June '21 Films / TV Shows

👍 Mare of Eastown (2021, HBO): 📺  HBO detective thriller in this 7 ep series that stars a truly multi-generational actress in Kate Winslett who fluidly immerses herself from a broad range of genres from period pieces (Titanic) to comedic (Eternal Sunshine, Holiday) and straight up action here. I thought that the *Undoing* (starring Nicole Kidman) was my pick of the year for TV thriller, but this one really blew it out of the water. As the main protagonist detective, Kate W.'s character - Mare- is a strongly complex character that goes beyond all the detective archetypes and tropes that we're used to- with the complexity of her character on full display as she is constantly forced to make so many difficult choices - not just trying to solve these multiple cases involving missing young teens but personal life circumstances trying to gain custody of her grandson and dealing with the suicide of her son. The physical and emotional tolls are so obvious in her character's presence and body language that you really feel it due to Winslett's fully embodiment of the role. This series is well written from top to bottom and there are so many twists and turns that it literally does not stop until the very very end. 

🤙 Mortal Kombat (2021, HBO): 🎥 Honest to G-- that the one of my main reasons in subscribing to HBO was just the opportunity to see this new release simultaneous to the theatre. Yes the bar is epically low when you consider that all of its predecessors- Mortal Kombat (1995, 5.8/10) and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997, 3.7/10) are laughably bad and the butt of all memes. But the strong nostalgia is still with me to this day. Though Mortal Kombat entered the ethos in 1992 (yikes nearly 30 yrs ago) I still think it's one of the coolest things to this day. This newest 2021 movie itself faithfully tries to go back to the basics and there are tons of Easter eggs celebrating the historical legacy of this franchise. Though I understand that the budget is limited, my main critique is the acting and writing. MK is never going to recruit calibre actors or production value, but at least make the movie so it doesn't look so B-movie quality. With that said, it is a major improvement from the former movies. Costumes try to take a page from the old school MK lore and the most convincing is the two icons - Scorpion and Sub-Zero which is a non-negotiable. In fact the first scene featuring how these two became to be before they turned into Sub-Zero and Scorpion is perhaps one of the best video game movie scenes of all time (not saying much), but it was super well done and no wonder that every marketing promotion featured this beginning scene. The rest of the costumes and actors are somewhat close to the real thing. I was pleased by Liu Kang but the rest just looked more or less your Party City costumes with enhanced CGI. Even with this latest remake, I'm still impressed by the way that these '92 costumes and actors still look so cool even to this day. 

Honorable Mentions:

👍 Raya: The Last Dragon (2021):🎥  Obviously I'm a long time fan of Disney/Pixar movies so I don't get too critical, though I wasn't a huge fan of their more recent ones like Onward (2020) . The story itself is quite original and I appreciate the more curious exploration of specifically Southeast Asian culture, something we don't see too frequently covered. A well assembled cast including the all too funny and rapidly rising star Awkwafina (who is also awesome in her own show "Nora from Queens"). Her take on the dragon Si Su is a treat and you can see all of her mannerisms in this character. Though I showed this to my near 5 year old, I would say that it's a bit heavy on the fighting and so I'd say to be careful when showing this to the little ones. Some really touching, emotional scenes and just overall has a great message that's a bit original and memorable to leave you in awe

👍 It (2017): 🎥 This is a movie that I've been dying to watch yet always made excuses to hold off on this. Mainly because I was too scared to try. My fear of clowns developed through the infamous IT (1990) TV series when I saw this as a little kid. After finally forcing myself to watch it, it's definitely not as scary I thought it was going to be. To say "scary" is an overstatement. All but one scene you just know something "scary" is going to happen due to the movie really clueing you in with shift in music and little children singing. So nothing really catches you by surprise except perhaps one really tiny scene. The movie is just really focused on the story and paying homage to the original. Every Pennywise scene is doing very well and you can see how the 2017 technology helps to really expand his world. He's not just a dude walking around with a clown suit, but his powers are all over the place. That said, you do appreciate the simplicity of the 90's version and its ability to create scares with more subtle and lack of fancy cinematic flair.