We just flew back from Missouri, after spending a fun week with Mom, Sis, Erzingers, and old school buddies. Since I have yet to make an entertainment post, and to (barely) meet my goal of posting at least monthly, here are a few movies I’ve recently enjoyed and recommend…
Alpha could be called The Invention of Dogs, as it tells the story of an Ice Age European boy who befriends a wild wolf during an arduous journey and struggle for survival. Sure, the simple story can be a little dopey and obvious at times, but I very much enjoyed the beautifully inventive and dynamic visuals, supplemented by very well executed CGI, and dramatic soundtrack underscoring the sweeping vistas, flora and fauna of 20 thousand years ago. I watched it on my iPad during the return flight this afternoon, but felt that it would have been better suited to the big screen and surround sound at home.
BlacKkKlansman very successfully blends comedy with the darkness of past and present racism and hate-crimes in America. John David Washington and Adam Driver deliver great performances that sell the seemingly absurd idea of Ron Stallworth, a black cop in CO, infiltrating the KKK in the 70’s. I also enjoyed the surprise appearances of Alec Baldwin and Topher Grace as white supremacist villains/idiots Dr. Beauregard and David Duke. I’m guessing the latter is not a fan of this excellent Spike Lee joint. 🙂
Searching is a very modern take on a father looking for his missing teenage daughter. Everything you see on screen is…well…on a screen of some sort, be it FaceTime video calls, social media posts and videos, GPS mapping, etc. You may be thinking, why would I want to watch laptop/tablet/phone screens for 100 minutes when I do that for much longer periods every day?! But the director, Aneesh Chaganty, actually pulls it off very well, often cleverly, and after I noticed this “gimmick” early on, I later forgot about it, or at least wasn’t overly distracted by it. I enjoyed the urgent, fast-paced detective work of the story, and found myself rooting for the desperate father played by John Cho of Star Trek and Harold and Kumar fame.
Sicario: Day of the Soldado is perhaps not quite up to the same high level as the original Sicario, may be a bit less believable at times, and while retaining Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro, it lacks Emily Blunt. Still, I remain a sucker for a good action flick with well-trained soldiers and a pumping, tension-building soundtrack, and this one delivers on those fronts about as well as the first. If you don’t mind on-screen portrayals of violence and death, watch ’em both with the volume cranked!
Crazy Rich Asians is pretty much the lightweight rom-com I expected, with a lot of familiar elements, but still funny and pretty enough to recommend as a good date night flick. Jimmy Yang of the Silicon Valley TV series, Ken Jeong of the Hangover movies, and especially Awkwafina deliver hilarious performances. And I’ve liked Michelle Yeoh since Tomorrow Never Dies and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This is more forgettable than those, but still quite fun.
And for some trippy sci-fi fun…
Annihilation is from the same director, Alex Garland, as the more sinister, scarier (and better) Ex Machina. I enjoyed the latter more, but still recommend this for great visuals, malevolent tension and decent action/sci-fi performances by some of my favorite actresses: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Tessa Thompson. As underscored by my favorite novel trilogy of the year, Three Body Problem, contact with extraterrestrial life may not turn out so well for us.
Enjoy!
Moonday 