I've been sick at home and watching a bunch of movies, mostly nothing worth mentioning expect Victor Frankenstein (2015) starring James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe.
This was a terrible movie, really borderline unwatchable. It took me several days of starting and stopping to get through it all the way because it's just so tiresome to watch... But I have to admit it's somewhat fascinating.
You know immediately that things are going very wrong when Daniel Radcliffe is playing Igor, and of course he's playing a Cute Igor that's cured of being a cripple and a hunchback within the first 15 minutes of the movie and is also super kind and nice and kind of a genius and has a lovestory, because it's Daniel Radcliffe and why else would you have him in your movie. It's not like he's a great actor, something that's very apparent watching this.
Clearly The Real Star of the Movie is James McAvoy though, and he is absolutely everloving awful in this in a way that I've rarely seen. He's just so insanely over the top in every scene that you just want to turn the movie off to get away from it, it's genuinely one of the worst examples I've ever seen where a supposed star actor was obviously given free reign to go wild with his role... And now you realize why it's not actually a good idea. It IS in some ways entertaining, but it becomes really tedious and feels very one note very quickly.
The one actually good thing about the movie is Andrew Scott (Moriarty in Sherlock, priest in Fleabag) as an equally obsessive police detective.. He's the only one of the main actors who actually seems to have some eye for things like tension and subtlety, and is genuinely quite good at times.
Of course because this is the James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe show, in this version of the story Victor and Igor suddenly also become action heroes whenever necessary, which is most notably ridiculous in the end where they immediately after creating the monster have a change of heart that makes no sense and really goes against the tone of the movie, but allows McAvoy and Radcliffe to be the heroes who bring down the monster so I guess nothing matters.
Oh and there's a twist reveal that the monster is actually Victor's deceased brother, which adds nothing to the story. Yes I'm totally spoiling it because this is a turd of a movie and you should not watch it
Very strongly not recommended, unless you really, really want to watch James McAvoy ham up a movie for two hours.
There are some decent gothic horror style visuals... but not really anything new or original.
If you still insist on watching it, I strongly recommend preparing yourself with like half a bottle of wine before the movie even starts and then just keep drinking all the way through.
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I've been sick at home and watching a bunch of movies, mostly nothing worth mentioning expect Victor Frankenstein (2015) starring James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe.
This was a terrible movie, really borderline unwatchable. It took me several days of starting and stopping to get through it all the way because it's just so tiresome to watch... But I have to admit it's somewhat fascinating.
You know immediately that things are going very wrong when Daniel Radcliffe is playing Igor, and of course he's playing a Cute Igor that's cured of being a cripple and a hunchback within the first 15 minutes of the movie and is also super kind and nice and kind of a genius and has a lovestory, because it's Daniel Radcliffe and why else would you have him in your movie. It's not like he's a great actor, something that's very apparent watching this.
Clearly The Real Star of the Movie is James McAvoy though, and he is absolutely everloving awful in this in a way that I've rarely seen. He's just so insanely over the top in every scene that you just want to turn the movie off to get away from it, it's genuinely one of the worst examples I've ever seen where a supposed star actor was obviously given free reign to go wild with his role... And now you realize why it's not actually a good idea. It IS in some ways entertaining, but it becomes really tedious and feels very one note very quickly.
The one actually good thing about the movie is Andrew Scott (Moriarty in Sherlock, priest in Fleabag) as an equally obsessive police detective.. He's the only one of the main actors who actually seems to have some eye for things like tension and subtlety, and is genuinely quite good at times.
Of course because this is the James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe show, in this version of the story Victor and Igor suddenly also become action heroes whenever necessary, which is most notably ridiculous in the end where they immediately after creating the monster have a change of heart that makes no sense and really goes against the tone of the movie, but allows McAvoy and Radcliffe to be the heroes who bring down the monster so I guess nothing matters.
Oh and there's a twist reveal that the monster is actually Victor's deceased brother, which adds nothing to the story. Yes I'm totally spoiling it because this is a turd of a movie and you should not watch it
Very strongly not recommended, unless you really, really want to watch James McAvoy ham up a movie for two hours.
There are some decent gothic horror style visuals... but not really anything new or original.
If you still insist on watching it, I strongly recommend preparing yourself with like half a bottle of wine before the movie even starts and then just keep drinking all the way through.
Hey! Copyright infringement!
That was my review of the entire Harry Potter Franchise!
Do you have any idea how much wine it takes to survive the entire Harry Potter franchise?
I might be blind in one eye now! My cat died! I didnt even have a cat when I started! And now I still dont have a cat.
"Its the circle of life."
__________________ The Beatings Shall Continue Until Morale Improves!
This Post Has Been Distilled for the Eradication of Seemingly Incurable Sadness.
If you are flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a Fire Exit. - Mitch Hedberg
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Actually I want to talk a bit about another film (in part because I'm sick at home and have little else to do). I've been watching a lot of "comfort food" type movies, one of which was "Adventures in Babysitting" (1987).
It's the first movie directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone 1&2, Mrs. Doubtfire, Harry Potter's 1&2...). It wasn't a hit or anything, but for some reason it was a movie I saw a ton of times as a kid.
It was surprisingly charming! Not a masterpiece by any stretch, but I enjoyed the whole thing, especially since most of the stuff that was dated was dated in a way that made things more funny. (The gangs in the subway are hilarious for example.) Would easily recommend if you think an old school eighties teen adventure comedy might appeal to you.
A common issue with eighties comedies tends to be that some of the humour is super rapey or just sexist when you look at it today, but as a pleasant surprise there was none of that here. I'm not sure if there was even a suggestion of sexual violence anywhere even though the plot is about a very attractive 17-year old girl lost in the big city. Not sure you'd see that today, and it was actually refreshing for me.
Not to spoil anything, but I was also pleasantly surprised and even quite impressed with how the movie dealt with the starting premise of "the main male protagonist has a huge crush on the main female protagonist, but the girl thinks the boy is just a kid". This movie should totally get some low-key woke recognition.
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Actually I want to talk a bit about another film (in part because I'm sick at home and have little else to do). I've been watching a lot of "comfort food" type movies, one of which was "Adventures in Babysitting" (1987).
It's the first movie directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone 1&2, Mrs. Doubtfire, Harry Potter's 1&2...). It wasn't a hit or anything, but for some reason it was a movie I saw a ton of times as a kid.
It was surprisingly charming! Not a masterpiece by any stretch, but I enjoyed the whole thing, especially since most of the stuff that was dated was dated in a way that made things more funny. (The gangs in the subway are hilarious for example.) Would easily recommend if you think an old school eighties teen adventure comedy might appeal to you.
A common issue with eighties comedies tends to be that some of the humour is super rapey or just sexist when you look at it today, but as a pleasant surprise there was none of that here. I'm not sure if there was even a suggestion of sexual violence anywhere even though the plot is about a very attractive 17-year old girl lost in the big city. Not sure you'd see that today, and it was actually refreshing for me.
Not to spoil anything, but I was also pleasantly surprised and even quite impressed with how the movie dealt with the starting premise of "the main male protagonist has a huge crush on the main female protagonist, but the girl thinks the boy is just a kid". This movie should totally get some low-key woke recognition.
"Nobody leaves this place without singin' the blues."
I've always had a soft spot for that movie. I watched it again recently for the first time in years and I still found it quite enjoyable. So many fun moments between the characters, and the performances are all great. I still love Vincent D'Onofrio's brief cameo as well.
Last edited by direwolf; 07-30-2021 at 11:16 PM.
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I watched the 4K release of Saw and it was better than I remember. Really great horror film that would pair well with Seven for a great double feature.
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In fact some scenes are practically taken straight out of those films, and yet at the end of the day I didn't mind it, because we could really use more summer blockbusters like these. Fun, funny, witty, adventurous, and a good time.
It got suddenly rather convoluted in the back half trying to explain its back story, which it really could've simplified more to not detract from the "ride" of the movie. But the first third of the film in particular was an enjoyable watch.
It's too bad some CGI was good then other bits were jarringly bad. The snakey conquistadors were a little much, visually. Would've just preferred a cool make up job to make them aged looking or something as opposed to what they did.
Didn't think Disney still had it in them to make movies this fun that are largely original, despite being based on a theme park ride. So props to them. They at least smashed my low expectations.
Would love to see future films in a similar vein of pure action/adventure with a simpler storyline (to limit those lengthy departures where it tries to explain itself) and more practical effects. If they can do that, they might find a sweet spot that keeps audiences coming back in droves, like marvel accomplished with their tried and true formula of storytelling and production over 20+ films.
The Green Knight, starring Dev Patel, and based on my favorite Arthurian myth, came out this week.
It’s one of the best films to come out in years.
A few years ago, Guy Ritchie made a movie called King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and it was one of the stupidest, ugliest movies I’d ever seen.
The Green Knight is the opposite of that.
Go see it.
I went in virtually blind to the story and definitely to the source material.
This was largely my reaction throughout:
Read up on some reviews of the film, and specifically of the ending after and really appreciated a lot more about it. It was incredible, and about as weird and mysterious as I expected.
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Still, it was nice to be back in a theater. There were about 12 people total watching the movie.
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
I wanted to see the Green Knight but ended up taking the kids to see Jungle Cruise. It was nothing memorable and just okay. The CGI was horrible for a movie of this budget and Johnson and Blunt carry what's really a mediocre story. If you have young kids they will enjoy it though.
Did you also check out The Chaser? It's one of my favourites.
Not all of these are strict thrillers, but I'd highly recommend them:
A Bittersweet Life,
The Handmaiden,
The Host,
Memories of Murder,
Mother,
the other 2 in the Vengenace trilogy (Lady Vengeance and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance),
The Wailing,
The Yellow Sea.
Parasite is obviously incredible too.
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I've been watching the John Wick films for the first time.
Rather brainless entertainment but the style is great and the cast really elevates it.
Pretty good flicks.
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