tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10695852078184820962023-11-15T23:07:43.898-08:00A Film a Dayfilm nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.comBlogger474125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-79594042652742254052020-05-27T14:23:00.001-07:002020-05-27T14:23:09.666-07:00mondofilmaday April<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The endless - im not sure i completely followed how the time shenanigans plot actually functioned but neat ideas and a creepy tone carried through an interesting movie.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The private life of sherlock holmes - Much more low key on the comedy stakes than i had assumed, a trifle but not without some merit.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Vivarium - companion piece to The Endless in repetitive confinement with a terrific performance from Imogen Poots. </span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I kill giants. Another good Poots job. Sticks pretty close to what I recall of the comic, though it lacks some of that's style. There's always a danger to the trope of is it real or in their head which this mostly avoids.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The stranger - Lesser Welles noir performance, the film is oddly structured never really digging into the suspense of the wife's situation but it manages a couple of moments of fun Hitchcocky business.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">What did Jack do? - Strangely endearing monkey noir from David Lynch that doesnt really do anything but is short enough to not be a chore.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The polka king - A companion piece to Jack Blacks other true crime flick Bernie with a similar tone and decent performances.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The interview - Australian thriller with a good hook but its (spoiler for 22 year old movie) lack of goodie actually ends up dampening the tension.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Kill Ben lyk - misanthropic low rent brit crime com that never really becomes anything particularly fun.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Columbo: no time to die - one of the worst Columbos ever (alongside the other Ed Mcbain adaptation Undercover), with an incredibly silly action film ending of a cop diving through a window that might have been classic had that cop been Columbo himself. I had heard of its bad rep (well deserved) but wanted to say on facebook that I had just watched No Time to Die. A bad joke that no-one responded to at all. </span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Basil the great mouse detective - pretty ho-hum disney affair.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Monsters university - pretty but dull.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Finding dory - just dull.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Tigertail - Tzi Ma is excellent and the film is generally good but never gels into something special</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Stripes - awful, sloppy coasting on Murrays charm which is there but the typical character he plays becomes more unbearable as time goes on (Venkman is a prick)</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Love wedding repeat - mostly unfunny sort of timeloop comedy that doesnt even get to the loop for an interminable time and then rushes through what should be the fun bit. Community's Chaos Theory is the thing to watch instead.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The woman in the window - (spoiler for 76 year old movie) a pretty good noir with a funny throughline of a smart guy doing just the worst job of covering up a killing in self defense let down by a lousy 'and you were there, and you, and you' dream ending.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Crooked house - handsomely cast and staged Agatha Christie production with one of her better (even if quite silly) reveals.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Columbo a bird in the hand - trying to think if any of the 90s columbos ive seen are actually good. certainly not this one. Falk is still fun though.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Ruben Brandt collector - unusual animated movie that feels like im might have got a lot more out of if i had a greater art history knowledge base. some fun to be had nonetheless.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Taking of Pelham 123 (1998) - even worse than the tony scott remake, and a really sloppy transfer onto netflix had a badly framed ratio and poor picture quality.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Animal world - i think i'd have prefered a more bare bones less hyper version of this, as the maths stuff about the game was way more interesting than the stylised violence.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Shimmer lake - the tricksy, reverse storytelling serves to only highlight the twist but without it whats the point? I did like the repeated sit in the back of the cop car gag.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The muppet movie - maybe i just dont really care for the muppets? i liked a couple of the musical numbers but none of it was all that funny. </span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Great muppet caper - the musical numbers arent great. </span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Professor branestawm - slight but fun for the undemanding.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Extraction - dreary macho colonialist bs. it has a showy long one take action scene that barely registers because the character work is so sloppy.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The willoughbys - fun, with just enough bite to appeal to the weird kids</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Clouds of sils maria - beautiful, compelling with an amazing Kristen Stewart performance.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">columbo butterfly in shades of grey - lesser columbo but by no means the worst. no nearly as good as the other shatner one though.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Plagues.of breslau - utter dreck. lousy polish se7en knock-off with an almost interesting villain</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The breaker upperers. - fun new zealand comedy with the obligatory Jermaine Clement cameo</span></li>
</ul>
film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-39290902901372491742020-04-20T07:50:00.000-07:002020-04-20T07:50:32.056-07:00untitled David Smith project<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjio6DCKXuObB6Zcr_-9584zjbVITIfkjAbvwbREe3x015Y8nwdpswqYPclZ9xB40sLmGb4SufAcDurUjWAviq4qIr5tOuOdnf29p7hijyTy9D-RFP780CFHvhKxvIOOjp62xazUH6h21I/s1600/untitled+davidsmithproject.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="893" data-original-width="897" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjio6DCKXuObB6Zcr_-9584zjbVITIfkjAbvwbREe3x015Y8nwdpswqYPclZ9xB40sLmGb4SufAcDurUjWAviq4qIr5tOuOdnf29p7hijyTy9D-RFP780CFHvhKxvIOOjp62xazUH6h21I/s320/untitled+davidsmithproject.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hylesgallii/">https://www.instagram.com/hylesgallii/</a> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Grant
wiped some of the blood from last night off the counter. He grunted
but didn't make much of an effort. It more than likely wouldn't be
too long before some asshole Paladin would get holier than thou over
a perceived moral sin, one of the Rogue's dice players would be
accused, rightfully or wrongly, of cheating or some poor sap would
look wrong at the half-orc sat in the corner. Or just look at her
full stop. And then the brawl would begin. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">The
Elf Tavern was a known Delver's pub which had it's advantages for
sure. They had little concept of local economies so you could
massively over charge for cheap watered down pissbeer. Many had more
coin than sense. Half of them could settle down to a life of luxury
if they weren't so punch drunk, always looking for the next fight,
the next evil dragon, sorceror, vizier, bandit King or whatever was
in their bonnet this time. The other half of course would not make it
that far, the permanent death that hangs over them means they are
freely generous with any money they do have.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">And
besides, every now and again they save the world, if the tales they
tell everybody are true.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">With
the adventurer's would come hangers on. Archivists, scribes,
historians, they wouldn't dream of daring tombs or dungeons but
always hankered for any knowledge gleamed within. And that meant
buying expensive drinks for whichever barbarian they wanted to
question. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Some
of these glorified thugs gain celebrity, or notoriety at least, so
fanatics, groupies, sometimes rivals (more fights, ugh) would want to
see or be seen. And that all meant more pennies in the pot. More than
made up for the cost of replacing a few broken stools and tables
every so often. His brother ran the local carpenters so he got a good
deal on furniture anyway.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">It
wasn't especially busy right now. A wizened old man sat by the fire
despite it not being particularly cold. There was almost always a
wizened old man. Dungeon delvers, adventurers, fortune seekers, glory
hunters, they all seemed to flock to an old geezer in robes. Grant
occasionally would hire someone to fill in that position to keep
customers coming. Paying some mummer a few pence to tell anybody who
would listen long winded but ultimately hollow gossip about local
crypts and strange goings on. But generally he didn't need to. He
didn't think he had seen tonight's one in before but who could tell?
They all wore dark grey form hiding frocks and had long white beards.
The coot was on his own right now, but Grant didn't think it'd be
too long before someone would approach him or vice versa.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">One
man who would not need to for sure was drinking a merry hell of
liquor at the bar itself. Duke Bottomley-Smythe could certainly
imbibe with the best of them. Grant recalled the last time the self
appointed Duke was in, some months past, drinking a gang of Dwarves
under the table. No mean feat. But tonight he sat alone, usually you
couldn't shut the garrulous fool up, but he looked sullen and
withdrawn. His eyes blank. Grant had seen that in Delvers before, too
many friends lost to monsters, traps, and bad magic could turn you.
He should really get out of the game but Grant knew the death wish
fever was on him and had been doubling the price of shots given,
knowing this was more than likely the last time Bottomley-Smythe
would be seen here.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Someone
else had taken notice of the faux Duke, sat a few stools away. A
fanatic, grant could tell. He kept glancing across at the famous
Delver and giggling to himself. Every now and again he would jot
something in a little leather wrapped parchment pad he had. Before
long he would get up the courage to talk to Bottomley-Smythe, but
Grant considered intervening and letting the poor man have his grief
alone.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">A
Halfling sat at a table with a woman. Grant knew her as one of the
town's many whores. A substantial amount of the money he made came
from renting rooms, little more than a bed and a door, for an hour a
time. The Halfling had been talking to her for a while now and no
money seemed to be changing hands. Perhaps he was a new hire learning
the ropes. A magician rather than the trick. Either way, Grant didn't
like him. He distrusted small people. Whether by virtue of race, age
or breeding, shortness was bad news. They always felt they had
something to prove. Troublemakers. He would keep an eye on this one.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">The
half-orc he had seen in here recently. Tended to nurse one drink all
night. He'd kick her out but, well, half-orc. Best to leave alone. If
anyone approached her she would not look out from the book she was
pretending to read and ignore them. Didn't see much of her kind
around, most people feared or hated them but Grant just wished she
would buy more drinks.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">The
only group in tonight seemed like the usual reprobates. Clearly an
Elf - probably a druid, a barbarian looking lass, some kind of magic
user, a grizzled looking cleric of one God or another and a
non-descript woman who seemed in charge. They were talking to a
Scholar from the nearby University. Picking up some empties Grant
overheard nonsense about mystical artifacts or runes of dread power,
he learnt early on to fade all that shit out. Focus on coin for cup,
dodging carelessly thrown chairs and making sure the rooms upstairs
stayed at least somewhat stain free (he has standards). Leave the
heroing to idiots and wankers.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Not
that it mattered, for within a minute Grant would be dead.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Marmaduke
Bottomley-Smythe should have been exceedingly happy right now. The
delve into the deep pits of Krazx had gone about as smooth as any he
had done. Krazx had been rumoured to hold the secret of immortal life
or so the old sage had told him and his fellow adventurers. Truth be
told Bottomley-Smythe didn't much care what was in there. It meant
excitement. It meant being with Melissa and the others. Side by side,
taking on the odds, vanquishing foes.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">They
had travelled far, Krazx was in a remote (aren't they all) part of
the kingdom, deep within the Hujta mountain range. The trek was
perilous but no more so than usual. Some hill goblins had set up camp
outside the entrance to Krazx but his sword, Melissa's axe, Jon's
bow, Grimes' magic bolts and Rek's stealth had done them in with
little problems. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">As
he downed another shot and nodded at the barman he reflected on the
unfortunate side effect of the magic that had imbude him with great
fortitude had lessened the effect alcohol had. He wanted nothing more
than to get royally fucked right now.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Krazx
had proved such fun. A classic. Right from the start his careless
step onto a slightly askew flagstone had nearly toppled him into a
shaft filled with nasty looking stakes. Jon's attentiveness and quick
reflexes grabbed him just in time - paying back for the goblins
Marmaduke had heaved off him in the previous melee. And that was by
no means the only trap to await them. A rolling boulder! A real life
gosh darned rolling boulder trap. Melissa said she didn't know which
of the crashing rock bearing down on them or Duke's laughter was the
louder. She always knew how to make him smile. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">There
was a puzzle involving rotating statues and sliding walls that took
them longer than perhaps it should. Grimes and Melissa got stuck away
from the group for over an hour. Oh! If only he had seen it then.
What a fool he was. But the dungeon had it's hooks in him as ever. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Marmaduke
look around the tavern. He was fairly certain he had been here before
though not one hundred per cent. These places all folded in to one
after a while. He could tell you the exact hue of a wall in a delve
he made years ago but cities and towns all blurred in his memory,
even as he was in them.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">A
halfling seemed to be sharing some jape with a lovely looking lady.
Her auburn hair reminded him of Melissa, even though her hair had
been black for as long as he had known her. Everyone now reminded
him of Melissa. The old guy by the fire looked just like the Wizard
who had first given a quest to their merry band. The half orc was
reading a book. Melissa loved books. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">They
had found a library deep within the pits of Krazx. Rek had little
time nor patience for stuff that didnt shine but they spent some time
looking through the shelves. Jon knew that some literature could be
worth more than any bauble to the right person but unfortunately
picked up the wrong tome causing a fireblast to scorch the entire
room leaving nothing of worth but bronzing their skin and singing
eyebrows. Melissa joked that knowledge sure could be dangerous and
everyone should be more like Rek. How they laughed!</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">The
secret to immortality turned out to be a bust of course. A
necromancer had set up store deep in the bowels and after wading
through skeletal hordes (“Not my idea of living forever” Melissa
said) the party approached the evil Liche's lair. It went like
clockwork. Grimes laid down a cloud of fog, disorientating the living
acolytes the necromancer had gathered around him, Rek dispatched of
many of them silently from behind, they never knew he was even there.
The rest took on the Dead Lord and summararily dispatched him,
Marmaduke getting the kill with a blade through the throat. Treasure
was plentiful and the group headed back to civilisation with haste.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Marmaduke
heard the high pitched giggle coming from his left again. A fanatic.
Would that this was any other post adventure repose. He would be
shouting the story from the roof tops making fools like the giggler
hang on every word. But alas. As the group had got to town, Melissa
had wanted a word. She and Grimes were getting married. And retiring!
Jon and Rek had sorted out another adventuring company to join, some
fellows from down south. They were all leaving Duke! How could they?
Melissa invited him to the wedding but he wasn't sure if he would go.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Not
that it mattered, for within a minute Marmaduke Bottomley-Smythe,
known to most as Duke, would be dead.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Lycelle
Argent walked into the tavern with Hugo. She met him at the Theatre
where he had amused her with tales of seeing some of Detlef Sierk's
works back in the day. As she came in Grant gave her a malicious
smirk. She knew he thought her a prostitute and though some days she
had considered it (her friend Jess plyed the trade) working as an
actual dancing girl as opposed to a 'dancing girl' kept her busy
enough and mostly in pocket. Occasionally she would drink in here
with actors or writers, they would be looking for the next big story
to adapt fresh from the Delver's mouths. She wasn't sure why the
unusual Halfling had wanted to go in here but for a stranger seemed
versed in it's history. Many assumed The Elf Tavern must be owned by
one of the haughty race, or maybe it be a stop for those travelling
from the nearby Yotor Forest, filled with their folk. Lycelle hadn't
really thought about it but Hugo informed her it came from a
corruption of Health tavern. Delvers back in the day would stop here
to rest up, apply salves and ointments. That was still true to a
large extent.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">She
hadn't really met any Halflings quite like him, most seemed shy or
obsessed with food. Though she wasn't sure she had met anybody quite
like him. He wore thick blacked rimmed glasses and it was only after
talking to him for a while that she realised they were some kind of
affectation, having no actual lens in. He was clearly quite
intelligent, and well travelled, whilst giving an interesting
critique of Sierk's last play he talked of the far off region it was
set in as though he had been there. Lycelle had barely left the town.
Once as a young child her mother had taken her to the next town over
to see a Crown Prince pass by. She recalled bunting and streamers and
everyone cheering but from her diminutive vantage she could just see
legs and ground. As the day wore on it rained and the dirt beneath
became muddy, the Crown Prince never even leaned out of the carriage
and her lasting memory was of her pretty blue dress becoming ruined.
It was the last thing her parents bought for her before they died.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">There
wasn't anyone in the tavern beyond Grant that she recognized, though
she thought the piece of beefcake knocking back shots was probably
famous. Certainly he seemed to have an admirer or two, though no-one
was talking to him.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">She
had been in a couple of plays about Delvers, they often proved
popular. Not her favourite things though. She normally ended up as a
sprite or wood elf in the back ground of scenes where a regal looking
Elf lady (just a human with wax pointy ears for the most part)
imparted some great wisdom before the heroes set off to defeat blah,
blah, blah. She prefered comedies. Delver Plays had some of course
but it tended to be more of a knockabout, slapstick kind which could
be hard to do well and she rarely saw it done well. She could dance
an elegant, majestic piece enough to make you weep but timing a fall
over a fake tree stump? Totally flustered her.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">She
was getting on with Hugo pretty well. He seemed genuinely interested
in her life tale. She told him of the time after her parents had
gone. Living on the street, performing self choreographed routines
for loose pennies. She even told him of her less legal approaches to
surviving. Well some of them, though she thought he had quite cannily
perceived she was holding back at least he had the good graces to not
push the issue. There was something just slightly off with him
though. He seemed a touch on edge. He was attentive, and filled any
silence in the conversation, but one eye (out of those lensless
frames) seemed on the rest of the room. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Lycelle
wasn't sure who he was looking at. The group of Delvers that had come
in after them certainly seemed interesting. Maybe. They were talking
to some nattily dressed clerk type. Although his bowtie clashed with
the waistcoat he was wearing. The other side of the fire sat a man
smoking a pipe. He was attired in almost mockingly cliched 'old
wizard' garb. She was pretty sure she noted streaks of stage paint in
the beard as if to make him look older. By the bar, opposite the fire
and constantly glaring at Sullen Beefcake was a dorky looking fella.
Still wearing his raincoat indoors. She had seen his type before,
often hanging around the theatre if a Delver play was on and the
Delvers in question were thought to be in attendance.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Hugo
had chosen a table by the wall with the fireplace so she was
perfectly situated to see the giant burst of flame shoot out from by
the fire and engulf the room </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Not
that it mattered, for within a second Lycelle Argent would be
writhing on the floor in massive pain wreathed by flame.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Norin
was super psyched. Only Marmaduke Bottomley-bloody Smythe had just
come in The Elf Tavern. He had missed 'the Duke' the last time he
came to town and stupidhead Lara had been lording it over him that
she got his auto before him. Duke was at least a twelve time-er. And
if he was here that probably meant at least one more Delve complete.
Most didn't survive beyond five and to collect something from a
Double Digit Delver would be a coup for any fanatic. But it needed to
be more than just a signature. He needed to rub it in Lara's smug
face. Sometimes he felt solely defined by his hobby. He would spend
his days at work dreaming of Delving or to be more accurate the
Delvers. He had no interest in Delving himself. Why the very thought
of his skinny, ungainly form trying to keep up with a Duke or Weldon
or Axe-Biter made him laugh. Sure doing the books for a Kingdom wide
Antiquities dealer was not precisely exciting (though it did
tangentally relate to his past time as many of the curios and items
of import passing through Salridge and Sons came from Delves) but it
paid well and had significantly less chance of being crushed to death
by moving wall traps.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Norin
made notes of everything Duke wore, sketching little details as best
he could. A triple D keepsake would wipe that smile right off. It
seemed unlikely that Duke would offer anything up though. He looked
as sour as the milk Norin had left out last week. That meant he would
have to be sneaky. Last month he had managed to snip a lock of Clara
Weldon's hair and that had only cost him one black eye. However he
was still feeling that now, especially any time he looked at a bright
light. No, this task would require more finesse. The scarf perhaps?
How would he get it off? Maybe he could wait and see if Duke used a
handkerchief that might be easier to pilfer without the Delver
noticing straight away. Given how much drink he was putting away
maybe he could just wait for Duke to fall over senseless, though if
stories were to be believed (and stories are only there to be
believed) that might take quite some time. He couldn't wait to flash
up his find in front of the monthly meet up. So he had to be careful.
</span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">The
bartender might have clocked him but everyone else seemed tied up in
their own business. He thought he recognised the plain young lady sat
with a halfling but couldn't place where. A party of delvers were
also in, though none worthy of the attention of a Duke
Bottomley-Smythe. They looked like one-ers or two-ers at best. The
lady doing the talking (to a dapper looking gent) was the only one he
thought had the bearing of a survivor, the others was dead meat
walking, he'd put money on it. Norin made note of her description,
thinking he would catch her name at some point this evening for his
records. But she could wait. The Duke was in attendance.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">What
he really needed now was some kind of distraction. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">The
large fireball eminating from the back of the room was perfect.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Not
that it mattered, for within a few seconds Norin Goldsmith would be
dead.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Kans
Johansson had been waiting impatiently for almost an hour before they
arrived. The Delve group had contacted him through the University
about findings they had made on a trip to the Desert wastelands. The
Elf tavern had been empty save Bottomley-Smythe, with whom he had had
dealings with before and an old wizard he didn't recognize. As he
took a table towards the middle of the room the wizard moved from the
doorway to next to the fire. Maybe he had brought a blast of cold air
in with him on opening the door but it was quite a mild day out. He
noted a stew pot burbling away above the fire but knew better than to
trust the days old slop contained within. If he saw the wizard going
for some he would try to surreptitiously warn him away, as long as
Grant didn't see him and get angry for costing a pennies worth of
profit.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Each
time the door opened Kans composed himself, ready to deal with
whatever ruffians he would be talking to today. The note had
certainly intrigued him, if what it had hinted at in vague terms
(never can be too careful with claim jumpers and ne'erdowells – the
fight over antiquities and findings can be vicious) was even close to
being true it could mean an expedition. An expedition in his name.
Finally after a few false hopes (he didn't think the half-orc could
have written the note but you never knew) a party of clearly Delvers
tromped in and clocked him immediately.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">There
were five. An Elf clearly looking like some kind of nature wizard.
She had woven vines of ivy through her clothes and carried only a
dagger that he could see. She took a seat in a position that had the
last of the sun shining onto. Another magic user sat beside her. A
hooded robe covered him but he too may have Elf blood. He leaned
heavily onto a knobbled staff. Holding the door as they came in and
scanning the room for danger was a muscular human woman, a large
broadsword slung over her back. Next though came a heavily armoured
warrior of Peyton. Kans knew little of that particular religious
order, one of many that seemed to spring up every day around
protecting Delvers. He guessed the Gods might not be real but the
powers of their acolytes sure were. Finally in came an average
looking woman. She wore plain leather armour, nothing was distinct
about her except the company she kept. Yet she was clearly in charge.
Her movements seemed clipped and precise, she was a little older than
the rest of them. Kans suspected she had held a military rank, many
soldiers would try their hands at Delving when their commissions were
up. Some, even before then, though the Kingdom took a dim view on
that kind of thing. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">The
note had more than piqued his interest. This was supposedly not just
another ancient artifact but something...new. His God, and most in
that Pantheon or any other, knew he could do with a tick in the
success column. Just recently he had lost a fascinating piece of
Arcana, a box that supposedly contained the rules of the universe. He
had even retrieved it himself for awhile, some things just belonged
in a museum, for the betterment of civilisation and Delvers were
untrustworthy even at their best. He'd lost track of the times some
adventuring group had snaked a claim, or sold something promised to
the University to a private bidder for a larger sum.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">He'd
tracked The Rules across three different kingdoms over two different
continents but finally messed up on an island off the coast of
Griasot. The Collected Kingdoms of Tanlok had an agent out for it as
well and the box proved more dangerous than anyone knew. Many died.
And now it sits locked up by the barbarians who run Tanlok. The
university were not happy. Kans was not happy.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">The
leader of the Delvers introduced herself as Barb Stigerwitz but
merely motioned to everyone else as her companions. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">She
immediately got to the point telling Kans where she had been (though
not exactly he noted, showing she had some canniness about her) and
placing a small pouch in front of him. Some of the found items. She
did not let him spend too long with each piece before taking it off
him and pulling out the next. First was a tiny, exquisitely made cog.
Smaller than any he had seen, the craftsmanship was astonishing. A
touch (a lot) above the clockwork quality in his pocketwatch but he
played it cool. The next was a small tube, see through but not glass.
Held up to the light it seemed to contain a viscous liquid. He
touched the end to his finger and it left a blue mark. The next was
the most interesting. A metal hand crossbow with no string, no place
to put a quarrel. It's purpose screamed death but it was not obvious
how it worked beyond the trigger mechanism. He had seen enough. The
rumours were true.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">'We're
going to need a big team,'</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Not
that it mattered, for within a few seconds Kans Johansson, Barb
Stigerwitz and her party would be dead.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">He
had been waiting for his quarry most of the day. His disguise was to
allow him to blend in but he worried he could attract undue
attention. Delvers wanting to know some hook for their next great
adventure. He had a few lines he could throw anybody but mostly was
relying on pretending he was waiting for the One. Delvers respected
that kind of mumbo jumbo but as luck would have it he was left alone
anyway. He had to reposition once, and hoped it was not too
conspicuous but he needed to confirm the target was valid before
striking. A few others had come in, and of course there was a man
tending the bar but collatoral damage could not be helped. They were
spread through the room so some on the edges may even survive which
could cause problems as potential witnesses but what could they say
but 'A Wizard did it' so he remained generally unconcerned but did
the maths for a larger explosive wield. He was now glad his handler
had suggested he packed an extra fire rune or two. They were not
cheap but the one supplied to him should do the job. His breath
caught a little as he got a positive on the target. He liked to
pretend he was simply a professional, doing a job, nothing more, but
his crotch stiffened slightly as he readied the runes and mentally
prepared the incantation. It would take split second timing. He
wanted to confirm the kill but egress was also paramount.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Activating
the runes a fireball surged outward, heat unbearable, engulfing the
target area. Nothing would survive that. A quick scan of the room in
the blink after everything was aflame suggested almost everybody was
caught, though the half-orc had reflexes he did not expect and dived
through the door and something else felt amiss but then the backblast
started to wash over him.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, monospace;">Not
that it mattered, for within a second the assassin had teleported
out.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-34871946910594513472020-04-19T10:14:00.000-07:002020-04-19T10:14:15.082-07:00mondofilmaday 2020 - march<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwvI0GmJ2EaF8nL-4O7NpvJlRrJLgZ30DyOrkXKitgqtkbXuWC_GQ8rmQP83rKkiVGfDcpE8RwBWNFkIbd6rTha2nIL3ZeN2ECaKzAVBtfok5VsMNTNyWoSZaCcM8W5Rcg0xWs24oLDc/s1600/the_master_of_disguise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwvI0GmJ2EaF8nL-4O7NpvJlRrJLgZ30DyOrkXKitgqtkbXuWC_GQ8rmQP83rKkiVGfDcpE8RwBWNFkIbd6rTha2nIL3ZeN2ECaKzAVBtfok5VsMNTNyWoSZaCcM8W5Rcg0xWs24oLDc/s320/the_master_of_disguise.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
not the worst film i've ever been recommended but still...not good.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Klaus - decent holiday fare</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Good boys - spirited but uninspiring transposing of American Pie onto characters 6 years younger.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Columbo: try and catch me - one of the classics with a wonderful Ruth Gordon a lively and sympathetic foil to Falk</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Camp cold brook - fairly plodding found footage flick with little to offer apart from a random Gremlins 2 tie-in gag.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Columbo old fashioned murder. - watchable as the 70s one are, this doesnt quite manage to be top tier.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Invader zim enter the florpus - i recall enjoying the original show a lot and this late follow up is fine but skirts the line of being more like an annoying friend retelling you the plot of an episode in too much detail.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Master of disguise - astonishingly awful. ill thought out and a waste of Carvey's talents. Super fucking racist too.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Spies in disguise - mostly fun and lively animated fare.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Asterix 12 tasks - dully paced, with no real understanding of how to transfer the pages jokes to screen and make it work.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Sonic - its attempts at thematic depth are laughable, which is more than can be said for a lot of the jokes but the cast are game and it sprints along.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Onward - you're gonna see this review a lot as i fill in some pixar gaps as i go and i often feel the same way about their films - beautifully made but just a little boring. This one offers up some dnd flavourings which appeal but never does anything other than the expected.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Southbound - a gimmicky portmanteau with a couple of interesting touches but mostly undistinguished.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The dead dont die - there are some fun performances, some good gags but the whole endeavour feels throwaway with a recurring meta-plot where at least one of the characters knows he's in a movie not really paying off.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Night school - light-weight entertainment with a breezy cast.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Portrait of a lady on fire - astonishingly beautiful. powerful, subtle with a grip on tight emotional control.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Tosca (1976) - a slightly gussied up version of simply filming a stage act it expands to location shooting and occasionally moving the camera but little more. Play hits though. With some top notch performers belting their hearts out.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The seventh seal - much funnier than i was expecting, and although often reduced to the chess on the beach scene, its more expansive and interesting. Really great.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Ni no kuni - video-game tie-in that doesnt seem to serve much purpose. Feels like a tee-vee series truncated a lot of the character stuff comes undeveloped.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">My spy - i have a soft spot for these undemanding throwaway action comedies. Every now and again you'll get something like Spy which rises above. This one doesn't.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Standing up, falling down - Ben Schwartz is great.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Helvetica - amazingly interesting for a documentary about a font. It manages to weave a narrative out of not much and offers just enough counterpoint to stop it feeling like a simple love letter.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Narrow margin (1952) - Pacy thriller with an okay twist. </span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The platform - super on the nose but potent allegorical horror.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">To all the boys I've loved before - rather delightful</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Toy story 4 - beautifully made but just a little boring</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Coco - beautifully made but just a little boring</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Ratatouille - beautifully made but just a little boring</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The cruise - this seems to have a gem of an idea and despite not knowing the particular target of its satire, a lot registers. But its too repetitive and the gags just not funny to work</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Invisible maniac - gross misogynistic horror with little to recommend. </span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Prince avalanche - very good in that low key way that is often hard to get excited about but worth watching.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Dead in a week...or your money back - fairly forgettable hitman comedy that touches on some of that John Wick ridiculous world building but with a distinctly british take on the bureaucracy of its hired killers.</span></li>
</ul>
film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-52054569151233609402020-04-08T10:52:00.002-07:002020-04-08T10:52:57.787-07:00Mondofilmaday 2020 Feb<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9cnYhywA2vPtp7epR5zUyCWAC6ObJJE9YN3PuSdfsIEMOvZpZ-XcRjsCQL7Co5Y-ATGOIYX9lDVATv1TZLTHFvqRjmr1zkyvy8KzcWYbSCocGVTgW0jhsvimYP48X_ie2NqLXTFdDBlE/s1600/raise-the-red-lantern-1991-movie-review1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="816" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9cnYhywA2vPtp7epR5zUyCWAC6ObJJE9YN3PuSdfsIEMOvZpZ-XcRjsCQL7Co5Y-ATGOIYX9lDVATv1TZLTHFvqRjmr1zkyvy8KzcWYbSCocGVTgW0jhsvimYP48X_ie2NqLXTFdDBlE/s320/raise-the-red-lantern-1991-movie-review1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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35 movies this month. Raise the Red Lantern was probably the best</div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I lost my body - low key movie with a high concept. beautifully made.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Raiders the story of the greatest fan film ever made - another doc about obsession and fandom, mostly interesting but pulls something at the end which seems a little dubious. </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The unicorn store - slight but decent</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Columbo: Any port in a storm - yeah im counting Columbo eps. This is a classic with a brilliant Donald Pleasance playing excellently against Falk.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Beyond the gates - another of the 80s horror throwbacks, Barbra Crampton has a bit of fun but the concept never quite gels into something truly compelling</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Columbo: now you see him - fun but not top tier</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Wont you be my neighbour - a sweet and uplifting portrait of a man not well known over here</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Columbo: blueprint for murder - Falk is always value, and this has an okay slight twist on the format</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Little monsters - fun and breezy but doesnt offer much new (which is fine)</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Mister america - odd and funny spin on 'America' and little politics</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Birds of prey - a game cast and fun action sequences dont get passed the obnoxious vibe. Not as offputting as deadpool and better than most WB dc movies but still feels like a missed op.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Columbo goes to the guillotine - another magician based crime which is a fun backdrop</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Stalled - doesnt quite rise above its very low budget but has one or two fun ideas</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Lady Macbeth - brilliant. Pugh shows the powerhouse they are in a small but emotionally deep drama.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Whisky galore (2016) - poorly paced, wnating to be a gentle comedy it is instead lethargic.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Safety not guaranteed - good performances rise the drama a little from simple indie quirk.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Allegro non toppo - offbeat euro take on Fantasia with bizarre meta tangents.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">21 bridges - perfectly adequate action thriller, but totally forgettable.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Extra ordinary - delightful, low key comedy. Will Forte almost unbalances it with a very broad performance but keeps it just the right side,</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Bumblebee - I mean its the best Transformer movie but that doesnt exactly make it good. </span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Point blank (2019) - another completely forgettable action-er. </span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Raise the red lantern - Excellent. Heart breaking. Complex. A friend had reccomending this for filmaday many years ago, sad it took this long to get to but glad i finally did.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Next goal wins - another interesting doc about obssession of a kind. This should appeal to non footie fans as much as it does the converted.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Horse girl - Alison Brie is excellent.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Missing link - beautifully made with the usual Laika excellence but the story is a bit of nothing</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Killer clowns from outer space - atrocious. the jokes are generally awful, the scares are non-existant. it seems its cult status is mostly formed by its name.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Like a boss - fairly forgettable work comedy with decent cast.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Emma - well made, often funny and brilliantly played but everyone is so horrible with little time given to the redemptive part that im am unsure how much the film wants us to hate the main characters.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Carefree - some lovely dancing from rogers and astaire but im pretty sure i sneezed and missed the conclusion of the movie.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I am david - doesnt play to Paul Feigs strengths but passable enough</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Here comes hell - very low budget evil dead meets downton abbey. like a bunch of movies at this kind of level some fun ideas but hard to watch</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I trapped the devil - maybe too close to a specific classic twilight zone ep to be considered too highly but it has some style.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Paradise hills - maybe has too much style but its alice in wonderland meets handmaids tale offers some interest</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Found footage 3d - some of the meta stuff involves characters lazily saying 'just like a movie' but some bits stand out including appearance by a real film critic playing himself.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Columbo fade into murder - one of Shatners eps and fun. Pretty much all the 70s ones are watchable.</span></li>
</ul>
film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-8059649789223452942020-04-06T13:48:00.000-07:002020-04-06T13:48:32.748-07:00Filmaday2020 Janoh it's been a while. Again.<br />
But I'm trying to watch a film I haven't seen each day. Again.<br />
But I'm not gonna write up daily posts. Instead here is January's list with some quick thoughts.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>love and friendship - sharp with great performance from Beckinsale who often leaves me cold</li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Short term 12 - powerful, Brie Larson is terrific.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I walked with a zombie - though clearly critiquing aspects of colonialism its still iffy. </span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Evil under the sun - the murder makes little sense as a workable plot but a game cast enliven things</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Death on the nile - ditto really.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The thin man - breezy but it seems hard to go along with its depiction of alcoholism. </span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">A hard days night - you know, spice world but better made</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Fast color - perhaps a bit too slight but nicely played and well made</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The lighthouse - brilliant really. exceptional two hander that is never too po-faced</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Corporate animals - not good. one of many comedies to stack a cast and then give them nothing to do</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The courier - olga kurylenko is watchable but the action doesnt amount to much and the plot even less.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Climax - it pulls from Noe's usual bag of tricks but is still and incredible, hard to watch time.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Moonlight - just beautiful. astonishing performances. subtle in the right places.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Anna and the apocalypse - huge amount of fun. with a terrific lead.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Crazy rich asians - good cast give all in a glossy, mostly fun but kinda dull empowerment of wealth. </span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Best worst thing that ever could have happened - fascinating behind scenes look at failed Broadway play turns into something a little more meaningful</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Original cast album company - wonderful</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Train to busan - exciting take on zombies that seems fresh despite not really offering anything new</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Inside man most wanted - mostly dull, leant on the first movie in a way i wasnt expecting but was still pointless</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Bushwick - unbearably grim actioner who only point of interest comes in leaving a flubbed take (the film is a faked one take movie so it has lots of loooooong shots)</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Betty white first lady of television - a puff piece but a deserved one. what a delight.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Rose matafeo horndog - (yes a stand up show i saw but im counting it - my blog my rules) great stuff. manages a couple of good twists on the format.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Bathtubs over Broadway - brilliant look at obsessive collecting and hidden culture</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Long shot (netflix doc) - compelling and genuinely emotional true crime doc that hinges on a bit of pop culture to get told but doesnt forget the human reality</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Coherence - a touch university drama class in its conflicts but a mostly interesting SF mystery</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The gentlemen - henry golding continues Bond auditions in this fairly lousy gangster comedy</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Voyeur - unusual subject and whiff of shaggy dog give this crime doc an skewed shape. interesting.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Jay and silent Bob reboot - just lousy. Smith remains likeable and this is aimed at die hards but its so strained.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Greener grass - delightfully oddball with splendid cast. twin peaks for the tim and eric set.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">One cut of the dead - to talk about the second half of the movie would perhaps ruin some of the fun but to not do so means you might not watch it. just trust me and stick with it, absolutely brilliant.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Colour out of space - Cage seems engaged with the material and it offers a lot to like but at the end of the day - it's that purple you see on every 80s retro movie poster, hardly impossible.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The void - a decent spin on a couple of John Carpenter movies</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Personal history of David copperfield - a lot of fun. breezy, incredible funny and great cast.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Parasite - bit dull to say how good it is now. But it is really good. Compelling thematic depth, impeccably directed and a spot on cast.</span></li>
<li><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Bad boys for life - tired throwback.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Jojo rabbit - funny in the right places, well made but slightly dampened by the feeling we keep viewing the oppressed's stories through the oppressors (including those enabled or enabling of oppressors) viewpoints. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">So 36 done that month. And all in all a big batch of movies I mostly liked. </span></span>film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-76280156591203097452017-11-16T15:22:00.000-08:002017-11-16T15:22:53.088-08:00Romance is always punished/What a funny little man!<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Murder on the Orient Express (1974/2017)</span></u></b></div>
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Chosen by me because I like to go to the cinema a lot and because when I got home I had the boring idea of comparing the two films so I sat and watched the '74 version straight afterwards. There will be spoilers. You know for one of the most famous murder mysteries ever.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAw9fd7BxfVVxBHQPiJXAxDsMTuDl4xynNTt9WYPEp0J2Mp_MjqAp-_UzvwBAbCeuBCeOVJGxbXo637PTK-aXbgmkIPBsZJhdqVP6-OZRIuohCXp43rInQr8nSRrdpulIpG9xJK0vd1OQ/s1600/murder74.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="182" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAw9fd7BxfVVxBHQPiJXAxDsMTuDl4xynNTt9WYPEp0J2Mp_MjqAp-_UzvwBAbCeuBCeOVJGxbXo637PTK-aXbgmkIPBsZJhdqVP6-OZRIuohCXp43rInQr8nSRrdpulIpG9xJK0vd1OQ/s320/murder74.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij5N3C6h8SSO0YX2gGMKa5t8g4iLUoGQ9GJUYVA4eRsDvEHP1iy_bwj_6IMLt0MyetnDAhwLjCJWAGN65qB_SG3U7entTijDwMcmTgU9WcAuc6jUhyphenhyphenIZFT8Cdh3AFp1H9OAyJ556R6qtY/s1600/murder17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="182" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij5N3C6h8SSO0YX2gGMKa5t8g4iLUoGQ9GJUYVA4eRsDvEHP1iy_bwj_6IMLt0MyetnDAhwLjCJWAGN65qB_SG3U7entTijDwMcmTgU9WcAuc6jUhyphenhyphenIZFT8Cdh3AFp1H9OAyJ556R6qtY/s320/murder17.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>
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Both are star studded affairs which stick reasonably closely to the source material.</div>
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<b><u>The Detective</u></b></div>
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The '74 Poirot is a petty, annoying foreigner ('probably a frog' Connery's doctor excalims in a bit that took me a second to remember that as a racial slur) played with a touch of silliness by Albert Finney. He loses some of his power in this Christie story as his position as outsider is lessened when surrounded by Hungarians, Americans, Italians on a train stuck in Yugoslavia. But he still gets to rub everyone up the wrong way.</div>
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The '17 version has a sillier moustache but is played with a little less picque by director Kenneth Branagh. It also seems to suggest his fussiness may be more indicative of something like Asperger's and decides to give a completely unnecessary dark past (it might have played a bit better with a touch more subtlety, though it doesnt ever explain what happened to his 'dear Katherine' him whispering to a photo every other act laboured a point it never quite got around to making). It tries to give him an a character arc (the '74 is just on a train and investigates a crime, not especially revealing) and a personal stake in the investigation, and despite it's hackneyed nature sort of worked.</div>
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<b><u>The Victim</u></b></div>
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'74's is more jovial, and even nice to his secretary at one point. But Richard Widmark is fairly dull.</div>
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'17's is a sneery arsehole through and through. Oh and fuck Johnny Depp.</div>
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<b><u>The Suspects</u></b></div>
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Michelle Pfeiffer and Penelope Cruz have a weight of good material behind them but still they are not Lauren Bacall and Ingrid Bergman as unfair as that might be (and Cruz in particular is ill served in her film). Willem Defoe gets to make more of his characters reveal than his '74 counterpart (who is barely even in it before his twist - so that lands with a shrug), Josh Gad goes out of his way to differentiate his McQueen from Anthony Perkins earlier take and gone are the pointed tropes towards the characters homosexuality. An interracial relationship angle allows for a person of colour to be in the film and gives Daisy Ridley and leslie Odom Jnr a slightly more interesting excuse for the lies than Connery and a wonderful Vanessa Redgrave have. Ridley's take on the character is allowed to be much smarter than her giggly earlier version too and though it leads to a pointless bit of tension it allows for a nice scene where Poirot asks for her help in solving the mystery, that may be a ruse to see through her lies but also may just be him seeing a kindred mind. The modern Count is given a dancer background not afforded to Michael York as a nod to why Sergei Polunin is well regarded outside of movies but (despite fitting in a couple of kick-boxing moves) he doesnt get to show off here and is not very good (maybe a shoehorned in ballet performance should have been included) and mostly lost against more interesting faces. Everyone else in both versions is generally fine but the large cast and mystery structure means no-one really gets anything to do.</div>
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<b><u>The Reason I have gathered you here today.</u></b></div>
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The Sidney Lumet version is a straightforward (and possibly defining or influential) gather everyone in the room and dont allow anyone to speak until Poirot lays it all out. It's close to 20 mins of a 2 hour film and cant quite make sense off all the plot (it is very very silly) and the reveal of the complicated version of who stabbed Richard Widmark is too absurd to work as drama as with each holding of the dagger it gets more laughable.</div>
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Branaghs version tries to open it up with a last supper style table set up in a railway tunnel which is far sillier but the emotional impact is far better. It ups the ante considerably with a ruse to prove if anyone is a capable cold blooded killer, that combined with his personal connection to the case makes his final decision on the solution of the case make more sense on a character level.</div>
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Both have problems coming to grips with the ways clues are presented in the story, as it really doesnt make sense and some of the details dropped in the '17 take (like why the time of the murder is important) are slightly more adequately dealt with in the '74 which doesnt waste time on two very small and pointless action scenes.</div>
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<b><u>Overall.</u></b></div>
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Both are fine. </div>
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film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-46154331735951154162017-10-24T15:05:00.000-07:002017-10-24T15:05:28.711-07:00He's a friend from work.<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Thor: Ragnarok (2017)</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by me because I like to go to the cinema a lot </div>
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and hey, it's a marvel movie they pretty much float my boat.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYyLOkW_tuwcIGC2KJz2xMo7pG0Lhnee-xiWkARW2jh22gXEv8xCi3ZuZLApiF-kGyxHNrZeUgcaoPFSUWb5AemADxU_a8qobtLzP4b3_ZS9Uifmzro7DQ-VTGZqmIa9UfLGbw9YDuvrM/s1600/thor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="182" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYyLOkW_tuwcIGC2KJz2xMo7pG0Lhnee-xiWkARW2jh22gXEv8xCi3ZuZLApiF-kGyxHNrZeUgcaoPFSUWb5AemADxU_a8qobtLzP4b3_ZS9Uifmzro7DQ-VTGZqmIa9UfLGbw9YDuvrM/s400/thor.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>
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This has the kind of imagery that Zach Snyder wants to be pulling off. A sort of freeze frame prog rock album cover or half recalled Lord of the Rings poster from a long ago childhood memory. But this film knows not to bury that under endless slow motion or the colour brown. It takes it's cue from the wacky science fiction stylings of Guardians of the Galaxy but feeds it through a vibrant 1980s filter (it gets easier with each passing year to forget the awfulness of much of that decade and embrace a retro chic devoid of Thatcher or bad suits) and that sense of fun fuels much of the joy in the film. </div>
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The nostalgia (hugely reinforced by a wonderful Mark Mothersbaugh score which includes a Devo reject tune in the splendid Grandmaster Jam Session) doesnt quite hit an emotional core like the first Guardians, or say something like Lego, did but you're having too much of a blast to care.</div>
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Likewise it doesnt really solve Marvel Studios problem of having great actors in the antagonist role and not especially giving them anything to do. Though thankfully Cate Blanchett looks like she is having much more fun than Lee Pace or Christopher Ecclestone ever did. Her Hela gets to preen and crack wise and is a ball but her character never quite gels, the jealousy element a knock-off Loki, her anger never really having direction.</div>
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Much of the Sakarr sequence (a major chunk of the movie) is strangely weightless in it's stakes but only after you've finished enjoying it so much does the emptiness register. Gags fly thick and fast, the cast is great, Jeff Golblum is his Jeff Goldblumingest, the action is decent and Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie damn near walks off with the whole movie.</div>
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Unfortunately all this new jazz comes at a cost. And the generally pleasant Thor supporting cast from the previous two movies is sidelined, The Warriors Three dispatched too casually to register as an issue and the only sign of Sif is a double in a funny play performed by some noteworthy faces (I'd like to think Loki got the actual actors from Earth and it's just a kind of corporate gig for them).</div>
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And honestly Thompson makes up for any loss. A supremely confidant, cool performance she commands the screen every second she is on it, and is just super funny.</div>
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Can we have a Valkyrie movie?</div>
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Taika Waititi may be a cynical choice by Disney to hire someone cheap that they feel they can control, but it still comes from a place of choosing interesting directors, letting them imprint their personality onto a project seems to work a blinder, even working within the usual MCU framework (which this very much does despite feeling quite different to most of them).</div>
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Delightful.</div>
film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-53666011081201001422017-10-20T14:35:00.000-07:002017-10-20T14:35:30.490-07:00How can you run and plot at the same time?<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>The Death of Stalin (2017)</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by me because I'm a long time fan of Iannucci </div>
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and it had one of the funnier trailers I'd seen in quite some time.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkCzRJCSwmsTXizbZiJT-RkzCBbFMx1wmhtyKsoBbJPsoFFi4nkcP2GfmnMZOFWEodzEmJ521IfDWXsY675roAMR9Q27QBTUI_GWqxeQ7nHh3MuZtsfKrooZbScEehpLjeV72Ptgh8mXA/s1600/deathofstalin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="182" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkCzRJCSwmsTXizbZiJT-RkzCBbFMx1wmhtyKsoBbJPsoFFi4nkcP2GfmnMZOFWEodzEmJ521IfDWXsY675roAMR9Q27QBTUI_GWqxeQ7nHh3MuZtsfKrooZbScEehpLjeV72Ptgh8mXA/s320/deathofstalin.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>
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Iannucci is one of the UKs finest comedic minds. Sharp, satirical but also very, very silly he covers it all and has helped deliver some amazing shows over the years - Alan Partridge (created by others but firmly stamped on by him) may be a lasting legacy but his other works like the Day Today or The Armando Iannucci Show are strange offbeat works and The Thick of It (also the terrific spin-off In the Loop and sort of sequel Veep) are masterpieces of their kind.</div>
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There was no doubt he couldn't handle the farcical aspects of Stalinist history (downplayed slightly in this film as time is contracted is just how long old Joe went without proper medical assistance hindered by the fact he had the doctors in Moscow rounded up and tortured shortly before becoming ill) but thankfully he doesnt loose sight of the horror of it all.</div>
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Especially as this is Iannucci's first time with real figures and not analogues a concern could have been that by highlighting the bufoonery and absolute narcissism inherent in the Soviet political system (not a stretch to apply this to modern times and differing countries at all, because political satire will always be relevant) it would downplay the brutality and be a disservice to the many who died.</div>
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Well on the first part it does not lack. The people here are all monsters, Jeffrey Tambor may be playing the most Jeffrey Tambor type possible, but he is still edged with horror, these scared little men projecting out their insecurities onto everyone around them, infesting the country from the top down. </div>
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The victims here are perhaps given short shrift, occasionally punchlines - like those in an Siberian prison half of whom are shot just before the order comes through to halt the killings, the other half disorientated but alive. It cant quite make sense of the outpouring of grief from a populace hammered by an oppressive regime as factual as that might have been.</div>
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Instead it offers up a talented pianist as the only voice daring to confront Stalin, and though well played by Olga Kurylenko she is a touch too slight a character to register much (Kurylenko seems to excel at giving underwritten roles a touch of grit and personality and deserves more).</div>
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It is often incredibly funny, though not as much as In the Loop say, but the over-riding tone is more bleak and the final punchline grimly cynical as a black fuzzy eyebrowed man looks down at the current leader of the USSR, plots whirling in his mind and the cycle of political bullshitery continues.</div>
film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-21289155455394176032017-10-06T16:12:00.002-07:002017-10-06T16:12:58.903-07:00Answer the question Claire!<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>The Breakfast Club (1985)</u></b></span></div>
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I really should have been watching the dvd a friend lent me but instead I decided to properly watch a regarded classic that was on netflix that I'd never watched all the way through and mostly knew from being referenced on shows written by people who were in their 20s in the 80s.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QwmcqqIZqusDn_CkB0QfDs4Aq3HkWVDEhWKlPCzMgjKZA8dzn8v75Pf9hF3nGe8XBRh37Glz6X1gve57n-DXE1p3gbGsk2pklMuI4R-O0syCzO0tfQ0GvHsNQdZ-MQZil_brt04Ekq0/s1600/breakfastclub.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="182" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QwmcqqIZqusDn_CkB0QfDs4Aq3HkWVDEhWKlPCzMgjKZA8dzn8v75Pf9hF3nGe8XBRh37Glz6X1gve57n-DXE1p3gbGsk2pklMuI4R-O0syCzO0tfQ0GvHsNQdZ-MQZil_brt04Ekq0/s400/breakfastclub.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The poster almost acts as a sequel because we don't actually know what happens on monday. This suggests that they do as Claire says and ignore each other. Maybe Bender gets accused of stealing her diamond earring. Hopefully Ally Sheedy whose character name I cant remember if it was even mentioned, chooses to dress however the hell she wants. So Emilio Estevez doesnt recognise her on monday and that romance which comes from having said about three words to each other is nothing but tears in rain. Anthony Michael Hall is presumably pulled out of school for bringing in a gun rather than just getting one days detention, and is given counselling and help. Claire is clearly suffering from depression but she realises the last thing she needs are this bunch of a-holes around her, berating and abusing her.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I changed primary school half way through the second year. It was a little tough coming into a new place with new people, but I made good friends with the kid next to me - Andrew Stubbings. Some of the others were more stand-offish (or probably I was). Until one kid (William something) slapped me with a glove over some distant dispute and I slapped him back. We were put into a break time detention. One of the first times I'd been in trouble like that (I think i came home and cried). Standing in the coridor outside the Heads office with a couple of other boys from my class, we couldnt stop giggling. And after that we were friends.</div>
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So I guess acting like pricks does work like this movie suggests.</div>
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But by golly this bunch are just horrid. The nicest one is an entitled rich girl who can see the trap of the clique system but also understands she's at the top of it.</div>
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The rest are given various horrible backstories to force us to sympathise with just how nasty they are being to each other.</div>
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Though I'm not sure it quite realises how bad they are at times.</div>
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The most obnoxious one, Judd Nelson given a triumphant closing freeze frame, sexually assaults one of the others after constantly questioning her promiscuous nature and the film thinks this is charming I guess? What a rogue!</div>
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It takes someone who seems absolutely comfortable in her own skin, to the extent of using her dandruff to make art and blands her up (in an echo of the ending of Grease) which miraculously gets her the jock. It's weird and boring and the same time, a potent combination.</div>
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Still bits of it are fun, but I will take Jeff, Abed and the pizza delivery guy covering the dance scene any day.</div>
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_fsQRT8Cu1U/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_fsQRT8Cu1U?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-39592438120677283452017-10-05T12:35:00.000-07:002017-10-05T12:35:52.182-07:00You've never seen a miracle.<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Blade Runner 2049</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by me because I like to go to the cinema a lot. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiix9hhjcJ-LY0Yi8QTXCdJfGAVtPYIFT9CM-z5XpUzrWwtpfWmj4F1twyTW4ZiFXk6w_hMR0kAdLuO1CpceVIQnLKwe9gSJMt7ZA68b3uUuqTwEtCxz-mVNbos3xKWg2rYvcMxoJWX2Jo/s1600/bladerunner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="182" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiix9hhjcJ-LY0Yi8QTXCdJfGAVtPYIFT9CM-z5XpUzrWwtpfWmj4F1twyTW4ZiFXk6w_hMR0kAdLuO1CpceVIQnLKwe9gSJMt7ZA68b3uUuqTwEtCxz-mVNbos3xKWg2rYvcMxoJWX2Jo/s320/bladerunner.jpg" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This poster is fucking terrible for such a pretty movie</td></tr>
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Denis Villeneuve is an interesting director, who had put out some interesting films. Enemy was a terrific mood piece, deeply unsettling but may hold the key to why I did not like his Blade Runner sequel.</div>
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Gosling and Ford share space up there on that poster but this is Gosling's movie through and through.</div>
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Ford is pretty great revisiting yet another of his iconic roles from decades ago, as is almost his entire stock in trade now, but is on the margins of the film, mentioned early but not appearing for quite some time of the lengthy running total the film has.</div>
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Deakins, one of the only cinematographers to routinely be mentioned in reviews, once more works absolute magic. Every shadow, every light source, very mote of dust a work of art though occasionally it turns Blade Runner 2049 into a series of stunning paintings lacking a narrative drive.</div>
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But that fine really as the plotting is fairly spotty, and character motivations are slight and lack definition. None of it seems to make a lot of sense and Gosling's blank reaction to everything, though somewhat appropriate, can be infuriating, as you want to just shake him and ask why does nothing matter?</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Going to get a bit more plot and character detailed now. </div>
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So. Here's a pretty picture first. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixKMbWS2JDBriclyorwWHvLebxb2oF609VYOMrBZumLLD0wjJHNwgk5Sj7VlC6QVDYnWuN7XBF5e_mFsD_IFovKFeWkwsaoziGHBMtLV8KgmAgHH_bghVP_Qw_i_2wZyBIixrslFWYJKE/s1600/prettyblade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="1600" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixKMbWS2JDBriclyorwWHvLebxb2oF609VYOMrBZumLLD0wjJHNwgk5Sj7VlC6QVDYnWuN7XBF5e_mFsD_IFovKFeWkwsaoziGHBMtLV8KgmAgHH_bghVP_Qw_i_2wZyBIixrslFWYJKE/s640/prettyblade.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
So the film is pretty fucking terrible when it comes to how it deals with it's female characters. It would be fair to say that they are shallow, lacking depth of motivation but that seems true of the male ones too. But there seems to be no reason to be so consistantly awful to each and everyone. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Gosling's replicant is given a hologram girlfriend. And the film spends a strange amount of time in playing an angle about AI maybe? How much does she think for herself? And then her only purpose is to be fridged. </div>
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Gosling is beaten up all the way through the film but none of the violence is as vicious as what happens to numerous woman. Robin Wright gets a horrific bit of business with a whiskey glass and a casually violent head/desk interaction that is played almost as a punchline. </div>
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Most of the women are there to be looked at and then dismissed. The camera peruses a lot of naked flesh for no real reason.</div>
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Unlike Enemy there is no context to this misogyny, the film wants to explore the issue of what it is to be human but never really considers that females might be human. And doesn't really get around to examining what it means to be human either. It's pretty sloppy.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Why is the story Gosling's and not Deckard's actual child? A woman who is literally locked away her whole life and ignored by the film -to deliver a twist? Why is Rachel so callously regarded by everyone (a stand in actor - with cg i guess face - an example of more of the disregard the film has).</div>
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Is Mackenzie Davis (from the terrific Black Mirror episode San Junipero) a prostitute to comment on the way replicants are com-modified as purely physical commercial beings or is it just so Gosling can have a strange prelude to a sex scene with two women at the same time? Spoiler but it's the latter. And says absolutely nothing. </div>
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The film is too long, too ponderous and pretentious to get away with being this dismissive.</div>
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Poor show.</div>
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film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-32198037978695635132017-09-30T01:15:00.002-07:002017-09-30T01:15:45.715-07:00You're just in love with how much I love you<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Mother! (2017)</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by me as I like going to the cinema a lot though this one took some psyching up to go to.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5EK2F4NBiZ3QJQkrJfGuQL9-5cbyoKq06wweMw0L1ayZhc3TFsMdZ2JfBUlPmFdetpbS4oajSUvdgZZOqU04vZJEzgzba2nzhiOR4KvKADR1TLn2b5T-UFGPr7UjFRcveSjfWt4wxMUs/s1600/mother.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="182" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5EK2F4NBiZ3QJQkrJfGuQL9-5cbyoKq06wweMw0L1ayZhc3TFsMdZ2JfBUlPmFdetpbS4oajSUvdgZZOqU04vZJEzgzba2nzhiOR4KvKADR1TLn2b5T-UFGPr7UjFRcveSjfWt4wxMUs/s320/mother.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>
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There is perhaps a key to unlocking what Mother!'s symbolism and plot means. Clearly there is a lot of biblical nonsense going on and at the end it gets very on the nose with relating itself to the pain of the creative process so despite it's what-the-fuckery Mother! is fairly straightforward. In allegorical terms at least - to get there you still have to go along with it's odd (brilliant) pacing, swerves into blackly comic territory and an apocalyptic ending that feels like a Kim Newman novel where society does not need all that much of a push to descend into a bacchanalian frenzy of violence, sex, worship and cannibalism. And throughout Lawrence is astonishingly good, in almost every frame of the movie she anchors the film's excesses with a deeply committed and emotional performance. Her character may not react the way someone in real life would but you are carried through the film by her anyway.</div>
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However what I really want to talk about is what the film meant to me.</div>
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We are shaped by the things in our immediate perception. My Nan liked to have the cocktail Snowball. So now forever ingrained in my mind is that a Snowball (which I still don't really know what it is) is an old ladies drink. Even though I've only seen one old lady drink it. We define reality by experience but forget the bias of that experience.</div>
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Currently I have been thinking a lot about my mental health. I am often a deeply unhappy and anxious person. I have within the last week sought out therapy for those issues. </div>
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So when I say Mother! is actually all about anxiety I'm aware that it's just something that my bias would be pushing right now.</div>
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But Mother! has relayed (and triggered) my anxiety like nothing else.</div>
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I'm can't recall if I've talked on these pages about how two people talking next to a road causes me to physically tense up. The screen controls what you can see and without periphery vision (and because of the huge amount of an annoying trope) I'm convinced the people will get hit by a car. Even if it's a charming romance comedy. </div>
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Mother! uses this control of the frame brilliantly, constantly in tight fixed position on Lawrence, the stress comes from never quite knowing what is outside the frame and is deeply unsettling. </div>
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During the film she becomes more and more agitated by people around her. Losing control of the space, not understanding why people won't just listen to her, do the sensible thing. She craves that control, and even when, ostensibly, others are just trying to help, she can't take it, needs them to just let her do it. Every new person that turns up frustrates her more.</div>
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And she can't understand why they all like her husband, ignore her, want a physical piece of her work (the house, her child) but make her super uncomfortable.</div>
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So yeah, Mother! was super easy for me to understand. </div>
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It's a remarkable, powerful movie, whose ending might be a bit too much but it's more art film than horror story, more a slice of mind than parable. Amazing.</div>
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film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-62819533816677502362017-09-29T01:22:00.000-07:002017-09-29T01:22:02.749-07:00You asked for help, I asked for help. That's how things get done.<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore (2017)</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by Faye on netflix. Well technically I recommended it to her because I knew she liked Elijah Wood and him and Melanie Lynskey worked together on Over the Garden Wall which she loves but then she watched it before I had and reminded me to do so. Who even cares about this bit?</div>
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Melanie Lynskey has be quietly doing solid work since her debut (and over shadowing by Kate Winslet) in Heavenly Creatures.</div>
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She is an actor of some skill and gets to show a huge range in this interesting, funny, offbeat film.</div>
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Understanding that underplaying can be especially effective, her depressed nurse who stumbles into investigating a crime that no-one seems that bothered by is a touching and empathy generating creation even whilst being kind of a prick. Especially in the times the film can be deliberately at a remove, without her it's cold dark humour may be too nihilistic to click.</div>
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Wood is very funny playing a creepy, skeevy loner and the two of them fumbling around a friendship is at times quite cute but plays second fiddle to the plot machinations for the most part.</div>
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A weird, assured first film from Macon Blair.</div>
film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-59554655870378347942017-09-28T03:46:00.000-07:002017-09-28T03:46:10.345-07:00it's not his fault he's so ugly<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Beauty and the beast (1987)</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by me as part of my musical week </div>
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and because I fell a little for Carmela Marner in Puss in Boots</div>
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A story of a woman going from one co-dependant relationship to another.</div>
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Again, like Puss in Boots the songs are almost an afterthought and add nothing to the rather dull plodding affair.</div>
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There is no level of Christopher Walken-like performance here, no sense of fun.</div>
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The Beast's make up is not too bad but John Savage brings nothing to the role that would explain why Rebecca De Mornay would finally answer yes to his repeated request for marriage.</div>
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I'm not sure what the message of Beauty and the Beast is meant to be? It seems to suggest it is about seeing beneath surface values but instead mostly just rewards everyone for not changing at all (here have another bucket of coins) and being ok with the imprisonment of an innocent woman.</div>
film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-47653614694222669242017-09-27T01:13:00.000-07:002017-09-27T01:13:21.134-07:00I am a most strange and extraordinary person. <div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Cabaret (1972)</u></b></span></div>
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Another one reviewed from memory after not seeing it for quite a few years.</div>
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In high school I had a lead role in an original musical written by our drama teacher. Despite not being able to sing (when told to sing an octave lower I asked 'what's an octave' and got told to mime - I had no solos so no real problem). It got selected to go to The National Student Drama festival held in scarbourough, which was kinda cool. And whilst there I think one of the things we saw was a production of cabaret. I barely remember it. It left no lasting impression. I was still stubborn in my distaste for musicals (even though I was in one). </div>
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But a couple of years later I went to university and saw Bob Fosse's take on the material and fell in love.</div>
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Along with Top Hat, seen a week earlier and reviewed yesterday, this really changed my opionion on what film can do.</div>
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Top Hat was sort of classically classy. Old school. Cabaret showed me what else musicals could do.</div>
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Musicals did not have to make you feel happy. Musicals did not have to be about trite feelings of love.</div>
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Musicals could be passionate about politics, reveal life in it's myriad forms and explain to me exactly why Liza Minelli was a thing (and by golly she is good in this in a way she had never equalled since).</div>
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Is there a more perfectly pointed scene showing the rise of tyranny than 'Tomorrow Belongs to Me'?</div>
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Though explicitly about the fascism created in post war Germany, it's message is timeless. We are never too far away from the creep of abused power and scapegoated minorities.</div>
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But the misery is never overpowering, it remains an enjoyable, exquisitely crafted tale with toe tapping numbers and terrific choreography. That's it's strength. And it's lasting legacy.</div>
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film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-4629751901775946432017-09-26T00:59:00.000-07:002017-09-26T00:59:33.365-07:00You blasted fool, you can't rub a girl with butter!<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Top Hat (1935)</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by me for musical week. I've been pretty tired lately so haven't watched this one for many many years so am reviewing from memory so it'll be even more vague than usual.</div>
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I really wasn't into musicals for a long time. I didn't get them, but then I did a film and tv studies course at Derby University. We were lucky enough to have a small independent cinema in the building the course was held and we got to see a lot of interesting things there. Over two weeks we saw this and another film (which I will probably cover tomorrow) which simply changed my mind over what musicals were.</div>
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I haven't watched this one for a long time so barely recall the plot but what I do vividly recall is coming out of the cinema elated. I dont dance, but I wanted to tap everywhere to 'Cheek to Cheek' - the standout number in this wonderful film. </div>
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Astaire and Rogers were a revelation to me, a graceful, charming double act but funny and sparky.</div>
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I also realised that musicals were not all that different from something else I had got into shortly before getting to university - Hong Kong action cinema (and even a bunch of westerns). The trappings were different but the effect was the same.</div>
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A grand love for movement, a heightened emotionalism, plot can be perfunctory but character can be revealed through the moves they perform rather than dialogue. </div>
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The thrills they offer reach the same part of the brain and in many ways are pure distilled cinema.</div>
film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-63172495913578322342017-09-25T01:36:00.002-07:002017-09-25T01:36:44.228-07:00I'm the only one in here I've never heard of.<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Sweet Charity (1969)</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by me for Musical theme week </div>
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(I didnt have time to rewatch it so I'm doing this from more distant memory)</div>
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One of my favourite musicals.</div>
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It is too long, and perhaps too slight but this remake of Fellini's Nights of Cabiria is a pure delight.</div>
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Shirley Maclaine is amazing as a worldly but naive proto Manic Pixie Dream Girl.</div>
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Her big difference being she is the main character so although like most MPDGs, she does not get love at the end, she is not just there to teach some boring man about it either. </div>
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And the end is defined by her hopefulness rather than despair.</div>
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But of course the real joy here is the numbers. 'There's Got to be Something Better Than This' a real stormer with Maclaine, Chita Rivera and Paula Kelly blazing up the screen in red, yellow and purple.</div>
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Sammy Davis Jnr is very funny as a strange hippie like church leader and then there is Suzanne Charny.</div>
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Charny just blows me away with her dancing in the very silly, brilliant Rich Man's Frug section. With Bob Fosse's choreography every part of her becomes a tool for dance. Hair, fingers, the way a back is arched. She's astonishing.</div>
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film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-2122787829163669032017-09-24T00:24:00.000-07:002017-09-24T00:24:27.162-07:00People love what other people are passionate about.<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>La La Land (2016)</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by me because I go to the cinema a lot for Musical theme week (might be a bit vague as going by memory, having seen it in january)</div>
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I used to hate musicals. Just did not get them. </div>
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Now I see them as pure cinema. If a film has a song and dance number in it normally goes up in my estimation. </div>
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I don't dance or sing at all. I am the world's most boring person. But I love seeing people dance.</div>
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I especially love singing and dancing about/within mundane things. Across the Universe has a scene set in a high school field where it uses the Football players exercises as the dance choreography.</div>
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La La Land opens with a scene set in a traffic jam. The song itself sets up some of the themes perhaps but is otherwise fairly pointless beyond just being fun. And that is more than enough. It's a catchy number too.</div>
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There's many beautiful moments in the film, where the sexiest thing is two people holding hands in a cinema.</div>
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It perhaps loses a little steam as it goes on, and almost forgets it's a musical. The relationship drama over taking the hollywood fantasy.</div>
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Also for a movie all about jazz, it's not so good on the actual jazz. And could barely be more white (having Gosling telling everyone how jazz should be is maybe a little galling).</div>
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Still, an absolute delight.</div>
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film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-11148544152177917852017-09-22T23:55:00.002-07:002017-09-23T05:04:54.783-07:00nostalgia is always dangerous<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>The Apple (1980)</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by me as part of Musical theme week.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everything about this is just fabulous</td></tr>
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What makes a good Bad Movie?</div>
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This idea gets looked at a lot in my favourite movie podcast - <a href="https://www.flophousepodcast.com/" target="_blank">The Flophouse</a>.</div>
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What makes a movie enjoyable even when terrible?</div>
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A big part of it can be the communal sharing. Groups of people will get together to watch The Room and wallow together in it's weirdness. I regularly go to an interactive film screening club - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Fortuneandgloryfilm/" target="_blank">Fortune and Glory</a>, which often screens ostensibly awful movies like Super Mario Bros for everyone to enjoy/endure. Watching some of these movies on your own can just highlight how dull they are. With friends around you joke and talk over the boring parts, we've had a couple of those films reviewed on here like <a href="http://mondofilmaday.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/looks-like-rat-smells-like-skunk-some.html" target="_blank">The Killer Shrews</a> and sat at my home, alone, they just weren't weren't that fun.</div>
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So I think the biggest thing a bad movie needs to be good is a singular vision, a sincere belief in the story it's telling. All too often they try for a cynical nod and a wink at the audience letting us know they know how crap they are. This moribund post modernism results in dreck like Sharknado, a selection of camp non-sensical bits that would play well as youtube videos but show no real craft or passion put together as a whole.</div>
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The Apple may be my favourite bad movie of all time.</div>
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And it is certainly pretty bad.</div>
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The lead has exactly zero charisma.</div>
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The villain cannot sing or dance in the slightest.</div>
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It has a baffling religious text layered over a baffling version of the future (well 1994) layered over a fairly dull story about the music biz.</div>
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And it's just about the best thing ever.</div>
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As if to hide how played out the actual story is (<a href="http://mondofilmaday.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/im-getting-old-i-cant-bear-it.html" target="_blank">The Phantom of the Paradise</a> toyed with the Faustian bargain and music industry far more interestingly) everything is FUTURE. All the cars have plastic fins and bubbles, looking like the car Homer designs in the episode of the Simpsons where he finds his long lost brother.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiELkYPsNqTz0Hwd8pAzax_PZXMsTvrk6OooK83virXxkOb-94GWn2PegSQAoPYv2DMan6Quda5cE58YT4BUsc3kFIvIxyOwDn1xs_31hgeePVAtg_qZ_pz9ZJD8Ta2uZHOm5WXLimblZs/s1600/TheHomer.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiELkYPsNqTz0Hwd8pAzax_PZXMsTvrk6OooK83virXxkOb-94GWn2PegSQAoPYv2DMan6Quda5cE58YT4BUsc3kFIvIxyOwDn1xs_31hgeePVAtg_qZ_pz9ZJD8Ta2uZHOm5WXLimblZs/s1600/TheHomer.png" /></a></div>
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But what raises this film from a funny but cliche version of future tech is that you see a couple of prams being pushed along by mothers that also have silver fins and plastic bubbles. Because obviously that is how babies should be transported in the FUTURE.</div>
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Vladek Sheybal, of From Russia With Love plays the devil like record boss and can't quite pull off a Christopher Walken in Puss in Boots but has a damn good try.</div>
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His major song is performed in what looks like an airport lobby with a couple of signs added in to suggest it's a record label headquarters and is just delightfully weird. A company of 'Ballet' dancers in silver (naturally it's the FUTURE) sparkly costumes parade around whilst he sings, well talks with a very, very slight tonal cadence about show-bizness (it's the FUTURE so you can definitely hear the Z).</div>
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For wirdness this is only matched by the dream(?) sequence musical number where the two leads are dressed up as Adam and Eve and an Apple (hey it's the title of the movie!) is offered.</div>
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Although the seduction number, which is somehow even less subtle than Grease 2's Reproduction song is amazing and simply has the singer say how much she wants to come all over the male lead. Or wants all his come. I dont know that I've ever been so confused and aroused at the same time.</div>
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I dont know that i've even scratched the surface of how strange this movie is (I didnt even tell you about Miriam Margoyles playing a broad Jewish stereotype who is introduced being told by a policeman to wear an identifying sticker or how Joss Acklund plays a hippie commune leader who turns out to be God) and how delightful I found it all.</div>
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I've never really been into the whole "I love it because of how bad it is" but if all bad movies were this offbeat, this idiosyncratic then sign me up,</div>
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film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-8305964691745435992017-09-22T00:59:00.000-07:002017-09-22T00:59:34.098-07:00Two feet... They're not as easy as I thought they'd be, Master.<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Puss in Boots (1988)</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by me from netflix because Christopher Walken is awesome. </div>
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There was some recent moaning about the two leads in LaLa Land not being good song and dance people. I like that movie a lot (and may cover it here soon) and actually really like that Gosling is not the best at, you know, the musical bits (I think Emma Stone is perfectly good). Romance and Cigarettes is another musical I really like with less than talented performers (also, as it happens, featuring the Walkmeister). There's something about throwing yourself so fully into a thing that you dont mind how bad you look that appeals to me. It's endearing.</div>
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I dont sing or dance. At all. I can't even sing happy birthday to people. It's an issue and I hate it about myself. Once I went to a club with some friends (a very rare occurrence) and one of them, that I just assumed would be good at dancing, was just terrible. But it didnt matter, he had fun, people respond to that. I have a perpetual rod rammed so far up my backside you can see it if I yawn. </div>
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Christopher Walken is my friend at the club.</div>
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It doesn't matter that his singing is pretty awful, that his dancing is not much better. He is having an absolute blast and it almost carries the movie.</div>
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Unfortunately it's let down by a couple of things - no-one else is all that great either (Jason Connery has a dubbed singing voice - Nick Curtis - and it's still bad, why bother getting someone else to do it then?) except the astonishingly beautiful Carmela Marner and that the songs are generally pretty dull.</div>
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One, a double duet split over two locations is pretty witty though not especially interesting tune wise and anytime Walken throws himself into a song you can't help but be pulled along with it.</div>
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I'm not too knowledgeable with the Puss in Boots story, so dont know how this differs, but just as I was finding it iffy using deception to get someone to marry you, Connery comes clean to Marner and she is instrumental in pushing him forwards with his lies to get what she wants (even if that thing is just a man) which whilst not exactly a strong feminist stance is at least giving her some agency. </div>
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And she gets the funniest bit of business in the film, when she fake feints and tries to shoo Connery away in the confusion.</div>
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A bit too bland and a shade too long to be a lost classic children's film but fun in parts and worth seeing for Walken's sheer delight in playing a musical cat.</div>
film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-83939915586818951592017-09-21T02:45:00.004-07:002017-09-21T02:45:51.457-07:00Kingsman is crumpets!<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by me because I like to go to the cinema a lot.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamDZUuuBTubQT4LzgVp6E4ehjJjnliOQrfP1lDlnteMIsYewtgctWyNefji67v1y9mHHgtiNBeCrSvZh3KG0781NSHpTNlgmcKi5LtERErBoebveBlau1A3PdP4EuSaFz6BlD0RrgCDQ/s1600/kingsman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="182" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamDZUuuBTubQT4LzgVp6E4ehjJjnliOQrfP1lDlnteMIsYewtgctWyNefji67v1y9mHHgtiNBeCrSvZh3KG0781NSHpTNlgmcKi5LtERErBoebveBlau1A3PdP4EuSaFz6BlD0RrgCDQ/s320/kingsman.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>
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The first Kingsman movie was trash. But it was trash that almost transcended into something interesting. It's confused mix of nihilism and ultra conservatism didnt quite work as a critique of the status quo loving Bond movies but it did create an indelible image of a bunch of rich privileged arseholes' heads popping off in colourful ways.</div>
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This sequel doesn't even come close to matching anything that gleefully bizarre.</div>
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All of the action sequences are shot in a strangely heightened manner that makes everything seem as if it is separate instances of computer game cut scenes with the editing in-between being hard to follow with a human eye. This flattens out the fights into dull poses that work in a trailer but play badly in full context.</div>
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Julianne Moore is fine as the antagonist but her character is one of those jokes that works better on paper than fully realised and undermines the film as she is too dull a threat, her plot making absolutely no sense and she steals a bit from a far superior billionaire Super-villain. </div>
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There is almost a riposte to the interchangeability of women in the Bond series with our hero here still going out with the Princess from the first movie (perhaps as apologia for the horrendous way she was used as a punchline slash reward at that films conclusion) but other than that this film really wants to put the Man into Kingsman and women are used as side dressing, killed off, humiliated and discarded as the mess of a plot deems necessary. Julianne Moore isnt even deemed interesting enough to be the final villain.</div>
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Pretty much a big waste of a talented cast.</div>
film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-17682137695973977682017-09-20T01:18:00.000-07:002017-09-20T01:18:12.147-07:00there is no salvation without suffering<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Contratiempo/The Invisible Guest (2016)</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by Jen on a facebook post looking for suggestions</div>
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The sort of twisty turny nonsense in the mold of Presumed Innocent or Gone Girl and I will be discussing some plot beats so be aware the two of you that might read this and want to watch the film.</div>
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It hints at being a locked room mystery in the vein of Jonathan Creek but also wants to be a peculiarly specific legal drama (the film though ridden with flashbacks is technically set within one room with just the accused and a witness preparation expert).</div>
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It really needed a little extra oomph, a sense of Gone Girl's style or over-the-top silliness to get past being just another slightly dull blue and grey thriller but it does at least one clever thing that almost makes it all worthwhile.</div>
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One twist (easily spotted if you've seen a the Magic convention episode of the detective show Psych)</div>
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leads interestingly into another, more pointed one that plays with the audience perception of what a film noir is and how femmes fatales operate. </div>
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That second (major one, there's lots of small twist bumps along the way) one is unfortunately let down a little by two things. One: it cant help but try to be too clever and tips it's hand in some of the first bits of dialogue (if someone says "you are not more clever than me" in a movie like this you should probably pay attention). </div>
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And two: a terrible fake nose and wig (although that said, I didnt clock to this until the reveal of the Psych twist, so either it was shot more coyly earlier or I wasn't paying attention).</div>
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Still, it's perfectly watchable and if it had a bit more confidence in itself and it's audience (constantly showing you things that just happened like 20 minutes ago as if this were four teevee episodes strung together) could be a minor classic of the unreliable narrator form. </div>
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Unfortunately the most interesting aspect, examining male privilege and how woman are positioned in stories like this is diffused by the nature of the beast - it has to be a mystery with sudden reveals and no real time to explore them before the next reveal.</div>
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film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-45134613499202651842017-09-19T01:12:00.000-07:002017-09-19T01:12:26.929-07:00 Are you a punctual and reliable person?<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by me whilst at my parents by turning on the teevee </div>
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and finding the first movie that had jut started.</div>
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Almost, almost really really good. </div>
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It strips out any sense of extraneous character stuff. Providing a bare bones narrative that is literally just an excuse for the next fight to happen.</div>
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And despite being incredibly cheap (there's essentially two locations) manages to be shot well and is an efficient tale with just enough weirdo personality to keep it interesting.</div>
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It never quite plays the way you think it will, the 'ultimate rematch' as the cover has it is a good, brutal take down with an amazingly silly over the top death but is given no weight dramatically, as neither Lundgren nor Van Damme appear to have the history given to them in the first film, which plays into the films odd tone as these are just pawns built to kill and nothing more.</div>
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Not quite a hidden classic but a solid and fun B movie better than it had any need to be. </div>
film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-56430508745962352202017-09-18T01:12:00.000-07:002017-09-18T01:12:35.018-07:00I like your pipe<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Big Ass Spider (2013)</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by me as I was staying at my parents and flicked through the channels </div>
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till I found a film that had just started.</div>
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Though as flatly directed and cheap as any of those interminable syfy channel movies with various creatures in the title this is a little more fun and a little more clever (not that that would take much).</div>
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The pacing is pretty strong, just as it looks like it will take the route of so many lazy, cheap z grade films before it by sticking to some generic looking basements and sewers it opens out into the parks and streets of LA and chomps down on a regulation genre cameo (in this case Troma mascot Lloyd Kaufman).</div>
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The sense of fun is palpable in the rather mixed bag of performances, Grunberg and Kramer can't quite make the forced relationship stuff work (he's a creep, she...just ignores that I guess) but Grunberg and Boyar are a great double act and Ray Wise as ever classes up the joint.</div>
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film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-81389409284553558622017-09-17T02:00:00.000-07:002017-09-17T02:00:31.356-07:00What the hell is F.U.B.A.R?<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Tango and Cash (1989)</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by me because I was staying at my parents and just put on whatever movie was about to start. Also, loved this when I was younger and my favourite podcast The Flophouse covered it for their 100th episode <a href="https://www.flophousepodcast.com/2012/04/episode-100-tango-cash/" target="_blank">here</a> (and are super smart and funny in a way im not so go and listen to it)</div>
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The original Odd Couple!</div>
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One dresses in Armani, the other in slobby clothes. They're miss matched buddy cops. Except they are both exactly the same.</div>
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The kind of movie that keeps repeating the main characters names over and over and over again as if a magic chant, that two cops get front page coverage, that has people having sex in a car park during a car chase with no real set up or payoff just to get some tits in the film, steam is everywhere (it's the 80s), nothing makes sense and has the usual bullshit casual homophobia. Although it's also pretty homoerotic and seems more interested in men's bodies than women's (despite having tits earlier in the film, when they go to a strip club there's no actual nudity). </div>
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It's pretty much an ode to police brutality, in a supposedly eloquent speech Stallone, defending himself from a set-up murder charge, admits in court to the sin of being too aggressive, the police department has some kind of experimental weapons lab with a Q figure.</div>
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It's all very silly, things smash (why shoot at someone, when you can shoot at someone through a mirror on a door), things explode, quips are made (not exactly high quality but sold with conviction) and it's the most 80s thing ever made. </div>
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It's full of interesting faces like Michael J. Pollard, Brion James, Eddie Bunker and Robert Z'Dar and uzis. </div>
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Lots of uzis.</div>
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It's about as stupid as you can get but mostly fun.</div>
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film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1069585207818482096.post-21993697220163869332017-09-16T00:50:00.000-07:002017-09-16T00:50:13.090-07:00Don't you ever devalue what you do, Mary.<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>American Mary (2012)</u></b></span></div>
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Chosen by Laura after asking on facebook. She had this to say "<span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">I didn't find it that scary- more gory. nice light comedy moments too. </span><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">plus the whole thing is utterly ridiculous</span><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">" </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Approaching more arthouse than horror territory, this is closer to Cronenberg or Lynch in tone but more aligned with Eli Roth (who gets a nod in the credits) in general quality.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Katherine Isabelle once more rules over all and it's hard to imagine this film working as much as it does without the backbone of her terrific, eccentric performance.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">The rest of the cast is uneven though often interesting in the way that more polished movies can flatten out (a Betty Boop inspired body mod fan is sweetly unsettling).</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">The Soska Twins are far less successful as actors than directors which makes a short but pointless digression with them a bit of a chore.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Their writing is also a little wonky, the first act strong but overlong which unbalances the film and a climax which is too rushed to leave an impact.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">I don't know what the actual body mod community would make of this film (because i never do any real research for these reviews) as it both celebrates and exploits them. But perhaps that is appropriate? The worst people in it are the non-modded. But Mary herself becomes more and more unhinged in her dealings with the community (who all seem to be super rich, and apart from a couple of cases I'm not quite sure why they need an underground doctor?) though it is all kicked into gear by an unpleasant rape scene (though fairly tactful as far as things go in these kind of movies) so it's hard to know if there's any statement being made here or just the trappings of an exploitation movie hung on what-ever background could look interesting.</span></div>
film nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886784648182403467noreply@blogger.com0