Quarantine movie reviews part 4

All The Right Moves (1983)

One of Tom Cruise's first movies, where he plays a small town football star trying to get a scholarship out of town. It's a minor movie but not bad. Super young Lea Thompson plays his girlfriend. Craig T. Nelson is his coach, who is just a terrible coach tbh (who runs a play at their own 1 in a rain storm? Just take the safety!). 

Family (2019)

One of those movies where an irresponsible/immature adult (Taylor Schilling in this case) takes an impressionable child under their wing. I've seen way better versions of this. Kate McKinnon is in this but in a nothing role as a nosy neighbor. 

The Haunting of Sharon Tate (2019)

From the director of that Nicole Brown Simpson movie. This one has Hillary Duff (looking amazing fwiw) as Tate, who in this fact averse telling is being driven mad by dreams and visions of her impending murder. It's not quite as tasteless as the Nicole movie but it's even schlockier.

The Lovebirds (2020)

So this was supposed to hit theaters in April but COVID bumped it to Netflix. No great loss. Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani are a couple of the verge of a breakup who get caught up in a murder mystery. The same issue this movie has is what a lot of these comedies have when regular characters get mixed up in a crime plot: the crime plot is not interesting, and often the filmmakers disinterest isn't hidden. I seriously forgot the entire mystery plot within hours of watching this. The stars keep it watchable and draw some laughs (Issa Rae saying "putting in work" is hilarious) but it's all so forgettable. 

The Longest Yard (1974)

I hated the Adam Sandler remake of this. I was pretty meh on this Burt Reynolds original most of the way, but then we get to the actual football game that takes up roughly the whole last third of the movie, and it's really well done. 

Terms of Endearment (1983)

Considered one of the all time tearjerkers. Ehh, it didn't really work on me, in part cause the Debra Winger character is kind of awful. It's a solid movie though. I thoroughly enjoyed everything with Jack Nicholson at maximum charm levels. 

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Warren Beatty is a star QB who dies mistakenly and then gets to take over the body of a billionaire for a few days while the powers that be find him a suitable body to return to earth in permanently. I enjoyed the hell out of this. It's really funny, Beatty is charming as hell, and even though the football stuff here is absurd (the 70s Steelers LOSE a super bowl?) I enjoyed that stuff too. 

Moonstruck (1987)

Very charming and likable romcom. Cher won best actress for this and it is easily the best thing she ever did. Fun seeing a young Nic Cage as her counterpart. 

The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019)

Not a bad dog movie. It never really gels having Kevin Costner voice the dog, but it's a pretty charming movie with some sweet moments. 

Paradise Hills (2019)

An interesting oddity that is sort of like a more sci-fi version of Us. A never more gorgeous Emma Roberts wakes up on an Island that purports to be a sort of a behavioral treatment center but is actually more sinister. It gets a little too schlocky late, but it's got production design to spare. 

The Coverup (2009)

Watched this because Eliza Dushku is in it, but she barely is. It's about a lawyer (Gabriel Mann) taking on a corrupt police force, so it's timely, but Mann is such a dullard that the film never stands a chance. 

Endings, Beginnings (2020)

The always terrific and real Shailene Woodley keeps this watchable, but it is so damn meandering, and thinks it is being a lot more profound than it really is. 

Ophelia (2019)

A Hamlet retelling starring Daisy Ridley in the title role. It's not really my bag, but it has a little more edge than these films usually have, and Ridley is fantastic.

The Omega Man (1971)

Remember I Am Legend? Well, this was the previous adaptation of the same novel (there was another one in the 60s). Same basic premise, this time with Charlton Heston. And it's just...bad. Basically every good decision in the Will Smith version (one of my favorite films of the 2000s) went the other way here. This one is basically a dark comedy a lot of the time. The creatures are here a bunch of people in white wigs and contacts, who also talk. The colony of survivors that IAL doesn't show us til the very end is here shown very early. No drama, no suspense, nothing particularly good visually. This is why you do remakes. 

Pretty In Pink (1986)

To my surprise this wasn't directed by John Hughes (he wrote it). It's the last, and least, of the Molly Ringwald high school trilogy. This one is more fun on the edges. I really liked the scenes with her dad, maybe the only such dad in the genre who is okay with their daughter dating. One of my favorite 80s songs, "If You Leave", figures into the climax, even if the ending is just incorrect. Young Gina Gershon and Kristy Swanson pop up. I was amused thinking that Jon Cryer got so friendzoned here that that's why he became Lex Luthor. 

School Of Rock (2003)

This one really comes down to ones tolerance of Jack Black. I thought he just barely tied the line between funny and insufferable here. The movie is complete formula, but Richard Linklater makes it just distinctive enough to be enjoyable.