So since quarantine became a thing, I haven't really been able to see a whole lot of new movies. However, I still have seen some stuff so I figured why not give you all a new Mini Movie Reviews? This time around, I have reviewed a few 2020 films and a few non-2020 films. Also, a few of these I saw before the quarantine laws were in place. Based on the release dates of the movies listed, you should be able to tell when theater life ends and inside life begins. Despite that, I hope you enjoy!
Director: David Lynch
Starring: David Lynch
Release Date: January 20, 2020
"You'll not get a free lunch around here."
This was my first experience into the mind of David Lynch... and wow, I wish it was any one of his other films instead. I appreciate what he was going for, but why did it have to be so tedious? The entire short is David Lynch as a 1940s detective interrogating a talking monkey about a murder. The conversation is really slow with lines having so much distance from each other. The dialogue didn't feel natural, and I know it's not because this is David Lynch and he wants to make something weird, but the timing of the conversation was at the cost of unveiling an interesting mystery. The short is only 17 minutes long but it feels at least 30. Not to mention the short is boring to look at. I love a black and white aesthetic, but when your film just recycles the same back and forth tight shots with little in the way of variety, it gets boring very fast. This short is just weird for the sake of weird. While I do like me weird stories, What Did Jack Do? didn't have a point. The best thing about this short is that it makes me want to see his other films, or what is commonly considered his GOOD movies, a lot more than I did before.
3/10 (Bad)
Director: Jeff Baena
Starring: Alison Brie
Release Date: February 7, 2020
"Happy birthday, Sarah."
I wanted to like Horse Girl more than I actually did. There are some really interesting themes of mental illness and paranoia in here, but it never feels fully realized. The storytelling is a little all over the place and nothing ever truly comes together by the end. And the ending raises more questions than it answers. It's like the film was scared to fully commit to its ideas and themes. It's a shame because, like I said, the concepts are fascinating. Unfortunately, the end result just feels disjointed. On top of that, the supporting cast is pretty wasted. They aren't given much to do and the performances are pretty underwhelming. And the visual presentation was pretty boring. It didn't look bad, but it looked bland. And the more abstract scenes felt like the film was trying to be weird and quirky for the sake of being weird and quirky. There is an underlying feeling of awkward cringe throughout the story thanks to the comedy. There are scenes where it works well, but there are others where the film is trying too hard to be quirky. There are two strong positives I have for this movie. First off, I love the way the score switches between nice, serene acoustic soundscapes and jittery electronics when Sarah, the main character, starts to lose her grip on reality. But the best part of the film is Alison Brie. Her performance is amazing. She nails so much nuance with her character, perfectly playing this socially inept and reserved character. She was fantastic. I just wish the rest of the film was as strong as her. This film is a perfect example of having all of the right pieces, but not quite putting them together. If you're curious about what this movie is, I'd give it a shot. It's not bad, but it's kind of underwhelming in my opinion. Who knows, you might like it more than I do. It's certainly a unique experience.
5/10 (Average)
Director: Leigh Whannell
Starring: Elisabeth Moss
Release Date: February 28, 2020
"He said that wherever I went, he would find me, walk right up to me, and I wouldn't be able to see him."
The Invisible Man is a commercial horror film that actually turns out to be pretty good. The story is rather simple, but it's told in a smart and solid way for the most part. Elizabeth Moss gives a fantastic performance as the lead and the way she portrays a victim of trauma and abuse is powerful stuff. There were some nice character moments between her and James, who is the BEST character of the film. You can fight me on that. The directing was pretty good as well. There were some great uses of camera movement and stillness, as well as some nice lighting. The film never relied on jumpscares and the few that were here kept the tension going instead of releasing it all with a loud "bwaah." The first half of the film is very effective in ramping up the tension and grounding the horrors in a tragic, grounded, and realistic way. Unfortunately, the second half started to get rather silly. There's a certain twist that the film introduces about halfway through, and from that moment, the movie loses its realistic tone and grows increasingly cheesy. There's an extended sequence in a hallway that straight up played like a cartoon. There are also some definite notable plot holes. Normally I don't try to think about that because movies are dramatized and the stories are told the way they are told to keep the intrigue going, but this film has some of the simplest solutions as to how to end the conflict. In that aspect, it was kind of dumb. Despite that, this film was solid. Strong performances, distinct and clever directing and an initially impactful story of domestic abuse elevate The Invisible Man from being another mediocre horror film. If you like horror films, then I think you will like this one. It's not particularly scary, nor is it that great, but it is solid and I think you will have a good time with it.
6/10 (Decent)
Director: Stephen Merchant
Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Lowden, Lena Heady, Nick Frost, Vince Vaughn & Dwayne Johnson
Release Date: February 22, 2019
"Dick me dead, and bury me pregnant."
Fighting With My Family is a very charming sports dramedy biopic. It doesn't do anything particularly new or revolutionary, but it does what it does very well. This is a feel good movie in every sense of the word and yes, I did feel good while watching this. What made this movie for me was the family dynamic. Every scene involving the family interacting with each other was great and made the movie all the more endearing. The performances are great, especially from Florence Pugh (yes, I am in love with her, shut up), and every character plays off of each other very well. The story of finding your voice while striving for success was nicely played and the development of the brother was pretty solid. I do wish the wrestling scenes were cleaner. I'm not saying those scenes were dirty or poorly shot, but I do think they were over edited. There are a lot of cuts in the wrestling scenes and I think having more long takes would have not only made them look better and more flowing, but also more stylized. My other critique is that there were some moments of dialogue in the dramatic scenes that were very cliché and forced. There's the whole "I'm living your dream" and "I could've done something great with my life" moments that we've all heard to death. Those instances felt like playing into the stereotypes of the feel good sports story. Besides that, I thoroughly enjoyed Fighting With My Family. If you're a fan of sports movies, I think you will absolutely love this film. I don't watch a whole lot of sports films, but I can tell you this is one of the better ones I've seen in recent memory. It's on Amazon Prime, so check it out while you still can.
7/10 (Good)
Director: Rebecca Chaiklin & Eric Goode
Starring: Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin & Bhagavan 'Doc' Antle
Release Date: March 20, 2020
"Hey all you cool cats and kittens!"
I'm not going to spend too much time on this one because I know this is something EVERYONE has been talking about, and I'm not sure what else I can add to the conversation. I will say that, yes, this thing is insane. The story this docuseries is covering is absolutely bonkers. It's so crazy that if this weren't a documentary and merely something "based on a true story," I would not believe you. But from what I can tell, it's very real. I'm sure there are some things that the documentary chose to leave out, but even still, this is incredibly fascinating, hilarious and disturbing from start to finish. And the overall presentation of the documentary is very well made. The editing is great, the camerawork is engrossing and the use of music is quite nice. It's hard critiquing a documentary because this isn't fiction. How do you criticize a story that actually happened and isn't a dramatization? I'm not sure. All I will say is that I thoroughly enjoyed this series and I can't wait to see how the story further unfolds. I know there's more story to tell. This series got me interested in a topic that I normally would have glossed over. It's something has to be seen to be believed, so watch it if you haven't yet.
8/10 (Great)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Brad Pitt, Cristoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Daniel Bruhl, Til Schweiger & Melanie Laurent
Release Date: August 21, 2009
"You probably heard we ain't in the prisoner-talkin' business; we in the killin' Nazi business. And cousin, business is a-boomin'."
As much as I love movies and try to see as many movies as I can, there have been a lot of films that I haven't seen. That includes most of Tarantino's films. Before Inglorious Basterds, I had only seen The Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood. Sad, I know. I liked The Hateful Eight and I loved Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, but Inglorious Basterds might be my favorite of the three. This films retelling of World War II is very clever with a lot of genuinely hilarious dark comedy and sharp tension. It balances its dark and serious tones with its goofy and comedic situations very well. The writing is brilliant and the story is engrossing throughout. The performances are all fantastic as well. Cristoph Waltz in particular was amazing as the charming and scary Nazi lieutenant, Brad Pitt was hilarious as the leader of the Inglorious Basterds and everyone from Michael Fassbender to Diane Kruger did wonderfully. All of the performances felt very Tarantino, but also very authentic to the time. That can also be echoed with the production and costume designs, which were also great. However, the true star of the show is Tarantino's directing. With the two other Tarantino films I've seen up to this point, particularly The Hateful Eight, the writing seemed to have more of a presence than the directing. This is not the case. The way Tarantino directs shots here is mind blowing, and the way he reveals certain aspects of the situations of the scenes at certain points makes for some amazing moments. There are two scenes in particular that are two of my favorite scenes I've ever witnessed in a movie. Those scenes are the opening scene and the bar scene. Absolute peak cinema, those two moments are. My one negative is that there are a couple five to ten minute instances where the pacing drags. That's it. Inglorious Basterds is a genius, witty, tense and entertaining time. This film makes me excited to check out the rest of Tarantino's filmography.
9/10 (Amazing)
Director: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken, Tom Waits, Abbie Cornish & Olga Kurylenko
Release Date: October 12, 2012
"You can't let the animals die in a movie... only the women."
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri is one of my favorite movies of the 2010s, so I decided to check out the film he released a few years prior: Seven Psychopaths. While this film is nowhere near as good, it was still pretty fun. The characters were all highly entertaining to watch and the performances were all great. The writing is a lot more meta than I expected, offering a lot of jokes on screenwriting and Martin McDonagh's own career. It was clever and the story surrounding it offered plenty of twists and turns. There was also some nice cinematography. There were certain shots of the desert that were particularly beautiful. The first half of this film is really strong. The way the film slowly introduces the characters and their backstories made for some captivating cinema. Not only that, but some of the dark comedy was genuinely hilarious. However, somewhere during the halfway point, the film slows down significantly. It's interesting, because the film makes a joke about the second half of the movie being slow with the film ending with characters talking, resulting in the movie doing that very thing. It is a fun idea and a funny joke, but once the halfway point hits, the story doesn't really go anywhere. And while there is focus on developing the characters, the development never progresses past the surface level. As entertaining as the characters are, none of them are that deep. So ultimately, I found the first half of the film to be much stronger than the second, but that's not to say that the second half was bad. On the contrary. There's a lot of good things that happen. Sam Rockwell's character's monologue on how he wants the movie to end is pretty amazing. And I give this movie props for being ambitious and taking risks. I also give props to McDonagh for willing to poke fun at himself. This was an entertaining watch overall. I just wish there was more happening to the story by the end. If you're a fan of dark comedies, then I think you'll enjoy this one. I certainly didn't expect the movie to turn out like it did, but I'm glad I saw it, if not for the sake of experiencing more of McDonagh's work.
7/10 (Good)
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