Closed for Storm (2021)

In 2000, New Orleans opened the amusement park Jazzland. In 2002 -- after bankruptcy for the previous operators -- Six Flags took it over. In 2005, Katrina hit the city and killed the park. Since then, despite many grand plans, it's remained abandoned and an eyesore. 

There's no need to watch this as I pretty much told you everything above. If you're interested in abandoned buildings/parks in general, you'll still be jonesing after watching this since we get almost nothing. Instead of haunting shots of quiet/moss-strewn rides, we enter the administrative offices and visit several rooms just so that our narrators can exclaim over yet another water-lined wall and act surprised that the calendars they see are from 2005. I got the feeling they didn't have permission to film there, otherwise I can't make sense of the weird choices they made.

This felt like a high school report rather than a focused documentary with a point to make.

D+

Martha (2024)

I watched (and enjoyed) Martha Stewart's season of the Apprentice, a few of my much-made recipes are hers, and when I decided to make slipper socks as Christmas gifts, I went straight to her site. And, while I was aware of her jail time and her re-entry into popular culture as Snoop Dogg's best bud, I still didn't know much about the woman. In truth, it's not like she completely bared her soul here (though she did share some very vulnerable romantic insights), but I enjoyed spending time listening to her because she's simply fascinating.

The fact that the "talking heads" were voice-only was pretty interesting. It made me wonder if Martha demanded that no one get the spotlight except for her. I mean, I have no idea if that's the reason we were only hearing her daughter, friends, and ex-friends, but it wouldn't surprise me one bit. And honestly? Queen.

B

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024)

Wallace has invented a robotic garden gnome (Norbot) to help with gardening and other household tasks. Gromit is skeptical, but everyone in town wants to hire Norbot. Once the nefarious Feathers McGraw (incarcerated at the zoo) gets wind of the new invention, he makes it his job to use it to his advantage.

Fun, but almost too familiar at this point.

B-

22 July (2018)

Based on an actual domestic terrorism attack in 2011 Norway in which a lone gunman distracted the country with a car bomb in Oslo before traveling to a summer camp for teens to gun down scores of victims. The story focuses mostly on the victims and their families as they recover and prepare for the gunman's trial.

I was unfamiliar with the details of this tragedy and, while the movie was compelling on its own terms, I can't help but be swayed by its Norwegian detractors who take issue with the "attack" portion. While horrific as-is, I was guessing that the shooter was on the island maybe 15 minutes rather than the hour-plus it was in actuality. I'm not asking for more carnage, but I do believe that sticking with different groups of kids as they hide and wait to see if their luck will hold or even a "time since first shot" running clock would've been more impactful than spending most of that time viewing things from the shooter's perspective. I would've also liked to a nod to the neighbors who used their own boats to rescue kids who'd escaped into the water.

Despite all that, it's an effective and informative film.

B 

Villains (2019)

A young couple is robbing gas stations on their way down to Florida, but hit a snag when their car ironically runs out of gas on a little-traveled road. But, hey, there's a house right there with a car in the garage and no one's home! Too bad that house has some truly twisted owners and they arrive home before the robbers can get out of there.

I've seen this kind of thing before -- where the scariest people in the room are also weird enough to seem easily beatable -- but this felt a bit brighter than most. I think it was the young couple, who clearly believed in each other and were the opposite of hopeless. I wasn't rooting for them in the generic "get yourselves out of there!!" way; I truly hoped good things for them.

The denouement was an especially sweet touch.

B-

Winner (2024)

The farcical, tongue-in-cheek vibe felt a little odd for the based-on-fact subject, but I appreciated it nonetheless. Emilia Jones makes for a very likable heroine: her voiceover, though humorous, is also filled with magical manifestations (e.g. "if I can xxx, then xxx is true"), which seems at odds with her matter-of-fact approach to right and wrong. But maybe that's why it felt honest: we're all enigmas.

A decently entertaining film that I'm not sure I can fully trust.

B-

Fingernails (2023)

In the future, couples can take a test to find out whether or not they're in love with each other. Just by removing a fingernail from each, you'll know for certain whether or not your feelings can be trusted and if you can move forward in confidence. Ryan and Anna tested at 100% (both partners in love) years ago, which is enough for Ryan. Anna, however, would like to keep working at the relationship and is especially interested in taking classes at the Love Institute. She's so interested, in fact, that she takes a job there and hides it from Ryan.

Though I've seen variations on the "soulmate" story many times, there was something about this one that was super affecting. Yes, there's comfort in knowing for sure, but that can obviously lead to stagnation and taking a partner for granted. I think the real triumph here -- what really puts this story above the others in the genre -- is the character of Amir (Riz Ahmed, killing it as usual). He knows so much and yet yearns to understand.

B+

The Guilty (2021)

Joe is an L.A. cop stuck on 9-1-1 duty pending his hearing for shooting a teen. He gets sucked into the drama of a caller: she's been abducted by her ex, her children are now at home alone, and she's scared. Joe goes into overdrive trying to force everyone to make this their number one priority, making a lot of assumptions and breaking a lot of rules and generally demonstrating why being a 9-1-1 operator is not an "anyone can do it" role.

Even if the script were decent, it would've been a challenge to care since all of the drama (except Joe's fits of pique) are off-camera. Since the script is threadbare, this winds up just being boring and ridiculous.

D

True Romance (1993)

I remember being bowled over when we first saw this: the way the violence contrasted with the romance and humor felt so audacious -- like nothing I'd seen before. These memories lead me to believe that this was my introduction to Tarantino since humor + ultra-violence is kind of his thing.

So, though we were entertained, it felt a little thin on rewatch.

B

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

Very much in the same vein as Guardians of the Galaxy and Princess Bride: an eclectic group of adventurers work together to take down the bad guy & retrieve a powerful relic. Hugh Grant is in "hammy" mode as the villain and everyone else is just having a grand ol' time. I was especially surprised by how much Michelle Rodriguez (as the group's muscle) cracked me up.

Lots of fun even if the plot is a bit generic.

B

Nickel Boys (2024)

When the cops pick up a guy on suspected auto theft, his innocent teenage passenger is sent to Nickel Academy, a segregated juvenile detention facility in Florida. It's bad there -- like unmarked graves on the land for the black kids who wouldn't fall in line bad -- and I should've been occupied by those horrors. Instead, I was forced to think things like what the hell am I looking at? and am I Elwood or Turner right now? due to the bad idea of shooting this thing as though we're seeing through the eyes of the two main characters.

There's a reason that so few books are written in second-person: it's weird. The gimmick obviously works well for "Choose Your Own Adventure"-type things where the action is designed to be driven by the reader, but this felt like go-pro courtesy of a first-timer. I often had no idea where or even who I was. My husband lasted only 5 minutes, while I was sure that the conceit would be dropped after the introductory scenes (I was wrong).

In short: the power of the subject was completely overshadowed by the confusing perspective.

D+