47 meters down (1947) Dir. Johannes Roberts Two sisters who are vacationing in Mexico after the older sister's long-term relationship just ended get convinced by two charming locals to join them on a boat trip. The goal is to see sharks in the wild by being descended to a moderate depth in a steel cage. Unfortunately, within minutes of it being the sisters turn down in the cage, the winch breaks off, plunging the cage down to a depth of 47 meters. With several sharks circling above, the two women are essentially trapped and their air supply is ever dwindling. Basically a new iteration in the countless "Jaws" clones and sequels that Spielberg's original film has yielded. This one isn't bad. The real terror in this film aren't the sharks, but the darkness of the deep. The director uses the sharks sparingly (like due to budget constraints) which works in this film's favor. Most of the terror comes from them being trapped in near total darkness, not knowing what is lurking just outside of their sight. Claire Holt was great in this as the more adventurous and brave of the two sisters. Mandy Moore was cast a bit as a fish out of water, but her casting didn't work quite as well as it could have for me. The two leads do have a decent on-screen chemistry. Matthew Modine has a rather unexpected supporting role as the boat's captain.
Money Monster (2016) The Financial Network's Mad Jim Cram.. I mean.. George Clooney is going to tip you off to the hottest stocks and funds out there, and you know he's the best because he's got the hip-hop dancing and big red sound effect button to prove it. That's probably what convinced a Queens delivery man that Clooney was a bona fide financial genius. But the sure thing he bet on wasn't, and now he's demanding answers. By taking control of the studio at gunpoint. The Clooney better hope there is a very simple theft by one person explaining why the fund lost $800 million, and that the evidence for said theft can be found by the end of the show. I understand making the protagonist so flamboyant, making the hostage-taker's actions so visceral, making the crime so simple. That's just the language of movies. But it just means the film takes advantage of the post-Recession feelings rather than being of the Recession. I know there are much better movies of that kind out there. I just don't want to see them because they would be too depressing. But that doesn't make me prefer this hollow-feeling version. There were moments when they really could have done something with the horror of the financial crime or the horror of hostage taking, but they took the Hollywood ways out. Not that it was horrible. The acting was great, the dialogue was great, and I liked the interactions between Clooney and Julia Roberts. It's just, you know, movie-esque.
When I saw this on the big screen a decade ago, I figured out that, for me to like Philip Glass' music, I need to be watching something. Doesn't matter if it's this, a movie like The Hours, an opera like Satyagraha or Hydrogen Jukebox, etc., I can listen with ease. A Philip Glass symphony in a concert hall or Glass Works on the stereo ....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Took a break from season five of Northern Exposure last night (it's holding up a lot longer than I expected, though if we were playing the "what's that supposed to mean" drinking game whenever Maggie and Joel get into a verbal tussle, we'd have liver damage by now) to watch... Repo Man (1984). RIP, Harry Dean. Along those lines, tonight.... Paris, Texas, which I've never seen.
News on The Last Tycoon... 'The Last Tycoon' Canceled At Amazon - Variety http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/the-last-tycoon-canceled-amazon-1202552964/
The new "Game of Thrones"? Good luck with that! Even HBO hasn't been able to find that, one season before the end of the original show.
Transformer: The Last Knight (2017) Dir. Michael Bay Whilst Optimus Prime has gone AWOL, Cade Yeager is hiding in a scrap yard on reservation grounds along with the rest of the Autobots. What is left of the Decepticons is licking their wounds under the leadership of their ever more desperate villainous mastermind Megatron. A new threat for all of mankind arrives in the form of the ever nearing Transformers home planet, Cybertron. Even when one starts from the reality that all of Michael Bay's "Transformers" films have been whacky, this is an especially bonkers movie. It's as if Michael Bay said "******** it" and didn't even try to make a movie that was at all coherent or made an iota of sense. We get to see Transformers fight alongside Arthur and his knights, we get a flashback to the time when Bumblebee was a WWII hero who helped carry out daring commando missions, we are introduced to a secret society that has been working with Transformers for over 1600 years and which counts among its members the likes of Stephen Hawking and - I shit you not - Harriet Tubman. Sir Anthony Hopkins (I wonder how much money he asked to appear in this film) made no secret of the fact that he barely had a clue what the movie was about even as he was shooting it. Some staples of Michael Bay's directorial style are still present. The action is still over the top and occasionally hard to follow. He still loves to blow shit up. There are some shots where sunlight is used in a creative way (the Stonehenge sequence). The female lead is still contractually obliged to wear push-up bras and low-cut dresses/tops/blouses. On the subject of Laura Haddock and Marky Mark, they are perhaps the most effective human cast members of this franchise to date, which isn't saying much considering how crappy that dynamic has been on average. On a completely separate, more personal note, I now realize that I have seen all five of Michael Bay's "Transformers" films, which is the kind of realization that invites reflection, introspection and a reevaluation of life choices.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ~ G. Edwards Fantastical Beasts and Where to Find Them ~ D. Yates Both okay add-ons to their respective franchises. Neither seems essential, though. I don't see myself watching either a second time. I think Rogue One does a nice job being faithful to the original in following almost to a T the scroll from A New Hope. A faithfulness you kind of wish Lucas had taken in the prequels rather than mashing elements that don't make sense when viewed together. That said, it wasn't really fun at all. The self-seriousness doesn't jibe well with the rest of the films even if it is telling a "dark" story. Fantastical Beasts just didn't do much for me. Not being able to understand a word of what Eddie Redmayne was saying didn't help. I liked Dan Fogler's character well enough, but maybe that's just because Redmayne was an unlikable foil.
I honestly think "Rogue One" needs to be seen in the theater. I have spoken to people who didn't and the third act isn't nearly as impactful for them, I have felt. Whatever else you might think of Gareth Edwards' work on that one, he does make the heroic gambit on Scarif a true cinematic spectacle. As for it being an essential entry to the story, probably not, but how many of those exist? Two and a half, if we are being generous?
Platform [站台] (2000) Cui is a member of a Communist Party theatre troupe, performing songs and skits in the glory of Mao's vision. But it's 1979 and Mao is dead. Economic modernization is coming, even to their sleepy central Chinese town of Fenyang. The troupe is privatized, and becomes a touring pop-music group. But playing in front of 8 farmers who temporarily stopped their tractors to see what the noise was about isn't all it was cracked up to be, so after a few years Cui returns home. I can see why critics like this. It covers a very important time in China's history, with multiple cultural earthquakes tearing though their culture. The single, tripoded camera setup creates a intimate camcordery experience. The acting is top notch, the setting is amazing. But it is veeeery slow and veeeery long. And being subtitled, you can't watch it and reorganize the file structure of your new computer at the same time. As the houses slowly get full of modest consumer goods and bright colors, the movie also gets less interesting. It turns from a study of a bizarrely different culture to one much more relatable, just poor and sad and boring.
Something is Out There (1988) Dir. Richard Colla A police officer and his partner are confronted with a string of violent and strange murders. The unknown killer butchers his victims in record time and then disappears without a trace. The coroner suspects a medical motive due to organs missing in each victim. The cop notices a young blonde woman showing up at the crime scene in the aftermath of two separate murders and after pursuing her, she tells him a crazy story about being the medical officer from a deep space prison barge, who is now on planet Earth chasing the murderous shapeshifting xenomorph which killed the rest of her crew and then escaped on a shuttle. The woman manages to convince him of her story by showing him the hiding place of her own spacecraft and they then team up to stop the creature from fully assuming human form and starting to populate the Earth with its own progeny. This is something I watched purely for nostalgic reasons. Me and the kid next door growing up had a small collection of VHS tapes on high rotation and this was somehow one of them (IIRC he had recorded the two-part mini-series from TV). It's a made for NBC original that borrows ideas from "Alien", "Aliens", "The Terminator" and "Splash". It had a very respectable budget for a network TV mini-series at the time (7.5 million USD which is about 15 million USD in today's money). The visual effects are dated, but you can see some of that money in the sets (especially the prison barge set), which are much better than you would expect by the standards of 1980s network TV. Most of the fun is in the two leads, who have some undeniable chemistry. Joe Cortese plays a 'tough cop' staple character. Maryam d'Abo plays something that can best be described as a mix between Madison from "Splash" (her naivete in terms of the customs of our world) and Kyle Reese from "The Terminator" (a woman in an alien environment sent to carry out a specific mission). George Dzundza plays the main character's affable partner. This mini-series apparently also led to NBC ordering a weekly series based on the same setting and characters, but I never saw that one and it was apparently canceled after only six of its planned thirteen episodes had aired.
I'm sure that would have helped somewhat. I didn't have any specific complaints about the direction, just that the tone didn't seem quite right. For lack of a better term, maybe too gritty. The first couple movies have a kind of balance in the middle without becoming gritty or schlocky. The prequels definitely tip way into the schlocky. This just maybe feels like going too far to the other side. For all the backlash to TFA, I think it at least got that balance right. It was dramatic, but also fun. As for essential, I considered some of the books and LucasArts games to be so. I know that's been washed from canon, but much of it kept the goodwill towards the franchise going for 30+ years by tapping into the tone of the original films.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - season 1 (1997) Buffy Summers transfers to Sunnydale high after being expelled from her previous school. She is introduced to her new Watcher, Giles, and reluctantly agrees to resume her prior activities as a Slayer. She soon becomes one of the social outcasts at the school, with only a handful of equally unpopular students as her friends. She is introduced to the Master, a very powerful Vampire who wants to roam the earth again and thus destroy the world by opening the Hellmouth below Sunnydale. I decided to re-watch the first season of Joss Whedon's classic show, mostly because these are the episodes I hadn't watched in the longest time. It's probably unfair to say that the show was still finding its feet in season one, but it wasn't yet the show that it would become and thus it's no coincidence that none of the episodes you think of first when you now reminiscence about "Buffy" (e.g. "Once More with Feeling", "The Gift", "The Body", "Graduation Day", ...) are season one episodes. Arguably the only season one episode that you could make the case for as a classic "Buffy" episode is probably the season finale, "Prophecy Girl". It more or less is an early template of what the show could achieve. I also always had a weak spot for "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", which is the genesis of the Cordelia redemption arc. By which I don't mean to say that I didn't enjoy this trip down memory lane. I had forgotten how delightful Charisma Carpenter's Cordelia is in her proto-Regina George role (prior to her evolution to a more sympathetic character). The Michael Jordan of being a bitch. Though it also reminded me of why I never really liked Angel as a character. He is basically Spike if you shed all of Spike's charm and humor. They definitely lucked out with Sarah Michelle Gellar, who more or less carried this show on her shoulders from day one. I might revisit seasons 2 & 3 too after this, but not right away.
Lila & Eve (2015) Lila's son Stephon was in the wrong Atlanta street late at night when he was killed in a drive-by meant for someone else. After going through a protracted depression, Lila joins a support group for mothers who lost children to violence, but she finds little commonality with the others until she talks to Eve, the only one to understand that Lila doesn't want comfort - she wants justice. Together they hatch a plan to follow the guys working the corner and get information about the drive-by from them. At the point of a gun if need be. And then they start climbing the ladder. I'm a fan of revenge movies, both the silly kind and the gut-wrenching kind. Lila & Eve is very dramatic and dark, and it did many things right, but it just didn't take that one brave necessary step to greatness. It has a twist which was unfortunately tipped off way too early, so the middle is a bit like watching a soccer game when you already know the final score. Viola Davis's performance is enough to make me give this a positive review, though. There were lots of quiet moments that she made great.
Black Christmas (1974) Dir. Bob Clark On the eve of Christmas, the sisters at a sorority house start getting obscene phone calls. The next morning, one of them is missing and the phone calls persist. Unbeknownst to all of them, a killer has snuck into the house's attic and is responsible for the one girl's disappearance, but his intention is not to stop there. I watched the 2006 remake of this not that long ago and thought it worthwhile to revisit the original film. It's a bit more profane in its use of language than I remembered it, especially in the mouth of the character played by Margot Kidder. Olivia Hussey is a classic final girl. John Saxon is quite good in the role of a very competent (by the standards of horror films) law enforcement officer.
The Book of Henry (2017) Dir. Colin Trevorrow Henry is an 11-year old child prodigy who lives with his younger brother Peter and his single mother Susan and at times acts like the adult of the house, due to his mother's occasionally immature behavior. He is close friends with the girl next door, Christina, who seems to fear her step father for some reason. Henry stumbles upon the reason for her fright and decides to do something about it, but then a sudden illness stops him in his tracks, leaving it to his mother and younger brother to pick up where he left off. A coming of age dramedy paired with a story of abuse, this reminded me most of "Radio Flyer". The screenplay gets very silly at times (especially in regard to Susan's choices in the third act of the film), but it remains watchable throughout thanks to the quality of the cast, from the young performers like Jaeden Lieberher, the always great Jacob Tremblay, Maggie Ziegler who makes the most of what is a limited role over the adult actors like Naomi Watts, Sarah Silverman and Dean Norris. Nicely shot and edited too, especially the climax. I honestly think I would have preferred to see Colin Trevorrow's take on "Star Wars IX" than another iteration of J.J. Abrams remix machine, based on this film.
I have been thinking to watch this as well as I have a client who is in to it - but i never watched it properly in the day. My girlfriend at the time was a big buffy fan but for some reason i never saw much of it!
I'm not entirely sure if it would be up your alley. I think I remember you saying you watched some "Firefly" and didn't care for it.
Drive, He Said (1971) Hector is a star player for the Seattle college basketball team. He's being perused by the pros, but has a bit of an attitude problem. He spends most of his off time with his theatrical roommate Gabriel or in the bed of his professor's wife. And stuff happens. Don't expect a narrative. It's very much a movie of its time, with great cinematography, trippy acting, and the words "experimental" stenciled on the sides of its fuselage. It has that 70's slice-of-life feel, with behaviors that would only have been acceptable at that point in time, and maybe not even then. What I'm saying is that it's more interesting as a historical artifact than it is enjoyable to see. Despite it not being a success, I prefer Jack Nicholson's work behind the camera (in this and in Head) than anything he did in front of one. I'll see if I can find more of the films he directed.
It Comes at Night (2017) Dir. Trey Edward Shults In a post-pandemic apocalypse, a family of three and their dog are living within their very secured and secluded house in the woods, following strict rules to avoid contact with the outside world and thus contracting the disease. One night, their home is stirred by the sounds made by a home invader. The father of the family subdues the man. After he is restrained, he claims he is a father himself, to a small boy and that his wife and son are waiting for him at a house some fifty miles away. He left them behind due to their ever dwindling water supply in the hope of finding a new source. After discussing it with his own wife and son, the man agrees to let the other family live with them. After some early tension, they settle into a new rhythm, but how long could such a thing really last in this scary new world? A slow-burner of a horror-thriller that takes place almost entirely within a single location, the heavily fortified house. A very good film that doesn't quite stick the landing for me, but the journey was so enjoyable I am willing to overlook that. Joel Edgerton is a very good lead for this kind of film. The rest of the cast is almost at his level in terms of their respective performances (I especially liked Kelvin Harrison Jr. as the son). This is a story about family, trust and the limits of loyalty.
I need to track this down. My hippy Sophomore English teacher showed is this movie. Not sure how he got the print. I don't remember much of it, except for Hector striking 15 year old me as a ******** up. I suspect I'd see it differently now.
I believe it was generally lost to obscurity until the Criterion Collection released it on DVD. I'm surprised a school teacher showed it - it has a rather frequent display of nudity of both varieties.
The screen would go blank and the sound off at times. We suspected the reason. Now I know. Oh, and upon further review of the archival contents of my brain, it was 9th grade English. I found it significantly more baffling than Vanishing Point, though.