Movies The Movie Thread! - Continuation - Part 1

[FetherMan]

It's actually premiering in my country as well, supposedly, later this month, but I don't know if I'll go and see it.

It's a privilege for sure, one that many countries around the world won't have, and it's true that otherwise I'd probably have to wait until next year before seeing a worthwhile copy online, but I dunno.

I might go with a friend, who has a discount so we end up paying like half a ticket or something, but if not I'm not sure I'll bother..

I know it's One Piece but at the end of the day it's just a non-canon film that won't really do much in the grand scheme of things.

I'm a bit picky when it comes to films, and I tend to pass on those that are generally the kind where you "switch your brain off" for the sake of having fun... I tend to like a little more meat, so to speak, on the stuff I watch.

But seeing OP on the big screen would more than likely be an experience of a lifetime... who knows when that might happen again, if ever.

Well, I watched "Strong World" and "Gold" and both films felt exactly the same from beginning to end including the endings. But, "Z" was actually interesting with Zephyr being a former admiral of the Marines and he being the one that trained some of the most powerful marine characters in One Piece. I really hope, Zephyr gets mentioned at least in the manga towards it's conclusion. "Stampede" intrigues me because it's a chance to showcase the new generation and their coming impact on the world and pirates. Bullet seems like a cool villain, too.

 

[Eigengrau]

Saw Parasite today, really really good, highly recommended.
Expect to see that title many more times as we draw closer to the Oscars, is all I'm saying.
And of course, it's always a pleasure to see Song Kang-ho acting, he's a one of a kind gem.

I really hope, Zephyr gets mentioned at least in the manga towards it's conclusion.

I wouldn't count on that... at all... :x

"Stampede" intrigues me because it's a chance to showcase the new generation and their coming impact on the world and pirates.

Yeah but that's the thing, at the end of the day it won't matter because it's not canon, you'll just be seeing random spectacle things.

They'll give each character 1 or 2 "cool" scenes/moments, and then they'll let Luffy finish it off because that's how it has to be, just more of the same.

Z was good for sure, probably the best one so far, and they totally wasted Gold's villain. They gave him an interesting backstory and they should've gone all out with it, instead it was just entirely wasted.

 

[Faust]

 

[xi0]

Yeah, I really don't get the critical reaction to this movie at all. Granted, I haven't seen it yet myself, but some of the things I've read make it seem like people don't know what kind of character The Joker is...? Apparently movies aren't allowed to be about uncomfortable things and the main character needs to be likable?

 

[Eigengrau]

I saw Joker last Friday (avoided all teasers + trailers) and it was fucking amazing, phenomenal, incredible.

I don't care for Marvel or DC films at all, never seen one in theaters (excluding the Nolan Batman films) but I was immediately sold on this one as soon as Joaquin Phoenix was officially confirmed to play the role, because he's literally (in my opinion of course) one of the best living actors of our generation.

And this guy fucking owned the role from beginning to end.

The way he gave himself to his character (he lost 20 kilos/52 pounds for the role, he's extremely skinny), both physically and mentally, is simply extraordinary and haunting.

I've never had this happen too many times, but there were quite a few instances where when Joaquin was on screen, he was completely unrecognizable to me; I was literally only seeing his character, Arthur/Joker, if you know what I mean.

Like, you look at any films that feature The Rock/Dwayne Johnson, and whenever you look at him, "yeah, that's the Rock alright", but in this film I felt like Joaquin totally disappeared.

I have no words for how much talent he oozes throughout the film, even his microexpressions are simply indescribable.

To have that level of control over your body... he's mesmerizing.

Look, I was ready for Joaquin Phoenix to "be" the film, and in a sense, that's very true, but the OST COMPLETELY blew me away, as well as the cinematography and the way some scenes were shot.

There are tons of scenes that are simply memorable and impossible to forget, far too many to count.

Is the movie perfect? No, I had a few issues with it but only on a technical level (some editing here and there), but otherwise?

You guys already know I don't rate movies but to me this is a no-brainer 10/10.

As for the low critic score?

Most are from so-called "critics" that are riding the woke/cancel-culture wave that has been claiming for the past few weeks that the film is "pro-incel" and that it will cause loners to go out and commit mass murder, which is an absolutely fucking stupid thing to claim in regards to this movie.

So because a lot of websites/critics are afraid of drawing the wrath of the "twitter" mob to their platforms, they're deciding to "side" with them, and call this movie "dangerous" and that it incites violence/to side with the Joker..

If you (generally speaking here) have seen the film and didn't like it, that's fine, but don't jump on the hate bandwagon without having seen it and claim it's X or Y for no reason whatsoever, at least make up your own mind/opinion, and stick by your beliefs/own words.

There's lots of "critics"/reviews around the web that are making it a "political" thing, and it's almost like they're talking about anything except the film.
Hell, a very famous website (can't remember which) refused to give a rating to the film because it was their attempt at being "woke": "we don't want to give this film a positive review, because otherwise we would be saying that murder is okay", or some shit like that.

Ridiculous and downright cringy, and clearly it's showing by how big and positive the reception has been from the audience.

I absolutely loved the film, I can't stop thinking about it, and I can't stop rewatching crappy footage shot on cellphones on Youtube.

If anyone is hesitating in seeing it for whatever reason, I don't know what to tell you.
It's one of the best damn films I've seen all year, mainly because of the acting. Breathtaking.

I would love for Joaquin to get a nomination/win for Best Actor, but due to the so-called "controversy" which is SO stupid, dumb, and unjustified, I don't know if that will happen.

--------------------------------------------------------

In the meantime, I've also seen:

- Haunt: had somewhat positive expectations, but turned out to be a letdown by revealing way too soon certain things about what was going on. The directing/editing was also VERY bad, but there were some good ideas. Missed potential, very forgettable, kinda waste of time.



- Once Upon a Time in Anatolia: I finally went back to Nury Bilge Ceylan's films, after a long hiatus (only two films of his left to watch, each 3h+ long...). This one follows exactly the same "structure" of all of his films, almost documentary-like. I enjoyed it, but only because I've grown accustomed to this director's peculiar way of filming/telling stories. The plot is very realistic, as is the dialogue, everything takes its time, there's no music, etc... but for me at least there's something very captivating about watching it all unfold. It's not for everyone, but you could say that it's an acquired taste. I want to see his remaining two films, but I'm not excited or anything. I like them for what they are, but so far none has blown me away.



- le chant du loup/The Wolf's Call: I watched this one on a whim, and was extremely surprised by its overall quality and the way it maintained tension all the way through. I don't want to say too much about the film, only that, if you decide to watch it, be sure to use headphones + max sound. The film deals with submarines and the people that are tasked with detecting all kinds of sounds (is it marine life, or enemy vessels?), so sound is a big part, and the sound mixing/OST is very, very influenced by all those things.



- In The Tall Grass: it's an okay watch, but overall extremely disappointing and forgetable. Wasn't worth my time, and wished I had seen something else. It's a fun little movie to watch, but it's mostly a very BIG missed opportunity. The film is very bland-looking, and never that scary. Could've been great, but instead it's just meh.



I'm going to see Gemini Man tomorrow only because I won tickets...
Pretty sure it's going to suck donkey weenie :c ...

 

[FetherMan]

Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy - 10 / 10

This film was recommended to me by a friend and I got the chance to see it in theaters this weekend and was blown away by everything. Story, characters and the history that was depicted in this film and it was made to be entertaining in such a way too. I will make it clear, I am not Indian or from India, but I still enjoyed and respected the fact the culture importance represented in this film. If you interested in seeing other films aside from the American mainstream, check this one out and see it in theaters if possible. It's nearly 3 hours long, but worth it, I promise.



Joker - 9 / 10

I keep it brief. This film is basically the "Batman Begins" version for Joker and Phoenix, I think, did a great job transforming into the famed villain from beginning to end. The supporting cast was good and Philips did his thing as director, especially someone who's familiar with comedy and his homages to both Scorsese's films, "Taxi Drive" and "King of Comedy" are there. This isn't exactly mean't to connect into some DC movie universe, it's just a stand alone film representing DC.

 

[Eigengrau]

- The Death of Dick Long: let's just say I was expecting something else... Thought it would be funnier, I mean there was humor, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting. Don't want to say too much about it because it's "one of those" but umm... yeah, WTFs were had for sure. It was alright, not exactly memorable.

- The Art of Self-Defense: just like the above, I was expecting much more (dark) humor than what I got. It was also surprisingly violent, not quite what I was expecting. I thought this was supposed to be more of a comedy. Ok for a 1-time watch.

- Gemini Man: I wouldn't say this movie deserves its current score on RT (30%, not that it means anything though), but there's nothing good about the film. At all. The story is super fucking bland, and bad. This is a story you'd expect to come out around the same time as "I, Robot". It's just ridiculously bad and predictable, and has many "let's seat down and talk about PLOT and EXPOSITION to tell everything to the AUDIENCE" sequences.

Look, I can't complain too much because I saw it for free and in 3D. I didn't "suffer", I wasn't begging the film to be over or anything like that.... but it was still very, very sucky. It's a pop-corn flick to watch when you just want to switch your brain off. That's all it is, and even then you're not guaranteed to have a good time.

I don't want to say too much in case anyone here has an interest in seeing it, but they should've marketed it differently.

I understand why they didn't, because the whole selling angle of the film was "Will Smith vs. Younger Will Smith", but if they had kept his "younger clone" a surprise, and not spoiled it in the trailer, it might've been a much better experience.

Regardless, it wouldn't matter at all unless the script was improved DRASTICALLY.

Which it wasn't.

Honestly, this just feels like a cheap, trashy bait film, that was only made so that Ang Lee can finance his next "indie" projects that he actually wants to do.

The story is, unfortunately, 100% shit. I'm sorry, it's just not something you haven't seen before, because you most certainly have.

Again, maybe it's not my place to say this because I saw it for free, but I sincerely don't think this is worth anyone's money at all... sorry.

 

[Freid]

Just seen 'In the Tall Grass'. It was a really good watch but I feel there were some inconsistencies and things kinda left unanswered.

SPOILERS AHEAD

First of all, when Travis goes into the grass looking for Becky, he finds her dead body because in this timeline it's been two months since she got lost, but then the next day we see her alive and in this timeline she is only just entering the grass. But how is she then able to meet Travis who, in his timeline, entered the grass two months prior? The movie explains that the flow of time in the grass is circular and so Travis finding Becky can just be part of a causal loop, but then it doesn't explain how some scenes suggest that the timelines are also happening in parallel. Like Becky receiving a live phone call from her future self.

Also at what point did the characters realize they were stuck in a time loop? We just hear the kid say it at some point after they've been doing nothing but just trying to leave the field.

Anyway I did really like the movie though. It was original and definitely kept me wondering what was gonna happen next.

On a side note, I've watched too many survival movies to know pregnant women are always a liability. If you have a pregnant woman in your group during a zombie apocalypse, you can guarantee either she'll die or you both will.

 

[Eigengrau]

But how is she then able to meet Travis who, in his timeline, entered the grass two months prior? The movie explains that the flow of time in the grass is circular and so Travis finding Becky can just be part of a causal loop, but then it doesn't explain how some scenes suggest that the timelines are also happening in parallel

From what I understood (haven't read much on it, but I know there's been a few "Loop Explained" videos on youtube) I think that the timeline varies depending on which "sector" of the grass that you're in.

For example, A and B can hear each other but then it changes and A is suddenly "a week in the future" while B is "a week before", if that makes any sense.

That's what I got from it, but I could be wrong.

Yeah, I guess maybe the "dead Becky" was there because it was the end of a previous cycle, so then they "snatch" Travis from 2 months into the future, and they take him back to the "current" present so that a new cycle can occur properly or something?

 

[Freid]

From what I understood (haven't read much on it, but I know there's been a few "Loop Explained" videos on youtube) I think that the timeline varies depending on which "sector" of the grass that you're in.

For example, A and B can hear each other but then it changes and A is suddenly "a week in the future" while B is "a week before", if that makes any sense.

That's what I got from it, but I could be wrong.

Yeah, I guess maybe the "dead Becky" was there because it was the end of a previous cycle, so then they "snatch" Travis from 2 months into the future, and they take him back to the "current" present so that a new cycle can occur properly or something?

I dunno if I'm just over-complicating it in my head but it really just doesn't make sense to me.

The first Tobin we meet said that he went into the grass after hearing a man inside call out, which we later realize was Travis. But then who started the loop? Tobin was only in there because Travis was in there, and Travis was in there looking for Becky who was in there, but Becky was in there because Tobin was in there but Tobin was in there because Travis was in there but Travis was in there because Tobin was in there but...Oh forget it.

I think Travis changing timelines has something to do with the holes they talked about near the end of the movie, which could support the idea that the timelines are also happening in parallel to one other. So past present and future are all occurring at the same time. It's really less like a loop but more like a series of strings tied up in a knot.

 

[Eigengrau]

[...]
So past present and future are all occurring at the same time. It's really less like a loop but more like a series of strings tied up in a knot.

I'm not so sure about that, I mean towards the end we saw that there were a bunch of people (them?) under the rock, as well as tons of corpses on the ground (when Cal is being killed) likely from previous cycles.

If it was all occurring at the same time, that would imply that they could either be all alive, or all dead, right?

I just saw this, you can skip to 2:50 if you want.

I'm not sure whether that truly answers anything, but I dunno :v...

~

Today I saw:

Woman in the Dunes: old Japanese movie, been a while since I wanted to check it out, and I enjoyed it. Curious about the book... Anyway, it's about a man that gets trapped in a village of some sort. He's put in a house (located in a "sand pit") where a woman has been living for a while. Her job is to shovel sand, if she doesn't, she doesn't get food... basically they hold the guy against his will so he can help out as well.

There's no way for them to climb up on their own, because the only way down/up is with a rope ladder that can only be lowered by the townsfolk.

But yeah, it was pretty interesting, and even though it's a 1964 film, I found it very gripping and beautifully shot, in a way that somehow even today would feel very fresh, I think. I saw the director's cut, 2h27mins long.

I'll have to check on the book, don't know whether the film is a complete adaptation or not.

I don't want to say too much about it, but it was a rather interesting experience. I think I can see why this was one of Tarkovsky's favorite films, but I feel like I still have to dwell on it some more before I can really appreciate it, it's all relatively fresh still.



Furie: what a waste of time... I mean I kinda knew what I was getting into, I picked this one because I wanted something short/quick to watch, but ugh. The fight scenes were okay-ish, but they were nowhere near enough to make it worthwhile.

I was expecting something similar to the Raid films, and this film was kinda marketed as a "non-stop" action flick, but that wasn't the case at all.

The plot is bad, has some plotholes, and it's as generic as it can get. Acting was ok, and as I said the fight scenes weren't too bad, but everything in-between was just horrible, especially the scene transitions, it all felt very, very amateur. Oh, not to mention the shitty sound effects as well... like someone downloaded the first ones they found and then decided to use them... repeatedly.

Ugh, don't want to talk anymore about it.

To make matters worse, the main character looks into the camera in the very final scene, and says a sentence that wasn't subtitled... it sounded german or something?

I tried using multiple subs but I have no fucking clue what she said, or what it was supposed to be, so that only makes matters worse because I NEED TO KNOW.

 

[FetherMan]

The Last Black Man in San Francisco - 9 / 10

Great film and really dives into the real estate business, no political bullsh*t either in the story (which was a relief) and the characters were unexpectedly good from beginning to end. Movie drives at a cool, relaxing and steady pace and really gets you into the main character's point of view on acceptance versus illusion.


Midsommar - 7 / 10

quick review: aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!. and then, muaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!. and an hour later, aaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!. about another 1 and half into it (director's cut here too), eeerrrraaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh...and all together now AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!. and the END.



Gemini Man - 7 / 10

Yo, the action was the best thing about the film, I really wished they would've focused on the story more and developed Will Smith's character in detail, because the overall concept was the Government developing a program for perfecting their missions with one special assassin. Plus, I really believe this film would've been way better if it was rated R and is Smith against doing those kinds of films now....?.

p.s., "Bad Boys for Life" January 2020, can't wait.

 

[Faust]

Parasite is possibly Bong Joon-ho's magnum opus.

 

[Eigengrau]

I have seen another 2 films by the same director who made "Woman in the Dunes", which I mentioned above:

- The Face of Another: really liked this one, especially in the beginning, there were a lot of striking sentences + imagery, I really want to revisit some of those moments, but I feel like the first half/set-up of the film was better. Still pretty good;

- Pitfall: this one was also enjoyable, but quite strange. The story could've easily gone on for much longer, hell this could've made a pretty good series in my opinion... in the end there's no real answer, and you just feel somewhat blue-balled.

Both of these are also adaptations of books by the same author who wrote "Woman in the Dunes", and I'd be interested in checking them out as well, but from what I've read around it seems that the adaptations are pretty much 100% faithful so I don't know if I'd be getting anything more from them.



I also saw "Deerskin".

Remember the movie "Rubber", about a killer tire? Well "Deerskin" is by the same director. It's also a weird. non-sensical film, and a very short one at that (77mins), but it's exactly what you'd expect from this director.

Guy blows a shitoad of money on a jacket.
Guy becomes obsessed with Jacket.
Hilarity/mayhem/nonsense follows...


It was funny in a weird good way, but I wish it was longer.



I also saw "The Dead Center".
I remember seeing the trailer for it over a year ago, but the film only became available now.

After seeing the trailer, I thought I had a pretty good idea what the film was going to be about, but I was wrong, it didn't go in the direction that the trailer kinda hinted at (after rewatching the trailer I now understand why I assumed certain things).

But even though it wasn't quite what I was expecting, for what looks to be a super low budget film it was actually quite enjoyable. Perfect? No, but I like the atmosphere that it built, as well as the tension. "Special effects" are so so, but again, you can only get so much with such a micro budget.

It's not a just see, but if you like minimalist films such as "Coherence", this one might be worth a watch for you.

Yet again, this was one of those films where I would've loved to see it extend into a series of some kind... really wanted to see more of the plot/mythology, because the end is just... typical, I guess. Wanted more from it, but that was one crazy ending for sure.

Midsommar - 7 / 10

quick review: aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!. and then, muaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!. and an hour later, aaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!. about another 1 and half into it (director's cut here too), eeerrrraaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh...and all together now AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!. and the END.

Did you watch both versions, or just the director's cut? I saw the regular version in theaters but want to see the extended version as well.

Gemini Man - 7 / 10

Yo, the action was the best thing about the film

Really? I thought that it was just bad overall, and I watched it in 3D + HFR... Maybe it's just not appealing to me.

p.s., "Bad Boys for Life" January 2020, can't wait.

Really ?
I mean don't get me wrong, I saw the 2nd one back when it came out, was pretty much a kid back then, but this one looks like a PG-13 version...
The first 2 ones were quite gory and grimy, this one just looks like they're 2 old guys who are too old for doing this shit having some fun...

I'd rather see Gemini Man again than this one, which I won't be seeing for sure x:

Parasite is possibly Bong Joon-ho's magnum opus.

Excluding Parasite, I've only seen "Memories of Murder" and "The Host", which I saw last year, but I definitely want to watch the rest of his films, especially the Korean ones.

Have you seen Memories of Murder? They also tend to refer to it as a masterpiece.

 

[Faust]

Excluding Parasite, I've only seen "Memories of Murder" and "The Host", which I saw last year, but I definitely want to watch the rest of his films, especially the Korean ones.

Have you seen Memories of Murder? They also tend to refer to it as a masterpiece.

That movie reminds me a lot of David Fincher's Zodiac.

I've seen all of his feature films (0:41-0:51 - a very accurate description of his style) besides Okja.
Parasite and Memories of Murder is definitely his two best works.
Mother is probably his 3rd best film.
Barking Dogs Never Bite is a great debut film despite it being a very low budget movie.
The Host (his most succesfful - box office wise) and Snowpiercer are a bit overrated imo but it's probably because I have very high expectations for these two lol

Place Mother high in your priority list if you were to watch the remainder of his filmography (which you definitely should)

He is probably my favorite film maker at the moment, and it's probably because Dark Comedy is the genre that I enjoy the most.

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 16, 2019, Original Post Date: Oct 16, 2019 ---

El Camino is a good addition to the Breaking Bad canon. It's okay, but not that great. 3/5.

Spoiler

The parallel stories of his past and present were a bit forced for the most part.

 

[Eigengrau]

I just finished "The Forest of Love" (which was released on Netflix a few days ago) and it. was. fucking. crazy.

Not quite my kind of crazy, but I mean it's a 2h30mins film by Sion Sono (crazy director/films), and I've been reading about how it's "so wtf, grotesque, violent, disgusting", etc., so of course I wanted to check it out.

I think I only saw one of his other films, "Why Don't You Play in Hell?", and I can tell you right now that if you're not familiar with his work you might want to skip this one.

It was a bit hard for me to focus in the beginning due to how it's shot/edited, but I quickly got "into it" because it's just the director's personal style. It's crazy, messy, and a bit all over the place.

I was never bored, didn't really feel like it was 2h30mins long, but I don't really know how to feel about it.

Unless you're familiar with his work, and/or like Takashi Miike's films, I don't think I could really recommend it.

FYI, it's also based on some real-life "events", and I'll leave it at that... but yeah, "fucking crazy" is appropriate.

Regardless, there's a few films of his that I've been meaning to watch for years, like "Love Exposure" (4 hours long lol), Cold Fish, and quite a few others.

He even has an upcoming movie starring Nicolas Cage.

Place Mother high in your priority list if you were to watch the remainder of his filmography (which you definitely should)

Yeah I definitely will, eventually, Mother will probably be the next one of his that I'll watch.

 

[kkck]

My comments on joker...

First of all and just to get it out of the way: joker is an excellent movie. It's twisted,, it deals with complex issues, it gets a bit political at times and it just gets you in it. the acting is fantastic as well.

BUT, i would make the point its not really a joker movie. The joker is nearly a force of nature, inexplicable, nameless.... You can only change a character so much and have it work as that character at a given time and place. In this movie the joker thing is just sort of a skin. Which could as easily be removed and essentially be the same thing.

For instance... imagine the movie was called "the comedian" rather than joker, and phoenix wore a different suit, was set in whatever other city and the waynes had some other name.... basically just remove everything from the batmanverse. The movie would still work, it wouldn't really be missing anything.

Now imagine if you did that with a batman nolan movie... You'd lose a ton of context and when viewing it you'll be thinking the entire time.... "this is batman right? Why is this just not a batman film?".

Also, to me the violence in the movie was greatly overplayed. Most of it was very telegraphed (to us the audience IMO). What makes the movie work more than that is that it leaves you wondering which of joker's interactions are real or not, what is or isn't a delusion and just his everyday struggles. One of my favorite scenes is when he dropped the gun in the children's hospital...

 

[FetherMan]

My comments on joker...

First of all and just to get it out of the way: joker is an excellent movie. It's twisted,, it deals with complex issues, it gets a bit political at times and it just gets you in it. the acting is fantastic as well.

BUT, i would make the point its not really a joker movie. The joker is nearly a force of nature, inexplicable, nameless.... You can only change a character so much and have it work as that character at a given time and place. In this movie the joker thing is just sort of a skin. Which could as easily be removed and essentially be the same thing.

For instance... imagine the movie was called "the comedian" rather than joker, and phoenix wore a different suit, was set in whatever other city and the waynes had some other name.... basically just remove everything from the batmanverse. The movie would still work, it wouldn't really be missing anything.

Now imagine if you did that with a batman nolan movie... You'd lose a ton of context and when viewing it you'll be thinking the entire time.... "this is batman right? Why is this just not a batman film?".

Also, to me the violence in the movie was greatly overplayed. Most of it was very telegraphed (to us the audience IMO). What makes the movie work more than that is that it leaves you wondering which of joker's interactions are real or not, what is or isn't a delusion and just his everyday struggles. One of my favorite scenes is when he dropped the gun in the children's hospital...

You should check out "The King of Comedy" by Martin Scorsese. The film was made in the 80's and has a major influence on this Joker film and there's also, some nods to another Scorsese film, "Taxi Driver" too. I thought it was cool that Todd Phillips directed the film, since comedy is his forte and he got to do a more "internal" take on where comedy comes from.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 2, 2019, Original Post Date: Nov 2, 2019 ---

Terminator: Dark Fate 8 / 10

First let me recap for a second over the past 3 films that were made after T2. My overall opinion on "Rise of the Machines" is the ending of that film got me excited for what would come next and that would be "Terminator: Salvation". But, the problem with T3 was the story overall wasn't completely different from the first two films before it. Now, Cameron is sort of guilty for doing this too, with Terminator and T2, but at least there was "growth" and "change" with those two films versus what was attempted with T3 and Salvation. Salvation was at least an attempt to focus on what was the entire point of this franchise and that's humanity's war against the machines (Skynet) and it just wasn't delivered well on film in 2009.

Genisys was suppose to be the "reboot" needed to get people into the franchise, but to me, after re-watching again, I feel like they tried something different with John Connor, but they went further with Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor too. It failed period.

"Dark Fate" delivers on the character of Sarah Connor and dealing with what was placed on her in the first film, how she came to deal with it in the second film and now, she's sort of crippled by this in the new film. Linda Hamilton did a good job showcasing what happens to Sarah and how she learns to move forward, despite what's happened to her. The new characters of the film, I feel were made to not necessarily continue the franchise with more films, but set a precedent that we as a species are basically doomed to face this future no matter what the outcome. Arnold is Arnold as usual in the film, I do wish they would've given him something more by now, but whatever, he's the Terminator "forever". If you have some interest in seeing the film go for it, but if your satisfied with where it's ended up before this new film, that's cool too.



p.s., I can't wait for "Doctor Sleep" next week, looks to be a well adaptation of the book more than a follow-up to "The Shining".

 

[Eigengrau]

p.s., I can't wait for "Doctor Sleep" next week, looks to be a well adaptation of the book more than a follow-up to "The Shining".

I saw Doctor Sleep last Wednesday, on the 30th
I guess I was part of a few (or many?) that got to see it that early, although in my country it premiered the day after, on Halloween, so yeah.

I won't go into spoilers, obviously, but honestly I liked it, and was very pleasantly surprised.
While I tend to love Kubrick as a whole, "The Shining" isn't something I'm crazy about.

It's been a long time since I saw it, and if I were to watch it again now I might appreciate it a little more, but coming from a casual fan, I found this film to be absolutely fine, even pretty great in some instances.

Just don't go in wanting/expecting this to be better than The Shining, because it's not even supposed to. This is more of a spin-off (in a certain sense) rather than a full-blown sequel.

Just like Joker, where you could take out certain elements and have a film that's not related to Batman/DC, the same thing could be said for this movie, it would be easy to make the story unrelated to The Shining.

In fact, one could even say that you don't need to have seen Shining to understand what's going on in this one, although you would definitely benefit immensely from having seen it because it only makes the experience much better.

For a film that's 2h30mins long, I was never bored, and once I got out of the theater and discussed the film for another hour with a friend that went with me, we pretty much agreed that we couldn't find anything bad to say about it.

(There was at least one moment that was a bit too much fan-service-y, which wasn't necessary).

I kinda wished/think that this could've been turned into a proper limited series, but only because I wanted to see much more of it.

On the other hand, the movie does show/tell you pretty much all you need to know.

And that's the thing, what I really liked about it, is that when you consider the runtime, you actually get the feeling of the plot/story moving along quite nicely, a lot of stuff happens, develops, leads to another thing...

What I'm trying to say is that it's really satisfying. Some might say that it takes a while to pick up steam, but I think it sets up everything quite nicely.

I did not see the final trailer (and I'm glad I didn't), so I was pretty blown away by some of the visuals/sequences, really amazing.

For what it's worth, I very much prefered Doctor Sleep over It Chapter 2.

Might not be a fair thing to compare, but yeah, easy choice for me.



Since my last post, I've also seen the following:

- Audition: the famed Japanese horror film. I liked, lots of interesting to it.

- Zombieland 2: heh, it was just alright. A perfectly fine sequel, but it feels like they just took the easy route and made a pretty much "safe" film in all aspects. Wouldn't be hard at all to come up with an actual good/innovative script. This was just more of the same, just like the first, but it was alright, maybe one of those rare sequels that are actually kinda worth it.

- Tesnota/Closeness: a Russian film. I decided to see this one in "preparation", before I see the director's next film, called Dylda (Beanpole). I liked it, somewhat of a typical, harsh drama, but I really liked the performance by the main actress. However, be advised: this film includes real footage of people being killed (snuff films). I already knew about it before seeing the film so I thought I was prepared, but umm... yeah, it was a little hard to watch for sure.

- Greener Grass: oh man, I waited all year for this one. It's a crazy, strange little film. I don't know where to even begin. If you're into weird, Adult Swim-like humor, this might be just for you. Before they made the film, they made a short. You can check it out if you want, and if you end up liking it, you might as well check the full film. I would kinda advise you to not watch the trailer for the film, but it's up to you.


As it happens with most shorts that are turned into full features, sometimes it feels like there's something missing. Also, because we're dealing with a very, very particular kinda of absurd humor, not all the jokes/funny moments will land. Also, some "funny" situations are exactly the same as the ones in the short, and I kinda wished they put a different spin on some of them just to keep the whole thing fresh.

Regardless, even though there's plenty freaky, absurd shit going on, I loved the main character. I think the actress did a very good job, and I was really surprised when I found myself feeling sorry and sad for her, I could really feel her emotions trying to break through, which is really amazing when you consider what kind of film this is.

- The Farewell: I'm sure you must've heard about this one by now. I was also looking forward to check it out, so I finally watched it for my first film of the month. Based on all the stuff I remember reading about it, I was kinda expecting for it to have a lot more comedy to it. Yes, the film is funny, there are funny moments, but in the end I'd say it's mostly 80% drama with some comedic elements sprinkled all over it. It's a good film, don't get me wrong, but I feel like it didnt quite get "to the core" of the matter, but I'm guessing this wasn't quite supposed to be that kind if film. It's worth a watch, try not to read too much about it beforehand though. I also really liked Awkwafina! Thought she was quite good.

 

[FetherMan]

Brian Banks - 9 / 10

Got to see this film this weekend and enjoyed it from beginning to end. What I found most interesting about Banks's story was how perception can become an overwhelming factor on where you end up in life, especially if your high in the public profile. Despite his wrongful conviction, Banks continued to hold onto what positivity he had left in him to seek justice and found a light at the end of the tunnel and that's something rare for most people nowadays.


Luce - 9 / 10

Another film I got to see this weekend. Very smart and intriguing story about a young man's development and growth from a harsh background into a promising one that he learns later on throughout the movie is possibly much harder than appears to be. It definitely opens the conversation of how to live up to a standard of admiration from your peers and the pressure that comes with that. Plus, in the case of the main character in this film, where he originally came from wasn't shown (which was genius), but it was rather explored through the outcome of his relationship with his foster parents, especially towards the end of the film.