Movie Night (Official Movie Discussion Thread)

Knox Goes Away





Slickly Surprising

PRAISE: There is something so entertaining and appealing about movies with plots about old school hitman,thieves and gangsters. That one last job right before or at the start of them losing their touch. Knox Goes Away is all of that and then some. Nicely directed by and Starring Michael Keaton who turns in a moving performance. Great turns from a who's who in Hollywood cast including James Marsden, Suzy Nakamura, Joanna Kulig, Ray McKinnon, John Hoogenakker, Lela Loren, Marcia Gay Harden, and Al Pacino
As jazzy tunes play in the background the film plays out in a way that is calming but with explosions of violence. It's written in a way that I immediately cared for Knox and what he was going through. The loose ends and regrets in life are written all over his face and when presented with a couple of tricky situations he's sees it as a way to get some type of revenge for betrayal and to make things right which plays out in an interesting and involving way.

PROBLEMS: There are a couple of predictable turns. There is a really big unintentionally funny moment...but then again maybe it's a good thing.

Scale of 1 to 10 an 8


Monkey Man





Manic Monkey


PRAISE: This story about loss,revenge and enlightenment works for the most part due to some great performances and well choreographed fight scenes. The story is about Kid who attempts to make money in a fight club but determined to infiltrate a sinister group to avenge his mother's death. Dev Patel turns in an unflinching performance as well as writing, producing, and Directing the film. His script provides a little bit of everything as Kid plots his revenge but also finds himself face to face with colorful characters portrayed by Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma,Sobhita Dhulipala and Ashwini Kalsekar. There's nothing quite like the salty dialogue in the film when its said with an Indian tongue. There's some very intense fighting and I can see why Patel broke some bones while filming and being a part of these sequences. I appreciated the unique kills in the movie.

PROBLEMS: The political sections of the story felt jumbled to me.While I appreciated and understood the placement of the Ayahuasca and getting in touch with your spiritual side,training moments in the movie but this is also when the movie starts to stall and the script feels a bit to drawn out.

Scale of 1 to 10 a 7
 
Civil War





War Wage

PRAISE: Director and writer Alex Garlands film about a dystopian future America, and a team of military-embedded journalists races against time to reach Washington, D.C., before rebel factions descend upon the White House is effective and then some. I liked how the layers are slowly but surely pulled back on what effect the new civil war has had on America in this movie. Those that take advantage of the war and those that simply tune it out. I did enjoy the vibe of the various characters in the film portrayed by Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sonoya Mizuno, and Nick Offerman all turning in strong performances ranging from world weary,pessimistic, to wide eyed determined and ambitious. As the movie played out I kept thinking would their actually be reporters and photojournalism actually covering a near apocalyptic situation......probably.
Some parts of the movie definitely reminded me of get the story no matter what movies like The Year of Living Dangerously and Under Fire.
There's a standout scene in the movie that displays just how bad things can get when division takes place on a grand scale i found it to be extremely intense and harrowing.
There's disturbing imagery throughout the movie some that are truly not for the faint of heart. Action sequences towards the end of the film were very involving.

PROBLEMS: I would have liked a bit more backstory on how things turned into brother against brother, and who was accountable. I was waiting for the one year earlier caption to hit the screen. There are a few predictable moments.

Scale of 1 to 10 an 8½
 
Abigail




Bloody Fun

PRAISE : The Writers of Abigail: Stephen Shields and Guy Busick must be huge fans of the film The Usual Suspects because the vibe of that movie definitely wraps itself around so much of this one. The story about a group of kidnappers who take a young ballerina hostage but get far far more than they bargained for is a fun blood soaked ride. I liked how the characters were set up and fleshed out as the movie moves forward. The late Angus Cloud as Dean was amusing to watch as he makes assumptions with antics some so funny I laughed out loud a few times. Then you have leader Frank (Dan Stevens), medical expert Joey (Melissa Barrera), computer whiz Sammy (Kathryn Newton), ex-military operative Rickles (William Catlett), dense-but-strong Peter (Kevin Durand).As Abigail Alisha Weir's performance comes to life in the second half as more is revealed about her character and she lets loose on the kidnappers. The cast seems to be having a good time as some familiar horror tropes play out but I thought they were really well used in certain frightening and gory scenes. I liked that they took something from legendary horror and made it their own.I enjoyed how the infused child neglect and abandonment around the edges of the movie. The music is also well placed in certain scenes. This is horror with a big sense of humor and I thought the blend really worked in a good portion of the scenes.

PROBLEMS: I thought the who will survive the carnage was to spelled out. I was definitely hoping for more originality when it came to the climax. Aside from one surprise I sat there saying we'll I mainly know how this is going to go because so much was said about a characters familial connection I knew exactly how it was going to end.

RIP ANGUS CLOUD

Scale of 1 to 10 an 8



The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare




Ministry Mission

PRAISE: There's a lot of fun to be had in this story about a top-secret combat unit, composed of a motley crew of rogues and mavericks,who go on a daring mission against the Nazis. Making Nazis who are far to chatty with their threats a memory is a thread in the film but it's the cast that definitely boost up any slow moments in the movie. Henry Cavill does a great job as team leader Gus March-Phillips there is a great running gag attached to his character and he may have a zany tongue out expression while taking out Nazis but he also has a serious side.Included in this wild bunch are Geoffrey Appleyard (Alex Pettyfer); his current protégé, Henry Hayes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin); arrow shooting strong man Anders Lassen (Alan Ritchson); and explosives expert Freddy Alvarez (Henry Golding) , Marjorie Stewart beautiful ,capable and unflinching(Eiza Gonzalez) and Frederich Heron (Babs Olusanmokun) cool,calm and collected. Sure there are a lot of humorous moments in the movie but the film definitely displays how brutal and ultra racists the Nazis were. Director Guy Ritchie pulls back on some of his usual flare and methods which was fine by me.
I'm glad he included all of the "little" problems that come with carrying out a secret mission which was definitely leaned into in the films finale. I can tell Ritchie and writers S Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson & Arah Amel wanted to tell a more straightforward story but with some added fiction doing so honors the real Ministry called Special Operations Executive (SOE), also known as Churchill's Secret Army.

PROBLEMS: I would have liked to have seen more close calls coupled with suspense it definitely felt like the movie pulled back on the aforementioned and how things could have played out in a more sinister way for a particular character. There are a few predictable moments.

Scale of 1 to 10 a 7½



Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver




Rebels with some cause

PRAISE : Picking up where the last movie left off this second part has a bit more going for it as characters are more fleshed out due to their back stories being told. I liked that the movie attempts to be more dramatic and trying to get the audience more attached to the characters as they evolve and try to be more than just wallowing in misery and regret.I've always said Director Zack Snyder can direct the he'll out of an action sequence and he does so here on a grand scale. I praise everyone who was involved in the CGI and SFX.


PROBLEMS: It's beyond obvious where the movie was edited and I find it obnoxious that the unedited version won't be released until August. I never found myself fully engaged or involved. There's a lackluster feel to parts of the movie.
Some characters are still sidelined until needed for some purpose. I do wonder if Snyders " true vision" releases will add anything to improve this or A Child of Fire.

Scale of 1 to 10 a 6½
 
Had a lull in the middle but it was solid.

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Challengers




Tennis Temptress........well sort of

PRAISE: The sports muse thing has been done before in great movies like 1988's Bull Durham but in this story about three tennis prodigies — friends, lovers and foes — across the years through their triumphs and defeats, some shared is not on the same level as the aforementioned. What it gets right is a lot of the dynamics between the characters. Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor) and Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) and Zendaya as Tashi Duncan do great in their roles . They look like great players on the court and I thought writer Justin Kuritzkes and
Director Luca Guadagnino did a good job of displaying how and why we end up in certain places in life and with certain people. Sometimes it's through unforseen occurrences,certain loyalties, lust , love, or dissapointment. A lot of scenes ring true about competitions in life , jealousy and really wanting something or someone just for yourself
I liked how the movie states how mainly everything in life is a competition and goes beyond the professional sport a person is playing. I started thinking about all of the professional athletes out there and what kind of support they are getting from their spouses or significant others. This is where Zendaya gives her strongest laser focused performances she's somewhere between loving and a steely coach.

PROBLEMS : There is a lot of hype about the "threesome" that takes place in the movie but it definitely pulls back on it and adds some turns that I and likely other people who watch this movie won't get on board with or find predictable. While some of the scenes including club beat music worked at times it drowned out what the characters were saying in some scenes. I definitely didn't like the climax of the movie. I kept wondering why they just didn't let things play out in which they were with some good camera work and pauses but they added a few things that made it seem like a parody.

Scale of 1 to 10 a 7½
 
Fun and Falls

PRAISE: I definitely have memories of the 1981 The Fall Guy TV series starring Lee Majors but this movie definitely tries to make it it's own thing with a story about stuntman Colt Seavers springs back into action when the star of a big studio movie suddenly disappears. Simultaneously trying to reconnect with the woman he loves.
I thought it was funny how this movie has a similar story thread to 2023's animated Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match . Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt have good enough chemistry so much so I found myself rooting for their coupling. I think the movie is not only a great tribute to stunt people but to all of the behind the scenes people that make a movie happen. There are a lot of great nods to classic movies and TV shows.
It was fun recalling oh that sound effect is from that TV show. I remember that song from this movie. There is a fight sequence that I thought had a great comedic pay off.
The movie definitely leans more into a romantic comedy than an all out action movie.
There's one action sequence in which I was hoping a couple of things would happen visually and it comes to fruition in a great way. A lot of the fight scenes were fun and filmed in a few unique ways.

PROBLEMS: When the pacing slows down it really comes to an almost complete halt.
Sure a lot of things are cute and a nice wink to the audience saying do you see how meta this is? Oh did you see what we did there? ...like I said cute but those scenes went on far to long. At times I wondered if the movie was just paroding things in some way like how things play out when it comes to a villain in a movie or are these scenes really written this badly. Definitely a couple of predictable moments and outcomes for a couple of characters.

Scale of 1 to 10 a 7½
 
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