Another Movie Haul: Reviewing The 7 Movies I Recently Watched

Pretty good haul.

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SPOILERS AHEAD!

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On (2022): While Marcel The Shell technically released in 2021, it hit theaters this year and is by far, without a doubt my favorite movie of the year. I hate to admit it, but certain aspects had me weeping in the theater. The way I really connected with the plot was the relationship between Marcel and his nana Connie. This felt a lot like how I felt with my nana towards the end of her life; there’s a scene where nana Connie falls and hits her head. We had a handful of incidents like that towards the end of my nana’s life. And the way that Marcel would take care of her was beautiful. After I stopped crying, I started again when they showed her pass away. I knew it was coming as it was unfolding, but I emotionally couldn’t prepare for it. It was a fantastically done scene that had me ugly crying.

At the beginning of the film, I wasn’t sure how they’d get an hour and a half out of it, but after thirty minutes it became very clear they’d have no problem. I loved the idea of the movie and the way that Dean Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate made Marcel an earnest and kind, yet sarcastic character was really cute. Everything about this movie I loved; the cinematography, the dialogue, the story line, and the character development. Best movie of the year.

- Rating: 9.5

Casino (1995): Pesci’s midwest/Chicago accent was outstandingly hilarious. Overall, I thought that Casino was very good. My favorite part of the plot through the whole film was when you see Pesci and his gang getting sloppy as their constantly drunk and railing blow. Watching that unfold was fun. Ace Rothstein is one of De Niros best characters and I’d say one of the best in Scorsese film history. All around a great story line that once again, I didn’t understand a lot of because it revolved around gambling, but I really enjoyed it.

- Rating: 8.7

Argo (2012): The fact that this is based (loosely) off of a true story is amazing. The entire film is very tense due to some factors thrown it like the language barrier between the U.S. workers and Iranian citizens and soldiers. The ensemble cast in Argo is ridiculously great with Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin, and Kyle Chandler, and they’re all fantastic in their roles. Throughout the film, you saw great little dynamics and relationships build like the one between Afflecks character and Goodman and Arkin, or the one between Cranston and Affleck.

I thought Affleck was okay during the film, but it was a but weird that he had himself playing a latino based character. It was just a weird look because when I see Affleck, I immediately think of him as his character in Good Will Hunting, so overall he wasn’t a great fit in this role.

- Rating: 8.5

Knives Out (2019): I was shocked a bit when I first heard Daniel Craig speak because his southern draw in Knives Out is tremendously different than his accent in the James Bond films. Once I got past that, I really enjoyed the film. One aspect I enjoyed was that you know how Harlan dies and what happens at the beginning and the film takes you through the way the detective looks at the case. Then, when you think that you know everything, you get punched in the mouth by the wild twist. I really loved Ana de Armas and thought Chris Evans was very good. Overall, a great watch with a twist that leaves your jaw on the floor.

- Rating: 8.8

Thor: Love And Thunder (2022): I feel like Thor: Love and Thunder received a lot of unwarranted hate. While a decent chunk of the dialogue wasn’t great because of forced unfunny jokes, I did have a good time in the theatre watching it. Personally, I believe that Bale as Gorr the God Butcher is the second greatest MCU villain behind Thanos. His reasoning for why he wants to kill Gods is one that as a viewer you can really wrap your head around and he’s super grim and creepy. I can’t lie, I didn’t really care about the storyline with Natalie Portmans character how she had cancer; it felt very forced. The action scenes were very good and the way they involved the children was brilliant.

- Rating: 7.7

Wall Street (1987): I absolutely loved the Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen dynamic where Sheen is going to the absolute max to impress Douglas. Showing up to his office and bringing him his favorite cigars on his birthday was so ballsy, yet a wicked fun scene. I think that the pacing was a bit off and that it is a slow burn, but I really enjoy movies regarding the stock market and the financial industry so I stuck around. I may not go back and rewatch it immediately, but I did enjoy Wall Street.

- Rating: 7.9

The Nice Guys (2016): A lot of people that I’ve talked to really like The Nice Guys, but personally I wasn’t a fan. This isn’t like Punch Drunk Love though where if you like it I think you’re dumb; I just wasn’t a fan. While I enjoyed the way Shane Black directed the film and gave it a proper 1970’s feel, the storyline didn’t captivate me and I wasn’t a huge fan of the humor that was mixed in. Just kind of a miss in my opinion.

- Rating: 6.8