Weekly Watches
Good morning, I know it’s a late post, but I still wanted to get to my Weekly Watches. This week was filled with bad 90s thrillers (and a couple rom-coms) as homework for my 90s thriller post. There ALSO was some Nolan, specifically The Dark Knight Trilogy, for the upcoming Nolan series that I am planning. The revisit for this trilogy was supposed to be Friday and I DID start a draft of it, but I wanted to give this one a little bit more time.
With that said, I’m going to be hopefully reviewing Da 5 Bloods either later tonight or tomorrow, and THEN you can expect to see some Nolan. In the mean time though, here are all the (mostly just okay) movies I watched last week.
The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005, 2008, 2012)
I don’t want to spend much time here since I’m going to be doing a revisit. But in short, these three films have never been big ones for me and my hot take has always been I don’t like The Dark Knight. That didn’t really change, and The Dark Knight Rises feels even worse now seeing police beating people in downtown Pittsburgh (I mean Gotham) and seeing the same thing in real life.
Internal Affairs (1990)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA okay. So the “review” I wrote for this on Letterboxd was “In which Richard Gere and Andy Garcia measure dicks for two hours and Gere forgets to wrap his.” That is very flippant, I know, but you just have to see this movie. Basically the set up is that Richard Gere is a SUPER corrupt cop. And I mean very corrupt. He’s not just out there doing standard “dirty cop” fair like snagging and planting evidence, shooting innocent and unarmed people then putting guns on their person, blackmailing coworkers, etc. No, he’s also A PAID HITMAN AND STEALING WIVES. And I put those two together because that’s how the movie evaluates his two big plot points. The best part about this whole movie, too, is that Andy Garcia never even warns his wife that PSYCHO might try and lure her away. This movie is really fun but it’s so dumb you should watch it. Also, it has weird pacing, plotting, and feels like it’s wrapping up an hour into it but that’s just why it’s so good.
Disclosure (1994)
Dumb. Next. Okay, but seriously here’s the thing about Disclosure and why, besides the weird VR scene, it doesn’t work at all: it is trying SO hard to say “don’t forget about us, we can be the victim too” (which is true) that it needs to take the most absurd example of this situation to play out as a horror movie for the Michael Douglases watching. This is THAT movie about perfect suburban father and husband Michael Douglas who is sexually harassed by Demi Moore and then SHE sues HIM for harassment and no one believes him except his ever-loving wife. I literally checked to see if Miramax distributed this. (They didn’t but it IS a Warner Brothers film.) The pacing is a mess, the twist is just “okay”, the dialogue hurts my ears, and the mini-plot about his assistant is so insulting I wanted to smash the TV. Just skip this one, guys. Skip it.
A Perfect Murder (1998)
Don’t skip this one though! Michael Douglas movie 2/3 for the week. He stars as a big financial honcho who is married to the much younger Gwyneth Paltrow, a beautiful heiress having an affair with an artist (played by Viggo Mortenson). This is a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M For Murder, and if you look at it strictly as such it’s less fun. Rather than a remake, though, I would say a “reworking.” Much of the plot is changed, and the characters are really quite different than their Hitchcock counterparts. Both Douglas and Paltrow are really good here, and the plot twists and turns appropriately. I don’t want to give too much more detail, though, because I don’t want to spoil anything. You should go watch this movie if you’re looking for something digestible and fun but also full of surprises!
Basic Instinct (1992)
You all know this one. Everyone knows this one. I had actually seen this movie before; it was my first rewatch of the week. However, it had been a long time and I was much too young to 1) be watching it at all 2) understand a lot of what I was seeing. Watching this as an adult I was honestly entertained (in a trashy way) and also reallllly amused. Much like all the other 90s erotic thrillers I watched, this film was SO over the top, cheesy, and brimming with neuroses about the decline of traditional American domesticity. And here’s the thing: it did it the best. Better than Fatal Attraction, better than Sea of Love, and obviously better than Disclosure. Part of it is Sharon Stone being absolutely MAGNETIC, I’m sure, but also part of it is that no part of this movie pretends to be anything it isn’t. There’s no attempt at deep social commentary, it never lets up from its trashy roots, and it is never afraid to GO THERE. And I will take all of the outfits she wears, thanks.
Bridesmaids (2011)
About the time I made it through Basic Instinct I was losing trash stamina and my boyfriend was coming home (he haaates those movies) so I put this on as a reprieve. Since he had somehow never seen it we had a fun little movie night. And I enjoyed it, as usual. The thing that makes this movie so different and fun for me is that I have also had a friendship dissolve in front of me, but in this case, the resolution is happier. I have a lot of empathy for Annie, which is crucial for this film to work.
Something’s Gotta Give (2003)
When this movie starts it’s playing the song “Butterfly” by Crazy Town and I lost it. I was rolling with laughter. That, and the fashion, makes this 2003 rom-com such a time capsule. No one has ever been able to explain to me how we let this song get SO popular. So anyway, back to the movie. This is about an older man (Jack Nicholson) who is dating a much younger woman (Amanda Peet) and then ends up with feelings for her mother (Diane Keaton) after an initially bristly introduction. The reason why this movie is so enjoyable to watch is that the two leads (who are much older than typical for a romantic comedy…which I LOVE seeing) have so much chemistry with each other. I have a soft spot for the hyper vanilla, upper-middle-class, Pottery Barn aesthetic of Nancy Myers films, and also I love that she has never shied away from making films about women finding love (or new love) (or rekindled love) in their mid-life. Also, Jack Nicholson WISHES lol.
Mystic Pizza (1988)
The first of my three-part Julia Roberts marathon! This movie is about two sisters and their friend in a small town called Mystic, Connecticut, and the men who are part of their coming of age stories. It seems like a pretty good, if not standard, starting point for a movie made around the time that teen dramedies were fading out. It’s nothing remarkable but the solid performances and charming town make it something to watch when you want a feel-good throwback movie.
Pretty Woman (1990)
This is one of my top 5 romantic comedies, and probably my second favorite of the more “mainstream” type (When Harry Met Sally forever the favorite). This movie is about a ruthless businessman (Richard Gere) and the prostitute he hires (Julia Roberts) to be his date for his business trip. Julia is obviously a big part of why this movie works and there is a reason it launched her career. It also means a lot to me because it was one of the first examples of how someone with curly hair like mine could be beautiful. In fact, it was something my mom watched with me specifically because someone teased me about my hair. And for that alone, it will always be one of my favorites. But Pretty Woman has a lot on its mind besides romance, good hair, and killer outfits. It’s also about first impressions, class disparities, and personal ethics. If you’ve somehow gone 30 years without seeing Pretty Woman, you should.
Conspiracy Theory (1997)
The last of my Julia Roberts mini-marathon, this film is pretty good for about 2/3 of its run time (it does fall apart at the end). Mel Gibson plays a crazy cab driver who runs a Conspiracy Theory Newsletter and frequently harasses Julia Roberts (a DOJ attorney) with his theories. When it turns out he is right about one, he and Julia have to figure out which theory it is before THEY get him; you know…THEY. When Mel Gibson is building the character of Jerry and we get to know him and see his daily life and apartment and it hasn’t dived into the actual conspiracy this movie works really well. It gets a little bogged down once the conspiracy itself takes center stage and the characters are just set aside. It’s still pretty good though, and if you’re looking for a weird tonal mashup of thriller and rom-com then, by all means, watch this one. It is one of a kind.
That’s it for last week! There were some good choices and some that were maybe more entertaining than GOOD, but overall there was only one big thumbs-down. I’m not sure what this upcoming week is going to look like outside of Da 5 Bloods and Apocolypse Now. I’m hoping to add in a couple of Nolan films and get that series going. Everyone have a good week, and watch plenty of movies!