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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: The follow-up to the surprise hit of 2014 has higher highs and lower lows than the original. It remains thoroughly entertaining throughout its enormous 2 hour, 2 minute run time which is a near impossible feat… but so is killing two guys with a pencil and John Wick can pull that off, too.

For some reason, I had some personal qualms with the original John Wick. It was before I watched the film and, for the longest time, I refused to give it a chance. Begrudgingly, I sat through part of it one night when I couldn’t find the remote and it was entertaining enough that I doubled back and watched the whole movie. Since then, I’ve watched the movie a handful of times. Call me a convert to the John Wick movement.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Lists, Ranked

On January 30th, Gold became the 181st movie viewed (and reviewed) of 2016. Here is a recap of all of the grades of this year’s movies and the final* 31 movies with grades below (* there’s nothing saying I might go back and see a few more movies from 2016 but we’re calling it unofficially quits on 2016):

For the 7th time, here are the last* 31 movies reviewed in 2016 graded from 0-5 stars:Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: When the scariest moment is a tight shot of an umbrella opening, you’ve got major problems. The tagline, “First you watch it. Then you die…” must have gotten cut off because that second sentence should end with “of boredom.”

The Ring was one of the scariest movies I can remember. Since 2002, it hasn’t slid very far down my personal unwritten list of “Scariest Movies Ever Seen.” The Ring 2 released in 2005 and while not nearly as scary as The Ring, it was a bizarre, watchable sequel. However, you could feel the film’s content was grasping at straws to deliver a second helping of the original. Fast forward to 2017 and we’re “treated” to another installment. Unfortunately, Rings, the third film in the trilogy, is the weakest effort of the bunch. The first 30 minutes feels eerie enough but you realize early on nothing much is going to happen in this toothless horror flick that goes nowhere fast but not fast enough.Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: Another movie where Asa Butterfield’s performance is better than the movie he’s in. 

 A few days ago, I reviewed xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. The secret to enjoying it, in my opinion, was to watch it without thinking. That’s easy to do with an action film. The same approach can be taken for The Space Between Us. The only difference is, while it’s easy to sell the idea of watching a Vin Diesel action flick without putting your brain into third gear, it’s a little harder to do the same watching a Sci-Fi drama featuring a “teen” romance that gets a little racy (don’t worry, though, the actors playing the teens are 19 and 27, so it’s not as inappropriate as it feels) and enough bad science to make the Trump administration give a standing ovation.Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: Really? Do you mean it? Gosh, I hope so!

If there was an award for loudest movie of 2017, I feel safe in saying Resident Evil: The Final Chapter would make the list even though it is only January. Reminiscent of a Marilyn Manson concert I went to in November ’98, my ears were actually ringing when I walked out of the theater when the credits began to roll for what (fingers crossed!) promises to be the final chapter of the Resident Evil saga.Read More →

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In: 2017, Lists, Ranked, Trailers

The only good thing about February’s theatrical releases? It isn’t January. If you’ve been here before at the beginning of the month, you know the deal. MHT ranks the upcoming releases based on what we’re looking forward and provides links to the trailers for you to check out. It’s no different this month as Keanu Reeves is back as John Wick and is joined by 3 other sequels and a handful of other movies that couldn’t find a better release date. Without further ado, here’s the list of expected theatrical releases for February, ranked by anticipation:Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: Looking for a movie that is 85% action, 10% cheesy flirting and double entendres and 5% plot? xXx: Return of Xander Cage should be on your short list.

What would January be without a few useless sequels? xXx: Return of Xander Cage might be the least useless sequel of January 2017 though as there’s probably a few xXx fans out there who wanted Vin Diesel to come back and reprise his role from the original xXx. They were surely hoping it would have happened sooner than 15 years but at least it was made before Diesel’s 50th birthday which is later in 2017.Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: Apparently, a dog’s purpose is to die on screen to manufacture tears from the audience. It isn’t the first time, it’s been done but it’s never been done with this frequency. Pure dog lover propaganda with dog abuse allegations as background noise don’t jive.

Your dog is going to die. I think that’s the point of A Dog’s Purpose. If you’re lucky enough, though, your next dog might be your old dog in a new body. I guess that’s the other point of A Dog’s Purpose. Trying to figure the point of this one, other than to make dog lovers screech, “Awwwwwww!” and children gleefully giggle, that’s the only logical conclusion.
Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Matthew McConaughey is great… the movie is adequate. What? Did you think I would pan it?

When you have a story “based on true events” starring Matthew McConaughey and it receives a limited release in December, you go in expecting Oscar caliber. The closest thing to Oscar caliber about Gold though is McConaughey’s performance as Kenny Wells, a prospector who has a dream there’s gold in the Indonesian jungle. Even that’s a stretch although McConaughey’s transformation from his normal look to balding and out of shape is almost as impressive as Christian Bale’s transformation for American Hustle a few years ago.Read More →

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In: 2017, Lists, Ranked, Top Movies

Updated February 18th, 2018

  1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
  2. Lady Bird
  3. Darkest Hour
  4. Wind River
  5. I, Tonya
  6. mother!
  7. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
  8. Baby Driver
  9. A Ghost Story
  10. The Disaster Artist
  11. Patti Cake$
  12. It
  13. Wonder Woman
  14. Thank You For Your Service
  15. Detroit
  16. Ingrid Goes West
  17. Wonder
  18. The Shape of Water
  19. Molly’s Game
  20. Hostiles
  21. Coco
  22. Sleight
  23. The Big Sick
  24. War for the Planet of the Apes
  25. Logan
  26. Dunkirk
  27. The Post
  28. Battle of the Sexes
  29. Blade Runner 2049
  30. The Beguiled
  31. American Made
  32. Spider-Man: Homecoming
  33. John Wick: Chapter 2
  34. Kedi
  35. Gifted
  36. All the Money in the World
  37. Wonderstruck
  38. Beatriz at Dinner
  39. LBJ
  40. Everything, Everything
  41. Beauty and the Beast
  42. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
  43. Born in China
  44. Crown Heights
  45. Thor: Ragnarok
  46. Same Kind of Different As Me
  47. Happy Death Day
  48. The Mountain Between Us
  49. The LEGO Ninjago Movie
  50. To The Bone
  51. 47 Meters Down
  52. Marshall
  53. The Lost City of Z
  54. The Zookeeper’s Wife
  55. Split
  56. The LEGO Batman Movie
  57. Tommy’s Honour
  58. I don’t feel at home in this world anymore.
  59. Get Out
  60. Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
  61. Logan Lucky
  62. Atomic Blonde
  63. Kong: Skull Island
  64. Free Fire
  65. Home Again
  66. Girls Trip
  67. How To Be A Latin Lover
  68. The Hitman’s Bodyguard
  69. Megan Leavey
  70. Lowriders
  71. The Foreigner
  72. An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power
  73. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
  74. Stronger
  75. The Greatest Showman
  76. Roman J. Israel, Esq.
  77. Birth of the Dragon
  78. Daisy Winters
  79. Alien: Covenant
  80. Win It All
  81. A Bad Moms Christmas
  82. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
  83. Snatched
  84. Life
  85. Power Rangers
  86. Going in Style
  87. CHiPs
  88. Justice League
  89. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
  90. Phantom Thread
  91. Pitch Perfect 3
  92. Flatliners
  93. True to the Game
  94. Tulip Fever
  95. Before I Fall
  96. Only the Brave
  97. Brad’s Status
  98. The Boss Baby
  99. The Glass Castle
  100. Murder On The Orient Express
  101. Call Me By Your Name
  102. Paris Can Wait
  103. Good Time
  104. xXx: Return of Xander Cage
  105. The Sense of an Ending
  106. Ghost in the Shell
  107. The Wall
  108. It Comes At Night
  109. American Assassin
  110. Daddy’s Home 2
  111. Rough Night
  112. The Promise
  113. A Cure for Wellness
  114. Valley of Bones
  115. Despicable Me 3
  116. Transformers: The Last Knight
  117. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
  118. The Space Between Us
  119. Unforgettable
  120. The Fate of the Furious
  121. The Dark Tower
  122. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
  123. The Belko Experiment
  124. A Dog’s Purpose
  125. The Circle
  126. Annabelle: Creation
  127. The Dinner
  128. ‘Til Death Do Us Part
  129. The House
  130. Fist Fight
  131. The Book of Henry
  132. Jigsaw
  133. War on Everyone
  134. Bitter Harvest
  135. Victoria & Abdul
  136. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul
  137. Sandy Wexler
  138. Fifty Shades Darker
  139. The Great Wall
  140. Geostorm
  141. Baywatch
  142. Sleepless
  143. Suburbicon
  144. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
  145. Collide
  146. Rings
  147. The Snowman
  148. The Mummy
  149. Kidnap
  150. The Emoji Movie
  151. Just Getting Started