June movie reviews

In theaters:

MONTANA STORY

A nice, quiet little family drama, in which a brother and sister re-unite on their family's ranch to oversee the end of their father's life. I saw it because the sister is the always wonderful Haley Lu Richardson. The brother though, Owen Teague, is also very good. And the scenery is top notch. 

CRIMES OF THE FUTURE

Well, at least it's not the worst David Cronenberg movie I've seen centered around a sick sexual fetish (that would be Crash). But this will be on my ten worst list for the year, and maybe top 5. A thuddingly dull sci-fi drama where "surgery is the new sex" and I guess some humans are evolving to where they can eat plastics. Okay. Great. There are of course some gross visuals involved. I found some enjoyment in Kristen Stewart's weird supporting performance, but she is the only person on screen who has any life. 

LIGHTYEAR

It's just not that good. People want to blame this movie's disappointing box office on stupid shit like Chris Evans being political, or a literally 2 second gay kiss on screen. No, it's just not that good. The animation is good, and it has a few fun parts, but this is bottom tier Pixar. It's just dull. Would this actual story be worth a movie if it didn't have the Buzz Lightyear tie-in? Absolutely not. 

THE BLACK PHONE 

Now this is terrific. Marketed as horror, this is more of a suspense thriller, with Ethan Hawke as the bad guy, a child abductor called The Grabber. Hawke finds just the right spot between hammy and creepy. But this film really engrossed due to the two primary child performances here. There are a couple jump scares but this is more interested in character and story than scares.

Everything else:

HUSTLE

Good Adam Sandler. He's an NBA scout/coach who discovers a star in Spain, played by brief Timberwolf Juancho Hernangomez (who is good). This fits pretty snugly into standard sports movie formula, but no genre thrives more in the formula. Other than a weird Ben Foster performance as an incompetent owner, this is very good. And holy shit, Anthony Edwards is in it. And he's great. 

TRAIN TO BUSAN

I had heard for several years how good this Korean zombie movie was. But holy shit, this is at least in the discussion for the best zombie movie of all time. What an incredible movie this is. Much of it is contained to a train during the zombie outbreak. The outbreak makes it onto the train of course. This film is just nonstop tension. These are fast zombies who turn instantly, so everything is extra intense. It's genuinely scary at times. And I was totally unprepared for the kind of emotional wallop this film has. The ending is legitimately heartbreaking. 

I WANT YOU BACK

An actually really good romcom. Jenny Slate (never better) and Charlie Day (at his least annoying) both get dumped by their respectives (Gina Rodriguez and the also never better Scott Eastwood), then meet and try to get their exes back. But gee, I wonder if they fall for each other instead? You know the ending as soon as you know the premise, but it doesn't matter because everyone in this is so likable and the movie is quite funny. 

BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD DO THE UNIVERSE

There is no reason this should be this good. I think I might like this more than the original movie. They go to space in 1998, wind up in a black hole, and get tossed 24 years in the future. Just nonstop funny, and even manages some actual poignancy. 

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