Thoughts on 5 Films

1. The Girl in the Spider's Web - Be prepared: the five movies in this post are all incredibly disappointing - for many different reasons. This one, mostly due to my intrigue over the casting of Claire Foy. I was not the biggest fan of Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (it was a good movie, but I found some of the praise a little ridiculous). I like Rooney Mara, but I didn't really believe her in the role. To cast Claire Foy is such a weird choice - it literally could not be more different than the role she is currently most famous for (Queen Elizabeth). She proves to be a very versatile actress, but I still don't believe her in the role - and for the exact same reasons that I didn't like Mara. The original Swedish version of Lisbeth was played by Noomi Rapace and she was very believable. But I think my main problem is that women are supposed to see Lisbeth as a role model, and that is excruciating to think about. Overall, this sequel is pretty dull and definitely not as beautiful to look at as the first (obvi), but there are some nice action sequences and there is some powerful stuff involving the complicated relationship with her sister (when her sister says "for sixteen years, you chose not to save me", I got chills). Otherwise, it just feels pointless.

2. Men in Black: International - From the reviews, I already prepared myself for disappointment with this one. Such a damn shame. Chris Hemsworth has comedic timing as proven in Thor: Ragnarok and Ghostbusters (omg I still think about him in that movie. Just downright hilarious.), but he is no Will Smith. And Tessa Thompson is just simply wonderful, but she is oddly stiff in this role. This movie lands with such a huge thud - it's just so...boring. It's really predictable, and it's not funny - like, AT ALL. I don't think I laughed once. Meanwhile, I still quote the original Men in Black on a regular basis (really, I just did my impression of "Edgar, yer skin is hangin' off yer bones" last week!). There are some cool visuals, and and some cool looking aliens, but otherwise there really isn't much to talk about. Oh, wait, now that I'm thinking about it - I was amused by Pawny, and Kumail Nanjiani does some fabulous voice-work. Pretty much stole the whole damn movie.

3. They Shall Not Grow Old - Not necessarily a disappointment, because I don't really like Documentaries, but the idea that Peter Jackson directed and he restored all of this original WWI footage is very intriguing. Reviews called it "ground-breaking", which was even more intriguing. It is amazing to see this footage so vividly, but ultimately it's just like EVERY other War Documentary. If you've never watched this type of film before, then this might be something to seek out. But I've seen sooooo many - my grandfather used to make me sit for hours watching them with him. Although, I always thought they were about WWII, but as a kid I probably wouldn't know the difference. I just remember being fascinated that this was something that actually happened. How do we, as humankind, ever think war is the only option? I also never understood why my grandfather was so obsessed with watching them, after having lived through it. But then again, my step-father is obsessed with watching footage of 9/11 (he is a WTC survivor). I guess it must be therapeutic in some way.

4. Billionaire Boys Club - How do you fuck up a movie with Taron Egerton and Ansel Egort? I remember this film circulating at least a decade ago (I believe with Ryan Phillippe attached. Or maybe Ryan Gosling. Definitely one of the Ryans). I never saw the original, and I never really heard the story. I'm surprised it hasn't been turned into one of those popular true crime series because it's a fascinating story, but this movie is just really bad. Ryan Murphy could have made this story into something really fantastic (and maybe he will!). This film kind of downplays their horrible crimes (they fucking murdered people!) and makes them seem like innocent "in over their heads" good boys. Are we supposed to feel bad for them? It's cute the studio pretended it flopped because of the Kevin Spacey controversy, but in reality they hid this movie as much as they could because it's TERRIBLE. These actors are LUCKY that no-one saw it. I adore Taron so I refuse to criticize him, but his American accent is....uneven. I just don't think role is right for him, in general. It's boring and cliched - there's no nuance. I will forgive him and Ansel for participating in this garbage (I mean, in theory this seems like a great project). Also, this is the first time I've ever seen Suki Waterhouse in something (aside from being arm candy to Bradley Cooper), and oooof this is a rough first impression.

5. The First Purge - I've enjoyed all of the Purge movies to some degree (the second one is my favorite - if I remember correctly. The Anarchy one with Frank Grillo and that really rad car). So, I wasn't expecting this to be as terrible as it is. I guess the origin story is the biggest question that needs to be answered, but I probably would have preferred to never have that answer. Probably because the answer is too dumb, and over-simplified (**spoiler** it's a government conspiracy to kill the poor people to solve over-population). It starts as an "experiment" and takes place on Staten Island. I feel bad for Staten Island because it's like the laughing stock of the tri-state area (even New Jersians make fun of it). I actually live really close to the island, but I've never been - it's probably not as bad as people say. According to this movie, it is the epicenter of gangs and violence - i.e the perfect place to make murder legal! I admit that I got really excited when I saw Melonie Diaz because she is such an under-rated actress and then I got really upset because I think she only has like one line in the entire movie!? How does this happen? How does an extremely talented actress like this get shafted, while someone like Suki Waterhouse is getting roles? It just doesn't make any sense. Anyway, I also don't understand why Marissa Tomei would agree to be in this? LOL. Anyway, this is just a really terrible movie. The others at least have a little bit of psychological horror, but this is just hollow. There's some commentary on racism that is relevant to today's political discourse, but the movie is too dull for any of it to be taken seriously.