April kind of ended up being a poor excuse for watching movies for me, but I did manage to get some in between my travels and many, many concerts.
The Drama – Fun fact, there was an English showing of this in Munich that I bought a ticket for, but when I showed up they told me that they never got the English copy. So, with a free popconr, I sat down and watched the German version of this! In fairness, I had read all the details of the plot of this movie, so I at least had an idea of what was going on, even if the words didn’t make an sense to me. I do look forward to watching this again someday in English, but what I did see will suffice for now.
All That We Love – My friend actually brought this movie to my attention a little while ago, and with a really high Rotten Tomatoes score, I was pleased as punch to see this as a viewing option on my way home from Switzerland! It’s a shame it’s such a generic and frankly forgettable title, because the actual journey in this film was quite lovely. We first catch Emma easing her dog into death, and then find that she’s having a hard time functioning with him gone. She first reverts back to her ex-husband who is newly back in town, then panics at the thought of her daughter leaving for Australia for the foreseeable future, and even tries to get herself a new dog. It almost presents itself as a mid-life crisis, but losing a pet is a major, life-changing event. I loved how real all of the relationships felt, and Margaret Cho was really perfect in this.
All the Devils are Here – This is another movie I heard about a while back, starring top tier character actor Eddie Marsan and Sam Claflin. I didn’t know much about the film, but as another option available on the flight home I didn’t hesitate to queue it up! Ronnie is trying to get out of the crime life, but not before being told to do one last job. The rest of the team is pretty unstable, and with several moments going arwy during the hit, they find themselves stuck waiting for further instruction in a dank house that’s barely holding on. Everyone is a questionable character here, but I can tell you I was absolutely not expecting the ending. Very, very interesting.
You, Me & Tuscany – Seeing as I just got back from the motherland, seeing this cute-looking rom-com became a bit of a priority (also I was desparate to get back to the theater). Ultimately, this did end up being a cute rom-com, but it took a long time for me to get used to how truly terrible Halle Bailey’s acting was. Yikes. Anyway, she plays Anna, a young woman whose life took a significantly different turn after her mother got sick, and now she can’t seem to stop being a house sitter for the wealthy. A chance encounter with an Italian stranger prompts her to cash in on the plane ticket her mother left her and go to Italy with barely more than 500 dollars in the bank. She falls in love with the city, and ultimately the handsome stranger’s cousin, but there are so many lies being juggled it had me STRESSED. Not worth seeing again, but I don’t regret buying a ticket.
Apex – This survival action thriller film was kind of nuts! I think part of that has to do with the fact that it has Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton in it. Something about them just doesn’t go together, but maybe that’s part of what made this movie work. She plays Sasha, an extreme sports type of girl who tragically loses her boyfriend on a climb in Norway. Some time later she’s back in Australia to scatter his ashes, but finds herself prey to Egerton’s Ben. Ben is a psycho, and for as tough an opponent as Sasha is, he often has a leg up on her. But talk about never giving up! Extreme nature movies like this always stress me out, and this was no exception. Perhaps the pacing was a bit up and down at times, but overall this was a wild ride!