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Post by Jeremy on Feb 3, 2023 13:21:51 GMT -8
The funny thing is that M3GAN (which is still fairly silly and comedic compared to many other mainstream horror films) was originally produced with the intent of getting an R rating, but Blumhouse made a late-game decision to edit out some of the gore and keep it PG-13. The studio is no stranger to formula, even in their more violent films, but I do wonder how much the rating change impacted just how far the film could go in exploring its premise.
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Post by guttersnipe on Feb 8, 2023 6:15:01 GMT -8
Yep, you got me. Most of my experiences with Chinese film have been from the 21st century. I'm generally not a fan of their historical cinema, in part because of the uninvolving wuxia action and in part because the writing usually feels bland and staid - often, as you point out, for propagandistic reasons. (The widely praised Crouching Tiger, one of the few such films I've watched in its entirety, was... fine, but nothing that really clicked with me.) My greater point of contention with Chinese cinema is actually its animated output - insipid junk like Wish Dragon (which is like Aladdin, except the genie is a dragon and... that's about it) and Duck Duck Goose (don't get me started) that are each designed simply to fill a rectangular square of real estate on Netflix. And of course, couple that with China's continued influence over American cinema - encouraging studios to go as big and broad as possible - though happily, that influence now appears to be waning. In any event, I have heard buzz about a few acclaimed Chinese films from the modern era (Zhang Yimou's work in particular keeps popping up in my feed), so I'm sure I'll give some of them a look eventually. Just haven't been at all impressed by the (admittedly small) sample size I've checked out. Incidentally, Snipe, I watched Addams Family Values this week (seeking out some better representation of the source material after finishing the mediocre Wednesday) and Iaughed quite hard when I arrived at the moment from which you clipped your avatar. Part of the reason for the herd banality of a lot of modern Chinese mainstream stuff was borne in the fears of governmental clampdowns that held back the careers of some of the Fifth Generation filmmakers, usually just for claiming that maybe the Great Leap Forward wasn't always so great, and sometimes only overseas festival success could be relied upon to avoid being blacklisted (two of the best films of the '90s are To Live and The Blue Kite; the former was (justly) celebrated by a number of foreign platforms and thus didn't hold Zhang back; the latter didn't make so much of an impression and thus got Tian banned from directing for a decade). This stigma, coupled with the McDonaldsisation of their mainstream output has spooked most of the subsequent Sixth Generation into marginalia. It's an unfortunate scenario, because I've long maintained that if it's interesting enough, I'll watch pretty much anything from anywhere and anywhere, but it has got to a stage where the circumstances in which modern Chinese and Indian films are made already predispose certain outcomes, which isn't fun for an empiricist. However, it is definitely worth mentioning that this conformity doesn't impinge on the cinema of Hong Kong and Taiwan, which have long been able to enjoy greater freedoms of form and expression than their big fish counterpart; the HK film Seeding of a Ghost contains so much gore and nudity that it basically reads as a statement about how far the envelope could be pushed if its neighbour's restrictions were cast to the wind, and there's an enigmatic quality to a lot of Taiwanese film in terms of atmosphere, quietness and mise-en-scene that it practically becomes its own subgenre. If you still have a MUBI account there's a splendid documentary about it that's well-worth using as a springboard. And yes, Addams Family Values is a beast. That Thanksgiving scene was honestly quite formative in my later understanding of decolonisation
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Feb 9, 2023 1:03:40 GMT -8
Anyone seen Missing? I had a lot of cynicism about the premise - is this the new face of low-budget Blair Witchy horror where the gimmick is there to elide the need for cinematography? - which proved unfounded, but not too much so. It really is better as a thriller than it has any right to be. It's sort of sad that this is the kind of film Joaquim de Almeida gets stuck doing, though. (Maybe better than Atlas Shrugged: Part Two!)
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Post by Jeremy on Feb 9, 2023 7:49:29 GMT -8
However, it is definitely worth mentioning that this conformity doesn't impinge on the cinema of Hong Kong and Taiwan, which have long been able to enjoy greater freedoms of form and expression than their big fish counterpart; the HK film Seeding of a Ghost contains so much gore and nudity that it basically reads as a statement about how far the envelope could be pushed if its neighbour's restrictions were cast to the wind, and there's an enigmatic quality to a lot of Taiwanese film in terms of atmosphere, quietness and mise-en-scene that it practically becomes its own subgenre. If you still have a MUBI account there's a splendid documentary about it that's well-worth using as a springboard. Yes, I've noticed that Hong Kong can be a bit more button-pushy (even something like In the Mood For Love, which is relatively clean in visual content, still deals with subjects that might have difficulty getting past Chinese censors). There are certainly some other Hong Kong and Taiwanese dramas I'm looking to check out - Yi Yi, for example, has been on my radar for a while - though some are less readily available than others. (Don't have my MUBI subscription anymore, nor a Criterion account, but I'll probably make use of them both eventually.) To tell the truth, I'm in something of a decompression period at the moment - I watched so many acclaimed and artful films in 2022 that I've decided to (mostly) take a breather during the early months of 2023, and focus on checking out some of the more standard and mainstream films on my watchlist. (Partly why I haven't updated my own movie-watching thread in a while.) But I'm sure I'll get back to more enigmatic cinema eventually. I liked the film, and it definitely had some good laughs, but I'd like to note two things about that scene: - It gave me flashbacks to '90s children's cinema, when Home Alone inspired a whole slew of "when kids attack" films. I kind of hated those movies when I was young (and still do today, to some extent). - The decolonization commentary is amusing, but given that I'd recently watched the hilarious Reservation Dogs episode satirizing the subject, it felt anticlimactic by comparison. But otherwise funny stuff; very sad that Raul Julia died shortly after completing the film.
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Post by guttersnipe on Feb 11, 2023 14:55:08 GMT -8
To tell the truth, I'm in something of a decompression period at the moment - I watched so many acclaimed and artful films in 2022 that I've decided to (mostly) take a breather during the early months of 2023, and focus on checking out some of the more standard and mainstream films on my watchlist. (Partly why I haven't updated my own movie-watching thread in a while.) But I'm sure I'll get back to more enigmatic cinema eventually. That's fair; I think levity and variety are important with any type of art (I don't actively avoid non-horrors during October Challenges because even with the fluctuations of tone and topic in one genre, you don't want a kind of rot to set in). I actually watched a vintage episode of Futurama this morning mainly because I wanted something funny and light to counterpoint some of the dramas and documentaries I've been watching lately (I can't do an actual Nixon impression, but I can certainly quote Billy West's Nixon. Arroooo!).
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Feb 12, 2023 22:08:48 GMT -8
Had a double feature of Cabin in the Woods Knock at the Cabin and Infinity Pool, and I was surprised to report that I preferred the Shyamalan outing to Cronenberg the Younger's. I don't know, Infinity Pool felt like it was aiming for two genres of movie that I think are pretty low bars creatively - the "man, rich people suck!" work of "social commentary" on the one hand (think White Lotus), and the "elevated snuff film" meant to elicit a "man, that's messed up!" or twelve (think Human Centipede). There's a couple decent images, but I spent most of the film thinking, "oh, that's cute, you saw Enter the Void too?"
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Post by ThirdMan on Feb 13, 2023 1:10:46 GMT -8
Speaking of Knock at the Cabin, Metacritic ranked all of Shyamalan's films from worst to best (by Metascore), and I came to realize that, holy crap, his career hasn't just been mixed, in terms of overall critical reception, but has in fact been genuinely awful. I mean, the new film has the second-highest score of his entire ouevre (slightly behind The Sixth Sense) at 63, and most of the rest are in the yelllow (mixed), if not the red (very negative).
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Quiara
Grade School
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Post by Quiara on Feb 13, 2023 17:18:07 GMT -8
Speaking of Knock at the Cabin, Metacritic ranked all of Shyamalan's films from worst to best (by Metascore), and I came to realize that, holy crap, his career hasn't just been mixed, in terms of overall critical reception, but has in fact been genuinely awful. I mean, the new film has the second-highest score of his entire ouevre (slightly behind The Sixth Sense) at 63, and most of the rest are in the yelllow (mixed), if not the red (very negative). Well... um... yes. The recent critical "Shyamalaissance" that started when Split came out was, I thought, largely people being contrarian about a widely hated but "unproblematic" (in the #MeToo sense) cultural figure, in the same way people pretend to like Guy Fieri now.
And this is coming from someone who actually liked Old!
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Post by Jeremy on Feb 13, 2023 17:40:47 GMT -8
As I recall, the Shyamalan rebound started with The Visit (which some people hate for its all-too-cinematic take on the "found footage" genre, but which got positive reviews when it premiered - and has one of the most memorable of all the Shyamalan endings). Split was also well-liked for McAvoy's performance (and it premiered months before #MeToo was a thing), though he apparently wrote the original script back in the early 2000s, back when he was drawing genuine praise and getting crowned "the next Spielberg" by Newsweek.
In general, his work is a cautionary tale on the dangers of creatively peaking too early in one's career, as well as the pitfalls of trying to build a directorial career around a regular gimmick (i.e. the Big Twist). But even his less successful films can be entertaining thanks to their high camp factor.
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Post by ThirdMan on Mar 25, 2023 18:28:11 GMT -8
I've been considering doing a back-to-back of John Wick 4 and Scream IV at the theater (with my Cineplex gift cards from Christmas), but eh, I'll wait for the Blu-rays, as I don't want to spend nearly fifteen dollars on each of them, and I usually work on Tuesdays, the only night tickets are discounted. Gotta stretch those gift cards.
I watched Bones and All last night. It's well-acted and directed, but definitely pretty gross. Over-the-top vampire bloodletting in films and TV is one thing, but cannibalism is a fair amount more graphic. The arc of the story is pretty inevitable, as well. Man, Timothy Chalamet is one scrawny little guy: he's probably got, like, 2% body fat.
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Post by Jeremy on Mar 30, 2023 19:12:41 GMT -8
Roundup time, March 2023 edition! I got three films, ranked worst to best. (I will avoid specific spoilers but touch upon some nagging plot points.)
Knock at the Cabin - This film doesn't entirely work, for the straightforward reason that it is a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster and thus beholden to certain rules that a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster must follow. Whereas the original book features a dark and ambiguous ending, the movie opts for a safer route so as not to turn off discerning viewers. It even eschews the usual patented Shyamalan twist in favor of a fairly benign and underwhelming third-act "reveal." And even before we get to that point, there unfortunately isn't much else of substance to chew on. Still, it's watchable enough, thanks in no small part to the actors - Dave Bautista is excellent, and may well be the best WWE star to make the leap to the screen. Rupert Grint is also very good (if underused), and it's sad that his career has been so limited by Ron Weasley typecasting. Anyway, this is probably above-average by M. Night standards, but it's also less unintentionally funny than his weaker films, so make of that what you will.
Scream VI - The fact that this is the bloodiest and most violent film (so far) in the Scream saga could easily smack of franchise desperation, but a half-dozen movies in, the series is still able to surprise and scare pretty well. Neve Campbell's absence is felt at first, but the new young cast (carrying over from the fifth film) does just fine in a Next Generation manner. Notable that for a series that is often so cavalier about killing off main characters, this one seems more reluctant - lots of "X is dead! Psych!" fakeouts that got old after a while - a sign that the series is indeed showing its age. But this was a fun one to watch in a packed theater on opening weekend, particularly when some idiot teenagers made too much noise and some tough guy threatened to beat them all up (albeit with more colorful language). That added some flair to the cinematic experience.
Creed III - Michael B. Jordan steps behind the camera for the first time, and the results are... mostly pretty good? He gets a little showy in spots (notably a climactic boxing match which takes a bizarre visual turn that briefly took me out of the story), but generally manages to be a force on both sides of the camera. And the story works as well, pushing Adonis' character further into the realm of adulthood and responsibility, now free from Rocky's shadow and trying to build his own legacy, while fighting all the demons that come with it. Jonathan Majors is quite solid as well (unclear how his career shakes out given recent and currently developing events, but he's definitely had a moment lately), and the rapport between him and Jordan effectively carries the story. Possible nitpick: There's a reveal midway through the film that requires the audience to recognize a character who (very briefly) appeared onscreen some thirty minutes earlier, and it went over my head. Just a bit of poor film-to-audience communication that should have been fixed in post. Otherwise, this remains another good addition to an above-average franchise.
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Post by ThirdMan on Mar 31, 2023 3:21:51 GMT -8
In his early (WWE co-produced) films, Dave Bautista was embarrassed of his acting, so he really put in the time to get better, and he's done some really solid and varied work over the past few years, and worked with a lot of talented filmmakers (he's clearly got a good manager). W/r/t The Rock, he tried to have a more serious dramatic acting career in the early 2000s (he really lost a lot of size and muscle), but soon realized that he was only going to be genuinely well-received in big action and/or comedy roles. Obviously he's been hugely successful overall (commercially), but his range is naturally going to be limited in such roles. Cena seems to be following the Rock model, but he has a bit more humility, and willingness to make himself look foolish for a laugh, so he's probably got a bit more range than Dwayne as well.
W/r/t Creed III, I've got a hold on the Blu-Ray from my public library, but I didn't actually see the second one, which got very mixed reviews. Was #2 any good, or can I skip it and still follow the third one well enough?
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Post by Jeremy on Mar 31, 2023 14:38:36 GMT -8
I think The Rock is at the point where if he does anything other than "funny big guy in broad campy movie," it looks out of place, since that image has become so inherently tied with his onscreen persona. (That's partly why him taking a darker and more serious character in Black Adam - despite it being the type of big dumb action film he's known for - doesn't really work.)
As for Creed II, I liked it quite a bit - haven't seen it since it was in theaters*, but it was a well-made film that transitioned the series away from its Rocky focus (he's kind of a costar in the first Creed) to a story that focuses more exclusively on Adonis. It's not required viewing to understand Creed III (apart from one character introduced in II who plays a semi-important role in III), but still worth a watch.
*I took my mom to see the movie in 2018, and she mentioned afterwards that hearing the Rocky victory theme play in the film's opening gave her chills, as it transported her back to the time she saw the original film in theaters all those years ago. The power of a memorable score.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Apr 11, 2023 14:12:05 GMT -8
I will report back shortly with an opinion on Renfield, but I just want to say that Cocaine Bear was genuinely quite fun (and weirdly dedicated to reminding people of The Americans) !
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 11, 2023 14:50:31 GMT -8
I had a great time with Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. It's a very funny and inventive action-adventure from the directing team behind Game Night (including John Francis Daley, in a wistful Freaks and Geeks tie-in) with an entertaining cast led by a vanity-free Chris Pine. There are some genuinely creative action setpieces here, achieved with a refreshing level of practical effects (Marvel has pretty much tapped me out on CGI) and clever camerawork.
It's an inherently silly film, but knows not to take itself too seriously, and manages to goof on the source material without disrespecting fantasy nerds. It does go on a bit long - the script may have benefited from about 15-20 minutes shaved off the runtime - but the audience at my theater laughed pretty loudly at various points, and I enjoyed the ride along with them.
I will probably watch Cocaine Bear later this week. From what I've read, incidentally, the casting of multiple Americans actors was at least partly intentional (what with Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys being married in real life).
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