Category: The Twenty-First Century
-
The Boys In The Band [2020] ★★★
This hidden gem from Netflix is based on a Pulitzer prize-winning play from the 1960’s that still resonates even in 2020. I do suspect that no screen adaptation can do any stage play justice, but with a cast that features Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells and Robin De Jesus, the end result…
-
Hubie Halloween [2020] ★½
After his unforgettable performance in last year’s “Uncut Gems”, Adam Sandler goes back to his old, silly self in Netflix’s latest Halloween comedy “Hubie Halloween”. Sandler plays the good-hearted Hubie Dubois, a man devoted to his hometown of Salem. Hubie also happens to love Halloween so much, and this s obviously a setup for a…
-
Enola Holmes [2020] ★★½
While far from being great, there’s still something charming and irresistible about “Enola Holmes”, Netflix’s answer to the “Sherlock Holmes” franchise. It helps that it moves at a fast pace. It also helps to have Millie Bobby Brown (“Stranger Things”) as Enola, Sherlock’s younger sister who also happens to be a sleuth in the making.…
-
The Devil All The Time [2020] ★★★
This gritty film from writer director Antonio Campos is one of the finest things you’ll stream on Netflix this year. One story links to another as we follow the journey of a young man (Tom Holland) and the bizarre characters that inhabit a small town in West Virginia. The movie is about many things, but…
-
The Paramedic [2020] ★★
In this generic Spanish thriller, Mario Casas plays a paramedic who, after a tragic accident that left him paralyzed, begins to suspect that his girlfriend is cheating on him. This is a setup for a cat and mouse game (think Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window”, with Casas wheelchair bound), that sadly leads nowhere. Casas is menacing…
-
Cuties [2020] ★
Believe everything being said about this movie, and consider this a public service announcement: “Cuties” is difficult to watch and even more difficult to defend. I don’t usually mind “cautionary tales”, but there is nothing cautionary about this film. The backlash started when a clip from the movie was shared on social media, showing a…
-
Everybody Knows [2018] ★★★
I read somewhere that this movie was a “disappointing step back” for writer director Asghar Farhadi. But how do you top movies like “A Separation”, “The Past” and “The Salesman”? “Everybody Knows” may not be Farhadi’s best and most compelling work, but it has an intriguing story to tell and just the right actors to…
-
I’m Thinking Of Ending Things [2020] ★★½
First off let me tell you how much I admire screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s work. From “Being John Malkovich” to “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, Kaufman has left his stamp on so many films that are now regarded as “essential viewings”. That being said, I didn’t fully appreciate his latest effort, which you can now…
-
Bill & Ted Face The Music [2020] ★★½
Woah. I never expected to see Bill & Ted again, but here we are. In the midst of all the chaos the world is going through, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter offer a tiny bit of hope as they reprise their 1980’s characters that made them famous. “Face the Music” is the first sequel since…
-
All Together Now [2020] ★★
Yet another Netflix film about a high schooler who must overcome a lot of obstacles to fulfill her dreams. Auli’i Cravalho is good as Amber Appleton, a teenage girl with musical aspirations who has to juggle several jobs in order to get through high school. But 90 minutes do not do this movie any justice,…
-
7500 [2020] ★★½
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is on a plane. He plays a young American co-pilot who finds himself dealing with terrorists when his flight from Berlin to Paris is hijacked. Sounds familiar? That’s because you’ve seen movies like “7500” so many times before, from “Turbulence” and “Air Force One” in the 90’s, to “Red Eye” and “Non-Stop” in…
-
The Vast Of Night [2020] ★★½
As someone who admired 1950’s B Sci-Fi films for so long, I thought “The Vast Of Night” was a fitting tribute to a bygone era that still entertains audiences even in 2020. Directed by Andrew Patterson and starring Sierra McCormick and Jake Horowitz, “The Vast Of Night” tells the story of two young adults who…
-
Project Power [2020] ★★
It doesn’t take much time for this Netflix action film to take an intriguing premise and turn it into something way too familiar. “Project Power”, starring Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, imagines a world where a pill can give you unpredictable superpowers for five minutes. But every fairytale has its dark moments, which is why…
-
The Hater [2020] ★★½
This polish thriller currently streaming on Netflix juggles a lot of ideas at once, and at 135 minutes, it can be a bit too much, but it’s not a complete waste. In fact, it’s still entirely watchable, thanks to a solid performance by Maciej Musialowski, who plays a young man trying to find a purpose…
-
Fatal Affair [2020] ★½
You’ve seen this movie a zillion times before: married woman (Nia Long, wasted) is reunited with her college boyfriend (Omar Epps). They kiss. She regrets it. He doesn’t. Surprise: he’s also an obsessed stalker who would stop at nothing to get what he wants. I’d call this Netflix film a cross between “Fatal Attraction” and…
-
Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend Of Walter Mercado [2020] ★★★
I don’t always review documentaries on this blog, but when I do, it’s definitely something worth your time. “Mucho Mucho Amor” is Netflix’s latest feature about someone I knew very little about. Walter Mercado rose to fame in the 70’s and 80’s as a Puerto Rican astrologer who built a steady following among Latino viewers.…
-
The Old Guard [2020] ★★★
The surprise action hit of the summer stars Charlize Theron as an immortal mercenary who has been around for centuries. If this sounds like generic stuff, then perhaps it is. But in the hands of director Gina Prince- Bythewood, “The Old Guard” feels fresh and, might I add, very entertaining. It helps to have Theron…
-
Greyhound [2020] ★★½
It’s not as memorable as Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” or as emotional as Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan”, but “Greyhound” gets the job done by delivering some pulse-pounding action scenes that needed to be experienced on the biggest screen possible (Apple TV + will have to do for now). It also helps to have Tom Hanks…
-
You Should Have Left [2020] ★½
Title says it all: Kevin Bacon and his family book a vacation at an isolated modern home in the Welsh countryside. Then weird stuff begin to happen. By “weird” I mean the same generic things we’ve come to expect from movies of the same genre. What starts out as an intriguing mystery soon turns into…
-
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga [2020] ★★
What can you say about a movie that runs out of steam only 30 minutes in but still has another 90 minutes of material left? I don’t usually mind this type of comedy, and you can think of “Eurovision Song Contest” as a cross between “Taladega Nights”, “Walk Hard”, and pretty much any movie starring…
Let's Talk About Movies 