STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER - Stumbling At the Finish

Endings are hard. Ask anyone who's invested in a long-running TV show or book series or, yes, film franchise. Stories like The Lord of the Rings or even the Harry Potter series are usually the exception to the rule, especially when you're dealing with a franchise spread across four decades being helmed by a half-a-dozen directors and a small army of writers, script doctors, and editors who had major hands in shaping the story.

Unfortunately, Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker lands closer to The Dark Knight Rises than to even the original trilogy's Return of the Jedi. It's not bad, but it's over-stuffed and unfocused and winds up selling some of the dramatic turns of the previous two films short. It's rousing and exciting in the moment, but leaves little of substance after it departs.

Like I said, endings are hard.

FROZEN II and Letting Go of the Disney Princess

In 2013, Walt Disney Animation's Frozen, a long-in-development loose adaptation of "The Snow Queen," directed by Chris Buck (Disney's Tarzan) and Jennifer Lee (one of the lead writers on Wreck-It Ralph) debuted in theaters and hit its target audience like a nuclear bomb. The film became the House of Mouse's highest-grossing animated film of all time, grossing over 1.2 billion dollars (supplanting titans like The Lion King and Finding Nemo and Toy Story 3) and catapulting Queen Elsa of Arendelle to the status of "Most Beloved Disney Princess" of the modern age.

So, obviously, a sequel was not only inevitable, but it was sure to be the safest possible bet for the Walt Disney company. Right?

Well, yes.

. . . But also, not really.

KNIVES OUT - In Deep

There's something delightfully pure about a good old-fashioned locked room mystery. Take a lot of people, a little murder and a signature location, then watch them bounce off of each other as one person tries to solve the crime and another tries to get away with it. Merely executing that concept masterfully is admirable, but what makes the new "Whodunnit" from writer/director Rian Johnson (Looper, Star Wars: The Last Jedi) a genuinely great film is how it chooses find its best narrative footholds beyond what we expect.

As all great mysteries must.

TERMINATOR: DARK FATE - The Last Cyborg

Well, it took nearly 30 years, but they finally went and made a third good Terminator movie.

IT CHAPTER 2 - Back Home in Derry

Short version: Yes, the movie really is nearly 3 hours long. No, It Chapter 2 is not as good as 2017's It. Yes, it's still worth seeing if you liked that film at all.

Longer version? Well, for one, I'm kinda shocked this works at all...

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME - Out of the Multiverse

When I was a much younger film enthusiast, one of my fondest wishes was to see a big-screen adaptation of my beloved Spider-Man comics, complete with wacky powers and silly suits and go-for-broke pulp world-building, and now. . .we're on our 7th live-action web-head outing in 17 years.

And if they keep being as good as Far From Home, I say keep 'em coming.

TOY STORY 4 - Happy Trails

The Toy Story Trilogy is one of the rare perfect trifectas in film history. An original film that was a trail-blazer in animation, followed up by an unlikely sequel that began as a direct-to-video cash-in then wound up even better than the original, and capped a heartbreaking/warming finale that remains a high water mark for Pixar Animation's signature mixture of whimsy and quietly devastating emotion.

There was absolutely no need for a fourth film.

So, of course, Pixar went and made one anyway, and it's brilliant.

GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS - Matinee Majesty

As the most recent entry in the shared Toho "Monsterverse" franchise (also including 2014's Godzilla and 2017's Kong: Skull Island), King of the Monsters very obviously aims to be "The Avengers of Giant Monster Movies."

It's. . .not quite that good.

It does, however, handily manage being "The Independence Day of Giant Monster Movies," and I absolutely mean that as a compliment.

JOHN WICK CHAPTER 3 - CEREBELLUM

A funny thing has happened in the 5 years since the first John Wick found an audience by being a curious action throwback with a singular sense of style and unique world - a landscape that had for a decade been dominated by the quick cuts and shaky shots following the success of the Bourne franchise sat up and took notice of the brain child of Chad Stahelski, David Leitch, and Derek Kolstad. Here was a lean, focused beast of long shots, wide angles and deliberate and clear edits, like the action films of the '90s with a modern twist.

Since then, the filmmakers have had a knock-on effect on the biggest action films of Hollywood (directing second unit on Captain America: Civil War and taking over Deadpool 2 and the big-budget spinoff of the Fast & Furious series) and the film that started it all became a franchise that still distinguishes itself from its action brethren.

And with John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum, it's hard to imagine a higher peak.

AVENGERS: ENDGAME - All Good Things

Short answer: they did it.

Not only is this a worthy end of the line for some characters of the MARVEL Cinematic Universe and an immensely satisfying finale to the "Infinity Saga," but if this were the last film (at least for a while) to even bear the name "Avengers," it would almost feel right.

SHAZAM! - Simply Marvelous

It seems unreal that only 3 short years ago, DC couldn't seem to figure out how to launch an answer to the MARVEL Cinematic Universe with two of the biggest superheroes of all time. Now, after the DCEU that stumbled out the gate with Batman v Superman has morphed into something completely different in the wake of Wonder Woman and Aquaman's success, the comics titan has taken one of their more off-beat and weird properties and delivered what is somehow both a familiar throwback while also being singular in the genre and helping to carve out a new space in the superhero sandbox, while also completely re-contextualizing what "a DC movie" can be.

You Are Probably Wrong About CAPTAIN MARVEL

As is becoming a seasonal regularity, the biggest media event in the world right now is the new release from MARVEL Studio's ongoing Cinematic Universe, this time their first female-fronted film - Captain Marvel. Even if you haven't seen the film yet and don't generally follow This Stuff, you're probably aware that Carol Danvers' debut is both a landmark and an unfortunate battleground.

While the film is an absolute smash hit, it's been the target of "fan" backlash for months (if not longer) leading up to its release, largely engineered by the same sort of sad hateboys who still can't stop complaining about The Last Jedi. The film's audience ratings were targeted by trolls for mass tanking (a practice by which user engagement scores are manipulated to make it look like a thing is massively unpopular just because A Number On the Internet says so), and while critical response has been undeniably positive, it's slightly muted compared to the past several entries in the MCU. Even the praise has been largely tinged with a brush-off of "well, it's solid enough, but it's just a standard MARVEL origin movie." It's a sentiment I've heard in various forms from a lot of, well, mostly dudes.

And I'm here to call bullshit on that.

THE LEGO MOVIE 2 - THE SECOND PART (is Harder)

In the 5 years since The LEGO Movie, creative team Phil Lord and Chris Miller have - 

Wait. . . it's Been 5 years since the first LEGO Movie?

REALLY?

. . .I need to sit down.

The Yearly Countdown: Fantastic Films of 2018

Now that the nominees for the 2019 Academy Awards have been announced, we can get down to the business of discussing the actual Most Good, Important, Kick-ass Movies of the Year.

No, it's not just the best list because it's mine.

. . . Ok, yes, it is. But you clicked anyway, so you may as well keep going.