Last Movie You Watched

Just finished Ran by Akira Kurosawa



There is a fair bit I have to say about this film, but I'll try and save it for the Big Post by the end of the weekend. My overall feelings are:

A standout movie in a year where I feel like I've seen my fair share of standout movies. I have had this on my list to see for YEARS, and it certainly lives up to the hype. I loved it, and it is by far my favorite of the Kurosawa films I've seen. The acting, action, music, sets, and cinematography are all top notch. That being said, this is a pure tragedy, so I don't see myself revisiting this film often. 10/10.

This film also feels like a nice counterpart to Three Outlaw Samurai. While Gosha's film was all about how freedom and honor can be found in betrayal, Ran inverts that with the theme of tough love and how loyalty is where true honor can be found - betrayal only leads to a cycle of suffering and death for all associated. (More on this in the Big Post...if I remember.)

 

My favorite from Kurosawa for sure.

This is just a masterpiece in all meanings of how to make a movie.
Strong story, great actors, great scenarios and of course great shots! My favorites shots are from the very beginning of the movie when they are trying hunt the boar. And I found curious how this scenes makes me remember of the hunting scene from the Deer Hunter too! Well, two masterpieces.

 

Alright, it's time for The Big Post!

It still won't be as long or as filled as I would have liked, but let's have some fun with it. So, what have I seen these past few months?


Solid movie! It did what it set out to do and did it well. I still hope it's set in the same world as John Wick, as I'd love to see these two cross over some day. Maybe.

The more I think about this movie, the more I really like it. The Suicide Squad feels like a mix between James Gunn's Guardians movies and what I've heard about his pre-Marvel stuff. So basically, James Gunn Unleashed. Gunn likes to reuse the same themes of broken homes and found family, but he uses them to great effect, and that's seen here as well.*
There are some incredibly potent scenes here, such as Bloodsport talking to his daughter, Rat Catcher talking about her past, and Harley talking about abusive boyfriends. All of these show or hint at growth for the characters, and it's great to see. There are also just some morbidly hilarious moments too, like Peacemaker and Bloodsport's killing contest, or how Polkadot Man sees everyone has his mother...and then the dance scene...
The acting, music, set-pieces, and humor are all orders of magnitude better than the previous movie, and I really hope some of these characters like Bloodsport and Rat Catcher appear again. (Because we know Peacemaker is getting his own show.) And, it goes without saying, but Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn is gorgeous. Of Gunn's three superhero films so far, this one sits squarely between GotG 1 and GotG 2.

You'll like this movie if you like:
Guardians of the Galaxy 1 & 2
The Avengers
The Suicide Squad (first movie, game promo, or animated movie)
Kicka$$


*Also, it makes sense that James is getting tired of superhero movies - he's been directing ones with the same themes for about 8 years. That will tire pretty much anyone out.

While this is earlier on the list, I did see it again this past Friday. And it was still amazing. It's officially a Tier 1 MCU movie to me, and may be in my top 15 Marvel movies. That being said, it's far from perfect.

I saw it in Imax this time, and the CGI backgrounds really stood out to me, as did the pacing of this movie. This movie is so weirdly paced, looking back, but it also is perfectly paced. Things happen really fast, and then there's the lull in the middle before the movie switches to full fantasy and MCU stuff. It's fine, but it was defintiely noticeable this time around.

I also noticed how hard the movie worked to make Wenwu as sympathetic as possible. I'm not fighting this, but the character rarely ever feels like he's the Mandarin when the present happens, or even in the flashbacks. This isn't a bad thing, as it really helped sell the tragedy of the story as a whole and the intimate family nature of it all, but I did notice how Wenwu rarely felt as intimidating as his past implied. Threatening, absolutely, but never intimidating. The dude is a family man, through and through. Case-and-point, after having brought his family home, they eat dinner together. In many movies and cases, you'd expect an ornate table with servants and spacing and superfluous vanity, like a live band or whatnot. Here, it's an intimate (and intimidating) family meal, with some music from some sort of speaker in the background.

There were also some small moments I really liked upon re-watch: Wenwu doesn't really ever talk to his daughter, but when talking about his wife, the first person he looks at is her; when insulting The Mandarin from Iron Man 3, Wenwu calls America "your country" while looking at Shang-Chi/Shaun. The camera then does a quick shot of Xialing smirking, calling back to her insult question to Shang-Chi, asking if his time in America made him soft. There are two times when characters look directly into the camera: once when a certain cameo character talks about an unflattering portrayal, and at the end when a different character was talking about sacrifice and honoring heroes before us. Both have really nice meta implications, and I can dig it.

Wenwu telling Katy about his family life before the mother's death is still my favorite non-action/wuxia part of the movie, with my favorite moment within that still being the shots of the family practicing martial arts, and then them playing Dance Dance Revolution together. It almost brings a tear to my eye.

The music is easily the best since Black Panther.


Anyways, back to the list!



Ichi (2008) is a movie based on a manga that is a retelling of the Zatoichi mythos. The movie follows a blind shamisen player and master swordswoman named Ichi, who is looking for her master. She meets a samurai who can't use a real sword out of fear, and the two stumble into a town torn in two by yakuza and gangsters. Ichi's comrade must overcome his fear in order to regain his honor, while Ichi must learn to trust in a world of darkness and dark hearts.

This movie...isn't good. It wasn't helped by the fact that Amazon only had the English dub for this movie, and for the first half of the movie it was laughably bad. The action isn't good either, and the story is middling at best. But the acting isn't bad despite it all, and the lip and audio syncing is pretty good for the most part. This movie is also nothing like what of the manga I've read (which was most of it IIRC), and I think that's for the best. The manga got dark and could be seen as xenophobic at times; this movie condenses the most important parts and tries to make something different out of it. Maybe it's something of a prequel to the manga? I don't think so, but I don't remember any of the names well enough to make that call or not.

The costuming was very cartoonish for some of the villains, to the point I couldn't take the major villain seriously.

Overall, if you're looking for a good manga-to-live-action samurai adaptation, stick with Rurouni Kenshin. (Although I could easily see Ichi being a comrade and ally of Kenshin's, in some crossover world. Both stories take place in the Meiji Restoration Era, and just changing the time that Ichi's story takes place could make it all fit pretty well.)

I recommend this movie if you like:
The Rurouni Kenshin movies
Zatoichi movies

WARNING - THERE ARE SCENES OF SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THIS FILM - TWO ARE SUCCESSFUL, WITH THE FIRST BEING THE MOST GRAPHIC; THE FINAL ATTEMPT IS NOT SUCCESSFUL.








I’m a fan of fairytales, always have been. They’re simple in their core but allow so much flexibility and play within the story itself that you can tell nearly any type of story you want. Not to mention it’s always fun to see how creators play and reinterpret such classic tales to fit the needs of the story they want to tell. Comics have done the same with their Alternate Earth or What If storylines. Maybe that similarity is why I like them so much.

Anyways, Cinderella is a classic story and one I’ve seen retold quite a number of times. I’ve seen the first animated Disney movie and it’s live action version. I’ve seen the Brandy version (still my favorite) as well as the two interpretations within the show Once Upon a Time. I’ve read about her adventures in Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles series, and now I’ve seen her most recent adaptation. (Watching this and part of the Brandy movie actually inspired me to read the Lunar Chronicles again last week.)

Amazon’s Cinderella movie is...different. It’s not bad - in fact, it’s downright enjoyable! The cast does a solid job in their parts. Despite Idina Menzel being the best singer of the group, Camilla’s acting chops are what make this movie. Camilla’s Ella is quirky in all the best and most modern of ways. She’s the middle ground between the “manic pixie dream girl” trope and the “self-made work-first” girl trope. So, a little like Leslie Knope from Parks & Rec, but (even) more silly.

This version of Ella is far more self-driven, wanting to become a self-made fashion designer in a world where men do everything and rule. This desire fundamentally changes the character in ways that, while are neither surprising or new to me (or those who have seen the list below), are somewhat new to the character. YMMV on whether or not you like the changes.

Another big change is the music. Sure, Cinderella isn’t always a musical, but this one is. The big change however is that a majority of the music wasn’t made for the movie - they used pop songs and artists very frequently throughout. “Seven Nation Army” was paired with “What a Man,” and the opening song was one by Janet Jackson. The only real original songs I remember are Idina Menzel’s “villain song,” and the Announcer’s songs. (Fans of In the Heights will like these songs.) This isn’t a bad thing - although my mom docked a lot of points from the movie because of this - but it is something that not everyone will be a fan of.

Another thing that people might not be a fan of is the setting. This movie’s setting is anachronistic at best - we see electric tools at the beginning and stylized hand-powered sewing machines in a world where people travel by carriage. This world has a sense of age with the slang used, but it’s vernacular is still very modern. (Which is fine to me, as I’m not a fan of Old, Middle, or even Shakespearean English being sprung on me with no warning ala the 2015 Macbeth movie.) But it can be confusing to some.

Going off of that, this movie’s humor is very modern and sometimes pretty meta. Everyone breaks out in song and dance, but also acknowledges this in the next conversation, or will interrupt a song for an awkward encounter.

The cast is okay for the most part. Many of the big names such as Idina Menzel, Camilla Cabello, and Billy Porter play their roles well - Cabello especially, as she doesn’t take herself or the movie too too seriously. But the rest of the cast tends to be walking lamp-posts. The step-sisters aren’t really evil or malicious, simply jerks blind to how poorly their Ella is treated. The prince’s friends (affectionately dubbed “The Boy Band” to go along with how the prince looks like a generic pop singer lead) were just there; even the prince’s best friend, who had a scene at the beginning that made you feel as if he was going to be pivotal to the prince’s arc, really just disappeared afterwards. The princess didn’t do anything other than walk in (or rather, be discovered), state she had some ideas about the government that were thinly veiled lampshades to modern-day societal problems, and then be denied the opportunity to speak.*

But at the end of the day this movie has heart and charm, things that will make it enjoyable, and it was a solid pick-me-up on a day and at a time when I started to feel down.


This movie is recommended for fans of:
Coming 2 America
In The Heights
The Princess & the Frog
Disney’s Aladdin (2019)
Mistborn: The Final Empire
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (from what I know of the show.)



Notes:

I have mixed feelings about this movie’s message on love. While I do agree that love is incredibly important and life changing, I’m not sure the movie’s definition of love is accurate. Yes, they do mention how love must be shown and not just told, but then ignores its own message the very next scene...only to go back on that message to wrap up the story. It’s weird. I personally believe love is a verb, not just a noun - it’s the actions you take to care, cherish, and acknowledge someone despite your own feelings or gain. It’s more than just a feeling or a big dramatic moment, it’s in the little, smaller moments that make someone’s day and let them know that you care. I’m also just not a fan of movies showing romances that blossom within such a short period of time, regardless of the medium. It’s just hard for me to get behind, despite being called something of a romantic by those around me. That doesn’t mean there aren’t exceptions and whatnot - the gesture at the end of In the Heights was very well-done - but those are few and far in-between.


*This wasn’t a bad metaphor, but it wasn’t a well-done one either. Coming 2 America just did this better, as it focused more on Akeem's sexism in overlooking his daughter’s capabilities and assumption of rule due to the sexist tradition than this movie did.

I can't remember much more that I was going to say, other than violence begets violence in this story, and that I really want to try out The Hollow Crown show now. I mean, I've wanted to try it out in the past, but this movie put me in a Shakespearian mood...but for his more optimistic stories.

There was also a scene where horses crossed water that was so brilliantly done that for a time, I had lost sight of the fact the camera was moving. (It pans right to get all the perfect shot of the horses crossing the water, then stands still to let them cross, then keeps one horse in the center of the frame for the remainder of the scene. You forget that the horse is moving, and it's amazing.)







I've only really liked about romcoms in my life: Hitch, Crazy Rich Asians, and 27 Dresses. This past week I decided it was time to revisit 27 Dresses and see if it stood the test of time.

Y'all, this film is SO BAD. It's so bad! The love interest was setting off way too many red flags (lying, not returning someone's stuff and then returning it damaged so he can benefit, stalking, gaslighting, verbally demeaning something that the protag loves, etc), the acting was mediocre at best, and the plot was awful! The main love interests had zero chemistry, and it was just...y'all, it was bad. I'm almost afraid to re-watch Hitch now because it may not stand up either.



Movies That Will Be Finished Someday:


It was on before I left home on Labor Day; but if I'm going to watch this, I want to do it from the beginning.


Watching the Camilla Cabello Cinderella made me and my mom want to revisit this old favorite. I forgotten how much I quoted this movie! And the production design! It's so '90s! This is a great film for fans of the classic Cinderella story. The only reason it's down here is because we ran out of time.


Stopped Watching:


I got most of the way through and decided I just didn't care. I knew enough. Sure, there were some great moments, but not enough to keep me going.



I like the Sudarso brothers, but I wasn't feeling this after about 20 minutes, and I don't need to sit through Netflix movies. I may give it another shot someday, but I wouldn't hold my breath.



DVDs I Have But I Can't Watch Because I Left My PS4 At Home:

 

Saw Venom: Let There Be Carnage at a 3:30 showing today!
This movie is dumb stupid fun in all of the right ways. To many, it'll be like Pacific Rim levels of dumb stupid fun. (As a PR 1 fan, I think that movie has far more going for it than this one does.) But I can see it now.

Venom 2 is a movie about relationships and personal growth in the worst way possible. Eddie Brock is a man who constantly ruins everything, and he can't keep a good thing going (as noted from the first movie). Venom tries to be there for Eddie, but Venom's own desires and Eddie's wants constantly clash - Eddie wants a normal life while Venom wants to be recognized as a hero. Eddie wants Anne back in his life, but isn't willing to sacrifice his happiness to do it, while Venom wants Anne back is fully willing to manipulate Eddie to achieve that result.

On the other side, we have Cletus Kasady, a serial killer on death row that is willing to tell his story to Brock (read: manipulate Brock to send messages to his secretly alive childhood sweetheart Shriek...who is just as crazy as he is). A freak accident leaves Carnage in the hands of Cletus, and we have a battle for hearts both metaphorically and literally.

Again, this movie is dumb stupid fun, but at least I had a lot of laughs during the movie. Gone is the weird "superpower puberty horror PG-13 with a turn for comedy at the end" tone of the last movie, and here it's just PG-13 Dark Comedy. This movie definitely should have been rated R, but I understand why it wasn't. Still, the movie suffered due to that choice. (At least their one F-Bomb was put in a very good spot.) This movie KNOWS it's stupid and leans into the absurdity. It doesn't lose it's attention to detail when doing so though, and keeps a solid eye on the plot as well.
There are some interesting choices that I respect in this movie, but a lot of it I can't:
Eddie - and the police by proxy - are TERRIBLE reporters. There are definitely true crime podcasts that would have done more research into Cletus Kasady than Eddie did during this movie. Like, Kasady's past is supposedly some dark secret, but I doubt no one ever figured it out. Likewise, there are things about Carnage in the final act that aren't really explained.

Spoiler: Venom 2 Spoilers

Such as why a Red Symbiote is so scary to Venom and why Carnage and Kasady can't reach the level of harmony Venom and Brock can, despite their similar personalities.

Also, there are some weird moments at the end that I can't really reconcile.

Spoiler: More Venom 2 Spoilers

Shriek claims that Kasady/Carnage has gone too far, but the two/trio have been gleefully murdering people for most of their screen-time. What changed in her mind? Was it seeing the monster on the outside? If so, then Shriek's characterization should have come from a faulty view of Kasady, and Kasady & Carnage's harmony should have been better than Brock & Venom's...which could have led to their downfall because they're so similar that they can't see anything outside of their own shared bubble. Meanwhile, Venom & Brock could see possibilities that neither could alone because they're so different. This could have also factored into the minor love triangle - Brock finally lets Anne go not just out of love, not just because they aren't on the same page anymore, but because they're not reading the same book. They aren't a team like Eddie and Venom are, so the two can't be together. So you get a nuanced message about relationships wrapped up in a nice PG-13 Dark Comedy.

There are also some callbacks to things said within this movie that feel too soon. You can make a callback to Act 1 when you're in Act 3, but making a callback to the end of Act 2 in the middle of Act 3 feels a tad too soon.

Speaking of endings, there's no post-credit scene, but there IS a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR thing in the mid-credits scene. If you go see this movie, STAY FOR THIS SCENE. If you're not going to see this movie, you'll probably hear about it sooner or later.

in terms of acting, Tom Hardy still makes this movie. Tom does phenomenal character acting with Eddie and hilarious comedy acting with Venom. I laughed a lot at and with the duo, and it's always great to see a master at work.
Woody Harrelson was a weird choice for Cletus in the post-credit scene for the previous movie, and he's a weird choice for Cletus in this one too. He's just not a good fit for the character, and it doesn't play well at all. Harrelson does good acting, but it's just a desync.

Overall, this movie is a 6 at best with a soundtrack and ending that knocks it up to a 7.5/8 out of 10. Wait until this comes out on streaming services to see it, or see it drunk...or both.


Other notes:
If this was in the DC Universe, I would have made Shriek and Kasady Black Canary's parents.

 

I drove all the way home this weekend in order to watch No Time To Die with my dad, and I'm glad I did. (Because my sister and BIL and niece were in town, so I'm getting to see them too!)



Despite my dad being a HUGE Bond fan, I'm not really one. Sure, I've seen all of the Craig ones, but that's really about it for me. We're going to watch Goldfinger and Golden Eye (his favorite) eventually though. They're on the list.

Anyways, while I'm not a superfan of Bond movies, I've almost always enjoyed watching the ones I did (barring Quantam of Solance), and have found him to be a cinematic staple. It's been weird NOT having one for a bit, despite movies like Mission Impossible and the Fast & Furious franchise stepping up to the plate. They're like a nice whiskey or a beer (Corona of course) compared to Bond's wine or martini, but they all do the trick if you're really itching for a drink. Bond is also something of a relic in terms of his...proclivities...and the question as to how to address that has been one many a fan and film site have pondered. Many women in his franchise have been relegated to love interest (or one night stand), and don't have much of a character outside of their relationship to Bond. Many aren't fighters, and most don't live beyond the movie they're introduced in. Currently there's still agreed-upon good answer on how to handle this, but I'm sure one will come eventually. Now, onto the movie itself.

No Time To Die does in Craig's final Bond movie and a finale for this era of Bond movies. It's clear in its motives, good in its acting, and beautiful to look at. Cary Joji Fukunaga takes his time with his shots and action pieces, giving us visual delicacies to go along with the acting and charming moments.
Speaking of acting, Ana De Armas is only in the movie for ten minutes, but she kills it. Her dress is also stunning, turning an amazingly beautiful woman into a drop-dead gorgeous one. Ana is quickly rising to become one of my favorite actresses due to her performances in Bladerunner 2049, Knives Out, and here. (I'm a little afraid she's being typecast as the "naïve waif" but she kills all of her roles.

The plot twists in this movie hard to see coming, but they're used to wonderful effect character-wise, and that makes them good.

However, there is one major problem in this movie that I cannot overlook, and that's Lashana Lynch's Nomi aka the new 007. The problem isn't the character herself. Nomi is introduced as Bond's replacement and a competent agent on her own, when given the tools to work with. The problem is that the movie never gives Nomi any real tools to work with, and does nothing interesting with her character. It was to the point that having her be 007 didn't even matter in the movie at all. She could have been a 006 who wanted to "beat the great 007" or any other number. And given that her rivalry was completely one-sided, it shouldn't have even come up.

Spoiler: NO TIME TO DIE SPOILERS

Honestly it felt like this movie went out of its way to NOT do anything with her. Nomi gets her hands on the scientist, and then Bond messes up the extraction, gets betrayed in the interrogation, and loses the scientist. And then the movie makes it seem like it's NOMI'S fault. Going after the American who betrayed Bond and killed his friend? Bond gives her the clues, and then conveniently gets to kill the dude because Nomi was too slow and is too behind on everything. And then she gets to babysit the Scientist when they find him again, and THEN she has to escort the Love Interest. These were a pointless side-quests for her, most of which she doesn't even resolve itself. Honestly, looking back it felt like the movie wanted more diversity so they came up with this character and this role and then patted themselves on the back for doing the bare minimum.

And I say all of that not to say that Nomi was a bad character. Honestly, it was the opposite - Nomi was great. She was hungry for the glory and arrogant in a way that only Bond has gotten away with so far. I wanted to see her get away with it. I wanted to see her be 007. But the movie didn't have room for that, and she suffered because of it.

Despite that, No Time To Die is a MUST SEE for Bond fans, and a great finale for those who have enjoyed the ride so far.

Fans of the below movies may also like this:
Mission Impossible
Fast & Furious 7-9 (several of the scenes in this movie felt like classed up scenes from these three)
Avengers: Endgame
The Dark Knight Trilogy

 

I would say that people who think these movies look good should rather watch No Time To Die. Real stunts instead of this CGI action nonsense. People were stunned seeing the real stunt work in Bond. At least during my viewings.


The last movies I've watched:
No Time To Die - 7/10
Dune - 9/10

 

I am SO PUMPED FOR DUNE! Just a few more weeks...

Both F7 and F9 use practical effects for most of their shots. The cars going out of a plane? Practical. The magnet tracking a car through a building, and all of the wanton destruction? Practical. The only thing that isn't practical were the physical fights, and even Bond doesn't always use Craig, no matter how trained Craig gets for the roles.

As for the plots and other things, F7-9 (6-9 really) were all about a group of what essentially amounted as spies going to new and exotic locations and unbelievably lavish parties with high-tech tools, fighting against increasingly complete syndicates of bad guys. They took what Bond was made for, and gave it to the proletariat. (Or rather, turned it into the super popular action franchise that Bond has seemingly looked down upon.) Honestly, Furious 6 has all the markings of a Bond movie:

A man super skilled at what he does must come out of retirement (like Spectre IIRC (or was it Skyfall?) and No Time to Die) in order to stop a big-bad "man behind the man." (Bonus points if the villain has the Protag's skills.) He is provided a support team, high tech equipment, and the ability to travel from one snazzy location to another* finds the Bond Villain Girl and seduces her to his side, and then stops the bad guy.

Is the Fast & Furious series stupid? Absolutely! And you don't have to like them at all. But they also excel at what they're trying to do, and aren't afraid to change their genre while other franchises are chained down by the past.

(Also, later F&F franchises are a good example of how to treat women within a franchise. Letty has her own arc in from F6-F7. Ramses has her own place and purpose within the group, and has a niche that only she can fill. Mia goes off on a side-quest in F9 that Dom has no agency or control over, and is successful in her own right. Neither are there for ten minutes and gone for the rest of the movie like Ana De Armas' character (who I really enjoyed) or Nomi (who I also really enjoyed).)


*Although the location hopping didn't start in earnest until Furious 7, and that is the real switch to the super spy genre.

 

I watched Jaws for the millionth time. I was watching with my brother. The part where the captain and the scientist were sowing their scars, and the Sheriff lifted up his shirt, looked at his massive scar but didn't say anything was more profound than I originally thought. I thought it was an appenidix scar . We were watching in like Super HD 4K stuff, you know. It was much more than that and not in the right place for an appendix. Sheriff was a nyc cop and he might have been shot or stabbed. That makes the movie so much more. I love movies you can watch hundreds of times and see or understand something different. Its like watching it for the first time.

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 11, 2021, Original Post Date: Oct 11, 2021 ---

Of course we watched the other 3 jaws sequels. And whats really funny is we came to the realization that jaws 3 (3d) was basically Jurassic Park. So these guys ripped off Jaws, a Spielberg movie, then Spielberg ripped them off to make Jurassic Park.

 

Spoiler: No Time To Die Spoilers

My dad knew the ending would end one of two ways from the moment they used the On Her Majesty's Secret Service theme song. He jokes that if I had told him about the child twist (which I had thought possible from the scene with the girl writing something, and knew was going to be true as soon as she was sent on the train), and he had told me about ONMS's ending, we would have figured out the whole movie together in a matter of minutes.

 

As a huge Bond fan I was really looking forward to this, now I'll wait until I can stream it.

 

Dave Chappelle: The Closer

I laughed a lot and cried too, man's an absolute master comedian and storyteller.

Edit: RIP Daphne Dorman