Another weekend means more movies! I’ve decided to hold off on watching my Cleveland International Film Festival selections for next weekend since there were some new ones out this weekend. Plus, I finally got the chance to hang out indoors with a trusted friend since we’re all vaccinated! Majority rules.
Thunder Force – I searched for this movie as soon as I’d finished watching it, and the first article I saw asked Melissa McCarthy to quit making terrible movies with her husband. Now, I don’t necessarily think this action-comedy was terrible, but it certainly was lame. As have most of her recent outings directed by her husband. Remember when she snagged an Oscar nomination? Yeah, well, this film takes another Oscar winner down with her this time, although the fact that she and Octavia Spencer are great friends in real life made it a bit more enjoyable. Anyways, enough rambling. Emily and Lydia are former best friends reunited on the night of a high school reunion. Soon after, Lydia has ingrained herself in Emily’s life all over again after she accidentally gets injected with super strength formula. It had been Emily’s life goal to create this formula to take down the Miscreants who killed her parents when she was little, so she takes the invisibility formula and joins Lydia as Thunder Force to take down miscreants. The only really hysterical part of the film is Jason Bateman as a half man/half crab. If you’ve seen all the rest of McCarthy and Falcon’s recent efforts, then you might as well add this one to the list.
Thunder Road – Thunder might be in the name of these first two films, but I assure you they are vastly different. I keep thinking back to how much I enjoyed the very random The Wolf of Snow Hollow and decided to check out more of director/actor Jim Cummings’ work. Turns out there was high praise for this comedy-drama based on his short film of the same name. Cummings plays Jim, a cop who’s life is really just a mess. This film opens with his mother’s funeral, and then we learn that he’s in the middle of a divorce and fighting for custody of his daughter. Like any pre-teen, his daughter Crystal is constantly frustrated with Jim, but Jim always tries his best to show her he loves her. Ultimately, Jim’s anger issues get the best of him in almost every occasion, but things start to turn a corner by the film’s end. I found myself super uncomfortable with Jim’s flip-flopping emotional outbursts, but I laughed out loud and teared up several times throughout. Just like Snow Hollow, this was a truly unique viewing experience that certainly won’t be for everyone. All I know is it’s got me looking forward to what Cummings creates in the future!
Every Breath You Take – Wah, wah. I was actually really looking forward to this thriller, but it let me down! Phillip is a therapist who’s life is completely derailed after one of his most successful patients, Daphne, commits suicide. Not long after the incident, Daphne’s brother James starts ingratiating himself into Phillip’s life. Soon we learn that James is really out to destroy Phillip’s life by seducing both his wife and his daughter. Look, Sam Claflin plays an excellent psychopath, but the writing just made this movie sort of terrible. Not quite Lifetime level, but pretty darn close. The biggest complaint I had was that after the accident with the patient, Phillip just keeps getting shit on, and then his wife and daughter just seem to immediately turn on him. It’s all a bit rushed if you ask me. Also, there’s a twist that my friend and I figured out about a half hour into the film, so not great in that regard either. This movie had such promise with a thrilling premise, and Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, India Eisley, and Sam Claflin as the leads, but as I said before, the script just let them down.
Logan Lucky – With the disappointment that was Thunder Force and Every Breath You Take, I needed to watch something I knew was quality and that was also a good time. Enter, Logan Lucky. I recently convinced my dad to watch this because I knew he would love it, and he did, so I figured it was time for me to give it another viewing after not watching it since its release. So refreshingly brilliant. Towards the end of the film a news anchor dubbed the events as the “hillbilly heist,” and they really aren’t wrong. The Logan brothers, Jimmy and Clyde, decide to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway. They has a surprisingly very detailed plan of attack that involves the Bang brothers, one of which, Joe, is incarcerated. After some shocking news, the heist gets moved up a week during the Coca-Cola 600 race over Memorial Day weekend. From that point on it’s all systems go, and it’s a hilarious and intricate ride to the end. I feel like I can’t give much else away, because what fun would that be?! Trust me when I say you’ll enjoy yourself. In fact, the writer/director of this film is Steven Soderbergh, the same man who brought you Ocean’s Eleven and it’s sequels, and this is basically a forth installment if it featured their hillbilly cousins.