Almost all of this weekend’s viewings were winners.
Shotgun Wedding – Of course I say that they were all winners and then most of what I tell you I watched over the weekend were not critically acclaimed at all. But you know what? Sometimes that doesn’t matter and you just watch what interests you. With that being said, JLo’s recent rom-coms have NOT been doing it for me. Remember last year’s Marry Me? Trash. Thankfully, this was a much more tolerable watch. No, I did not laugh as much as they were probably expecting me to, but what I liked most about it was that it wasn’t just about JLo. Josh Duhamel as her soon to be husband had just as much screen time, and the supporting players were a hoot. The couple is just about to call off their destination wedding…in the Philippines…when the guests get held hostage by some pirates. They work together to do whatever it takes to save their family and friends, and obviously, each other. Cute.
Teen Wolf: The Movie – I was so sad that this came out the same weekend I had to watch all of my Sundance films, but you bet this is the first thing I pulled up on Friday night. Even though only seven years have passed, it’s somehow fifteen years into the future in Teen Wolf world, and that means a lot of people have left Beacon Hills. But, a lot of people have stayed and some season three bad guys are back. They help Scott and the gang reconnect and raise Alison from the dead, but she doesn’t remember anything other than that her family hunts werewolves. That’s bad news for Scott, Derek, and his son, Eli. It’s crazy how much of the cast came back for this, and yes, I’m devastated that Dylan O’Brien couldn’t, but overall it was great! The thing about a movie though is that there is only so much screen time and plot line that can be covered, so my main takeaway is that I WANT MORE!!! Probably won’t happen, but a girl can dream.
Knock at the Cabin – Although I haven’t fully read the book, The Cabin at the End of the World, that this new M. Nigh Shyamalan film is based on, I still high level knew what it was about. That’s why I wasn’t that confident that the movie would land. I was wrong. Almost 8 year old Wen meets a hulking Leonard outside her family’s vacation cabin rental in the middle of the Pennsylvania woods, and that’s when everyone’s lives drastically changes. Leonard is joined by three others (the Four Horsemen, if you will), and let Wen and her parents, Ben and Andy know that one of them must sacrifice themselves in order to save the world from the apocalypse. Yeah…I wouldn’t be believing them either. The rest of the film is taut, devastating, and quite emotional. Go watch!
80 for Brady – Name and concept alone this movie would have been a hard no for me, but the trailer made me laugh a lot. I also learned that 2020’s The Climb, Kyle Marvin and Michael Covino were involved, so that’s really all it took. Overall, this was a heartfelt, cute, and quite funny film about four 80 year old women making their way to the 2017 Super Bowl to see their favorite player, Tom Brady. He’s helped these women through some tough times and they all just want an adventure. Of course it’s not all that simple, but hijinks ensue and I was laughing a ton with the rest of the audience. Family friendly watch for all.
Infinity Pool – On the complete opposite end of family friendly is Brandon Cronenberg’s latest film, but you know I was on board. We meet James and Em on vacation in the fictional Li Tolqa, a poor country with a nice resort for the richest of the world. They soon meet Gabi and Alban, the former of whom is a fan of James’ one and only book. From there, the quad spend the day together outside of the resort’s compound, but things get really, really complicated when James hits and kills someone on the way back. In prison, he learns that for a large sum of money, he can have a clone of himself made so that the firstborn of the aggrieved family can kill it. Similar to Cronenberg’s prior film, my favorite, Possessor, this movie takes some strange, dark, languid, and sexual twists. Not quite as good as its predecessor, but I liked it a lot.
Love in Country – Okay, from a high level perspective I understand that this is a unique story representing a good deal of the population. Ian and John are two soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War, while at the same time they are discovering more about who they are and their attraction towards each other. The queer community has always been a part of America’s wartime history, so it was neat to see this story told in tandem with the dangers of the war. With that being said, this whole film just felt sort of awkward. The acting wasn’t smooth at times and while there was chemistry there, at times it felt forced.