Logan and Kong Skull Island

I saw Logan last week and loved it.The first R-rated X-Men movie, Logan tells a smaller story than previous installments, and therefore packs much more of an emotional punch. They get almost everything right here; Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart are great in their last performances of these characters and newcomer Dafne Keen is amazing. If you like seeing people getting stabbed through the head with razor sharp claws, this movie is definitely for you. But if you like affecting drama with interesting characters and a good story, plus some ultra-violence, it's also for you.

I saw Kong Skull yesterday. Kong is the second movie in the new "Monsterverse" reboot of the traditional Japanese monsters (Godzilla, Rhodan, Mothra, etc.) that began with 2014's Godzilla. Pretty much a classic example of the "popcorn movie", I really enjoyed Kong. The action takes place in 1973 at the end of the Vietnam war and it's a weird, but successful, mashup of Apocalypse Now and a giant monster movie. There are many tongue-in-cheek references to Vietnam movies as well as Jurassic Park and other monster movies. Plus, it stars Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson and John C. Reilly, all of whom seem to be having a great time. This is a movie that knows it's about a giant ape smashing things up and fully embraces it. I thought it was a lot of fun.