It wasn’t the most fruitful weekend watching movies, but it was still full of solid choices.
Promising Young Woman – Nothing like squeezing this one in the night before my work’s movie club was set to discuss it! Not that I haven’t seen this masterpiece a number of times since its release at the end of 2020, but it actually has been a while and I wanted to refamiliarize myself with the details. And good thing I did, because the details are so good! I forgot what an amazing color palette was used throughout the film. Candy coated everything to contrast heavily against the serious subject matter. But the story is still amazing. Cassie, a med school drop out, is set on exacting revenge to those who stood idly by while her best friend lost the will to live after everyone went against her testimony of sexual assault. Just when the film has you fooled into thinking Cassie can finally get past it, it takes a sharp turn. This one definitely led to a great group discussion!
Sinners – Absolutely died of laughter at the end of this film where my friend said she had no clue this movie was about vampires. Friends, if you saw the second trailer, like apparently I had a dozen times, then you definitely know this movie is about vampires. But it’s expertly woven into the 1920s of the South where the KKK is running rampant still. Twins Smoke and Stack are back from Chicago with some mob money to open up a juke club, so they enlist the help of many former allies, along with their cousin, an extremely talented blues musician, to get everything in order by that night. In this particular film, music brings joy, but it is also responsible for opening up this realm to evil, and that comes knocking in the form of vampires. There’s plenty of bloodshed, but the acting is superb along with the score. Not a single second of this film is wasted and I can see myself revisiting this one in the fall. I am kind of surprised they didn’t save it for an October release, but I’m not mad I got to see it now. Stick around for a mid and post credits scene!
Ex-Husbands – Having never heard of this movie prior to scrolling through Google Play’s weekly offerings, I saw three guys I knew on the poster, so it didn’t take much for me to rent this one. Admittedly, I was a little nervous that I picked a boring dud as the first several minutes passed, but then the dialogue picked up and the characters started showing more of themselves. Griffin Dune commands the screen here even though James Norton and Miles Helzer were bigger draws for me. Dune plays Peter, and NYC dentist who is a sucker for everlasting love. That’s why he’s floored when his dad announces he’s getting divorced from his mom, and then six years later can’t believe he’s also about to sign his own divorce papers. In an effort to not let life pass him by, he heads to Tulum the same weekend his youngest son is throwing a bachelor party for his eldest son nearby. It’s not a smooth road for any of them, and I certainly think they could benefit from therapy, but these men all come together when it matters.