Greetings you beautiful people. Hope you’ve had a swell week and that it wasn’t too crazy like mine was. I missed last week (sorry) but I promise this post will make up for it, as today I’m running down ALL the movies I’ve seen in the past two weeks. One quick note though. All the movies are new theatrical releases since I’ve been binge watching True Detective and Santa Clarita Diet at home. So without further adieu, let’s just jump into it.
Fighting with my Family: Let’s address this first. This is a wrestling movie. A WRASSiling movie. So if you’re not into wrestling or WWE at all then this is not going to be your cup of bourbon. Now that being said, this is actually not that bad of a movie. It’s highly Hollywood-ized in that it’s entirely predictable and the trailer gives almost everything away. Yet, it’s still enjoyable. And if you don’t see movies all the time (or haven’t seen the trailer for this movie a bunch), you’ll probably enjoy the journey this movie takes you on. It’s also very British…which is to be expected since it’s about the life of a British wrestler and her family. Just be prepared for that. Duty to Watch? Yes!
Isn’t It Romantic: So full disclosure. I actually won free tickets to see this movie from playing trivia at UM. That being said, you can still trust my opinion on this movie because it sucks. It’s really bad. Think of a really crappy romcom. Got it? Can you see it in your head? Ok. That is what this movie is. I was honestly hoping this one would be more meta. The premise is about a woman, who doesn’t believe in love, and wakes up in a romantic comedy. I was hoping that the premise would make it more of a Deadpool like film rather than Love Actually, but sadly I was disappointed. You might find some enjoyment out of this but not in theaters. Don’t waste your money on this one. Duty to Watch? No.
Cold Pursuit: Alright, I’ll come out and say this at the top. I liked this movie. Cold Pursuit might look like Taken in a Snowplow but it is actually much more than that. It’s not quite self aware but it is pretty damn close. I actually don’t know how to describe this movie. Its like a really good B movie from the 80s but shot on modern cameras. The plot is ABSURD to the 12th degree and the acting isn’t far behind. Liam Neeson is 50% Christian Bale level of excited and 50% Bruce Willis level bored out of his mind and it actually works for the duration. Now. Don’t mix up my words. This movie is STUPID. Stupid. And absurd. BUT. It is fun and at the end of the day, that’s the only thing I need a movie like this to do. There are some magical movies out there. There are some movies that will make you ponder your existence or make you ugly cry at 11pm on a Sunday night. And then there are movies like this, where you just want to see an old man kill people using a snowplow. Duty to Watch? YES!
Happy Death Day 2 OH BOY! Two bat s**t crazy movies in two weeks? That’s a good average for me. So you know Happy Death Day. The slasher movie that had a baby with Groundhog Day? Well the sequel is just as crazy. This time, it’s like Scream mixed with Groundhog Day with a healthy dose of Jimmy Neutron. Yeah. It’s THAT crazy! Again, it’s not a good movie but it’s not trying to be a good movie. It doesn’t need to be. We have enough of those. What we don’t have a lot of are good (wait for it) bad movies. And that is exactly what Happy Death Day 2U is selling. Good. Stupid. Naughty. Fun. Well maybe not naughty. It’s only rated PG-13. Duty to Watch? Yes.
Alita: Battle Angel: I’m a little late to the party on this one but I’ll chime in anyways. Alita is a spectacular disappointment. It looks pretty good and the world building from James Cameron is better than your average bear. However, the rest of the film is just not there. The writing is sub par. The pacing is like a roller coaster designed by a 5 year old. And worst of all, the film has the audacity to set up a sequel when it can’t even entertain for the film you’re watching. I’m a huge Star Wars nerd but the good thing about A New Hope is that it was made to stand alone. Sure, there are other questions to be answered (does the Rebellion win, what happens to Darth Vader, etc…) but the story and ending you get can stand on its own. Alita cannot. If Alita get’s a sequel in a couple years, it could fix the flaws here, but if it doesn’t, it will stand as a below average sci-fi movie and that is a shame. SHAME! Duty to Watch? No.
Pick of the week would probably be Happy Death Day 2 U followed closely by Fighting with my Family. Next week? It’s Captain Marvel! I can’t wait!! See you next time!
(All movie posters from their respective Wikipedia pages. I do not own any of the images used in this post. All copyright material used under fair use and for review purposes only.)
No Duty to Watch 