Thursday
The Fighter (2010): Christian Bale is a chameleon of an actor being able to play Patrick Bateman, Dick Cheney, and Batman, but his performance as Dicky Eklund might be his best. The Fighter is an awesome biopic about the lives of Dicky Eklund and Micky Ward and the dynamic between the two boxer brothers throughout the whole movie is fantastic.
Dicky being the former pride of Lowell after knocking down Sugar Ray and how he struggles to let that go due to his crack addiction is a very interesting portion of the film that really ropes you in. Bateman kills the role, but for Wahlberg it’s not a new role; he just plays another guy from Massachusetts. He’s good in the movie, but it’s familiar.
- Rating: 8.2
Her (2013): OVERRATED. Her was rated an 8/10 on IMDB, but in my opinion, the film stinks. This Spike Jonze film about a man, played by Joaquin Phoenix, falling in love with his computer was a complete let down. Lots of people love it, I was not one of them.
- Rating: 4.9
Chef (2014): I had seen Chef prior when it first came out and remember that I enjoyed it, but on a second watch eight years later I enjoyed it even more. Jon Favreau is a wildly underrated actor that plays a chef trying to connect with his son tremendously. The loaded ensemble cast around Favreau also gives Chef a boost; Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr., Sofia Vergara, and Dustin Hoffman.
While the plot, acting, and cinematography of the film are great, the food in the movie is even better. The grilled cheese that Favreau makes looks unreal to go with the Cubano sandwiches and beignets that he’s slinging from his food truck.
- Rating: 8.1
Jerry Maguire (1996): This was my first time watching Jerry Maguire, and after I finished it I have to say that it’s my favorite Tom Cruise movie. Cruise plays a charismatic sports agent that gets thrown out on his ass and builds an agency from the ground up with one other employee (the eventual love interest) and one client. He’s magnificent in this role, and the realistic involvement of sports in a movie always makes me happy. A great piece from this movie is Jonathan Lipnicki as Ray Boyd; awesome child actor performance.
- Rating: 7.9
Friday
A Clockwork Orange (1971): When this came out in 1971, people heads must have been spinning; I know that mine was. The film is set in “futuristic” Britain and follows the leader of a gang, Alex DeLarge who is played by Malcom McDowell.
While this movie was definitely ahead of it’s time, some parts make me laugh out of obscurity; for example one of the first scenes when a rival gang is raping a girl, but then breakout into a 3 Stooges esque fight with DeLarges droogs. Just the movements made in this fight succeeding a very serious thing are comical. There are lots of scenes in this movie that make you want to turn away, but your eyes really do stay glued to the screen.
- Rating: 8.2
Saturday
There Will Be Blood (2007): “I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE”. Daniel Plainview might be one of the all time villains/anti-heroes in film history; in the same realm as Patrick Bateman, Travis Bickle, and Lou Bloom. Plainview is a swift talker and a grade A manipulator in business and watching it unfold in this movie is magnificent.
While Daniel Day-Lewis gives quite possibly his best ever performance, a note from this movie that should not be missed is how great the cinematography is. Paul Dano is also phenomenal in this film as it really was a spark for his acting career being in a film as large as There Will Be Blood. “DON’T GET THICK WITH ME AL.”
- Rating: 8.9
Sunday
Vice (2018): While the narration in the movie initially took me out of it, I enjoyed that it was there because it explained a lot of things that I didn’t really understand right away. Watching the rise of Dick Cheney, especially the scene when he decides that he’s a republican so he can work with Donald Rumsfeld is outstanding. The way that Cheney adopts Rumsfeld’s ruthless attitude is like watching a villain be created.
Christian Bale mastered Cheneys movements and his slower, mundane speech; it’s like you were really watching Cheney. Another great performance came from Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush. He really perfected Bush’s mannerisms in this role. The best part of this movie though, had to be the deep look at how much power Cheney had as the VP. He was in control of so many important policies and its never really talked about in media. I’d definitely recommend watching this if you’re a fan of politics and learning about U.S. history. This was obviously before Adam McKay directed that dog shit rewrite of history, Winning Time.
- Rating: 8.6