I like Frank Grillo, he’s physically capable and charming and he can go either way: Crossbones is oddly affable for an evil Neo-Nazi. I hope he has a good career in action movies.
Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched
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I read a lot of fantasy and science fiction, and in books based around imagination, you can imagine there' some odd and implausible stuff. But most of it strikes you as "adult", and tends to have standards. But on the occasional times of encountered YA literature festering in the SF&F section of the bookstore, unhelpfully unmarked as such and I've accidentally bought it (and so read it, because I may as well), there's nearly always a set-up which is just particularly dumb-as-rocks, pants-on-head arbitrary and rubbish.
Well, there's a lot of that, but I'm not seeing that as nearly all YA stuff. A lot of it is about "normal" girls that find out they are super special and super special hawt boys fancy them.
Watched A Goofy Movie again for the first time in years, maybe even a decade. Never quite jived with this movie before, but this time it hit the spot quite well.
It functions as a nice little time bubble for 90's era Disney, both in animation and style. Back in the 90's there was something so unique and captivating about Disney doing contemporary settings, whether it was with actual humans like Oliver & Co., or with animal characters like A Goofy Movie. We only ever really got fairy tales set in medieval Europe from Disney back then, so for them to get "grungey" and modern felt so cool and special.
And it's crazy how much more natural the computer animation effects look in this movie compared to later 2D and 3D hybrids. I think they animated certain things, like the cars, with a computer as a wireframe and then traced over that with ink and paint, so I don't know how much you can say there's actual computer animation in this movie, but the results are extremely pleasing to the eye. Way more so than in movies like Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet, and The Iron Giant. There's all around a lot of nifty animation going on in this film, especially with some of the lighting tricks.
Also, Carter freaking Burwell did the original score for this movie. That's right, the dude who scored In Bruges, Fargo, and a bunch of other Coen brothers movies. It was kinda perplexing to see his name in Goofy font in the end credits.
It functions as a nice little time bubble for 90's era Disney, both in animation and style. Back in the 90's there was something so unique and captivating about Disney doing contemporary settings, whether it was with actual humans like Oliver & Co., or with animal characters like A Goofy Movie. We only ever really got fairy tales set in medieval Europe from Disney back then, so for them to get "grungey" and modern felt so cool and special.
And it's crazy how much more natural the computer animation effects look in this movie compared to later 2D and 3D hybrids. I think they animated certain things, like the cars, with a computer as a wireframe and then traced over that with ink and paint, so I don't know how much you can say there's actual computer animation in this movie, but the results are extremely pleasing to the eye. Way more so than in movies like Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet, and The Iron Giant. There's all around a lot of nifty animation going on in this film, especially with some of the lighting tricks.
Also, Carter freaking Burwell did the original score for this movie. That's right, the dude who scored In Bruges, Fargo, and a bunch of other Coen brothers movies. It was kinda perplexing to see his name in Goofy font in the end credits.
One of my favorite movies from the 90s. You know it's a 90s film because the fashion and choice of music. I am not sure if you remember, but Powerline is voiced by Tevin Campbell. R&B well known throughout the 90s. If you don't remember or don't know these are some of his songs:
The sequel, Extremely Goofy Movie, is not as good, but I still like it. I wonder why did they get rid of Roxanne? She's not even in the sequel, making the first film kinda pointless. She does show up in the House of Mouse for a couple of episodes with Max, but that's about it.
I really dug this movie, it's just a fun watch.
"I am Guan-Yin, and Guan-Yin has done this."
Bad Boys for Life
The cash grab of the decade. Not just because it's the retirement-aged husk of a Michael Bay movie duo, but also because it was released just before COVID-19 messed up cinemas (January 17, 2020). Now, Bay only has a cameo role in this one, so this being a bad movie isn't his fault at all.
Miami detective Marcus' (Martin Lawrence looking like a middle-aged donut cop) daughter gives birth to his grandson making him consider slowing down while his buddy cop Mike Lowry (Will Smith) is still like a bad boy in the prime of his life. Yeah, we're making fun of Marcus' emasculation once again. Some of it is a bit funny, but Lawrence keeps making these sardonic faces and saying "Shiiiit!" every five minutes, and that starts wearing out its welcome. Again. Well, Mike gets targeted by an old enemy with a huge secret and it all leads up to some big emotional payoffs. Yep. Bad Boys get sentimental. I needed none of this. You can still believe these are the Marcus and Mike from 2003 when they are talking, but what about the action? As it quickly turns out, Miami isn't a bad place to get hurt -- unless it's a bullet or an instakill, you're getting up within moments. The old men are accompanied by AMMO, the most unironically stereotypical special unit in any police force ever. Also if faced with grave danger such as getting shot by multiple bad guys surrounding you, all you gotta do is cut away and they make it out! Easy.
What you end up with is a few cheap laughs (Joe Pantoliano as the ol' police captain is funnier than ever), action that you've seen before a dozen times, cool shots of Miami, and a lot of "Shiiiiit!" 4/10
The cash grab of the decade. Not just because it's the retirement-aged husk of a Michael Bay movie duo, but also because it was released just before COVID-19 messed up cinemas (January 17, 2020). Now, Bay only has a cameo role in this one, so this being a bad movie isn't his fault at all.
Miami detective Marcus' (Martin Lawrence looking like a middle-aged donut cop) daughter gives birth to his grandson making him consider slowing down while his buddy cop Mike Lowry (Will Smith) is still like a bad boy in the prime of his life. Yeah, we're making fun of Marcus' emasculation once again. Some of it is a bit funny, but Lawrence keeps making these sardonic faces and saying "Shiiiit!" every five minutes, and that starts wearing out its welcome. Again. Well, Mike gets targeted by an old enemy with a huge secret and it all leads up to some big emotional payoffs. Yep. Bad Boys get sentimental. I needed none of this. You can still believe these are the Marcus and Mike from 2003 when they are talking, but what about the action? As it quickly turns out, Miami isn't a bad place to get hurt -- unless it's a bullet or an instakill, you're getting up within moments. The old men are accompanied by AMMO, the most unironically stereotypical special unit in any police force ever. Also if faced with grave danger such as getting shot by multiple bad guys surrounding you, all you gotta do is cut away and they make it out! Easy.
What you end up with is a few cheap laughs (Joe Pantoliano as the ol' police captain is funnier than ever), action that you've seen before a dozen times, cool shots of Miami, and a lot of "Shiiiiit!" 4/10
Yeah, but the sequel had Beret Girl.
Damn horny animators.
Never actually saw the sequel though.
There’s a lot of charm in A Goofy Movie, and I say that not because I’ve been binging Goof Troop on Disney Plus - though it does help - because it’s a very earnest movie.
Also I kind of wish they’d done an entire album for Powerline, because as pop/rock pastiche of Michael Jackson, he ain’t bad.
He's more than ain't half bad. That's Tevin mothrrfuckin Campbell. He's one of the great r&b singers from the '90s.
Blade Runner 2049 :
Well I expected big things based on what I'd heard and was disappointed really. It was ok but felt worse than the original Blade Runner. Also how come no-one mentioned K is basically a giant Weeb? I'm not joking the dude is basically in love with his fake virtual waifu Joi and rejects the "real" women who come onto him and seems to have a bit of a breakdown when he sees the poster advertising Joi (the virtual wife program he had) because it hits home how fake it wall was.
Dead Space Downfall:
It's an animated prequel to Dead Space and was pretty gory for an animated prequel. Doesn't really add that much other than expanding about the idea of spreading madness and kind of revealed the idea the monuments were somehow trying to prevent the spread of the necromorphs.
Well I expected big things based on what I'd heard and was disappointed really. It was ok but felt worse than the original Blade Runner. Also how come no-one mentioned K is basically a giant Weeb? I'm not joking the dude is basically in love with his fake virtual waifu Joi and rejects the "real" women who come onto him and seems to have a bit of a breakdown when he sees the poster advertising Joi (the virtual wife program he had) because it hits home how fake it wall was.
Dead Space Downfall:
It's an animated prequel to Dead Space and was pretty gory for an animated prequel. Doesn't really add that much other than expanding about the idea of spreading madness and kind of revealed the idea the monuments were somehow trying to prevent the spread of the necromorphs.
I saw The Devil Below 2021 last night. Massive and depressing disappointment on a somewhat personal level. This is one I was pretty interested in seeing. It's a horror movie advertising itself as similar to 2005's well reviewed claustrophobic spelunking horror "The Descent". The gimmick in this one is scientists exploring an abandoned series of connected coal mines in kentucky. This one had some eyes on it specifically because they'd be filming in a few famous caves in kentucky and in the Mega cavern sometimes known as the "Louisville underground". The Mega cavern is sort of famous for being this massive salt cavern that was partially converted into underground cold storage and a fallout shelter in WWII. These days they do all kind of light displays, halloween and christmas tours. Anyway I grew up nearby and was excited to see what they did with it horror wise. It also stars Will Patton, a character actor known for being in every film you've ever seen.
Sadly it was utter trash. They made all the typical mistakes, the scientists are stupid on an incomprehensible level. While I won't defend rural kentuckians as a refined bunch the films set for some reason were all these silly log cabins. Sort the opposite of Winter's Bone which was a far more realistic depiction of modern lower class hillfolk. Theres a scene I laughed out loud at where they examine whats supposed to be an ancient bottle, but is clearly just a Barqs rootbeer with the label torn off. Anyway, the monsters are silly and terrible, very little of it takes place in mines which is real shame because kentucky mines and caverns can be real spooky and the ending is comically bad. Thats all I have to say about that.
Sadly it was utter trash. They made all the typical mistakes, the scientists are stupid on an incomprehensible level. While I won't defend rural kentuckians as a refined bunch the films set for some reason were all these silly log cabins. Sort the opposite of Winter's Bone which was a far more realistic depiction of modern lower class hillfolk. Theres a scene I laughed out loud at where they examine whats supposed to be an ancient bottle, but is clearly just a Barqs rootbeer with the label torn off. Anyway, the monsters are silly and terrible, very little of it takes place in mines which is real shame because kentucky mines and caverns can be real spooky and the ending is comically bad. Thats all I have to say about that.
I really split with Darren and the former moviebob on Blade Runner 2049. They and a lot of other modern critics seemed to have done a 180 and decided Blade Runner is trash and Blade Runner 2049 is the second coming of christ. I definitely disagree. Blade Runner is on my list of favorite films of all time, where as I thought 2049, while visually beautiful, had a pretty vapid storyline. I, somewhat sarcastically, compare it to I, Robot and similar recent films that want you to empathize with "what it means to be human/robot" and "Robot rebellion" tropes without have anything really interesting to say about it. I found it very disappointing. I feel like it's a sequel that wasn't needed and doesn't really justify it's own existence.
As for the K+hologirl subplot, I think you're supposed to acknowledge it's weird and think deep thoughts about what a robot would love versus what a human would, but I didn't find it particularly compelling. I think it was just something else to throw in to try and make the movie feel deep.
I wasn't even a big fan of the visuals in 2049 I think the original did the stuff better. Like I saw some behind the scenes clips of the models used on 2049 and they look really great but in the film they seemingly covered most of them up with a layer of fog / smog. In the original yes the effects aren't quite as clean but you can see the buildings and it gives a much better visual style to the thing even the rain in the old one is this heavy driving kind slamming down while 2049 it's this light kind of rain that hangs in the air more.
Yes there are visual things that pop out in 2049 and more visual metaphors (quite a number about sex) it really did feel quite on the nose and kinda shallow with the storytelling. I think I'd have preferred it have tried to do more around the idea of the Blackout anime short they did as that felt like there was a lot more room to develop with the idea of a larger Replicant resistance forming and the human who helped cause the blackout.
Or it's an examination of the question of what constitutes humanity, expanding themes from the first film as applied to Replicants to artificial intelligence, with ambiguity as to how much, if any of Joi's conciousness went beyond programming, adding to the question as to whether artificial creations can love, and what it means in a world when artificial companionship is that common, holding a mirror to our society as many people retreat into virtual worlds from human companionship.
Or he's a weeb, if that's your take.
I'm not sure where that comes from. The Markers are responsible for the necromorphs, or at least they are when they're activated.
I think another way you could put it is that the film Watchmen is a superhero movie. The irony about the concept of superheroes that is the core conceit of the book is completely absent in the film. The characters are flawed, but they're flawed in cool badass ways. They're never exposed for what they are, and the film isn't interested in exposing them in that way.
The Comedian in the book dies as a scared old man getting thrown out of a window. The Comedian in the film dies as the climax of a protracted epic fight scene where he gets to quip and have one last joke at the expense of his murderer because he's so above it all with his cool nihilistic perspective. Similarly, when Rorscach dies in the book, we see that he is visibly crying. He's not scoring some great moral victory, he's a sad little human being encountering the failure of his own worldview and realising the only way he can reconcile himself is to die. In the film, he's just angry because he's a rational big boy who is right and everyone else is wrong.
The book does not linger protractedly on Sally's body as she undresses prior to getting attacked, because it knows that this memory is from Sally's perspective, not Blake's. It knows that this is not a sexy or titillating scene, and that Blake's belief that it is is wrong. The film never comes out and say "rape is cool", but it does definitely want us to know that Sally is very sexy for some reason.
All in all, there are a lot of small changes that just make the film very uncomfortable.
Hey I'm not saying I'd say no to having a Joi lol. You are right about the overall themes but I think to make people question more they needed to do more with Joi as such like have her break some key rule of her programming or some other such stuff or they tried to hack her files and she's found to be resisting their attempts or something.
Oh in Downfall they're very clear that there are these weird bird bat things that sort of inject dead bodies that are in tact to a certain degree and re-animate and mutate them or can do it to live bodies too.
The Marker actually repels the necromorphs in Downfall but only really stops them getting within a close range the madness caused by the markers is implied to be some kind of defence mechanism where by people try to kill one another / brutally harm themselves and others to try and prevent their bodies from being useable by the creatures to make necromorphs.
This whole storyline was underbaked and detracted from the movie. Nor do I believe that the relationship was felt real in anyway. The relationship in a Bond movie feel more lived in. And they are stupid
Similar concept has been done better elsewhere. And just to emphasize this, I'm reading the Malazan books that always has superfluous storylines. I'm used to superfluous. Joi is way worse than superfluous
