The Month in Theaters September 2022

By: ViajeroExtraviado
This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

In September, I saw seven movies in theaters, as well as six other movies via other means. That’s a total of thirteen reviews. Not much else to say, so let’s get right to it.

Breaking

A movie I hadn’t heard of until the day before I saw it, I wanted another film to pair with the following movie. When I go to the theaters on the weekend, I like to see two movies if I can. It stars John Boyega as a man at the end of his rope who decides to hold up a bank, based on a true story. C to C+. It’s not that the movie is bad; it’s just that there’s little substance. While I feel for the guy, his methods are just wildly out of step with what he’s trying to accomplish. The conclusion also left a bad taste in my mouth. While I’m sure that’s close to how it actually went down, it felt abrupt.

Barbarian

A horror movie with genuine surprises in it. There were at least a few times the plot went places I was not expecting in the slightest. B to B+. Thankfully, the trailer did not reveal much. Hell, Justin Long is in this (per the movie poster,) but he wasn’t even included in the trailer. The villain of the piece is creepy all around. The movie builds tension incredibly well.

See How They Run

Movie of the month goes to this delightfully witty murder mystery. It feels like a Wes Anderson joint. A-. Sam Rockwell leads a cast that all play their part well, especially Saoirse Ronan. I would like to talk about this movie more, but the trailer really held things close to the vest. I do not want to spoil anything. Go see this one.

Pearl

The prequel to X, one of my favorite movies of the year, that just isn’t as good. Part of that is the lack of a surprise factor. The audience knows where most everything is going, being a prequel, so it robs the movie of needed tension. It still gets a B, but I wanted more. As an origin for the villain, it does its job.

The Woman King

I was not expecting to like this as much as I did. And the second John Boyega film of the month. B to B+. The action is pretty good. There is a plot twist that is staggeringly convenient, but it is what it is. The movie does address the fact that the nation at the center did participate in the slave trade. I don’t think this movie is going to become a stone-cold classic like the marketing was clearly aiming for, but I enjoyed myself.

Don’t Worry Darling

I had few expectations going into this, and the movie largely met those low expectations. The twist of the overarching narrative is built up well and not overly predictable. But that doesn’t save the move in my mind. C+ to B-. It is a stylish movie with pleasant visuals, but it is trying to say something about society that it largely fails to do.

The Good House

This movie earns a B-. What saves this movie from being generally forgettable is the wry sense of humor Sigourney Weaver imparts on the audience with her occasional fourth wall breaks. The film is largely about an alcoholic slowly coming to terms with the fact that she needs help. It doesn’t overstay its welcome, but it also didn’t impress me much.

EVERYTHING ELSE

Lots of television this month. The absolute highlight was Cobra Kai season five. Just superb. I don’t know how many more seasons of this we’re going to get, but I’ll be happy with whatever. It is probably the best legacy franchise ever. Harley Quinn and What We Do in the Shadows both concluded their seasons, with the latter being the better of the two. Rick and Morty returned, although I’ve only seen the first episode, as it was posted to YouTube. I’m interested to see where it’s going. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is still going and is still just OK. On the flip side of that, Andor is pretty enjoyable. I am still watching Criminal Minds. I managed to finish season seven the day before writing this article. Eight more seasons to go.

I finally watched Straight Outta Compton. I knew very little about N.W.A going into this. One of the better band biopics I’ve seen, although I’m sure, like most of them, there is more than a little sugarcoating of the truth. I give this a B+.

Another B+. In preparation for the live-action remake, my fiancée and I watched the original Pinocchio. I couldn’t tell you the last time I saw this, but it was enjoyable enough. Clearly not my favorite Disney animated movie, but it wasn’t bad either.

This one sucked. The live-action Pinocchio remake gets an F. It is a pale imitation of the original in basically every conceivable way. Sanded off all the edges to make the movie bland. The Pleasure Island segment was especially bad. Just avoid this.

At the urging of my fiancée, I watched Christmas with the Kranks. Another F. This is a movie I had no interest in ever seeing as it looked terrible. I was right. Not a classic Christmas movie in the slightest.

Meet Cute is a passable movie but not much more than that. It is an incredibly average romcom with a sci-fi twist that doesn’t really add as much as it could have. Some of the jokes are funny, but they are few and far between. C- to C.

On the final day of the month, which was also a Friday, I was bored. So, I looked over the movies that were free on YouTube. This one sparked my interest enough to finally see it. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. I haven’t seen all the movies in the Halloween franchise, but I have been told that the three movies that preceded this one are bad. As if understanding that, this one reboots the franchise and essentially makes those movies non-canon. Although the 2018 Halloween movie would strip this and all other movies but the original from the canon as well. This was OK. Michael Myers for some reason restrained his murderous nature at two separate points in the movie. Very out of character. This is a B.

We’re just about done here. I have already seen two movies in October as of this writing. Let’s hope October has at least one stand out movie.