Movies You've Seen Recently

[algroth]

 

 

Perfect Blue

 

It's a movie I was sure I saw once before, right up until I actually started watching it. Nothing like I thought it would be. It's just a great psychological thriller, where I was expecting aliens or monsters or something.

I usually enjoy that sort of film (the psychological melodrama involving women and the role they play - see The Red Shoes, Suspiria, Inland Empire as other examples), but this one left me pretty cold. I felt the aesthetic tropes by which it tried to capture a cracked psyche were all pretty standard for the genre and I ultimately had a bit of a "seen it all already" feel with it. In terms of Satoshi Kon films I think it's the weakest of the four I've seen (the only four he released, I think?) - however, if you enjoyed it I would eagerly recommend his follow-up Millennium Actress, a superb trip through the golden decades of Japanese cinema. Tokyo Godfathers is also great.

 

Thanks! I'll have to check it out. And maybe those other movies you mentioned to.

 

Sure thing! I hope you enjoy, and would like to hear your opinion when you get around to them.

[Raithe]

Hm, doesn't look too bad for a reboot.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUDV0CUzG0k&feature=youtu.be

 

Although apparently Sutherland will be putting in an appearance. So not sure if it's meant to be a loose follow-on or just him as a cameo.

[Orogun01]

Hm, doesn't look too bad for a reboot.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUDV0CUzG0k&feature=youtu.be

 

Although apparently Sutherland will be putting in an appearance. So not sure if it's meant to be a loose follow-on or just him as a cameo.

I'm ok with since this a very obscure movie that nobody knows, although it probably is on every hard sci fi must watch list. 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

It Comes At Night. A heartwarming film about family you should watch.

[Blarghagh]

It Comes At Night. A heartwarming film about family you should watch.

A more accurate representation of the movie than the trailer was.

[Amentep]

The Mummy (2017)

I liked it. I'd say it's a good, but not great film. It has a few genuinely creepy moments, and actually keeps the scale down a bit more than I expected. I think there are at least one potential plot problem, but to be honest it really didn't detract from enjoyment.
 
So some spoiler discussion ahoy:

One of the interesting things is the film kind of used Cruise's mixed reputation in the US for good effect. Here he plays, what amounts to a charming but also conniving man. His Nick Morton is perfectly willing to manipulate people (including putting them into deadly situations) just to get what he wants.

Its no wonder then that the film sets up an immediate dilemma; Morton has the ability to get great power, provided he screws over a lot of other people. But he's never seemed interest in power so much as riches, and while he is a bit of a jerk to his friends, he still sees them as friends and not tools.

I can see the appeal in the narrative. They even set up a decent relationship between Morton and Dr. Halsey to ground the character and I felt that Cruise and Annabelle Wallis play off each other well.

Soufia Boutella cuts a great image both as the mummy in the modern day, and human Princess Ahmanet in the flashbacks; sadly they don't give her more to do. Also unlike the classic mummy films (both 1932 and 1999) the love triangle gets a bit muddied by Ahmanet's motivations and actions.  The earlier mummies were selfish for love; Ahmanet is selfish for power, and so it makes the romance angle seem perfunctory.  It also  leads me to the thing I thought was a potential plot hole. Ahmanet turns to dark powers because she lost her line to the throne, but in doing so makes a pact that makes her second fiddle to Set. While this sets up the major conflict of the movie, that she's trying to incarnate him into the world in the form of her lover, I'm not sure the film actually justifies this motivation given that it seems to be against her actual goals. Why would someone whose motivation is to be a ruler take a path that would make her still a second banana?  I feel that its unfortunate that we don't get a better sense of Ahmanet's motivations beyond the surface of what they tell us and if there's a central weakness in the story of the film, I feel it is this.

Directorial wise, there are a couple of creepy moments I quite like (the best being desiccated Ahmanet stealing the souls of police officers searching the plane wreckage). That said there's a clumsy element in the narrative (I'm not sure if this is direction or editing, to be fair) where when the plane leaves Iraq they never specify where its going, nor do they do a good job of establishing how much time has passed. When the plane goes down, that they're in England was a bit of a surprise to me.

Morton's dark choice I felt actually justified using Dr. Jekyll and Russell Crowe was pretty fun in the role.  He sets up a parallel dilemma of the 'good' person infected by 'evil'; I think they try to set up a parallel with Ahmanet as well (her 'it was a different time' almost seemed like an attempt to express some regret for what she'd done, something that if her part was stronger might have strengthened the film).

The finale is surprisingly low key; while there is a big set piece, a lot of the action is on a personal level. I liked how the 'sandstorm' was broken glass, a clever way of presenting the idea in a modern city. I do think the end possibly belabored the point a bit much with Morton making his choice, sometimes it felt repetitive rather than a struggle between his internal good and evil. A bit tighter and it could have been more effective. I also think the very end had too many beats (in particular I think the scene with Morton riding off into the sunset ran far too long and could have been a bit more ambiguous given the primary implication that he, like Hyde, was entering an eternal struggle with his dark side).

 

 

Overall it may not be the box-office winner start Universal wanted to restarting their monster franchises, but I'd argue its a pretty respectable, if flawed, beginning.

[Hurlshort]

I just went on the ride at Universal. Theu have a bunch or merch out for the new film.

[LadyCrimson]

John Wick 2 - not even a smidgen of the emotional motivation like the first had, which imo was what elevated the first a bit above most such films. Pretty much nothing but scenes of headshots, knife/fist fights, and street chases (on foot and in cars). There might have been a plot. Action was well done and the dry wit is still there, but eh. Just another violent action movie.

 

I've been watching a lot of Korean or Asian films via Netflix recently.

 

Train to Busan is really good. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5700672/

--they're fast zombies, btw, so if you hate those...but the claustrophobia of the train works and the characters and their struggle, tropes tho they may be, were effective.

[algroth]

Train to Busan was a lot of fun, I agree. If you have not seen it yet, in that vein I eagerly recommend The Host too - and on Japan's side, Sion Sono's Why Don't You Play in Hell?.

Edited June 14, 2017 by algroth

[Oerwinde]

To think Marvel still hasn't put out a movie with a female lead, and the flood wall shows no sign of breaking any time soon. I'm left impressed by WW.

Problem is Marvel doesn't really have any major female characters. All the well known female marvel characters are X-Men, so Fox has the rights. They have really been pushing Captain Marvel to be their Wonder Woman in the comics, but she isn't catching on like they hoped. The movie might help with that.

[algroth]

 

To think Marvel still hasn't put out a movie with a female lead, and the flood wall shows no sign of breaking any time soon. I'm left impressed by WW.

Problem is Marvel doesn't really have any major female characters. All the well known female marvel characters are X-Men, so Fox has the rights. They have really been pushing Captain Marvel to be their Wonder Woman in the comics, but she isn't catching on like they hoped. The movie might help with that.

 

In terms of the MCU, however, they have both Scarlet Witch and Black Widow on whom they can base a film, being that both have in their cinematic incarnations a fair bit of following. Besides, is Captain Marvel really less successful than either Guardians of the Galaxy or Doctor Strange? I think the MCU by now have a strong-enough following to make of a middling comic book series a successful cinematic one.

 

In all honesty I wouldn't be surprised if all three heroines above have already been looked at as potential candidates for their own solo films, but perhaps they've yeat to hit on a project that would be appealing and have them at the lead. Dunno, but either way I don't think it's their lack of bankability as characters that has kept them from having their solo ventures.

[ManifestedISO]

 

In all honesty I wouldn't be surprised if all three heroines above have already been looked at as potential candidates for their own solo films, but perhaps they've yeat to hit on a project that would be appealing and have them at the lead. Dunno, but either way I don't think it's their lack of bankability as characters that has kept them from having their solo ventures.

 

Some believe it was the boss of all Marvel who disallowed female leads, until Captain Marvel, though no one knows why he chose the examples he did in the email, nor why he couldn't be arsed to spell Elektra correctly. Others say the studio now has more control. 

 

http://time.com/3847432/marvel-ceo-leaked-email/

[Oerwinde]

 

 

To think Marvel still hasn't put out a movie with a female lead, and the flood wall shows no sign of breaking any time soon. I'm left impressed by WW.

Problem is Marvel doesn't really have any major female characters. All the well known female marvel characters are X-Men, so Fox has the rights. They have really been pushing Captain Marvel to be their Wonder Woman in the comics, but she isn't catching on like they hoped. The movie might help with that.

 

In terms of the MCU, however, they have both Scarlet Witch and Black Widow on whom they can base a film, being that both have in their cinematic incarnations a fair bit of following. Besides, is Captain Marvel really less successful than either Guardians of the Galaxy or Doctor Strange? I think the MCU by now have a strong-enough following to make of a middling comic book series a successful cinematic one.

 

In all honesty I wouldn't be surprised if all three heroines above have already been looked at as potential candidates for their own solo films, but perhaps they've yeat to hit on a project that would be appealing and have them at the lead. Dunno, but either way I don't think it's their lack of bankability as characters that has kept them from having their solo ventures.

 

 

Captain Marvel sells about 10-20 thousand fewer copies per month than Doctor Strange. Her book has been cancelled several times for low sales and relaunched with the hope it can gain momentum. It's hovering around 25k per month now, with 20k being the cancellation level. For comparison I believe Batman and Spider-Man are the top selling books at around 130-150k per month.

 

I doubt Scarlet Witch could do a solo film, her backstory was already covered and I don't think she's interesting enough to carry a solo film. A Black Widow one dealing with the Red Room and maybe Leviathan could work. They may be able to pull off a She Hulk one as well, if they can get around the distribution rights with Universal. Monica Rambeau, aka Captain Marvel, aka Photon, aka Pulsar, aka Spectrum could definitely handle her own movie. She has the power set to be in the big leagues, she's an interesting character with a lot of history, she's just a really unknown character.

 

Marvel has proven they can make anything successful, they just really don't have a lot to work with.

[Gfted1]

Mad Max: Fury Road

 

Wow, loved it. The vehicles, costumes, car battles, etc. were pure eye candy to me.

[Hurlshort]

Not having a Black Widow solo project is just ridiculous. Scarlett Johansson is is a bigger star than all of the Avengers, save Robert Downey Jr., and that is still pretty close.

[Gfted1]

I'm significantly less interested in superheroes that don't actually have any powers. This goes for BW or Hawkeye or Batman...

[Amentep]

MODERN version of comic book Black Widow is, essentially, a USSR super-soldier (albeit not in the same exact way as Cap). But she was physically and mentally enhanced to be at peak human condition (and iirc is in her 70s - she was a small child at the beginning of WWII).

[SonicMage117]

I watched the new Power Rangers yesterday...

 

It made me realize how bad the Power Rangers actually sucked but the movie having Becky G makes up for how horrible it was.

 

John Wick 2... meh, it was okay. The ending was satisfying enough.

 

Let Her Out - a surprisingly good horror film in the vein of 80's suit horror films.

 

LIFE was really cool. Not good enough to be worth the money (watched it on theaterbox phone streaming app) but the concept was really cool.

 

Kidnap. If you don't have kids, this Hale Berry movie probably won't be as impacting but I do so I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Hale Berry never disappoints.

 

Get Out is very weird but also a very good thriller. By the end, I was wrapped up in the story line and how creepy it was.

[ShadySands]

Logan - was good but depressing and I don't care for sad movies

[Volourn]

 "Hale Berry never disappoints."

 

Someone didn't watch Catwoman. :D

 

(I actually didn't think it was as bad as as most thought but it certainly was a disappointing movie.

[ShadySands]

John Wick 2. Loved it.

[Amentep]

Wonder Woman - good film, well made; Director Patty Jenkins gets a lot of good work from the cast and the story hangs together better than most big budget action films.

[Maedhros]

Wonder Woman was alright, a first for DC in a long time. I think this one suceeds because Gal Gadot is a great lead, and the story is tighter than the previous DC films. It's still pretty average as far as superhero movies go - nothing new to see here.

[majestic]

Watched War Machine. Was pretty bored, the film isn't bad but it's nothing special.

 

The biggest disappointment was that one can easily see the movie it could have been lurking behind a screenplay revision or two (and maybe a different lead actor). *sigh*

[algroth]

I saw The Net today, enjoyed it greatly. It's a film very much in the style of The Lives of Others and Omar amidst others, about a North Korean fisherman who upon getting his fishing net entangled on his propeller and drifting off to the South Korean shores, is accused of being a spy and is thus faced with the most oppressive and authoritative face of liberalism and so-called 'freedom'. There are two ways the film could have gone about this, one being to demonize the capitalist culture of South Korea and show its 'true face' as the real dictatorial and oppressive system, the other being the humanitarian position that sees in both systems similarities and an opposition to true freedom for the individual; needless to say, the film goes for the latter. The protagonist is no less the common 'brainwashed' North Korean, he is supportive of his government to a fault, he's been indoctrinated and it's the only lifestyle he's known - but is enforcing an alternative lifestyle out of your culture's belief that it is how he's ensured freedom, not in its own way acting against the individual's freedom? Above all else his wish is to be reunited with his family again, yet this is an act that is made impossible both by the South Korean *and* North Korean authorities; thus the conflict's axis turns to be not between North and South, but between individual and state - in either iteration - instead. It's not perfect: some of the characters are written a bit too one-dimensionally as villains, and that does lend the film a slightly preachy tone from time to time; likewise, I think the film could have done without its last ten or so minutes. All the same, it's an interesting case told from a unique perspective, which ultimately makes for a quite moving and compelling film. Worth a watch!