It appears that AMC has finally followed through on their promise to shorten the preshow. It looks like they did this through re-editing the AMC welcome/Stubs/no talking sections to be maybe half its length. We still have the too long Coke commercials before Nicole tells us how movies are magic, but on the whole, it is shorter. AMC is one of the major chains, so we are always going to have the chain fluff during the preshow, but this new version mss as he’s this flow a little better. At least I think that now. I reserve the right to take this all back in July if/when things stretch out again. On to the reviews!
While trying to manage her own life and career, a woman on the verge of a breakdown must cope with her daughter’s illness, an absent husband, a missing person, and an unusual relationship with her therapist.
After watching Hamnet, I was team Buckley for Best Actress. Well, after finally watching this film, I see how Rose Byrne is a serious contender for that award. She is fantastic in this as a mother who is this close to losing her mind with all that is going on. She sees a therapist (Conan O’Brien), who is also a colleague, who barely can stand her. See has a husband who is away (Christian Slater) that is less than helpful. She also has a nurse at the clinic that, when Linda’s daughter fails to gain wait, juss as t doesn’t care for Linda’s reason in a cold, clinical way. These three areas, as well as her own patients at the therapist office, are an unending beating of a drum driving Linda mad. Over the runtime, the pressure builds and never really lets up, because that is how life works. If my Mom was still with us, I felt like I needed to give her a hug after watching this film. The takeaway I took from this is (as a dude) I know can only go so far. I’ll never know what it’s like to be a mother, but you just hope that whatt goes on for Linda in this isn’t felt by anyone in the real world. You know there are those people though. So many of them too.
Poppy wants to explore the world and Alex prefers to stay home with a good book, but somehow they are the very best of friends. They live far apart, but for a decade they have spent one week of summer vacation together.
This was a romantic comedy that has the contents that could have made 5 different films. That it weaved all of this together so well is a credit to the filmmakers. We meet Poppy (Emily Bader), who is a travel writer, as she is invited to a wedding in Barcelona. The problem is her former best friend Alex (Tom Blyth) is the brother of the groom.We then flashback 9 years to when Poppy and Alex first meet. They both attend Boston College, and Alex is the one who agrees to drive Poppy back to both of theirs hometown, Linfield, OH. Poppy is an extreme extrovert, while Alex is the opposite, and what we watch through the film is these two coming together. I will admit that Poppy really annoyed me at the beginning, but that is because I am in introvert too, so I get it. We then get periodic flashbacks to summers in the last 9 years, as Alex and Poppy agree to going on a vacation together every summer. These vacations are what I was referring to as the romantic comedy plots. There is one where they go camping, and one they go to Mardi Gras. The thing I was beginning to think after about 4 of these is there is no way both of them wouldn’t catch feelings as their chemistry is on point. This ends like you know it will because this is that type of of movie, but a very good version of that type of movie. Especially with it being on Netflix. I could see this doing well in the Box Office if that was path this movie would have taken. Instead, we have a very good film on the streaming service that I think stands out.
As Spike is inducted into Jimmy Crystal’s gang on the mainland, Dr. Kelson makes a discovery that could alter the world.
To start, I will admit I am on the low end it appears in regards to last summer’s 28 Years Later. I thought it was good, and had some promising moments, but it just didn’t work for me as much as I see it did for so many others. I did note that I thought the Jimmys coda at the end was silly. With that in mind, let’s talk about the follow-up. Retunring in The Bone Temple is pretty much everyone of note except for Aaron Taylor-Johnson. We start the film with two different storylines: one with Spike (Alfie Williams) and the Jimmys, and one with Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes). One of these really worked for me and one just kind of happened. The Spike storyline was by far the more uncomfortable one. What we learn about the Jimmys, the group in which Spike is now part of basically as a hostage, is they are a small group of cultists led by Jimmy Crystal , who believes he is the son of Satan, and their mission is to torture and kill anyone they come across for “Old Nick’s glory”. This section of the films just was dragging on for me, and if we didn’t have the other storyline interjecting throughout, this would have been a worse film for me. That other storyline was Dr. Kelson trying to find a way to cure the disease and his continuing interactions with Samson (Chi-Lewis Parry). This was the part of the film that I think opens up the greater story in interesting ways. What Kelson discovers, if it manages to be known by others, could change the game, and could also set up a finale in part 3 when we get it. I don’t doubt I will be in the minority again for this one, even through my grade is higher this time. I think this is a more solid film than the previous entry, but when I just don’t enjoy a large section of the film, it inevitably makes the grade what it is. There is a chance this one will get better for me in the future, but for now, it is what it is.
It only took $13.2 million for Avatar to retain the top spot last weekend. You would think it would only take $10 million this next weekend to knock it off the perch. I think Mercy at least gets that, but this month has been nothing but disappointing debuts, so who knows?
- Mercy
- Avatar: Fire & Ash
- 28 Year Later: The Bone Temple
- The Housemaid
- Zootopia 2
This week is another 3 film one, and it starts with Mercy being the Screen Unseen on Monday night in IMAX 3D. That will be the first time AMC has had a SU in that format, so hopefully the film isn’t terrible. I watched The Rip this past week, so that review will show up next week. Finally, The Testament of Ann Lee has finally decided to have showtimes in Michigan, so I will get to see that at last. Finally, the finals of the Champions Tournament is on Tuesday and will be between The Dark Knight and The Empire Strikes Back. You can find that over on my Instagram page.
Mitten Film Nerd 
Leave a comment