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mickeythechamp
I love movies, it´s my favorite artform. It combines all the other artforms and has the ability to juggle them all, it´s amazing.
my slogan is: movies are art as well as entertaintment
I´ll watch more or less anything but i´m honest. I like movies that say something and don´t like mindless movies normally.
my letterboxed:
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Ratings
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Reviews
Mononoke-hime (1997)
Pure fantasy at is finest
Returning to Miyazaki´s more adult try at an animated movie, Princes Mononoke still holds up in all the right ways. A strong political movie with a lot of moving parts that creates a great fantasy movie from start to near finish. While there is a few elements I personally don´t like about this movie they are small compared to the rest of what the movie delivers.
After being cursed by a forest spirit, Ashitaka seeks a cure for his curse in the land to the west and find himself in a conflict between nature and industrial work.
The animation is as always stunning. Some absolutely picturesque frames that might as well be in a museum. Full of colour and denseness. The colour green is utilized amazingly here and there are so many greatly designed elements, and characters. Everyone looks and feels distinct and it´s easy to tell everybody apart and learn from their looks what they are all about. The lack of colour can also be devastation, especially with the story in mind.
This is a strongly political story where Miyazaki definitely has an agenda and a clear stans. The story about humans vs nature, the fact that the world is using but also mistreating nature. How humanity likes to think of themselves as the master of nature, but here we are not prepared for what nature can do back. It´s not black and white and that´s why I love the story. Ashitaka is the link between humans and nature, believing that they can coexist and they have too.
A few elements I did not like is the rushed idea of romance and also the ending. This movie ends so abrupt it hurts and the people just kind of change their mind out of nowhere. A more graceful ending would have made this movie perfect in my eyes.
Because the "villains" aren´t really villains at all. They are just people who are following orders, people who are finally being recognized and fight for their right, a lot of animals that don´t know how to communicate or harmonize well. The conflict are built on grey area people which all have their right and that makes the conflict so well done.
The voice acting is really great. I watched it in the original Japanese. Everyone is giving a great performance that highlight their characters emotions and how they are perfectly. The spirits are also voiced interestingly in a way that is very fantastical.
The score is incredibly beautiful but is used a bit too sparingly in my opinion. There is a lot of silent scenes here that could have benefited for just a little bit of score, but what we got is absolutely beautiful.
I think this movie want´s to tell a lot of stories and do a lot but simply have to dense of a runtime to do it. Romance, nature, human, industrialization, spirits, war. There is a lot of moving parts here and while it works nearly to perfection, cutting a few ideas might have made the movie just clean.
Princess Mononoke is such an incredible piece by Miyazaki. A just strong movie from start to near finish where so many elements just work and are incredibly well done. This is a beautiful and harrowing movie with a lot of war vs nature parts, from lush forests and spirits to dismemberment and a lot of disturbing imagery and concepts. This is a masterpiece no doubt.
The Godfather Part II (1974)
A decent of a paranoid man
The Godfather part II is just an incredibly well told story from start to finish, but it is first and foremost a character study of a characters decent into more and more madness and paranoia. Micheal Corleone is one of the most tragic characters I have ever had to watch from start to finish in these 2 movies and seeing him at the end here is so powerful. While I will always prefer the first movie, this is still an absolute masterpiece from start to finish.
Micheal Corleone is still tightening his grip on the American underworld, but after being attacked in his own home, he looks for the person who tried to kill him.
This movie is first and foremost an incredible character study of a man being challenged to the extreme, becoming more an d more paranoid, without felling, so far away from the character we meet in the original Godfather (1972) who tried to help and seek revenge. This Micheal is not doing it for family or honour, he does it because he feels that will keep his empire, and the disgusting acts Micheal commits in this movie, is incredible. It´s not just killing, it´s emotional torture he gives a lot of characters. This, next to his father's story, Vito´s humble beginnings, is made with kindness and with family in mind. These 2 characters we saw having such a beautiful bond, becomes extreme opposites in the most scary way and that is why this movie is so incredible.
The set pieces here are incredible, so much is dedicated to amazing location with set dressing, incredible clothing and environments, elevated by incredible lighting that elevates so many performances and scenes together with incredible camerawork that really knows the scenes so well. The characters positions to each other is remembered and once again, this movie doesn't tread the viewer as an idiot, it knows we follow along, it knows we understand what's going on, and even if you aren't, it will let you catch everything on a second watch. It´s a masterful intelligent movie.
The score is also great here, really elevating so many scenes but also with the lack of sound and music at times.
The later traitor of Micheal should have been kept more a secret with more red hearings instead of being reviled too quickly. That would have created some fun mystery and made Micheals actions more questionable instead of just paranoid. But other than that this is just a great told story.
I love the inclusion of Vito's story here. It really is fun to see Vito´s humble beginnings next to the empire Micheal is controlling with an iron fist and to see the decent of Micheal next to his father is so harrowing. While Micheal is the winner after all, he isn't really and the final shot of this movie is haunting!
This movie is also full of absolutely powerhouse performances. Al Pacino's, voice performance and incredible face acting does so much for Micheals character and it´s no doubt the strongest performance here. John Cazale as Fredo creates an incredible performance next to Al´s is a beautiful fight of words and face acting. The last performance to highlight is Lee Strasberg as Hayman Roth, a great character to add to this story together with the historical drama this movie adds.
This is one of my favourite movies no doubt. Such a strong character story that I just love every time I see it together with an incredible cast, performances and production that just makes this movie near perfect.
All Superheroes Must Die 2: The Last Superhero (2016)
Good idea gone a bit too stale
So here is what I didn't expect the sequel to a movie that is more or less Saw with superheroes, a mockumentary. While I liked the overall idea and the execution I feel like it´s a movie that falls apart the more you get into it, since it wants to do something else than it originally sets out to do. This isn´t a bad thing but I would love to see a similar movie to do this done a bit better.
We follow a documentary crew looking into the mysterious disappearance of the superhero Charge. This leads them down an rabbit hole.
I liked that this movie tried to have some originality to its approach, and having the sequel being a mockumentary is such a good idea on top of the original movie, trying to actually ask people, what did they think about the superheroes. The approach of having the people in focus in a superhero movie is always interesting and the overall concept it strong. But the movie drops the ball by becoming something way more than it needs to be. As soon as the conspiracy aspects starts the movie feels less like what it wanted to be. This also leads to a disappointing ending with a good moral, but one that didn't feel like the start of the movie.
The acting is pretty mixed here, but overall people do pretty good. Jason Trost as Charge does a great job, but sadly our main character is a bit off.
The other problem with doing mocumentary is that the movie quickly becomes a bit stale. In the beginning it´s just people sitting and talking and while it can be engaging, it can feel like the movie is static at times.
This sequel was a good idea and one I would love to see done again, but the execution here needed a bit more finish and to focus a bit more on what it actually wanted to say instead of having a lot to say.
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
One star for Freddy, One for Jason and one for the idea
I returned optimistic to Freddy vs Jason, hoping it would invoke some "so bad it´s good vibes" but I must say I was just left bored out of my mind. I think the thrill of finding the so bad it´s good movie is not really working for me anymore as I would rather just watch quality content over bad filmmaking to laugh at. What we are left here with a concept movie no one properly asked for and the overall idea and concept is to be blunt bad. It might sound fun until you realise that this is 2 very different supernatural beasts that don´t match well and how they normally operate is by killing the weaker people around them. You are left with 2 entities that should never die fighting over control over something that makes them horror movie icons, spreading the slasher fear, invoking powerlessness. This is the opposite, having characters we don´t care about fighting 2 entities that can´t really die. It´s boring.
Freddy Krueger needs the children of Elm Street to remember him again so he can gain his power back. He enrols Jason Voorhees by disguising himself as his mother to spread fear to Elm Street, but Freddy loses control and the 2 now rival each other.
The acting in this movie is not good. Every single victim character sounds like they are reading of a script and the delivery just isn´t there. Robert Englund is clearly still having fun with the role as Freddy though and the 2 killers are no doubt the stars here the only redeeming part.
When you really think about a concept movie like this, it entertains your mind enough to imagen the fun scenario, but then you realise that Freddy and Jason aren't ´really compatible, they are not similar they are opposites and the movie tries to run with it but fails miserably. They just can´t click and are too different in their approach to create entertaining characters in the same movie. Then you realise that these are to near immortal beings that can´t really die and "fight" in very different ways. Then you realise that the way these 2 are entertaining is because they can spread fear and create powerlessness in others, and this movie is barely about that. A good slasher villain is only as good as its victims and this movie has terrible victims and trying to make Jason and Freddy victims of each other just don´t work. What I´m trying to say is the more you really think about the concept the more it sound like a 5 minute YouTube fan video more than an actual movie. The more this movie goes on, the more you realise how paper thin the idea is but it´s fun to have a vs movie again like the old 30s, but maybe also write a good concept around it to begin with.
The weakness explanation in this movie doesn't make much sense to me here and can make me question if anyone saw the previous Friday the 13th movies. I think I get why they went this route with Freddy using his powers to awakening it in Jason, but it´s a bit strange.
The movie also runs into the classic issue of not really being about what it should be about. It´s barley about the 2 icons fighting and more focused on the people and there are really dull and boring characters with a plot and conspiracy that feels so misplaced in a movie like this. Also did I miss something? It feels like this movie is a continuation of another Elm Street movie but I haven´t watched them in a while and I felt like I had to know half the characters already.
There are some really weird and bad camera work in this movie. It seems very experimental with cuts and angels and it is just distracting.
The effects are not good either. They look terrible and makes this movie hilarious because of it and that might be one of my biggest complaint here. This is more of a mystery thriller action than it´s a horror movie. This movie is never scary and never becomes it because of how ridiculous the concept is and how it´s presented. This is not helped by a bad and cringy score.
The overall concept just isn't utilized well. There is a lot of kills for kills sake and that´s about it, there is nothing here to really engage with the movie.
Freddy vs Jason is a concept movie we all love to have but is soaked in this bad mass of ideas that don´t really go anywhere and without actually having much of a plot, idea or identity, the movie becomes so paper thin that it doesn't really matter that it´s fun, because it is first and foremost boring and that is the last thing a movie like this should be.
A Frontier Flirtation; or, How the Tenderfoot Won Out (1903)
It´s just a prank bro!
Okay, I guess this was funny for the time but it´s not really anything. Subversion of expectations I guess the short.
A cowboy is trying to seduce a young woman on a bench, hiding her face. He is in for a surprise.
This isn´t really that funny, but it is a piece of its time and for its runtime it´s a good joke. Easy set up and punchline, although I don´t really get the overall idea here? Was it a prank? I guess. Needed a bit more clarification on that ending.
Not sure with the costume part in the middle, like what is she wearing? Is it a monkey? Hard to tell with the camera quality.
This cowboy guy needs to back off though, that lady really didn't want him to be all over her, but I guess he got what he deserved.
Not much to say. I guess I liked it and the subversion worked but it isn´t really much, but again taking the runtime into consideration I guess it achieves what it sets out to.
John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
Action up, story down
John Wick chapter 2 is to me more or less on par with the first, but for different reasons. The set pieces feels so much more grand, the action and worldbuilding is incredible, but this time the stakes and plot just feel lees impactful than the first to me. I didn´t care as much for the stakes here as the first but I am left with a great and fun action movie no doubt.
After the retirement of John Wick an old friend knocks at the door with a marker, a pact that needs to be repaid, that leads John on a bloody hitman mission.
What these movies do so well is the subtext storytelling. It´s so nice having a movie not overexplain every single persons backstory, every single detail as to how the world works, we, the audience are not stupid, we can pick the clues up, we can understand the relationships and the ins and outs, without minutes of dialogue. It´s so nice having a movie respect the viewer in that way. And I love how we see more of how a hit would work in this world, making a plan, going to different shops, I love how famous Wick is, his relations, this movie handles everything so well. This is how you do subtext storytelling.
The action is absolutely phenomenal. The gunfu this movie dares to do is incredible and everything is elevated by an incredible sound design, incredible cacography and amazing set pieces. Every shot is felt, every cool move is awed, all the lighting and use of moves, everything comes together to make incredible action. Except for a few cuts that's disoriented me, I feel like this movie gets away with so much and really runs with it. I must complain about the "coming from the camera side" moves that makes henchmen feel a bit too incompetent. Half the time people with guns don´t use them, running towards Wick for no reason. This could easily have been fixed by not having that, but it´s a minor nitpick.
The movie is so well shot with some incredible wide shots and some great lighting. This is helped by the many set pieces this movie uses to its full potential. From the party, to the later art gallery and mirror room to the fun buy weird subway fight, this movie likes to make fun and iconic set pieces that you will remember. Although the subway fight and other public fights were a bit too out there for me. Turn of the brain for that to really have fun. How people aren´t reacting to guy clearly bleeding and clearly holding a gun in public to places clearing out of people that should have people running around everywhere. Yeah this is where the realism break stepped in for me, but again, still fun sequences none the less.
Like the previous this movie feels really light on plot an it´s just a way to catalyst the action. It´s not really important what´s going on here, just that it can make the next action sequence happen. But I felt something with the last movie I didn't here, I didn't care to much and the stakes felt lower even though they are way higher. Maybe it´s just the taking of a life compared to here that doesn't really translate well to me. But again the plots are just here to make the action go.
The soundtrack also really elevates the movie and it´s action. So many incredible matching of scenes and music makes this movie feel so much stronger. I didn´t expect to hear a rock version of Winter by Vivaldi here, but this movie did it!
The performances are very over the top, in a very over the top universe. I didn't like how most character speak some native tongue and then goes back to English, I feels like a character like Wick would know all these languages- Laurence Fishburne is incredible in his role, clearly having fun with the character. This is also a movie were we see the humanity of John Wick coming through, I felt much for him here a man that just needs an out of his world but always gets pulled back in. Keanu Reeves acting with these breakdowns are great, from the direct screaming, to a small head nod does so much to teel how tired this character is.
I just cared more for the first movie, but the action really elevates this one- This too a little to get going and felt lighter on plot, but the overall action sceptical feels stronger than the first so they are more or less on par for me with the first one edging it out slightly. I most also say that the ending creates an interesting start for the next movie I haven't seen as of writing so the movie feels more like a chapter indeed than a stand-alone like the first.
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
The cracks started to show
This is in no way my first viewing of this of this movie and I think the more I watch it, the more the score goes a bit down. My opinions change so much primarily because the initial coolness of the movie is gone, and I´m left analysing the movie more and more and this is not a movie that needs that. This is a reptile brain movie, it think it´s a deep movie but it´s plot stays at the surface level all throw-out having a hard time balancing it´s 2 plotlines. While the action is so well done, it has some directorial and storyline problems I just can´t ignore anymore.
As Scarlet Witch ends up destroying a building, creating collateral damage that makes the government want to take a stand against the Avengers, a mysteries person is trying to take over The Winter Soldier.
Let´s give the movie some praise. The action here is fenarimol. From the opening that is my favourite, to the chase, to the infamous airport scene. This movie is full of great action set pieces that all highlights the different characters so well. Everyone feels and fights differently with different levels of experience and that is handled beautifully in this movie. Together with an incredible sound design that I first noticed on this watch. The punches and hits sounds and looks super human, especially in the beginning and I feel as the movie went on, the edge was taken of a bit in the sound design category but this isn´t that important just a great detail.
The overall idea of this movie, lifted from the comics of course is great. The taken down of the Avengers and the idea of having them govern is incredible. The 2 front figures makes sense as Tony decently has more lives on his continues vs the boy scout Captain America. The in fighting is great and the different people joining the different sides makes sense, it´s a good moral dilemma that you understand. The problem is balancing this with the other plotline that has a good villain that ties into the overall idea of the movie, but in the end fails to balance this correctly. This movie should have went one or the others way. Having 2 plots with more or less the same goal cancels earthmother out, and the villains plot makes no sense the more you think about it. Really think about the steps the villain takes to execute his plan and tell me how many coincidences that needs to be in order for the plan to make sense. This is the weakest part of the movie, the story, and that takes it down a huge part for me.
The acting is pretty okay here. There are some good performances but nothing that really sticks out to me. But everyone is doing a fine job overall.
This leads to me not really having many notes to the movie as it uses it´s plot to just go from action set pieces to action set pieces without much focus on the story. This is a reptile brain movie to me, turn of your brain and enjoy the good superhero action, but that makes further weaving the more frustrating as the amazing band aid is off and you start to see the many cracks here. This is an action movie and not much more, but it could be so much more if the creators really sad down and focused on the story as well as the character moments.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)
Mindless
I can finally say I´ve watched all the live action X-men movies! Hurray! What a terrible movie to go out on. Dark Phoenix is a big waste of time and once again potential. As we saw with the original X-men movies the creators have no idea what makes a good Dark phoenix storyline. It takes time to develop characters and make us care and understand but this movie simply just don´t have the time nor the writing to really make us care about anything that is going on. It ends up being a movie feeling about it wants to be about something but in the end is about nothing really. I don't feel like this was as offensive to me as Apocalypse (2016) was but that doesn't make this movie look any good.
After a mission in space, Jean Gray is infused with new cosmic powers that now affects her psyche. Meanwhile a new cosmic thread is here to take back the cosmic powers.
The big problem here is that we don´t have much time to get to know our characters here. While Erik and Charles have a lot of characters from the 3 previous movies, the rest of the X-men have just been introduced and in the previous movie they barely had any character to begin with. We are left with a storyline centred around characters that barely have any at all and that leaves a movie that feels purposeless and without much merit. This movie feels long for what it is, because I simply don´t care about these characters at all.
This movie also has a very terrible plot. It ends up being a movie not really about anything, because the central conflict isn´t interesting and isn´t handled interestingly. It´s just moving from action set piece to action set pieces with more or less the same weening from the characters along the way. This leads to a plot that feels like it has no merit even being described as a plot at all. We also need to talk about that the phoenix force is a bit of a weird thing to introduce here since it had a minor role in the previous movie but I guess the writers forgot about that.
The action here is actually not terrible and the powers shown are pretty cool. I feel like all the action set pieces are fine and all the X-men´s powers ae utilized very well. The train scene at the end is so well done and phenomenally shot and a great action set piece, but I have a major gibe. I have a kill/no kill rule for most superheroes and their incarnations, while yes, these are aliens, they are still living beings and some of the X-men I don´t see being murdery. While the aliens can reincarnate, it still seems extreme for the X-men to go in for kills. Replace the villains henchmen with androids and you no longer has this issue. The train scene is amazing, but I needed to turn on my reptile brain and ignore the implications.
The characters here are pretty bad as mentioned. Jean Grey is a husk of a plot device. Even Erik doesn't really feel like himself. The rest of the characters are blank slates and some actors clearly don´t want to be here or was too busy to even be in the movie. Looking at Raven and Peter here. This also sadly leads to some pretty stale performances in this movie and this is a movie where big emotions are important in order for us to actually care. The biggest character betrayal in this movie is Charles that does some really messed up stuff in this movie. I get the Frist Class Charles not living up his full potential, but this Charles and the Charles I know would never do the things he did in this movie.
The effects are pretty mixed here. Some things look good, Beast looks heaps better than the original First Class (2011) and some of the particle effects, but the aliens look rough.
The villains in this movie is not good. Their motivations are terrible and feels more like an excuse as to have them in the movie. In general the motivations are all over the place in this movie for the central antagonists, Jean included.
Finishing the last live action X-men movie feels a bit weird and was more a "let me do that" then a watch I was actually looking forward to. I went in with an open mind but was just left bored and uninspired. This is a big nothing burger, nothing more or less.
Marvel Studios: Assembled: The Making of X-Men '97 (2024)
I think I´m falling asleep.
This is supposed to be an epic how it's made on of the best things Marvel has ever made came to be and this is what you are giving us? A boring how it´s made with people that barely know how to be on camera with no enthusiasm or B-roll? Not only that but barely even talking about the show itself but the one before it? Yeah this is fine but not what it should have been,
A behind the scenes talk with cast and production about X-men 97 and its predecessor show.
This behind the scenes is barley about X-men 97. It´s more about the old X-men show and that isn´t a problem, but it´s not what we are told we are watching. Most of this Behind the Scenes is just people praising the old show and that´s it, not really about the show I wanted to hear about. Sure, as an introduction this makes sense, but using most of the runtime on it makes no sense and it´s not what you should spend the time on at all.
But it is fun to hear about how the original show came to be, how it was made and hearing the voice cast return, that is what makes this behind the scenes' barley to watch, because it is really stale and boring in general. Half the people don´t really seem like they want to be filmed and they have no excitement or enthusiasm about what they are talking about.
Top this with stale camerawork just showing people in chairs with barley any B-roll and you get this just stale to look and to focus on behind the scenes.
I was just not a fan of what we got and how it was handled at all. Boring overall and not really about the subject matter we were told to watch here.
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
More Deadpool than Marvel
Deadpool 3 is nothing more but pure entertaining fun. It is low on calories or relevance but it´s been a while since I had fun or even rated a Marvel movie high. This is a movie that can feel almost nonsensical to make without much purpose in the overall presentation, since it feels like it wants to be a Marvel extravaganza but ends up being just another Deadpool movie in its own little world and continuity. I hope this movie isn´t in the Marvel canon since that would have some bad implications for the future of the already crumbling Marvel cinematic universe, but is what it is a harmless entertaining dictation.
With the thread of his universe being destroyed, Deadpool is forced to find a replacement for his Wolverine, this leads to a fight between them, the multiverse police and the fate of the Fox legacy.
First off, this movie is interesting in its approach to Disney/Marvel acquiring the Fox licences back. The fate of the Fox license are still in a weird echo chamber to me, since this movie aloes to the Fox movies and the overall death of Fox, but at the same time celebrates and shows what Fox did to these licences, good and bad. You have probably head of a lot of cameos in this movie, yes go in blind to have the most fun. But after a movie like this that feels like it´s in its own separate universe away from the Marvel canon, I actually don´t see the point as to even bring it up, other than to make jokes and really hit home, yes this is Disney now. The credits even has a salute to the former Fox era of Marvel movies and I must say, it brings this sour taste in your mouth with Disney now holding licences like X-men and many more, and it´s going to be interesting what the future will bring.
Speaking of the humour I felt the joke ratio was good and this movie got a lot of laughs out of me. The meta humour works and the movie gets away worth way more than I thought it would, but at the same time that should have been predictable, since we all predicted we would get a muttered Deadpool under Disney. But I laughed a lot here and this is carried by Ryan Reynolds performance that definitely is a huge carrying factor of this movie and the Deadpool franchise as a whole. There is a lot of great and fun performances here and Hugh Jackman also delivers a string and emotional performance, when he is given the mic. I feel like Deadpool is the one holding it the most and that can make Wolverine feel a bit absent at times in a movie bearing his name.
This is a movie for the fans of Deadpool, Fox and Marvel, not much more. This movie is really light on plot and relevance, but can´t you say that of most modern comedies? That is of course not an excuse, but to really set your expectations as to what you are watching will help you enjoy the movie more. This is not the next movie in the Marvel pantheon, hopefully, this is just another Deadpool comedy movie and in that regard it delivers.
There is some fun ideas in terms of action and in general the action feels good here. The fights between characters are fun and having Deadpool and Wolverine duking it out, two nearly immortal beings really lowers the stakes but set up for fun things to do where blood can fly freely. This movie added a lot of blood and from the amazing opening that you no doubt got spoiled if you are on TikTok, the action is set to be fun and the final fighting extravaganza is so well done. The action is filmed sloppy most of the time though with too many cuts and some really poor CG is present most of the movie. The shot of our two heroes jumping out of a bus looks absolutely atrocious.
This movie uses music a lot and there are some fun and memorable needle drops here. They are sometimes annoyingly interrupted for no reason and the move has a bit too much licensed music for my liking. Tarantino really ruined using songs in film, while he knows how to do it, he created an annoying trend that most directors don´t know how to do right. Again this movie is mixed with its music use, but mostly it´s entertain9ng and well done.
Deadpool 3 is a mixed bag in terms of what it is and what to get out of it. Am I enjoying myself and laughing? Yes, is this an epic Marvel movie? Not really does it have heart, purpose or characters? Debateable, but I am stuck thinking, this was fun, entertaining and normally comedies have a hard time getting to me, so I can only applaud when a movie is successful of that.
X: First Class (2011)
The x-men spy movie I needed
We´ve been watching a lot of X-men here in the household lately and I am a huge X-men fan no doubt. A team I find so great and fascinating with nearly endless potential. New Mutants (2020) was a blast and I can only say the show X-men 97 (2024) is an absolute blast you should go watch right now. As of writing I am going to watch Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) so a lot of X-men. We agreed to watch First Class again and man is this movie just straight good.
The movie has never spoken to me more than that though, it's a straight good movie that never overstays it´s welcome and just feel like a straight edge movie, nothing more nothing less. You will be treated to a just fun comic book movie with a great acting, cinematherapy and a fun cast in a spy thriller, what´s not to like.
In a world where mutants, people with superpowers, are not yet fully known, Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr both has to help the American government against a plot set up by an evil mutant to start world war 3.
First thing my fiancé made me realise is the great score this movie has. It has some really great moments and using an electric guitar is not really the instrument you often associate with high movie score art, but this movie handles it very well.
While this is of course a superhero movie first and foremost with a really golden age plot to save the world from war involving Russians and such, this is just also a good war and spy thriller movie with the occasional drama. The movie balances the different genres and elements so well and it seems seamless in the way it´s portraited. It´s clearly a competent writing team knowing exactly what to do with a plot like this.
This is also defiantly seen via the characters. This movie understands the moral dilemmas of Erik and Charles so well and understands why they can never really unite later but always will try to. They are both sides of the same coin (this makes sense in the movie context too) and choosing where to stand on mutant issues are handled and disused well here by both characters. This is also done to absolute perfection by James McAvoy as Charles and Micheal Fassbender as Erik giving both absolute powerhouse performances in this movie. Same with Kevin Bacon as a villain role really given it his all as always. I think even the mutant powers and the wish to control them and evolve is portrayed perfectly. This is clearly a writing and directing team really understanding the characters and their powers, making them so well utilized. While some of the characters decently needed more time to shine, they are still here in a good way. Not all acting is perfect though, and there is some dialogue here, reminding us we are watching X-men that was just so cringe to me. It didn't work for me and this movie should take itself more seriously as its own identity than making dumb references we all already know if we know two scents about X-men.
All this leads to a quick and easy watch that never overstays it´s welcome, it knows what it wants to do and tell and that's it. While I wished the movie lasted a bit longer to give all the characters just that little more so we can push the emotions a bit more, it´s still highly enjoyable. The Erik and Charles scene is a highlight and I wished more characters had these moments. Even the Hank Raven storyline is good and the overall idea of physical mutation vs hidden mutations creates a great dilemma for some of these characters. Now some of the Charles behaviour doesn't quite fit the character I have in my head a 100%, but I think this can be explained away by saying this is a younger less experienced Charles, working with his first batch of X-men, baby steps.
The effects are swinging all over the place here. Some are good and works in the context, other are really bad and distracting. I was never taken completely out of the movie because it engaged me so much, but things like the submarine, Beasts make-up and Shwas powers contra Ravens make-up makes this movie so swinging in its effects quality.
Can I praise a movie for not being afraid to use the language characters are supposed to? German, French, Russian all here and of course characters should speak the language that finds them natural and just have a heavy accent. Although I wished the final scene was in German in other to make it hit more poetic but that´s a minor nitpick.
There is also some weird editing in the middle of this movie during a montage. This movie is gloriously shot and masterful in its cinematography and that´s why I was so confused this, to me, poor editing all of a sudden was here. But this is a powerhouse performance in camera use. So many well-made frames and reveals, again , really understanding characters and spacing. I expected nothing less from Matthew Vaugn, a man that has proven his mastery if action, cinematography and special awareness and a huge applause to John Matieson, the cinematographer for making this movie look great. From the bar scene, to the reveal in the office, these are so affective scenes in this movie and there are a lot of those
I thought I would have less to say about this movie because I find it so find, but this movie I doing a lot of things right and just creates this enjoyable movie from start to finish with a lot of standout moments and elements to really shout out. While I still don´t think this movie wows me, it´s still this great movie that you can always watch because of how compact and competent it is.
The New Mutants (2020)
Please, I can fix it!
This movie deserves a second chance in every way shape and form. Knowing about all the behind the scenes problems with this movie. I can´t help but love it a little bit. It is a movie stitched and Frankensteined together, trying to make a watchable movie and I actually think it succeeded. Most of what makes the movie not really work is easy fixes and I respect what it tried to do, see the vision and telling a different kind of X-men movie is so interesting to me. Overall I enjoyed myself, I was told this was going to be horrible, but no, it´s more like fine or cookie cutter, but give this movie and idea some more time and you have a movie I would highly enjoy on your hands. Sometimes it´s more important to me to see the potential and love for filmmaking more than the final product itself. The vision is as said, here, but butchered by so many delays, cooperate meddling and problems galore.
After a brutal destruction of her home, Dani wakes up in a facility to help mutants, but strange things start to happen at the facility and the other mutants are being confronted with their past trauma.
The acting in this movie is not good. It feels like an ensemble of all the up and coming young stars, but none of them are ginning a good performance. I don't know if it´s not enough takes, lack of acting experience at this time or the script and character acting that just don´t make it land. It is an all-around problem so that makes me suspect it´s more a production thing.
I think the movie really needed to pick a lane in terms of what it wanted to be. It should have gone the teenage drama route, the pure horror route or a good mix. 90´s horror movies proved that's possible. But it has a hard time choosing what to pick. Overall the pure horror would have been the most interesting to me, since I don´t think we have had that with the X-men before, but it just keeps jumping around the different genres in an unnatural way.
Speaking of unnatural, the editing. While I don´t find it inherently bad, it´s clear there is some footage missing here and there. There are some rapid mood swings from characters from shot to shot and all of a sudden people are friends, people are angry, just after being the opposite. It doesn't really flow that well for the movie. There is also some poor storytelling done with the editing, actually spoiling the entire movie to us in the first minutes. This movie should have leaned into more of a mystery horror than speeling out everything to the viewers.
The cinematography is pretty uninspiring, same with the score, not bad, just super basic and boring to look at.
The effects are not good in any way they all look like a PS3 cutscene and there was clearly no focus on them.
I actually liked the overall concept and idea here. I wish this movie would do more with it, but the overall basis is great to me. Having these super humans being confronted by past trauma in a horror setting is great and the overall idea of overcoming past trauma is a great idea. A problem arise with the time given and the overall focus. The movie is too short, using more time with these characters would make it more impactful. Sure they are a cookie cutter bunch of characters, but to me they work in the setting and I liked or understood them all, even getting into why they are as they are, with really heavy subjects being portraited. There should also have been more of a focus on all the characters instead of just Dani. It would have been a more impactful movie and a better ending if each character had to really face their trauma. There is such a great and interesting superhero movie in here and it would be so different to anything I feel like I have seen before, the potential is here.
Because I see a good movie in here. I see the potential and ideas, ruined by not enough time, constant cooperate meddling and the problem of deciding how to do the story. There are so many easy fixes that would elevate this movie to insane hights and I just love the idea and characters here. We end up with a fine cookie cutter story that should have been more horror and leaning more in to mystery and characters. We get a corporate nightmare that just ruined any chance of this movie being worth anything, but I see you movie, I like you.
Toy Story of Terror! (2013)
Scream light
A more or less fine short that didn't´ really do much for me. A fun idea no doubt and there are some really good elements but nothing I have much desire to watch again.
The toys are going on a trip, but after the car breaks down they have to stay overnight at a motel where spooky things starts to happen.
The best part about this short is Jessie confronting her fears and the way it is portrayed with a great voice performance by Joan Cusack. It´s a bit rushed but the centrepiece of the story.
There is some tension here for a kids short and I think the atmosphere in the first half works fine. After the reveals have been done it turns into more of a samey plot as Toy Story 2 (1999), which is not a problem but something that feels seen before an not really harmonizing with the first half. The premise is also a bit out there but I accept it in the context.
The animation feels a bit subpar at times but is overall okay. This is a short after all so I get you don´t get the A team to take care of it.
It was also a bit too meta for me. The horror explainer was not really fitting a short like this that isn´t inherently scary, and going the Scream(1996) route didn't really work for me.
Overall just okay, nothing special, entertaining enough.
A Drunkard's Reformation (1909)
Meta
A very basic anti-drinking movie that archives what it wants to but the narrative is just fine. The overall idea is actually good, how art can change out life and perspective but not a lot going on in this movie to really make it stand out.
A drunkard comes home to a sad wife and daughter, not happy with his drinking. The daughter takes her father to see a play that might change his ways.
The story and execution is all fine enough. The overall tone and subject matter works and is still to this day something to take seriously. You could say the movie might be a bit too meta, having a movie showing a play talking about drinking in a movie talking about drinking but the overall point and ideas gets across.
There are a few ugly cuts here and there are some questionable framings here and there, but nothing too distracting.
The acting is pretty good here, some good over the top movements and some fine face acting.
The overall subject matter and message is good, but might be a bit too biased. But then again if you have ever been around heavy drinkers you know how it can be and that might make the movie have its heart in the right place.
Pretty good overall, nothing too special but something I liked just fine.
A Child of the Ghetto (1910)
Fine
Yeah that was rather basic and uneventful. This is a rather dull movie where the plot is rather basic and it doesn't have much more to keep your interests. It´s quickly over and it´s rather basic, but a bit too basic to really be anything.
After a tragic death, a woman has to make ends means herself, but she becomes entangled with the law and her life has to change.
This is a pretty basic story about things can be bad but it will turn around and that´s about it. The story is not bad but nothing to write home about and the runtime can´t really carry the story and that says a lot when it's only 16 minutes. It´s a nice story about things can change from the worst to oaky though, but it has a bit of a too sweet ending and the suspense it builds feels unearned but I get it.
There is some really ugly cuts and framings in this movie with some jumpy cuts at time and people being left out left in a frame barley in the shot but being important characters. But mostly the movie is shot fine.
Yeah not much to say about this one. So fine and safe it makes it kind of not worth watching but nothing really offensive at all.
Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014)
I need Battlesaurs!
A super fun short that I had heard was fine, but I found it rather good. It´s a fun adventure from start to finish with a bit of a wonky ending but other than that just fun adventure.
A play date with a boy makes Bonnie go play videogames instead of playing with toys. The gang is thrown into a playroom and meets the Battlesaurs, action figures that have never been played with and has made their own society.
I think this adventure is really fun, I liked the Battlesaur characters and found the overall idea really good. What happens to toys that has never been played with in this universe? How do they react and do things, this is a fun way to see the "Buzz" era of toys staying in it. This together with a great and fun villain makes a fun adventure that works great. The ending is a bit bland and needed more time to really land since the message is good but not explored well. What is a toy to a child is a good explorational message in this universe. The battle part is fun, and done fine.
This is not really a Buzz and Woody focused short and their performances is a bit phoned in but that's fine to me as everyone else is doing a great job. Trixie is a great and fun character done great here and voice so well by Kristen Schaal. In general the characters are so fun and great here, Kevin McKidd as Reptillus Maximus, Steve Purcell as the Cleric. So well done. Also Angel Kitty is my new spirit animal, love it.
The battlesaurs are such a fun universe and we know exactly the franchise that we will compare to it in real life. It´s so nostalgic to see something like this.
The animation is a bit lacking here and I get you don´t use your A-team on a short but it´s okay here. But the blurry backgrounds to save some money are a bit too much. There are still some good detaining though, I love something like the paint scratch on Trixie, it´s a fun detail, but again lacking a bit in the animation department.
The humour is so good here, I laughed multiple times and found it very fun.
Overall I had a good and fun time with this one. Expected something fine but was overall entertained from start to finish. A good half hour spend.
Party Central (2013)
Ugly, ugly
Andmeldeser
Why does it look like that?
Party Central is a fine little short, just a bit of fun without much substance. It would have been middling had it not looked like it did. I understand you don´t use you're A-team on a short like this but come on Mike and Sully look weird here and the movie has just this odd look to it I can´t explain, just didn't look right.
Mike and Sully helps there fraternity brothers hosting the biggest party on campus by stealing the biggest party.
There are some fun gags here and while the humour can be a bid flat at times the gag with the 2 doors I love, pretty fun idea and execution. Although why do they have 2 closets? I don´t know, but it doesn't matter too much.
The plot and narrative isn't much, it´s passible for the humour.
The animation doesn't look right to me. Mike and Sully look so weird and everything looks weirdly smooth is the best way I can describe it. It just doesn't look right somehow it annoyed my eyes a bit.
But this is passable and watchable. Fun little thing, nothing too special.
Inside Out 2 (2024)
Life is complicated
Inside Out 2 is a movie I didn't really ask for, and while I understand the hype and enjoyed my time with the movie, it´s sad to me that we are in a state of Pixar where they focus more on sequels that make money instead of original ideas. I´ve heard rumours that they might continue Toy Story too and now we are getting into please stop territory with the giant Disney castle overshadowing the little Pixar lamp in the beginning credits.
This was a bit of a negative start but I actually enjoyed Inside Out 2 and I see there was more to explore about ageing and that was also the next step for the movie no doubt. It creates a fun little adventure that is enjoyable from start to finish, but I missed the magic from the original here. This is just a good enjoyable movie, not much more than that.
Riley is now a teenager and going to hockey camp to see if she can join a pretentious team. Her emotions are trying to guide her, but they are interrupted by a whole lot of new emotions that wants to steer Riley in a new direction.
The movie just don´t feel as imaginative as the first. Being presented with Riley´s body and mind for the first time is magical and how they describe things and how they work and look is really well made in the first film. There isn´t as much focus on that here, it´s all familiar to us that watched the first movie and except for a few good puns that also creates new world building the world is more or less the same. I feel like the way this movie starts it wants to be a clean slate, the way it introduces the characters one more time, but new viewers will have a lot of questions as to how the worlds works and what this and that is, it´s not as much as a clean slate as I think the creators thought.
The movie is also not as impactful to me as the first. While the first was magical and fun, it also had the hard hitting emotions, I know I cried to the first movie with the Riley breakdown, but that is not as prominent to me here. There is one hard hitting scene with Joy talking about how that there is less of her and that got to me a bit, but on no way the same level as the firsts movie. I normally don´t compare movies too much unless I find it necessary, but here it is to me, as I also need to talk about why this movie is even a thing to begin with other than money. And again, this is still a good and enjoyable movie, but I don´t see more merit in it than that.
The new emotions are fun and well made. I like how they pilot Riley differently but the way they create a half villain of one of them is a bit too much for me and some of the emotions kind of don´t feel like what they should. Anxiety is a bit all over the place, same with Jealousy, they feel like catch all feelings all of a sudden instead of being their own. It´s also nice to see more screentime from emotions that got a bit of a backseat in the first movie. Sadness takes a bit of a backseat here but Anger, Disgust and Feat feel more prominent in Joy´s journey this time, even though they are still just background characters.
The movies focus on the changing life we have and how everything can crumble when we are teenagers is great and a great message. It goes a bit too cliché with it sometimes, but the pressure to fit in and find a new way is something we all feel and having a feeling like Anxiety being the catalyst to that is a great idea. Overall the movie handles it´s material well and I think it´s rather impactful at times. Life gets more complicated no doubt and the movie handles that well, and shows we are more than our simple emotions and bevies. I liked the idea of the ending, but it´s more or less the same moral as the first, we can´t just be simple people.
The animation is good, but somehow don´t feel on par with the first movie on some levels. There are some Janky animation sometimes, often with a lot of elements on screen like the river scene, and I still don´t know about the light and fur effect the movie has on the emotions, it looks weird to me.
Not a bad word about Amy Poehler, she is amazing and does a great voice performance here, but I never connected her voice with Joy´s not even in the first movie. Maybe it´s the look of the character and the voice that I just can´t connect. The performances are great here though all around.
The jokes and humour is good and it balances this with the fun interactions from the emotions like the first movie. That and some good puns also makes the humour work well.
I really enjoyed the score here. Well-made and crafted by Andrea Dartzman. A lot of different genres and mods all done well.
The after credit scene at the end is not worth it. I know we all wants to cherish the people that made the movie but trust me that small joke is not worth sitting through that much credits for in the cinema.
Inside Out 2 is good and is a fun and enjoyable time. I don´t think I will ever see it as on par with the first and it needs that little more Pixar magic to really hit like it should. But this is still worth a watch no doubt and a lot of the elements are well done overall.
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972)
Pronounce discussion in 1972, progressive
On a shoestring budget and for what I can understand 2 weeks of filming, this was pretty fun. Also surprised a movie from 1972 had pronounce discussions like this.
Children Shouldn't play with dead things is a slow movie that clearly just wanted to have some fun. The idea is here and the overall execution isn't actually that bad for what it is. That is the key words here though, for what it is. There is a lot of technical issues, the acting is not that great, the movie is rather uneventful, but was I engaged most of the time? Yeah no doubt. Pretty fun watch overall.
A group of young actors go to a cemetery island in other to try out a spell that can awaken the dead. They should never have done that.
This movie is riddled whit technical problems to a degree it becomes distracting. The movie is sometimes too dark where you can see absolutely nothing, other times the movie uses some really unnatural light. The colour grading is not the best at times either, either showing some funky lighting or not really being there at all. The sound mixing and editing is terrible with some sound effects being way too loud while others not being heard at all. The sound effects can also be very stuck and repetitive. The recording of voices is not that good either, sometimes I could barely hear what people were saying and sometimes the mic peaks picking up voices. This is not a technically well-made movie but again, 2 weeks of filming, you take what you can get.
I love this cast of misfits, it´s these wannabe Scooby Doo gang rejects even to their terrible but hilarious wardrobe. They are all so weird but man are they entertaining. The acting is terrible in this movie, some really clumsy delivery constantly. The humour is also hit or miss, some jokes got to me, others really did not.
The movie takes a long while to really get going and there is actually some good suspense in the middle but it is dragged out way too long. But when it´s going it becomes a fun little house invasion flick and I must say I was surprised by how the different plans panned out. I was not seeing the twist and turns for the gang and how this movie ends really surprised me. A great warning film I guess. Also can we laugh at the final scene with them going on the boat, that really made me laugh.
When I read the approximate budget of this movie I was surprised. The effects and make up on the dead is actually really good. There are some more fake looking once for sure, but overall the makeup is great.
The soundtrack is loud. Is it good or bad? Not sure. I lean towards bad as it´s just really noisy. It reminds me of hearing people walking through those cheap haunted houses.
This was a fun watch. Nothing amazing or groundbreaking and there is a bit too many technical flaws that I can really love it fully, but I think there is a fun movie here that is actually worth checking out if you want a small little horror flick.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
What a blast! Can´t wait to do the time warp again!
Shocker! This was highly entertaining and I can´t wait to watch it again! Rocky Horror is a huge pleasure to watch, it´s a hilarious movie that knows what it is and is a huge homage to older horror while having its own identity. It feels like nothing I have seen before yet familiar in the best way possible. I think the movie kind of trails off later on but the first half of this movie is a huge blast and it´s a movie I only see myself falling more and more in love with the more I watch it. A cult movie for sure!
Brad and Janet is a couple that is in love, on their way home from a wedding, tier car breaks down and they have to stay overnight at a castle inhabited by insane people and lead by Frank-N-Furter
This is a great musical with amazing songs! They are all creative, fun and hits me the right spot. Highlights to me was "Dammit Jannet", "Touch-a, touch-a, touch me", of course "Sweet Transvestite" but my favourite was "science fiction/double feature" a great song that just really sounded great to me. But overall all the songs are incredible and performed well.
This together with a lot of great physical performances, some really fun and creative costumes and some creative set design creates this B movie feel that just really knows what it wants to be and all the details are great!
The performances here are camp but believable. Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O´Brien, all doing so great and love their performances, O´Brien´s over the top performance is incredible. But the one that steals this movie is no doubt Tim Curry as Frank-N-Furter. He is clearly having so much fun and his camp performance and singing is absolutely amazing for this movie! He sells every scene he is in.
The comedy here is great and a lot of the jokes landed for me.
This is a great movie about sexual desire, and it´s a very horney movie in general, there is a lot of probably problematic elements today, but in the context it explore the sexual nature and desire of humans in a fun way.
The movie kind of trials of though, while the first half is absolutely incredible, fun and works in the best camp way. It kind of losses it´s way and drags a bit with the same themes. The ending was also a bit too much for me, still not sure what I watched there.
But this is a charming and fun ride that I can´t wait to watch one more time already. After watching it I already wanted to watch it again so I can only imagen it will grow on me more and more. Camp at its absolute finest.
Cars (2006)
Life is a highway
So I had a fever and just needed a movie that I could just kind of let play in the background without something that I had to follow too much. I have watched Cars a couple of times and it´s just one of those Pixar movies that I enjoy but will never love. It´s decently the one where you could feel the Disney/DreamWorks influence with a bit more focus on marketing and toy sails instead of telling an incredible story. Although I must say it´s still a fun and entertaining movie with a few Pixar feelings sprinkled in that got to me this time around.
The up and coming race car Lightning McQueen ties in the Piston Cup tournament with the champion The King and rival Chick Hicks. On his way to a re-race, he destroys a road at a small town called Radiator Springs, and is tasked to fix the road before he can leave.
I think the animation quality is turbulent in this movie. Sometimes it looks gorgeous and timeless and really showcase great 3D animation, other times it looks like some temp scenes that just never really got done. It´s weird to see the swinging quality here and it just makes me scratch my head as to why it´s like that.
While the story is fine overall I feel like the message is a bit weird. Lighting definitely need to learn some lessons, his a cocky race car that knows nothing about what life is really about and that´s where the movie shine, but the final race is a bit weird and the message about change is also a bit fine, not really explored well. But the idea of being part of something bigger and trust in others is a good message, but the idea of enjoy life there is more than racing is a bit weird of a message for a race car. It also hit me with the Pixar emotions during the Sally and Lighting drive, it was a great little part of the movie to really set things into perspective. The route 66 part I don´t really know about the idea of them saying "these cars are going somewhere and therefor they are not enjoying life" is valid and I see the point, but at the same time it is also a part of life to go somewhere and have responsibilities. Mixed message here, but I see what they were going for.
There is a lot of plot for plot sakes moments in this movie. The evil cars in the beginning (also racial stereotyping), the way Lightning destroys the road, the way Lighting gets found and the motivation of that character. It´s a lot of convenient moments that makes the movie go, but it´s a bit too movie needs to go moments and it gets a bit too obvious.
I really love the characters here. Everyone is voiced well and every character has a lot of character to them. The characters with least characters might actually be the King and Lightning, but I remember everyone else just because of the idea of having a small town of misfits that support each other. Sally, Doc, the Sheriff, Mater, the soldier and hippie, the low rider, the Italians. All memorable and well executed. I love the design of Radiator Springs and I love the little misfit community that they created. The voice performances are also pretty good.
The movie is pretty funny and has some great jokes and ideas in it. There is a lot of adult jokes, more than I remember and that took me by surprise and I found it very funny. There is also a bit too much of it sometimes and it can become a bit too much at times, but overall the comedy parts are pretty good.
I think the cars world is one of the least coherent made by Pixar. Compared to many of their other universes that seems well thought out and makes sense, the Cars universe just seems a bit unexplained on a lot of levels as to how things work in universe. There is of course always something undefined in the Pixar universe for example the you rules in the Toy Story universe, but this is a bit more elements. This is not really a complaint but it created too many questions for me.
Cars is an enjoyable and fun movie that is always being able to be watched. It works and is easy to follow. There is a few elements I´m still not a fan of and I find the movie just okay, but it´s decently fun and well-made overall.
Morbius (2022)
Why did I join the meme?
So I saw I had a short window to watch Morbius before it left streaming and me and my fiancé thought to ourself what the heck let´s join the meme, it´s morbin time! Sadly this movie was not funny bad enough for me to really enjoy myself. It´s a really poorly made movie in almost every way and it´s insane we as a collective made Sony but this back in theatres one more time. A bland and just uninteresting movie through and through.
We follow Micheal Morbius, a brilliant doctor and scientist who has made artificial blood. He is trying to cure him and his friend Milo´s blood decease, but an experiment goes horribly wrong and Micheal now has to find yet another cure to his new vampirism.
The acting in this movie is really poor. The kid actors are bad, and the main characters swing all over the place. From bland and boring with no charisma to over acting to a terrible degree. But overall the movie just feels soulless and bland in its delivery, like no one cares, not the actors nor crew. The camera seems boring and the movie just looks boring overall.
The biggest problem of the movie is there is not really a plot half the time. The movie has to invent it´s plot constantly and the problems that are being presented as the movie goes in a very made up way. It feels artificial and not engaging. The first problem is finding a cure to the blood decease the main guys have, but the problem is that we are not shown why this decrease is a big part of their life. They run around on crutches and that's about it, but Morbius could still be a doctor and become very famous so his life doesn't really seem to be bad, and Milo just seems to hang around too. We have to understand the stakes better in order to care. The same with the character dynamics, I don´t care about Morbius and Milo´s friendship, because I´m not told why they are friends except for a scene or 2, same with Milo´s later motivation, where did it come from other than one scene? I don´t know, more time with the characters and understanding them better will make the movie be better.
The want and need of characters is so dumb in this movie. Morbius becomes a vampire that don´t want to drink blood, good fine, but then the entire movie is about him accepting what and who he is now, so do he kill people now? Did he find a solution? Who knows and who cares. Morbius character is so poorly written and acted out so it makes no sense in the context on its own movie.
This is not really a superhero movie, or is it? It´s not really about anything half the time and except for one final battle, Morbius isn´t really saving the day, or fighting someone or doing a lot. It´s just a plot being a plot without any reason. The ending is also dumb and again goes against the entire movie and what it wanted to set up. The post credit scene is also hilariously bad and makes no sense in the context of this Morbius they have made here, but I guess we´ll see what they do with it.
The way this movie display it´s super power is very boring and it becomes so samey as the movie goes on. A lot of slow mo is not interesting.
There just isn´t much to say about a nearly plotless movie that is just poorly made on nearly every level. Morbius is such a missed opportunity of an interesting Spiderman character and in general Sony found this dumb little loophole to keep their licences by making these B and C tier characters become a thing, but it´s not a thing, it´s just them keeping a quota and not really caring about anything about the movies. I hope the box-offices of these movies make them rethink a bit about caring a bit more and not just release bland noise.
Astérix & Obélix : Mission Cléopâtre (2002)
This movie becomes insane
I watched the Danish dub for nostalgic reasons.
As a huge Asterix fan I always will prefer the animated counterparts and always had a small distaste for the live action versions, but this is a fun nostalgia watch for me no matter what. Mission Cleopatra is a fun retelling and you can clearly feel a lot of passion here. It´s well made and overall very fun.
Cleopatra goes into a bet with Caesar that the Egyptians can build a grand palace in just 3 months. The architect Numerobis is tasked to do it but finds the task imposable, so he asks Panoramix, Asterix and Obelix for help. Meanwhile Numerobis foil Amonbofis and Cesar tries to do everything in their power to stop the construction.
This is a fun retelling of the comic of the same name but I will admit that the animated version is lightyears better than this movie. The comic nature of the Asterix universe just lends itself better to animation than live action, you have to really extend your disbelieve a bit too much here to make everything work out.
This is a great cast though and the way they made everyone look and feel like their characters are done well. I feel like Asterix is a bit too savage here and not enough his smart and clever self, but his biggening and relationship to Obelix is great and fun here. In general I really enjoyed the cast. The dub had some problems clearly with the French here and their but nothing too bad. The Danish voice cast is also absolutely incredible, expect for Numerobis that is a bit too stale in the delivery. Maybe the movie is better in its original language, I don´t know I have never watched it in that.
The production design is really well made. It´s a move that looks so great especially with sets and miniatures. The effects aren't the best though. The locations and look of rooms are great and the costumes are very fun. While they costumes can look a bit too costumey, it only makes sense as this is supposed to adapt the look from the comic and it does a great job at that, but as mentioned, that´s why it lends itself better to animation.
The movie is a faithful retelling of the comic with more or less the same big plot points explored, but it feels like it´s rushing the story a bit too much at times, moving fast from foil to foil.
The movie is pretty fun and has a lot of good humour and fun gags. It made me laugh multiple times. While I think the movie is a bit too contemporary with some of it's jokes I feel like Asterix was always that. Just read the modern comics and they are now talking about health flips and such, so they are always a little bit grounded in the contemporary, but the jokes and refreshes can therefor also feel a bit dated at times.
The third act of the movie throws everything at the wall. Hong Kong cinema, a car chase, a western, a lobster documentary, you name it. It feels like it goes a bit too over the top, but it´s also absurdly fun.
Overall this is a great nostalgic watch for me and I love many aspects of the movie. The humour, and overall scope I love and respect, but it will never live up to its animated counterpart and again can feel a bit too grounded in the now instead of being timeless.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
Didn't scratch the same itch as its predecessor but still highly enjoyable
While I always try not to, too much, it´s hard not to compare this movie to the masterclass in action that was furry road (2015). Furiosa comes in and makes a great effort to deliver a different kind of Mad Max movie that focuses a bit more on the politics and world building and that might be refreshing, but it also leaves more to be desired. When you set your expectations to one thing and then gets another you are not disappointed per say, but definitely have to adjust. I think we overall got a good movie here that is entertaining.
We follow the Furiosa, a young girl that is kidnapped from her home and now most learn to adapt to the wastelands cruelties and seek revenge.
As said it´s hard not to compare this to Furry Road as I feel like the movie has hyped up to be that, the next modern Mad Max movie. I am the age where I have not watched the original Mas Max movies yet, so it´s hard to compare of this movie is similar to any of those movies, but it takes a different approach than it´s modern predecessor. While Furry Road was a grand action sceptical with a lack of a story, this movie is the opposite, more grounded and more lore based. It reminds me of Dune (2021) in the way it sets out to talk about world building and politics and that´s the strongest aspects of the movie. I love the idea of the trade deals going on but when it then comes to the action bits, it leaves a lot to be desired since its predecessor was so strong in these aspects. Gone is the incredible soundtrack, replaced with a more understated droning one, gone is the huge explosions and over the top sequences to a more grounded and one shot kill idea. It seems less grand in the action regard and the practicality seems dialled back too. Effects are more options here and while the production is still incredible, it´s just a bit more underwhelming this time around compared to the sceptical that was Furry Road. And that might be one of this movies biggest weaknesses, being a movie that had to follow one of the most well liked action movies in years. You can´t stop to think about what you got here and while good, it just doesn't scratch the same itch as Furry Road. I was just not as invested as Furry Road, not to say I wasn´t invested at all mind you.
I think this movie has a lot of great performances and the acting overall is pretty solid all around. I am sad to not see Charlize Theron return in any way, since I feel like the third act would be more impactful with her return, but there's probably a lot of outside factors here. The most incredible performance here for me is Chris Hemsworth who plays so well as Dementus. While his performances is funny, it´s also so harrowing, seeing this man of the wasteland try to concurs but being foiled at nearly every attempt, he is a character that slowly loses himself along the way and his performances goes from being godlike in the beginning to become more and more haunted as he losses more and more. The final speech he has is absolutely incredible and his is definitely flexing his acting muscles here. If he got an Oscar naught next year I would actually not get mad.
I really loved the scope and politics of this movie. We get more of an inside as to how the world looks and functions, how the 3 different towns has to work together to make the wasteland work out. I must say though that the bullet farm was the one that made the least sense to me. I know it´s defence, but how many raiders are attacking these people? Although I guess we see a raid and takeover in this movie so I digress. It paints a more civilized post apocalypse and I love it.
While this movie lacked a lot of the qualities than the previous movie did, this one beats it in story. While a basic one, at least it has one. It´s a great grand adventure that pushes the wasteland to its limits in the best way possible.
Where this movie shines again is the incredible production design. Sure there is a lot more effects noticeable this time around, but there are so many practical things that seals the world for you. The locations look incredible, the sound design is so grounded and raw. The bike in the beginning, the cars, guns and other weaponry and vehicles really shine here. The costumes and weapons all look incredible and overall this is a masterclass in how to do a good production design. The world becomes believable no doubt. Same with the look and feel of cars. They look all so different and you can easily see they use of them in different situations. Dementus bike chariot, the war rig, the smaller follow cars and bikes. This is where modern mad max movies shine.
While the complexity is better for this movie is also delivered something different than what I expected, for better and worse. Again I got a good movie, just not in the way I exapted and maybe with a new perspective in it, next time I watch it I might like it more.
A small thing I think I missed while watching, how did Furiosa escape the Dementus bike circle? Maybe you have the answer, but I feel like that was not well explained.
This is a sceptical in many ways a delivers a sloid experience that leaves some more aspects to be desired. This is an overall solid movie that I decently enjoyed from start to finish.
The Godfather (1972)
Absolute masterpiece
One of my absolute favourite films. It's hard to say something that hasn't already been said and it's even harder to explain why this movie is just so perfect. From the acting, setting, script, tone, charecters everything just feel perfect. It's one of those amazing once in a blue moon created movies that just nailed everything it set out to do.
We follow the Corlione mob family. After the leader of the gang Vito says no to deal with narcotics, he ends up starting and all out war. His son, Michael, takes over the family business, a life he really didn't want.
Let's start with the small praises and work towards the strongest aspects of this movie. The soundtrack is beutifull and used to perfection. It's sparingly and uses the same motive to nearly everything. It really helps elevate so many scenes.
The production design is also so good. It's not in the big blockbuster ways, but the small things. All the suits and clothing looking amazing and iconic. The light and camera work creating so many amazing moodful scenes and dynamics. The colour leading that feels nearly subliminal. It's a production with so much control and is so well thought out you have to give it credit.
The plot is absolutely amazing. It creates this complicated yet tight story that is executed to perfection. It understands your smart and can follow a plot with a million moving parts without over explaining everything. The plot is also compelling and told so beautifully. Every scene and line feels like they have a purpose and it creates this masterclass in how to storytell.
One of the final sequences in particular is one of my favourites ever put to the screen. It would be a spoiler but it envovles a baptism. It's just one scene, but so many scenes and sequences are edged into my mind as iconic.
And what carries all of the above? The amazing production and plot? The amazingly written chatecters. Every single charecter feels like a person where you know everything about them. Even the once with nearly no screentime. You feel invited into the mob lifestyle and you feel invited into the Corleone family. Everyone becomes these people you love and hate and the lines and scenes between everyone adds everything to the movie. I could litually highlight every single preformance here. So instead of just list names you already expect me to praise know they are here and remember everyone else that deserve praise too. The lines are all iconic and presented by Thier respect actor beutifully. It's almost amazing how so many lines feel nearly poeticly written with so much force, emotion and power behind him.
This movie is about one charecter in particular, Micheal Corleone. He is the chatecter portrait that makes this movie so compelling and tragic. It is showing a charecter sink further and further down a whole he had avoided for sutch a Long time. His character arc is both one of the most satisfying and tragic arcs ever put to the screen.
This movie is just amazing from start to finish. Every just work to pure perfection. Acting, script, production. All held to it's ansulolute peek.