Travis Scott: Look Mom I Can Fly (2019)

Actual text series:

• Daughter-in-law: FAMILY. LISTEN. THIS IS IMPORTANT. THE NEW TRAVIS SCOTT DOC ON NETFLIX IS ACTUALLY 10000% THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE.
• Son: it's actually like [one of] the most inspiring interesting engaging movies I've ever watched
• D-i-l: DROP EVERYTHING. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.
• Son: This isn't an exaggeration: it feels like an all-encompassing picture of the modern world and of what life can and should be like for everyone. So it's going to be the thing I recommend to everyone all year.
• D-i-l: I'M WRITING IN TRAVIS SCOTT FOR PRESIDENT
• Me: Did you join a cult? Because we will come get you right now.  

So, naturally, my husband and I thought "How can we not watch this? They obviously want to share it," and sat down together in front of the TV. Twenty minutes in my husband said "check those texts again. Is this the right movie?" Ten minutes later I said "something must happen, right? He gets in an accident and becomes a do-gooder?" Later, both of us: "wait - is that a Kardashian person?"

Am I just old? Because I did not see a life being lived to its fullest. I saw a narcissist putting people in danger because he needs affirmation. I saw a shell who couldn't face the world unaltered -- constantly high. He also seems unable to be still -- needing to be surrounded by sycophants every waking moment. He started dating a 19-year old when he was 25, clearly chosen for her looks and status rather than for substance (though vice versa applies there as well). And he had a little fit when he didn't win a grammy and couldn't stop bringing it up -- even to the mayor of his hometown. Just: yuck.

But, even if Travis were the amazing specimen that my (clearly high-at-the-time.. right???) kids thought they saw, this documentary is a shit show. There's no throughline at all. It's basically home movies from his childhood mixed with concert footage and current home movies. It's a waste of time: a boring peek inside a messy and sad life.

F

O.G. (2019)

Louis is weeks away from his release after 24 years in prison. He used to run a major gang inside, but now he's mellowed. When a new prisoner arrives, however, Louis feels compelled to take him under his wing, putting himself in the crosshairs of his old gang.

This felt like such an honest portrayal of the mundanity and casual dehumanization that is prison life, but the moody dream sequences caused me to think of it as a "Rectify wannabe." Since O.G. simply cannot compete with the beautiful meditation on prison and its aftermath that is Rectify, it should've steered clear of that type of surrealism.

B-

Knock on Wood (1954)

Ventriloquist has commitment issues and is flying to Zurich to see a specialist. Meanwhile, blueprints for a doomsday weapon have been stolen and stashed inside of his twin dummies without his knowledge. Hijinks ensue.

I'm not a big Danny Kaye fan -- he's not so much "funny" as "in things that are meant to be funny" in my opinion. This certainly isn't bad, but it's just serviceable rather than truly hilarious.

C+

Just Wright (2010)

Leslie Wright is a physical therapist with a janky car, a fixer-upper house, parents all up in her business, and a gorgeous cousin -- Morgan -- whose heart is set on being a trophy wife. Morgan gets her chance when she and Leslie attend a party at the home of the Nets star point guard, Scott. In short order, Scott and Morgan are engaged, but when Scott suffers a potentially career-ending injury, it's up to Leslie to get him back in shape and to pick up the pieces of his broken heart.

This movie is simply not good. They absolutely waste Pam Grier and Phylicia Rashad as Leslie & Scott's respective mothers and Common (as Scott) is incompetent at showing any true emotion. The script relies on at least three split-screen montages, none of which are any fun. As there's never any question about what's going to happen, this is definitely skippable.

C- 

I Am Mother (2019)

An apocalyptic event wipes out humanity but there's a failsafe: Mother -- a droid. "She" brings a preserved human embryo to full term and proceeds to raise her. There's physical activity, fine motor skill work, and regular examinations to track her progress. Eventually, the plan is create a family out of the thousands of other embryos in the facility in order to repopulate. But when a newcomer arrives, Daughter starts to wonder whether she's been told the truth about the world outside.

This isn't breaking any new ground, but it's effectively done & the acting is very good.

B-

Mississippi Grind (2015)

Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn) is a gambling addict who owes everyone he knows, but when Curtis (Ryan Reynolds) breezes into his life, his luck changes. Before long, the pair has decided to gamble their way down the Mississippi en route to a big poker game in Louisiana.

I didn't hate this movie, but I do have a low-level dislike for Ben Mendelsohn in general and this movie wasn't good enough to trump that.

C

Escape Me Never (1947)

Musician Caryl Dubrok is seeing heiress Fenella. Single mother Gemma is crashing with Caryl's brother, aspiring composer Sebastian Dubrok. The living arrangement is the source of a misunderstanding with Fenella's family, resulting in the Dubroks & Gemma hitting the road to explain the situation.

The story morphs from comedy to melodrama once the group tracks Fenella down, and it never recovers its easy charm.

B-

Otherhood (2019)

The mothers of three adult best friends, all hurt because their sons barely keep in touch, decide to take an impromptu trip to New York, where their sons now live. Each woman barges into the home of their own son and are surprised and hurt anew that their visit isn't wanted. And though I kind of agreed with the guys, I also thought that all three were unnecessarily assholey to their moms.

Though not thoroughly devoid of nice moments, most scenes felt forced and there were very few surprises.

C

Tag (2018)

Five friends have been playing the same game of tag since they were kids -- but now that they're adults, they confine the fun to one month every year. When the "never been tagged" Jerry is scheduled to be married in that month, the other four see their chance to finally lay hands on him.

My expectations were low, so this turned out to be a really fun surprise. Though ridiculous, it's also extremely funny -- even more so when I found out that this story is based on a real group of guys and that some of the elaborate situations in the film came from life. I could've done without Jerry's almost mythical abilities to avoid having hands touch him, but that surrealism didn't detract much.

B

Death of a Salesman (1951)

Fredric March is an on-the-road salesman who's slowing down. Problem is he's got no money to retire on and his grown sons aren't much help to their parents. Technically this family has more than its share of problems, but they all seem well-earned. It's not a "bad luck" situation so much as a "terrible patriarch" situation. 

Two-hour misery marathon.

F

Instant Family (2018)

Couple who've never thought seriously about kids look into foster kids and, almost before they know it, are parenting three siblings. It's undeniably heartwarming and tearjerking, but the two younger kids were pretty terrible actors and the jokes didn't have much room to breathe.

Still, the power of the story itself (based on true events) won out.

B-

Happy Death Day 2U (2019)

Tree, the Sorority girl from the first movie, is pretty pissed to find herself back in the time loop she thought she'd successfully exited.

It's basically more of the same, but with a Back to the Future twist this time. I was just as happy with this as I was with the first.

B

Happy Death Day (2017)

Sorority girl wakes up hungover on her birthday in a strange guy's dorm room. After a jam-packed day, she is stabbed to death by a masked killer -- only to wake up hungover on her birthday in that same guy's dorm room. If she can't figure out how to stop her killer, she's pretty sure she's not going to be able to break out of the loop.

It's a lightweight horror twist on Groundhog Day, and it's pretty fun.

B

Doctor Dolittle (1967)

A physician who is perplexed by the behavior of humans finds that he gets along quite well with animals, especially once he puts in the work to learn their languages.

There's a charm to the early part of the film, as we get to know Dolittle through the eyes of boy meeting him for the first time. But that charm wears thin as the film is twice as long as it has any need to be and the songs that break up the action are completely forgettable.

C-

Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood (2019)

Tarantino pulls the same revisionist history trick with the Manson murders that he did with Hitler in "Inglorious Basterds." I didn't like it much then, and I don't like it much now.

While I appreciate the performances turned in by Pitt, DiCaprio, and even Margaret Qualley, the movie's too enamored with itself. It takes way too much time to do anything, and not everything should be given so much breath. The good stuff here is the actor aging out of leading-man status and his longtime stuntman/only friend. Why take the power of that away by stapling a "hey look at THIS" bullshit-but-wouldn't-it-be-cool-if-this-is-what-happened storyline to it? It's distracting and unnecessary. This could've been a masterpiece without it.

C

Swing Time (1936)

Astaire is a dancing gambler who's late enough to his own wedding that the father of the bride tells him to go to New York and not to come back for his daughter until he makes $25,000. So, off he goes to immediately bump into Ginger Rogers and, well, that's that.

I'd seen this movie decades ago and gave it an "A" then, but upon rewatch it's really just OK. The first half is GOLD, though. It's quick and funny, has a knock-your-socks-off dance number, and a secondary couple that is note-perfect. It falters, however, in the second half, becoming a tad dull. And  -- oof -- there's a blackface number that doesn't hold up well.

B-