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Underwater (2020)
Very solid
It's great when a movie pulls off something original and scary, but those are rare! If Underwater is derivative, at least it's riffing off of Alien and The Descent, two of the greatest creature horror films of all time!
I thought Underwater was tense and atmospheric and well-directed. Some of the acting was very good (Stewart was all-in), and I thought TJ Miller offered a nice light tone as the comedic relief. The creatures were...okay. The ending felt somewhat contrived, though still interesting. Maybe the best part was that you never felt like the team was safe. That constant dread didn't just come from the creatures, but from being 7 miles under the ocean surface, which makes sense!
I enjoyed it and will probably rewatch it with my kids as they get older, too (kind of a prep for the Alien universe).
The Guilt Trip (2012)
Better than expected family-based comedy
If you liked Due Date or Wild Hogs, then The Guilt Trip isn't for you. Those movies were broad and inconsistent, with a few funny moments scattered across forced schmaltz or ridiculous crude gags.
If you liked something like Dan in Real Life, than get in the car with Rogen and Streisand. Formulaic? Mostly, but the plot gives enough curveballs (especially at the end) to be its own animal. The chemistry between mother and son is touching, humorous, and believable. Both characters grew and developed throughout their road trip in a way that didn't seem contrived, but rather genuine.
No need to feel guilty for liking The Guilt Trip, even if most critics didn't.
Office Space (1999)
Tale of Two Movies
OK, let me preface this review by stating that the first 45 minutes of "Office Space" gave me as many laughs as the opening 45 minutes of almost any other comedy. Particularly hilarious were the two consultants interviewing the Initech staff and Peter's total apathetic meltdown--brilliant! However, the second half of the movie veers so far away from the original intent, that I as a viewer was left wondering who exactly Ron Livingston's character was! That's great in a drama or thriller, but lousy in a comedy.
Jennifer Aniston's character is wasted (esp. for the middle third of the movie); apparently Mike Judge wanted a romantic element in his film, but didn't want to spend time developing it. "Office Space" disintegrates after the guys lose their jobs and embark on a scheme to steal money from their company. The shift in focus is unsettling and unexpected, and everyone suddenly gets a bad case of the consciences. My guess is that the movie was originally closer to 120 minutes, instead of its final 90 minutes, but that the big wheels did some 11th-hour cutting, reasoning that the audience would grow restless in a two-hour comedy. Generally that's true, but "Office Space" would have greatly benefited from a little more character development and a smoother transition to the final 30 minutes. The first half of the movie gets 5 stars out of 5, but the second gets 1 out of 5. 6 stars
Phantasm (1979)
Don't believe the hype!
This movie was truly atrocious, one of the worst I have ever seen. The "plot" (if you can call it that) falls short of any aspiration other than to confuse and annoy the viewers. Also, I saw the extended edition--it didn't add to my appreciation of this movie at all. I have read some reviews hailing this as a horror masterpiece. No, the horror masterpiece of 1979 was "Alien." "Phantasm" was merely a lame attempt to provide cheap thrills with a bizarre plot, unnecessary nudity, and one scene of fake gore. My brothers and I sat down to watch this, having heard that it was one of the best older horror movies ever. Instead, we found a film so horrible that we couldn't even laugh at it. Pretentious, confusing, and a downright waste of 92 minutes of my life I can never get back, my caution to you is STAY AWAY from "Phantasm."