Ah, all the new movies! And some old favorites, too! Here’s what I was able to watch this weekend and what’s worth your time.
The Green Knight – This medieval adventure film was a wonder to behold. I have personally been looking forward to seeing this A24 entry for quite some time, but obviously the pandemic played a hand with its delay. Truthfully, I’m glad they waited to give this film a theatrical release though, because all its grandeur deserves to be seen on a screen as large as possible. The whole movie had a very eerie quality to it, had me feeling a little anxious, and was honestly expecting to jump out of my seat at some point. That never happened, but the anticipation of that is what kept the events in this film really interesting. Based off of a poem, the film follows Gawain, King Arthur’s nephew, as he first cuts the head off of some tree-creature, and then as he journeys to into the woods a year later to see the blow returned. That journey through the woods is something. I seemed to have forgotten how awesome this supporting cast was, so that was a pleasant surprise! This is certainly not a movie for everyone, but if you’re up for it, I highly recommend it – one of my favorites of the year!
Stillwater – One can’t help but think of Amanda Knox when hearing about this Matt Damon led drama. He plays a man named Bill, about as American as they come, who starts off the film travelling to France to visit his daughter. Who’s in prison. For murdering her roommate. We’re not here at the beginning of this saga, but somewhere in the middle, five years after Allison’s arrest. She thinks she’s found some information about the guy she believes actually killed her roommate slash lover, Lina, but she doesn’t want Bill involved. Obviously after five years, lawyers are less inclined to do much about this anymore, so Bill takes it upon himself. After a bad encounter with the “true” murderer, Allison cuts Bill out but he’s not leaving just yet. A larger part of the film is about him connecting with a French woman and her young daughter. I’m sure his relationship with the young girl is supposed to represent what could have been with his own daughter growing up, but all he can do is be there for her now. And that’s what he continues to do throughout the film. This thing was painfully long, but decent. I suppose you could go back and revisit archival footage, documentaries, and Lifetime movies about the Amanda Knox case instead.
Jungle Cruise – When I first heard about this movie it wasn’t something I had any intention on seeing, but then I found out that Jesse Plemons was set to play the villain and that just turned it around for me! Was it a good choice to go see this very Disney film? Yes and no. There were certainly entertaining bits, but in my eyes it dragged on a little bit and the chemistry between Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson just wasn’t quite there. I much rather enjoyed all the screen time Jack Whitehall got instead! Anyways, this film was based off of a Disney ride (will wonders never cease?) and it’s about a quest to find a healing petal from a tree. There’s a trip down the Amazon river, some gimmicks, the greedy and bad German, and some undead fighters from back in the day. Was I shocked and happy to see Edgar Ramirez as one of the undead? You bet! There was some decent adult humor peppered throughout, but ultimately this quest is not something I’d care to see again in my future. I’m sure I’m a little bit alone on that opinion, but I suppose you can be the judge of that.
The Last Letter From Your Lover – Romance movies and me sometimes mix really well and sometimes they don’t. I’d say this time out I landed somewhere very much in the middle. We flip between the present and the 1960s, where we initially meet socialite Jennifer who is dealing with memory loss after a car accident. The events leading up to the car accident are revealed to have spawned from romantic letters written between her and a journalist named Anthony. The two are having an affair, as Jennifer doesn’t really love her husband. It seems like fate is constantly intervening on Jennifer and Anthony’s relationship though, and it turns out the two never end up together. All of these events are of course being uncovered in the present day by Ellie, who herself, has tried to distance herself from love. Of course this tragic love story inspires her own successful one! Definitely some eyeroll-worthy moments here, but it’s sweet and touts a stellar cast. For a Netflix film you could be watching much worse.
Burn – Well this movie started weird and stayed that way until the very end. Melinda is a certified weirdo who works the late shift at a gas station. She takes a lot of pictures of a local cop and gets tormented by her co-worker. All seems to be going pretty normal during this particular shift until a man named Billy comes in to rob the store. He’s pretty cavalier about the whole thing, but when Melinda goes to get him more money from the safe is when things start to take a turn. Lots of people end up dead, and there are some other wildly uncomfortable scenes that take place, as well. Certainly not the strangest movie I’ve seen, but definitely up there as one of the worst of the year so far. Watch at your own risk.
Fired Up! – The fact that this comedy came out in 2009 makes my skin crawl, but I welcomed the laughs from this one! Nick and Shawn are popular jocks who are all about the hook-up, so what better way to up their tally then by going to cheer camp?! Yes, that is the premise of this comedy, and I recognize that so much about it doesn’t fly in this day and age, but there are still plenty of moments that had me cackling like I’ve never seen this before. Nick and Shawn get on the team and end up really helping out the squad while also actually getting into it themselves. Obviously a real romance has to come out of this, otherwise what’s the point? But there are definitely obstacles along the way. My personal favorite scene in this film has got to be when the guys are running back from a skinny dipping session at the lake only to get stopped and forced to do a cheer. This is 100 percent a dumb comedy, but I find it comforting to watch from time to time.