Let’s do a sooner-than-usual mini-review update, shall we?
Dreams (2025)
I prefer to go into movies blind, which is a handicap for me because I end up picking things I could have predicted were going to be uncomfortable to watch if I’d done research. 90% of the movie? A moody romantic drama about class issues. The other 10%? I now see why this has mid ratings. I don’t mind fucked up or gray areas, but this was definitely not a story for the type of audience who needs a glittering hero they can see themselves in. (Synopsis: Well-to-do lady takes on a lover who comes to see her, she’s uncomfortable, relationship goes south.)
Project Hail Mary
I read the book a few years ago and this was highly anticipated. It’s been a few weeks since I saw the movie and I’m uncertain about it’s standalone appeal to me now – I will have to watch it again someday – but it definitely did the book justice. The unsaid character of Science that makes the book so amazing could have had more screentime, but that would have taken more than 2.5 hours to get into the nitty-gritty of the book. As I expected, its tone felt like it was communicating to an older kid to early teen audience, but the whole story – book or movie – has broad appeal. I’m glad to see inspiring movies like this get made.
Johnny Mnemonic
I already posted about this here.
Undertone
Very creepypasta. Reminded me of many years ago listening to “ghost” clips on whatever website, except this just has the one story going on. The visual direction was good for a one-location movie based around sound (the slow pan to the dark room behind her was creepy as hell) but the plot was iffy. Maybe I live in a world of abundance and forget what it’s like to appreciate a smaller kind of story. Either way, glad I saw this shortly before dawn.
Apex
Of all the movies available for me to watch, it boggles the mind that I chose to watch this. I’m not target audience for adventure-thrillers, even if they sprinkled in a little “WTF?”, so not sure why I kept watching once I realized what was what and I was probably going to come out of the movie bored. Curiosity sucks sometimes. Shoulda watched something else.
Vampire’s Kiss
“Does this mean we can’t have children??”
That it took me 37 years to get around to this movie is insane. Teenage me would have LOVED it. It’s held up well, and seeing it in retrospect of Mandy, et al, taught me that he’s been going full Cage from the start.
Right away I was reminded of Once Bitten, one of my all-time favorite movies where an anxious teenager believes he’s becoming the vampire thrall of a sultry parasitic older lady. Later reverse American Psycho references stood out, and the story is more in parallel with that as an absurdist commentary about patriarchy and capitalism and women being prime victims of try-hard insecure (if not mentally unstable) men. I was literally thinking of American Psycho earlier this day, about how it’s the first time it’s occurred to me that a pseudo-ex was probably a step away from “D’JA LIKE HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS?” and maybe I shouldn’t talk to human beings ever again because of it… so the movie was feeling really timely.
I haven’t read it, but “Weaveworld” (as in Clive Barker) in the background of at least a couple of scenes felt like a beacon, and it made me wonder if the auto body shop being called “Romero’s” (as in George) was purposeful. A picture of Kafka was also on a desk. All in all, it looked like the set dec people were having a blast, pigeon feathers and all.
The Drama
Synopsis: A couple about to get married discover things about themselves that ruffle some feathers. I HATED everyone in this movie. I was feeling a lot of empathy for one character who’s the target of the such-called “drama” but I ultimately noped out of that, too. It’s fair to say it was an effective movie and reminded me of why I need to continue screening my friends and relationships better, but maybe that teen girl was right (lol).
Mother Mary
I want to see Weird Al parody this whole entire thing. I get the value of this movie as a piece of art, but it was a bit too much with too little.
Hokum
Another horror movie added to the list of reasons why I should never, ever trust horror movie reviews. I saw the ratings and made an assumption that more people are open to horror, therefore the scores meant it would be good. It wasn’t awful, but it was dull with very little going on worth the watch, and the more interesting characters/ideas weren’t feature long. I checked the reviews again after which reminded me that the director also did Oddity – another movie I found boring to the point of irritating yet “everyone else” apparently liked. We’re all different, we all have different tastes and preferences, and then there’s timing… but no thanks to this one for me.
Is God Is
Crazy that this was the first movie by this director. This was easily one of the better movies I’ve yet seen this year and it was sitting with me for days. RIYL Tarantino movies, revenge westerns, lady-forward stories. I got excited to see “Maxine” from Living Single – a show I grew up watching – early in the movie, but the whole thing was cast well.
The Bride
There are a few movies that can easily be used to screen potential dates to reveal their shitty ideas and lack of depth. How does he feel about Fight Club? Joker? Taxi Driver? Scarface? This has a similar, but reverse affect. Can he tolerate watching a woman be an individual, who enforces her boundaries? Is the result of “Brain Attack!” off-putting followed by a claim of the movie being sub-par somehow? If so, you probably shouldn’t proceed on those dates. Or, you know, you could make him watch Teeth to be certain. Bonus: I was pleasantly surprised to see/hear Fever Ray in this. MOAR WEIRD.
2010: The Year We Make Contact
Y NO GO EUROPA? U NO READ PANDORA’S BOX?! U HUMAN 9 YRS AGO! OPEN BOX NOW! The 1984 sequel to 2001 (made in 1968!) felt ultimately pointless to me, even for being interesting for a space sci-fi person, much like it was a mid-season TV episode and press here to continue to episode six after that rude-ass cliffhanger. I see why it didn’t permeate the way 2001 did now. It wasn’t a bad movie necessarily, but… like… where’s 2061 or 3001, this season isn’t over! Explain Europa now! I should probably just read the books.
3-Iron
I left this feeling like I’d just watched poetry. It’s a foreign film but it doesn’t really need subtitles for the vast majority of the movie. Normally I’d assume that means it’s a slow movie, and it’s slower than some, but it had plenty of movement. While it’s a romance about a relationship developing in a strange situation, it’s romance from a chronically male perspective. Great movie, and still worth seeing 22 years later.
I was expecting to see Obsession by now but early word about streaming dates ended up being lies, and then folks were talking about it in such a way that sounded like maybe it wasn’t a good idea to see in theater for me, so that’s on pause but likely will follow soon. Theoretically Backrooms will follow that, but sooner interest is in seeing I Love Boosters and Disclosure Day (side note: I went to check when I Love Boosters was playing at my nearest theater, and it isn’t and won’t, which feels very on brand for America). Of course, lots of movies from before this year are still lingering to be seen, so who’s to say what happens first.