May Movie Roundup
Let's talk about what I watched last month
If April was “it’s so over” then May is “we’re so back” here at Working Title. It was a light month (by my standards) but we roared back in May and really locked in (locked in here means watched some movies). Let’s talk about them.
Movie: MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE III - MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE: THE FINAL RECKONING
Where To Watch: Amazon Prime / Paramount + / The Final Reckoning in theaters
Recommend: hell yeah
I’m going to cheat a little bit here and instead of writing my thoughts about every single one of these M:I movies, I am going to simply point you to my Mission:Impossible Power rankings below where I go into detail about why I love this franchise so much and give my official rankings of the all 8 movies. I know it’s the lazy way out but writing 6 blurbs when I already did that seems a bit redundant.
Movie: 28 Days Later
Where To Watch: Rent on Amazon Prime or Apple TV+
Recommend: you bet
In preparation for the quickly approaching 28 YEARS LATER, I decided to fire up the first two movies in the 28 canon. This thing has consistently ripped for the last 23 years and it’s still visceral and urgent on every rewatch. The first encounter in the church still scares the shit outta me.
That said (and sorry to offend) but sometimes that tape quality is a slog. It’s uphill sledding at times and the further away from 2002 we get, the more apparent it is. The intimacy it creates usually makes up for it but I won’t pretend it’s not distracting.
Also, it’s admittedly been a second since my last rewatch but found the third act really draggy this time around. Still, a great watch and one of the best horror movies ever made.
Movie: 28 WEEKS LATER
Where To Watch:Rent on Amazon Prime or Apple TV+
Recommend: eh
This one just doesn’t hit like the first one and the sense of urgency just isn’t there. There are still some things to enjoy (I actually like the Jeremy Renner performance here) but overall it's kind of whatever but it does teach the valuable lesson of why you should get a dog instead of having kids.
Movie: Friendship
Where To Watch: in theaters but will come to HBO Max at some point
Recommend: HELL YEAH
I know that Tim Robinson’s style of comedy can be polarizing. I know his show I Think You Should Leave isn’t for everyone. But I am one of the people who loves it and I feel like this movie was built in a lab just for me. It’s an easy contender for my favorite of the year so far. The thing I love about a Tim Robinson character is that even when it’s so clear that they’re doing something wrong they can’t help but still be themselves. Maybe we’re the crazy ones and he’s normal. We just didn’t get the memo.
Also, every 10 minutes, somebody is saying one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard in my life. I have been quoting it daily since I saw it. The 5 minutes Connor O’Malley is on screen are maybe the 5 funniest minutes of a movie this year.
I don’t think this movie is going to be huge, but I think for a certain subset of people, it’ll be in the lexicon for years to come. It’s the next POPSTAR or HOT ROD.
Movie: Thunderbolts*
Where To Watch: still in theaters but probably available on VOD and will end up on Disney+ if you want to wait it out
Recommend: if you want to
I don’t want to call this a “return to form” but it’s a return to something resembling the Marvel movies I used to actively enjoy going to circa 2014, thanks in large part to Florence Pugh.
I really enjoyed David Harbour in this as well, he and Pugh’s chemistry is real. Their moment in NYC when she breaks down was a Real Movie Scene™️ tucked inside this whole deal. Pugh really can do whatever she wants, she carried this whole thing on her shoulders.
My Lewis Pullman stock is constantly rising as well, let’s go king. Would have loved to see this with the original casting of Steven Yeun, completely different energies.
All in all a pretty good movie and also Florence Pugh shoot me with one of your guns, respectfully.
Movie: The Phoenician Scheme
Where To Watch: in a theater
Recommend: yes
There’s lots of really funny stuff here, maybe one of Anderson’s funniest movies. It starts with a bang and goes from there. I loved a particular basketball scene with Bryan Cranston and Tom Hanks, some real #ballknowers
Obviously Michael Cera was going to fit right into the Wes Anderson troupe but he really delivers here, loved his performance.
This was the most “in the real world” an Anderson film has felt to me and that’s not a complaint. I love that the scope of his movies continues to grow after all this time.
Movie: Mountainhead
Where To Watch: HBO Max
Recommend: not really, tbh
I kept waiting for this to get better and it just never really did although I did feel it nailed how the mega-rich speak. Lots of ideas and people I like as performers but man this just fell flat for me.
Ramy Youssef innocent though.
Physical Media Added To Collection This Month? - no
What Did I Get: nothing this month :(
We’ll be back this month with the best movies of the first half of the year!