What was the last movie you've seen?

[Michi]

Sonic Christmas Blast



Hey, look! Something game-related!

Sadly, it's not very good. Far as I can tell, this is supposed to be the "series" finale of the original Sonic cartoon from the 90s...that had already ended two years prior. But it also has elements from the second, grittier cartoon they also did, but it has the style and tone of the comedic series instead. So it's kind of an odd mishmash of the two shows. Not that that really matters, because it's just a quick tale about how Sonic has to save Santa from Dr. Robotnik and then save Christmas. It also has a lot of biking and hang-gliding, because the special was supposed to be a tie-in to a Saturn game that ended up getting canceled. So they changed the name to a game that didn't get canceled, added a bird, and called it a day instead. Like I said, very odd. It's also very light on content and and story elements, and has some wonky animation, so while it's a quick enough watch, I can really only recommend it to the Sonic die-hards who are in desperate need of something game-related to watch for the holidays.

[Jrecee]

Matrix Resurrections.

I'm still processing. My initial thought is that this is the equivalent of Joe Dante and Gremlins 2. I'm not saying if that's a good or bad thing.

It was bizarre. I think I liked it? I will say though, that if you've heard that the action is sub-par and a step down, that is very accurate. Don't go into this expecting anything even close to genre-defining, it seems the Wachowski(s) exhausted their creative juices on that front many years ago (and that is perfectly fair, they made a massive mark and everyone has been copying them ever since, you can't expect someone to reinvent the wheel twice)

[Raging Justice]

The Killer



I've never seen The Killer. I think the only Woo movie I've seen is Hard Boiled. This is an old classic, so I doubt I have anything to say that you haven't heard before. Watching this I found myself thinking of Cowboy Bebop a lot. The anime, not that shitty new Netflix version that is effectively a parody of cowboy bebop. You can see this movie's influences, and John Woo in general, on the anime. One scene in particular really has strong parallels to a certain Cowboy Bebop episode and frankly, there are thematic elements here too that are reflected in Cowboy Bebop. As a Bebop fan, this just made me smile.

There's lots of frenetic, shoot outs here, compared to something like John Wick or Nobody where things feel a bit more choreographed. The shootouts in this movie just invoked a sense of chaos to me. Like Chow Yun Fat's character realistically could take a bullet at any moment despite how good he is. This movie has plenty of action for action movie junkies. No shortage of bodies, blood, bullets, and...flying doves. There's an ever present sense of danger in this movie, not just for our protagonist (well, there's arguably TWO protagonists in this movie), but for other characters as well. Shoot outs in this movie often have very real consequences for anyone caught in the crossfire. Many action movies really don't make you think about this as the action is usually just between the protagonist and everyone trying to kill him. This movie doesn't have frivolous action, every shoot out feels legitimately dangerous and not always just for Chow Yun Fat's character. There's a lot of moments that do an amazing job of building tension and suspense. One firefight actually made me jump when it happened, even though I knew it was coming. It's the way the movie just makes you...wait for it...wait for it...wait for it. BANG!!! Bullets are flying now!!!

There is more to this movie than action though, even though it delivers there in spades. It tells a good story. I've seen other movies tell similar stories to this movie, but The Killer probably predates many of them. It's your basic character trying to leave a criminal underworld story. Lots of drama here with good performances, which makes the action scenes feel important and meaningful. Some moments can feel a bit melodramatic, but it didn't bother me as I was engrossed in the story. There's a lot of religious imagery too, which reminds me of a bit of Netflix's Daredevil. You can see this is Robert Rodriguez's Desperado too. I like the trope of a main character who seems drawn to religion despite living a life of violence. There's always that sense of wanting redemption. I also like:

Spoilers

the mirroring of the two main characters, like two sides of the same coin. I also like, the rather cold and sudden ending, that just leaves you feeling empty inside LOL. The Killer ends on a rather sad note and is very uncompromising about it. It's a pure tragedy. And I've never seen anyone deserve a bullet more than the asshole who gets shot by the cop right before the end

As mentioned in my last post about Police Story, this is another Hong Kong Rescue release that I watched. I watched the theatrical cut in 4K. It includes an extended cut and an even more extended Taiwanese cut. I'm curious to see what the added footage in these versions is when I get around to watching them.

So yeah, great movie. This is a classic and I can see why. I can tell that many other movies and shows have been inspired by it. Next Woo film I want to see is Bullet in the Head, but there are some other Asian action movies I think I'm going to watch first like Righting Wrongs (1986) and The Seventh Curse. Plus, I might watch some more Jackie Chan films.

[Raging Justice]

Spider-Man Far From Home
Spider-Man No Way Home



So when Homecoming came out, I kind of had mixed feelings on this new version of Spider-Man. I didn't like this new, more kid friendly, version of Spider-Man and didn't like the fact that he was basically Iron Man Jr. With that said, No Way Home has had a LOT of positive buzz from the circles I follow. So given all the hype, I wanted to see it. However, I wanted to watch Far From Home first so I'd be fully prepared.

I thought Far From Home was...okay. It was a decent Spider-Man movie and a decent superhero flick, but nothing special. I really wasn't into MJ at all, which is something I felt about Homecoming as well. Other than that, it was decent. For such an iconic character, after two movies, MJ didn't feel special or likable at all. Peter's obsession with her in this movie just feels weird. Good villain though, and great action. However, this movie, like Homecoming before it, just didn't make me really feel anything.

So then I watched No Way Home and....WOW! This movie is really, really, good. The story is FAR more compelling than the previous two and this movie actually made me feel something unlike the previous two. The MJ/Spider-Man relationship comes across much better here. Doctor Strange's role in this movie is great. He's always a joy to watch in these Marvel movies. There is one action sequence in this movie that is goddamn amazing. Now, there is one huge spoiler about this movie that I think many people knew already as it was kind of leaked. For anyone who somehow doesn't know, I'll spoiler text the rest of this:

So yes, the previous two versions of Spider-Man as well as many of their villains are here. This is a multi-verse story that brings those old movies into the MCU cannon. The way that the story brings in these characters is just damn brilliant. It's fun, nostalgic, and poignant. The way the Spider-Men and the villains play off of each other is awesome and how things ultimately play out for all of these characters is fan-fucking-tastic. This feels as much of a sequel to the previous two iterations of Spider-Man as it does a sequel to Tom Holland's previous two movies.

This is probably the best superhero movie of 2021 and a contender for best overall Spider-Man movie as well. This may even end up being a top 5 or top 10 superhero movie for me once I've had more time to process it (and re-watch it). It's really excellent. There are tons of comic book movies these days, and many of them are skippable, but this one is a must watch, particularly for Spider-Man fans. It gives me some hope for the future of the MCU as much of the content post End Game has been really hit and miss and I've found myself not really caring about the MCU at all anymore. One of the reasons I wanted to see this movie is that I've seen other people who are burnt out on the MCU like myself raving about this movie, and I have to say I was not disappointed.

[Raging Justice]

Police Story 2 - Japanese extended cut



Boy, this thread isn't moving much. This is my third post in a row

A nice, solid, sequel to the first one. I felt like there was a lot more crazy stunts this time around. We also get a bit more focus on the relationship between Ka Kui (Jackie's character) and his girlfriend. I like her. She can be naggy and annoying, but she has moments that are sweet and sincere. She also can be a bit goofy witch plays well off of Jackie's goofiness. They actually revisit a comedy bit involving both of them from the first movie. The comedy works a bit better for me in this movie when compared to the first one as it just felt more consistent, though there's one lame scene involving a fart that isn't that funny. I'm not big on toilet humor.

One thing that is interesting when watching older movies like this is seeing some of the stuff they get away with that maybe wouldn't fly in 2021. Specifically, how casually we see men beating up or hurting women in some scenes. There's one scene where Jackie himself gets pretty rough with a girl, and she is by no means a fighter like himself. She kind of deserves it though and the movie actually gets off a pretty funny gag during this scene, but it still feels like the sort of thing you wouldn't see much of today.

There's a lot of characters in this one, more than the movie needs really and some of the scenes involving the new people seem a little unnecessary. There's a part of the movie involving tailing a suspect that kind of drags on and just seems like a scene to give all of these new people something to do. There's an interrogation scene though with some of the new characters that is pretty awesome.

The fights are great of course, though like the first Police Story, this is not an action fest with fight scene after fight scene. If you want lots of action and little story, you might get annoyed. When it comes time for Jackie to fight though, the movie does not disappoint.

Overall, a good martial arts action movie, though for some reason I didn't find the ending of the story as satisfying as the first movie. I think that may be because I found the main villains to be rather uninteresting. The movie kind of lacks a good, strong, antagonist and every great hero needs a great villain.

P.S. If anyone is wondering I'm watching these movies subtitled. I generally hate English dubs

[PretentiousHipster]

Barely seen any films, but my film of the year is easily Benedetta. From Verhoeven. It's not as good as Showgirls or Starship Troopers, but still a full on masterpiece. Shame about its marketing, as it makes it seem as being a lesbian nun film, but there's so much more to it than that.

Other highlights included Annette, which is an obvious choice for me. Mad God is one of the most disturbing films I've seen, Stop-Motion by a guy who did special effects for every film you've seen. There's also Zeros and Ones. INCREDIBLY low score on imdb with a 3.3, but I think it also comes down to marketing. It is 100% a full on avant-garde film. I don't even know wtf happened plot-wise, but the claustrophobic, digital-based camerawork was just awesome to see.

[Michi]

Write-ups for the last week of the year...


Silent Night



An updated take on the film Silent Night, Deadly Night from the 80s. I hesitate to call it a reboot, because it really has very little to do with the original beyond referencing a few scenes and being about a killer Santa. But whatever you choose to call it, it ends up being a pretty fun, bloody and stylish slasher. I was actually pretty impressed with it. Definitely recommended to genre fans.


The Children



Another "The Kids have gone mad and are out to get us!" outing, this time from our friends across the pond. It's one of the few horror films in recent memory that takes place primarily during the day, so the viewer isn't constantly bogged down in darkness and you can see exactly what's going on. And the children in question are actually given a chance to stand out, as opposed to similar films where they're just tiny killer plot devices. Altogether a well constructed film that will likely disturb (and perhaps annoy) a lot a parents, but it's kept from being truly great by still managing to fall into a couple of familiar horror tropes. It also suffers from an overabundance of annoying adults, but that seems to be an intentional story choice. So basically, a fun film that looks good and is well constructed, but be prepared to want to punch most of the adults in the face well before any of the kids get a crack at them.



Bloody New Year



Happy New Year, ya bastards! This one is about a group of 20-somethings that find themselves on remote island. The island's not deserted, though. Because they stumble upon a hotel. Except the hotel seems to be decked out for Christmas and New Years in the middle of July. Weird. Naturally things go awry right away and they're tormented by a slew of not so friendly ghosts. And a couple zombies. Oh! And a slime monster. And they're not smart enough to know when to flee, so they're pretty much doomed.

This one has a lot of neat ideas, but unfortunately it didn't have the budget to pull most of them off convincingly. So the film throws a lot of cool concepts at you, but most of them look cheap as hell. Bummer. The wooden acting doesn't do the film many favors either. It still ends up being kinda fun though, if you're the type who can appreciate the low-budget-ness of it all.

[Golgo 14]

Barely seen any films, but my film of the year is easily Benedetta. From Verhoeven. It's not as good as Showgirls or Starship Troopers, but still a full on masterpiece. Shame about its marketing, as it makes it seem as being a lesbian ne.

I'm always up for some Verhoeven, but it never made it to an easily accessible theater near me.

These days I mostly go to a theater near me and watch whatever is in their biggest auditorium. No one goes there on the weekdays and it has 750 seats along with a 100 foot ceiling, so I'm not worried about catching anything there. The last couple months I've seen No Time to Die, House of Gucci, and West Side Story along with special showings of Gremlins and Cinema Paradiso. Not all of these were movies I'd seek out, but I'm mostly paying for the pleasure of relaxing in a nice theater for a couple hours. They serve alcohol now which adds to the experience, and I feel good about supporting a local business that is struggling to survive. Get me, I'm a philanthropist!

[REPO Man]

Lucky. Nearest movie theater where I live is an hour's drive away, and even then all they do is whatever's in theaters at the time. No screenings of old films, no retrospectives, no film festivals... they don't even do Rocky Horror!

[Limewater]

Next Woo film I want to see is Bullet in the Head

"A Better Tomorrow" has been on my "Saved" list on Netflix for at least a decade.
I'm pretty sure "Bullet in the Head" was on there for years and years until Netflix removed it because, I guess, they have absolutely no hope or expectation of ever getting another copy.