Maybe seeing two movies back to back swayed my opinion here, but one movie I saw this weekend was definitely a winner, while the other just sort of left me feeling nothing. I don’t know that I had high hopes for either, but I was certainly looking forward to seeing both. I don’t feel that time was wasted, but maybe could have been spent watching a different film.
Read moreDrama
Indie Film Review: The Art of Self Defense
There’s nothing I love more than a good indie film, and The Art of Self Defense checked all the boxes for me this weekend. I had been anticipating this film for a while, so the fact that it finally came to a theater near me meant I had to take the drive to go see it. Yes, I was the only person in the theater, and frankly, that’s a travesty! Either way, here’s my take on this gem of a film.
Read moreMovie Review: Animal Kingdom
Before I start actively watching TNT’s Animal Kingdom from the beginning (currently on season 4), I decided to watch the Australian film of the same name that it is loosely based on. I should also note that the film centers on the real life Pettingill crime family of Melbourne, which is a little crazy if you think about it.
Truthfully, I have seen parts of the U.S. television show, and the movie is a bit boring. I also thought that Jackie Weaver’s role was pretty limited and was a little confused why she got an Oscar nomination for it, but I digress. The film is told in the perspective of Joshua “J” Cody as he moves in with his grandmother and uncles following his mother’s suicide death. His uncles, Pope, Craig, Deran, and family friend Baz all specialize in armed robbery. The police are onto the family and are actively looking for Pope.
In all the chaos, Baz gets killed off early, which leads to the rest of the family getting sloppy and falling apart. J is mostly to blame for all of their hardships, which also end up getting Craig killed in the process. After everything the family has gone through, grandma Smurf decides that “J needs to go” and puts a hit out on him. Aware of this, J heads back to talk with Smurf and ends up killing Pope as retaliation for smothering his girlfriend. This ends up cementing his place within the family (not that there are many members left).
Like I said, this was a little slow, but the Australian accents made up for that in a way. And the cast was absolutely amazing, but I look forward to all the action I know the U.S. series has to offer. They seem to follow each other well enough, but you have to make it exciting if you’re dragging a two-hour movie over the course of at least 46 hours of television. I’ll report back as I finish each installment!
Weekend Movie Review – Rewind
After watching zero movies last week, I had to rectify that situation and watch a couple this past weekend. To be fair, I am in the process of watching both seasons of Stranger Things in anticipation of the third season’s premiere July 4th. So that is my excuse for slacking. Also, there really weren’t any movies I was too keen on seeing in the theaters (sorry, Toy Story 4). With that, I decided to see what was available to rent and what I’ve been missing on Netflix.
Read moreLate Night Movie Review
Last night I went and saw Late Night! I know there is still half of 2019 left, but I think I may have just found my favorite film of the year! It just had such a nice mix of everything and a stellar cast. And the hair on my arms stood up towards the end, which I don’t recall happening during any other film I’ve seen so far.
Read moreTV Review: The Society
You guys! I binge-watched a show! And to me, that means I finished it in a week, which is pretty darn good if you ask me! I watched the newest Netflix hit, The Society, and I totally understand why it’s catching.
The show focuses on a very large group of high school students who are on their way to a field trip when a storm turns them around back towards their homes in West Ham, Connecticut. Although it only looks like their hometown, because their parents are nowhere to be found. After realizing that they may be in some sort of alternate universe, they band together to form some semblance of normalcy, or in this case a socialist society. After Allie’s older sister gets murdered, she takes over as the town’s leader, sort of acting as a dictator, but not in a malicious way. They have a guard and assigned jobs and shared housing. Allie’s main concern, after realizing they aren’t going “home” anytime soon, is how to survive the winter.
In the midst of all that are some pretty restless and resentful rich kids who just want their stuff back, oh yeah, and Allie’s diagnosed psychopathic cousin, Campbell who decide they want to run the town instead. The 10-episode run ends with Campbell and his laggies arresting Allie and her right-hand man/boyfriend, Will. A group of teens, including my personal favorite character, Grizz, just made it back from an expedition that found farmland and animals for food to sustain them through the winter. And just when that cliff-hanger shows itself, we learn that all the parents are still alive in the real West Ham with yellow ribbons and a plaque sporting the names of the “missing” teens.
Other characters trajectories are minor, and there are so many cast members, it’s sort of hard to keep track. They do tackle issues such as an abusive relationship, teen pregnancy, and addiction, along with something that is still a struggle for some today, a closeted jock coming to terms with himself.
With all that story line in such few episodes, there are plenty of theories going around about The Society. The most fascinating I’ve seen skittering across the internet involves the fable of the Pied Piper and the town of Hamlin. In this fable, the Pied Piper rids the town of rats, but is not paid for his services. In retaliation, the Pied Piper returns to lure the kids out of the town, never to return. We learn in the show that before the kids of West Ham left for their trip, some of the parents are arguing with a man named Pfiffer about not paying him for ridding their town of a mysterious smell. In German, the name Pfiffer stands for piper. We also learn that Pfiffer was one of the bus drivers. Creepy. So the theory is that Pfiffer took the kids as revenge on the parents. So does that mean the kids are dead?
A few other strong theories include an alternate universe or that they are all dead and in purgatory. Their time in “New Ham” and how they behave will determine whether they go to Heaven or Hell. There are plenty of clues to support each of these theories, but my favorite has to go to the Pied Piper. Whatever the outcome, we better be getting a second season!
TV Binge Review: This Is Us
Just like in the fall, I did the same thing this spring: I let all remaining episodes of This is Us pile up on my DVR because I was too conflicted to watch them. I just know sadness awaits, and I just feel like I’m never ready for that on a weekly basis.
Read moreWeekend Movie Review
No theater movies this weekend (gearing up for all the time I’m about to spend there for Avengers: Endgame), so I vegetated in a recliner and streamed some movies instead!
Read moreMovie Review: Five Feet Apart and Avenues
My sister and I decided to torture ourselves this weekend by going to see Five Feet Apart, a story centering on two teens with Cystic Fibrosis who fall in love. Now, I am slightly more educated on Cystic Fibrosis, as one of my friend’s children is conflicted with this disease. Having that background, I know that these two teens can’t be together, especially given their particular severity. I’m going to keep this short, but spoily: cute and romantic dates, breaking the rules, someone dies from their recklessness, and then they have to separate or really they will both also die. It was sad, but not Fault in Our Stars sad.
On the other end of that spectrum, I watched an indie film written and directed by Michael Angarano (the uncle you love to hate, Nicky, from This Is Us), called Avenues. Michael teamed up with his Sky High and tennis buddy Nicholas Braun (Succession) as two friends who reconnect around the holidays, shortly after a brothers death essentially walking around the city and talking at each other. They meet up with two girls and hang out through the evening. Maybe I was missing something, but the dialogue was odd and even more terribly delivered by Michael Agangaro. It was a short film, but even so, I don’t recommend putting it on your list to watch.
Weekend Movie Review
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.