I saw a half dozen movies last week:
 |
 |
 |
- In the Shadow of the Moon is a real disappointment—some interesting, if extremely shopworn science-fictional ideas, but they never quite come together, and its characters never feel anywhere close to fully developed.
- Creed II doesn’t do anything unexpected, but what it does, it does very well and with a lot of entertaining style.
- Sharper has its moments, thanks to some decent direction and a game cast, and none of its individual vignettes overstay their welcome. But it also feels very much like a watered-down version of much better capers and con movies.
 |
 |
 |
- Beau Travail is strange and languid—to the point that you wonder if this even is a movie you’re watching.
- M3GAN is very dumb, but not in the fun way I think it needed to be. Maybe that’s the inherent silliness of the material, maybe that’s the (very obvious) cuts that got the film a PG-13 rating, or maybe it’s just that it’s the kind of film you can only enjoy with a crowded theater. Whichever way, I very much didn’t enjoy the movie. And while I’m pleased that Akela Cooper has been named a screenwriter to watch, I don’t think I actually like watching the movies she writes.
- Ticket to Paradise is entertaining enough, but I think that’s only because it has such an exceptionally charming cast and is so pretty to look at. (Though, as an aside, I do note that none it was actually filmed in Bali, where the movie is set, and Billie Lourd’s part seems slightly truncated.)
I also re-watched (and re-enjoyed) 2012’s Lincoln for Presidents’ Day.