Tomorrow will be April, and with it, the end of the first quarter of this year. On Tuesday, I will be posting the first version of my Top 10/ Bottom 10 for 2024. It will be the first of three of these post during the year. So far this year, there have only been 6 films I really have liked. That is so less than most years. Of the 39 films through this week, 24 are either 2.5 or 3 out of 5. I’m really hoping things turn around soon. Before we get to the April films I’m looking forward to, we have three films this week to talk about. On to the reviews.
I wish I read what this film was about more than I did. This film, directed and starring Michael Keaton, is about a hit man trying to help his son get out of trouble before he runs out of time. The reason he is running out of time is because he has Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a fast-moving form of dementia. He is told at the beginning of the film he has weeks left before his mind is lost. The film takes place over these 7 weeks he has left. He has a plan that at first doesn’t make a lot of sense, but that is because the film doesn’t really give you enough info to really see where it’s going. Usually, this wouldn’t be a problem, but here it just seemed muddled. Also, when his plan comes together in the end, there is one big plot hole that I think breaks the movie. I’ll keep this spoiler free, so I’ll share that plot hole at a later time. The supporting cast is solid, with Marsden, Pachino, and Gay Harden all being ok here. This was fine, but like most films about dementia, especially The Father, I will probably never watch it again for personal reasons.
The 1989 original Road House wasn’t a great film. However, that Patrick Swayze film grew to be a cult classic, and it kind of helped that it is nestled right between Dirty Dancing and Ghost in his filmography. It’s a good 80s action movie. There was a terrible sequel in 2006, but the remake monster was lurking in the shadows. It has now struck and given us the new Road House with Jake Gyllenhaal playing Dalton. This movie doesn’t reinvent the wheel. Dalton is a former UFC fighter turned bouncer at the titular Road House, businessman causes trouble, fighting ensues. This one just feels like they just didn’t all their effort into it. This may seem like nitpicking, but a sign of what I’m talking about is as simple as the name they give the road house. In the original it was the Double Duece. Here, it’s just “The Road House”. Couldn’t even bother to give it an actual name.
Nobody is bad in this one, but nobody is great either. On the flip side, I’m not sure Conor McGregor knew what movie he was in. The tone of his character is this king of wacky tough guy, but when he isn’t doing what he was cast to do (fighting) he is just a cartoon character in a film that is trying to be as serious as this kind of film could be. Like I said at the beginning of this review, this was never going to be a great film. The core of the premise is just barely a good idea to start. This one just falls short in too many places to ever be thought of as a worthy companion to the original.
Horror movies are not my thing. It really has to look interesting for me to attempt to sit through it. This one did, and for the most part I enjoyed it. This film is about a late night talk show trying to beat Carson’s Tonight Show in the ratings. During sweeps week, they decide to go big on a Halloween show by having a girl possessed by demon on as a guest. Bad things ensue. The film is presented like you are watching a recording of the show from the 70’s, with behind the scene parts added during the show’s commercial breaks to show things are starting to go off the rails. It is a methodical push to the climax when everything goes so poorly for everyone. It isn’t a spoiler to say people die, and how they do is interesting. What keeps this from going too high in the rankings is what happens in the last 5 minutes or so. The demonic girl has wreak havoc in the studio, and the show host played by David Dastmalchain is making his exit from the studio. That is where the movie should have ended in my opinion. Instead, we get a few more minutes of some stuff that really didn’t need to be there. Ending right after things went really bad would have been a great way to end the movie since that would have been when the show would have gone off the TV. Still, it was a good 90 minutes that worked most of the time, and I made it all the way to the end. That is a win for me.
Only one film this week going wide this week, but I don’t think it will make much noise in the box office. We should have close to a repeat of last week, but I wouldn’t hate being wrong about Monkey Man and it makes a lot of money.
1. Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire
2. Monkey Man
3. Kung Fu Panda 4
4. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
5. Dune: Part 2
Next week is a pair of films that are so different from each other. One is a violent action movie that I have been looking forward to, and one is a big, monster movie. Warner Bros is probably praying people forget about the great Godzilla Minus One so their latest attempt won’t look pathetic by comparison. Maybe I’m wrong and this is the time one of the American Godzilla movies works for me. That will be decided on Thursday night.
Mitten Film Nerd 
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