Note that I left off the 'out of ten', because that is how I roll.
Profondo Rosso (Deep Red) (1975)
A giallo thriller following an English pianist obssessed with solving the gruesome murder he has witnessed in Rome, it felt like a slightly lesser film than Argento's subsequent Suspiria, but the cinematography is wonderful. It lacks Suspiria's hallucenatory use of colour, but it's been a long time since I was so impressed by a film's composition of the space around its characters. If you enjoyed Perfect Blue, it's well worth your time.
Had everything you would expect in a film featuring Nazi Zombies. Usually sequels fail to reach the charm of the originals, not Dead Snow 2. In fact I'd say it surpasses the predecessor. Witty, Gorey, Funny, Nuts!
Went to see The Nice Guys today, really enjoyed it.
In many ways, it feels like it might have started life as a belated sequel to Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, but the script is an absolute joy, even if the 'wise kids, childish adults' schtick does seem a little sitcom-ish at times. Having only known him for intense, serious turns in things like Drive and Only God Forgives though, I thought the real surprise was how good Ryan Gosling is with physical comedy - it's like he's channeling Buster Keaton at times.
A curious police thriller that was probably one of the last gasps for the gritty, '70s style action movie, before the excess of the 1980s really set in. There's good work from Billy Dee Williams in a support role and Rutger Hauer is on top form as a Jackal-esque terrorist for hire, but the script is pedestrian and the weakest link is a miscast Slyvester Stallone in the lead. Despite gamely doing his own stunt work for some difficult scenes and having amusingly turned up in his best Al Pacino cosplay, Stallone seems bored and inexpressive in a role originally ear-marked for Gene Hackman, with the film having been intended as a third French Connection. It's a great shame that Hackman did not return as an aging Popeye Doyle, as his glowering intensity could easily have made this much more interesting.
Probably not as scary as I thought it was going to be, I remember being quite frightened when I read the book (albeit when I was in Primary School, so it may impact on the youth of today differently), but it was exactly what I needed really, an agreeable family-friendly adventure with some stunning visuals. Rylance's performance as BFG was on point. Certainly won't be remembered as one of Speilberg's greatest moments, but it managed to kind of pull off set out what it set out to do.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this, as I liked a lot of what it did - and I see quite a few people saying it's the best of the 'new' Star Trek triology. But I also disliked a lot of it tonally - it felt weirdly 'adventure of the week'-esque in places, lacking the gravitas and scale of the two previous films.
That said, I always find it hard comparing 'new' Trek vs. old Trek - as I personaly feel Star Trek has always excelled better in the TV format vs. films.
8/10 only because I am a HUGE fan of the book. It didn't nearly enough show all the heart of the story. Most people are annoyed with the ending because you don't get to see what Will went through in depth like the book shows and that. Either way it made me a crying wreck just like the book did.
I also watched Easy A over the weekend too. Still a really enjoyable film! 8/10.
So I went to see Suicide Squad earlier today. It's actually not as bad as what the critics were saying.
The main SS team is great. The captain solider guy was bland however. The villain on the other hand was just silly and rather forgettable. The music placed in this film is mostly good, but there are some that I felt should have been removed. It felt out of place or a repeated joke that just drags for too long. The story is the biggest issue, it starts off fine but around the mid-point you ask yourself; "why the **** are they going to this place and not over there?" The cameos and flashbacks were great also. I wasn't convinced on Joker's portrayal at first but he got better every time he showed up. I would like to see more of him, but not on this film. He had enough screentime imo.
Overall I'm debating on either a 6 or 7 out of 10 for the film. It's a good instalment to the DC cinematic universe but has its problems still.
i can feel the "guardians" vibe so hard, though it might just be the soundtrack, and i kind of wish they reserved joker in a surprise cameo and not have the movie go back and forth with the flashbacks
Speaking of "not bad as the critics say it is", i finally watched Batman vs Superman today and opted to watch the extended edition instead and ya know, it's actually pretty decent. Don't get me wrong, there was moments where i was like "ok..." but for the most part, it kept itself with a decent enough flow and felt coherent enough to follow. Ben Affleck gets a lot of flack quite often but i thought his portrayal of Bruce Wayne was good, and alfred was perfect with the witty remarks. For a film so heavily bashed i saw a lot of promise from it, and it definitely does not fall to the levels of Man of Steel(which again, i was able to enjoy but it was heavily flawed).
So honestly, i'm looking forward to watching Suicide Squad now actually. Critics be critics and always seem to be completely off the mark, so i imagine i may quite enjoy it when i see it next week
Finally got to Suicide Squad. It was a reasonably entertaining couple of hours viewing, but it felt like they spent so much time introducing the characters that the actual storyline was a bit of an afterthought. Given how much interest there obviously is in the Joker and Harley Quinn, I feel they'd have been better served doing a film about them first instead - the Joker is a bit of a red herring, in that he barely has anything to do here, and it feels like they didn't really know how to play Harley Quinn as a character. In the end, I felt it was Will Smith who carried the film, but thankfully he can do this kind of thing in his sleep by now.
Speaking of "not bad as the critics say it is", i finally watched Batman vs Superman today and opted to watch the extended edition instead and ya know, it's actually pretty decent. Don't get me wrong, there was moments where i was like "ok..." but for the most part, it kept itself with a decent enough flow and felt coherent enough to follow. Ben Affleck gets a lot of flack quite often but i thought his portrayal of Bruce Wayne was good, and alfred was perfect with the witty remarks. For a film so heavily bashed i saw a lot of promise from it, and it definitely does not fall to the levels of Man of Steel(which again, i was able to enjoy but it was heavily flawed).
I suppose it depends on what you're looking for/expecting from Batman v Superman, it sort of works as a kind of action thriller thing and if you're just looking for a "different" version of the characters then it sort of works that way too (at least on the surface). There are things to like, ideas to latch onto and there's some potential entertainment value in there.
Still, it's at least a million miles from perfect. If I had to try and sum up my biggest issues, I'd say that it ultimately comes down to the film lacking an identity of it's own.
The characters may be different but it's in a very deliberate and artificial way that highlights that they're not the standard versions of the characters without really giving the characters they are now any depth or personality of their own. Batman is a guy in a bat themed suit, he's not a Batman you're used to but he's not really anything else either. Lex is a madman who happens to have money rather than an intelligent businessman, he's more plot device than character. Bruce Wayne, Superman and Wonder Woman have their moments but they tend to fall apart when the action starts.
There's one scene that I think represents the issues reasonably well:
When Batman attacks the goons who are holding Martha hostage, he throws little bombs on their guns to disarm them. He then proceeds to fight them while occasionally using any functioning guns (as well as other weapons) to kill some of the goons. I have to wonder why he didn't just throw those little bombs on the faces of the bad guys, if he's a lethal Batman then you'd expect him to use his gadgets lethally too. He doesn't because the writers didn't really think through what a lethal Batman might be like. They wanted him to be "Batman" and they wanted him to be "different", so they just threw a guy in a bat costume, made references to some things he's known for (like gadgets and fist-fighting) then made him kill people (since he's known for avoiding killing).
The rest of the film is much the same, relying on references to existing versions of the characters with a few random changes to try and be "different". If you're actually looking for a genuinely different take on the characters that's trying to say something with/about them then you'll likely be disappointed. Similarly, you'll be disappointed if you were hoping for a big screen version of the characters you know or were hoping for any significant level of depth at all. The film has some large scale action, fun moments and "dark" themes but it doesn't really have anything underneath.
Another issue, that probably isn't an issue for the vast majority of people, is that the film lifts quite a lot of lines and situations from previous Batman/Superman/Justice League material. I suppose it's intended as fan-service but it also suffers from the same problems as the rest of the film. It's implemented with the same "make it recognisable but different" mentality and this has the effect of making the film feel uncreative and also feeling like it's almost insulting the fans by showing a complete lack of understanding of what those scenes/lines meant in their original context. They're not even being creatively re-interpreted (which there's likely plenty of room for), they're just thrown in at inappropriate moments. I'd imagine that these things might still work as enjoyable fan-service for some but it can also accentuate existing problems for those already struggling with the film.
At the end of the day, I think Batman v Superman is a terrible film more for what it's not than what it is. If you're not judging it on that basis then it wouldn't seem as bad and might even be decent enough for some. Still, as someone who is quite fond of Batman and some of the DC Universe, it's pretty disappointing that this is what the DC Cinematic Universe (or whatever they're calling it) is probably going to continue to be like.
I'm hesitant to watch Suicide Squad because I don't know if I want to risk supporting these films. I don't know if I'd hate it but I just feel that DC could and should really be doing better with the current opportunity. Maybe my standards are a bit too high but I don't want something that's just good enough for mainstream popularity, I'd rather see something that tells a worthwhile story with interesting characters and could perhaps become a classic one day.
Still technically animation, but I watched Batman: The Killing Joke.
I have kind of mixed feelings about it. I enjoyed it overall and it's better than most of the DC Animations we've had recently (though that's not saying too much) but it's somewhat inconsistent and feels like much of the content could have been cut without losing the main point.
I haven't actually read the original comic but I've heard a fair bit about it and it's probably been quite influential on a lot of the material I'm familiar with. The fact that the original comic was quite short is probably a factor in why the film feels padded. I'm curious as to the differences between the original comic and the film but I suppose it doesn't necessarily matter in terms of judging the film itself.
The Batgirl story at the beginning was decent enough and kind of works as a stand-alone story (which it basically is). It does make comment on some interesting points about the different motivations for fighting crime and the dangers of constantly dealing with "bad" people. It's not entirely original but it gets the job done.
I have to admit, one of my issues with the film in general is it has a tendency to try to make things about sex in a way that doesn't seem to actually contribute anything to the film or really say anything. At most, sex seems to be used as shorthand for certain emotions but it doesn't really work and it ends up feeling completely unnecessary. I suppose it does fill some time but that's more of a problem than an excuse. It also seems to dangerously oversimplify sexual violence, which only stands to make the sex related content feel more awkward.
The core point of the film, regarding the way that people react to tragic events, works fairly well. I also liked the theme of Batman still trying to avert a tragic conclusion to his relationship with the Joker despite how inevitable a bad ending seems to be. The film is generally quite strong when it's saying something about Batman or the Joker and comparing the two, although this ultimately only makes up a small portion of the running time. Still, those parts do probably just about make the film worthwhile but the padding makes it harder to recommend to anyone who isn't already interested in the characters. That's a bit of a shame too, because the themes could appeal to a wider audience and even get people interested in the characters if they were more accessible.
On the plus side, the film does end on a strong note prior to the credits. There's a mid-credits scene that has a somewhat different tone, which may not be appreciated by some but makes for a decent alternative end point for those who find the ending unsatisfying (and helps tie together the different parts of the film).
It's pretty clear the film was made with fanservice in mind, it's adapting a fairly famous comic and it uses the popular animated series actors for the voices of Batman and the Joker (Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, respectively). That's not a bad thing really, especially since the actors are quite good at their roles. Still, it is perhaps telling that they've had to use such methods to make for a stronger animation while the other animated films have been quite weak of late. It doesn't really inspire confidence for their future animations but at least they're willing to try something different and hopefully that will work out.
Overall, Batman: The Killing Joke is a pretty good film and worth watching if you're interested in the characters. It doesn't really offer as much story for the running time as it could but what little we get is fairly strong and has the potential to make it feel worth sitting through the padding. I don't know if that would work for everyone though and, either way, it's still a little disappointing to have all of that wasted time.
Set as sort of a sequel to the film Yojimbo, Toshio Mifune returns as the charismatic samurai Sanjuro to great success. This film brings in similar humor and an equal amount of action compared to the predecessor. But I think the setting and general plot in Sanjuro is not as good as Yojimbo, the dynamic of a town divided (Yojimbo) brings a more enjoyable easy to follow narrative as opposed to the Clan in fighting in Sanjuro. Also in Sanjuro there is a defined good vs evil plot which makes things less interesting somewhat. Toshio though does have alot more characters to bounce off here and his immense presence shines through once again with some fun comedy. While Kurosawa has certainly made better films this is still one that should be seen by fans.
So it's nearly been a week since I moved back to Uni and I had watched two recent films in the cinema.
Sausage Party - Grav's Rating: 3/5
This movie has a cool concept overall and the story is pretty simple but fun to watch. However I am honestly not seeing much replayability to this film for a few reasons; the first is that the bad language felt overplayed during most of the film. I don't mind the fact that the food said '****' but they used it so much that it just wasn't as funny as you would have hoped. The other issue I had was the jokes felt flat at times and quite often found annoying for certain characters. Now what I did like about this film was the third act which was pretty amusing for the most part, heck the ending came out of nowhere. But the film as a whole does feel like it's trying to be so raunchy just to reach an R rating. It's not a bad film by all means, but one that has a rather overhyped reception.
Hell or High Water - Grav's Rating: 4.5/5
Now this is a film I was honestly not interested in seeing at first, but rather watching Stuckmann's review I decided to check it out with a friend today. And after seeing the film I found it very interesting to watch, heck I was hooked in the story despite it's pacing being slow (I like to compare this to visual novels, where it's slow but you get a lot going on in that time period). The characters were interesting and the actual story synopsis is at best seen without looking it up or watching the trailers. When the second half happens the story gets somewhere and pays off very well. The reason I didn't give the film a perfect rating is because I wanted to see more of what happens next, but regardless I was satisfied with its conclusion. I feel this movie may not get that much attention but if you have some time I do recommend you check this one out if you can.
Suicide Squad (2016)
Everyone was talking like this was awful, but I really really enjoyed this. I was the only one laughing at the jokes, but I think everyone was positive about it. I especially liked the way they made sure everybody had something to do in the final fight. It could have done with more backstory though, and it did feel like they had perhaps tried to do a little too much within the opening sequences, as well as some of the bits like Deadshot being tested prior to his commissioning felt like they were crowbarred in without purpose. It does do a fantastic job of depressing me about the choices Will Smith has made in recent years.
I don't think it's Jared Leto's fault, but I was not especially impressed with the Joker. The whole thing about the Joker is about the irony and dark comedy behind his actions, like dressing up as a nurse to attack people in The Dark Knight. This Joker was just a little bit unhinged. Talking about it to a mutual acquaintance afterwards, it sounds like they perhaps shortchanged Captain Boomerang in comparison to the comic books too. Which is interesting as he's the only Suicide Squad member who harms another member and does anything especially dark on-screen (with everyone else's it's talked around or not entirely shown, his massively evil moment is completely shown), and he's actually quite annoying.
This is the only summer blockbuster I wanted to see this year, but it does make me slightly less hesistant to watch the Man of Steel/Batman v. Superman combo pack I brought a while back.
3.5/5
Pain & Gain (2013)
This film is actually very interesting, and spectacularly grim in a way most people will not be able to stomach (especially given it's actively asking you to sympathise with characters based on real-life murderers). Pain & Gain is Michael Bay's attempt at satirising the aggressive belief in the American dream. It's interesting in that involves Michael Bay flipping some of his more questionable quirks on their head and playing them for comedy, and for the first half hour what we get is actually a really good and funny attempt at that. Mark Whalberg, The Rock and Anthony Mackie all do surprisingly well in more overly comedic roles than usual, and a lot of the film is carried by them and their chemistry. Unfortunately, Rebel Wilson is stuck with a character that is more comedic and fantasist in tone, and she is unfortunately under served by it. However, the film kinda runs into problems that are conceptual. It seems to be playing brutal violence towards innocent people for laughs, yet it still wants the audience to acknowledge that it is a true story, so as a film it's actively inviting you to laugh at somebody else's misery. I do wonder if this is an intentional decision to try and get the audience on edge and perhaps make the audience question their reaction to violence in fiction. After this it does become harder and harder to laugh, even at stuff I still kinda found funny. Unlike the perhaps similar in concept, The Wolf of Wall Street, Pain & Gain does have some attempts at making us feel for and like the victims of the crimes depicted. This film seems to imply a degree of self-awareness and filmmaking talent that I did not previously believe Michael Bay had, and it is really interesting to see an unusual film of this type given the visual and directorial stylisation Bay brings.
There is also this whole running theme through the film about hard work and cheating, and how cheating at hard work leads to corruption of all of the work completed. I think it's interesting that parts of it are brought to the front of the film, but it's also playing in the background. Paul Doyle's attempts at recovery fail because he "cheats" and just resorts to violence instead of putting hard work in. Adrian develops impotency because he cheats at bodybuilding and injects steroids instead. Daniel develops huge self-doubt because he tries to cheat his way to the success he craves, rather than earning it. At several moments throughout the film to try and sort of clear their head several characters work out, which to me seemed to correlate actual hard work with getting them "back on track". There is an interesting reference to the consuming a significant amount of protein just before things go past the point of no return, that suggested to me that maybe the film wasn't trying to suggest their belief in the American dream was not their downfall, but their desire to cheat at it instead.
I will say that as much as I enjoyed this film (in somewhat perverse sense of the word, obviously the film has clear conceptual immorality but I guiltily enjoyed it despite that) and there's interesting stuff in it for the audience to go through, it's clearly not for everyone. I think you need to have a very dark sense of humour, an open mind and a willingness to tolerate Michael Bay's eccentricities. I would suggest that unless you're really curious, you wait until it gets a TV broadcast or something, as it's clearly a film that isn't going to work for a lot of people and is probably actively offend and upset a lot of people.
Finally got the Platinum in J-Stars Victory VS+ which was a really grueling grind through those other three story runs but I got there in the end. Also watched two documentaries whilst doing the final playthrough with Ichigo.
Firstly Citizenfour which is about Edward Snowden and the documentary feels like a real life thriller, which it basically is just without the Hollywood glamour, super tense stuff. 4/5
Next up I watched Tim's Vermeer which is a fascinating film about the famous inventor Tim Jenison and how he uses technology and a scientific approach to recreate one of Art Master Vermeer's works almost perfectly without having any real experience or training painting. The end result is incredible. 4/5
Set as sort of a sequel to the film Yojimbo, Toshio Mifune returns as the charismatic samurai Sanjuro to great success. This film brings in similar humor and an equal amount of action compared to the predecessor. But I think the setting and general plot in Sanjuro is not as good as Yojimbo, the dynamic of a town divided (Yojimbo) brings a more enjoyable easy to follow narrative as opposed to the Clan in fighting in Sanjuro. Also in Sanjuro there is a defined good vs evil plot which makes things less interesting somewhat. Toshio though does have alot more characters to bounce off here and his immense presence shines through once again with some fun comedy. While Kurosawa has certainly made better films this is still one that should be seen by fans.
Funnily enough I just watched this two as part of my Uni course. I think I preferred it to Rashomon, but definitely nowhere near as much as I liked Ikiru. It's definitely a comedy through and through though, and it did genuinely make me laugh in quite a few places.
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