Thoughts on 5 Films

1. Opus - There are certainly some interesting things about this movie, but overall, I think it's a bit of a mess. I appreciate the effort to make something original, though. And there is a very strong cast here. I'm excited for Ayo to be in films, but so far...not so good. She's good, but the two films I've seen her in so far have both been 2 stars (I may have even rated Omni Loop 1 star, I don't remember). John Malkovich is the most John Malkovich he's been since Being John Malkovich. He makes this movie watchable - and I'm shocked how good that pop song actually is. Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, etc., all have their moments, but I wish they didn't under-utilize Amber Midthunder (I'm not sure if she even has any dialogue?). The story starts off a bit like Almost Famous mixed with The Menu, which is, like I said, interesting. And then it turns into this story of this pop star turned cult leader, which seems outrageous, but Tom Cruise is STILL one of the most popular action stars in the world (not a cult leader per say, but STILL IN A CULT and RECRUITS young stars into this CULT). I was invested but slightly bored until the story goes from a 3 to a 10 in an instant. It needed more of a build-up to keep the story feeling natural instead of being so over-the-top within seconds of being boring. It felt like tonal whiplash. I think it has some interesting things to say about parasocial behavior with celebrities and how we've normalized celebrities being weirdos. I tend to be more fascinated by celebrities/millionaires who go out of their way to live normally (examples - Sandra Bullock & Keanu Reeves both bought normal houses outside of Hollywood and live "normal" lives when not making movies. And they both seem like genuine good people. I also think it's why my "crush" celebrities are James McAvoy & Taron Egerton - because they seem like normal people). Anyway, I do think the cult of celebrity is changing along with social media because the "famous" people are influencers now. People I've never heard of! It's wild. 

2. The Accountant 2 - Out of all the movies in the world to get greenlit for a sequel, I don't think anyone would predict a sequel to The Accountant. Did it do well, box-office wise?? I don't remember it being a popular movie at all. I don't even know why I watched this. I thought the first one was boring. And this sequel is more of the same. I guess I was intrigued by the fact that it got a sequel. And I appreciate that the sequel is actually The Accountant Squared (clever!). I also didn't remember that Ben Affleck plays someone who is basically autistic?? I think?? It's just so boring, though. I don't understand how a movie can be this boring and also be over 2 hours long! It's just so unnecessary. There is one very cute scene and that's when Ben Affleck (an apparently autistic man) learns how to line-dance because a girl was flirting with him. It's super-duper cute and I like that he's taller than everyone on the dance floor because it highlights his awkwardness. But other than that, I couldn't even tell you the story (someone was murdered and only THE accountant can figure out why or something like that). I do like the woman that used to be Amanda Waller on The Arrow tv show. She's a strong actress and has great screen presence. That's all I got. 

3. Death of a Unicorn - I have to say, I did not expect this movie to be about the literal death of a unicorn. Haha! I didn't really know anything about it - I know it got mixed reviews and that it starred Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega. But it is a WILD plot. The beginning is very hard to watch - it's literally my worst nightmare to accidentally hit an animal while driving. And then it doesn't die, so it's left suffering?! Just the worst thing I can imagine. So, the story is that this father/daughter are driving through this absolutely gorgeous forest (I looked it up because I thought maybe it was Yellowstone, but it's supposed to be the Canadian Rockies - but filmed in Hungary.), and they hit a unicorn - and then they face the consequences of that. But it starts off incredibly unrealistic (I mean, other than them hitting a mythological creature), because the dad literally violently kills the animal in front of his daughter. That just wouldn't happen - you would tell your child to go wait in the car to protect them from witnessing that. I like the strangeness of the story, but it's just really boring, repetitive, and predictable. I also like that Will Poulter is suddenly hot now (thanks to The Bear) - he was always that awkward kid who nails the "Waterfalls" scene in We're the Millers, but now he's SO MUCH MORE! I also laughed hard at the line "Hold the phone Ponce de Leon" because it was SO random. Who says that??? LOL. But other then that, I didn't like this movie at all. And that haircut looks hideous on Jenna....why would they do that to her??? 

4. Captain America: Brave New World - Well, this is definitely among the worst of the Marvel movies. And it's not really a Captain America movie at all, instead it's a sequel to The Incredible Hulk (a movie from 2008 that they suddenly decided was canon to the new Marvel movies). I wish I knew that beforehand because I don't remember a movie from 17 years ago AT ALL. The only reason I connected it was because of the picture of Liv Tyler - and was like wait, she was in one of the Hulk films, right? So then I had to do some research to remind myself of certain things before continuing the film. But I still don't really understand it because the whole idea of Falcon turning into Captain America doesn't make any sense??? So....he's both? He's Captain America with wings?? I like Anthony Mackie A LOT, but I think they set him up to fail with this role. First of all, he's such a little guy - I don't buy him as Captain America at all. I mean, I'm not the biggest fan of Chris Evans, but I admit he was believable as Captain America. I also don't know who this sidekick is at all? Was he in previous movies or maybe that Falcon tv show? The movie acts like we should already know who he is? Second, like I said, they don't even give Cap his own movie. This is more about Harrison Ford as Red Hulk - even though we have to wait until the literal end of the film for him to appear as Red Hulk. And third, this film relies way too much on Marvel history to be enjoyable - not only do you have to remember The Incredible Hulk, you also have to remember that one that I can't even remember the name of?? The one with Richard Madden and Salma Hayek?? The Immortals? Maybe? I also think casting Shira Haas and introducing this role now is a little tasteless considering the state of the world. She's also as tiny as I am (I know she had cancer as a child that stunted her growth - but it's dumb to cast her in a role where she fights people THREE times her size. Limitations exist!). And can we stop casting Giancarlo Esposito in bad guy roles??? It's getting exhausting. I also think it's HILARIOUS that Liv Tyler only shows up for like 2 seconds. I wonder how much they paid her for that? 

5. Final Destination Bloodlines - I rewatched all of the Final Destination films earlier this year and was SHOCKED by how much I enjoyed them. Even the bad ones are fun to some degree (my ranking is as follows: 1, 3, 5, 2, 4 - this one would land somewhere in the middle, I think). There are just so many thoughtful death scenes that are so damn memorable. When I first started the marathon, I remembered the log scene, the tanning bed scene, and the original plane crash as being iconic, but after the marathon - I realized there are SO many more, and I think my favorite one is actually the gymnastic scene because they show SO many options for her death and then she just falls the wrong way and breaks her entire body. It's actually genius! Anyway, I was excited for this - and made sure to avoid any spoilers. I love the beginning death scene - which takes place at one of those sky tower restaurants (I've been to a few - Toronto & San Antonio most recently), and it feels different because it takes place in the late 60s. But it's weird that two horror movies this year both have this location (this and Drop, and it was also in that recent movie with Ana De Armas and Chris Evans too). The whole sequence is incredible and I laughed hard when the piano falls on the obnoxious kid. Although I HATE the "Ring of Fire" song, not because it's a bad song but because it's an instant brain worm for me! I will have it in my head for WEEKS now. The rest of the film isn't as strong - it reminded me a bit more of the 4th one in the franchise because everyone just moves on from the death of their loved ones too quickly. Like, their DAD DIED and the son goes to work the next day, and the daughter goes out for her daily run. It's just stupid. Let people grieve in these films, it works so much better. The sequence with the shard of glass is done very well, but the foreshadowing of the lawn mower was too obvious for it to be shocking. The acting is not great with the guy from The 100 being the worst offender. I didn't really care about this family or any of the characters, so it becomes a little boring. But, they give Tony Todd a nice send-off and show a lot of love to his character. Overall, it's another fun FD movie and I hope they make 100 more.