There are so many Thursday Movie Picks themes that I end up skipping because I can’t think of enough movies I’ve even seen to fit – let alone 3 great choices that I can recommend. That is, until Thursday rolls around, I read everyone else’s posts and realise that I’ve watched more than I thought…and then kick myself for not picking them myself!
I almost did the same with this week’s theme of Scientists. Then I made myself sit down and think, and lo and behold, I have a list as long as my arm! I’ve whittled that down to 3 choices with a slight mini-theme. These 3 movies are ones that I really enjoyed, but something stopped them from being amazing.
Annihilation (2018)
A mysterious, creepy movie with a stellar female cast and Oscar Isaac? I mean, this movie couldn’t be awful if it tried. Annihilation made a lot of ‘Best of 2018’ lists, and rightly so, to be honest. The scene with that bear creature mimicking the scream was downright terrifying and a moment I’ll never forget, but the movie lost me at the end. I love a weird ending but this one was just too much.
Downsizing (2017)
I’m still so gutted about how much potential Downsizing wasted. A future world where humans can be shrunk in order to save the planet, and all the fiscal and political issues that arise as a result? This could have been a smashing TV series, but it doesn’t work at all as a movie. Too much plot got packed in with not enough time, and a lot of threads just lead nowhere. I love the idea of it all though, and I hope the story gets picked up and done better sometime.
A Cure for Wellness (2016)
I feel like in the run-up to this movie’s release, there was so much hype, and then…the movie came out, and no one made a fuss. I didn’t even see it in the cinema, but I’m glad I still watched it. It’s long, but it’s got the creep and mystery factor that keep you going. I shamefully can’t even remember the ending, but I know it was one that you either loved or hated.
The order you put your movies in speaks to me. I loved Annhilation, also thought Downsizing wasted a lot of potential, and I hated A Cure for Wellness. lol
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Ha! I’d love to say it was intentional but it was in age order!
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If you liked Annihilation, you might like Stalker. I’m not sure if you are into foreign art-house cinema but it’s a Russian film from the 1970’s.
Very different in many ways but the idea of a group of people entering a supernatural zone in order to get to a specific destination within the zone is the exact same. Stalker is much slower, more thoughtful, more philosophical, more contemplative and a lot deeper. Personally, I think it may be the greatest film ever made. I have seen it several times now and it gets better with every watch. But if you don’t like slow movies, it is difficult to suggest any Tarkovsky movie.
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Ooh thanks for the recommendation! I always try to be as open as possible when it comes to movies but I reckon Stalker would end up being the first Russian movie I’d have seen.
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I still don’t buy anyone cheating on Oscar Isaac
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Literally the most unbelieveable part of that movie ;D
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Annihilation was pretty decent, I read the book before and that annoyed me to no end. The film isn’t perfect but definitely better than the novel.
I actually saw A Cure for Wellness at the cinema! I don’t remember much about it but I think I ended up not liking it as much as I had wanted to.
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Yeah I was super hyped for it too, I think the bloggers all were and then it kind of flopped a bit 😦
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How gory was A Cure for Wellness?
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It’s got a couple of really gruesome scenes (someone gets their teeth ripped out – I assume you see it all happen but I actually couldn’t watch) but on the whole it’s just got a ‘something’s not right’ kind of vibe.
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I’m 0 for 3 on yours. I was intrigued with Downsizing when I read about it than saw the moronic preview and that killed any desire I had to seek it out at all. I’ve vaguely heard of the others but not enough to really know anything about them until now. I’ll probably check out the first eventually.
I struggled through last month since horror just isn’t my gig but this week was much simpler. My last is a ditzy comedy but I really love my first two.
Creator (1985)-Wildly eccentric but brilliant scientist Dr. Harry Wolper (Peter O’Toole), head of his department at a prestigious medical research university, is at a crossroads. After years of living an unconventional but steady life, which includes trying to clone his late wife in his backyard laboratory, two people enter his sphere and radically change his perspective. Funny, poignant, quirky, evocative comedy drama is anchored by a masterful performance by the great O’Toole.
Hidden Figures (2016)-Three brilliant African-American women, Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), work behind the scenes at NASA. Though in many ways they have superior skills to their supervisors they face double discrimination because of both their sex and color but slowly things begin to change as the agency prepares to launch astronaut John Glenn (Glen Powell) into orbit. Involving drama which like Apollo 13 manages to impart a sense of suspense despite the outcome being a known.
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)-When his kids sneak into inventor Wayne Szalinski’s (Rick Moranis) upstairs lab to retrieve a baseball, his experimental shrink ray miniaturizes them. On that goofy premise this silly but very successful comedy hinges. Followed by far too many sequels.
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Yes for Hidden Figures! I very nearly picked it myself. I never expected that movie to be so damn entertaining as well as eye-opening. I haven’t seen Honey, I Shrunk the Kids for YEARS but I remember it being fun and goofy.
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I liked Annihilation a lot while A Cure for Wellness I thought was kind of underrated. Flawed but still intriguing. I’ve seen some of Downsizing but not enough to form a full-fledge opinion of the film.
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I need to revisit A Cure for Wellness, because I know I really enjoyed it when I saw it but it ended up being not that memorable.
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I remember the hype around A Cure For Wellness and agree it just kinda…disappeared after that? I don’t even remember if it received good or bad reviews? Love the list!
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Right?! So weird! It got fairly mixed reviews, just fell into the ‘okay’ kind of territory I think.
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Annihilation – I like the ending that they aren’t sure who they are.
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