Movies We've Seen Recently

[moooo566 (taylor's version)]

Dune is really good, but the way they've cut it in half is way more unfulfilling than I was expecting. Like, I was literally surprised when the credits came up. Having read the book, I feel like they could have gone one scene further and it would have been a much more satisfying ending. I'm glad they didn't totally fuck the story to cram it into one film or put in a totally bullshit ending, but it's a weird film watching experience.

I highly recommend watching it, but I think the best way to do so is to wait a few years for them to make the other half, and then find a cinema showing them both in sequence.

[xdaringdamselx]

look I know they're dumb but I've been having a TON of fun watching Hallmark-y Christmas romcoms this season

The Knight Before Christmas is pretty dumb in particular, nothing makes sense and nothing is developed, things are just kind of thrown onscreen right at the moment they're relevant, the plot's kind of all over the place tbh, but I had so much fun watching it that I didn't care all that much, and a friend recommended it to me based on the strength of the incredibly himbo male lead, we need less shitty alpha-male jerks as romcom leads and more goodhearted himbos

also, our time-traveling himbo knight lead discovers the Alexa at his love interest's house and when it won't shut up, he throws it in the freezer, we love Comrade Sir Himbo here, destroying the electric snitch machine

and because I'm also a pro wrasslin' fan, I found out that WWE Studios made a Christmas movie a few years ago starring the Miz and it is likewise terrible, but terribly amusing for how nonsensical it is

I also love that the Miz's real-life wife Maryse just gets to fuckin' deck him in one scene where she's a hot biker chick bartender

[moooo566 (taylor's version)]

It's pretty fucked up of Mary Poppins to show children things they dont understand then insist they're lying when they try to tell their parents.

Also what the fuck is Lin Manuel Miranda doing here?

[lazzer grardaion?]

Watched Matrix 4 recently, and had a lot of thoughts about it:

For the first twenty minutes, it seems like exactly the thing you would fear it to be. Filled with references to the first Matrix, with a younger, hipper cast. Just go with it. It'll take a turn.

Once it gets to Neo having the discussions with the focus groups and representative for Warner Bros, I totally understood what they were going for, and I absolutely loved it.

It's a thinly-veiled autobiography of Lana Wachowski, talking about creating the original Matrix, that was treated as a commercial object, which had to have sequels made with bullet time, and leather jackets, and philosophizing, but which was also important to a lot of trans people.

And taking this thing that was important to trans people as this metaphor of awakening and transformation, and realizing that this thing you made can apply to you, and can inspire your own literal awakening. That's what Morpheus in this movie is, he's a representation of how Lana Wachowski experienced The Matrix herself as a source of strength, and a tool to be true to herself in a world that is so hostile to trans people (loved the sequence where people are throwing themselves out of windows to attack Neo and Trinity)

And although I don't know all the details of how Lilly made her transition, it's hard not to read the relationship between Neo and Trinity as partially a stand-in for Lana 'waking up' Lilly to the truth that Lana has already seen.

Then there's also the metaphorical significance of Keanu Reeves, as a masculine self-identity entering the Matrix to rescue/awaken a feminine self-identity.

As for the dodgy fight scenes and effects, the movie explains *in itself* that this whole movie is a contractual obligation to focus groups and producers. They feel perfunctory because they literally are, and the lengths to which the movie goes to explain that, while also being that, is maybe the most The Matrix thing ever.

In short, I think it's a very rich and very personal film, and it might be my favorite movie of 2021.

[organburner]

Watched Matrix 4 recently, and had a lot of thoughts about it:

For the first twenty minutes, it seems like exactly the thing you would fear it to be. Filled with references to the first Matrix, with a younger, hipper cast. Just go with it. It'll take a turn.

Once it gets to Neo having the discussions with the focus groups and representative for Warner Bros, I totally understood what they were going for, and I absolutely loved it.

It's a thinly-veiled autobiography of Lana Wachowski, talking about creating the original Matrix, that was treated as a commercial object, which had to have sequels made with bullet time, and leather jackets, and philosophizing, but which was also important to a lot of trans people.

And taking this thing that was important to trans people as this metaphor of awakening and transformation, and realizing that this thing you made can apply to you, and can inspire your own literal awakening. That's what Morpheus in this movie is, he's a representation of how Lana Wachowski experienced The Matrix herself as a source of strength, and a tool to be true to herself in a world that is so hostile to trans people (loved the sequence where people are throwing themselves out of windows to attack Neo and Trinity)

And although I don't know all the details of how Lilly made her transition, it's hard not to read the relationship between Neo and Trinity as partially a stand-in for Lana 'waking up' Lilly to the truth that Lana has already seen.

Then there's also the metaphorical significance of Keanu Reeves, as a masculine self-identity entering the Matrix to rescue/awaken a feminine self-identity.

As for the dodgy fight scenes and effects, the movie explains *in itself* that this whole movie is a contractual obligation to focus groups and producers. They feel perfunctory because they literally are, and the lengths to which the movie goes to explain that, while also being that, is maybe the most The Matrix thing ever.

In short, I think it's a very rich and very personal film, and it might be my favorite movie of 2021.

Yeah the few impressions I saw just went "action bad movie bad" which, honestly, isn't wrong in a way but...
I do wonder how much of internet "culture" you need to know to understand what I think the movie is going for. If you don't know about the red pill shit and about the transition of one of the directors then I'd say it's pretty easy to just go "this sucks". This does seem like it could be a failure of the movie as a piece of media that stands on its own two feet.
I wasn't really hyped for the movie so I wasn't disappointed or anything, it seems to be an alright movie.

[moooo566 (taylor's version)]

Here's my take on the new Matrix. My pre-spoiler summary is that I can't promise you'll like it, or that it's even good, but I do think it's worth watching. At this point I'm going to note that I do not have the necessary experience to usefully discuss it as an allegory for gender identity. Thanks for the words you've already written.

It's very much a film of two halves. The first is good. I think it's the best iteration of "meta" media I've seen. The parallels they draw between the original films and the events of Neo's journey throughout this film are actually useful and relevant to the story and structure they're building, and are referenced with precision. It is very on the nose, but I like the way the highlight reel is directed at Neo as much as the audience, and I think the parallels on the narrative and videography levels make it rewarding for both casual and close viewing.

I also think the skewering of remakes and reboots is legitimately well done. The writing is sharp enough that it doesn't feel smarmy. With the specific pushback from Neo as Thomas A Anderson, and in the context of both his breakdown and the breakdown of the matrix more generally, they mostly avoid the issue of actually just doing the thing while going on about how dumb it is that they're doing the thing.

Then about halfway through the film, it stops being like that and what's left is a very sub-par action film. Paint by numbers filmmaking if ever I saw it.

If anything, this is the film I was worried it would be. For a franchise renowned for great action sequences, they're deeply underwhelming in the latter half of the film. There's a whole lot of characters mugging at each other and jumping around, but very little actual engagement. When they do fight there's a lot of basic shootouts without the style and dynamism you'd expect from The Matrix.

The writing in this half of the film is also very bad. It's bland, predictable, and cliched, eye-rollingly so at times. There's a few moments where they might have introduced an exciting twist, or an interesting conflict, but every time it's immediately snapped away so we can get back on track. The last scene of the film is one of the worst I've ever seen. It's hard to believe it's even the same film.

Then it sort of redeems itself with a better post credit scene than Marvel have ever managed.


 

[Adam Bozarth]

I just watched Don't Look Up last night and it was so bad I was rooting for the comet. Not the fictional comet, but the real one. I was hoping I would be obliterated by real space debris rather than watch the rest of the movie. Wow I hate this movie.

[Adam Bozarth]

I saw Everything, Everywhere, All At Once last night, and it's not just that I enjoyed it, it's that when I think about it, I get really happy. Lots of little details that are just so fun and silly. So many great performances, so many great scenes, such a great story. I'm glad I got to see it in a theater.

The film really feels like a great collage of so many little details upon little details. Ke Huy Quan's entire performance is honestly Oscar-worthy given the fact he hasn't appeared in a movie in 20 years or something? It wouldn't have worked without his multifaceted performance. I think it's hysterically funny to have Jamie Lee Curtis move like The Shape from Halloween during a few scenes. She's amazing in it. Michelle Yeoh anchors the chaotic nature of the movie excellently, and understands the emotional arc of the story from moment to micro-moment. It's masterfully directed. All the direct pop culture details that show up, (like sound effects from video games or game shows, the everything bagel,  etc.) are all employed artfully and not as a punchline for the audience. The exception might be Raccoon-tooie, which is a great parody but also a perfectly acceptable reality of it's own by the time that sequence shows up in the story.

The Multiverse as an idea is not at all new in movies and TV. In fact, I think it's a bit over-used as a plot device. I know that Doctor Strange is obviously going to hop between dimensions and universes, but the multiverse shows up in Space Jam 2 and The Lego Movie. Alternate dimensions is a plot contrivance in animated movies for the youths. So, for a movie with such an ambitious premise to deliver such a timely love story about overcoming the chaos that comes with the breaking down of reality as we know it, it really touched me at the right time. Definitely one of my new favorite films, and I hope it holds up to repeat viewings.

I'm still not all that eager to watch The Daniels' first film Swiss Army Man but I might give it a chance. I also looked up the premise of Daniel Scheinert's solo film The Death of Dick Long and hoooo boy am I the opposite of interested. 

[Dr. Buttplug]

Squirm has some neat effects for the time and one or two scares. The more interesting thing is the depiction of the backwoods town. It's closer to reality than a lot of movies that use a creepy southern setting, but still feels like a city person's interpretation of it.

Superman Returns is not nearly as bad as people said it was. It's fine. It was a perfect half asleep Sunday morning movie.

I also watched Lifeforce 1985. Ashens mentioned it offhand I think as a "British Sci Fi classic." That might have been a joke, but it has some really interesting psychosexual intrigue and imagery. Though Steve Railsback as the main protagonist was a bad choice. There is a great cameo performance from Sir Patrick Stewart that is worth watching it for.

[moooo566 (taylor's version)]

The Northman was a very pretty film about terrible people doing terrible things to each other. It's not very deep but if you want to watch a man scream a lot of do horror movie villain shit for two hours (and you probably do) it's by far your best option.

Casablanca Beats is a fun inspirational journey about young people from difficult backgrounds finding their voice through music, you get the picture, with the twist that it's hiphop in Morocco. It doesn't stray all that far from the formula but the setting keeps it interesting, both visually and narratively, and the music is really good. Would definitely recommend.

Dr Strange and the Multiverse of Madness is as bad as the title suggests. I'm generally on board with dumb Marvel films but this is probably the worst of the lot. The story takes the most obvious path at every turn, and both the hero and the villain's powers are even more "whatever the writer feels like right now," just to make sure the action scenes are entirely boring mulch. It's propped up a little by some good supporting characters but most of them get shuffled away again pretty quickly. Would definitely not recommend.

[Salubrious Rex]

This weekend I watched:

SE7EN. It wasn't very good, not all that impressed. I wasn't paying much attention for the first third granted, but I don't know if that would have made up for it. The scene where Morgan Freeman visits Brad Pitt's vibrating house and laughs about that was charming but there wasn't too much else I enjoyed about it.

I'm Thinking About Ending Things was great, and managed to make me uncomfortable in weird and fascinating ways. The presence of the actor who plays fucking satan in Breaking Bad was distracting at first, but I got over it and both the leads were great. It was a very dense movie and if you told me it was 4 hours long I would have believed you, if it weren't for that I'd love to watch it again to pick apart every frame and look for weird little inconsistencies that the film fills itself with. As the title suggests it's a bit of a sad one. Definitely recommend if you want a weird thing to puzzle over and pick apart which is a bit up its own arse.

I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore is a film I've seen once before and I'm really glad I rewatched it because I enjoyed it a lot. It reminds me a fair bit of Super, but grounded more in reality with a smaller scope. It's just a pair of lonely people who turn to well-meaning vigilante justice because they're pushed over the edge by just another occurence in this crappy world and it manages to bring out comedy and catharsis from that quite well.

[chai tea latte]

Everything Everywhere...: wow! Michelle Yeoh gives the performance of her life in a funny, beautiful, wistful, description-defying movie. One of the more moving and beautiful love stories I've ever seen, probably tied with Portrait of a Lady on Fire........5 stars. And yet...beyond the romance, this is a stunningly beautiful story about a mom and a daughter.....about everything and everywhere.......about the Immigrant Experience....and about Love. And about surpassing the stories you were meant to live within when you emigrate. I will see this a dozen times before I die, and probably take away different lessons and ideas each time.

Solaris (1972): Wow! I will think about this movie for the rest of my life. I have nothing coherent to say yet except for my astonishment at how beautiful the planet was. 5 stars.

The Power of the Dog (2021): really stunning performances here from the twinky gay boy and the fat brother. Benedict Cumberbatch's American accent is fine. A compelling story of betrayal, whose last 20 minutes were unlike anything I could have possibly expected. Another one I found myself thinking about long after the credits rolled. And when the little twink rolls the cigarette in the barn? holy shit that was hot. Wow. I learned a lot about myself, sexually, from this. 4 stars.

The Batman: boring as shit, long as shit. 2 stars

I'll Follow You Down (2013): canadian time travel / family horror starring Gillian Anderson and Haley Joel Osmont. Serviceable if trite sometimes, but a coherently plotted time travel narrative. 3 stars

One Cut of the Dead (2017): this is so fun!!!!!!!! found footage zombie movie, but it's actually good, and if I tried to tell you about why it's good, you wouldn't get to experience it being so good in real time. Don't learn anything about this before watching! It's on Shudder and youtube rental. 4 stars

[Dr. Buttplug]

Crank
Deserves a lot of the praise it got for being action packed adrenaline fueled thrill ride and a vehicle for Jason Statham as an action hero. It is trashy in a fun way, but there's a handful of problematic and very 2006 things. It attempts to seem progressive until they decide to burry the one gay character. There's a dubious consent situation that's played off for laughs. Then there's more than one Al-Qaida "gag" that seem like they're making fun of the heightened tension of the time while also making victims of Arab peoples on screen.
That said, it delivers on the promise of a literally adrenaline fueled movie.

From Beyond (1986)
The best translation of Lovecraftian cosmic horror to the big screen I've seen. (Event Horizon would beat it hands down if it wasn't for the last five minutes being a wet fart, and Reanimator is a better movie but doesn't hit the existential stuff as hard.) It feels like a pretty conventional horror plot at first, and the effects look like bootleg Cronenberg body horror gunk. However the final act gets really nuts in a way that I can forgive some sketchy effects and off the shelf score.

[moooo566 (taylor's version)]

Everything, Everwhere, All At Once is wonderful. Everyone else has said that, but I really think I need to do it too.

[Dr. Buttplug]

For no particular reason I watched a bunch of movies with titles that start with "Once Upon a Time in" and for no good reason at all I'm going to rank them.

1. the West

Sergio Leone is my favorite director. His style and pacing, the palpable suspense and Ennio Morricone's score ties it all together like a nice little bow. The Good the Bad and the Ugly is my absolute favorite, but the West is spectacular.

2. Mexico

A shade sillier than any of the other flicks on this list. More patriotic too. Some very memorable scenes though. I was a little down on it upon first watching it, but I keep thinking back on it and going "that was pretty rad."

3. Shanghai

Andy Ho was way better at acting and more believable and bombastic in his physicality. Should have been about him. Phillip Ng looked like a goofball with that discount Bruce Lee wig. Also screaming "get out of my country!" is not the heroic quip they thought it was.

4. America

I'm really down on this right now. It's just a brutally unpleasant experience and I think that's intentional. I'll probably come around on it eventually but right now I just feel gross. If you're considering watching it CW: explicit extended rape scene.

5. Hollywood

I saw this when it came out. Not a bad movie, but I hate how reverent it is of "old Hollywood" to the point of being masturbatory.


I also plan on watching Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India. It's a long one, but I'm hoping it will rank, and given the setting I'm curious how it compares to RRR. I will update my rankings when I finish it.

This seems to be the most relevant and well regarded films with this title convention, but if anyone wants to suggest others I might as well, I've gone this far.