Here is the second week of my Movie Mayrathon, where I watch a movie a day for the entire month of May! If you want to see what I watched last week, click here. If you want to see every entry in my Movie Mayrathon series, click here. Let's do this!
DAY EIGHT: Airplane II: The Sequel
DIRECTOR: Ken Finkleman
STARRING: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Chad Everett & William Shatner
RELEASE DATE: December 10, 1982
"Where am I going to get a piece of metal?... Out here in space?... At this hour?"
Airplane! is one of the greatest comedy movies ever made. The humor is wacky and silly, while the performers are giving it their all, selling every single line and reaction. There are hundreds of jokes in that film and most, if not all of them land. Airplane 2, while very much in the same vain as the original, is FAR inferior as a comedy. The humor is quite similar to the first, in that a lot of jokes fly at you throughout the run. Anything from slapstick to wordplay is used. With both Airplane movies, the jokes come first and the story around it comes second. That's all fine in dandy, because the first is an all time classic. This movie, however, is not very funny at all. I laughed maybe four or five times throughout the film and nose exhaled another seven or eight times. For the rest of the jokes, I was either completely silent or found myself rolling my eyes. It doesn't help that the story is almost exactly the same except in space and with a completely pointless H.A.L. parody controlling the plane. The subplot of Stryker was also really stupid and pointless. This entire film felt completely purposeless and by the end, I felt like I wasted my time. If you want to see a great comedy, then watch the first Airplane film. It's hilarious even to this day. If you're morbidly curious about the sequel, then I guess you could watch it for curiosity's sake. For everyone else... don't even bother.
FINAL SCORE: 3/10
DAY NINE: Jerry MaGuire
DIRECTOR: Cameron Crowe
STARRING: Tom Cruise
RELEASE DATE: December 13, 1996
"Show me the money!"
I watched this with my mom as a late birthday/early mothers day gift for her. I let her pick whatever she wanted, so she chose Jerry MaGuire, which is one of her favorite movies ever. I wasn't sure if I would like it because it didn't seem like the kind of film I would enjoy. That being said, I was wrong, because this movie was a lot of fun. Jerry MaGuire is an entertaining sports/love story with likable characters, great performances and a really good script. It does come across as cheesy sometimes, particularly that one scene (you know the one), but the film is still very endearing. Also, the editing is magnificent! Seriously, this is one of the best edited movies I've ever seen. While this movie isn't necessarily for me as I am not the biggest fan of romantic comedies, I still thoroughly enjoyed my time with Jerry MaGuire. If you're a fan of sports movies, romantic comedies or both, then I think you'll really like this one. I... honestly don't have that much else to say. It's good. Watch it if you like.
FINAL SCORE: 7/10
DAY TEN: It's Such a Beautiful Day
DIRECTOR: Don Hertzfeldt
STARRING: Don Hertzfeldt
RELEASE DATE: August 24, 2012
"He lifts an arm as if he's about to speak, but inexplicably says 'it smells like dust and moonlight.'"
Wow. I have never seen anything like this before. Ever. Movies, TV, theatre... nothing like this. This is one of the most unique, original pieces of art I've ever seen. It's an hour long collection of three short films consisting of stick figure animation, orchestral music, abrasive walls of sound, flashing lights and a dry narrator documenting Bill's daily activities as a sequence of random events. It all sounds like chaos, and there are definitely some moments of that, but this is one of the most poignant, beautiful and emotionally captivating films I have ever seen. The way this film tackles life, death, aging and longing is so gripping. Sometimes even terrifying. There were scenes were I could not breathe while watching them. I could not bring myself to do it. This is a beautiful display of artistry with a heavy story told in such a fantastic and gorgeous way. Not only that, but the movie is also pretty hilarious, as dark and as morbid it gets. The animation is simple yet works perfectly, the editing is incredible and the sound design is some of the best I've ever witnessed. This film says so much in barely over an hour. As of right now, It's Such a Beautiful Day is one of the best animated movies I've ever seen. It's funny, heartbreaking, disorienting, abrasive and moving all at the same time. I am absolutely blown away by the artistry here. This is one of those movies that everyone needs to watch. The message of hope that the film provides is so resonant and very powerful, especially now. Times are tough and seeing a movie like this makes me feel more optimistic. And not only that, but this movie inspires me to keep writing. This is the kind of story that I want to tell someday. Don, if you ever find yourself reading this someday, I just want to say thank you. You have truly moved me.
FINAL SCORE: 10/10
DAY ELEVEN: Booksmart
DIRECTOR: Olivia Wilde
STARRING: Kaitlyn Dever & Beanie Feldstein
RELEASE DATE: May 24, 2019
"Prepare to get bashed! In a fun way, like consensually bashed, I mean. Consensually bashed, it should say. Prepare to get consensually bashed."
I openly admit that a story like Booksmart does not appeal to me. I was never into the party scene in high school and movies that center around that idea have always felt a little try hard and obnoxious to me. And while Booksmart does indeed confirm those feelings for me to an extent, I still found myself engaged and entertained. The movie is pretty funny. While nothing necessarily made me bust a gut, there were plenty of chuckles and genuine laughs. Not everything landed, but there were plenty of jokes that did. The directing is quite good as well, offering some relatively nice shots and some sequences that are a lot more creative than they have any right to be. But the true stars of the film are the two stars. Both Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldman are fantastic. They are full of charm and charisma, and the chemistry between the two is very entertaining. These two make the movie. Without these two actresses, this film would not be anywhere near as entertaining. As for negatives, the dramatic scenes felt rather flat for me. The dialogue gets a lot cornier and the way the scenes are executed made any kind of emotional impact get lost. It all felt like petty high school drama... which it was, but the movie didn't do a great job getting me to care. My other complaint is the soundtrack, which is overwhelming to the point of being obnoxious. And yeah, there are scenes of definite cringe. Then again, this is set in high school, but the cringe did not really entertain me as a viewer. I found myself rolling my eyes at those points. But overall, I enjoyed my time with Booksmart. I doubt I will ever watch it again, but I'm glad I did. Check it out for yourself if you're curious.
FINAL SCORE: 6/10
DAY TWELVE: Silver Linings Playbook
DIRECTOR: David O'Russell
STARRING: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver & Chris Tucker
RELEASE DATE: November 21, 2012
"This is what I learned at the hospital. You have to do everything you can, you have to work your hardest, and if you do, if you stay positive, you have a shot at a silver lining."
I feel like everyone has forgotten about this movie. Silver Linings Playbook is a great look into the lives of two mentally ill people and how they gradually fall in love. The story is told in a touching yet highly entertaining way. It's funny, dramatic and gripping from start to finish. I loved all the characters in the film. The performances are all fantastic and the chemistry between everybody, particularly Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, is electric. What I think surprised me the most was how good the directing was. The shot composition is claustrophobic yet full of character, the colors range between dulled grays and luscious blues and pinks, and the editing perfectly echoes the chaotic mentality of the characters in certain scenes. If anything, there are moments when scenes can get too overbearing. It's very entertaining watching everybody shout over each other in rapid succession, but there are moments when the pace gets so frenetic that it starts to turn into meaningless noise. While we're on the subject of nitpicks, I do think the ending is kind of cheesy. I know, it's a love story, but the way the ending is executed is very predictable and nowhere near as interesting as it could have been. Despite that, Silver Linings Playbook was a great character study. With amazing performances, writing, directing and editing, it's somewhat surprising that this film got forgotten so easily.
FINAL SCORE: 8/10
DAY THIRTEEN: Inside Llewyn Davis
DIRECTOR: Joel & Ethan Coen
STARRING: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund & Justin Timberlake
RELEASE DATE: December 6, 2013 (limited)
January 10, 2014 (wide)
"If it was never new, and it never gets old, then it's a folk song."
The Coen Brothers are among my favorite writers/directors of all time. While I haven't seen everything they've made, the way they tell stories through their writing, their visuals and their music choices keep drawing me back to their work. And from what I've seen, Inside Llewyn Davis is one of their best. This is a very quiet movie and it uses that quietness to its advantage, painting a very touching yet heartbreaking story of untapped potential. Llewyn Davis is a phenomenal character and watching his story unfold kept me hooked. I loved the supporting cast as well. Everyone that Davis interacts with has a story of their own. They all feel so lived in. The performances are all fantastic and the overall atmosphere of the movie is very palpable. Every moment of this film felt real. The directing is gorgeous, the cinematography is rustic yet dirty and the script is wonderful. This movie felt so cosy and yet so dark and so sad. And the music... dear Lord, the music! Coen Brothers movies have some of the best soundtracks ever and Inside Llewyn Davis is no different. This is some folk goodness right here. My one nitpick is that, like most of the Coen Brothers movies I've seen, the ending kinda comes out of nowhere. It's very abrupt and the execution definitely threw me off. However, I don't think the ending is bad. At first, I was confused by the ending, but after looking into it, the final moments make complete sense. I won't spoil it, but some people that see this film might be disappointed in how everything wraps up. I will say that, thematically and story-wise, it is the right ending. It might even be the perfect ending. I just think it happens a little too suddenly for my taste. But overall, I loved this movie. It's a wonderful tale of identity, purpose and good ass folk music. The characters, writing and directing are all wonderful. It's funny, sad, hopeful, dark and oh so good. Don't miss out on this one.
FINAL SCORE: 9/10
DAY FOURTEEN: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
STARRING: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw & Ke Huy Quan
RELEASE DATE: May 23, 1984
"Mola Ram! Prepare to meet Kali... in Hell!"
Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my favorite movies of all time and the fact that I hadn't seen any of the Indiana Jones sequels up until this point is really sad. On that note, I have mixed feelings about Temple of Doom. There is plenty about this movie that's great, but there's a particular negative that flat out ruins the movie for me. For the positives, this movie is phenomenal technically. The directing is amazing. This is Spielberg in his prime and you can tell with every shot. The cinematography is beautiful, the practical effects are awesome and the action scenes are a lot of fun. None of the stunts ever reach the height of the best scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark, but they're still quite impressive and full of adrenaline. Harrison Ford is great as always and the bond he has with Short Round is very sweet. I also appreciate how dark the movie gets. There's cults, possession, voodoo dolls and sacrifices. I love that this film takes risks and for the most part, those risks are well executed. And of course, John Williams's score is amazing, as he is the best composer in the film industry. So you might be asking, "Wow, with that description, it sounds like you loved it. What happened?" Well, if you've seen the movie, you know what my big negative is. And that negative is Willie Scott. This woman is one of the most annoying, aggravating and downright insufferable characters I have ever seen in a movie. All she does the entire time is whine, complain and squeal. My god, does she squeal. She gets so annoying that she becomes distracting. She flat out ruins scenes because of her presence. And yeah, I know that she was cast in the movie because Spielberg was in love with her and they're still married to this day. I get that. It was a very sweet gesture. She still didn't have to be this annoying, though. If the film cut her out completely, the film would have been much better. It still would not be as good as the first, because frankly the story isn't as good, but it would have been better. So, yeah, I don't really know how I feel about this one. It's fun but it is very frustrating. Oh well.
FINAL SCORE: 6/10
WEEK RECAP
Best: It's Such a Beautiful Day
Worst: Airplane II: The Sequel
Guilty Pleasure: Booksmart
Biggest Surprise: Silver Linings Playbook
Biggest Disappointment: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
MAYRATHON RECAP
Best: It's Such a Beautiful Day
Worst: Airplane II: The Sequel
Guilty Pleasure: The VelociPastor
Biggest Surprise: The VelociPastor
Biggest Disappointment: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Stay tuned for Week 3!
#movie #marathon #moviemarathon #may #quarantinemoviemarathon #film #filmmarathon #quarantinefilmmarathon #moviemayrathon #Airplane2 #AirplaneII #Airplane2TheSequel #AirplaneIITheSequel #JerryMaguire #ItsSuchaBeautifulDay #Booksmart #SilverLiningsPlaybook #InsideLlewynDavis #IndianaJones #IndianaJonesandtheTempleofDoom #TempleofDoom
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