Thoughts on 5 Films

1. Gretel & Hansel - Atmospherically creepy, but ultimately just really, really boring. After 15 minutes, I completely lost interest to even follow the very simple plot. The main girl is very striking and has great screen presence (she's also the girl that plays Beverly in the It movies - and even though I didn't like those movies, she definitely had a great presence there too). That's probably the only positive thing I have to say? It might even end up as my worst movie of the year? Just because it's so boring and pointless. Although, I did smile at the line "Guests?...I'd rather have roaches" because same girl, SAME. 

2. The Last Thing He Wanted - Another one of those movies that has an A-list cast (Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck) that just appears on Netflix without me hearing a single peep about it. I assumed that this was probably bad, so it was just released quietly. Although, it's also directed by Dee Rees, so I'm surprised that it is, in fact, bad. I loved Pariah; didn't love Mudbound, but it's still a well-made film. This, however, is just really messy, dull and unnecessarily confusing. Aside from the confusing narrative, it's also really confusing as to why she wears a scarf slung over her shoulder for most of the movie. I realized that it's in reference to her Breast Cancer, and I think it's supposed to be like a cover for the fact that she's had a masectomy (there is a topless scene where this becomes fact). But, it doesn't make sense because the scarf only covers her shoulder - and she very clearly has both tits for the whole movie; obviously, in real-life, women can get bras that are 1/2 filled to simulate the appearance of a breast, if they choose to do this, so maybe that's what they were trying to imply, but then WHY THE SCARF? And I thought maybe I'm over-thinking things (anything to distract me from the terrible movie that I was watching), and maybe it has nothing to do with Breast Cancer, and instead the scarf thing is just a nod to the author of the book, Joan Didion, who is a fairly famous novelist, but also known as a bit of a fashion icon and scarf wearer, but I googled it and found NO images of her wearing a scarf in such a ridiculous manner. Also, Ben Affleck has like one line for the whole first hour of the movie. He doesn't even become an important character until the last 20 minutes or so, which is weird. 

3. Always Be My Maybe - Super, super cute movie. Completely cheesy, predictable rom-com fluff, but ultimately it's enjoyable and that's what matters. Plus, the whole thing with Keanu Reeves is fucking hilarious and just downright genius. I love that he agreed to do this because it totally makes it seem like Keanu is an elitist asshole (he orders "the concept of time" off a dinner menu and says his childhood crush was Mother Teresa), but I guess we all know that's not true so it just makes it *that* much more perfect. I really like the overall story and character arcs, I laughed quite a bit ("smoking weed and dancing in front of a mirror" and then his dad starts dancing - I died), and it feels very genuine (having sex in a beat-up Toyota Corolla with D'Angelo playing in the background? That doesn't bring back ANY memories AT ALL. Ahem. *coughs*). Also, Daniel Dae Kim is fucking fine - he looks even better than he did on Lost! And Michelle Buteau really steals every scene that she is in. There are a few things that annoyed me (surprise, surprise) - like them playing the teenage versions of themselves - sorry, but they do not pass for teenagers. And UGH Charlyne Yi. I was hoping she disappeared from the film world, but NOPE. Oh, and I always hate when skinny women in movies wear spanx. Like, there is no way in the world you need spanx. I mean, I don't even think any woman needs spanx, but if it makes you feel better, than go for it. However, it's ridiculous to show someone skinny using them because there is NO fat to even suck in. SO DUMB. 

4. The Lie - I'm kind of lost on the whole Blumhouse Productions thing, but there are like a ton of new horror movies on Amazon Prime and I'm excited to watch the rest of them. This definitely feels like a made-for-tv movie, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I like this story (a lot) and Mireille Enos and Peter Sarsgaard are so fantastic, and then, a spectacular twist makes this very mediocre movie memorable. *slight spoiler alert* The "lie" is not the lie you think it is. I think it could have developed a little further into a tale of teenage selfishness and peer pressure, because ultimately it's not as intense as it should have been. And I like Joey King, but she is definitely the weak link, acting-wise. She seems a little too immature for the age that she is supposed to be (and also...stupid). Also *more spoilers*, the whole hit and run bit is really, really dumb. Did they think they were going to get away with it? Did they leave the body in the street? Why did they wait until the morning to clean the car? It just doesn't make any sense, but it could have easily been done in a better, more believable way. It feels lazy. 

5. The Trial of the Chicago 7 - Ridiculously timely and relevant - it's fascinating that this went into production before this year, because I can't think of a better time than 2020 for this story to be resurfaced. I've always heard about "The Chicago 7 (or 8, as they are often referred to as)", but I never really dove deep into their stories. It's so interesting that they all didn't really even know each other, and yet they were on trial for conspiracy charges. Sorkin does a great job - the dialogue is very Sorkin; it's fast-paced, witty and compelling. The huge cast is all given time to shine (some out-perform others), and the characters are all fully developed. Other than that, though, it is a little cliched and just a very typical courtroom drama. It's set-up from the beginning to emotionally manipulate the audience, and it definitely succeeds - especially in the end moments with the reading out of the names of soldiers who died in Vietnam. It's a powerful "movie moment", for sure, but it feels extremely manipulative (and it's not even true...). I think it's another movie that is being hyped up as better than it is, just because so little has been released this year. Still good, though.