It was a Feb and there were a lot of movies:
Out of Sight
I didn’t really like this movie the second time around, good performances across the board but the dialogue never felt as sharp as I felt it should be. Had a tough time with the cross section of fun criminal action and the rape-y sub- and fore-text. Movie has a lot of drift but not a lot at the center.
Oceans 11
Couldn’t figure out if this was a rewatch or something I was seeing for the first time. The dialogue snaps, the performances are great, and the heist is good as hell.
Paddington 2
Last time I watched this with the wife she fell asleep in 5 minutes. Had better luck, with her getting to the climactic train chase before she hit the Z’s. No real revelations from the 3rd(!) viewing but still good. Realized that I think about the husband hurling his pregnant wife stomach-first towards revolving doors in Paddington part one on a weekly basis.
Old Man and a Gun
Really beautiful breezy film about a dude who expresses his love of life through robbing banks and breaking out of jail. In my memory of the film every scene is at sunset which isn’t the case but gives you primer on the lense I remember it through. Robert Redford’s last film, it works as an end of an era piece and as a thank you to the world for letting him do what he loves. One of the nicest breakdowns of passion I’ve seen in a while: doing what you love (robbing banks) will have consequences (going to jail) but if you treat dealing with the consequences (breaking out of jail) with the same passion that you do the things you love (robbing banks), pretty soon you’ll be robbing banks again (doing what you love). I’d be remiss to not mention that Sissy Spacek is in it as well, and she’s incredible.
High Flying Bird
Super compelling and sharp film with a bonkers performance from André Holland. Thought about it a lot for about a week after but having a tough time thinking of anything to say about it now, nothing wrong with a movie burning bright and fast though and I would still recommend it.
The Meyerowitz Stories (new and selected)
High marks for this Baumbach beaut. Incredibly funny movie that’s got a lot to say about the wake of “being an artist”, but is mostly a well drawn portrait about the invisible lines that connect family, for better or worse. Lots of good scenes of Adam Sandler trying to park in Manhattan.
Deadpool 2
Watched again because I wanted to see what Mandys take on Deadpool was; her take: “Deadpool is not annoying he’s just a regular man.” Realized that one of the reasons these movies work for me is that when his mask is off he never smiles and always looks like he’s in pain while he compulsively jokes.
Dude Where’s My Car
Ended up watching this one due to a game of high stakes movie selection chicken with Dani B. Has some funny bits but basically terrible. Rented it from the library and picked up a copy of Straw Dogs at the same time in an attempt to throw the librarian off the scent.
Alita Battle Angel
Had a very nice time watching this deeply imperfect movie in the theatre. A lot of what’s good besides the character of Alita you can find in the backgrounds and edges if you’d like my expert opinion on how to watch. Great crowd scenes, often populated by several dads roaming freely, or ‘loose dads’ of which there are presumably a lot 500 years from now. Pretty much every character and performance in the movie is a waste except for the motion capture performance for Alita by Rosa Salazar which is weirdly super compelling. Lots of robo dismemberment and cool super violent future sports round this bad boi out into a winner.
Ant Man and the Wasp
I basically like all these movies and this one isn’t an exception. Michael Pena is super funny, lots of stuff gets shrunk down or embiggened, and an ant plays the drums. It’s not Black Panther, it’s a run of the mill fun Marvel movie. I dunno man we’re all adults here, at this point in time you should know if this is your cup of tea or not.
Incredibles 2
I loved the character design in this movie, there’s a kind of marriage between the doll like construction and hyper expressiveness that really worked for me. Otherwise it’s a totally good well-constructed movie that I didn’t care about while watching.
My Best Friend’s Wedding
Watched on Valentines day as a part of a cultural exchange program with the wife where she watches a horror movie in October and I watch a Rom Com in February. Julia Roberts at the height of her powers, playing a character that’s imminently unlikable transformed into peak likability by her crystal clear performance. It’s tough to name another actor who is as good as Roberts at conveying a character’s inner life through constant small touches. She’s as well gracious enough as an actor that she steps back to help Rupert Everett steal every scene they’re in together. The scene where he leads the family in singing “I say a little prayer” is an all-timer, both for its expression of joie de vivre but also for how he completely takes her apart while doing it. Giamatti later shows up and gives her sage advice, which sealed the deal for me.
Star Wars – The Last Jedi
Watched this again on the anniversary of my brothers death, who loved Star Wars but didn’t get to see it. A strange movie that I think is more laudable for its weighty themes than for the movie itself. I realized while watching that a big reason these most recent films aren’t that great is that while the original Star Wars trilogy was a conversation between George Lucas and what he loved as a child, mashed up with a heaping of interrogation into Joseph Campbell’s mythic archetypes, the newer films are mostly a conversation with how we feel about Star Wars. I do think this one finds the right themes to elevate, and find the last third to be very moving and thematically complicated in a way most blockbusters aren’t, but understand what it’s missing which is the ability to tell a new story (weirdly, also one of the largest themes in the film). I wish I’d gotten to talk with Jonny about it, but can’t so instead I’ll just cherish my memory of him spoiling the ending of Rogue One for me with such speed and lack of guile, that I was both completely taken aback and extremely impressed.
Behind the Curve
Documentary about flat-earthers which had a very empathetic and kind angle on them. I always felt like it was odd that I hadn’t run across more flat-earthers in the noise scene but after watching this movie I got a pretty good idea of how it’s a pretty complete scene in of itself, which seems like it could be pretty fun to be a part of if you’re interested in believing the earth is flat. Has a lengthy subplot where flat-earthers do scientific experiments that continually prove the world is round, which is very nice. Strong possibility that I’ll be ashamed of watching this film in 9 years or whatever, when we elect a flat-earther as president.