Since I went two weekends in a row without seeing any movies, I figured I better catch up! That’s why you’ll be reading about four really different films I saw in two days time. Carry on!
First up was the Netflix sequel, To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You. All the feels! I don’t generally like rom-coms, but something about the simplicity of this and its predecessor just makes me happy inside, so naturally I was excited for the release of this film. It follows Lara Jean who is now in a relationship with Peter Kavinsky, but thing get a little rocky when John Ambrose, another one of the love letter recipients, enters back into her life. You can’t hate John Ambrose, because he’s just so darn nice, and he’s liked Lara Jean since grade school! Scattered throughout is a little bit of heartbreak, a lot of love, and the internet’s favorite made up couple. While the movie follows the book pretty closely, it’s seems to be missing some of the magic that came with the first film, but P.S. I still loved it!
Friday met me with a rather different double feature. I first went to see the new Blumhouse film, Fantasy Island. After first hearing about this, I was pretty excited, but then I saw a few previews that made it seem supernatural, and I was worried. Fear not! Yes, there were some supernatural elements, but nothing to make me sleep with the lights on. The cast was pretty eclectic, and in each’s person’s fantasy, you’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop. It eventually leads to all of their lives being connected in some way, and it was fun to try and figure out how. Despite this being sold as a scary movie, there were quite a few deliberate laughs scattered throughout. It also reminded me a little bit of last year’s Escape Room, so if you’re into that kind of thing, check it out!
Right after that, I made my way over to see the remake of the black comedy, Downhill. Now, I like to do my research typically, so despite the fact that this movie starred Will Ferrell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Zach Woods, I also knew that this movie really wasn’t going to be all that funny. It was meant to be uncomfortable and it was! It follows a family of four on a ski trip in Austria, who during a controlled avalanche, think they are going to be crushed. In the chaos, Will Ferrell’s Pete grabs his phone and hauls ass out of there. Needless to say, Louis-Dreyfus’s Billie is pissed and hurt. The rest of this film shows how stilted their conversations are, and how neither of them can take responsibilities for their actions. It was something totally different for the two of them and I really enjoyed it! I can say with certainty that about 90% of the people in attendance saw the two headliners and decided they were ready to laugh…they were sorely disappointed.
Finally, my sister and I went and saw The Photograph last night. Being big fans of Lakeith Stanfield, we had our hopes fairly high for this romantic drama. I would say, after getting half an hour in, I knew we’d made a mistake. This was perhaps one of the most boring films I’ve seen in a long time (and I saw Phantom Thread). For almost being two hours, it felt like literally nothing happened. It flashed between scenes of Mae’s mother in Louisiana and New York and her life in New York with Michael. The ultimate point I think they were trying to swing home was that it was hard for these two women to love. Although, I can’t be too sure, as I fell asleep for a little bit of this. Don’t waste your time with this one, unless you’re allergic to good films.