NOW PLAYING REVIEWS: The Gentlemen, The Turning, The Last Measure

It’s the week of “The” titled movies for #4 of 2020 (1/23-1/26/2020), so which one is the best?

This week features three very different films: a drug kingpin is cashing out, a young woman caring for two children in a haunted house and a fight for a soldier to be awarded a prestigious medal many years later.

#1 goes to ….

The Last Full Measure ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This tale of the at first reluctant and later committed Pentagon staffer fighting to have the Medal of Honor awarded to hero William Pitsenbarger, an enlisted Air Force Pararescueman.

The Last Full Measure has gripping source material that will both frustrate and make proud

The Gentlemen ⭐️

After reading other reviews and according to several others, Guy Ritchie is returning to the style of his earlier films Lock, Stock and Smoking Barrels and Snatch, two films I’ve not seen. I didn’t find the style of this one to very entertaining. It’s a lot of grandstanding talk from drug thugs, none of the characters of which I found to be very endearing or likable interspersed with violent deaths. Seemed to me more like an attempt to do something like Quentin Tarantino did with Pulp Fiction, only not remotely as skilled.

This is one film where I’ve rated it lower than others — much lower in some cases — as it has pretty good reviews overall. Sticking by our rating and review as neither Kara or I enjoyed it, but you definitely should read other reviews and have an open mind to this film, despite our review. It might be that you like the style of this film. That’s the defining factor here, if you don’t dig how it flows, the rest of it blows.

The Turning ½ 

This isn’t quite Cats level terrible, but for horror films, this is among the absolute horror films I’ve ever seen. Poorly paced, scripted, directed and acted (probably in part due to such ghastly material to work from) with a plot that is so cliche-ridden it’s more stupid than spooky and among the worst endings of any film ever made in any genre.

A total hatchet job of a film that not only doesn’t deserve watching, it participates to the flawed notion that the horror genre is trashy and devoid of substance and quality. The Grudge⭐️⭐️ sucks too this month, but is an amazing film compared to this cinematic sludge.

Suffer the “The” title films

The weekend of “The” films turned out mostly whimpers and thuds. None of the films above were breakout entertainment, with only the true story that The Last Full Measure being noteworthy. This came disturbingly close to three no recommended votes.

Can’t wait for January 2020 to get over because it hasn’t been a very good month for new movies at the theater. Yes, we’ve had a couple OK to average films, but this month is holding the line for the dump month stigma of every January. The only film so far I can say I actually loved seeing was 1917 and I’m not considering that a January 2020 effort, it was technically released in 2019.

Want to see what else we recommend NOW PLAYING at the theater?

This is my favorite part of this week’s NOW PLAYING post: recommending other movies you can see instead of the newest films.

Here are other movies we’ve seen at the theaters recently and liked (maybe they are available in your area still) that are recommended. Any movie rated at least 3-stars is recommended. You should read any 3-star review (click the title), because sometimes we do qualify those recommendations, meaning we were entertained, but it doesn’t mean that the film was that good.

4-star movies are highly recommended and films rated as 4 1/2 or 5 stars are must see.

1. 1917 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ 
2. Little Women ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
3. Uncut Gems ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
4. Frozen II ⭐️⭐️⭐️
5. Bad Boys For Life ⭐️⭐️⭐️
6. The Last Full Measure ⭐️⭐️⭐️
7. Bombshell ⭐️⭐️⭐️
8. Like A Boss ⭐️⭐️⭐️
9. Doolittle ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Happy movie watching!

Opening 1-23-2020 in Theaters: The Turning, The Gentlemen, The Last Full Measure

Wednesday, week #4 2020 (1/23-1/26/2020) as we inch closer to ending this doldrum month of January which has only produced a carryover hit from 2019 in the brilliant movie 1917⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  and a few average and mostly worse new movies.

What do we have to look forward to this weekend? A horror movie based on a very, very old story, a crime action movie involving a bunch of weed (but starring Matthew McConaughey) and a film about the fight to bring medal recognition to a war hero.

The Turning
[FIRST LOOK]

“The children are very special…” — The Tuning official trailer

The sound effects are about as weird as the children (what is up with the fish stomping scene?). The more I rewatch this trailer, the more interested I’m in it. This movie makes me think a little bit of John Saul, not the source material it’s based on. That part isn’t a compliment because Saul is sort of known as a popular horror novelist who used children frequently in his stories, but he wasn’t known among horror novel fans as a good very good writer. How does any of that relate to this trailer? It just reminds me of the type of story that Saul might have written, had he written the screenplay.

Anticipation: 4/10

The Gentlemen
[FIRST LOOK]

The Gentlemen official trailer

Matthew McConaughey remains my single biggest interest in this film. I was reading an article the other day that talked about how some stars don’t draw people to movies and some do, well for me McConaughey is one of those above average actors I look forward to seeing on the screen. I’d put many other actors and actresses on this list. He’s never been amazingly good to me, but he’s been good enough, especially when he plays a lawyer (A Time To Kill), or any kind of law enforcement officer.

As I watch this trailer perhaps one last time before seeing this movie, I’m kind of underwhelmed by it all, if not for McConaughey. I hope he makes this interesting and entertaining. We’ll see.

Anticipation: 4/10

The Last Full Measure
LIMITED — [FIRST LOOK]

This movie is the one I’m most interested in seeing. Argh, this is frustrating that it isn’t showing at the main independent theater or of course at Regal Cinemas. Maybe it will appear like Judy did, a couple weeks from now. I’m leaving it here for others.

Anticipation: 6/10

ANTICIPATION for Week #4: 1/23/20 MOVIES

How much on scale of 1-10 anticipating the 1-23-2020 movies? Those marked with asterisk are not available in our area this week, so will carryover in future weeks until available to watch in our area.

1. *The Last Full Measure – 6/10
2. The Gentlemen – 4/10
3. The Turning – 4/10

Are there screenings in our area to see these movies?

Two of the three movies are wide screenings and available at theaters in our area so those will be watched, rated and reviewed. The Last Full Measure? Not sure when or if we’ll be able to watch that in the theater as of this writing.. Hope some of you can!

FIRST LOOK: The Last Full Measure

This just slipped in on the January 2020 wide release schedule. I have no idea how or why that happens, but my guess is that studios insert releases at the last minute sometimes.

There is another movie called Run opening later this month and still no trailer and minimal information about it has been made available.

But onto this one.

Based on an intriguing true story about a heroic soldier, Frank Pitsenbarger, in Vietnam who saved many lives. “Pitts” as he was known stayed in the thick of a bloody battle trying to save as many of his fellow soldiers as possible.

The movie also cuts to the future/present(?) when a pentagon staffer wants to ensure there is a medal of honor awarded to Pitts for his bravery and heroism.

The Last Full Measure official trailer

War movies are personally difficult for me to watch, because I’ve had family that has gone to war (my son was, most recently, in the infantry in Afghanistan) and I feel for our brave men and women serving in the armed forces.

The story of a hero getting his due accolades for his military service record is one that I’m very interested in seeing. Don’t know anything else except what I’ve just explained and see in the trailer. Am looking forward to watching this at the end of the month. You?

The Last Full Measure opens wide in theaters on January 24, 2020.