Original Movies (not sequel, not reboot, not spin-off)
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Blacklight (2022) directed by Mark Williams
Another Liam Neeson "bad tough guy redeeming himself by doing good" action thriller movie. Even among Liam Neeson films, this one is unusually mild. The villain boss is just not all that inventive and at the end just folded rather easily. Action and fight scenes are OK but not spectacular. Watch this if you like Liam Neeson but for whatever reason want a tame movie.
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Uncharted (2022) directed by Ruben Fleischer
This is a good action-adventure treasure hunt movie. The plot is fine although there is nothing ground-breaking about the plot for this genre. But the cinematography, CGI, and action sequences are very, very good. Powerful helicopters airlifting huge ships from the Magellan armada while the protagonists duking it out with the bad guys on the ships as well as on the helicopters. That's exciting stuff. Worth watching on the big screen.
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Dog (2022) directed by Channing Tatum and Reid Carolin
I suppose this is a movie that honors military service, acknowledging the sacrifices made by those who served, including their canine companions that also serve in the military, and touch on the challenges of transitioning back into civilian life. Not sure if there is another movie that gives so much attention to a retired military service animal, so in that sense this movie may be "ground breaking." Not a bad movie, but also no need to watch it on a big screen. Can wait to watch it on streaming services.
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Studio 666 (2022) directed by B. J. McDonnell
Bad movie with lots of fake blood and gore, but maybe on brand for Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters. The plot is rather contrived and the Foo Fighters cannot act. I was hoping for some good music seeing that this movie features a world famous band, but even good music is scarce in this movie. Watch it if you really want to see how bad it is.
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The Worst Person in the World (Norwegian: Verdens verste menneske, 2022) directed by Joachim Trier
It's billed as a romantic comedy-drama but even that is an over-simplification. It tells the story of a young woman navigating life as she grows into adulthood. Challenges with figuring out what she wants for a career, with interpersonal relationships, with figuring out her worldview and finding her place in the world, etc. The writer/director tries very hard to be thoughtful, it's not preachy, though parts of it seem contrived. Not that it is emotionally heavy, just that it is not easily digested intellectually. Not something to watch if you just want to relax, you have to invest some brain power into digesting this one, with no guarantee that you will like what you get out of it.
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Gangubai Kathiawadi (Hindi film, 2022) directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali
A film loosely based on the life story of Gangubai Kothewali. The story starts with a girl from an affluent family family in love and tricked into eloping with a man who then sold her to a brothel which forced her into prostitution. That girl grew up into the brothel boss and then an elected political figure who advocated for women's rights, for the rights of prostitutes' children to receive an education, and for the legalization of prostitution in India. Emotionally wrenching to start (to watch one sold into prostitution with all the abuse that goes along with it), but also uplifting towards the end (to watch one grows and conquers many obstacles to protect the welfare and advocate for the rights of those living in the bottom rungs of society). Competently produced in every aspect, this is a thoughtful movie.
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Aadavallu Meeku Johaarlu (Telugu transl. "Salutation to you, ladies", 2022) directed by Tirumala Kishore
Romantic comedy about a man who grew up in household with his mother and four aunts who dote on him all his life, complicating the process for him to find a wife. If you have never seen a film about "family in an arranged-marriage society complicating a protagonist's quest to find a mate," then fine, watch this one for its novelty. Otherwise this is a fairly typical movie of this genre. Not necessarily a bad movie, but also nothing extraordinarily good to speak of.
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The Outfit (2022) directed by Graham Moore
This one is interesting. The plot centers around an unassuming old tailor, with all his old-world gentlemanly demeanor, dealing with multiple local crime syndicates that converged on his little shop in one night. Most of the movie feels more like a stage play than a movie (almost everything happens inside the tailor's shop). Action is scarce and subtle, this is an intellectual movie, a suspense that keep you guessing fairly close to the end. No need to watch on a big screen, but if you want something that is subtle, cultured, somewhat nostalgic, yet smart and interesting, this movie is as good as any.
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X (2022) directed by Ti West
Basically a slasher movie with porn (1970s style), necessarily with some psychologically damaged characters doing most of the slashing. Not sure if the "slasher" and "porn" part enhance one another, this one does not seem particularly inventive as "slasher" or as "porn."
But overall a competent production. My favorite part is actually the easter egg at the end (after the credit rolled) that's supposedly a trailer for a prequel to this movie. -
The Lost City (2022) directed by Adam Nee and Aaron Nee
Fun adventure-comedy. Plot centers around a novelist who writes about a list city getting kidnapped by a billionaire believing that the lost city is real and forces the novelist to help him find the lost city, and the cover model who springs into action to attempt to rescue the novelist. Not necessarily ground-breaking and certainly nothing profound, this movie is nonetheless fun and entertaining, and you can enjoy it without thinking much, a typical popcorn flick.
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7 Days (2021) directed by Roshan Sethi
The plot centers around two South-Asian Indian Americans (not "native Americans") who, right after they first meet at a pre-arranged date (remember the protagonists are South-Asian Indians, so "arranged marriage" is a staple cultural backdrop and it is common for their families to arrange dates for them), got quarantined together for 7 days due to COVID-19. Lots of "I am now what my family expects, I am not what my family portrays" angst throughout this film (which I have come to find typical in most Asian-American centric films). Small production with very small cast, with alsot everything happening in the little apartment with the protagonists are quarantined and few other characters appearing on grainy Zoom videos. It appears to be a very good effort by a very small team with a very limited budget. The novelty is that it may be the first romantic comedy/drama that focused squarely on protagonists in COVID-19 quarantine.
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Attack: Part-1 (2022) directed by Lakshya Raj Anand
Hindi action film about a "super soldier" taking down terrorists who want to do India harm. The plot is nothing special, and with a not-so-subtle does of Indian nationalism (something I see more and more of in Indian movies lately). The action sequences, while visually exciting, look too much like Hong Kong and Hollywood (after they started hiring Hong Kong action directors), none of the Indian martial art styles that could have differentiated this from other action movies.
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Morbius (2022) directed by Daniel Espinosa
Something about a super-powered human-turned-vampire battling another super-powered human-turned-vampire who used to be his best friend. Very competently produced. But there are so many super-powered-vampire movies around that this one is just not special.
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Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
This one is fun, very creative, very imaginative. Yes, there is quite a bit of emotional content -- mother-daughter angst, daughter-father angst, inter-generational immigrant family struggles, small business hard knocks, tax problem with the IRS, sexual orientation coming out to your family struggle, etc. But ultimately this is a movie where the writers and directors run wild across the multiverse. And since this is a Chinese-hyphenated action movie, it has got to have a lot of kungfu in it. My only criticism, similar to the one I have for Shang-Chi, is the insufficient number of guns in this movie. Lots of kungfu fighting in an American federal government building, very hard to believe the security guards do not pull out a lot more guns a lot sooner. Surely given the multiverse backdrop there must be something the writers/directors can dream up to counter the guns. Yeah, watch this one, lots of fun, with bits of deliberate stupidity that makes the movie even smarter overall.
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The Unbearable Weight of Massice Talent (2022) directed by Tom Gormican
This is about a fictionalized version of Nicholas Cage. You do not have to like Nicholas Cage to enjoy this movie, you just need to not hate Nicholas Cage. The plot is basically about a down-on-his-luck celebrity actor getting roped into helping the CIA defeat some weapon smuggler's plan to sell weapons to terrorists. While watching this film I am frequently reminded of "Adaptation" (2002 meta comedy-drama directed by Spike Jonze), in that the plot's development mirrors the protagonists talking about how they want to develop the plot for their movie. With quite a bit of smart, self-deprecating humor, this is a fun movie to watch.
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The Bad Guys (2022) directed by Pierre Perifel.
Animation, lots of fun to watch. Funny, kid-friendly, not stupid/boring for adults, good for the whole family (with young kids). Sure, there are gigantic plot holes, but it's animation with talking animals, so who cares about plot holes? Just have fun watching it and laughing it up with the young children in your family.
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The Northman (2022) directed by Robert Eggers
Viking film, lots of physical violence and quite a bit of gore. Competently produced, but ultimately not all that special. Lots of male nudity that seems unnecessary. You would think that with the Nordic temperature they would cover up a lot more, but maybe that's just the Viking way? Many scenes showing various Viking rituals and Viking mythologies that seem unnecessary and I cannot tell whether the portrayal or those rituals and mythologies are authentic anyway. A bit of a plot twist when the grown-up child, on his way to avenge his father's death, learnt some secret from his mother. Otherwise the plot is fairly straight forward, fairly straight-line predictable.
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Bây Ngot Ngào (Vietnamese, trans. "Naked Truth", 2022) directed by Ha Uyen Thu Dinh
The story centers around a small group of four friends helping one of their own to escape from domestic violence. I cannot that I say find that this film is profound of ground-breaking, just thought it could be different as Vietnamese cinema may approach the subjects of friendship and domestic violence differently. Maybe the writers/director tried to tear-jerk by having one of the friends die at the end, but that just came across as unnecessary. I ended up not getting much from it.
