Saturday, July 31, 2021

Weekend Open Thread

11 comments:

  1. Do I start this time?

    SNAKE EYES: GI JOE ORIGINS (2021) Is it bad that I actually liked this? The first hour is a super slick Yakuza crime/action flick, and then it turns into a GI Joe cartoon in the second half. I don't know much about this franchise, but I'm now intrigued as to what other character origin movies there could be in the future.

    SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY (2021) You'd think that sci-fi cartoon basketball wouldn't be this boring, but wow was I bored.

    OLD (2021) Another case of a great 30-minute Twilight Zone premise that loses something as a feature. The horror of rapidly aging, which is the good stuff, keeps getting overshadowed by the mystery/lore. Also two characters get turned into monsters (of a sort) just to throw in some additional scares. My advice for Shyamalan: Make a horror anthology movie.

    REIGN OF FIRE (2002) I know a lot of people love this movie, so I guess it's just not for me. The dragon fights can be exciting, but the overall tone is so grim and dour that I just can't.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. woah....your suggestion for Shyamalan is realllly a great idea. he's got the skills to pull off smaller twisty stories but too often stretches them with filler. i love the anthology idea PLUS it would maybe help breathe life into that form of storytelling (like Mick G is aiming to do)

      Delete
    2. Woot! im stoked to read a positive Snake Eyes review. it was so off my interest/radar that the only reason i know a little about it was a trailer before F9. That being said, the trailer looked kinda fun. Im gonna check it out. Thanks!

      Delete
  2. Nobody (redbox): (First and foremost, i am absolutely relieved at Bob O's tweets from yesterday. For those who dont know, he suffered a heart attack this week while filming Saul but has let fans know that he's ok and will be taking time to mend. phew)

    I went into this flick hopeful that it'd be an ok-ish clone of John Wick meets Falling Down (which is what the trailer made it look like). I ended up LOVING it. By all means it has a fair amount of Wick cookie cutterness, however its how they handle and reveal information around the main character Hutch Mansell that is an absolute treat. Dont read about it, just watch. Odenkirk is wonderful and i want to write up a bunch about key scenes and reveals for his character but to do so would lessen the experience. Its a silly silly nerd-dad-fantasy movie thats has a ton of fun with the premise and some creative and original action setpieces. Pop a bunch of popcorn, grab your favorite beverage, and check it out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bonus if you catch "Nobody" is Christopher Lloyd in his best, most fun movie role in ages! 😃👍

      Delete
  3. How cool is it that I’m a recent Pure Cinema Podcast episode they started by talking about an event with Tarantino, then follow that by talking about a trip to Patrick’s during Junesploitation. That’s wild! So cool!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HA i thought the same thing. PCP is pretty much my fav podcast these days and i love that Elric is buds with Patrick.

      Delete
  4. I'm not really in a hurry to watch Jungle Cruise so I watched The African Queen instead while visiting my dad the other day. First time watch for me, but I generally dig a lot of Bogart's movies so I figured I was in good hands here, and I was right.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good choice. Jungle Cruise is a waste of talent and money

      Delete
  5. Even with my focus on Olympic coverage this week, I still got around to many films.

    THE DEVIL INCARNATE / EL CAMINANTE (1979, dir. Paul Naschy) – Paul Naschy is the Devil in human form wandering around medieval Spain committing as many sins as he can: fornication, murder, theft, gluttony, etc. A passion project for him, the film is more of an inverted morality tale- there being no morality in human beings- than a horror film. Though The Devil Incarnate hits the same story beats, there is enough black humor in the situations to keep the film fresh.

    LEGACY OF BLOOD (1971) – The wealthy Dean family gathers together for a will reading at the family mansion. It is one of those situations in which everyone has to stay at the mansion for a certain period of time to get their inheritance, but a murderer is making sure that few of them last long. I was glad to see this with the company of Elvira (on one of the Movie Macabre DVDs) because Legacy of Blood is a complete slog. Even the twist did not interest me by the time it came.

    HEAT LIGHTNING (1934, dir. Mervyn Leroy) – One of the last films to escape the censorship of the Production Code, Heat Lightning is a breezy 64 minutes of amusing characters, seductions, and broken dreams set around a service station in the middle of the California desert. The lead actress, Aline MacMahon, is fun as the service station owner and chief mechanic. A minor Warner Brothers film but worth a watch.

    GIRL HAPPY (1965) – It’s Elvis Presley going down to Fort Lauderdale for spring break with his band to perform a gig. He is also keeping watch over the college daughter of an overprotective gangster. Silly, patronizing, and a little bawdy, Girl Happy is a colorful and entertaining flick in Elvis’ spotty Hollywood career. Shelley Fabares made any Elvis film more watchable, and the soundtrack is one of the catchiest I have heard in any of his films.

    MONA LISA (1986, dir. Neil Jordan) – Bob Hoskin’s terrific performance anchors this crime drama about an ex-con who drives a call girl around London. Michael Caine, Robbie Coltrane, and the lead actress Cathy Tyson all contribute notable performances as well. Mona Lisa is a very British film; subtitles would have been helpful in some scenes. Expect many surprises watching it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I watched Beau Travail (1999, dir. Claire Denis). I didn't really know what it was before watching, and luckily I was in the perfect mood for it. Beautiful cinematography and it could have almost been a silent movie from the amount of dialogue in it. It kind of flips back and forth between shots of locals (in East Africa) going about their days, and a troup of shirtless beautiful French Legion soldiers going about their days. I'm at a lose to describe what exactly made it so good, but I loved it.

    The 6th Day (2000). I had always heard this wasn't good, but I really liked it. Good futuristic sci-fi actioner. The best parts where when Arnold was acting with himself. He felt more "natural" that he does in a lot of his older movies.

    Luca (2021). Probably one of my favourites of the year. Rather than knock it out of the park, it's just a quiet movie about kids learning to be better friends.

    A friend recently told me "I don't watch that kid stuff anymore" (referring to animation) now that her kids are a little older. Whereas I'm watching more of it than my kids at this point. Still can't get into Anime though.

    ReplyDelete