The Quintessentialist

Happy 2 Years! Wow, I can't believe how far this blog has come, and I'm thrilled that we've made it to the 2 year anniversary! I just want to thank all of you for coming along the ride on the blog, and here's to another great year of growth!

They Shall Not Grow Old This Is The Best WWI Film I Have Ever Seen I just got back from the theater, and I saw They Shall Not Grow Old, with my Grandpa. I don't do much with him, but I'm glad we saw this movie together. They Shall Not Grow Old is a documentary with the original footage from WWI, and it's narrated by veteran's of the war. The premise of the film is simple, just show what these men had to endure, during daily life on the Western Front.  This film is truly incredible, and I mean that in every sense of the word. They hired lip readers to figure out what the people in the footage were saying, and then hired actors from the region the soldiers were from and we got the privilege to hear what they had to say.  I think this is the most important film on WWI that shows what life was like for the people that lived it. Well, the reason is, it's the ones who lived telling us what happened. You can't help but to feel in awe of the struggles of

Glass Movie Review A Decent Superhero Film So, I saw Glass last night, and this M. Night Shyamalan  film is pretty good. When I saw it with one of my friends, I can honestly say we both enjoyed the movie. Glass follows three perspectives, the first is David Dunn ( Bruce Willis ) a superhuman, as he fights against Kevin ( James McAvoy ) and Mr. Glass ( Samuel L. Jackson ) as the three of them come face to face in a mental facility. If you've been with my blog here for a while you may remember that Split  is one of the first films which I reviewed on here. I'm happy to see Anya Taylor-Joy  return as Casey in this film. If you don't know who Anya Taylor-Joy  is then you may remember her from The Witch  or Thoroughbreds . James McAvoy is just an incredible actor and he is so underutilized, it's crazy the talent that man has, he really needs to be cast in more films. Bruce Willis is great as he always is, and he delivers a fun performance yet again. Samuel L. Jac

The Upside Movie Review A Rare Heartwarming Film A couple of days ago, my dad and I went to the theater and saw the movie, The Upside. I've seen the trailers a couple of times and it looked somewhat interesting to me, not like it would be great, but it did get my attention. So, we went and saw it, and I can tell you without a doubt how wrong the critics truly are about The Upside. The Upside follows the relationship between Dell Scott ( Kevin Hart ) a man who is on parole looking for a job, and Phillip Lacasse ( Bryan Cranston ) a quadriplegic rich man looking for a caretaker. Phillip is bored by everyone that applies for the position, until Dell walks in with a, "I don't care" attitude, and they hit it off. The film follows the friendship between them. This is a great film, honestly. Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart are both spectacular in their own right in The Upside . They played off of each other almost naturally like they had been working with one anoth

Mary Queen Of Scots Movie Review A Big Let Down I honestly had high hopes for Mary Queen Of Scots, I really did, but this movie just didn't live up to the hype it built. Mary Queen Of Scots tells the historical story of, well... Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary Stuart returns to Scotland from France and seeks to be named the heir to the English Crown. Yet her cousin, Queen Elizabeth doesn't want her to gain power. So, I love historical films, and there are some great  historical films out there, but Mary Queen Of Scots will eventually be forgotten. I can't speak to the historical accuracy of the film, because I'm more versed in American and Roman history.  I do have a sneaking suspicion that this film isn't that historically accurate. I know, I know, the shock that a movie would not be historically accurate is an oddity, but hey I just have the feeling. Mary is played by Saoirse Ronan , and she did a... okay? yeah I'll go with that... okay job playing her

Escape Room Movie Review A Dumb Movie So, I saw Escape Room a couple days ago with a friend of mine, and this movie is just dumb. Seriously, this is a very lazy way to kick off the year. Escape Room follows a group of people who are all invited to go to an escape room game, where the game is trying to kill them. Will they make it out alive? This movie shouldn't have been made. My friend and I were practically screaming the answers at the screen because the puzzles they set up for each of the rooms is just so freaking basic. I mean it might be hard if you were a first grader, but honestly they could have done so much better. The film tries to go philosophical towards the end, but it just falls on its face and it falls so freaking hard.  I'm keeping this review short, because honestly, I will forget about it by next week. If you feel the urge to watch a discount saw film with half the effort, then escape room is for you. final score: 2.5/5

Sharing another cool song :)  Alright guys, this is just going to be a short little post while I'm working on some more reviews, and some small plans for bonus content for the blog :) Hope you guys enjoy this song by, DragonForce! (The guitars in it are killer!)

Norsemen Netflix Show Review So Far The funniest show I've seen in years I've been watching a show on Netflix called Norsemen, and I swear this is the funniest show I've seen in years! I can't understate how funny this show can really be, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say about 90% of the jokes land. Norsemen starts off in 790 AD, and follows a few Vikings and their slaves. The show goes through their lives and their trials, but it's done with a comedic spin. If you haven't yet, watch the trailer above to get a better idea of the show. I will say this, this show reminds me of Monty Python ! Some of the jokes Norsemen  are gut busting, and will almost have you rolling on the floor laughing. In an age of bad comedies this show is gold.  I just started watching season 2 the other day, and I just want to keep watching. The episodes are about a half hour long each, and it's the perfect time frame to get the story across. I wouldn't c

Odd thing of the Day! (Not a Review today) Just sharing a little music with you guys :)  So, today I'm not doing a normal review post. I thought I would change it up a little and just share a music video I found a couple of days ago. If you are into 80's rock/metal you'll probably like this, but here's the thing, and I swear the singers voice does not match his body on the first note he hits. It's kind of becoming a guilty pleasure song for me. More of my regular content should be coming out tomorrow. Have a good day everyone!

The Death Of Stalin A Great Historical Comedy The Death Of Stalin came out last year, and I missed it in theaters, and man did I miss out! I recently watched this movie, and it was such a fun film! The Death Of Stalin  is about the real historical events that occurred after the death of Stalin. Though the movie takes a more comedic spin on the film. I can't understate how fun this film is! A someone who loves history , this film delivers. It's just amazing knowing that some of the comedic portions of this movie actually happened. Granted with any historical film they do change a few minor things, but it's not that bad. The comedy in The Death Of Stalin  is spot on! There are many great jokes in this film, and the vast majority of them land. It's always a pleasure seeing Steve Buscemi  in a comedy, and he was probably my favorite in this film. I'm going to leave the trailer for this film at the bottom of this review, because this really is a great comedy

Aquaman Movie Review A fun time at the theater So, I did see this movie a few days ago with my dad, and because of New Years, and my  books , I thought now would be a good time to review Aquaman. The movie starts out with the origins of Aquaman, as he is tasked with saving Atlantis from his half brother, before he declares war on the surface. To prevent this, Aquaman must go out and find a special trident, which will make him King. The plot for this film is pretty straightforward and I'm fine with that. I was happy to see James Wan as the director, given his other  style of films. Aquaman  was hyped up a little by my friends, but they didn't hype it up to much. I think this is going to end up being short review, and I'm surprised to say that because when I started writing this I thought I would have more to say about Aquaman, but honestly, this is just a turn your mind off and have fun, sort of film. I will say this movie is better than some other  DC films, and

Top 5 Most Anticipated Movies Of 2019 A New Year, & New Movies Happy New Year everyone! I'm pumped for a ton of films coming out this year, and after my top 5 lists of 2018, I thought it would be a good way to kick off the New Year with a list of my top 5 most anticipated movies of 2019. So, I won't keep you waiting, here's the list! 5. Godzilla: King of the Monsters So, you might remember that I did a little  trailer review  for this movie a few months back, and I'm still pretty excited for this film to come out. 4. Glass If you've been with me for a while, then you know that Split  is one of the very first films I reviewed on this blog, and once the movie Glass was announced I was pretty pumped. 3. Dark Phoenix  So, I'm not a big fan of Sophie Turner but she's not a bad actress. I am excited to see Dark Phoenix however as I still think X-Men  is the best superhero franchise, at least until Disney  will start meddling with it.