In all honesty, It's hard for me to chews between the two.
Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate it | {Insert Appropriate Seasonal Greeting Here}
- Thread starter ProstheticConscience
- Start date
Catching up on some titles that I watched over the last few weeks...
Vesper (2022) - 6/10 - A 13-year-old girl struggles to survive and keep her ailing father alive in a bleak future set after the collapse of Earth's ecosystem. It's a dystopian sci-fi drama that has ecological and class themes and is very slow, but has an engaging enough story for fans of thoughtful sci-fi.
Medieval - (2022) - 5/10 - The 15th century story of how Jan Zizka (Ben Foster) became a military commander and Czech national hero. It's a Czech movie, but in English and also has Michael Caine in a small role. It seemingly tries to be a low-budget Braveheart or Gladiator and falls well short, but could've been worse.
On the Line (2022) - 4/10 - A late night radio talk show host (Mel Gibson) receives an on-air caller threatening to kill his wife and child. The interesting premise makes the first half pretty good. Unfortunately, it starts to get a little silly in the second half until it concludes with an ending that's so terrible and cringey that it ruins everything that came before and the whole movie.
Enola Holmes 2 (2022) - 4/10 - Sherlock's sister starts her own detective agency and continues to break the 4th wall to explain how smart she is. It's more of the original, but not as fresh this time and with a stupid twist ending that's liable to annoy Sherlock Holmes fans. If more of the original is what you want and you don't care about Holmes canon, though, you'll probably love it.
Vesper (2022) - 6/10 - A 13-year-old girl struggles to survive and keep her ailing father alive in a bleak future set after the collapse of Earth's ecosystem. It's a dystopian sci-fi drama that has ecological and class themes and is very slow, but has an engaging enough story for fans of thoughtful sci-fi.
Medieval - (2022) - 5/10 - The 15th century story of how Jan Zizka (Ben Foster) became a military commander and Czech national hero. It's a Czech movie, but in English and also has Michael Caine in a small role. It seemingly tries to be a low-budget Braveheart or Gladiator and falls well short, but could've been worse.
On the Line (2022) - 4/10 - A late night radio talk show host (Mel Gibson) receives an on-air caller threatening to kill his wife and child. The interesting premise makes the first half pretty good. Unfortunately, it starts to get a little silly in the second half until it concludes with an ending that's so terrible and cringey that it ruins everything that came before and the whole movie.
Enola Holmes 2 (2022) - 4/10 - Sherlock's sister starts her own detective agency and continues to break the 4th wall to explain how smart she is. It's more of the original, but not as fresh this time and with a stupid twist ending that's liable to annoy Sherlock Holmes fans. If more of the original is what you want and you don't care about Holmes canon, though, you'll probably love it.
archangel2
Registered User
- May 19, 2019
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Christmas my place or your. 1/10 had a predictable plot and out come and was a snow
Last Christmas--6/10--okay movie a few good surprises... not sure what Emma Thompson (who wrote the screen play) was thinking with her character
Last Christmas--6/10--okay movie a few good surprises... not sure what Emma Thompson (who wrote the screen play) was thinking with her character
shadow1
Registered User
- Nov 29, 2008
- 16,728
- 5,526
Police Story 2013 aka Lockdown (2013) - 6/10
Patrons at a heavily fortified night club are taken hostage.
Jackie Chan stars as Zhong Wen, a detective who visits the cyberpunk styled "Wu Bar" during a holiday party to reconcile with his estranged daughter Miao Miao (Jing Tian). Miao Miao is dating club owner Wu Jiang (Liu Ye), which upsets Zhong as there's a big age gap between the two. However, Zhong quickly has bigger problems to deal with, as he is struck in the head by a masked assailant and the other bar patrons are taken hostage...
Police Story: Lockdown was written and directed by Ding Sheng, and marks the sixth entry in the Police Story franchise. Like 2004's New Police Story, this entry is a standalone title that doesn't follow the original four movies. Rather than reprising the role of Ka-Kui, this China production sees Jackie Chan instead plays a mainland police officer for the first time in his career. This role resulted in Jackie sporting the shortest hair he's had since the opening sequence of 1986's Armor of God, where he suffered a near fatal injury that left a permanent hole on the side of his head. Additionally, this was Jackie's first movie after his final "all out" action film, CZ12 (2012). How does it fare?
Pretty well. Police Story 2013 is nothing new, but it is entertaining. The film starts off as an obvious rip off of Die Hard (1988), including copying smaller elements like the estranged family member and the film being set during the Christmas season. However, the movie eventually shifts to feeling like a twist on an Agatha Christie novel (specifically Murder on the Orient Express). Police Story: Lockdown reveals early on who the villain is, but it's up to the rest of the characters to figure out the wrongdoer's motivations. Similar to Oldboy (2003), this storytelling style doesn't give the audience a chance to piece it all together, however; we're just along for the ride.
Action wise, Police Story 2013 does have a few fight sequences, but they're not the normal Jackie Chan fare. They're more violent and less sensationalist than usual, and the longer fight sequences have a ton of cuts. That works fine for this movie though, as it is more serious than the majority of Jackie's films. Police Story: Lockdown also uses a unique "choose your own adventure" gimmick, where Jackie will visualize possible outcomes of a bad situation that's unfolding before him. I enjoyed this and thought it was unique touch considering how much Police Story 2013 borrows from other films.
On the flip side, I didn't like how melodramatic the film could be at times. This is one of the rare Jackie Chan films that features no comedy, and is quite dark in tone. However, the film doesn't have the gritty realism of a movie like Crime Story (1993), and there were one or two scenes that I thought went a little over the top in the drama department. I also thought Police Story: Lockdown had one twist too many, but that's somewhat of a nitpick. I have to give the film credit because the events weren't predictable, thanks to some well placed storytelling curveballs.
Overall, Police Story 2013 is a solid later era Jackie Chan movie. Though it's nothing original, it does genre blending well and tells a somewhat complicated story in a coherent manner (unlike many later era Jackie Chan movies that tell simple stories in an incoherent manner!). If you're worn out from watching Die Hard, give Police Story: Lockdown a try this Christmas season - as long as you don't mind a little bleakness in your holiday movie marathon.
Unholy Diver
Registered User
Immersion (2022) Directed by Nicolas Postiglione 5A
A father sailing with his two teenage daughters on a remote Chilean lake spots a boat with three people in it, seemingly in trouble. He doesn't like the way they look, and does nothing to come to their aid. Later, his daughters shame him into returning to assist the three strangers. Was he right in his apprehensions to avoid a potential dangerous situation or is he merely suffering from acute paranoia? It doesn't take long for the answer to that question to emerge, along with the inevitable consequences. Immersion is one neat and tidy movie, maybe too neat and tidy, with a sure grasp of what it wants to do and how it wants to get there. It is pretty easy to figure out where the greatest threat comes from in this circumstance, so the movie loses points for obviousness. However, this doesn't stop Immersion from generating heightened tension as it progresses. It's a movie with a point worth making that worked well while I was watching it, but as soon as I started to think about it a little, the movie seemed to be rather clearly dealing from a stacked deck. That tempered what mild enthusiasm I had.
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Jussi
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If I've understood correctly, the Enola Holmes books have the blessing/approval of the Arthur Conan Doyle estate/family so they are canon. Also, the tv show Elementary already did the twist you're referring to so only idiots would be annoyed by it.
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Pranzo Oltranzista
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- Oct 18, 2017
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- 2,900
Wait a minute, is that Enola thing part of the Marvel universe too?
The Enola Holmes books are not canon and this movie isn't an adaptation of one of them, anyways. Also, what was done in a TV show that people haven't watched is beside the point.
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I know "canon" can be a loose term, but, to me, yours is a dangerously broad definition. If an estate could declare canon, that opens the term up for a lot of abuse. I doubt you would consider Sherlock Holmes stories written by other authors as canon. Yet your definition opens up the possibility of the estate declaring such books so as a means of enhancing potential influence or even profit. I think where an estate's imprimatur could prove germane might be in an instance when a previously unpublished or undiscovered work could be authenticated as the work of the original author--at which point the estate, having established the validity of the source material, could declare the work part of the canon. That is as far as I would comfortably take it, though.
To give somebody else's work blessing or approval just means to me that the estate has no objection to this particular application of Holmes lore. But it would be an outrageous step to declare the newly minted work "canon."
shadow1
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- Nov 29, 2008
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Vanguard (2020) - 4/10
A security team must protect an accountant who's become involved with a terrorist organization.
Jackie Chan stars as Tang, the head of Vanguard. Along with his team, which includes Lei (Yang Yang) and Zhang (Lun Ai), Tang must protect Qin (Jackson Lou), a Chinese accountant based in Great Britain who was forced into working with terrorists. After a kidnapping attempt fails, the terrorist group then sets their sights on Qin's daughter Mi Ya (Miya Miqu), who's located in Africa.
Vanguard was written and directed by frequent Jackie Chan collaborator Stanley Tong. The two previously team up for classic actions films like Police Story III: Supercop (1992) and Rumble in the Bronx (1995), as well as more recently in 2017's Kung Fu Yoga. You'd never know it by watching this film.
If I wanted to write a one sentence review, it'd be "Rumble in the $5 Bin". Vanguard screams direct-to-DVD, thanks to Youtube quality special effects. There's a scene early on involving a Lion and Hyenas that is hilariously bad, but the film outdoes itself later when it relies on special effects during a car action sequence towards the end of the film. I had to re-watch this scene several times because of how cheap it looks; it is easily one of the most unintentionally funny things I've ever seen. I cannot overemphasize how bad the special effects are in this film.
Plot wise, Vanguard is generic. The opening act of the film was pretty entertaining, but due to so little plot, by the time Vanguard reaches act three it's a slog to get through. The characters never have that big "all is lost" moment in the film; they're trying to accomplish the same goal the entire film with little variance, which causes things to drag.
As far as the cast goes, the main players all do fine jobs with what little they're given. However, anytime there's a scene not involving the principal cast members (specifically scenes involving the terrorist henchmen), the acting and dialogue is painful. The film also has somewhat of a "music video" look to it; everything is way too bright and perfect. There's a scene in which two characters are tied to chairs, being held hostage. You'd never know it; they both look like models in the midst of a photo shoot.
For Jackie's part, he still has a couple good moves to show off in Vanguard. I also thought the fight scene comedy worked a lot better than many of his previous films, which was nice to see. It's worth noting that Jackie temporarily became trapped underwater by an overturned jet ski during a stunt gone wrong (which they show during the post-credits). Jackie, it's not worth risking your life anymore... especially not for movies like this.
Overall, Vanguard is a popcorn movie, but it's burnt popcorn. It'll keep your attention early on, but lose it when you realize the predictable plot is going nowhere. The Bollywood-grade special effects do give the movie a "so bad it's good quality" though, and I'd rather rewatch this than something like Bleeding Steel (2017). Vanguard came out in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, entering theaters and then being pulled a few times throughout the year 2020. Though no budget is listed, the film made $50.6M worldwide.
Jussi
Registered User
Actually I remembered incorrectly, they are not canon.There was actually the most moronic lawsuit by the Conan Doyle estate against the book's writer, publisher and Netflix claiming they made Sherlock emotional
and that he shouldn't be. But it was dismissed. I mean Jeremy Brett's Holmes was already emotional in the 80's and that' my favorite Holmes.If I remember correctly, you also thought Guadagnino's Call Me By Your Name was a bit of an odd meshing thematically since the story would work as effectively without the gay/homosexual angle used? Guadagnino has great visual style, but maybe a little problem with how he wants to convey his messages? Have you or anyone else seen his 2018 take on Suspiria? I think you may have seen and reviewed it, but I am not conclusive on that. Could have been someone else's review I vaguely remember from 4years ago..jpg)
Bones and All (2022) Directed by Luca Guadagnino 3B
Hard to imagine how talented people thought this script was a good idea. Imagine the Twilight series, only with cannibals instead of vampires. Vampires can be sexy; vampires can be romantic. Cannibals can't. There just isn't anything remotely swoony about people who feast on human flesh. To make matters even more head shaking, Bones and All doesn't even need the cannibalism affectation to tell the story. Maren (Taylor Russell) and Lee (Timothee Chalamet) are homeless, disaffected youth on the road hoping to find someplace that may be better than the last place but probably won't be. The woeful couple are already a discernible type, so why saddle them with having to be cannibals to boot? So we end up with this seriously bi-polar movie: on the one hand Bones and All is a brooding sort of romance; on the other hand, it is a gory and tasteless horror movie with us meeting a host of creepy but pointless people along its highly meandering way. The parts, of course, don't fit. As a result, just about everything in the movie seems misguided in a major way. This mess has a couple of positives, though. Taylor Russell is a real find. The cinematography is excellent. And the score by Trent Raznor is more interesting than the movie itself which for some reason is set in the Reagan '80s. Then there is Timothee Chalamet. Why does this dude keep getting parts? He hasn't been good in anything since Guadagnino's Call Me By Your Name in 2017. To me his wispy skills are wearing very thin by now. Why anybody thought he could adequately impersonate a cannibal is a mystery to me.
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) Directed by Martin McDonagh 9A
It is somehow reassuring that the best movie of the year.is a conventional story conventionally (if beautifully) told. There is still power in straightforward storytelling, and The Banshees of Inisherin is a wonderful example of how emotionally engrossing a simple story can be. Padraig (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson) have been best friends for virtually ever. That is, until one day, out of the blue, Colm tells Padraig he doesn't want to be his friend anymore; in fact, he doesn't want Padraig to so much as talk to him. There is a superficial reason--Padraig is dull--"But he's always been dull," Padraig sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon) claims to no avail. But it turns out Colm has deeper reasons for his rejection, a rejection that gives him no joy, having to do with age and time and being stuck in a tiny village on a bleak island off the coast of Ireland, circa 1923 near the end of the first Irish Civil War. The sound of guns in the distance on the mainland put the village conflict in some perspective. But it is nonetheless a big deal to both Padraig and Colm whose lives are transformed and not necessarily for the better.
What makes this movie work is basically everything. The believable, complex protagonists are wonderful. Neither one is a villain, and each man's sense of self worth is tested by the situation. Even when the characters seem to go to extremes, they remain vulnerable and human, likeable souls in a complicated situation. The milieu supports the story perfectly--the remote village, the over-familiarity of the villagers, the twin focal points of pub and church, the importance of animals, the sense of place both as a nest and as a prison, even touches of superstition seem perfectly in keeping with the traditions of this little community. This is a movie about tiny matters that are as complicated as life itself. In the end there is a resolution that feels imperfect and perfect at the same time. That's actually a great way to bring the story to a close.
Director Martin McDonagh was a leading Irish playwright before he became interested in film and it shows. He possesses a sure, very Irish ear for dialogue that is often funny and very perceptive.. Farrell. Gleeson and Condon are all superb. Even the bleak setting is graced with moments of great beauty thanks largely to the wonders of sky and sea I believe The Banshees of Inisherin will be one of those movies that you will be able to see multiple times over the years and still get fresh insights into the human condition when watching it.. It was one of those fictional situations in which I hoped things really turned out well for all the characters.
Best Movies of 2022
1) The Banshees of Inisherin, McDonagh, Ireland
2) Decision to Leave, Park, South Korea
3} Aftersun, Wells UK
4) No Bears, J. Panahi, Iran
5) Hit the Road, P. Panahi, Iran
6) Everything Everywhere All at Once, Kwan/Scheinert, US
7) Moonage Daydream, Morgen, UK
8) Glass Onion, Johnson, US
9) The Box, Vigas, Venezuela
10) You Won't Be Alone, Stolevski, Macedonia
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Not even a 9A and the kihei stamp of approval can fully erase the disappointment that it isn't a sequel to In Bruges. 
By the end of the In Bruges, two of the three main characters were dead and the third was trending that way. It would have been the shortest sequel in history.Not even a 9A and the kihei stamp of approval can fully erase the disappointment that it isn't a sequel to In Bruges.
The Hidden (1987), Sholder
A strange mash-up of body snatchers meets the Terminator meets a buddy cop film that should not work yet somehow does mostly due to the charismatic performances of its two leads (Kyle McLachlan gives an especially enjoyable performance that brings to mind his later work as Agent Cooper in Twin Peaks). Bonus points for the glorious McLachlan flamethrower scene...
A strange mash-up of body snatchers meets the Terminator meets a buddy cop film that should not work yet somehow does mostly due to the charismatic performances of its two leads (Kyle McLachlan gives an especially enjoyable performance that brings to mind his later work as Agent Cooper in Twin Peaks). Bonus points for the glorious McLachlan flamethrower scene...
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Raging Bull
Present
Caught The Lost Daughter on Netflix last night. Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley are just terrific, two of the best actresses working right now.
That's no excuse. If they could make a Young Guns II, they can make an In Bruges II.
Seriously, that's why I was half joking, but the disappointment was real because I did get excited for a minute before I stopped and thought about it.
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KallioWeHardlyKnewYe
Hey! We won!
- May 30, 2003
- 15,771
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Never Say Never Again. I imagine watching this one-off rival James Bond flick is akin to seeing Guns N' Roses with their Buckethead lineup. It plays the hits and it does manage to somewhat scratch the itch you have, but it's still just not the same. The extreme mid-1980s of this was amusing. Despite luring Sean Connery for a comeback, the tone is closer to Roger Moore's cheekiness than any of Connery's proper Bond movies. Some of that works, some of it doesn't. My biggest complaint is that it really lacks momentum. Slow and baggy. Liked Klaus Maria Brandauer's Largo and Barbara Carrera's #12 though. Good villain performances. Lumping it in with the others, this isn't the worst Bond outing, but it's somewhere in the bottom tier.
Don't Worry Darling. I don't know that the actual movie quite earns the vitriol that accompanied its release, but it's definitely not good. It looks pretty good, I'll give it that. But it's so engulfed in its own mystery that it actually doesn't manage to build any real mystery. Predictable plot and resolution that doesn't really say anything that hasn't been said in better movies. Florence Pugh is a good sport but even that can only take it so far.
Don't Worry Darling. I don't know that the actual movie quite earns the vitriol that accompanied its release, but it's definitely not good. It looks pretty good, I'll give it that. But it's so engulfed in its own mystery that it actually doesn't manage to build any real mystery. Predictable plot and resolution that doesn't really say anything that hasn't been said in better movies. Florence Pugh is a good sport but even that can only take it so far.
I know what you should do to scrarch that itch. Visit Bruges. It is extremely beautiful with a river running through it everywhere, has the best French Fries in the world, and when you order a slice of cheese, it comes with a little chocolate mouse on top of it. After walking up the courtyard tower, you can relive your memories of the movie in one of the town square cafes.That's no excuse.
Seriously, that's why I was half joking, but the disappointment was real because I did get excited for a minute before I stopped and thought about it.
KallioWeHardlyKnewYe
Hey! We won!
- May 30, 2003
- 15,771
- 3,808
That's a fine idea, except that I've already seen it. Why spend thousands on travel when I saw it for only $3.99?
shadow1
Registered User
- Nov 29, 2008
- 16,728
- 5,526
The Young Master (1980) - 7/10
A martial artist embarks on a journey to bring his disgraced brother back to their school.
Jackie Chan stars as Dragon, an orphan and mediocre martial arts student. His brother Tiger (Wei Pai) is the star pupil at his school, which is led by Master Tien (Tien Feng). However, during a Lion Dance competition, Tiger secretly betrays the school, but is found out and exiled. Dragon then sets off on a mission to bring his brother back home. Meanwhile, a dangerous criminal (Hwang In-shik) has escaped custody...
The Young Master was written and directed by Jackie Chan in his second directorial effort. Notably, this was the first movie in which Jackie worked with production company Golden Harvest, a collaboration that would end up spanning decades. Rarely mentioned compared to films like Drunken Master (1978), I find The Young Master to be one of Jackie's best early works and films overall.
The biggest strength of The Young Master is its comedy. It's very funny in terms of dialogue, situations, and the fight scenes. Jackie's character Dragon is a talented fighter, but isn't the absolute best and is a bit of a doofus; a combination which often leads to hilarity. The film does have a few serious moments, but they don't feel out of place at all. There's a nice mix of action, comedy, and occasional drama here.
The Young Master also features a supporting role from Yuen Biao, who attended the same Opera School as Jackie Chan when they were kids. The two went on to collaborate numerous times after this, and have some enjoyable fight scenes in this movie. The film's best fight is between Jackie and a Police Chief (Kien Shih), which features the use a props in a funny and clever way.
Plot wise, The Young Master has an A and B plot, and the two eventually converge. If there's one criticism I have of this movie, it's the blending of these two; the film spends a lot of time building up Plot A, only for Plot B to pop up and become the focus, leaving Plot A to be somewhat forgotten. This doesn't ruin the film or anything, though. The Young Master is a movie that's about the journey (and hijinks) of Jackie's character, rather than his ultimate destination.
Overall, The Young Master is a martial arts classic. It's probably Jackie Chan's funniest movie, and one of the earliest examples of Jackie perfecting the action-comedy formula and prop humor he's become famous for.
Hunt (2022) Directed by Lee Jung-jae 3B
Fans of the international mega-hit series Squid Game might be tempted by Hunt as it marks the directorial debut of its star, Lee Jung-jae. The movie is about an assassination attempt on the South Korean president in the 1980's. Lee plays one of the two principal bureaucrats assigned the task of sniffing out a North Korean mole in the South Korean intelligence service. That sounds like a serviceable, if hardly original, plot, somewhat similar to the scenario of Infernal Affairs. Trouble is, it took me at least 45 minutes to figure that much out. The first half of the movie is a monument to confusion as the inexperienced Lee has no clue how to tell a story from behind the camera. He is poor at establishing setting as well as significance with the result that the frenzied action remains without a focal point for the longest time. On the basis of what is on display here, it is hard to believe that Lee could direct his foot into a shoe, let alone make a coherent movie. It is a shame because I could see just enough of the beast through the fog to tell that there was an interesting story in there to be told. But watching Hunt was mostly an exercise in exasperation.
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