Upgrade (2018)

Probably "Upgrade" is not the best "Christmas movie", but I don't have a better subject. And, anyway, if we look a bit between the lines, I can say that it has a bit of "hope for a better tomorrow" coming from end-of-year blog entry ;)

If I'd have to classify this, "Upgrade" probably fits best in that category of SciFi that looks more or less indie, but is definitely outside the mainstream area, but you cannot label it as B-series either. I'm thinking here on stuff like "Dark City", "13th Floor", "Equilibrium", "Predestination". Having a very nice touch of cyberpunk. But let's cut short the lists and get into the story...

Somewhere in an augmented future, Grey is a former mechanic, nostalgic for the times when you actually needed to handle the car's wheel, who's now dealing with restoring cars for collectors while his wife, employee of a company dealing with electronic implants is the one who's actually bringing money in the house. One evening, following an accident in which their smart car strangely derails from pre-determined track reaching a not so safe area of the city, they get attacked by 4 thugs. The result, he's ending up on a bed, paralyzed from neck down, and she's not even making up to hospital. Which brings us to the moment of the offer. One of Grey's clients, owner of some "classic" cars, and also of another company specialized in implants, proposes Grey to become a lab rat for an ultra-advanced AI chip that could restore his movement capacity. There's a catch... we have to sign an NDA saying that the deal stays secret and with him still confined in the wheel chair for the public eye. The problem is that the guy is not really eager to move on with his life between his house walls, having as first item in his todo list: "avenge my wife". And another catch... the ultra-advanced AI has a voice of its own (literally and figuratively speaking). What's the perspective on a long happy life in this context - to check that in the movie.

The bad: Let's say that it could've been done better on the acting part, although that's not covering everybody. The main character, as well as the main villain are ok, but for the rest I think they could've used another take here and there. Besides that, there's a "cold feeling", which I can't define much better - something like not being able to empathize much with any character. It's something that I also felt in some of Nolan's movies, in particular in "Inception" (pretty much the sole negative aspect there). But anyway, it's a temporary feeling, which is somehow going away towards the end. Which brings us to...

The good: I didn't say by now that behind this movie is Leigh Whannell (script + directing), more known maybe for his collaboration with James Wan in "Saw" and "Insidious". Probably given the background/story style, that's where comes from the best part of the current movie - the ending. We have a twist coming there, but which you can see way in advance. And that leaves you a bit disappointed. For like 5-10 minute, until the real twist :) And as a cherry on top, we also have a (let's say) ultimate ending twist. That might leave you thinking on some existential questions like what's better - a fake life in comfort or a true life in pain - or, to get out of cliches, how could you end up somewhere in the middle? :). But since I don't have any answers and I don't want to give any spoilers, all I can say is: Happy Holidays! & and a better next year! ;)

Rating: 4 out of 5

Winter-Spring 2018-2019 Movie Preview (the brief version) - Part 2

Considering the amount of research I did last week, I'm currently more tempted to start a survey on treating tibiofibular diastasis without surgery than movie blogging. However, as much I would like to convince myself that a "Dr." near your name gives you super-powers to conveniently re-interpret a CT scan, that's probably not a valid assumption unless you also have a "M.D." written there, with all the help you might get from journal articles of Korean orthopedists. Besides that, I should probably move my focus anyway to cardio areas since there seem to be more urgent issues there (not mine... yet, not that it would make things simpler). To conclude, it's probably more recommended to take a break from re-qualification attempts and complete the entry of last time. Still in brief mode = one title/month...

In March we have "Captive State". Which I don't trust more than the worst episode of "Black Mirror" (whichever that might be), but considering the utter lack of SciFi movies, I'm willing to give a chance to pretty much anything.

The lack of SciFi movies doesn't include (unfortunately, I would say) also the super-hero area. But "Shazam!" seems to bring though a bit of a mix between "Kick-Ass" and "Defendor", which, if confirmed in April, outside the rest of re-heated soups in this movie genre.

We'll stick to the same stuff for the month of May too. Even if it makes me thinking on including super-hero movies in the list of Spring allergies, I won't ignore "Avengers: Endgame". Why? Because, surprisingly, I liked "Infinity War". Almost enough to give it a blog entry, but considering that I've watched that at more than half a year after its release I said that it might be a bit late. Besides, it's quite likely that it's just because my subconscious reacts favorably to anything involving "time travel", and wants to see a confirmation to the previous episode that this is the solution for all problems ;)

As I was saying to someone long ago that given my typical lack of communication, as long as I'm writing something on my blog it means that I'm "still alive", I'll try another entry by the end of the year. So, let's postpone the holiday wishes for next time ( hopefully... ;) )

Winter-Spring 2018-2019 Movie Preview (the brief version) - Part 1

Never say you're done until you're really done... or to put it differently, don't brag that you managed writing something weekly as long as you're not sure that you won't break a leg until the year ends. That being the reason why the traditional Winter start entry is in brief version for this time. Not that I'm writing with my legs (well, maybe only figuratively speaking), but this activity is not the most comfortable since half a month already. So, we have a strict selection of only one piece incoming title per month...

Since December is as typically filled with a density of blockbusters that makes it look like a Summer month, it's hard to find anything else. And from what we have here the best option seemed to be "Aquaman". Even though DC movies tend lately to copy too much the Marvel stuff, maybe we still have a chance. Or maybe's the fault of Amber Heard as a redhead that I stopped here...

In January "The Cube" meets "Saw" in "Escape Room". Or at least this is how it looks like in the trailer. With a "Weeds" "from a different movie". Little boxes...

In February I preferred to ignore the sequel to "How to Train Your Dragon" in favor of the sequel to "The Lego Movie". Despite that "Lego: Batman" wasn't as good as the original, the trend is still more optimistic there compared to the bottomless pit where the second episode with Toothless dived in from high skies.

That's all for today. Long breaks heal legs (they say... or at least remove swellings). So back to horizontal now. Spring months, next time (hopefully).

11 years + Isle of Dogs (2018)

At each blog anniversary I tried to find something that I could recommend with a maximum rating. It worked out at two years ("The Prestige") and at nine years ("The Accountant"), so quite seldom :) Therefore, it's at least statistically proven ( spoiler :) ) why it doesn't work at 11 years either. To be fair, I'm happy that this year I managed up to now to keep the average of one entry per week = watching around one movie weekly. To catch one that has the chance to surprise me at a fixed date... oh well... The truth is that I seriously reconsidered after last year a shutdown, especially in the context where's quite clear also for me that: 1) I don't really get to see enough movies to make a decent selection of subjects; 2) I don't really have the time to stay enough on an entry to make it sure it sounds good enough (not that I ever prepared and revised my posts, but I feel that lately I'm repeating myself too much and I'm wrapping them up too quickly); 3) the everlasting problem since I started this blog is still here - I don't have time to promote it (although, considering point 2 above, maybe it's for the better). Anyway, long story short... I'm not giving up :D (yet...). Maybe I have the chance to compete someday to the longest blog with the least amount of readers on this planet :P And now, the movie...

I had two options for an anniversary entry - "Isle of Dogs" and "Upgrade". Unfortunately I've only had time for one of them, and I've chosen the "safe" one. Wes Anderson doesn't normally disappoint. And it's not the case now either. But still I can't say that this is one of his best... Besides that, unfortunately I don't think I'm connecting too well with the subject, which is: dogs - never having one, or as a matter of fact any other pet.

The story goes like this: somewhere in Japan we have a bad mayor, from an even worse dynasty that for generations hated dogs. Also for generations, these have a tolerated status, being used in the mayor house only for guarding and other practical tasks, never like pets. From this starts a plot of completely eradicating their presence from the community, using the reason of "canine fever". Like that, all the animals are exiled on a garbage island, including the guard dog of the mayors adopted son. Only that the son, not sharing the century old family hate, doesn't really agree with the decision and starts a search and rescue expedition for finding Spots. Which, predictable, it happens, and they will live happily ever after. Considering that we know the ending, I won't say what we're going through for reaching that.

If you wouldn't know who's the writer/director and you'd see 3 minutes of the movie, whatever these might be, you could swear that's a Wes Anderson film. It's so obvious, and the best method to describe Wes Anderson is... well.. watch a movie by Wes Anderson. An ordered chaos, short on topic scenes, cold dialogues that suddenly turn warm, lots of color, a fine sense of humor (e.g., "The Search for Spots" - a reference to Star Trek, that gets a bit deeper in the context), all these are elements that you can find here as much as in "Fantastic Mr. Fox", "Grand Budapest Hotel" or even "Moonrise Kingdom". Still, it doesn't seem like the same level. But again, maybe I'm not emphatic enough with the idea :) Anyway, as in the other cases, technically as a movie what we have here is flawless. At least for that it deserves watching. And if you're a dog owner, you'll probably love it ;)

Rating: 4 out of 5

Incredibles 2 (2018)

I wasn't expecting much from "Incredibles 2" and I didn't get the surprise I was hoping for (so... maybe, I was actually expecting :) ). In brief, it's too Pixar for my taste = too nice, too predictable. I don't remember where the first "Incredibles" left us, but the second starts in the context where super-heroes are illegal, and the Incredible family must keep away from using their super-powers to make justice. Stuff that's not very convenient, but we have Winston Deavor, a prosperous business man with nice childhood memories of super-heroes, who, together with his sister, Evelyn, seems decided to start a rehabilitation and re-legalizing campaign. And like that Ms Incredible gets a new suit, all the material support and the counseling she needs to open the path for a successful lobby to solve the matter. All this while Mr. Incredible is left at home to take care of the children, stuff that apparently exceeds his super-powers.

Unfortunately all this plot has an outcome that's as predictable as unlikely it sounds - stuff that's totally contradictory, and which theoretically should've make it unpredictable, but somehow it is. It's so obvious from the start that the evil character is part of the Deavor family, such that the only unknown left is who of them is it, or maybe both? This stuff makes it totally awkward to see such support given to Ms. Incredible, when the final purpose is totally opposite to what she's helped for... And even stranger is that the attempt to bring down all super-heroes effectively starts only when Ms. Incredible discovers that the help received does not come without an interest. Which discovery was not supposed to happen... But if it wouldn't have happened, there wouldn't have been any anti-hero attack... so I don't know anymore where was the evil interest. Really, at some point the logic of the negative character gets so mind boggling, that it seems more plausible that we have an evil schizo in this role and not an evil genius, as it should look like. Anyway, long story short: the best part of the movie is by far the youngest member of the Incredible family, Jack Jack - I won't say why because I already gave too much. In any case, the script is so poor that even the most promising character is not sufficiently used in the story...

Rating: 3 out of 5

Cleanskin (2012)

Time's shrinking, movie options the same... I didn't get to see anything else besides "Cleanskin" this week - randomly picked from an older "to watch" list, and doing this in something like three sessions. What IMDb says about it might seem close to a James Bond. Not even close...

Ash is a young Muslim enrolled in the law school in London, who, unhappy with the reckless life of his girlfriend, breaks up and gets close to a radical group. And like that, in a while ends up involved in planning bombing attacks. Ewan is an ex-military, returned from Afghanistan, who's recruited by the secret services and given the mission of tracking a Semtex case. We have a series of flashbacks providing more background of the two, and finally their paths intersect. How many explosions and what follow-up we have I won't say. I'll say that we have a surprisingly clever script (for what I was expecting), which has much more life drama in it than what the trailer gives you and it also offers an ending twist. Not something very unexpected, but sufficient to consolidate a message that's written pretty much everywhere between the lines: life is not black and white, it's very very gray.

As usual, I'd rather not comment much on the political/social side of the movie. I can tell that it's maybe a bit too often, too brutal and too violent. What's worse is that it also looks sufficiently realistic - again, this is not a Bond movie, which I didn't enjoy. I said it before, I prefer that a movie takes me out of the real life, nu to remind me how scary this is. Somehow, I don't think there's any character left up to the end on who we could say that was a positive one. It manages to kill all your hopes in a world that includes somebody like that :) To conclude, is that type of a movie on which I could say it probably was good, but I didn't like it :) That's all... A, just one spoiler: Sean Bean surprisingly survives this one :)

Rating: 3 out of 5

Last Passenger (2013)

When on a poster of a movie called "Last Passenger" you also see written "One train. Six passengers. No chance." something doesn't really sound right. Well... I didn't see the poster before the movie. But let's not make this unnecessarily long. We have a regional train somewhere in the London area, hijacked by a mysterious guy with train driving abilities (and a diesel one, not electric). The guy stays mysterious up to the end, although we have some sort of suggestion on why he's doing what he does. What's certain is that the intention seems to be crashing the train at the end of the rail tracks. Stuff that's not really acceptable for the last passengers left in the train after the hijacking, six of them. Spoiler: not all of them die, so the "last passenger" is more of a marketing trick, although... for 20 seconds close to the end, we can somehow to consider somebody fit for this position. Obviously, all the story is focused on the attempts to stop the train. What we see is ok-ish in this context. Ok-ish = unfortunately we have some scenes that make no sense, the character building is sometimes stereotypical, there's a bit of overacting and it's clearly a movie of low budget and production value - camera work, sound, etc (which might actually excuse a bit the rest). To conclude, don't expect much, but let's say that it has its moments, not many, but there are...

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

A Star is Born (2018)

... or where can lead a failed attempt to see the latest "Halloween", for which the management of the local cinema considers allocating large projection rooms only at late hours. Call me picky, but if I move my bones up to a cinema I want a big screen. Consequently, I preferred "A Star is Born", despite my worries towards the lethal combination for my taste in film: musical + romance. But considering that while getting older I discovered liking also movies with a simpler subject and let's say more... calmness (check out last week), considering that the latest similar experience - "La La Land" - was surprisingly original, and considering also that most reviews for this one are over the top, I said... ok, fine. But it wasn't really fine.

What we have here is the third remake (this means four movies, just to make it clear) having the same title as the original released in 1937. I don't know how much the subject varied through the years, but for what I saw I imagine it can't be much. The originality is close to zero. Jack, an alcoholic soft-rock singer meets Ally, an anonymous singer in a bar, they like each other, they marry, her career goes up, his carrer goes down, and even though towards the end we catch a glimpse of balancing the odds, all goes away melodramatically with a garage, a beam, a belt, and a song for the one who passed away. Sorry for the "spoiler", but the movie is so one-sided that it gets annoying. And I don't want to start debating now what I mean by "one-sided".

The only part that was sort of good, for a musical, is that it's not extremely boring. The songs are ok-ish, but again reminded me that I can't really like a movie in this genre - it's a matter of taste. I can watch a concert, I can listen to a soundtrack - but I don't really need a shallow script to wrap it up. About the romance, I can't even say that this was depressing as usual... You want a romance, re-watch "Jerry Maguire", we have there too a guy with a career going down... or "Stardust", might be a bit cheesy, but it's not cliche + we really have a star ;). This one was just... bland.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 (barely...)

First Man (2018)

I never believed the conspiracy theories on fake Moon landing, but after "First Man" I'm almost starting to have doubts on that :) I'm mean, I know...

I'm not really into biopics, the one here being dedicated to Neil Armstrong, but I have to admit it's interesting as a documentary. Although it puts a bit too much weight on problems, and too less on solutions. That's the reason for what I was saying above. Considering the density of mishaps, with or without lucky ending, starting with the first scene, you might almost believe that what you've seen in "The Martian" might have more chances to succeed than the first Moon landing. If we add to that a consistent part of the movie that's centered on the dramas in Armstrong's private life, a lost child, colleagues frequently dying in accidents... Although, somehow, strangely enough this might explain the successful career at NASA = 1) you escape in your work, 2) karma compensates there.

I don't know how was Armstrong as a person, but Ryan Gosling offers a sort of "driver" in space here = maybe a bit too dry/bland. If I should pick somebody for the acting here, it would probably be Claire Foy as the wife. Moving to the technicalities, the camera work varies from excellent framing (pretty much everything that's about flights in outer space) to poorly shot scenes. Maybe it's a matter of taste, but I'll never understand a mix of close-ups and kinetic camera which I think it's excessive in "First Man" (steadicam was invented for a reason... ironically not far from the timeline of the movie). Leaving all these aside, "First Man" is not as boring as some reviews say, but it's neither "A Beautiful Mind", meaning that you shouldn't expect something very engaging. It's ok, the message of make the impossible possible is there but it's quiet, so I'd say the movie has actually some calming potential if your days are too stressful...

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The One I Love (2014)

Usually romance movies are full of cliche, pretty boring, and besides that as time goes by I'm getting more and more depressed when watching something like this = generally, I avoid it. But sometimes I feel the need for one... although "The One I Love" is quite outside of the classic pattern. Actually, it's more close to a soft "Triangle" what we have here :) as a follow-up on the previous entry, bringing up again the idea of meeting your copy in a more "peaceful" manner, without an axe and without any clear reference to time travel. In brief: less explanation, more speculation. But it works ;)

Ethan and Sophie are a couple whose marriage doesn't work anymore, and they decide to get some counseling on that. Let's call them pair 1. The recommended therapy: a weekend in some vacation house, somewhere in a green area, with an orange garden... but quite secluded. The catch: the vacation house has some special annex... a guest house. Where Ethan meets another, but the same Sophie, and Sophie meets another, but the same Ethan: pair 2. We also have a sort of "meeting protocol" = the rules of the game = Ethan and Sophie in pair 2 take turns with their presence, depending on the other person in pair 1 who steps in; the doors block when somebody in pair 1 enters the house - so you're not allowed to meet your own copy; pair 2 apparently is not permitted to leave the premises. After a romantic night and morning with "the other one" not realizing yet what happens, when they finally do, the first reaction of pair 1: obviously, jump in the car & run away! But they don't get far... because, the meeting worked, "re-discovering" the other one worked, and curiosity for what follows is too big. Decision: turn around, and let's see how this works out...

The bad part of "The One I Love" is that the twist or twists, how many they'd be intended there towards the end of the movie, are predictable. I didn't have any surprise, not even in the last scene of the movie, but I won't say more. Leaving that aside, the idea is original, despite the logic gaps that are even deeper than in "Triangle" (since I was mentioning this) - but if you have enough time to meditate on it you probably can find some explanations (parallel universe theory or whatever else). Overall, what I watched, looked pretty much alike a "Black Mirror" episode, a decent one ;)...

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Triangle (2009)

The perfect loop. Well, maybe it's not really perfect, but if there would be a movie not leaving any question mark when it comes to alternate realities/time travel, it would probably be too much for this medium :)... To be fair, if for "Looper" I had around half an hour in a late evening train after to put together all the small details and answering how can all fit together to try convincing myself that "man, that might actually work...", since then I've grown older and I don't think I'm still patient enough to do that :). The irony is that "Triangle" was released earlier than "Looper", and here we are again - no pun intended ;) ... after all there were also others in the same niche ("Predestination", "Coherence").

After this intro, which probably doesn't say anything (besides that I'm probably obsessed with time travel), I should probably start talking about the movie, right? "Triangle" begins like that kind of horror where you're tempted on betting who dies first. We have three couples (well, more or less), which in a sunny day decide to sail on a yacht bearing the same name as the movie. The sun doesn't stay up for too long, we're getting a quick storm (good opportunity to win the bet we've been talking about), and we're left with 5 people stranded on the capsized yacht. Lucky them, it doesn't take long and a large cruise ship shows up at the horizon. Surprise, surprise, there doesn't seem to be anybody on board. Where the key phrase is... "doesn't seem". Second surprise - spoiler, but I can't write this entry without it - is that we find out that one of the five who just got on the cruise vessel was already aboard. And now we have two questions: 1. What the...? 2. Why only one?

Let's start with the simple one, question 2 is answered somehow by the "horror" trait that the movie seems to advertise in the first half an hour. Which proves to be a pretty false impression in the end. Maybe with an exception - if in "Shining" a huge empty hotel looked scary to you, just wait and see how an empty cruise vessel feels. But there won't be any ghost or any kind of spirit with distorted face, to just come up from behind the corner. What's happening on the deserted ship goes so much towards psychological thriller that I wouldn't really categorize it as horror at all....

Question 1 has an answer that in brief could be summarized to a repetitive temporal loop. In detail, there's much more to uncover, and maybe even more left to be explained. Maybe it doesn't look too different from other approaches on the subject, as the ones mentioned above, or the classic: "Groundhog Day". But... what if the loop doesn't close before it begins again? Well, here comes the triangle part. Or why the movie has the name of a boat that has something like 10 minutes of screen time. Meeting you from the past I think we've seen before, but getting also to meet a third copy it's a bit more rare. Now, comes the question, why only a triangle, and not going like this infinitely? Well... because as I said in the beginning: it's a perfect loop ;) How is that closed? Well, that's to be seen in the movie.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Cosmopolis (2012)

A bad week can only end with a bad movie... I had some second thoughts before watching "Cosmopolis" - that's why it was for so long on my "to watch" list, but considering that David Cronenberg is different, I said to give it a chance. Not deserved. A CEO gets into his limo and wants to reach the other side of town for a haircut. All the movie is a salad of monologues within dialogue, mostly taking place in the car, which want to have some hidden meaning, but either don't or everything's so cryptic that's pointless. Top that with bad acting, bad camera, bad directing, the only part that has a better contrast with the rest being the sound. It doesn't worth writing more about this, not even to spend my time looking for a trailer. If you like Cronenberg, go back to "eXistenZ". Avoid this...

Rating: 1 out of 5

A Simple Favor (2018)

"Loneliness probably kills more people than cancer" says a line from a "A Simple Favor". Probably the only trying to sound like "this was deep..." if you look at it after the movie and think how far it goes on what you just seen, and that's why it probably sticks to you. Besides that, this was fun!

Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) is a single mom living in the New York suburbs out of the life insurance of her late husband, dead in a car crash, and who spends her days with a cooking vlog and many parenting activities. Emily (Blake Lively) is the wife of a former success writer, lacking now any new novel ideas, which lets her as main provider for the family working as the PR head for an important fashion house. Therefore, her preference for drowning her daily existence in a Martini glass instead spending more time with her child, for whom she's unsuccessfully looking for a nanny. Lucky her... both kids go to the same school, and in a rainy day, Emily meets Stephanie. Starting with an invitation for a drink and some chit-chat, despite the apparently major difference between the two, we're getting to more often encounters + sharing secrets + Stephanie's offer to take care once in a while of her new best friend's kid. That's the "simple favor" = Emily must leave to Miami for a few days, her husband is in England to his sick mom, so help is needed. All nice and well... until when Emily does not respond anymore, and Stephanie's temporary nanny job seems to take a more permanent turn. The urgency brings the husband back home... police, searching, mystery.

Spoiler alert: Let me move a bit beyond the trailer this time and just say that the disappearance has an expected finale. We have a body. Emily is found dead, drowned this time in a lake, no Martini, but with some injected heroin. The mystery stays alive though. The apparent cause of death is an accident or a suicide. So apparent that we're not even said clearly which of those is considered, and it's obvious that we have more. Or to put it straight, who did it? :) And now the story starts ;) ...

There's some stuff on the plus side that I can't let unchecked. 1. The script and the story - maybe's the reason that we have a novel behind the movie, maybe not, but this was, by far, the best I've seen of this year (not that I've seen many). Let's say that a solid chunk of the mystery is solved somewhere at two thirds of the movie, giving you the feeling that... damn, that's it.... what's left to see? Well, there's more. Maybe not with such a strong twist, but trust me, there's still some story left to tell. 2. The soundtrack - exceptional; same style as Tarantino, Guy Ritchie or the last John Wick of combining the "dedicated score" with songs. As in the trailer we have a selection of French tunes, older or newer, which match perfectly the tone of the movie (I don't know if that connects somehow to "do you want to Diabolique me?" :) another line in the movie said by Stephanie to the just widowed husband, referencing directly the French film). 3. The acting - I must admit a reason that brought me to the cinema being the presence in the cast of both Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively. Objectively speaking, if the first maybe overacted just a bit, I think Blake Lively has here her best role of what I've seen by now ("The Age of Adaline" not included). Maybe the character also helps a bit, being more... complex, let's say, than how it seems initially.

I've read somewhere that "A Simple Favor" can be seen as a more light-hearted version of "Gone Girl", or something like that. It's a pretty good description, although besides the mysterious disappearance + some other common elements about the respective character (no more spoilers), the story evolves quite differently. The cat and mouse game there is a bit different here - first we start with three participants: the wife, the friend/nanny/whatever... and the husband. Second, we have indeed a comic nuance, which often moves towards sarcasm, and which has an excellent effect of keeping the general feeling more towards a relaxed zone a la "Midsomer Murders" meets "Wild Things", compared to Fincher's specific tension from "Gone Girl" where I still remember a shock build-up sequence. You also get here a "stronger" scene at some point but it's not even close to as disturbing the other was. So, overall, again, it was fun! :) + you might learn how to make a real Martini ;)

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Killjoys

No time for new movies this week... So I decided for a quick review of a series which afaik reached season 4, me stopping at 3 for now. Probably the best description that I can give starts from my answer on "why did I start watching Killjoys?" ...

I wanted a light SciFi, but with a decent story depth - let's say somewhere nearby SG Atlantis. The epic story (because that's where we're finally getting) starts with a trio of bounty hunters, in a galaxy far far away, employed by a sort of entity dealing mainly with catching wanted fugitives (dead or alive) - the RAC = Reclamation Apprehension Coalition. Two brothers and a girl, Dutch, the team leader. In the first episodes we have a couple of separate missions - "stand-alone" stories. But it doesn't take much and we're getting to a full-fledged conspiracy threatening "the Quad" = the planet with three inhabitable moons (well, more like two of them), or to be precise the population inhabiting these. Without many spoilers, we have an alien race, a green one :), which seems to have as final purpose the universe domination. The details are much more complex, and this makes quite a story ;)

In the first episodes "Killjoys" seems a bit low-budget and the acting has some room for improvement. What you can't deny is the story depth. I'd risk saying it's the most dense in any SciFi series that I've seen before. So dense that you get a repetitive feeling that the episode reached a conclusion and ends at 30-35 minutes of its length (although felt longer) - but surprise, you still have 5-10 more adding something usually new. I think the first three seasons could have been easily doubled adding some lengths to each episode - and honestly is admirable that the producers didn't do it. Some other particularity about the story are the strong connections between the narration segments. In other series from some point onward the writers invent plenty of stuff that doesn't have much in common with what happened before, just to have a new base to keep it going. I could not believe when I discovered at the end of the third season new connections with the first episodes (e.g., why a strange cult of monks have as basic ritual safe-inflicting scars - you have no chance imagining in episode 2-3 how valid/logic is the explanation you'll get only in the 3rd season).

Let's be objective though, and see the bad side too. First, I've heard the forth season is not as good, can't tell yet... Second, we have a soap-opera piece too with tangled family relationships and related surprises (but how many series don't). There are also some attempts a la Game of Thrones of killing some characters who you wouldn't expect departing the cast, but even if they do, their disappearance is maybe not as shocking as wanted, especially when some find their way back :). Finally, I have to admit that a reason that made me continue with "Killjoys" after episode 1-2 was that I felt a certain resemblance to "Farscape", or more exactly between Aeryn Sun there and Dutch here + I liked the leading actress. Unfortunately, Hannah John-Kamen isn't really Claudia Black, and as some other part of the cast too, there are moments when she's not credible enough for her part. In any case, you still have the story ;) ...

Rating: 4 out of 5 (up to the 3rd season)

A Quiet Place (2018)

It's been a while since I've seen a horror with a relatively original subject. Well, considering that I've grown older and I don't have the same preference for scary movies as 10 years ago, that might explain it. In any case, "A Quiet Place" manages to bring something new, although in essence is not more than another monster horror. We have a context set after the invasion of some ugly creatures, with no sight, but with a damn good hearing, and more important with plenty of teeth and appetite for humans. So, to live, you should keep quiet. In this context we have a family of 4, former and soon to be again 5, who try to survive somewhere in the States, where nobody seems to be left living. It's a situation movie, in which we wait to see from one scene to the other, who and how escapes, so it doesn't make sense to spoil more. Although the idea is cool and unexplored as far as I know, probably that's why I can't help noticing that's a bit far fetched in some places. The rest, acting ok, editing ok, sound ok. The story could've been worked out a bit better, but well... they probably wanted (plenty of) room for a sequel ;)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Coriolanus (2011)

"To be or not..." ...nope, wrong story. Since I'm not seeing a live play very often, I told myself to upgrade a bit my knowledge in the dramatic area and I tried watching "Coriolanus", a modern adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy. I tried = I did it on the 2nd attempt, the first one failed by sleeping...

We're talking about a classic play, therefore we shouldn't be afraid of spoilers. In the context of the Roman-Volsci conflict (where Volsci was a tribe located close to Rome), the Roman general Caius Martius returns home after conquering the city of Corioli. Welcomed with honors and the title of Coriolanus following the victory, the general decides to run for the consul position. The political intrigue, however, present there as always in history, changes dramatically the public opinion about the man, or otherwise said we have here the definition of "from hero to zero". And like that from being favorite for ruling, Coriolanus ends up exiled. And the best option for a frustrated military with a long career behind is turning towards the closest enemy. And like that, serving the Volsci now, he starts the siege on Rome. And Rome, losing its main defender now turned attacker, asks for forgiveness and peace using Coriolanus' mother and wife. He can't say no to them, which is not very convenient for the Volsci leader. End of Coriolanus, end of story.

Leaving aside that Shakespeare in original is meant to be played on stage, not on a movie set (where it's impossible to avoid the effect of the typical dialogue that creates on screen some unbearable lengths that are not present on the stage), the major problem of this movie is the modern approach. So, what's the modern part... all above is set in the present day, somewhere in the Balkans probably, shot with a visibly low budget (maybe a reason for the chosen location), but it's keeping all of the original context: the geography, the names, the lines. I've seen adaptations of other plays, but I doubt I was ever so annoyed by the ridiculous association between the Shakespearean dialogues or monologues and the context they're set in. The cherry on top, the Volsci leader, Tullus Aufidius, is a Gerard Butler using his natural Scottish accent and is carrying an AK being dressed a Cuban revolutionary uniform (or a Bosnian considering the probable location). And that's just one example. As good as the actors might be, sorry, but it doesn't work...

Rating: 2 out of 5

Side Effects (2013)

Is it the pill, or it's not the pill? That's the essential question in "Side Effects". And which sticks up to the end. It's been a while since I've watched a movie that gives you that feeling of "I know who did it!" and change it after. And I think it does it more than once.

The setup goes like this. Emily is a depressive woman, whose husband is jailed for something like evading taxes (you're not told that, but it's probably something like that) being released after four years. Unfortunately from the status of former prosperous businessman, the guy now lives out his wife's salary who meanwhile wishing or not, had to find a job. Unfortunately neither his release, nor his efforts to get back his life seem to comfort the woman, who reaches out for a psychiatrist. The doctor switches her between several prescriptions, until we're getting to one with side effects. Bad, terrible, side effects... Since, up to this point you have to get through what I could name the boring area, with an extra touch for some moment trademarked Soderbergh (the director) that seem way longer than it's needed although you can't tell clearly what's the extra part, I will give a light spoiler: somebody dies (which makes you think if there aren't too many faces on the poster...). After that... is it the pill? :)

Risking another spoiler, between the lines, looking at the ending, I can say that the movie is quite disturbing. I mean, I would've taken the first "I know who did it!" and left it there. Although the action is quite different it reminded me somehow of "Gone Girl". Even though there you know quite well who's guilty. Here, as I said, you're induced of believing something, after which something else, and so on, and the development is subtle enough to not let you know until close to the finish if you're taking the right side.

Rating: 4 out of 5 (objectively, subjectively we stick to the standard 3.5 :) )

Bad Genius (2017)

I think it was written somewhere that "Bad Genius" is based on real facts. I don't know in what extent, but I suppose not too much. Otherwise we could also add SciFi to the genre. The movie is somewhere in the teen drama area, but considering at what level it brings an apparently mundane topic = exam cheating, it's at least worthy of comparing with Mission Impossible (since we anyway had that on the list recently).

We have two very bright students (a girl and a boy), but with a poor social status, who are granted a scholarship in a top high school in Thailand. Long story short: the kids coming from rich families see a good opportunity to pay a fee to raise their grades. And from this a series of very complex cheating strategies starts getting devised, culminating with an international test required in the admission process to U.S. colleges, where it gets to "time zone difference exploits". I won't spoil now the charm of the movie with too many details. It's enough to say that this is the "SciFi" part (note the quotes).

We also have consistent drama involved here, which is maybe less visible in the trailer. From the motivation for the "evil master plan", up to the relation between the two main characters and a radical change from cheater to non-cheater and vice versa of both of them. I won't give spoilers of who does what, but at some point we have a very nicely composed scene, somewhere on a highway bridge... pay attention to the traffic signs - if that's not intended than even more the outcome is excellent. Considering the action, even if the first 15 minutes seem to announce something slow and with a serious boringness potential, the movie gets pretty alert afterwards. There are moments when the action slows down or which don't make much sense (how can you know in Thailand what kind of toilet sinks are in a test center in Sydney, or how come a guy looking like a Russian mobster - accent included - ended up as part of the surveillance personnel there). All things apart, overall is catchy enough and I'd even say that given the subject, there wasn't much more to get out of this.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (I know... it gets a bit boring, but since I don't have time to find something better.. or worst... what can I do?)

Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018)

I wrote before that I prefer the "MI" series to "Bond", one of the main reasons being that it doesn't take itself so serious as it happens in the 007 universe = typically you have a decent story, an ok action, and a comic relief factor that's there when's needed. It doesn't try to pass as a pretentious drama. It just comfortably sits in the action movies list and it does it really well. Or well... since the subject now is "MI6: Fallout" (no pun intended), it used to do it well...

Unfortunately the last part of the serious does exactly what I was criticizing above. It tries to be more "Bond" than before. First of all, it looks to me as the MI which si by far the most centered on the main character = Ethan Hunt, considering that other defining part of the series was "the team" and not just Tom Cruise as a super-spy. Don't get me wrong, we still have "the team", but much more of team leader on the screen. Besides that we have a story that being slightly complicated wants to pose as intelligent but it doesn't work. Because all the twists (not so many) are at least predictable, if not really under your own eyes. It's very annoying that the first consistent part of the movie where it's clear that a character in the good guys team is actually playing for the other side but nobody sees it, and even more he's obviously the guy searched by everybody but who nobody knows who really is. Maybe I should've written spoilers before saying that, but honestly... I really don't know who's not gonna get it...

Something good - the action scenes are indeed impressive, and it's pretty hard to achieve that anymore. It reminded be a bit of "Cliffhanger" (helicopters in the mountains). Simon Pegg is still in the team - so the comic relief is still there and works very well. The story itself is not so bad, but also not at the level where the previous two got. Tom Cruise runs marathons with a speed that would make Usain Bolt think if it wouldn't have worked doing that instead sprints... well, I'm not sure if this is something good. Anyway, enjoyable, but unfortunately way too predictable, which gets it way far from the critics' praise of "best action movie of the year". We still have some left of 2018, so I can hope to something with a more clever story...

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Adrift (2018)

"Adrift" is a yet another lost in the ocean movie. But it's neither "Life of Pi", nor "All Is Lost"... it's probably somewhere in between, as story, philosophy, feeling, etc. As a movie, well... probably quite far from the first, and probably also below the second. Still, not something to ignore completely...

We have a story (based on a real case) that starts somewhere in the Pacific, after a class 5 hurricane that almost breaks apart a medium sized yacht. Almost... = the boat is left without masts, with lots of water aboard, with even more (food, equipment, etc) lost overboard, with some cracks, but still floating. Out of the pair who was aboard, Richard and Tami, only she seems initially to have survived. However, after exploring the surroundings she finds her fiance more dead than alive, with an open broken leg and some shattered ribs, floating closely hanging on the lifeboat. From this point, the narration splits in two, with flashbacks since the two have met up to the moment of the hurricane, and from the moment of the hurricane onward. It's almost like having two movies interwoven into one: a romance that gets a bit corny sometimes, and a survival movie.

It's quite tough to get enough material for an entire movie out of such subject. What's there to fill 90 minutes (or more)? Here, the background story does the job. Besides the fact that helps defining the characters, however, this piece is nothing more than a pretty bland love story: girl meets guy, they fall in love, they go sailing. Maybe I'm a bit subjective, but the interesting part is by far the other "film". Not that we have something extraordinary original here, but at least it tries... Now well, we have a real case on which is based, but the movie moves a bit forward. There's an attempt for a mega-twist at some point, which you don't really see coming, and to be honest is a bit too forced. Nevertheless, the idea can be appreciated. Since I started with "Life of Pi", was the tiger real? :) No more spoilers...

Rating: 3 out of 5

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

"Hunt for the Wilderpeople" is an NZ production. Not a random choice. The subject in brief: an orphan child (and with a background of a bunch of minor felonies) is given to a new foster family - auntie Bella & uncle Hec, somewhere in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand. So nowhere that the attempt to run away from home is not feasible anymore. And like that, slowly, the boy starts attaching to his new family, especially to his adoptive aunt. The uncle, not the most friendly guy, remains a bit more reluctant to accepting the new family member, but overall things go well. Up to some day when auntie Bella drops dead. Consequently the child care services decide that the boy has to be moved to another family. Which is not really on his liking, resulting in a new attempt of running away "into the wild" (not before trying to fake his own suicide and burning the barn in the process). The boy is followed by uncle Hec, who, however, manages to injure his own foot before bringing the kid home => long camping in the woods. And like that we're getting to a situation where the two are added to a list of "wanted fugitives", apparently sufficient to convince them both that it's probably better to stick to the forest for a while.

If you ever felt "a need to escape" from your everyday life/work/whatever, but not as some vacation, the acute state when you feel you cannot go forward, then that's probably not the good movie for you. Because it might depress you further. On the other hand, it is the movie for you. Because it will show you that it can be done, at least temporarily. And during that time you might find a way for a better return. That's the optimistic view - the realistic view is that "might find a way" is not "will find a way" and besides turning the back to everybody, you might need also to break a leg sometimes... Too much philosophy. It's a fun movie. And as I said it's not a random choice = you can feel the chill, laid back attitude that's present in NZ, which makes the "escape" idea even more real and the movie more enjoyable ;)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Lately I pretty much skipped Marvel movies. Too many and not much of a new subject + I also didn't have much time and wasn't really in the mood to go to cinema. That's why I have to admit that I was at least partially subjective when I chose "Ant-Man and the Wasp" = I like both Evangeline Lilly & Hannah John-Kamen ... which did matter enough apparently to convince me.

I don't remember much of the first "Ant-Man", besides being rather shallow. The one we have here continues that, adding a bunch of references also to the intermediary piece in the last Avengers that I didn't see. But in which all the people involved in developing/using the ant costume got on the "wanted" list of the police. Getting over that, in brief, the idea here would be to reach somehow in the sub-quantic universe to the missing wife of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas = the brain behind the suit), who apparently somehow survived for 30 years there, after which she finally managed sending messages to our world. And like that, we're getting to the part where we need "a missing piece" to help completing the mechanism for getting to the other dimension. Which "missing piece" (+ extra) is also wanted by a black market dealer. Pretty much after the same thing is also "the villain" - Ghost - a girl trapped in an explosion long ago, who was left since then in a continuous phasing besides the "invisible women" power, which allows her to pass through objects... only problem: not really good for health.

Leaving subjectivity regarding the female cast aside, what I've watched here was really an enjoyable experience compared to other Marvel movies. We don't really have a masterpiece, but it's clearly better than the first "Ant-Man". The movie feels somewhere between "Thor Ragnarok" and "Guardians of the Galaxy" = light and without attempting to be too serious. I actually believe it's the perfect example for the theory saying that the necessary ingredient for a super-hero movie is to lack the super-hero :) ... ( what we have here in the end is more like a super-suit, lots of tech and a bunch of people trying to make stuff work :) ).

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)

Short one: "Sicario 2" doesn't have much left of "Sicario 1". It shows that Denis Villeneuve is not directing anymore, so pretty much all specific camera work, sound and generally speaking the feeling in the first part is gone. What's not gone is the maybe too convoluted subject, especially in the first part of the movie. You don't really get what's going on, except that the CIA/army/whatever wants to create a conflict between the rival drug cartels in Mexico, and to do that the daughter of a clan boss is kidnapped. The assassin in the first movie returning to complete his revenge (which I thought it was complete...), trying to bring back the girl but being stopped by the Mexican police who you don't really know for who's working anymore, the US state department wishing two people taken out when everybody's anyway on their tail and they probably also don't know what's really going on to tell further, there's just too much to understand especially if you're very tired when you watch this. To be fair, maybe on a second view with enough hours slept ahead I'd see this in a better light. In any case, the movie saves itself with one of the most "what the ..." moments I've seen lately, which is really hard to believe (especially if you've seen the first "Sicario" and you're convinced who's the main character in all this, even though might not be that clear). I won't give more spoilers, but the impact was enough to change significantly my impression on this. What's happening towards the end it's probably even less believable, but in a strange way cuts off the previous shock. So in the end it works ;) even though it's a bit unfinished...

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Storks (2016)

Flight movie... no pun intended... "Storks" is what I managed to watch that's more notable, during 2x23 hours of flight travel last week, after looking through the on-board media system for something to put me to sleep. This one didn't succeed. Surprisingly, it's a pretty funny animation despite a subject that didn't look that promising: storks restart delivering babies. That's after moving to standard parcel post services due to logistic economics. Well, actually this subject comes more as a conclusion of the story, which follows the delivery of a baby order received after a long time since the last transport of such kind. The mission is accomplished by a stork that's looking to become the boss stork, and tries hard to keep all the "not so legit" operation under the hood to keep its promotion chances. The bird is helped by Tulip Orphan, a girl left in storks care after a failed delivery 18 years behind. Moving back to the current delivery, obviously this doesn't go easy bringing with it a bunch of lighthearted humor that reminded me of early Dreamworks. Probably the closest example would be "Madagascar". Most of this feeling is brought through lots & tiny bits & pieces: diverse side characters + situations glued on the main story, so I can't give too much without spoilers = good reason to stop here ;)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Our Kind of Traitor (2016)

The only reason why I'm writing this entry is to say that I got something done today... And if it's coming out decently luck might change (hopefully). It depends now how we define "today", but let's get back to "Our Kind of Traitor" until the dawn catches up.

We're speaking about an adaptation from an author who was pretty successful in the last decades - John Le Carre, although the genre we're talking about is an old school spy thriller that's not really common since the '80s passed. A literature professor traveling to Morocco in a romantic holiday with his wife, hoping to warm up a cold relation, is approached by a sort of accountant of the Russian mafia. Who decided to switch sides and come clean after the premature death of a "colleague". And like that, from a literature teacher, our guy finds himself in the position of an MI6 informer, getting involved in a pretty unlikely story, where he's decided to help his new friend.

The movie is helped a lot by the presence of four actors: Stellan Skarsgard, Damian Lewis, Naomie Harris and Ewan McGregor. In that order, not the one on the poster, although all of them play an excellent part. Otherwise, there's not much to see here. A relatively simple story, which as I was saying is not that credible either. All in all, there's a sort of romantic side in all this that I didn't really feel in this genre since "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" (same author, 53 years ago). Considering that after all this time it's still working...

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Annihilation (2018)

For enhanced effect I "recommend" watching "Annihilation" in the same conditions as I did = with a strong cold + the accompanying headache, at a room temperature of over 25 degrees Celsius, at night, and with mosquitoes humming around you (take note of the quotes before trying this). In this context, at some point I was wondering if I also have a fever or the movie is as surreal as it looks like. Fortunately I think it's the second...

"The shimmer" is a sort of mist with a slow but certain expansion rate, which started from a lighthouse on the USA shore and threatens to cover everything sooner or later. To make it more concerning all teams sent in by the US government did not return. With one exception. Sergeant Kane, who appears back home from nowhere after being missing for one full year. It doesn't take long to be taken back by the military along his wife, Lena, a biologist. And since she seems in danger to become a widow (= the sergeant collapses), she joins a group of other 4 volunteers forming the next team to be sent in. From here onwards...

... We have something that struck me as being very similar to Stalker". "The shimmer" is a sort of the "the zone". However, we don't have the cinematography we had in Tarkovski's movie decades ago, and neither the finesse of the enigmatic tension we had there. What we have here is the consistent dose of question marks in the end and probably we also have plenty of symbolism thrown around, but I didn't have the necessary state of mind to notice it + Hollywood's style requires mutant monsters on screen. There's still work to do it seems until the majority of directors/producers from U.S. to get that "what's not seen is more scary than what's seen", of if this is known to figure out how could you get it on screen.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Early Man (2018)

I finally managed to watch a movie released this year. Unfortunately it wasn't the best choice. "Early Man" is the latest animation directed by Nick Park. If that doesn't sound familiar think on Aardman Studios, or "Wallace & Gromit", "Chicken Run" and other. With this list of references, I had my hopes so high that I utterly ignored the ratings thrown to this by critics (especially since lately I'm not really on the same page with that). Well... I can say it's the worst Aardman production that I've seen by now. First of all, all the action revolves around a simple soccer game, between the stone age team and the bronze age team - an event that's much more present in the story than the trailer shows (there's basically nothing else there). And we don't have more than the classic tale of the outsiders winning, filled with a bunch of bland jokes. For who's familiar with the previous Aardman titles, don't get fooled as I did. It might be acceptable if you don't know about the rest, but it's traumatizing if you've seen something else by Nick Park. It keeps a bit of the humor there, but it's a tiny tiny bit. There's not much else to write about this.... Disappointing.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 (just to avoid being mean...)

Summer-Fall 2018 Movie Preview - Part 2

So, given the lack of reviews for this year, I'm continuing with the previews for the next fall. In September we have a reboot for "The Predator". No Schwarzenegger, but Shane Black directing ("Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", "Iron Man 3"), so might not be that bad...

"A Simple Favor" seems to have all the ingredients for an average thriller where you have all chances to guess out of the trailer who's the killer. However, it's actually the trailer which made me add this to the list ( or maybe Anna Kendrick + Blake Lively in the same movie :) )...

Let's admit that Eli Roth ("Cabin Fever", "Hostel", "Knock Knock") doesn't seem like the director that you'll hire for a children's move. Therefore, it might result in something actually good, giving some chance to find something a bit more serious in "The House with a Clock in Its Walls" than in the last decade of fantasy that didn't move out from the typical JK Rowling simplicity (not even with "The Hobbit"...). I'm still waiting for an adaptation of "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman, but it doesn't seem to come soon...

October is poor in released trailers by the current time. The only that seems a bit more interesting is "Venom". Or a marketing move from Marvel & associates, betting on a super-villain movie from time to time (especially after sort of successfully testing the ground with "Deadpool").

Since neither November doesn't have much yet besides some video announcements for Christmas movies, I stopped at just one of these for closing today's entry. Probably the most interesting out of all = I don't remember having any decent adaptation of "The Nutcracker" by now, so maybe we'll see it this year.

Summer-Fall 2018 Movie Preview - Part 1

It's good that we enter June, so I can use my failsafe = going over what's announced for summer-fall 2018, otherwise again I wouldn't have had much of a subject... So, let's see...

Let's start with something more mainstream - there's a new part/episode of "Jurassic Park/World" coming out - "The Fallen Kingdom". Despite the critics, I enjoyed the previous one. The screenwriters are the same, so there's some hope...

Leigh Whannell is probably mostly known for "Saw" and some other horrors. Now we have a SciFi (although it might get to horror in the end...): "Upgrade". The subject - AI controlled implants - is not really 100%, but definitely not the most used one.

"Under the Silver Lake" seems a sort of David Lynch movie in a light/comedy version. Nothing more to say...

In July we're moving back to mainstream with "Ant-Man and the Wasp", the sequel of "Ant-Man" without the Wasp (well, sort of...). Otherwise said: yet another Marvel movie.

The "Skyscraper" trailer reminded me a bit of "Die Hard" - the first. I'm still not getting my hopes so high on something to compare with that.

I always found "Mission Impossible" to be more clever than the "James Bond" secret agent version known by everybody. I hope I won't change my opinion after "Fallout".

In August SciFi rules. Well... SciFi or "SciFi". Guess what kind "The Meg" is?...

"A-X-L" generated a "Chappie" deja vu, although not much on the "vu" part because it was so bashed by critics that I skipped it. Maybe is not the case here.

I left the best to the end. "Kin" seems to me by far the most interesting movie in all this enumeration. Honestly is not the brightest summer in terms of new releases. Either that or I'm way too busy and getting too picky with allocating time for a movie... Let's see next time what the fall brings.

Afro Samurai (2007) and his Resurrection (2009)

As probably noticeable I still lack the time for new material so I decided to stop at something that I don't remember when or if I had on my blog = an anime. The difference to the usual anime range is that "Afro Samurai" is not an exclusive Japanese production, all the acting and most of the sound design being made in Hollywood. Probably that's why 10 years ago this mini-series had quite some success, having Samuel L. Jackson as lead on the poster. All the action is centered around a pretty straight-forward revenge story. The context is where the original part comes from: Somewhere in a dystopian future, there are two samurai head-bands - No. 1 and No. 2. The toughest samurai holds the number 1 + something like a "god status" = untouchable = he cannot be challenged by anybody else except number 2. Number 2, however, can be challenged by anybody who would like to become number 2, meaning that his life is mostly about fight, more fight and even more fight until he manages to get to number 1, if he lasts that long (because obviously neither number 1 nor number 2 are really the persons to find in a phone book). Well... the story starts with losing the No. 1 head-band along his own head by the father of the main character. The little Afro wants revenge, and from here a series of flashbacks tell us where he did grow up, where he learned to wield a katana, how he got the number 2 head-band and how many dead bodies he left behind in the process. All these come packed with lots & lots & lots of blood... (too much actually...). Anyway, as I said, the context plus some very original built characters (I didn't mention much about an imaginary alter-ego of Afro who's as talkative as silent the main character is) made "Afro Samurai" a decent anime, which is at least interesting. About his resurrection...

In a typical Hollywood fashion, considering the success the first part in the series had, two years after another anime was released basically repeating the whole story. Meaning that (spoiler alert) Afro also loses the No. 1 head-band (but keeps his head), that being taken by a person showing up from nowhere. The sister of one of his former victims, comes up with a diabolical revenge plan = cloning Afro senior as a sort of mindless cyborg and placing Afro junior in the place of killing his own father to get the number 1 head-band and to put him finally to rest. The bad part in all this story is that's a sort of reheated soup, which starts to get boring immediately after another series of endless fights starts... Either that, or I got old and I don't have the patience I had a while ago (I've watched this relatively recent). Therefore...

Rating: AS - 3 out of 5 ; ASR - 2 out of 5

Butter (2011)

My second try to find a decently good comedy worked better than my first, but still partially confirms me why I normally avoid the genre... We're moving from the shady world of trailers voice-over jobs in the shady world of... butter carving. Well, yes, apparently I managed to find a movie with an even more exotic subject than the previous. Still, "Butter" doesn't escape completely of cliches, although surprisingly we don't really have the "classic" light romance here. A little black girl, moved from a foster home to another discovers a talent - butter carving, despite being told by all her tutors that she's not really good at anything. Fortunately, the last couple assigned to take care of her doesn't share the same opinion and decided to encourage the child up to supporting her enrollment in the regional competition (apparently there is a thing like this in Iowa, USA). The problem is, well... it's a shady world :) = undisputed champion, for 15 years = the same amount of titles is Mr. Pickler. Who decides though to step back and leave some room for somebody else. That's not really on Ms. Pickler liking, who doesn't accept the idea of having another name written on the trophy. So... the butter war starts. And with that also a satire of the nationalism/conservative excessiveness & the typical associated US redneckish stuff. Overall, an enjoyable movie, but really light (not that I would expect too much food for thought from a comedy, but anyway...)

Rating: 3 out of 5