February movie reviews

In theaters:

MOONFALL

Roland Emmerich is back destroying things again. This time it's that dang moon. It's falling out of orbit for some reason and is going to crash in to earth and destroy everything and only NASA (led by Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson) and a conspiracy theorist (John Bradley from Game Of Thrones) can save the world. It's an enjoyably ridiculous movie, but Emmerich is basically just ripping off shots and sequences from his other, better disaster flicks (well, this is for sure better than ID4: Resurgence). This one also takes a turn into full-on sci-fi in the 3rd act that I'm not sure works.

WHO WE ARE

A documentary about racism throughout the history of America. It's illuminating, infuriating, sobering, and very well done. 

DEATH ON THE NILE

The long delayed 2nd installment of Kenneth Branagh's Hercule Poirot cinematic universe. I enjoyed this about the same as Murder On The Orient Express. Branagh is a lot of fun as Poirot. The large ensemble has a few standouts, particularly the dazzling Emma Mackey, and Gal Gadot, who for some reason has been really trashed for this movie. 

BLACKLIGHT 

Well, they can't all be winners. This Liam Neeson actioner is probably the worst one he has done. Just a totally lazy, forgettable, cheap, disposal waste of time. 

UNCHARTED

This has proven to be one of the few big hits of late. Based off a video game series, this one has Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg traveling the globe in search of treasure. It's got pieces of basically every other adventure/puzzle film of the last few decades in there, but it goes about its business well. Wahlberg never feels like he really fits, but Holland is super charismatic and fun. A couple new-ish actresses stand out in supporting roles. Has one of the better climactic action sequences in recent memory too. 

DOG

Channing Tatum travels across country with a combat dog. Oddly for a movie called Dog, I thought there wasn't enough of the dog. The movie is more serious than expected, but does have its cutesy dog moments. And yeah, one or two bonafide tearjerker moments. Some of the adventures Tatum and the dog have during the road trip are just weird, but Tatum is very likable and the dog is great. 

STUDIO 666

The Foo Fighters play themselves in a horror comedy in which the band moves into a haunted house to record an album, and Dave Grohl becomes possessed by a demon. Sounds like a fun flick, right? It's not. This movie has no jokes beyond that premise. It's obviously not good as a horror flick, but if the comedy worked the movie would. The Foos are even game actors (though Grohl's mugging is way too much at times), but the awful script gives them nothing funny to do. There isn't even much about the movie that is specific to the Foo Fighters. It could be just any band. And just when you think the movie is ending...it goes on for another 20 minutes, a cardinal sin for a bad movie.

BUTTER 

What a strange movie tonally. It's a high school movie, about an obese kid nicknamed Butter who posts online about his plan to eat himself to death...which makes him suddenly popular...but is it just because these kids who befriend Butter are betting on his demise? I could never really get past the premise, because this would 100% never happen this way. It would get out. The other kids at this school are either complete sociopaths or complete idiots. Maybe both. So it falls into that high school movie trope of people only being friends conditionally, which given the plot makes it extra icky. There is also the storyline where Butter has a crush on a girl he talks to anonymously online, so you know that truth will come out at the worst moment. Still, this thing didn't make me cringe like the similar Dear Evan Hansen did. Its heart does seem in the right place, there are some engaging performances, and the writing is at times very sharp. It's a mess, but an amiable one. 

Everything else:

THE FALLOUT

Alright, after this and Scream 5 Jenna Ortega is definitely a star. This was made first, I think. It's about a school shooting and the effect it has on the survivors, particularly Ortega. It sounds grim, and does have an overall somber tone, but also has moments of humor and a lot of heart. Ortega is great but so is everybody else. I kind of loved this film, and wouldn't be shocked frankly if it rode out the whole year in my Top 10. 

HOME TEAM

Yeah they really made a movie about Sean Payton coaching a little league team during his Bountygate suspension, and got Kevin James to play him. I don't buy that any of this happened beyond the basic premise. It gets the Happy Madison treatment, but more little kid friendly. I actually didn't think it was THAT bad all things considered.