Weekend Movie Review

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Trying really hard to get all of the Oscar nominees and movies that I genuinely want to see in before this coming Sunday, so here is what the weekend in movies looked like for me.

Happy Death Day 2U – I wasn’t quite sure how a sequel was going to be made of the original, but it was done and I’d say they nailed it. Success came in the form of a parallel universe and more use of two of the original film’s supporting characters. And her roommate wasn’t a psycho killer this time! Ultimately Tree is left with the tough decision of choosing her still alive mom in this alternate universe, or love with Carter in her current universe. No spoilers here, but I did recently learn that the plan for this film is a trilogy and I want to see that happen, so flock to the theaters for this one please!

Isn’t It Romantic – The “anti-romantic comedy, romantic comedy” is a mostly accurate description for this fun film starring Rebel Wilson as the lead Grinch of love/rom-coms. Living an okay life, Natalie is convinced by her co-worker to open herself up to love, a move which results in Natalie getting mugged and knocking herself unconscious. When she wakes, she finds herself in a PG-13 romantic comedy with all the fluff of a perfect apartment, being the star employee and her own gay best friend (played wonderfully by Brandon Scott Jones). She comes to the conclusion that in order to escape someone must fall in love with her, but in the process of getting wooed by Blake (Liam Hemsworth), Natalie realizes she loves her best friend Josh (Adam Devine, the Pitch Perfect reunion none of us realized we wanted) who is about to get married to someone he just met (Priyanka Chopa, unironically?)! It all works out in the end and we get two quality musical numbers in between.

Roma – Holy shit was this movie boring. I went in trying really hard to like it, but in black and white, subtitled, and clocking in at over two hours about the life of a house maid means I definitely fell asleep in the middle of this. Don’t get me wrong, the parts I did see validated my opinions that it will win Best Picture this Sunday at the Oscars. It’s someone’s cup of tea out there…just not mine.

The Favourite – The last of the Oscar nominees I needed to watch and it was definitely worth the wait! Coming off the heels of The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Favourite was perhaps the least strange film to come from Yorgos Lanthimos. It was still strange, though and that’s why it was fantastic! The cast was stellar with its trio of leading ladies, led by the magnificent Olivia Coleman, but I was most fond of the comical supporting performances of Nicholas Hoult and Joe Alwyn. I would say my “favourite” part of watching this film was the audience reaction. Clearly no one had educated themselves on Yorgos’ previous films or the meat of what this one would be about. More fun for me that way!

Hello Again – What a terrible musical film! But seeing as I’m newly obsessed with Roswell, New Mexico I had to watch it for Tyler Blackburn! I will say the rest of the cast was pretty intriguing, and I know most of them can sing, but not in this film apparently. It was even a good concept, but good grief! Don’t waste your time.

Television Review – Week 2/11-2/15

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Here to recap all the television I watched this week! I’ll keep it brief, too!

I Am the Night – Three episodes into this limited series and I feel like I have more questions than answers. India Eisley’s Fauna is awkward and looks terrified all the time, and Chris Pine’s Jay is a hot mess. It’s all still just vague enough to keep me interested, and the fact that it’s based around the Black Dahlia murder makes it a must-see. Hopefully more exciting news in the weeks to come.

Drunk History – Switching it up this season means that sometimes host Derek Waters isn’t actually interviewing anyone, but some of his friends are. I’m okay with it and so should you because it’s still the same drunk mess that actually makes learning about history (sort of) tolerable. This week’s episode focused on love, since you know, Valentine’s Day, and notable guests included Josh Hartnett and Alison Brie.

Will & Grace – Grace and Jack try a crash diet for Jack’s upcoming nuptials and so they won’t split any more of their pants. Will is trying to be a more exciting professor after getting some negative reviews, so he ends up doing a mock case Judge Judy style between Karen and one of her former step children who actually liked her. Hilarity ensues!

Brooklyn Nine-Nine – Rosa sports a plethora of hairdos (ridiculous) and Jake makes a promise to a victim’s mom that he’ll solve her son’s murder case. he can’t and goes crazy trying to solve it, talking to “olive Rosa” and walls. Eventually they do manage to find the culprit, after some hilarious dialogue and a fantastic turn by CSI agent Daryl (“very uncool name, Daryl!”).

How to Get Away With Murder – Five seasons in and this show is ridiculous but still so darn compelling! Only two episodes left and I’m still not sure what’s going to happen. This week saw a Christmas gathering with Annalise’s mother, played by Cicely Tyson, and some of her firm friends. her boss is awkward, but not as awkward as dinner with the Keating Five (now that Oliver is a part of it) and Conner’s mom. Bonnie thinks she might be pregnant, but she’s not. The feds are onto Annalise and all she’s been up to these past five years, but Tegan’s potential lady-crush on Annalise ends up saving her some time and gets her case reassigned. Side note: I am all on board for Frank and Bonnie to be a thing already!

And as if watching twelve shows simultaneously wasn’t enough I decided to add two more to the mix this week!

Miracle Workers – This limited series where Daniel Radcliffe and Geraldine Viswanathan play angels answering prayers and Steve Buscemi is God has some serious potential. Daniel Radcliffe’s character has been answering prayers for centuries and is really good at finding keys and gloves, but anything other than that gets sent up to God. Meanwhile, God has the news on 24/7 and is sick and tired of seeing how awful it is that he plans to destroy earth. In walks the newest angel, played by Viswanathan, hellbent on saving earth by answering one of the “impossible” prayers: helping two people fall in love. Very interested to see where this half hour comedy goes!

Roswell, New Mexico – I discovered this show at five episodes in, so naturally I binged them all Monday in order to be caught up for Tuesday’s new episode! Yes, this was a series in the late 90s, but besides the name and book as source material, these are distinctly different imaginings. This series takes place ten years in the future with a more cultured cast. Primary focus is on Liz trying to figure out what actually happened to her sister Rosa’s mysterious death a decade ago. Pretty quickly she realizes three siblings are aliens, but being a scientist now, they mainly just fascinate her. The aliens, Max, Isobel, and Michael, couldn’t be any more different but they all love each other fiercely and would like to keep their identities a secret, especially from the government who just moved into town for some secret project. My favorite characters so far in the series are Liz & Rosa’s best friend, Maria, and Michael and his former lover Alex (favorite ship, as the kids would call it). I recommend!

Weekend Movie Review: Creepy Sh** (and some funny sh**)

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This past Friday my sister and I decided we needed some laughs in our lives, so we went to go see What Men Want starring Taraji P Henson. This movie definitely had laughs, albeit cheesy ones, but they were laughs nonetheless. Henson plays successful sports agent Ali, but can’t break through the boys club to become partner. She then encounters a strange taro card reader at a bachelorette party and is suddenly able to hear men’s thoughts. All men’s thoughts. Which I imagine were pretty accurate. And honestly, some were hilarious! Especially those between her assistant, Brandon (Josh Brener of Silicon Valley) and co-worker Danny (SNL’s Pete Davidson). That was comedy gold! Ultimately, there were too many players in this film and not enough focus on a core group of characters. They tried to squeeze in girlfriends, a romance, a relationship with her father, and workplace drama all in two hours. Just pick a lane and stick with it. That’s where it could have benefited, but all in all I enjoyed it.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, some friends and I went to see horror-thriller, The Prodigy, starring Orange is the New Black’s Taylor Schilling, mom to an exceptionally creepy kid! The beginning of this film had me a little confused. A girl running through the woods finally flags down a car and screams “he took my hand!” Then we switch to the guy who took her hand about to be raided by the FBI. He then comes out of his house butt-ass naked (why???) and is shot down holding that girls hand in his hand! Those scenes are inter-spliced with Sarah (Taylor Schilling) giving birth to a son, Miles. Again, at the time this made literally no sense to me. Flash forward eight years, with only some creepy Russian-sounding whispering coming from Miles in between, then he starts to turn sinister. Sarah takes his mumblings to a therapist, and the stuff this kid was saying in Hungarian was vulgar! Ultimately, the therapist says that murderer from the beginning was reincarnated into her son’s body! And if he doesn’t settle his unfinished business (murdering the runaway from the first scene), that he could push her real son out forever. And no kidding – that’s what happens! If you watch this movie and still want kids afterwards, good luck to you. This is just further reinforcement for me.

Lastly, I rented the remake of Suspiria. It was much too long and mildly confusing. But in a nutshell, it’s about a girl from Ohio getting accepted into a dance academy in Berlin. That is inter-spliced with scenes of a cult of witches referring to some as “mother.” Then some freaky stuff starts going down! The most disturbing scene hands down is when lead, Susie (Dakota Johnson), is dancing and in another room a different girl’s body is being ripped apart. Then those witches carry her out with a bunch of hooks! It was nasty!!! Ultimately, it turns out that Dakota Johnson fooled all of those witches because she’s the head honcho and annihilates all of the other witches. That was also an extremely weird scene to watch. Major ups to Tilda Swinton playing three different characters, one being completely unrecognizable as an old man!

Awards Season Continued: 2019 Grammy Awards

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Full disclosure, I have not watched all of the Grammys yet, so you may see some updates here.

All in all, I didn’t think there were too many surprises with who took home trophies last night, but Top 40 isn’t totally my jam, so I can’t say for sure. I was a little disappointed that Underoath didn’t take home the Metal Performance award, and I was also a little bummed that Chris Cornell posthumously took home the Rock Performance (obviously he would, just like Bowie in 2016), only because the other nominees were great, too! In all my pre-Grammy research, the consensus was that Kacey Musgraves would take home the top honors because she was essentially the only country artist nominated; everyone else would be splitting hairs, and she did. Despite me not being a country fan, I have seen her perform live and she’s quite impressive, so kudos to her. Even though others deserved what they won, I was surprised that Post Malone got no love.

Speaking of Post Malone, let’s talk live performances of the night. I watched Post Malone “collaborate” with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Let’s be real. Those were two separate performances, except Post played guitar when the Chili Peppers were on. Eh. And as much as I love RHCP, why weren’t any of the other rock nominees out there performing with him?? Like Greta Van Fleet! That would be something to see! Lady Gaga was fine. A bit much for a soppy ballad. I read and accurate Twitter comment this morning: “If I muted Lady Gaga’s performance, I would have thought she was singing a metal song.” I also managed to catch Cardi B’s performance was very cabaret, but I enjoyed it!

In other controversial news, was Drake’s acceptance speech getting muted and then cut to commercial! Scandal! It seems to me like he got his point across, and I feel like the Grammys only aided him in his message. But to recap, he basically said that the awards don’t matter, that if you have people paying money to see you live or know the words to your songs than you are already succeeding. And I totally agree with that! I feel like the Grammys are just a Top 40 popularity contest/showcase, but it’s also not bad to get one either. Good for you, Drake!

Of all the major awards shows out there, this is one of my least favorite, so take this review with a grain of salt. For all award winners, check the link: https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/10/entertainment/grammy-winners-2019-list/index.html

A Brief Movie Review

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Yesterday I managed to squeeze in three movies after work before my eyes gave up on me. Rather than giving any major plot points away, I decided I am going to give the briefest gut instinct review I had after watching them. You’re welcome.

  1. Replicas – Good grief was this bad. Not even Keanu Reeves could make this better. Like at all.
  2. On the Basis of Sex – Man was this inspiring, and Armie Hammer as supportive husband?! Yes, please.
  3. Velvet Buzzsaw – Besides the badass title, there was death by colors and the creepiest art display ever, called “Hoboman.”

If I had to choose one for an audience to see, my vote is for On the Basis of Sex. Go see it! You won’t regret it!

Book Review: Boy Erased

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After watching Boy Erased this past December, I decided I wanted to read the memoir it was based on. I’ve got to say for the most part it was pretty spot on. There were certainly some more dramatized moments in the film, but it covered everything else accurately. It was a little hard to read with some names removed, and sometimes I wasn’t too certain to what time flashbacks were taking place, but otherwise the flow was nice.

The novel touched more on Garrard’s internal punishments, like not eating a lot and running more so he could “disappear,” which is something maybe the movie was lacking. I also got a strong sense of the relationship with his mother, as well as how religious he actually was. It was also touching to read how his experiences in conversion therapy essentially destroyed any relationship with God he had, but how he is still diligently trying to find it again.

All in all, I felt the memoir was maybe a bit long-winded. I’m not saying there probably wasn’t more to tell, but that he seemed to repeat himself a lot. Maybe the point was to draw this experience out for the reader just like the experience was probably an eternity to him.

TV Recap: Gotham

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I believe I missed reviewing last week’s episode of Gotham, so I’m back! This week’s episode titled “Pena Dura” picked up right where last week left off. We learned that Ed remembered firing off the RPG that destroyed Haven and killed hundreds of Gothamites. Although, with the memory problems he’s been having recently, he decides he did not do it unprovoked, so he heads off to find out why.

While trying to figure out who destroyed Haven, Jim and Harvey run into some trouble but are saved by some military folk sent in by Walker (who Jim spoke with over radio last week), including Jim’s old army buddy, Eduardo. Ed is pursued by the two, but escapes only to be captured by some serious hillbillies hellbent on avenging their pooch who got fried in the bombing (not kidding). It was during this torture that Ed remembers Oswald/Penguin saying he was going to “fix” Ed.

After escaping the hillbillies, he makes his way over to city hall to have a stand-off with Penguin only to learn that Oswald was trying to SAVE Edward after being stabbed. Ed learns that he paid Dr. Strange (all hail BD Wong!) to fix him back up. Through a heated exchange we basically get their version of saying they love each other (Nygmobblepot for life), but then the cops show up as Ed escapes again.

Ed makes his way to Barbara’s club to get answers to where Strange is at, and end up forming a very loose alliance. After confronting Dr. Strange, Ed gets a paralytic sprayed in his face because Dr. Strange needs to fix the chip that was implanted in his brain. We learn that he’s being controlled, although not by Strange. At the end of the procedure, Jim and Eduardo bust in and we learn that EDUARDO is controlling Nygma! He tells Jim he needs to put a bullet in his head in order to prove his loyalty. Jim obviously can’t do that, escapes, so Eduardo orders Ed to go after Jim and kill him.

In the midst of all of that action, we see Bruce still struggling with the fact that Selina murdered Jeremiah and feels no remorse. In confronting her at the club, Selina hits Bruce with a harsh truth: she saw his parents get murdered and did nothing about it because she didn’t care. She’s not a hero like Bruce wants her to be. That’s got to be a tough pill to swallow.

All that celebrating is for not though, since at the end of the episode we see Ecco wake a SLEEPING Jeremiah. He is led out of his “tomb” to see the work of a surgeon who has apparently made Thomas and Martha Wayne replicas. Can’t wait to see Bruce freak out about that. Two weeks from now we should be getting some more answers, but in the meantime we must wait. Boo!

Mediocre Movie Reviews: Serenity, Glass, Mid90s, The Oath

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Well folks, I managed to squeeze in four intensely mediocre films this weekend. Sorry if I have offended anyone, but this is just my opinion.

First up was my sister’s choice to go see Serenity with Matthew McConauhey and Anne Hathaway. I will admit that I never used to care for McConauhey and I’m a severe Hatha-hater, so I’m not sure what made me decide to say “yes” to seeing this movie. Either way, I went. About halfway through I turned to my friend and declared that this movie is at least a D+. The story took place in a sleepy fishing town in some tropical area. McConauhey’s Baker Dill has casual sex with an older women and it obsessed with catching this gigantic tuna. It’s this same scene for about 45 minutes of the film and then Hathaway shows up with a seriously bad dye job. We learn that she’s an ex from back in the day and left him with their son for her now abusive husband. She eventually convinces Baker to take her husband out to sea and kill him. All while this is happening there are a few weird camera shifts and cuts to their strange son playing video games. At the end you finally learn that Baker Dill died in war and the whole movie is a video game world that the son has created. Very choppy. Very not good. Don’t waste your cash.

Glass only left me mildly disappointed. Despite the events taking place right after Split, a lot of time was spend rehashing what Unbreakable star Bruce Willis and his son have been up to. And just like Unbreakable, I really wanted to like this movie because the concept is so original and unlike anything I’ve ever really seen, but it was just so slow and not a whole lot of action. Spoiler, all of the original baddies (and one good) die at the end; a seemingly good end to the trilogy, but Sarah Paulson’s Dr. Ellie Staple is part of a bigger and extremely delusional cult and it seems like their work might not be done. This film is getting panned by critics across the board, but that doesn’t stop the box office for this to keep going up. I vote you spend your theater time with something else and wait to rent this.

Next I rented two more recent releases, The Oath and Mid90s. I wanted to like them both so much, but one was a political comedy starring Ike Barinholtz and Tiffany Haddish that just didn’t land for me and Mid90s was rather vulgar even for my taste. The Oath focused on a near future dystopian state where the government wants everyone to sign a controversial document called the “Patriot’s Oath.” Taking place over the course of Thanksgiving week, there are family arguments and two questionable Homeland Security agents show up when all hell breaks loose. A lot of rehashing, and I just don’t really like political movies. Mid90s focused on little Stevie, who becomes enthralled and eventually friends with a group of skaters. In many efforts to prove himself he smokes, drinks, does drugs, has a sexual experience, and gets himself hurt. A lot. Even though I am a product of the 90s, I found it really hard to related to this film. maybe it’s because I didn’t grow up in this particular area of the country or in Stevie’s particular household. Also, Lucas Hedges as a bully big brother was completely unbelievable. Not sure why Jonah Hill cast him here.

Overall, don’t waste your time with any of these films and hopefully I’ll have something better to review next weekend!

Awards Season Review: Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG-AFTRA)

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Awards seasons continues with the last major ceremony before the Academy Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, so naturally I was excited to watch the 25th iteration of it last night! With that being said, Megan Mullally, the host, was seriously awkward, and I don’t know that I even heard chuckles from the audience for most of her jokes. Although I did like when she brought out Smitty from Will & Grace. Her opening monologue was so poor that I think she took away from what would have been a pretty good joke from Ricky Martin, who was a presenter of the first award of the night.

I apparently didn’t look too closely at who was nominated for each category before tuning in, because some were quite odd and surprising. It seems some people who were considered for supporting roles were considered for main ones here, Sam Rockwell got shut out of the supporting actor, and so did Vice for the best ensemble category. Some surprise wins for me included Emily Blunt for her silent role in A Quiet Place, John Krasinski’s nomination for best actor in a drama series, and This Is Us taking home the trophy for best drama over the last season of The Americans.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel swept all the categories it was nominated for, and Rami Malek further cemented his chances for best actor after he nabbed it again last night (did anyone else see Christian Bale’s face at that win?!). I was surprised, but not, to see Black Panther win best ensemble, especially since it was up against other crowd favorites like Crazy Rich Asians. I did notice that Roma had no nominations and A Star is Born got completely shut out again (not looking good, Oscars), so some other actors got some real chances. And this awards show is different in that the awards are voted on by their SAG peers – it’s almost like a superlatives show, although good actors know good acting, so I can’t ignore that.

Notable speeches of the night included Rami Malek, Emily Blunt, and Life Achievement Award recipient Alan Alda. Go fishing through Youtube to find those – you’re welcome.

Album Review: FEVER 333, Strength in Numb333rs

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Fever 333 are one of the most explosive and exciting bands that I’ve listened to recently, so I’m very excited to be doing this review! Not even a year after their wildly successful and amazing EP, Made in America, the band released their first full-length album, Strength in Numb333rs. Man is this record impactful! It’s in your face right from the get-go and they don’t stop for 10 tracks! The lead single “Burn It” is reminiscent of the EP and is catchy as hell, where “Inglewood/3” slows down a little bit at the start and then rips your face off at the end. Personally and politically charged, this album’s lyrics are angry and lead singer, Jason Aalon Butler, is literally screaming most of them at you. A method that works, because after one listen all of those songs stuck with me.

Having seen them live twice with a lot less content to perform, I can’t wait to see them again and take over the entire venue, let alone the stage. They’ve got a polarizing presence in the rock scene and I know that they are going to get the recognition they deserve very soon (fingers crossed for the Grammy Awards on February 2nd)! Stand outs on the record for me include “Am I Here?,” “Prey for Me/3,” and “One of Us.” Do yourself a favor, and go listen to Strength in Numb333rs. Like now.