Eliza Graves
Never heard of this movie, but it came on one of the local channels yesterday. A psych doctor takes an assignment at a mental asylum, and finds that something strange is going on. It felt a lot like Shutter Island. The casting is impressive. Kate Beckinsale, Sir Ben Kinglsey, Michael Caine, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, and Jim Sturgess. That's not to mention the notable actors playing side characters like Jason Flemyng. Kingsley is his usual awesome self. Sturgess and Beckinsale put in good performances as well. I found the story intriguing, eventhough it kinda follows a predictable arc. Definitely a surprise though.
Midsommar
What...the...fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck?!? I'd seen people refer to this movie in passing, and never gave it a second thought. Holy shit! Now some of those nonsensical comments make actual sense. This movie is fucked up, but in a good way. Florence Pugh is great in this. I saw her in Black Widow first, but she's better in this. Summer retreat gone wrong is about the best way to describe this, without giving away too much. I wish I could watch this while tripping on shrooms or acid. It feels like that kind of movie. It's so fucked up. One of those movies that hooks you early, and then proceeds to throw more and more fucked up shit at you, daring you to look away, but you can't, because you have to see what happens next. This jumped to the top of my wishlist. I own hundreds of digital movies in my Google Play account, but this will be one of those standout oddballs that I'll be drawn back to watch again and again like Bad Times as the El Royale, or Mandy.
Jungle Cruise
I'm a Rock mark...and what? I can't not like his movies. I'm also a shameless Emily Blunt stan. Blunt and Rock together is like a dream come true. I enjoyed the humor, although there wasn't enough of it. The romance between the 2 leads seemed a bit forced at first, but I found that they have pretty good chemistry. Edgar Ramirez gets very underused, but what was taken from him was given to Jesse Plemons whose German prince was a real highlight of the film. This is an attempt to create another Pirates-esque franchise, and I think the potential is there. Pirates got way over the top after the first movie, and I'm hoping that the next Cruise can remain relatively grounded, like this one. We need more of Rock's character telling jokes though. They only featured them at the start and the end of the movie, whereas it would've been nice to have them sprinkled throughout.
Black Widow
Never thought the worst Avenger (or would that title go to Hawkeye) deserved a movie. When they announced one, I never thought thought it would be good. Wrong and wrong. I'll own it. This was a damn good movie. One of the best Marvel flicks IMO. It strikes an excellent balance between story and action. Pay ScarJo her money, but Florence Pugh is the real star. Her and David Harbour steal every scene that they're in. This would've been so much better either right before, or right after Endgame, but it is what it is. They really gave Black Widow her due here, and we can finally understand why she deserved a place amongst the supers. She's a legit badass. I look forward to Pugh's character being worked into future films. She can carry on the superhero poses in honor of her sister.
The Tomorrow War
Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb...fun. Dumb fun is what this movie is. I spent so much of the runtime poking holes into every aspect of the story, but still emerged on the other side with a smile on my face. This isn't the kind of dumb fun that I can watch a million times over, simply because the story has so many stupid plotholes, but it's worth a watch or two to soak up the action and monster designs. I think those were the highlights. It had solid action. Like a SyFy TV movie with a AA film budget behind it. I say that because the staging and setup of some of the action is low-budget, but they land the visual effects. Not sure how to explain it. The monster design is probably the best part of the movie. They nailed it IMO. Terrifying enough, yet still designed intelligently enough that it doesn't have to remain shrouded in shadow or darkness to instill fear and tension. A+ job there. The movie did sabotage itself literally from the opening credits, where they showed the pivotal time-drop. No clue why they did that, and it's not a spoiler, because they literally open the movie with it. Really fucking stupid IMO. It nerfed what would've been a really tense moment later in the film. Still, a solid popcorn flick.
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