In between the Cleveland International Film Festival, I made some room for other new films!
Prom Pact – Make fun of me all you want for watching a teenage-based Disney Channel Original Movie, but it happened. And truthfully, it wasn’t that bad! I just knew that this scheming rom-com would be something up my alley. In it, star student Mandy just finds out she’s been wait-listed at Harvard, where she’s been dreaming of attending to make world-changing impact since she was a kid. She also learns that star basketballer and top jock, Graham Lansing’s state senator father is a Harvard alumni. She let’s her best friend Ben know of the plan to offer up tutoring to Graham to get close enough to request a letter of recommendation from his father. The tutoring comes easily enough, but it’s no surprise that these two catch feelings for each other. In her quest for her goal, Mandy hurts a lot of people, but it wouldn’t be a DCOM if everything didn’t work out in the end. It gave off very strong The Duff vibes, but not as good. Still no regrets watching it.
Boston Strangler – While I’m sure there are plenty of serial killers out there now, it’s crazy how many high-profile ones existed back in the day. The Boston Strangler, originally sold as the Boston Phantom, is one such killer I didn’t really know much about. What this movie did teach me is that this guy was brutal. Aside from strangling at least thirteen women of the course of a couple of years, he also mutilated their bodies in an extremely disturbing way. The tone of this movie reminded me a lot of David Fincher’s Zodiac, but with a little less mystery around it (naturally). What’s crazy is that a lot of the progress made in the case against the Strangler came from the hard work and dedication of two reporters, Loretta McLoughlin and Jean Cole. These women were not putting up with the stupid games at the police department. I highly recommend.
John Wick: Chapter 4 – I don’t know if this is a spoiler for anyone else, but evidently this is the last installment of this awesome ass-kicking franchise?! The ending sure seems to indicate as such, but I suppose anything is possible. In this chapter, Wick’s “death” is short-lived when he tries and fails early on to earn his freedom again. This just makes his presence known to the High Table again, along with another bounty. The Marquis of the High Table though, enlists the service of one of Wick’s old friends for his head. There are essentially three main battles to this film: in Osaka, Berlin, and finally, Paris. Having just been to Paris it was really cool seeing all the sights I was just at! Also, one of Wicks’ final obstacles hit really close to home, both hilariously and somewhat depressingly. Just like all the other installments, this film was awesome, action-packed, and maybe the highest death toll yet!