Thursday, April 08, 2021

Thursday Movie Picks: Amateur Sleuths

 

For the 14th week of 2021 as part of Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. We venture into the world of amateur sleuths as people who aren’t certified detectives who take on a case and find out for themselves without the help of the law. Here are my three picks:

1. Brick
Rian Johnson’s feature-length debut film is this stylized noir film set in a high school where a young man discovers his girlfriend’s body as he tries to find out who killed her and why as it relates to drugs and social cliques. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a role as an outcast who tries to find out who killed his girlfriend, it’s a low-key performance that has everyone talking in a certain language as it is told with a sense of wit and intrigue that plays into the suspense. Notably as it has a richness that seems lacking in a lot of films set in high school as it is a standard of what feature-length debut film should be.

2. The Nice Guys
Shane Black’s 2016 film set in the late 1970s in the world of porn and disco as it relates to the death of a porn star and a young woman on the run and leading this case is a loser private detective with a young daughter helping and an enforcer who takes not shit from anyone. Starring Ryan Gosling as the loser detective and Russell Crowe as the enforcer, it’s an offbeat buddy-comedy detective film that manages to be entertaining while giving both Gosling and Crowe the chance to be funny as well as cool. Notably as Crowe, often playing serious roles, is given the chance to relax a bit and show that he’s a really funny motherfucker.

3. Pokemon Detective Pikachu
A worthwhile family comedy that revolves a young man who travels to a Pokemon version of Japan following the death of his father only to find a Pokemon in Pikachu, with the voice of Ryan Reynolds, as they try to figure out what is going on. It is a light-hearted and fun that does have witty suspense but also intrigue as it relates to a mysterious substance and why this young man’s father was killed. Even as it has some twists and turns but also some funny moments involving Pikachu who is just adorable to watch.

© thevoid99 2021

9 comments:

Brittani Burnham said...

Brick is one of my all time favorite movies and I can't believe I didn't think of it here. gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Sara said...

I've heard great things about Brick! And nice pick with The Nice Guys. I just watched it last year and loved it.

SJHoneywell said...

Everyone likes Brick more than I do. I just couldn't get into it.

The Nice Guys, though, is a lot of fun. Then again, I'm a sucker for Shane Black.

Ruth said...

Man, I've been wanting to check out BRICK for ages! I forgot that it's Rian Johnson’s feature and since I really like Knives Out, I probably will love that film. LOVE The Nice Guys, but not sure I'm into the Pokemon movie.

Birgit said...

I have not heard of The Brick but i like this young actor ever since he was on 3rd Rock From The Sun. I love Tough Guys which is brutal but so, so funny. I love the dream sequence with the bee and, sick of me, I know, but when the guy takes a header off the highrise and literally goes splat. It's shocking but I find it humorous.

Sonia Cerca said...

Detective Pikachu is such a fun film. I can't believe I didn't think of it.

Kay said...

Great picks! I skipped this week because I had trouble coming up with picks...but I can't believe I didn't think of The Nice Guys. That's one of Ryan's best roles. Haven't seen Brick yet but I need to check it out since I love Rian.

Jay said...

I love Brick!
I also surprisingly enjoyed the Nice Guys quite a bit.

thevoid99 said...

@Brittani-I had some difficulty trying to come up with films for this subject but then I remembered that I own a DVD copy of Brick which I still have.

@SEK-Glad to see some love for The Nice Guys

@SJHoneywell-Shane Black is awesome.

@Ruth-The Pokemon movie is not as bad as you think as it's kind of funny and it's got some cute moments.

@Birgit-The bee scene is hilarious.

@Sonia-I wanted to avoid using Harry Potter for the theme as Harry Potter is just not cool anymore.

@Kay-Brick is a masterpiece.

@Jay-Glad to know there's some love for these films.