Ten movies in theaters in the month of February, with one repeat, and an additional eleven otherwise totals twenty reviews. American Fiction was the repeat in theaters, as my fiancée wanted to see it. I liked it more the second time. This was better than last month with one clear standout.
Argylle
One word: Disappointing. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t like it much either. C+. I expected so much more from Matthew Vaughn than this. A (comedic) spy thriller with dumb twists and glorified cameos that were made a centerpiece of the marketing leads to a disappointing film. The mid-credits tease is confusing and stupid. Sam Rockwell is a bright spot, but Bryce Dallas Howard seems miscast. Or maybe the script was just unforgiving to her role. I wanted this movie to be really good, and it just wasn’t.
Lisa Frankenstein
The first of two Monday preview screenings this month, at Regal this time. The best part about this movie is the wonderful pun that is its title. Directed by Zelda Williams, Robin Williams’ daughter, and written by Diablo Cody of Juno fame, this teen romantic comedy mixed with science fiction is an odd duck of a film. It’s not terrible, but there also isn’t that much to write home about. It is rather flippant about murder. C+. The lead actress in this was much better in Freaky. There are a few things I would have changed that could have improved this movie. The pacing needed some work, definitely.
Anyone but You
I finally ended up seeing this movie when the only movies coming out the Thursday I saw this were two movies I saw using the Regal and AMC preview screening programs, including the last movie. As far as romantic comedies go, it does its job. You feel the chemistry between the two leads, which seems almost effortless. They should be in more movies together. This is technically an adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, which I wouldn’t have guessed if I didn’t see that in the opening credits. It’s a B. I’d see it again on streaming or something.
Madame Web
Awful. Dreadful. A fundamental waste of time. What were they thinking?!? F. The acting is dreadful from basically everyone. I didn’t even realize Sydney Sweeney, the female lead from the previous movie, was in this until like the next day when I remembered she was supposed to be in it. She’s one of the main characters! I just don’t know how this movie got greenlit. The writing is horrendous with a stupid as Hell plot. Madame Web is just not a character that has protagonist energy. She’s almost always a side character, while interesting; she does not have enough there to build a movie around. On top of that, she barely gets to do anything revolving around what makes the character interesting. Just tiny, tiny moments of it. The other three main characters that aren’t the villain could literally be anything. They’re all apparently spider women of some kind in the comics, but we get all of one scene of that in the movie. And it’s merely a vision of a possible future. That is very short. The villain is also completely forgettable. The character he’s based on isn’t even a villain in the comics. He’s a dude that helps Spider-Man fight Morlun. Avoid this movie at all costs.
Bob Marley: One Love
I wanted this to be better. Instead of a full biopic, this really only follows about two or three years of Bob Marley’s life. Outside of an attempt on his life and an album release, Bob Marley is mostly just on tour during the events of the film. The trailer makes a big deal about this concert he puts on, but that entire plotline is wrapped up in like ten minutes within the first half an hour or so of the movie. There’s not really a narrative throughline that ties the movie together. And the movie is largely uneventful, which is hilarious in a movie where the main character gets shot. C+ to B-. The acting is generally good, but they’re just not given that much to do. They cover what eventually kills him, but very minimally.
Ordinary Angels
Much better than it had any right to be. The second Monday preview screening I saw this month, this time at AMC. B+ to A-. A movie that centers faith and manages to do that well. The two main leads are Hilary Swank and Alan Ritchson of Reacher fame. I found out after I saw this movie that a few plot elements were added to increase tension, but that doesn’t really make the movie worse. As far as based on a true story movies go, this is pretty good. The story revolves around a sick girl who needs a liver transplant and the complete stranger who enters the family’s life to help.
Drive-Away Dolls
A rare solo Coen brother film, which he wrote with his wife. It follows two lesbian best friends in 1999 on a madcap adventure of ridiculousness. A-. The only couple of things that drag the movie down a bit are a few plot elements that get resolved a little too quickly and the ending joke being weak. The acting from all involved is pretty top notch. To be frank, I was not aware what a drive away service was before I saw this. The plot is just out there but is also very funny at times. I enjoyed myself.
Perfect Days
This movie is brilliant from start to finish. Easily movie of the month. A+. A life-of-slice drama following a mild-mannered public toilet janitor in Tokyo. His life is generally very repetitive and prone to ritualistic routine. A few things within the movie disrupt this repetition, but eventually everything goes back to it. The ending is incredibly poignant. This is a 2023 movie, so it cannot make my end of year list, but this almost surely would have cracked my top ten last year. I do not wish to spoil a single thing about this wonderful film. If you can see this in any way, go for it. It is in Japanese with English subtitles, but it is worth it.
Dune: Part 2
It’s better than the first one, which I didn’t really like. Unlike most Denis Villeneuve films, this one doesn’t really drag in the middle. The ending does feel rushed, though. A lot of things seem to happen in about 15 minutes right at the end there. B+. I didn’t expect this movie to get an A, and it didn’t. The cinematography is wonderful as is most of the acting. The lack of chemistry between the two leads, which was a problem in the previous movie, is still apparent here. Austin Butler (AKA Elvis) was delightfully creepy.
EVERYTHING ELSE
A lot less television this month. I finished I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson. One particularly good segment with Paul Walter Hauser. This show isn’t for everyone, but you should figure that out pretty quickly on your own. I watched the first two episodes of Mike Judge’s new show, In the Know. This stop-motion show on Peacock is not very good. It’s a parody of NPR as an office comedy. I just don’t think it’s funny enough. To wash the taste of that out of my mouth, I watched a few more episodes of the most recent reboot of Beavis and Butt-Head. The short segment nature of it doesn’t make for the best binge show, but I enjoyed the five or so episodes I watched. I started Masters of the Air. This WWII-era drama about bomber pilots and their real-life harrowing missions is incredible and gripping. It has a few episodes left as of this writing. Netflix recently added the Syfy show Resident Alien, which stars Alan Tudyk, who I know mostly as Wash from Firefly (although he’s been in a lot.) There are three seasons of the show, but only two are on Netflix, as I believe the third season just premiered. I managed to get into the second season but have not finished it yet. It’s a fun science fiction show with interesting lore.
I watched the Adam Sandler remake of The Longest Yard. I remember catching most of this movie in high school during that period near the end of the semester when there isn’t much to do so the teacher just puts on a movie. We didn’t get to the end back then. It’s a boilerplate sports comedy. C to C+.
Adam Sandler had a recent Netflix animated movie. Leo follows a tuatara that is a classroom pet who can talk. It’s fun but not amazing. B to B+.
I finally saw Undercover Brother, a film I wanted to see when it originally came out but missed it. As a parody of blacksploitation films, it generally hits the mark. The comedy at times, though, can fail. Lots of bit parts in this with actors I recognized from other things. B.
I thought History of the World, Part I would be better. It has its moments, but it is mostly just segments and not an overarching plot. B.
The Wood was a perfectly serviceable comedy drama that didn’t hit the highs I wanted it to. It did keep my attention, though. B.
Looking for another movie to watch after watching the last film, I noticed that My Super Ex-Girlfriend was also free on YouTube. I saw this on HBO or wherever back in the day, but had not seen it since. It isn’t stellar, but it is fun. The cast is memorable. B.
The Book of Life, a film Coco clearly cribbed from, was enjoyable. I had seen it before in theaters, but rewatched it with family. B+.
That same family has a subscription to The Daily Wire’s streaming service, so we watched a couple of those movies. Lady Ballers was up first. It is a movie with jokes that go on too long, but it has some fun moments. From the title, you can probably guess what hot button issue it “tackles.” C- to C.
The other one was The Hyperions, which was simply bought from Saban and was not filmed or produced by The Daily Wire. Cary Elwes is the only name brand actor in this, although someone from the live-action Fat Albert also has a part as does one of the main characters from Cobra Kai. It’s fine, but it is largely forgettable. The world it creates is far more interesting than what actually happens in the story. C+ to B-.
That same family also wanted to watch Blades of Glory, a movie I had seen before and like quite a lot. Ridiculous premise that is executed well. A-.
BlackBerry was finally added to a major streaming service, Hulu. I really liked this one. A story about the company behind the BlackBerry with its successes and failures. I was not expecting good dramatic acting from the two leads, Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton, but damn, did they prove me wrong. A to A+.
And that’s everything. February improved on January, so here’s hoping March provides some good films for me.
