Populasian

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Jumanji: The Next Level - 野蠻遊戲:全面晉級

Jumanji: The Next Level (野蠻遊戲:全面晉級) is an 2019 film. The movie stars Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Awkwafina, Danny Glover, and Danny DeVito. The supporting case reprise real world roles, played by Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner, Ser'Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, and Colin Hanks. This game is a sequel to Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (野蠻遊戲:瘋狂叢林).

Set 2 years later, all four main characters are in their first year of college and head back home for Christmas break. Fridge, Martha, and Britany seem to be living their best lives. Cut to Spencer and we see a unconfident and seemly miserable at his CVS type job. When they all head back to Brantford to meet at Nora's, Spencer's a no show. They go looking for him and find out that he's been sucked back into Jumanji. After some debate, they decide to go help find Spencer so they can win the game. However, grandpa Eddie and Milo get sucked in as well. Later on, they find Spencer and set out to solve the game.

Even though this movie follows a similar formula as the first, the introduction of the grandpas and Awkwafina did refresh the movie. Add to it a new story and obstacles, I was thoroughly entertained throughout. You also see that they did increase the budget as the locales were vastly different. From the jungle, they entered into the dessert and snow capped mountains.

I caught this at a local AMC theatre.

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker - 星際大戰:天行者的崛起 - Star Wars IX

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (Star Wars:天行者的崛起) is an 2019 film. The movie stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Adam Driver. The supporting cast include Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams, Domhnall Gleeson, Keri Russell, Joonas Suotamo, and Kelly Marie Tran. There are many more cameos and JJ Abrams regulars sprinkled throughout the film. This is the ninth film of the Skywalker film series and reportedly the final one as well. Lucasfilm has made reports of the film series going in a different direction after the Skywalker series.

Rey is receiving Jedi training from Leia. Chewbacca, Poe, and Finn are working on lead to recover a spy message. They are ambushed and are forced to fight their way out. Rey than receives feelings and ends her training to go find the force message. Chewbacca, Poe, and Finn join Rey on their way to Pasaana. They look for a lead that will lead them to destroying the Frist Order. However, the old Emperor shows up and wants to take over the galaxy. A bunch of cat and mouse chases start. Can Rey and the group save the Resistance?

As the last in the sag, this movie was pretty good. Lots of action tempered with some character development here and there. Add to it the way the force is used, you have a whole new era of Star Wars fans in the making. You should go back and watch episodes IV through VIII to catch up a little. There are quite a few references to the older movies. Even I-III have some reference, but small ones.

I am glad and sad the series will end here. The Skywalker series is the one that led us all to love the franchise so much. But its also time to expand the universe or galaxy beyond this group. And you've seen it happen in other areas. As I do not read books, this will be interesting how they bring the other Disney+ and film series to screen.

JJ does a good job of ending starting and ending this trilogy. I can see the critics nit picking on things, but it was a good end to the series. But this movie kept me on the edge of my seat for most of the film. All the old Star Wars mythos were in full effect. This movie was made for Star Wars fans.

Friday, December 20, 2019

Fighting With My Family- 我和我的摔角家庭

Fighting With My Family (我和我的摔角家庭) is an 2019 film. The movie stars Florence Pugh. The supporting cast include Lena Headey, Nick Frost, Jack Lowden, Vince Vaughn, and Dwayne Johnson. The story is based on the life of real professional wrestler Paige.

Paige grows up in a family of local professional wrestlers in Norwich England. Her parents through local events and they all participate, including her older brother Zac. When the WWE come to Norwich to recruit, they hold try outs. Zak and Paige both join. Zak's been dreaming of reaching the WWE since he was a wee lad. After try outs, Zak is not chosen and asks the promoter why. The response was that he doesn't have "it". On the flip side, Paige, who was only tagging along, was the long contestant chosen to enter the WWE training program. Zak grows distant and Paige heads off to the WWE development center in Florida. Paige leaves home for the first time and has to compete daily with other chosen contestant to make it to the big shows. Along the way, challenges arise and we see if Paige can overcome them.

This was a great film about have talent and not throwing it away. You knew she would make it, because Paige is a bonafide star in the WWE. Throw Vince as the hard nose drill sergeant, you have a great film. The cameo from The Rock Dwayne Johnson was also a nice touch. All in all, you should watch the movie even if you don't have a good understanding of the professional wrestling world. The film does a good job of giving you enough to feel like you don't need to learn it.

I caught this via a Redbox T-Mobile Tuesday deal.

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Marvel Phase Four Schedule

With the end of the Infinity Saga, Marvel's Kevin Feige has been pretty busy dropping news and hints about what comes next. Kevin is still using the Phase approach with the post Infinity Saga schedule and labeling it "Phase Four". Here are the movies and television series that have been announced and some rumored dates.

Movies
Black Widow (May 2020)
The Eternals (November 2020)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (February 2021)
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness (奇異博士2:失控多重宇宙) (May 2021)
Untitled Third Spider-Man, Sequel to Far From Home (July 2021)
Thor: Love And Thunder (雷神索爾:愛與雷霆) (November 2021)

Disney+
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Early 2021)
WandaVision (Spring 2021)
Loki (Early 2021)
What If...? (Mid 2021)
Hawkeye (Late 2021)

With the release schedule above, we have a pretty slow 2020, but 2021 will blow our minds. There will be FOUR MCU movies and FIVE MCU Disney+ series. Roughly calculated at 10 hours for movies and maybe 40+ hours of Disney+ content.

Can't wait.