Transformers 5, 47 Meters Down, Megan Leavey, The Book of Henry Reviews

Transformers: The Last Knight
Dir. Michael Bay
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NOTE: This review features spoilers! Ye have been warned!

They say "practice makes perfect," so by now, after FIVE movies in the Transformers franchise, you'd think action junkie and explosion enthusiast Michael Bay would be able to craft some kind of coherent story. You'd think. Similar to his other four mega-blockbuster CGI extravaganzas, The Last Knight does not feel like the four credited screenwriters had any real kind of master plan with this movie - yet again it feels like an ADHD-addled 12 year old mashing around his giant, million-dollar robot toys. There are so many ideas, characters, and subplots jammed into this movie that it defies any kind of clear and logical summary. That being said, The Last Knight at least escapes the soul-crushing blandness of Universal's recent The Mummy, featuring wall-to-wall, undiluted Bayhem every step of the way, for better or worse.

Wonder Woman, The Mummy, It Comes At Night, My Cousin Rachel Reviews

Wonder Woman
Dir. Patty Jenkins
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A lot was riding on Wonder Woman's shoulders. For Warner Brothers it represented a major investment; it had to recoup its large (but not extravagant) blockbuster production budget of $150 million, it had to introduce a new character that's planned to be prominently featured in sequels and the upcoming Justice League, it had to reignite the flame for the DC Cinematic Universe, struggling to connect with critics and audiences after Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad, it had to prove to Hollywood gatekeepers that both a major female-led and female-directed superhero movie could prove profitable (if this failed, I loathe to think the "lessons" big wig producers would've taken away), and last but not least, it had to live up to the expectations for those Wonder Woman fans who've waited their entire lives for this flick. Unbelievably - I think Wonder Woman accomplishes all of these things and then some.

10th ANNIVERSARY AWARDS - Ten Years of Reviewing!

I can't tell if this is impressive or pathetic, but today marks the tenth straight year since I began reviewing movies! Three cheers for endurance! While I started using this Blogger site in 2011, I'd been reviewing long before then, blindly posting and submitting movie reviews here and there until I finally made the "no duh" decision to make my own blog.

My first-ever review was for the family-friendly romp Hostel: Part II, which I originally posted to my MySpace "blog" page on June 11, 2007 (I gave it a 'B,' and by golly, I stick by it). Although MySpace has come and gone, my love of movies - and writing about them - has not. For some strange reason, I feel it's my duty to continue writing about movies and keep 'Talking the Talkies' up and running, even though I'm not paid to do so in any capacity. In fact it costs me money to see the movies, so this is a true labor of love.

I sincerely thank you all for reading my blog - whether this post is the first one you've ever read or if you've been a long-time reader, it truly means a lot that you care enough to peruse through the work I've done. And thanks to all the random people who've thrown a compliment my way over the years - it can sometimes be tough to get a handle on what people think of this blog, and your supportive words have been encouraging. I hope that even if you don't agree with my opinions or ratings, you've found at least some enjoyment reading my thoughts and maybe learning about some movies you might otherwise not have been exposed to.

10 years is kind of a big milestone, so to celebrate the past decade of film, I've compiled ten movie-related "awards" to shine a light on some of my favorite movies and movie-people through the years. I limited the winners exclusively to the time between when I started writing reviews until now (2007-2017), which was still no easy task. Also, it's interesting to re-visit some of my picks, seeing as some movies have definitely grown on me over the years. So, without further ado, here are the 10th-Straight-Year-of-Reviewing Awards!