Top 5 Thursday: Movies I Watched For My Challenge (May 2017)

It wasn’t a very good month for new films. So I had to take some mediocre film for my top 5 as well. Here is my top 5 for the month of May.

5. Loft
Better than the Dutch version, but still not amazing. It’s a solid thriller and it has a somewhat surprising ending.

4. Bright Star
Sometimes it drags, but the theme is interesting and it looks really beautiful.

3. Cold in July
The start of the film is amazing. Promising. It eventually turned into a more average crime film, but still a really good movie.

2. The Zookeeper’s Wife
A touching story, it grabs you. Jessics Chastain is amazing in “The Zookeeper’s Wife”. Really beautifully made with Chastain as the big star carrying the film.

1. Alien: Covenant
A very good sci-fi film, better than “Prometheus” and a great build up to the original franchise.

They Almost Made the Top 5: -

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 65: Cold in July

Director: Jim Mickle
Genre: Thriller/ Crime
Runtime: 109 minutes
Year: 2014
Starring: Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard, Don Johnson, Vinessa Shaw

Description: When a protective father (Michael C. Hall) meets a murderous ex-con (Sam Shepard), both need to deviate from the path they are on as they soon find themselves entangled in a downwards spiral of lies and violence while having to confront their own inner psyche.

Review: It’s still a bit strange to see Michael C. Hall, aka Dexter, shake when an intruder enters his house and he sneaks up on him with a gun that he can barely load.
East Texas, 1989. Richard Dane is an ordinary man, who shoots an intruder out of self-defense. But a man called Ben Russell, an ex-con and the victim’s father, is keepin an eye on Richard. Russell is determined to avenge his son’s death, but things take a different turn.
The film seems to have a storyline that is straight forward and predictable. But it’s a lot more surprising and original than I expected it to be.
Richard doesn’t feel like a hero and even feels regret for his actions. He admits to feeling terrible after giving his statement. Richard is a very realistic man, he doesn’t feel like a character. The first half of the film is exciting and thrilling. The second half, the story flips around and it loses its strength a bit. That’s sad, because it could have been so much better.
“Cold in July” is still a good movie, with especially the first half being amazing. But it eventually becomes a more standard crime thriller.

Rating: 3,5/ 5