Same same, but different.

Jul 01, 2020

"Watch out for that first step.
It's a doooozy."

So you know that movie where the same thing keeps happening over and over (and over) again for days on end? Aw geez, what's it called?

.......

It's the comedy where nothing moves forward until the two leads fall in love.

.........??

Yeah, and the male star is like a really well known comedian. Shucks, what is it.

......??!!!!

Whelp, I wish I could remember the name, but the mind is a funny thing sometimes isn't it? Anyway, we're in that movie right now. Because "the bullshit" has continued to wreak havoc on everything. And that includes movie theaters. That is to say, what was already a tenuous "reopening" for theaters, has quickly become untenable. More people have gotten sick and Tenet moved (again), as did Mulan (again), so AMC, the nation's largest theater chain shifted its opening to July 30th. But if you think that's a likely scenario, you need to stop binging Floor is Lava on Netflix (you think I troll. I do not troll) and read some damn news.

As for this week's What to Watch - two things: first, it's only two movies. Going on a little (responsible!) road trip to celebrate my favorite gremlin's birthday, so time for writing = less. But now that I've introduced you to the fact Netflix is making shows out of your (most awesome) childhood activities, I'm sure you'll manage.

And second, I'm featuring two movies by director J.D. Dillard. He's made two "small" movies (see: inexpensive), but is now working on a Star Wars project. His story is in many ways classic Hollywood; he bounced around, working his way up, learning, then took a job at J.J. Abrams' company Bad Robot as a receptionist, a "step back," to get in at such a coveted spot. And in his off time, made a movie of his own. He also happens to be black. Which, is unremarkable in and of itself, except now, to be creating for one of the biggest franchises ever, is a pretty big f'n deal. So I thought it'd be interesting to do a "where they came from" on someone who's probably going to be a big deal, before they're known as a big deal. Enjoy.

Oh wait! Before you skip down! I got it! Gosh, how the hell could I forget. It's PALM SPRINGS! duuUUUuuh.

............... ............... ...............

Yeah, it stars Andy Sandberg. You don't know about it?

Oh, you were thinking of Groundhog's Day? Really? Oh no no no no. See, Palm Springs is the new thing where people repeat everything. And no shit, it's apparently great ( 💯on that RT) and hitting in time just so you can feel like art and life have melded into one. You can begin your own daily samesies session starting next Friday.

Cutoff? Go here, click "most recent edition."

SLEIGHT
(2016)

I noted above that director J.D. Dillard made his two movies for not a lot of money. But in Hollywood, not a lot of money still usually means many millions. Sleight's cost was in the $100,000 range. That's not to say you should expect something less than, but it's notable - mostly for how impressive it is.

The movie centers on a young street magician who's parents died and he's forced to provide for his sister. But things get tough and "providing" turns into getting involved in some nefarious drug dealings. The twist is, his street magic may actually be magic (as in Harry Potter wave your wand and rocks turn into tomatoes type shit. ....tomatoes? I don't know, I never read them OR saw the movies. I know, I know, feel free to unsubscribe now). You'll watch him take on the drug dealer (Dulé Hill from Psych) after his little sister is abducted. Which is clearly way cooler than some kid with a silly scar taking on a noseless lizard dude (what's that? I just lost my entire subscriber list? Cool.).

SWEETHEART
(2019)

If you watch the trailer, you'll see that it's short. Like crazy short. Hell, the movie itself is only 82 minutes. But it's short likely in part because this is the kind of horror movie where the less you know what's coming, the better. So sure, watch the trailer, but you're better off trusting the 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The sparse preview may also be because this movie may not translate into a very good traditional trailer. The rough outline is that it's an atmospheric, tension building survival story where Kiersey Clemons (from Dope) will be terrified by and inevitably face off against... something on a deserted island. Look, you may want to know, but you don't want to know, cuz if you know, then it may ruin it. See, sometimes it's the less you know. Suck on that, NBC.

What's In Theaters +

Discussion about this post