Johnel: Your Friendly Neighborhood Movie Goer

Movie review on new A24 film "When You Finish Saving The World". Written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg. Starring: Julianne Moore, Finn Wolfhard, Alisha Boe, Jay O. Sanders, Billy Bryk, Eleonore Hendricks. Limited release as of January 20th, 2023.

Synopsis

Evelyn has devoted herself to helping people in hard times, but she struggles to connect with her son Ziggy, an aspiring internet star oblivious to the problems of the world. As Evelyn attempts to become a parent figure to an unassuming teenager she meets at her shelter, and Ziggy fumbles through his pursuit of a brilliant and politically conscious young woman at his high school, this emotional comedy reveals a funny and sharply perceptive portrait of a mother and son who may seem at odds but who are more alike than either would care to admit.

Movie review for new NEON Rated Korean Drama "Broker". Written & Directed by Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda. Starring: Song Kang Ho, Gang Dong Won, Doona Bae, Lee Ji Eun, Lee Joo Young. In limited release as of December 26th, 2022.

Synopsis

The film follows two brokers who sell orphaned infants, circumventing the bureaucracy of legal adoption, to affluent couples who can’t have children of their own. After an infant’s mother surprises the duo by returning to ensure her child finds a good home, the three embark on a journey to find the right couple, building an unlikely family of their own.

Movie Review on new Dreamworks Animation (Universal Pictures) film "Puss In Boots: The Last Wish". Released in theaters December 21st, 2022. Available on digital as of January 6th, 2023.

Synopsis

This holiday season, everyone’s favorite leche-loving, swashbuckling, fear-defying feline returns.For the first time in more than a decade, DreamWorks Animation presents a new adventure in the Shrek universe as daring outlaw Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for peril and disregard for safety have taken their toll. Puss has burned through eight of his nine lives, though he lost count along the way. Getting those lives back will send Puss in Boots on his grandest quest yet. Academy Award® nominee Antonio Banderas returns as the voice of the notorious PiB as he embarks on an epic journey into the Black Forest to find the mythical Wishing Star and restore his lost lives. But with only one life left, Puss will have to humble himself and ask for help from his former partner and nemesis: the captivating Kitty Softpaws (Oscar® nominee Salma Hayek Pinault). In their quest, Puss and Kitty will be aided—against their better judgment—by a ratty, chatty, relentlessly cheerful mutt, Perrito (Harvey Guillén, What We Do in the Shadows). Together, our trio of heroes will have to stay one step ahead of Goldi (Oscar® nominee Florence Pugh, Black Widow) and the Three Bears Crime Family, Jack Horner (Emmy winner John Mulaney, Big Mouth) and terrifying bounty hunter, the big, bad Wolf (Wagner Moura, Narcos).Puss in Boots: The Last Wish features an all-star comedic cast that includes Oscar® winner Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone (Black Widow), Samson Kayo (Sliced), Emmy nominee Anthony Mendez (Jane the Virgin) and Tony nominee Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Trolls World Tour). The long-awaited follow-up to the 2011 Academy Award®-nominated blockbuster, The Last Wish is directed by Joel Crawford and produced by Mark Swift, the creative team behind DreamWorks Animation’s smash, The Croods: A New Age. The film’s executive producer is Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri.

Breaking down the films I'm most anticipating this coming year based on a list made by the good people at the wrap.

Year in review of all the films I watched in theaters during 2022.

Movie review on A24 film "Marcel The Shell With Shoes On". Written by Dean Fleischer-Camp, Jenny Slate, Nick Paley & directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp. Released wide on July 22nd 2022.

Synopsis

Marcel is an adorable one-inch-tall shell who ekes out a colorful existence with his grandmother Connie and their pet lint, Alan. Once part of a sprawling community of shells, they now live alone as the sole survivors of a mysterious tragedy. But when a documentary filmmaker discovers them amongst the clutter of his Airbnb, the short film he posts online brings Marcel millions of passionate fans, as well as unprecedented dangers and a new hope at finding his long-lost family. A beloved character gets his big-screen debut in this hilarious and heartwarming story about finding connection in the smallest corners.

Movie review on Sony Pictures Classics film "Living". Written by Kazuo Ishiguro and directed by Oliver Hermanus. In limited release as of December 23rd, 2022.

Synopsis

The story of an ordinary man, reduced by years of oppressive office routine to a shadow existence, who at the eleventh hour makes a supreme effort to turn his dull life into something wonderful.

Movie review on new Paramount Pictures film "Babylon". Written & directed by Damien Chazelle . Starring: Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li & Flea (Red Hot Chilli Peppers).

Synopsis

Babylon is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.

Movie review on new Sony Pictures film "Whitney Houston:I Wanna Dance With Somebody". Directed by Kasi Lemmons & written by Anthony McCarten. Starring: Naomi Ackie, Stanley Tucci, Ashton Sanders, Tamara Tunie, Nafessa Williams, and Clarke Peters. Released in theaters December 23rd, 2022.

Synopsis

A powerful and triumphant celebration of the incomparable Whitney Houston. The film is a no-holds-barred portrait of the complex and multifaceted woman behind The Voice. From New Jersey choir girl to one of the best-selling and most awarded recording artists of all time, audiences are taken on an inspirational, poignant—and so emotional—journey through Houston’s trailblazing life and career, with show-stopping performances and a soundtrack of the icon’s most beloved hits as you’ve never heard them before.

Movie review of new Apple Original Films title "Emancipation". Directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by William N. Collage. Limited release in theaters from December 2nd - December 9th. Streaming on Apple TV+ starting on December 9th, 2022.

Synopsis

"Emancipation" tells the story of Peter (Will Smith), a man who escapes from slavery, relying on his wits, unwavering faith and deep love for his family to evade cold-blooded hunters and the unforgiving swamps of Louisiana on his quest for freedom. The film is inspired by the 1863 photos of "Whipped Peter," taken during a Union Army medical examination, that first appeared in Harper's Weekly. One image, known as "The Scourged Back," which shows Peter’s bare back mutilated by a whipping delivered by his enslavers, ultimately contributed to growing public opposition to slavery.