Moviewatcher122's 2017 Film Diary: July

July 2



"I may not be a great ninja; I may not be one with the universe; but I will say this: NO ONE MESSES WITH MY BROTHER."

I had seen bits and pieces of this on TV years ago, but have never watched this movie from start to finish. Wasn't sure what to think about this one at first, but I ended up liking it. Mainly because I am a Chris Farley fan and it's just hard for me to not find him funny, but I thought the idea of him being a ninja was funny. Sure, not all of the jokes in this movie work and it does feel a little one-note at times, but I feel like they do just enough to keep it from being too stale. While this is one of Chris Farley's weaker movies, I still thought it was funny enough for me to consider it decent. I'd even watch this one again sometime in the future even though it may not have the same rewatch value as something like Tommy Boy.

July 3



"You live on your phones! You have no idea how to function like normal people in the real world."
"Ms. Wicklund, this isn't the real world."
"This is Canada."

Well, this was nowhere near as terrible as I was expecting it to be, but it still wasn't good. To be honest, I don't really have that much against Kevin Smith's more recent work. OK Cop Out was pretty bad, but Red State was decent and I did like Tusk quite a bit. Considering the fact that this is connected to Tusk, this should've been a movie I would really enjoy, right? Well, the trailers for it looked terrible and now that I've seen it, the problems in the trailer are still present here.

One thing I really didn't like is how pandering it felt at times. Like there's use of modern slang, a parody site of Instrgram called "InstaCan" which is shown whenever this film introduces a new character and the fact that these two teenage girls can't live without their phones. It was really annoying whenever this movie did stuff like this and it just came off to me as Kevin Smith trying to pander to an audience that isn't going to give a shit about this movie.

Besides that this movie feels really unfocused. The tone of it keeps shifting from it being a straight-up comedy to a goofy action comedy to a somewhat serious film? It never knows what it wants to be and because of that this movie can be a chore to sit through. At some points it feels more like a midlife crisis disguised as a movie. It also doesn't really work as a comedy either. While there were moments that made me smile or chuckle here or there, some of the jokes felt really forced and were more cringe-worthy than funny. If there's one thing that does save the movie a little bit, that would be the cast. Lily-Rose Depp and Harley Quinn Smith do a good job as the main characters, Johnny Depp is alright as Guy LaPointe although I didn't care for him as much as I did in Tusk and Justin Long as the yoga instructor was the best character and delivered some of the funniest moments in the film.

While I didn't really hate this movie, it is really flawed and the overall execution of this movie keeps it from being any better.

July 5



"I'm not a bad man, but in certain situations, I have to ask myself: "What would a bad man do?""

Had this on DVD for quite a while now and I thought now was the time to finally get around to watching it. Even though I kind of knew what to expect going into this, I was surprised with what I got. Even though I wasn't expecting it to be a straight-up comedy, I wasn't expecting it to get as serious as it did either. It still has it's fair share of jokes, but it's more of a drama with some dark humor. With that said I really liked where this movie went. I was intrigued by the story of this movie even though I'm unsure of how much of this actually happened. It was most likely romanticized, but most films that are based on a true story are like that, so I'm not really bothered by it. What I did like though was the satire and what it had to say. It looks at war in a way that isn't really that common in movies and I found that to be refreshing. I also really liked Jonah Hill's character here and thought he played the role very well and even Miles Teller was good here.

It's a very solid movie and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.

July 7



"Man, they look woebegone and far away."
"Oh, I'll only be here twenty-four hours."
"In a place like this, it could be a lifetime."

This was a pretty fun movie. It's an entertaining suspense type film with a great performance from Spencer Tracy. Didn't quite cross the line of greatness for me, but I still really enjoyed it and I'd probably add it to my DVD collection someday.

July 9



"I thought you might appreciate a nice home-cooked meal after being in prison for so long."
"Yeah, that's what I've been jerking off to for the last 850 nights in a row, a fuckin' home-cooked meal. "Oh, tuna casserole!""

Have you ever seen a movie called Analyze This? If so, then you've seen Analyze That without even knowing it. OK, maybe it's not that similar, but a sequel like this is bound to repeat what made the first one work. With that said though, I didn't hate it like I thought I would. It does have some moments that are genuinely funny and Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal are decent in their respective roles. However, there are also a good number of jokes that fall flat and the plot they chose for this one felt forced. It failed to engage me and it felt like the most cliche plot they could've chosen for the sequel. The biggest thing about this movie though is that even though this movie is funny at times, it's never as funny as the original. It never even comes close to being that funny and it's mostly just rehashing what made the first one work. Even though this sequel is somewhat entertaining, I would be completely fine if it never came into existence.

July 10



"This one, they say that listens to the music all the time?"
"I mean, is he retarded?"
"Retarded" means slow. Was he slow?"
"No."
"He had an accident when he was a kid. Still has a hum in the drum. Plays music to drown it out. And that's what makes him the best."

I have never gone so out of my way to see a movie until now. I haven't been to the cinema much lately and there has been quite a few movies this summer that I'm interested in seeing. A few of them I missed and others are ones I hope to see as soon as I can. I usually go to the movies with someone else, but because I haven't been able to do that at the moment, I just thought to myself "You know what, there's no way I'm going to let Baby Driver leave theatres without me seeing it first!" I had to take a couple buses to get there and even when I got off the second bus it took quite a while to walk to my destination and of course it was worth going all this way to see it. I would be surprised if it wasn't worth it and turned out to be a letdown, but it's Edgar Wright and other than The World's End which was disappointing, all of his other films were great.

I was sold on this just by the premise and trailers and I gotta say that Edgar Wright really outdid himself with this movie. I feel like the whole heist film has been overdone since there's so many of them and it's hard to make something new out of one, but despite that this was a very refreshing take on it. Part of it has to do with the lead character. The film is shown from his perspective and it's a very unique one. Because he drowns out the ringing in his ears with music, it often plays the music he's listening to whenever it's important to a scene. The musical aspect of it really gives the film it's own identity. Ansel Elgort who started off in terrible movies like Divergent and the Carrie remake really proves himself as an actor here and he does it without a ton of dialogue.

As much as I love the main character, the rest of the characters were great as well. They all had their interesting quirks and the supporting cast does a great job portraying these characters. Even though this is probably the most serious movie Edgar Wright has ever made, it still has a good amount of humor as one would expect from him. I was really digging the overall script from the dialogue to the characters and I loved every minute of it, but by the second half things started to get intense. There were so many fast car chases and twists and turns that had me on the edge of my seat and the ending which I won't spoil completely caught me by surprise.

I could go on about how fantastic this movie all day if I wanted to, but I'll just say that this movie was so good that I wanted to watch it again as soon as it was over. I'm hoping to get a chance to see it in theatres again, but there is other stuff I want to see as well, so I might not get the chance depending on how long it's going to stay for. I'm still glad I saw it and it's easily a top 5 contender for 2017. Top 3 even.

July 13



"We will now purge. We will torture you and violate your flesh. Remove your skin and share in your blood. This is the American way."

I wasn't sure what I was going to think about this entry of The Purge since I hated the first one, but thought the second one was a major improvement. After seeing it, it's pretty much the same as The Purge: Anarchy except with a political edge. As far as political satire goes, it's not terrible, but it isn't really good and doesn't really have many interesting things to say other than it being The Purge's version of the 2016 election. Because of that the political aspect of this movie seems to get lost in the background and is mostly just a rehash of the previous film. That isn't to say that I was bored with this movie because there were some moments where I had fun with this movie and I wasn't really expecting anything more from it, but at the same time it's not something I'll remember much of as time goes on.

July 18

Re-watch



"They're coming to get you, Barbara, there's one of them now!"

Even though I had a feeling that George A. Romero wasn't going to live for much longer, I didn't think it would be as sudden as it was. It was pretty much a given that I was going to watch one of his movies to celebrate his work with because not only was he a major influence for the genre, but back in 2011 when I was just getting into horror films this was one of the first ones I ever watched. I was starting off with ones that wouldn't scare me too much, so after I watched Psycho, I watched this one the day after and would slowly work my way up to the rest of the classics. I was stuck between choosing this one or Dawn of the Dead at first since the latter is one of my favorite movies of all time, but it wasn't too long before I chose this one since it's been a bit longer since I've seen it.

I really gotta say that with this movie being almost 50 years old, it has held up very well after all these years. I had already forgotten some of the things that happened in this movie since then and even though I loved this movie when I first watched it, I appreciated the overall craft of this film a lot more. While this isn't the scariest movie of all time, the atmosphere of it all is very chilling, the cinematography is excellent and with it being the zombie movie that started it all, it pretty much set all of the tropes that are still used to this day.

One minor thing that was a little annoying was Barbara. There were a couple instances where she was annoying, but they're brief enough to not drag down the movie and the protagonist Ben played by Duane Jones more than makes up for it. He easily stole the show with his strong character traits and Duane Jones plays the character perfectly.

What else can I say other than the fact that this movie was ahead of its time and that it is a timeless masterpiece.

RIP George A. Romero

July 24



"We have a saying in Tibet: If a problem can be solved there is no use worrying about it. If it can't be solved, worrying will do no good."

I found this to be a fascinating film. I was really invested in the story of this guy and while Brad Pitt's accent was grating at first, it wasn't too long before I got used to it. Other than the story I thought the acting was solid and it looked great visually. As much of an interesting journey this was, I do think it dragged on in certain places which is what kept it from being great for me. Still, I really did enjoy this movie and I kind of want to read the book this movie is based on now.

July 28



I was interested in this movie by the trailer I saw for it and considering the rave reviews it has been getting, I decided to check it out and it actually lives up to the hype. It's a refreshing look at such a tired genre and proves that good rom-coms can still be made. I thought the storyline was well-done and knowing nothing about it going in mate it more surprising. The humor was great as well and most of the jokes hit bullseyes here while still being serious when it needs to be. The acting was also great with excellent performances from Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan and Ray Romano and Holly Hunter as the parents. I was especially impressed by Romano who really steals the show at times and is his best performance ever in a movie.

But overall I just loved what this movie had to say and how it strays away from the typical formula that most romantic comedies worship and that's what makes this one stand out. It's a fantastic movie that definitely lives up to the hype it has gotten.

July 30



"They must be the most contented people in the world. They have no crime, no punishment, no violence, no laws, no police, judges, rulers or bosses. They believe that the gods put only good and useful things on the earth for them to use."

I really liked the first 30 minutes of this movie the most. It was a very well-done conflict of how a group of people on a isolated land who lived a completely perfect life until a new object starts to cause trouble. I really liked that part of the movie, but the rest was nowhere near as good as the first act. I still liked this film in general and there was some interesting stuff near the second half as well, but it didn't do that much for me compared to the first 30 minutes.

July 31 - August 1

Re-watch



"What are they doing? Why do they come here?"
"Some kind of instinct. Memory of what they used to do. This was an important place in their lives."

I just had to watch Dawn of the Dead this month. As much as I love Night of the Living Dead, this is a perfect example of an amazing sequel to an already great movie. It's one of my top 5 favorite movies and I wasn't sure if that would change after re-visiting it again, but by the time it ended I was like "Yeah, it's still that good." It's pretty much the first film that comes to mind when I think zombie movie. It's got everything from great characters, thought-provoking social commentary, great writing, tons of zombie kills and even some humor here and there. Plus Tom Savini's special effects are just as great if not better than the last time I watched this. They look just as good as they did back when this movie came out and it's just another example of why practical effects beats CGI. What else can I say other than it's the best zombie movie ever made and I'll keep watching it for years to come.