The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part movie review.

Not everything is awesome, but The LEGO Movie certainly was. For what many assumed looked like a cynical feature length commercial, it instead was an inspired surprise embodying the insane creative spirit of its toy blocks. An hilarious, sweet, and subversive movie in how it upended audience expectation and classic animation clichés, it was by far one of this decade's funniest movies, launching into breakneck mile-a-minute speed with gags of every sort of variety, soon launching into a riotous solo spin-off with Batman, and then with Ninjago (which I admit I haven't seen).

The film even ended on a funny sequel baiting note, with the arrival of the Duplo Block invaders. And five years later, with the release of the sequel to The LEGO Movie, the second film to the original first film, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, that invasion comes full circle as the second half of that two-part circle. But... is it as awesome as the first? Is it as cool when we're part of the team? I can't say that, but it's still a funny and inspired film nonetheless.

Glass movie review.

Unbreakable is, in my eyes, one of the most underrated films ever made, M. Night Shyamalan's follow-up to The Sixth Sense that starred Bruce Willis as the sole survivor of a deadly train crash, soon discovering that he has incredible strength and resiliency. It was a very grounded, but progressively fantastical deconstruction and celebration of vintage comic book tropes and stories, and featured some of the best performances of Willis', and especially Samuel L. Jackson's career. Back then, Shyamalan had intentions to turn the film into a trilogy, but as he turned to other films and a long slump, that intention seemed unlikely.

That is, until that fire was stoked yet again with Split, that starred a virtuoso James McAvoy as a man with 24 distinct personalities, and its last scene revealed itself to be set within the Unbreakable universe. Two years later, we finally have the culmination of his vision, the crossover Glass that acts as the final installment of his trilogy, as the shattered and unshattered clash in the ultimate battle of good vs evil. But is it the culmination that we really wanted?

Roma movie review.

It's been far too long since we last saw Alfonso Cuaron. One of the most engaging and technically precise international filmmakers working, Cuaron has always been a singular and distinct filmmaking force unto himself, affirming himself with independent fare such as Y Tu Mama Tambien, before truly announcing himself with the likes of The Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men, and 2013's nail-biting space thriller Gravity. But despite the high quality of his films, that only makes the wait for them more agitating.

Cuaron is something of a perfectionist, taking careful time to iron out his projects before releasing them (like the 7 years after Children of Men it took to see Gravity), and with each of his films showing incredible technical sharpness as a result. These projects come to feel very personal for Cuaron, and nowhere is that personal touch more keenly felt than his latest film, the Netflix released Roma, set within the titular neighborhood in Mexico City, as it follows the experiences of a family over the course of a year, that sees Cuaron at his most stripped down, and emotionally powerful result yet.

Brief thoughts on If Beale Street Could Talk.

Beale Street is a historic district in New Orleans, Louisiana, an early birth place of Jazz and Blues, where figures like Louis Armstrong have come and gone. But Beale Street, as transcribed by author James Baldwin, is more than its name. Beale Street is a feeling, a sensation unifying the African-American experience, and the commond ground, love, and heritage the people share. It's an abstract concept, but intentionally so, in which Baldwin encourages the reader to find his or her own meaning to the text. And in media form, we have Moonlight director Barry Jenkins bringing to life his meaning to it, finding the sensitive heart and beauty of If Beale Street Could Talk, creating an intimate, but fully engrossing saga of love and struggle