Uses that 'The Peanut Butter Falcon' method of mixing a steady dose of vulgarity in the with the G-rated formula to try and throw off the high-brows, who would probably otherwise regard it as disposable Hallmark kitsch.
Very Steven King (Reminded me most of ‘Storm of the Century’). The juxtaposition of religious and horror myths is clever.
I suppose the final implication is that the preacher "mistook" a vampire for an angel, but in the fictional context, I'm not entirely sure he was originally mistaken, and I'm almost disappointed with the resolution suggesting he was (a change of heart which is abrupt and unearned). Of course the idea that devils have bat wings and angels are beautiful doves isn't anywhere in the bible, but angels are instead described as frightening monsters (like the preacher says). And I further can't remember any biblical passages where the devil can bestow any special powers like resurrection. Instead powers always come from God. So in the a universe where we assume Christianity is true and vampires exist, I think it actually makes a lot more sense to interpret these creatures as some sort of divine beings instead of Satanic ones.
I like to inform people that Citizen Kane was not, in fact, Orson Welles' first film, it was actually a movie called "Too Much Johnson" about a woman with two lovers.
What was the point of the Rashomon framework when everyone tells the same story? I mean I get that Hollywood is too in the doghouse about this to depict ambiguity about rape events. OK, fine, then don't do rape Rashomon. Or just tell the story and make a normal length movie without needlessly repeated scenes.
My first thought when watching the beautiful candy-colored musicals of the 50s and 60s is always "Great, but can't it be ugly?" Like can we wash out most of the color, and give it kind of a muddy digital feel. Also where are the fucking lens flares? So I was pretty much thrilled with this aesthetically enhanced update to the 1961 classic. Although I was disappointed Spielberg did not switch to comic sans for the title font.
'The Ladies Man' seriously had my attention for maybe 30 minutes when it seemed like there was a strange, mysterious plot unfolding. After graduating college, Jerry Lewis's Herbert Herberts (or whatever: this movie confirms Roger Ebert's warning about comedies that use "funny" names) is presented with a world that seemingly only offers gigolo work for men. This is certainly hinted at with sly winks for the odd female dormitory where Lewis is hired for unspecified work, suggesting perhaps some sort of 'Children of Men'-esque scenario of fertile male remnants in a world of (fall-out induced?) mass sterility. But then there is a sinister hint that maybe his character will be sacrificed or some such after three days, suggesting this could also be a 'Wicker Man'-esque cult or coven.
These speculations were unfortunately much more interesting than what *actually* happens, which is exactly nothing. There is in fact no plot, just unrelated (and mostly unfunny) skits about Lewis doing odd jobs at a boarding house.
At its best the movie has the anarchic sense of humor of the Marx Brothers, and operates by cartoon logic (e.g. a scene that represents panic by having Lewis split into several clones that run chaotically over the large multi-level doll house set). My favorite anarchic bit is an absurdist jazz dance between Lewis and a literal 60s goth woman.
Lewis at least tries to resurrect the dead physical comedy of Keaton and Chaplin, but the problem is, unlike say Rowan Atkins's later attempt with Mr. Bean, Lewis just isn't that great at it! Like a hyperactive middle school student, Lewis is a frustratingly undisciplined comedian whose gags are mostly of the cheap class clown variety: "I am making random weird faces, PLEASE LOOK AT ME!!" So 'The Ladies Man' feels like it had promise, occasionally entertains, but is largely disappointing.
I usually feel like a mini-series is a better format than a movie, but this was pretty thin for 8 hours, and would've worked fine as a standard two hour killer thriller.
The dreamy style, immersed in flashback, elevated what was by the point of the rushed Scooby-Doo ending, clearly just a run-of-the-mill best-seller potboiler, not unlike Flynn's other book-to-screen: Gone Girl.
The two lead actresses are talented and the performances can be compelling, but the character behavior and emotions often seem like they are from an alien planet. The show takes the form of a spy thriller, but these aspects are little more than a setting for a slightly trashy soap opera.
This is probably my favorite series of the 2010s, despite my blanket distaste for nostalgic reboots. Part of the appeal is that it uses the flaws of the 1984 movie to its advantage. Even though 'The Karate Kid' was written as a simple morality tale about a working class transfer student defending himself against a rich bully, a popular Youtube video from 2015 made a comical (but persuasive!) case that our boy Daniel-san was actually always the one picking those fights with Johnny. I assume it's not coincidental then that Cobra Kai debuted on Youtube several years later, running with this revisionist take: presenting the adult Johnny as a sympathetic blue collar underdog, and Daniel as a frequently insufferable, rich asshole.
But the show does better than a simple role reversal, developing both of these characters (and many in the large ensemble cast) far more than the uni-dimensional portrayals in the original movies. The show frequently and deliberately upsets your instincts to pigeon hole and "pick sides" (although by the end of season 4 the formula is beginning to show signs of wear, as previous "bad guys" are cyclically redeemed and new "real" bad guys are introduced to fuel additional seasons).
The show is also a satisfying love note to the fun ridiculousness of 1980s popculture and its self-parodic brand of masculinity: from pro-wrestling to hard rock to... well, martial arts. In fact the largest hero-to-villain twist of the series is probably karate itself, as even "self-defensive" Miyagi fighting -- like guns and war and other dubious instruments of peace -- often just ends up leading to more violence.
Don't know what the Adams' books are like but this feels like a live action 'Baccano!', with an overstuffed ensemble cast of zany characters bouncing off one another as they scramble around for who knows what. It's fun!
The Matrix 4 is about as bad as you would predict from the decline in quality between the first three movies. This also allows us to confidently extrapolate that any further attempts on this franchise will be 'Baby Geniuses 2' tier horseshit.
This didn't really go in the direction I wanted it to go, but I was kind of vibing with the first half that felt like a lost 90s Neil LaBute screenplay with a tense horror soundtrack.
After the first "act" I really thought this movie was going to be taking us down a rabbit hole of Rick and Morty style multiverse mindfuks, but then... nope. Just poor pacing, illogical script choices, and weird plot holes.
Should have stuck with the new main character instead of abandoning the promising plot with his double and just going back to Tree.
Having three Oscar winning actresses as leads is already a uniquely stellar ensemble cast, even for a movie, much a less a TV series, but then if you stick around for the second season they add in fucking Meryl Streep.
It doesn't go unrewarded; this series is full of so much stand-out performance energy; it literally might be the most female acting talent ever crammed into one film.
Comments 1 - 25 of 590
Movie comment on Wednesday
greenhorg
Daria PotterMovie comment on CODA
greenhorg
Uses that 'The Peanut Butter Falcon' method of mixing a steady dose of vulgarity in the with the G-rated formula to try and throw off the high-brows, who would probably otherwise regard it as disposable Hallmark kitsch.Movie comment on Midnight Mass
greenhorg
Very Steven King (Reminded me most of ‘Storm of the Century’). The juxtaposition of religious and horror myths is clever.Movie comment on Too Much Johnson
greenhorg
I like to inform people that Citizen Kane was not, in fact, Orson Welles' first film, it was actually a movie called "Too Much Johnson" about a woman with two lovers.Movie comment on Maniac
greenhorg
This feels like an obvious mash-up of a lot of things I liked from the ~2000s: Eternal Sunshine, The Fall, Wes Anderson, Inception...But it turns out (unsurprisingly?) that an obvious mash-up of things I like is pretty likable.
Movie comment on Nightmare Alley
greenhorg
I thought the production code mandated that villains be given unhappy endings. It would have been better!Movie comment on Jackass Forever
greenhorg
Movie comment on The Last Duel
greenhorg
What was the point of the Rashomon framework when everyone tells the same story? I mean I get that Hollywood is too in the doghouse about this to depict ambiguity about rape events. OK, fine, then don't do rape Rashomon. Or just tell the story and make a normal length movie without needlessly repeated scenes.Movie comment on West Side Story
greenhorg
My first thought when watching the beautiful candy-colored musicals of the 50s and 60s is always "Great, but can't it be ugly?" Like can we wash out most of the color, and give it kind of a muddy digital feel. Also where are the fucking lens flares? So I was pretty much thrilled with this aesthetically enhanced update to the 1961 classic. Although I was disappointed Spielberg did not switch to comic sans for the title font.Movie comment on The Ladies Man
greenhorg
'The Ladies Man' seriously had my attention for maybe 30 minutes when it seemed like there was a strange, mysterious plot unfolding. After graduating college, Jerry Lewis's Herbert Herberts (or whatever: this movie confirms Roger Ebert's warning about comedies that use "funny" names) is presented with a world that seemingly only offers gigolo work for men. This is certainly hinted at with sly winks for the odd female dormitory where Lewis is hired for unspecified work, suggesting perhaps some sort of 'Children of Men'-esque scenario of fertile male remnants in a world of (fall-out induced?) mass sterility. But then there is a sinister hint that maybe his character will be sacrificed or some such after three days, suggesting this could also be a 'Wicker Man'-esque cult or coven.These speculations were unfortunately much more interesting than what *actually* happens, which is exactly nothing. There is in fact no plot, just unrelated (and mostly unfunny) skits about Lewis doing odd jobs at a boarding house.
At its best the movie has the anarchic sense of humor of the Marx Brothers, and operates by cartoon logic (e.g. a scene that represents panic by having Lewis split into several clones that run chaotically over the large multi-level doll house set). My favorite anarchic bit is an absurdist jazz dance between Lewis and a literal 60s goth woman.
Lewis at least tries to resurrect the dead physical comedy of Keaton and Chaplin, but the problem is, unlike say Rowan Atkins's later attempt with Mr. Bean, Lewis just isn't that great at it! Like a hyperactive middle school student, Lewis is a frustratingly undisciplined comedian whose gags are mostly of the cheap class clown variety: "I am making random weird faces, PLEASE LOOK AT ME!!" So 'The Ladies Man' feels like it had promise, occasionally entertains, but is largely disappointing.
Movie comment on The Batman
greenhorg
when you get done watching a 6 hour batman movie with no intermission:Movie comment on Sharp Objects
greenhorg
I usually feel like a mini-series is a better format than a movie, but this was pretty thin for 8 hours, and would've worked fine as a standard two hour killer thriller.The dreamy style, immersed in flashback, elevated what was by the point of the rushed Scooby-Doo ending, clearly just a run-of-the-mill best-seller potboiler, not unlike Flynn's other book-to-screen: Gone Girl.
Movie comment on Old
greenhorg
Not since Adam Sandler's Click (2006) has there been such a poignant reflection on the ephemeral nature of being.Movie comment on Killing Eve
greenhorg
The two lead actresses are talented and the performances can be compelling, but the character behavior and emotions often seem like they are from an alien planet. The show takes the form of a spy thriller, but these aspects are little more than a setting for a slightly trashy soap opera.Movie comment on The Karate Kid
greenhorg
Plot summary: An underclass teen brings conflict and violence to an affluent high schoolMovie comment on Cobra Kai
greenhorg
This is probably my favorite series of the 2010s, despite my blanket distaste for nostalgic reboots. Part of the appeal is that it uses the flaws of the 1984 movie to its advantage. Even though 'The Karate Kid' was written as a simple morality tale about a working class transfer student defending himself against a rich bully, a popular Youtube video from 2015 made a comical (but persuasive!) case that our boy Daniel-san was actually always the one picking those fights with Johnny. I assume it's not coincidental then that Cobra Kai debuted on Youtube several years later, running with this revisionist take: presenting the adult Johnny as a sympathetic blue collar underdog, and Daniel as a frequently insufferable, rich asshole.But the show does better than a simple role reversal, developing both of these characters (and many in the large ensemble cast) far more than the uni-dimensional portrayals in the original movies. The show frequently and deliberately upsets your instincts to pigeon hole and "pick sides" (although by the end of season 4 the formula is beginning to show signs of wear, as previous "bad guys" are cyclically redeemed and new "real" bad guys are introduced to fuel additional seasons).
The show is also a satisfying love note to the fun ridiculousness of 1980s popculture and its self-parodic brand of masculinity: from pro-wrestling to hard rock to... well, martial arts. In fact the largest hero-to-villain twist of the series is probably karate itself, as even "self-defensive" Miyagi fighting -- like guns and war and other dubious instruments of peace -- often just ends up leading to more violence.
Movie comment on Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
greenhorg
Don't know what the Adams' books are like but this feels like a live action 'Baccano!', with an overstuffed ensemble cast of zany characters bouncing off one another as they scramble around for who knows what. It's fun!Movie comment on Don't Look Up
greenhorg
Is this the movie where Bob Dylan gets stabbed by a midget?Movie comment on The Matrix Resurrections
greenhorg
The Matrix 4 is about as bad as you would predict from the decline in quality between the first three movies. This also allows us to confidently extrapolate that any further attempts on this franchise will be 'Baby Geniuses 2' tier horseshit.Movie comment on Queen of Earth
greenhorg
This didn't really go in the direction I wanted it to go, but I was kind of vibing with the first half that felt like a lost 90s Neil LaBute screenplay with a tense horror soundtrack.Movie comment on Happy Death Day 2U
greenhorg
After the first "act" I really thought this movie was going to be taking us down a rabbit hole of Rick and Morty style multiverse mindfuks, but then... nope. Just poor pacing, illogical script choices, and weird plot holes.Should have stuck with the new main character instead of abandoning the promising plot with his double and just going back to Tree.
Movie comment on One from the Heart
greenhorg
Eye candy direction by Coppola (in full Orson Welles mode) and a great Tom Waits soundtrack. Awful screenplay.In other words a good longform music video, but I wish there were real characters and a story to inhabit it all.
Movie comment on Greener Grass
greenhorg
I already watched Beverly Luff Linn last year and this Adult Swim humor gets stale fast. It peaked with Tim & Eric and even that peak was pretty low.Movie comment on Mid90s
greenhorg
This really feels like someone watched Kids (1995) and then made a movie.Movie comment on Big Little Lies
greenhorg
Having three Oscar winning actresses as leads is already a uniquely stellar ensemble cast, even for a movie, much a less a TV series, but then if you stick around for the second season they add in fucking Meryl Streep.It doesn't go unrewarded; this series is full of so much stand-out performance energy; it literally might be the most female acting talent ever crammed into one film.
Showing items 1 – 25 of 590