Movies Watched 2021-22
by lezboyd | created - 14 Jan 2021 | updated - 23 Feb 2022 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Peppermint (2018)
R | 101 min | Action, Thriller
Five years after her husband and daughter are killed in a senseless act of violence, a woman comes back from self-imposed exile to seek revenge against those responsible and the system that let them go free.
Director: Pierre Morel | Stars: Jennifer Garner, John Gallagher Jr., John Ortiz, Juan Pablo Raba
Votes: 70,951 | Gross: $35.42M
Well, I procrastinated for long, but watched it finally. It was...underwhelming. Very cliche plotline, with lazy direction and action direction. The later is important because, when it comes to action movies, the plot usually takes a backseat to action. But the action here was also pretty weak. The plot only got a little interesting when one of the main characters was outed as a corrupt officer, but the reason he was outed was pretty lazy, and kinda unbelievable.
Also, in light of the current events of early January 2021, what with a pandemic, and political divisiveness reaching such heights that The USA Capitol Hill was breached, movies like this leave a bad taste in the mouth.
(1) They promote the idea that the only way to get justice in this world is not by fighting to change corrupt laws and overthrow corrupt people, but by taking the law into one's hand and going on a rampage...when this concept gets the backing of a Presidential figure, what happened in Capitol Hill occurs.
(2) It casts minority figures as either inconsequential or as villains.
(3) It sends the message that it is OK for cops to side with people who take the law into their own hands...again, same as happened in Capitol Hill where many law enforcement officers voiced support for the pro-Trump rally, and some even posed for selfies.
So, on the face, this may look like a pro-women & women-can-be-badasses-too kinda liberal-siding movie, but the messages it sends is entirely the opposite.
Anyway, politics aside, I have been a fan of Jennifer Garner's since Alias, and if this movie was her attempt at a comeback to the action genre, then...well, she hasn't been in another action movie since, so...
5/10 for me. Not kept.
2. Horizon Line (2020)
PG-13 | 92 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A couple flying on a small plane to attend a tropical island wedding must fight for their lives after their pilot suffers a heart attack.
Director: Mikael Marcimain | Stars: Allison Williams, Alexander Dreymon, Keith David, Pearl Mackie
Votes: 11,387
As Chandler Bing would say, "Can this movie _GET_ more cliche?!"
It uses all the plot-props of a airplane-journey-gone-wrong movie, and piles them on one after another, with Alison Williams being the only good part of it. But unfortunately, she is given very little to work with. You can see she is making the best of it, and giving it her all, but that can only take a movie so far.
3/10 for me. Not kept.
3. Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
PG-13 | 151 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Diana must contend with a work colleague, and with a businessman whose desire for extreme wealth sends the world down a path of destruction, after an ancient artifact that grants wishes goes missing.
Director: Patty Jenkins | Stars: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal
Votes: 291,893 | Gross: $46.37M
God Lord! What a step-down from its prequel. The first movie stole my heart. It made me love Gal Gadot as an actor, and Petty Jenkins as a director. It had heart, it has soul, it had great believable action and it had a message. It stood out as a movie that was for women, by women, and it was loved by all....well, most...
This is none of those things. It is mediocre, plot-wise, action-wise, direction-wise and acting-wise. None of the characters are interesting. None of them work. The special effect are horrid. What is up with how Wonder Woman runs?! What even are those camera angles she is shot from during said action?! Her ability to "fly", her "invisible" jet, how she handles her lasso of truth, its all handled very badly....worse, lazily!
I wish DC/Warner Bros had waited a year or so, and refined the movie rather than release it in a panic and with such shoddy action and special effects.
All the reports of the behind the scene drama where it seems Patty let the success of WW1 go to her head and took out those who lend a critical eye to her in the first movie were removed, and replaced with Yes-people. Its sad to see that, given how great, absolutely great, the first movie was, this movie has now the distinction of getting its "Certified Fresh" badge revoked days after it earned it.
I am so conflicted on what rating to give this one...
4/10 for me, but Kept.
4. Promising Young Woman (2020)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Nothing in Cassie's life is what it appears to be - she's wickedly smart, tantalizingly cunning, and she's living a secret double life. Now, an unexpected encounter is about to give Cassie a chance to right the wrongs from the past.
Director: Emerald Fennell | Stars: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown
Votes: 211,866
Boy, this is why indie movies should not die. It starts fine, it drags a bit in the middle, it has a slow pace, but does it get very interesting towards the end or what?!...and dark!
WOW! I am not gonna spoil the plot of the movie, but damn, what a great movie!
8/10 for me. Kept.
5. Tenet (2020)
PG-13 | 150 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Armed with only the word "Tenet," and fighting for the survival of the entire world, CIA operative, The Protagonist, journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a global mission that unfolds beyond real time.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Juhan Ulfsak
Votes: 593,150 | Gross: $58.46M
TBD
6. Vanquish (2021)
R | 94 min | Action, Thriller
A mother, Victoria, is trying to put her dark past as a Russian drug courier behind her, but retired cop Damon forces Victoria to do his bidding by holding her daughter hostage.
Director: George Gallo | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Ruby Rose, Patrick Muldoon, Nick Vallelonga
Votes: 5,377
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