Gremlins 2: The New Batch: Wow this movie is insane. In case Joe Dante didn't make his intentions to make these movies into real life cartoons with the last film, he opens up this movie with a Bugs and Daffy short that transitions into the title screen. Things only get weirder from there. This doesn't quite have the charm of the first film, as this ditches the Christmas nostalgia and small town in favor of the big city and a cartoonish corporation. It's well aware of itself though, as the movie will frequently make self-reflexive and fourth wall breaking jokes about itself and its relation to the first film. This a super entertaining sequel, but its also exhausting. Dante keeps the movie cranked to 11 the entire time with ever mounting insanity. I prefer the first film's more modest antics and charm, but I'm really glad this movie exists because I don't see something this deranged slipping through the studio system again any time soon.
Haha forreal this movie goes nuts. It's refreshing how much this ups the ante. Also he based the rich boss on Trump, since the man was just as obnoxious a public figure back then
Taking a light-hearted hilarious - hence refreshing - approach on the Batman lore and managing to pull it off decently, The Lego Batman Movie is a well-paced self-aware movie that, for the most part, doesn't take itself srsly and follows a Deadpool-like route
Batman himself is the cornerstone of the movie, with hilarious spot-on lines that blatantly reveal his personality, overshadowing other characters to the point that they all come off as cliche - including Joker which a distinguished voice actor for him would've gone a long way - and contribute nothing particularly refreshing to the experience
The story is simple and predictable, as 99% of the superhero movies, it kicks off promising with the first-half doubling down on Batman and fleshing him out as adorably as possible, but the second half is on a slippery slope with a shit ton of shoehorned ideas that are nothing to write home about
Overall,The Lego Batman Movie is at its best when Batman comes into play and is at its worst when it remains loyal to the genre conventions and is afraid of deviating from them, it's fun to watch with Batman portrayal being the most positive and endearing aspect, making it alone a good reason to give the movie a shot.
The Great Wall (2016) - almost patently ridiculous throughout, saved by some of the most epic moments of awesomeness. Also very colorful, which I enjoyed. While I consider LotR to be the height of fantasy, it's a black and gray world. The Great Wall adds stunning color to the world and feels vibrant because of it. The defense of the wall is fun to watch, though you have to wonder if this is the best they could muster after 60 years of preparing. One would hope they did better the next time. Matt Damon sounds like he has a cold throughout the whole thing. I don't know what accent he was attempting, or whether he was just trying to bring his voice down an octave for the lulz, but it was distracting.
All in all though, ridiculousness aside, it was fun when it needed to be, a blatant CGI fest of silly, and overall ranks in the midst of the best Underworld and Resident Evil movies for guilty pleasures.
The only one I saw is the one from 2002. Dagmara Dominczyk as Mercédès is really beautiful, she's gorgeous. Guy Pearce plays Mondego, like a perfect asshole as usual. Jim Caviezel is ok as Dantes I guess.
I've watched 6 female-fronted movies this year so far, and they've all been good to great.
Raw, The Levelling, The Handmaiden, Wonder Woman, Colossal, and now...
Yes, she's a dog, but she's also your mom. Bitch
Writer+director affairs are quite common in indie films, but writer+actor+director (WAD) deals are less so and can be seen as more tricky or possibly self-indulgent. It can range from Tommy Wiseau to Ben Affleck, Steven Soderbergh (Schizopolis), Shane Carruth, Woody Allen, and John Cassavetes. Well, it's about time we added Marianna Palka to the WADs.
Despite Raw having been released recently, I'm still confident in saying Bitch is the most intense feminist horror drama of 2017. Marianna Palka's follow-up to her debut Good Dick goes in a more ambitious and bold direction. What helps with the intensity is the claustrophobic framing by Armando Salas and absolutely cacophonous audio design to go along with the very Jon Brion-feeling (Punch Drunk Love) score by Morgan Z Whirledge. It is dominating in a very thematically appropriate manner.
Marianna Palka's character plays a housewife who at the very start is at the end of her rope - or should we say - belt. Swamped by the kids and neglected by the husband who's been having an affair that only he thinks is a secret, she attempts suicide by tying a belt to a ceiling light fixture. However, it breaks, so she decides to become a dog. Naturally. If you're going to be treated like one, why not become one. There are elements of dark and absurdist comedy here, but most of it is played straight as a family drama with horror undertones (like the recent Krisha). Jason Ritter's character starts out as the stereotypical male. He's the main breadwinner of the family, works 18 hours, doesn't spend much time at the house, treats his wife like a servant, and has an extramarital affair. After she starts acting like a dog and having to be locked up in the basement, he has to step up to be the main parent. This is where the broad comedy comes in as he's adjusting to taking his kids to school, having a schedule that he can't adjust to, and never being able to get to his conference meeting on time. He often says he's nothing without his job. What could have stayed as an annihilation of the American dream becomes something much more hopeful and nuanced. Her sister (Jaime King) is the voice of reason in the whole film, beating logic into him about what he should do now. It's this redemptive arc that gives a more balanced and complex examination on marriage. That doesn't stop it from being an intense film throughout, but it evolves in certainly unexpected ways to make for a more satisfying experience. Fantastic acting all around, even the kids. One of the best films of the year.
Elijah Wood, the producer, wanted a more feminist "screw you" ending where when she gains back her senses, she decides to leave him (Marianna Palka: "I think he's a better feminist than me!") but he understood that this wasn't that kind of film.
I hope Marianna Palka continues this trend of great movie titles.
Top Five of May: aka the new Twin Peaks has got me Lynch thirsty
1. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
2. The Straight Story
3. Eraserhead
4. Wild at Heart
5. Field of Dreams
Top Five Rewatches
1. Mulholland Drive
2. Alien
3. Aliens
4. Heat
5. Toy Story 3
It's fitting that the Looney Tunes legend Chuck Jones has a cameo in Gremlins, because this movie is essentially a live action cartoon, bringing exaggerated personalities and ever mounting madness together in a kinetic flurry of Coyote and Road Runner antics. Hyper speed dolly shots and abundant canted angles make sure the creative set-pieces are brought to life in a suitably expressive and energetic manner. The real stars are of course the titular beasties, which are honestly so fun to watch I could sit through a full movie of them raising hell and pantomiming human actions like they do in the madcap bar sequence, where it's just shot after shot of them smoking an obscene amount of cigarettes, guzzling beer, dressing up in drag, break dancing, and spinning from ceiling fans. This movie has a wonderful macabre punch that children's movies have been thoroughly sanitized of, sadly. It trusts its audience enough to allow for some real darkness, and therefore real emotional stakes, in the movie, but it's never mean-spirited, or overly gruesome, and always remains effortlessly endearing. This will surely slot into my annual Christmas and/or Halloween movie rotations.
I forced my mother to rent this so often when I was 4ish that the video store ended up buying me a copy. Gremlins always amazes me with how it's able to balance so many genres at once. Slapstick, black comedy, horror, teen romance, etc. while still being a Christmas movie and having the cutest thing ever in it. Then Gremlins 2 comes along and I watch in disbelief that a major studio actually let Dante do whatever he wanted with an incredibly high budget. Both movies hold a special place in my heart. The fan inside me wants Gremlins 3 to happen but I then I think about how much they would screw it up.
The Red Turtle: A beautifully drawn tale of survival that takes an interesting turn for those willing to buy into the leap it makes. With the only discernible dialogue in the film being the shouting of "hey" at the top of one's lungs, the film makes a choice to rely entirely on the virtues of its visual storytelling approach to engage. Striking color choices and an intriguing use of distance to its protagonist in the early goings with wide angles that highlight the vastness of his environment and what he hopes to be his temporary home make for an aesthetically pleasing film that also tells its seemingly simple story in an elegant manner. Once the title character makes their appearance, the story starts to shift gears towards something more mythological, and while it stands as a pretty big jump from the more simple survivalist story that it starts out at, it's a necessary one as the themes start to incorporate the guilt of making rash decisions and the courage to make something good out of them. This does lead to some surprisingly harrowing scenes, making this a very difficult film to recommend to parents wanting to watch something with their kids (this is one hard PG that probably should have been PG-13, that's for sure), but it does help highlight that the stakes are at a constant high even when it doesn't seem like much might be happening right away. A lot of the film's appeal... well, let's face it, pretty much all of it can attributed to the presence of Studio Ghibli as a production partner, especially as this is the first film they've worked on since the then-shutdown but now thankfully temporary closure of their development studio. In truth, their contributions can be chalked up as being a guiding hand, rather than the animators that one would likely expect them to be in, with that aspect falling on the French filmmakers led by director Michael Dudok de Wit to bring this tale to life. There are certainly very strong Ghibli elements here, especially with how enjoyably fussy the animation is on the various non-human inhabitants on the island (the crabs are a particular highlight and feel like they fell out of a Miyazaki film), but the film boasts truly boasts its own identity that makes it just as much an equal to that studio's legacy. The relative quietness of the film (a misnomer in of itself, as the sound mix of the film stands as perhaps more impressive than its animation!) may throw people off, especially with the fantastical turn it does make, but this is a very rewarding film all the same that delights in its simplicity and inspires in its powerful imagery, leaving a long-lasting impression.
I thought Oldboy was pretty good, even if it's not a direct adaptation.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: Watching another Marilyn Monroe film. Nice musical numbers, but I don't care much for the rest. Marilyn plays a dumb blonde who's a gold digger, and tries to justify it in the end. Also, the worst child actor I've seen in a movie.
How to Murder your Wife : Pretty good, I always like a good Jack Lemmon comedy. And I might be in love with yet another italian actress of the past in the person of Virna Lisi
Graduation (7.5/10) - The best part of Mungiu's style is his willingness to hold a shot during conversations and allow a rhythm to develop between actors. There's an intensity to watching Romeo, for example, pleading with his daughter or attempting to explain and rationalize his motivations (and basically articulate his paternal love for her), as the conversation becomes increasingly more frustrated and sad, and so much of that is borne out of being able to read Eliza's body language. Conversely, this style can contrast the discussions of backroom dealing and corruption with a dramatically potent casualness, an everyday matter-of-factness that helps illustrate Mungiu's themes (the most shocking part to me was finding myself sympathizing with Romeo in one scene, when discussing his problems with his police officer friend, thinking of course I would help my friend out in the same situation, who wouldn't, before stepping back and going, hold on, yeah, no, because that would make us criminals lol). To this effect, Mungiu does a good job weaving a thorny and intricate web of ethical dilemmas, where the viewer can empathize with multiple viewpoints.
His style also works against him a bit, however. A long take of Romeo wandering around at night, attempting to follow a potential suspect (I won't be more specific, to avoid spoilers) doesn't really build any suspense, and just kind of drags on. Similarly, a prolonged shot of Romeo wandering into the woods and having a breakdown doesn't offer anything dramatically, and even worse, is connected to one of the film's peculiar, open ended subplots that attempt to suffuse proceedings with a Haneke-like mystery (think the VHS tapes in Caché) but ultimately just feel extraneous. The heart of the film is less corruption in Romania and more the love and sacrifice of parents for their children, and the lines they're willing to cross for them... so who really cares who tossed a stone through Romeo's window?
Pretty good, but a step down from 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. I didn't see Beyond the Hills.
Bound For Glory: 5/10. I had no idea America was so boring. Keith Carradine doesn't even sing very well. Life: 7/10. Yeah it's just Alien but that's ok. Solid sci-fi horror. Wilson: 4/10. Yikes. Not sure how such a great book ended up like this. Lego Batman: 5/10. A few laughs but holy fuck this is just NOISE. Non stop multicolor frenetic action, I was exhausted by the end. Way too long.
Re-watched Dr. Strange on Netflix and it's still my least favorite Marvel movie since Iron Man 2. It's just boring as shit with the worst villains yet in a Marvel movie, which is really saying something. The only good thing about the movie is Cumberbatch as Strange, even though I think they should've just let him use his real accent.
Wonder Woman - this is probably my favorite superhero movie now. And I liked Spider-Man 1 (McGuire) and The Dark Knight a hell of a lot. I could rewatch this thing over and over.
Carol (2015): I had some friends over the other night and they opted to watch this, as one was a big fan of Cate Blanchett. This was my second viewing of the film. The first time around I was a bit fixated on a couple of points on which the film diverges from the novel, but coming in with that knowledge it didn't stand out as much this time. Great acting, great production and costume design, etc. (though I like Rooney Mara's style early in the film more, honestly, so that transition didn't have quite the impact it's perhaps meant to).
Separate Tables (1958): What initially seems like a quaint British romantic drama turns into an attempt at exploring somewhat edgier themes (by 1958 standards), which in turns runs into problems because this film has some rather dated gender politics. See, Deborah Kerr is a spinster and David Niven
likes to sexually harass women in movie theatres
, and those are totally alike in their reflecting a lack of comfort with being openly sexual, right? And Burt Lancaster
tried to rape his ex-wife Rita Hayworth, but she was being a manipulative bitch and denying him sex, so they're on the same footing, right?
I liked the first one, but Lego Batman was just too much cotton candy for me. "Noise" is a good way to describe it. I'm into hyperactive nonsense, but something about that particular movie made me feel 90 years old. Get off my lawn, Lego Batman.
I was considering Lego Batman... wasn't a fan of the first one, found it really annoying tbh and based off that and this movie's trailer, I was gonna pass, but then some reviews started changing my mind. Now you guys are swaying me in the opposite direction.
I'll wait and watch Lego Batman with my nieces, I can't handle seeing Frozen again. If anything, I heard that there were a lot of easter eggs for longtime Batman fans, so I should dig that at least.
Forreal. Lego movie was nice the first time and as a Batman fan I had some fun with the opening of Lego Batman but God damn these movies are on some ADD with the constant jokes and references
Neither hold up well honestly, even the first which I enjoyed. It's just tiring to watch and kinda lame
Frankly, I went into Wonder Woman with an attitude bordering on cynicism. Given DC's most recent live action cinematic efforts have been the awful Batman v Superman and the positively ghastly Suicide Squad in their attempts to rival Marvel's shared film universe experiment, it wasn't a unique attitude to have, at least according to the internet. It's also had (unfairly) the weight of carrying the first big female led Superhero movie, being directed by a female director, etc
So I'm extremely pleased to say that Wonder Woman is a soaring success that so far surpasses its predecessors in the DCEU it's practically embarrassing. The first great DCEU film is here, and its wonder (woman) ful.
Granted, it might not be breaking any new barriers at a narrative level, its an old school superhero film telling that feels a little like a mix of Thor and the first Captain America with a slightly darker tone, though nowhere near the soul crushing dourness thats infected all the DC movies up to this point. And the traditional story is told and portrayed so well that it hardly matters.
Wonder Woman reminds of the first Captain America in the sense of tone, rather than explicit content. That is to say, Wonder Woman is not a wink wink jokey toned superhero film, such as Doctor Strange, Guardians of The Galaxy, whatever, but is 100% sincere and lacking irony. In a different film, this might not work, or it might become way too poo faced for its own good, but thankfully Wonder Woman never falls into that trap. Diana Prince enters the world of man (that is to say, London and subsequently the battle front) at the end of the first world war with naive expectations of what, well people are like, believing all people (even the people fighting the war) to be basically good and that the war is caused by outside influences and when the outside influence stops, the war will end. The narrative follows Diana losing these naive ideals about the beliefs and goodness of people (its almost always referred to as man, incidentally) and despite her intial disillusionment, deciding to fight for them anyway because although people can be pretty awful, they also have capacity for the greatest deeds as well.
So its a different character arc from the usual superhero fare, the social commentary about feminism and the role of men and women and the absurdity of it in early 20th century society (and ours) is there, and it enhances the narrative. Cool.
Gal Gadot is also a perfect Wonder Woman. To the extent that she now is the character, in the same way we'll forever think of Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man or Chris Evans as Captain America, she is Wonder Woman. She effortlessly (seemingly) achieves the role, beautiful and charming but also ever so slightly bumbling and innocent, and absolutely incredible in the action scenes. Chris Pine also does a great job as the sidekick love interest, in a humourous reversal of roles for someone like him who it feels like would generally be the star, him and Gadot have great chemistry. The rest of the cast do great work as well, particularly Saïd Taghmaoui, Lucy Davis, and David Thewlis.
But those action scenes, oh my stars. If you haven't heard or seen the action scenes in the trenches, then you shouldn't spoil it for yourself by seeing it in trailers or on youtube, you should just go and see it and be blown away like I was, its incredible. The third act mega brawl doesn't seem to have resonated with people quite as much, but I quite liked it, and it also looked visually spectacular.
And the soundtrack rocks. The Wonder Woman electric guitar thing that felt weird in BvS fits so much better here, it was great.
I was idly thinking maybe I liked Wonder Woman so much after the first viewing, because it was the first viewing and quite often you're on a sort of post viewing high. So I went to see it again, and liked it even more, so nope, Wonder Woman is just fantastic. It's beautifully shot, well acted, fantastic soundtrack, fantastic action, maybe a predictable narrative but it works completely and tells a compelling story with good characters. This is what DC have been waiting for, please don't screw up Justice League now that I'm on board.
Frankly, I went into Wonder Woman with an attitude bordering on cynicism. Given DC's most recent live action cinematic efforts have been the awful Batman v Superman and the positively ghastly Suicide Squad in their attempts to rival Marvel's shared film universe experiment, it wasn't a unique attitude to have, at least according to the internet. It's also had (unfairly) the weight of carrying the first big female led Superhero movie, being directed by a female director, etc
So I'm extremely pleased to say that Wonder Woman is a soaring success that so far surpasses its predecessors in the DCEU it's practically embarrassing. The first great DCEU film is here, and its wonder (woman) ful.
Granted, it might not be breaking any new barriers at a narrative level, its an old school superhero film telling that feels a little like a mix of Thor and the first Captain America with a slightly darker tone, though nowhere near the soul crushing dourness thats infected all the DC movies up to this point. And the traditional story is told and portrayed so well that it hardly matters.
Wonder Woman reminds of the first Captain America in the sense of tone, rather than explicit content. That is to say, Wonder Woman is not a wink wink jokey toned superhero film, such as Doctor Strange, Guardians of The Galaxy, whatever, but is 100% sincere and lacking irony. In a different film, this might not work, or it might become way too poo faced for its own good, but thankfully Wonder Woman never falls into that trap. Diana Prince enters the world of man (that is to say, London and subsequently the battle front) at the end of the first world war with naive expectations of what, well people are like, believing all people (even the people fighting the war) to be basically good and that the war is caused by outside influences and when the outside influence stops, the war will end. The narrative follows Diana losing these naive ideals about the beliefs and goodness of people (its almost always referred to as man, incidentally) and despite her intial disillusionment, deciding to fight for them anyway because although people can be pretty awful, they also have capacity for the greatest deeds as well.
So its a different character arc from the usual superhero fare, the social commentary about feminism and the role of men and women and the absurdity of it in early 20th century society (and ours) is there, and it enhances the narrative. Cool.
Gal Gadot is also a perfect Wonder Woman. To the extent that she now is the character, in the same way we'll forever think of Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man or Chris Evans as Captain America, she is Wonder Woman. She effortlessly (seemingly) achieves the role, beautiful and charming but also ever so slightly bumbling and innocent, and absolutely incredible in the action scenes. Chris Pine also does a great job as the sidekick love interest, in a humourous reversal of roles for someone like him who it feels like would generally be the star, him and Gadot have great chemistry. The rest of the cast do great work as well, particularly Saïd Taghmaoui, Lucy Davis, and David Thewlis.
But those action scenes, oh my stars. If you haven't heard or seen the action scenes in the trenches, then you shouldn't spoil it for yourself by seeing it in trailers or on youtube, you should just go and see it and be blown away like I was, its incredible. The third act mega brawl doesn't seem to have resonated with people quite as much, but I quite liked it, and it also looked visually spectacular.
And the soundtrack rocks. The Wonder Woman electric guitar thing that felt weird in BvS fits so much better here, it was great.
I was idly thinking maybe I liked Wonder Woman so much after the first viewing, because it was the first viewing and quite often you're on a sort of post viewing high. So I went to see it again, and liked it even more, so nope, Wonder Woman is just fantastic. It's beautifully shot, well acted, fantastic soundtrack, fantastic action, maybe a predictable narrative but it works completely and tells a compelling story with good characters. This is what DC have been waiting for, please don't screw up Justice League now that I'm on board.
Doctor Strange 2016
★★★ Some of the best visual effects to grace the MCU, but the story was predictable. It almost felt like the movie was holding back despite the multidimensional effects. I hope the second one fully embraces its comic book roots.
Just saw Baby Driver. What an unbelievable movie. Will be neck and neck with John Wick 2 for my favourite action movie of the year and honestly, probably my favourite movie of the year.
Don't sleep on it when it's out. I really hope it does well.
Just saw Baby Driver. What an unbelievable movie. Will be neck and neck with John Wick 2 for my favourite action movie of the year and honestly, probably my favourite movie of the year.
Don't sleep on it when it's out. I really hope it does well.
Just saw Baby Driver. What an unbelievable movie. Will be neck and neck with John Wick 2 for my favourite action movie of the year and honestly, probably my favourite movie of the year.
Don't sleep on it when it's out. I really hope it does well.
I'm glad GAF seems super hyped on it. None of my friends have even heard of it. The GAF hype gives me hope it will do well! Definitely going again for the official opening. Such a fun movie.
Advanced screenings! They are always around 2 hours way from me so I never go, but I made the trip for this one because I was so excited for this plus Edgar Wright did a Q&A about it afterwards. Worth the trip!
Advanced screenings! They are always around 2 hours way from me so I never go, but I made the trip for this one because I was so excited for this plus Edgar Wright did a Q&A about it afterwards. Worth the trip!
I'll wait and watch Lego Batman with my nieces, I can't handle seeing Frozen again. If anything, I heard that there were a lot of easter eggs for longtime Batman fans, so I should dig that at least.
Super informative and very funny. Surprisingly good audience questions too (although I never have the nerve to ask anything at those things). I saw a few people leave right after the movie which was odd - it's definitely worth sticking around for.
Super informative and very funny. Surprisingly good audience questions too (although I never have the nerve to ask anything at those things). I saw a few people leave right after the movie which was odd - it's definitely worth sticking around for.
Good to hear. I think I might ask for a pic with him afterwards if he's not in a rush Nearly every Q&A I ask a question on the mic, and it's lovely to see the filmmakers thank you for the good question or remember it when you chat with them afterwards. The Raw director gave me a big thumbs up as she left cause she loved my Cronenberg Q haha. Q&As are the best!
Good to hear. I think I might ask for a pic with him afterwards if he's not in a rush Nearly every Q&A I ask a question on the mic, and it's lovely to see the filmmakers thank you for the good question or remember it when you chat with them afterwards. The Raw director gave me a big thumbs up as she left cause she loved my Cronenberg Q haha. Q&As are the best!
That's awesome! I never have the courage - there was one guy at the Baby Driver Q&A that asked a very obvious question that the movie itself answered which was very uncomfortable and reminded me why I just sit back and listen!
Edgar is a very smart guy though and it was super cool to hear more about this movie. It's definitely something special.
WONDER WOMAN (DCEU part IV): lithesome bisexual warrior leads troops to WW1 victory against a cadre of mustache-twirling villains. Borrowing heavily from Snyder's superhero visuals and choreography, but opting for a simpler take on the hero's journey, this is a charming and earnest tale bolstered by real humor and heart. Highlights include Wonder Woman meeting a baby, eating ice cream, charging into a German bullet bukkake, and later deploying Godzilla-level destruction against an armored Sith. Chris Pine was pretty good and Wonder Woman was played by an actual goddess. A definite improvement from the muddled SUICIDE SQUAD, this is at least as good as MAN OF STEEL and better than the average offering from the Marvel sausage factory.
Also, seeing the trailer for VALERIAN in 3D almost made me cry.
Yo, I saw that in front of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and my feelings on the film went from "meh" to "Day 1" almost immediately. I actually sat up and leaned in closer to the screen, like, holy shit what am I seeing. Those were some of the most impressive 3D effects I've seen, the futuristic cityscapes were just brimming with life and depth (and I'm usually iffy on 3D at best).
I'm definitely making a trip to the theatres for a 3D screening of that now. Even if the script sucks, it should be a sight.
Yo, I saw that in front of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and my feelings on the film went from "meh" to "Day 1" almost immediately. I actually sat up and leaned in closer to the screen, like, holy shit what am I seeing. Those were some of the most impressive 3D effects I've seen, the futuristic cityscapes were just brimming with life and depth (and I'm usually iffy on 3D at best).
I'm definitely making a trip to the theatres for a 3D screening of that now. Even if the script sucks, it should be a sight.