Article by Gabe Zia
So last year I saw about 100 movies, but if my blog is any indication I only posted full reviews for close to 20 of them, the rest of the movies either got short reviews posted onto my Facebook page, or were just ignored as a whole. Full reviews are kind of time consuming, I only like to do them when my thoughts on a movie (good or bad) need a full article to explain. And 2017 just wasn't that interested a year, so I only reviewed a handful of movies. While I don't know how much that will change in 2017, I'd like to post more articles on here rather than exclusively on Facebook, so starting today I'll be making a post every few weeks recapping on the movies I saw that I didn't post full reviews for.
A Futile and Stupid Gesture: 2/5
This Netflix original was the first movie I saw in 2018, and surprisingly it wasn't totally awful. This biopic tells the story of Doug Kenney, the creator of National Lampoon, and for a good half of it it's surprisingly endearing. Domhnall Gleeson delivers a standout supporting performance, and Will Forte is, while not entirely convincing, definitely entertaining in the role. This is front and centre a comedy, and thankfully a lot of the jokes land. Unfortunately, Doug Kenneys story is in concept kind of a sad one, and this movies attempts to touch on his depression and don't work as well. In large part due to the fact that Will Fortes delivery of these more serious parts of the story don't work nearly as well as his comedic delivery, but also because during these moments it's hard to tell whether or not a scene is meant to make me laugh or come off as sad. It's not such a crippling fault that it's totally not worth watching but it takes away from a lot of the enjoyment from this movie. If this is a story you really feel passionate about watching, then I guess it's worth a watch, but otherwise skip it.
The Cloverfield Paradox: 0.5/5
The first Cloverfield was awesome when it came out and has remained a guilty pleasure of mine to this day. 10 Cloverfield Lane is genuinely great and one of my favorite thrillers of the past few years. So the news of two Cloverfield movies coming out in 2018 got me really excited, one of them being The Cloverfield Paradox. Low and behold, the rule of trilogies holds true and The Cloverfield Paradox is total garbage. It starts out with an interesting enough idea, the idea of multiple universes occupying the same space can lead to some really interesting body horror and setpieces, which is why its a shame this movie only ever uses its gimmick for the first act to pick off one random character, and spends the rest of its runtime being a shitty rip-off of Sunshine. Where 10 Cloverfield Lane worked because it would have been great regardless of its ties to a mysterious franchise, The Cloverfield Paradox stumbles because the entire reason for its existence is to be a part of another franchise, and the movie itself has no actual identity outside of explaining what's happened before and setting up for the future. I really hope Cloverfield Overlord is good because this series has had a good track record so-far, but The Cloverfield Paradox is trash and shouldn't be watched.
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