Truly a classic. I think it's my third or fourth favorite Mel Brooks movie. Behind Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles, and it's a toss-up between that and Men in Tights for third/fourth.
Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched
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Thor: Love and Thunder misfire/10
*whew* Man I'm glad I waited for the $5 matinee. It wasn't intentional, I was just burned out at work, had two hours to kill and thats what was available. XD certainly would not have helped this film. Taika Waititi took what could have been a really memorable deconstruction of Gods, life and death in the Marvel universe as a concept and ground it through the lens of an overworked staff writer on the "What We Do In The Shadows" tv series. There is, quiet literally, nothing to see here. You could miss this movie like youd miss an episode of the afore mentioned tv show and miss nothing in either quality storytelling or in the grand scheme of things in the MCU.
Its a shame because I like Taika Waititi. I've liked all of his movies and, most specifically, Jojo Rabbit really showed that he knows, at least superficially, how to tug at the heart strings. Instead what we got was a surprisingly drab 2 hours-ish of nonstop "oh isn't this awkward" jokes and non-sequiturs aimlessly dragging us from scene to scene until the movie just sorta falls over to an ending. Theres a line where Chris Pratts Starlord says "really dragging this out aren't you?" and that really encapsulates the whole movie.
For, I think the first time in the MCU, I contemplated just getting up and leaving. I was bored and got the gist of how the movie was going to play out. I generally hate people who say that "Oh SAW sucks I figured out the ending midway through", because even if you have a strong sensation of whats gonna happen, a movie can still have compelling characters and storytelling keeping me in my seat. This did not.
Honestly you could have saved money by having Jim Hensons studio come in and have every character played by muppets and the movie wouldn't suffer, honestly it would have been an improvement. Every single character just sort of dances in and out of scenes like circus clowns.
I loved Thor: Ragnarok. I thought it was a really cool idea to just have an adventure comedy like a mental break from the magnanimity of the MCU. Thor: Love and Thunder just isn't that kind of movie. It deals with very serious subject matters like loss of faith, love and death, but every time you think its going to pull a Pixar on you and cut onions, Taika Waititi prances on screen to fart in your face. Its very..well..stupid.
I could rant for another 4 paragraphs about editing problems and ways this could have been done better, but I'm ghost riding the whip of losing interest in talking about this film already.
*whew* Man I'm glad I waited for the $5 matinee. It wasn't intentional, I was just burned out at work, had two hours to kill and thats what was available. XD certainly would not have helped this film. Taika Waititi took what could have been a really memorable deconstruction of Gods, life and death in the Marvel universe as a concept and ground it through the lens of an overworked staff writer on the "What We Do In The Shadows" tv series. There is, quiet literally, nothing to see here. You could miss this movie like youd miss an episode of the afore mentioned tv show and miss nothing in either quality storytelling or in the grand scheme of things in the MCU.
Its a shame because I like Taika Waititi. I've liked all of his movies and, most specifically, Jojo Rabbit really showed that he knows, at least superficially, how to tug at the heart strings. Instead what we got was a surprisingly drab 2 hours-ish of nonstop "oh isn't this awkward" jokes and non-sequiturs aimlessly dragging us from scene to scene until the movie just sorta falls over to an ending. Theres a line where Chris Pratts Starlord says "really dragging this out aren't you?" and that really encapsulates the whole movie.
For, I think the first time in the MCU, I contemplated just getting up and leaving. I was bored and got the gist of how the movie was going to play out. I generally hate people who say that "Oh SAW sucks I figured out the ending midway through", because even if you have a strong sensation of whats gonna happen, a movie can still have compelling characters and storytelling keeping me in my seat. This did not.
Honestly you could have saved money by having Jim Hensons studio come in and have every character played by muppets and the movie wouldn't suffer, honestly it would have been an improvement. Every single character just sort of dances in and out of scenes like circus clowns.
I loved Thor: Ragnarok. I thought it was a really cool idea to just have an adventure comedy like a mental break from the magnanimity of the MCU. Thor: Love and Thunder just isn't that kind of movie. It deals with very serious subject matters like loss of faith, love and death, but every time you think its going to pull a Pixar on you and cut onions, Taika Waititi prances on screen to fart in your face. Its very..well..stupid.
I could rant for another 4 paragraphs about editing problems and ways this could have been done better, but I'm ghost riding the whip of losing interest in talking about this film already.
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Ha! My rating's the other way around as it goes (1st/2nd being Spaceballs or Men In Tights).
Elvis
Goes on for way too long... I think the problem is how stagnant the main conflict of the movie is, which is Elvis being exploited (to death, arguably) by his manager. We get the same kinds of scenes over and over - Elvis gets fed up with Parker and tries to have his way with his life/career, he strikes a minor victory, Parker hustles him into submission, Elvis is happy once more until he isn't, repeat. We get it. Not saying Elvis wasn't a victim but the movie only makes him that.
No hate on Hanks but you couldn't ask for a more insufferable character than "Colonel" "Parker". Kid playing Elvis is pretty good.
Goes on for way too long... I think the problem is how stagnant the main conflict of the movie is, which is Elvis being exploited (to death, arguably) by his manager. We get the same kinds of scenes over and over - Elvis gets fed up with Parker and tries to have his way with his life/career, he strikes a minor victory, Parker hustles him into submission, Elvis is happy once more until he isn't, repeat. We get it. Not saying Elvis wasn't a victim but the movie only makes him that.
No hate on Hanks but you couldn't ask for a more insufferable character than "Colonel" "Parker". Kid playing Elvis is pretty good.
So, was it good, bad, or mediocre for "way too long?" Biopics about music legends tend to be hit, miss, or meh to me given most of them are about legends I care little-to-nothing about; "way too long" makes for a grueling watch if it's a miss. Doesn't help that even if I had a dozen, I couldn't give two shits about Elvis, but Tom Hanks always catches my attention, so was thinking about seeing this one.
MEN 2022 - not recommended/10
Once I was a aware this was out I had to see it for myself. I was left disappointed. I really dig abstract storytelling, but I need a little more in the way of cohesive storytelling or something in context to grasp why I'm watching what I'm watching happen on screen. I think Mother! is a good example of a film thats completely abstract. Its just crazy shit happening on screen, but in that nonsense there's a sense of progression. Things are building towards "something", some kind of climax or reveal. The same could said for Garlands Annihilation and Ex Machina. I don't need everything spelled out for me, but I do need a compelling reason to "want to know".
The movie follows a grieving widow who experienced antagonism and abuse from her now dead husband, taking a mental health holiday in the countryside, only be receive more mental and supernatural abuse from the men of the local village.
I think what really kills the momentum of the movie is that the acts of supernatural and bizarre invasion of her personal space don't really feel like they're escalating throughout most of the film. The second time weird shit happened I woulda been jetpacking out of there, but she instead brushes off each terrifying event until the big climax in the the third act. The audience is forced to endure some The Thing inspired grotesquerie, but unfortunately its CGI. So much so that rather than intense it's near comical. The protagonist, rather than breaking down like a babbling idiot is now just tired of the insanity and just leaves the scene. It was oddly empathetic because I felt the same way as an audience member. I was "over it". I don't think that was Alex Garlands intention, but thats how I felt.
I'll give the movie credit for playing with really interesting themes, but it definitely needed to simmer a bit more in the writing room. It was trying to say something about patriarchy and how abusive can affect people, but it was a bit too muddled for me.
Id seen online someone say that despite all that, they werent cursing Alex Garland, if anything we needed more of these kinds of "swing for the fences" films as were slowly being suffocated by Disneys release schedule. I can get behind that. I did not "like" Men 2022, but it wont stop me from looking forward to his next piece of nonsense.
Once I was a aware this was out I had to see it for myself. I was left disappointed. I really dig abstract storytelling, but I need a little more in the way of cohesive storytelling or something in context to grasp why I'm watching what I'm watching happen on screen. I think Mother! is a good example of a film thats completely abstract. Its just crazy shit happening on screen, but in that nonsense there's a sense of progression. Things are building towards "something", some kind of climax or reveal. The same could said for Garlands Annihilation and Ex Machina. I don't need everything spelled out for me, but I do need a compelling reason to "want to know".
The movie follows a grieving widow who experienced antagonism and abuse from her now dead husband, taking a mental health holiday in the countryside, only be receive more mental and supernatural abuse from the men of the local village.
I think what really kills the momentum of the movie is that the acts of supernatural and bizarre invasion of her personal space don't really feel like they're escalating throughout most of the film. The second time weird shit happened I woulda been jetpacking out of there, but she instead brushes off each terrifying event until the big climax in the the third act. The audience is forced to endure some The Thing inspired grotesquerie, but unfortunately its CGI. So much so that rather than intense it's near comical. The protagonist, rather than breaking down like a babbling idiot is now just tired of the insanity and just leaves the scene. It was oddly empathetic because I felt the same way as an audience member. I was "over it". I don't think that was Alex Garlands intention, but thats how I felt.
I'll give the movie credit for playing with really interesting themes, but it definitely needed to simmer a bit more in the writing room. It was trying to say something about patriarchy and how abusive can affect people, but it was a bit too muddled for me.
Id seen online someone say that despite all that, they werent cursing Alex Garland, if anything we needed more of these kinds of "swing for the fences" films as were slowly being suffocated by Disneys release schedule. I can get behind that. I did not "like" Men 2022, but it wont stop me from looking forward to his next piece of nonsense.
Dr Who and the Daleks. Not seen this film this century, though have the second one on DVD.
Ouch, this was just bad. Yeah, making the tv story into a movie was shaky with The Dalek Invasion of Earth, but it still worked. Not as good, but alright. This one was not as good, because it was awful.
Shame, because bits of it could have worked in a totally different film.
Ouch, this was just bad. Yeah, making the tv story into a movie was shaky with The Dalek Invasion of Earth, but it still worked. Not as good, but alright. This one was not as good, because it was awful.
Shame, because bits of it could have worked in a totally different film.
The Perfection (Netflix)
Woman cello player meets fellow cello player in Shanghai for posh cello playing and lesbian hijinks. Then...unpleasant elements start to manifest. It's almost a great film, if it wasn't so clunky and obvious with the presentation of the twists, and a third act that implied a far more cathartic set-piece than the disappointingly brief one we actually got. There's some iffy CGI at one point but it's somewhat justified by the narrative so am not holding that against it. The rest is pretty good though: diegetic cello soundtrack moments especially.
Woman cello player meets fellow cello player in Shanghai for posh cello playing and lesbian hijinks. Then...unpleasant elements start to manifest. It's almost a great film, if it wasn't so clunky and obvious with the presentation of the twists, and a third act that implied a far more cathartic set-piece than the disappointingly brief one we actually got. There's some iffy CGI at one point but it's somewhat justified by the narrative so am not holding that against it. The rest is pretty good though: diegetic cello soundtrack moments especially.
I enjoyed it even though I don't especially like Elvis or his music (as great as he was at his thing, I don't argue that). It's a very Baz Luhrmann movie, throwing all these disparate elements and styles on screen and reveling in the mess, which goes well with the excesses of Elvis' music/career/image/lifestyle and his super kitsch sensibility. Weirdly it's not that musical of a movie though. You get all the songs in the form of performances and recording sessions but it's less of a musical than Moulin Rouge, where they sing every freaking line of dialogue.
I think a lot of people are going to roll their eyes at the Dewey Cox-ness of the story. Humble beginnings, tragic backstory, white trash childhood, mommy/daddy issues, early heartbreak, pushback from the old guard vs. enthusiasm of the young guard, sudden rise to stardom, cameos from other musicians, predatory manager, love of his life, the fame and the addictions start a burnout, regrets set in, heart to heart with someone who matters, some kind of comeback, etc. All of this indeed happened to Elvis and apparently everyone else in the music business but I gotta give him credit for being the first one.
I liked it fine, good performances and I always would rather watch someone's vision than say Thor 4. But I can't say the movie wouldn't improve by losing 40 or 50 minutes. I was definitely feeling the running time.
^This. This is why I'm not a fan of biopics about music legends: they're ALL the same. Not that they're necessarily bad or that I can't enjoy them, it's just that the story, though ostensibly and sadly true across the board, is always the same. Again, not belittling what those people went through; it's just a tale as old time, so for any one to stand out to me, it REALLY has to be told and acted well. That's why Tom Hank being cast in it caught my attention; I'll watch almost anything if he's in it; love the dude. Had it not been for Hanks, an Elvis biopic would have been an easy pass for me.
But thanks for clarifying; I'll likely give this one a shot.
The Northman: Good / Great
After watching his father (and king) murdered, a young prince escapes the attack only to return several years later unrecognizable as a fierce Viking with one thing on his mind: revenge.
The story isn't very creative, it gets a little pretentious/artsy at points, and the thick accents put on by the actors sometimes make it difficult to understand the dialogue (don't ask me a single character's name,) but damned if I wasn't captivated. And the music, those drums ever looming teasing impending violence, oh. It's a good one.
After watching his father (and king) murdered, a young prince escapes the attack only to return several years later unrecognizable as a fierce Viking with one thing on his mind: revenge.
The story isn't very creative, it gets a little pretentious/artsy at points, and the thick accents put on by the actors sometimes make it difficult to understand the dialogue (don't ask me a single character's name,) but damned if I wasn't captivated. And the music, those drums ever looming teasing impending violence, oh. It's a good one.
Unknown Island (1948)
People find out that there's dinosaurs on a strange island, so they hire a ship to take them there to take photos and fight with the ship's crew to distract from how bad the dinosaurs look. Had potential, didn't really live up to it, but give it a pass.
People find out that there's dinosaurs on a strange island, so they hire a ship to take them there to take photos and fight with the ship's crew to distract from how bad the dinosaurs look. Had potential, didn't really live up to it, but give it a pass.
Jurassic World Dominion:
/10
/10
Caught Thor: The Dark World on TV and watched roughly 60% of it. I think it's valuable from time to time to revisit the poorer MCU movies around the current state of the series.
Yeah, it's bad, probably the weakest movie in the MCU (that I've seen, I've heard some pretty bad things about Eternals). But even the worst offerings of Marvel are still at worst just "blah". There's nothing offensive or objectionable about it, the acting's fine, the music's actually pretty good and it looks fine. But it just feels like a bunch of ideas that on paper sound interesting, yet never come together on screen. The dialogue's super basic and dull, there's way too many side characters, the villains are weak even by Marvel standards despite their cool visual design, the story is the same tripe we were bored to death of already in 2013, and Thor and Jane Foster are perhaps the dullest on-screen pair in the entire MCU. I think one of its biggest problems is that it takes itself way too seriously. If you had the exact same movie but turned the ham factor up to 11, I think it could actually be pretty decent. And it entirely follows that that is what Waititi pretty much did.
At times it's just flat out badly made: there's some weird and awkward editing in places, the CG doesn't look great all the time, and nothing ever feels like it's given its proper emotional weight. The foremost example of the editing is when Thor's mother dies: she has a scuffle with Malekith, whose bodyguard then shows up and stabs her. In the very next shot Thor has shown up out of nowhere and is doing the typical "enraged by grief in slo-mo" thing. Throughout the entire preceding scene we're never given much of an idea where Thor even is in relation to anything else, so when he shows up it's super jarring. The next scene is Thor's mother's burial, yet it feels as bland and emotionally dead as watching paint dry, because we've never known much about her to begin with.
The only bit where the movie gets legit interesting is the final battle, which manages to mostly avoid the Marvel problem of being yet another CGI blowout. It's more of a strange combination of chase scene and slapstick where neither party is in control of the situation as they tumble from world to world. It's the one time where the "convergence of worlds" plot device impacts much of anything. The other thing that stuck out to me about it is that this more serious version of Thor and Asgard does have a certain fantastical grandiosity to it that's mostly lacking in Marvel these days, since it's more about spacefarers, multiverses and cosmic beings.
Yeah, it's bad, probably the weakest movie in the MCU (that I've seen, I've heard some pretty bad things about Eternals). But even the worst offerings of Marvel are still at worst just "blah". There's nothing offensive or objectionable about it, the acting's fine, the music's actually pretty good and it looks fine. But it just feels like a bunch of ideas that on paper sound interesting, yet never come together on screen. The dialogue's super basic and dull, there's way too many side characters, the villains are weak even by Marvel standards despite their cool visual design, the story is the same tripe we were bored to death of already in 2013, and Thor and Jane Foster are perhaps the dullest on-screen pair in the entire MCU. I think one of its biggest problems is that it takes itself way too seriously. If you had the exact same movie but turned the ham factor up to 11, I think it could actually be pretty decent. And it entirely follows that that is what Waititi pretty much did.
At times it's just flat out badly made: there's some weird and awkward editing in places, the CG doesn't look great all the time, and nothing ever feels like it's given its proper emotional weight. The foremost example of the editing is when Thor's mother dies: she has a scuffle with Malekith, whose bodyguard then shows up and stabs her. In the very next shot Thor has shown up out of nowhere and is doing the typical "enraged by grief in slo-mo" thing. Throughout the entire preceding scene we're never given much of an idea where Thor even is in relation to anything else, so when he shows up it's super jarring. The next scene is Thor's mother's burial, yet it feels as bland and emotionally dead as watching paint dry, because we've never known much about her to begin with.
The only bit where the movie gets legit interesting is the final battle, which manages to mostly avoid the Marvel problem of being yet another CGI blowout. It's more of a strange combination of chase scene and slapstick where neither party is in control of the situation as they tumble from world to world. It's the one time where the "convergence of worlds" plot device impacts much of anything. The other thing that stuck out to me about it is that this more serious version of Thor and Asgard does have a certain fantastical grandiosity to it that's mostly lacking in Marvel these days, since it's more about spacefarers, multiverses and cosmic beings.
me: "I love the concept and visuals are great you just need to focus on better storytelling and pacing"
Screenrant : "Fans hate Thor, Marvel pivots cancels Thor sequel"
Me: *smh*
Everything Everywhere All At Once
(Own copy bought on Google Play, my advise try the Amazon version as the Google Play has baked in subtitles that you can't adjust the size on, the Amazon version might be the same but you'll probably have better working subtitles you can replace the originals with)
Synopsis:
Evelyn runs a struggling Laundrette business with her Husband and they're being audited by the IRS while also having her elderly father come to stay with them for his birthday. Oh and Her daughter Joy wants Everlyn to introduce Joy's girlfriend Becky to her grandfather as they're now living together. All this is further complicated when during a meeting at the IRS with an auditor an alternative universe version of her husband jumps in and tells her that he need her help to take down a great evil that is making it's way through the multiverse.
What follows is a shockingly heart felt film that I'd describe as out Rick and Morty-ing Rick and Morty by having stupid silly slightly shock value or weird out stuff go on but also a rather deep message to it.
Thoughts:
A really great film, I won't say my favourite ever but this film walks the line Rick and Morty walks as a show with a lot of silly humour but often deep themes and messages to it. But while Rick and Morty started pretty much as a deconstruction of the "Genius old man takes kids / young adult on insane adventures" trope to show how in reality it would be really screwed up because massive narcissistic genius etc. Everything Everywhere All at Once is a deconstruction of the nihilism of Rick and Morty. It's hard to say too much more without spoiling things but in Rick and Morty there's the whole "Rick just jumps realities if things get screwed up and at one point him and Morty just stepped in as another universe's version got killed with the whole "It doesn't matter" idea, well this film is kind of a massive examination and criticism of that kind of idea.
(Own copy bought on Google Play, my advise try the Amazon version as the Google Play has baked in subtitles that you can't adjust the size on, the Amazon version might be the same but you'll probably have better working subtitles you can replace the originals with)
Synopsis:
Evelyn runs a struggling Laundrette business with her Husband and they're being audited by the IRS while also having her elderly father come to stay with them for his birthday. Oh and Her daughter Joy wants Everlyn to introduce Joy's girlfriend Becky to her grandfather as they're now living together. All this is further complicated when during a meeting at the IRS with an auditor an alternative universe version of her husband jumps in and tells her that he need her help to take down a great evil that is making it's way through the multiverse.
What follows is a shockingly heart felt film that I'd describe as out Rick and Morty-ing Rick and Morty by having stupid silly slightly shock value or weird out stuff go on but also a rather deep message to it.
Thoughts:
A really great film, I won't say my favourite ever but this film walks the line Rick and Morty walks as a show with a lot of silly humour but often deep themes and messages to it. But while Rick and Morty started pretty much as a deconstruction of the "Genius old man takes kids / young adult on insane adventures" trope to show how in reality it would be really screwed up because massive narcissistic genius etc. Everything Everywhere All at Once is a deconstruction of the nihilism of Rick and Morty. It's hard to say too much more without spoiling things but in Rick and Morty there's the whole "Rick just jumps realities if things get screwed up and at one point him and Morty just stepped in as another universe's version got killed with the whole "It doesn't matter" idea, well this film is kind of a massive examination and criticism of that kind of idea.
The Sea Beast -Think How to Train Your Dragon, but with sea monsters. I have still yet to see any of the movies from that franchise. Sea Beast is already my favorite animated movie of the year. The voice acting, the animation, the writing, the characters, and action are nailed perfectly, beat by beat. It's a fun adventure film that works either for a kid, teen, or an adult. High recommendations. See it on Netflix whenever you get the chance, pronto!
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The Wizard of Lies
The Bernie Madoff movie on HBO. Great acting from De Niro - you can tell he's super invested in the story, and I'm sorry we're at a point where such things are worth clarifying - as well as Pfeiffer and Nivola. He scammed billions out of thousands but his primary victims are depicted as his own family members, who I guess weren't in on the Ponzi scheme, yet caught the brunt of the hatred for the crime. It's like Succession but without the dark humor in the interpersonal family dynamics; just a bunch of miserable, suicidal sons and wives.
The Bernie Madoff movie on HBO. Great acting from De Niro - you can tell he's super invested in the story, and I'm sorry we're at a point where such things are worth clarifying - as well as Pfeiffer and Nivola. He scammed billions out of thousands but his primary victims are depicted as his own family members, who I guess weren't in on the Ponzi scheme, yet caught the brunt of the hatred for the crime. It's like Succession but without the dark humor in the interpersonal family dynamics; just a bunch of miserable, suicidal sons and wives.