Weekly Viewing Recap

365 Days: I tried to watch this dreck again. I cannot do it. A grown man kidnapping a woman to make her fall in love with him, because he saw a version of her in a dream. No, thank you. Misogyny and Stockholm's Syndrome. DNF.

The Imitation Game: BPN Catch Up. I've heard of the story in what happened to Alan Turing. I enjoyed the movie for what it was. Was it historically accurate? No. 8/10

Jojo Rabbit: Another BPN Catch Up. I was not offended with the movie. It was trying to be a satire about blind worshiping a tyrannical figure. The movie was boring as hell. It was not funny. It made not like Taika Waititi. He won Best Adapted Screenplay for this. Oof. 4/10

Goodnight Mommy: An unnecessary remake of an Austrian film that has a better premise. The trailer made the film looks bonkers. It was not campy. It was a slog in murky waters, a lazy plot and a twist that makes you scratch your head. 5/10

Crazy Rich Asians: Hearing good things about the movie. I wanted for over the top opulence. Nonsense gowns, fascinators, bling everywhere. It was nice. Most of the characters were fucking assholes to the main girl, Rachel. Well, damn. 7/10

Widows: I tried to watch this American movie remake of a 2002 miniseries of a British movie from 1983. None of the characters were likable and I checked out of the movie quickly. DNF

Eat With Me: I thought the main guy was Conrad Ricamora. Nope, it was not him. It's a fluffy direct to Netflix movie about a struggling restaurant owner who tries to save his place from closing with the help of his mother. 5/10

The Star: I saw clips of the movie thought that Bette Davis was going to a sassy broad. She was, but the plot dragged along. Davis' character thought about herself and her failing career. Very repetitive. 6/10

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Rewatch. Haven't seen the movie in 20 years. I enjoyed it, because the excessive wire work air running and the unnecessary subplot at the middle of the movie dropped my rating from a 9 to an 8/10.

Gravity: Another BPN Catch Up. I never thought I would be engrossed in a movie about an astronaut trying to come home from a disastrous space walk. 10/10

Cobra Kai (Season 5): Seeing spoilers of the new season, I had to binge watch the latest season. It was enjoyable for the most part with Terry Silver taking over the dojos. Chozen was awesome. The last episode was DARK. The problem is that there too many characters now. The show is following 15 instead of 7. 7/10

Review Catch Up

Hello to the fives of you reading this, I'm getting a little burned out writing full length reviews. I'm going to give short reviews weekly until I feel better to make longer reviews again.

Here are the movies that I watched last week:

Her: As part of my BP Movie Catch Up series. I thought the concept of the movie was nice, but then I got really bored. 4/10

Purple Hearts: Heard the controversy with this movie. Yeah, it tries to Nicholas Sparks, but failing on every single level. A right wing soldier and a "liberal" singer/songwriter. Yeah, no. 3/10

Rewatched Everything Everywhere All at Once. I love the movie bumped up my rating from 9 to 10/10. Favorite movie of the year as of this writing.

Hidden Figures: BP Catch Up. I really liked the movie. It seems that the screenwriters made the dialogue too "feel good" that as no one would say that. I didn't get why Octavia Spencer was nominated over Taraji. 7/10

Promising Young Woman: BP Catch Up. I didn't hear much about the movie. I thought it was something completely different. I understood that it was a satire about gender politics, but the main character's obsession with revenge hampered my enjoyment of it. 7/10

mother!: Wanted to finish watching Darren Aronofsky's filmography. The allegory is the film was obvious. Hitting you over the head with it. 6/10

Noah: The last movie of Aronofsky's movie. I'm familiar was some stories of the bible, but when did the Earth have rock monsters. I was bored. 4/10

Leave Her to Heaven: Gene Tierney gave a performance in this movie. The story overall was lackluster and boring. 3/10

Barbarian: I need to stop getting my hopes up with movies people praise on Twitter. Another boring movie with a disjointed plot. 1/10

The Invitation: This was like Get Out with a female lead. I guess it was a factor for me enjoying the movie for what it was. 7/10

The Woman King: The controversy with the movie is warranted, but it addressed through the film. It is history accurate? No. Is it entertaining as hell? Absolutely. It was bogged down with a soap opera subplot and pointless romance. 8/10

The Night House: This spooky psychological thriller fucks with your head. I was with it until the last twenty minutes were it lost me. 8/10

Grave

Raw (2016)

Written and directed by Julia Ducournau

Stars: Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella, Laurent Lucas, and Joana Preiss

Yesterday on Twitter, I saw a discussion about this film. I enjoy body horror movies and I wanted to check this out. Um... yeah. I needed more.

Justine (Marillier) is starting veterinary school where is a different environment than under the protection of her parents. Certain rituals at the school makes Justine question her morals like her being a vegetarian, where has the sudden taste for human flesh.

I was expecting a lot more with this movie. A new called "Raw", I wanted to be grossed out or something. There were great scenes of body horror, but they were few and far between.

There were scenes in this movie that didn't make scene. The ending reveal was supposed to be for shock value. When you think about it, it doesn't make sense nor character choices that happen in the beginning of the movie.

I want to fix this movie with Justine and Alexia go batshit crazy with the flesh eating. Be ravenous. Make them crave it until it reaches a point of no return. Something. The movie lacked any depth for me to recommend it anyone.

Rating: 6/10

Wind River

Wind River (2017)

Written and directed by Taylor Sheridan

Stars:  Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Graham Greene, Kelsey Asbille, Apesanahkwat, Gil Birmingham, Tantoo Cardinal, Tokala Black Elk, Martin Sensmeier, and Tyler Laracca

When I mentioned Frozen River on Twitter, a user recommended this movie to me. I am unfamiliar with Taylor Sheridan's movies. Seeing this movie, I want to dive into more of his filmography.

A Wildlife officer, Cory Lambert (Renner) is out in the wilderness when he discovers the body of a young woman, Natalie (Asbille). Since the body was near the Wind River Indian Reservation, the FBI sends an agent, Jane Banner (Olsen) to investigate what happened to her.

The main mission of this movie is to bring to light the plight of Native Americans in reservations. I know the statistics. It is staggering. There is a disproportionate amount of missing women. There is an exorbitant amount sexual assault, domestic abuse, unsolved murders, drug abuse, suicide rates, etc. It's scary. The average American will not know about the rates.

I'm glad that Sheridan made one of the characters be the eyes and ears of the audience with Jane. The way things are done are not the same as it is on the reservation. It has its own set of rules.

I enjoy movies that center around the characters, fleshing them out. Making the environment its own character. Setting the mood throughout the entire movie.

The one big gripe about the movie is a certain flashback scene. I understood why it was there, but I wish things were more ambiguous.

Rating: 8/10

Men

Men (2022)

Written and directed by Alex Garland

Stars: Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear, Paapa Essiedu, Gayle Rankin, Sarah Twomey, Zak Rothera-Oxley, and Sonoya Mizuno

I was debating all summer if I would see this movie. People have a mixed response to it. This movie can be divisive.

Harper (Buckley) is coping with the death of her ex-husband, James (Essiedu) by going to the a manor in the English countryside. She notices some uneasiness in the village where all the men become more creepy.

The mood of the movie is haunting and foreboding. There is always a touch a malice in the air. During the viewing of the movie, I was thinking that Alex Garland was trying to make an allegory about Adam, Eve and Garden of Eden. Was it about the evil of women tied to eating the forbidden apple? Was it about the hysterical brain a women leaving through trauma and it manifests in her surroundings?

The last thirty minutes have been a point of contention who have seen it. I get it. The ending section has you scratching your head. You have to look at the symbolism it is presenting.

Rating: 9/10

Best Picture Nominee Movie Catch Up: Dunkirk

Dunkirk (2017)

Written and directed by Christopher Nolan

Stars: Fionn Whitehead, Mark Rylance, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Tm Hardy, Aneurin Barnard, James D'Arcy, Barry Keoghan, Harry Styles, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy

Christopher Nolan's movies as of late have been more misses than hits for me. There is a disconnect about what Nolan wants the audience to feel than the audience trying to understand what he is conveying. I was not hooked in from jumpstart.

Taking place during a week from May/June of 1940, the Allied forces are stuck at a beach in Dunkirk by the Axis, waiting to be rescued.

My biggest question was who was this movie made for. People have been bashing on this movie for the lack authenticity with what happened at Dunkirk. Why did this story need to be told?

The characters are one dimensional. You have no idea who that person is. You are following this one generic white boy with dark hair to another generic white boy with dark hair. Then, you taken to some fighter pilots with blue eyes. Next, you follow an old guy in a dinky with more generic white boys. Lastly, you can't forget the officers on the dock that appear, disappear and re-appear again.

Who are is supposed to be the anchor of the movie? I don't know. I didn't care about the characters at all. If they died, oh well.

I read that the movie won for Best Sound Mixing/Editing and Film Editing. I will give credit to the sound. It was loud. Seriously. Do not wearing headphones for this movie. It was decibel piercing loud.

Rating: 5/10

Best Picture Nominee Movie Catch Up: BlacKkKlansman

BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Directed by Spike Lee

Screenplay by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee

Based on the book, "Black Klansman" by Ron Stallworth

Stars: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Robert John Burke, Frederick Weller, Michael Buscemi, Ryan Eggold, Jasper Pääkkönen, Paul Walter Hauser, Topher Grace, and Alec Baldwin

Spike Lee's movies make you think about the state of the black experience. Most of his movies are thought provoking. This movie could have been great, but it dragged along.

Ron Stallworth (Washington) is a new hire at the Colorado Springs Police Department. He quickly goes undercover to infiltrate a local chapter of the KKK by talking to the members on the phone and his fellow officer, Flip Zimmerman (Driver) pretends to be Ron at the meetings.

I understood what Lee was coming from with incorporating the Black Power movement with the KKK meetings going at the same time. Cool. The problem with the movie is that it was focusing five different things at once. The story line with Ron, the one with Flip as Ron, the klan members being suspicious, the "romance" between Ron and Patrice (Harrier) and David Duke (Grace). I wish the transitions were smoother.

The pacing of the movie the biggest problem. The stakeout scenes were taking forever and a day. Okay. We get it. Move on. It needed some trimming. What was the scene with Alec Baldwin in the beginning? Why did the incident in Charlottesville needed to be in here? If the movie was two hours, I would have been great.

People were upset that JDW didn't get a Best Actor nomination for this movie. I thought he was fine. Not great like Adam Driver. Driver was solid in his role. Zimmerman had more to do than Stallworth.

Rating: 7/10

What a Way to Go!

What a Way to Go! (1964)

Directed by J. Lee Thompson

Story by Gwen Davis

Screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green

Stars: Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Robert Cummings, and Dick Van Dyke

My go to film review channel recently reviewed this movie recently. I heard that there were fabulous gowns and good looking men. It has that, but the basic story is severely lacking.

Louise (MacLaine) is a woman that thinks she is a witch, cursed with having her husbands die. She recounts this to her therapist Dr.  Stephanson (Cummings). That's it. That is the whole plot.

The biggest problem with the movie is that the story is the same thing. She meets a guy, marries him, the guy becomes a workaholic and dies. Rinse and repeat. You are over it before the movie is halfway done. There is also an issue with the pacing. The pacing is so slow that you have to put the film in 1.5x speed to make it tolerable.

It seems the screenwriters were trying to make a satire about American life during the 60s, skewer Hollywood tropes and a woman role in a marriage. It failed to do that. Maybe it tried to be a spoof movie, but you never knew what tone it has.

The only reason to see this movie is the costumes designed by Edith Head. Holy shit. The costumes were everything. If the movie didn't have the fabulous gowns, headdresses and martini glass beds than the movie was be unwatchable.

Rating: 6/10

Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Directed by Joseph Kosinski

Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks

Screenplay by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie

Based on characters created by Jim Cash & Jack Epps, Jr

Stars: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Charles Parnell, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Bashir Salahuddin, Monica Barbaro, Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez, Jack Schumacher, Manny Jacinto, Kara Wang, Greg Tarzan Davis, Jake Picking, Raymond Lee, Ed Harris, and Val Kilmer

I was in a viewing slump as of late. There weren't many movies that felt like a movie. I waited a long time to see this movie, because I didn't want to be another disappointment. After my tepid response to Top Gun, I was pleasantly surprised by this movie.

Hard-headed, stubborn Maverick (Cruise) remains a captain for over thirty years, because he wants to continue to fly. A once in a lifetime opportunity comes when Maverick is summoned to come back to Top Gun to teach the best of the best pilots to run a covert mission to destroy a uranium plant from going online.

I expected this movie to be a rehash of the original movie. There were callbacks to the original. I was fine with it. I never expected to laugh, cry, hold my breath in the movie. It has done it. Thank you movie for making me care about these characters.

The action sequences were compelling. It was weird that I heard the theme of CSI peppered into the score of the movie. The performance from the cast were stellar. It was weird that some of the people coming to Top Gun had no lines. 

Did anyone notice that scene with Rooster (Teller) and Maverick where height difference was off?

Rating: 9/10

RRR (Rise Roar Revolt)

RRR (2022)

Directed by S.S. Rajamouli

Story by Vijayendra Prasad

Dialogue by Sai Madhav Burra

Screenplay by S.S. Rajamouli

Stars: N.T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Shriya Saran, Samuthirakani, Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody, and Olivia Morris

This movie has been hyped on Film Twitter for the longest time. I have this notion that when a movie is overly hyped that I would end up being disappointed with it. That tradition continues with this one.

Taking place during the British rule of India in the 1920s, this fictionalized account ask what if two revolutionaries; Alluri Sita Ramaraju (Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Rao Jr) team up to exact revenge on local governor Scott Buxton (Stevenson) for his sins from the past.

I was expected to be blown away by the movie. Don't get me wrong, I was in at the first forty minutes of the movie. The pacing of the movie dragged along. I thought that the action was going to amp up to eleven. In some sections it was, but the message of the British oppressors are evil was beating you over the head. I get it. No country wants to be a occupied, but have a compelling story.

If you strip away the tremendous amounts of CGI, the bombastic explosions and over the top action sequences, the movie is just a revenge story that we have seen a thousand times before. I asked myself, did the director get inspiration from Michael Bay? It felt like it was all spectacle.

The movie felt empty to me. I didn't care about the characters. Raju and Bheem are portrayed as folk heroes or legends. Some of the things they went through is this film are not humanly possible. They were either demigods or mutants. That's it.

Rating: 6/10