*Insert Blood Pun Here*
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019): Coming directly after finishing John Carreyrou’s book on the subject, I had high expectations of HBO’s Inventor. While it’s an informative piece of film-making, it has three major issues: a) it doesn’t dig deep enough in the juicy subject matter b) it justifies away too much of Elizabeth Holmes’s shortcomings and c) it treats the subject matter with too much levity. Hopefully the upcoming feature film will do a better job. 6/10
LoveBeGone
Someone Great (2019): There’s quite a bit of flair behind Someone Great, but not quite enough pazazz to make it memorable in any way. Its likable lead trio (Gina Rodriguez, Brittany Snow and DeWanda Wise) goes some way towards ensuring the movie is watchable, in this renewed old tale of heart overcoming heartbreak, of relationships moving and changing from one day to the next. Alas, it doesn’t go beyond that. 6/10
Bonnie and Clyde Rehash
The Highwaymen (2019): The 1930s manhunt equivalent of Someone Great, this tale of how Bonny and Clyde were tracked down by a pair of aging rangers provides little beyond its central duo – Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson. In spite of its 2hrs+ runtime, there’s only a fatigued story to hang onto, with no proper secondary characters and dramas propping up the protagonists. So, yes, not quite a movie to remember either. 6/10
PG 13 Wrestling – Oh, Wait
Fighting With My Family (2019): I had some hopes from FWMF, not so much because wrestling is a thing (although it arguably is), but because it was Stephen Merchant penning and helming it – there are few other comedian/actors out there who are more enjoyable to me. Sadly, the movie reflects little of Merchant’s wit, playing out as a tame, wannabe inspirational story of believing and defying the odds. Not quite sure while the whole thing didn’t grow on me, because people seemed to have liked it, but as it didn’t, it just felt distinctly middle of the road. A pattern for the week. 6/10
Jigsaw Coming Together
Avengers: Endgame (2019): I’ve never been enthralled by the Avengers (or almost any other Marvel movie), because Marvel, to me, can only do levity really good, but it fails at proper drama. Sure, Endgame is everything it could be, an achievement of mammoth proportions given its narrative breadth and the amount of characters it had to service. Which is why it stands out in the Marvel universe and I give it credit for that – and for being an entertaining movie. However, it’s so surgically put together that it cannot but fail in being more than the sum of its parts. I might also not agree with its utilitarian approach, but it does weave the stories together well and that is the standard by which I’ll judge it. Won’t deny it, I got somewhat emotional towards the end – the way you do when something that’s been a constant in your life, good or bad, finds closure. 8/10
tributarystu 