Thoughts on 5 Films

1. You People - I actually thought this was kind of cute. It's a little overdone, and the leads have absolutely zero chemistry together, but I like what it's trying to do and there are some laugh-out-loud moments that makes it worth the watch. It's like a modern day Guess Who's Coming to Dinner without being a direct remake. It also has a fantastic cast. Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, David Duchovny and Nia Long!! Sign me up. Plus Molly Gordon and Andrea Savage (in way too small of a role). As I said, the leads don't have chemistry but I still like both Jonah Hill and Lauren London (she has THE BEST laugh). I will say, though, that this look on Hill, is not working. And when they show up on that first date together, they both look like fucking clowns. There are some really strong scenes and memorable dialogue that I think attempts to bring these two cultures together while also showing the differences and the microaggressions that happen between different cultures. Julia's character is the perfect example of someone who thinks they are being kind and open to diversity, but she's still racist. You never really hate her; she's certainly not a bad person, but she's still racist. When he tells her "you're talking to her as a black person instead of my girlfriend", and she is so oblivious to it - it's just a really well-done character. I also like that it subverts certain clichés and instead opts for the unexpected - like when Murphy's character tries to humiliate him by taking him to the basketball game and then he ends up being really good at basketball (I cheered! It's a cute scene). I did have some issues with a few things - first, Sam Jay is not funny (the not funny announcer at last year's Emmys and a writer for SNL - enough said). Second, they lost me when she described her brand new mini-cooper as an "inexpensive car". I realize that money is not an issue for either of them, but I would never describe a *new* car as inexpensive (it's at least 20k? an "inexpensive car" to me would be a used car at least a decade old that you bought for 4k in cash). Third, Nia Long is not old enough to be Lauren London's mom. For real. They are only 14 years apart! And last, why do they keep talking about having kids so casually? She is 39 years old - unless she's got some eggs frozen somewhere that's not very likely to happen. I know that it does happen, but I feel like the more realistic conversation should be about how they can still do that and what the timeline looks like if that's what they want (not "well, if we have kids...", as if they haven't really thought about it yet). Anyway, overall I did like this more than I thought I would. It's cute! 

2. All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) - Just wonderful. The score is absolutely incredible - I couldn't get it out of my head for days. It's attention-grabbing and harrowing, much like the film itself. I'm honestly not sure if I've seen the original? I feel like I must have between my grandfather always making me watch war movies as a kid and taking a multitude of film classes in college - I think it's safe to say that I have, but I certainly don't remember it nor can I discern it from any other war movie I watched when I was younger. However, I do think that somehow the film industry is still able to make war movies interesting - between Dunkirk, Hacksaw Ridge, and 1917, there's still plenty of room for them. I will admit that I did start to lose interest about 1/2 way through because the story has been done so many times, but damn, it's still so beautiful to look at. The scene with the tank driving over the trenches - just stunning! Just a really well-made film that definitely should have been seen on a big screen (especially with that score and sound design). It's actually shocking that it's a Netflix movie. Also, I didn't realize Daniel Bruhl is in this! He's great. But what a stunning debut performance from Felix Kammerer. 

3. Three Thousand Years of Longing - This is rather ridiculous and quite boring, which is surprising given the leads. I expected something more unexpected, more profound. I actually didn't know Idris Elba was in this? You can't really tell that's him in the poster. But I always expect something more from Tilda Swinton. It's just really stupid - she discovers a djinn who offers her three wishes, but she's convinced it's a trick and that anything she wishes for will end badly for her. She claims that she lives a content life so she doesn't want to tempt fate. I could literally think of 3 wishes in 3 seconds flat. And don't even pretend like you wouldn't wish for money - I wouldn't even be gluttonous about it. Just enough to live comfortably and be able to travel the world. Anyway, the effects are also absolutely terrible. It's almost hard to look at. And there are scenes that I think should have been subtitled. It's not exactly necessary because I understood what was happening with context, but it's frustrating. Anyway, I really didn't enjoy this at all, but it did get interesting with her bigot neighbors at the end. I feel like if more of the present day story was set outside that hotel room, I would have enjoyed it more. I like the idea of "stories make meaning", but his stories are soooooo boring. I almost wanted to fast-forward through them. 

4. Vengeance - I've always liked B.J. Novak so I was interested to see his feature film directorial debut. Although I question the judgement of anyone who willingly refers to himself as "B.J." (his name is Benjamin Joseph. Why not just Ben? You're gonna go with B.J.??? Really?). This movie had mostly good reviews and a terrific supporting cast (Issa Rae, Lio Tipton, Boyd Holbrook. But also...Ashton Kutcher and John Mayer...eek). I was a little nervous with the beginning because the scene with Novak and Mayer is so hard to watch. It just doesn't sound like a real, natural conversation. Although I do think that this is the way these influencer/podcaster type individuals talk to each other, I just find it grating. It's like when people use the phrase "I love that for me" (the only one who pulls off talking like this successfully is Annie from Schitt's Creek), my skin crawls and my face starts to twitch. I'm also not on the podcast bandwagon. People really believe they are interesting enough to talk for an hour, and most...are not. Also, John Mayer kind of creeps me out a little bit, even though I don't have a solid reason for it. He just seems off to me (also mini-story time: one time I got tickets for an invite-only Justin Timberlake concert, and John Mayer played the guitar the whole time. I think I was the only one in the room who noticed. I said to my friend "that's John Mayer" and she said "I don't think so" and other people heard me and nodded their head in disagreement, as if I was crazy. And then at the end of the show Justin said "thanks to my good friend John Mayer" and the crowd was all shocked. It was so weird because it's not like he was in disguise or anything). Also, this particular type of true-crime podcast really gets under my skin. They are just mostly so disrespectful (the one in this is aptly titled "Dead White Girl", which sounds offensive, but there is a real podcast called "My Favorite Murder". For real! Look it up!). It does start to get interesting, though, and I actually really enjoyed where the story goes. I think Novak is trying to do something here with uniting "city folks" and "middle America" (i.e the left and the right, typically). It's smart that he uses Texas as the main location - a state that is often the focus of elections because it it typically considered conservative and yet there are major cities like Austin and Dallas that are definitely more liberal (this is how New York is too, but nobody wants to admit it. NYC may be liberal but travel an hour north and you are in a very conservative state). There are some really funny moments (my favorite is "Schindler's List! You look like a lot of guys in that movie!" I didn't even realize that B.J. was Jewish, but that made me LOL for a good long minute). I do think it would have benefitted from more laugh out loud moments like that, but overall, I was entertained for its entirety. There are interesting characters, a fun mystery, and it's quite dark and subversive. Also, how did I not know that about Six Flags??? I thought for sure "no way", but I looked it up and it's TRUE! Holy moly. 

5. M3GAN - So incredibly stupid, but also fun and it's one of those horror movies that doesn't take itself too seriously. It does what it sets out to do, and I always have respect for that. It's like Chucky and Annabelle with a little evil Short Circuit thrown in. I think the biggest mistake, though, is that the main character, played by Allison Williams, is very, very unlikeable and I rooted for her death. She shows, like, zero emotion when her own sister dies. She's supposed to be a genius, but when asked "You didn't put in parental controls?" she responds "I didn't have time!". LOL. She had time to build the most advanced robot toy in the world, but didn't have time to add something that a simple Smart TV has?? Okay...sure. And then she advocates for her neighbor's dog to be PUT DOWN instead of just fixing a simple hole in her fence??? And we are supposed to root for her??? Uh...no fucking way. ANYWAY, I definitely expected more kills and more gore, but what we do get is fantastic. When she does *the dance* and then picks up the blade from the paper cutter, it's pure horror fun and will go down in horror history as an iconic scene (but again, it's incredibly stupid that there is a gigantic paper cutter in the middle of the hallway. Why is it there? And why would this gigantic tech company need a paper cutter? Do they even use paper??? For what?? Even my place of work has gone mostly paperless. We do have a paper cutter that we use for signage when we have promotions, but that's literally it. I can't think of a single reason this company would have a paper cutter in their hallway). It's super cheesy, a little creepy and definitely campy. And I was entertained for all of it.