Midweek Movie Free Talk

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre - 6/10.

It seemed like it wanted to be more than just another action movie. There were a lot of great locations and action scenes, but they lacked oomph. There was basically never any danger - Jason Statham seemed like he was sleepwalking through every single enemy. I don't think he even once was anywhere close to losing a fight? It got kind of boring but there was still a lot of spectacle and things to enjoy, like Aubrey Plaza who was funny as an overly cheesy seductive sidekick.

The Covenant - 7/10.

Quite tense war movie. The behind enemy lines type film is pretty rare I feel, and what they did with it in this film worked really well. Other things less so, especially the last part which seemed rushed and crammed into the runtime (which they should have cut by 10-15 minutes) and just.. that type of final big battle at a big location/compound is a boring an overused trope. Jake Gyllenhaal was great as ever and so was Dar Salim who is a Scandinavian icon.

I watched Tati's Play time tonight based on what Coppola said about him in the criterion picks video. Went in blind and overall it was enjoyable even though I was not in the right frame of mind for it. Still I reckon I'd watch it again coz there is just so much going on.

Also finally saw suspiria since iv not delved in to the giallo film genre and figured it's time. This was also inspired by the new uncle acid album. The movie was enjoyable and the soundtrack was great. I am partial to over the top horror/suspenseful films and this was exactly that. It also looked and felt cool with the lighting and set design.

I was going to wait until I saw A Complete Unknown and Babygirl before making this post, but that likely won't happen until the weekend. So:

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

I liked this enough for a kids movie. Actually, I was surprised how effective the drama was for Shadow the Hedgehog. It felt like a proper movie. Strangely the parts that work the least are the ones that focus solely on Sonic, while the Shadow and Eggman stroylines are much more entertaining. Also, some really good action: there's a great scene involving Shadow riding a motorcycle.

Mufasa: The Lion King

I thought this felt incomplete. It felt like the VFX wasn't properly rendered. I don't see any of Barry Jenkins personality here. The script is so thin, and it is essentially the same plot as Transformer One (another middling prequel to children's IP).

I did like one of the songs, however, which was inevitable since Lin Manuel-Miranda wrote the music. Bye Bye, the villain song, is something that got stuck in my head and which I've been listening to a lot.

Nosferatu

I've never really connected to any of Robert Eggers movies. This wasn't an exception. His films are technically quite impressive, they're just always slow and distant and dull. The first 30 minutes here are really exciting, but then it drags.

The cinematography and score are impressive. But the highlight of the film is Lily Rose-Depp. I think she has the makings of an incredibly strong actress, and someone that will stand out from her generation. It does seem like her father's talent passed on to her.

A Complete Unknown

I loved this. I didn't care for Walk the Line but this was great. Everyone always talks about the music biopic cliches, which were established by Walk the Line, but Mangold decided to avoid those by focusing on one specific time period in Dylan's life. There is such a warm look to the film, it's either actually shot on 35mm or made to look like it was. But it gives it this winter cozy hue.

Chalamet is great, as is Fanning and Monica Barbaro. I loved the inclusion of Johnny Cash, and there are references to Walk the Line including the use of "It Ain't Me Babe" which Phoenix and Witherspoon sang together.

The Order

This is a lesser known film since it doesn't have a major distributor, which I find strange. It stars Jude Law and Nicolas Hoult, is directed by the guy who did 2015's Macbeth and 2016's Assasins Creed, and is written by the guy who wrote King Richard (for which he earned an Oscar nomination for).

It's a throwback to New Hollywood crime dramas. Expertly crafted with great performances and actually tense.

After Yang from 2021 directed by Kogonada based on a short story by Alexander Weinstein. This was a small budget near future science fiction film not unlike Her and Ex Machina and I really wanted to like this film, but it doesn't reach the heights of those other two. It is about a couple who has an adopted daughter and the android Yang who works as a sort of bigger brother. Seems like a genuinely happy little family. One day Yang breaks down, it is out of warranty and fixing him doesn't seem possible. This throws the family into a great deal of turmoil, conflicts and dilemmas. Afterwards I read the original story and I think the film script is a pretty good expansion, as the original story would not have been enough for a whole movie and the additions were quite interesting. It sets up a backdrop where there might be more hidden in this android technology than is publicly known, and the family faces some interesting ethical dilemmas with what to do with Yang's memories. However, I think the film techniques used makes the story very emotionally cold. The acting is very formal and restrained, far from natural. That could have been fine if the theme of the story was something different, but it really tries to sets itself up for a personal and emotional traumatic story. The score was incredibly manipulative in that regard, which often has the opposite effect on me when a film almost screams "this scene is really sad!". But I also really appreciate that this film exists because I think there is a great lack of these types of smaller scale near future science fiction films, that can take on complicated issues with our relationship with technology. The script is great, but I didn't like the directional choices made here.