I decided to take a free afternoon during my vacation. And I sort of regret the decision, with all the deadlines piling up... + other issues. I wonder if it's normal to not have "vacations" without deadlines?... I guess the last one where this didn't apply, more or less, was in 2014. Anyway, moving back - I did regret also because I lost around 2.5 hours of that afternoon with the latest Tarantino movie - "Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood". Don't get me wrong. Let's not get hasty here. Maybe the movie is not bad, but it can be hard for you to decide on that.
The film follows about half a year of Rick Dalton's life, an actor going through a career downfall at the end of the '60s in Hollywood, partnered by his stunt double, Cliff Booth. Both fictive characters, who are placed in a context with plenty of side stories, enough of them to not really know if there's a main one. But... :) long story short - to get something from this movie you need at least one thing: to have a vague idea about the Manson family and the tragic ending of Sharon Tate in 1969. Wikipedia offers enough info, which is far from being a pleasant reading... but unfortunately without knowing any of this the final credits might stun you with some sort of a "what did I just watch here?..." reaction. Even with having this background, there are many parts that you might probably won't get over the course of the 2 hours plus. Probably a solid culture in respect to the '50s-'70s cinema can help. I got a couple references, but unfortunately I can't brag with a "solid culture", so there are most probably plenty references I missed.
You shouldn't expect something Tarantino specific. Soft spoiler: the movie is much more, let's say... "comforting" compared to the reality, and probably that's what you can appreciate here. Or at least that was desired and it works. As a proof, I guess it's the most non-violent movie of all he directed. Stuff which adds more to the "once upon a time" = "fairy tales are nicer" = "what if?..." but I said it's just a soft spoiler ;) Bottom line: if you want something action packed this is not a good option - it has a very slow pace. But for a couple hours to break out from the daily stress it might work - although it happens often to not know why it takes some course and this might bore you, which can make your brain move back to the daily stress ;)...
I started watching TWD last November after I broke an ankle and I didn't have anything to fill the nights when I couldn't really sleep. It's not the best choice :)... Leaving aside the obvious aspect of bloody horror movie (where the obvious part is deceiving, but we'll come to that), we have enough characters who struggle to survive without an arm, leg, or something else. So, it's not very cheering up if you're in crutches, even if it's temporary, but on the other hand you learn you can survive it ;)
I don't write much about TV shows, 1 - because I'm not watching TV shows (there are exceptions, e.g., the current one) and 2 - you never know how bad would be the next season even if the previous was exceptional (e.g., GoT). But again I don't have another better topic, and also recently I got to the ending of TWD's eighth season - out of the nine released & still upcoming. It's complicated to summarize eight seasons in one post, but I'm not really planning to do that. Still, we need a bit of it...
The setting: The classic zombies story - sometime in a near future a virus wakes the dead to life. After coming back "the walkers" (to use the show's terminology) don't have much in common with their ex-self. The new main parameters: an acute need of meat, a great sense of hearing, being vulnerable just by hurting their head/brains and possessing a lethal bite that spreads the virus. Well, there's an additional detail here, essential for the new ecosystem, on how the number of "walkers" tends to overcome the number of people, but being the revelation you get at the end of the first season let's not spoil it. In all this context we have Rick Grimes, a sherrif's deputy in some little town close to Atlanta, who before the epidemics was badly injured in a shooting and brought to a hospital. Where he wakes up from a come after many days, alone in the abandoned building, and starts searching for his wife and kid in the surroundings. That's the beginning...
After 8 seasons I can firmly say that "The Walking Dead" is not a horror. It's just bloody :) In essence, the series follow the path of a survivors community which forms in season 1, in their trials of establishing a settlement and in their interactions with other communities. Actually what we have here is more of a life drama, even getting some slight soap opera touches, where the zombies are just the context, a sort of continuous natural calamity. Predictable, the main problem for the humans is typically brought by other humans. I guess that a synthetic description of TWD would be an ample stufy of the human behavior in a crisis context. Which might work well in a psychology course. Even a philosophy one, we have plenty of that too.
It's hard to compare TWD with something else. Sometimes it's quite grim and hard to watch ( be warned of S7E1 :) ), but also in some parts is very humane. If I would compare it to GoT, which is I think the only other series that I've watched during latest year, there's also the possibility here to set a betting list on what main character will die in the next episode. The main difference comes though on how the dissappearance is handled = if in GoT this is simplified up to the level of a certain "normality" over which we move quite fast, in TWD, besides having something like a full episode dedicated to it, there's also some following impact in the community that's visible in what episodes come after - including flashbacks and other stuff. Again, it's hard to compare, and it might sound like a negative torment - but it's not, it's just different & more humane.
The production has cinema level. Actually, I would say it surpasses many other zombie movies. It's pointless to discuss much on the craft quality on VFX and makeup. I imagine that is hard to have a noticeable soundtrack on long running series, including enough variation. Here the score is signed by Bear McCreary, who I'd say is at least at the same level with Ramin Djawadi and his work in GoT, even though there are some obvious external influences here and there. But probably the part that deserves the most appreciation in TWD is the cast and the actors' versatility, which gets a strong support from the script that brings up an excellent character construction. And it's not about only the main characters who were present since the first seasons. For instance King Ezekiel and Jadis/Anne are some of the most interesting parts in the cast. You can't say it's at least that's not something original to have a former zookeeper, having a tiger as a pet, talking in a Shakespearean English, and getting a "king" position :).
I believe that TWD is among the series that has the most consistent quality over its length - at least until now - for what I watched, although there seems to be plenty of criticism on how bad are the latest seasons starting from the 6th onward. I disagree. The 2nd season seemed a bit too "soap"-ish, and indeed there are some eye-rolling scenes in season 8, but the rest is ok. As a general description, the first seasons are more tense, and the last have a development that's more... gentle let's say = you don't really feel anymore a constant pressure that somebody's going to die in the following episode ( still... be warned of S7E1 :) ). And besides that, in particular the end of season 7 is among the best series closures that I've ever watched. I don't know about season 9 (it's apparently getting more praise than the previous), but I'd say that the ending of the eighth was perfect for a closure. So, I think the only current issue with TWD is that's getting "overused". Anyway, to conclude, if you're able to move over the violent side, you'll be left with plenty of other stuff - including lots of food for thought ;).
I don't do reviews of romantic comedies because I don't really watch romantic comedies = they're either too depressing or too bad (I have a deja vu that I wrote this before...). I keep a list of "to watch" movie since long ago in which I periodically add stuff that seems worth watching but I don't have time for it at the moment. I don't know how "The Five-Year Engagement" got there (except of Emily Blunt being in it I can't explain it), and I don't know what got into me to pick it now... The movie is not bad, and maybe it wouldn't have been too depressing either if it wouldn't have had some weird sync with some family problems. Which gave me some food for thought, and cut ( again :) ... ) my mood for writing... Anyway, since I don't have time to watch anything else this week, let's quickly get into the subject.
Tom and Violet meet at a new year's party somewhere in San Francisco, they like each other, and within one year he offers her the engagement ring. She says yes and they start the wedding plans. Until Violet receives a confirmation for an academic position that she really wants (trying not to get into debates on academia jobs here...), but unfortunately located somewhere far in Michigan. It's temporary though, and both decide to relocate. However, that's enough to postpone the wedding. And, somehow predictable, also a reason that after moving to start having issues in their relationship. From future chef in a fancy restaurant Tom ends up as a fast food cook, and Violet slowly gets to be a bit too liked by her new boss. Obviously everything turns into a happy end, which without extra spoilers since the title says it already, takes five years to happen.
Even though the story is relatively linear and without many twists & turns, the movie is quite funny, and more important not dumb. Not that I'm much of a consumer of romantic comedies, but comparing with whatever else I've seen... Still, from a personal perspective, as I was saying it didn't come at the best moment, but that's subjective ...
Yet again... I didn't get to see much else in the last weeks besides bad HK movies for getting me to sleep and some TWD episodes. Randomly changing TV channels while spending the night in a hotel in Prague (while missing my bad HK movies), I also stumbled on "The Faculty" and watched its last half. Which makes it probably the best option for a short entry....
I'm not sure if "The Faculty" is sufficiently known to be considered a "classic", but it's probably a reference movie for a niche somewhere between teen movies and light horror/comedy, which gained a bit of momentum in the '90s - early 2000, but sort of faded away after. In brief, a high school in a small city somewhere in Ohio is invaded by an alien creature that multiplies itself by corrupting human hosts. A sort of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", which is actually referred in the movie. In its first half (that I didn't see for more than 10 years I guess) we're introduced with something like six students, each with problems of his/her own, and we're getting to see the beginning of the invasion. In the second half the six students group forms a sort of rescue team after discovering that the creature has a fatal allergy to a home made drug, prepared in his garage and distributed by the high school's bad boy, who happens to also be a genius in organic chemistry.
I have to admit that when re-watching it now, the movie seemed to me more cheesy and exaggerated than I was remembering. On the other hand... well, what could you expect from something directed by Robert Rodriguez ("Spy Kids" & "Machete"). All things apart, it keeps a certain charm. Maybe it's the cast - many known names in early roles, maybe I'm nostalgic...
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