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Post by ThirdMan on Mar 23, 2019 21:08:20 GMT -8
Us is another well-acted, artful thriller from writer-director Jordan Peele. It's probably more open to interpretation, thematically and symbolically, than his previous film Get Out, which may compel some viewers to suggest it's more unfocused, but I'd say that's simply a byproduct of it working on a broader canvas. Though I wish less of the film was shot in darkness (because the daytime cinematography is particularly striking, and I wanted more of it) Peele's a clever, intelligent filmmaker who's particularly good at mining suspenseful situations for laughs without sacrificing dramatic tension. Lately he's been compared by critics to director John Carpenter, which may be viable in terms of how both filmmakers generate offbeat moods in the horror/suspense genre, but Peele isn't nearly as likely to slip into full-blown camp, even in his films' most darkly comedic moments, as the aforementioned filmmaker.
Shazam is a lighthearted, (mostly) family-friendly superhero film that hardly reinvents the wheel, but mostly gets by on personality and self-deprecating humour. The visual craft and effects are adequate at best, and Mark Strong's villain is very standard in nature (not much different from his role in Kick-Ass), but those tiring of dark, ponderous superhero movies may find some degree of respite here. Jeremy will probably like it well enough, at any rate. There were other films I was more interested in seeing today, but the novelty of checking it out two weeks before its official release date proved rather enticing. I expect the overall reviews to lean positive, and for it to be a modest box-office success.
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Post by Zarnium on Mar 23, 2019 21:28:33 GMT -8
Us was really good; the backstory... doesn't really make much sense, but that doesn't matter when the horror and "what the heck is going on?" factor is this well done. It's just such a bizarre, disturbing scenario, portrayed by actors who really know how to act inhumanly creepy. The thematic symbolism is pretty well done, too.
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Post by Jeremy on Mar 24, 2019 5:30:01 GMT -8
Why do theaters always schedule early screenings for Saturday afternoons/early evenings? Don't they know I can't watch Shazam! at those times? Get a clue, Hollywood.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Mar 25, 2019 16:26:14 GMT -8
Shout-out to the internet for not immediately spoiling Us for me like it did with Get Out.
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Post by ThirdMan on Mar 25, 2019 19:33:29 GMT -8
Get Out had a more pared-down premise, which made it easier to spoil, I would say. I don't think you'll find that the plot machinations of Us are necessarily its primary appeal, or that any twists are particularly difficult to predict.
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 4, 2019 20:17:47 GMT -8
Saw The Favourite yesterday. A pretty nasty piece of work. Jeremy would love it. I still don't know if this was meant to be sarcastic or serious. Anyway, The Favourite is... fine. The three actresses are really good. The sets and costumes look great. The story isn't very interesting or involving and features a number of tasteless (though thankfully brief) scenes, but I got a few laughs. Like several of the year's Best Pic nominees, I don't expect it to linger in my mind for very long.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Apr 5, 2019 9:58:35 GMT -8
No one here saw A Star is Born? Well, okay.
It was pretty okay! Lady Gaga can sing and act - whodathunkit - Bradley Cooper can sing and act - non-feigned shock - Andrew Dice Clay can NOT be a shitbag for three-minute intervals - REALLY BIG SHOCK!
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Post by ThirdMan on Apr 5, 2019 19:42:55 GMT -8
I saw ASIB back in October. Liked the first half more than the second half (I wish they'd given more attention to Gaga's character's feelings about the manufactured pop music she was making, rather than favouring Cooper's character's ), but it's light years better than Bohemian Rhapsody. I mean, heck, Dave Chapelle plays, like, the sixth or seventh most important character in the film, and yet his character is still rendered with more dimension than any of the supporting members of Queen in BR. Cooper's direction is solid, it's well-acted, grittier than expected in the early going, and, yeah, Shallow's chorus certainly has some vocal power (the bridge still sounds like filler to me, though, which works better in the context of the film -- the song being a work-in-progress -- than on the radio).
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 14, 2019 19:10:00 GMT -8
Missing Link is Laika's most overtly comedic film so far, and I daresay it's their best work since ParaNorman. (Presumably, this is not a popular opinion.) The film is light, upbeat, and often quite funny, an interesting change of pace from the studio's usual dark and disturbing output. Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana, and Zack Galifianakis all give wonderful vocal performances, and they all play off one another quite well.
The film's biggest downside is that a lot of the best jokes were spoiled in the trailer - a common problem with modern animated films. Still, I got enough laughs (particularly at every mention of "Susan") to make it worth the watch.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Apr 14, 2019 19:14:41 GMT -8
Missing Link is Laika's most overtly comedic film so far, and I daresay it's their best work since ParaNorman. I don't think this is an unpopular opinion, unless you know a lot of people who stan for The Boxtrolls.
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 14, 2019 19:30:55 GMT -8
No, I think Boxtrolls is pretty widely regarded as Laika's worst film. I was referring to Kubo and the Two Strings, which some folks absolutely adore. (I thought it looked great, but the story and characterizations felt pretty thin.)
My personal ranking would be: Coraline > ParaNorman > Missing Link > Kubo > Boxtrolls.
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Post by Jeremy on May 26, 2019 5:31:23 GMT -8
The new Aladdin isn't the worst of Disney's live-action remakes - if nothing else, the special-effects can be pretty entertaining - but it's still another pointless retread of a beloved cartoon classic. As with Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, entire scenes are lifted directly out of the original film, without the charm or liveliness that made them so much fun the first time around.
Will Smith has fun as the Genie, and gets some good laughs, but there's no way for his character to feel as vibrant as Robin Williams' original. (I could maybe forgive some of the shortcomings if the character went whole hog and made modern pop-cultural references left and right, but there's not a single celebrity impression in the entire film.) The actors playing Aladdin and Jasmine do decent work with what they're given. The actor playing Jafar is awful, and nearly torpedoes the entire film.
One modest change from the original is Jasmine, who is given a more stridently feminist arc this time around, which is about as subtle as the one in Captain Marvel. It culminates in the film's only original song, a forgettable number that's obviously designed to get attention come Oscar time. All the animated film's songs are here as well, and most are serviceable enough, although only "Prince Ali" stands as a visual highlight.
Oh, and there's a romantic subplot between the Genie and a woman played by SNL's Nasim Pedrad. It leads to a very funny moment at the end of the film, although I'm not sure the humor was intentional.
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Post by Jeremy on May 30, 2019 17:31:22 GMT -8
Detective Pikachu is no more, no less, than the sum of its parts. It's an adequate film worth watching exactly once, its chief highlight being the little Pokemon Easter eggs scattered throughout. (I got a particular kick out of seeing various Pokemon using their powers for everyday labor.)
The setting and plot borrow elements from Zootopia and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, two significantly better films that nonetheless don't have any characters getting attacked by rabid Aipoms, so PDP has that going for it. It also has Ryan Reynolds, who gets all the film's best lines and delivers them with Deadpool-esque flair.
The cast is fine, though Chris Geere from You're the Worst is wasted, and the film contains at least one inventive action scene featuring a bunch of Torterra (a Pokemon introduced after I stopped paying attention to the franchise). It also has a very dumb final twist, which I won't give away here, except to say that someone at the studio really wanted to make a sweet and happy, Disney-style ending and really dropped the Poke ball.
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Post by Zarnium on Jun 8, 2019 20:56:46 GMT -8
I really liked the live-action Aladdin, actually. My dad wanted to see it for Father's Day, and I thought it was just going to be a lifeless imitation like the live-action Beauty and the Beast, but I was pleasantly surprised. The scenery and costumes are all colorful and eye-catching, the action and musical scenes are well done, and I thought most of the actors did a pretty good job, though Jafar admittedly wasn't great. Jasmine has a meatier role, and Will Smith's Genie just tries to be Will Smith instead of trying and failing to copycat Robin Williams. All in all, a solid film.
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Post by Jeremy on Jun 10, 2019 18:44:30 GMT -8
See, when Will Smith is allowed to do Will Smith-esque comedy (like the scene where he tries to be Aladdin's "wingman" while getting him to talk with Jasmine) he's very funny. But whenever the film tries to saddle him into the whimsical goofball comedy of Robin Williams (as with his early scenes in the Cave of Wonders), it comes off as forced.
In some ways, the film seems to work better when it distances itself from the original. But of course, too much distance would risk losing the nostalgic appeal, which the Disney remakes can't afford to do.
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