Movies 2: Electric Boogaloo

The guys who lend out money one is brilliant.

@Jimbob wrote:

Well that was unexpected. It'd seem even weirder if not for the Summerhayes Co-efficient guaranteeing something like this to happen.

I long ago accepted that I'm the protagonist in a sitcom of some kind.

A mix of Oscar nominees and some action Blu-rays I picked up:



Nikita (or La Femme Nikita) (1990)

A French action flick from Luc Besson - the bloke who did Leon and The Fifth Element - this is the film that he did before them. This might be the best of those three. A beautifully shot if ultimately absurd tale of a teenage street punk that kills a policeman and is given a life sentence. But her death is faked and she is instead trained to be a government spy. Think Kingsman but with a French grittiness and touching love story thrown in too. I really enjoyed this and highly recommend it to anyone that likes 80s action films with amazing soundtracks. 9/10

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

I have an Audrey Hepburn picture in my bedroom, something I bought to jazz up my big white wall in Zoom meetings. Her beauty is one thing in a still photo, but I didn't realise just how stunning she is in film. She puts in a great performance too and she's the only redeeming feature of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Of course, this is viewed as a classic romantic comedy with its iconic shots of Hepburn at the start (along with Moon River playing), as well as the kiss in the rain at the end. However, the actual film is bad. Real bad. I didn't even know what Hepburn's job was other than "socialite" but apparently she's a prostitute. The story it's based on is more graphic and as this is the early 60s, they just gloss over this entirely. The male lead (George Peppard) is awful too - I swear it's the bland stepdad from Liar Liar but it's obviously not - spitting image of him though. Also, this film has some awful racial stereotyping, with Mickey Rooney playing a Japanese landlord, with huge buck teeth and terrible racist behaviour that appear to be played for laughs. A different era, of course, but now I'm not surprised that this never ends up on TV these days. 5/10

Monster's Ball (2001)

Or the film that Halle Berry won an Oscar for. Billy Bob Thornton plays his usual slimy Southern hick who works on death row. Him and his brother put Puff Daddy in the electric chair and he's killed, but then Billy ends up falling for Halle Berry (the widow of Puffy). This meant that at some point, Puff Daddy had Halle Berry as a work wife and Jennifer Lopez as a real wife - some people get all the luck! Speaking of which, the sex scene in this between Halle and Billy is possibly the best I've ever seen. Better than any porn you'll see, proper intense and jumps off the screen. The film itself is fine for a drama, tackling racism and broken families. I enjoyed it. 8/10

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Al Pacino in the 1970s was different class. This might be my favourite of his films because it's such a simple premise. A bank robbery where everything that can go wrong, goes wrong. It's based on a true story where a ten minute bankjob turns into ten hours, as the bank robbers simply aren't bad guys. But it's all about the deeper they go, the more inevitable their fate becomes. I love this type of film where there is one main location and it's all about the dialogue between the characters and Al Pacino is electric as the likeable family man who has gone through with a bad decision when he probably didn't have to. 10/10

Face/Off (1997)

The most bonkers plot ever written, this John Woo action film pairs Nicholas Cage with John Travolta, two of the hammiest actors hamming it up. And it's bloody marvellous. If these were regular action film actors, it wouldn't work, but because they know it's a stupid premise, Cage and Travolta create this universe where you buy into it all. Some of the lines are laugh out loud funny but I prefer Cage in Con Air - a better action film with cheesy lines. 7/10

Rocky (1976)

The original Rocky is a great drama from the 70s that captures Philadelphia in the same way Taxi Driver did New York. There's a dirty authenticity to Rocky that makes the underdog story all the more believable and while the plot again, is completely ridiculous, it still somehow works. The iconic music and running scene are as great as ever, and I reckon if there wasn't a ton of needless sequels, Rocky would be taken more seriously for the drama it is. It did win the Best Picture Oscar to be fair (over Taxi Driver). 9/10

American Sniper (2014)

Based on a true story, this is about an American sniper that killed hundreds of people in Iraq. It's really well made although the sniper antagonist seemed a bit far-fetched and it suffers from the usual "America are the good guys, the Iraqis are evil" messaging that I guess is down to Clint Eastwood directing. That being said, the end of the film caught me off guard with what happens. Bradley Cooper is great as the lead, but I never really believed in the story even if it is based on facts. 7/10

Foxcatcher (2014)

This film is actually about the American wrestling team that challenges at the Olympics. Kurt Angle's life story in a way, it has some impressive performances from Steve Carrell and Channing Tatum as the obsessive coach and the wrestler wondering if it's all worth it. The way it is shot in a washed out, drab colour really sucks the life out of everything, in a good way. Like you're watching an actual submission. Well worth a watch 8/10

Went and saw The Suicide Squad last night.

Pretty fun film and nice back to the cinema.

I went to the cinema twice today!
At 10am I watched this week's classic film showing: The original Terminator.
Still an absolute masterpiece in tight, tense thrills. The film's only flaw is the fact that the sequel exists.

Then at 5pm I caught Fast and Furious 9 (having watched the other 8 over the past 8 nights).
This film is beyond ridiculous. The plot is nonsensical and mostly relies on you recognising a character from a previous film every ten minutes. The action is so over the top I was laughing at moments of high drama. The characters are charicatures of human beings.

I love it. These are the gods and heroes our modern society is creating, as the Greeks gave us Heracles and Achilles.

@Buskalilly wrote:

I went to the cinema twice today!
At 10am I watched this week's classic film showing: The original Terminator.
Still an absolute masterpiece in tight, tense thrills. The film's only flaw is the fact that the sequel exists.

I recently had these two holes in my cultural knowledge patched. Do you know I think I prefer the first one? I don't believe this is a popular view, but I just preferred the out-and-out action/horror vibe. Also: no Kid John Connor.

@Buskalilly wrote:

This film is beyond ridiculous. The plot is nonsensical and mostly relies on you recognising a character from a previous film every ten minutes. The action is so over the top I was laughing at moments of high drama. The characters are caricatures of human beings.

I love it. These are the gods and heroes our modern society is creating, as the Greeks gave us Heracles and Achilles.

Yeah I watched Hobbs and Shaw recently on Netflix and thought it was really enjoyable. Completely ridiculous, but it knew it was. Looking forward to the ninth one.

@Balladeer wrote:

Do you know I think I prefer the first one?  I don't believe this is a popular view, but I just preferred the out-and-out action/horror vibe.  Also: no Kid John Connor.

It's not the most popular opinion, but you're far from alone. I think the first is close to a perfect film, it's incredibly tight. There are plenty of purists who prefer it. I just happen to be more of an action guy, spent my entire childhood watching this film over and over, like Arnie being the good guy and appreciate the No Fate message.
I have no beef with anyone liking the 1st over the 2nd, but if anyone prefers any of the others to those two, they are dangerous deviants who shouldn't be allowed to mingle with normal society.

I liked the series.

Oh, the Sarah Connor Chronicles? Yeah, that was alright. Part of me thinks it ended too soon, part of me really doesn't know where they'd have gone from that cliffhanger . . .

I've started watching the Craig Bonds in the build-up to No Time To Die (which is still a week and a half away here in Japan). Casino Royale still holds up as an absolutely astonishing film. And I still reckon Quantum of Solace is a banger, and does not deserve its reputation at all. This Saturday night will be Skyfall, which I remember thinking was a bit overrated, and the week after that I'll watch Spectre for the first time and then catch the new one in a theatre.

I'm going to see No Time to Die this Sunday, looking forward to it!

Skyfall is my favourite Bond film. The cinematography in the Shanghai scenes is bloody brilliant and is responsible for me learning who Roger Deakins is.

Saw that Spider-Man, amazing.

Spider-man's not out here until January 7th, so I'm on careful spoiler avoidance.

Saw the Matrix, though, and it's a phenomenal film.

The new one?

Yep, seen it twice already in theatres!

Nice, I've heard very mixed things as seems it's utter trash or phenomenal.

Why I want to ASAP.

Yeah, it has a lot to say and it definitely benefits from a deep understanding of the transness of the original trilogy - something I've only very recently educated myself on

@Buskalilly wrote:

...it definitely benefits from a deep understanding of the transness of the original trilogy...

...wait what? I think I might need an education too. Is this the Sam Raimi trilogy?

He's on about Matrix.

That makes much more sense.

Well, you see when peter Parker is bitten by the Spider, that represents the character discovering they are trans. "Spiders" are liars in a lot of mythologies, like Africa's Anansi, so "Spider-Man" is not a man at all. Really, that is her real form as a Trans woman.
The Green Goblin in the first film, who suffers from a multiple personality kind of deal, represents Spidey's doubts about transitioning and the conflicting identities. At the end of the film, Spider-man must choose whether to save a bus full of children, representing the past when Spidey identified as a cis man, and a woman, representing her true identity.
In the sequel, Doctor Octopus is a well-meaning scientist who makes a series of terrible decisions because the system has infected his brain. He eventually tries to kill Spider-man and represents society's attacks on Trans people even by those in the medical community who think they're helping but who just don't understand.
Finally, in the third film, it explores sexuality and how when Spider-man stops upholding the system and starts pursuing their own desires, society turns on them. See how Mary Jane wants Spider-man to go back to just being Peter Parker, and is generally a source of woe in the film, while Gwen is always portrayed positively and appreciates Spider-man for being Spider-man. The ultimate villain of the film ends up being Venom, an incarnation of all Spider-man's own doubts and fears.

Now seen Matrix IV and have to say it's darn good.

@masofdas wrote:

Now seen Matrix IV and have to say it's darn good.

Yass kween! Is this the first time me and you are on the same side of a controversial opinion?

Not sure.