Just watched Man of Steel. What was so bad about it that everyone hated it? I guess Superman should be more considerate about all the damage he's doing to his surroundings, but other than that, it's just an average superhero movie, not a bad one at all like people say.
Batman vs. Superman - Extended Director's Cut. About as good, if not slightly better, than Man of Steel. I went into both with low expectations because of what I'd heard about them, so I wasn't disappointed. Wasn't particularly impressed, either, but it's not like DC would make a Guardians or Winter Soldier two films into their universe. I do appreciate that it's a darker, more violent live-action Batman than we're used to. I didn't see the theatrical version, so I can't tell you what it fixed, but it was definitely coherent for me. The only "plot hole" is that I'm not really sure what Lex's motivations were. I kind of hate that in both films Lois always needs saving.
Ghostbusters - 4/10 wow oh wow was I disappointed with this. wowwww wow wow wow. I have higher standards for everyone involved.
Super 8 - 9/10 Absolutely love this film, still holds up after several viewings and that isn't all that common with other films like this.
The Elephant Man is great and really needs no further discussion, but I was surprised that the song most famous from Platoon appeared at the end of the film. Seeing them in reverse order of their release, it adds even more heroism to Merrick's life and ultimate decision to finally express himself in that most famous of speeches.
Yes. Looking at its other credits, it is mostly used nowadays for humor because of how tied to Platoon it is.
Recent watched: The President's Analyst U-571 La Cage Aux Folles Sands of Iwo Jima Star Trek Beyond Christ Stopped at Eboli David Copperfield Alice Adams Hold Back the Dawn 42nd Street
Song of the Sea - 10/10 Absolutely magical, it instantaneously drew me in to its magical and beautiful world. The animation is exquisite, the story is solid (with a combination of sad elements but is ultimately a happy story), a truly gorgeous score, great voice acting, it even manages to squeeze in a couple of laughs and the ending had me in tears which genuinely is a rarity for any film to do that to me. An absolutely massive surprise and I wish I had seen it sooner.
A lot of people are dismissing it as generic light-hearted Woody Allen but there's so much more to it. The melancholy of Stewart and Eisenberg's characters' story is particularly powerful.
Reservoir Dogs was a pretty good time. Pulp Fiction was more Tarantino-y. It's easy to see how this movie has been so iconic. Can't believe it took me this long to get to these. I think I like Pulp Fiction more than Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained as a whole, even though the other two have better individual scenes, if that makes sense. Like, the dinner scenes in each of them are better than any scene in Pulp Fiction, but Pulp Fiction as a whole was more entertaining? I don't know. At any rate, I feel like I need to rewatch Kill Bill since those are the first I've seen of his and it's been a while, and I should probably get to The Hateful Eight at some point.
I finally got around to seeing Hail, Caesar. I remember seeing the trailers and thinking it sounded great, and then never got around to seeing it and was surprised there wasn't more hype during awards season for it. Now I know why -- I didn't really dislike it and there were good parts to it, but I was surprised/disappointed by the lack of character development. It felt like they tried to pack too much into it. 6/10
Cronenberg's Crash is especially extreme, even for Cronenberg's career. There are very obvious points to be made about the relationship between the first-world death drive and the power of sexuality, but scenes such as a man using scar tissue as a substitute for a vagina seems designed more to provoke than enlighten. Combined with the implication that bisexuality/homosexuality is on the spectrum of sexual deviancy and you have a film with a theme and perspective that seems more academic than rooted in any sort of reality. Cronenberg has always been someone who suggested more than was actually there, but here it seems heightened.