I took a break from all my kung fu/wuxia movies to watch Amelie (2001). Always heard it was such a great movie but never wanted to watch a "French chick-flick". Boy, am I happy to be proven wrong. This is everything a movie should be: Fun, entertaining, creative... I'm kind of glad I never watched it when I was younger, as I don't think I would have appreciated it as much as I do now. 9/10.
Returned to my kung fu voyage and watched 2 bio pics: The Grandmaster (2013) and Fearless (2006). The Grandmaster was nominated for two Oscars and the cinematogrophy is absolutely stunning. I'd recommend it just for that alone. But watching I felt that the movie was divided in two parts: The first part is about Ip Man and his rise to fame, while the second part is about Gong Er and her quest for vengeance. While still beautifully shot, I got a little bored with her story. So, 7/10 for The Grandmaster. Fearless (2006) is one of those rare jewels: Jet Li in top form making a movie that combines good storytelling with interesting characters and a philosophy that shows what wushu is all about, rather than trying to tell you. Plus, great action! 8/10
Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind (2018) 8/10. A compassionate look at an extraordinary man with an extraordinary mind. Consists mainly of interviews with friends and family and footage of shows. Confucius (2010) 7/10. Starring Chow Yun-Fat. Apparently, there was some controversy when the film was released as the Chinese govt ordered Avatar pulled off 2-D screens so more people would watch Confucius, which caused a backlash. I liked it more than the current IMDB rating would suggest (6.2) but wish they had focused a bit more on what he taught. Detective Dee: Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010) 8/10. Nominated and won a few awards, mainly for special effects. Starring Andy Lau. Scooby Doo meets kung fu meets the Tang Dynasty. I like it because it had a good story, even though the plot wasn't that difficult to figure out. What freaked me out was the subtitles, which seemed to provide information for what the people were thinking as well as what they were saying. Made for an interesting movie, though, and I'm looking forward to the next one.
Just watched The Girl with All the Gifts -- and while it was very interesting in many ways, something didn't sit right with me. Eventually I came to several conclusions: Zombie movies kinda don't lend themselves to deep philosophical questions, because there's something inherently stupid about the premise (no way a body can be half-rotting and still be able to run at top speed, or even stand up, etc., and the whole 'they must bite you' kinda thing, and how quickly the infection works, which are all... silly and cheesy) -- so it kinda feels 'off' when you mix these things. The foreshadowing could be much better There's a theme switch -- from 'personal human connection' to 'what counts as life and why should one life form be deemed more worthy than another', so ultimately it's a bit jarring and the second theme just got clumsily slapped on near the end. Kids can be much eerier... I like the ending, but I just think it could be a lot creepier (and it would have been if they had stuck to the first theme) The fungal life cycle isn't explained (and doesn't hold up scientifically) Still, it's worth a watch, and I'm glad I watched it, and I don't even like zombie movies in general. But I can see why it's got 85% on Rotten from critics and 66% from audiences. It's a good effort... but the 'soul' is kinda... muddled... and in the end it doesn't really know what it's trying to say or what it's trying to be...
Have you seen Maggie (2015)? I'm not a big zombie movie fan myself, but I thought Maggie did a great job by focusing more on the relationship between an infected daughter and a non-infected father than all the running and screaming and chopping heads off. Only got average ratings which is a pity, because I thought it was a really good film, even though it (obviously) wasn't really what people wanted from a Schwarzenegger zombie movie.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018) 8/10. Finally! Pain in the butt waiting for the official digital release so I can watch a good HD copy at home while trying to avoid spoilers, but it's a price I'm happy to pay so I never have to set foot in another theater again and have the whole experience ruined for me by entitled scrotumbags. What a blast! Don't know how much the Russo brothers have earned from this franchise but they're worth every penny (and by penny I mean millions of dollars).
Finally got around to War for the PLanet of the Apes. Unfortunately the version I had was missing the subtitle track, or I accidentally deleted it (probably the latter) so I missed a a lot of the signed dialog. Still, it was gorgeous visually.
So I just finished watching Rampage (2018). It involves Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson running around with a giant albino gorilla to fight a giant bat-wolf monster and a tusked crocodile/alligator monster thing. It's full of explosions, crazy monsters, science that makes no sense, and tons of CGI, along with the Rock's trademark humor that's both very "bro" and yet not offensive. So basically it's everything you expect from a movie based on a rather silly but fun video game! It wasn't deep on plot and there were holes you could ride the giant gorilla through, but it was fun to watch and entertaining! So if you like that kind of cheesy, ridiculous, but fun stuff, I'd recommend it. Pretty solid 8.5/10 for me, but I'm a huge "creature feature" fan so giant monsters plus an actor I like always works well for me.
Deadpool 2 (2018) 8/10. Well, as expected, Deadpool 2 was worth the wait. I knew it was going to be funny but I didn't expect there would be a decent story with some heart between all the banter. The first one was slightly funnier with better action scenes, imo, but this is a worthy successor.
Same. Deadpool 2 was also the last movie I saw, and I agree with you. It was nice, but the first one was better. I felt like they were trying too hard with a few jokes.
I watched 10,000 B.C. last night as promised. A very typical "hero" story and about as historically accurate as the Flintstones, but it had some awesome visuals and cool beasts at least. I enjoyed it for that if nothing else.
Destination Wedding (2018) 7/10. This was a rather odd and unexpectedly pleasant surprise. Not to everyone's taste as not much happens. Most of the movie is just (fantastic) dialogue between the two main characters, Keanu Reeves and Wynona Ryder, who play two of the most obnoxious people on the planet - brilliantly and at times laugh-out-loud hilariously.
Not counting Jimmy Dore Comedy, Political news, and some short clips for learning French: Another Man, Another Chance. I like French things, especally French-Western, almost as much as GameLit.
"Annihilation." Couldn't make it make it past the first chapter of VanderMeer's novel. Only made it past the first act of the movie by mentally reshooting it in my head as a parody staring Tommy Wiseau. Probably because I'm old enough that every time they called the anomaly "The Shimmer," I flashed back to that old Saturday Night Live "It's a floor wax!/It's a dessert topping!" sketch. The creepy "bear" in the house scene was effective, though. I'll give it that.
After seeing the preview for Glass I finally got around to watching Split. I loved Unbreakable, but thought Split was just another suspense/horror flick. I was wrong. Loved the film, geeked out over the ending, and now can't wait for Glass.
