THE PLOT

Howard (Sandler) is a jeweler in the city who doesn't just sell ice to big wigs, he also has a habit of borrowing money. Seemingly a habitual gambler, Howard's life seems to be falling apart. Not only does he have a mistress that his wife knows about, but a lot of the people he has borrowed from are coming back to look for his repayment and interest. He doesn't have it! Howard comes up with a scheme to sell a famous basketball player a rare gem after convincing him that the gem is helping him win his games.  The movie has a 92 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, an 8/10 on IMDb, and a 4/4 from Roger Ebert.

ACTING | 4/5

I feel like Adam Sandler is usually a complete hit or a complete miss with me. This funny man often graces the movie sleeves of Rom-Coms or comedies, but this role was rather serious.  I think this is the first movie where I was neither 100 percent impress or 100 percent let down by the actor.

THE STORYLINE | 5/5

At the beginning of the movie, I was really worried that it would be super slow and boring. However, it picked up within minutes. I find that the director and writer of this film employed several devices that really made the viewer uncomfortable, but in a way that coincided with the movie itself.

THE MEANING | 5/5

Greed was a major theme of this movie. It follows this guy who has dug himself into debt. Many times he gets the money to pay off his debt, but he wants to be able to have more than what he owes. If he is making money, he better get a share of it. That's how it goes with Howard. There is also a theme of hypocrisy in the film. For instance, Howard continually cheats on his wife, but is angry when his mistress seemingly cheats on him. He also gets angry when he isn't paid what he is owed, but continually doesn't pay back his own debts.

FINAL RATING | 5/5

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DISNEY+ MOVIES

I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

I grew up with Jonathan Taylor Thomas, so it's only natural that I freaking LOVE this movie. This movie is all about a young man named Jake who is away at college in a nice, sunny location. He originally doesn't want to go home for the holidays, but his father tells him that, if he makes it home for Christmas dinner, he can have his dad's nice car.  ​Wanting to get the car to himself, Jake starts to make his way home. Sadly, he becomes stranded with no phone or money and has to race home to make it to the dinner table.

THE SANTA CLAUSE SERIES

I guess I just love movies with people from the cast of Home Improvement, because The Santa Clause series has already been on my watchlist this season. The three movies in the series are there.  The story follows Scott Calvin, a divorcee trying to coparent his son Charlie with his ex wife. On Christmas Eve, Santa falls off of Calvin's roof and he finds a note saying that he must put on the red and white suit. It turns out that doing so entered Calvin into an agreement where he would become the new Santa.

THE HOME ALONE SERIES

No Christmas would be complete without watching the Home Alone series, at least the two with Macaulay Culkin. Kevin McCallister's family is large, and for two Christmas holidays in a row, his family is traveling. ​In the first movie, Kevin is left at home after sleeping through his alarm and missing his family's flight to Paris. In the second movie, he gets on the wrong plane and ends up in NYC for a Christmas like no other.

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BAD SANTA

Bad Santa is a movie you should watch without your kids, for sure. It follows Willie, played by Billy Bob Thornton, who is a drunk who makes robberies during the holiday season. In Bad Santa, Thornton plays a ill-behaved mall Santa to scope out the robbery. I think this movie is funny, but it a little raunchy at times. It is the perfect date night movie for the season, as it will have you laughing all night long.

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

I must say that I've never really seen It's a Wonderful Life all the way through, but I know that many people love this classic movie. From what I could find, this movie is about a man named George who is contemplating ending his life. He is about to jump from a bridge when he instead rescues his guardian angel. This angel then shows him what his town would be like if it wasn't for all the good deeds he has performed over the years. The movie is slow at some points, but is ultimately blessed with a great plot!

CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY

I know that the picture looks kind of raunchy, but I promise that this movie is sweet. It tells the story of a mother and daughter who move to the city to make some extra money in hopes of saving their hometown candy store. ​While working in a mall, the mother begins to see that a marketing manager is replacing traditional Christmas decor and ideals with more trendy options.

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HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS

Christmas is just not complete without seeing this film. Jim Carrey may be a little extreme to me now, but there is no denying his amazing acting skills. The Grinch lives on top of a mountain right outside of Whoville. ​He hates what the Christmas holiday has become, so he hates the Whos and Christmas. That is until Cindy Lou Who has a run-in with the Grinch and ends up convincing the town to make him their Holiday Cheermister. However, a bad visit results in a scheme to steal Christmas from the Whos.

CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS

Luther and Nora Krank finally have their house to themselves for a Christmas, so they decide to skip the traditional celebrations for a tropical holiday cruise. The Kranks are constantly pestered by their neighbors because of their lack of Christmas spirit. However, plans change when Blair, their daughter, decides to visit home with her partner. The Kranks band together with their neighbors to decorate their home before their daughter arrives. This is a side-splitting film that will have you laughing and scratching your head about the crazy neighbors the Kranks endure. It is a non-traditional movie that is perfect for this season!

THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES

A brother and sister accidentally make Santa crash his sleigh, which catches the attention oft he authorities. ​Santa is arrested, so the brother and sister have to work together to get him out of jail and back in his sleigh in time for him to deliver his gifts around the world. I really enjoyed this movie. Kurt Russell, who plays Santa, did a great job in portraying a non-traditional but still jolly Old Saint Nick! Check this movie out to get into the holiday spirit.

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THE PLOT

The morning after celebrating the 85th birthday of well-known crime novelist Harlan Thrombey, his housekeeper finds him dead in his study with his throat slit. Being that all of his children and family members were in his home for his party, each of them becomes suspects in what private detective Benoit Blanc believes to be a murder. The movie follows the elaborate motives of each of the family members, all while revealing what actually happened to this famous novelist. But, in the end, everything becomes obvious to Detective Blanc who really was responsible for the death of Harlan Thrombey. Filled with a number of big-name actors and actresses, "Knives Out" is a must see, boasting a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes as of today, an 8.1/10 from IMDb and an 82% from Metacritic.

​ACTING | 4.5/5

​I loved all of the actors who were in this movie. Some of them include Jamie Lee Curtis, who has had a long life in the film industry, as well as Katherine Langford, who you may know as Hannah Baker from “13 Reasons Why” on Netflix.   There are so many others such as Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, and Toni Collette. I do want to say that I deducted half a point because my family agreed that one of the characters’ accents was way too much, although another character constantly poked fun at it anyway.

​THE STORYLINE | 5/5

​At first, I wasn’t a real fan of how they decided to tell this story. The actual events that took place were shown to the audience pretty early on in the movie. However, there was a story happening alongside it that wasn’t revealed until the very end of the movie.   In retrospect, I kind of like that. I like that it doesn’t take on the traditional model of a mystery/thriller movie and instead makes its own story and reveals it in a unique way.

THE MEANING | 5/5

There were some interesting “deeper meanings” in this movie. There was a bit of a side bar about immigration and political issues in this movie as one of the main characters, Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), Harlan Thrombey’s nurse, was Latina.  The family members kept saying she was from different places like Ecuador, Brazil, Paraguay, and more.

FINAL RATING | 5/5

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THE PLOT The children of Derry, and even some adults, have started to go missing once again more than 20 years after the Loser's Club defeats Pennywise the clown. Following up on the pact they made long ago, Mike Hanlon, the only member of the Loser's Club to stay behind in Derry, calls up the gang to have them return and defeat Pennywise, hopefully once and for all. Hanlon soon finds that the memories from the group's childhood had faded from the minds of the others. The work to regain their memories, recover lost pieces of their past, and fight to get rid of the murderous clown once and for all.

ACTING | 5/5

I can't help but give the acting in this movie a 5 out of 5. Both the young actors/actress and the actors/actress who played their older selves are really well cast. As always, Bill Skarsgard did an amazing job as Pennywise. I particularly loved Bill Hader has older Richie. I thought he was a great choice, and he really was the older version of his younger self!

STORYLINE | 4.5/5

The storyline was pretty good. Although, I will say that I personally didn't think the film put too much work into making this film scary.  I feel like a lot of the film was following the storylines and pasts of the characters, which was still nice.

SCARINESS | 2/5

This film was very disappointing to me in the scariness department. As I just said, it was mostly about following up on the stories of the main characters. Sure, there were some jump scares, but nothing too gut-wrenching. I also feel like you don't see the clown all that much.

SPECIAL EFFECTS | 5/5

The special effects in this film are awesome, I will say. I love the way they manipulate Pennywise into different sizes and how they can manipulate his face to create frightening images in the minds of the watchers. There are some other special effect goodies that I won't expose here. Go see the film to see them!

UNDERLYING MEANING | 3/5

Pretty much every film nowadays has some sort of deeper meaning, and It Chapter Two is no different.  I personally found the solution to defeating Pennywise to be rather corny and unrealistic. The way they defeat him seems to be too good to be true given his track record with overcoming whatever the Loser's Club throws at him.

FINAL THOUGHTS AND REVIEW | 4/5

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1: THE BEAUTICIAN AND THE BEAST (1997)

If you're around my age (25), you probably grew up watching The Nanny starring Fran Drescher. I absolutely loved her in that, so whenever I saw this movie, I was in love!  Basically, Joy (Drescher) gets a job as a teacher for the children of a dictator in a far-away country. Drescher is playful and funny, as she always is, as she tries to tame the heart of a ruthless dictator. This movie is, of course, based off of the Disney classic "Beauty and the Beast." I really like it. You should put this on your next date night movie list.

2: SPANGLISH (2004)

Adam Sandler movies are usually pretty hit or miss with me. However, I have always really loved this movie. It follows Flor (Paz Vega), a Mexican immigrant, who begins working for John (Sandler) and his wife. John, a famous chef to the area, is finding life with his wife more and more difficult. John and Flor find themselves falling in love, despite John's having a wife. Things come to a head when John and Flor realize that John's wife is treating Flor's daughter like her own moreso than their plus-size daughter. ​This movie is a hit in my book!

3: 50 FIRST DATES (2004)

Another Adam Sandler movie that made it to my list is 50 First Dates. This movie follows Henry (Sandler), a heartbreaker who finds himself in a diner with Lucy (Drew Barrymore). Henry doesn't know that Lucy suffers from short-term memory loss.  Despite having to win her love each and every day, Henry goes on date after date with Lucy. This movie has always been really sweet to me because it shows that you can fall in love with the same person over and over again!

4: BABY MAMA (2008)

I know that a lot of people won't consider this movie a "romantic" comedy, but it is one to me! Kate (Tina Fey) is a hard-working single woman who desperately wants a child. She reaches out to Angie (Amy Poehler) who agrees to carry her child for her after Angie finds out her uterus isn't shaped well for child bearing. But things go wrong with Kate finds out that Angie is difficult to work with. But, through it all,  Angie meets Greg (Rob Ackerman) who makes her feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I have ALWAYS loved this film, and will continue to love it as a romantic comedy!

5: LAST HOLIDAY (2006)

I would be remiss if I didn't add Last Holiday to my list of under-rated rom-coms. The story follows Georgia (Queen Latifah) who hits her head and work, visits the doctor, and finds out she has a tumor that will eventually kill her.  After playing it safe all her life, Georgia decides to withdraw her savings and head to Europe for a last holiday to die for. However, unexpected news sends her work flame Sean Matthews (LL Cool J) on a cross-country trip to find her. ​I LOVE this film. It is one to watch, for sure.

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​1: HE DOESN’T ACTUALLY HAVE A SUPER POWER OR SPECIAL TRAINING

Tony Stark became Iron Man out of a necessity to escape captors. After that, he chose to use his brains to invent a suit that would help him fight evil. Unlike his counterparts who are either blessed with super powers or have years of training, Tony goes into a fight knowing that he is only human.

​2: HE IS CONFIDENT AND HATED FOR IT

​I feel like I closely identify with this because I sometimes feel that, as a plus size young woman, some of my opinions and ideas are discounted. I love that Tony Stark is unapologetically confident in his abilities. Why shouldn’t he be? He is a genius. ​I think if more of us acted like Tony Stark and exuded his incredible confidence, we would all feel a lot better about ourselves.

​3: HIS CHARACTER REALLY DEVELOPED IN THE MOVIE SERIES

​If you go watch Endgame and then go home and re-watch the first few Iron Man movies, you will see a distinctive change in Tony’s demeanor. Of course, he starts out cold and driven by money and fame. He changes after a boy is killed on his watch. After that, all he cares about is the safety of the world. I think his character changes because he rubs off of Steve Rodgers and vice versa. Don’t get me started on Captain America. He changed but, in my opinion, he went the opposite way.

​4: HIS INTENTIONS WERE GOOD FROM THE START

​A lot of people mistake Stark’s confidence for heartlessness. However, he cares about people and wants to help, even in earlier movies. There was nothing in it for him to save people or become an Avenger. Even if there was, he already was wildly famous and smart before the Avengers.

​5: HE MADE SOMETHING OF HIMSELF OUT OF TRAGEDY

​Tony Stark was a boy having an argument with his father when tragedy struck. His father and mother left and were killed, leaving a young and inexperienced Tony to take over the business. A lot of other people would cave under the pressure or might even tear themselves a part knowing that things ended badly right before their loved ones died.

​CONCLUSION

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​THE PLOT

​Billy Batson is a troubled foster care child who has bounced around from one home to another. He gets in to mischief when trying to find his mother, who he lost when he was only a small boy. The now 14-year-old ends up in a new foster home with a humble, caring family.   After sticking up for his foster brother, he is on a train when the wizard, Shazam, bring him to a magical realm where he gives Billy magic powers that are activated by saying “Shazam!” ​Batson fights the occasional crime and saves the occasional life between selfie sessions after YouTube videos of him go viral. In the middle of it all, will he have what it takes to keep him friends and stop the evil Dr. Thaddeus Sivana?

​ACTING | 5/5

Zachary Levi did an amazing job of playing the witty ad handsome Shazam! His ability to act like a pre-teen boy was astounding and worthy of some awards in my opinion! He did things like "floss" and charge people's phones with his lightening powers!

​THE STORYLINE | 5/5

​THE MEANING | 5/5

​SPECIAL EFFECTS | 5/5

​I can’t really complain about the special effects in this movie. I thought they were great! Animators gave Shazam the ability to shoot lightening from his hands, fly, and do a number of other acrobatic and superhero-y activities. It didn’t look fake to me like some movies can make it look!

FINAL RATING | 5/5

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PLOT

HERE'S WHAT I TOOK AWAY

SYMBOLISM

The first is the symbolism of the scissors, which play a major role throughout the film. Obviously, the shadows of the people above ground want to cut themselves away from their owners. Adelaide's "shadow" reveals this in a lengthy monologue toward the end of the film, physically representing this idea with paper dolls. The scissors are the weapon of choice for the shadows.

There is also the symbolism of the rabbits. Rabbits are a symbol of new life. At the beginning of the film, there is a slow zoom out from a cage with one rabbit inside that shows a room lined with several cages holding rabbits.  ​By the end of the movie, they have all been set free from their cages. This means that the rabbits were somehow similar to the shadows, since both were freed.

LESSONS I THINK WERE BEING TAUGHT

1. FAMILIAL ROLES

The first lesson I think was being taught had to do with the idea of family. You see the wife, Adelaide, who was very scared about this doppelgänger returning to harm her. Her husband doesn't really seem to care. On top of that, his exchange with the four trespassers on their property was more comical than intimidating.

2. OUR OWN WORST ENEMY

The next is that we are are own worse enemy, which is actually the tagline of the movie. I didn't know this until I looked it up, but I did have that vibe throughout the film. The way I would put it is that we have two sides to ourselves. As a religious person, this is easier for me to understand because my religion teaches that the side of yourself that you feed is the one that wins.

3. POLITICAL THEMES/GOING ABOUT THINGS THE WRONG WAY

4. EVERYTHING IS NOT WHAT IT SEEMS/PERCEPTIONS

As you know if you've seen the film, the Adelaide that we see as the protagonist is actually the original shadow. I didn't personally see this coming, but the whole thing makes sense if you sit back and watch the film. To begin, Adelaide doesn't talk for a while after her encounter with the shadow. We thought this was because of PTSD, but it was because she didn't know how to talk.

CONCLUSION

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CAPTAIN MARVEL DOESN'T FOLLOW SOCIETAL STANDARDS FOR HER GENDER

​As a woman, it is always refreshing to see heroes and fictional characters who don’t necessarily follow traditional and societal beauty standards. While Captain Marvel isn’t unattractive, her style is more relaxed! Additionally, she always likes to do the “boy” stuff like racing go-carts and skateboarding.

SHE KNOWS HOW TO SHUT UP THE HATERS

​At the end of the movie, when the traditional motif is met of the hero truly harnessing their powers, Captain Marvel doesn’t take crap from anyone. But the interesting thing is that she does this without cursing or stooping down to the level of the bad guys. I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll leave it at that.

SHE ISN'T OVER SEXUALIZED

​While some women will say that sexuality and using sexuality to bring down bad guys is empowering, it humbles others like myself when there is a female superhero who isn’t used by a studio full of men to seduce the enemy with her body. Captain Marvel’s costume is conservative, though form-fitting, and she kicks but with her own power, not with the help of her curves.

SHE IS THE ONLY FEMALE MARVEL SUPERHERO TO HAVE HER OWN, MODERN-DAY FILM

​After doing a bit of searching, I think that Captain Marvel is actually the first female Marvel hero with her own recent movie, and that rocks! Wonder Woman was probably one of the firsts as of recently, but it is great that DC and Marvel fans now both have a female superhero movie to enjoy!

YOU'D BE SUPPORTING WOMEN IN THE FILM INDUSTRY

I don’t care what anyone says, that movie was amazing. However, I always notice that movies with female superheroes have a lower rating by critics than those starring males. I’m not really sure why. However, I know that myself and a number of other people, women included, look at those ratings to see if paying the money to see it in the theatre will be worth it.

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1. WHITE CHRISTMAS

I won't go into too much of a plot explanation on this one, as you can find plenty of it on my Merry Movie Monday post on the movie from last week. Click here to read the post.

2. ELF

Buddy the Elf finds out that he isn't really an elf, but a human man who snuck into Santa's present sack when he was visiting an orphanage. After learning of his parents, Buddy sets off to find his father in NY. Too bad his father is the modern-day Scrooge!

3. A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS

Check out America's favorite little gang in Charlie Brown's Christmas special. Charlie finds himself in a non-Christmasy mood and Lucy suggests that he break up his blues by directing a Christmas play.

4. HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS

The Grinch was abused and laughed at by the Whos in Whoville, so he made himself a home at the top of a mountain. One year he gets fed up with the Whos Christmas spirit and decides to dress up as Santa and steal Christmas from the town. But, will he do his dirty deed without having a change of heart?

5. HOME ALONE 1 & 2

Kevin is one of several children. In this first movie, he gets left at home alone when his family rushes to the airport to spend Christmas in Paris but leaves him behind. In the second movie, they are visiting somewhere else when he gets on the wrong plane to New York City.

6. JINGLE ALL THE WAY

A father, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who spends most of his days away from his wife and son must fight a crazy mailman, Christmas characters, and bad guys to get a special action figure for his son.

7. THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES

This Netflix original features a little girl and her brother who run concoct a plan to trap Santa Claus. They climb into his sleigh and startle him as he is flying, causing him to crash thousands of miles away. Evading the police, escaping gangsters, and even rocking out in a jail, this movie will have you laughing and tearing up!

8. I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

Jake is a college student who was planning on spending the holidays away from home with his girlfriend, but she refuses. He decides to go home for Christmas but ends up trapped in the desert with no money or phone. He must travel across the country to get home in time for Christmas dinner.

9. CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS

The Kranks always do it up big, like everyone else in their town, for Christmas. When their daughter says she isn't coming home for Christmas, they decide to skip it and go on holiday. The neighbors and townspeople lose it when they find out the Kranks won't be decorating or doing anything. However, everyone comes together with the Kranks' daughter decides to visit home after all.

10. THE HOLIDAY CALENDAR

This other Netflix original film was too cute not to add to this list. I hope you will head over to my Merry Movie Monday post dedicated to this film and read all about it for yourself!

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