Ad Astra - I love sci-fi but I hate sci-fi that ends up being a backdrop for a drama or horror movie. This was a fairly decent looking space/future movie but it wasnt about space or the future really. It was about a guy and his relationship with his father. Some of the science part of it was pretty far-fetched and hard to believe. Also, can someone make a movie or show that's set on Mars without using red filtered lighting for every scene? I get it, Mars is the "red planet" but come on. The air isn't fucking red.
Jo Jo Rabbit - Odd but good and funny at the same time. This one is a total goof ball idea about a German kid during WW2 is all stoked about being a nazi youth but he's kind of a dork. Hitler is his imaginary friend which he struggles with as he learns more about what the Nazis and Hitler actually represent. All while learning about his mom’s role in the resistance. It’s a well written off the wall comedic take on the period from a unique perspective.
Little Women - Pretty standard period piece love drama. It’s the same Louisa May Alcott story. I never saw the Wynona Rider one or read the books so I didn’t have much expectations. I was lured by getting Thai food before going to the theater. Also, Bob Odenkirk plays the dad who’s sick or injured from the war and is not there for most of the movie. Then suddenly “we finally get to see the dad” and it’s fucking Saul Goodman. I chuckled in the theater. I was waiting for a Mr. Show punchline for the whole last part of the movie.
Parasite - From the trailers and from what friends said who saw it before me I thought this was going to be a lot darker than it was. I wished I hadn’t seen or heard about it before hand because my expectations kind of ruined what was actually a really good movie. I guess that’s all I will say so that you’re not fucked over by my review.
Honey Boy - Shia Labouf gets a lot of shit but I dig this kid. This movie made me like him even more. Imagine the balls it took to play his own abusive shitty stage-dad. Did I just ask you to imagine Shia Labouf’s balls? Sorry. Anyway, yea. If you just remember him as a kid actor being all happy and funny then see this and the absolute fuckstorm of a life he had off screen during that time. No wonder he fucking went crazy. He wrote this in a mental hospital by the way. Good flick.
Joker - What else can be said about this one? It was barely a comic book movie which I kind of appreciated. Take out references to the Wayne family and it really could be a stand alone movie about a troubled man with a troubled past, victim to a fucked up system. Powerful in certain ways for sure. I was thoroughly entertained.
Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker - I’m not a huge Star Wars nerd so I wasn’t bothered by some of the little things that the die-hards were crying about. Just like the last couple new movies it had all the things. All the StarWarsy things. If was fun, exciting and generally enjoyable. My only gripes was with Fen and the lady he met who he had like one thing in common with and a day later are like fucking soul mates who can’t live without one another. And Lando creeping on the (might have been the same) girl at the end. Not to mention that they were both black. Even in a galaxy far, far away, people of similar skin color must stick together.
Doctor Sleep - I really was skeptical about this one. The Shining is so iconic now and was afraid it would be totally cheesy. I honestly didn’t know Stephen King wrote a sequel but this was really well done. The movie itself wasn’t phenomenal but I really liked the way they took the story and added to it. I never would have even thought of taking it in the direction they did but it totally worked.
The Irishman - Caught this one on Netflix and watched most of it half sleeping. It felt like it should have been a season of the show Fargo and not a (very)full-length movie. As episodes it would have been able to focus on the details of different characters and situations. I also have to say that the story itself is not good enough to stand on it’s own without the powerhouse names behind it.
Hustlers - Sometimes I regret telling Meg that I’d see anything with her if we see it at the Minor Theater. Table service and ginger snaps win me over every time. How this movie got Oscar buzz is beyond me. It’s a movie about strippers taking charge. The only real saving grace for this one is that it was based on a true story.
The Good Boys - Laugh out loud funny comedy about 3 kids who use a parent's expensive drone without asking then unknowingly steal their big sisters' drug stash and destroying the drone in the process. They go on an adventure trying to get a new drone that takes them well out of their comfort zone. Their nativity sort of helps them Mr.Magoo their way through it all.
Knives Out - Pretty engaging who-done-it sorta dark comedy with some really good actors. One of those take it or leave it movies tho.
Tigers Are Not Afraid - This is a movie set in Mexico, it's in Spanish with subtitles. I'm fine with that. Pretty unique film about the gritty street life of the slums in urban Mexico. Part fantasy, part ghost movie, part movie about kids getting chased by drug dealers.
Downton Abbey - Again, ginger snaps and hanging with friends will get me to see anything. Have you seen the show? Imagine a really long episode where the King and Queen come to Downton. That’s this movie.
The Color Out Of Space - Woah dude. Nick Cage in an H.P. Lovecraft movie. More or less follows the basic plot of the original story but updated for present day. Plays like a typical "dont drink the water" meets "Meteorite lands on a farm and makes weird shit happen" movie. I enjoyed it although it starts out a little slow but the payoff is some really good body-horror effects (that looked to be traditional and not CGI) and twisted visuals. Also Cage Rage. I should probably mention Mandy here too even tho it was a while ago. I think I found a new appreciation for Nick Cage with him finding a new home doing off-beat low budget horror. Mandy is a fucking trip. Literally. It's about a couple living out in the woods who crosses paths with a crazy cult and some methed out, demon-like psychedelic biker mutants. Also, much Cage Rage in this one.
Midsommar - Speaking of psychedelics. There's like 15 minutes of this movie where it's like the audience is tripping balls on acid. It's about a young couple who should have broken up but ends up staying together and going with friends to some retreat in rural Scandinavia which ends up being some ancient cult that has a few fucked up traditions.
Once Upon a Time In Hollywood - It was fine. Cool retelling of a well known event in the late 60's. Some neat period nostalgia and Brad Pitt baddassery. The 'Tarantino' doesn't really kick in until the last act of the movie but that's when it all comes together and you're like oh fuck this is what this movie is.
I'm sure there was more and some of these came out a while ago but this is what I remembered just now. Like I said, if I forgot about them it's because well, they just weren't that memorable to me. See you at the movies!
