Grant Minnick's Movie Reviews

“He’s living proof our people can coexist.  He could unite our worlds one day.” - Queen Atlanna Aquaman is a superhero action movie directed by James Wan and starring Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Willem Dafoe, Nicole Kidman, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.  It tells the story of Arthur Curry (Momoa) a.k.a. Aquaman, and his fight against King Orm (Wilson) to prevent war in Atlantis from coming to the surface. Aquaman has a lot of things to like about it.  For example, I thought there were some cool visuals, and the colors were very pretty.  I liked the soundtrack, and the story was interesting. I thought that the way that Aquaman was portrayed in the movie was really cool, because you don’t really get to see many superheroes in DC movies that can find ways to laugh at themselves and make jokes in the heat of battle.  I thought that the majority of the acting in this film was pretty good for the most part, and I thought that Momoa a...

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for everything.” - Earl Stone The Mule is a based-on-a-true-story crime drama directed by the one and only Clint Eastwood, and stars Clint Eastwood as 90 year old drug mule Earl Stone.  Also starring are Bradley Cooper, Michael Peña, Andy García, Laurence Fishburne, Taissa Farmiga, Dianne Wiest, and Alison Eastwood. The story follows Stone, who, dealing with family problems and financial difficulty, turns to running drugs to make a quick buck.  Meanwhile, Agent Colin Bates (Cooper) is investigating how all of these drugs are getting from one place to another, and who could be running them. I started getting into Clint Eastwood’s films a couple years ago when I watched The Outlaw Josey Wales for the first time.  Ever since then, it’s safe to say that I have been a fan of his work. However, with the way his last film The 15:17 To Paris turned out, I was a little worried that the director was losing his touch.  Man, was I wrong. ...

“The darkest nights produce the brightest stars.” - Memo Bumblebee is a Transformers prequel about how the Autobot Bumblebee came to Earth in the 1980’s.  Once he lands, he takes the form of a yellow Volkswagen Beetle, and meets a young girl named Charlie, who takes care of him.  The film is directed by Travis Knight, and stars Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena. I wasn’t expecting to love Bumblebee as much as I did.  When I walked out of theater with my little brother, after thanking me numerous times for taking him to see the film, he told me that it was his new favorite film of all time.  (His previous favorite was the excellent film Radio, followed by the Harry Potter series.) I chuckled at this, and while I definitely didn’t think that it was anywhere near good enough to be my new favorite film of all time, or even my new favorite film of 2018, I still really did love this movie. Bumblebee is the first modern Transformers film to not be directed by Micha...

“I’m a cotton-headed ninny muggins!” - Buddy Hobbs Elf is a 2003 holiday comedy film directed by Jon Favreau, and starring Will Ferrell as a human named Buddy, who was raised by Christmas elves.  When Buddy finds out that he is not an elf, but a human, he travels to New York City to find his real father, (James Caan) who happens to be on the naughty list.   After rewatching this classic film with my family on Christmas Eve, I was reminded of just how magical this movie really is.  This is a great family movie, and it’s easy to see why so many people love to watch it every year around Christmas time. To start off, Will Ferrell’s acting in this film is very impressive.  He reminds me of a new age Robin Williams. The enthusiasm and silliness that he brings to the role of Buddy really shows his passion towards not only this film, but also acting in general. James Caan, Peter Dinklage, Mary Steenburgen and Zooey Deschanel also shine bright.   The music i...