The last two weekends I spent more time doing other things, so not too many movies made it in. I know I’m about to pack them in these last two weeks of the year, so you just have to deal with what I managed for now.
The Other Zoey – I rented this and then immediately had doubts. Sure, the cast is hot right now, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to make a good movie. Especially a rom-com drama that never even saw a theater. But I will say, I liked this a lot more than EXmas. Zoey is an uber intelligent snob who doesn’t think love exists except to make corporations a ton of money. I mean, in some cases, she’s not wrong, but even I’m not that big of a Grinch. Love is real and Zoey is about to find that out for herself. She gets her life tangled up in popular soccer star, Zach’s life after he gets amnesia from being hit by a car. He thinks Zoey is his girlfriend Zoey, so she gets invited on a weekend family trip. She only agrees to go because she has the chance to connect with Zach’s cousin Miles, who is basically the male Zoey. Of course you can all guess how this turns out, but I never found myself rolling my eyes or cringing. In fact, I think this film could have stood to be a bit longer to flesh the story out a bit more, but overall I was satisfied.
Quiz Lady – Sandra Oh is one youthful woman! She gets to flex her comedic chops as Jenny, the older sister of Awkwafina’s character, Anne. These sisters couldn’t be anymore opposite of each other. Jenny is happy-go-lucky, always thinking of the next way to get famous, where Anne is a total square. She’s used to routine and that includes never missing an episode of her favorite gameshow, Can’t Stop the Quiz (think Jeopardy meets The Price is Right meets $100,000 Pyramid). Anne has used this show as comfort all her life, starting with her unstable parents and into her lonely adulthood. When their mother gets them into a bind involving their old pug, Mr. Linguini, Jenny convinces Anne that the only way to get the money to save him is to compete on the show. This movie took a while to get going for me, but it ended strong with equal parts laughter and sentimentality.
She Came to Me – What an odd little drama this turned out to be. When I first heard about this movie I thought it might be an Oscar’s contender, but after its release the critics were kind of cold towards it. I can see why. It’s really nothing remarkable or worthy of that honor, but it was interesting. Steven is an opera composer on a deadline for his latest work after a serious blockage and mental breakdown. Now that he’s married to his former therapist, he thinks he’s on the right path but still doesn’t feel he has the proper inspiration. Cue a one night stand with a tugboat captain previously caught for stalking. His wife Patricia is having her own issues, as she slowly is sliding towards her own mental breakdown that lead to the most random career change. Oh yeah, her son is involved in there somewhere too to make this the most strangely wound story I’ve seen on film in quite some time. Not sure that it’s worth the watch, but I promise it will keep you guessing!
Klaus – Sigh. An animated Christmas movie. Yes, it’s one that got nominated for an Oscar back in the day, but still, just not my cup of tea. Why did I watch it, you ask? Well, it was a movie club pick at my workplace, so I participated. Jesper is a spoiled brat who gets sent to some cold an desolate no-man’s land in order to get their post office up and running. If he doesn’t get six thousand letters by the end of the year, he’s cut off from the family fortune. Things aren’t looking good as this small town is split into two families who have been at war with each other forever. One day, Jesper runs into Klaus, a recluse and widowed toy maker who eventually strikes up a business of sorts with Jesper. He offers to donate his toys to the children in town. This brings Klaus joy, helps Jesper get closer to meeting his deadline, and is bringing the feuding families together. It’s not all rainbows and butterflies of course, but this was a clever take on how Old Saint Nick came to be. I had a hard time believing kids actually enjoyed watching this movie, but there was an audience for it somewhere back in 2019.