Thoughts on 5 Films

1. Thunderbolts* - LOVED IT!!! I know, I know, it got rave reviews so I should have expected to love it but I thought people were being overly generous because Marvel movies have been mostly mediocre for the past 5 years, but this IS good! I was so engrossed that I barely took any notes! So, I'll do my best to remember all the things I loved. First of all, is there a Florence Pugh Oscar campaign going or do I have to start one myself??? She's INCREDIBLE. Maybe her best performance yet! She's EVERYTHING - a stunningly raw performance that deals with grief and loss of a loved one, the feeling of emptiness and living an unfulfilled existence etc., but she's also funny and charming in a way. The rest of the cast plays off of her energy very well. Her and David Harbour have a great father/daughter relationship. I love the relationship that forms between her and Pullman's character - she has sympathy for his "dark thoughts" and sees the good in him. There's great banter between her and Wyatt Russell. I would say that the only weak link for me is Bucky, but that's because I've hated Bucky from the beginning and nothing is going to change that. He's an awful character and Sebastian Stan is a terrible actor. I'm also confused at the death of *SPOILER ALERT* Taskmaster (played by Olga Kurylenko) so quickly?! I don't even think she has any lines? I'm sure there is a story there, but I'm too lazy to look into it. I also hated that they "changed" the name of the movie after being released to The New Avengers because it kind of spoils the plot, but also I hated like 1/2 of the original Avengers and I wasn't a big fan of the additions - so the thought of another Avengers film was unappealing to me. But I love how they ended this with this grey area of who the other "real" Avengers are and how they are going to work as a team. The end credits scene is probably the best (and longest) that Marvel has done. And Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" is one of my favorite songs (if I had a wedding it was going to be my wedding song because it's so cheesy and good - I thought it would be hilarious). 

2. Eenie Meanie - Another Samara Weaving movie!! I'm obsessed with her, but this movie is another 3 star movie. I was entertained for most of it, but probably won't remember it a year from now. It could have been much better - with some funnier bits and a stronger pace - it could have been the next Baby Driver. Instead, it drags and I totally stopped paying attention to the actual heist details. I do love Karl Glusman, though (and that pool table dance! Sexy man!). He should be a much bigger star. And Samara is great. They have great chemistry. And she looks so good with the blonde hair and black underneath. Not a lot of women can pull that off. It's super weird that she's in a movie called Eenie Meanie after being in a movie called Ready or Not. Next she'll star in Ring Around the Rosie (it will be about the Bubonic Plague, of course!). Anyway, I don't have much else to say about this. It's fine. There's some strange darker stuff about her being abused as a child that's sort of glossed over a lot, and not entertaining so it drags the film down even more. 

3. The Pickup - This could have been a fun film, but it's oddly lacking in humor, chemistry, and style. It's just all very dry and awkward, which is a shame because I like Keke Palmer A LOT. And I don't mind Pete Davidson (The King of Staten Island really changed my perspective on him). I thought they could be fun together, but I was wrong. Plus, Eddie Murphy?! How did this end up so dull? It's just very boring and predictable. And long! The jokes hardly land - I think I maybe laughed once but I don't remember a specific reason why. I also don't like Eva Longoria (I have my reasons - she said something very homophobic in my presence. I worked as a director's assistant and stand-in on a film she was in 15ish years ago). She's not in the movie much, but just enough to ruin it even more. Also, casting Andrew Dice Clay in the year 2025??? Why is that necessary? The only bright spot is, as I expected, Keke - she's gorgeous and does her best with the clunky dialogue. I feel like she's the only one trying to make this shitty plot work. 

4. She Rides Shotgun - I read this book when it was announced that Taron was starring in this, and it was...fine? I described it as "simple" and I think that description still stands. It has a strong story, but it's just not written well. I do like that it's told from both the father and daughter perspective, but I almost wish it was *just* from her perspective. The film is mostly from her perspective - and I think that's a wise choice. I liked it, but it did remind me of Sons of Anarchy or more of a tv movie instead of the gritty indie film that it desperately wants to be. Taron is, once again, acting his ass off. I do hope and pray that he does something lighter soon (his next film he plays a serial killer or something like that, but I don't think he has anything lined up after that so I demand a musical, rom-com, or the third Kingsman movie!). His American accent didn't bother me at all - which is a first! The tattoos are hilarious though - why would anyone have a safety pin tattooed on their face? LOL. The girl that plays his daughter, Ana Sophia Heger, is really good for a child actor. She definitely holds her own in this and understands the character very well. They have great father/daughter chemistry. I just have a hard time with the story for a LOT of personal reasons (as someone who had a father in prison because he was involved with drug and weapon smuggling and surrounded himself with very scary looking men like the ones featured in this movie. And my best childhood friend is actually in witness protection, along with her mom, because her father was killed and they testified against these very scary men. I just think my life would have ended up just like this girl's life if my mom had stayed with my dad. But she didn't - she escaped. ANYWAY). I can't help but hate Nate - even though they try really hard to make him good. I did laugh hard when he's trying to rob the convenience story (out of necessity, apparently) and he gets shot, and then hit by a car, and then his own gun goes off. Hahaha! Genius. I think the end is really bad, though. There is no way a cop would let this little girl anywhere near this showdown - she would have been safer by herself in a random hotel. It also should have been 100 minutes max - there is not enough story for a 2 hour film. 

5. Until Dawn - I don't know the video game or even how in the Hell this even is a video game??? But, the story is dull as rocks. And the movie is stupid. It's not the worst movie of 2025, but it's so stupid that I had to stop paying attention to it so my brain didn't explode. And speaking of exploding - I DIED laughing after they explode from drinking the water. I definitely was not expecting that - and it's probably the only good sequence in the movie. The beginning dialogue is ROUGH. And these actors are horrible. I recognize the one guy from the new show Motorheads (I watch it purely for Ryan Phillippe). And the one girl is an Adlon daughter (and she was in She Rides Shotgun! Always weird when you watch two movies back-to-back and they star the same random actor/actress! She's not the best actress though). It's a bit like Happy Death Day, with them reliving the day they are murdered, with the twist of them being trapped in a house, but it's nowhere near as good. I think they could have pushed this plot further than they do, and instead they rely on gory deaths (some of which are genuinely good). I feel really bad for the character Megan - she seems to get hit the hardest every time. I'm wondering how the game works though - do you just keep dying like this? How is that fun?