Booksmart is a modern high school comedy, a much better, more appropriate and current Superbad. Beanie Feldstein is electric and everybody is an absolute sweetheart. The dialogue and acting, the photography, and especially the music is all on point. Olivia Wilde has managed to make a fresh picture with her own voice and variety and yet with a retro vibe. It's raw and forward and it plays with expectations of the cliches of this genre, often having its cake and eating it as the girls pick up anecdotes and jokes on their one night odyssey. Also the film is genuinely sexy.
Reviews
298 Reviews
The Killing
(1956)
A slow and rocky start gives way to a refreshingly clear, gripping and genuinely tense heist flick...
18 February 2020
...that seems all at once Small and intimate and also sprawling and layered. The image of the perfectly cast noir staple George with buckshot piercing his face is haunting and the scene where Sterling Hayden unpacking the gun in the locker room is taught and fraught with tension. Kubrick packs the frames full of little believable details and every expected snag on the heist is a fairly relatable real world scenario which I suppose adds the necessary dimension.
The Lobster
(2015)
Absolutely brilliant in every way.
18 February 2020
With a committed cast, biting black satire, and a script that brings you in at the optimum point in the story and the world in which every scene has been paced and calibrated for maximum dry comic effect. It overstays it's welcome a little at the scrappy backend but it's sureness and dedication and unique bold tone makes for a stupendously dark, funny, twisted science fiction that seems borne from a legendary speculative novel of some sort.
Grave of the Fireflies
(1988)
I've seen this film once before, so rocked by it that even as the memory of it faded from my mind, the emotional punch of it never left me.
18 February 2020
I've been meaning to rewatch it with my partner who, being half Japanese, regards this idea as a form of unintended punishment or emotional torture. So with the death of its director and the fact that my partner is away, I chose to rewatch it for the first time, this time alone.
American and British war movies generally concentrate on heroism, even if they regard war as evil in their message, they seemingly justify war as a necessary evil and the Allies as victims that choose to be begrudging saviours. Most movies, war or otherwise, don't start literally with the death of a child. Grave of the Fireflies does. In its scant running time it manages to show the camaraderie and community of a people suffering, it shows the unflinching boots on the ground of the affected and the afflicted, it is very possibly the greatest unglorifying anti-war film ever made.
Being animated allows not just for more beauty; the stillness and movement drawing you in so much more delicately, but it allows for more of the hideousness, revealing the tacit horror and ugliness without grossing you out; the animation cutting to the bone of the realism in a transcendent way.
There are moments of sheer brilliance; the fact that the kids reunite in the afterlife (portrayed in a plain and unsentimental way) makes their respective deaths tinged with relief rather than grief. Privately remembering the young child's frivolity after her death, ushering memories that couldn't concern the older child whilst in the midst of protecting her, but that he allows himself to remember when the responsibility has left him is superbly simple and common to anyone who has experienced looking after a loved one who has passed. A brief beat where she repairs the shirt and pricks her finger speaks volumes enough in one simple moment for an essays worth of complexity.
I first watched this film a long time ago, upon only beginning to start to understand the potential depth and complexity of Japanese animation. As a young man, I watched it in the dark with a room full of Eastern European men that probably expected, as I did, that I might have brought something light for us to all watch, considering it was animated. By the end there wasn't a dry eye in the house as be lights came on and not one of us was ashamed because of it.
Grave of the Fireflies is refreshingly and appropriately unsentimental. It's not political, it's human. It's deeply sad, very telling of a nation when they see war through these eyes, which makes it personal, raw and very, very important.
American and British war movies generally concentrate on heroism, even if they regard war as evil in their message, they seemingly justify war as a necessary evil and the Allies as victims that choose to be begrudging saviours. Most movies, war or otherwise, don't start literally with the death of a child. Grave of the Fireflies does. In its scant running time it manages to show the camaraderie and community of a people suffering, it shows the unflinching boots on the ground of the affected and the afflicted, it is very possibly the greatest unglorifying anti-war film ever made.
Being animated allows not just for more beauty; the stillness and movement drawing you in so much more delicately, but it allows for more of the hideousness, revealing the tacit horror and ugliness without grossing you out; the animation cutting to the bone of the realism in a transcendent way.
There are moments of sheer brilliance; the fact that the kids reunite in the afterlife (portrayed in a plain and unsentimental way) makes their respective deaths tinged with relief rather than grief. Privately remembering the young child's frivolity after her death, ushering memories that couldn't concern the older child whilst in the midst of protecting her, but that he allows himself to remember when the responsibility has left him is superbly simple and common to anyone who has experienced looking after a loved one who has passed. A brief beat where she repairs the shirt and pricks her finger speaks volumes enough in one simple moment for an essays worth of complexity.
I first watched this film a long time ago, upon only beginning to start to understand the potential depth and complexity of Japanese animation. As a young man, I watched it in the dark with a room full of Eastern European men that probably expected, as I did, that I might have brought something light for us to all watch, considering it was animated. By the end there wasn't a dry eye in the house as be lights came on and not one of us was ashamed because of it.
Grave of the Fireflies is refreshingly and appropriately unsentimental. It's not political, it's human. It's deeply sad, very telling of a nation when they see war through these eyes, which makes it personal, raw and very, very important.
Touch of Evil
(1958)
As with all Film Noir, the enjoyment of it comes from the understanding of it;
18 February 2020
The understanding the desperation and darkness and twisting manipulation inside of all men and all femmes, fatale or otherwise. Understanding the pull of power, the sway of ambition and the draw of money. The enjoyment intensifies with an understanding of the period they were made; the influences and politics of the time and where the film sits in the director's or the source author's oeuvre. And so all of this leads to my enjoyment and appreciation of the noirs of the past increasing with each watch.
The effective simplicity of a bomb planted in one country that explodes in another is brilliant, something echoed in modern neo-noir TV, and a great catalyst to see these two worlds smashed together. And Mancini's music drumming along like the ticking of the bomb in a more esoteric and musical way than Zimmer's use of a literal ticking clock in Dunkirk.
The dialogue is layered and complex and exposition and politics plays amidst action, not unlike modern cinema, and so unlike a lot of film noirs, the film requires you to actually pay attention to the dialogue to get more out of characters that aren't paper-thin and don't have only single-minded goals. There's the use of sumptuous night shooting and outdoor location work and an unrecognisable Wells plays a tragic, disgusting bigot in a self-sabotaging downward spiral that's typically toe-curling to watch.
So, not being, shall we say, equipped, to satisfactorily enjoy Touch of Evil upon the first few viewings, this time I was fully taken by it. Before, I couldn't understand why it got so much critical acclaim, but in a way it takes a pulpy, noir b-movie premise and loads it with character depth, and racial politics worth talking about, all overseen with a directorial bravado that in a lot of ways, at the close of the 1950's, almost brings a full-stop to the end of Film Noir itself.
Given the current state of racial politics and The Americas, the unflinching attitudes towards terrorists, surveillance, the attraction to true crime, the sinister and unsettling tone and plot is dying for an HBO/David Simon TV remake, something that transposes the timeless elements to the modern day. Something duly reverential and appropriate.
The effective simplicity of a bomb planted in one country that explodes in another is brilliant, something echoed in modern neo-noir TV, and a great catalyst to see these two worlds smashed together. And Mancini's music drumming along like the ticking of the bomb in a more esoteric and musical way than Zimmer's use of a literal ticking clock in Dunkirk.
The dialogue is layered and complex and exposition and politics plays amidst action, not unlike modern cinema, and so unlike a lot of film noirs, the film requires you to actually pay attention to the dialogue to get more out of characters that aren't paper-thin and don't have only single-minded goals. There's the use of sumptuous night shooting and outdoor location work and an unrecognisable Wells plays a tragic, disgusting bigot in a self-sabotaging downward spiral that's typically toe-curling to watch.
So, not being, shall we say, equipped, to satisfactorily enjoy Touch of Evil upon the first few viewings, this time I was fully taken by it. Before, I couldn't understand why it got so much critical acclaim, but in a way it takes a pulpy, noir b-movie premise and loads it with character depth, and racial politics worth talking about, all overseen with a directorial bravado that in a lot of ways, at the close of the 1950's, almost brings a full-stop to the end of Film Noir itself.
Given the current state of racial politics and The Americas, the unflinching attitudes towards terrorists, surveillance, the attraction to true crime, the sinister and unsettling tone and plot is dying for an HBO/David Simon TV remake, something that transposes the timeless elements to the modern day. Something duly reverential and appropriate.
Antichrist
(2009)
In typical Lars Von Trier style, Antichrist alternates between operatic slow-mo of beautifully composed imagery...
18 February 2020
...against classical music, shots of seemingly connected arty cutaways and roving vérité handheld.
This arthouse style isn't unpleasant but mercifully, unlike most of Lars Von Trier's surrounding films, which seem to drag on under the weight of this experimental style, Antichrist is a tight hour 45 minutes. This intensifies it's rawness and boldness and distils Lars Von Trier's autership and influences better than any of his other films.
Charlottë Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe are perfectly cast; both pleasantly reckless actors in which you can't anticipate how they would typically react. The driving plot is a nifty one, wringing plenty of drama from the premise before it gets weird.
And weird it gets! Although it's hard to imagine anyone getting deeply disturbed or offended by this film the way that apparently they did. I suppose people were a little underexposed to films like this in 2009. I mean it does go pretty far but it seems rooted in the context of its themes and points, none of it seems there to shock specifically or to generate disgust solely like torture porn for example.
There's some superb photography and there's a magnetism to the film. I much preferred the more cerebral rather than esoteric films of Lars Von Trier, but there's a madness in this film that is bursting from the director's own troubled mind at the time and as a parable for grief or a look at the hell of nature, it seems to work well.
A story about a properly decent weirdo getting over basically by his antithesis.
18 February 2020
It's refreshing to hear about another doomed project from the mouth of the original Director and progenitor.
There's no artistry behind this documentary, it's more just a structured telling of the process, but it's informative and fun and edited well.
Absent is any information on David Thewlis, which is a shame, and there's a lot of missing information about the reception of the film and the actual nuts and bolts changes to the script and there's conspicuously a decent chunk of missing information that could have elevated it, and made it more personal throughout instead of just on behalf of the Director.
There's no artistry behind this documentary, it's more just a structured telling of the process, but it's informative and fun and edited well.
Absent is any information on David Thewlis, which is a shame, and there's a lot of missing information about the reception of the film and the actual nuts and bolts changes to the script and there's conspicuously a decent chunk of missing information that could have elevated it, and made it more personal throughout instead of just on behalf of the Director.
Power Rangers
(2017)
Good surround sound. That's about it.
18 February 2020
Shoddy technical work and a worse script. It's a boring, pretty rubbish authorless clone of much better bad movies.
In fact I think I can confidently say that Power Rangers: The Movie is more entertaining and memorable than this hokey bodge-job.
None of the attempts at realism gels with the tropes and recognisable traits of the TV series.
Also it uses an 8 year old Kanye West track during the climax fight.
This movie is a travesty.
In fact I think I can confidently say that Power Rangers: The Movie is more entertaining and memorable than this hokey bodge-job.
None of the attempts at realism gels with the tropes and recognisable traits of the TV series.
Also it uses an 8 year old Kanye West track during the climax fight.
This movie is a travesty.
Iron Man
(2008)
Iron Man - what worked and what didn't
18 February 2020
+ Snappy, satisfying, brutal opening.
+ Jeff Bridges fits the indie tone of the movie. And he looks so money.
+ RDJ with his own past mirroring Tony's plays the gags and the darkness well.
+ Faverau casting himself as Happy Hogan is delightful.
+ Pepper and Tony have excellent, unforced chemistry.
+ Pitch perfect hindsight casting Paul Brittany as Jarvis.
+ Simple, clear direction and tight editing.
+ A decent script that, against all odds, doesn't seem improvised or cobbled together.
+ Great heads up display and computer screen work.
+ Fairly robust and consistent and uncluttered themes.
+ Rock and roll sensibility.
+ Still the best suiting up porn.
+ Agent Coulson!
+ I am Iron Man.
+ The notion that he might have thrown hot rod red in to the suits mix is because he watched a broadcast where they mention red twice and is about firefighters is bewilderingly subtle.
+ The ransom video with a twist.
+ A robot that redeems itself!
Stan Lee cameo as Old Man confused as Hugh Heffner. Rating: 5/5. No showboating fourth wall breaking dialogue, allusions to Stan Lee being the comic book granddaddy equivalent to Heff, Stan Lee's missing Tony completely is an effective playful beat.
Post Credits sequence review: 5/5. Points for being actually at the end of the credits. Simple, well paced and shot, feels like a good coda, punchy end, and oh so world changing. Nicholas J Fury just turned the hell up!
- Terrence Howard, as much as he turns in a satisfying performance, doesn't seem to be the kind of actor that would fit into the wider MCU.
- Typically messy, rushed third act.
Stan Lee cameo as Old Man confused as Hugh Heffner. Rating: 5/5. No showboating fourth wall breaking dialogue, allusions to Stan Lee being the comic book granddaddy equivalent to Heff, Stan Lee's missing Tony completely is an effective playful beat.
Post Credits sequence review: 5/5. Points for being actually at the end of the credits. Simple, well paced and shot, feels like a good coda, punchy end, and oh so world changing. Nicholas J Fury just turned the hell up!
The Incredible Hulk
(2008)
Incredible Hulk - what worked and what didn't
18 February 2020
+ Edward Norton is a much more likeable and charismatic actor than Eric Bana.
+ William Hurt is an absolute boss and does well even in this film.
+ As much as I wanted to hate it, the opening sequence is an effective little time saving backstory to a dude we already know all about.
+ Favelas are a vibrant location to take Hulk and function confusingly like a sort of sequel to Hulk.
+ Days without incident character arc is a nice touch.
+ Looks like a comic book, colours pop and there's a lot of them.
+ Learning akido or whatever martial arts uses enemy's strength to deflect them.
+ Tim Roth somehow always managing to fuse Tim Roth and whatever character he plays in to this amazing hybrid tour de force.
+ You know, it's got a good theme in the soundtrack.
Stan Lee cameo review: Old Man that drinks irradiated blood: 4/5: At least he's not played for yucks, a nice fusion of a necessary character and Stan Lee actually acting reasonably well.
End credits review: 2/5: Ross and Stark in the bar, the shape of things to come. Hardly a revelation but it's always a pleasure to see Tony Stark turn up, especially considering how bad this movie is. With hindsight it sets up the Stark/Thunderbolt relationship for Civil War. Just a tad meh.
- You wouldn't like me when I'm hungry.
- Literally every good character scene is in the deleted scenes.
- In my opinion equal and opposite to Ang Lee's Hulk and in doing so, manages to be much much worse as it attempts to say nothing and is almost entirely artless.
- Smashy smashy back end is the poster child for excessive and unnecessary CGI.
- Casting that sweaty creep as Braniac or whatever the heck happened with his weird bulging head wound when Banners blood dropped in to it. Come on.
- Loose in detail control, like why does Blonsky on loan from Royal Marines wear an American Military uniform? Why does Betty take a photo of him when they're on the run?
- Wasting Ty Burrell.
- Sort of obnoxious and loud action. It's kinetic at times but also quite irritating.
- Awkward cloying Lou Ferigno cameo.
- What the hell are those cannons?
- Hulk looks like something from a Japanese manga.
Stan Lee cameo review: Old Man that drinks irradiated blood: 4/5: At least he's not played for yucks, a nice fusion of a necessary character and Stan Lee actually acting reasonably well.
End credits review: 2/5: Ross and Stark in the bar, the shape of things to come. Hardly a revelation but it's always a pleasure to see Tony Stark turn up, especially considering how bad this movie is. With hindsight it sets up the Stark/Thunderbolt relationship for Civil War. Just a tad meh.
Iron Man 2
(2010)
Iron Man 2 - what worked and what didn't
18 February 2020
+ Gary Shandling. WTF.
+ Sam Rockwell. Literally never bad. Here he is rocking a fake tan.
+ Beat touching briefly on the change of actor for James Rhodes is funny.
+ Action at the Monaco racetrack, although convoluted, is a nice concept and visuals for an action sequence.
+ Iron Man in a massive doughnut with his helmet off eating a doughnut hungover is a cool image.
+ Iron Man suit-case.
+ Mickey Rourke gives us his best, he seems like he gives a damn even if the character sells him short.
+ As implausible as it is when Tony is creating a new element, I mean at least he's doing some science.
+ Scarlett Johanson is saucy as heck.
+ Justin hammer running weapons demo for war machine is silly but hilarious, his 'ex-wife' speech is phenomenal (If it was any smarter it would write a book)!
+ Really cool hud and creative future minority report computer stuff.
+ Hammer drones do look wicked.
+ Fight in the Japanese garden is pretty neat, a little videogame co-op level.
Stan Lee cameo review: Old Man confused as Larry King: 5/5. Another belter. I mean he does look like Larry King, it's another confusion gag but Lee's face is not only priceless but it might actually be the only good piece of acting he's ever done.
End credits review: 2/5: I remember thinking WTF is this? And then getting on to some serious youtubing. It's teeny tiny but effective. A start to the teasers rather than full scenes. Generic lines plus a thunder clap: Didn't really do it for me.
- Shies away from Demon in a Bottle storyline with some sort of blood toxicity hogwash.
- If IM1 was a rock concert then IM2 is a rock opera: Theatrical and faux, stuffed to the gills, garish and blowing its budget on nonsense.
- Don Cheadle's a little annoying here.
- Upping Tony's bellend factor doesn't make him funnier, just more grating and possibly completely dated and wrong for this new era.
- It's a little too mumblecorey, the script is a little rambly and even RDJ is more irritable than he is charming. It's not as tight and structured as IM1. Very little important or memorable or even quotable dialogue.
- Shoehorned world building.
- Ugly and without a uniform colour scheme or look, the sets and frames are filled with off colours and other incongruities for no good reason.
- Drunken suit fight during a party where Iron Man DJs then hits Don Cheadle with a barbell to Another One Bites the Dust. Such crass motivation to start War Machine. The entire sequence makes the suits look small, weak, stupid and fallible. Looks incredible plasticky and fake.
- Music is some awful Danny Elfman plinky plonky Spider-Man nonsense.
Stan Lee cameo review: Old Man confused as Larry King: 5/5. Another belter. I mean he does look like Larry King, it's another confusion gag but Lee's face is not only priceless but it might actually be the only good piece of acting he's ever done.
End credits review: 2/5: I remember thinking WTF is this? And then getting on to some serious youtubing. It's teeny tiny but effective. A start to the teasers rather than full scenes. Generic lines plus a thunder clap: Didn't really do it for me.
Thor
(2011)
Thor - what worked and what didn't
18 February 2020
+ Dutch angles.
+ Asgard, although not seen much, is well realised.
+ Good to see the trickster Loki not as a grinning, wailing nogooder but as a quiet, manipulative, lost little brother.
+ Cool, trippy sci-fi iconography not seen again until Guardians of the Galaxy.
+ Real life sets are quite well designed to be memorable and interesting and big and layered with lots of background activity.
+ Pre-sitcom Kat Dennings
+ Thor's hammer festival with everybody trying to lift it is kinda apt and funny.
+ Thor's fish out of water story is actually still quite funny. He's a sort of loveable dumb dumb.
+ Tom Hiddleston starts a tragic character arc as a distressed and around royal adoptee.
+ Thor is funny. Ragnarok made it good, but this set it up pretty well.
+ Natalie Portman is also funny and it's good to see her.
+ Cheeky Hawkeye cameo that I forgot about. Useless but I still grinned.
+ I sort of like that there's not some cave-dwelling, stick-wielding bad guy allegory for Osama Bin Laden and that Thor is basically the bad guy even if that makes the third act a little lame and stakeless.
+ "Son of Coul".
Post-credits sequence review: 4/5. An actual coda scene again. Shows the trickster and the link set up for Selvig to lead in to the start of the Avengers. Makes little actual sense but in retrospect links the movies nicely.
Stan Lee as: Old Man that drives truck trying to pull Thor's hammer out. "did it work?" 1/5: Surprising but a bit generic. Basically a stand-in. Not integrated well or a reason for it to be Lee.
- Dutch angles.
- Rene Russo doesn't have much to do.
- Cheesy Warriors Three crassly shoehorned in.
- Action is clunky and messy and not pleasurable.
- Time jumps and crisscrossing stories are badly paced and screw with a lot of potentially meaningful moments.
- Effects are very dated.
- CGI backgrounds are depthless and unconvincing stages and wastelands.
- Chris Hemsworth's accent is a little off.
- Loki's plan is a little unclear here and there hard to follow.
- Odinsleep is an incredibly handy plot device/deus ex machina.
Post-credits sequence review: 4/5. An actual coda scene again. Shows the trickster and the link set up for Selvig to lead in to the start of the Avengers. Makes little actual sense but in retrospect links the movies nicely.
Stan Lee as: Old Man that drives truck trying to pull Thor's hammer out. "did it work?" 1/5: Surprising but a bit generic. Basically a stand-in. Not integrated well or a reason for it to be Lee.
Iron Man Three
(2013)
Iron Man: Three - what worked and what didn't
18 February 2020
+ Starting with Blue (Da Ba Dee) is both appropriate to timestamp it and also appropriate to the theme of the movie.
+ Tony's arseholeness is his undoing - which is a long time coming.
+ Meeting Yinsen from Iron Man 1 at the gala just the way he said he did is a brilliant little flourish.
+ PTSD, the wormhole kid, the panic attack notions building the right way on demon in a bottle storyline from the comic - brilliant followup on first from Avengers. Makes sense that these movies affect the minds of characters.
+ The Mandarin is a smart look at Terrorism iconography and media in our century. Appropriation being a perfect ironic retooling from the comic's racist image of the Mandarin. It's possible that those that didn't like it, didn't get it.
+ The twice bait and switch from Mandarin to think tank to actor is clever.
+ Trevor Slattery/Kingsley - pure Monty Python levels of comedy - delicious.
+ Image of an unmanned suit towering over someone in their sleep and fuelled by nightmares grapples Pepper is a fantastic comic book looking spooky moment.
+ He calls the bad guy out and he attacks him. I mean, that's brilliant.
+ Stark calling suit to save pepper.
+ Nice little creative uses of Iron Man suit don't feel gratuitous, the hand pulling Stark up out of the water for example.
+ The Kid is a good actor, all that stuff is a nice middle act diversion, simple Spielberg without the schmaltz.
+ Pepper in the suit watching Tony's message is sweet.
+ James Badge Dale.
+ Tony going in all home-alone to infiltrate the mansion, then busting out with a gun and a hand is like a retooling of an old spy flick.
+ I want to say burning things and breathing fire is silly, and it is - but it's also pretty cool.
+ Music is nice, a little Enemy of State spy movie-ish.
+ "...Toast of Croydon" heh.
+ The goon that gets let go by Tony. hah.
+ Air Force One action scene is clever, can't beat physics, he's only a man in a suit, he has to be creative.
+ "What did you see?" "Too fast. Nothing" Lovely Shane Blackism.
+ All those toys. I mean suits! Suits! Great action sequence, sort of a 90's action sequence with a modern twist.
+ Love Liquid Snake-looking Guy Peace as a badass going full tilt villain.
+ Tony's one-on-one with Guy Pearce plus the way he finishes him off is a properly conceived watchable piece of action.
+ The real reason for Tony's voice over, not just a Shane Blackism!
+ Clean slate protocol making fireworks at Xmas. I mean I want to think it's silly but it just plain cinematic!
Post-Credits sequence review: 5/5: Funny, surprising, personable, throws new light on to a trope/device/Shane Blackism. Crowd-pleasing and yet gives nothing away. One of my favourites.
Stan Lee cameo where he plays: An Old Man that rates a model 10: 3/5: Yeah, he fits the bill. Trimmed and passed in to the background, that's smart.
- Wish they called it Iron Man Three.
- Shame if the rumours are true about ditching a female villain because the action figures wouldn't sell.
- Rebecca Hall is rubbish though, she just plays a soppy lost woman with a bad accent in everything.
- Virtual crime scene reconstruction - as strange as it is to say - I mean I've done it in a hundred videogames - I appreciate it but it bores me personally.
- Not a massive fan of the obviously improvised Tony Stark fanboy guy from Happy Endings.
Post-Credits sequence review: 5/5: Funny, surprising, personable, throws new light on to a trope/device/Shane Blackism. Crowd-pleasing and yet gives nothing away. One of my favourites.
Stan Lee cameo where he plays: An Old Man that rates a model 10: 3/5: Yeah, he fits the bill. Trimmed and passed in to the background, that's smart.
Thor: The Dark World
(2013)
Thor 2 - what worked and what didn't
18 February 2020
+ Casting Christopher Eccleston.
+ Nice Blu-Ray menu and end credits artwork.
+ Nice main title font.
+ Chris O'Dowd doing his natural accent.
+ Giving Darcy an intern of her own is cute.
+ The gangs back! Good to see all the plebs from Thor back together.
+ London!
+ Space Elves!
+ Thor hanging up his hammer to be polite.
+ Although the fight is bad in every way, squaring off in Greenwich is quite cool visually.
Mid-Credits sequence review: 4/5: A proper end credits sequence using characters and sets from Guardians of the Galaxy, good length, explores the idea that The Collector now has two infinity stones. Definitely a combination of sneak peek to the 'next' film and tease for the comic book fans.
Post-Credits sequence review: 2/5: Thor comes back for kisses on a rooftop and there's that monster running around chasing birds. Sneer.
Stan Lee cameo review as: Old Man who wants his shoe back in an asylum: 3/5: Yeah ok, I'll admit this simple one, although giving Stan Lee far too much screentime, incorporates his appearance in to the scene well. Plus I buy Stan Lee as an old
- Wasting Christopher Eccleston.
- Not a fan of backstories that start with no reason or connection to the rest of the movie.
- Reshooting until the enemy is faceless and without any ideology.
- Ripping off the Animatrix.
- The fantasy elements are a bit quick and montagey. Could have paced them a bit better and made them a main part of the story. Gladiator meets X-Files or something.
- I hate Zachary Levi.
- In Thor he's told not to party and not to smash things. Now Pops is telling him to party more and he goes about smashing up all the bad guys until they submit.
- Criminally boring in places and mostly charmless and plain.
- Titles like: The Dark Word, that mean very little and just serve as focus-tested, generic differentiators or eye-catchers. Like calling it Thor II would be so bad. Like The Dark World even matters.
- Asgard doesn't have a single musket regiment.
- Renee Russo isn't given much to do.
- Loki's line "See you in Hell Monster." Is either a smart reference done badly or very lazy writing.
- Lame end fight, the awful concept of the ether is almost classically uncinematic.
Mid-Credits sequence review: 4/5: A proper end credits sequence using characters and sets from Guardians of the Galaxy, good length, explores the idea that The Collector now has two infinity stones. Definitely a combination of sneak peek to the 'next' film and tease for the comic book fans.
Post-Credits sequence review: 2/5: Thor comes back for kisses on a rooftop and there's that monster running around chasing birds. Sneer.
Stan Lee cameo review as: Old Man who wants his shoe back in an asylum: 3/5: Yeah ok, I'll admit this simple one, although giving Stan Lee far too much screentime, incorporates his appearance in to the scene well. Plus I buy Stan Lee as an old
First of all, it shouldn't be underestimated how making a Marvel film that feels like a leap forward,
18 February 2020
Retains some authorship, has relevance AND fits in with the MCU juggernaut, is a damn tough thing to do.
Secondly, Cap is a badass. Continuously badass. In this movie he speaks softly and carries a big stick. Chris Evans (easily Marvel's best characterisation) plays a wholesome, troubled heartthrob of a superhero. He's a very watchable actor, making this film look easy.
Yes, it does suffer from some overstuffed and CGI reliant third act claptrap, but even though I could see the twists a mile off, my girlfriend didn't, reminding me that these movies aren't just for comic aficionados.
Being a child of so many world, it's a miracle that Winter Soldier comes out as successful and revitalising as it does. It's the anti-Man of Steel: silly, loud, stuffed, but every cylinder is firing, everybody is on point and everything gels to create a cohesive thrillride.
Secondly, Cap is a badass. Continuously badass. In this movie he speaks softly and carries a big stick. Chris Evans (easily Marvel's best characterisation) plays a wholesome, troubled heartthrob of a superhero. He's a very watchable actor, making this film look easy.
Yes, it does suffer from some overstuffed and CGI reliant third act claptrap, but even though I could see the twists a mile off, my girlfriend didn't, reminding me that these movies aren't just for comic aficionados.
Being a child of so many world, it's a miracle that Winter Soldier comes out as successful and revitalising as it does. It's the anti-Man of Steel: silly, loud, stuffed, but every cylinder is firing, everybody is on point and everything gels to create a cohesive thrillride.
Guardians of the Galaxy
(2014)
A much funnier version of the tired and tested marvel mould of...
18 February 2020
...post-911-cave-osama bin laden villain and a bunch of heroes who fight him by being thrust away by his big weapon until they find a deus ex jewel and use the exact power he wants against him.
There are moments of brilliance but it never exceeds the confines of the Marvel machine. It's effortlessly watchable, funny and pretty. But on the whole a little disheartening how little it strays from the Marvel formula.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
(2015)
Some stand out moments and some excellent dialogue and sequences twinned with bland action, mark-missing gags and extraneous nonsense.
18 February 2020
This film is a finely tuned $10000 watch that's been rendered useless by being run over by a Ferrari. It's perfect parts lay splayed and although each one is worth a mint. The whole can't tell the time any more - it's useless. Shout out to Ultron's James Spader and his overall design.
Just as muddled and overstuffed and cringey as it is brimming with creativity, in-jokes and references and creative action sequences.
It's hard to love this move but it's hard not to admire it. Had it come in two parts with some more relaxed pacing, it would have been heralded a triumph.
Just as muddled and overstuffed and cringey as it is brimming with creativity, in-jokes and references and creative action sequences.
It's hard to love this move but it's hard not to admire it. Had it come in two parts with some more relaxed pacing, it would have been heralded a triumph.
HyperNormalisation
(2016)
It should be played every year at Christmas and broadcast to every home.
18 February 2020
A dense, eye-opening, rich and complex piece of art that presents itself clearly. I would recommend it to everyone. It covers a lot of ground but not for one second is it unfocused and every beautiful thread weaves together with some of the most artistic and unique and harrowing images I've ever seen. It's still present, its editing is phenomenal and it's probably one of the most important, relevant and modern things I've ever seen. I'm aware of the irony of posting this review on Facebook. I think a part of Hypernormalisation is that it is the mirror it speaks of and it is holding itself up against us. Which is hard to bear, but vital and rare.
If Guardians was the film that I left lacking, that was promised to be the the movie for me and then ended up being almost the movie for me;
18 February 2020
The superbly names Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 IS the movie made for me. The soundtrack is apt, the jokes are the right kind of nerdy and every character gets their due, they get an arc full of pathos, connection, humour and depth. Absolutely every one of the main characters had me crying out from beneath my 3D glasses throughout. The emotion is rich, relatable and raw and I appreciated it. I mean just the way the movie ends and the interconnectivity of all the plot machinations are warranted and welcome.
The effects, battles, and shooting never felt rushed or cheap. Everything fired on all cylinders with a care and love throughout. The plot was personal and minimal as it should be and the way it was made global was sensible and simple. The stakes couldn't have been higher because they were personal and they didn't need a sky portal to do it.
Even the references I didn't get were welcome little injokes rather than complete set ups for other movies that played in to the tone of the movie. Mantis is excellent and Drax is almost the most hilarious which is saying something. The pacing and the structure of the battles were coherent and made creative use of everyday new skill sets. The film had me in stitches throughout and the potential of Volume 3 and the next iteration of Groot is certainly an appealing one.
The depth effects of the 3D, after he litany of terrible post conversions I've seen, was consistent, pleasurable throughout and extraordinary well done and for one actually enhanced the experience.
This film should be added to the annals of time as the exact right kind of blockbuster sequel that builds upon its predecessors shoulders to create something unique and memorable that was both economical, brisk and yet deep and seemingly never compromised.
Ant-Man
(2015)
Judd Apatow's boring version of Out of Sight.
18 February 2020
What could have been a neon noirish, twisted, heisty, unique Edgar Wright affair has ended up as a bland, rote, by-the-numbers, cliche, wasteful entry.
Yes it's funny, but I mean even Thor 2 was funny. Paul Rudd is perfectly cast and it's about damn time he got some acclaim worthy of his every look and twist of phrase. Pena is a delight to be sure as well and even the criminally underused Corey Stoll is welcome.
Some standout moments and comedic turns and sequences and set-pieces are a clever use of Ant-Man, however it plays everything too safe, doesn't revel in the archetypes or tropes of the heist genre as it should and instead abandons the language of those films and sticks to the even play of Marvel's homogenous family.
Fully rubbery CGI third act is the bane of these cheap entries (Deadpool I'm looking at you). And the logic is a bit jumpy and montagey and relies on suspension of disbelief, but after Ant-Man's gigantically exciting and pivotal action role in Civil War, I could stand to see a bit more.
Yes it's funny, but I mean even Thor 2 was funny. Paul Rudd is perfectly cast and it's about damn time he got some acclaim worthy of his every look and twist of phrase. Pena is a delight to be sure as well and even the criminally underused Corey Stoll is welcome.
Some standout moments and comedic turns and sequences and set-pieces are a clever use of Ant-Man, however it plays everything too safe, doesn't revel in the archetypes or tropes of the heist genre as it should and instead abandons the language of those films and sticks to the even play of Marvel's homogenous family.
Fully rubbery CGI third act is the bane of these cheap entries (Deadpool I'm looking at you). And the logic is a bit jumpy and montagey and relies on suspension of disbelief, but after Ant-Man's gigantically exciting and pivotal action role in Civil War, I could stand to see a bit more.
Rough Night
(2017)
Why did I watch this? And entirely to the end? I didn't laugh once.
18 February 2020
Maybe once or twice I admired the execution of some writing or a bit of acting. Admired is a bit strong. It's by-the-numbers. With the exception of the Fiancé at a wine-tasting with his mates. That was good. It's part Harold and Kumar, part completely not Weekend at Bernie's, not at all Bridesmaids and instead a whole lot of other crap. Maybe Road Trip? It's nonsense, consequence-less and unfunny. Tacking on the (righteous) female-strong movies being helmed and released these days, except that this one's like a lame 90's version of one of those. Only it's unfairly stacked with good actresses and Zoe Kravitz is literally always amazing. And so is Ty Burrell. I guess that's why it gets one and a half stars.
Moneyball
(2011)
Beautiful photography and directing instantly evoking the political and newsroom thrillers of the 70's.
18 February 2020
A screenplay that blends the styles of both its auteurs and grounded central performances make Moneyball interesting, engaging biopic/nonfiction. Tows the line in a way that Capote and Foxcatcher don't but it makes for a pleasing, above average picture with what seems like a full roster of non-actors fleshing out the feeling of authenticity. Also has a clean, simple marketing to it that, although reflects similar trends of the 2010's and 2011's, it's surprisingly memorable and attractive for what is essentially a film that could have got swallowed up.
Baby Driver
(2017)
There's no doubt some impressive work here, some cleverly designed sequences and some tasty long takes with some lively dynamism.
18 February 2020
However Edgar Wright is a director that seems to get more immature as opposed to maturing with his audience as his films go on.
Baby Driver, a film idea that was, no doubt, pulled from a drawer of high concept, high-school ideas from Mr. Wright, has that sort of aged 90's Tarantino vibe, from the musical OTT dialogue, attention to soundtrack, and the Natural Born Killers style star-crossed main characters. Unfortunately that makes the idea very dated and the promise of a musical car-chase movie a bit of misdirection. It's more of a 90's gangster film with a painful hipster hand guiding it, interspersed with music videos made of car chases.
There's some humour, neat little ideas, satisfying and creative moments, but they're unpleasantly jammed in to a a few moulds that don't do some of the core concepts justice. Lily James is a delight but her character is shortchanged, the idea of replacing core characters for each job is nonsensical probably to get rid of actors to other commitments. And the less said about the two dimensional Darling and Kevin Spacey the better.
Baby Driver, a film idea that was, no doubt, pulled from a drawer of high concept, high-school ideas from Mr. Wright, has that sort of aged 90's Tarantino vibe, from the musical OTT dialogue, attention to soundtrack, and the Natural Born Killers style star-crossed main characters. Unfortunately that makes the idea very dated and the promise of a musical car-chase movie a bit of misdirection. It's more of a 90's gangster film with a painful hipster hand guiding it, interspersed with music videos made of car chases.
There's some humour, neat little ideas, satisfying and creative moments, but they're unpleasantly jammed in to a a few moulds that don't do some of the core concepts justice. Lily James is a delight but her character is shortchanged, the idea of replacing core characters for each job is nonsensical probably to get rid of actors to other commitments. And the less said about the two dimensional Darling and Kevin Spacey the better.
Captain America: Civil War
(2016)
Since when does a superhero flick have a better third act than first? Since Civil War.
18 February 2020
Part post-Watergate thriller, part post-Bourne globetrotting actioner. Slick dialogue, sick action, some smart retconning and remodelling and a smattering of excellent ideas. The concentrated, focused tone and influences and the cleverly designed superhero moments make for a memorable and nail-biting superflick.
Remember that first time you saw a Marvel movie and you loved it. That very special Marvel movie that you came out of the cinema thinking: "THAT'S what these connected, colourful, gripping, comic properties should be, full of in-jokes and great surprises and genuine humour." Civil War wipes the floor with that. Fully succeeds at making a Cap centric story that has some amazing character introductions, exchanges, and is focussed on paying off so many threads from previous Marvel films in a way Ultron wishes it could. It appeases the adult in me by providing rich dialogue, completely balanced non-archetypal politics, and stunning modern action sequences, each one with three or four gags at least that makes smart individual use of the characters skills involved. Cap's third instalment simultaneously managed to also appeal to the child in me by providing many, surprising, earned comic book moments full of wonder and integrated very organically and very differently to the crap that was Ultron. I genuinely cheered, and exclaimed in wonder, or surprise or shock. And that's a testament to the skill, nerdy smarts and talents of the Russos and their team. Making Cap a sympathetic, emotional, very un-American hero. Yes, you do have to have seen the other MCU properties to appreciate this movie. But even without all the comic bookiness, it succeeds as a taught 'family' thriller, brothers versus brothers. Genuine globetrotting (nice use of location cards) thrilling, clever, riveting, twisty movie that takes Winter Soldier, throws everything bad about it out, tosses in everything that made Iron Man great and closes off so many threads in a sensitive, spiralling, ingenious way that you can't help but go along for the ride and come out grinning. I won't whisper in your ear about how great it is (the way you could palpably hear a ripple of boyfriends in the cinema explaining who this or that is in the MCU when they appeared!) But instead I will shout from the rooftops how great this movie is - because if the MCU is more like this, then it isn't a colossal, cheeky, cashgrab, it can sometimes meet the lofty heights of an affective, reflective, relevant piece of art.
Remember that first time you saw a Marvel movie and you loved it. That very special Marvel movie that you came out of the cinema thinking: "THAT'S what these connected, colourful, gripping, comic properties should be, full of in-jokes and great surprises and genuine humour." Civil War wipes the floor with that. Fully succeeds at making a Cap centric story that has some amazing character introductions, exchanges, and is focussed on paying off so many threads from previous Marvel films in a way Ultron wishes it could. It appeases the adult in me by providing rich dialogue, completely balanced non-archetypal politics, and stunning modern action sequences, each one with three or four gags at least that makes smart individual use of the characters skills involved. Cap's third instalment simultaneously managed to also appeal to the child in me by providing many, surprising, earned comic book moments full of wonder and integrated very organically and very differently to the crap that was Ultron. I genuinely cheered, and exclaimed in wonder, or surprise or shock. And that's a testament to the skill, nerdy smarts and talents of the Russos and their team. Making Cap a sympathetic, emotional, very un-American hero. Yes, you do have to have seen the other MCU properties to appreciate this movie. But even without all the comic bookiness, it succeeds as a taught 'family' thriller, brothers versus brothers. Genuine globetrotting (nice use of location cards) thrilling, clever, riveting, twisty movie that takes Winter Soldier, throws everything bad about it out, tosses in everything that made Iron Man great and closes off so many threads in a sensitive, spiralling, ingenious way that you can't help but go along for the ride and come out grinning. I won't whisper in your ear about how great it is (the way you could palpably hear a ripple of boyfriends in the cinema explaining who this or that is in the MCU when they appeared!) But instead I will shout from the rooftops how great this movie is - because if the MCU is more like this, then it isn't a colossal, cheeky, cashgrab, it can sometimes meet the lofty heights of an affective, reflective, relevant piece of art.
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