Spoiler The spy wanted control of the empire. He and Kylo had not gotten along in the two previous movies and he was number 2 Finn met a black chick. Then he didn’t love Rey any longer. This is Disney. There will be no interracial loving.
I thought more about my issues with the clumsiness of the first halftoday Spoiler it was like a bad version of The DaVinci Code. We have to find the knife, decode the knife, then find the throne that finds the pyramid that finds syth planet all while Kylo Ren is 15 feet behind us. So we have to keep having mini battles with him. The way it flowed just didn’t work. Which is why I thought it was conceived on the editing room floor. I’m going 6/10. I was entertained. I would watch it again. This is my ranking: The Empire Strikes Back A new hope Rogue One Return of the Jedi Revenge of the Sith The Last Jedi Rise of the Skywalker The Force Awakens An elbow deep prostate exam The Phantom Menace Attack of The Clones Solo
Were it only possible, I would put Attack Of The Clones about thirty thousand films underneath the Ewoks movies.
I would rank them: The Empire Strikes Back Revenge of the Sith Return of the Jedi A New Hope Attack of the Clones Phantom Mentance Rise of Skywalker The Last Jedi The Force Awakens (They should change the title to "Durrr it's a SUPER death star!") I'm just not that big on fan service moments, and beyond that what does the new trilogy have to offer? The prequels had some things that were sorely lacking in the new trilogy. - good action - characters more interesting than decomposing dog shit - evil plans better though out than "surrender or go boom" When there is a confrontation in the prequels it feels worthwhile and like it has been built up to. When there is a confrontation in the new triology I don't know if they're going to fight, or kiss and hug. Case in point: Yoda vs Palpatine. You don't get scenes like this in the new movies.
I saw it tonight. Here’s my spoiler-free review. The most memorable scene for me is one where a group of people is walking away from the millennium falcon and toward the top of a ridge. Because GOD DAMN those two to three seconds were some of, if not the worst looking, in the entire franchise. Now... Spoiler I liked this one better than TLJ because that movie sucked ass, and this one has FUCKIN’ WEDGE in it. Wedge is the magic that brings the Star Wars universe to life.
Spoiler Luke made his own in between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, so this didn't bother me so much, especially given that it's in the epilogue and any amount of time/training could have gone by. Speaking of, they have Anakin's saber (which they never explained how it was recovered from Bespin), and Leia's saber (which has never been referenced before), but Luke's saber is nowhere to be found. Luke's should be the most accessible saber (Anakin's lost on Bespin, Vader's lost in the Death Star II, Obi-Wan's somewhere in Vader's possession and likely lost as well), and yet it never shows up. Are we to assume he just chucked it in the ocean when he went all hermit and Rey didn't bother to recover it at the time she recovered the X-Wing?
Next to Parasite, this is a close contender for best movie of the year. So of course it was completely snubbed for the Oscars. That’s fucking pathetic. The Academy is FUCKING PATHETIC. Of Joker was a good movie? The Lighthouse is far better. Oh, Joker has great acting? The acting in the Lighthouse was FAR BETTER. Defoe was better than anybody in any film this year, instead let’s nominate Tom Hanks for a basically tailor-made role.
I didn't care for the new Star Wars trilogy, and after the latest installment I pretty much hate it, but this gives me some hope for the direction Disney plans to take the franchise. - D&D won't be directing the new trilogy. The official reason is that after signing a deal with netflix they don't have the time to commit to it. I wonder if that's the real reason, but in any case thank fucking god. They are essentially carbon copies of Abrams. Great directors, but no writing talent and way too devoted to fan service. Fan service isn't story telling, it's circle jerking. - They are going to slow down with the number of Star Wars movies they're pumping out. One every year is way too much. Next one is planned for 2022. - You couldn't tell from watching this latest trilogy, but Disney is actually pretty good at letting the reins go and allowing creators the freedom they need to make good movies. They banked on Abrams because that was the guy fans wanted. I think he's a bland director, but you can't deny the following he has, and I can't blame disney for banking on the biggest name in the sci-fi genre. - It sounds like they're getting away from the rebellion vs empire story. Yeah, it was great while it lasted, but time to move on... I'm just hoping disney has the balls to hire someone with vision and not just which ever director got the biggest cash in on the lastest superhero summer blockbuster.
Somebody with the filmmaking and creative sand of Del Toro or Villeneuve would be nice. The latter did the impossible and made a remarkable sequel to Blade Runner, the former is the foremost expert in fantasy storytelling and exciting creature-features.
Bad Boys For Life Wow.... what a piece of shit. Keeping Michael Bay as the director for this may have actually saved the film, you can quote me on record for saying that. Barely any laughs, hand-held-camera gunfights, no plot whatsoever and predictable in every sense of the word. There are times when the two stars almost seem like they can’t wait for the scene to end so they can go sit in their trailers. Oh: also, every single other supporting character is just plain WEIRD in this movie. Three films to span a trilogy in 25 years, and they STILL set this up for another sequel. Yawn. if you’re not an absolute diehard for this long-spanned series, don’t bother. It’s really strange and it’s also directed, written and edited with utter ineptitude. Bay at least some sort of crystal-clear style where he wanted you to see everything and set most scenes in the daytime. Here you’re dealt a migraine during the very sporadic action scenes because you can’t decipher what the fuck is happening. There are moments here and there where the film might seem to keep from drowning, and then five minutes later here comes the tide.... 2/10
Color Out of Space My brother once gave me a great piece of advice: If there is a movie based on a book that you're interested in, watch the movie first, THEN read the book, because if you do it the other way around, you're just going to be nit-picking the movie, and there is a decent chance that the filmmakers completely fucked up (see almost every Stephen King movie ever made). I got turned onto H.P. Lovecraft the same way that most people my age did: Metallica. I'd thought I'd read all of his stories, but somehow I missed this one over the years, so I decided to read it before I watched the movie (it's available to read free online, by the way). Spoiler Yes, there were a lot of changes from the source material, but all in all, I'd definitely recommend it. In case you were wondering, Crown, Nicholas Cage goes "Full Cage," but I don't think it really harms the storyline, as he has good reason to be wigging out; he starts out normal and then gets worse as conditions degrade. Tommy Chong plays himself, as he always has. I guess my only complaint (and once again, this is in comparison to the source material) is that the whole transformation happens to fast, in my opinion. In the novella, it's a slow descent into madness over the course of about a year, in the movie, it's only a few days. Summary: watch the movie and have a fun experience, then read the story.
I totally agree with you, Dixie. Enjoy the movie first, then read the book later is always solid advice. Watching the movie as an expert on the book usually ruins this simple joy of the movie. By watching then reading, though, the book will give you a deeper dive into something that you enjoyed. I will check out the movie. Thanks.
Joker: Still soon enough I think it's a recent movie. Spoilers included. Overall, honestly, it ended up being kind of not living up to the hype. Some stand out greatness and some glaring shortcomings. Phoenix was obviously the best part, he deserved an Oscar and you can see why he did. Film did have a great dark mood it ended up feeling very nihilistic. Cinematography and score were spot on. The way we treat people with mental illness being the main and most striking part the movie pulled off well. For the negatives. In this day and age the whole unreliable narrator trope is played out. His whole dalliance with his cute neighbor was totally cheap in my mind because it ended up just being in his head. Taxi Driver, which this is oft compared to, had the main character struggle with interacting with a women well above his pay grade. When Travis takes her to a porn movie THAT was a classic portrayal awkward loneliness. There is also an extreme lack of interesting characters outside of Phoenix's Arthur Fleck. Deniro a heavy hitter is not given much and his character's under development was really disappointing. Again Taxi Driver had a handful of real stand outs. Hell the two best, Scorsese himself as a cuckolded husband planning revenge, and the gun dealer have maybe 3 minutes of screen time combined but still stand out to me to this day. Nothing like that in Joker and they had the opportunities with his co workers (Glenn Fleshler misses out). I also didn't get the rioting sub plot simply because the citizens just hate rich people, I guess the movie producers just assumed since it's in the zeitgiest now they could throw it in with little explanation, depth, or build up. Could have been rounded out better. The whole backlash against the very topic and themes of the movie by the rest of Hollywood and the press felt hollow too. Im with Dixie that it wasn't even that shocking or outrageous. Silence of the Lambs stays with you much more than this movie will. The hype created by the pre backlash to this movies release built it up way more than what it is. It also shows Hollywood's extreme hypocritical nature in the woke era. 25 years ago the same people would have defended a movie like this to the hilt that art, and artist, shouldn't have any obligation but to creating the best piece art. Now suddenly when a movie tries to be more introspective about violence (instead of glamorizing it for fun like every action movie ever) and since protagonist is a white male all the platitudes they used to say are out the window. WHITE MALE FRAGILITY REEEEEE! Still better than 99% of the shit put out there and worth the watch. 8/10
Extraction The story is decent (which I would expect from Joe Russo), the acting is average (Hemsworth's dialogue wasn't recorded great), and Golshifteh Farahani plays the sexy badass well. It's decent action popcorn fun. But, a couple of the action, fight and car chase scenes are really fantastic. I have no idea how they did some of the camera work, where the view is on the street and then all of a sudden it flies into the car. That part is really well done. I hope Sam Hargrave gets a shot to handle something bigger and better as director.
I also enjoyed it for what it was. Hemsworth is a decent action actor but his general character was just meh.
It was an alright movie for what it was, but it was pretty cliched and nothing to write home about. Except some of the filmography... wow... they did some amazing video work just in the way they captured a bunch of the shots. Where you'd expect to see a cut scene, nope, camera just drops the 2 stories with him and keeps going in what looked like a single cut take. In a weird way, it was so noticeable that it was distracting from the actual story.
The two things that stuck out to me enough to make me really enjoy Extraction: - The filmography (as discussed) was outstanding, which meant some of the action sequences were really intense and gripping. - Hemsworth's character was just enough in the grey area that the outcome could have been either "tragic death, and now he's at peace" or "narrow escape, and now he's redeemed." Which meant that the action sequence at the end was more compelling. Also: Spoiler If they were going for cathartic release at the end by putting a bullet in the one drug dealer, why not just go all-in and destroy the father who fucked them in the first place?
Elvis From Outer Space Nobody watches a movie with a title like this to see award-winning acting, mind-blowing special effects, or thoughtful writing; I like to think myself a connoisseur of grade B/C/Z movies. I had really high hopes for this one, but it was painfully boring; Jungle Julia kept asking if we could watch something else, and I kept saying that it was going to get better... But it didn't. Elvis goes to outer space with aliens for some reason, and he comes back to see his daughter (NOT Lisa Marie Presley). But he gets side-tracked with an Elvis-impersonator competition, and most of the movie is about the backstage drama between the contestants. In the end, he only sees his daughter for about FIVE MINUTES, when he could have seen her all along. Here's another gripe I had: Usually, B-movies show some nudity. This movie was wide-open for it: when Elvis came to Earth, he was being escorted by a female CIA agent who looked like Asa Akira (look her up), and I thought for sure that she and Elvis were going to do the nasty and show some boobage, or maybe some bush. NO. Whatever. Elvis ends up hooking up with some door-girl at the competition. NO NUDITY. Don't waste your time.
Bill and Ted Face The Music Like the first one, loved the second one. This movie unlike half a dozen classics that finally got a sequel decade(s) after the original and wasnt a complete abortion (Im looking at Dumb and Dumber, Zoolander, and Anchor Man). I think any other time where we arent in a middle of a pandemic and national unrest and strife, this movie would have just passed by as unnoticed as an entry in a film series. I think it's underlying positivity helps it stand out now. It is not as good overall as the first two. But fun and sweet and just not bad. I wish they had tried a little more interesting concept. The first was original, second they tried a much different concept thematically and it just worked (think Die Hard and Die Hard With a Vengeance). This just kinda replicate the first two instead of trying something a little more out there. The new element is of course they have kids and the kids add a great element because both actresses nail replicating their respective father. It is great for laughs throughout. The problem is they are just replicants and arent given a decent story with any depth. I really think this movie could have been great if their stories' were more fleshed out. Other than that I cant find anything else wrong with the film. I was not disappointed as a fan of the originals. 7/10