Point Break (1991)

Summer's over, but I felt like holding onto it vicariously with one of the few surf-focused features I could name. I hadn't heard of this one when it was new (the year I saw my first R movie), but between a 2015 remake and occasional references, I figured it was worth checking out. Besides, 122 minutes was a convenient amount of time for me to kill.

Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) has just joined the FBI when he hears about a gang of four who deftly rob L.A. banks while wearing masks of former U.S. presidents. Senior Agent Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey) theorizes from various hints that "the Ex-Presidents" are surfer dudes. Since Angelo's too old for it, Johnny takes up surfing in his off-duty hours, hoping to find the robbers in their insular community. He persuades expert Tyler Ann Endicott (Lori Petty) to teach him, and she introduces him to a group led by "Bodhi" (then top-billed Patrick Swayze). I think you already know where this is going.

The Invite (2026)

I was hoping to see Young Washington this evening, but it's already gone from the nearest theaters. Among the available showings I hadn't seen, TI looked most popular. Maybe just as well, for promising something extra different from my expensive, humorless previous viewing. Not that I could tell much from one- or two-sentence summaries; it sounded vaguely like it could be Bad Shabbos minus Judaism.

Angela (Olivia Wilde, who also directs) invites upstairs couple Hawk (Edward Norton) and Piña (Penélope Cruz) to visit her San Francisco apartment, without the timely awareness or approval of her husband, Joe (Seth Rogen). She wants to make up for them having to tolerate renovation noises by showing them the results, and maybe she and Joe will finally have friends again. Joe would rather give them a piece of his mind about their noises, from sex at ungodly hours. It turns out that Hawk and Piña host orgies and would be interested in Angela and Joe joining....

Beasts of No Nation (2015)

For all its plaudits, this bombed at the box office. Some theaters declined to play it because it also went straight to Netflix streaming. Plus, I suspect that many prospective viewers were reluctant to watch such a dark story in an immersive environment with no pause option. Well, there's no better time for me to check out something bleak than right after a fun flick.

The film was shot in Ghana, with some lines in Krio and Twi, but honors its title by not specifying where in West Africa it's set. The decade is hard to guess too. Amid a civil war, prepubescent boy Agu (Abraham Attah) gets separated from some of his relatives and witnesses the killing of the rest. He runs into a rebel battalion, whose unnamed Commandant (Idris Elba) recruits him with an almost fatherly approach. That's not much if any better than wandering the wilderness alone....

True Romance (1993)

I rather liked this movie in young adulthood but totally forgot what happens in it, besides a happy ending. Since Quentin Tarantino wrote it, you know it's not just a romantic comedy/drama; it's an R-rated crime flick with antiheroes. At least having Tony Scott direct instead means there's no fixation on a woman's bare feet.

Detroit comic store clerk Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) hits it off with Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette) before knowing she's a call girl hired by his employer as a birthday present. Nonetheless, she does fall for him, and they elope. Hearing how rotten her pimp Drexl Spivey (Gary Oldman) is, Clarence confronts him, ends up killing him, and orders another call girl to pack Alabama's things. Only after Clarence takes the suitcase home does he see that it's full of stolen cocaine bags. He hopes to sell it fast in L.A., but he'll have to worry about getting tracked down by previous owners as well as police.

Desperado (1995)

I watched most of El Mariachi in junior high Spanish class and the rest in young adulthood. It didn't particularly grab me, but it worked pretty well on $7,000. When Netflix suggested the immediate sequel, I got curious how different it would be with a budget 100 times higher.

EM had ended with the unnamed title character (subsequently played by Antonio Banderas) killing drug lord Moco (Peter Marquardt), who had killed the guitarist's love interest and shot him in the left hand. Alas, his thirst for vengeance has not been quenched; he now seeks Moco's boss, Bucho (Joaquim de Almeida). El Mariachi's buddy Buscemi (yup, Steve Buscemi) discovers compelling evidence of which small town holds Bucho's base of operations. It doesn't take long for a trail of destruction to put Bucho on high alert. Meanwhile, El Mariachi must have a type, because he falls for yet another drug lord affiliate, bookstore owner Carolina (Salma Hayek, paired with Banderas for the first time), who tends his wounds.

20th Century Women (2016)

I felt I'd seen enough comedies or semi-comedies in a row. This movie looked suitably serious, not least with A24 distribution. Turns out it's a dramedy. Oh well, I hardly noticed.

Apart from brief flashbacks and flash-forwards, the setting is 1979 Santa Barbara. Dorothea (Annette Bening), 55, feels inadequate as the single mom of Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann), 15, and doesn't count on middle-aged tenant and potential boyfriend William (Billy Crudup) to supplement her efforts. She asks her other unrelated tenant, 24-year-old Abbie (Greta Gerwig), and Jamie's closest female friend, 17-year-old Julie (Elle Fanning), to help him grow up healthily. But Jamie's not keen on this arrangement, and the ladies have conflicting ideas of how to go about it.

28 Days Later (2002)

The series got a threequel this year, so I thought I'd finally give the original a go. Had I known that Danny Boyle was directing, I'd've braced for more grossness, but whew, there's no excrement scene herein.

Animal rights zealots release a chimp from a lab, ignoring a warning that it's "infected with rage." After the titular period, courier Jim (Cillian Murphy, younger than I'd ever seen before) awakens from a coma induced by a bicycle accident to find that the hospital and, indeed, London are almost completely abandoned. The first people he meets have the rage plague, but holdouts Selena (Naomie Harris) and Mark (Noah Huntley) rescue him. Later connections include Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his teen daughter, Hannah (Megan Burns), who relay a report of a military outpost. It exists, but whether it's the salvation they need is another question.

Limitless (2011)

I didn't really know anything about this picture going in. Nor had I heard of its literary basis, Alan Glynn's The Dark Fields. I just thought it looked different enough from my recent viewings, possibly along the lines of Upgrade. OK, it's set in the present, but still a sci-fi thriller about enhancing oneself.

In New York, broke aspiring writer Eddie (Bradley Cooper) runs into his ex-brother-in-law, dealer Vernon (Johnny Whitworth), who gifts him a tablet of an unregulated drug so new it has no name other than NZT-48. It vastly improves Eddie's mental faculties for a day. He comes for more and discovers that someone has murdered Vernon and ransacked the apartment, evidently in search of the NZT stash. Eddie finds it nonetheless, along with significant cash, and uses them to do phenomenally in the stock market, garnering the attention of finance bigwig Carl (Robert De Niro) and reconnecting with ex-wife Lindy (Abbie Cornish). Of course, he also gains the attention of people who would kill for NZT. What's more, withdrawal means progressively serious symptoms....

Touchez pas au grisbi (1954)

I wondered why I found this DVD in the H section of my library. The answer came at the title screen when the British subtitles read, "Honor Among Thieves." (No relation to a recent movie.) To make matters more confusing, it was released in the U.S. as Grisbi but appears on IMDb by its literal translation, Don't Touch the Loot.

Big-time crook Max (Jean Gabin, long after his heyday) has recently stolen gold bars, planning to retire on them. Unfortunately for him, partner in crime Riton (René Dary) has an unfaithful girlfriend (Jeanne Moreau) who lets their secret slip to her other boyfriend, Angelo (Lino Ventura). Angelo's men abduct Riton for ransom, so Max enlists two more partners (Paul Frankeur and Michel Jourdan) to help confront them....

Friday (1995)

Another movie starring a rapper already. It is the source of several memes and quotes I've known -- more than I realized, in fact. "Bye, Felicia" may be the most overrated line ever, but I still hoped to get something worthwhile out of the viewing.

In South Central L.A., Craig (Ice Cube) has just been fired, supposedly for an offense he didn't commit. Before he starts looking for work, his buddy Smokey (Chris Tucker) encourages him to relax for a day, partly with weed. This is a mistake, not least because Smokey, an ostensible dealer, has been using up his merchandise, and supplier Big Worm (Faizon Love) threatens to kill them both if he doesn't get $200 compensation in a matter of hours.

Udaan (2010)

This is about the same length as my previous viewing, which makes it quite short as Indian movies go. It's also about as dramatic as my previous Indian viewing. Only afterward did I learn that the title means "Flight" in Hindi.

Upon expulsion from a boarding school, Rohan (Rajar Barmecha), 17, returns to widowed father Bhairav (Ronit Roy), whom he hasn't seen in eight years. Bhairav's minimalist annual letters had failed to mention his second marriage, the subsequent divorce, or Rohan's six-year-old half-brother, Arjun (Aayan Boradia). Rohan is jealously hostile to Arjun at first, but they bond in the shared crisis of their father's nastiness.

Entergalactic (2022)

I found this non-sci-fi's seemingly irrelevant title confusing, until I learned that it shares the name of the Kid Cudi album that provides the soundtrack. Clearly, this is not my usual scene. I chose to watch for the sake of something different.

New York graffiti artist Jabari (Cudi) is about to get a comic book line for his signature character, Mr. Rager (Keith David), tho his excitement is tempered by the publisher's desire to tone down the darkness. Taking more of his attention is his new partying apartment neighbor, Meadow (Jessica Williams). Neither acknowledges their level of mutual attraction until friends egg them on. Alas, Jabari's ex, Carmen (Laura Harrier), is discontent to be just a friend....

The Gentlemen (2019)

Wow, Guy Ritchie. I hadn't seen anything he directed since the 2009 Sherlock Holmes. This one looked more along the lines of Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and it has the third highest IMDb rating among his feature films.

Toward the beginning, PI Fletcher (a nearly unrecognizable Hugh Grant) crashes the English mansion of Raymond (Charlie Hunnam), right-hand man to expat marijuana kingpin Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey), to tell almost the whole rest of the story, which Fletcher threatens to sell to a movie studio if Raymond doesn't pay him. The plot involves Pearson trying to sell his stash to billionaire Matthew Berger (Jeremy Strong) before it becomes legal in the UK, making an unlikely alliance with thug trainer "Coach" (Colin Farrell), and accidentally getting on the wrong side of mob boss "Dry Eye" (Henry Golding) and tabloid editor Big Dave (Eddie Marsan).

The Whale (2022)

Even before seeing the A24 logo, I knew that this would not be a fun feature. Having Darren Aronofsky at the helm wouldn't help. But it looked like one of the more intriguing offerings on my list, different enough from my recent viewings, and short enough (117 minutes) that I might not see fit to split it over two nights.

In modern Idaho, Charlie (Brendan Fraser) teaches online college literature courses with his camera off, because he'd rather hide his Class III obesity. In the first scene, he gets a heart attack but refuses to go to the hospital for financial reasons, even tho he can well afford it. The screen indicates each new day of the week, hinting that he really doesn't have long to live. Will he make peace with himself and his few acquaintances in time?

21 Jump Street (2012)

This stops streaming on Netflix today, hence my prioritization. All I knew going in was that it's a buddy cop action comedy based loosely on a same-name TV series -- a dramatic one, oddly enough. That didn't work well for Dragnet, but the movie and show of 21JS have the same moderately high IMDb rating. Hey, the central premise does sound ripe for laughs.

In an unspecified modern U.S. city, wimpy geek Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and book-dumb jock Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum) become unlikely friends as twenty-something cops. After an abortive drug bust, they are assigned to the titular address, where Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) orders them to pose as high school students to trace the source of a dangerous new drug among the students. Since the duo don't study enough in advance, they accidentally swap aliases, so Schmidt takes an acting class and runs track while Jenko has to learn AP chemistry. This works out better than you'd think, but they have trouble coordinating with each other, and Dickson is losing what little patience he had with them.

Snowpiercer (2013)

This stops streaming on Netflix at the end of the month, but I hadn't noticed that when I chose it. Mainly, it was about the highest-profile title left on my list. And with the current weather, it seemed appropriate.

The starting event happens only the year after the film's release, so you might think of it as alternate history now: An anti-global-warming measure goes horribly right, rendering the earth nigh uninhabitably frozen. Fortunately, businessman Wilford (Ed Harris) had the foresight to create a somehow self-sustaining train that harvests water by plowing through snow, and it houses more life than you might expect. Unfortunately, those in the rear cars are impoverished and tyrannized, with small children taken away for secret purposes. Hard to retain gratitude for lifesaving at that point. After 17 years of this, Curtis (Chris Evans) leads the biggest lower-class revolt yet, heading for the engine room to seize control. Given the length of the train, the locked doors, and the brutal guards, this will take a while, but they enlist the help of a stoned lock specialist (Song Kang-ho) and his seemingly clairvoyant daughter (Go Ah-sung).

Divines (2016)

I selected this partly for being very different from anything I'd seen lately and partly for having a runtime of less than two hours, which has grown scarce on my Netflix list. The cover image of a girl with a bloodied face did not exactly draw me in, but it did warn me that this wouldn't be much fun.

In a Romani suburb of modern Paris, high school friends Dounia (Oulaya Amamra) and Maimouna (Déborah Lukumuena), unsatisfied with their likely career options, resort to crime. At first they merely shoplift and sell on a black market. Then they persuade irascible drug dealer Rebecca (Jisca Kalvanda) to hire them for various tasks. They enjoy the pay, but it's a dangerous business, and teens aren't known for their cautious decisionmaking....

A Star Is Born (2018)

I had watched the first two movies by this title and skipped the third, so this was one of my last priorities among Best Picture nominees for the year. At my harshest, I declared that a re-re-remake shouldn't even exist. But the United menu was running low on promising options I hadn't seen.

Ally (Lady Gaga) is an up-and-coming singer and songwriter. Her career gets a boost from established country rock star Jack Maine (Bradley Cooper). The two eventually marry, but it's a rocky marriage as Jack's success flounders amid alcoholism and he grows jealous of his own wife. Other notable actors include Sam Elliott as Jack's brother and manager, Dave Chapelle as Jack's friend, and Andrew Dice Clay as Ally's father.

The Fall Guy (2024)

I had never heard of the '80s TV series of the same title. Fortunately, this is only a loose adaptation, so it doesn't presuppose much knowledge. The only detail I know would have meant more to me with familiarity was a pair of cameos.

Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is a beleaguered stuntman, most notably standing in for obnoxious actor Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). A particularly bad injury dissuades him from further stunts, until producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) asks him to work on the directorial debut of his ex-girlfriend, Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt). Gail later confides that the invitation isn't really about the job: She wants him to track down the suspiciously absent Tom before the production fails. Colt always knew that Tom was troubled, but he doesn't anticipate what follows. Hint: The title has a double meaning.

Bad Boys (1995)

As I perused my alphabetized menu on a flight, this was the first title to jump out at me among those I hadn't seen. I'd had no strong desire to see it, but the fact that it spawned a series, including an entry this year despite Will Smith's decline in marketability, made me think I ought to learn more about it.

Undercover narcs Mike Lowrey (Smith, late in the Fresh Prince era) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) are assigned to look into the theft of all the heroin seized by Miami PD. Kingpin Fouchet (Tchéky Karyo) adds bloodshed in an effort to cover his tracks, but witness Julie (Téa Leoni) slips away. Thanks to a departed mutual acquaintance, she trusts Mike and nobody else in the department. He's absent when she calls, so supervisor Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano) insists that Marcus stand in for Mike. For appearance's sake, the two longtime partners end up swapping residences....