Blockers

Blockers is a comedy starring Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz, and John Cena. They play parents who discover their daughters have made a pact to have sex on prom night and take it upon themselves to try to stop them. 

I thought that this trio did a great job playing off of one another with no one outshining the other. I enjoyed Ike Barinholz, party dad, John Cena’s over protective tough dad with the soft side, and Leslie Mann’s uptight mom who is still trying to be best friends with the daughter role. Even through Leslie has been typecast in this role, having done it multiple times now, I still really enjoyed her in it.

The movie had a unique concept. I laughed throughout the entire thing and toward the end really enjoyed the heartfelt moments.

All of my favorite qualities in a comedy were in this movie. For someone looking for an adult comedy that is lighthearted, fun and a bit raunchy, this is the one for you.

Call Me By Your Name

Call Me By Your Name is a coming of age drama, based on the novel of the same name. It is the story of a young man who experiences falling in love for the first time. It’s set in 1980s Italy and follows Elio Perlman, a 17-year-old precocious, musical savant, living in Italy, and his father's 24-year-old American assistant, Oliver played by Armie Hammer. Elio is played by newcomer Timothée Chalamet.

At the latest Academy Awards, it won for Best Adapted Screenplay, and was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Chalamet) and Best Original Song. Because of these nominations I wanted to give this movie a shot. In the end, I don’t think it necessarily had the best screenplay. I appreciated the diverse plot-line and the tasteful presentation of the love affair, but it was slow moving. Toward the end it got more interesting but I was never fully captivated.

I did think that Timothée Chalamet did a nice job portraying the young Elio, figuring out who he was as a person and understanding his sexuality. I’m not a huge fan of Armie Hammer but I felt like he wasn't a distraction, neither tried to outdo the other; they worked well together. Additionally, the soundtrack was pretty good and appropriate for the time period. I also thought that the landscaping was vast, lush and beautiful. But, those qualities alone could not save this move. The movie wasn't terrible but for me it just was missing something to really bring me in and because of that I would not think about seeing it again.

A Quite Place

A Quite Place is the story of a family that is trying to survive an alien invasion that has wiped out the majority of the human population. Set in 2020, the aliens hunt by sound so it makes for an eerily quiet film. 

Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, real life husband and wife, play parents who are doing everything in their power to protect their family. Both he and Emily Blunt did a fantastic job, with very little dialogue, portraying a wide range of emotions. It was quite captivating.

The move was promoted as a horror film but I wouldn’t really call it a typical horror film. I would say that it’s a well-made suspenseful drama. From the beginning of the film all the way until the end you are on the edge of your seat, wondering what is going to happen next.

John Krasinski wrote, directed and starred in this movie which is no easy feat. This movie had a creative premise, a well written script, and above all else compelling acting from everyone involved.

The only thing that this movie was missing was a more satisfying ending. I felt like the film was cut short, it was only an hour and 35 minutes. I left wanting a bit more. I think if they extended it about 20 minutes, it could have been even better. With that said, however, I still think it was a really great movie.

Clouds of Silas Maria

Clouds of Silas Maria was promoted as an aging actress coming to terms with how painful it is to no longer be in the limelight.

I thought that the plot line was misleading. I don’t think that at any time throughout that film did the main character, Maria Enders, played by Juliette Binoche ever truly stop being desired by directors or that she herself ever have an issue with not being as famous as she once was. I thought though, that, Juliette’s portrayal of Maria was well done. Her story was still interesting, she was able to deliver the scrip with real passion, bringing to light the struggles that Maria had with change and the evolution of her career, through great range of feeling and emotion.

The film also stars Kristen Stewart who won the César Award for Best Supporting Actress, which is the equivalent of an Oscar. I didn’t think that her performance was that noteworthy, she brought the exact same range that she brings in every film. Additionally, she didn’t speak any French, which confused me as to why she would receive this award.

The editing was amateur at best. The landscapes were highly focused on throughout the movie. I thought that they were vast and beautiful. The issue I had with them though was that the same ones were repeated over and over, I understood the emphasis and its importance but I felt like it was a bit overkill. It was almost as if the movie was more National Geographic than drama. Additionally, there were a couple of scenes where you could tell they took multiple takes and didn’t properly blend the shots together. It was messy.

In the end the film is left to the viewer’s interpretation. Although I thought that the idea of this movie was interesting, it was too slow moving and left me wanting more. I'd say skip this one.

Darkest Hour

Darkest Hour is a biographical drama of Winston Churchill. It follows him during his ascension to Prime Minister and the beginnings of the UKs involvement in the Second World War.

This movie won Oscars for Best Actor and the Best Makeup and Hairstyling. There have been many depictions of Churchill throughout the year and I thought that this one was pretty good. I thought that Gary Oldman did a believable job portraying the icon. He was able to master the motions of the PM and his polarizing nature. Kazuhiro Tsuji, the make-up artist, for the movie did a superb job transforming Gary Oldman, a man of smaller stature to a heavier set Churchill.

I thought the nomination for costume design was just, the costumes and even the sets were able to help transform you to the 1940s. The nomination for best picture, I didn’t quite agree with. Even though the script was interesting and did a great job in delivering some new trinkets about Winston that I hadn’t seen in some other versions, it was a little dry and dialogue heavy. It also didn’t go as far as I would have liked for it to go in the historical timeline. It briefly touched on Dunkirk but I would have liked for it to have gone a few years further than that.

Overall it was a movie that is worth checking out once but not one that I would seek out again.

My Cousin Rachel

My Cousin Rachel is a drama adapted from a novel of the same name, staring Rachel Weisz as Rachel Ashley and Sam Claflin as Philip. It follows Philip as he receives a letter from his guardian and cousin, Ambrose, which causes him concern. He goes to investigate and after discovering his death, plots his revenge against his Ambrose’s wife, his cousin Rachel, whom he believes murdered him. The revenge plot becomes detoured as he begins to fall in love with Rachel. 

Visually, I thought that the vast landscapes were beautiful and the costume design was appropriate for the time period.

The acting was pretty good, especially that of the lead, Rachel Weisz as Rachel. I thought that she was able to convey the conniving, mysterious, dangerous character that she was.

The plot was interesting but not completely fulfilling. I felt that the story was dry and missing some key details. The situation seemed rushed and not very realistic, thus leaving me with many questions unanswered. Because of these things I would recommend skipping this movie.

I, Tonya

I, Tonya is the Tonya Harding biography that takes you through her troubled and abusive upbringing, her tumultuous relationships with those around her, how she rose through the ranks to become an Olympic competitor and finally another perspective as to what happened during the 1994 attack of Nancy Kerrigan.

This movie was nominated for a best actress and film editing and won an Academy Award and Golden Globe for best supporting actress. Allison Janney’s depiction of Tonya Harding’s mother, LaVona, definitely earned the best supporting actress awards. Her portrayal was cold, ruthless and deplorable. It really showed how Tonya had some really terrible role models around her. Margot Robbie was nominated for best actress and I do think that her version of Tonya Harding was well deserving of the nomination. She did a great job garnering a true sense of empathy of Tonya. She helped to humanize her and showed you just how hard Tonya had to fight to get to the height of her career through multiple abusers and class discrimination.

The film editing was also unique and well done. I liked that it was interview style and left it up to the interpreter to decide if they felt that Tonya was guilty or not of having any involvement in the Nancy Kerrigan attack.

Overall, I thought that this was an intriguing drama. It was worth checking out once but probably not something I would watch again.