In August, I was in the transition period between my summer job and school starting back up again. Because of this, I had a lot of free time, which for me meant more time to watch movies. Here are the things I watched for the first time last month, and my spoiler-free thoughts.
2024 Releases
First and foremost, let’s start with the new releases I watched last month.
Trap ★★★★☆
(Dir. M. Night Shyamalan, 2024)
I’ll preface my review with this: I’m an M. Night Shyamalan movies defender. The first horror movie I was allowed to watch was Signs, which is still one of my favorites to this day. Granted, his movies (especially his more recent ones) can be pretty hit or miss, but this one was definitely a hit. I would categorize it less as horror and more of a crime thriller, with a great leading performance by Josh Hartnett. As the premise requires, the team behind this movie did a great job with the concert setting, and it was super cool to see M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter, Saleka (who happens to be a super talented singer-songwriter) take on the role of Lady Raven and perform a setlist of original songs. This one has definitely got my recommendation, if for nothing else than being a fun time at the movies.
Cuckoo ★★★☆☆
(Dir. Tilman Singer, 2024)
Another horror film that I was really looking forward too, but that unfortunately fell short for me. This movie looked fantastic visually, and the performances (specifically Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens) were off the charts, but the screenplay was lacking. A movie that was trying to do a lot of things at once, and it ultimately got lost in that and couldn’t pull together for a cohesive story. Still worth a watch, but definitely not one that’s going in my favorites for this month.
Alien: Romulus ★★★★☆
(Dir. Fede Álvarez, 2024)
Alien (1979) is one of my favorite movies of all time, but I really had no interest in watching the rest of the franchise because I just didn’t think it would live up. However, I knew I needed to see Romulus, and so I decided to dive into some of the other movies in the franchise, starting with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant (which I’ll get to later in this entry). I do also plan to watch the rest of the movies when I get a chance, and I regret not getting into the rest of this franchise earlier. I still don’t think any movie will quite live up to the original, but so far all the others that I’ve watched have had some really cool sequences and just overall interesting premises. With Alien: Romulus, it was also cool to see how a director other than Ridley Scott would approach this franchise. Fede Álvarez’s directing style was definitely one of the strengths of this movie. I would describe it as a good horror film, but a great science-fiction film.
Blink Twice ★★★☆☆
(Dir. Zoë Kravitz, 2024)
Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut was unfortunately a reminder that not every actor also needs to be a director. It wasn’t a bad movie by any means, and it had some moments that really stood out, but overall it felt a bit messy. At its best, this movie did a great job of creating heart-pounding tension, but it couldn’t seem to sustain it through some of the more important narrative moments, There were some good acting performances — particularly from Adria Arjona, who is such a star, and we are all lucky that we get to witness her talent. Overall, this was a difficult watch for some of its more graphic scenes and sensitive topics, without the payoff of its message landing the way I assume it was intended to.
Strange Darling ★★★☆☆
(Dir. JT Mollner, 2023)
This one was . . . interesting. I don’t think I mean this in a bad way, but when I came out of this movie I simply thought that it looked good and had good performances. I think it lacked a solid throughline connecting its nonlinear chapters with some sort of overarching story or themes. I liked the chapter structure as an idea, but it didn’t seem to actually contribute to whatever story the creators of this movie were trying to tell (which I still can’t pinpoint exactly what that is). That being said, Willa Fitzgerald’s performance makes this movie (as I predicted it would when I went to see it). If nothing else, I hope this movie brings her more of the praise and reputation that she deserves for her talent.
Inside Out 2 ★★★★ 1/2
(Dir. Kelsey Mann, 2024)
This movie came out a couple months ago, and I put off watching it because I knew it would make me cry. Cut to me a couple weeks ago literally bawling at a Regal on a Friday afternoon. Watching this was such a surreal experience when I think about the fact that I was 12 years old when the first Inside Out was released, and now I’m an adult living in a new place far away from my parents. Inside Out and now Inside Out 2 are both so effectively about growing up and how hard that can me. Having quite literally grown up with the first movie, I thought the second one was a lovely continuation of those themes. It also works as a sequel because it touches on the way that things seem to get even harder the older you get. Introduction of new emotions and new key figures in Riley’s life give us that sense of how things pile on as you grow up.
The Alien Franchise
As I mentioned, this month I also had my first exposure to the Alien movies beyond the original film. Here are some thoughts on the ones I watched, as I get myself excited to get into the rest of them next month.
Prometheus ★★★★ 1/2
(Dir. Ridley Scott, 2012)
Let’s start with this: I LOVED this movie. When Ridley Scott is doing work this strong, I will eat it up every single time. This movie explores the kind of themes that are perfect for a sci-fi franchise of this scale. Also, in true Alien fashion, it had some absolutely horrifying scenes (and I say that in the best way possible). One of the other great strengths of this franchise also shines through in this movies: making you care about the characters even though you know that in an Alien movie, it’s unlikely that they’ll all survive until the end of the movie.
Alien: Covenant ★★★☆☆
(Dir. Ridley Scott, 2017)
This movie was a disappointing and, in my opinion, unnecessary follow-up to Prometheus. Where it attempts to build on the established themes and characters, it just weakly rehashes them. I will say, this is a Ridley Scott sci-fi movie, so it does have those classic Alien moments where you have to wonder (once again, I mean this nicely) what kind of person could possibly come up with this stuff. However, that’s about all this movie gives you, and it doesn’t go beyond in the way Prometheus did.
Ryan Gosling Movies
It’s no secret to anyone on this planet that I love (read: am in love with) Ryan Gosling, but in the past few months I’ve decided to really dig in and start watching through his filmography. I haven’t been doing this in any particular order, but rather just starting with the ones that pique my interest the most. Here are the ones I picked this month:
The Big Short ★★★★ 1/2
(Dir. Adam McKay, 2015)
I’ll preface my review with this: this movie was made for me. It’s the exact type of movie that I eat up every single time. The screenplay is quick and gives you barely even a second to breathe from start to finish. Clocking in at about 2 hours and 10 minutes, we move through events very quickly in this movie, but the writers and director also take moments to stop and hold your hand and try (to varying degrees of success) to explain some of the more complicated financial terminology and conversations. Personally, I want everything in life explained to me by Margot Robbie in a bubble bath looking directly into the camera (which, yes, is a thing that happens in this movie).
The Nice Guys ★★★★ 1/2
(Dir. Shane Black, 2016)
I don’t typically love action movies, and I don’t typically love comedy movies, but the thing I do love is a well-executed action comedy. That’s exactly what this movie is, which of course made me think of one of my favorite movies ever, Game Night (2018). In order for a movie like this to work, the jokes have to be good, the action sequences have to be shot well, and the actors have to nail it. All of those things are happening here. I was genuinely laughing out loud at just about every other line of dialogue in this movie. One of the best things for me in the last several years is that Ryan Gosling is taking on a lot of comedic roles, which is exactly what I want more of from him.
Drive ★★★★☆
(Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011)
I’m glad I didn’t write this review immediately after watching this movie, because as I’ve let it sit with me, I realized that I liked it more than I initially thought. I went in expecting to love it, and I was a bit disappointed when I finished and found I didn’t enjoy it in the way I expected to. Stylistically, it is gorgeous. The cinematography and lighting are stunning, and the soundtrack is the perfect complement to the visuals of the movie. I will say that the screenplay doesn’t quite live up to this. However, as I mentioned before, allowing myself time to sit and think a bit further on this movie did click it into place a little more for me, and it’s definitely one that I’ll revisit and hopefully like even more on a rewatch.
A Few Additional Movies
This is my space for the few movies I watched that didn’t fall into any of the above categories.
Rear Window ★★★★★
(Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)
I’m not sure what I can say about this movie that hasn’t already been said in the 70 years (absolutely insane thing to think about) since its release. It’s a masterpiece, plain and simple. The tension is strung and held throughout the entire film, and Hitchcock doesn’t let it snap until the exact moment that he wants it to. I was quite literally leaning forward in my seat for the majority of the duration of this movie. Thinking about that when we are also limited to one location and set for the entire movie just adds to it all. We’re in this apartment window and completely limited to what our protagonists can see and hear. The camera is strategically angled to keep us trapped in this lingering feeling that there is something we can’t see that is a threat, and that the things we do see are inherently threatening themselves.
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping ★★★★☆
(Dir. Akiva Schaffer & Jorma Taccone, 2016)
Simply put, this movie is very funny. Great comedic writing, a fun premise and characters, combined with the fact that Andy Samberg is always hilarious. The music and concert settings make this movie such a fun and upbeat watch. The music videos and testimonial clips are also incorporated in a way that doesn’t hinder the flow of the movie. It’s already a short movie, but I swear it felt like it was 30 minutes long (in a positive way where I didn’t want it to end). The perfect comedy watch when you just want to have fun.
Big month of watching a lot of great movies, and I’m hoping that September will allow for a similar number of incredible first-time watches for me.
I’ll leave you with this: my Letterboxd list where I rank Ryan Gosling movies based on how good I think he looks in them. Don’t try to argue with me, I’m correct.