Midweek Movie Free Talk

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire - 5/10

This franchise is becoming increasingly Marvelized: bigger stakes, bigger effects, more shit happening. Godzilla from 2014 and Kong: Skull Island remain by far the best of the series, and while I am continuing to be entertained by even this newest addition (which is the worst of them), I do feel it's a shame that it's taken this turn and shifted its tone etc. so much. Glad I didn't pay go to the cinema and paid for a ticket to watch it.

Der Hauptmann - 7/10

English title The Captain. Bizarre yet intriguing! A German deserter in the final weeks of WWII escapes capture, finds a Captain's uniform, then assumes the role of a German officer. Artsy movies can often go way over my head because while it has become a bit of a meme, I truly do lack media literacy - I am not ashamed to admit that I really do struggle with symbolism and reading between the lines. So certain points of the movie didn't land for me. But the ones that did, they really did.

Spoilers below.

As the viewer, you really cheer for the guy in the first act of the movie as he successfully evades being found out - you just want him to survive. He soon enough realizes just how much power he wields, and he is slowly consumed by it, beginning with executing a looter in order to hold up his facade as a Captain, but later he does increasingly unnecessary things, committing crimes against humanity and mass murders. This film is a great study of human survival and desperation as it starts out being very grounded and real before it then delves into more and more extremity, more and more absurdity. Quite an experience to watch, and the way in which you, as the viewer, become aware that you are watching a seemingly innocent human being slowly but surely transform into a monster was very well done.

Tonight I watched Linklater's Hit Man. It was... fine. I'll never think about it ever again.

Last night I watched Cat Ballou (1965) and loved it! There are a lot of films like this that I'd typically pass over, but thanks to my new calendar system, I'm tucking into them and reaping the rewards. Lee Marvin is hilarious. If he's in the frame, just watch him chew it up. Solid gold.

Tuesday I watched Ballet 422 (2014) which was good but felt mechanical, if that makes any sense. It was one of those 'this happens, this happens, this happens, bam! time for the show... and we're back to the same old' movies. Kind of a shame, but if that's how it all played out, good on the guy. Tiler Peck is always a treat.

I finally watched Gates of Heaven by Errol Morris and — wow — is all I can say. One of the best documentaries I have ever seen, and possibly one of the best films period. Maybe I'll cool on it a bit if i sit with it but not only was it beautifully shot but every moment felt like he caught magic on film. It was a movie where everyone was saying one thing but they meant another.

Hit Man

This got raves out of TIFF last year, with an 83 on Metacritic and a 98% on RT. On the box office forum I'm on, there's a lot of people saying this was okay and they don't understand the raves, it wouldn't have made a dent at the box office, etc.

I liked this a lot. The Linklater film it shares it's DNA with the most is Bernie. Bernie was satirizing small American towns, and analyzing their social hierarchy. This is satirizing how perceptions are altered by the media, to the point where the myth of the Hit Man is so pervasive. It also tackles stuff Linklater's is familiar with like the mundanity of every day life and existentialism. It also functions as a nice rom-com of sorts. With a very engaging romance between the characters.

Glen Powell has range man. He wrote this, so I think he wrote this with the idea of showing off his acting skills. Part of the schtick is that he pretends to be a different type of Hit Man depending on the person. He does a Patrick Bateman imitation for one to give an example. And he kills it. It's been interesting how he's been having this moment ever since Top Gun. Part of the reason I think this should have gone to theaters is I think it could have helped that momentum for him, although that's a gamble considering this could have flopped. But we'll see how he does with Twisters.

Anyways, It's a fun funny movie. I'd recommend watching it.

I watched Mars Express the other day. It's a noir cyberpunk detective story. I wasn't expecting much, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The immediate comparisons are Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell.

I should point out that I watched this without viewing the trailer. I watched the trailer after having seen the movie, and I feel the trailer spoils a few surprise moments. So, maybe avoid the trailer if you can.

I watched it in French, so I can't say whether the english dub is any good, but the French voice actors were great.

Love Reset or 30일

This movie came up a few times when I was searching for a Korean movie to watch. After seeing a few clips on YouTube, I decided to watch this movie this weekend and I'm glad I did, this is a great romantic comedy film!

The movie follows Jung-Yeol and Na-Ra, a couple who got married despite their families opposing it. However, after a few years of marriage they are ready to divorce each other and the courts have a 30 day period before it's finalized. However, as they walk out of the courtroom and drive home, they get into an accident, giving them both amnesia. The couple quickly start to fall in love with each other and their family members devise a plan for the couple for regain their memories and finalize the divorce.

This movie did a great job with both the romance and the comedy. Both Kang Ha-Neul and Jung So-Min have great chemistry. The writing was also great, inserting comedy at all the right moments. I've watched both Kang Ha-Neul and Jung So-Min in other dramas so its nice seeing them together in something too. Highly recommend watching this if you're into rom-coms, this really nails it.

Took my daughter to see The Garfield Movie, not really expecting too much, but it was still mostly a disappointment. Garfield as a kitten is genuinely cute, the animation is okay and they have some creative variety with different styles in some scenes. We get a couple of funny moments, but most of them were in the trailer and are in the first few minutes as part of montage of who Garfield is (likes to eat, is lazy, hates Mondays etc.), whereas the rest of the movie is just a mess of a fast paced rescue heist plot that has too much going on. The thing is, Garfield isn't really a kids cartoon to begin with in my opinion. I doubt many kids these days know who Garfield is, so the intended audience is likely someone like me who read the comic and saw Garfield and friends as a kid and now have their own kids to show something to. They seem to know that since there is a bunch of adult cultural references and at least an acknowledgement of the sarcastic cat we know, but they also need to slap some generic kids-animation-moral-plot onto it and that was just very uninspiring. It feels wrong to add a father character to Garfield and generally Garfield would be way too lazy to do all the stuff he does here. The best characters are Odie and Jon and they are only on screen for a handful of minutes. Can't say I am surprised though as Garfield has already been extremely commercialized decades ago, but it is still a rather pointless universe for a generic kids movie.

In a completely different ballpark I have also been (re)visiting the Lethal Weapon movies. Perfect well tuned buddy cop action. They know that it is Riggs and Murtaugh who makes the series work, so plot takes somewhat of a backseat and that is totally fine. The bad guys are just bad guys. Some of the humor was hit and miss for me, with some stuff being too drawn out for what it could take, but everything is saved by the two leads - Danny Glover in particular. I was pleasantly surprised with the fourth one and how it developed their friendship even further, and it was just a nice resolution to the series - so far. All the action holds up extremely well. They really did some amazing car stunts that are still hard to beat without CGI.