New this month for the first time, added just leaving the theater video reviews for every movie seen in the theater this month. Your comment feedback on these short no-spoiler videos is welcome and encouraged.
Similar to our blog/text reviews the goal for no spoiler reviews. There are plenty of other review websites that do exhaustive spoiler-laden reviews of movies. Someday, maybe that will be done here on the website vs. the shorter no-spoiler ones, but as of this writing, every review we have shared is spoiler-free. Click the title, read and judge for yourselves.
Our watched in the theater reviews are shared each month for the prior month ranked by the highest to lowest ranking (of how entertaining is the film), which follows our review criteria. Here is how month #3 since we started this blog, October 2019 went …
October 2019 – Movie Theater Expenses
$174 – for movie theater snacks & food ($15 x 11, we got 3 movie popcorn and sodas using points, so only $9 for the upcharge for large)
$60 – for Cinnebar Salem, Oregon with movie when watching Zombieland: Double Tap
$44 for movie tickets (unlimited price for both wife & I for August 2019)
$10 for RPX movie surcharge for seeing Terminator: Dark Fate RPX
$10 for 3D movie surcharge seeing Gemini Man 3D + HFR
$70 – $5 average gas expense x 14 movies
= $384 / 14 movies = $27.42 for both of us movie theater entertainment expense per visit, even with the “free” unlimited movies.
= $1,012 for 2019 Total YTD Expenses (Aug: $319, Sep: $324, Oct: $384)
As mentioned in our August recap, even with these unlimited movie plans, you still spend real $$ unless you literally stay at the theater and watch movies back to back to back and buy nothing else. Almost impossible for us to do that, anyway.
October 2019 – 14 movies in theater ranked MOST to LEAST Entertaining
2019: AUGUST | SEPTEMBER
Click title to read a no-spoilers review
- Doctor Sleep ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Joker⭐️⭐️⭐️½
- *Zombieland 2: Double Tap ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- *Black and Blue ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- *Jexi ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- War ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- The Lion King ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- *Maleficent: Mistress of Evil⭐️⭐️½
- *The Current War: Director’s Cut⭐️⭐️½
- *Countdown ⭐️⭐️½
- *Terminator: Dark Fate RPX ⭐️⭐️½
- *Gemini Man 3D + HFR ⭐️⭐️
- *Addam’s Family ⭐️⭐️
- *Lucy In The Sky ½
Doctor Sleep which I was able to view as part of the Fandango Early Access program where any moviegoer can see movies ahead of the release date is now my favorite movie of 2019 to date. Renee Zellweger in Judy still put on the best acting performance that I’ve seen to date in 2019.
Met Expectations (based on hype, trailer, promotion)
Joker – the trailer had me thinking this would be a darker character discovery tale. It delivered on being different than most other superhero films. I figured this might do good business, but not anywhere near as becoming the #1 Rated-R film of all time.
Black and Blue – Kept our interest but the plot was all too familiar.
Zombieland: Double Tap – I expected this to be a fun zombie carnage romp and it met the bar, albeit with a bit long second act. Woody Harrelson is a dynamite lead here.
Disappointments
Terminator: Dark Fate – seemed too much like just retelling the first two vastly superior films. Linda Hamilton is back, which was a little more interesting, but she was not a central enough character. Terminator fight scenes became a bit repetitive too. Just a disappointing mess.
Gemini Man – despite the technical wizardry by director Ang Lee, the story was just too much been there, done that. Also, multiple Will Smiths is not a good thing.
Lucy in the Sky – didn’t expect this to be as terrible as it was. I mean, it was just a weird story, and not a good weird story, either.
Pleasant Surprises
Doctor Sleep – Mike Flanagan captures the essence of a good Stephen King novel much the way Frank Darabont has done. Go see this one when it comes out November 8. It’s a great movie.
Jexi – most critics and many moviegoers hated this tale, but Kara and I both enjoyed it. It wasn’t a great movie, but it had some charm and fun to it.
Movies, Movies, Movies 
Haven’t seen Doctor Sleep, but it’s nice to hear that you liked it. I very much agree with your thoughts on Renée Zellweger’s performance in Judy. She my favorite “Best Actress” performance so far. However, as time goes by, I think she’ll only receive nominations.
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Ahh yes, thanks for bring this up. Speaking of best actresses, something I didn’t call out in my Doctor Sleep review (need to go back and add this, i guess), is how good Rose Ferguson did playing the villain Rose The Hat. She managed to create a somewhat likable antagonist No easy task.
What I think sets Zellweger apart is that she didn’t just act splendidly as the immortal Judy Garland, she sang too. My concern for her chances at the Oscars are that the movie will be judged first before the acting. While I enjoyed Judy (my second favorite film of 2019 next to Doctor Sleep so far), I agree with you that she might be passed by because a better film will get the attention and, as a result, an actress in that film will get the Oscar.
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