Bargain Matinee

I go to the movies. A lot.

[bargainmatinee]

Kraven the Hunter

2024.59

Aaron Taylor-Johnson does a fine job as Sergei Kravinoff, but a nonsensical screenplay is just too much to overcome. Here’s an example of the kind of stupidity we’re dealing with here. It’s firmly established that Kraven is the “world’s greatest hunter” and can find anyone he wants at any time. One such example is tracking down a woman who helped save his life when they were children; with virtually nothing to go on, he finds her at her law firm in a big city. This is also on the other side of the world from where they crossed paths in their youth. When pressed for how he found her, he simply shrugs “that’s what I do.” Fast forward, Kraven later encounters a group of thugs who kidnap someone close to him. He sees them clearly, engages with them, and gets a clear view of their car. Should be easy to resolve, right? He’s just gotta go track them down. Instead, he calls the lady lawyer and begs for her help in finding the guys that did this. I’m sorry….what? Maybe I missed something but I don’t think so. Oh, and then there’s a sequel setup that no one wants and will definitely not ever be made. Just dumb.

[bargainmatinee]

Y2K

2024.58

I love Kyle Mooney (check out “Brigsby Bear” from a few years ago, it’s fantastic) and the idea of a horror-comedy themed around the Y2K panic from the turn of the century seemed like a slam dunk. Sadly, instead we got a missed layup, and then the player slipped and broke both legs when he came down. A huge disappointment and a real bummer. The horror aspect isn’t scary, and I didn’t find any laughs. I’ll still look forward to Mooney’s next project, but I won’t go in as hopeful as I was for this.

[bargainmatinee]

Red One

2024.57

Decidedly mixed reviews and dismal box office be damned. I thought this was a ton of fun, way better than I expected it to be.

[bargainmatinee]

A Real Pain

2024.56

I have a confession to make…I’ve never watched “Succession,” so I wasn’t fully onboard the Kieran Culkin train that’s been chugging along recently. Not that I had anything against him; I’ve enjoyed him in the past (particularly his turn in “Scott Pilgrim vs the World,” where he almost steals the movie among a murderer’s row of amazing performances), but I wasn’t aware just how fucking good he is. Jesus Christ, he’s a force of nature and a joy to behold. And I’ve always been fond of Jesse Eisenberg’s brand of off-kilter awkward nonsense. Eisenberg also wrote and directed this, and it’s a really wonderful little flick. It can be a bit intense at times (discussions about the holocaust tend to dampen the mood every time), but it’s also very funny and touching. I’d be shocked if there isn’t awards talk in a couple of months. It’s a very small film but these seem to be the kinds of movies that draw the attention of the “Best Supporting” categories. If Culkin gets nominated for the Oscar, I’m not sure who could beat him.

[bargainmatinee]

Heretic

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Hugh Grant turns in a tour de force performance as a man who holds two Mormon girls in his house and makes them question everything they believe in. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East are both wonderful in their roles as well. For the most part this is a claustrophobic three-person production that never stops being tense or gripping. It’s got a lot to say about religion too, and I can’t say I disagreed with some of the takes here.

[bargainmatinee]

Venom: The Last Dance

2024.54

Tedious. Very hard to get through and tries to give the viewer an emotional payoff but it hasn’t been earned. I enjoyed the first movie in the series more than I expected, but the second and third have both been real clunkers. You can give this a hard pass.

[bargainmatinee]

Goodrich

2024.53

Michael Keaton is a national treasure. Doesn’t look like this movie is getting much attention or a very wide release, which is a shame. Even hosting SNL this past week, Keaton plugged “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” right up top, which came out over a month ago. This is a good one and he’s a joy to watch in it.

[bargainmatinee]

Saturday Night

2024.52

I was a little nervous when I first heard this was being made, but the trailer eased my mind. If you’re not aware, this isn’t your standard biopic. Don’t come looking for the history of the making of SNL. This is a real-time account of the 90 minutes leading up to the premiere of “Saturday Night” (the “Live” wouldn’t be added until some time later) on October 11, 1975. You need to already be familiar with the cast and the significance of several key behind-the-scenes players as well. If you are, this is a grand slam. If not, this may not be the movie for you (also…get your head out of your ass and educate yourself!). Fantastic and fast paced; the camera is always moving and people come in and out very quickly. There’s definitely some creative license to increase the tension, but I’m not mad at it. The whole cast is stellar. Great flick.

[bargainmatinee]

Joker: Folie a Deux

2024.51

What. The. Fuck. I don’t know how they managed to fuck this up as bad as they did, but they sure did…something. I guess points for trying something different? It’s a noble enough experiment I suppose, but it falls completely flat. The first movie was such a triumph, so well done…I can’t fathom how this got so far off the rails. Over two hours of nothing. A complete dumpster fire.

[bargainmatinee]

My Old Ass

2024.50

I wasn’t familiar with Maisy Stella before this, but she turns in a really great performance here. There’s less Aubrey Plaza than I thought there’d be, but her lack of screen time makes sense story-wise. I wasn’t sure where it was going but it was unexpectedly emotional and I’m not ashamed to admit that it hit me right in the feels. Bring tissues if you tend to cry at movies, I know I did.

[bargainmatinee]

The Killer’s Game

2024.49

Dumped into theaters and virtually ignored, which is a shame. Listen, we’re not winning any awards with this one but it’s harmless dumb fun and it deserved better. I enjoyed it for what it was. I’m sure it will be streaming somewhere VERY soon so check it out when you can.

[bargainmatinee]

Speak No Evil

2024.48

If you’ve seen the trailer (and if you’ve gone to the movies any time at all in the past nine months, there’s no way you missed it) then you’ve pretty much seen the movie. No real surprises but still a pretty good thriller made better by James McAvoy’s performance.

[bargainmatinee]

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

2024.47

Let’s make it clear right off the bat…this was NEVER going to touch the original. There was zero chance it would surpass or even be as good as that classic flick. And while I enjoyed this for the most part, I can’t shake the feeling that it could have been a whole lot better. The magic wasn’t quite there, and there’s a couple of characters who could have been removed completely and you wouldn’t even notice, because they added nothing. Monica Bellucci plays Dolores, a femme fatale from Beetlejuice’s past that takes precious time to setup, and then has zero part in accomplishing anything. You could literally extract her scenes from the movie with an exacto knife and you wouldn’t feel like anything was missing. Same for Willem Dafoe’s afterlife detective. No shade to either of these two fine actors, but why are they here? They’re taking up space and making things more cluttered than they need to be. Sometimes less is more and I think this could have been much better than it turned out if they concentrated on the main story and trimmed some of the fat.

[bargainmatinee]

Blink Twice

2024.46

The trailers made this look like a sleek thriller with the possibility of a supernatural twist. Sadly, none of the above came true. It’s a dull revenge story about super-rich douchebags abusing women, and the inevitable payback at the end is anti-climactic and a bit of a cop out. Instantly forgettable.

[bargainmatinee]

Strange Darling

2024.45

Holy fuck. Go in blind. The less you know, the better. This isn’t just the best movie of the year, it might be one of my favorites of all time. And Willa Fitzgerald deserves an Oscar. There’s no way I’m going to see a better performance this year. Sadly, a film labeled as horror/thriller isn’t likely to get any awards notice, except maybe the Independent Spirit Awards. But it deserves to. I’m going to be thinking about this one for days. I want to watch it again right now.

[bargainmatinee]

Borderlands

2024.44

I knew it wasn’t a good movie. Reviews can often be mixed or misleading, and lord knows I’ve loved movies that critics hated and vice-versa. But the negative vibes around “Borderlands” were so unanimous that I should have known better. I figured that even it was bad, there’d be some stuff that was enjoyable, or maybe some bits that landed and gave me a chuckle even if overall it wasn’t a great movie. But make no mistake. This is just BAD. I hated every second of it and honestly only blame myself. Be better than me.

[bargainmatinee]

Alien: Romulus

2024.43

The first two “Alien” flicks are bona fide classics. Everything that’s come since then…not so much. Parts 3 and 4 were a huge step down, and the AVP movies…exist. Don’t even get me started on Prometheus and Covenant. Covenant was so bad that when I felt the need to pee halfway through, I didn’t even hesitate to get out of my seat and go (something I almost NEVER do. I’ll sit there and squirm uncomfortably for the last 45 minutes of most movies rather than leave that darkened fantasy world). So when the trailer for Romulus dropped…I didn’t really care. But fuck, they did it. They went and made the first good Alien movie since 1986. Tense, thrilling, and horrific.