Matthew’s Letterboxd Watchlist
I watched a number of films this week that had been on the list for a while that I expected more of. I felt a bit let down by a number of them, which is a real shame. But I watched others that had been ones I wanted to see for a while that weren’t quite what I expected, so that’s something.
Prisoners
First on the list of not what I expected – for some reason from the trailers I thought this was about Hugh Jackman going after Jake Gyllenhaal, so when that wasn’t happening and we were 75% of the way through I had to completely shift my thoughts of what was going on! A very interesting movie, really absorbing and with a lot of time to think about people’s actions.
High Anxiety
I don’t really like Hitchcock, as I’ve said before. So a Mel Brooks film that’s an homage to all Hitchcock was always going to be somewhat middling for me. A couple of very good visual gags really helped out, but otherwise you can see why this is one that isn’t referenced much.
Geostorm
After Hurricane Heist I went into this not expecting much. It was better than that, but still not that good. It was improved through the presence of alcohol and replacing everyone’s lines with “Geostorm! Geostorm?” over the top of it. One to leave on if there’s nothing else on.
That’s Not Me
The setup for this (about the twin of an actress who becomes famous pretending to be her to get free stuff) sounds funny, but I don’t think I laughed once in this very disappointing ‘comedy’.
Fashionista
Normally I wouldn’t have watched this, but the description said ‘genre-bending thriller’, which is very much my jam. Some interesting stuff, but it suddenly becomes an Eyes Wide Shut affair that didn’t land and left me with way more questions than resolutions.
Please Stand By
Another film with an interesting premise – an autistic girl tries to get to LA to submit her Star Trek script for a competition. Some of it was fun but by and large it left me a bit meh. I think I’ve seen this sort of story done better elsewhere, but that said the performances from the leads were excellent and helped elevate it.
Happy Death Day
I like a good post-modern take on a classic idea, and this ‘horror Groundhog Day’ was really well done. It had the mix of fun that Scream brought to the genre, but it was let down by the way it incorporated its mention of Groundhog Day, which should have been done way better, and implies they weren’t entirely sure what the film they were making would be like. Perhaps it came together more in editing rather than in the original vision.
The Pursuit of Happyness
A classic film that I felt I should see, whilst I can see this was really well done I found the whole thing very stressful. The decisions he made kept being so bad (which I fully accept is part of the character) set me on edge, and I kept expecting bad things to happen. Possibly one I’ll enjoy next time now I know how it goes.
Batman and Harley Quinn
More disappointments. This would have been excellent if it was fully in HQ’s POV, but since it was partially done as a Batman Animated Series episode it followed Batman and Nightwing a lot, which meant the humour felt misplaced. Not a great story either, lacking in some cleverness to the investigation or the more naturalistic elements that should be brought in a Harley Quinn story.
Bronson
Easily one of the better films I watched this week, although the story is interesting enough and the violence ends up over the top so it’s more cartoony, Tom Hardy’s performance is what makes this film. He is both engaging and sinister, and you can really see how far he can embrace a role to deliver something astounding.
Magic Mike
I fully expected this would be a story about Channing Tatum getting into stripping to raise money for something, a la the Muppets. Cathryn expected it to be about strippers competing, a la Pitch Perfect or Bring It On. However this was much more Boogie Nights than anything else. I don’t think there was a plot per se, but it was still a good film. The stripping felt much more like burlesque performances than the normal way strippers are shown on screen which was something.
The Host
I’ve meant to watch this Korean action horror for a long time, and finally got it on the list. This is exactly how I want creature features to go – not showing me the government / army type responses, but real people in the situation. It was done very well and a good lark.
Recommendation
Easy one this week, as Prisoners was the film I rated highest out of ten (9/10). Gripping, dark, with realistically depicted people doing what they think needs to be done in a terrible situation. Gyllenhaal and Jackman were wonderful, but the whole supporting cast were terrific as well.