My Top 10 Movies: Part 1 January-June, 2016

So I decided to create a list of my top 10 movies of 2016 thus far. We're almost done with the first 1/2 of the year (It's June 29th). In December, I'll create a new list, my part 2. Some of these movies I've already reviewed in other blog postings and others I haven't. For those, I'll do a quick review in this post. 

10.  Dirty Grandpa: Robert de Niro and Zac Efron. My goodness what a funny duo. This movie, by no means whatsoever, is an academy award winner, but what a fun, raunchy ride. If you're easily offended, pass this one up because the humor isn't for the faint of heart. Rated R

9. Me Before You: The only romance on my list. This was a novel, I didn't know that and I usually read the books first. Emilia Clarke is hilarious and fun as the quirky Louisa Clark. Her style is eccentric and her heart is worn on her sleeve. Sam Claflin plays Will Traynor, a onetime playboy, who suffers a serious accident and becomes paralyzed living out the rest of his days in a wheelchair. This movie does make you think about how fragile life is and what you'd do for love. There's something charming about Will, even with his now cynical view on life. What does one, who was once so active do in a wheelchair. At the end of his life, my father, who never truly retired, even with a cancer diagnosis, was stuck in a wheelchair. As much as he loved his wife and kids, he hated being in that chair. I've seen what that can do to a person. This movie isn't for everyone. It's definitely not a romantic comedy. Rated PG-13

8. The Jungle Book: What a visually stunning film. I know the talking animals are silly, but the CGI isn't bad. Young Mowgli is adorable. This isn't as good as Cinderella, but was still fun to watch. By the way, I love Jon Favreau. He's AMAZING and so talented! Rated PG

7.  Finding Dory: This is the sequel to Finding Nemo (which I think is a better film). I enjoyed this movie and the Pixar animation has gotten a lot better. Young Dory is the cutest thing in this movie. She's talking and then "squirrel". I just don't think that this film had the same charm as the original. Many great actors voiced the characters. Ellen DeGeneres is back as the voice of Dory. Rated PG

6.  Deadpool: The first of the superhero genre to make my list. Wow what an action packed, comedic spectacle. This is not a superhero movie to take the kids to. It's filled with crude humor and innuendos. This is not the same Ryan Reynolds "Deadpool" from X-men Origins: Wolverine. From my understanding, this Deadpool is more accurate to the actual comic book character. Rated R  

5. X-Men: Apocalypse: I already reviewed this movie in another post. I have issues with the continuity, but the plot was good. Rated PG-13 

4.  Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice: I reviewed this in a previous entry. Overall, Henry Cavill...... yum, I mean good, Ben Affleck...... ok (his staged fights looked too staged!) Gal Gadot...... just isn't Wonder Woman to me yet. I'm excited to get the extended version when it comes out July 18th. Rated PG-13

3. The Shallows: Jaws 5? I really enjoyed this movie. I like Blake Lively.I never really watched her films until The Age of Adaline and I loved that movie. She has a very classic look about her, which really fit that film. She was amazing in this too. Some of the CGI was questionable. Would a shark really do that to the buoy? I question that part of the film too. There was just enough gore and fear tactics to keep me interested. The seagull kept changing and that bothered me because he was my favorite character and I notice things like that. Thank goodness I saw this movie because I didn't want to write a top nine and there were slim pickings in movies this year. Rated PG-13

2. Money Monster: When it's George Clooney and Julia Roberts, the movie is bound to be good. I always love a movie about the corrupt business men who control the world. Premise: A young man (the guy from Unbroken) invests $60,000 in a fraudulent investment deal because, Lee Gates (George Clooney) the host of "Money Monster" tells the world that the stock is a sure thing. The guy from Unbroken, loses every single cent and decides to take "Money Monster" hostage. Julia Roberts is the shows producer, trying desperately to save her star and figure out what happened to the stock. I really enjoyed this movie because, yes, some (not all, all is an absolute) businesswomen/men are corrupt people who are only in it for themselves. The girl from Outlander is in this too and Jodi Foster directs. Rated R

1. Captain America: Civil War: This movie was already reviewed in another post. All I can say is, this is one of my favorite Marvel Movies!  Rated PG-13 

Let's be honest, 2016 has been a pretty crap year for movies so far. I'm not excited about many of the "Summer Blockbusters." Without the help of The Shallows this list would only have been my top nine. I hoping the second half of the year is better than the first!

Batman vs. Superman Dawn of Justice in Florida

"Hello Superman. It's time you met your doom," Batman says. With all of the hype surrounding the new "Batman/Superman" movie, I decided to take one for the team and watch so you didn't have to. Just kidding, I was going to watch it anyway. Unlike most of the general public, these new "Superman" movies don't bother me too much. I actually sort of like them, even though Superman II will always be my favorite. Man of Steel was so much better than Superman Returns. Next to Christopher Reeve, Henry Cavill is my favorite Superman. OK, Superman is an American hero and Henry is a Brit, but there is something about his look and about him that seems to embody the character. Sorry George Reeves and Brandon Routh. Side note, Brandon Routh is great in DC's Legends of Tomorrow. 

Batman vs. Superman (from here on out will be referred to as BvS) came out March 25th, the night before I left for Florida. I told my companion that it would be fun to see it at the Downtown Disney in Orlando, our travel destination. He was game for waiting, so on a cold rainy night, we left the "Magic Kingdom" and headed to the nearest theater. 

The critics' reviews were abysmal. I think on Flixster it had a 22% rating from the professional critics and 75% from the novice critics. I'm a novice, I rated it a 4 out of 5 stars. I don't always follow what the critics have to say. I hated Birdman with Michael Keaton (my 2nd favorite Batman), talk about a snooze fest. I love comic books, but I don't own any. I read about them online, and what I know is based on Wikipedia and the movies I've watched.  I felt that the critics were too harsh on the actual film and way too harsh on the actors. They didn't deserve the "beatings" they received. Are critics wrong? certainly, they're only human, they're not Superman.  

Ben Affleck didn't suck as Batman. He's no Christian Bale (my FAVORITE Batman), but he wasn't as bad as he was in Daredevil. I think for the time in Bruce Wayne's life, Ben was good. He was angry and brooding and rough around the edges. Some of his fight scenes were silly and his acting wasn't the greatest. My husband asked who acted better? Henry or Ben, I responded, Jessie Eisenberg. OK OK, Henry's acting was better. Ben is amazing in films like Argo... serious, non-action roles. Overall though, he isn't bad.

Things I thought were bad and could have been better:

1.  I thought that having both moms named Martha, was dumb, but that's a stupid comic book move, not something the writer's made up.

2.  Superman and Batman became "friends" because there moms were named Martha. Stupid.

3. Doomsday looked stupid. 

4.  There was too much going on in the film. There were too many storylines, too many plot points.

5.  When Superman and Wonder Woman fought Doomsday, Batman did nothing but watch them save the world. 

6. I didn't like the Flash. The CW Flash is so much better than this one.
7.  Jimmy Olsen. No explanation needed.
8.  The dream sequence. The acting was terrible in this, sorry Ben.

9. An uber distaste of Wonder Woman!

Actually, I'm a bit tired

Wonder Woman has been my favorite superhero since I was a little girl. Lynda Carter will always be Wonder Woman to me. I wanted to be Wonder Woman, I had my truth lasso, my red boots (knee high socks), my Wonder Woman underoos and I would watch Wonder Woman in my little red rocking chair. Gal Gadot had big red boots to fill, she is not Wonder Woman to me. She isn't a bad actress, I  don't like Wonder Woman with an accent. 

Here's what I loved 

1. The romance between Lois and Clark. It takes me back to Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Smallville. 

2. Baywatch Aquaman
3. Lex Luthor. I don't like Jessie Eisenberg as a human. I've seen interviews with him and he comes off as being arrogant, but boy can this guy act!
4. Henry Cavill with his shirt off.
5. Wonder Woman kicks butt!

I know, I know I said I didn't like her, but I'm so happy we get to see her in a movie and let's face it Wonder Woman really does kick some arse. With the box office saturated with male superheroes, it's nice to see a woman finally take charge. Now future generations have a female superhero to look up to. Having a strong female hero is important for young girls to admire. 

All in all, this movie was a fun filled action packed, (with some occasional snooze moments) Batman/Superman adventure.  Could it have been better? Of course. Did the acting suck? Why yes it did. Will I purchase it when it comes out on DVD? I most certainly will. If you're into comic movies, but not overly into the comic book lore, this is an enjoyable movie to watch. This will never be an awarding winning adaption of comic literature and it never set out to be. Just have fun watching it.

I give Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice 3 out of 5 Gerber Daisies. (I should change my Flixster/Rotten Tomatoes review)

"It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me." Batman from Batman Begins