Polaroid (2019) Dir. Lars Klevberg Bird, a slightly awkward teenager, gets a gift in the form of an old Polaroid camera from a co-worker at the antiques shop she works at part-time. An avid photographer, she tries out the camera on some of her friends. Subsequently, several of them have weird accidents that lead to their deaths, which makes Bird wonder if their sudden demise might have something to do with the pictures she has taken, especially since all of the snaps seem to feature a weird shadowy figure in the background. I guess a haunted camera is not the worst premise in the world for a horror film, but the idea ended up falling short of keeping a near ninety minute long film entertaining. Which is a shame because I did think the horror short this was based on was quite good. But not every idea used for a short film can be stretched out into a full-feature length. The cast wasn't bad, especially not the lead Kathryn Prescott. Features Mitch Pileggi in a supporting role as a local cop.
The Clovehitch Killer (2018) Dir. Duncan Skiles Tyler is a slightly awkward but otherwise happy teenager. His father Donald is heavily involved in the scout group his son is a member of. It is one of many activities they do together, which makes Tyler's sudden discovery of a shocking Polaroid picture in his dad's shed all the more disturbing. In the picture is a woman who has more than a passing resemblance to one of the victims of Clovehitch, a local serial killer who owes his nickname to the signature knot he leaves at all the crimes scenes and whose crimes have remained unsolved after he stopped killing a decade earlier. Tyler finds it hard to believe his mild-mannered, handy-man dad could be a coldblooded killer, until he meets Kassi, a girl at his local high school who is obsessed with Clovehitch and who is able to tie certain details of the crimes to his dad. But are these revelations all merely a coincidence or is Tyler's dad truly a serial killer? This was very enjoyable, with a terrific Dylan McDermott in the role of Donald, portraying a seemingly mild-mannered man who nevertheless has as a certain darkness simmering just underneath the surface. I would put this in the same category as films like "Super Dark Times" and "Summer of 84" in that they all subvert some of the old tropes that were most recently remixed in the hit Netflix show "Stranger Things" by infusing them with a lot more darkness and danger. The Clovehitch killer is (loosely) based on the real-life BTK AKA Dennis Rader, a man who also bound, tortured and killed his victims whilst maintaining a seemingly normal suburban family life.
The Vietnam War -- Ken Burns This is a bit of a let down when considering the usual high standards Ken Burns has set for himself. The tale is told very unevenly. There are 10 episodes and the first 8 take us from the "beginnings": Dien Bien Phu to 1968. The next seven years get two episodes. There is also too much oral history in my view. Burns likes to take a story or two and make it his central metaphor for any production, but the main players in this story were called to Vietnam in the early 60s, when it was just a difficult war, and not a deeply political and partisan one. Sure, some of the vets when the came back became anti-war activists, so there was some change, but the depth of the anti-war protests is treated shallowly here. The primary "story" comes from the surviving mother and sister of one soldier. and they get more time than anyone else, but they're telling the same story, really. Another interesting omission, from my point of view, was that the full role of some of the actors is never specifically acknowledged. Person A is listed just as CIA and Person B is State Dept. I noticed this, but it really came to a head for me when Merrill McPeak was listed as Air Force. He was "just" a pilot in Vietnam, but he eventually became the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, for crying out loud. He was CoS during Gulf War I. I just wonder what the rest of these were.... The biggest new-to-me revelation (and not to my dad, so I must have not been paying attention in my other passes with the war) was that just before the 1968 election, when Johnson had finally been able to get all four sides to the negotiating table -- the ARVN, the North Vietnamese, the Russians and us -- and the negotiations had been floundering over the where-to-sit-at-the-table spats that so characterize Oriental negotiations, that Nixon went to South Vietnam's Diem and got him to pull out of the talks. Nixon was a candidate, and he actively subverted the American negotiations because he knew that even working peace talks would sink his candidacy. That's treason. As I said, I somehow missed this revelation. A sad revelation on me, I suppose....
We watched "Ready Player One" last night, and it was completely fine. I understand it drew a lot of negativity from people in various pop culture groups because it used most of their beloved things in a superficial way, as did the book, in order to cram in more. Or perhaps they just thought it was being used instead of loved. In either of those two cases, there is no version of the story they would like. I don't know if it is a movie you can necessarily love, but it's enjoyable enough. How's that for an endorsement?
Shaft (2000) Who's the black police detective That's very violent but effective? Shaft. Ya damn right Who is the man arresting the son of a businessman? Shaft. Can you dig it? Who's the cat who thought justice failed When the rich kid skipped out on bail? Shaft. Right on They say this Shaft is a rehashed mother- Shut your mouth But I'm talkin' 'bout Shaft (2000) Then we can dig it He's a complicated man But he always ends up using his weapon John Shaft This starts as a rather pedestrian police procedural and we don't get that awesome scene where Shaft uses his badge as a throwing star until deep into the film. And there is a surprising amount of time devoted to a Dominican neighborhood drug lord, and I had my fill of soft-spoken ruthless drug lords after We Die Young. They kept the smile-inducing "Theme from Shaft", but the score in the movie is just the ghost of the original Shaft soundtrack (which I love). But it does keep a certain (subdued) disrespect for cops and the justice system, and the ending is right out of a 70's movie, not a modern blockbuster. I'd rate this as blaxploitation-lite. They say this cat Shaft will get a sequel in June. Can you dig it?
If I may be allowed to respond to a thread from two months ago, which I didn't read then because it was spoiler talk for a movie (Ex Machina) I had forgotten I had already seen. Bro-fi problems (Move your mouse to reveal the content) Bro-fi problems (open) Bro-fi problems (close) I think she trapped him so he couldn't report her missing and thus have her re-captured right away. You haven't really escaped if that happens. What's weird about the ending is that it is a real hard ending - the men are dead and the robot will be in moments. She escaped. Her program has reached its terminal state.
Fleabag - season one (2016) We follow the rather chaotic and troubled life of a young thirty-something woman in and around London, England, as she deals with the sudden death of her business partner and friend, her troubled relationship with her father and step mother and her complicated bond with her sister, as well as her on-again-off-again dynamic with her dweeby boyfriend interspersed with casual sexual encounters with various men. I'm pretty late to the party with this, but it's admittedly almost as great as the countless very good reviews had led me to believe. The most interesting thing about it, from my perspective at least, is that in spite of the excellent writing, I'm not sure this show works with another woman in the lead role. Especially for the fourth-wall-breaking moments, there is something unique about both the expressiveness of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's face as well as her slightly exaggerated facial features, which allow her to tell a whole story with just a turn of the lips or a slight movement of the eyebrows. The supporting cast is great all around but I have to single out Olivia Colman's turn as the supreme ******** of a step mother.
Fleabag - season two (2019) We return to Fleabag's life a little over a year since the events of the first season. Her relationship with her sister is still troubled. Her business has been turned around and is thriving. She still is coping with her emotional wounds. Meeting an attractive priest adds an extra layer of complexities to her already chaotic life. This was still very good, though I would say that season one had a better structure. Hot Priest is a great new character though and Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Andrew Scott have great on-screen chemistry. Whilst I very much enjoyed all dozen episodes of this, I'm glad that Phoebe Waller-Bridge has said that season two is the final season. Somehow it would be a shame if such a wonderful show went on long enough to become formulaic.
Are 287 pages enough? Anyway...Came across Netflix production: Dead To Me, starring C. Applegate as the recently widowed 40 something with two kids. The first half dozen episodes are pretty good, for the most part. I'm not going to reveal any plot lines because it's quirky and complicated with twists galore. I really tried to like it because of the very off-beat comedic element, but there are aspects that are beyond idiotic. If you choose to disagree with me, maybe you're a better judge of video arts than I am, but the commentary on decisions that women make is scathing. Watch a few and get back to us...
The Perfection (2018) Dir. Richard Shepard Charlotte is a former cello prodigy who had to cut her training short abruptly to return to her Minnesota home to take care of her ailing mother. After her mother's death, she gets back in touch with her teachers, who have trained another exceptional cellist in the intervening years: Lizzie. Shortly after their meeting, Charlotte and Lizzie quickly form a strong bond, and even become intimate. Is Charlotte entirely honest in terms of her motives behind revisiting her past? I mostly watched this because I saw some people likening this to the work of Brian De Palma (one of my favorite directors). I don't really see it, unless a handful of clever framings and inventive camera movements are supposed to be enough to hark back to the work of De Palma and Powell. I also didn't envision how silly this would get by the third act. For at least some portion of the film, I thought this would be a less subtle and more mainstream Hollywood version of Denis Dercourt's "La Tourneuse de Pages" but it ended it being quite a bit more silly than the terrific French drama-thriller. The two leads are both fine, but there is only so much they can do with such subpar material.
I really loved the doco - largely due to the expanded history and treasure trove of historical footage. While I take the point of only 2 episodes for the next 7 years - this isn't a military history. So I agree lots happens on the ground from 68-72 and then of course the collapse of 74-75 but this doco isn't about that so much IMO I think the focus on the WWII years and then the early 60s was especially important because those decades contain the seeds of disaster. I agree there was not so much deep coverage of the protests - a critique others have made. I feel this is a doco where you more sink into the news reels and go in the direction they take you....
Avengers: Infinity War (2018) Thanos is blue because he got an expensive glove and doesn't have all the gems that go with it. He's also just plain blue. I enjoyed it, not that I was given much time for reflection in this non-stop flume ride of a movie (except that Peter Dinklage stunt-casting - I knew I was watching a movie then). I liked the humor and the characters, except for Banner who's been a one trick pony for multiple films now. What is really starting to bore me about these movies is the lack of grounding in the powers. There is no sense of comparison in power levels. And Infinity War is exceptionally bad about it. If Captain America gets punched through a building and Thor gets punched through a building, the same thing happens to them when it really shouldn't. I mean, if Thor can stand up to the force of a sun (even 0.01% of a small sun), punching him should be meaningless. Without some understanding of threat levels, you don't get tension. It can still be fantasy, but you still have to set rules. Phasers aren't real but you understand when the USS Enterprise has the upper hand and when they have to retreat. It might just be a limitation of a movie with dozens of named good guys, but the only character we saw for lots of time, the only character whose ideas and morals were explored was Thanos. All the good guys were just faced with the immediate problem of defending themselves and those around them and we never got a countervailing force to tell Thanos he's wrong and why. I've not been upset about changes between the comic and the movies in any of the Marvel films so far, but there was one scene from the Infinity Gauntlet comic that was just so iconic and awesome that I really wish could have been in the movie. It was Captain America, pretty much the weakest of all the heroes arrayed against Thanos, as the last good guy standing but still staring at him eye-to-eye and willing to oppose him despite how futile it would be. I was getting worried that Marvel movies stopped solving problems through depressurization. Good thing they are back on track.
Captain Marvel (2019) Dir. Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck Vers is a Kree Starforce member who is fighting to rid the universe of the threat that the Skrull, a race of shapeshifters pose. During a mission gone awry, she is kidnapped by the Skrull and in the aftermath of her escape, she arrives on mid 1990s Earth. Her presence on the planet triggers strong emotions and the suggestion she might have been there before. Together with Nick Fury, she attempts to track down a doctor that the Skrull are also trying to find, a woman who supposedly created a superior spacecraft engine. This was a very easy watch. Certainly one of my favorite Marvel movies. Brie Larson is a very good Captain Marvel, and I say that as a doubter who would have preferred Katheryn Winnick in the role. She has great on-screen chemistry with her co-star Sam Jackson and the middle section of the film, which is essentially a buddy cop movie starring the duo, is arguably the best section. Not that the rest of the film is terrible by any means and it has a handful of hurrah moments that work very well, none more so than what I would describe as Carol Danvers' Super-Saiyan moment. If I have one tiny little bit of criticism, it's that they didn't do a whole lot with the 1990s setting (apart from the soundtrack and that Blockbuster scene), which is a shame. On the subject of the Blockbuster scene, I was kind of hoping to see some sort of Easter Egg in the form of a Sam Jackson movie poster in which his likeness had been replaced by another actor, kind of like what they did with "Terminator: Judgment Day" in "Last Action Hero". e.g. a "Pulp Fiction" poster with his credit replaced by Larry Fishburne (the other actor whom QT considered for the role of Julius). But I digress, this was very well made and it stands out positively compared to many other Marvel behemoths in terms of its pacing. It never once drags. I'm kind of curious what they do with this character next. One issue is that she is so very overpowered that the threats they have to send her way have to be likewise scaled. They solved this in a particular way in "End Game" but obviously they can't do that in any sequels, or indeed any subsequent Avengers films if she is to become the new fulcrum of those ensemble gigs.
Us (2019) Dir. Jordan Peele The Wilson family head to their vacation home near Santa Cruz. Adelaide, the mother of the family is reluctant to go to a beach she knows from her childhood, but her husband manages to talk her into it. That night, after a scare during the day when her son briefly went missing, four strange individuals turn up outside of their home. When they are confronted, the foursome invade their home and reveal the fact that they look very familiar indeed. Jordan Peele's very anticipated follow-up to his hit "Get Out" is very decent but does not quite match the quality of his first effort as a director. Obviously the writing is far from trite but it lacks the richness of "Get Out"s social satire. Clearly there is no obligation for Peele to make the same kind of movie over and over. The cast is terrific and it's really disgraceful how very few lead roles Lupita Nyong'o has gotten prior to this film. This is a tour de force performance in two very distinct roles on opposite sides of the emotional range, yet she convinces in both iterations. Winston Duke is enjoyable too in a more comic relief type character. Besides the cleverness of the new version of "I got five on it" which was already revealed in the trailer, Peele does something creative with the Beach Boys' Good Vibrations too.
Watching old racing video. This is a hoot.!!! run this up to 9:00 and watch how these mad men used to operate. this is the Bear, Denny Hulme upset with the race stewards...what a legend! [/url]
^ a couple of buddies and I used to go to a roadrace at Riverside when we were in college, in the 60s. Jon drove his mom's 1953 Cadillac and one of us would hide in the trunk so as not to pay the entry fee. it was open class racing, with Ferraris and Lotuses, Porsches and Lolas. You could fit a young hippo in a 1953 Caddy trunk.
When They See Us (2019) Dir. Ava DuVernay In 1989, a Central Park jogger is raped, badly beaten and left for dead. In the aftermath of this crime, five young boys who were picked up for being in and around the Park at roughly the same time as the crime was taking place are coerced into confessions after marathon interrogation sessions in which they are deprived the company of a guardian, legal representation and any rest or food. In spite of the fact that the prosecutions case hinges almost entirely on the confessions, in lack of any physical evidence to tie the boys to the crime scene nor any witnesses who can place them near the site of the rape, the boys are convicted of the crime and sent to juvenile detention facilities and prison. DuVernay's cinematic treatise on this case is very well done. If I am being hyper-critical, I would say that episode three does not match the quality of the other three and is the only chapter of the story that has sections that drag a bit. Both the first episode (which deals with the immediate prelude and aftermath of the crime) and the second episode (which deals primarily with the court case) are riveting story telling. The final episode is essentially a mini-movie devoted to Korey Wise's incarceration and Jharrell Jerome deserves all the awards recognition he can get for his work in that episode and in the series as a whole.
Deadwood (2019) Dir. Daniel Minahan Ten years after the events of the third season of the celebrated TV show, some of Deadwood's former residents gather in the town to partake in the celebrations for South Dakota's statehood. Also descending upon Deadwood yet again is George Hurst, who has a business venture in mind for which he needs to purchase Charlie Utter's land. This endeavor is the linchpin for a whole host of complications and problems. The long anticipated movie that was meant to give this show the proper send-off it deserved delivers on that front. It is certainly a more satisfying end than the manner in which things were left at the closing of season three, which was never resolved in a manner which suggested Milch & co knew it was to be their final season. I will say that I found this to be a different experience than the show. Not because the writing is lacking or the former poetry has disappeared from Milch's work. It's more a case of the difference between a feature length film and a TV series with twelve episodes per season. I imagine that if this had been season four, the events of the film would have been spread out over the course of a twelve hour run and thus been given more time to breathe. Much of the delight in the original show was just to hang out with its wonderful cast. Not that this reunion film isn't filled with pleasing moments. For me, none more so than the moment when Jane and Charlie meet each other again. Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler I also liked the semi-Easter egg of giving Garret Dillahunt a third role on the show by giving him a cameo as the guy who tells Hearst he hopes he dies in the street after the failed lynching attempt.
Booksmart (2019) Dir. Olivia Wilde Amy and Molly are two high school seniors on the verge of graduation. They are BFFs and both excel academically but they also don't have any real friends apart from each other and they have not participated in high school social life outside of school. This choice is justified to themselves by the fact that their good grades helped them get into good colleges, only then they find out that many of the party-happy kids got into good schools too, thus making their sacrifice seem misguided. They agree that they cannot graduate without attending at least one high school party so they decide to go to one hosted by one of the most popular kids in their class. A fun little coming-of-age film/comedy that fits into the "Edge of Seventeen"/"Lady Bird" roster. The movie it is in fact most reminiscent of would be "Superbad" (with Deaver in the Michael Cera role and Feldstein as the Jonah Hill character), only told from a female perspective. The main appeal is the quality of the young cast. Both of the leads are great, but so are most of their supporting players. Olivia Wilde displays a level of confidence that few other first-time directors will match, though she is no doubt helped by the fact that she has a long experience in the business on the other side of the camera at this point of her career.
I loved us. It was very deep especially after I read more about it via the analysis. Endgame was a 3.5/5 for me. It's just the movie was overly stretched out and longer than it should be (the 5 years later parts before they actually time travel). I felt the Russos wanted fans to enjoy the scenes of the characters who won't be around in the next phase. Another criticism which is a minor SPOILER alert (can't do it on my phone) is that the epic scene from this movie wasn't as great as Infinity War. I much preferred Thor's entry to Wakanda than the Hammer incident in this movie.. decent movie but not lining up for a rewatch anytime soon.
Triple Tap (鎗王之王) [2004] Ken, a driven foreign exchange broker, edges out Hong Kong police detective Jerry in an amateur speed shooting competition. On his way home Ken sees a armored car robbery, and shoots all but one of the robbers after they kill the guards. The trial of the year is about to start as Ken is charged with murder in the extremely gun-controlled city. Oh, and there still the matter of the $400 million in bearer bonds taken from the crime scene and one thief bent on revenge. You would expect a movie featuring two shooting experts and well armed criminals to be a regular Hong Kong shoot-em-up, but this was more a financial thriller than a action thriller and the few gun fights accurately and undramatically feature the economy of movement you expect from sport shooters. Mark me as pleasantly surprised by that. Although unspoken, the film has some interesting attitudes about the mentality of the rich and the luck that not infrequently gets them there.
Grand Prix (1966) A fictionalized version of the 1966 Formula One season, we follow the lives of the top four racers - the older and disillusioned Sarti and the young and playful Barlini racing for Ferrari, the injured Stoddard racing for BRM, and a very James Garnery Pete Aron racing for a fictional Japanese group after causing Stoddard's injury. Most notable for it's amazing race footage taken during the actual F1 races combined with actor and story-related shots taken the days before. And you better like race footage, because you get six full races in the almost 3 hour run time. But there was an effective effort to differentiate each race by focusing on some unique factor of F1 racing: the speed, the skill, the loneliness of the racer - even it's almost endless repetition and numbing effect on the fans. But outside the racing this was a highly unsurprising melodrama which focused almost exclusively on their love lives. I also wish there was more about the team effort it requires to perform a race - there isn't a single pit-stop in the entire film! The movie I thought about while watching this was Downhill Racer, made just three years later but seemingly from a different era. Racer felt so much more real and enlightening. The actor that played Stoddard couldn't drive at all, so he was shown wearing a facemask so Jackie Stewart could do the actual driving. However, the race trainers were all highly impressed with James Garner, who actually did some of the car stunts on his own (such as the scene where his car catches on fire). Garner started a life-long attachment to racing after Grand Prix.
Don't you dare spoil things for me! I have to wait for these things. Which is why I usually don't rep Belgian guy's Marvel movie posts, in case he is wondering.