These days, like most of my others, even before the "C" word came into all of our lives, I have and always will be a dedicated couch potato pilot. A consummate lover of all things boob tube. Most of the things I watch are re-runs of my favorite television shows. They are my white noise, as I expertly multi-task on my cellphone playing on game apps for amazon gift cards. Because I refuse to become addicted to a game solely for the benefit of feeding that playing addiction, if I'm going to be controlled by something in any shape way or form, it's going to be because it benefits me financially to some degree.
So, as much as I love movies I just haven't come across that many that were worthy of watching. Until...recently. Amazon Prime Video leads the way with three of my flick picks. Without further ado:
Prime Video:
The Resident (2011): Starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilary Swank
Not to be confused with the television series that started in 2018, which I do love, but haven't watched in awhile. The Resident is masterful, and Christopher Lee is also perfectly cast. Without giving too much away if you like suspense/thriller type movies you will love this movie. It takes me back a bit to Hitchcock. Not that I was born in the days of black and white film, but I am a forever fan of his. Although admittedly I am a lazy fan. I have only watched a handful of his movies, but those that I watched I have kept within the walls of my heart. Such as Laura, Shadow of a Doubt, Vertigo, and Spellbound.
*Funny side note: A man who was a number of years older than me that I had a date or two with related to me that when he was maybe five years old or so that he asked his mother when people started to be born into color. He had thought that the black and white movies were how people actually looked, in gray tones and such.
Prime Video:
Serenity (2018): Starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway
Not to be confused with the Serenity sci-fi movie from 2005. Serenity is another great Hitchcock type of movie that to say anything about it is to deny the watcher the entire amazing experience of it. I will say that if you do not think you have a full grasp of what took place after watching it there is a long spoiler review on amazon that really puts things into better perspective.
When I first watched it to the end I was scratching my head a tiny bit, I will admit. Perhaps all of you are so brilliant minded that you'll get it every step of the way. But again, I will say that I think some reviewers on amazon didn't think it was a good movie based on the fact that they thought they knew what the movie was about, and didn't truly grasp the entirety of it.
These days it feels as though movies are written pretty much paint by numbers. And what I mean by that is you don't have to think much about what is happening, it's pretty obvious what is going on, your brain gets to "veg" out. In this movie your brain needs to sit up a little straighter and really connect with what you're seeing on the screen, which I totally appreciate. I like a movie that puts my brain to work.
Prime Video:
Destination Wedding (2018): Starring Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder
I would like to start off by saying that I'm not a big comedy lover or rom-com enthusiast. But this movie really made me laugh beginning to end. The chemistry between the two characters was enigmatic in a way and yet it was full-force. It reminded me of those people we meet in life and we connect in such a great way, but it's so brief a moment. Perhaps only a few hours, but you have both made an impact in each other's world's for a little piece of time. Again, all these movies are just too good to give away the storyline to. If you love movies just take this strange person's word for it. Go ahead, take the candy from the van you know you want to. :)
Showtime:
The Vanishing of Sidney Hall (2017): Starring Logan Lerman, Elle Fanning, and Kyle Chandler
It's only been a few minutes since this movie ended. And it was a long movie, but I did enjoy it. Maybe it's because I'm a struggling author myself, not that he struggled when it came to his book, since it was accepted by publishers so easily, without him even knowing about it. Am I jealous of a character in a movie? YESSS! I am. When I was googling to get the specific date that the movie came out, I also saw the rotten tomato percentage that it got, which was a whopping 11%.
Maybe there just aren't that many people excited about movies about fictional authors, but I thought this was a great story. Suspense/Love/Depression, what more can you ask for? I'm always a fan of movies that flip flop you around in time. Not in a time-machine kind of way, but just the person's flashbacks etc. I felt that the movie accomplished this very well. And although it's a fictional movie, it felt like some of these things could really take place. However, if it did, it would be like The Book of Job Part 2. Again I don't want to spoil the movie by saying too much about it.
However, if you would like to be apprised of the general plots of each movie, I will leave the trailer links down below.
The Resident: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndHDPuK_Rrw
Destination Wedding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjXQzRWmb_I
The Vanishing of Sidney Hall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx5sqKmQdqk