They stuff they padded it out with from the appendices was fine. The stuff they just added in to pad out the time? That was much more problematic. No question, it could’ve easily been one movie that was 3-4 hours. Easily.
Personally my friends and I didn’t like the first Hobbit movie, so I’m honestly amazed the sequels got made.
I am like the lone apologist for those films.
I picked up the Extended Cut DVD’s the other day from Walmart and I just got through the first one last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I haven’t gotten through the entire trilogy yet, but if the next two movies are as good as the first, I’ll put them on par with the LOTR Trilogy.
They aren’t as good as LOTr, I freely admit that. They have lots of problems, and there are huge chunks of them that you could cut out. But the accusation that they’re as bad as the Star Wars prequels is frankly just insane. The casting alone puts them head and shoulders above.
They have some of the same issues, being prequels and all, but their major faults are being terrible adaptations of the book.
I think part of them are terrific adaptations of the book; the first hour or so of the first movie is almost word-for-word. The stuff they added in that’s actually in Tolkien is pretty good; the Dol Goldur stuff, etc. The material they just added to pad things out like the inter-species romance, not so much.
Where is 4K77 ?!
Behind 4K THX 1138.
I checked with Amazon Instant Video, sadly, in spite of what they list, the so-called 1971 version is in fact the 2004 cut. I knew it was too good to be true 😦.
Apparently I just will never see it.
Isn’t the work in progress Grindhouse version still floating around?
Yes, it’s on myspleen. 720p and has Laserdisc frames replacing the missing ones.
Yeah, but with no more invites, you can’t get onto that 😉.
The Amazon version is the theatrical cut.
Would The Last Starfighter count as a Star Wars knockoff?
Nah.
Also, Message From Space is awesome.
Is that the one with the starfish monsters?
Mud- Matthew McConaughey vehicle continues his career resurrection. Hugely atmospheric slice of Southern Gothic with good performances, but a little slow-moving.
Magic Mike- Matthew McConaughey and Channing Tatum, both in roles tailor-made for them. Soderberg blends his usual intelligent social commentary with a thoroughly familiar, almost cliched storyline to surprising effect. Tatum proves very amicable, and McConaughey has a great time as the sleazebag strip club owner who sells sex and fantasy with a colossal ego. Not exactly subject matter in which I had a vested interest, but interesting.
Killer Joe- Another Matthew McConaughey vehicle, this one from fallen 70s aeuter William Friedkin. At age 78, Friedkin remains ever the provocateur, and the movie pushes the envelope and is anarchic and unruly in the best ways. Sadly, it feels more like a freak show-I watch the black comedy car accident with perverse interest, but the black humor in the more vulgar moments feels very ill-judged, and the characters are kind of repugnant. It’s the kind of thing you with with interest but not necessarily involvement, at least it was for me. Great performances though, McConaughey’s charisma is twisted into something darker and more malevolent. Shot digitally, Caleb Deschanel is a superb DOP, and the film is stunning looking, but doesn’t quite have the atmosphere of Mud, even if it’s more lurid. Maybe the baking heat is just an easier thing to convey on grainy celluloid than on crisp digital. I still think the grainy 16mm of Hooper’s original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is the closest I’ve ever come to smelling a movie. Speaking of which…
The Devil’s Rejects- Rob Zombie’s sadistic throwback to the 70s horror movies he loves has it down stylistically. None of the trendy and shiny cinematography, annoying digital FX, and rapid-fire editing of newer remakes, it’s shot on grainy Super 16 with a 70s southern rock soundtrack. The whole movie is cast with exploitation icons and feels wonderfully ragged and dirty. Sadly, Zombie doesn’t appear to have absorbed any of the underlying social context of the movies he loves, so his homage feels empty, just a parade of stylized sadism with no center. You could argue there’s a subtext of becoming monstrous fighting monsters, but it’s awful thin. The cast are all having a sleazy great time though, a terrifying Sid Haig, a gleefully profane Bill Mosley, and a hilariously redneck William Forsythe as an Elvis-loving sheriff. “I’m sure your knowledge of bullshit is limitless!”
Anyone know anything about the Amazon/Vudu versions? The idea the original version coming out under our noses sounds way too good to be true.
Is the version on Amazon Instant Video the original cut?
Damn. I really would like to see the original cut in widescreen and all. Maybe when this project finishes 😉.
EDIT: Why are there two versions of the film on Vudu? They’re both listed as having the same run-time of the director’s cut. Weird.
EDIT 2: Amazon Instant video does the same thing.
However I can, because living in my parents’ house means I’m rapidly running out of space.
My VHS of the first-ever TCM airing has the green opening text, the red WB logo, etc. Looks like it was the DC even back then. Shame on TCM, showing something like that goes against their entire manifesto. Short of this project ever finishing, looks like I’ll never see the theatrical cut. And thus never see this movie. What a fucking shame.
You can pick up a VHS copy pretty cheap on eBay.
Yeah, but panned-and-scanned, right?
Yeah, but they have kept their name off the movies for the most part, at least so far.
Personally my friends and I didn’t like the first Hobbit movie, so I’m honestly amazed the sequels got made.
I am like the lone apologist for those films.
I picked up the Extended Cut DVD’s the other day from Walmart and I just got through the first one last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I haven’t gotten through the entire trilogy yet, but if the next two movies are as good as the first, I’ll put them on par with the LOTR Trilogy.
They aren’t as good as LOTR, I freely admit that. They have lots of problems, and there are huge chunks of them that you could cut out. But the accusation that they’re as bad as the Star Wars prequels is frankly just insane. The casting alone puts them head and shoulders above.
My VHS of the first-ever TCM airing has the green opening text, the red WB logo, etc. Looks like it was the DC even back then. Shame on TCM, showing something like that goes against their entire manifesto. Short of this project ever finishing, looks like I’ll never see the theatrical cut. And thus never see this movie. What a fucking shame.
Did you look past that point just to be sure? The lizard shot isn’t that far in.
I was going by the movie-censorship.com list of changes. I’ll check the lizard, but it did have the color-change on the monitors, so I’m pretty sure.
The question is, how many can the general public take before they get bored with it?
Is it just me or is Gollum from LOTR and The Hobbit the most realistic CG character?
Have seen Serkins in the new Planet of the Apes movies?
It wouldn’t even be possible, but I’d like a grimy Boba Fett heist movie in the mold of Stark’s Parker novels.
My VHS of the first-ever TCM airing has the green opening text, the red WB logo, etc. Looks like it was the DC even back then. Shame on TCM, showing something like that goes against their entire manifesto. Short of this project ever finishing, looks like I’ll never see the theatrical cut. And thus never see this movie. What a fucking shame.
Liam Neeson beats people up is it’s own genre now. 😉
And a somewhat fun genre sometimes 😉. Hats off to the man for reinventing himself as an action hero in his 60s. Never thought anyone would ever do that.
Taken- Many action fans have really taken (ahem) to this Luc Besson violence-fest, but I found its xenophobic violence dull and outdated. At least some of Besson’s other vehicles had some gonzo Hong Kong chops to lighten them up. This tale of an ultra-badass who goes Europe to kill a series of evil sex traffickers who’ve kidnapped his virginal daughter (“The French are amazing in bed!”) would play like a DTV vehicle if it weren’t for the higher production values and Liam Neeson’s excellent acting and steely presence, but that’s not enough to elevate it. I just thought once we got out of the 90s, we were done with this kind of thing. And for a Frenchman, Besson doesn’t do the tourist board any favors. Maybe I finally am growing up.
Unknown- Joel Silver, king of action flicks from the golden age, produces another Liam Neeson action vehicle from director Jaume Collet-Serra. It’s twisty plot based upon a novel feels like a pulp paperback airplane reader, but that’s not a terrible thing. Serra’s direction is very glossy and brisk, and there’s a certain fun in watching the admittedly nonsensical plot unfold as the twists and turns a revealed amid the occasional shootouts, car chases, and watching Liam Neeson beat everybody up.
Non-Stop- A rehash of the above with Neeson, Serra, and Silver, Neeson as air marshal solving a sort of locked room mystery up in the clouds. Frankly more interesting doing the Agatha Christie shtick than when it goes into action fireworks in its third act. Though it isn’t based on a novel, this too feels very much like a trashy paperback with a few plot twists. Decent fun while it lasts, though it doesn’t hold up to a lot scrutiny. Shot on Fuji 35mm though. Yay! Celluloid! Enjoy it while it lasts.
The War Wagon- Formulaic but fun Western starring the Duke and Kirk Douglas leading a team trying to heist an armored covered wagon. The kind of high-concept star-powered action-fest which would still be made today, but would be way more bombastic and full of CG. I probably shouldn’t be giving them ideas, but it’s the kind of premise they’d try to use if they were making a western today. Hopefully no one will try to remake it. As it is, it’s lightweight fun which has the sense to be nice and lean. Burt Kennedy’s direction is brisk and fun if unremarkable, the stars do their star stuff, and the title creation is a nifty piece of movie machinery. Entertaining, albeit mostly forgettable.
The Last Boy Scout- Buddy movie shoot’em up from the MTV-era dream-team of Shane Black, Bruce Willis, Joel Silver, and Tony Scott, set against the backdrop of pro football. Trashy, brainless, sarcastic misogynistic, glossy, loud, violent, profane, crass, funny, and action-packed but clumsily cut, it’s a fun relic from a bygone era of the macho action flick’s golden age. Wayans and Willis have fair chemistry, Black’s uncountable one-liners are often funny, and Scott’s flash-and-trash direction points forward toward the even more incomprehensible post-narrative hell of people like Michael Bay. From fans of the era who grew up then, such as I, it’s a fun trip down memory lane, albeit dated as hell after only 15 years. Apparently Black was paid a then-unprecedented amount for the script and it restored Willis’ star status after taking a bad hit in the maligned Hudson Hawk. Not the blockbuster they hoped it’d be, but it became a surprise hit on the then nascent home-video market on VHS. It’s definitely the kind of thing that’d show up panned-and-scanned on cable back in the 1990s. Ah, those were the days.
The Sound of Music- Robert Wise’s classic adaptation of Rogers and Hammerstein’s final collaboration. Waaaaaaaaaaayyyyy too long, but lots of fun. Earnest (some might say cheesy), and shot on gorgeous Todd-AO 70mm with Wise’s precise camera-work and beautiful compositions, and a nice eye for grandeur and the extraordinary detail and color 70mm brings. Andrews and Plummer make a fun and hugely engaging pair, the kids aren’t annoying, and the cinematography never ceases to fill up the eyes, though the film’s thriller-esque detour in its final acting into a tale of escaping Nazi-occupied territory is an odd turn. Good musical numbers have made the film a sing-along cult favorite, and the exuberance is pretty hard to resist.
The Day the Earth Stood Still- Robert Wise’s 1950s sci-fi classic about a spaceman and super-robot who come to warn against nuclear power. A bit dated and didactic (some might say the message is a little crypto-fascist), but also iconic, beautifully shot, and lots of fun. Performances are solid all around, and though some FX are dated, others have held up surprisingly well. Wise’s clean compositions and some gorgeous B&W cinematography make the film a visual treat, while the narrative is nice and tight-remember when an SFX sci-fi film was 90 minutes? Still pretty damn good.
Planet of the Apes- Franklin J. Schaffner’s sci-fi classic about an astronaut who crash-lands on a planet of intelligent apes where humans are mute animals. Certainly dated in places, but time has been surprisingly kind to it in many respects, and the avalanche of franchising merchandise tend overshadow what was an interesting sci-fi film with a fascinating “what-if” premise. Wilson and Serling’s witty screenplay is full of classic lines, and the film’s sucker-punch ending is still one of the finest ever.
Beneath the Planet of the Apes- Even more pulpy sci-fi sequel which leans a bit on Star Trek about a new faction of mutant psychic humans who worship a cobalt bomb capable of destroying the planet (subtle). No necessarily bad, but a comedown after the previous film. Still, Paul Dehn set in motion a big mythology here, and some of the images remain effectively spooky.
Escape from the Planet of the Apes- A fish-out-of-water tale similar to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home about the apes on modern-day Earth. Much more lighthearted, with some more humorous and campy satire, though some of the darker underpinnings work surprisingly well.
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes- Extremely dark fourth installment in the saga about the apes, tired of being brutalized, choosing to fight back. A thinly veiled allegory for the Watts riots, director Thompson’s grim vision is highly effective and disturbing.
Battle for the Planet of the Apes- I don’t know if it’s because they dumped screenwriter Paul Dehn, Fox slashed the budget to ribbons, or what, but the final installment is decidedly disappointing. Connecting the dots of the franchise mythology with disappointing laziness, it drops the ball after the fantastic last movie, and is tonally inconsistent. Still some fun post-apocalyptic imagery.
Tai-Chi Master- Classic wire-fu from Hong Kong’s golden age with the once-in-lifetime pairing of Jet Li Lian-Jie and Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng. They disappointingly never throw down, but both get to engage in some great fisticuffs courtesy of director and choreographer par excellence Yuen Woo Ping, who stages every set piece with great clarity and skill and bone-crunching power. The storyline involves a pair of Shaolin monks, one of whom takes a darker path as an evil warlord and forces Li to become the people’s defender and develop the titular martial art. Occasional slips into slapstick are irritating but handled well and Yuen shows that there’s more to him as a director than just his choreography, and movie was actually shot in mainland China and boasts impressive production values. Dragon Dynasty’s DVD has the picture uncut and in wisescreen, and interesting Logan commentary, and what appear to be decent subtitles, but the so-called “mono” is a crappy 5.1 downmix. Outside of the hard-to-find Tai Seng VHS and maybe some LD releases, no mono to be found. This fandom sucks.
Fong Sai Yuk- After seeing Corey Yuen Kwai’s terrific action choreography in so many mediocre international movies, seeing him actually direct a movie on his home ground in his element is wonderful. A broad, scattershot, occasionally messy but always exciting blend of drama, slapstick comedy, political intrigue, and electrifying action sequences, with Jet Li Lian-Jie as a Cantonese folk hero who winds up battling injustice as part of a secret cult. Beautiful cinematography, action sequences you have see to believe, funny comedy set pieces, and great performances. Those who think Li is too serious should definitely check out his comedic chops here, Josephine Siao Fong-Fong, a longtime industry veteran, is an absolutely delight, and Vincent Zhao Wen-Zhuo is a terrific villain who’s a great physical match for Li. Hong Kong cinema at is absolutely scintillating best. Dragon Dynasty’s DVD is yet another hack job, the censored US cut with a mono Cantonese track spliced over it, and a disappointing transfer. Still probably preferable to the non-anamorphic HK release with a new 5.1 mix full of horrible new FX. Sigh. I hate this fandom. Maybe I spoke French, the HK Video version would be good, but even then you get forced subtitles. FML.
Gladiator- Ridley Scott’s revival sword-and-sandal epic, saw a DCP of this as part of the “classics series” at my local AMC, sandwiched between The Ten Commandments the week before (My ass…so numb…) and Ben-Hur later. Anyway, time has a funny way of putting things into their proper place. The battle scenes, though impressive, would be well-eclipsed by LOTR the following year. Still, some are exciting. I rather like Crowe’s steely presence as the lead character, Oliver Reed’s final performance is good, and Connie Neilsen is very sultry. Scott brings his customary visual flair to the film, and he remains adept at world-building and many stunning, technically impressive, logistically complicated shots. That being said, unfortunately, all of his considerable directorial talent is in the service of a screenplay that’s at best silly and at worst kind of moronic. Riddled with cliches (Seriously? The emperor is going to go toe-to-toe with a military master in the arena? Really?), bad dialogue which signposts things that the audience already knows (“Why are you armed?” “I’m terribly vexed!”), and hilarious historical inaccuracies (Maximus must be good! He does what the “good” emperor says, is a substance farmer, and has a beautiful wife and sun surround by golden wheat, and dies Christ-like for the good Rome! If this isn’t out-and-out fascist, well, it’s certainly ridiculously simplistic.). It’s half Cecil B. DeMille, half George Lucas, tons and tons and tons of grand excess which it thinks is exciting (and probably was in 2000), loaded with spectacle, some of which looks good, some of which is dated. I have a certain soft spot for the old-style adventure it peddles and it’s certainly fun in places, but it’s really uneven and time hasn’t been too kind to it. Incidentally, whether it’s the fault of Scott, Phoenix, or the screenwriter, I don’t know, but his whiny, effeminate character is one of the least effective villains ever-a sniveling idiot with daddy issues who’s every action seems to happen solely because the screenplay says so. It tries to pay lip service to actual political intrigue, but the simplified needs of a blockbuster action movie make that impossible. In the end, you’re left with a classic Hollywood film-raw spectacle, some of it good-looking, married to a stupid screenplay and story. Still, kind of fun, but has a classic identity crisis-it’s a glorified B-movie with pretensions and grandeur that make it think it’s smarter than it is. Though at least unlike The Ten Commandments, it actually ended before I’d lost all feeling in my lower body.
I have the first ever TCM airing of this on SP VHS apparently, according to Osborne in the intro. Maybe I do have the theatrical cut. Any scenes which would immediately stick out? I’ve never seen the film before.
Personally my friends and I didn’t like the first Hobbit movie, so I’m honestly amazed the sequels got made.
I am like the lone apologist for those films.
I like Rogue One better every time I see it.
Maybe if like the rest of the Disney Ourvre, it didn’t constantly remind me of the OOT I can never see again, I might be more receptive to it. I’ll revisit it one of these days.
Please stop saying that. You know perfectly well you can watch the OOT thanks to Harmy.
Oh, on a side note, can a Blu-ray player play back 720/24p without scaling it up to 1080/60p?
I like Rogue One better every time I see it.
Maybe if like the rest of the Disney Ourvre, it didn’t constantly remind me of the OOT I can never see again, I might be more receptive to it. I’ll revisit it one of these days.
Point Blank- Existential, experimental, iconoclastic 1960s crime thriller in the mold of the then-popular French New Waves movies. Icy, odd, distant, and structurally fairly unusual, even today. Uses the novel’s The Hunter’s basic premise as the springboard for an odd tale about existential emptiness and revenge. Great performance from Lee Marvin, some stunning cinematography, and very stylish, moody direction. A touch dated, but an interesting curio of a time when American cinema was willing to fund more than blockbusters.
Payback- Directorial debut of screenwriter Brian Helgeland, recut by Mel Gibson’s production company in an attempt to make it into Lethal Weapon 5, complete with Gibson’s obligatory torture scene and eventually him taking on the whole mob and blowing stuff up. An odd blend of Helgeland’s attempt at Stark’s aesthetic and a recut by someone going in a completely different direction.
Payback: Straight Up: The Director’s Cut- Though not quite as rough as the Westlake novel, Helgeland’s original cut hews closer to the original. It’s a small movie of a small tale, and works much better than Gibson’s knowingly ridiculous cut and plays like a 70s crime thrillers Helgeland wants to emulate, though without the existential underpinnings or rawness. Still pretty good for what it is, and probably the closest adaptation outside of Darwyn Cooke’s graphic novel.
Full Contact- Though not officially an adaptation of The Hunter, it does have a similar setup. Chow Yun Fat stars in this version from director Ring Lam Ling-Tung, a brutally violet, viciously nihilistic tale of a double-crossed thief who then proceeds to kill his way to revenge. Shot with a sucker-punch visual style and full of grimy, disreputable people, with the unique energy you’ll find only in Honk Kong Action Cinema of the period and nowhere else. Interesting, but kind of punishing and so brutal that you eventually run out of people to care about and sort of watch it like a car accident. The famous “bullet-cam” shots still have a certain novelty value.
The Crazies- George Romero’s tale of infected humans and bureaucracy trying to contain a virus. Intelligent and interesting in the way it deconstruction bureaucracy and social breakdown, but its raw, low-budget quality means that time has been very unkind to it in places. Interesting, but flawed.
The Crazies- Breck Eisener’s remake of the above, loses most of sociological clout and depth of the original, but works much better as a thriller, one crackerjack set piece after another, and nicely nihilistic tone and electric energy. If only there were a way to fall between the two.
…28 Days Later- Despite director Danny Boyle’s usual hyperactive visual tics, this derivative but highly effective horror thriller is one of the better ones of recent years. Yes, I know “THEY’RE NOT ZOMBIES!” and the infected hew more closely to the infected of the above-mentioned Romero film, but the plot and feeling seem more like Dawn of the Dead, and the whole third act is basically stolen from Day of the Dead. That said, it’s done well, there’s a nice intelligence behind it, it’s properly gory and viscerally frightening when it needs to be, with a nice human edge. Shot on interlaced digital video at 576i, probably in an attempt to call back to the grainy 16mm of yore.
28 Weeks Later- Though this one is shot on grainy Super 16 (And looks fantastic, it must be said.), this sequel aims more broadly. I’m not sure what its budget was, but I bet it was significantly higher than its predecessor. There are lot more impressive FX shots and a much bigger scale, though still grounded, at least nominally, in human drama. Said human drama isn’t quite as effective this time around, but it’s a nice backbone for the super-bloody thrills which build to splattery bloodbath finale, ending in a cruel apocalyptic joke. Selfishness has a way of coming back to haunt you, and interventionism is scarier than you bargain for.
The A-Team- Every now and then, you see a film that reaffirms your faith in the power of cinema as an art form, challenging you in exciting ways. The A-Team is not that film. It’s dumb, trashy, and flashy, and totally superficial. It is also, however, a lot of fun. Disposable, forgettable, and unpretentious, with some quotable funny lines, the film is basically like watching an action film on caffeine. It’s braindead, yes, but it has the sense to know it, and the actors, particularly a scene-stealing Sharlto Copley, are all in on the joke. As far as junk food action cinema goes, you could do far worse.
Battleship- Generally terrible, but better than the Transformers movies, though that’s the definition of faint praise. A bunch of aliens invade the water, the Navy has to stop them, and I do not care. Some neat design elements (apparently noted comic book artist Jock worked on the designs) and a little less misogynistic leering up women’s’ skirts than the Bay films, but even if it’s unpretentious, it still eventually collapses under the weight of its own stupidity.
Drive- This is what digital cinematography is all about, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a movie this visually stunning. It’s not surprising, director Nicholas Winding Refn’s father worked as an editor for digital pioneer Lars Von Trier back during the early years of digital during the Dogme movement. Refn describes the film as a fairytale, but it hews most closely to a Michael Mann film’s neon existential romanticism. The film is kind of slight and not exactly intellectually substantial, to be honest, but it’s so gorgeous that for once, style-over substance works. Refn calls it a “fetish film,” and it’s designed to within an inch of it’s life. Explosively violent and occasionally poetic, the film is pure mythmaming. If you’re looking for a crime that actually examines anything with moral value and sociological causes, go watch The Wire. Ryan Gosling is terrific as the monosyllabic driver with no name. A weird but surprisingly effective blend of existential archetypal exploitation movie storytelling and art-house aesthetics.
Looper- Fun, twisty time-travel thriller from Rian Johnson, combining the director’s penchant for noir with a sci-fi twist. Plot summary would take pages, but all of the pieces fit together pretty well. The plot doesn’t much sense on close scrutiny perhaps, but it rattles along so quickly that you don’t notice. Much stronger with the beats of the screenplay than any particular visuals, though the performances are uniformly excellent, Bruce Willis finally get a meaty role again, and makes the most of it.
Dredd- Sadly missing the scathing social satire that made Robocop, one of the imitators of the original comic so memorable, but as a balls-to-the walls action flick, that’s a throwback to the ultraviolence of the 80s and 90s, it’s a ruthlessly efficient machine. Proudly R-rated, violent as hell, and visually gritty, and Karl Urban is flint-hard as the monosyllabic title character, a raw force of nature. Disappointingly predictable screenplay, but for a movie that gives the fans what they want, it’s hard to beat. Shot digitally by the great Anthony Dod Mantle, it’s like six degrees of Lars Von Trier.
The World’s End- Maniacal mash-up from writer director Edgar Wright, the film is so busy and madcap that it’d be easy to dismiss as overwrought, but it’s a much smarter than its post-modern pastiche surface would suggest. A film about the dangers of nostalgia and the fragmentation of our technological world, shot on 35mm and Super 16 with that lovely texture that film has, it has a little bit of everything, but it works better than it has any right to work. Wright may be throwing everything but the kitchen sink in, but he has a remarkably deft hand, and under it’s frantic surface is a smart and heartfelt film.
The Conjuring- The Warren Files would’ve been a much better title. A very stylish ghost movie from director James Wan. Wan’s a rock star, but he dials that back a bit here, going for a more classical approach, though his freewheeling camera and penchant for loud noises that go “BANG!” mean it’s not exactly Val Lewton. Shot digitally, John R. Leonetti’s cinematography is stunning and makes good use of shadows and light. Wan idolizes Argento, but Argeno’s pop expressionism at least had bad dubbing to fall back on, some of the dialogue here is really horrible, and the storyline is a bit ham-fisted, regardless of your religious beliefs. “Witches believe sacrificing their child is the ultimate gift to Satan!” Ooga-booga! Stylish as hell though, with Wan’s clean gliding camera and compositions. Vera Farminga is luminous as always, but everyone else is just a prop for Wan to throw around. I jumped a lot, it did it’s job well, but lets see how memorable time decides it is.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story- Another Star Wars prequel. Yawn. Not a bad film, but one the feels calculated to within an inch of its life for commercial appeal, down to every character’s gender, ethnicity, etc. Unbelievably expensive-looking and curiously joyless. Again, whether you like Lucas or not, he did things that were once new. Oh, look. It’s the Battle of Endor again. Nearly everything about Rouge One feels too calculated towards gritty reboots, towards toy sales, towards practically everything but straightforward storytelling. Compare this to the lean economy of Lucas’ 1977 film. That said, Donnie Yen Ji-Dan kicking ass in an English-language film is loads of fun, there are some cool effects, and the set pieces are decent if overlong. But it feel like way too much of mediocre thing. Fun, but forgettable.