Thursday Movie Picks - TV Edition - Non English Shows

This week's theme from Wandering Through The Shelves is another Non English TV week. We all know I struggle this with, so I thought I'd check in on my picks from last year that I said I was going to watch. Let's see how I did.

1) Death Note

I expected to like this quite a bit, but this was like watching a TV version of Chutes and Ladders. One step forward, another step back. It doesn't help that Light, the lead character is a beyond insufferable Gary Stu and then we're introduced to Misa who felt like the author was like "Oh yeah I need hot chicks in this" and she automatically becomes Light's fangirl. Then they kill the one character that was actually given a ton of development and replace him with someone else who is basically just the boring version of said character. Ugh. 

2) Attack on Titan

I started this last year, not long after I made my original post and I've been absolutely loving it. I haven't been this into an anime in quite some time. Since there is such a long wait between seasons I also started to read the Manga, now I'm all caught up with that and get to impatiently wait for the next volume every month like everyone else. 

3) Dark

I didn't like this one as much as I thought it would either. The time travel aspect of it really took it down in my opinion. It ended up being really jumbled and disappointing. I was ready to adore this German show.

Review: Us

Watch yourself.

Adelaide, (Lupita Nyong'o) her husband Gabe, (Winston Duke) and their two children Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex) are off to their summer home. After Adelaide reluctantly gets dragged to the beach and asks Gabe if they can leave in the morning, they start being terrorized by people who show up to their home and look exactly like them.

You've probably already read to go into Us knowing as little as possible and I agree with that. The less the better, even though the trailer truly does spoil a lot of things. I had good time watching this. It was tense, yet still had moments of amazingly subtle humor. As someone who frequently jokes when I feel uncomfortable, I liked that Zora and Gabe did that occasionally. It makes this family feel like real people and not just characters. 

The actors are all fantastic, especially Nyong'o who carries the majority of the film. She had good chemistry with Duke. She was the serious parent and he the goofy one, I thought they played off each other well. The supporting cast of Elisabeth Moss and Tim Heidecker aren't in it for very long, but I liked what they did as well.)

But there's one thing that needs to be said about Us. While it's very enjoyable throughout, and it's something I'd certainly watch again. It's one of those films where the more you think about it, the more the story kind of falls apart.  I'm going to put a few questions I had in white text below for those who have seen the movie to let me know what you think too. If you are one of those people who don't take movies home with you, I don't think this will be an issue, but if you like to sit with them for a while you may find yourself picking this story apart. Still, I don't think you should avoid watching this for that reason. It's a very good film with an amazing cast, an interesting concept, beautiful little details, and an amazing score. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "Dad, nobody wants your boat." - Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph)

Spoilers! Highlight over the white text below to read

1) Why didn't the real Adelaide try to escape the tethered since she was aware of the outside world? Was Red only allowed to get to the entrance because her doppleganger was there? Is that why Adelaide never tries to leave?

2) Was there only on facility? If they're trying to form a chain across the world, there had to be more, right? If so, how were they communicating to know Red's plan?

3) Were they only cloning people at the fair? Or are we to deduce that EVERYONE is cloned?

4) How did they survive after it was abandoned? 

Indie Gems: Super Dark Times

We shouldn't tell anybody about this..

Zach (Owen Campbell) and Josh (Charlie Tahan) are best friends growing up somewhere in America during the 90's. They end up in a devastating situation and the resulting cover up puts a strain on their should be unbreakable friendship. 

At first, I was worried I was going to end up in a Summer of 84 scenario where we followed around kids I could not care less about. One of Zach and Josh's friends, Daryl (Charlie Tahan) is one of the first people we're introduced to and he's so over the top and irritating I was prepared for the worst, but the film rightly sticks with Zach and Josh, and eventually Zach's crush, Allison. (Elizabeth Cappuccino)

I was familiar with both Campbell and Tahan from some of their other work and they are both wonderful here. Especially Campbell who ultimately anchors this film. It's his POV we follow. They feel like real friends. The chemistry they have together, and that Zach also has with Allison never has an un-genuine moment. 

The film does a good job of building to the accident that kicks things off, and again when they try to navigate the aftermath. For a film with a run time of 1 hr 43 minutes, it doesn't have time to drag. However, there is one huge fault to this...

They completely rush the ending. So much so that the resolution is in no way satisfying. I wouldn't even call it ambiguous because they don't even leave us with enough to think about after the credits rolled. For a film that was doing everything right, it shocks me how hard they dropped the ball here. This is almost right up there with The Butterfly Effect when it comes to films that are doing so well until the ending comes along and brings all that fine story to a screeching halt. 

I don't think everyone will be as annoyed with the ending as I was, and for that reason alone, I still recommend it, because aside from that it's very well done and the rushed nature doesn't ruin the film, only disappoints me that there wasn't more.

Grade: B+

Watched on: Netflix Instant

Memorable Quote: "We're friends.." - Zach (Owen Campbell)

Thursday Movie Picks: Private Eyes

This week's theme from Wandering Through The Shelves is about those detectives that work on their own. I don't know about you, but this stumped me a bit. Every time I thought of a private eye movie I realized they didn't technically qualify as private. They were always part of a police force. This is what I came up with.

1) The Nice Guys

Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling are a match made in private eye heaven. This movie was so much funnier than I expected it to be. It still gets quoted a lot in my house.

2) Harriet The Spy

I loved this movie when I was a kid and my friend and I used to pretend to be her and spy on our neighbors. Classy.

3) V/H/S/2

This is a cop out, but like I said. This was tough, but V/H/S/2 does start out with private detectives uncovering the tapes. One of the shorts in this film is really good and the rest range from meh to bad. But it was better than the first V/H/S

2019 Blind Spot Series: Enter The Dragon

What I knew going in: That there would be excellent fighting scenes. 

Growing up, I had family members in Karate, I would play Mortal Combat with friends on their Nintendos. I would watch movies like 3 Ninjas, Karate Kid and anything with Jackie Chan, but of course I didn't see a damn thing with the famed Bruce Lee. I'm not sure how that was possible. I even saw The Crow with his son but yet I had seen nothing but clips of Lee's work. Now here I am in my 30's trying to make up for that oversight.

Enter The Dragon is actually kind of a mess. It's not only about Lee (Bruce Lee), who plays a secret agent infiltrating a crime lord Han's ( Kien Shih) tournament. His henchmen are also responsible for the death of Lee's sister. But it also features two Americans, Roper (John Saxon) and Williams (Jim Kelly) who are also there dealing with their own things.

It's a bit distracting, but I was drawn to Williams, not only because Kelly is insanely hot but he was escaping racist cops so I was immediately on his side..and he's the first to die of the bunch. It just had weird pacing and I found myself getting annoyed whenever Roper was on screen because I didn't care for him the way I did Lee and Williams. Lee's character weirdly gets treated like an afterthought at times despite this being his movie. 

The martial arts however was fantastic and did not disappoint. Lee is a joy to watch. Over all, I was expecting this to be a bit faster pace but I still had a good time watching it. I think my expectations were just slightly too high.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: C+

Memorable Quote: "A board can't hit back." - Lee (Bruce Lee)

Indie Gems: Other People

I thought this happened to other people. 

David (Jesse Plemmons) is a writer living in New York who flies home to Sacramento to be with his dying mother, Joanne (Molly Shannon) as she quits chemo. His relationship with his family is strained since he came out 10 years prior and they did not take it well, especially his father. (Bradley Whitford) Now the current situation forces everyone to rethink what family means to them.

This fell into my Netflix black hole after reading Jay's review on Assholes Watching Movies and while I thought it sounded like something I'd like, I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. What I've found during this Netflix clean out is I tend to drift towards my cell phone while watching some of these films, I never did once here.

Cancer dramas can be very cliche, but writer/director Chris Kelly (Who apparently wrote this based off his own experiences) litters his film with genuine humor and skips all the platitudes. David and Joanne, as our main focus feel like mother and son. You can tell just by listening to Joanne where David gets his knack for comedy from, even though he's at a point in his life where he's not successful. 

Molly Shannon is absolutely amazing here. For me, when I see her I think of Superstar, even though I know she's done a ton of more dramatic work since then. I didn't get a single second of Mary Katherine Gallagher here. I stayed strong with her at the beginning and wept for her at the end. Plemmons also puts in great work. David isn't the most likable character, but he's never so bad to where I don't care about him. All of this is just happening at the worst possible time.

If you need a film to amuse you for a while, then make you cry it all out at the end. (or maybe I'm a wuss and you'll power through it) This one is for you.

Grade: A-

Watched on: Netflix

Memorable quote: "When you miss me, come visit your sisters." - Joanne (Molly Shannon)

Thursday Movie Picks: Movies You Thought You'd Hate, But Ended Up Enjoying

This week Wanderer was kind enough to take one of my suggestions. We've all been there, right? Gone into a movie with the lowest of low expectations and them come out pleasantly surprised? Or in some cases loving what you saw? That's what we're talking about this week. Here are some films that surpassed my expectations. 

1) Nebraska

I put off seeing this until the very last second the year it was nominated for an Oscar because what would a black and white film set in the Midwest have that could possibly interest me? Turns out a decent amount. This was far better than I expected.

2) Aquaman

I wasn't a fan of the character, I wasn't a fan of Momoa, and The DCEU's track record sucks, but I had a ton of fun watching this. It surpassed every expectation I had. 

3) Red Eye

I remember the night I saw this very clearly. I worked at a movie theater, and we were opening this and The 40 Year Old Virgin. We stayed after work the night before, and everyone wanted to watch the latter, but our boss was like "Come on, this is like 90 minutes, we can watch both." And we did, and this ended up being amazing for what it was.