Rambling Film

  Official synopsis: A dramatization of the 1989 Montréal Massacre, during which several female engineering students were murdered by an unstable misogynist. My aim for Blind Spots are usually films that came out before my life time, but sometimes there's an occasional film in the 2000's that's eluded me, and in my quest to see all of Denis Villeneuve's films, Polytechnique is that film for me.  I hate how desensitized school shootings are in America these days. While I was somewhat familiar with this true life horror story, I could not help but watch and think "why didn't they do this?" "How did those men just leave?" And I shouldn't have to ask those questions, but I live in an age where I read about one every month and my kid tells me about the active shooter drills he does at school. It's inescapable.  I wondered what Villeneuve could have to say, bringing this massacre to light. He clearly did his homework, and got approval from the...

Official synopsis : When tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) meets cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) at his fundraising gala, he invites her to join him and his friends on a dream vacation on his private island. As strange things start to happen, Frida questions her reality. Do you ever leave a film and immediately think "This is what X movie was trying to do?" Because that's how I felt leaving Blink Twice . This is exactly what the makers of Don't Worry Darling were going for (and my spicy hot take is that this is what Promising Young Woman was going for too) Zoe Kravitz, in her great directorial debut understands the assignment. She knows what type of 3rd act a movie like this needs to have.  You wouldn't guess she's a first time director by how well this film is made. The Slater's island is your dream resort getaway. The champagne is always flowing, everything is clean and pristine. It's easy to see why Frida and her friend Jess (Ali...

Official synopsis:  The daughter of a convicted German spy (Ingrid Bergman) is asked by American agents to gather information on a ring of German scientists in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them? This might be the least Hitchcocky Hitchcock film I've come across yet. I think going into it I expected it to be higher on the suspense and less on the romance and it's quite the opposite.  Watching this made me want to reshuffle my Blind Spot list to add more of Ingrid Bergman's filmography. She's amazing in this. I felt bad for how self destructive her character was and wanted nothing but good things for her. Though I feel like I'm going to be in the minority with the next bit... I did not like Cary Grant in this. At all. I didn't believe for one second that Devlin was actually in love with Alicia because Grant always looked like he was staring off into space. They didn't have the chemistry required to sell me on this and i...

Official synopsis:  Fran (Daisy Ridley), who likes to think about dying, makes the new guy (Dave Merheje) at work laugh, which leads to dating and more. Now the only thing standing in their way is Fran herself. Human connection is important, and it's something that Fran lacks. She enjoys her spreadsheets, but you'd be hard pressed to know anything else she enjoys. Fran's a mystery, and one the film doesn't quite unravel. I expect this quiet little film to divide audiences. Not much happens, but it says a lot between the lines. The setting in a small Oregon town perfectly matches the film's tone. It's cold, a bit bare, but there's something curious underneath. Ridley is an interesting actress, and even though she doesn't have much to do here, she was still fun to watch, as was Merheje. I just wish we could've gotten a bit more back story on both characters. Like, how was this Robert's FIRST job at his big ol' age? What was Fran's life like...

Official Synopsis:  While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonists come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe. The Alien franchise is one that covers the entire rating spectrum. It ranges from near perfection to absolute flops. But we love those xenomorphs, so we keep throwing money at them. The newest offering, Romulus was probably the most interested I've been in an Alien film in quite some time.  With a director like Fede Alvarez, I expected him to dial up the gore in this one, but Romulus is no more gory than it's predecessors.  We're again introduced to a small group of characters that include a few we can root for like Andy, (the stand out Jonsson) and others who we root for to meet their end, like Bjorn. (Spike Fern) Rain (Cailee Spaeny) is our main heroine and I was legitimately invested in her and Andy's story. It's annoying that the film suddenly turns Rain into Ripley's doppleg...

Official synopsis:  17-year-old Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) is forced to move with her family to a resort where things are not what they seem. These pristine medical spas/resorts in the Alps are practically red flags themselves now. Cuckoo is here to further that stereotype. Gretchen just lost her mother, and is moving in with her father, his much younger wife, and their mute child together. She's clearly going through a lot of trauma, and her anger is misplaced against her younger sister. The head doctor, Herr Konig  (Dan Stevens) seems to want to keep her busy, but we all know something is amiss. Cuckoo is pretty damn creepy. It doesn't have elaborate effects, but it plays with shadows and quick cuts of someone lurking. I've never seen a random blonde woman in sunglasses look so scary. I can't help but compare it to Longlegs , another quiet, unsettling film I've seen recently, and where Cuckoo excels is that it never gives us time to drag and our lead actress prope...

House of the Dragon wrapped its sophomore season, and now we have a long 2 year wait for season 3. Hopefully they can speed that up somehow because trust me, they need it. I figure if you're reading this, you probably also watched the season and don't need me to recap it, so I'm going to share some likes, dislikes, and things to look forward to. LIKES 1. Ramin Djawadi's score SLAYS as always. Honestly, it was the best part of the finale 2. Raenyra's face when she figures out Daemon's role in "Blood & Cheese"  3. The dragons look amazing 4. Jace, Baela and Rhena got some extra time, which I love for them. I also love the juxtaposition between Raenyra and her children vs Alicent and her children 5. ALL HAIL RHAENYS, QUEEN WHO NEVER WAS! 6. Little Lord Tully. Bless Cat's ancestors.  6. And finally...the changes from the book. Look, GRRM is an excellent writer but let's not pretend all of his books are hits. F&B was a book of Targaryan bull...

Official synopsis:  Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is offered a place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by the Time Variance Authority, but instead recruits a variant of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to save his universe from extinction. I'm back after another long week of traveling so I know this review is coming late - but I did make it to see Marvel's next offering! I also re-watched the first two Deadpools in preparation...and realized just how much of them I had forgotten. I don't love Ryan Reynolds as an actor. He's good as Deadpool, and he clearly loves playing him, but it wears on me. Fortunately, like Cable in the last film, Wolverine breathes life into the 3rd chapter. This was so much fun. Some of the fourth wall breaking is grating but a lot of the references absolutely hit (like two comments about separate divorces...hilarious) I wasn't expecting this to be such a love letter to the Fox era of super hero flicks. Even the credits are an ode to what came before.  Plo...