Mike Goes To Movies

Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020) My expectations going into Birds of Prey was pretty close to ground-zero - something that I am continuing to realize is a good thing. After a string of okay-to-horrendous recent DC films (*cough* Batman v Superman *cough* Justice League *coughcoughcough* Suicide Squad), my excitement for this film was as tepid as the water dripping from my ever-broken kitchen sink tap. It was a joyful surprise then to find myself (for the most part) quite entertained watching Birds of Prey last week.  Like Birds of Prey the movie, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), at the start of this film has smartly broken away from any connection she might have from Suicide Squad and has now broken up with Mr. J (that's the Joker, to all you hopeless non-nerds). And so, Harley tries to strike out on her own not knowing that she very quickly will be running-in with local mobster Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor). Harley soon finds out that ...

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019) DISCLAIMER - FULL SPOILERS AHEAD - do not read on if you have yet to see the film and plan on doing so Damn, did that ending pack a punch! I am just going to go out and say that had that ending not unfolded in the way that it does, the film likely would not have worked for me. Like all of Tarantino's films the hype train leading up to Once Upon a Time's release was over the moon, no less this time because it the director's 'so-called' penultimate film. Unlike many of his previous outings however One Upon a Time is less about the plot and more about an overarching feeling, sentiment, or nostalgia of the bygone era it pays tribute to. Tarantino, as many of us know, is a walking, breathing encyclopedia of pop culture history and in this film he willfully unleashes his love for all things Hollywood onto us, the audience. The kicker here is that, as the public learned early on, he bases this film around the true and infamously...