Trailer "The Circle"
Comment: Looks like an intriguing cyber thriller.

Baywatch
Director: Seth Gordon
Description: Two unlikely prospective lifeguards (Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron) vie for jobs alongside the buff bodies who patrol a beach in California.
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Alexandra Daddario, Kelly Rohrbach, Oscar Nuñez
Trailer: Trailer "Baywatch"
Comment: I never thought I would say this, but I miss David Hasselhoff.

Spider-Man: Homcoming
Director: Jon Watts
Description: A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland) begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging superhero.
Starring: Tom Holland, Marisa Tomei, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Donald Glover, Jon Favreau, Martin Starr
Trailer: Trailer "Spider-Man: Homecoming"
Comment: Not that excited yet.

War For the Planet of the Apes
Director: Matt Reeves
Description: A nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar become embroiled in a battle with an army of humans.
Starring: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Judy Greer, Steve Zahn
Trailer: Trailer "War For the Planet of the Apes"
Comment: Caesar is back!