Alphabet Movie Challenge
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| Forget Contagion, Jaws is def the most relevant movie for 2020 |
As I'm sure is the case with many of you, 2020 so far has resulted in a lot more TV-and-movie-watching for myself and my spouse. In an effort to try and expand our streaming horizons a bit, we have come up with a goal we're calling the Alphabet Movie Challenge.
The Rules:
- Go in alphabetical order, of course!
- Must be a movie neither of us have seen before
- The title of the movie MUST be dedicated to the Letter in question, no cheating with articles! (ex, A Walk to Remember would be considered a W movie, not an A movie, just as The Notebook would be a N movie not a T movie)
Here's what we have watched so far, with my snippy commentary for each one.
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| Yes, here we are....in Berlin...in 1989...I guess? Or so Atomic Blonde would have us believe. |
A - Atomic Blonde
Poor Charlize carried this whole mess so much. The music was obnoxious and the costumes laughable, did not look at all like our characters were in Berlin in 1989.
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| This is NOT Bob Lazar above, it is the Director/Producer, etc, of this documentary, who also gets a lot of screen time |
B - Bob Lazar: Area 51 Documentary
Nicely produced, total fan boy situation. The credits were charmingly...insular.
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| Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, and Patton Oswalt look upset because the screenplay for The Circle was brutal |
C- The Circle
Painfully heavy-handed. It did, however, make we wish Facebook had a more polished interface and design, its so clunky currently.
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| Down a Dark Hall = sadly instantly, utterly forgettable |
D- Down a Dark Hall
Oh man, such a good premise but a total flop. Very, very forgettable. Thank goodness I was writing down what movies we have been watching when because we absolutely would never have remembered this one.
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| Just make sure you are watching the 2019 Escape Room! |
E- Escape Room (2019)
Turns out there are like, a dozen movies called "Escape Room" made in the last five or so years, they are not all created equal! This one was actually very entertaining and is the movie that convinced us to keep going with this challenge after the rough streak above. Great set design and worth a watch if this is your thing! Also, very nice to revisit actress Taylor Russell who's given a garbage role in Down a Dark Hall above but a prime role in this movie!
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| Fast Five was so fun, why am I not watching another Fast & Furious movie right now??! |
F- Fast Five
The delights of the Fast & Furious chain were unknown to us prior to this, however, this was very entertaining and enjoyable for what it is. I pitch that it is the less-elitist (and I'm assuming more commercially successful!) version of the Ocean's 11 movies.
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| 2016 Ghostbusters above - it was a good effort but the weirdest editing choices |
G- Ghostbusters (2016)
Do you remember the ruckus this caused when it came out? It's really too bad, all that fuss for just an all-gals reboot. The movie itself was ok, too PG to really make an impression but certainly not for lack of trying. Very strange editing.
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| Hidden Figures was fine. |
H- Hidden Figures
This was fine. A white-washed, comfortable-for-Hollywood retelling of some seriously incredible women doing amazing work. Can you imagine being so smart you work at freaking NASA, and simultaneously so incredibly ignorant as the colleagues of the characters played by Tarji P. Henson, Janelle Monáe, and Octavia Spencer were?
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| Above: Not Escape Room thought it could be in some ways! Imitation Game crew puzzling it out above |
I- The Imitation Game
Also fine. Very sad, can see why it was classic Oscar-fodder. I know this is shallow af, but why, why did they even bother making Keira Knightley's hair blonde??
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| I have been converted. Jaws is totally, absolutely, 100% worth the hype and its status as a classic. |
J- Jaws
Totally sold on this being a cinematic classic! What a SHOW! Forget Contagion, watch Jaws and realize its the most relevant movie for the COVID 2020 experience. Ironically, it was the Ghostbusters above that inspired us to watch this with their joke of "don't be like the mayor from Jaws!"
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| Get ready for almost two hours of complete silence in The Kitchen! No seriously, does anyone know what happened to the score and sound for this movie? |
K - The Kitchen
Not all the talent in the world could save this one! Melissa McCarthy! Tiffany Haddish! Elisabeth Moss! Lady gangsters in New York! Sooo promising but so, so bad. The music was bizarre--they clearly spent their sound budget on licensing a few big songs and then its literally silence for the rest of the movie! Yikes.
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| Nicolas Cage plays an arms dealer in this dark comedy from 2005 |
L - Lord of War
Nic Cage and Jared Leto as brothers? Wait, what?? If you missed it, watch this movie. It's pretty decent/mildly entertaining. Then again, we Vancouverites are pretty crazy for Nicolas Cage--the legendary Rio Theatre even has a whole film festival dedicated to him.
Goodness only knows what M-Z will bring! I'm still glad we have tried it though. I was actually inspired by my friend Lydia, who did a movie challenge with their wife to watch a movie that came out every year since 2000, re-watches in this case acceptable. Some of their picks included Moulin Rouge and Ella Enchanted!
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