Chuck's Movie Breakdown

         Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, yesterday we went over my Top 10 Favorite Movies of 2022 . Now, before the year is over, I'd like to do a ranking of all of the Marvel Studios releases of the year. This ranking runs from my least favorite of the year to my absolute favorite of the year. So, let's get into it.              9.   Thor: Love & Thunder - Chris Hemsworth's fourth solo outing as Thor went way too heavy on the comedy, although Christian Bale did have a pretty intimidating look as Gorr the God Butcher, and it was great seeing the returns of Natalie Portman as Jane and Jaimie Alexander as Sif.             8.   Ms. Marvel - definitely a unique superhero series, this introduction of Kamala Khan was entertaining, although the plot of the villains felt like rehash from a similar plot by Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 . However, the series did give me a greater appreciati...

         Hey guys, Chuck here, and it's been quite the year, hasn't it? We've had a lot of great memories, and we got to see a lot of great movies throughout the year. So, today, I'm counting down my Top 10 Favorite Movies of 2022 . Now, this list is based solely on my personal opinion, and doesn't reflect how others will feel regarding the movies of this year.           Now, before the Top 10, here are some Honorable Mentions: Jurassic World: Dominion - while it was great to see the trio from the original Jurassic Park , unfortunately it was too unfocused, leaving it only worth an honorable mention; Uncharted - a neat treasure hunt movie that definitely is shifting views on video game adaptations; Jackass Forever - a fun romp with some new faces joining our favorite insane band of bad boys doing off the wall stunts; Clerks III  - Kevin Smith returns to the View Askewniverse with an emotional final chapter for Dante and Randal;...

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and welcome to the finale of this year's 12 Reviews of Christmas . As always, we'll be taking a look at another adaptation of Charles Dickens'  A Christmas Carol . This year, we're taking a look at the 1984 film version starring George C. Scott, David Warner, Roger Rees, Susannah York, Angela Pleasance, Frank Finlay, Michael Gough, John Quarmby, and Edward Woodward.           So, this story of this movie is pretty much the story of A Christmas Carol.  Pretty much standard with the story, but with a few exceptions. For example, we see Scrooge in this one head to a stock exchange to meet with some men looking to purchase Scrooge's corn supply, and he increases the price percentage on them for failing to meet his deadline. And, of course, two charity drive workers approach him for a donation, and he declines to donate.           Scrooge gets visited by the ghost of...

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and we're almost at the end of 12 Reviews of Christmas , with two more reviews to get through. Today, we'll be taking a look at the new Disney+ original series The Santa Clauses,  which debuted last month and wrapped on December 14th. This series sees the returns of Tim Allen and Elizabeth Mitchell, who are joined by newcomers like Austin Kane, Elizabeth Allen-Dick, Devin Bright, Matilda Lawler, and Kal Penn, with guest appearances by Eric Lloyd, Laura San Giacomo, and David Krumholtz.          So, it's officially been twenty-eight years since Scott Calvin first became Santa Claus, and he's starting to feel the weight of the job caving in on him. On top of that, fewer and fewer kids are on Santa's list every year due to the new modern age of convenience thanks to services like Amazon. On top of this, Scott's wife, Carol, is starting to wonder about previous incarnations of Mrs. Claus, as since there h...

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and welcome back to 12 Reviews of Christmas . Last year, we took a look at The Muppet Christmas Carol, which is beloved and enjoyed by many even to this day. This year, I want to take a look at a 2002 television movie that the Muppets starred in called It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie.  Alongside the Muppets, this movie stars David Arquette, Joan Cusack, William H. Macy, and Whoopi Goldberg, with special guest appearances by Matthew Lillard, Carson Daly, Joe Rogan, and the cast of Scrubs, with a vocal cameo by Mel Brooks.             Now, the movie takes its story cues from It's a Wonderful Life, where Kermit the Frog is having a not so Merry Christmas. His plight is observed by Daniel, an accounting angel who goes to his supervisor, Glenn, to help Kermit. However, after Glenn refuses, Daniel decides to go straight to "the Boss." The Boss agrees to look at Kermit's case, but if she can't be...

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and we're back with more 12 Reviews of Christmas . We're taking a look at A Christmas Story, released in 1983, and the very definition of simple and sweet.           So, the movie follows Ralphie Parker, a kid in the town of Hohman, Indiana, who lives with his mother, father, and little brother Randy. This particular Christmas, in the year 1940, Ralphie really wants a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. However, his wish is repeatedly shot down: first by his mother, next by his teacher Miss Shields, and lastly by a department store Santa at the Higbee's Department Store, all of them saying the same thing: "You'll shoot your eye out, kid"          The majority of the movie is a series of vignettes threaded together to form a story, and here are some examples. One of Ralphie's schoolmates is dared by local bully, Scut Farkus, to stick their tongue on a froze...

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and we're finally taking a look at a holiday classic for this year's 12 Reviews of Christmas . Today, we're taking a look at Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life starring James Stewart and Donna Reed.         The movie tells the story of George Bailey, who as a child lost his hearing in one ear after falling I'll after saving the life of his younger brother, Harry. George also managed to prevent a shipment of poisoned capsules from being delivered, thus saving the career of his boss, Mr. Gower. As the years go on, George is shown to have much empathy for the people of his hometown of Bedford Falls, even to the point of giving up his own aspirations and dreams to keep his father's Building and Loan business from going under, thus sparing many from having to turn to a greedy, nasty sumbitch by the name of Mr. Potter, also referred to as Old Man Potter.          Although George planned...

            Hey guys, Chuck here, and we're back for more 12 Reviews of Christmas . Today, I'm taking a look at the 2012 DreamWorks animated film Rise of the Guardians, based on the book series The Guardians of Childhood, this movie features the voice talents of Chris Pine, Hugh Jackman, Jude Law, Isla Fisher, and Alec Baldwin.              So, the story goes that the four major mythical figures (Santa Claus, the Sandman, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy) are collectively known as the Guardians, and their job is to protect the children of the world. Each Guardian has a "center," which is their main focus and what they are a Guardian of. For example, Santa is the Guardian of Wonder, Tooth Fairy is the Guardian of Memories, Easter Bunny is the Guardian of Hope, and Sandman is the Guardian of Dreams. One day, however, the spirit that brought them together, the Man in the Moon, informs them that a fifth Guardian is being ...

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and we're back with more 12 Reviews of Christmas . Today, we'll be taking a look at Pentatonix: Around the World For the Holidays , which is currently streaming on Disney+.          So, the special focuses on the a capella group Pentatonix, who are getting ready to record another Christmas album. But, they run into a dilemma: they've performed every Christmas song out there already. So, looking for some inspiration, they head into what they believe is the Break Room, but is actually an enchanted Mail Room. The door disappears, and the fill-in manager tries getting them out, to no avail. Meanwhile, Pentatonix reads several fan letters from every part of the world, including a fan letters from Arendelle (hilariously encased in a block of ice).          Reading a few of the fan letters, they learn of the various ways that cultures across the globe celebrate the Christmas holidays with...

           Hey guys, Chuck here, and this particular review has been a long time coming. I've put it off for a while due in part to a particular individual who had a cameo appearance in the movie. However, now that heads have cooled, and time has passed, I think it's time to finally review Home Alone 2: Lost in New York for 12 Reviews of Christmas.             Released in 1992, this sequel to the original Home Alone saw the return of Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, along with Catherine O'Hara and John Heard as his parents, Devin Ratray as Buzz, and Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern as Harry and Marv aka the Wet Bandits. Newcomers include the likes of Tim Curry, Rob Schneider, Dana Ivey, and Brenda Fricker.         The movie starts off with the McCallister family gathered for another family Christmas trip, this time to Miami, Florida. This particular evening, Kevin, Buzz, and other McCallister kids are a ...

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and last night I got the chance to watch Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration on ABC. As of this morning, it is available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu, so if you missed out last night, definitely give it a watch on either of those two platforms.         So, obviously, this marks the second time Disney has done a live-action/animation special of one of their classics, as 2019 saw them do the same with The Little Mermaid,  and of course I had my thoughts on that, you can check out my review of it from back in November 2019 for my opinion there. As far as this Beauty and the Beast one goes, it's a definite improvement over the one for The Little Mermaid back in 2019. For example, we see a more seamless back-and-forth between the live musical/dance segments and the original animated film. On top of that, we get far more of the live musical/dance moments here than we did for The Little Mermaid.    ...

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and we're back with more 12 Reviews of Christmas . And yes, we're taking a look at another Doctor Who Christmas special. The special we're looking at today, titled The Next Doctor,  aired on BBC on Christmas Day of 2008. It marked the start of the end of David Tennant's tenure as the Tenth Doctor, as it was the first of a set of Doctor Who specials that would air between Christmas 2008 and the 2009 holiday season.          So, The Next Doctor opens with the Tenth Doctor landing the TARDIS in London on Christmas Eve in the year 1851. After hearing a disturbance, he goes to investigate the situation, running into a man also calling himself the Doctor, along with his Companion Rosita. The trio faces off against a Cyber Shade, which the two Doctors attempt to capture to no avail. The new Doctor takes his leave, along with Rosita, but fails to recognize the Tenth Doctor's face, but does mention numerous run-ins w...

           All right, guys, here we go. My review of Avatar: The Way of Water, which I just saw in the IMAX 3D format. This movie is the sequel to the 2009 film Avatar, and is once again directed by James Cameron. This film sees the returns of Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Joel David Moore, Dileep Rao, and Giovanni Ribisi, and newcomers Britain Dalton, Trinity Bliss, Bailey Bass, Jack Champion, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, Cliff Curtis, and Kate Winslet. Now, I'm not going to harp too much on the story of this movie, as I definitely am looking to avoid spoilers. However, I will be hitting some points that I feel are worth discussing for the purposes of this review. So, here we go. It's been thirteen years, and I finally get to discuss Avatar: The Way of Water.          So, it's been more than a decade since the events of the original Avatar, and Jake Sully is living a peaceful, happy life with his wif...

           Hey guys, Chuck here, and we're back with more 12 Reviews of Christmas . For today's review, we'll be discussing The Hip Hop Nutcracker , which was released on Disney+ on November 25th, which was the same day that saw the release of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special . This special is predominantly done in the form of dance, and features several iconic dance stars and dance groups. However, I go into this review with a heavy heart, as one of the performers in this special, Stephen "tWitch" Boss, tragically passed away on Tuesday, December 13th. So, this review will be dedicated to the memory of "tWitch" Boss, with all of my condolences going to his wife Allison, who was also featured in the special.            So, The Hip Hop Nutcracker is a re-telling of the classic ballet The Nutcracker, but is set on the night of a New Year's Eve block party. The story focuses on a girl named Maria-Clara, whose wish is fo...

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and for 12 Reviews of Christmas , we'll be taking a look at the 2006 film Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause . Directed by Michael Lembeck, who returns as director after The Santa Clause 2,  this movie sees the return of Tim Allen as Scott Calvin/Santa Claus, along with the returns of Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, Elizabeth Mitchell, Eric Lloyd, Spencer Breslin, and Liliana Mumy, with Art LaFleur, Aisha Tyler, Kevin Pollak, Michael Dorn, Jay Thomas, and Peter Boyle returning as the Council of Legendary Figures, with newcomers including the likes of Abigail Breslin, Sammi Hanratty, Ann-Margaret, Alan Arkin, and Martin Short.           So, it's officially been twelve years since Scott Calvin first put on the red coat and became Santa Claus, and things should be going well for him. He's got the best job in the world and is happily married to his new wife, Carol, who is having a baby. Unfortunately, this is...

           Hey guys, Chuck here, and the it's the most wonderful time of the year. That's right, guys. 12 Reviews of Christmas is back. I've hyped it up for the last several weeks, and now it's finally time. So, let's kick off this year's 12 Reviews of Christmas with a real banger with Marvel Studios' The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.  Released on November 25th as a Disney+ original special, this 45-minute Yuletide short stars Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Kevin Bacon, with special musical performances by the music group the Old 97's, and voice performances by Bradley Cooper, Maria Bakalova, Michael Rooker, and Vin Diesel, and was written and directed by James Gunn.            So, we open with an animated flashback from Peter Quill's childhood, where he tries to have a celebration of the Earth holiday of Christmas with the Ravagers, an idea that is shot down by Yondu almos...

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and we inch ever closer to 12 Reviews of Christmas , I would like to, once again, talk about Doctor Who . And this time, we'll be actually talking about a two-part episode that I'm a particular fan of: The Stolen Earth and Journey's End.  Released in 2008, as the two-part finale of Season 4, The Stolen Earth  and  Journey's End was penned by show runner Russell T. Davies, and served not only as the finale of a great season of Doctor Who, but as the ultimate culmination of the entire Russell T. Davies era, crossing over with the two spin-off shows at the time: The Sarah Jane Adventures , a family friendly show starring Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, and Torchwood, a more adult oriented series starring John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness. This two-parter stars David Tennant as the Doctor, along with the likes of Catherine Tate, Freema Agyeman, John Barrowman, Elisabeth Sladen, and Billie Piper as returning ...