Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Dec 22, 2019 19:33:35 GMT -5
Star Wars talk ahead. I tried to stay nonspecific, but if you want yo go in blind, don't read. Basic opinion: Didn't care for it, and yes I'm passive aggressive about it.
#52: Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker - Congratulations, whining nerds. You got the Star Wars movie you wanted. You all are probably happy with the pandering, but I was bored. Admittedly, I'm not a huge Star Wars geek, as I only sat down and watched a full Star Wars movie at the ripe age of 17 (I was into Godzilla and Planet of the Apes when I was a kid), and my reaction was "This is fine." I don't have the adoration or nostalgia for the series that so many do, so I call them as I see them. Rise of Skywalker? It's a fireworks display. A sound and light show that is meant to dazzle for however the hell long you're able to sit for. As it went on I kind of lost track of what the story was, but it also occured to me it wasn't really about anything. It's designed as a bumper cushion conclusion to Rey and Kylo Ren's storyline, done in a very safe manner that was hard to care about. Rey, in particular, mostly steals Luke's arc from Return of the Jedi, and the film even repeats scenes from it (albeit more extravagantly), making the whole ordeal of a sequel trilogy seem pointless. The only purpose it seemed to serve in the end was to give the Empire/First Order a more glorified ending than being knocked down by the slingshots of the Ewoks. I've never given much stock in the idea of Rey being a Mary Sue, but there are definitely points in this film where the movie feels like it's saying "F*** it, she can do anything." The idea seems to be that she's toeing the line between Jedi and Sith, but at times I felt like I was dropped into one of those Resident Evil movies where Milla Jovovich can make people blow up with her mind for some reason. Kylo Ren is a bit more successful as a character, as he often is the driving force of the film's strongest scenes, but I can't fully say the same for Carrie Fisher's Leia, who's worked in sequences are complete cringe. But they were in a bind when it came to her character, so I'll let that slide. The end result is the most soulless Star Wars movie the factory of Disney has pumped out yet. If that's what you wanted, then yes, Star Wars is back! Up yours, Last Jedi!
#53: Cats - Love it ironically or loathe it passionately, I'll be honest and say there more to gain from watching Cats this weekend instead of Star Wars. At least it will provoke a reaction other that a shrug. Is it an abomination? Not really. If anything its biggest sin is that it wasn't made when the Broadway show was at its most popular. It comes out at a time where Cats is more of a novelty of "Hey, remember this weird thing people used to be obsessed with?" The film itself is the coming together of so many people trying desperately to make this movie work, but out popped this fever dream of a movie full of strange looking motion capture performances and a strange, abstract personality. Cats tries to be many things: a ballet, an opera, a whimsical fairy tale...and it all adds to the strangeness of the piece which will turn off most, but a select crowd may secretly adore. I admired the choreography. Not necessarily the dancing, but the way all the performers were trained to move and act like actual cats, because it was obviously extensive. I also admire that the movie just GOES FOR IT. It's all or nothing for this movie. It was probably never going to work, but you can't say they didn't try. It will undoubtedly win worst picture at the Razzies in a few months, but that's not a testament to how there are no movies worse than it in 2019 (watch how Radioflash or The Great Alaskan Race won't get nominated because nobody saw them), but rather more that it's a high profile easy target they can bully for a cheap laugh. But I'm probably more likely to rewatch Cats over several movies this year that I could name, simply because as a movie it's more curious and interesting.
#54: Dabangg 3 - Astonishingly weird Bollywood action comedy, third in a series about a musclebound, super suave, supercop. This one sees our hero foiling a sex trafficking ring but finds out it's being ran by a villain who killed a prior lover of his many years prior. Much like Housefull 4, I haven't seen/heard of this series. Luckily as someone who has watched a lot of action movies, I easily picked up what the movie was doing, even if I wasn't familiar with its characters. Imagine the Jack Slater movies from Last Action Hero actually existing and being just as absurd in reality as they were in that film within a film. Now imagine it in India, Bollywood staple musical sequences and all. That's pretty much the Dabangg 3 experience. The one pill I had trouble swallowing with this is that the film is absurdly long at over two hours and forty minutes. The film thinks it makes it up to the viewer with its extended flashback sequence establishing the hero's history with the villain, which almost makes the movie two movies in one at times. If I'm being honest it made the movie feel indulgent, and a lot of it's fun energy felt burnt out after a while. But for once at these Bollywood movies I was joined by an Indian family in the theater, and they seemed to greatly enjoy it.
#55: Bombshell - This film based on the Fox News sexual misconduct scandal in 2016 was directed by Jay Roach, who most people from my generation know as the director of Austin Powers and Meet the Parents. He provides some pluck to the movie, though when the film tries to be impactful it doesn't always land. It's a bit too bubblegum to make the statement that it wants too, though it's a statement worth making. Bombshell rides high on its actors, who are all excellent, as Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie are all playing their A-game. But as much as the film is about female empowerment in the face of degradation, I might have to give the MVP award to the most prominent male castmember John Lithgow, who is just dynamite as Roger Ailes. Give this man a supporting actor Oscar nod, please!
Next week, spies be pigeons and women be little, while Sandler shoots for Oscar glory.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Dec 27, 2019 21:26:50 GMT -5
#56: Uncut Gems - Adam Sandler has a history of playing unlikeable characters, though they're supposed to be endearing unlikeable characters in comedies. He's not always successful at the "endearing" part (or the "comedy" part), but the attempt is noteworthy. In Uncut Gems he's unlikeable again, though it's the point of the entire movie and it doesn't try to convince us he's endearing in any way. This film sees Sandler playing a jewel dealer who finds himself in debt but with prospects of a big payout, though the situation spirals out of control. Actually, scratch that, it's not entirely out of his control. A lot of the situations he gets into are entirely his fault and he makes them worse along the way. The film is a study on self destruction, as we watch Sandler's worst instincts come into play and always come off with the worst possible conclusion and yet that never deters him from doing it all over again. I actually found myself having anxiety during this movie because Sandler's action are just that maddening. It's a good movie and Sandler is perfectly cast, though if you can't handle a film about bad people doing terrible things you might want to skip it. #57: Little Women - I am not the authoritative voice when it comes to the novel Little Women. I don't believe I've read it, though I may have seen a film version at some point. If I have, it was likely for school and it was probably the Winona Rider one. I did however think highly of writer/director Greta Gerwig's previous film, Lady Bird, and was interested in this film based on her involvement. I don't know if she was shooting for the ultimate adaptation of Little Woman or just an adaptation of Little Woman, but considering how many there are, it's a somewhat thankless task to even try no matter how good it turns out. Not once but twice in the last month did I find the trailer to this movie accidentally substituted for a contemporary version of Little Women that came out last year and starred Lea Thompson, which is pretty insulting I think. But if nothing else, you can tell that Gerwig is has great love for her source material and it makes for a pleasurable viewing experience, as her direction is constantly on point, as is cinematography by Yorick Le Saux. Performances by leads Saoirse Ronan (who also starred in Lady Bird), Eliza Scanlen, and Laura Dern are quite compelling. Emma Watson and Florence Pugh do well most of the time, but sometimes struggle with the dialogue, often coming off as schoolyard dramatic reading. Pugh also has the double hazard of being a woman in her mid-twenties trying to play a 13-year-old in several scenes, and it doesn't really work out for her. But then again, they're all twenty-somethings trying to play teenagers (Watson is pushing 30), so I'm going to forgive it. And the movie is too immensely likeable to not forgive such silly things. #58: Spies in Disguise - One of the bigger surprises since I've started this, this animated movie about a super spy who turns into a pigeon is surprisingly fun, mostly thanks to the charismatic lead duo of Will Smith and Tom Holland. There isn't too much to say about the film, except that kids will probably love it and parents will be decently amused during it. Out of the movies I've seen from Blue Sky, it also might be the best. But that includes a flood of increasingly worse Ice Age sequels, so that might not be something to brag about. Next Week: Crrrrrrrrrooooooooaaaaaaaaak...And those three movies are not only how I close out the month, but also the decade. I haven't seen 1917 yet, but that's because the movie is only in a limited run right now. I'll be seeing it in a few weeks, hopefully. So...what else do I have to look forward to in January? Well, it's a notorious dumping month for garbage, specifically horror garbage, so I probably shouldn't be looking forward to anything. But lucky for me I love bad movies, and while I'm pretty sure almost everything next month will be horrible, here are five maybe-bad-maybe-not January movies that might be worth a peek... Five January Movies I Have My Eye On5 I'm actually pretty convinced Underwater is going to be trash. But I like the isolated underwater setting and I always like various setpieces such things can bring a movie. Whether or not Underwater is smart enough to do it well is a mystery (it probably isn't), but I'm willing to see it try. 4
You can say a lot of nasty things about the first two Bad Boys movies, though personally I think they're Michael Bay's most enjoyable flicks, if only because they showcase him in his element (watching him try and turn Transformers into that element was maddening). This third film doesn't have Bay, which may be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on who you ask. The new directors look like they're trying hard to ape him though, which could be a mistake. But I'm willing to ride together and die together with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence one last time to see if they mayhem is still fun. 3
Whew boy. Look, I'm a fan of Takashi Shimizu's original Ju-on films. The first two are among the most impressive direct to video films I've ever seen and a stunning use of limited resources, while his theatrical follow-ups are noticeably more bombastic, but full of effective scenes. I enjoyed his American remake The Grudge from 2004, though as the series slipped from his grip, it became increasingly less coherent, up to the point where Japan actually released a versus film crossover with the Ring franchise in Sadako vs. Kayako (Sadako won, if you're wondering, though they combined into a super ghost at the end). Now Sony is trying to reboot the American version of the franchise and I'm trying to get a read on it. It looks like it could be something if they've got a clear vision for it, though I'm not interested in seeing the chill scenes from Ju-on get recycled again and again (let me guess, a ghost girl is going to crawl down the stairs again?). I'm hoping for something new being told with this simple ghost story idea. Is that asking too much? Probably. And it's probably going to be horrible. Hopefully less horrible than that Rings movie from a few years ago. But I love those Ju-on films enough to see what these new guys have up their sleeves. Meow. 2
Guy Ritchie can be hit or miss (remember when he directed a King Arthur movie once?), but this flick looks like he's back home. I'm hoping for some quirky, violent fun with The Gentlemen. Hopefully it will pay off 1
Now this could be the one movie on this list that could potentially be something special. A horror movie based of a fairy tale done in a style reminiscent of The Witch? I am so in. Gretel & Hansel could be yet another crap horror movie dumped in January, but I will be heartbroken if it is, because this is just a fabulous idea. The Leftovers Like a Boss - Not really my kind of comedy, though there are bits in the trailer that I think are cute. I like Salma Hayek's dry delivery of the line "My head is not little, it's just my breasts are humongous." I also like Rose Byrne's little dance. I don't know if it's "funny," but it's adorable. I'll try to keep an open mind, but there are a lot of jokes that land with a thud in that trailer. Dolittle - I'm hearing rumblings that this movie's production was a disaster. You know another movie's production that was a disaster? The 1960's Doctor Dolittle movie. And that movie was dreadful. This is not encouraging. They probably would have been best off continuing the Eddie Murphy Dolittle franchise. That one was a little dumb, but at least it was smooth sailing on screen and off. The Rhythm Section - I've seen the trailer to this movie many, many times, and it is always been a painful experience. For the life of me I can't tell you what this movie is supposed to be about, which I think is some sort of revenge thriller. The trailer starts out trying to tell me maybe what the storyline could be, then left turns into a complete music video. The movie doesn't look stylish enough to sell me on it being well made, and instead is trying to get me into a theater to see Blake Lively look all beaten down to the beat of "Bad girl...bad girl..." If I wasn't basically seeing it for free, this would be a hard pass. The Turning - If nothing else the cinematography looks really good. If this is a bad movie, I hope it's a good looking bad movie. If it's a good movie, sweet. I like me a haunted house movie. Next week I'll post my top ten most anticipated of 2020 in general. Stay tuned!
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jan 4, 2020 0:04:06 GMT -5
#59: Pain and Glory - This Spanish import seems to be a very personal movie, which my read of it is something of a thinly veiled tale inspired by writer/director Pedro Almodovar's life (I knew nothing about this movie going in, so forgive me if it's common knowledge, but that closing fourth wall break feels obvious). Featuring Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz, Pain and Glory is a film about life reflection, regret, closure, depression, and ultimately inspiration from all. It's an interesting tale that is worth the time to sit through, though at times it meanders. It's a bit of a meaningful meandering though, because it feels like the film is pondering itself as it goes. #60: The Grudge - If the Ju-on series had one failing it's that it repeats itself too often. Takashi Shimizu's theatrical sequel of his direct to video film lifted some spooks from the previous films, while his own-helmed 2004 American remake was a greatest hits reel. Then "sequels" like Beginning of the End and The Final straight up just remade the films unceremoniously. This reboot of the American film takes sequences that were already effective, but tries to "Conjuring" them up for the modern audience. The result is a grimey film that mistakes dourness for atmosphere. There are a few touches I like, such as the non-linear narrative being a police investigation as pieces fall into place (to date the only Ju-on films with a linear narrative are The Grudge 3 and Sadako vs. Kayako), and I also enjoyed the easter egg of the number 4 throughout the film, referencing one of the original Ju-on short films 4444444. Certain horror sequences have their strengths, though the film is not very wise about the staging of others, opting to just pop a ghost in the face of the viewer. Fans of the previous films may note that the film moves away from Kayako and Toshio, though they use their history as an excuse to spark a new curse featuring an American family, which are basically just Kayako and Toshio again (they have a girl with a bloody nose instead of a boy that meows like a cat). The film just lacks the elegance that Shimizu had for filming his ghost scenes, opting instead for nastiness and gore. Because of this, the film is more depressing than it is scary and looks and feels like a rotting corpse. I don't ask for inspiration in movies all that much, but is it too much to hope they feel alive? Next Week: Finally 1917! Also Michael B. Jordan gives out mercy and JUST mercy, I learn to act like a boss, and splish splash Kristen Stewart is taking a bath.But enough of screenwriters with issues and ghost kids with bigger issues, we're in 2020! I'm waiting to see a few more films before I put up a top ten for 2019, but lets look ahead for now and see what movies this year that I'm looking forward to! And no, The Grudge wasn't one of them. (Subject to change based on what may be pushed back, or as what looks more interesting as more promotional material gets released) 10. Death on the Nile I really enjoyed Kenneth Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express adaptation. It was a lavish and different kind of major studio picture than we're used to, and I'm all for getting more big budget murder mysteries. Hopefully Knives Out is an indication that they're here to stay for a spell, and this second adventure for Branagh's Hercule Poirot is just as fun. 9. The King's Man I welcome back the Kingsman franchise with this prequel film. While I question detouring when there is probably one more Eggsy film that can be made, The King's Man looks like it's just as much of a blast as its predecessors. 8. Eternals Normally a film about some of my beloved Marvel lore is higher up on the list, but Black Widow has yet to convince me that we needed a post-mortem prequel, Sony has huge question marks around their competence with Venom 2 and Morbius, and The New Mutants...is The New Mutants. Who knows what is going on with that movie. Eternals slipped onto this list as my most anticipated Marvel film of the year because Marvel usually delivers something unique for underdog franchises like this. I'm anxious to find out what the spin on this one is. 7. Gretel & Hansel: A Grimm Fairy Tale I already said a few words about this movie with my January releases write-up. I think it looks unique and promising, and I'm dying to see what the end product is. 6. Tenet Christopher Nolan is not the godsend toward cinema most make him out to be, though he at least always makes interesting movies and they're almost always at the very least good. This offering, which is said to be Nolan's take on time travel, has Inception vibes and looks like it could deliver something just as visually spectacular. Hopefully the script is up to snuff too. 5. Soul One of two Pixar movies this year, I'm looking forward to Soul far more than I am Onward. There is potential for something distinct and beautiful with this film, possibly akin to Inside Out, which is my favorite Pixar film. That may be too high of a bar for Soul to reach, so I'll let it be itself and hope that I like it. 4. Mulan It's hard not to have Disney live-action remake fatigue after 2019, especially after having the dull Lion King shoved in our faces. Mulan is the exception to my personal fatigue. The film looks beautiful and crafted in a way that makes revisiting this story in live-action worthwhile. Hopefully it lives up to those modest expectations. 3. Bill & Ted Face the Music You can keep your Matrix 4, THIS is the Keanu Reeves sequel the world needed! This most bodacious threequel is a long time coming. While it's certainly possible it will be a bogus bummer, to take one last ride with Bill S. Preston Esq. and Theodore Logan sounds like an excellent proposition! 2. Godzilla vs. Kong Godzilla: King of the Monsters was deemed a disappointment by many, but I found it a lightweight effects ride. It's the worst of the MonsterVerse, but it doesn't deter me from looking forward to the big event monster mash that (hopefully) comes out this year. This franchise is riding on Godzilla vs. Kong, but even if it's a bust, I'm happy to just see that it's being given a shot. 1. Wonder Woman 1984 I waited so long for a Wonder Woman movie that I didn't think any film could live up to my expectations. Patty Jenkins' film surpassed them and remains wildly entertaining every time I watch it. Now I hope lightning will strike twice with this second outing, which looks pretty amazing based on the footage we've seen. Here's hoping for some Spider-Man 2/The Dark Knight level sequel making!
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jan 4, 2020 9:13:55 GMT -5
And because nobody asked, here's a rough ranking of the Ju-on/Grudge films (some I've only seen once many years ago, so take with a grain of salt):
1. Ju-on (The Curse, 2000) 2. Ju-on (The Grudge, 2002) 3. The Grudge (2004) 4. Ju-on 2 (The Curse, 2000) 5. The Grudge 2 6. Ju-on: Black Ghost 7. Ju-on 2 (The Grudge, 2003) 8. Kayako vs. Sadako 9. Ju-on: White Ghost 10. Ju-on: Beginning of the End 11. The Grudge (2020) 12. Ju-on: The Final 13. The Grudge 3
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jan 12, 2020 19:39:17 GMT -5
#61: Like a Boss - This is one of those movies where a "joke" is name dropping anatomy talk, like a cake made to look like a vagina giving birth to the baby, then the characters describe every detail you're already looking at to make sure the viewer understands the obvious joke. This problematic comedy also features many scenes where it looks like the performers are genuinely wondering how they're going to make limp gags work. Salma Hayek, bless her soul, is one of the few who gets lost in the character she's given. A lot of her material isn't very good either, but she commits hard, and because of that she can land the rare gag that works. Billy Porter is probably the most consistent, as I got the most laughs out of his melodrama. As for Rose Byrne and Tiffany Haddish, the duo don't have much chemistry, which makes the 80 minute movie feel like an eternity because one can't elevate the other and make it work. It's not unwatchable and it has a slightly enjoyable aloof goofiness to it, but it's pretty lame.
#62: 1917 - This film's Best Picture - Drama win at the Golden Globes was well poised for it to open country wide this weekend. Could Sam Mendes have directed another Best Picture Oscar winner? Maybe! And this one won't have the retrospective taint of Kevin Spacey! Does it live up to the hype? Hoo boy, does it ever! This film, quite possibly the most immersive war film since Saving Private Ryan (and beyond that, for that matter), is a nail-biting, edge of your seat ride from beginning to end. I found myself fully sucked into the story and stayed at rapt attention throughout the duration. If the film had one slight flaw to it, I'd say that the mostly real time storytelling at points did turn the film into a "watch people walk" simulation. The rebound from that is that there are constantly engaging scenarios, so downtime is limited. If this movie were to win Best Picture this year, I'd have no complaints.
#63: Just Mercy - This drama aims squarely for your feels, and I found it mostly successful. It's hard not to find its ultimate conclusion a little emotional. The film inarguably hits soaring highs, though it feels like it's staging a few of its scenes for dramatic effect at times. I will confess not knowing what's true to life and what isn't (the film is based on a book by the film's real life lawyer), so I'll grant Just Mercy a little bit of mercy. One thing I can say for certain is that performances are uniformly exceptional, especially leads Michael B. Jordan, Brie Larson, and Jamie Foxx. It's worth checking out to see how well they do with the material.
#64: Underwater - There is no time for pleasantries with Underwater, which is pretty much on the move from minute one. There's no genuine feel for the characters, as we only learn their names because each are vaguely familiar with each other and shout them out when they see one another. Underwater is not a character piece though, instead aiming for isolated tension. Despite stylish direction and pretty great cinematography, it doesn't quite achieve that. The movie is very hectic, and its plot beats happen in an instant, sometimes so sudden that you're not sure what is happening (and even though I loved the cinematography in this movie, the murky setting doesn't make things any easier to understand). Sometimes the sound mixing and a intrusive (though very cool) music score can cover up the film's dialogue as well, which makes the movie feel like ninety minutes of chaos rather than any sort of story or adventure. Part of me feels like all of this is intentional, like the characters don't understand what's going on and the filmmakers want the audience to feel the same way, but it doesn't make for a fully satisfying viewing experience. Also, less shots of Kristen Stewart's butt in her underwear and more of Jessica Henwick's, please.
Next Week: Bad boys, bad boys, what ya' gonna do? What ya' gonna do when I talk to the animals!
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jan 17, 2020 18:54:59 GMT -5
I saw some movies at the dollar theater on my days off last week, so let's start with those...
White Snake - Have you ever wondered what Romeo & Juliet would be like if Romeo had a talking dog and Juliet was a snake woman? Wonder no longer, because this Chinese animated film has got the cure for what ails you! The animation, while not super detailed and a little stiff, is quite dynamic and kind of pretty, which is where most of this movie's appeal lies. I can't recommend the story too much, which is apparently based off of some Chinese fairy tale, and if I were more familiar with these Chinese myths I might be more into it. The lore is fairly striking though, if a little weird in places, though the romance between the lead characters hardly registers, which is where its weakness lies.
The Two Popes - This Netflix award bait film was the only film nominated for the Best Drama Golden Globes category that slid off the Oscars list. It's not entirely surprising, not because Two Popes is a bad movie, but rather that it has no real buzz behind it. It's what I would call a performance movie, all but destined to be overlooked in Best Picture but to show some fine actors doing some quality work. That part worked, at least, as leads Anthony Hopkins and Johnathan Pryce got acting nominations. The movie itself is a dramatization of Pope Benedict XVI contemplating resignation of his duties, and discussion of it with his eventual successor, Jorge Mario Bergorlio, the future Pope Francis. Production is quite good, though the film belongs to its actors, who play off of each other beautifully. For those looking for a drama that could almost be a play featuring two great leads doing some great work, The Two Popes should fit the bill.
In the Arms of an Assassin - This Spanish import is going by the title Killing Sarai for some reason on IMDB, though the theater I saw it at showed it with a literal translation of the original title. This action film features an assassin hired by a drug lord who finds the drug lord's mistress stowed away in his car, and finds himself fending off those who are looking for her. It's very slickly made, with lots of sex appeal (the leading lady exists to shed her clothes at various points in the film), and the film has certain echoes of 2002's The Transporter. This movie gets very convoluted as it goes, though, and once the film's original obstacle is passed, it continues on with a different one, and then it still continues. Motivations are murky, not helping is the lead character's "mystique," which makes him a man of few words, of which many are dishonest ones. It's an entertaining film, but I just couldn't make heads or tails of it.
#65: Bad Boys for Life - A Bad Boys movie that received positive reviews? I don't even recognize this world anymore. I think this entry in the Bad Boys series toned down the Michael Bay filth just enough (there is no gratuitous shot of two rats humping, for example) that the chemistry between Martin Lawrence and Will Smith was finally able to bleed through for most. For people like me who saw the first two as gleeful chaos and mayhem with charismatic guides through it, this third Bad Boys is watered down Bad Boys, something of an X-Men: The Last Stand or Terminator 3 entry. The film is still fairly enjoyable, though once its main plot twist is revealed, it becomes increasingly obvious how it's going to play out. I got some laughs, I got some action... I had fun.
But there's nothing in this movie that compares to this cinema magic right here...
#66: Dolittle - The movie I found myself thinking of more than once during the duration of Dolittle was the Jackie Chan version of Around the World in 80 Days. It was also a star-studded, mega-budgeted bombastic failure that seemed to confuse a whimsical tone with flamboyant silliness. That being said, given the thrashing Dolittle has received by critics, I honestly expected it to be worse. There are periods in the film where the idea of the film is in plain sight, only to have it slip away in moments of ineptitude. I found it had a mostly agreeable pleasantness to it and I found a few of the jokes funny, though most were just goofy. I can picture this film being a favorite of children 4 to 8, because it's simple minded, has simple humor, and just tries to be simple, spirited fun. I don't picture parents taking their kids to see it though, as it seems to be more of that movie they rent to shut the kids up on a weekend. It might be somewhat telling that the best Doctor Dolittle movie is still the Eddie Murphy version, which should probably warn studios to please stop trying to turn this book series into a franchise. And yet, this is still the best movie I've ever seen where a dragon receives a colonoscopy.
Next Week: To everything, turn, turn, turn...
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jan 26, 2020 18:02:14 GMT -5
Since I'm currently in the middle of a big move and have also suffered a death in the family, I have not managed to watch this week's new releases. I hear The Gentlemen is very fun and The Turning really sucks.
Hopefully I can sit down for a viewing when things are less hectic. Next week is Hansel and Gretel, which I'm looking forward to, and The Rhythm Section, which I am not.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 2, 2020 1:12:09 GMT -5
I usually try to watch the new arrivals each weekend as they come out, but due to a busy schedule, last weekend just didn't happen, and this week I skipped The Rhythm Section. I'll try and catch up next week because I have a trip to California this week, but in the meantime, here's what I was able to hammer out in the meantime. #67: The Gentlemen - Probably the Guy Ritchie-est movie Guy Ritchie has made in quite some time. The Gentlemen is a rather edgy and collected crime caper told through a fun unreliable narrator lens. Those looking for some dark humor and flared tempers will get more than enough from this quirky flick, which is quite enjoyable. #68: The Turning - We're less than a month into 2020 and we already have two haunted house movies both critics and audiences hated. For quite some time, watching The Turning is like sitting in a waiting room, as it takes a while for anything substantial to happen. The film desires to be a slow burn, but the character relationships it establish run through circles for the duration of the first hour of its ninety minutes. Most of the ghostly action in the film shines in its final third, with some clever imagery intermixed with routine (but ineffective) jump scares. It's when the movie cuts itself off abruptly for its final twist that really hurts what credibility it is trying to work up. I don't hate the idea of the twist, but the way it's presented makes it feel less like a turn of events and more like a cop out. The Turning works hard until that point, sometimes in vein, but it feels like it gives up. But let's talk about that ending, shall we? After all, it's probably 90% of the reason this movie is being hated on. The third act consists of Mackenzie Davis's character discovering the history of the "ghosts" haunting the mansion and decides to take the kids and make a run for it. The film pans out away from the car making a getaway and we see it's actually an image in a painting her mentally ill mother sent her, with the entire sequence we had just seen a figment of her imagination. She then runs out in front of the kids ranting about the ghosts, which the children both can't see and suspect she's losing her mind. Then we cut to Davis in her mother's room at a mental facility, as her mother turns to face her and then Davis screams. We don't see what she's screaming that, though I was assuming this scene was leading up to Davis seeing herself in her mother's place, but then it just abruptly cuts.
I think the movie lost the majority of its audience with the twist in general, because, art be damned, the audience doesn't like being lied to. People hate "It was all a dream," no matter how it was presented. Now, I personally think the idea of portraying mental illness through a haunted house narrative is interesting and didn't hate the twist itself. That being said, if you're going to make a left turn like this then you better at least present it in a conclusive manner that ends the film properly. There is very little conclusive about what transpires and it feels like an important chunk of the film was cut. Ignoring the ending, The Turning has moments. Not ignoring the ending, those moments lead nowhere. #69 (nice): The Last Full Measure - My experience so far with movies that see no advertising in front of the many, many movies I've seen in the past four months has not been great, so my expectations for this movie, which I've only seen advertised as a standee in a lobby, weren't particularly high. But it started with a cast list that blew my mind: Christopher Plummer, William Hurt, Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris, and even Peter Fonda in his final film role before his passing. Seeing those great names in this almost invisible movie perked my interest. This film sees Sebastian Stan playing a Pentagon lawyer who investigates a real life Vietnam War medic who was killed in action while staying behind to help a platoon that wasn't his own, and it dramatizes the events that lead to him getting a posthumous Medal of Honor in 1999. The movie is sentimental to a point, some of it is earned while some can come off as stale. But it's an interesting story and one that I was interested in seeing unfold. The primary reasons it comes off as interesting as it is are the performances of Hurt, Jackson, Harris, and Fonda, who all play vets with PTSD and they each hit a home run with some very powerful scenes. Unfortunately the weakest aspect of the movie is their flashbacks to Vietnam, which are pivotal to the film but feel constricted and limited, as if the budget wasn't there to make them all they could be. If this movie just had a little more money, maybe it would be worth much more attention in its direction. Instead it settles for being a merely good film with some damn fine performances that could have made a great film. Veterans or people related to veterans will likely love this movie. #70: Gretel & Hansel - This film has proven to be somewhat polarizing, with half the viewers being swept by the filmmaking prowess on display while others claiming the entire affair is just dull. There is truth to both sides, as Gretel & Hansel is a beautiful looking movie, which is constantly striking and at times unnerving. It's flaw is unfortunately a fairly big one, as it scripts itself with overwritten dialogue that is heavy with melodrama that is performed by actors who deliver it as morose as possible. Very few are able to pull it off, with the sole standout being the perfectly cast Alice Krige as the witch (Trekkies will recall her as the Borg Queen from the film Star Trek: First Contact). Though It's Sophia Lillis looks weighed down by her heavy dialogue, and the young actor playing her brother looks utterly lost. The film somewhat abandons its horror ambitions about halfway through as it becomes a dialogue duet between the witch and Gretel, seemingly as if the filmmakers fell in love with the drama of the film and forgot what the hook of the film was supposed to be. By the time we reach the fairy tale's inevitable conclusion, it feels undercooked because it's one of the film's dullest set pieces. I was a little perplexed by it because I expected better from it and it just didn't stick the landing. But at the same time, when the movie flies, it soars, and it's worth watching once. Next Week: HARLEY QUINN: THE MOVIE (and the not-so-fantabulous sidelining of the real Birds of Prey)And hey, guess what? It's February! What movies are there to look forward to this month? Five February Movies I Have My Eye On
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I'll be honest and say there isn't much in February that really caught my attention. Fantasy Island squeaked its way onto this list not because I think it will be good, but rather that I am morbidly curious about it. To take the corny 70's fantasy/drama ("Ze plane!") and turn it into a horror premise is intriguing. Too bad it looks routine and dry. This probably could be something, though the execution looks like its primary hurdle. 4
Abandoning that whole Dark Universe thing, Universal brings back the Invisible Man franchise for the first time since Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man in 1951. I want to be more excited for this movie, but in the back of my head this feels like an "Invisible Man In Name Only" concept, as the film claims to be "Based on the novel by HG Wells" but in reality only borrows the invisibility concept and nothing else. Can I really consider this a proper Invisible Man adaptation when Hollow Man has more in common with the novel than this movie? That being said, Leigh Whannell proved himself to be a skilled filmmaker with Upgrade, so even if the film has nothing in common with the novel it claims to be based on, I hope it's entertaining. 3
Emma looks like a pleasant diversion in the slew of horror films these early months give us, and I do love Anya Taylor-Joy. The one thing preventing me from ranking this higher is much like The Rhythm Section, the trailer to the movie doesn't really tell me what the movie is about...other than being about some lady named Emma. I haven't read the novel, so maybe the trailer is presuming familiarity, though that might be foolish. 2
I love the Birds of Prey. I love Black Canary. I love Huntress. I love Oracle. I even love Harley Quinn, even though she isn't one of the Birds. BUT what I don't love is Harley highjacking a movie that shouldn't be hers while Warner Bros strokes Margot Robbie's ego. I'm happy a Birds of Prey movie is being made, and I have some hope the film is more than the trailers are making it seem, otherwise this wouldn't be number two. Word of mouth is pretty decent so far, so at least it may be a fun ride, even if it is less than the Birds of Prey movie I want it to be. 1
Oh yay! Another horror movie tops my list. Maybe it's a lack of competition this month, though The Lodge is the movie that has piqued my interest. The trailer is suitably moody, with some great atmosphere and cinematography. It's already got points based on that alone. I hope it's something worth going to the theater for. The Leftovers Sonic the Hedgehog - Fixing the design doesn't make your movie look less like ass. The Photograph - Sure. Why not? The Call of the Wild - No! Bad dog! Brahms: The Boy II - I didn't see the first. Why do I get the feeling I didn't miss much and should just ignore this one?
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 9, 2020 13:30:26 GMT -5
#71: The Rhythm Section - I was not looking forward to The Rhythm Section, mostly because I thought it's trailer was a lazy music video. I think the movie could have been perfectly fine, but god that was awful advertising. But now that I've seen the movie, it's clear they tried to make the movie as flashy as possible in that ad because the film itself is way more boring than you'd expect. This revenge-thriller about a prostitute turned assassin has some glimmers of a promising premise in it, but watching this hour and forty minute film feels like binge-watching all thirteen episodes of the most drab and dismal Netflix show that somehow wound up on your "recommended" list. The film is surrounded by numbness, which may or may not be a relation of Blake Lively's character's emotional state, but it's hard to get invested in her character or to get amped up during action scenes if we can't feel anything during the movie. Instead everything feels like flat events that just kind of happen. There are some neat ideas for set pieces, such as Lively's very disastrous first assassination attempt, but the movie also feels like throwing a needlessly bullcrap "that was lucky" twist in, like her target dying because he didn't reach his oxygen mask in time. It also features odd filmmaking choices, such as two scenes being sporadically edited together in pieces for some reason, like Lively prepping for a kill in the bathroom intermixed with her trying to execute it and a later sequence where she and Sterling K. Brown have a conversation with snippets of them making out sprinkled in. I was reminded of the age old Tom Servo line "Just because you can edit doesn't mean you should." Blake Lively at the very least seems to be giving a performance this movie doesn't deserve. She seems to be the only person here that wants to make this movie memorable at all. Jude Law goes full Clive Owen in his role, which makes scenes featuring him probably the most enjoyable in the movie. There are base competencies in the film that make it coherent, which means it's not a disaster. But just because the movie doesn't explode in my face doesn't mean it didn't fail to launch. #72: Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) - More in-depth review here. Short version: I liked it, but it's a better Harley Quinn movie than a Birds of Prey movie. Next Week: Ze plane, boss! Ze plane!Also, tonight is the Oscars! It's the Super Bowl for film nuts like me. My big picks for tonight are 1917 for Best Picture (or Jojo Rabbit and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood for a Moonlight style sneak attack win), Sam Mendes for Best Director, and Phoenix and Zellweger for Actor and Actress. I also predict nothing will be more magical than Olivia Colman's win last year, and while I think Laura Dern and Brad Pitt are probably locks for supporting, I'm personally doing a Hail Mary and going to claim if Tom Hanks doesn't win, he should win, and the favoritism for Pitt this year is bull. Also, while I haven't seen Missing Link, How to Train Your Dragon should be animated top dog, and the franchise is long overdue for an Oscar. It will probably lose, but I can dream. Also, my hot take of the year, just because they asked Florence Pugh to act like a child and she did it doesn't make her Oscar worthy. I spent most of Little Women asking myself "Why is this grown ass woman acting like she's 5?" before remembering the 20-something was supposed to be a tween. My ranking of Oscar contenders: 1. 1917 2. Jojo Rabbit 3. Parasite 4. Marriage Story 5. Joker 6. The Irishman 7. Ford v Ferrari 8. Little Women 9. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood My personal top ten of 2019: 1. 1917 2. Jojo Rabbit 3. Arctic 4. The Sky is Pink 5. Us 6. Knives Out 7. Booksmart 8. Shazam! 9. The Lighthouse 10. Parasite Worst movies of 2019: 1. Radioflash 2. Jexi 3. The Great Alaskan Race 4. Rising Free 5. Brightburn 6. Hellboy 7. Playing with Fire 8. Countdown 9. Playmobil: The Movie 10. Terminator: Dark Fate I don't have the time to do a fancy awards show with nominees or anything, but here are my personal contenders for 2019. I shall call these the "That's Not Cinema" Awards, and the trophy is called "The Marty." Best Picture: 1917 Best Comedy: Jojo Rabbit Best Drama: Arctic Best Action/Adventure: 1917 Best Fantasy/Sci-Fi: Shazam! Best Horror/Thriller: Us Best Foreign: The Sky is Pink Best Musical: Rocketman Best Animated: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Best Director: Robert Eggers, The Lighthouse Best Actor: Mads Mikkelsen, Arctic Best Actress: Lupe Nyong'o, Us Best Screenplay: Rian Johnson, Knives Out Best Cinematography: Jarin Blashke, The Lighthouse Best Music: Matthew Margeson (and Elton John by association), Rocketman Best Editing: Chris Dickens, Rocketman Best Special Effects: The Lion King Best Costumes and Make-Up: Aladdin Best Production Design: Ad Astra Worst Picture: Radioflash Worst Comedy: Jexi Worst Drama: Radioflash Worst Action/Adventure: Hellboy Worst Fantasy/Sci-Fi: Brightburn Worst Horror/Thriller: Brightburn Worst Foreign: Dabaang 3 Worst Musical: Playmobil: The Movie Worst Animated: Playmobil: The Movie Worst Director: Brian Presley, The Great Alaskan Race Worst Actor: Tarek Tohme, Hold On Worst Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Dark Phoenix Worst Screenplay: Beth Johannesson, Rising Free Worst Cinematography: Mark David, The Great Alaskan Race Worst Music: Heitor Pereira, Playmobil: The Movie Worst Editing: Jeff Betancourt, Black Christmas Worst Special Effects: The Great Alaskan Race Worst Costumes: Radioflash Worst Production Design: The Great Alaskan Race Specialty awards for movies that wouldn't necessarily get one: Most Surprising: Dora and the Lost City of Gold Most Disappointing: Pet Sematary Hurts So Good: Cats Underrated: Gemini Man Overrated: Frozen II More People Should Have Seen: Doctor Sleep Less People Should Have Seen: The Lion King Most Forgettable: Dark Phoenix Most Rewatchable: Godzilla: King of the Monsters
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 10, 2020 0:17:58 GMT -5
Wow. What a best picture upset and first foreign film to win Best Picture.
For the record, Parasite is great, so go see it.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 17, 2020 19:34:05 GMT -5
#73: Fantasy Island - Lol. Look, Fantasy Island had no business being a movie. It barely functioned as a TV show. The film seems to think that turning the concept into a horror movie works as an effective satire of it. Maybe it could have in the hands of a clever filmmaker, but the horror element of this movie feels so tacked on and unnecessary. The movie often seems to forget it's a horror movie, and snaps back at weird times, often at the expence of coherence. The film's finale, when we finally find out why Fantasy Island received a horror spin is convoluted as all hell and is just a garbage dump of a twist. What I find amusing is that the movie almost works best when it's most faithful to the TV series. Maggie Q, for example, is very good in this movie and her storyline is the most engaging because there is some solid drama there. It makes me almost wish it were a more straightforward Fantasy Island movie and not some "with a twist" knockoff. That movie probably wouldn't have been good either (Fantasy Island was never really all that good to begin with), but there would have been a better shot at being a decent movie. But maybe the best we could hope for is that the movie is a laughable train wreck, and it most certainly is. I almost recommend it because it needs to be seen to be believed.
#74: Sonic the Hedgehog - The answer is no, changing the Sonic design did not save this movie. It's yet another basic cartoon character "in the real world" kids movie that seems a little lost as to what the appeal of the character was in the first place. The movie isn't unwatchable (though the Sonic CGI is an eyesore, and I wish they kept the crap design because then it could be laughably bad), which is mostly thanks to Jim Carrey, who is probably more hilarious in this movie than he has been in years. The big issue I find myself having is that the Sonic character they've created is obnoxious to the point of repugnance. Because of that, the movie grows tiresome real fast and just isn't very fun.
#75: Downhill - This Will Farrell/Julia Louis-Dreyfus dramedy is based on a Swedish film that I am unfamiliar with, and chronicles a crumbling marriage during a family ski trip. I don't know what the original film is like, but I would hope it features a stronger tonal consistency. The movie can't decide whether it's grounded and relatable or extravagant and silly, so it strives to be be both. Farrell and Louis-Dreyfus are a bit lost in how to approach the characters, seemingly unsure if they should play them subdued the ensure the relationship is believable or to hit the gas on their comedic personas to keep up with the wacky characters they meet along the way. You can see moments where you can tell what the movie wants to go for, like a brutal argument scene or a quirky conversation with a caricature character, but the tonal shift keeps the movie from keeping that momentum. It seems like the movie could work if it went one way or another, but it tries to meet in the middle and lands with a thud.
#76: The Photograph - The highest praise The Photograph seems to want is that those who looked for a decent romance on Valentine's Day got it. The film is well made, well told, has good leads with great chemistry, and while the film is rote and predictable, the audience it aims for will think highly of it, and most will likely get lucky the minute they get home with their significant other. I was interested in the presentation, which told two intertwined romances from different generations, one involving a mother and the other involving the daughter, and the influence the former has on the latter, for better or worse. The movie is mostly formula, but a good representation of it. If you want to cuddle with your spouse, put it on.
Next Week: Woof!
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Feb 17, 2020 21:19:56 GMT -5
I think my issue with the Sonic movie was that its plot was so, well... standard. The Rocky and Bullwinkle movie was a *parody* of this kind of plot. It's too safe. Ultimately I liked it more than I liked Ralph Breaks The Internet, but it wasn't as good as Wreck-It-Ralph. This is, admittedly, a weird spectrum for me to judge a movie on, but it felt like the one to use.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 17, 2020 21:55:23 GMT -5
It's funny that you bring up Ralph Breaks the Internet. I didn't particularly care for that movie either, but there is a point in the Sonic that reminded me about the storyline of Ralph letting Vanellope go to live her own life. It's halfway through the movie where Sonic spazzes out and starts screaming at James Marsden when he finds out he's moving to San Francisco, as if looking for a healthy change is an awful thing because it interferes with Sonic's creepy stalking of the married couple (I cringe to think of how many times Sonic peeped on them doing it). THINK OF THE FEELINGS OF THE HEDGEHOG ALIEN CREATURE YOU JUST MET!
Like...really movie? Ffs.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 23, 2020 19:13:06 GMT -5
#77: The Lodge - Themes of the awkwardness of being a step-parent are laid on thick in this suspense thriller about a pair of children spending a few days at a lodge with their mentally ill soon-to-be step-mother. There is a lot of emotional tension to be had in any situation, as the idea of taking the place of a parent is a hard concept for a child to accept. In the defense of these children, the little exposition we get about the relationship between their dad and his girlfriend does raise a lot of red flags. One wishes the film would embellish on the relationship through the father's eyes to help understand it, but it never does and it comes off as hime trading in for some younger tail. The film does wisely make the girlfriend sympathetic with her struggles emotionally and mentally, which makes the plight in the second half of the film engaging, heartbreaking, and unnerving. The film is well directed and tense, though it tends to stretch credibility at times right down to its ambiguous end.
#78: The Call of the Wild - I get what this movie is going for. The film wants expression and pantomime performances from its dogs, and they committed. Whether or not you accept or reject the obviously CG critters in this film will make or break it. I personally found it distracting at first, as the computer created Buck clashed with what real animals were being displayed on screen. I slowly stopped caring as the film went on and all the wildlife surrounding him became CGI too. I also think I'm more accepting of CG animals giving performances in a movie like The Jungle Book (or even this year's Dolittle), where animals have actual dialogue, but while, for the most part, Buck is a normal dog that has abnormal human expression. To the movie's credit, all the performers are totally on board. Harrison Ford is at the age where no one would blame him for looking at a ping pong ball on a stick or a MoCap actor and think to himself "This is bullsh*t," but if he's ever thinking that, it doesn't show in his performance. I think folks who don't care how the dog was brought to life as well as young kids will get the most out of this movie. I, on the other hand, found myself wondering on more than one occasion why they didn't just run with making a fully animated movie instead.
#79: Brahms: The Boy II - I didn't see the first The Boy. It looked like ass. This one looked even more like ass. But I saw it because it was there. It was ass.
Next Week: Sorry, I don't see anything playing next week. It's almost as if nothing is there at all. (See what I did there?)
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Mar 2, 2020 21:11:03 GMT -5
#80: The Invisible Man - Those looking for an actual adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel won't find it here, but something that occured to me while watching this new version of The Invisible Man is how much previous invisible men/women didn't really embrace their invisibility. Well, at least not until it drove them mad, but until then it was something of a curse and an annoyance. This new Invisible Man has his invisibility in his control and wants to use it, which makes the tale less of the terror of science and more of a warning of the men who might wield it. Even if this movie is not a true take on the Invisible Man novel, writer/director Leigh Whannell at the very least channels a message that might be scarier than what Wells dreamed of. The film also uses the invisibility concept to enhance a PTSD metaphor, about how someone can be haunted by an abusive spouse or lover even after they're out of their lives. It's a clever window into the idea, though it starts to turn The Invisible Man into more of a ghost story than the "science run amuck" story it has always been. It's so much of a ghost story that Whannell borrows from the Paranormal Activity playbook for a lot of in-camera tricks to make believe someone you can't see is in the room (so many scenes in this movie reminded me of various scenes from that particular series). Adding to the suspense is an excellent Elizabeth Moss, who is sells her plight brilliantly. The film is smart and tense, and it works hard to be as good as the best Invisible Man movies, even if it is quite different than them. However, it loses points because there was no end credit scene where Luke Evans, Tom Cruise, and Russell Crowe try to recruit Elizabeth Moss into the Dark Universe Avengers. What bullcrap! #81: Impractical Jokers: The Movie - Yeah...........I watched this. I guess if Jackass: Number Two is considered a real movie, so is this. This is kind of two competing movies. The first is just the show on the big screen, pranks on unsuspecting people, some are more amusing than others (I'll admit I got some hearty laughs out of the eulogy and job interview segments). The second is the movie trying to film a "plot" around the jokes, framing it as a road trip to meet Paula Abdul. It's very forced, obviously staged, and not very funny. At least when Jackass made movies they kept it straight to the point and only did what they do best. I can't really recommend a movie that's only 30% decent, gives similar material for free weekly on TV, and just doesn't really offer something worth paying a ticket for. But fans of the show may want to rent it for the bits that do work. Next Week: Pixar, Jane Austin, and Affleck in rehab.February comes to a close, and Emma has still yet to open wide. I think it'll open in Idaho in a few weeks, so patience is a virtue. BUT until then, here are the... Five Movies in March I Have My Eye On
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The Hunt looks like it could be something, but I have no idea what that is. The advertisement campaign is frustrating, because it looks like Blumhouse and Universal are hiding the movie with a "You HAVE to see it for yourself!" campaign that doesn't really tell you about the movie rather than letting it sell itself. That could backfire drastically (lest we forget what happened to Mother!), and the film, which is supposedly based on Most Dangerous Game, doesn't really have that taboo of a subject, as films like The Running Man, Battle Royale, The Hunger Games, last year's Ready or Not, and even previous adaptations of Most Dangerous Game have already done it and in recent memory. But it looks like it could be fun, so we'll see. 4
A Quiet Place Part II kind of snuck its way onto this list due to lack of competition. The original is pretty good for about an hour then fails to stick the landing in a stunningly miscalculated and illogical third act and it wound up being a mediocre film that could have been great. What that film did have going for it is it's restrained sound design and pantomime performances, which are pretty great. The trailer to the film is full of noise and is annoying, but I am a little interested in seeing where this family's story could go, so here it is 3
Vin Diesel movies are sh*t (unless they're The Iron Giant, Saving Private Ryan, or Riddick), but they're usually a laugh. Last Witch Hunter? Hilarious! This comic book adaptation seems cut from that clothe and I am totally in line to see how garbage it is. The premise of a glorified hit man with altered memories sending him on a revenge spree is mildly interesting too, though I fully anticipate it to be gloriously butchered. 2
Early word on Onward says it's pretty okay, but while I never really anticipated it being great, there are some elements here that I still want to see play out. Plus it can't do the contemporary fantasy world worse than Bright, can it? My money is still on Soul being Pixar's big movie of the year, but Onward could be fun. 1
This movie reached number four on my most anticipated of the year list, as Disney finally adapts the Disney Princess with the highest bodycount to live action strictly so they can appeal to that sweet, sweet Chinese box office. But Mulan looks like it's an animated film that will translate super well to live action, and the film looks beautiful and exciting. Here's hoping it's not as mediocre as some of its companions. The Leftovers The Way Back - It's melancholy Mighty Ducks with basketball. What's not to like? My Spy - Looks stupid, but kind of funny (the little girl looks like she has great timing). Considering that the big comedy of the year so far was Like a Boss, this couldn't possibly be worse, right? I Still Believe - I was going to say something snarky like "The trailer to this movie made me not believe" but since the film is based on a real life romance with a tragic outcome, I'd feel like a total ass if I did. Still, the one thing this movie needs to make me "believe" is that it's not a cynical attempt by Lionsgate to cash in off A Star is Born by giving the Christian Rock fans a rough equivalent. If you want to honor this woman's memory, make a good movie.
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