The final push for the first of the year is here and I’m still doing a pretty mediocre job of it. Still, I made some time at the theaters this weekend, though I couldn’t bring myself to sit through The Brutalist yet.
Flight Risk – Having only just seen this trailer for the first time a few weeks ago, I was intrigued by this bald cap wearing Mark Wahlberg as a bad guy in the sky, so I took my happy ass to see this on Friday. Well, it was something. From a very, very high level, it was a fun movie. But if I sit too long with anything about it…it kind of sucked. Firstly, the cast was truly one of the most random and unmatched I’ve ever seen. There were times where it felt like they were given scripts to three different movies. Then, as funny as the bald cap was, it also looked atrociously applied. Like, come on. Anyway, the premise of the film is that a US Marshall has just gathered a witness to go against a major crime family and needs to get him from Alaska to Seattle ASAP. The private plane they charter to get back is being flown by a criminal intent on the informant not making the journey. It had its moments, but Mel Gibson can do better as a director.
Presence – The marketing for Steven Soderbergh’s latest film was genius. It made you think you were about to watch the scariest film out there, but really it was just a family drama featuring a ghost. Think of 2015’s A Ghost Story, only no humor. And listen, I’m not complaining. I loved this film! At first, the cinematography took me some time to get used to, but once I did, it was really neat watching this story unfold from the ghost’s perspective. A family has just moved into a home after the daughter has lost her best friend to a drug overdose. She seems to have some sort of connection to the ghost, but a session with a medium lends some more insight. That’s all I’m willing to say so I don’t ruin the viewing experience of this creative film. A must-watch!
Bad Genius – I’m kind of mad at myself for not realizing this was an American remake of a critically acclaimed Thai film! That just means I’ll have to watch it some day, because from what I understand there are some differences between the two, though overall the plot remains the same. Lynn is a genius who’s just landed a scholarship at an insanely good high school. Her dream is to audition for Julliard, while her father would rather she use her gifts at MIT. They are poor, so in order to make her dreams a reality, she offers help cheating in exchange for cash. She agrees to pull off the biggest scheme when her and her core group of “friends” conspire to cheat the SAT. The fact that this was based off a real life scandal is crazy. Just study y’all…
Shortcomings – I’m so glad I got to revisit this Sundance film for my work’s movie club! Ben, an aspiring filmmaker, is kind of a miserable guy. He’s jealous and hypocritical, and even his loving cousin is eventually over his “woe is me” antics. It takes him a long time to grow as a person, but the revelations he does make are profound ones. I love that this was Randall Park’s directorial debut! I did not realize that this film was adapted from a graphic novel, though – how cool!