You Were Never Really Here (2017)

You Were Never Really Here (2017)

6/10

Starring

Joaquin Phoenix

Directed by Lynne Ramsay

This movie, with a mouthful of a title, is a good enough film to watch from the moment things start to get twisted and interesting. The buildup, which is meant to be cinematic, engaging, and thrilling through the way flashbacks are edited in, could be seen as a drag or distraction.
We spend a considerable amount of time getting to know how twisted the mind of our anti-hero, Joe (Joaquin Phoenix), is. This time is shared between exploring his relationship with his mother, flashbacks to his childhood with an abusive father, and his time in the military.

Before we dive into the plot, I want to point out that Joaquin Phoenix has proven over the years to be a fantastic actor. He’s good at delivering performances across different movie genres that only a few actors can pull off.
This movie is also a true test of how good he is. We start by seeing Joe as a hired gun who, after leaving the military, spends his time rescuing people. However, Joe isn’t mentally stable. He struggles with flashbacks of his abusive father, who tormented both him and his mother, and he often contemplates ending his own life.
He now lives with his aged mother, taking care of her, and though he desires to be dead, her being alive in a way keeps him going.

Joe is given a job to rescue the daughter of a senator. The senator personally asks him to save his daughter, Nina, who has been kidnapped by a child sex trafficking ring.
Joe takes on the job, believing the problem is similar in intensity to the others he’s helped with. What he doesn’t know is that the child sex trafficking ring provides services to high-ranking government officials, and Nina is the favorite of a top government official.
From this point on, the movie gets very intense, and the editing becomes top-notch. We transition seamlessly between flashbacks and the present, with a musical score that blends perfectly into the film.

After saving Nina, the government official sends the police and other agents to kill Joe, bring back the girl, and eliminate everyone Joe works with. The attempt to kill Joe doesn’t go well—Joe attacks the officer and escapes, but Nina is kidnapped again.

Now, Joe must deal with the aftermath of the police tracking him down to his home and his urge to save Nina. The movie is relatively short, and many things you’d expect to happen between Joe going after Nina and finding her don’t. Instead, the movie ends in a surprising way that’s worth a good pat on the back for Lynne Ramsay, who directed and wrote the screenplay for this book adaptation.
At the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, Ramsay won the Best Screenplay award, and Phoenix won Best Actor for this movie.

Thoroughbreds (2017)

Thoroughbreds (2017)

6/10

Starring

Olivia Cooke

Anya Taylor-Joy

Anton Yelchin

Paul Sparks

Directed by Cory Finley

The suspense in this movie is downplayed in such a way that you’ll think you have a clue of where it’s going, only to find out the movie had other plans. I like movies like this—ones that take it upon themselves to create their own reality. What I mean is, the movie plays out like life: it gives us characters who are selfish, cruel, and whose self-preservation takes center stage in their decisions.

The movie was a box-office bomb, even though it was well-received. I wouldn’t have heard about it if I hadn’t done my regular search for good movies I might have missed.
Sometimes flipping through Netflix or visiting sites like Looper to find out about overlooked movies can be very rewarding when you stumble across one you end up loving.

The story follows a socially disordered teen named Amanda (Olivia Cooke)—in what was Anton Yelchin’s last movie before his death—who euthanizes her crippled horse and is now facing animal cruelty charges.
Amanda had a childhood friend named Lily, but they’ve grown apart. Since Amanda isn’t socially inclined, her mother paid Lily to hang out with her. Lily feels guilty about taking the money and decides to keep hanging out with Amanda even after the first payment.
During their time together, Amanda notices that Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) dislikes her stepfather. The uptight Lily starts to loosen up and makes some progress in opening up, though she gets upset at Amanda for prying too much. Despite this, a renewed bond of friendship begins to form.
Lily’s stepfather is incredibly annoying, and during a strange confrontation with Amanda present, Amanda suggests to Lily that she consider killing him.

At first, Lily isn’t on board with the idea, but she eventually agrees, and they form a plan to carry it out in a way that implicates no one.
As you’d expect, the plan doesn’t go as intended, and Lily has to improvise in a way that’s too freaky for words. I’ll leave it to you to watch the movie and see how it unfolds.

The acting in this movie is top-notch, showcasing two disturbed girls who find solace in each other and try to make their lives better.
The movie was completed fourteen days before Yelchin’s death and holds high critical acclaim. It’s worth all the praise it receives. Everything about the movie—from its pacing to its portrayal of characters—is well done. This is a movie worth seeing anytime, and I hope you don’t miss it.

Goldstone (2016)

Goldstone (2016)

6/10

Starring

Aaron Pedersen

Alex Russell

David Gulpilil

Jacki Weaver

Directed by Ivan Sen

Sometimes these movies won’t be groundbreaking or magnificent enough to make you wonder why they weren’t more popular. Other times, you’ll watch some and wonder why they were made at all. But the good ones will always leave you glad you saw them. Many of the good ones, like Goldstone, are subtle, with small settings, a tiny cast, and made to entertain rather than be a crowd-pleaser.

Goldstone is a nice film—the kind that makes you realize that doing nothing is the same as being part of the problem.
The movie is a standalone film, but it’s also a sequel to Mystery Road, which also starred Aaron Pedersen as Jay Swan.
Set three years after the events of the previous movie, Jay is sent to a town to investigate the disappearance of a missing Asian tourist. Like I said, the movie is standalone, and while his past actions are mentioned, they have no bearing on this story.

Jay is a headstrong Aboriginal police officer, and his arrival in the town is met with hostility from the locals. He even has a shootout in the trailer he’s staying in, orchestrated by a racist crew who take pleasure in hurting foreigners and Aboriginal people. As I mentioned, it’s an Australian movie, and Jay is in a local Aboriginal town where many of the elders are selling out their land to a company promising development.

Jay’s presence becomes a problem as his search for the missing tourist leads him to uncover a human trafficking ring that turns Asian girls into sex slaves.

The people running the trafficking ring are in cahoots with the racist crew, the town elders, and even the local law enforcement. The local police officer, Josh, turns a blind eye to everything. He’s forced to pay attention and reluctantly joins Jay in cleaning up the town after Jay accuses him of being complicit.
Together, the two stir up enough trouble to expose not just human trafficking and land grabbing but also murder, which becomes another problem the town has to face.

This Australian thriller is directed and written by Ivan Sen. If you don’t know who he is, neither do I. He also handled the music, cinematography, and editing—essentially a one-man Swiss army knife of movie production.
The movie is enjoyable and has earned numerous Australian accolades (both nominations and wins) from their film awards community.
Like I said, it’s a subtle movie—not a lot of gun-blazing action, but it packs enough suspense to keep you hooked. So, if you’ve got the time for some good drama, go see this movie.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

6/10

Starring

Ben Stiller

Amy Adams

Owen Wilson

Steve Coogan

Hank Azaria

Directed by Shawn Levy

The first film was decent fun, different, and very surprising for someone like me who just caught it on TV.
After the financial success of the first movie, a sequel was developed. This new movie didn’t lack the fun I enjoyed in the first one. It was okay in that regard—I liked the characters just as much, and I was glad they introduced new ones to give a sense that something fresh was in play.
It was a bit sad, though, that the three oldies who guarded the museum in the first movie were cut from the theatrical version—so don’t expect to see them.

The movie packed the same CGI fun as the first, and the story continues for Larry. He now runs his own company, selling inventions based on ideas he got from his time at the museum.
During one of his many visits to the museum to see his friends, he learns that the exhibits will be moved to the Federal Archives at the Smithsonian Institution, replaced with holograms. The only thing remaining at the American Museum of Natural History will be the Tablet of Ahkmenrah. If this happens, the exhibits won’t come to life anymore.
They make peace with it, and the exhibits are shipped to Washington, DC.

Larry receives a strange phone call from Jedediah (Owen Wilson), who seems to be in distress. He informs Larry that Dexter the monkey stole the Tablet and took it to the Smithsonian. Now, the Tablet has brought every exhibit in the Smithsonian to life.
Larry must travel to Washington and find a way to help because, from the sound of the call, everything is out of control. He brings his son along, and posing as a night guard, they navigate their way to where the exhibits are stored.

The movie introduces a love interest for Larry, which you’ll have to watch to find out about, and there’s a new villain in play: Ahkmenrah’s evil older brother, Kahmunrah, who wants to use the Tablet’s powers to take over the world.
Stopping him is a tall order, which brings everyone together to try and prevent his plans.
This movie delivers enough fun and adventure to be watchable. In the end, even though I felt this movie didn’t need to be made, I didn’t regret watching it.

It received the same critical reception as the first movie and performed well at the box office, so there’s a part three in the works.

Night at the Museum (2006)

Night at the Museum (2006)

6/10

Starring

Ben Stiller

Carla Gugino

Dick Van Dyke

Robin Williams

Directed by Shawn Levy

I never had the privilege of reading the 32-page 1993 children’s book (The Night at the Museum by Milan Trenc) this movie is based on before seeing the film. When I did watch it, I was impressed by the level of adventure packed into less than two hours.
It was fun, funny, and the thrills kept coming. The cast included numerous well-recognized actors, so there was something for everyone. The CGI was well done, and the movie itself did such a great job that it deserved a pat on the back from the producers.

Night at the Museum is a movie I stumbled upon on TV without knowing much about it beforehand, and I ended up sitting through the whole thing. Ben Stiller delivered A+ acting in this movie, playing a security guard at a museum.
Ben Stiller’s character, Larry, is a night-shift security guard at the American Museum of Natural History. Larry is divorced, not getting along well with his ex, and his ten-year-old son is his world. He took the job hoping to impress him.

He was hired to replace the retiring security guards: Cecil Fredericks (Dick Van Dyke), Gus (Mickey Rooney), and Reginald (Bill Cobbs). During Larry’s shift—without any warning from the previous guards—the entire museum comes to life at night. Here’s a brief list of what Larry had to deal with:

• A Tyrannosaurus skeleton that behaves like a dog.
• A mischievous capuchin monkey named Dexter.
• Warring miniature factions of cowboys and Roman soldiers, led by Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and General Octavius (Steve Coogan).
• Attila the Hun and his army.
• One of the only reasonable figures in the museum, a wax model of Theodore Roosevelt (Robin Williams), who comes to his aid.

Larry is shocked and scared by these events and loses control of the museum until Roosevelt calms him down and explains what’s happening.
The exhibits started coming to life every night after the arrival of an Egyptian artifact called the Tablet of Akhmenrah. Roosevelt informs Larry about the dangers of leaving the museum in chaos and emphasizes the need to keep things in order and its occupants safe.

Things get tricky when Larry discovers that some people are trying to steal from the museum and make off with one of its artifacts.
The movie wasn’t well-received by critics, even though it did well at the box office, making more than five times its production cost and selling huge numbers of DVDs.