Recently watched movies!

[eabaker]

Watched How to Train Your Dragon last night. Really solid story, some great visuals, overall I really dug. Only one big issue:

Jay Baruchel was a really bizarre choice for the lead. Even coming out of his own face, his voice seems off, like it should come from someone... older? Physically larger? I'm not sure. But coming out of a character who looks like he's about 15/16, it almost feels like an intentionally jarring choice: "Wouldn't it be funny if the innocent teenager... totally didn't sound like an innocent teenager at all???!!!"

Certainly didn't ruin the movie or anything. But it was the only thing that felt off.

[O.Supreme]

[eabaker]

[O.Supreme]

While we're on the subject....I feel I am pretty balanced when it comes to kids animated films. I don't gush over them like they are the greatest thing ever, but I don't dislike them in totality...There are some gems, and there are some real duds as well (seem to be more duds lately which is sad...)

Some friends invited us & our kids to do a "backyard viewing" (Projector screen after dark). The film was Finding Dory...The kids had seen this on Netflix, and I really tried to keep an open mind since I am in the very very small minority that believes Finding Nemo is beyond Boring & Pointless....Unfortunately I found Dory to be exactly the same...if not more so. I know its just fiction, but I found the Octopus' constant movements to be extremely annoying, and kept wondering how these sea creatures were surviving in a variety of environments (fresh water, sewer water, open air etc...) .

How this film made a Billion dollars is mind-boggling to me. I'm not the biggest fan of PIXAR but I'd easily place Nemo & Dory near the bottom rankings. I heard Idris Elba was in this film as a Sea Lion, and growing up in the East Bay Area, we of course saw these on a regular basis, plus the obvious nods to Monterey throughout the film (still one of my favorite places to visit) I thought would be interesting...nope...The Sea Lions basically had the same dumb joke the Seagulls had in Nemo. Sorry I just was not impressed. I know PIXAR is suffering from sequelitis lately, but hopefully we don't get a 3rd installment of this franchise, but unfortunately money I think will say otherwise.

[lhb412]

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

In honor of Hooper's death, finally gave this classic a spin and it is indeed surprising. Feels like a proto-slasher, a Halloween-before-Halloween type of deal for the first hour, then in the last third it becomes something very different (and I think far more interesting) as we spend time with the cannibal family. They're scary because of how normal and prototypically American their story is: the family has been deeply intwined with a local industry (slaughterhouse) to the point of that industry being mythologized and now they've been discarded due to automation and have had to make due on their own. Their use of human skeletons and skin for sculpture and decoration isn't too different from the taxidermy animals and vintage brik-a-brac I see 'normal' folks populate their houses with.

[eabaker]

TCM is a movie that grows on me with each viewing. The sequence that I find most unsettling is when they initially pick up the Hitchhiker; I find myself pitying him, and that informs how I respond to the bizarre funhouse family melodrama of the last section.

[Dr Kain]

Death Note - Okay, here is like the first 15 minutes of this movie:

"Have to watch with an open mind. Can't compare it to the source material. Need to view it as it's own thing. Remember, open mind."

15 Minutes Later - "To hell with having an open mind, this movie sucks!"

It was god awful. Like oh my god I wish I could write my own name into a Death Note and end it already type of awful. But then, the rules are supposed to be 6 minutes have to go by, which means 6 additional minutes of suffering through that.

So where do I begin? How about Light! What the hell was that? Light is supposed to be a highly intelligent, calculating strategist that plans accordingly, while also having a huge ego after he receives his power. Yet, he still has to play everything safe, especially once L comes onto the scene. This version of Light was a snot nosed emo who was aggressive and hot headed. He had no idea how to plan for anything. Not to mention the writers of this movie completely missed what made Light tragic. He is a top A student always trying to please his family in an 80s family sitcon type of way. He fell from grace after he acquired the Death Note. Here, he is as much of a jerkass at the beginning of the film as he is in the end. He has no character growth, no arc, he is just there to be there. What's worse, he is scared to use the Death Note in the beginning even though by the time Ryuki first visited Light in the original, Light had already written hundreds of names in it.

Next up, is Mia. I don't know if she is supposed to be their version of Misa or not, but she was awful. Even Kirsten Stewart in Twilight could act better than her. She was so wooden even Groot would say, "DAMN GIRL! Liven up!" We never learn anything about her life, what motivates her to want to help Light, nothing. She is just there because the movie needed a pointless love interest because reasons.

I wish I could say Defoe was great as Ryuk, but he barely did anything. In fact, he pretty much broke his own rules as he is not supposed to directly interfere, he is there to watch the events playout.

The only character that felt true-ish to the source material was L. The actor did the best he could with what he had to work with, which is far more than I can say about any of the other actors in this thing. He had the mannerisms, but the execution was clunky. The scene when he challenges Kira was so random and out of place. Of course, that was another issue with this movie in general, things were just happening without any build up, any suspense or payoff. Gone are the psychological battles between Light and L and in is aggressive shouting as the two seem to see who can swear more in a single sentence. It's pretty degrading and insulting.

On that note, the plot makes no sense. Too much time is passed too quickly, making aspects feel frivolous. For example, there is an FBI agent following Light, but there is no build up to it. We just see Light standing around looking and then it cuts to a scene of Light's dad yelling at L for putting a tail on his son. Where did this even come from? What makes him instantly suspicious of Light and why? He never once even mentioned Light before this existed. Add to that, this plot is quickly dropped as suddenly all of the FBI dudes commit suicide. In the original, Light learns of his tail, controls a dude to commit a crime that forces his tail to reveal himself, in which Light uses the dude to find out about the other agents, and then slowly has them offed. Here, there is no explanation for it nor any build up to it. It isn't until the end that we find out more in the most half cocked manner possible. Why even bother having this plot point in there if nothing is going to come of it? Is it just there so they can say, "See, we read the manga/watched the anime?" I don't understand its purpose.

And then we have the ending which is so over the top stupid. I won't go into detail, but if you were already struggling to keep attuned to the film by this point, don't expect a clever twist of an ending that feels natural. Instead, we get poor fanfiction quality writing here. It is so stupid.

The lighting of the movie is awful, the plot progression is dreadful, and none of this movie makes sense. I have put more thought into my rant than the people behind this movie put into it, so I am going to stop here. I give Death Note a sour 3/10. A point for L, a point for the creepy atmosphere of Ryuk, and a point for most of its soundtrack. Netflix, go to your room and reflect on your choices as you are capable of so much better.

[lhb412]

Castle in the Sky

Fantastic to see this on the big screen! I'm sounding like a broken record with the Studio Ghibli Fest, but it's true.

[klen7]

^^ I liked Light not being a hyper shonen Mary Stu.

[Dr Kain]

[klen7]

i haven't seen Twilight, how was he twilight-y other than being a high schooler?

[jellydonut25]

I actually thought the first 15-20 minutes of Death Note were really good. I liked how it moved by a lot of stuff at a pace that felt economical, and thought we might be getting something that was streamlined and missing pieces, but still effective at doing what it wanted to do.

Then the next 80 minutes happened. There are a lot of ways to compare and contrast it with Death Note as a manga, anime, or film, but at the end of the day, those don't REALLY matter to me, and people who over-rely on them always sound a little petulant. "It's not what I thought it should be given the title, therefore it sucked."

This movie though, sucks unto itself. In what it was trying to do and the relationships it (sorta) attempts to establish and the world it tries to build, it fails. This script is putrid and I'm not sure anything could have saved it. It's troubling for Wingard as a writer and storyteller (I know he didn't write it, but directors can often change dialogue and such on-the-fly to try to get a better version of a flawed script) but it's pretty stylish and I think people unfamiliar with the source material MIGHT get just a tad more enjoyability out of it. 2/5 for me though, for Ryuk, L, the score, and occasional moments of stylish direction.

[Dr Kain]

[Dr Kain]

The Great Wall - My god, I have never seen a movie that tried so hard to pander to every PC group imaginable until now. Who was this movie supposed to be for? It's an Asian movie that had white people in it because heaven forbid an Hollywood film not star white people. It had a forced romance with the lead Chinese girl because heaven forbid we not have a love story involved. Then we have the fact that it was clearly pandering to the feminists because they have to make the Chinese girl be the main leader of the group. Gotta get those ticket sales from creeps who drool over Asian women while also appeasing the Chinese audience. Oh, and let's not forget putting in a hispanic dude because you gotta attract the hispanic crowd.

Thankfully, it was no where near as bad as it could have been, but that doesn't mean it is good. It does have some funny moments and you can actually see the action for the most part. However, the narrative is a mess. I felt like I was watching cut scenes to a video game as there were a lot of scenes that felt incomplete. Hell, Willem Dafoe was absolutely pointless. There was no reason for his role to exist one bit. In fact, if you were to take out his scenes, nothing would change at all. The acting is pretty bad with Matt Damon being the worst actor in the film. I have no idea what the hell they were going for, or if he was intentionally trying to get fired or not, but it didn't work. There were times when he would suddenly have an accent for a line or two, which would then go away for his next few lines. It was quite jarring. Additionally, he had no character growth. We are told he is a despicable mercenary, yet we are never shown this. There is nothing to really make us believe he was a different person before he met the Chinese girl nor why his friend is upset when he decides to help them. He just does because the movie needs him to. There is no motivation behind it.

The monster designs weren't even all that interesting as they just look liked the creatures from the Mortal Kombat movie franchise and the poor CGI didn't help matters either.

In the end, I give it a 6/10.

[jellydonut25]

[lhb412]

[jellydonut25]

Twin Peaks just finished. It was amazing.
Game of Thrones just finished. It was great.
Just watched Glow on Netflix. It was good.

Been really watching a lot of TV lately, more than movies.

[Dr Kain]

Had ourselves a Vincent Price double feature night.

The Fall of the House of Usher - Fanfreakingtastic! This movie was wonderful. It had atmosphere, it had excellent cinematography, the use of colors during the dream sequence was outstanding, and most of all, for there only being four characters throughout the entire film, they were all engaging. This film flew by at such a brisk pace I could not believe it had reached the climax when it did. Aside from outdated effects, I can't think of anything negative to say about it. A nice 10/10.

The Raven - Unlike Usher, this one didn't grasp me as much sadly. I loved that it featured Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff, but I felt like they were underutilized. Perhaps it was because the movie ended up being more comedy than I anticipated. Or it could have just been that Poe's poem is hard to translate into a film. Either way, I came out disappointed. That does not mean I did not enjoy it though as it was hilarious and Lorre stole the show. It's just that I expected more from having a trio of masters on screen together (for what I believe to be the first time). Thus, I'm going to give it a 7/10 as it is the weakest of all of the Price films I have watched over the last few years.

[sentaison]

My favorite line from the Raven is Peter Lorre to Vincent Price, "Stop defending yourself you coward!" Karloff, Price,and Lorre together are always fun.

[sentaison]

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: The Sword of Destiny. Not as epic as the first film, but still a very entertaining story with plenty of action to satisfy fans of the wuxia style. I'll be getting this one when it gets a domestic release on blu ray.

Batman and Harley Quinn. OMG I was laughing my butt off with this one! It's tone comes off as a little uneven as there is some obvious death in the film, but Melissa Rauch is tone perfect as Harley and of course Kevin Conroy is Batman. And good lord do they just keep you laughing during the "road trip" segments as the Traumatic Trio (I'm going to trademark that for any time Batman, Nightwing, and Harley team up) chase after Poison Ivy and the Floronic Man. The Henchmans Hangout segment alone is worth the price of admission. Best DC animated release this year, maybe for the past two.

[Dr Kain]

I just can't. The bed scene between Harley and Nightwing is totally unnecessary. I am absolutely disgusted with the "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" they have turned Harley into. She has gone Simpson. She is no longer the victim that made her her interesting, but just another generic psychopath. I also disagree about the voice for Harley. That lady has no business being Harley. She sounds like she is just trying to copy someone else's voice instead of doing her own.

[eabaker]

[lhb412]

Inferno

After watching (and totally digging) Dario Argento's Suspiria I watch it's pseudo-sequel. It shares a lot of the same beats as Suspiria: mysterious deaths committed by an unseen murderer, ancient secrets, an ending where the character descends into secret rooms to face evil... it plays like a somewhat more deliberate, slightly less over-the-top version of Suspiria, but the best parts of the movie are when it goes over-the-top! Keith Emerson replaces Goblin on soundtrack duties, and it's good but only has one real breakout tune. This one:

[eabaker]

I have a kind of an on-again-off-again relationship with Inferno. I hated it on first viewing, was okay with it on second, then really started to like it by the third time. For a brief period I actually preferred it over Suspiria, especially after seeing it on the big screen.

Then I had a chance to see a beautiful Suspiria on the big screen, and the love I already felt for that movie easily doubled that night.

Over the next few years, I didn't re-watch Inferno at all. The last time I watched it, I enjoyed it, but it had lost some of its magic for me.

There are moments that I love, and I am very fond of quoting (or paraphrasing) the line, "There are mysterious parts in that book, but the only true mystery is that our very lives are governed by dead people;" but it just doesn't have the lightning-in-a-bottle fairy tale nightmare magic of Suspiria. And, while Romao Albani is a perfectly competent cinematographer, and his at times Bava-esque approach to Inferno works out well enough, it's got nothing on Suspiria's combination of Luciano Tovoli's masterful eye and that amazing Technicolor IB saturation.

I wish I had a way to consider and discuss Inferno that wasn't directly tied to Suspiria, but I can't really manage it. In a way, Mark's delving into this supernatural and oneiric world so much better understood by his sister could be considered a parallel to Argento himself trying to reenter that realm without the direct input of Daria Nicolodi.

[Dr Kain]

I don't know why, but I just can't get into Argento's movies. I've watched Suspiria, found it rather average. I've seen another one that I can not remember the title of, found that to be pretty generic and forgettable. His version of Dracula was awful too.