Though June is gearing up to have a ton of awesome theatrical releases, none of those happened to be this weekend. Instead, I got to check out some new hits and some old favorites!
Hit Man – Gary is a fairly nerdy and lonely college professor in New Orleans, but we also learn that he loves tinkering with electronics and is therefore used to help in undercover operations for the local police force. On one such outing, he is asked to act as a hit man because one of their co-workers was suspended. It turns out Gary has a knack for being someone he’s not and bagging a bunch of people putting out hits on other people. This all goes swimmingly until he meets the attractive and seemingly unassuming Madison who’s just trying to get out a smothering relationship. He talks her out of it and then starts down the dangerous trail of dating his former suspect. Gary is not the only master manipulator here, and while I wasn’t totally satisfied with the ending, this was a really fun watch.
Club Zero – I really wanted to like this quirky dramatic thriller, but it was just a little too slow for my taste. Ms. Novak is the new teacher at a school for “difficult” children, where she leads a nutrition class. “Conscious eating” is her specialty, but she’s really just teaching these teens to starve themselves. As it goes on though, it’s clear that Ms. Novak is almost like a cult leader and these teens are more susceptible to her charms. They get sucked into Novak’s world and feel special and all sorts of other twisted things. The ending was a little vague for me – did these kids commit suicide together or did they leave with their teacher to start a legitimate cult outside of school grounds. I don’t know that anyone I know would find this movie appealing, but I applaud it for its uniqueness.
Godzilla: Minus One – I am so thrilled that this is finally available to watch somewhere! I didn’t want to spend twenty dollars to stream this because when the physical media becomes available in the United States I WILL be owning it. Still, a re-watch just proves why it was a last-minute addition to my top ten list for best films of 2023. Yes, it’s a movie about a monster that we’ve seen on screen way too many times, but this time it was done right. The CGI isn’t atrocious, and maybe equally as important as the actions scenes is the heart wrenching historical drama they baked into this. There aren’t too many films in this genre that made me feel the things I felt here. Since then this film has won an Oscar and I hope they get the time and funds to make more high quality entries in this franchise.
The Gentleman – As I’ve just started watching the Guy Ritchie series based on his 2019 movie I just couldn’t help but pop this in again over the weekend. I’ve felt a little un-excited about watching some new things I’ve got in the wings, so I consider this to be a comfort film at this point. As of now, the show is just okay, but this movie will always be perfect. It’s funny, action-packed, and filled to the brim with quick and witty dialogue. I hope I can get my workplace’s movie club to get this in at some point.