Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) Dir. Adam Wingard Whilst Kong is living in a closely monitored habitat on Skull Island, Godzilla's has seemingly gone dormant for three years, until he attacks a U.S. based facility belonging to Apex. The reason for the attack isn't clear, including to Monarch. The Apex CEO wants to explore the hollow earth theory by sending a team down into the habitat they believe all Titans have originated from. To that end, they want to use Kong as a guide. Only transporting Kong across the globe means that Godzilla is sure to be attracted to the presence of another Titan. This was a high-budget Kaiju flick with several impressive set piece fights, so of course I enjoyed it. The fact that much of the screenplay makes zero sense or that the human characters have the depth of a puddle doesn't really matter all that much. It's a criticism I don't really get, since even back in the day of the Universal monster movies, the people didn't go see these movies for the quality of the human characters. There is a middle section that has more than one 2001 reference, which took me a bit by surprise - and also amused me. I don't think Kubrick could have imagined he'd show up in a Kaiju flick one day!
Instant Family (2018) Dir. Sean Anders Pete and Ellie are a middle-aged couple who have reached a certain level of financial comfort but who never bothered to start their own family. Now having arrived at an age where most of their friends and family have started to assume they will never have kids, a handful of discussions make them consider the foster care and subsequent potential adoption route. Eventually they do go ahead with it, getting three kids in the form of teenager Lizzie and her younger siblings Juan and Lita in their care. The realities of being foster parents don't quite conform to their fantasies and it takes them a lot of time and effort to make a real connection with their foster kids. Just when they have made strides in that department, the kids' birth mother re-emerges and threatens to break up their little instant family. Not the kind of dramedy I would usually go for but this was alright. Wahlberg and especially Byrne are good as the initially way-in-over-their-heads foster parents and the three child actors who play the foster kids are convincing. Supposedly based on a real-life story. Enjoyable little supporting turn from Margo Martindale as one of the grandmas as well.
L'État Sauvage (2019) Dir. David Perrault At the height of the civil war, a wealthy family of French immigrants who have settled in Missouri feel increasingly threatened by the presence of Northern soldiers, especially after word of General Butler's Order 28 reaches them. Fearing similar treatment, especially as the father of three young daughters, the family patriarch instead decides to take his family back to his native France. He hires a roguish opportunist to see them safely home on the trek to the nearest port. Unfortunately for the family, the man has a dark past which follows him and eventually threatens their safety too. I have long believed that European actors enjoy playing in westerns even more than their American counterparts and this French western didn't really do much to change my mind about that. Their enthusiasm for the genre and the two admittedly good lead performances by Alice Isaaz and Kevin Janssens don't hide the fact that in spite of that, some shoddy writing and too many western cliches don't ever allow this to get beyond mediocrity. Christoph Duchange's beautiful photography makes some of the landscapes pop. Though not all of them are very convincing stand-ins for America.
Days of Being Wild ~ Wong Kar-Wai WKW's first film with Christopher Doyle providing cinematography. Gorgeous to look at, but I'm too old to find any of the protagonist's BS as remotely charming or to understand the female leads' infatuation with him.
Culloden (1964) The 1746 Battle of Culloden was the last land battle on British soil. The Jacobite rebellion lead by Bonnie Prince Charlie had been turned back on its attempt to take London, and they picked a featureless, boggy patch deep in the Highlands to make their stand against an English army sent north to smash them. This made-for-BBC Television film about the battle and its immediate aftermath was noted for its unique docudrama style and for traumatizing a generation of British viewers. Instead of actors, locals from the area were chosen for all the roles. That, a few well chosen camera angles, a large number of cuts, and a rare realistic amount of period powder smoke tried their best to hide the paltry budget. I had seen the well-explained Battlefield Britain documentary on this battle before, and it was an excellent introduction into the history preceding the battle, which isn't something the movie does. But I don't think Culloden was the point of Culloden. It is trying to be universal - it's every battle in every war. It's about unwilling participants, disparate motivations, blundering, earnest plans, chaos, and most of all about how everyone was a human with a name and a story. It's the thing many people including I didn't think existed - the truly anti-war movie. There's no sense that the battle was honorable or necessary to soften the tragedy. It is all just a waste. It's a lot more affecting than you think it would be. It's probably better that it was in black and white because it would be hard to stomach in color.
Night in Paradise (2020) Dir. Hoon-jung Park Tae-gu is a brutal and experienced mob enforcer whose only remaining tethers to a normal life are his sister and niece. When they are killed and it is assumed this happened due to the gang war between his outfit and a far more powerful syndicate, Tae-gu volunteers to go in and murder the leader of the opposite gang, essentially the only way he has at achieving any kind of revenge for his family. After the successful completion of his mission, his own boss sends him to convalesce on Jeju Island. The idea is for him to stay there for a week until arrangements can be made to smuggle him to Vladivostok. He is hosted by a former associate of his outfit, a semi-retired criminal who is now caring of his own ailing niece. Decently entertaining Korean crime thriller. Most interesting in the quiet middle section of the film. I think a more interesting film could have been achieved with a few different creative choices in the third act. I liked the two leads and it's hard not to love any movie that makes time for a little Wong Kar-Wai reference. "I saw the Devil" remains my favorite from Hoon-jung Park.
Kong vs Godzilla: I think that was the title. A Gorilla Titan and Godzilla Titan have to fight because Apex/Alpha something or other. In the end they (we?) are trapped in an Escher-ian nightmare. Not a good movie.
Run Hide Fight (2020) Dir. Kyle Rankin Zoe is a bit of an outsider at her high school, with fellow outcast Lewis as her one real friend. She is dealing with the death of her mother, something she cannot really talk about with her father. On a day where she and Lewis already observed some weird things on their drive into school, a small group of school shooters take control of the cafeteria. The shooters, all classmates of Zoe, lock down the school buildings and round up the kids still remaining in the classrooms. Zoe evades capture but instead of fleeing the school premises, she remains inside of the school to try and help her classmates, and especially Lewis who is one of the hostages. This is a very weird movie. Most of the attention has gone to its initial US distribution (through Ben Shapiro's The Daily Wire). To me the issue was with the tonal discord between its very serious subject matter (school shootings) and how it treats it. Denis Villeneuve's Polytechnique and Gus Van Sant's Elephant are two other movies which deal with the same subject matter. Whilst also two very different movies, they have in common that they treat the on-screen violence in a certain way. In this flick, it is more or less treated like it would be in John Wick or Die Hard. Indeed, "Die Hard in a high school" isn't the worst description in the world for this movie. Something I guess many people will find offensive and in bad taste. I mostly thought it was very weird. High school Jane McClane isn't a great premise for either a serious treatise on the school shooter phenomenon or an action film. Can't really fault the actors, the lead is actually pretty good. The movie is just tonally too weird for me to say I enjoyed it.
Nobody (2021)-Tale of mild-mannered man's descent into violence, with conflicts with the Russian mob. Bob Odenkirk, Christopher Lloyd, RZA and Connie Nielsen star.
Saw this yesterday as well....they actually have a few popular Russian actors and some awesome 90s pop music.
Thunder Force (2021) Dir. Ben Falcone Lydia and Emily meet in primary school, right after Emily has been orphaned. They become unlikely best friends, with Lydia a slacker more interested in having fun in life and Emily a serious academic overachiever. Their relationship eventually peters out in high school over these personality differences. Decades later, both of them now adults, Lydia seeks out Emily in the hope that her old friend will attend their HS reunion and they can perhaps patch up some of their former friendship. Emily has become a successful entrepreneur and scientist who has developed a treatment that can give a normal person superpowers. The idea is to use this treatment to create people who can fight the so-called Miscreants, actual supervillains who run wild and whom regular law enforcement struggles to cope with. Unfortunately for Emily, Lydia's blundering ways lead to her accidentally receiving a dose of the super-hero compound, meaning that Lydia has no choice but to continue the treatments on her long estranged friend. But can they overcome their old differences to become an effective superhero team? A superhero action comedy that was underwhelming across the board. Neither very funny nor very effective as a superhero flick, it was mostly disappointing throughout. Melissa McCarthy is able to elevate a few of the scenes a tiny bit (I at least smiled at the Jodie Foster gag), but this is very mediocre fare. A waste of a good cast too, besides the leads we also have Bobby Cannavale, Jason Bateman and Pom Klementieff in supporting roles.
We're watching this now. My wife was NOT into it at all for reasons you mention, but, she ha to admit the writing was damn funny. Then the characters started to change in the last episode of season 2, and she is into it. Dan Levy is a damn fine writer/show runner, and the character of Stevie is consistently hilarious.
The Little Things (2021) Dir. John Lee Hancock A Sheriff's deputy is tasked with taking a piece of evidence down to Los Angeles. When he arrives at his old stomping grounds, he reconnects with some former LAPD colleagues. He also meets a new hotshot detective who is in charge of capturing a serial killer who has been terrorizing the city. He recognizes the MO from a case he worked prior to his career derailment. Volunteering his services, the pair team up to find the elusive killer, zeroing in on a longer with strange habits in the process. This was mostly pretty well-acted but the writing felt pretty dated. Apparently the earliest drafts of this screenplay dated back to the early 1990s. Which makes a certain amount of sense since it has most in common with the serial killer movies of that era. Denzel Washington can play this type of character in his sleep at this point. Rami Malek is slightly less at ease in his detective role. Jared Leto is massively chewing scenery as the prime suspect but at this point, whoever still hires him should know exactly what they are getting. Can't really say I'd recommend this unless you are a massive genre fan.
Cowboy Bebop 20+ years late, but damn, this was great. Easily finds a spot in my top 5 favorite TV shows. Interested in how the live-action series will compare.
Bad Day At Black Rock (1955)-Critically acclaimed in the 50s, but kind of boring now. Spencer Tracy stars as a mysterious stranger who comes into the town of Black Rock. Several other major stars. Decent use of a couple hours.
Justice Society: World War II (2021) Dir. Jeff Wamester Just as Barry Allen is visiting Metropolis with his girlfriend, Braniac attacks. Together with Superman, the Flash tries to defeat the supervillain. As they are combating him, Barry is accidentally sent back in time after he tries to deflect a kryptonite projectile out of Superman's way. He arrives in Europe, at the height of the second world war and soon meets the Justice Society, superpowered individuals fighting on the side of the allies: Hawkman, Hourman, Black Canary, original Flash Jay Garrick and their leader, Wonder Woman. With no immediate way back home, Barry decides to help the superheroes, after he wins their trust. The key to stopping the Nazis from getting their hands on magical superpowered weapons is held by a codebreaker who is captive in a super-secure Nazi facility. Very enjoyable entry into the DC animated movies series. Perhaps the best from start to finish in at least a couple of years. Writing-wise, I thought the first half of the film was better than the second half, but I loved almost everything else: the voice cast, the animation, the character design (Otto Schmidt is one of the artists responsible and his trademark style is all over these designs), the WWII setting. In general I think the long-running movie series has found a new wind since Justice League: Dark Apokalips War (whilst imperfect definitely a new creative direction).
Nomadland: Well acted movie in which grieving people live in vans and campers. Their Burning Man is less crazy. Along the way they learn that being a seasonal worker at Amazon can be fun and full of hi-jinx.
Without Remorse (2021) Dir. Stefano Sollina John Clark is a Navy SEAL on a CIA mission in Syria to extract a high value target from a compound held by Syrian forces. He knows something is off when they find a huge Russian weapons cache in the building, as well as former Russian special forces instead of the Syrian forces they had been expecting. The CIA operative in charge of the mission isn't forthcoming with information. Upon his return to the States, John and several members of his team are attacked at home. This leaves three team members dead and John injured. Another casualty in the attack is John's pregnant wife. He decides to go rogue to get the revenge that official channels within his government have no interest in providing. This was a pretty paint by the numbers action thriller. Also supposedly a Rainbow Six prequel, but not in any plot-relevant way. I like Michael B. Jordan as an actor but he was far more impressive in Black Panther and both of the Creed films than he is here. Standard action fare doesn't really suit him as well. By contrast, a decently interesting action turn from Jodie Turner-Smith, in a supporting role. The writing is too old-fashioned and predictable and the action sequences aren't sufficiently impressive for this to leave any lasting impact.
This film has got to have one of the worst trailers ever made. It's always the first thing my Prime account shows me and I can't click out of it fast enough. It forces you to wonder whether--given this is what they chose to entice you--there are any lines in the film that couldn't have been written by a 10th grader with a C+ grade point average.
Hey! That kid would get straight A's if they just applied themself! (I'm learning to use plural neutral for singular subjects, but it HURTS.)
Didn't post as much in here because I was working my way through the rest of this box set. I'm done now! So adding to my original post, I enjoyed season two and three the most. Not that there aren't still enjoyable episodes in season four and even five as well. It is clear that by the last season, they were ready to mess around with the formula a lot more (perhaps foreshadowed by the changed opening theme song). We get the double Lee Harvey Oswald episode, the first three episode arc in the aptly named Trilogy (in which Sam leaps into the life of a woman at three different stages) and the introduction of the Evil Leapers. The last one is where I found they were Poochie-fying the show a tiny bit. The Evil Leapers are a needless new plot wrinkle that does not improve the core formula. Thankfully they don't feature in too many episodes. Overall a very enjoyable re-watch, though any reboot of this series would no doubt stay well away from the countless white savior narratives.