Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025) Dir. Zach Lipovsky & Adam B. Stein After a cold open in which we see this movie's grand disaster from which a bunch of people cheat death - the grand opening of a panoramic restaurant that goes terribly wrong - we are transported fifty years into the future, where a young woman called Stefani is having recurring dreams about just that event. She discovers that her estranged grandmother was not just one of the survivors, but is the woman whose perspective she seems to experience in her dreams. After she visits said grandma against her uncle's advice, the woman tells her a strange story about having cheated death fifty years earlier but how death has been evening the score by going after all the people who survived the restaurant disaster thanks to her premonition, including their offspring. The only reason why Stefani's family has been spared so far is that Stefani's grandma has been living a recluse's life far off the beaten path and has been able to avoid falling into the traps laid out by fate/death for decades. Only Stefani seeking her out unwittingly causes the old woman's death, which puts her entire bloodline in play: not just Stefani herself, but her brother Charlie, her own estranged mother Darlene, her uncle Howard and her cousins Erik, Julia and Marty. The first problem: her family deemed grandma Iris a crazy person and treat Stefani's bizarre theories the same way... The new legacy sequel of the now 25 year old horror franchise Final Destination. Perfectly okay entry into the series, whilst far from an instant classic. The establishing disaster is not one that will probably supplants existing fans' favorites of the series. There are a few memorable deaths in there (a staple of the series is the pitch dark humor in the design of some of the deaths). The best one taking place in a hospital, though I won't spoil it by giving away any of the details. Everyone who actually likes this series has their favorite entries, for me they are the second and third film. This was good enough that I have hopes we might get more new entries in the series. Unlike Saw, which never interested me, there is something innately entertaining about the Rube Goldberg nature of the freak events in this series.
Ten Wanted Men (1955) Dir. H. Bruce Humberstone John Stewart is a wealthy rancher who welcomes his brother Adam and his nephew Howie to live with him.The idea is that Adam can start practicing law, which would make him one of the first lawyers in the entire county. At the party that John has arranged to welcome his family, Howie meets and falls in love with Maria, a beautiful local girl. This fuels great jealousy from Wick Campbell, a local saloon keeper and essentially Maria's guardian, though he is carrying a rather problematic torch for the young woman now that she has come of age. When Maria flees to Stewart's ranch to be with Howie, an enraged Campbell sets in motion plans to get his revenge on Stewart, whom he has long been envious of. To that end, he hires a group of outlaws to do his bidding and terrorize the small community... A 1950s Randolph Scott western I hadn't yet seen, so obviously I'd give it a chance. Unfortunately Humberstone is no Boetticher or Peckinpah. Not that this is terrible by any means, just a bit cliche and unimaginative at times. The support cast features among others Jocelyn Brando as Scott's love interest, Lee van Cleef in one of the many henchman roles he had in 1950 westerns and noirs and Richard Boone as the sleazy kind of baddie he'd make a career out of playing, both before and after his run as a TV cowboy on Have Gun - Will Travel. I always especially enjoyed his turn in the Paul Newman western Hombre.
A Royal Christmas Ballet - 2024 (Great American Family) Carrie (Brittany Underwood) is a local ballet teacher, and former nationally recognized dancer, who somehow finagles a foreign kingdom (the subtitles said Weidenberg - I think) to send a prima ballerina to the US to star in their production of The Nutcracker. The prima ballerina, Medea (Daniela Couso), is accompanied by Prince William (Jonathan Stoddard) who is her ex. They get to the US, she's a pain, William and Carrie have several misunderstandings, and in the end you know exactly what happens. Slightly above average. Pretty much everyone and everything is slightly above average. Brittany Underwood looks and acts like 70% of Marisa Tomei. Nobody is terrible, nobody is great, and it feels like a good Hallmark Christmas movie generator created this and Great American Family stole the script. Apparently this is the 3rd time that Underwood and Stoddard have done a Christmas movie together, and if anything they're a little too comfortable on screen together. I think my favorite part is right at the beginning where the Prince and his assistant are trying to do German accents and in the very next scene the Prince and the Queen are doing British accents.
Of course I know what happens. They machine gun a hoard of mercenaries bent on kidnapping the prince, then they work their way through a crime syndicate to kill the mastermind who orchestrated the kidnapping. Tale as old as time.
Well now I want a series of those where the main character always introduces himself as Blonde, Lame Blonde.
Diablo (2025) Dir. Ernesto Diaz Espinoza Kris Chaney arrives in Colombia, having been smuggled in thanks to a shady truck driver who immediately tries to screw him over. Chaney is in Colombia to try and retrieve Elisa, the teenage daughter of his late friend, former lover and criminal associate Leonor. Elisa's father is local crime boss Vicente, which means Kris has to get past Vicente's bodyguards to get near Elisa. His attempts to get to Elisa get the attention of a very different kind of man, a local psychopath with a very sinister reputation by the name of El Corvo, who himself had dealings with Vicente in the past... All three men soon find themselves on a collision course, with Elisa in the center of it all. Scott Adkins action vehicle shot on location in Colombia and featuring a largely Colombian or otherwise South-American cast. Decent without ever rising to the level of truly memorable. The best action set pieces feature Adkins fighting Marko Zaror, a physically imposing Chilean martial artists, who plays the super-creepy El Corvo. In the quieter moments this is very much a two-hander between Adkins and Alanna De La Rosso and it's the latter who really carries those more emotional scenes.
Letter Never Sent (1960) Dir. Mikhail Kalatozov A four men expedition departs for the boreal forest in central Siberia in the hope of finding diamonds. The foursome consists of expedition leader Konstantin Sabinin, young geologists Tanya and Andrei and experienced guide Sergei. Early on, as Summer slowly crawls towards Autumn, the tensions are building due to their lack of success in finding any diamonds and the older Sergei's sudden infatuation with Tanya, who herself is going through a more reciprocal romance with Andrei. When the expedition does strike its diamond Bonanza in the end, the four prepare to return to civilization with the location of the diamond cache contained within a detailed map. Unfortunately on the eve of their departure they are surprised by huge forest fires that first decimate their supplies and then render them hopelessly lost. Even though a huge search is conducted for the expedition, they have only themselves to rely on until they are found and the rough terrain, the weather and their own growing despair conspire to make sure that they never reach their destination... Man vs. Nature style survival drama. I went in with no specific expectations and limited knowledge of the film and was more than pleasantly surprised. This is very well done. Some of the camera work in this feature is truly incredible, to the point that I have no idea how Kalatozov and his cinematographer Sergey Urusevskiy shot all this stuff, especially when you consider that nearly all of this must have been done practical and in-camera. Katalazov uses extensive close-ups, essentially having the camera operator in the middle of the action, the actors occasionally getting so close that you are surprised they don't bump into him. The effect is that the audience feels part of the doomed expedition, as if the camera perspective is the POV of an unseen fifth member of the expedition. The Criterion restoration looks absolutely beautiful. Like many Russian films of this era, the feature seems to exist in some weird zone caught in the middle between reality and the dream world. This modern trailer captures some of its specific visual quality quite well:
A Christmas Less Traveled - 2024 (Great American Family) Desi (Candace Cameron Bure) owns a diner that's losing money. She finally agrees to sell her late father's old red pickup truck, but when she gets in it she finds a cassette tape with her name on it that sends her on a road trip following his directions. Greyson (Eric Johnson) is a stranger in town who keeps getting mysterious texts and calls saying that time is running out and he needs to find the old red pickup truck. He joins in the road trip, they make a few stops where people Desi has never met know her immediately and give her more cassette tapes for the rest of the journey. This is very well done. They don't really reveal anything about the reason Greyson is there until the final 15-20 minutes. The lead actors are both good and all the random, quirky supporting characters are fun without being too cheesy. This one moved into my top five for last year and if the ending had been a bit stronger then it could have landed on top. The current list: Hanakkuh on the Rocks Hallmark That Christmas Netflix Believe in Christmas Hallmark A Christmas Less Traveled Great American Family Sugarplummed Hallmark Christmas on the Ranch Hulu Christmas on Call Hallmark Following Yonder Star Hallmark Santa Tell Me Hallmark A Reason for the Season Hallmark Mystery Deck the Halls on Cherry Lane Hallmark+ The Finnish Line Hallmark The Merry Gentlemen Netflix Jingle Bell Love Roku Channel Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story Hallmark Tis the Season to be Irish Hallmark Happy Holidays from Cherry Lane Hallmark+ A Novel Noel Hallmark Mystery All I Need for Christmas Hallmark Mystery Nutcrackers Hulu A Dance in the Snow Hallmark Mystery Confessions of a Christmas Letter Hallmark Three Wiser Men and a Boy Hallmark Hot Frosty Netflix Unwrapping Christmas: Lily's Destiny Hallmark+ Unwrapping Christmas: Mia's Prince Hallmark+ A Vintage Christmas Great American Family Christmas Under the Lights Hallmark Mystery Twas the Date Before Christmas Hallmark Holiday Mismatch Hallmark The Santa Class Hallmark A '90s Christmas Hallmark The 5-Year Christmas Party Hallmark Trivia at St. Nicks Hallmark A Christmas Castle Proposal Great American Family Holiday Crashers Hallmark Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia's Reunion Hallmark+ Unwrapping Christmas: Tina's Miracle Hallmark+ To Have and to Holiday Hallmark Operation Nutcracker Hallmark Season's Greetings from Cherry Lane Hallmark+ A Carol for Two Hallmark The Christmas Charade Hallmark Christmas Wreaths & Ribbons Great American Family Trading Up Christmas Hallmark Mystery A Royal Christmas Ballet Great American Family Jingle Bell Run Hallmark My Sweet Austrian Holiday Hallmark Mystery The Christmas Quest Hallmark Scouting for Christmas Hallmark Our Holiday Story Hallmark Our Little Secret Netflix Christmas with the Singhs Hallmark A Sudden Case of Christmas Hulu This Time Each Year Hallmark Mystery Private Princess Christmas Hallmark Deck the Walls Hallmark Five Gold Rings Hallmark Mystery Meet Me Next Christmas Netflix Debbie Macomber's Joyful Mrs. Miracle Hallmark Leah's Perfect Gift Hallmark Happy Howlidays Hallmark Tales of Christmas Great American Family Anything from My Sweet Austrian Holiday and above is watchable. Anything from A Vintage Christmas and above might even be something you really like. 63 Down, 22 to go (I didn't count the excellent Disney+ short film that I watched): Great American Family - 10 Lifetime - 9 UPtv - 3
Joe Kidd (1972) Dir. John Sturges Early 20th century New Mexico. Former bounty hunter Joe Kidd is in jail for having poached a deer on Indian land and subsequently resisted arrest. Just as he is walked over to the court house to hear his sentence, Luis Chama, a local man leading a peasant revolt descends upon the place with armed men in tow. He is fighting against the wealthy men throwing people off their ancestral lands, often times helped in that endeavor by representatives of the state and the courts. Chama and his men successfully gets away. Days later, wealthy landowner Frank Harlan arrives in town and bails Kidd out of jail. His generosity comes with a price: he wants Kidd to help him track Chama. Harlan sees Chama as a nuisance he would rather deal with himself than leave it to the courts. Kidd initially refuses, until he finds out that Chama and his men stole some of his horses on their way out of town. A decision he regrets once he realizes the cutthroat nature of the men in Harlan's posse, men who aren't afraid of causing more than a bit of collateral damage in their quest to apprehend and kill Luis Chama... Somehow I had never seen this film even though I love westerns, Clint Eastwood, Robert Duvall, John Sturges and Elmore Leonard (who wrote this). Meant as something of a anachronistic retelling of the story of Reies Tijerina. Not bad by any means, though perhaps the names involved had raised my expectations to a level this film didn't quite meet. The edit did leave me feeling as if the extended build-up led to a climax that felt rushed. And unlike say in the Henry Fonda western Warlock, the anti-climax climax isn't the entire point. Can't help but feel like the intention was not to go out with something of a whimper.
A Minecraft Movie - 2025 WTF? Aquaman, Wednesday's roommate Enid, Adebayo, and some kid I've never heard of follow a cube orb into a parallel universe (I guess) where they meet weirder than usual Jack Black and try to get back, or something like that. I can see how all the weird voices, crazy visuals, and ridiculous cuts appealed to small children. I also see how the sound of Jennifer Coolidge's voice made people want to abandon their children in the theater. How did this make so much money?
He Walked By Night (1948) Dir. Alfred L. Werker & Anthony Mann (uncredited) On his way home, LAPD patrolman Rawlins comes upon the scene of a suspected break-in. When he accosts the suspect and asks to see some ID, the man in question shoots Rawlins in cold blood and gets away before he can be apprehended or anyone can positively ID him. The police make finding the cop killer a priority, Police Chief Breen putting an experienced Police Sergeant, Marty Brennan, on the case. Unfortunately, in spite of some good early leads, the suspect seems to be elusive, somehow one step ahead of the police at all times, as if he is familiar with their tactics and knows about their avenues of inquiry... Police procedural noir, starring Richard Basehart in a very different role than the mild-mannered pharmacist he'd portray just one year later in the excellent Tension. Here he plays a cold and calculated criminal, whose smarts and discipline keep him out of the police's reach for the longest time. His opposite on the force is played by Scott Brady, Lawrence Tierney's brother (and spitting image). Loosely based on a real-life crime spree by one Erwin Walker. An enjoyable eighty minutes.
Blue Period (2024) ~ Hagiwara, K. An okay live-action adaptation of a manga with an anime on Netflix I'm a fan of. With two hours, it condenses and cuts a lot of the manga's prep school/exam arc. It covers the same content as the anime, which at four hours (12 eps) is definitely the better viewing experience. It was fine for watching on a flight, though.
A Cozy Christmas Quilt - 2024/2023 (Great American Family) GAF cheated on this one. As I was looking for the image and cast, I found out it was released in 2023 under the name "The Fabric of Christmas," but apparently only Australia, Belgium, and Canada. Here's the actual description from the FrndlyTV recording: Amy (Ferelith Young) is a quilting teacher and community center volunteer who is a finalist for an arts fellowship or something like that. Liam (Harmon Walsh) is a firefighter checking the community center for hazards who threatens to close it down in 30 days if tens of thousands of dollars of repairs and upgrades aren't done. Liam's sister Lauren (Alia DeSantis) is getting married, but her fiance's job is moving him to Rome so they have to keep their family's tradition of a Christmas wedding with only 5 weeks to pull everything together. Liam and Lauren's parents died 10 years earlier, with Liam raising his sister, and their mom isn't around to do the other part of their family wedding tradition and make her a quilt. Liam decides he's going to make the quilt, but he doesn't know how, so our two main characters are forced to get along. Solidly in the middle, with the two leads actually being able to act, and they almost got some bonus points for not going with the standard Christmas movie ending until they went with the standard Christmas movie ending.
The Crow (2024) Young Eric Craven has lived a life of loneliness and loss. He had nothing to look forward to, and years of drug use landed him in a drug rehabilitation prison. That's where he met Shelly, whose arrest for drug possession was actually a temporary reprieve from the people chasing her and her former crew. Those people find her in the prison, forcing Eric and Shelly to escape and live life on the run. They fall for each other and form a profound love. But eventually the forces chasing Shelly catch up to them and kill them both. Except the crows, whose job it is to ferry souls to their destination, decide to give Eric another chance in the world. They have a dirty job to do and according to the theology of this place Eric is the one capable of doing it. The first Crow was a simple action movie at its base from which it could hang the style and emotion. The simplicity allowed for a purity that carried you along without having to think about things like premises and consequences. Making a Crow movie doesn't require a remake as the core (a couple in love is killed, and a crow allows one of them vengeance) is infinitely repeatable and transferable. But this Crow decided to re-imagine pretty much everything about the characters and the world, thus the reboot and reusing the original character's names. This movie doesn't have the slightly unreal style of the original nor the humor (this movie is set somewhere that looks exactly like our world and it is utterly without humor). The first Crow was about a married, familiar kind of love while this one was based on a whirlwind of passion (it's actually a plot point that this love was in danger because the two didn't really know each other). More than that we get a lot more information about the magicks of the place which paradoxically opens a lot more questions about how the supernatural in this world works. This is fundamentally a different film. If it sounds like I hate this movie... well I didn't. I rather liked it actually, which quite surprised me. Soon enough I stopped comparing this to 1994's and just took this for what it is. The very drawn out opening (we didn't get anything Crowish until 40 minutes in) had me looking at the clock but brought a lot of meaning to later events, and I was caught up in Eric's struggles. The music was well chosen. One thing that I definitely didn't like was the body horror. This movie reveled in showing pain and damage repeatedly and frequently. I also wonder about the style. It was very 2024, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but I don't think this Crow is going to be as evergreen as the original. The Crow remake was peak tattoo.
Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023) Luther is investigating a murder about a body found in a car after the person was missing for 7 years. A serial killer is on the loose (of course), but no ordinary serial killer (of course). The serial killer digs up dirt in Luther, who is fired and goes to prison. Years later, the killer is still at it. He blackmails people (including, of course, one of the cops on the case...note this is not really a spoiler, as it is obvious within a few minutes) into doing all manner of terrible things. Luther calls the current DCI on the case to consult. She does not want the help and informs the prison to take away Luther's cellphone. An unbelievably stupid prison riot occurs and Luther escapes in the most ridiculous, super action hero-esque manner imaginable. His old boss is called out of retirement to help the police...capture Luther. Luther bets his old boss that he will catch the killer before the police catch him. Some of the dumbest activities shot on film occur over the ensuing 60 minutes or so, ending up in the snow in Norway (I won't spoil how things get to Norway, but suffice it to say, it makes almost no sense). This was one of the dumbest, most unrealistic, least likable and just generally unpleasant movies I have seen in a while. I watched the original Luther series. I like Idris Elba, but his selection of roles is awful. I would say R.I.P. to Luther, but after this I say Good Riddance. Anyone who has not watched this, don't bother.
Haeolbin (2024) Dir. Min-ho Woo Early 20th century Korea. Ahn Jung-geun successfully leads an attack against Japanese soldiers, as the commander of a unit of Korean freedom fighters. In the aftermath of the battle, he spares the lives of some Japanese soldiers, against the will of his men. This has disastrous consequences in a subsequent ambush in which dozens of his men perish. Having lost the trust of his soldiers and wanting to make amends for the decision that cost so many lives, Ahn swears that he will put together an operation to assassinate Itô Hirobumi, the Resident General of Korea and one-time Prime Minister of Japan. A tall order, since Itö is very well protected and the small cell of resistance fighters that Ahn assembles to carry out the assassination plot appears to be compromised... The kind of stylish period piece thriller that South-Korea seems to excel at. Essentially a fictionalized account of the real-life assassination of Itô Hirobumi by Ahn Jung-geon, an event that some historians believe precipitated Japan's annexation of Korea. Good lead performance by Hyun Bin and very nice era accurate production design.
A Little Women's Christmas - 2024 (Great American Family) Jo March (Jillian Murray) is a successful children's book writer in New York who is attempting to move to YA novels as her previous publishing house gets bought and the new one starts looking for contracts to cut. They don't like her first option and tell her to start from scratch with a new proof of concept in 2 weeks, just after Christmas. To keep tabs on her, the publisher sends an editor, Fritz (Trevor Donovan), to help her develop her new idea. She gets home to Alcott Grove (so on the nose that it is the nose) and sees her sisters Meg (Jen Lilley), Beth (Laura Osnes), and Amy (Julie Reilly) while also running into Fritz at a coffee shop where he decides to pretend he's not an editor from the publishing house to push the story forward. Yes, this is an actual attempt at a contemporary Little Women story, and they do a pretty solid job of it. The 4 main subplots all work to help the overall movie. The story works, they sneak in a few genuinely clever lines, and the acting is good across the board. Bonus points for the music number in the next to last scene. They go full black gospel choir with Pastor Henderson (Javen Campbell) and his mother Beatrice (GLADYS KNIGHT!) singing the lead. Jillian Murray joins Hallmark regular Ashley Newbrough in the random category of better looking version of Denise Richards. Not sure why there's multiple women like that making cheesy holiday films. This was better than it had any business being.
I started watching a different one before this, but it was another one that released in Belgium in 2023 and then GAF showed it in 2024 and I decided to punt. A Cinderella Christmas Ball - 2024 (Great American Family) Chelsea Jones (Danica McKellar) is an orphan who has grown up to be a ballet teacher in Chicago where she allows foster parents to fall behind on their payments for their foster kid's lessons. She begins downsizing her storage unit and finds a picture of her biological mother standing next to a man wearing a wedding ring in a place called Havenshire that's supposedly a city state near Luxembourg (filmed in Ontario). Within minutes everyone she knows has pooled together their money, including the foster parents who couldn't keep up with payment for ballet lessons, and she's on her way to MadeUpCountry. She arrives there where some oddly British sounding and looking people all live, including a guard who won't let her into the building where the picture was taken since it's in the general vicinity of the castle. She dances with a random guy in a pub, stumbles into a dance studio where she starts helping a kid, and gets invited to help teach the Prince a dance that he's supposed to dance with the bride he has to choose on Christmas Day (maybe Christmas Eve, who knows?). Wouldn't you know who won the pony, the stranger in the pub is Prince Phillip (Oliver Rice). Nothing too egregious about it other than hitting Cheesy Christmas Movie Bingo about 5 times in the first 10 minutes, but I still feel the same way about Danica McKellar that I did when she was on The Wonder Years. She's a reasonably decent actor and she looks like someone botched plastic surgery on her in the womb and she decided to never get it fixed.
Eliminating two of the 2023 movies that GAF tried to pass off as 2024 movies, and having watched 3 more actual 2024 movies, the list dwindles even further. The current list: Hanakkuh on the Rocks Hallmark That Christmas Netflix Believe in Christmas Hallmark A Christmas Less Traveled Great American Family Sugarplummed Hallmark Christmas on the Ranch Hulu Christmas on Call Hallmark Following Yonder Star Hallmark A Little Women's Christmas Great American Family Santa Tell Me Hallmark A Reason for the Season Hallmark Mystery Deck the Halls on Cherry Lane Hallmark+ The Finnish Line Hallmark The Merry Gentlemen Netflix Jingle Bell Love Roku Channel Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story Hallmark Tis the Season to be Irish Hallmark Happy Holidays from Cherry Lane Hallmark+ A Novel Noel Hallmark Mystery All I Need for Christmas Hallmark Mystery A Cozy Christmas Quilt Great American Family Nutcrackers Hulu A Dance in the Snow Hallmark Mystery Confessions of a Christmas Letter Hallmark Three Wiser Men and a Boy Hallmark Hot Frosty Netflix Unwrapping Christmas: Lily's Destiny Hallmark+ Unwrapping Christmas: Mia's Prince Hallmark+ A Vintage Christmas Great American Family Christmas Under the Lights Hallmark Mystery Twas the Date Before Christmas Hallmark Holiday Mismatch Hallmark The Santa Class Hallmark A '90s Christmas Hallmark The 5-Year Christmas Party Hallmark Trivia at St. Nicks Hallmark A Christmas Castle Proposal Great American Family Holiday Crashers Hallmark Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia's Reunion Hallmark+ Unwrapping Christmas: Tina's Miracle Hallmark+ To Have and to Holiday Hallmark Operation Nutcracker Hallmark Season's Greetings from Cherry Lane Hallmark+ A Carol for Two Hallmark The Christmas Charade Hallmark Christmas Wreaths & Ribbons Great American Family Trading Up Christmas Hallmark Mystery A Royal Christmas Ballet Great American Family Jingle Bell Run Hallmark My Sweet Austrian Holiday Hallmark Mystery A Cinderella Christmas Ball Great American Family The Christmas Quest Hallmark Scouting for Christmas Hallmark Our Holiday Story Hallmark Our Little Secret Netflix Christmas with the Singhs Hallmark A Sudden Case of Christmas Hulu This Time Each Year Hallmark Mystery Private Princess Christmas Hallmark Deck the Walls Hallmark Five Gold Rings Hallmark Mystery Meet Me Next Christmas Netflix Debbie Macomber's Joyful Mrs. Miracle Hallmark Leah's Perfect Gift Hallmark Happy Howlidays Hallmark Tales of Christmas Great American Family Anything from My Sweet Austrian Holiday and above is watchable. Anything from A Vintage Christmas and above might even be something you really like. 66 Down, 17 to go (I didn't count the excellent Disney+ short film that I watched): Great American Family - 5 Lifetime - 9 UPtv - 3
Conclave (2024) The Pope is dead. Three weeks later begins the conclave, a sequestered meeting of the cardinals to vote for one of them to become the new Pope. One might think that a religion that places such importance on humility and service would preclude ambition but some of them really, really want the job. As one of the cardinals says, "No sane man would want the Papacy. The men who are dangerous... are the ones that do want it". This was incredibly captivating, especially with regards to the acting and the visuals. I do enjoy political thrillers, although this was a little different because some of the figures were - at least at first - trying hard to not make it a political thriller. One of the main themes of the movie was the study of ambition, and how a natural inclination to want to see a certain version of the world brought about can morph into thinking one is chosen to make that world happen. Some of the cardinals start out that way, but the two main candidates we observe - if in a halting fashion - slip into this thinking. In fact the one that seems most unlikely to fall is only seconds from ambition until stopped by a miraculously well timed event. I liked the ending, which had an optimistic vision of bringing the Church back to teachings of Jesus in a way the world needs today.
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone [ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版: 序] (2007) Fourteen year old Shinji is in the abandoned ruins of Tokyo, the rendezvous point where he is supposed to be picked up and taken to his estranged father who he is told is running the operation that is trying to save what is left of civilization from mysterious and powerful entities known as 'Angels', one of which is attacking. Once rescued by the adventurous Misato, Shinji is taken to the fortress city of Tokyo-3 where his father wants only one thing from him - to pilot a Eva, a massive mecha that is the key to fighting the Angels. And he does, reluctantly. But Shinji's father knows much more than he lets on, and is part of a shadowy operation that knows a lot about what might happen and wants to make sure it does. The movie is a mostly shot-for-shot remake of the first 6 episodes of the original TV series. It was all redone for the theater so it looks and sounds a lot better, but the changes were mostly subtle, with the new interesting bits related to the conspiracy underlying everything. It exists to get us ready for the next movies, but I enjoyed it for what it was.
Klute (1971) Dir. Alan J. Pakula After a high level executive of a Pennsylvania based chemical company disappears without a trace, one of the few clues are the obscene letters he had been sending to a NYC based call girl, Bree Daniel. When the police doesn't get very far in solving the case, John Klute, a friend of the missing man is hired by another executive of the same company to try his hand at finding out what happened to the missing man. To that end, he first observes and then approaches Bree, who is initially not very eager to help Klute. Though she has her own reasons to fear for her life, as she has been dealing with a stalker. A stalker whom Klute deems possibly related to the missing person case. Visually interesting and distinct 1970s thriller that I had somehow never seen. Carried largely by Jane Fonda's performance, which include lots of heavy lifting in the first half of the film, when Donald Sutherland is still less involved (including several scenes in which she is acting on her own inside of her character's apartment). A thriller that moves forward at a languid tempo, which somehow fits the story and never truly drags. Features Roy Schneider in a supporting role as a slimy pimp.
Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance [ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版: 破] (2009) NERV in Japan gets a new brash and self-assured Eva pilot named Asuka together with her Ferrari red production model Eva to join current pilots Shinji and Rei. But Tokyo-3 isn't the only NERV base in the world working on creating Eva units to battle Angels. The European base loses their Eva in a successful battle with an Angel; the surviving pilot (Mari) is sent to Japan to perform a secret mission the Japanese know nothing about. The Americans were working on advanced versions of Eva when one mysteriously blew up taking out their base and pretty much all of the Southwest United States with it. They send their other test version to Japan, and when it is first activated things go horrifically wrong. Just as Shinji's father hoped. Very broadly speaking this corresponds to the rest of the TV series up to the penultimate episode (up to the end of the world), but only the faintest shadow of the original plot lines still exist. This movie felt like it was three hours long just because there was so much stuff in it it made me dizzy. There's all the mythology of the supernatural elements and the competing conspiracies trying to end the world on their own terms and most of what we are given is contextless and you really have to work to get even a partial handle on what is going on. But for all that, the overriding theme of the movie was, of all things, food. And more than that how it brings people together in the preparation and the sharing. There's a subplot about how school lunches shape (mostly only in Asuka's head) the relationship between Shinji and Rei and Asuka. Many of the conversations take place over meals. An overriding concern of the characters, one that has major repercussions, is the planning of a dinner date. At one point it is revealed that Rei doesn't eat meat, and Shinji's classmate Toji says that the animals exist to give us energy. That is a horrible foreshadowing of the later battles. There's a lot of eating in the fights with the Angels - a lot of consuming and absorbing power. For all the esoteric Judaeo-Christian trappings it's the most primitive majicks that rule. But worse than city-destroying gods bloodily eating each other is Shinji's relationship with his father, Gendo. Movie Shinji is far more stable and confident than TV Shinji, but there is still discussion about his motives and desires. But everything Gendo does is bent towards manipulating people, especially Shinji, for his singular goal. Nothing about what he says about duty or truth or honor can be taken at face value. To exist with a narcissist like this is the destruction of all that is human.