Aquaman

DC continues it's now characteristic downward spiral trajectory with a movie I certainly thought never thought would ever be made, in Aquaman.  The best feature of this film are the special effects. That's about all I got here. It's very campy and that's no surprise from his introduction in Justice League.  But it's just really uninteresting and the politics of how he ascends.....Well, you just don't give a fuck, as it feel like it's being just glossed over and with wooden acting.  Part of the problem is that most of the story takes place after the events of Justice League and this rather inmature Aquaman played by Jason Momoa, is just a bit too much to take seriously.  Aquaman also feels like a thinly veiled copy and paste of events and scenes in other films like Wonder Woman and most recently, Thor Ragnorok.  I understand the integral nature of the film to the rest of the DC universe and they squandered much in the Green Lantern movie (may that memory quickly fade), but damnit DC.  Another Wonder Woman movie just needs to take the reigns again.

The Equalizer 2

I really wanted to like this.  Really, I did. With Antoine Fuqua directing, Denzel starring, and a successful first run reboot, what could go wrong? The action was great for sure and yes, there was more of it.  But more and better action to bulk up a sloppy and misguided film, does not make a great movie.  Certainly not one on the same caliber of quality and  expectation one would expect from this successful director and actor pairing.  How the story is executed is the problem.  There is a showdown that doesn't make any logical sense in the how and where it was executed (less you don't care about shit making sense and bad guys being intelligent in their planning).  There is also a secondary story of redemption in the life of a young Black artist that gets shamefully a bit lost in the storyline. Too bad, because both storylines were also obviously meant to advance the character of Robert McCall. 

Roma

Director, cinematographer, editor, producer, and writer Alfonso Cuaron's Roma is a return to cinematic greatness. It tells the day to day story of a young maid's (Yalitza Martínez) plight in 1970's Mexico, working for a well to do family. Though Martinez gives a wonderful performance, it is the cinematography of Cuaron that is the real standout here. His choice in black and white, the wide screen panning of entire scenes that take on the entirety of each scene, and the level of detail in the highlighted stillness is magnificent. These techniques serve to move the story along in such a different way that evokes the enormity of the main characters plight, forcing the viewer pay attention and process the character's plight in a more naturalistic way. In this sense, Roma is a technical and artistic masterpiece.