Annabelle Comes Home (2019)

Rated: R - Runtime: 105 min

tesg’s Rating: Three stars (out of four)

The thing to understand going in is this is a thriller, not a slasher. The “bloodiest” scene in this involves a mishap with spaghetti sauce. The setup, pace, and scare moments are pure teen slasher flick, but if you want blood and bodies, you’re not gonna get it. This can probably go right to cable or broadcast TV without a single edit.

It is, however, well rounded, well paced, and has solid character development. Even the stupid girl doing the stupid thing turns out to have a pretty good reason for her actions that leads to a really touching ending.

Pleasantly surprised.

Toy Story 4 (2019)

Rated: G - Runtime: 100 min
tesg's Rating: Four stars (out of four)

The thing about the Toy Story franchise is the endings.  You can go through what is a fairly routine and pedestrian approach for a Toy Story script (which is always above average anyway) until that ending, and then...pow.  They knock you upside the head.

Wow.  They did it again.

Shaft (2019)

Rated: R - Runtime: 111 min
tesg's Rating: Three stars (out of four)

The movie opens with a backstory that has more Shaft to it than Samuel L Jackson's entire first Shaft movie.  We lead into Shaft's estranged son enlisting his father to help him figure out what happened to his friend.  That leads to a loose plot wrapped around outdated jokes when the modern man and a blaxploitation legend's worlds collide.  You'll either roll your eyes or you'll laugh a lot.

I laughed.  A lot.

Expecting something deeper?  Remember this going in...IT'S A FREAKING SHAFT MOVIE.

Rocketman (2019)

Rated: R - Runtime: 121 min
tesg's Rating: Two and one half stars (out of four)

Elton's story is (verrry loosely) told through a script full of snippets of his lyrics and half-ass musical numbers.  It feels a lot more special early on than it does by the end.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

Rated: PG-13 - Runtime: 132 min
tesg's Rating: Two stars (out of four)

There’s a whole lot of WTF going on here (even one of the characters points this out) until the movie takes a breather about 30 minutes in to explain itself. After that, at least we understand what’s going on, but it doesn't make it any more fun to watch. The monster battles are vague at best and the battle footage keeps getting interrupted by cutting to human melodrama happening in the background as if they were undercut on the special effects budget and they had to fake it.

Mothra makes an appearance. Poor Mothra deserved better than this.