Quarantine movie reviews part 7 (final edition)
I guess this is it, since I will be heading back to theaters this week, and legit new movies dot the schedule in the coming weeks. I've never been so stoked to go watch a Russell Crowe movie.
But first a few more reviews....
Another movie I just didn't get out to see before COVID ended the world. I kind of enjoyed this. Ok, yes, the cgi dog is a little strange, but honestly it didn't bother me that much. The movie is a solid adventure, with some nice grizzled Harrison Ford narration. I have no idea how it cost $150 million to make this though.
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
The IMDB on this thing is insane. Francis Ford Coppola directs. Kathleen Turner plays a woman who transports back 25 years to her senior year of high school. It's a really entertaining movie, that reminded me a lot of Pleasantville, which came after and had to be influenced. Turner, who I never liked much, and to whom the years have not been kind, is terrific in this and really cute. But the supporting cast is crazy. This movie has SO many soon to be big names in early roles: Nicolas Cage (who tbh is awful and easily the weak link of the film), Joan Allen, Helen Hunt, JIM CARREY! Even a teenage Sofia Coppola shows up.
Days of Heaven (1978)
Early Terrence Malick, starring Richard Gere in his 1st big starring role. It's a lot like other Malick films. It's very loose on plot (although compared to his later films it's dense), and is beautifully shot. It's also frequently boring, and this one has some really bad narration.
Monsters And Men (2018)
This film has a few storylines dealing with a police brutality incident that intertwine. So it's obviously timely. I've seen better films dealing with some of these issues, but it's a good film. John David Washington is excellent.
Bloodsport (1988)
This movie pretty much, uh, kickstarted Jean-Claude Van Damme's movie career. But it's SO bad. It's just the loosest plot to hang a bunch of martial arts fights on. But the fights stink. They are not compelling, they are shot in mostly annoying slo-mo, and pretty much just produce a lot of unintentional comedy. Forest Whitaker is in this too for some reason.
The Graduate (1967)
The classic with Dustin Hoffman. I didn't love it but I enjoyed it. The performances are all very good.
Vengeance: A Love Story (2017)
One of those latter day Nic Cage flicks. This one has him as a cop trying to help a woman who got gang raped by a bunch of white trash thugs. Eventually it has him going beyond the law to take these guys out...but that's all stuffed into the last 20 minutes. Cage isn't too engaged with this one, you can tell, which saps it of the energy it should have.
The Babadook (2014)
Big time cult horror movie. Like a lot of these indie horrors, it's not scary. It's really barely a horror movie at all, but it does have a good story and empathetic lead characters. I'll always take that tradeoff.
Lying and Stealing (2019)
Dull movie about an art thief. I watched it cause Emily Ratajkowski is in it. I would like it if she could act, but so far I am not getting my wish.
Cursed (2020)
Ok, not a movie. This is the Netflix fantasy series that is sort of a spinoff of King Arthur. And it stars the magnificent Katherine Langford. And oh man did it suck. I made it through the 10 episodes, but man it was a slog. It wants to be a Game Of Thrones, but this thing had all the confusing storytelling without any of the vivid characters. Every scene that doesn't feature Langford is boring as hell. And for a show that was billed as a sort of badass female take on this story, Langford's character is infuriatingly passive most of the way, and has very little sword action. I have no idea if this show was well received or if a 2nd season is coming, but I won't be returning.
Zeroville (2019)
Filmed in 2014 then shelved for years, this James Franco star/director turn is at least interesting. Franco and Seth Rogen basically made a slicker version of this same thing with The Disaster Artist. Franco wrings a surprisingly decent performance out of Megan Fox.
The Captive (2014)
A kidnapping drama that takes a couple ludicrous turns but held my attention throughout. Very good cast, with Ryan Reynolds and Rosario Dawson.
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