Yet another small week of movies for me, but the weekend is looking good, stay tuned.
Anyway, I again watched a bunch of Stargate while doing a bit of overtime (gotta pay for those sweet 4k discs, and the pile keeps getting taller while I watch Stsrgate).
I did manage to finally order Creepshow 2 on 4k. I hesitated for a while because the reviews of the movie are not super good, but after reading Patrick's a couple of time, just to make sure I knew what I was getting into, I decided to take the jump. Also, I already own Creepshow 1 and Tales From the Darkside, I had to complete the collection. It's a fun enough movie. That's what's fun with anthologies, if one of the movies is not to your liking, chances are one of the others will be. And the super awesome Arrow release is full of extras, and a comic book based on an unproduced script. Fun times.
Also, I can't wait to ear everybody's review of Kill Bill The Whole Bloody Affair. I'm not a fan of the movies, but I know it's a popular one, and this edit has been requested forever
The Creepshow 2 segment The Raft is one of my all time favorite Stephen King adaptations. A simple simple concept that would suffer in long form but is perfect as an anthology short story. Dig it.
I know The Raft is a fan favorite, and it's very good in its simplicity, but my favorite was the first segment, because I just like seeing bullies getting their ass kicked. It's not perfect, strangely a bit long for a 15 minutes story, but I'll take an avenging spirit anytime
I can't wait to see Kill Bill: The Whole Thing. I never saw them when they first came out in theatres, but they're perhaps my favourite of Tarantino's work. It's playing in a ~70 seat theatre at the Cineplex. The indie theatre down the street is playing it also later in the month in 35mm. It's a smaller screen, but I just sit closer. My only issue is they have a team of people come in with the 35mm projector. I went to see Terminator 2 a few months ago, and while the projection was awesome, the sound was way way way too fucking loud. The person in charge of it must have been partially deaf.
It was the first thing my son said to me when the movie ended. And I talked a few weeks later with a work guy who had been to that screening as well, and it was the first thing he said. So, I'm cautious about going to a screening where they clearly can't avoid cracking the volume to uncomfortable levels.
I'm assuming it's the same people coming in with the 35mm showing. So I'm going to go to the Cineplex showing. Maybe I'll go to both, because the 35mm one is during Christmas holidays anyways.
About 20m into watching i was resigned to the fact that my experience would be similar to Tron: Legacy: 1) amazing updated visual look at the grid, 2) great synth soundtrack, 3) a nice peppering of nostalgia and callback, 4) relatively forgettable story/characters. And, in the end, i suppose thats all true. However i also found myself having fun with it for what it is. I think there's alot of great ideas....AI sentience, jumping in/out of our world and the grid, and representing the original Tron vs modern by different visitable operating systems. And to my surprise i thought Leto did a fine job (far more grounded performance than expected). Bridges cameo as Flynn+The Dude+Cyber Buddha was fun to see. Honestly i half expected him to say to leto "This Program Abides!". As one who considers the original film transformative personally and for cinema i guess i didnt think we'd ever get another one after Legacy and im glad we did. Worth watching for fans once streaming for free on D+.
(PS: also it bears noting that one major plot point involves synthetic humans wanting more life...a-la Blade Runner...which is relative ironic as Jared Leto stars in the blade runner sequel as the human overseeing the synths and in this Tron sequel as the synth looking for more time being human)
I felt like this film was made just for me. Everything about it just worked. It manages to tell a story that is both introspective and intimate while also exploring mankind's devastating impact on the natural world. It's tragic and beautiful, and right now it's my favorite movie is year.
I watched Geronimo: An American Legend (1993, Walter Hill). This movie is great! I was a little worried early on as it was a little slow and was leaning heavily into the "Noble Savage" trope (which it doesn't completely abandon), but then I was completely engrossed in it. Notably, there is some fantastic horse stunt work in this! Some were done by Jason Patric himself; he must have grown up with horses, because he's incredible.
I know it's not the most humane to have horses performing stunts where they crash out (not easy for the stunt riders either), especially considering a broken leg is basically a death sentence for them. But I admit I was excited and enthralled to see it done well. The sound design of all the horses was exceptionally well done as well, with the neighing, leather creaking, and hooves pounding the ground.
Every time I watch another Walter Hill movie, I'm reminded that he's probably one of my favourite directors. There's a lot more I want to say about this movie, but I'll leave it at that. I took a deep wiki dive into the history of of the Apache Wars, and I think the film portrayed it authentically, with some details changed for entertainment.
I can't believe I wrote so many words, and didn't mention Wes Studi, who is incredible in the movie. Steve Reevis who plays Chato I thought was very good too, playing an Apache who cooperates with the Americans, is conflicted by it, and you guessed it, ultimately betrayed by the Americans and sent to prison with all the other Apaches anyways.
Yet another small week of movies for me, but the weekend is looking good, stay tuned.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I again watched a bunch of Stargate while doing a bit of overtime (gotta pay for those sweet 4k discs, and the pile keeps getting taller while I watch Stsrgate).
I did manage to finally order Creepshow 2 on 4k. I hesitated for a while because the reviews of the movie are not super good, but after reading Patrick's a couple of time, just to make sure I knew what I was getting into, I decided to take the jump. Also, I already own Creepshow 1 and Tales From the Darkside, I had to complete the collection. It's a fun enough movie. That's what's fun with anthologies, if one of the movies is not to your liking, chances are one of the others will be. And the super awesome Arrow release is full of extras, and a comic book based on an unproduced script. Fun times.
Also, I can't wait to ear everybody's review of Kill Bill The Whole Bloody Affair. I'm not a fan of the movies, but I know it's a popular one, and this edit has been requested forever
DeleteThe Creepshow 2 segment The Raft is one of my all time favorite Stephen King adaptations. A simple simple concept that would suffer in long form but is perfect as an anthology short story. Dig it.
DeleteI know The Raft is a fan favorite, and it's very good in its simplicity, but my favorite was the first segment, because I just like seeing bullies getting their ass kicked. It's not perfect, strangely a bit long for a 15 minutes story, but I'll take an avenging spirit anytime
DeleteI can't wait to see Kill Bill: The Whole Thing. I never saw them when they first came out in theatres, but they're perhaps my favourite of Tarantino's work. It's playing in a ~70 seat theatre at the Cineplex. The indie theatre down the street is playing it also later in the month in 35mm. It's a smaller screen, but I just sit closer. My only issue is they have a team of people come in with the 35mm projector. I went to see Terminator 2 a few months ago, and while the projection was awesome, the sound was way way way too fucking loud. The person in charge of it must have been partially deaf.
DeleteIt was the first thing my son said to me when the movie ended. And I talked a few weeks later with a work guy who had been to that screening as well, and it was the first thing he said. So, I'm cautious about going to a screening where they clearly can't avoid cracking the volume to uncomfortable levels.
I'm assuming it's the same people coming in with the 35mm showing. So I'm going to go to the Cineplex showing. Maybe I'll go to both, because the 35mm one is during Christmas holidays anyways.
Tron: Ares (2025)
ReplyDeleteAbout 20m into watching i was resigned to the fact that my experience would be similar to Tron: Legacy: 1) amazing updated visual look at the grid, 2) great synth soundtrack, 3) a nice peppering of nostalgia and callback, 4) relatively forgettable story/characters. And, in the end, i suppose thats all true. However i also found myself having fun with it for what it is. I think there's alot of great ideas....AI sentience, jumping in/out of our world and the grid, and representing the original Tron vs modern by different visitable operating systems. And to my surprise i thought Leto did a fine job (far more grounded performance than expected). Bridges cameo as Flynn+The Dude+Cyber Buddha was fun to see. Honestly i half expected him to say to leto "This Program Abides!". As one who considers the original film transformative personally and for cinema i guess i didnt think we'd ever get another one after Legacy and im glad we did. Worth watching for fans once streaming for free on D+.
(PS: also it bears noting that one major plot point involves synthetic humans wanting more life...a-la Blade Runner...which is relative ironic as Jared Leto stars in the blade runner sequel as the human overseeing the synths and in this Tron sequel as the synth looking for more time being human)
DeleteTrain Dreams (2025)
ReplyDeleteI felt like this film was made just for me. Everything about it just worked. It manages to tell a story that is both introspective and intimate while also exploring mankind's devastating impact on the natural world. It's tragic and beautiful, and right now it's my favorite movie is year.
Briefly looking at the description, this looks like it was made for both of us. Thanks for the recommendation!
DeleteI heard good things about this movie. And the director made another well received movie in 2023, so i'll try to give it a viewing at some point
DeleteI watched Geronimo: An American Legend (1993, Walter Hill). This movie is great! I was a little worried early on as it was a little slow and was leaning heavily into the "Noble Savage" trope (which it doesn't completely abandon), but then I was completely engrossed in it. Notably, there is some fantastic horse stunt work in this! Some were done by Jason Patric himself; he must have grown up with horses, because he's incredible.
ReplyDeleteI know it's not the most humane to have horses performing stunts where they crash out (not easy for the stunt riders either), especially considering a broken leg is basically a death sentence for them. But I admit I was excited and enthralled to see it done well. The sound design of all the horses was exceptionally well done as well, with the neighing, leather creaking, and hooves pounding the ground.
Every time I watch another Walter Hill movie, I'm reminded that he's probably one of my favourite directors. There's a lot more I want to say about this movie, but I'll leave it at that. I took a deep wiki dive into the history of of the Apache Wars, and I think the film portrayed it authentically, with some details changed for entertainment.
I can't believe I wrote so many words, and didn't mention Wes Studi, who is incredible in the movie. Steve Reevis who plays Chato I thought was very good too, playing an Apache who cooperates with the Americans, is conflicted by it, and you guessed it, ultimately betrayed by the Americans and sent to prison with all the other Apaches anyways.
Delete