Rambling Film

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...

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 ...

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 ha...

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

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 bu...

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 ...

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 everyo...

I saw this question on Twitter as part of a "get to know me" game and when I tried to think of the answer for myself, what I came up with kind of surprised me. I've mentioned before that working at a movie theater as a teenager is what broadened my horizon for films, but what was the movie that got me to look at cinema beyond the comedic and horror films that I normally stuck with? At first I thought of American Beauty . It's my all time favorite movie which I saw for the first time at age 13. While it's very important to me because it was the first time I considered dysfunctional families and stopped feeling alone about it, I never really got into anything like it until years later.  I thought of all the Shirley Temple movies I would record off of AMC when I was little just so I could watch her tap. I loved those too, but I never watched other classic films.  I loved big franchises like Star Wars , and Lord of the Rings , and Harry Potter , b...

What makes her a hero. Vers (Brie Larson) is a Kree warrior whose life is dedicated to fighting Skrulls. She has no memories of anything else. During a mission, she is captured by a Skrull named Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) who unearths fragments buried deep in her subconscience. After she escapes, she crash lands on Planet C-53 also known as Earth, and meets up with a young S.H.I.E.L.D agent, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to fight the infiltrating Skrulls and figure out her past. After all this time, finally Marvel has given us a female led super hero movie and if you've spent any considerable amount of time on the internet, you know incels are pissed about it. So every time this movie flat out showed a man trying to talk down to a woman, harass a woman, or expected to be owed something from her, I smiled, because I knew somewhere there was a man-baby getting all bent out of shape about it. Shitty people aside, Captain Marvel was a blast. It gets off to a rough start wit...

I'm dope. Jessica  (Jessica Williams)  is an aspiring playwright  who still pines for her ex-boyfriend. (Lakeith Stanfield) Her friend, Tasha (Noel Wells) sets her up with an acquaintance, Boone (Chris O'Dowd) who is also fresh out of a relationship and they strike up a friendship. I have no excuse for how long it took me to watch this film. I think Jessica Williams and Chris O'Dowd are hilarious, and this got great reviews when it came out. It just fell into the Netflix black hole. I'm happy to say this did not disappoint. If you're familiar with Williams from her stint on The Daily Show, her humor is all over this. I'm guessing she was given a lot of leeway to improvise and it all works in her favor. Same with O'Dowd, only he can sell himself with "Also, I'm good at cunnilingus" so nonchalantly.  There's not a lot in terms of plot here but that's okay. Jessica is interesting and it was so easy to root for her throug...

This week's theme from Wandering Through The Shelves are movies that take place during the Cold War. I quickly realized that I don't have a lot of films I like with this theme, or even ones that I've seen. I'm sure I'll be kicking myself for not thinking of several movies once I read everyone else's but for now I'm stuck. Here are some Cold War movies that are on my watch list that I haven't gotten to yet.  1) Charlie Wilson's War Julia Roberts initially put me off from seeing this, which is crazy because it stars Amy Adams and Philip Seymour Hoffman and they are two of my favorite actors.  2) Good Night and Good Luck Another one that has been in my Netflix queue for ages. I've seen parts of this movie just never in one sitting. Admittedly, I was bored with what I saw, but I'd like to give this film a fair shot eventually. 3) Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy I have no desire to see this to be honest but my husband really liked it...

I'll be right back! Frankie (Chloe Grace Moretz) is a young woman in NYC who finds a lost purse on the subway. She returns it to its owner, Greta (Isabelle Huppert) and the two form a friendship. Frankie's roommate Erica (Maika Monroe) points out how strange the relationship is and soon after Frankie finds a bunch of fake purses and realizes this friendship isn't an innocent as it seems, and Greta is not going to let her go so easily. If you're looking at this movie from a camp perspective, it's great. You get to watch Isabelle Huppert play piano, dance around, drug people and act crazy. That alone is worth the price of admission. But if you're going in looking for a serious thriller you're going to be disappointed because all the characters here are remarkably stupid. The plot needs them to be. It's mostly easy to ignore until the final 15 minutes or so. Huppert is great, Moretz acting wise was good too but I think she was slightly miscas...

Unbow your head, sister. Tish (KiKi Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James) have been best friends since they were children, and are now a loving couple looking to move forward in their lives together. The Fonny gets arrested for something he didn't do, and Tish finds herself pregnant and trying her hardest to get Fonny out of prison. Their love for each other and their baby on the way remains strong, but there's no faith in the "justice system." This has been one of my most anticipated movies of the year and my theater JUST opened it this weekend. Luckily it was worth the wait. If Beale Street Could Talk is a stunningly beautiful film from the way it's shot, to the lovely score, to the actors who really feel like a family on screen.  Layne and James have excellent chemistry together. The supporting player are also very strong, particularly Tish's family. Her mother, Sharon (Regina King) her father, Joseph, (Coleman Domingo) and her sister Ernestine. ...

It was my dream too. Saraya (Florence Pugh) and Zak Knight(Jack Lowden) are amateur wrestlers in Norwich, England. Their parents (Nick Frost and Lena Headey) are wrestlers too and when Saraya and Zak get the opportunity to try out for the WWE, Saraya makes the cut as Paige and goes on to become the youngest ever Diva's Champion. I've been watching wrestling on and off my entire life. Most recently, however feels like the longest spell I've gone without watching it week to week. I still try to read my favorite wrestling blogs to keep up with everything, but truthfully I haven't watched consistently since 2016 or so. Paige does have an interesting story and Florence Pugh has been on a roll lately with everything she touches, so when my theater opened this, I knew I had to see it. Though plenty of liberties and changes were made, I loved how this film captured what life is like in WWE's developmental territory. Just seeing the work outs and how things go...