A new month means new movies! I think February is actually shaping up to have a lot of quality offerings!
Argylle – Man, I really wanted to fall in love with Matthew Vaughn’s latest film, but it just missed the mark for me overall. It felt like they utilized the “yes, and” technique a few too many times in this script, thus making it a bit long-winded. Author Elly Conway is a big hit with her fans, and also with a spy agency whose every move she seems to be predicting in real time. Though an old Twitter post essentially gave away the twist of this movie, it was still great fun getting there. A solid cast made this worthwhile and I’m down for anything that possibly expands the Kingsman universe. Though this offering might best be viewed at home.
The Zone of Interest – One of two best picture nominees I had left to watch included this highly lauded German drama. And now I can totally understand why! It’s understated, which makes its horrors all that more chilling and disturbing. We follow the family of Rudolf Hoss, a commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Though we never see him at the camp, we instead get a look into the life of his family, whose extravagant home has been built right beside the camp. It is kind of unbelievable to see how unfazed they are living next to the horrors taking place not even fifty yards away.
Origin – Admittedly, I had absolutely no knowledge of the nonfiction novel this film was based on, but I definitely want to check it out now! In this film, we meet author Isabel Wilkerson who is tasked with writing a piece on Trayvon Martin. After some personal tragedies delay this effort, she believes she can connect three awful events: the bigotry faced in the Holocaust, the people of India, and black people in America. She thinks a lot of what people are facing is not a result of racism, but rather that’s a product of a caste system. I found this film to be both emotional and really thought-provoking and it’s a shame that it didn’t get more attention in all of the recent awards recognition. I highly recommend giving this a watch.
Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia – Why would I watch another racing movie so soon after Ferrari? Great question. I guess I’m a fool for Daniel Bruhl, and though this movie had it’s moments, it ultimately paled in comparison to others I’ve seen over the years. It’s first pitfall was how similar it was compared to Ferrari. Also, most of this film was spoken in Italian, German, and French with no subtitles available. Kind of made the story a little hard to follow aside from the action taking place on the raceway. In any case, if you like fast cars, this is for you.