Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton
Week of February 5, 2018
Suburbicon
Rated R for violence, language, and some sexuality
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 28%
Available on Disc and Streaming
Years ago the Coen Brothers wrote this screenplay about chaos in the burbs during the late 50s. It sat unfilmed for years until George Clooney came along to ask for the project. It very much feels like a Coen Brothers film – but one that is incomplete. The story follows Matt Damon as a husband whose wife (Julianne Moore) succumbs to a tragedy during a home invasion. Her twin sister (also played by Moore) takes over the family duties and all is well again until the insurance investigation. There are some nice moments in the film with some good laughs and the quirkiness you’d expect from such a project. But there’s not enough story and the gaps are filled with shallow subplots like the town’s first black family moving into the neighborhood. Ultimately the whole thing turns out to be a failure for Clooney who saw something in the project that most people couldn’t and still don’t. C
24 Hours to Live
Rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, language and some drug use
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 38%
Available On Disc and Streaming
This practically straight to DVD release stars Ethan Hawke as an assassin who is killed, only to be brought back to life with only 24 hours to live before he will finally meet his demise. Choosing to right some wrongs, he goes on an uber-violent killing spree until he can find the dirty dog who is ultimately responsible for the mess. I love Ethan Hawke, but this is honestly just a sad waste of his talent. And he acts here like he knows it. The film is completely unoriginal and tedious to get through and leaves you wishing you hadn’t just wasted your time even watching the trailer. D
A Bad Moms Christmas
Rated R for crude sexual content and language throughout, and some drug use
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 29%
Available on Disc and Streaming
The three talented girls (Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn) that disappointed us the last time around in Bad Moms are at it again with this mostly unfunny comedy about what happens when your mom unexpectedly drops in for the holidays. Hoping to weigh in on the Christmas film cannon, the project proves to be nothing more than a cheesy, stupid, overly-sentimental comedy with little heart and less brain. C-
Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton
Not Rated
Available on Disc and Streaming
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 76%
From Oscar-nominated documentarian Rory Kennedy (Last Days of Vietnam), comes this high-octane thrill ride of a look at the life of one of the greatest surfers to ever grace pop culture. With tons of great footage of his miscellaneous surfing adventures, and loads of great interviews from those that know him, the doc gives a detailed chronicle of what drives him to push the limits of the sport he helped to put into the mainstream. B+