They actually stayed true to the Wolverine character for a change. Acting and action where superb and the plot was actually really decent. I know it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it's going to be awhile before this one is topped.
Days of Future Past and X2 were the best X-Men movies for me, while the Wolverine started very well, until the 3rd act when it pretty much fell apart and floundered. Logan easily blew all these films out of the water ad it's not even close. It's a fantastic film.
Marked Woman (1937) Dir. Lloyd Bacon & Michael Curtiz After their night club is taken over by the biggest crime boss in the city, the clip joint girls who worked for the former proprietor have to get used to both the mix of high-rollers and out-of-town chumps that now frequent the establishment as well as their new boss' way of doing business: with bribery, intimidation and when necessary, murder. This does not truly bother the women in question, even when they become indirectly involved in some of the violence. The most strong-willed amongst them does start to get second thoughts when her younger sibling - who knew nothing about her place of employment and who was going to college on her dime - gets involved in that world against her will. The crusading district attorney who had been trying to build a case against the crime boss finds an unlikely ally in her. I really enjoyed this. Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart are both great. It almost feels like a pre-code film, some scenes certainly must have flirted with the limits of what was acceptable. Bette Davis famously provided her own make-up - courtesy of her doctor - for the post-beating scenes because she found what the studio provided not shocking enough.
In the spirit of the millennials who say that something sucks when they don't like it, and not having seen Logan, if he has to explain, that would ruin the movie for everyone else.
Really, really liked Get Out. I was disappointed initially that my group wasn't seeing Logan, but now I'm really happy I was forced to change plans. I'll be surprised if it isn't nominated for best original screenplay.
The Wolverine (2013) Dir. James Mangold Plagued by dreams of his former lover Jean Grey, Wolverine leads a hermits life in Yukon. That changes the night when he is approached by a young Japanese woman who informs him she has been sent to retrieve him on behest of her master and surrogate father who is dying and wants to see his old friend Logan one last time. The two men met during WWII in Japan and this culminated in Logan saving the man's life during the Nagasaki nuclear attack. After reluctantly agreeing to a visit to Tokyo, Wolverine soon discovers that there is more to his trip than just an old man's dying wish of seeing an old friend one last time. I never saw this upon its release, probably because of both general superhero movie fatigue and the fact that the previous stand-alone Wolverine movie hadn't been great (to say the least). But this movie was praised in the periphery of some "Logan" reviews (at least by some critics) so I thought it might be worth checking out after all. I ended up quite liking it. It feels less like a Wolverine movie than it does like a straightforward action film in which Wolverine just happens to be the protagonist. That is meant as a compliment. In spite of the amount of subtle and not so subtle nods to "Shane" that Mangold sprinkles throughout the feature, I was actually most reminded of the Bruce Lee film "The Way of the Dragon". Not so much in terms of its plot, but its basic nature. You can almost see "The Wolverine" as a mirror image of that film: a western hero going East to fight mobsters. I really liked the rest of the cast, especially Tao Okamoto and Rila Fukushima. I also love that they found the time and opportunity to incorporate a "Diamonds are Forever" reference.
Quarries (2016) Dir. Nils Taylor A domestic violence survivor goes on a wilderness expedition with five other women and their female guide. The guide in question takes them into a part of the forest she herself has never ventured into because of forest fires which are raging near her usual route. Unbeknownst to the seven women, then end up venturing into the domain of a family of murderous hillbillies. Far from being a masterpiece, this was still 80+ minutes of decent entertainment. It is reminiscent enough of the Neil Marshall film to call this a poor man's "The Descent". Features a good performance in the lead role by Nicole Marie Johnson.
Office Christmas Party (2016) Dir. Josh Gordon & Will Speck The branch manager of an IT firm is left with the prospect of his branch being severely downsized or even shut down completely by his CEO sister unless he can manage to improve the numbers by the end of the quarter. The only way to do that is to land a big contract right before the holidays. To that end, they decide to use their office Christmas party to woo the representative of a potential big client who puts a lot of importance on company culture and a sense of community. Naturally, the party soon descends into chaos. I don't quite know how you assemble this much comedic talent and end up with such an unfunny film. In that respect, it's something of an achievement.
Medicine for Melancholy (2008) Wyatt Cenak and Jo have a one night stand after a party at a mutual friend's house. Wyatt wants more. Jo isn't sure what she wants - just that she is bored while her rich white boyfriend is away on an extended business trip. So they hang around for a day. Directed by second place finisher in the "Someone to watch" category from the 2008 Independent Spirit Awards, Barry Jenkins, this movie is essentially a 90 minute conversation between two people, although a lot of the time is spent silently. The dialog and the acting give it a very natural feel, and the director shows an understanding of The City. The fear that the modest romance is slipping away seems to be a miniature of Cenak's character's larger concerns - the fear that he individually and black San Franciscans generally are losing their sense of blackness, and that housing costs are driving many subclasses out of the city.
Mechanic Resurrection (2016) I like Jason Statham and really enjoyed the original Mechanic. So watching this one was a no brainer. Statham returns as the professional hitman who gets forced out of retirement and coerced into killing three high value targets in order to save a love interest. Lots of great action scenes and excellent martial arts from Statham. The movie does however fall short from its predecessor. Still good to watch if you want to see a mindless action film.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) This film came highly recommended to me from some friends who are really into comic books. Chris Pratt leads the way as a space outlaw who stumbles upon an invaluable orb. He gets mugged by a female assassin for it and attacked by a duo very strange characters. Everyone gets thrown in prison and they teammate with a musclebound inmate to escape from the prison. And that's as far as I got about an hour in. The movie was just to far fetched for me. IMO Marvel has been developing a habit of creating mediocre films that just end up being cash grabs
I'll watch almost anything set in the San Francisco Bay Area. Serial (1980) Marin of the late 1970's is full of people that have enough disposable freedom, time, and money to go chasing fad philosophies, psychiatrist theories, new-age religions, drugs, and sex. Mostly sex. But there's nothing wrong with Marin that a little Reaganesque violence and plain speaking can't cure. Everyman Martin Mull, tired of granola and easy sex, is just the man to do it. As if. Granola is awesome. It's called "Serial" because the movie was born from a serial novel written for Marin's free weekly, The Pacific Sun. But the kind of things you can say about your own group take on a different taste when said by an outsider. And a broad satire meant to be taken in a bit at a time doesn't translate as a movie. The characters are all caricatures, utterly one-dimensional. The movie is shooting holes in paper targets. The casual homophobic slurs were very off-putting as well, and it's a major part of the film. But it's occasionally funny, and it has a great line that it says is taken from Star Trek, although I don't think Star Trek actually said it. And Mull has a geographically accurate bikeride from his Mill Valley house to the Sausalito Ferry Terminal. I love it when movies do that. And I check.
I finally talked my wife into seeing Moonlight with me. She'd been concerned that it was violent, which it was in a couple of spots but not in the way she'd been led to believe by references to the drug trade as a backdrop. Mahershala Ali was every bit as good as advertised (he was the best thing about Luke Cage), but I also think Trevante Rhodes has been a bit overlooked. His wordless evocation--through subtle mannerisms and posture--of the child actors who'd played Little/Chiron/Black earlier in the film was real without being mechanical and it carried the movie's point so clearly. [spoiler, highlight to reveal:] My wife listened to an interview with Rhodes and Andre Holland (who was also excellent) where they commented that the movie ended with their two characters at a point where they could begin living the lives they were supposed to have. I thought Rhodes' performance conveyed that incredibly well.
Incidentally, I am currently reading Emily St. John Mandel's "Station Eleven", which is based (in its core concept) entirely upon a single line of dialogue from "Star Trek Voyager".
Paul -- 2011 Another Simon Pegg/Nick Frost collaboration. Let's just say that if you liked this pairing in either Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, well, you'll probably like this film. I liked the two aforementioned movies and I found this movie to be delightful. It's not deep or anything, it features Pegg and Frost as two English sci-fi fanboys who are lucky enough to happen upon a real live alien who has escaped from his government captors at Area 51 and is just trying to get home. Lots of homages to sci-fi movies in general, plus references to Spielberg and Sigourney Weaver specfically, so there are plenty of laughable moments. I enjoyed it, and given that we own the dvd, I am sure I will watch it again.
Loving (2016) Dir. Jeff Nichols Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple who live in Virginia near the end of the 1950s, are arrested shortly after their marriage is performed in Washington D.C. The judge suspends their one year sentence for miscegenation for the next 25 years on the condition that both of them immediately leave the state. Eventually, they have a desire to return to their home state to raise their family and in doing so, they create the conditions that will lead to the Loving vs. Virginia supreme court ruling. By the standards of a Jeff Nichols feature, this is a fairly conventional, old-fashioned civil rights drama. It's elevated to a higher level by the quality of the two lead performances. I already deemed Joel Edgerton to be a very interesting actor, but Ruth Negga (who I only knew from her stint on "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." until now) is a true revelation. It's a rather amazing bit of nominative determinism that this couple was actually named "Loving".
Hut-sut rawlson on the rillerah, and a brawla brawla sooit Ace in the Hole [aka The Big Carnival] (1951) Former big-time reporter Chuck Tatum finds himself in Albuquerque with a busted car and no money. He offers the tiny local paper his services, hoping it will lead to a big break and a return to the majors. A year later he is still at the small paper, agonized that he hasn't been able to change his fate. Pausing at a touristless spot on the way to cover a town's snake whacking day, he finds out a guy is stuck in a sandy mine. Looks like Tatum's big break has broken. What a great film. And if you hate humanity you will love it too. It isn't just the driven Tatum who come out looking bad, but the utterly unlikable wife, the corrupt sheriff, (almost) all the journalist class, and most of all the general population, who are all too eager to eat up the spectacle. We get the press we deserve.
I did recommend Love/Hate to you ages ago so if you had to have watched that instead of the multiple 'Murder on the Prairie' shite you watch you would have known her from that!