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Post by Jay on May 10, 2022 12:13:11 GMT -8
I hear they get to be quite adept with their feet! But yeah, that plus the award butt plug thing I was like "okay this is a queer movie, good for them"
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Post by ThirdMan on May 10, 2022 16:16:42 GMT -8
Michelle Yeoh In The Multiverse of Queerness.
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Post by Jeremy on May 10, 2022 17:07:51 GMT -8
The 2001: A Space Odyssey riff that explained the sausage-fingers generated mass laughs in my theater. That entire universe really encapsulates how the film manages to mine the most sympathetic feelings from the most bizarre contexts without feeling forced. It does leave a lot of questions lingering (how did anyone build that house, or that furniture, or that world, without workable digits?), but the logic of the alternate universes isn't worth thinking too deeply about, especially when the film gives us so much else to chew on.
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Post by ThirdMan on May 10, 2022 20:39:23 GMT -8
Did the 2001 riff actually explain the sausage-fingers? Heh, I didn't catch that. I thought it was just like, "This is this universe's version of the Stanley Kubrick film." Well, that's another thing to pay closer attention to on a third viewing.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on May 12, 2022 11:18:47 GMT -8
After my union stopped striking but before I started grading finals, I managed to get out and see Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, being drawn in by the initial promise of "Short Round plays the love interest!" (I had no idea JLC was in there until she showed up but props to her for doing slow-moving and menacing given her career). I pick up some of the notes that other people mention, but I also found myself reminded of Survive Style 5+ and other bits of surreal Japanese fare because that's usually my reference point for "martial arts + surrealism / alternate reality." The pacing was good after the introductory arc, although I admit to having nerves about "oh, an Asian family runs a laundromat, is this going to be cliched?," and thankfully it did that primarily to run in a very different direction and amplify the weirdness by juxtaposition. Once I settled in, there were a lot of instances where I was laughing ahead of time with anticipation over what was about to happen next. My reservation about it, and this veers into SPOILERS, but much as I would recommend it to others including family because I enjoyed the layer of "millennials have finally created films where parents apologize!," I find myself totally unable to explain the hot dog fingers. I can handle the cheeks spread dive and use the award trophy as a butt plug. It's the hot dog fingers that I find myself struggling to account for.Re: your spoiler, Jay, have you ever read Javier Grillo-Marxuach's essay on how TV got good, with a large part of his explanation being that every prestige TV show is Kramer vs Kramer? |
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Post by ThirdMan on May 12, 2022 22:31:03 GMT -8
Quiara - I noticed people being insulting towards you in the Comments section of some of your crosswords (or at least the one where you did a guest-spot). Bloody hell, people are toxic. If someone can't figure out most of a puzzle because they're not well-versed in this or that subject, they should just move along. Personally attacking someone over something like that is insane.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on May 22, 2022 8:48:19 GMT -8
Quiara - I noticed people being insulting towards you in the Comments section of some of your crosswords (or at least the one where you did a guest-spot). Bloody hell, people are toxic. If someone can't figure out most of a puzzle because they're not well-versed in this or that subject, they should just move along. Personally attacking someone over something like that is insane. Thank you JC; I guess I don't care that much because if someone has SUCH vitriol over a game, that says more about them than it does about you.
(For the record, I do *not* approve of putting a cat in a microwave. Delicious, delicious cat.)
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Post by Incandescence 112 on May 23, 2022 17:11:19 GMT -8
Probably not much of a hot take, but Everything Everywhere all at Once is f*cking fantastic, and probably the first new film I'd give 5 stars in many years. It's extremely fun, is a terrific action movie, and has some really well threaded subtext that's not too on the nose. Creative, fun, and exhilarating. Interesting that it came out around the same time as Undone, too. Michelle Yeoh's performance was also really excellent--I need to watch her in more quality films; she deserves a lot better than Star Trek: Discovery.
I also saw on a whim Coppola's The Conversation (which came out the same year as The Godfather Part II, what a busy man), which feels like it was written for its time, but was really written in the mid-60s with no connection to Watergate, per Coppola. Regardless, it's a slow-burn that still manages to be gripping, haunting, and prescient. The paranoia that anyone might be watching you at anytime will certainly not fade in the years to come, I think. And Hackman giving one of his best performances doesn't hurt either.
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Post by Jeremy on May 23, 2022 18:40:52 GMT -8
Probably not much of a hot take, but Everything Everywhere all at Once is f*cking fantastic, and probably the first new film I'd give 5 stars in many years. It's extremely fun, is a terrific action movie, and has some really well threaded subtext that's not too on the nose. Creative, fun, and exhilarating. Interesting that it came out around the same time as Undone, too. Michelle Yeoh's performance was also really excellent--I need to watch her in more quality films; she deserves a lot better than Star Trek: Discovery. My cynical shell has chipped away in recent weeks by the fact that Everything Everywhere All at Once has, against all early expectations, become a word-of-mouth sleeper hit. It has steadily chugged along for two months, earning over $60 million despite its low budget, lack of major stars or franchise connections, and limited marketing. It's even generating some early Oscar buzz. Just an amazing success story for an amazing film. Michelle Yeoh still does strong and consistent work as both actress and fighter - in addition to this and Shang-Chi, she was in a couple of pretty good and unfairly overlooked action films last year, Gunpowder Milkshake and Boss Level. (Though her appearance in the latter film is sadly quite brief.) |
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Post by Jeremy on May 27, 2022 14:40:59 GMT -8
Some recent releases (to streaming anyway, as I haven't been to the theater in a few weeks):
The Lost City - Modern riff on Romancing the Stone that coasts by on high star wattage. Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum make a good adventure/comedy duo, and Daniel Radcliffe is highly entertaining as the villain in one of his few major studio performances in recent years. But the film's batting average is rather spotty, with a lot of clunky jokes (particularly in the second half) and a tired subplot with Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Oscar from The Office. The production also looks pretty cheap, though still less dreary than Jungle Cruise.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - I've defended the first Sonic film as a light and charming escapade that's better and funnier than it needs to be. Sadly, the same cannot be said for this sequel - an overlong (quite literally over two hours), scattershot adventure story centered around a forgettable McGuffin plot and a whole lot of pointless padding. (One subplot, about the wedding of a minor character from the first film, seems like it just wandered in from another movie.) The CG effects (for Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles) are fine but nothing special; ditto the action scenes, when they show up. Jim Carrey - finally allowed to go full Robotnik - gets some good laughs, but hardly enough to sustain the whole film.
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers - I may write more about this on the main site, but for now I'll say that I found this to be an entertaining variation on Roger Rabbit with some surprisingly candid commentary on the state of Hollywood remakes and reboots. Might break the record for the most pop-culture references in a single film; no idea how many phone calls it took to license all those cameos.
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Post by ThirdMan on May 27, 2022 15:10:06 GMT -8
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers - I may write more about this on the main site, but for now I'll say that I found this to be an entertaining variation on Roger Rabbit with some surprisingly candid commentary on the state of Hollywood remakes and reboots. Might break the record for the most pop-culture references in a single film; no idea how many phone calls it took to license all those cameos. If the film doesn't have a scene where someone's drinking Coo-coo Cola, then it's a failure on all levels. (That jingle still randomly pops into my head from time-to-time.)  Anyways, saw the critically-acclaimed Top Gun: Maverick yesterday. As I noted on Twitter, the aerial fighter-jet sequences are impressively visualized, and may be enough to warrant a trip to the biggest screen in your city, if you're into that kind of thing. But beyond that, the film's really bland and formulaic on a character/story level. None of the characters are anything other than standard archetypes, and the antagonist isn't defined whatsoever (likely to avoid any social/geopolitical backlash), so nothing has any depth, intrigue or resonance. And it must be said: Tom Cruise never feels like he's genuinely interacting with any of his co-stars in these movies, perhaps beyond a few brief moments of comic-relief. Like, they say their lines, but he never seems to be present and actually engaged and listening (he's just sitting there being Tom Cruise). This is particularly noticeable in "romantic" scenes with Jennifer Connelly (Meg Ryan has unfortunately aged-out of getting these types of roles), which feel like limp, half-hearted attempts to hit those four quadrants. |
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Post by Jeremy on May 27, 2022 15:46:32 GMT -8
If the film doesn't have a scene where someone's drinking Coo-coo Cola, then it's a failure on all levels. (That jingle still randomly pops into my head from time-to-time.) Hah, I thought Jay would be the one to make a Coo-Coo Cola joke. Well done, sir. I'll probably catch Top Gun: Maverick on the big screen next week. The original film may be cliche-ridden '80s shlock, and it's true that Tom Cruise always feels a cut above his costars in these movies (perhaps a byproduct of being one of the last bona fide movie stars who can still open a film on pure name ID). But the film looks like a grand spectacle in a way few non-superhero movies have been lately, so as long as it features some cool flying sequences and the appropriate amount of pro-US military propaganda, it should be fine. |
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Post by ThirdMan on May 27, 2022 16:05:58 GMT -8
The actual scale of TGM's plot is pretty small, to be honest. But part of that's down to the ill-defined antagonists, which diminishes any geographical context the film could have. The film's climax is a pretty linear, one-dimensional scenario.
I don't think I've ever seen the original Top Gun in its entirety, BTW. But I'm sure that the visual craft of this film is vastly superior to that one, if only because technology has come a very long way.
And I wasn't suggesting that Cruise was necessarily above his co-stars on account of perceived star-status, but rather that he simply feels like he's going-through-the-motions in these sorts of roles (the same could be said for the M:I films, even though they're generally enjoyable), and isn't fully engaged on anything but a superficial physical (he runs a lot) level.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on May 27, 2022 21:39:38 GMT -8
If the film doesn't have a scene where someone's drinking Coo-coo Cola, then it's a failure on all levels. (That jingle still randomly pops into my head from time-to-time.) Hah, I thought Jay would be the one to make a Coo-Coo Cola joke. Well done, sir. I'll probably catch Top Gun: Maverick on the big screen next week. The original film may be cliche-ridden '80s shlock, and it's true that Tom Cruise always feels a cut above his costars in these movies (perhaps a byproduct of being one of the last bona fide movie stars who can still open a film on pure name ID). But the film looks like a grand spectacle in a way few non-superhero movies have been lately, so as long as it features some cool flying sequences and the appropriate amount of pro-US military propaganda, it should be fine. That, and having shallow characters isn't necessarily a death knell for action films. For me, if they're enjoyable to watch between the action scenes, and said action scenes are good, it can be considered a success, I think. Should be an interesting watch. I didn't expect a Top Gun sequel to actually get made, let alone actually get acclaim from critics. |
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Post by Incandescence 112 on May 27, 2022 21:41:10 GMT -8
Probably not much of a hot take, but Everything Everywhere all at Once is f*cking fantastic, and probably the first new film I'd give 5 stars in many years. It's extremely fun, is a terrific action movie, and has some really well threaded subtext that's not too on the nose. Creative, fun, and exhilarating. Interesting that it came out around the same time as Undone, too. Michelle Yeoh's performance was also really excellent--I need to watch her in more quality films; she deserves a lot better than Star Trek: Discovery. My cynical shell has chipped away in recent weeks by the fact that Everything Everywhere All at Once has, against all early expectations, become a word-of-mouth sleeper hit. It has steadily chugged along for two months, earning over $60 million despite its low budget, lack of major stars or franchise connections, and limited marketing. It's even generating some early Oscar buzz. Just an amazing success story for an amazing film. Michelle Yeoh still does strong and consistent work as both actress and fighter - in addition to this and Shang-Chi, she was in a couple of pretty good and unfairly overlooked action films last year, Gunpowder Milkshake and Boss Level. (Though her appearance in the latter film is sadly quite brief.) It feels nice when everyone comes together to recognize a piece of high quality entertainment for what it is. There is, in fact, a desire for good movies, and audiences recognize quality when they see it. It was nice seeing it happen with Parasite too back in 2019. |
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