Leave the World Behind. Perfect casting Roberts as the annoying wife, I suppose. Probably the funniest moment was Ethan Hawke confronted with a minority speaking a language he couldn’t understand during the apocalypse, and deciding to just drive away. Top stuff. The striving for ambiguity led to a lot of inconsistency (a weapon aimed solely at the teeth of teenage boys!), but it did have some effective scenes that made me pay attention. Might have been more interesting if Julia Roberts was a committed racist (er, her character, I mean), but I’m sure it’s in her contract or something. Worth watching for Hawke bumbling through his scenes, and Ali striving manfully to carry some huge chunks of the plot alone.
3 Likes
1 Like
How good was that? 
I was thinking opening FMV from the original Star Craft until the EVIL Alien Overlord.
I literally got bored a few minutes into it and turned it off.
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I Think We’re Alone Now. Possibly the quietest film I have ever seen. Couldn’t hear half the dialogue with my headphones on and the volume turned up to 100. No subtitles. So, er, I don’t know.
That’s how I felt about Tenet. Maybe not quiet, but unintelligible.
2 Likes
Too old for that nonsense. I can’t even hear this sentence with my eyes anymore.
5 Likes
Jungle Cruise. Another Disney film with at least part of someone’s soul in it. It looks nice, there’s so much humour some of it has to hit home purely via law of averages, and Jesse Plemons’ German prince has to be seen to be believed. Emily Blunt is far, far too good for this film. Dwayne Johnson is not. What’s Paul Giamatti doing in this.
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Is she? The Devil Wears Prada, Edge of Tomorrow, Girl on the Train, etc.I mean, she’s talented, but she seems kind of hit or miss to me.
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Excuse me, last third aside because it was tacked-on shit, Edge of Tomorrow was good. She was also notably excellent in Sicario and The English. She’s no Florence Pugh, though.
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Idgaf, I’d watch her in just about anything. Except Mary Poppins Returns. FUCK Mary Poppins Returns.
4 Likes
Finally, a protagonist who is a chair.
Looks absolutely gorgeous, has some genuine fun and serious moments, but also has a really unnecessary little twist and a bit of a misfire of an ending. Lovely soundtrack too.
Birth/Rebirth. A very welcome Reanimator update, as a doctor’s experiments with resurrecting the dead come to the attention of a nurse who has just lost her daughter to meningitis. Classic, compelling motivations that look tired, but are given life by the two leads, Marin Ireland and Judy Reyes, who act their fucking socks off. Loved it.
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Jungle Cruise was not a hit for me or my wife. A low-rent Pirates knockoff with shockingly bad visuals given it came out twenty years later and cost a pretty penny. I like The Rock and Emily Blunt overall. But not here.
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Playing hooky to go see Dune because the wife won’t “waste” a date night for it….more to follow.
(Three hours later…)
Unsurprisingly, I really enjoyed the movie. It is certainly a spectacle. For a nearly 3 hour movie, I did find some of the pacing a little all over the place and I could have used a little more time spent on some parts of the story. If you know Dune, you know what you are getting in to. This one is a little more dense and a lot more mystical than the first movie. Between Paul dealing with his visions, Jessica constantly communicating with Alia (who remains in in utero this movie), the water of life, and the Bene Geserit machination, there is a lot to take in. The movie also leaves you wanting more story but there are books for that. I need to digest this one a little more but it was certainly a positive experience.
Further thoughts: Standout performance from Austin Butler and Javier Bardem. Butler’s Feyd was suitably creepy and psychotic and he brought a good physicality to the role. He has a very snake-like movement about him. Bardem stole the show as fanatic Stilgar, though.
Also, for the book fans, Gurney’s baliset makes a brief appearance.
7 Likes
Monolith. A big swing, and a miss. Bold attempt at a single-person horror film, atmospheric, creepy, conversations only, some good acting. All good so far. The story developments then whip a big turd into view and the rest of the film is dismissable. A real shame.
Sitting in a hotel room and Netflix let me know that John Wick would soon be leaving Netflix. Since it just got there, I am guessing it was just like a 6 month stint on the platform.
I don’t think I have seen the original since it came out, so decided to watch it tonight and damn I forgot how good it is. I also forgot how slow the beginning is, and while I don’t remember what I thought the first time I saw it, knowing the character of “John Wick” the first 40 minutes are probably a lot better than the slow burn they were surprising us with.
5 Likes
The Hills Have Four Eyes. What am I doing watching this shit.
Poor Things. It’s a Lanthimos film, so you really cannot be surprised at the skewed delights on offer, this time including many fisheye lens shots, but also using an almost Wes Anderson-like passion for sets, and the wonderful stylised dialogue he is known for. As an echo of Frankenstein it is particularly good, involving somewhat more character development, and as an adaptation it is excellent, preserving the vast majority of the work. It is bizarre and brilliant and watching it made my day; Dafoe, Stone, and Ruffalo are all solid gold, but every actor has a certain poise here by the nature of the production.
Rebel Moon Part 2 - Just as confused as Part 1…but with more farming.
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I thought Part 1 was so terrible that I doubt I’ll ever watch Part 2.
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But then you won’t know what happened when you watch part 3? 
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