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The Materialists

I think this was advertised as a Rom-Com, but I do not think it was funny.... at all. I had heard that this was supposed to re-invent the genre. This has a pretty stacked cast of Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, and Dakota Johnson.

It was.... fine. It did not blow me away, but it was ultra-cynical.

I was watching Black Hawk Down last night, and I ran into a problem I have with a lot of war movies.

Sometimes I lose track of who is who.

Me: Wasn't so-and-so in this film?

Not Me: Yes. They died.

Me: When?

Not Me: About 20 minutes ago.

Me: Damn.

 Easy E wrote:
The Materialists

I think this was advertised as a Rom-Com, but I do not think it was funny.... at all. I had heard that this was supposed to re-invent the genre. This has a pretty stacked cast of Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, and Dakota Johnson.

It was.... fine. It did not blow me away, but it was ultra-cynical.

Nothing more romantic than cynicism.

Maybe nihilism.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
The Materialists

I think this was advertised as a Rom-Com, but I do not think it was funny.... at all. I had heard that this was supposed to re-invent the genre. This has a pretty stacked cast of Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, and Dakota Johnson.

It was.... fine. It did not blow me away, but it was ultra-cynical.

Nothing more romantic than cynicism.

Maybe nihilism.

Does it even matter?

Well, the arc was supposed to make it less cynical and a more traditional romantic ending BUT I don't think it made it over the bad taste of cynicism hump.

 Geifer wrote:

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
The Materialists

I think this was advertised as a Rom-Com, but I do not think it was funny.... at all. I had heard that this was supposed to re-invent the genre. This has a pretty stacked cast of Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, and Dakota Johnson.

It was.... fine. It did not blow me away, but it was ultra-cynical.

Nothing more romantic than cynicism.

Maybe nihilism.

Does it even matter?

If they come back later and cut of your johnson it might.

 Geifer wrote:
Catwoman (2004)

What's there to say? It's a silly movie about a feline floozy.

The wildest factoid I know about this film is that the writer of this awful movie also originated the utterly killer assassination line against Atlas Shrugged;

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

Now try to concile the simple beauty of this line with having written Catwoman. That is the duality of man!

Catwoman is a triumph of camp. What if that was his intention?

28 Years Later

Great, great trailer!

The film... maybe it lands better for a British audience?

After the 28 Days later apocalypse the UK is quarantined due to the rage virus. A group of people lead a neo agrarian life on an island occasionally going to the mainland to hunt zombie and forage.

12 year old Spike takes his mum to find a doctor and things get odd. I had to go to Wikipedia to figure out the last scene.

Apparently the whole this is about Brexit?

So not bad but odd.

 Overread wrote:
Honestly I never quite got the revelation with Shawn of the Dead that others got - it was entertaining but for me relied a little too heavy on pub-jokes that kinda felt like they were done and dusted fairly fast.

Individually there's a good many great scenes and such but it always felt like it was just just shy of being an awesome film



Hot Fuzz meanwhile just nails it - it's awesome and just works start to finish!


The 3rd one (which I always forget the name of) just - well honestly its pubjokes again however its only pub jokes and becomes fairly forgettable. What I really wish is that there was a 4th film which was set in the post-apoc world that we got 5mins of at the end of that iflm - that to me seemed far more engaging.

It's funny because I must be missing something about Hot Fuzz then. It's a really, really fun film and all, but I don't enjoy it quite as much as Shaun of the Dead (which is just amazing in achieving the tricky task it sat for itself) and World's End, which I just have a soft spot for. The melancholy, the themes and the verbal exchange in the end is basically a Kirk speech about human imperfection and human rights. It's from being without faults of course (some recurring jokes [band names, WTF] are lame from the get-go), and I'm not fond of the action-y stuff in the end. However, the themes of friendship, failure/success, aging and becoming an adult vs. resisting it and what that entails, alienation and the simple fact that it's a bit cross-grained(?) just appeals to me.

Maybe I do lack the experience of small British town life though to properly appreciate Hot Fuzz as much as I should. I mean it's still great, with a bunch of masterful gags and edits.

Also learning to moderate one’s self.

PC Angel starts off with a right stick up his backside. Almost Judge Dredd without the helmet.

Making the other officers look bad he’s shipped off, and runs into a notably unprofessional local police force.

From there? The two sides kinda moderate each other. PC Angel learns less can sometimes be more, and it makes him a better copper. The others learn from his professionalism and they become better coppers.

2010: The Year We Make Contact( 1984 )

We've all probably seen this one, but I love it and is truely an overlooked science fiction classic.

Fun fact; When watching this film for the first time, a child in the late 80s, I was in awe of the planet Jupiter. I was a little too young to know about space, let alone the solar system, but this hit me like a freight train when my father nipped in the study and then returned with a book...

...JUPITER IS A REAL PLANET.

This wasn't another fantasy world of Tatooine, Hoth, Endor, Arrakis or Krull. I left my father's side and slowly walked over to the telly. Slowly, I reached out my hand to touch the slightly curved screen and the image of this scientific fact...




...that moment? It was...something wonderful!

Video Dead

Low budget but not necessarily low effort Zombie silliness. Essentially an enchanted/cursed TV is accidentally delivered to a residential address instead of some paranormal research lab. Hijinks ensue when it unleashes zombies from a film played on it.

Now, normally I’d give such silliness a pass on account I love all zombie media (especially the bad ones!)

But this deserves a special credit. The Zombies Are Interesting. Not exactly original, but definitely interesting. See, they can use tools and strategy, and can be reliably repelled by showing them their reflection.

I’ll take that modicum of originality and novelty and run with it. Because all too often, the undead themselves and their behaviour is kind of a stock afterthought.

Speaking of 2010, does anyone else remember the wire work stunt show they used to have based on this movie? I think it was either at Universal Studios or MGM. I remember being blown away seeing astronauts float through “space” right in front of me.

Shelby Oaks Indy horror from youtuber Chris Stuckman. It is ok. The cinematography, editing, and sound do a good job of creating mood. The acting is reasonable, with the main character doing very well. Where the movie falls apart is the script; it could have used a little more polish to make some of contrivances or bad decisions seem a bit more plausible. A solid effort that shows promise, though obliviously one wants to make a bigger impact on their debut, it is still fine.

Black Phone 2 Enjoyed it at the theater but feel like it might lose something with subsequent viewings. If you enjoyed the first odds are you will like this one. Much like the original there isn't a high body count on screen and is more about atmosphere, though there is gore in the film. The first was more of a horror with some supernatural elements whereas this is thoroughly supernatural horror. If you are steeped in horror film it will very much come across as an atmospheric Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Warriors.

Prey Not the Predator franchise one. A 1970’s Exploitation movie.

Shape shifting obligate carnivore alien lands on earth, and enters into the life of a vegetarian lesbian British couple. And then it gets really weird. Not bad weird, but not quite good weird.

I swear I’ve not made this film up.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Prey Not the Predator franchise one. A 1970’s Exploitation movie.

Shape shifting obligate carnivore alien lands on earth, and enters into the life of a vegetarian lesbian British couple. And then it gets really weird. Not bad weird, but not quite good weird.

I swear I’ve not made this film up.

Exhibit A, your Honor...

I’m really not sure if it’s a minor masterpiece in tension, or a mess of not quite realised ideas.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
The Body Stealers

A Tigon production, and essentially a knock-off Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

It feels like a rejected Dr Who or Quatermass tale. The most notable thing about it is that it reused the Dalek spaceships from the Dr Who And The Dalek Invasion of Earth movie.

It’s really not terribly good. Basic premise is aliens are abducting UK Paras trained for space flight, then adapting them biologically to survive on the homeworld, where they’re needed to help repopulate it.

All resolved when the smelly Hoomans convince the aliens to knock-off the Theft and Shrubbery in favour of volunteers.

I think there is the kernel of an interesting plot here, but it’s explored in the most uninteresting and nonsensical way.

Probably not worth your bother, unless slightly obscure late 60’s sci-fi is a particular interest of yours.

Evil Dead Rise

If you enjoy the gonzo aspect of the Evil Dead films (like I do)... do yourself a favor and watch the first 10 minutes and the last 12 minutes of this movie and skip the rest.

Everything else is this film is just modern generic horror.

Such a let down.

11 Rebels

Samurai Dirty Dozen, but most of them aren't even samurai but peasants. Not great.

Samurai Wolf
Ahhhh, now this is the stuff. Black and White Samurai films are the best. If you like Yojimbo or Sanjiro you can get the same great feel and vibe from this. Betrayals, backstabbing, melodrama, and Katanas. This is good stuff.

One Battle After Another

I can see why the commercials were really cage-y about what this movie was about, because it is not a pretty setting. Bascially, it is set in an America run by a secret cabal of White Nationalists using a ICE like entity to oppress the population and targeting immigrants. It hits a bit close to home.

However, that is the setting and this movie is about characters. It is a very personal story that revolves around a revolutionary, her boyfried bomb-maker . and her boy toy white-Nationalist ICE colonel; and the child they have between them. Yeah, you read that right.

This is an artsy movie that goes a bit heavy on the thinkpiece in a not subtle way. Has some good moments in it though.

 Easy E wrote:
One Battle After Another

I can see why the commercials were really cage-y about what this movie was about, because it is not a pretty setting. Bascially, it is set in an America run by a secret cabal of White Nationalists using a ICE like entity to oppress the population and targeting immigrants. It hits a bit close to home.

However, that is the setting and this movie is about characters. It is a very personal story that revolves around a revolutionary, her boyfried bomb-maker . and her boy toy white-Nationalist ICE colonel; and the child they have between them. Yeah, you read that right.

This is an artsy movie that goes a bit heavy on the thinkpiece in a not subtle way. Has some good moments in it though.

It is based on Thomas Lynchon's Vineland (1990) that is about people in the 1980s recalling the 1960s showing how the country evolved between then and now, in the context of the book, not our now.. It isn't one I have read but I get the impression that the book jumps around a lot more and isn't a straightforward narrative.

Weapons-

This one really went for atmospheric horror, particularly a lot of quiet, dark shots. I spent most of my time trying to see what was going on. I'm not expecting my characters to be paragons of virtue in a horror film, but they were going out of their way to make these guys unlikable. And the big reveal was a very surface treament to me. And the structure- the different perspectives really just felt like you had a 45 minute film that was tightly plotted and wanted to stretch it.

If you are afraid of the dark, and love horror movies that focus on, and indeed are narrated by, children, you'll probably enjoy this. I did not. Do check out the kill scenes though- those are quite brutal.