After another previous weekend of no films, I tried my hardest to make up for it. Here’s hoping I can squeeze in a few more before the end of the month!
Queenpins – It took me a little while longer to catch this comedy than I had anticipated, but like I’ve mentioned, I was pretty busy these past few weeks. Regardless, I did make time for it, and while it wasn’t totally worth it, I still enjoyed the heck out of Paul Walter Hauser. From a distance, this film felt like it should have been an ace in the hole as far as comedies go. Kristen Bell, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, and Vince Vaughn in a film based off of a true story about women scamming the coupon business? The trailer was also hysterical. But the fact that this movie got almost zero advertisement should have tipped me off that it wouldn’t be what I hyped it up to be. Other than Hauser and a cool little The Good Place reunion, not much else happened in this film. I mean, it’s sort of crazy what they were able to accomplish, but the premise didn’t really flesh out in a really successful way. Still worth checking out, just maybe not in the theater.
Copshop – I love me some Frank Grillo, and this man seems to crank out films non-stop, so this movie sort of snuck up on me! Grillo plays some pastel-suit wearing con-man who is on the run for his life. It’s all a little vague until a lot of bad people get holed up in a local police station, and from there the body count starts piling up. Gerard Butler is probably the seller here, but I was taken by Alexis Louder’s good cop just trying to do the right thing. There’s tons of gunfire and I was reminded in a way of 2016’s Free Fire (one of my favorite films that year), so it’s no surprise that I ended up liking this movie. Really, I went into it without watching a trailer or anything, so the action and ultimately the premise was a surprise to me. Frank Grillo was the draw and the fact that it was playing at a local theater sealed the deal. It also helped that its Rotten Tomatoes score was so high. Color me impressed. If you like senseless violence with some fun stars then definitely add this to your list.
Cry Macho – What in the actual heck was this? It’s been a hot minute since Clint Eastwood’s been in front of the camera (2018’s The Mule), and I’m not saying he should stay behind it, but he should pick something better to be the face of next time. This Western was obscenely boring. In fact, there were three moments throughout its murderously slow runtime that I almost got up and left. That almost never happens. Usually if it’s boring I just fall asleep for a little bit, but no, I went early, so sadly I was awake for this whole thing. Eastwood gets roped into going to Mexico to pick up his boss’ son who also comes with a chicken named Macho. Getting into Mexico is an easy feat, and it seems like getting back should be, too, but instead they take a month’s long detour. Eastwood falls in love with a Mexican woman, and since he can’t speak Spanish I have no clue how that relationship is going to last. That’s pretty much all that happens in this flick. Nothing is really fleshed out, there’s a ton of non subtitled dialogue, and the dialogue that does happen was often times almost laughably awful. Hard pass, people. Go watch his last feature, Richard Jewell, instead.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye – Wow. This movie was a lot. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it was just a lot. All of the Bakker rise and fall was done with by the time I was four, so I never knew much about Tammy Faye other than my mother using it to describe some awful make-up on strangers. She was in fact an uber-religious, but ultimately loving human being who got caught up with a man who got caught up with money and all the scandals that can come with it. The prosthetics in this film were crazy and I imagine we’ll see Jessica Chastain snag an Oscar nomination, but I can’t really see the film landing in the best picture race. So much history was covered in this two-hour runtime that I almost wished they would have not covered so much and really dug into certain times in their lives. Regardless of that though, it’s crazy to see how some of these televangelists live. Their way of preaching the bible isn’t for me, but it’s clearly the way for some. Overall a really interesting look into the lives of some colorful characters.
Intrusion – Logan Marshall-Green is one of my favorite actors, and he surprised me this past weekend with a new Netflix thriller! Well count me in! In it, he plays Henry, the attentive husband of the seemingly paranoid, Meena. They’ve got a swanky new and high-tech house in the middle of nowhere in a small town, so naturally she is rattled when their house gets broken into not once, but twice. She’s equally rattled when her husband unleashes deadly force without even flinching. She founds out more secrets, both from Henry and from the town. It was fun trying to piece things together, and that cavernous house was definitely chilling. The critics didn’t really like this film, but I found it very enjoyable. Give me more Marshall-Green in anything!
Kate – Sigh. For as many female-led action flicks that we’ve been given, none of them have been all that memorable, and that sadly includes this latest installment staring Mary Elizabeth Winstead. She’s an awesome actress without playing a badass assassin in a techno-colored Osaka backdrop, but it certainly proves she’s capable of anything, really. In this film though, she plays a woman with just 24-hours to live after finding out she’s been purposely poisoned with some radioactivity. Naturally, she spends that time trying to exact revenge on the person who did it. While most of the film is spent watching her rip through people John Wick style, she does pick up a bratty teen along the way. Luckily, she becomes more likeable as the film progresses. All in all though, nothing gets deep enough to really connect with this film, nor does it quite possess the brashness of other action flicks like it. In fact, I immediately thought of Netflix’s other female-led action film, Gunpowder Milkshake from earlier this year. While they are different, there are lots of parallels, and are ultimately one in the same. Take your pick.
Lady of the Manor – Gosh, I wanted to like Justin Long’s directorial debut with his brother more than I did, but sadly it just fell a little flat for me. Hannah is a stoner who gets hired to work as a tour guide in a local Savannah mansion where she begins to communicate with Lady Wadsworth. It’s clear she’s got some unfinished business, but tries to teach Hannah to be a better person in the process. Long plays a dorky college professor who’s clearly crushing on Hannah, but she’s too busy falling for the douchey owner of the mansion, Tanner. Tanner is played hilariously by Ryan Phillippe, who I’m pretty positive I’ve never seen in a comedy before. He totally nails it and definitely got the most laughs from me, and his costars Melanie Lynskey and Judy Greer are, as usual, a delight to watch. Otherwise though, this film just didn’t do much for me, and that makes me sad. Never giving up on Justin Long, though!