2022 FEBRUARY MOVIE RANKINGS

What. A. Month. How do you all typically fair with February? For me, it’s a hit or miss. The weather is cold (though in Virginia it has fluxuated on a dime), work is stop-and-start, and there is an iconic holiday that will either be joyous or depressing depending on your relationship status.

Despite life stuff, the films have been good. Not many new titles to sink our teeth into, but I managed to see some well-made, older releases to round things out (sorry about the late 3 reviews I uploaded for February in March, by the way). Let’s see how they all stacked up!

#8- “Being the Ricardos”
73%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Well-written dialogue, amazing production design/setting, strong performances, and a great appeal to Lucy fans.
Cons: Some casting choices didn’t fit the parts (namely Javier Bardem), I didn’t feel that connected to the characters, and the story overall left more to be desired.

#7- “Ride the Eagle”
74%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Funny, solid acting, quirky idea, and has some fun moments.
Cons: Rather generic story, predictable message, and the character growth of Johnson’s role could’ve been better developed.

#6- “Punch-Drunk Love”
80%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Stand-out performances (particularly from Sandler), unique romance story, gripping (albeit strange) narrative, and has some beautiful moments/shots.
Cons: While the style of this movie is completely original, I didn’t love it all too much; it’s a bit too chaotic.

#5- “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”
86%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Wonderful tribute to Harold Ramis and the franchise, great cinematography, solid acting, and an all-around heartwarming story.
Cons: The villains are repeats and there are some elements that are complete rips from the original.

#4- “I Want You Back”
87%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: A fun romantic-comedy idea, fantastic performances (and chemistry amongst leads), very humorous, and a nice, easy picture to watch.
Cons: One of the characters was kind of dealt unfairly by the end; of course, this is to move the plot to a conclusion, but the reasoning behind it felt a bit forced.

#3- “Kimi”
89%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: A well-made small picture, good use of the technology sub-genre, good acting all around (Zoë Kravitz does really well), and an interesting new movie to watch unfold.
Cons: It wasn’t as thrilling as the director intended (though still engaging) and the Kravitz’s character in the end did some things that were somewhat hokey (but I guess that clues us in on her past).

#2- “King Richard”
90%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Great message, wonderful lead character (portrayed brilliantly by Will Smith), knock-out performances (my favorite being Jon Bernthal’s), raw/naturalistic filmmaking approach, and a heartwarming journey.
Cons: Rather predictable and fits the mold of most “go for the gold” pictures.

#2- “Free Guy”
90%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Loads of fun from the fantastic visual effects to the characters, very funny, has a lot of heart (and a good message), and the ending is a nice twist.
Cons: Has a familiar narrative (much akin to “LEGO Movie”).

#1- “Luca”
91%= Juicy Popcorn
Pros: Beautiful animation, wonderful setting, great voice acting, heartwarming friendship story, and the ending left me misty-eyed.
Cons: It doesn’t stand-out like Pixar’s earlier films.

Last year I didn’t review a single animated movie, and now one is up for the grand prize. “Luca” will be competing against “The Princess Bride” and the rest of the month winners to declare who will be the next Movie of the Year.