The Great, Big, Quarantine Catch Up

I'm not going to get political or anything on here but, with much of the world shut down it's safe to say that I've had a bit more time on my hands than usual. Now, with so much time I have been able to catch up on some T.V. shows that I had pushed to the back burner and luckily Nintendo has blessed the world with the gem that is Animal Crossing: New Horizons. However, that doesn't mean I haven't been watching a whole bunch of movies. It's been a little while since my last post (again the world is in a weird place right now) and I thought it might be an interesting change of pace to do an overview of what movies I've watched lately. 

Of course, being stuck inside it's been the perfect opportunity for a few marathons. This past weekend rewatched the three Godfather films. The first two are obviously considered great movies but, I'm starting to gain more appreciation for the often disregarded third film in the trilogy... It's still not great but, I liked it more since the last time I saw it a few years ago. I also went on a little bit of a Tim Burton kick for a few days and rewatched some of his early films. Beetlejuice, Batman, Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands... these are all good movies and got me thinking "What happened to Tim Burton? All he makes is crap now". Maybe that'll end up being the topic of a separate post in the future. 

In terms of movies that I hadn't seen before, I finally got around to watching Rocketman. I didn't have time to see it when it was in theaters last year but, better late than never. When the movie goes into big musical numbers it's a lot of fun but, the rest of the time it's a pretty paint-by-numbers biopic. Overall, liked it and it's probably in that 3.5 out of 5 range for me. I also watched Mirrors 2. I never saw the first Mirrors but I found this one in a bargain bin and with the quote on the back of the blu-ray case " They can't run... they can't hide... the can't even look in the mirror!" Well, that's all I needed. It's a schlocky horror movie. Not good but, I had fun with it. Another horror movie I decided to watch was The Exorcism of Molly Hartley. It's far from the worst exorcism movie I've seen (that honor is held by Exorcism of the Dead) but, I still wouldn't recommend this one. Turning away from horror, I finally watched a film that had been sitting in the stack of movies on my desk for months, Machine Gun Preacher. The film is based on a true story about an ex-biker gang member who starts helping poor kids in Africa. It's fine. The title is way better than the movie.

Finishing up, here are a few miscellaneous favorites that I've rewatched over the past few weeks. I highly recommend all of these so if you're like me, stuck at home waiting for the world to go back to normal, these are some solid films to help pass the time. 

- Field of Dreams, a feel good movie and there's no real baseball on T.V. right now. 

- Gone with the Wind, it's an all-time classic and the 4hr-runtime isn't a big deal when there's nothing else going on. 

-Top Gun... I just really like this one.

- The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese movies are always worthwhile.

- Spartacus, like Gone with the Wind, it's a long one but, worth it. 

- The Muppets from 2011. Good songs, and funny jokes. A perfect distraction.

- The Man Who Knew Too Much, I personally prefer the 1956 version with James Stewart and Doris Day but, the 1934 original is a great movie as well. 

-And finally Moon. It's great, I love it, and more people need to see it.

Bohemian Rhapsody

Bohemian Rhapsody is a biopic about the band Queen, but it primarily focuses on Freddie Mercury (the band's most recognizable member). Although the film looked very interesting, I tried to temper my expectations going into this one. The early reviews I had heard were mixed and while I do like the occasional musical-biopic, I've seen way more bad than good. 

I thought this one was decent for the most part. Rami Malek, who plays Mercury in the film, did an outstanding job and it's a movie about Queen so the music throughout the film is awesome. That being said, it seems like the filmmakers played it a bit too safe and the result was a fairly by-the-numbers, watered down, retelling of the band's history. It's also not edited or paced particularly well and, although his role is minor, everytime Mike Myers pops up in a scene it took me out of the movie.

Overall, while I didn't enjoy this movie as much as films like 2005's Walk the Line or 1991's The Doors, I still had a good time. It's a crowd-pleaser that I'd recommend any Queen fan go and check it out.

I give it a 3.5 out of 5

Today's Movie: Milk

                                   

                                  

Milk is a 2008 biopic about the politician/gay rights activist Harvey Milk. The film stars a pretty solid cast featuring Josh Brolin, James Franco, Allison Pill, Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna, and Sean Penn as Harvey Milk. Taking place on the 1970's, the movie focuses on Milk's numerous attempts and eventual success in being the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California. I wasn't alive in the 1970's and I've never done any extensive research on the life of Harvey Milk, so I'm going assume most of the film accurately depicts the real life events. It's well directed, well acted (Sean Penn even won an Oscar for his role in the film), and features a solid musical score by Danny Elfman. However, despite the interesting subject matter, I find the film a little on the boring side and drags a bit at times. It's a 2-hour movie that feels like 3-hours. 

Is it one of the best biopics of all-time? I don't think so, but it's a good movie.

3.5 out of 5.

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

Released in 2004, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers is, of course, a biopic about the actor Peter Sellers and stars Geoffrey Rush in the lead role. 

There's a lot to like about this one, but it isn't without it's flaws.

It's a bit of an uneven and oddly paced movie, spending a lot of time on Sellers' troubled marriages while breezing past whole sections of his film career in a matter of seconds. I understand the film is  really supposed to be about the man behind all of those iconic characters, but I still would've liked to see more of a balance between the troubled personal life and the career in front of the camera. Also, for a film called "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" his actual death, and the circumstances around it, are only told to us via a brief few sentences of text at the end of the film.

On the plus side, this is a film about an interesting, complex, egotistical person so it's not hard to get into. In addition to that, the cast surrounding Geoffrey Rush consists of Emily Watson, Charlize Theron, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Stephen Fry, all of whom are good in their roles.

Overall, while I was pretty entertained throughout, I'm not going to give this one a real strong recommend because it's not a "must-see".

3 out of 5.

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The Founder (2016)

I had been meaning to watch and review this movie for a while now, and I finally took the time tonight to check it out. 

While I am a big fan of Michael Keaton, I wasn't sure if a movie about how McDonald's came about would really be something I'd find all that entertaining. To my surprise, the story was pretty interesting and I was into it from start to finish. The acting, particularly Keaton as Ray Kroc as well as John Carroll Lynch and Nick Offerman as the McDonald brother, was really solid and the whole thing clicks along at a fairly decent pace.

The film, as you may expect, is about how Ray Kroc saw the potential in a small burger joint owned and operated by the McDonald brothers. Kroc, a very determined businessman, realizes that the efficient McDonald's system could be a major franchise with locations all over the United States, and his big picture way of thinking often doesn't gel with what the brothers see as the best way to protect their brand. The McDonald brothers are nervous about rapid expansion and they don't want to sacrifice quality just to save a few bucks. Of course Kroc on the other hand wants to go big and get rich, resulting in mounting tensions over the course the film between his vision for McDonald's and theirs.

Overall, I think this film is entertaining enough to watch at least once. There are a couple parts that drag a little and 10-15 minutes could've easily been shaved off the runtime, but it's a decent movie.

I give this one a 3.5 out of 5.

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