Being unemployed on lockdown during this pandemic, like many of you, has afforded me with more time to fill. As you can tell, my blog has been much more active along with my social media accounts until last week. Along with other things that I want to do but somehow and not finding the time to do, I’m looking at you drawing, I am consuming video media like mad. From TV programs from the 60’s on up, to movies that my wife and I love. We have quite an extensive library on our Plex server, and the other streaming services fill in the very small gaps that we cannot cover.
This has been going on for a while but after watching these four films that I had never seen before, I felt like I had to comment on them. These were all fun to watch, and I am shocked that I’ve never watched them before. Who knows, if this trend continues… I may finally end up watching the Godfather.
Are We Done Yet? (2007)
Having recently watched the first movie, “Are We There Yet?” a few days before, this one felt a bit different to the tone of the other. Ice Cube was a little bit gruffer in this sequel. It all came together in the end but the journey is where this story is at. Like the first, he has to pretty much check himself because his attitude and the actions he was taking were causing unintended repercussions. I like Cube, and think he is a talented performer, but his co-stars all had equal time to shine, and that reflects well on him.
School of Rock (2003)
I am blown away by Jack Black’s passion. He seems to be able to convey that passion in everything that he does. The humor was a bit goofy at times, but it didn’t take me out of the movie at any point. A part from the obvious notion of something like this happened being a cringeworthy thing, the movie was very entertaining, and the music was great. I really dug that the kids were all playing their own instruments in the band.
13 Going On 30 (2004)
This movie just made me genuinely happy. It was like “Big” but more fun, for me. The music was fun, the energy of Jennifer Garner was infectious, and her chemistry with Mark Ruffalo was perfect. Jennifer makes a wonderful thirteen year old, and had me convinced. The only thing that sort of kept pulling me out of the movie was the music as it was mostly covering a the whole decade of the 1980’s and not just a portion that she would have been exposed to in school. She was heavily into Rick Springfield, “Working Class Dog” was my first album in the 5th grade, but she was referring to Wang Chung who wasn’t a thing until I was a Junior in Highschool. Despite the music discrepancy, this movie was a joy to watch.
A Thousand Words (2012)
Eddie Murphy’s “A Thousand Words” really surprised me. I wasn’t sure about what I was getting into and then the hook set in. It caused me to question the words that I chose. If you only had one thousand words left, would you waste them on matters of money, politics, or whatever form of fandom you ascribe to? At the moment putting that philosophy into practice is a bit difficult, but I am yelling at the news a bit less now. Does that count?
Anyhow this movie is a definite watch, if haven’t already. Out of all of the movies on this list, I recomend this one the most.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
This brings up to Scott Pilgrim. Being a comic book nerd, I am shocked that I never gave this one a shot. It took a pandemic for me to open up to this one, and others. I love the comic slash video game slash kung fu flick feel of this film. The unassuming quality of Scott was a bit off putting at first but it really grew on me. Seeing some of my favorite heroic actors playing total a-holes was really enjoyable too. The growth of Knives was a great little sidestory, that was sort of glossed over. I would watch a sequel starring her.
So there we have it, err.. them. My five first time movies. That was just a week’s worth. That have been others, but none have really inspired me to actually write about them. Apart from the genre film, Scott Pilgrim, the other films on this list are not really anything that I would normally write about. How has your viewing habits changed during these physical distancing times? Have you watched any good movies lately? Anything that is so far out of your wheelhouse that it surprised you?
Share your experience in the comments section.
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