Movie Reviews February 2018
Gattaca- Was okay. Way overhyped. I used to always get this confused with Battlestar Galactica. Battlestar Gattica? I thought it was funny that they colored everything very green and blue to make it seem sci-fi because their budget was so small. Jude Law did well in his first movie, but his ending was so overdone. It was an okay but corny movie overall.
Death Race 2050- Couldn’t make it past 5 minutes. One of those Sharknado kind of movies where the director is in on the idea of it being a bad movie, which doesn’t make it funny. Troll 2 and The Room thought they were making a real movie, that’s why they’re funny.
Betting on Zero- Decent, 2 stories merged into one. One is on the crime of MLM, and one is on the issue of shorting stocks. That woman must’ve gotten brain damage because her advocacy lifestyle was so annoying. That rich guy was so full of himself. A documentary with no real likable characters. Not great but interesting.
Kicking and Screaming- Made it about 10 minutes in. Trying to check out Noah Baumbach’s movies but this was not a good starter. I realize it’s his first movie, but I don’ have time for it. Dialogue is way too aware of itself and is trying to be really quirky and cute. I hate cute.
Get Out- Was okay. Definitely not worth all the accolades, but white guilt combined with actually getting black people in the movie theatres equals awards and box office gold. The whole movie is given to you in the trailer beside how they actually do it and one twist you’ll probably figure out way before it happens.
A Ghost Story- Really enjoyed this, but not for everyone. Not something I want to watch over and over but I will come back to it at one point. Amazing how much you can do with so little, and also amazing Casey Affleck was under that sheet the whole time. Very slow, you’ve been warned. But if you’re into this type of movie, you’ll really appreciate it. I need to check out this director’s work, yes, even Pete’s Dragon.
The Big Sick- Made it about 8 minutes into this and was done. So many people want to bring up to me that they saw this and it reminded them of me because I do comedy and it’s probably what I talk like with other comics. No, not at all. It was all that lame L.A. Alt comedy, where there’s no actual jokes. Just inflexions at the end of sentences. I couldn’t tell if they were supposed to be bombing on stage or being funny, and Kumar Nanjanananai was a terrible actor. The wife didn’t play the actress, and the husband should’ve had an actor play his role as well. Everything was saturated in cuteness, reminded me so heavily of another comedian made movie, Don’t Think Twice. Birbiglia was actually a decent actor if I had to give that movie a compliment.
The Ritual- Really good. So similar to horror screenplays I’ve written. Which tells you how by the numbers many things were done. But it was executed so well. Avoiding many eye-rolling issues. Friends actually seemed like friends. They were funnier than the comics joking with each other in the 8 minutes I saw of The Big Sick. Plus an actual character arc. Great landscape and original setting as well.
Black Panther- Better than I expected. Not saying much. But decent. For 2 reasons. 1) Actual compelling villains. Jordon had a villain that wasn’t just trying to be evil. He had a cause and reason and he played it well. Andy Serkis was so fun with his character. Every time they’re on screen, you’re having a good time. 2) Black Panther isn’t another protagonist making stupid jokes every 5 seconds. Now, it was only good. Everything else was by the numbers. It could’ve gone up many points if they actually let the villain get some heat (pro-wrestling talk) for a while instead of immediately letting the protagonist get back in the saddle. That’s as careful as I’ll be for spoilers. It’s a fucking Marvel movie after all. Painting by the numbers, except this time some of the green got into the blue. Oooh, rebellious.
Goodfellas- Seen it many times but you can never see it enough. Always great to see movies like this as I get older and understand more things, plus you always notice more about great movies from each viewing. That’s the tell-tale sign of a great movie. Funnier than 95% of comedy movies out there. Every scene is engaging and fast, you never want to take a bathroom break. No dullness at all. Study this for editing, pacing, everything.
Metropolis- Boring. Yes, it’s an old silent film. You’re right, it’s not boring then. Is that what you want? Boring is boring. You can’t convince someone that something is not boring via a well-worded argument. I take it for what it was but what it is was a 3-hour silent film with the most basic storytelling and corny themes. Yes, machinery turned people into slaves at the factories, but it’s so on the nose here. The acting was so over the top, Loony Tunes has more subtlety. The set pieces were impressive, but you had to laugh that they thought the year 2026 would be ruled by biplanes and model T’s. It’s got that Jetsons thing going on where it’s the future but with the same shit, we already have. Which is most sci-fi I guess. Like any great piece of art, respect it, but be honest about it.