Jake Peffer Watches

2019. R. 135 mins. Directed by Benny & Josh Safdie Adam Sandler is an actor who has had an interesting career. He's made numerous comedies that range from arguably some of the worst comedies ever made to some that are actually really good. When he decides to take on roles where the movie's are more on the dramatic side he tends to shine and really show off his acting chops. Even in some of his lesser movies he still has moments where he show cases some of that great acting ability. Uncut Gems is the latest movie for Sandler to try and prove just how good of an actor he really is and with the Safdie Brothers directing it might just be the perfect match. Sandler stars as Howard, a jeweler in New York who is always looking for ways to make money. Most of the time that comes in the way of placing bets on basketball games, auctioning off priceless artifacts and pawning off any piece of jewelry from any celebrity he come sin contact with. Recently he's been able to secur...

2019. R. 110 mins. Directed by Lorene Scafaria Hustlers is the latest movie written and directed by Lorene Scafaria. She has had a great track record in previous years of directing and writing movies with seemingly unlikable characters that she manages to make you care for by the end. With Hustlers we follow Constance Wu as Destiny, a stripper who befriends a group of girls who come up with a scheme where they take advantage of clients that frequent their club in an effort to take more money from them. The ring leader of the group is Ramona (Jennifer Lopez) who takes Destiny under her wing and brings her into this life of crime that is full of sex, drugs and money. On paper this movie has a lot going for it. You've got a proven director/writer in Lorene Scafaria, Constance Wu is a hot commodity at the moment, the story is based on a popular article from New York Magazine and throw in a solid supporting cast that features Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer along with popular music acts...

2019. PG. 109 mins. Directed by Simon Curtis The Art of Racing in The Rain is the latest movie in the trend of following a dog as the central character as he narrates throughout his life. While the movie plans on obviously tugging at the heartstrings of it's audience it still manages to put together a thoroughly enjoyable story overall. In this movie we follow Enzo (voiced by Kevin Costner), a golden retriever with a heart of gold who lives our his days with his owner Denny (Milo Ventimiglia). Denny is a Formula One race car driver and he frequently takes Enzo to the track with him during his younger years. The story continues on as Denny falls in love with a girl (Amanda Seyfried), they have a daughter together and over the years Enzo and Denny go through many ups and downs while managing to keep their strong bond in tact. It seems like every year studios try to put out a new movie that features a dog as it's central character or has a dog play a major part in the story. ...

Dark Phoenix marks the final movie in the X-Men series produced by 20th Century Fox. This is a series that has definitely seen it's ups and downs but overall it's been slightly more positive than negative. X2 and Days of Future Past being the clear two best in the series and Apocalypse and X-Men Origins: Wolverine being at the bottom of the barrel. So the question is with Dark Phoenix being the last go around where does it fit in with the other movies in the series? Unfortunately, it may very well be the worst outing in the entire X-Men series. We jump to the 90's this time around following the X-Men as they travel to space to save a crew of astronauts from their rocket. While saving them Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) gets stuck on the rocket ship and is exposed to a dark and ancient power. Once back on Earth she begins to show signs that this new power could be deadly, not just for the X-Men but for the entire world. This puts the X-Men in a situation where they must deci...

Ma follows Maggie (Diana Silvers), a teenager who just moved with her mom (Juliette Lewis) back to the town where her mom grew up. Things start out not so great for Maggie at school but surprisingly enough it isn't long before she finds of a group of friends, who are all typical high school stereotypes, and they start hanging out. On one of the first days of them hanging out the friends get Maggie to beg adults to buy them beer from a local convenience store. That's when they meet Sue Ann (Octavia Spencer). She reluctantly buys the beer for them and they go on to have a good time. Sue Ann continues to show up around Maggie and her friends and starts to become a friend all her own. From continuing to buy them beer to letting them party in her basement, Sue Ann seems like the coolest adult in this small town. Things may not be what they seem as they continue to hang out with Sue Ann and things start to happen that question their relationship with this woman. Director T...

Mean Creek was released back in 2004. It had a very limited run in theaters so it didn't really get the chance to be seen during it's theatrical run. When it comes to indie films some get the right treatment and get a lot of exposure and others don't get much money put into getting the film out there for people to see. The latter is where Mean Creek falls and it's a shame because it is one of the best teen oriented films to come out in the early 2000's. Featuring a cast of, at the time, up and comers some of which have gone on to have pretty solid careers and the others for the most falling into obscurity. The story follows Sam (Rory Culkin). Sam gets picked on at school by George (Josh Peck). George is a troubled boy who has consistently been bullying kids for quite some time now. After their last altercation, Sam's brother Rocky (Trevor Morgan) has had enough and decides it's time for them to get back at George. Rocky and his friends Clyde (Ryan Kelly...

Murder Mystery marks the fifth movie from Adam Sandler to premiere on Netflix. Sixth if you count The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) but that one wasn't a Netflix original movie. The four movies preceding this have all been anywhere from flat out horrible to somewhat average. With not much in the way of competition, Murder Mystery makes its mark as the best Adam Sandler movie on Netflix. Is that enough to warrant a watch? Let's find out. Reuniting once again after the awkwardly bad Just Go With It, Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston play Nick and Audrey Spitz. They've recently been in somewhat of a rut. Nick is trying to become a New York City detective but has failed his test for third time. Their 15 year anniversary is coming up and Audrey can't stop thinking back to when they first got married and Nick promised her a trip to Europe. After feeling guilty being confronted by Audrey about why he still has never taken her, he books a vacation to Europe. While...