What I Watched In July

Bluntly stated there is nothing interesting or fresh about the story of  BABY DRIVER (2017). If you've seen a dozen or more crime films in your entire life you have seen a variation on this story. But that is what actually makes this such an incredible film. It's the style employed in telling this clichéd story that makes this movie an amazing cinematic feat - one well worth seeking out.

Understand that it's not just in the obvious thing that director Edgar Wright has done, which is to edit entire sequences of the movie to rock and roll songs. That in and of itself would be an interesting thing to see and Wright does it very well. But what he's really done is infuse the film with the energy of those rock and roll songs to the point that it's impossible to think of the film's various characters without the certain music automatically playing in your head. I'll admit that I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more to the story of BABY DRIVER but any film that has the sequences this one does deserves to be respected. Hell, this film has two specific sequences that elevate the movie to near classic status on their own - the romantic laundromat getting-to-know-you sequence which is played out like a ballet routine laid over the verbal dance that allows two people to discover if they actually like each other beyond just the physical. And then there is the mind-bending, brilliant car and foot chase set to the instrumental song tune Hocus Pocus by Focus. Rarely have electric guitars, yodeling and speeding bodies been so well crafted for excitement.

Oh - great cast too! 

I've already written a brief bit about WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES and I plan to comment on VALERIAN and the new Spider-man film but I'm really pressed for time right now.

THE LIST 

THE CURSE OF THE VAMPIRE (1972) - 4 (dull, lifeless Spanish horror)

TIME TRAVELERS (1976) - 4 (limp TV movie from a Rod Serling story)

BABY DRIVER (2017) - 7

YETI - GIANT OF THE 20TH CENTURY (1977) - 2

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017) - 9

GAMERA (1965)- 7 (Japanese version) (rewatch)

CASTLE IN THE DESERT (1942) - 6 (solid Charlie Chan mystery)

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE VOICE OF TERROR (1942) - 6 (rewatch)

KING KONG VS GODZILLA (1962)- 7 (rewatch on the big screen)

THE SAINT'S DOUBLE TROUBLE (1940) - 5 (OK programmer)

STUDENT BODIES (1981)- 6 (fun slasher spoof)

BLOOD FATHER (2016) - 7

HAMDS OF STEEL (1986) - 6 (silly Italian post-apocalypse thriller)

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (2017) - 9

VALERIAN AND THE PLANET OF A THOUSAND CITIES (2017) - 8

THE RETURN OF GODZILLA (1984) - 8 (rewatch)