Afire - Another very good film from this year. I've only seen Le Rayon Vert from Rohmer but it instantly clicked how alike the two premises are about protagonists on a vacational setting who are so lost in their own hopes, dreams, ideas and concepts that it's near impossible for them to enjoy themselves even for a second. As an introvert who just wants to do creative work even during the summer getaways, I can definitely relate. And of course life doesn't stop for our sake, does it? It sweeps across our days like a raging fire. The film's female main would be best described as a favorite character trope of mine the “manic pixie dream girl” but since she defies every expectation of the shut-in, self-absorbed protag, even their romance is more on the platonic level, barely there but sensible allowing the conflicting personalities to create friction instead of telling some beautiful lie. In a nutshell… it was a decent watch I can recommend with a great song to set the mood.

I'm halfway through a rewatch of Pricilla Queen of the Desert.
It's a magical film about 3 gay drag queens traveling into the redneck desert areas in the middle.of Australia in a large bus so one can help out his wife. Played by straight men.
It'a lot of fun and it really holds up. They really should have had gay men in the roles but it still great.
This is what the US movie 2 Wong Foo ripped off.
.
This move cannot be taken litterally… It's more like stylised magical reality because there are so many things that couldn't happen… You have to just accept it… Like them having all the fabric and equipment for one of them to brace themselves safely on top of the bus and trail out that enormous silver dress. Or the fact they had enough pink paint in a little box to totally repaint the entire buss. Or on meeting the aboriginal group in the middle of the desert at night after a long walk they had time to quickly race back to the bus, get costumes and makeup to come all the way back and dance, then stop the dance half way through, run all the way back, dress up their aboriginal friend, run back to the camp and pick up where they left off… So many things DO NOT fit a logical progression but it's meant to run on cartoon logic I think.
It's just a fun, silly movie with amazing visuals.

Rebel Moon. I wanted to watch this movie with the hopes of seeing some cool sets, props, and costumes. I had low expectations for any of the narrative, character development, or concepts. Unfortunately, I was disappointed on all four fronts. In my opinion, the recipe for making Rebel Moon would go something like this: 1)Take Akira Kurosawa, and remove all talent. 2)Have him direct Seven Samurai, and remove all artistry 3)Slap on some leftovers from the props room of a Star Wars set 4)Throw about 166 million dollars at it 5)Bake. Voila!

I went back and finished my rewatch of Pricilla Queen of the deswet- I had to stop the other night because it was late and I was too sleepy.
It really is a great film, it totally holds up almost 30 years later.

It has some great looking scenes and despite being very cartoony at tines it is very, very touching towards the end. I literally had tears- the touching moments with Tick's son accepting him unconditionally and Bernadette settling down in Alice Springs with the mechanic were very affecting.

It's well worth the rewatch all these years later. The actiing was excellent. I beleive everyone in their roles and it's probably on of the best performances by Terrance Stamp.

I rarely go to the movie theater anymore - but went twice this week!

Godzilla Minus One - Fantastic. I haven't seen all the Godzilla movies, not even close, but I'd be surprised if many are this good. Some scary scenes, of course, but it was also a tear jerker, to my surprise! On top of that, it had a real-world connection/significance that was very powerful. One of the best movies of the year (that I've seen, anyway). And done on a shockingly low budget! A winner!

The Iron Claw - Inspired by a true story that I wasn't aware of. Great movie. Incredibly sad story. I'd imagine we'll see some Oscars nominations for this one.

Ozoneocean wrote:
I went back and finished my rewatch of Pricilla Queen of the deswet- I had to stop the other night because it was late and I was too sleepy.
It really is a great film, it totally holds up almost 30 years later.

I loved Queen of the Desert when it came out! The ABBA necklace was one of my favorite vignettes!

Just saw the movie ‘Thanksgiving’ It was fun. Had a lot of silly deaths.

Finally completed Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, which I thoroughly enjoyed and even cried during the somber parts. The story was told out of chronological order to give greater comparisons to the way things were in the past compared to the present. Definitely did not mind the time jumps since it was easy to follow along. I liked how the final scene did not end with a wedding or a proposal, but the binding of a book.

I did get a laugh at how determined Laurie was to marry one of the March sisters. It almost made sense why Jo was so eager to be with the professor at the end.

I'm currently on a k-drama (or, more accurately, dramas from Korea, Japan, and China) kick, and presently doing a dual-watchthrough of two series; on my own, I'm watching Tale of the Nine-Tailed, thus far a very intriguing story of Korean mythology brought to the modern world, and watching Destined With You with my roommate, a romance-focused drama involving magic.

Both shows involve elements of ‘Past Life’ influence, which is interesting to see unfold in tandem. Does anyone else watch k-dramas at all?

(also, I promise that asian dramas are not my sole entertainment source, just the most recent thing I've been watching XD)

My wife and I are re-watching (for the third time) the 3 seasons of the HBO series “Deadwood”. It's a fantastic show whose writing combines character development with plot/action on a Shakespearean level.

Unfortunately, this show was canceled because of a financial dispute between the series' creator David Milch and HBO. But that does not diminish the artistry and craft of the writing, acting, and direction. It is a perfect episodic TV show that can be re-watched many times.

fallopiancrusader wrote:
I loved Queen of the Desert when it came out! The ABBA necklace was one of my favorite vignettes!

LOL! Ewwwww XD

I watched Tár. Among the very best performances in film I've seen to be honest. It was a very good watch, raising more questions than giving answers. It was an enigmatic portrait, complex and extremely life-like. I liked that we get about zero facts regarding the accusations she was facing and that her own guilt / conscience was the only real clue besides her cold “professionalism” he conducted herself with while breaking careers in half while promoting others. I liked that the ones who blew up her scandals were also not motivated by some moral superiority, but by rather petty revenge. How should Lydia Tár's work be judged in light of her character as a person? I'm not sure, but perhaps that's a good start.

Ozoneocean wrote:
I went back and finished my rewatch of Pricilla Queen of the deswet- I had to stop the other night because it was late and I was too sleepy.
It really is a great film, it totally holds up almost 30 years later.

It has some great looking scenes and despite being very cartoony at tines it is very, very touching towards the end. I literally had tears- the touching moments with Tick's son accepting him unconditionally and Bernadette settling down in Alice Springs with the mechanic were very affecting.

It's well worth the rewatch all these years later. The actiing was excellent. I beleive everyone in their roles and it's probably on of the best performances by Terrance Stamp.

I teared up too! Great movie. And those costumes were magnificent.

Great soundtrack too. I have to admit I was lip synching to a few of the songs myself.

Ozoneocean wrote:
I went back and finished my rewatch of Pricilla Queen of the deswet- I had to stop the other night because it was late and I was too sleepy.
It really is a great film, it totally holds up almost 30 years later.

It has some great looking scenes and despite being very cartoony at tines it is very, very touching towards the end. I literally had tears- the touching moments with Tick's son accepting him unconditionally and Bernadette settling down in Alice Springs with the mechanic were very affecting.

It's well worth the rewatch all these years later. The actiing was excellent. I beleive everyone in their roles and it's probably on of the best performances by Terrance Stamp.

I very much enjoyed Pricilla Queen of the Desert. AND I also enjoyed To Woo Foo… (American producers seem need to mine UK and Australian successful productions for creative ideas, then tweak them for US audiences. For example the Australian TV series “Rake” was tweaked into an Americanized version “Rake”, but failed. Also, TV producer Norman Lear lifted “All in the Family” from the successful UK show “Till Death Us Do Part”.)

pluto

JohnCelestri wrote:
For example the Australian TV series “Rake” was tweaked into an Americanized version “Rake”, but failed.

They did Rake?
Wow! I loved that show, Richard Roxburgh was SO good.
It would have been so simple to do a great American version of that though… he's just like a more “blokey” version of Jame's Spader's character in Boston Legal. The same sort of sexual tiger with questionable morals who's mainly concerned with his own well being and advancement. Just have to tweak it to make him a little more selfish and less sophisticated.

Priscilla and To Wong Foo really have nothing in common other than they both feature drag queens. Priscilla is a road trip movie, while To Wong Foo is a heroes breakdown in the middle of nowhere and saves the town. They are both great movies though, and I did find Hugo Weaving's fully accepting son very touching.

—————————-

After watching “Look Away” I am going through all of India Eisley's films. Ran into “Dead Reckoning”, about a young man whose brother was a terrorist who killed India's parents.

This was like watching Meryl Streep read a grocery list. She was not exactly the main character, but the only person you cared about. Eisley deserves much better, and I assume they paid her a lot because she did some nudity.

Another film “Social Suicide” does not use her as anything more than a pretty face. But it is an interesting crime take on “Romeo & Juliet” where the story unfolds through police questioning and social media. The weirdness resides in the low-budget films' attempt to look like a BBC production.

Whiplash (2014)

Drumming student, aspiring to be one of the greatest drummers of all time, is taken under the wing of an instructor that exhibits a roller coaster ride of emotions. Student demonstrates ability through hard work and practice before reaching excellence.

Whiplash was pretty good.

Just watching Beowulf, the Christopher Lambert one… Wow it's a spectacularly bad movie with a as late 90s AF soundtrack as possible. If say worse than mortal Kombat annihilation which he dropped out of time make Beowulf.

Currently watching Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid on 9animetv.to and loving it, it's old (2005) but the quality is top-notch, the voice work especially is just excellent, it's in Japanese so I can't understand a word, but they are giving it their all, scenes where they angrily shout at each other are hilarious because of this. There are English subs of course, but you feel the emotion through the voice acting.

Previously I'd watched Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu which was lighter and funny, military intelligence agent Souzuke (17M) is assigned to bodyguard Chidori (16F) at a school because of her special knowledge, shenanigans ensue as Souzuke frequently judo throws people to the ground and points weapons at them because his training kicks in when he thinks anyone poses a threat to Chidori, but none of them really do, well maybe some street hoodlums occasionally, who he beats the sh!t out of, but more often than not Chidori will slap his head with a big umbrella or something and rant at him for being such a trigger-happy loony toon, so that was a good lol every episode.

Cut to the current series which is mostly about Souzuke's organization vs. terrorists, the violence level is through the roof, shooting and explosions and two stone-cold killer sisters who slit throats and dance bloodily through friend and foe alike, it's a jarring contrast despite the familiar lead characters. But nonetheless super watchable. And there are more series to watch after this one, much joy.

Recently watched “the boy and the heron”, it is very good.

Currently watching Saltburn

kawaiidaigakusei wrote:
Finally completed Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, which I thoroughly enjoyed and even cried during the somber parts. The story was told out of chronological order to give greater comparisons to the way things were in the past compared to the present. Definitely did not mind the time jumps since it was easy to follow along. I liked how the final scene did not end with a wedding or a proposal, but the binding of a book.

I did get a laugh at how determined Laurie was to marry one of the March sisters. It almost made sense why Jo was so eager to be with the professor at the end.

I love Laurie, on God

I've been watching a lot of Bones recently.

I like the science focus and the whodunit aspect but the writing is often pretty tropey and weirdly old fashioned for some of the characters- “Booth” for example is written as this bizarre caricature of an old fashioned “jock”, as if he was a bully from an 80s teen sex comedy that escaped and got a job on another TV show. It's freaking bizarre.
And the character “Angela” is SOOOooooo annoying with this know-all, super superior attitude who can do anything at all. She's a fantasy version of an “artist”.

Some bad aspects:

-The science is also usually pretty magical, by all the characters. That's annoying.

-They go on about how “intelligent” the are too much, when usually their displays of intelligence are just remembering facts that would be the result of years of research and experimentation by teams of scientists. Their contribution is really not much more than any person with a smartphone can do.

-Bodies end up as gory, skull-faced, fleshpiles far too much. It'd be more horrific and real to keep the sin on them some of the time.

-finally the writers are not very clever about how they get the murderers using the science. Usually they either go for the the traditional copy of an Agatha Christie approach where we're introduced to all the players and eventually after lots of misdirection the real killer is revealed at the end through clever “science”, or a nobody character turns out to be the murderer but the science was the only guide, sort of a more Sherlock Holmes thing where the science stands in for “clues”.
When the approach that would be way better to use is working out who the murderer is early on and then use the science to cleverly prove it- going more for a Columbo method.

The best aspect of the show is the character interaction, which is driven by the skill of the actors rather than that of the writers. If they wet for a more columbo thing that would allow more character to show through (the baddie gets to shine then).

I have been watching Haley Lu Richardson movies since she was in a number of Christmas-themed movies.

Follow: A by-the-numbers psychological horror, set during Christmas, that I solved before anyone even died. Richardson is the most famous person in it, Meryl Streep in a 5th grade school play, by far and she was miscast as an unimportant side character with far too much screen time.

Christmas Twister: Also has very little to do with Christmas, except that the title is dropped in the dialog, “We're in for a Christmas Twister this year!” Stars B-List Casper Van Dine and Victoria Pratt in a rehash of “Twister”.

The characters spend the movie making a string of dumb decisions and living self-inflicted drama while dealing with the most non-urgent scenarios possible. We only have three hours to drive 2 blocks! Make sure you obey all the traffic laws!

A strangely high amount of scenes of people tongue kissing. Haley and all the pretty people in the movie earn their paychecks in the last 2 minutes. Hilariously bad, would recommend it.

Support the Girls: Starring Regina Hill. This is a feminist ‘Empire Records’ taking place throughout a single day. The hard-working manager of a Hooters-style restaurant tries to save everyone from themselves while sacrificing her personal life.

I love it when the movie respects the audience and doesn't spell everything out for them. Characters continue conversations that we were not witness to, but those conversations keep coming up, and become more and more important. The climax of Hall's story centers around a character we only see for a few minutes, but we know through dialog that she is in legal trouble and Hall has been risking her job all day to raise money to help her.

It shows how female characters can be sexy and still matter to the story. Every minor character seems important. Will be watching more of Andrew Bujalski's films.

Ozoneocean wrote:
I've been watching a lot of Bones recently.

I like the science focus and the whodunit aspect but the writing is often pretty tropey and weirdly old fashioned for some of the characters- “Booth” for example is written as this bizarre caricature of an old fashioned “jock”, as if he was a bully from an 80s teen sex comedy that escaped and got a job on another TV show. It's freaking bizarre.
And the character “Angela” is SOOOooooo annoying with this know-all, super superior attitude who can do anything at all. She's a fantasy version of an “artist”.

Some bad aspects:

-The science is also usually pretty magical, by all the characters. That's annoying.

-They go on about how “intelligent” the are too much, when usually their displays of intelligence are just remembering facts that would be the result of years of research and experimentation by teams of scientists. Their contribution is really not much more than any person with a smartphone can do.

-Bodies end up as gory, skull-faced, fleshpiles far too much. It'd be more horrific and real to keep the sin on them some of the time.

-finally the writers are not very clever about how they get the murderers using the science. Usually they either go for the the traditional copy of an Agatha Christie approach where we're introduced to all the players and eventually after lots of misdirection the real killer is revealed at the end through clever “science”, or a nobody character turns out to be the murderer but the science was the only guide, sort of a more Sherlock Holmes thing where the science stands in for “clues”.
When the approach that would be way better to use is working out who the murderer is early on and then use the science to cleverly prove it- going more for a Columbo method.

The best aspect of the show is the character interaction, which is driven by the skill of the actors rather than that of the writers. If they wet for a more columbo thing that would allow more character to show through (the baddie gets to shine then).

Bones is very watchable, I was shocked I bunged the whole series and it didn't go off the rails much or get too repetitive.

Binged “Blue eyes samurai”. Very cool and very well done, although there were some inconsistencies and some spect that I disliked as commercial. Still, a solid 9 out of 10.

Currently watching Cowboys and Aliens (2011) for the first time and this film has aged Very Nicely. The plot somehow feels more believable today than it did thirteen years ago.

I remember when the banners for Cowboys and Aliens were the default wallpaper for the main site of Drunk Duck. I even remember clicking on the comic when it was on the front page!

Now that Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption has been around for years, the turn of the century, 1890s Cowboy genre is very popular. I was very shocked to see the director and executive producer for the film are industry heavyweights, and all the leading actors (Ford, Craig, and Wilde) have continued producing films that the film would have been unimaginably expensive if it were made today.

Half-way through the story, I will update this once I have finished the entire film.

==

Update: Completed watching the film January 22, 2024

The film ended nicely and it was unpredictable. The idea that Paul Dano starred in the movie around the same time as There Will Be Blood is enough reason to see it. Also, extra long rockets.

Genejoke wrote:
Bones is very watchable, I was shocked I bunged the whole series and it didn't go off the rails much or get too repetitive.

I'm still making my way through it. It's a wired show - big focus on gore, big focus on hard science but also crude religious stuff from the Booth character, great character writing but also really old fashioned attitudes from the characters… as if they were written in the 1970s.
That's SO weird from a 2000s TV show! You have characters talking about how fantasy is for dorks and watching scifi scares girls away, Booth worrying about anything “girly”, Angela thinking she's SO feminist and forward, people equating being a Muslim with being a terrorist repeatedly… It's so stupidly sexist and bigoted at times and the science is often peppered with urban myth that's made to sound like science, which is irritating.

But the character writing is good and there are enough interesting and good characters to more than save it.

marcorossi wrote:
Binged “Blue eyes samurai”. Very cool and very well done, although there were some inconsistencies and some spect that I disliked as commercial. Still, a solid 9 out of 10.

Tantz will LOVE you!
I found the first ep to be just trope, cliche, trope, cliche, and trope and couldn't get past that. The stiff 3D figures instead of actual animation made it worse.
But I concede it could have gotten better if I watched other eps.

kawaiidaigakusei wrote:
Currently watching Cowboys and Aliens (2011) for the first time and

I've never seen it still! That was a weird time… Platinum used DD as a way to popularise the movie idea and get funding for it to be made by showing studios and producers there was buzz around the idea. The original comic is SOOOOOOoooo different from what I think the film turned out to be and they deleted it from DD and replaced it with an updated one that more closely matches.
The original story is just pure cliche. It's ok but not clever or interesting, it's like an episode of an early morning cartoon from the 90s.

-One of our older DD comicers worked on Red Dead Redemption back in the day.

I'm still making my way through it. It's a wired show - big focus on gore, big focus on hard science but also crude religious stuff from the Booth character, great character writing but also really old fashioned attitudes from the characters… as if they were written in the 1970s.
That's SO weird from a 2000s TV show! You have characters talking about how fantasy is for dorks and watching scifi scares girls away, Booth worrying about anything “girly”, Angela thinking she's SO feminist and forward, people equating being a Muslim with being a terrorist repeatedly… It's so stupidly sexist and bigoted at times and the science is often peppered with urban myth that's made to sound like science, which is irritating.

But the character writing is good and there are enough interesting and good characters to more than save it.

Yeah it's a weird mix of more modern stylings and a throwback. I found Angela really irritating, badly written and acted. Lot's of cringe inducing elements but strangely watchable, probably because of the character writing and generally interesting plots. I think mainly it's refreshingly lightweight given how dark, serious and drawn out most shows are now.