Last week, I watched 6 movies:
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- Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is a lot of fun, when it’s a lot of fun. Problem is, the movie is too often trying too hard for its own good, prolonging bits and pop culture references when it could stand to be a whole lot snappier. The cast, particularly Vaughn, are really good, though, and there are enough silly goofs and clever jokes to keep the thing moving at a brisk enough pace. I just wish it was funnier, and did more with its premise.
- Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is like a goofy Black Mirror episode. It doesn’t always work, isn’t half as smart as it thinks it is, and it’s not remotely subtle in its satire, but it is often weird and fun. Sam Rockwell’s charm is unsurprisingly infectious, and the movie isn’t without its clever touches.
- There is a lot to like in the very amiable Good Fortune, particularly Reeves’ kind and goofy performance, even if the movie doesn’t really hold together very well in the end.
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- The plot of Send Help is never surprising—it’s all there even in the marketing—so the fun of the movie is in the interplay between its two characters, the subtleties of the performances. Unfortunately, subtlety isn’t exactly in Sam Raimi’s wheelhouse, or at least not in his interests, and what we end up with is two unlikable characters being nasty to one another. (A sprinkling of unconvincing and unnecessary CGI here and there doesn’t help.)
- Locked traps Bill Skarsgård in a car, and a not very good movie, for several hours. Skarsgård puts in the work of creating an interesting character, and this may very well be his best performance, but it’s largely wasted against an underdeveloped premise and halfhearted arguments about morality.
- There’s some charm to be found in Man Wanted, particularly in Kay Francis’ performance, and there are some interesting pre-Code moments here and there, but it’s a little limp and confused, or at least dated, as a romantic comedy.
I also rewatched Kill, Baby… Kill!, which doesn’t really work on the level of story or script, but is so full of atmospheric Gothic horror and terrifically composed shots that it’s easy to forgive that.