Glass (2019)

David Dunn is living the vigilante life and is especially interested in finding the person behind several recent murders. When he does so, both he and the suspect are locked up in the same hospital as Dunn's nemesis, Elijah Price.

Though there's a bit of a twist at the end (of course there is) that somewhat makes sense of the more frustrating elements of the film, by the time it arrived I was too annoyed to accept it. Basically, Unbreakable is a fantastic movie. Split isn't bad. Glass is decidedly not good.

That said, McAvoy should be recognized for the phenomenal work he does here. Just as he did in Split, he creates fully formed characters with his voice, mannerisms and expressions -- I never had any confusion about which personality I was seeing. I know Oscar will ignore him, but that's a real shame. It's a brilliant performance.

C

Funny Farm (1988)

I had this on in the background as I was decorating the Christmas tree and boy. It really doesn't hold up. The jokes are mild -- most seemed to hinge on physical harm -- and the couple had zero chemistry. If you want a movie about a couple falling apart due to a disastrous living situation, choose The Money Pit instead.

While this was on, I was mostly just thinking about the anecdote in which Bill Murray yelled "MEDIUM TALENT" at Chevy Chase on the SNL set. Yep -- Murray nailed it.

C

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

Although I've seen this at least 4 times, it'd been a couple of decades since the last time. Yep -- still funny and the soundtrack is brilliant.

B+

Frozen II (2019)

The music -- except for the most excellent '80s-inspired "Lost in the Woods" -- isn't half as good as the first film's. And the story is pretty convoluted with the mysterious fogged-in land and underground cavern and water horse and "it was me all along" revelation. I can't imagine children in the audience could've possibly understood what was going on.

But, still. It's a bunch of characters I enjoy immensely, so -- though I'm slightly disappointed (especially in the music) -- it's not bad.

B

Okja (2017)

A food production company desperate to change its image breeds "superpigs" and allows families across the country to raise them as a competition. The best of them (Okja) is raised in an idyllic setting and is best friends with Mija, the little girl who spends her days with Okja. When the company comes to take the pig away for the competition's ceremony, Mija sets off to rescue her friend.

This movie doesn't have much going for it except for its aggressive weirdness. Tilda Swinton plays the twin heirs of the food company (one mean and and one who seems nice but is really just insecure and also mean), Jake Gyllenhaal plays a manic animal expert a la Jack Hanna, and there are GIANT PIGS. Though there were some episodes of humor (e.g. the militaristic animal rights group who are also trying to rescue Okja) but mostly it was offputting -- which sometimes veered into disturbing.

D+

The Lighthouse (2019)

An experienced lighthouse keeper and his new-to-the-job assistant are left alone at a remote lighthouse to keep it burning. The old man is abusive and territorial while the younger seems to just want to do the job... until he starts to lose his mind. And maybe the older is losing his mind too? Or perhaps this is just a really bad movie. The whole thing just felt like listening to someone recount a dream that they're no longer able to recall clearly.

We saw this in a theater with three other people: a couple and an older man there on his own. The couple left after about 20 minutes, so I declare them the winners. When the film was over, the older man turned to us and said "I was gonna leave when the other ones did, but I thought I might as well see how it ends." He said this in a tone that made it clear that he believed he'd made the wrong decision.

D

Greta (2019)

I've been a fan of Isabelle Huppert since "The Piano Teacher," so when I saw the trailer for this, I was fully on-board. Unfortunately, the trailers juked me.

This looked like an interesting psychological thriller, but it turned out to just be an illogical "why? because she's crazy" kind of story. It has a decent set-up -- woman leaves dozens of purses around town so that good samaritans will be lured into her web when they return it -- but that's where the innovation ends.

C-

The Old Man & the Gun (2018)

Based on the true story of a man with a bank-robbing hobby. He's such a gentleman during the robberies that the tellers he approaches aren't terrorized by their interactions with him. The cop who's chasing him even comes to admire him. And he also gains a love interest.

It's charming but rather dull. I kept nodding off.

C+

We Have Always Lived in the Castle (2019)

A small family -- two sisters and an aged uncle -- live in quiet isolation after the poisoning deaths of the other members of their family years earlier. They are mostly shunned by the other townspeople and sometimes harassed. When their cousin shows up for a visit, the dynamic in their home shifts.

I've read the book and this just can't hold a candle to it. On screen, the proceedings seem silly and unbelievable. Perhaps it's due to the fact that Merricat, in this portrayal, is clearly a deeply disturbed young woman so that most of the mystery is lost. On the page, I was with her -- I didn't consider her behavior to be off, just odd.

Really not worth the watch.

D+

A Simple Favor (2018)

Prim widowed housewife whose son is her life gets swept up in the hard-charging life of another mother at her school. She enjoys the adventure and day-drinking at first and then enjoys the drama and sleuthing of figuring out what happened when that new friend goes missing.

It's not high art, by any means, but that's just fine. It's fun and fast and the whole cast is just going for it. Much better than I was anticipating!

B