I’ll keep it brief since I managed to sneak in a crap load of movies this weekend! Nothing like loading up on the last few weeks of the year.
The Gentlemen – Since last week’s Charlie Hunnam encounter I feel that it only makes sense that I would be obsessing over everything he’s been a part of. What better way to start than with this incredible crime film by Guy Ritchie?! The cast is insanely talented, and this film manages to mix action with the central crime, along with classic British humor. I love this film, and I promise you will, too!
Get Duked! – Oh man do I love this movie! Now watching it for probably the fourth time, I’m catching more and more little hilarious details. Some of them are really sinister in nature, which is such clever foreshadowing for what’s to come for these guys. In any case, four boys take off through the Scottish Highlands to earn the Duke of Edinburgh Award when they stumble into a fight for their lives. Whether it’s now or back when I first watched it, nothing changes with how creative this concept is, nor how hilarious it is! Did I also mention that it has a killer soundtrack?! (Run the Jewels fans, rejoice)! Please, please go watch this if you have Amazon Prime Video.
Last Looks – I’m not crazy about the name of this film, even though it’s the same name of the 2018 novel it’s based on. It just doesn’t really tell you much. Anyways, Charlie Waldo, a former LAPD officer was once at the top of his game, then fully disgraced over the course of his short-lived career. His ex-lover finds him living the simple life just outside of bustling LA and asks him to help clear the name of well-known actor, Alistair Pinch. Everyone thinks he’s killed his wife, but the story that unfolds is a much more complicated one than that. Every character is very unique here, and the cast is actually quite impressive. With all that talent though, the story never quite gelled all the way for me. It’s a better version of the recent Confess, Fletch, but not something I’ll be checking out again in the future.
Spoiler Alert – I did know ahead of time that this movie, based off the memoir of a similar name, was going to be sad. A lot of it was happy, but that still didn’t stop me from crying. A lot. Michael meets the man of his dreams, Kit, and they spend the next 15 years together before Kit tragically gets diagnosed with stage four cancer. If my prior statements weren’t any indication, it doesn’t end well. It was nice seeing how their relationship progressed, went through natural deterioration, and ultimately ended with them closer then they’d probably ever been before. It just goes to show you’ve got to capitalize on all the time you have with someone. Bring your tissues to this one, because even the happy moments my make you tear up.
The Fabelmans – Admittedly, I had been putting off this film for several weeks because of the runtime. Even though Speilberg has a terrific track record, a personal story that goes that long could run the risk of getting too tedious. For sure some things could have been cut out of this tale, but I found the whole thing really engrossing. It was a pretty basic drama, about a boy who sees his first (wildly inappropriate) movie, and his life revolves around that from there. His parents are both very different from each other, but ultimately neither ever truly tell him to give up on his dreams. He’s just too dang talented! It’s a supremely random cast, but one that works so well together! I highly recommend to all the families out there this holiday season.
Violent Night – Got to keep it festive and brash this holiday season. I might have been a little too tired to appreciate this fully, but I did enjoy it. Somehow though, this movie managed to tow the line between a family holiday adventure and a raunchy action-comedy. How strange! David Harbor plays a disgruntled, disenchanted, and very drunk Santa Claus out to fulfill his annual duty to all the good and bad children of the world. He’s come to resent kids, as they are always looking for the next thing without truly stopping to appreciate what they have. He gets roped into more than he bargained for when a very rich family’s compound gets invaded by ruthless thieves. Despite how awful most of this family is, there is no tainting Trudy’s innocence, and Santa makes it his mission to help her.