The Pale Blue Eye - 3/5

This movie initially promises to provide a break from the dour mystery genre with a bit of a more lighthearted tone than its peers, but a few scenes make up for the rest of the film. Including Edgar Allen Poe as a main character is an interesting choice, and capitalizes only on certain aspects of the tone of some of his stories and poems while largely ignoring historical accuracy and any potential literary poetic value. The mystery solution is mostly fine, but leaves a few unanswered questions along with a sense of unfinished narrative.

Closest comparison: It’s like Antlers by way of The Raven (2012).

Setting: Military Drama
Plot: Dour Mystery
Tone: Psychological Tragedy

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) - 4/5

I love this movie for its underlying message of being a good person, and the way it cements the character of Steve Rogers so firmly that he remains unchanged for the next 6 films. At least three different actors all deliver scene-stealing performances, and the use of special effects here is kept well in hand. Some of the directing and editing could have been better and as a result some aspects that could have pushed this movie over the edge to a 5/5 were lacking, like the fact that Red Skull doesn’t really get an iconic pose/image/shot or the needless complication of the ‘Kissing the Secretary’ scene. Nevertheless, this remains a very strong entry into the litany of Marvel movies.

Closest comparison: It’s like Letters from Iwo Jima by way of The Rocketeer.

Setting: War
Plot: Super hero
Tone: Adventure

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - 3/5

This movie is a lot of fun, but also has a lot of flaws. Most of the scenarios don't make sense, but they provide the great action sequences we've come to expect from a movie like this. The dinosaurs are as fast, strong, and clever as the scene requires them to be to ensure that the heroes survive and the villains do not. But you still get to see lots of fun dinosaurs causing havoc, which is all the movie ever really promised. The whole thing ends up being a parody of itself, and I laughed as much in this movie as I did in Deadpool, but here I don't think some of it was intended.