Similar to the rest of the year, March has been almost equally as inconsistent with my movie viewing. Or maybe I’m just being lazy in my weekly recaps. Anyway, here’s the haul from the first two weekends.
Last Breath – This movie came seemingly out of the blue. I didn’t see any of its stars advertising their involvement in it, nor did I stumble across any interviews. Or see a trailer for that matter! But still, when I see Woody Harrelson, I’m intrigued. It’s also cool seeing Animal Kingdom’s Finn Cole getting some leading work outside of television, so I decided to give it my time in the theater. What I appreciated immensely about the film is that there didn’t seem to be a minute wasted. The main event takes place within the first twenty minutes. That is a real event, by the way. Deep sea immersion diver, Chris Lemons is left without oxygen or anything else to survive at bottom of the ocean for 30 minutes. Spoiler, he was rescued without any repercussions and still dives to this day. Wild stuff.
Burning – I don’t know why I put off watching this film for so long! It’s been on my radar since it came out in 2018, but for whatever reason I kept putting it off. At least until I saw one of its leading men, Yoo Ah-in in the film, Veteran. Yes, he’s recently been in some rather hot water personally, but he’s still quite magnetic to watch. Similarly here, he commands the screen as a somewhat “simple” man getting sucked into the life of an old classmate, and then perhaps into the life of a serial killer or sex trafficker. After consulting some Reddit threads, I think it’s the latter, but it did lead to some pretty detailed discussions. Steven Yeun is equally as magnetic, and newcomer Jeon Jong-seo holds her own. This is definitely a slow burn, but I promise it’s a satisfying one.
Inheritance – It’s hard to keep track of all the recent films out there referencing this word in its title. Will I remember what this particular film was about at the end of the year? Maybe not. Perhaps it’s because The Inheritance with Peyton List creeped me out so much, but even still, I’d really have to give a hard think on what this film is about. Firstly, Phoebe Dynevor does a fantastic job playing an American, which she does again here. She plays Mia, a young woman who just got done taking care of her terminally ill mother for the past eight months when her absent father shows up at the funeral telling her he wants to help her get into high end real estate. Okay…her love for him must be unconditional because that was random as hell. And then throughout the rest of the film he proves time and time again why he shouldn’t be trusted, but Mia maybe isn’t as soft or naive as we think. A good time!
Mickey 17 – For as long as this movie has been in development, I can’t but feel slightly disappointed in its outcome. Yes, almost all of Bong Joon-ho’s filmography deals a little bit in the world of fantasy, so that’s not always my favorite genre. It also reminded me too much of Okja, even though these creatures had a smaller role (or screen time at least). Robert Pattinson plays Mickey Barnes, desperate to get out of a bad money situation on earth, so he signs up to be an expendable on a mission to inhabit a new planet. He’s basically a human lab rat, but luckily there are others on the ship who actually care about his well being. Mark Ruffalo is perhaps the MVP here for his Tr*mp impressions, some of which felt almost identical to events that played out during this past election. Though I doubt that ass would realize he was the butt of this joke regardless of how obvious it is. And I can’t imagine many of his supporters will be checking this film out. That’s okay, Joon-ho made it for the right audience.
The Childe – What is there left for me to say about this film that I love so very much? Nothing. So go watch it!
F*** Marry Kill – My sister has been scouring the theaters and streamers for this film for months until it finally landed on VOD. Though it stars Lucy Hale, I can’t say I’m that surprised at the quality. She seemed primed to become a big star, but it feels like almost all of her projects are flops. Here too, this one was a bit hard to sit through. She plays Eva, a single 30 year old who’s just agreed to get back out on the dating scene. She’s got several suiters at once, so her friends tell her she’s in a “f***, marry, kill” situation. Only, people really are being killed and it seems likely that it’s by one of the guys she’s dating. It’s hard to eliminate any of them because they’ve all got their concerning quirks. The real killer wasn’t much of a surprise, so you should spend your time more wisely watching Heart Eyes instead.