The Man With the Golden Gun
OH MY GOD This was so bad!
Probably the worst Bond film I've seen, along with Die Another Day, but this one is probably better because it has some okay things in it. Christopher Lee plays the villain with such charisma though, that I didn't hate every second of it. At least Roger Moore was still young enough to make the fight scenes look somewhat convincing, because that would be gone by Spy Who Loved Me.
The action scenes are boring, the writing -- especially for the female characters, is cringe-worthy, and the film looks really ugly.
JW Pepper is the Jar-Jar Binks of the James Bond films (probably even worse)
Seems like Song To Song was Malick's last movie of this completely loose style, which makes sense considering it was filmed forever ago. I recall reading somewhere last year that he did an interview (!!!) and said that Radegund is going to be more traditional and structured.
I finally caught up with the year's two biggest horror films so far (Split, which somehow was not spoiled for me, and as I already mentioned, Get Out, which I just saw a couple nights ago). Here, then, are some quickly scribbled reactions:
Split (5.5/10) - Went in expecting to be offended by its portrayal of mental illness, was actually more baffled by its decision to shoehorn child abuse as a plot device. As a genre film, it's mediocre. Some fun moments, but the narrative places too much emphasis on a mystery with an answer so obvious, it deflates a lot of the intrigue (it's a film directed by M. Night Shyamalan; if
The Beast isn't going to be real, why are we even watching this?
).
"What if Billy Milligan was a supervillain?" is an amusing setup, I'll grant that, and McAvoy carries this film well. But it's also dumb as fuck, and so I was both shocked and not the least bit surprised that Shyamalan, in order to answer such a ridiculous question, goes all the way to
making this a sequel to Unbreakable
. And now, if I'm going to have to judge this film as both a standalone genre film AND as
a sequel to Unbreakable, a film I greatly admired, and something I had long been hoping would get a sequel
), well, I can only say it's doubly disappointing. Not bad, but I wanted a lot more. That ending is every bit as exciting in its promise as it is hollow in its resolution. (If you remove it altogether, what the hell is even the point? What is M. Night Shyamalan even trying to say with this movie? Congratulations, you opened up the DSM-IV and knew to call it Dissociative Identity Disorder. Do you want a pat on the back? That thing was published before you made The Sixth Sense, you fucking hack.)
Get Out (8.5/10) - If I struggled to make sense out of what the hell M. Night Shyamalan was even trying to do with Split, Jordan Peele offered the perfect antidote with Get Out, a genre film that builds cleverly and purposefully towards powerful, and socially relevant, thematic goals. This film grabs the zeitgeist by the throat and has its fucking way with it. Easily one of the best theatre experiences I've had in recent memory; I can't remember the last time a movie had an audience wrapped so tightly around its finger, hanging eagerly off of every scene, screaming and yelling and just filling the auditorium with incredible energy. I had a fucking blast with this. (Seriously, see this in a theatre, with a crowd, if you can; this things fucks with audience expectations the way nothing else does in recent memory, and you'll be glad you took that trip and shared it with others.)
Whereas Shyamalan climbs up his own to ass to
establish a cinematic universe
(and, honestly, hasn't he been permanently lodged there since at least Lady in the Water, when he was sitting on a toilet and cradling his screenplay and insisting that he's important? ...someone should have flushed his career and closed the lid there and then), Peele uses genre tropes to hold a mirror to his audience and provoke powerful emotions, simultaneously creating something that feels subversive and fresh as a genre exercise, while also always being thoughtfully constructed in service of its themes. The plot twists are incredible, changing the context of everything that builds up to those moments, revealing brand new layers. The single best example of this? That final moment, THE moment the whole thing builds to really, when
the cop car rolls up during the final confrontation
. My audience lost its fucking mind. It's impressive not only because it subverts a recognizable trope, but because of how it does that: Because an entire audience is identifying with the experience of an African-American protagonist. And you can't separate one from the other. It's because of that identification that the trope is subverted at all. That was the moment I knew I had witnessed something incredible. And then, of course,
Peele pulls the rug out from under us again, re-establishing the function of the trope (arrival of the car = threat is over) with another twist
. What a motherfucker! What a rush! I got emotional whiplash from this thing.
This sets the bar for genre films in 2017. It's the gift that keeps on giving; an incredible rush on that first viewing, but with so much to absorb and think about afterwards.
I don't care if it's 10 percent on RT. I just hope I like it more than to the wonder. Everything else I've found to be worthwhile including knight of cups
Seems like Song To Song was Malick's last movie of this completely loose style, which makes sense considering it was filmed forever ago. I recall reading somewhere last year that he did an interview (!!!) and said that Radegund is going to be more traditional and structured.
I don't feel at home in this world anymore (Macon Blair, 2017) - A bit sloppy, but still plenty entertaining.
The Falling Down/Godbless America parts felt a bit too gimmicky to me, but the rest of the movie is pretty cartoonish, so it sorts of evens out, Elijah Wood was great.
The "villains" could've used some more characterization though.
Still figuring out how to make sense of a few things which left me a little cold with a bit of a lack of understanding, but what a bold film that can be so externally wild, yet always internally grounded. While it is a horror film with its cannibalism premise, it's much more of a touching, empathetic coming-of-age story at its core told through a balance of restrained suspense and in-the-moment exhilaration, with sensual cinematography and a pumping soundtrack, as if it had a dose of The Neon Demon. There are some really captivating scenes that are just hard not to fall in love with or be entranced by. Impressive debut by Julia Decournau. All of this is centered around an engaging, steadily-evolving lead performance by Garance Marillier that's hard to take eyes off of.
I'm thinking of doing something really stupid, Movie-GAF. With The Fate of the Furious coming out next month, I'm thinking of catching up with the franchise and watching every single one, back to back. (I saw the first one back in 2001, don't remember anything about it, and never saw any of the others.)
I'm thinking of doing something really stupid, Movie-GAF. With The Fate of the Furious coming out next month, I'm thinking of catching up with the franchise and watching every single one, back to back. (I saw the first one back in 2001, don't remember anything about it, and never saw any of the others.)
I'm thinking of doing something really stupid, Movie-GAF. With The Fate of the Furious coming out next month, I'm thinking of catching up with the franchise and watching every single one, back to back. (I saw the first one back in 2001, don't remember anything about it, and never saw any of the others.)
I'm thinking of doing something really stupid, Movie-GAF. With The Fate of the Furious coming out next month, I'm thinking of catching up with the franchise and watching every single one, back to back. (I saw the first one back in 2001, don't remember anything about it, and never saw any of the others.)
I'm thinking of doing something really stupid, Movie-GAF. With The Fate of the Furious coming out next month, I'm thinking of catching up with the franchise and watching every single one, back to back. (I saw the first one back in 2001, don't remember anything about it, and never saw any of the others.)
I'm thinking of doing something really stupid, Movie-GAF. With The Fate of the Furious coming out next month, I'm thinking of catching up with the franchise and watching every single one, back to back. (I saw the first one back in 2001, don't remember anything about it, and never saw any of the others.)
I've seen them all, and am going to watch them all again in time for the new one. The latter three are great action films! 2 Fast 2 Furious, though... I find that one fairly boring. I'm skipping that one, haha.
But as UrbanRats said... are you ready for some family? Because family is what it's all about. Don't ever turn your back on family. Because family is all we got. Now let's race.
It's a way better film than it has any right to be. I was expecting Hallmark quality shit(didn't look at any reviews) but came out pretty surprised by it back in the day.
Fargo Season 2 - This was unexpectedly terrible. Dunst is so much better than those tv actors it's not even funny. I would rather rewatch True Detective S2
Saw Personal Shopper and I'm already mad about Kristen Stewart having a 0% chance at getting any awards love for it. Best performance of the year so far.
Saw Personal Shopper and I'm already mad about Kristen Stewart having a 0% chance at getting any awards love for it. Best performance of the year so far.
The core problem in all his movies is that Moore was terribly miscast as Bond. Even in the less-bad ones, like For Your Eyes Only and The Spy Who Loved Me, Moore sticks out like a sore thumb as one of the biggest, worst things about them.
Fargo Season 2 - This was unexpectedly terrible. Dunst is so much better than those tv actors it's not even funny. I would rather rewatch True Detective S2
Saw Personal Shopper and I'm already mad about Kristen Stewart having a 0% chance at getting any awards love for it. Best performance of the year so far.
It doesn't open in Canada till the 24th. So I get the double feature of Personal Shopper and Power Rangers. I wonder which will be better!
Also, when the hell is Trainspotting 2 opening wide? I've seen March 10, March 17, and March 31st. Now it looks like the 10th or the 17th is the limited release?
Anyone seen Copenhagen (2014)? Randomly loaded it up on Netflix last night and was pretty blown away. Not usually into romance films so much but this really resonated with me. They did a fantastic job of building up the relationship between the two main characters and dealt with a kinda touchy subject in a really sweet and mature way.
The to leads were fantastic, especially the actress playing Effy. There was so much subtle detail to her performance. Soundtrack was great too. Can definitely see myself watching this one again.
Easy 4/5.
I'm thinking of doing something really stupid, Movie-GAF. With The Fate of the Furious coming out next month, I'm thinking of catching up with the franchise and watching every single one, back to back. (I saw the first one back in 2001, don't remember anything about it, and never saw any of the others.)
I semi did this recently with 1, 2, and 4 (3 I genuinely hate), and I think they are worthwhile. There is a certain level of earnestness that runs through this franchise that I find admirable. 1 is most in control of itself, in the sense that it knows the strengths and weaknesses of its tropes and sticks to a unified creative vision. 2, 3, and 4 are weaker and more aimless in not knowing how to best use its genre in service of its story and even entertainment. 3 bring, again, the worst.
Need to rewatch 5. Liked but didn't love 7. I've seen 6 several times, and I think it is the movie that is the most assured and confident in the franchise. Maybe except 1. Experimenting and pushing the limits. Its the pacing and sense of escalation is magnificient.
1 is great in the way that an eager 1st movie in a franchise is (like Pirates of the Caribbean) and 6 is great in the way a second movie in a trilogy often is after it has had time to gain confidence in what works and what doesn't about itself (like The Dark Knight - no I'm not saying an F&F movie is comparable to Nolan, just making a point).
F&F is a loud bombastic franchise to be sure, but it takes a certain amount of craftsmanship to keep things on the silly side of the line between silly and stupid. The real life cast's friendship bleeds into the screen, which adds bonus empathy to the character and family theme, but I think as a whole the franchise works even without that.
I would pair the first movie with the first XXX. Both Vin Diesel movies, in different ways, really tap into the too cool for school teenage "fuck authority, but not really because they pay the bills" sense of fun. Fast just does it with better characters and heart.
The element of the movies that leaves me the most conflicted is the sexism. The female characters are generally fine (but far from good) given that no one here is three-dimensional but there is a ton of objectification going on with the racing/party scenes. Not even the content, but the camera's music video eye. Idk if that's harmless cheesecake fun that goes with the territory or just one more case of eye rolling male gaze bullshit.
Damn, I did not expect I'd be laying out a case for the Fast & the Furious franchise today.
The core problem in all his movies is that Moore was terribly miscast as Bond. Even in the less-bad ones, like For Your Eyes Only and The Spy Who Loved Me, Moore sticks out like a sore thumb as one of the biggest, worst things about them.
Rotated between characters well, one liners by Samuel L Jackson that we're accustomed too, just a good action film that kept me on the edge of my seat in a theater that was 50% filled.
