I spent all my efforts of going to the theater on Saturday, so you’re getting a strange mix of things that have been on my DVR for quite some time and some strange streaming choices
Reservoir Dogs – I don’t fully understand the name of this film, but overall it was another very enjoyable Quentin Tarantino film. His first, in fact! In it, we meet a group of gangster, most of whom are going by code names, as they get ready to go on a jewelry heist. We next see Mr. White and Mr. Orange in the aftermath of the heist, which went horribly wrong. Once they get to a warehouse, varying members of the heist show up and chaos ensues. Most of them think the job was a set-up, so it’s trying to figure out who was doing the setting up. As typical with almost every Tarantino film, there is plenty of violence and lots of swearing. That’s why I love Tarantino films. It was a fun crime film that reminded me of Free Fire. A must-watch.
Christmas with the Campbells – Conceptually, I understand that this movie was meant to be a more raunchy rom-com, but overall it just never found a rhythm for me. I was watching it like it was a rom-com, which for the most part it was, but then it was made awkward with overtly sexual comments. Co-written by Vince Vaughn, I suppose I should have suspected as such, but it ultimately just didn’t work for me. Go all in with a raunchy R-rated Christmas movie like The Night Before or Just Friends, or go full rom-com like Holiday in Handcuffs, or the hundreds of others out there. Either way, the film focuses on Jesse, who just got dumped by her boyfriend, Shawn. In an extremely awkward move, she still goes to spend the holiday with Shawn’s family while he’s in New York. While there she ends up falling for Shawn’s cousin, David. Cute enough, but never again.
I Came By – Well, this thriller about teens breaking into rich people’s houses turned out unlike anything I was expecting. I think ultimately I didn’t like it, but I’m still fascinated by the turn it took. And so early on! Toby and Jay have been tagging the walls of the rich with graffiti and their moniker, “I Came By,” until Jay finds out he’s going to be a dad and calls it quits. That doesn’t stop Toby from going to a judge’s house where he gets more than he bargains for when he finds a secret door and someone trapped inside. Things don’t go well for Toby, so we switch to the perspective of his mother, Lizzie. She’s onto the judge and just when you think some justice is going to be served to this racist, murdering well-to-do figure, fate has other plans for her as well. It all comes down to Jay who’s been involved at the start. I didn’t have high hopes for him after what transpired in the 90 minutes before his turn, but again, surprised. There’s definitely some statements being made about the one percent, but I just wish the thrills would have been a little bit more. Intriguing.