Perhaps a perfect popcorn flick for moviegoers who can close off their brains and enjoy a decent action story with some pretty good cinematography that also stars one of the most marketable movie actors of the last 25 years, Those Who Wish Me Dead is a movie that fails to capitalize on its potential. Outside of Maleficent, Angelina Jolie (Girl, Interrupted, A Mighty Heart) hasn’t had the best decade in front of the camera. However, her fanbase is still tremendous. Her opportunity to return to the action-adventure drama helped solidify her career (Salt, Wanted, Lara Croft Tomb Raider, Mr. and Mrs. Smith). She may have done enough to secure future starring roles with her physically impressive performance as a Montana smokejumper named Hannah. She was the highlight of Taylor Sheridan’s (Sicario, Wind River) movie that otherwise failed to deliver.
Category Archives: Adventure
News of the World (2020)
When I write a review this close to the start of a new year, I usually see most of the movies considered for one of the big six Oscar awards. If I don’t, I will usually await the arrival of those limited releases set for a wide release a couple of weeks later. Regardless, most people would have known of all the big-budget or Oscar-worthy movies by the time of a January 1st post. In 2020, all of the rules had changed, and the cinema has not been an exception. Some big-budget movies slated to come out during the year have been tabled until the pandemic ends and will likely come out in the second half of 2021. However, the Academy has made date modifications, which means that films will be eligible for the end-of-year awards as long as they are released by February 28, 2021. It’s usually around the start of the new year when I start watching the final one or two movies that might receive a Best Picture nomination. 2020 is a different kind of beast, and this review is my first of the year of a film that will receive a nomination for that award.
The Abyss (1989)
I remember the first time I saw the trailer for The Abyss on television, like it was yesterday. The film’s release date was August 9, 1989, so I do not believe it was during the Super Bowl, but it might have been. During that time, it was common to tease a trailer seven months before a release. However, I don’t believe it was during the Super Bowl because I remember the trailer being much longer than a 30 or 60-second spot that a Super Bowl advertisement traditionally commanded. The preview might have been hyped for weeks as something set to be shown as an extended trailer on a popular show. In either case, I had never been awed by a movie preview in my entire life, and that might be the best trailer for a movie I’ve ever seen on television.
A Perfect World (1993)
David Mackenzie’s critically acclaimed Hell or High Water, a 2016 movie nominated for Best Picture, reminded me of a quiet and subdued gem of a 1993 film that undoubtedly inspired a director just starting to enter his prime. Clint Eastwood (Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby) was fresh off of Unforgiven (a movie that earned him his first Best Director Oscar win as well as Best Picture of the Year) and the critically acclaimed and equally fan-adored In the Line of Fire. A Perfect World was Eastwood’s third movie between 1992 and 1993, the most successful two-year period of the most exceptional director/actor combination in cinema history.
3:10 to Yuma (2007)
The Western genre is a dying one. Gone are the days of John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, et al., and the era of Westerns in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Once a staple in American cinema, those films are now few and far between. Years could pass before a good Western connects with critics and audiences alike. Unforgiven reset the standard in 1992, connecting with critics and audiences alike while earning nine Oscar nominations and taking home four, most notably for Best Picture. Others have followed. Appaloosa, Hostiles, True Grit, Tombstone, and Open Range were big-budget movies that hit the screen with reckless aggression. True Grit was the most successful with the critics (10 Oscar nominations, but no wins), but even the success of this film fails when compared to Unforgiven.