Triangle of Sadness

Celebrity model couple, Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean), are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged boat captain (Woody Harrelson). What first appeared instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island and fighting for survival.

Triangle of Sadness was one of the disturbingly worst experiences I’ve had in a theater in a long time. I don’t like using the word ‘pretentious’, (I feel like describing something as pretentious is such a subjective opinion) but Triangle of Sadness comes as close as I’ve ever seen to get me to use it. Interestingly enough, it actually starts out decently well. We meet our two main protagonists as they're on a date and the discussion throughout the dinner touches on subjects of gender roles, influencer status, and others. If the film had stayed like that I actually might have considered Triangle of Sadness a decent-to-possibly-good movie instead of a disaster. However, there’s a scene about halfway through where a storm is brewing, and the social elite are eating dinner with the captain of the yacht they’re on. The crash of the waves mixed with the dinner results in a far too drawn out scene reminiscent of the pie eating scene in Stand by Me that results in everyone…uh…relieving themselves from both the attic and basement, if you catch my drift. It’s paired with a weird drunken discussion between the captain and a Russian man arguing about the merits of socialism vs capitalism, Marxism, and a couple other things. I did some research after the fact as I was confused on just what the heck exactly the scene was going for. From what I could gather in my research, it looks like the point was to paint the pompous, obscenely rich idiots as simply ignorant of their actions, as earlier in the film they had forced the entire crew to go swimming with them, resulting in the food going bad before being prepared for the meal. The scene was gross all by itself, but it was odd being paired with the conversation/argument between the captain and the Russian man. That kind of lesson about the ultra-rich could have easily been done a multitude of more effective ways that were not so disturbing and gross. Once the storm scene is over, the film then veers into Lord of the Flies territory where the survivors of the capsized ship argue about how to get back home, and who is in charge. It felt like Triangle of Sadness couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a dark comedy, a tragedy, or some kind of weird action/adventure romp with a touch of satirical lessons peppered throughout. Due to this, I cannot for the life of me figure out why it's received such good reviews, and I cannot recommend sitting down to watch it unless you can stand to watch an overly long scene of dozens of people throwing up and soiling themselves during a storm being weirdly paired with a politically charged conversation intertwined throughout.

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor among Thieves

A charming thief, Edgin, and a band of unlikely adventurers (Holga, Xenk, Simon, Doric, and Forge) embark on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic. Things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people. They must then work together to save the world from destruction.

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor among Thieves is such a cheesy as heck movie, but thankfully it’s the best kind of cheesy. I loved every second of it. I don’t really know or have experienced much about D&D outside of currently watching the third campaign of Critical Role on YouTube or Twitch, an episode here and there of Dimension 20, and Amazon Prime’s animated series of the first Critical Role campaign The Legend of Vox Machina - though I recently have been wanting to get into a one shot campaign or something to experience it for myself - so I couldn’t tell you all of the Easter eggs. The good thing is that the movie has enough there to be good fun for even people like myself who don’t know what any of the terms used mean or types of characters, etc. I mean, I knew enough to know what some of the spells used were (Eldritch Blast, Speak to the Dead, among others). I also understood a couple references here and there to some special magical items used within the game, but that's about the extent of my knowledge of D&D. Honor among Thieves has the humor, action and adventure I've come to expect from a typical session of D&D, which made it all the more entertaining. I wish it had been a little longer, despite being just over 2 hrs long. It felt like it went by too quickly. But that’s my only real complaint. Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriquez, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Regé-Jean Page, and Hugh Grant were all wonderful in each of their roles, and made me look forward to a sequel. No, seriously, PLEASE let there be a sequel to this one!

Women Talking

Women Talking was a tough movie to both watch and to review. If you haven't heard of it, it's based on the novel of the same name and follows a group of women in a religious colony who are constantly attacked and abused by the men in their community for years until one particular incident where someone is caught and finally sent to jail along with the other perpetrators. While the men are gone the women hold a meeting to decide whether or not to leave the community and strike out on their own, to stay and fight back against the abuse, or do nothing.

This is not a movie for a widespread audience. It's basically a one-location, very little action, "talky" type of movie that most will probably skip. Personally, I found the discussions intriguing, and actually did a slightly better job of presenting the different sides of arguments surrounding what is essentially the Me Too movement than what Tár or some other movies have tried to do. I say slightly, as there were moments where the arguments did kind of bend toward a more "preaching" stance instead of presenting the arguments and letting the audience decide for themselves. The process of actually writing out a set of pros and cons of all arguments was kind of an odd choice as well. I think framing the discussion from a religious perspective was interesting. Having been raised in a biblically-based household myself, I appreciated both the questions raised throughout, particularly those on the subject of forgiveness, as well as the framework in which those questions were asked. One question raised in the film was whether or not forgiveness that was forced out by someone else and not freely given was true forgiveness; as well as the question of whether or not one could ever forgive someone for such an act, or whether or not it would take time and distance in order to do so. None of these questions are easy to answer - if they ever truly could anyways - but the movie attempts to do so. The acts of abuse are shown onscreen, but only in brief flashes throughout and (mostly) not terribly graphic. I think I'd say this is a recommended movie, and I daresay an important movie to watch. I feel a bit weird using the phrase "I liked it" given the topic. However, with the subject matter the way it is, as well as how it's presented in more of a roundtable discussion style than truly a conversation on the subject (which isn't necessarily a bad thing btw), I'm not so sure of many people who would appreciate the movie. I would still encourage people to check it out, but keep that in mind.

Cold Pursuit

Nels Coxman's quiet life as a snowplow driver comes crashing down when his beloved son dies under mysterious circumstances. His search for the truth soon becomes a quest for revenge against a psychotic drug lord named Viking and his sleazy henchmen. Transformed from upstanding citizen to coldblooded vigilante, Coxman unwittingly sets off a chain of events that includes a kidnapping, a series of deadly misunderstandings and a turf war between Viking and a rival boss.

When I first heard of Cold Pursuit, the trailers were a little bit misleading. They made me think this was going to be a Taken-esque action thriller, much like most of Liam Neeson's recent movies in the last few years. What I didn't realize, was 2 things: First, Cold Pursuit actually ended up being more along the lines of Ocean's 11-13 with it being an action comedy. Or more accurately, a dark comedy, given the nature of the story. Secondly, I never realized this was an American remake of a Norwegian film titled In Order of Disappearance. It also had the same director for both movies. I'd never seen nor even heard of the Norwegian film before, so I'm definitely going to have to watch that now.

Since I wasn't expecting that tone, the first 15-20 minutes threw me for a loop before I was able to relax into it and enjoy the rest of the movie. After that, I really did enjoy it. Sure, it's not anywhere near Liam Neeson's best role(s), or movie in general. It's certainly not the type of movie to be in any conversations during Oscar season. But for what it's worth, I thought it was really good. Also, now that I know what to expect, I'm planning on going back through and watching it again with a clearer and more open mind to get a sense of the entire movie, not just after the first 20 minutes. 

I feel confident in saying that fans of the Ocean's series, as well as Fargo will enjoy Cold Pursuit. I know I did. There are some people who might be a little uneasy about the over exaggerated stereotypes throughout the movie, but if you can get past that and the dark humor, then I would highly suggest checking this out.

The Predator

From the outer reaches of space to the small-town streets of suburbia, the hunt comes home. The universe's most lethal hunters are stronger, smarter and deadlier than ever before, having genetically upgraded themselves with DNA from other species. When a boy accidentally triggers their return to Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and an evolutionary biologist can prevent the end of the human race.

I love the Predator franchise, almost as much as I love the Alien franchise. That being said, this latest addition to the franchise is hands down one of the worst movies of 2018. It's sad too, I actually was intrigued with the story, particularly a couple of the twists it throws in. And yet, the humor (and dialogue in general) and some of the acting from several of the characters brought it down so much that I almost walked out from the theater. Pretty much all of the characters were bland and uninteresting, making me not care about any of them, especially when some of them died. Thankfully, I only paid two bucks for a ticket instead of full price. Otherwise, I would've been even more ticked off. 

There really isn't much, if anything, positive I can say about The Predator. Despite all of the crap, though, I actually hope there's another one that involves one of the bigger twists from the movie. I won't specify what, but the twist was interesting enough for me that I would like to see more.

Alita: Battle Angel

Set several centuries in the future, the abandoned Alita is found in the scrapyard of Iron City by Ido, a compassionate cyber-doctor who takes the unconscious cyborg Alita to his clinic. When Alita awakens, she has no memory of who she is, nor does she have any recognition of the world she finds herself in. As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield her from her mysterious past.

I'm unfamiliar with the Japanese manga called Gunnm, of which Alita: Battle Angel is based on. I feel like I should have done a little bit of research into the manga in order to maybe have a better understanding of the story, characters, etc. Alita: Battle Angel is light on plot, but heavy in the stylized action. This made for a visually stunning, but somewhat confusing movie. It didn't help that the movie ended on a cliffhanger. I wasn't expecting to have every single detail about the story spelled out over the course of the movie, but I do think there should have been a bit more for the audience to understand, especially those - such as myself - who've never read nor heard of the original source material. For instance, there's a discussion about a war that happened 300 years prior to the movies events unfolding. I would have liked to get just a small amount of info on what that war was about. 

That's not to say I didn't enjoy it. I enjoyed it a lot. However, I do wish more time was spent developing the story and focusing on the world-building instead of on the action and setting the movie up for the next movie. I did enjoy the performances, particularly that of Rosa Salazar as Alita, and Keean Johnson as Hugo. I liked the character of Dr. Ido, played by the masterful Christoph Waltz, but again, I felt there was something missing.

Overall, I would actually still recommend Alita: Battle Angel. It's still a very fun movie. As far as manga/anime live action adaptations go, this was far better than Ghost in the Shell or even the live action Death Note. Also, I unintentionally saw this in 3D (wasn't paying attention to the ticket I bought). I didn't think 3D really added anything to the movie. So far, the only 3D movies I've ever seen where the technology was effectively used was Avatar and Life of Pi. 

The Green Mile

Paul Edgecomb walked the mile with a variety of cons. He had never encountered someone like John Coffey, a massive black man convicted of brutally killing a pair of young sisters. Coffey had the size and strength to kill anyone, but not the demeanor. Beyond his simple, naive nature and a deathly fear of the dark, Coffey seemed to possess a prodigious, supernatural gift. Paul began to question whether Coffey was truly guilty of murdering the two girls.

I can't count how many times I've caught The Green Mile on tv in the middle or at the end of the movie. Up until now I've never had the chance to see the entire thing. I finally got the chance recently when I was up late one night (thank you insomnia!). I've always heard how great it is, and after watching it, it's even better than what I've heard. There's only a handful of movies I'd consider legitimately perfect - The Godfather and Gladiator are two of them - and I'd add The Green Mile to that short list. The entire cast did a phenomenal job, especially Tom Hanks as Paul Edgecomb, but the one performance that really drew me in was Michael Clarke Duncan as John Coffey ("...like the drink, but spelled different..."). His performance as the quiet - though kind of stereotypical - "gentle giant" of sorts is hands down one of the best onscreen performances I've ever seen on film. I've mentioned before how I rarely get truly and fully emotional watching movies, but man, watching Michael as John Coffey during his final long monologue when he's talking to Tom Hank's character named Paul Edgecomb really got to me. Easily one of the best, most emotional scenes I've ever witnessed. When John tells Paul "...I'm tired boss...Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time...", it's one of those rare instances where I actually felt that emotion hit me like a stab in the heart. I only wish I could have that kind of experience more often.

I should also mention that I was kind of surprised to learn that The Green Mile was first a story written by Stephen King. I knew it was a book, but never knew it was from King. I'm mostly only familiar with King's horror stories (Carrie, IT, The Shining, etc.). Overall I'm not the biggest fan of Stephen King, but watching The Green Mile actually made me want to seek out Stephen King's stories and see what else he's done that's not necessarily in the horror genre. The only other stories I'm currently aware of is The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me. 

All of that to say, if you haven't had the pleasure to experience the epitome of storytelling magic that is The Green Mile, then do yourself a favor and seek it out. Without a doubt I'd consider it one of the greatest movies ever made.