Bumblebee

Going in: I hope that it really is a love letter to G1. I expect more story. We've seen the technical. Let's see the characters. I went on Jan. 1 with my son Jonathan and his friend Elijah.

Popcorn: 9/10. Loved it. It was exactly what I thought but more. As expected, there was a lot of love for the G1 universe. And then they'd throw a little more. Not smack you in the face. Everything was story driven. Not forced.

Art: 9.5/10. Decent acting, great music, strong story, good CGI, and good direction. I think the story relied on coincidence a bit much, but it didn't detract too much from the film.

Acting: 6/6. Kudos to Hailee Steinfeld. She acted across a CGI character most of the movie. I was expecting John Cena to be John Cena. But he did a good job as well.

Music: 3/4. There wasn't a whole lot thematically. I didn't pick out anything. But the music was cultural for the time period and really pulled you in. There was one spot where you could feel the build coming but then it fell flat - but fast was needed for that part of the story. 

Filming: 4/4. This was a beautifully shot movie. Some wide angle shots that really stuck out, some close ups that stood out. 

Art Dept: 4/4. Costumes appropriate for the time period. Hair was done well. Makeup was a well. CGI was amazing. Set design had all the elements you'd expect to find in a movie set in 1987.

Editing: 4/4. Everything was spot on. There were even some signature moves. It wasn't as good as American Made, but noticeable.

Story: 7/8. I loved this story. The words actively tried to upset the Michael Bay tropes. Characters were wonderful. The only thing I couldn't get past was the use of coincidence. It happened 4 times that I remember.

Directing: 6/6. This movie was on task, had a really strong sense of direction, and was firing on all cylinders.

Production: 4/4. Good premise, great trailers. It delivered what was promised from the first scene. It childhood be anywhere but the big screen.

Orthodox thoughts (major spoilers):
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The movie deals a lot with loss, about moving past the death of a loved one. Charlie is teased, berated, and ignored because she's unable to move on. And her family is pretending to deal with it.

It reminds me of two American Protestant church philosophies: Christ works all things together for the good and consider it all joy when you fall into trials. Let's be clear about something: St. Paul is talking to people who will be executed for their faith. Those are the trials. And Christ will work things together, but that doesn't mean there's no pain, nor any need for grief or compassion.

Within Orthodoxy, the emphasis is on healing, not maintaining some illusion of happiness. Trying to deny where you're at only damages you more and is therefore a bad path to go down. If it sounds like common sense, it is.

Within the movie, Memo has the best response: "About your dad, I'm really sorry." Within the book of Job, his "friends" sat with him in silence for 7 days. That's a good model. People should always be more important than an image.