Sean’s movie thoughts

This movie is based on a novel and stars Zoey Duetch as a high school student named Samantha who is reliving the same day over and over. I know what you are thinking, it is a Groundhog Day rift. It is but it is a good one. The novel was written in 2010 before the recent string of movies inspired by Groundhog Day started coming out. She and her friends died in a car accident after a party one night and she wakes up to the same day. As the day repeats, Samantha tries to figure out what she is supposed to do to end the cycle of repeating days. This is not really comedic. It has some funny moments but it is more dramatic than comedic. Zoey Duetch is really good in this. Halston Sage co-stars as Lindsey, one of Samantha’s friends. I thought Sage would have had a higher profile after Paper Towns. She is good. The other two actresses playing her friends were good too. Logan Miller is on hand as a love interest. I think I missed something by not having read the novel.  I thought this was good.

The Swordsman was good. This is a Korean action movie about a swordsman who is pulled back into action to protect his daughter. He might be losing his vision. The fights are good. I think it will be worth re-watching. Crossroads was interesting. Ralph Macchio stars as a music student looking for a lost song from Robert Johnson. Macchio’s character breaks an old blues man out of a nursing home and they travel to Alabama. I guess I had not seen it for at least twenty years. There is another movie called Crossroads with Britney Spears but the two films are unrelated. Blood and Bone features Michael Jai White as a man named Bone who gets involved in illegal street fights. The fights are good and White is good as a hero. It is not great but if you like movies like Bloodsport or Bloodfist or the Undisputed series, you might like this movie.

Yes, the name for the neighboring country, Nextdooria, is not funny. That is the least of the film's problems.  This sequel is not good. It is not terrible or as bad as Zoolander 2 or Baywatch or the House. (I might need to update my list of bad comedies.) On one hand it is nice to see Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall back as these characters. On the other hand, I did not get invested in the story. Also, date rape as comedy? I guess since it involves a woman date raping a man that is supposed to make it funny. I did not think it was.  That seems like a bad idea. Maybe the missing heir could have been the son of the king's brother or some other lost relative. Maybe that could have worked. This is not worth seeing. I gave it nearly an hour, so I feel I gave it a fair shot.