Movies

Bunch of things I’ve been watching:

Past Lives

I’d really been looking forward to watching this; the reviews have been glowing, and I’m always up for a melancholy romance.  This wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be, but it’s certainly a well-executed, well-acted film.  And the ending is sublime; She finally found someone else that she can cry to.

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? Yes

Would buy on DVD? No

Rating: Pretty Good

Kelce

Documentary about Jason Kelce.  An entertaining look at a player I only knew as Travis’ brother up until now.  It’s certainly gotten me to watch clips of his podcast on Youtube.

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? Yes

Would buy on DVD? No

Rating: Nice

Little Mermaid

The live action movie.  There’s simply zero reason for any of these remakes to exist.  

What I liked:

• Giving Ariel’s voice the siren song ability is a nice addition; It gives Ursula a legit reason for wanting it, and better explains Eric’s bewitchment.  

What I didn’t like:

• The humor from the original doesn’t translate at all.  So much of it involves the facial expression of the characters, and there’s nothing an animator can do when Flounder, Sebastian, and Scuttle are supposed to look photo”real.”  Thank god they didn’t try to do Les Poissons.  

• That god-awful Scuttle rap.

• Eric doesn’t need a song.  

• None of the songs are better than the originals.  Kiss the Girl is a travesty w/ the changed lyrics.

I’m done spending time thinking about this.  I immediately put on the animated movie after this to cleanse my soul.  Talk about classics.  

Regret watching? Yes

Would watch again? No

Would buy on DVD? No

Rating: Stupid

Love at First Sight

A super cute Netflix movie starring Haley Lu Richardson and Ben Hardy.  They meet cute at an airport, fall in love on the plane ride over (some aMAZing chemistry in that sequence), and figure things out after they get separated at their destination.  The second half is definitely weaker after they meet up for the second time, but there are scenes that I’ll actively want to go watch again.

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? Yes

Would buy on DVD? No

Rating: Nice

Love Again

Priyanka Chopra Jonas is luminous and Celine Dion is funny (but I really wonder if she’s in on the joke), but the rest of it is completely cookie cutter.  (For future reference, this is the one where Priyanka keeps texting her dead boyfriend.  The guy who gets his cell phone number falls in love with the texts and then the girl.  What ever will happen when she finds out?)

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? No

Would buy on DVD? No

Rating: Fine

Godzilla vs Kong

This totally reminded me of the Michael Bay Transformers franchise: Humans running around struggling to make a difference while massive beings beat the crap out of each other.  Is how I feel about this how other people feel about Marvel movies?

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? No

Would buy on DVD? No

Rating: Didn’t suck

Beckham

I love watching documentaries about sports that I know very little about: Cricket, soccer, Formula 1, etc.  This in-depth series provides an engrossing look at one of the few soccer players whose name I actually recognize.  One thing it completely succeeds in conveying: No one should have to deal with what David Beckham had to deal with.  Imagine the hate Steve Bartman had to take, but magnified from a city to an entire country.  Who could live through that?  Add on top of that all of the other scrutiny he and his family have had to endure.  Another argument for why I hope I’m never famous.  It can’t possibly be worth it.

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? Yes

Would buy on DVD? Yes

Rating: Good

Long Shot

I’ve already reviewed this, but wanted to say that I just saw this for the third time.  (It showed up on Netflix.)  I still love it, and just purchased a hard copy.  It’s that good.

Long Shot

Long Shot

I’ve been hearing a lot of backlash both online and from people in my social circle about this sub-genre of romantic comedies - the ones where a schlubby (a word used so much in reviews for this movie that I’d be happy if I never heard it again), non-Jon Hamm looking, underachieving guy ends up with a gorgeous out-of-his-league woman.  Some people find it unrealistic that Charlize Theron would ever end up with someone who looks like Seth Rogan. Others just don’t find Rogan all that funny.

I have more issues with the parallel sub-genre where a straight-laced, pessimistic, no-personality guy somehow attracts the attention of an adorable manic pixie dream girl, a la Garden State, 500 Days of Summer, Girl Next Door.  (Which isn’t to say that I don’t own all three of them.)  At least with Long Shot, Rogan’s character is funny, passionate, and a good guy at heart.  I buy his romance with Theron way more than Zach Braff/Natalie Portman or Emile Hirsch/Elisha Cuthbert.  I can see why the Secretary of State would be attracted to this guy.

There’s a little too much juvenile humor, tipping too far into the worst of Judd Apatow’s films at times.  Didn’t need so much thirteen-year old boner or awkward sex. The concept of a blackmail video was sufficient, I really didn’t want to see it.  On the other hand, I loved the whole scene where Rogan catches the two aides sleeping together. Comic gold.

At the core of it all, Theron and Rogan are really sweet together.  I like seeing the two of them together, and the glimpses of their lives as First Couple makes me want a sequel.     

It helps that the filmmakers use Roxette’s Must Have Been Love for the key moments in in the movie.  That song does so much heavy lifting all on its own.

Aside: In the scene where they’re looking at the Aurora Borealis, Theron looks amazingly similar to Michelle Pfeiffer.  I wouldn’t mind seeing some movie starring the two of them.

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: Yes

Would buy on DVD: Yes

Rating: Pretty good