Chuck's Movie Breakdown

           Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, I just got home from seeing Godzilla vs. Kong , and I have a lot I want to say about this movie. So, let's go ahead and get started.           First off, big props to the director of this movie, Adam Wingard, whose 2017 film Death Note  I enjoyed quite a bit. The way he framed the action scenes, especially the epic monster fights between Godzilla and Kong, was especially incredible. Seeing two of cinema's most iconic monsters, Godzilla and Kong, on screen together was just epic.          So, the story of this movie deals with various members of Monarch trying to figure out why Godzilla, who in previous MonsterVerse films was the protector of humanity, is suddenly attacking people, specifically a new tech corporation called Apex. Meanwhile, members of Apex believe that the key to gaining access to the mysterious realm known as Hollow Earth is Kong himself, who has b...

           Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, we're only a few days away from the release of Godzilla vs. Kong , and I already have my ticket to see it on the big screen for opening day. So, for now, let's take a look at the third entry in the MonsterVerse series: Godzilla: King of the Monsters .           We open in San Francisco during Godzilla's battle with the MUTOs, but from the perspective of Mark and Emma Russell, two scientists who worked with Monarch previously, and are looking for their son Andrew in the rubble. Five years later, and we see Emma, along with the Russells' daughter Madison, living at a Monarch outpost in China, where Emma is working on a device called the ORCA, which can emit a signal to communicate with the monsters, or Titans as they're officially known to n this franchise going forward. One such Titan that is being studied in China is none other than Mothra. Unfortunately, the facility is attacked by a grou...

          Hey guys, Chuck here. We, we're exactly one week away from the release of Godzilla vs. Kong , and it's time to take a look at the second entry in the MonsterVerse: Kong: Skull Island . Released in 2017, this chapter in Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures' giant monster franchise was directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, who opted to take the Kong story in a different direction from what came before. As opposed to the "beauty and the beast" narrative of the classic King Kong  films, and even the 2005 Peter Jackson version, the filmmakers opted to set the film at the tail end of the Vietnam War, giving the film more of a vibe similar to the Francis Ford Coppola 1970's classic Apocalypse Now.  So, let's dive into Kong: Skull Island .           The movie actually opens during World War II, where two fighter pilots, an American pilot named Hank Marlow and a Japanese pilot named Gunpei Ikari, crash land on a beach on Skull ...

        Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, we're just a week-and-a-half away from the release of the newest entry in the MonsterVerse, Godzilla vs. Kong . So, throughout this week, I'll be taking a look at the first three entries of the series, starting with the 2014 film Godzilla .          The movie opens with a montage of news reels and newspaper clippings, signifying that the U.S. military has discovered something beneath the Pacific Ocean, a giant monster from an ancient time. The military then uses an atomic device in a fruitless attempt to kill the creature. We then cut to the Philippines in the year 1999, where we see a caved-in mine under investigation by two agents of the organization Monarch, which is an international coalition dedicated to studying giant monsters. The agents, Dr. Ishiro Serizawa and Dr. Vivienne Graham, then jean into the collapsed mine, discovering the fossilized remains of a giant monster, and signs of two parasitic sp...

         Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, it looks like Disney is getting ready to head back to an older franchise with their newest Disney+ original series The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers , which will see Emilio Estevez return to his iconic role of Gordon Bombay. So, before the official debut of the new series, I'd like to go back and take a look at the 90's movie series that started it all: The Mighty Ducks  trilogy.          So, The Mighty Ducks , released in 1992, focuses on Gordon Bombay, who was a top Pee-Wee Hockey star as a child, but lost a championship game by missing a penalty shot, which disappointed his coach, a "win-at-any-costs" kind of guy named Jack Reilly. Years later, a now adult Gordon is working for a Minneapolis law firm run by Gerald Ducksworth, and let's just say that Gordon himself has adopted that "win-at-any-costs" mentality, and applies it to his legal career. One night, however, Gordon is arrested on a DUI ch...

         Hey guys, Chuck here, and you read correctly. This is my long overdue review of  Wonder Woman 1984 . Okay, so this movie had a day-and-date simultaneous release in movie theaters and on the streaming platform HBO Max this past Christmas. Unfortunately, however, I wasn't able to watch it at the time. However, now that my local movie theater is open once again, I was able to see the movie for myself. So, let's dive into the lastest entry in the DC Extended Universe: Wonder Woman 1984.        So, the movie opens with a flashback to Diana's childhood on Themyscira, where she competes in a gladatorial race against other Amazon's. After this sequence, we flash forward to the year 1984, which is when to he movie is set. During this time in her life, Diana is living in an apartment in Washington DC, has a job at the Smithsonian, and continues to miss her deceased lover from World War I, Steve Trevor. Diana also befriends her socially-aw...

        Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, last year on St. Patrick's Day, I took a look at The Boondock Saints , a movie about two Irish brothers who carry out vigilante justice against members of both the Russian mob and the Italian Mafia in the city of Boston. The film, directed by Troy Duffy, became a cult classic, which prompted Duffy to begin work on a sequel, which would release ten years after the first film. This is The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day .          So, it's been a number of years since brothers Connor and Murphy McManus, along with their father Noah, killed mafia boss Papa Joe Yakavetta in a crowded courtroom. The McManus family, dubbed by the press as The Saints, disappeared from Boston without a trace, and would spend the next several years working a sheep farm in Ireland. Unfortunately, an unknown gunman kills a Boston priest inside of a church, staging the murder to look like it was done by the brothers. Once word reach...

         Hey guys, Chuck here. The 90's were definitely a fun time for movies, hence why I dedicated the entire month of February 2020 to the decade. However, there was one movie that I didn't get to at the time, and now that I have a copy on Blu-ray, it's time to discuss Small Soldiers . Directed by Joe Dante, this 1998 film was one of the early releases of DreamWorks Pictures. But does it hold up more than twenty years later? Let's find out as we take a look at Small Soldiers .          So the movie introduces us to military contractor GloboTech, whose CEO Gil Mars seeks to break into the private sector, and his first endeavor is acquiring a company called Heartland Toys, based on the success of a toy line called the "Belch Brigade." Heartland Toys' top two developers, Larry Benson and Irwin Wayfair, are kept on by Mars as he rebrands the company as Heartland Play Systems, and hears a pitch for two new toy lines: Irwin's "Gorgonites" a...

         Hey guys, Chuck here. I just gotta say, I'm a big fan of professional wrestling. Especially pro-wrestling as seen in the WWE. However, the movie I'm discussing today, released by Warner Bros. in the year 2000, was produced by the now defunct promotion World Championship Wrestling, or WCW for short. This is Ready to Rumble .            So, the movie focuses on two WCW fans named Gordie and Sean, played respectively by David Arquette and Scott Caan. Gordie and Sean work together at the dumbest job possible, driving a truck that cleans out human waste out of porta-potties. Also, Gordie's dad, played by Richard Lineback, wants Gordie to join the police force like himself and the rest of their family. Also, Gordie gets upset when his dad calls wrestling "fake." And I would like to clear the air here about professional wrestling, as I do agree that wrestling is not "fake." Sure, storylines are scripted, moves are choreographed, a...