Movie Review 2019
Having just flown over to Indonesia via Hong Kong and back via Japan I had the opportunity to see a lot of movies. Hopefully I can remember all of them.
First, there was “Crazy Rich Asians,” which I saw before I left as a suggestion that it would help me in Hong Kong. When I visited my friend in HK he said, “You realize that’s about Singapore don’t you?” I did. Then I observed a number of things that the movie pointed out. One is the use of mouth and nose masks, which I guess the idea is to protect one from germs. Also, there are hand sanitizer stations along the sidewalks. “Asian sperm,” we called it. Not sure if it was in the movie or not, but it was certainly a thing. Also, if you’ve watched the movie, make a point to look up an explanation of the Mahjong scene. If you’ve watched the movie, you have a pretty good idea what it all means, but it’s even better with a detailed explanation.
Okay, onto the movies:
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty – This is the best movie in the list. Ben Stiller has matured as has Kristen Wigg. Great story, great photography, great secondary story. The whole thing works!
Free Solo – The movie about a fellow who climbs the face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park with no ropes. Terrifying, but fascinating. Have you seen the cover of National Geographic where a fellow is standing on a ledge on the face of a sheer cliff? That’s the guy in this movie. One slip and he’s dead.
Peppermint – Jennifer Garner in an action movie where she’s kick-ass. Oftentimes I’ve felt Garner has been “not quite right” in many of her roles. That’s the way I felt about her in Alias. Also that recent movie about planning a family vacation or something like that – looked stupid. Here she’s a nice woman whose husband and daughter get gunned down by a drug lord’s gang because they thought her husband was going to be in on a robbery of the gang. He turned the gig down but not in time to avoid being gunned down. His killers get off scott free. The judge is on the take. So are the lawyers. Jennifer goes off the grid for five years and comes back schooled in MMA style fighting and the use of military grade weapons. She comes back and kills them all. Great action flick.
The Kid Who Would Be King – a movie about a boy who is apparently going to be the next King of England because he can pull the sword from the stone. It’s cute. It has some neat twists to the tale. Kids would like it mainly because of the young boy and I think they could identify with him. Patrick Stewart gives a good character portrayal as a Merlin type.
Girl in the Spider Web – The follow on to Stieg Larson’s three novels. Good action, crazy if you think such things could actually happen, but it’s a lot of good entertainment.
Old Man and a Gun – Robert Redford’s final movie. Based on true events about a fellow who liked to rob banks and who escaped from jail many times. Very satisfying feel good kind of movie.
These movies were seen on an earlier trip:
Can You Ever Forgive Me – Melissa McCarthy on the true story of a woman who forged letters from famous authors to sell to bookstores. Funny and instructive. Never seen McCarthy in a serious role before. She did great.
The Favorite – Strange movie. Emma Stone in a weird movie. She seems slightly mis-cast. The whole movie seems odd and slightly off the mark. The ending seems like they didn’t know how to end it. But thankfully it ended.
Aquaman – This is probably the worst movie in the bunch. But the star has a body! Which makes it worth watching.
Coco – Great movie. You don’t need to be a kid to enjoy this story. Well crafted. Nice ending. All the loose ends get tied up.
Hidden Figures – Story of the women of NASA who did the calculating before computers. John Glenn wasn’t going to fly until one of those woman said the computer program was correct.
Here’s Gilda – Watched part of this. The airplane was making too much noise for me to hear what was being said. If you like Gilda, this is a great movie.
These movies I watched on other people’s screens. Naturally, this makes me a expert:
The Nun – Spooky movie with a ghostly nun or weird cult or head sorcerer. What you’d expect of such a movie. Walk down a corridor and bang out from the side jumps a nun with a knife ala Psycho. Stupid Scary.
Mad Max – Weirdos cruising around in the desert with bizarre machinery. The perfect movie when you don’t want to think.
Mary Queen of Scots – a historical re-telling of her life. She’s a tortured soul. She has her lover killed – I think. Life is never the same. Then she dies.
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