Movie Diary
a) Don't Breathe
This has a really good premise: 3 dirtbag teens are robbing houses, but then this blind veteran kills one of them and locks the other 2 inside his house. So it takes a somewhat familiar horror trope of teens stuck in a house with a scary guy and flips it, because you're kinda rooting for the badass blind guy even as the film generally sticks with the perspective of the shitty delinquent teens. Plus you've got the novelty of them being able to stand right in front of the guy but have to stay perfectly silent. Just a really cool idea, executed well, even if there were a few more wrinkles in the story than I thought it necessarily needed. Jane Levy is really working on a great career in horror and sci fi.
b) Captain Fantastic
I didn't know this movie existed until six months after it came out, when Viggo Mortensen got an Oscar nomination for it. And I was surprised once again when I realized that it was written and directed by the guy who plays Gavin Belson on "Silicon Valley." This was really lovely, though, maybe it was just the first really good film about fatherhood that I've seen since my dad died, but I shed a few tears towards the end of the movie and I wasn't even entirely sure what scene or moment did it. Some really impressive performances from some really young actors in this movie, the whole cast was just pitch perfect for material that I think really could've come off badly in the wrong hands.
c) Despicable Me 3
My son loves all the Despicable Me movies and Minions was the first movie I took to see in a theater, so we were at this one's opening weekend with bells on. This one was pretty good, I feel like they wisely dialed back the minions a little bit now that they've had their own movie (and got rid of the Russell Brand character entirely), and I really enjoyed the whole secret brother plot, there were a few laugh out loud moments for both of us. I got to a point at least 10 years ago with "South Park" where I can barely stand to hear Trey Parker's smug "duh I'm a dumb character listen to how dumb I am" voice acting, so I wasn't wild about him being in the movie, but his character was funny.
f) Doctor Strange
It was fun to see a slightly different kind of Marvel movie with trippier visuals, and the comic relief worked better than I expected. Not terribly memorable otherwise, though.
g) Masterminds
I put this on even though it did terribly commercially and critically, kind of assuming that the collective onscreen talent would make it worth watching. And then I realized that it was directed by the guy who made Napoleon Dynamite, and wasn't surprised at all when I didn't laugh once the entire movie.
h) Singles
My son loves all the Despicable Me movies and Minions was the first movie I took to see in a theater, so we were at this one's opening weekend with bells on. This one was pretty good, I feel like they wisely dialed back the minions a little bit now that they've had their own movie (and got rid of the Russell Brand character entirely), and I really enjoyed the whole secret brother plot, there were a few laugh out loud moments for both of us. I got to a point at least 10 years ago with "South Park" where I can barely stand to hear Trey Parker's smug "duh I'm a dumb character listen to how dumb I am" voice acting, so I wasn't wild about him being in the movie, but his character was funny.
d) Moonlight
This being the third Best Picture winner in a row that I've seen and really enjoyed is pretty nice, I don't think that's happened since the '90s, if not the '70s actually. Really beautiful film, I think what I liked most was the pace of the editing, the way certain scenes lingered and then abruptly cut, the rhythm of it kept me on my toes and made some of the more emotional moments hit harder. The whole cast was great but I get why Mahershala Ali was the one who won the big awards.
This being the third Best Picture winner in a row that I've seen and really enjoyed is pretty nice, I don't think that's happened since the '90s, if not the '70s actually. Really beautiful film, I think what I liked most was the pace of the editing, the way certain scenes lingered and then abruptly cut, the rhythm of it kept me on my toes and made some of the more emotional moments hit harder. The whole cast was great but I get why Mahershala Ali was the one who won the big awards.
e) The Accountant
A movie about an autistic accountant, a movie about an accountant action hero, and a movie about Ben Affleck playing an autistic man are all 3 very sketchy ideas that I approached warily, especially when those are all the same film. But this worked better than I thought it would overall.
A movie about an autistic accountant, a movie about an accountant action hero, and a movie about Ben Affleck playing an autistic man are all 3 very sketchy ideas that I approached warily, especially when those are all the same film. But this worked better than I thought it would overall.
f) Doctor Strange
It was fun to see a slightly different kind of Marvel movie with trippier visuals, and the comic relief worked better than I expected. Not terribly memorable otherwise, though.
g) Masterminds
I put this on even though it did terribly commercially and critically, kind of assuming that the collective onscreen talent would make it worth watching. And then I realized that it was directed by the guy who made Napoleon Dynamite, and wasn't surprised at all when I didn't laugh once the entire movie.
h) Singles
Like most grunge kids, I had the Singles soundtrack without ever seeing the movie. But I always meant to sit down and watch it, especially after I realized how much I like a few of Cameron Crowe's movies. And this year I was finally spurred to see it, somewhat because of the reissue of the soundtrack and Chris Cornell's death, but also because I met and worked with Matt Dillon for a day a few months ago and was like man, I should see more of his movies, he's a cool dude.
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on Thursday, July 20, 2017 at 3:34 PM.
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