I found out about this film after watching The Curse of Bridge Hollow for Halloween. That should be obvious though really. Why else would I have chosen to watch a Marlon Wayans film instead of animation directed by Henry Selick. After all, he’s responsible for two of my favourite animated films. What a legend.
I’m not a horror movie fan. They just aren’t my thing. For one thing, I hate jump scares. I’m so easily spooked. So, when it comes to Halloween movies, I tend to gravitate towards kid’s movies. They’re more my speed and tend to be quicker. I’m still not at the top of my film-watching game, so have no attention span. Thankfully, Netflix always has something stupid that fits the bill.
I’ve never read Strangers on a Train but I’ve seen so many adaptations, references and parodies that it feels as though I have. One of the most memorable ones is in an episode of The Simpsons, which really only sticks in my mind because Barr keeps popping up saying “criss-cross”. The latest film to be inspired by Patricia Highsmith’s novel is Do Revenge. The Netflix original is what happens when you combine Alfred Hitchcock and Riverdale. I always suspected that I was beyond the intended age range but I figured it was worth a try. After all, I’m fairly obsessed with Maya Hawke at the moment. She’s by far the greatest thing about Stranger Things and was interested to see her do something a bit darker.
Hollywood is a strange place when it comes to beauty standards. This isn’t news but every so often a film will come along that pushes me to the brink. Like when I Feel Pretty tried to convince us that Amy Schumer was fat. Or how they keep casting the phenomenally beautiful Kate Winslet in the dowdy role. Not jut Kate Winslet. Hollywood is so obsessed with only casting beautiful people that they often have to stretch reality for the sake of the story. Take Marry Me. One of the major plot points of the film is that Jennifer Lopez marrying the age-appropriate and handsome Owen Wilson is considered a sign of madness.
After a couple of weeks off, I’m back to review another Chris Evans film. I’m pretty obsessed at the moment. Not that I wasn’t already but I have been loving all the photos he’s been posting of late. Although, I was especially sad when he got rid of the moustache. I know most people didn’t approve of him with a tash but I think he looked great. All I need is Chris Evans with a moustache and that Knives Out jumper and life would be pretty good. But would The Gray Man?
I wasn’t sure that I’d have the energy to watch a film over the weekend thanks to Covid. Luckily, I managed to fit one in. For some reason, I decided that it would be a good idea to watch Netflix’s new pandemic film. It didn’t really feel as though 2022 was the best time for lockdown film. Mostly because most people are happily pretending that Covid has gone. Lockdowns alrady feel as though they’re old news. I get that it takes time to get a production going but they knew this going in. I had to find out just what Judd Apatow and co were thinking with this one.
Ryan Reynolds is so good at marketing that I always end up feeling really excited about every film he’s in no matter how awful it looks. Even his awful Netflix originals, which have traditionally turned out to be underwhelming. This is why I’ve not been too bothered to have missed out on his recent releases. Although, now that I’ve got it back, I figured that I might as well give this one a chance. After all, it also stars Mark Ruffalo who is normally fun to watch. And, more importantly. it came in at under 2 hours, which is something that is kind of rare these days. Maybe Netflix does get some things right?
When Rebel Wilson first revealed her weight loss, she also revealed her motivations. One of them was that she thought her weight was preventing her from getting serious roles. I’m not saying that I don’t believe this was true but it did surprise me that she then went on to make Senior Year. I mean she was playing another version of the same character she always plays but this time with a different body shape. If she seriously wanted more dramatic roles, how is this film going to help her image as an actor? Nobody was likely to see this and think “yes, that’s the person I want in my Oscar-bait drama film”. Of course, it doesn’t matter but I found it interesting. Whatever the reason, Wilson looks great now and I think she looked great before.
Yesterday was my birthday and I spent most of the day celebrating. I’m also going to spend much of today celebrating, which means a complete lack of reading this weekend. I don’t think it’s a massive issue though. I’ll just have to do better this week. I need to start getting to bed earlier, which means less scrolling on Instagram and reading before bed instead. It won’t ever happen but it’s always nice to dream.
This film had one of the strongest debuts that Netflix has ever seen, so I had to give it a watch eventually. I put it off for ages because I was worried that I would never recover from the themes. Also, I’m not sure how much I care about Adam McKay. I liked The Big Short but didn’t like Vice quite so much. And when I say that I liked them, I mean that I thought they were clever but wasn’t sure how much I enjoyed them. It all just seemed a bit too clever. Given the subject matter of his latest film, I had no idea how I would react.
Yipee ki-yay, motherbooker 