Sean Sees Movies – January 2023 Review Roundup
As I mentioned in my 2022 “Year in Movies” post, I watch a lot of movies and instead of waiting till the end of the year to say something about them; I thought that I would try sharing with a little more regularity as to what I am watching and what I think about it.
Let the Review Roundup begin!
Entries are not in ranked order. Each entry will feature the title, year released and what format/streaming service I saw it on.
1. Violent Night (2022) (Cinema) – I saw this on New Year’s Day with my Dad. If I had seen it before the end of 2022 it surely would have made my “best of” list or at least an honorable mention. As many described it: It’s Die Hard with Santa. However, unlike the John McClain series, Santa kills a far greater number of disposable bad guys than Bruce Willis. David Harbour is excellent as a world-weary Santa that has lost his faith in the world. He finds it quickly by kicking, beating, impaling, exploding, and killing countless mercenaries. I am unsure of how many people saw this movie in the theaters during the last Holiday season, but I suspect that it will become a new holiday tradition for many more people over the next several Holiday seasons as it enters the streaming world.
2. The Whale (2022) (Cinema) – I have seen this movie twice this month. Admittedly, I am very conflicted over many aspects of the film. The only non-controversial opinion about the film of which I am in full agreeance is that Brendan Fraser’s performance is fantastic. I have been drafting and rewriting a review of this film for the past three weeks. In short, the movie is about a morbidly obese teacher that is trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter before his death. This movie hits very, very close to home (as it were) and writing a response has been more difficult that I had originally imagined. With any luck, I will have it out soon.
3. Joe vs the Volcano (1990) (HBO Max) – I wanted to watch Sleepless in Seattle or You’ve Got Mail, but I didn’t want to pay for them, so I watched this Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movie instead. The first time I saw this movie was at the old Maumee Movie House in Maumee, OH. A one screen movie theater with a beautiful art deco facade. Joe (Hanks) disillusioned with life takes an offer to throw himself in a volcano and hilarity ensues. For those only familiar with Hanks work of the last twenty years will be quite surprised by the campy comedies of his past. The only thing in my notes after watching this movie was “Boy! This movie could not be remade today!” I wrote this for a variety of reasons. This type of comedy has all but disappeared, which is a shame really. However, the main reason for this comment was more geared at the casting of an all white cast for a Polynesian population. I love Nathan Lane and Abe Vigoda, but neither of them would be cast in these roles today.
4. Strange World (2022) (Disney+) – This was a movie that I purposely avoided seeing in the cinema last year. All the press around the movie wasn’t overly positive. In my opinion, it wasn’t as bad as many of the critics made it out to be. It still wasn’t great, but it didn’t deserve all the hate that I saw it getting. I won’t ruin the ending/last third of the movie. The movie’s “twist” is something that most keen-eyed observers will likely see coming fairly early on in the movie. Do I want to watch it again? No, but it’s worth a watch.
5. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) (Netflix) – Holy crap I had fun watching this. Daniel Craig is back reprising his role as master detective Benoit Blanc. I really admire Rian Johnson in his ability to find new ways to alter and present what could be otherwise be a basic whodunnit. There is very little I can say without giving away too much. If you are a fan of mysteries, I think that you will enjoy this movie. The only thing in my notes after watching this movie is the following dialogue:
"It's so dumb." "So, dumb it's brilliant." "No! It's just dumb."
6. The Burbs (1989) (HBO Max) – From my notes “So the moral of the story of this movie is "never judge a book by its cover, unless you know its creepy, in which case absolutely judge." Finding myself still in a Tom Hanks mood, I watched this movie that my Dad had mentioned off handedly a day or two before. I have no memory of watching this movie in my childhood. It was weird. Like really weird…and it has Carrie Fisher in it. It’s just a weird late 1980’s movie, enough said.
7. Broker (2022) (Cinema) – Broker is a 2022 Korean film that presents the complicated and often difficult story of two men and a woman trying to find the right set of parents for the woman’s baby. THAT IS THE DESCRIPTION THEY TELL YOU TO GET YOU TO AVOID THE ACTUAL SUBJECT MATERIAL OF THE MOVIE. Now let me be clear, this is a lovely film and I would recommend seeing it. In many ways this is a movie about the creation of a found family. How in Korea (and also America) there is often no support for women after they have their babies. There is humor and heartbreak. However, what none of the marketing includes is that the two men were human traffickers. The term human trafficking is used multiple times throughout the course of the movie. I saw this in a small, but very filled house at my local art house theatre. We all saw the same marketing. You could physically feel the mood shift in the room when it was revealed that the two men were human traffickers. It took about half the duration for the movie to win the audience back around. No one left. We all wanted to see where the movie was going to go, but there was certainly some things left out of the trailer. I actually wrote considerably more about the film. but I have temporarily misplaced my journal. I woke up in the middle of the night and wrote at length about the film. I would recommend this movie to most audiences. It didn’t end exactly how I thought that it would; and by doing so made me even more intrigued about these characters and where their lives would go.
8. Enola Holmes 2 (2022) (Netflix) – It is just delightful. The one thing I said after watching the first Enola Holmes was that I wished that I could watch a separate Sherlock series starring Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes. (I still stand by that.) Although, we didn’t get that, but Sherlock has a much larger role in this film teaching, assisting and learning from his younger sister played by Millie Bobby Brown. I like it. 221b out of 221b.
9. Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons (2022) (HBO Max) – As the DC cinematic universe has waned back and forth in quality over the years, the animated DC universe has stayed roughly consistent. This animated feature focuses on the sons of Batman and Superman teaming up to save the world from an alien force currently trying to overpower the planet. My only big criticism is that in one of the big fights of the movie, the solution (let’s call it the “Trading Partners Move”) has been overdone, especially in the DC animated universe. The specific moment in the film has even been done with the same characters on the other DC property, Young Justice. If you are a fan of the DC animated universe, give it a watch. Otherwise, for everyone else, just go ahead and skip this one.
10. Fire of Love (2022) (Disney+) – I watched this documentary for two reasons, I wanted to see it when it was in the cinema and it is nominated for an Oscar. The documentary tells the story of volcanologist Katia and Maurice Krafft. The scientific pair studied, filmed and ultimately died in their pursuit of knowledge about the molten world beneath our feet. As explosive as the subject matter could be, I found the movie overall a little dry. The narration felt subdued and had me losing interest several times throughout the course of the film. I am glad I saw the film, but also glad that I did not pay the money to see it in the cinema.
11. The Sea Beast (2022) (Netflix) – It’s “How to Train Your Dragon” but in the ocean! Another Oscar nominated picture that I had planned to see earlier, but never got around to it. This movie would be perfect for the whole family. I don’t really have any notes here. It doesn’t particularly break any new ground in visuals or storytelling, just an overall good movie.
12. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) (Cinema) – This movie was so much better than I was anticipating. Without revealing too much from another article that I am working on, I think that this movie is the closest competition that Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio has for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. The premise of the movie has been fairly well advertised, Puss in Boots has used eight of his nine lives. With this realization he quests for a wishing star that could re-instate his nine lives. The marketing would lead you to believe that this is a fairly standard Dreamworks story with a somewhat predictable set of events and outcomes. However, the creators of this film realized that they had the opportunity to tell a far more complex and interesting story and did that instead. The movie starts with Puss in Boots living the life of the legend that he built around himself. However, being told that he is on his last life and losing in a fight to an ominous wolf, the story takes a far more interesting turn as we watch Puss slowly grow into a character that is more dynamic and complex. Besides Puss, we are also presented with an interesting dynamic from Goldie and the Three Bears. Almost every main character grows throughout the course of the film. The film is still packed with adventure, excitement and humor. I personally love the Jimmy Stewart sounding cricket who attempts at being Jack Horner’s conscience to no avail. This movie also receives my highest recommendation. When it comes to streaming, I will eagerly see it again.