I Had Quite The Weekend Watching Movies; Here Are My Reviews Of The Nine Movies I Saw
Lazy weekend.
Over the last six months, I’ve gone on a real movie kick where I’ve watched all of the “classics” that I’d never seen or even turned on a cheesy Netflix movie that was better than expected. This past weekend, I did the same thing as I watched a total of nine movies; here are my reviews of them.
Friday
10 Things I Hate About You (1999): I have a slight soft spot for romantic comedies and I’ll watch anything Heath Ledger is in so it felt long overdue for me to watch this. Of all the romcoms I’ve seen, this has got to be my favorite. A loaded cast of Ledger, Gordon-Levitt, and Stiles makes it even more enjoyable and from start to finish I was genuinely happy.
The famous scene where Ledgers character Patrick Prom-poses to Julia Stiles character Kat is so great and makes you just smile. And the somewhat bizarre love triangle of guys trying to date the Stratford sisters seems weird initially, but isn’t forced and ends up working out nicely. This movie feels so re-watchable and is a great pick me up.
- RATING: 8.2
Good Time (2017): Movies that keep me on the edge of my seat and make me want to vomit from start to finish are some of my favorites; Se7en, No Country For Old Men, Zodiac, you get the gist. Good Time does exactly that. There are scenes in this movie that make my skin crawl and turn my gut into a knot.
Robert Pattison plays Connie Nikas and gives his best career performance. Connie is a deranged scumbag that only really cares about his special needs brother who he ropes into his own problems and after a bank robbery goes awry that sends his brother to jail, Connie goes on a mission to bail him out.
The scene where Connie breaks who he thinks is his brother out of the hospital is absolutely insane and just mangles your brain when you’re watching it. Highly recommend this film.
- RATING: 8.9
Mississippi Burning (1988): The combination of Willem Dafoe as a young gun, by the book agent and Gene Hackman as an agent with a nuanced approach is fantastic. I’ve seen a handful of movies about the Civil Rights era, but none hold a candle to Mississippi Burning.
Alan Parker did a great job turning this true story into a film. The way that he is able to depict this small town in Mississippi is a masterpiece; the locals who hate the FBI and outsiders, the way the African Americans in town are scared to talk to the FBI, and how the locals treat the African Americans is troubling yet masterful.
The scene that sticks with me is how the FBI set up a KKK member to rat on other klansmen by faking an attack on him really turns your mind to a pretzel, but you absolutely love it because the bad guys are getting their comeuppance. Underrated parts of this movie though are great performances by Frances McDormand and R. Lee Ermey.
- RATING: 9.1
Saturday
Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach (2009): Is it a good movie? No. Was I entertained by it or did I laugh during it? No. I was very close to turning it off half way through, but I’m a warrior so I kept going. Just terrible. I’m shocked that it got even a 5.4 rating on IMDB.
- RATING: 2.7
The Mystery of D.B. Cooper (2020): I can’t lie, this documentary really let me down. The D.B. Cooper case is one that has fascinated me for a long time that it is the one and only highjacking in U.S. history to never be solved, but this documentary doesn’t advance any thought on it. All it does is go over four possible suspects whose families all believe that their loved ones were D.B. Cooper. If you want to save some time and learn about this case, read the Wikipedia page.
- RATING: 4.9
Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012): This wasn’t my first time watching Perks of Being a Wallflower, but it was my first rewatch in a while; and man did I forget how emotional a movie this is and how much it makes you want to cry during certain parts.
I always see people post about movies that “make you feel” and there is no movie that hits your emotions quite like this one; especially the scene where Charlie has his mental breakdown towards the end of the movie and completely throws a curveball at you. My jaw was on the floor when I saw this scene for the very first time.
- RATING: 9.2
When We Were Bullies (2021): I didn’t really like this short film. To me, it just felt like a guy who felt guilty that him and some kids bullied another kid in middle school, and for some reason it was still weighing on him 50 years later. The interviews were too long and didn’t add much and the objective was somewhat unclear. My favorite aspect of this was how they used their year book pictures in the animation; that was about it.
- RATING: 4.1
Waiting… (2005): This wasn’t my first watch of Waiting… but I needed something funny to watch to cap off my Saturday night. Waiting… is one of the most underrated comedies since 2000; I think that it’s partly because it came out the same year as Hitch, The Longest Yard, Kicking and Screaming, Wedding Crashers, and 40 Year Old Virgin.
Rob McKittrick does a great job using ball kicking, bro humor to tell the story of someone who is frustrated with life and their career. I’d say another reason I’m so drawn to Waiting… is because of the monster cast that includes Ryan Reynolds, Justin Long, and Anna Faris with many more big names.
Waiting… has led me to try and goat my friends, but it is an incredibly difficult task that I’ve personally only seen happen once. If you want to laugh and just unwind, toss on Waiting… because it does not disappoint.
- RATING: 7.9
Sunday
Brothers (2009): I am a sucker for Jake Gyllenhaal movies as he’s my favorite actor and I am a bit surprised I hadn’t seen Brothers prior; but I do have to say it took me by surprise. I thought that Brothers was going to be more about Tobey Maguire’s character following his time overseas, but a lot of it is focused on his time while at war and when he gets captured by the Taliban.
An aspect of this movie that I do like as a Gyllenhaal fan is that in this he plays a deadbeat while in a lot of his other movies, he’s an outgoing character; Nightcrawler, Prisoners, Demolition. Toby Maguire gives an awesome performance in a movie that I’d 100% watch again.
RATING: 8.3