Post by Martin Stett on Feb 5, 2018 16:39:39 GMT
Ocean Waves (1993) -- A slow-moving, perfectly unexceptional coming-of-age movie that is redeemed by the last ten minutes being a legitimate meditation on growing up. 6/10
Rituals (1977) -- It's Deliverance, only even more unpleasant and ugly. I didn't like Deliverance because... well, because it was unpleasant and ugly. This just isn't my cup of tea. 3/10
The Conversation (1974 rewatch) -- Is this the loneliest movie ever made? I can never decide between this or Lost in Translation. 10/10
Transformers: Beast Wars (Season 2) -- It gets off to a bit of a jumbled start, introducing tons of new plot points and characters and doing a poor job of maintaining the momentum of the awesome S1 finale. But soon, it settles down and lets the new dynamic develop in a more natural way, which leads to a 1-2-3 punch of some of the greatest character episodes the show has ever done (Bad Spark for Silverbolt and Blackarachnia, Code of Hero for Dinobot and Transmutate for Rampage) before a finale that has some downright incredible twists. This show designed to sell toys to kids is leagues better than any show for so-called adults, in my opinion. 8/10 because the show's confused nature at the outset brings its rating down a lot
Wonder Woman (2017) -- Wait, this is the good movie of the DCU? It's cynical, Marvel-copying shit. Bad jokes, idiotic action sequences, some of the worst CGI I've ever encountered. And good lord, is it on-the-nose. I'm beginning to think that my original rating of 3/10 is too good for this. I my bump it down.
John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) -- The first movie was pretty much perfect, but by nature, a sequel can't capture the wonderful worldbuilding of the first film. Or the simple but strong character work, unfortunately. Wick doesn't have a choice, is the problem: he is forced into an ugly situation that forces him into even uglier situations which forces him ever downwards. There's no development or ray of light. Things can only get worse for him. This would work if the film emphasized his helplessness, but he's JOHN FUCKING WICK, he never actually looks like he's out of his depth. Which brings me to the action sequences, which are mostly pretty cool (my favorite being John fighting a street busker that is basically Lindsey Stirling crossed with Lara Croft), even if there's no emotional stakes. A big boo to the use of Hollywood Silencers, though: in the first movie, silencers acted like the real thing, not tiny pew-pew-pew magic that nobody in a crowded area can hear. 6/10
The Beguiled (2017) -- It's slow and methodical and a little hypnotic and more than a little boring. But I'd fuck the hell out of Colin Farrell's accent too, so I'm not one to judge these girls for coming under that brogue's spell. 6/10
Rituals (1977) -- It's Deliverance, only even more unpleasant and ugly. I didn't like Deliverance because... well, because it was unpleasant and ugly. This just isn't my cup of tea. 3/10
The Conversation (1974 rewatch) -- Is this the loneliest movie ever made? I can never decide between this or Lost in Translation. 10/10
Transformers: Beast Wars (Season 2) -- It gets off to a bit of a jumbled start, introducing tons of new plot points and characters and doing a poor job of maintaining the momentum of the awesome S1 finale. But soon, it settles down and lets the new dynamic develop in a more natural way, which leads to a 1-2-3 punch of some of the greatest character episodes the show has ever done (Bad Spark for Silverbolt and Blackarachnia, Code of Hero for Dinobot and Transmutate for Rampage) before a finale that has some downright incredible twists. This show designed to sell toys to kids is leagues better than any show for so-called adults, in my opinion. 8/10 because the show's confused nature at the outset brings its rating down a lot
Wonder Woman (2017) -- Wait, this is the good movie of the DCU? It's cynical, Marvel-copying shit. Bad jokes, idiotic action sequences, some of the worst CGI I've ever encountered. And good lord, is it on-the-nose. I'm beginning to think that my original rating of 3/10 is too good for this. I my bump it down.
John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) -- The first movie was pretty much perfect, but by nature, a sequel can't capture the wonderful worldbuilding of the first film. Or the simple but strong character work, unfortunately. Wick doesn't have a choice, is the problem: he is forced into an ugly situation that forces him into even uglier situations which forces him ever downwards. There's no development or ray of light. Things can only get worse for him. This would work if the film emphasized his helplessness, but he's JOHN FUCKING WICK, he never actually looks like he's out of his depth. Which brings me to the action sequences, which are mostly pretty cool (my favorite being John fighting a street busker that is basically Lindsey Stirling crossed with Lara Croft), even if there's no emotional stakes. A big boo to the use of Hollywood Silencers, though: in the first movie, silencers acted like the real thing, not tiny pew-pew-pew magic that nobody in a crowded area can hear. 6/10
The Beguiled (2017) -- It's slow and methodical and a little hypnotic and more than a little boring. But I'd fuck the hell out of Colin Farrell's accent too, so I'm not one to judge these girls for coming under that brogue's spell. 6/10
