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A Real Pain (2024)
This month theme is Jesse Eisenberg proves me wrong. If you asked me two years ago, he was mostly the star of this awful Now You See Me franchise or an abomination of Lex Luthor from Batman v Superman. My heart started accepting him with Zombieland, and now with The Social Network and A Real Pain I'm quite fond of him.
Benji (Kieran Culkin) and Dave (Jesse Eisenberg) Kaplan as two cousins trying to cope with the overwhelming world, which is a perfect base for a road trip movie. The twist is, that neither of them is ready to confront the pain inside, especially in such a short time of one week. We get some outbursts of emotions, but it's difficult to evaluate how real are the matters that have been conveyed. The pain is so complex, hidden and buried that we can't be certain how much is still kept inside.
With this setup we get two (pretty common) approaches to overwhelming pain - anxious, socially restraint, overly polite, lawful Dave and social start, comedian with darkness inside, chaotic Benji. They are both two sides of the same wounded coin, creating a complete experience that can't bring catharsis but creates a space for understanding. You may feel heard. I was.
Surprisingly, this movie is also quite funny. I really enjoyed its humour, especially in the first act.
Side note #1: this film leaves enough room for one quite outstanding interpretation - Dave is delusional and Benji doesn't exist. In this view Benji is a ghost of past travels to Poland, that tries to give a wake-up call to Dave. We don't see him in America beyond the airport, since he is bound to this airport, to offer guidance for the lost souls. The final Dave scene has a little bit of gap between him entering his home and family welcoming him - and for a moment an idea came up to me - what if his family doesn't exist? If any good fanfic writer is reading this I would really enjoy this type of retelling of „A Real Pain”'s story.
Side note #2: I love that the title of this film is „A Real Pain” - this movie shows just some examples of pain and not „the pain”.
Side note #3: This is 100 entry on this movies/TV shows media diary. I known that I'm before 100th movie and I had some plans for it but forgot about it and go with my girlfriend to the cinema. And I'm glad that I did, this is a great movie.
Trap (2024)
My impression of M. Night Shyamalan movies was quite awful thanks to the 3 absolutely awful movies that I have seen from him before - Split, Glass and Avatar: The Last Airbender. This made me reluctant for this premiere and even though I had seen the trailer multiple times before various other screenings I would never believe that this movie would be such a blast!
Watching it in with friends on a remote call was such a fun time - this movie is not only a great watch by yourself but can be really elevated by taking it into more comedic tones. My favorites are the criminal profiler who wants to arrest and interrogate all man at the concert, the random corridors that have dozens of police officers guarding them even though two would be plenty, the awkwardness, obvious ticks and inhuman behaviour from the main character who is supposed to be a great liar. This movie embraces absurd nature of what we see, making this already great premise of serial killer trapped in a concert just perfect.
One of those situations when movie is both good and absurd which makes it a perfect social activity. I'm glad that I skipped it when it was in movie theaters, it should be direct to VOD release.
Porco Rosso (1992)
If Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta (1986) was Indiana Jones of Ghibli, then this movie was the first Iron Man. I love the plane construction sequence, with the diagrams, work progression, all of the good stuff that made me fall in love with Iron Man many years ago. I would love to see a plane factory animated by Ghibli.
Note that a lot of Miyazaki movies made very young woman and girls into potential love interests or objects of man's desire. It really ruins otherwise great movies when relations turn creepy.
The Gentlemen (2019)
I love that Guy Ritchie thought that idea of British lords being a key feature of highly optimized illegal marijuana production was so good that he needs both the movie and the TV series to properly explore that. And to my surprise I agree, with a hope for comic, game and book explorations in the works.
As always, elegance is the definition of sexy and Ritchie knows how to prove it right. Charlie Hunnam as Ray is delightful to watch, with the manners and behaviour of a true gentlemen (with unhinged hidden side which is a staple of Ritchie movies).
My only complaint is the male centric view of the subject; we need another Ocean's 8 but this time done to Ritchie's English lords producing marijuana franchise. TV Series already made the main cast more diverse, we can only hope for more!
Agatha All Along season 1 (2024)
I, like everyone else, have fallen in love with Rio. What surprised me is that I really like Agatha too.
This show is full of other surprises, mostly the lovely queer vibe that gave birth to the best line in all of Marvel: „Hey, you want straight answers, ask a straight lady”. The trails that involve a lot of costume changes, the nonlinear structure of episode 7, Agatha scams and tricks; all of this create a really thrill ride.
Sadly it is a Marvel/Disney production so we have to distract ourselves from the fun with Scarlet Witch son lore, we have to keep queerness mostly in undertones, we can't conclude a story so we have next movies, seasons and series. I would love for this TV show to be standalone and leave all of this franchise building bullshit out.
Fear Street: 1666 (2021)
It's refreshing to see planned out trilogy, that hits the hardest in the first part of finale. The first part is fictionalization of feminist literature, the second part is a just a slasher joyride. The perfect conclusion to such a great trilogy.
Scream 2 (1997)
Scream 2 as a sequel should delivers more from the first movie while elevating it with its metacontextual layer. If movies about movies are great, movies about movies about movies are better!
I'm not kidding, I love the self referential movies and when Scream 2 started discussing it's effect on the audience within itself I was overwhelmed by happiness. This is just a love letter for Scream series and the audience themselves.
Riverdale season 6: Rivervale (2021)
Rivervale is the best thing that could happen in later Riverdale seasons. Writers free from such annoying restraints like expected behaviour from characters, canon or previous world building can open themselves to the full absurd that Riverdale deservers. What they decided to do? To be honest the better question is: what they decided to not do! I want to explore two characters stories through this episodes as an example of how wild the things get.
Cheryl Blossom turns out to be an alias of an immortal witch from 19th century, Abigail Blossom. Abigail was in love with a woman suspiciously similar to the Toni Topaz but their love was brutally stopped by the mage who forced her to marry him and killed Thomasina. With his last breath he cursed Abigail with immortality and loneliness. How Abigail-Cheryl planned to fight the curse? By sacrifice Archie to the goddess of nature and maple trees and by transferring her soul to the dying body of Granny Rose.
Archie Andrews get sacrificed by Cheryl in the first episode. Later he returns in the episode with the reveal of the Rivervale as parallel universe to the Riverdale. And he's aware of the parallel universes, ready to sacrifice all of his friends to join universes and make his dad alive again. In fact he kills most of Rivervale cast off-screen.
Blade (1998)
The Coolest Opening in a Superhero Movie. Ever..
Imagine late night, you are taken to a weird underground club. You first go through the meat freezer but sure, the person that invited you is so hot that you don't really notice. The party starts, the people at the party are mistreating you but sure, you are an outsider, maybe if you stick long enough they will embrace you. Then, you notice a drop of blood on your hand, a drop that quickly changes into a shower. There is too dark to see where you going, you lost any sense of direction. You fall while trying to escape and the last thing that you see is a tall man, smiling with a shotgun in your hand. With what remains of your slowly fading conciousness you notice the shining sword in his other hand that decapitates your date, her head landing before you immediately turning into a dust.
And then the rest of the movie happens. By no means it's something outstanding but for this one scene it earned my respect.
Monster High: Why Do Ghouls Fall in Love? (2012)
The weakest of the Monster High animated movies that I have watched.
Monster High: Scaris, City of Frights (2013)
Characters interested in fashion always resonates with me, so the storyline was quite good for me. The idea of fashion house that literally sustains itself on the designs of unpaid interns is a great introduction to the exploitation of young labour. I love the design of Skelita Calaveras, she's so cute and reminds me of Bloom from Winx Club.
The Purge (2013)
How can you pack such an interesting idea into such a bland movie? This movies really remind me of last season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine - writers are clever enough to notice the injustice but fail to recognize the core of it. You can reproduce United States problems, however with the lack of understanding and lukewarm ideas on improvement you create desire in an audience that you cannot fulfill.
I wish that Purge franchise would be remade one day from someone that can provide at least a little glimpse of hope.
Ready or Not (2019)
The sheer disbelief of how good this movie was is keeping me to this day. The writers seemingly threw everything out of the window to provide a true joyride of slasher that over it's runtime turns from the macabre escape room to revenge fantasy. Characters are perfect, each distinct enough to provide different views and reactions, nominally united in their goal but in reality fractured. The payoffs, the jokes, the absurd sing in the perfect harmony through the whole runtime.
Road House (2024)
Surprisingly competent in the action, annoying in romance, good in story. Which is above your standard action movie!
La La Land (2016)
Perfection.
Crank (2006)
Each time that I rewatch this movie I cannot belive that it exists. Editing that looks like done in Windows Movie Maker. Scenes that look like someone's GTA gameplay capture. Acting that is just a perfect amount of hilarious seriousness. If the tempo that this movie starts with would be kept through the full runtime this would be a perfect action movie. Sadly, they didn't but still it makes it one of my favourites.
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)
„I'm Tarantino, and I love movies.” genre really resonates with me, even when I don't really know the source of the pastiche. I mostly stuck to the post 1990s cinema which makes westerns and cinema of the 60s something that I know exists but doesn't mean anything to me. And yet, I enjoyed this movie so much.
I love the dynamic of Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton acting in the movies, Cliff Booth as Brad Pitt living the movies and Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate watching the movies. I love movies about making movies. I love the subversion of your own work.
The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)
In the middle of the spooky season I needed a pallet cleanser, something to put in the background, make one smirk and pass the time. This movie is perfect bland action movie that you would immediately forget right when you close the tab or go out of the cinema.
Monster High 2 (2023)
Monster High 1 and 2 have the same problem of taking issues that should be approached with more care then they are willing to give. On the one hand it's nice to see serious issues represented in TV movies targeted at teens, especially when those issues are deeply connected to their lives - alienation, performative activism, troublesome nature of evolution vs revolution when it comes to discrimination. On another, when they are resolved by methods such as just bad actors, good guys always win or let's ignore that and just have fun the message becomes diluted so much that it becomes almost the opposite of itself.
With this in mind, this movies can be lacking in terms of basic storytelling - issues aren't really resolved more then eliminate one bad actor. However, most movies are like this, especially TV ones - Descendants franchise has the same problem and feels even more scared of touching the issues that it raises, perhaps due to the scary old times of 2010s.
What it lacks in story it makes up for in aesthetic - costume design is the best aspect of this movie. Y2K fashion updated to modern e-girl, goth and alt styles makes all the outfit choices timeless. No matter who you choose as fashion inspiration, the result is going to be perfect.
Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta (1986)
Recently, every new Ghibli movie is my new favourite Ghibli movie. This was also the funniest Ghibli movie and one of the best adventure movies that I've seen. Almost all the jokes were hilarious, with the one exception of creepy attraction of pirate crew to Sheeta.
My favourite aspect of this movie is planes.
Pretty Little Liars season 2 (2011-2012)
Aka my last season of Pretty Little Liars. This show is too convoluted, one note and creepy to justify the time that it requires. And I can't blame the actresses (which are great) - most issues of this show are in writing.
Perhaps it's the issue of watching this episodes right after another, without longer gaps that original schedule provided. I can look past contradictions or uneven story - I like The Acolyte despite it's flows in writing. But putting away logic is one thing, and rooting for vomit inducing relationship of Ezra and Aria is another. To make things worse the show refuses to address it by framing Ezra and Aria as teacher-student issue and not predatory adult after underage girl.
Ezra and Aria is only an example of this type of this behaviour - both other Liars have this kind of relations (like Spencer and Wren, when underage Spencer gets punished for adult Wren kissing her) and we have the whole dedicated grooming events in the form of Rosewood Charity Fashion Show when you can barely see any parents and mostly random adults from town.
I can't watch the show that actively tries to groom it's audience.
Fear Street: 1978 (2021)
In the middle of rapidly releasing trilogy we got the movie with the energy of the spin-off and the filled with love pastiche turned up to 11. The typical spooky camp horror gets great context of the series class motives. Filled with nostalgic music it's a gem to watch.
Monster High: Boo York, Boo York (2015)
My friend decided to show me the original Monster High movies since I watched live action reboot few hours before. As always with those type of stories, the idea shines more then actual execution and it relies on an audience filling the gaps. I like the main conflict of children put into roles that are as far from their real identity as they could possibly be. The scheming of Nefera de Nile is perfect. The awkward rap of Pharaoh is a perfect amount of genuine cringe.
Monster High (2022)
My first contact with the Monster High franchise and it was quite fun actually! The fashion in this movie is an excellent mix of current alternative fashion with some 2010s references. Seeing this while I'm watching Pretty Little Liars makes my nostalgia for this era of fashion spark.
I love the main trio, especially the AuDHD Frankie. Their clumsiness mixed with incredible knowledge that is more a random collection of facts then something structured makes them such a relatable character for me. Clawdeen having this arc of half human and half monster was a little bit boring since this is a staple of teen TV - from High School Musical, through Descendants to Monster High. It was executed well but after 16 years I was expecting something better then High School Musical but got something pretty much similar. I love Draculora ending - her father immediately accepting her as vampire-witch to beat expectations of his own parents is perfect. Nothing's better then traumatized dad!
As for musical part, this is pretty standard TV movie. Nothing so good that you want to listen to it outside of the context of the movie, nothing so bad that you wait to end. I hope that in the second movie they will get more creative with the songs inclusion in the story, just like Descendants.
Now I want to watch High School Musical again. Maybe I will give this new TV series a shot?
The Boys season 4 (2024)
We were inches from the good ending. This season is so evident of gore and action getting in the way of good storytelling. When Hughie and Neuman decided to choose peace and kindness, when Butcher seems to belive in his son and decides to stop the circle of violence I was so pleased with the direction that the show has taken. And then we got the ending and now I'm tired.
And we got a lot of good arcs this season. A-Train trying to go a better path, and even getting resolution with Hughie is perfect. Hughie and his dad have such a cruel but well written ending that Highlights the violence of this world without going into weird directions. I love Frenchie and Kimiko side story of trying to live with the brutality of their past and trying to find themselves.
What makes me tired the most is focus on violence and taking the cruelty and gore further and further with no goal in mind. Characters get destroyed with this approach and story is sometimes lacking. With this we have my favourite contradiction of the character - Sister Sage. While being the smartest person in Boys universe her motivation is just lacking. The "I was curious if I could do it" is not an answer to establishment of fascist ethnostate especially when you should be the smart one in the room.
The final nail to the coffin of my interest in this show is yet another case of Wonder Woman 1984. Hughie gets sexually assaulted twice this season, with both instances being not really acknowledged by the script. With all the good character work that we got this season, the edge taken the priority with the Batman parody sex dungeon scene, and later with the shapeshifter in the ending of the season. Nobody cares that he would have trust issues that would probably have taken him years to overcome. I suspected with what was going seeing Kind of Kindness approach of depicting paranoia but no, Hughie is just glad that Annie is not that mad.
Well, that’s a dark way to look at it! We view it as hilarious. Obviously, Tek Knight is our version of Batman, and we wanted to really play around with that trope: Batman’s fascist underpinnings as a really wealthy dude who hunts poor people, and then profits of the incarceration. So that was one. Tek Knight was already set up to be a freak, so we were kind of already halfway there. Then the notion came up of, he should have a Batcave — but let’s be honest, the Batcave would be a sex dungeon. Like, even the real Batcave is just this side of being a sex dungeon. It’s really dark, and there’s rubber suits everywhere. It’s not that much of a push to add a couple dildos and then a weird urinal that turns into a face mask.
said Eric Kripke, the Boys showrunner, in an interview.
I will probably watch the next season some day but I expect to get tired by it and tune out halfway through. Pretty good political references and some characters arcs are just not enough to excuse all of it.
The Acolyte (2024)
It's nice to not be a part of fandom, to be free from all of the context and prerequisites that the new show must follow to fit The Canon™. I've been casual Star Wars watcher since I remember and I don't remember well which makes me lack any expectations when it comes to Star Wars franchise. Which isn't a popular perspective on The Acolyte from what I've seen mostly on YouTube.
I quite enjoyed the show, as a casual watch, something to relax to when you came back from work. The aesthetic is the majority of the value, the storytelling is a very mixed bag. Highlights are the trio of Amandla Stenberg as Osha Aniseya, Manny Jacinto as The Stranger i Carrie-Anne Moss as Master Indara. Master Indara is just Trinity put in the Star Wars context which rules. First episode was my favourite out of the show - the mystery was still present and we got great fighting scene. Second episode continued my interest in this show with the new perspective of Jedi monk that feels so guilty that he literally isolated himself from the entire world using the Force and only lifts his wall to kill himself. And then we got a flashback episode that was really captivating visually but dragged a bit. Then we have another cool appearance of a Sith that is later diluted by the reveal and weird lack of commitment to hiding his identity. Very mixed bag that with time could become great show. The acting is great, the characters have strong bases, it should work.
And then I read there were a kissing scene at the end of the first season. I love romance, The Fall Guy shines for me this year from mix of romantic comedy and action movie. But this is just such misunderstanding of the characters, the hand holding that we go is still too much for me. Anyway, Amandla Stenberg and Manny Jacinto are too good in this show to end this on first season, even when the story would get weird.
Fear Street: 1994 (2021)
Wild ride from the Riverdalesque school drama to the proper slasher with interesting twist and ending that wants me to immediately watch more.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
My favourite Miyazaki movie (and my 5th one), sharing the first place with The Boy and The Heron. With Lupin III they feel much more focused and less dreamy then other ones that I have watched (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle), which makes them more approachable for me.
What I find most captivating is the world building. It's nice to see post apocalyptic scenario where people doesn't loose their humanity and kindness is rewarded, not punished. People would go feral assumption is so established that basing your world on kindness feels a bit like a political manifesto in itself. Which takes us to our main hero. Her kindness and pacifism are so strong that she can distort the established reality around her. She feels like Neo, having direct access to the mechanisms of this world, making her one of my favourite protagonists of all time.
What surprised me is how well this movie utilizes visual language. The futuristic gliders fit the medieval Valley of the Wind while the planes and tanks of the militaristic regime feel out of place, being so brutal that they cannot land without causing major damage to the town. The melting
Kinds of Kindness (2024)
The misery and emptiness of relationships born from power inequality, when they should come from compassion and cooperation makes such a compelling theme that despite my generally low tolerance for body horror I enjoyed this movie so much. The chosen form of anthology film and different place in power dynamics of each cast member in each film is a perfect representation of arbitrary nature of power structures. The absurd escalation of violence shows clearly how underlying "kindness" can be twisted into horror form. The performances complete the picture, using the very performative and robotic tone to signify the detachment from humanity by being only a vessel for others actions.
Kinds of Kindness captures me not only by it's overall themes but also by each story which paint a very relatable picture if you manage to get pass by the exaggeration. Also quick sidenote: this film seems to be directly inspired by the Sweet Dreams from Eurythmics.
The first one, with Raymond (Willem Dafoe) exercising total control over the life of Robert (Jesse Plemons) gives a tale of how your kindness can be used against you, to strip your individuality and humanity into the twisted form of supposed love. Your desires and emotions are used by others, creating power dynamics of toxic relationships. Even when you manage to escape, you remain broken and work to regain yourself can be so difficult that it's easier to just go back. Remember, you were happy right?
The second one, with Daniel (Jesse Plemons) falling into paranoia when his wife Liz returns (Emma Stone) provides a perfect example of how hopeless romanticism, not setting boundaries and throwing your needs and desires away can be very tragic. How the expectations that form this idealized person can never be satisfied. And how by placing those expectations on other it could lead to self destruction.
The third one, with Emily (Emma Stone) being a part of a cult lead by Aka (Hong Chau) and Omi (Willem Dafoe) in search for some sort of messiah, shows how trying to escape reality by finding new community may not be the escape that you wanted. The seeming safety can be very conditional, the need for belonging makes you a fool oblivious to the harm for both you and others. With this story we have my favourite character in the whole film - Emily. Her neuroticism, portrayed perfectly by Emma Stone even by the way she is walking and standing. Her high speed driving that shows how little she values her life.
While this is my favourite perspective of this movie, there are others, equally captivating. The 3 stories could capture how 3 main areas of our lives - work, family and friends - can be harmful to all people involved. The first story captures really well how conditional the wealth from nice job is and how absurd the power relations at workplace can be. Another interpretation can be biblical (and is my least favourite from how common biblical references are): in the first one we have Abraham who has his faith tested by killing (surprisingly Bible version is more horrifying with random man being replaced by Abraham son); in the second one we have the inverse of Jesus washing deciles feet; and in the third one we have Ruth (biblical name btw) who is weighted in a pose similar to Pietà.
Ultimately, all of the interpretations orbit around the power dynamics and abuse. It may be economic, it may be emotional, it may be physical, it may be spiritual. Which makes this an average leftist video essay but in captivating form.
Overall I personally needed this but I understand that it's not a crowd pleaser. It shows the level of craft that I would love to see more and makes me reevaluate how much meaningless noise I put myself trough. At the time that I'm writing this, Kind of Kindness feels like the second best movie of the year (right after Challengers).
Fallout season 1 (2024)
It's funny that the same year we get two adaptations of post apocaliptic video game franchises. With one of them being really good. The other is Borderlands (that I still have to see!).
There are so many things to cherish about this show, which I suspect are direct translations or at least inspirations from the game series into this new medium. The absurdly evil Vault-Tec corporation, the eerie atmosphere of Vaults, the anachronistic tech. It creates a great base for the show.
I wish I could write more but unfortunatelly I had huge gap while viewing this one. I hope that it will have another season and then I will revisit first one.
The Grand Tour: One For The Road (2024)
Since 2002 Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May (since 2003) have created one of the most popular and captivating car shows of all time. What we remember the most are the special episodes, that came up from Series 10 in 2007 with the Botswana Special. This one last ride is a goodbye to the whole journey but especially to the first special.
And it is kinda mid. That may be the overall vibe of The Grand Tour that I had over last few years. It didn't have the same magic of adventure for most of the time that I felt with the Top Gear specials. As we all grew older the car centric escapades become very outdated. That's why my two favourite specials from the series shift focus from the classic formula towards interesting twists: The Grand Tour Presents: Seamen from season 4 reinvents the show with new vehicle - boats and The Mongolia Special-Survival of the Fattest - tells a really captivating story by "forcing" to construct their own car from parts in the middle of nowhere, giving soul to the car and sauce to the episode.
With that said what I'm trying to tell is that Top Gear/The Grand Tour ended for me a long time ago, which makes this ending without the emotions that creators wanted me to feel. The views are still breathtaking, the pure love for cars somewhat present and the spirit of adventure timidly continious. Definitely the case of a show that lasted more then it should but if it gave me those few specials that I mention previously maybe it was worth it?
Delicious in Dungeon season 1 (2024)
This anime has the perfect recipe for a great show. Dungeon crawler, mixed with very strong found family trope and wacky premise of cooking show in the background? On paper is one of the best shows that could happen. However, it gets a little too graphic for me sometimes, driving me away from the wholesome family going through the dungeon.
Which irritates me so much. The writers have this perfect little gem and tinker with it, making it edgy. I love the wholesome adventure and every time that gore happens I feel robbed.
The star of the show is Senshi - dwarf cook that uses the unobtanium or different mythril to make the perfect cooking pan. Leaving in harmony with dungeon he perfected the art of cooking, coming with great recipes on the spot regardless how weird the ingredients are. I want to be as cool as Senshi, he inspires me.
All other characters are also well written. Over all 24 episodes each of them has personal journey to go through and grows as a person. Despite multiple main characters, each of them has a place to shine and writers didn't forgot about anyone. We even have some late additions that by the end feel as included as everyone else.
However, in the last episode writers really threw me off. In the next season they announced pretty disgusting plot. I will give it a shot with huge hopes that this was just a throwaway idea by the characters that didn't know any better. Just writing about it makes me nervous.
The Dark Knight (2008)
I was sceptical about this movie for a long time. If watched without attention it can really drag. With multiple endings, characters that are not as obvious (at least for a superhero cinema standard) and soundtrack so intense watching this movie while tired, after work, before sleep, on your laptop screen is quite hard. Fortunately I watched it in cinema! And it left me stunned, unable to form how much I was impressed.
With Christopher Nolan being a bit ashamed of making a comic book movie we got really captivating crime thriller. It keeps you at the edge of the seat, fully attached to the picture for the whole runtime of the film. However by being a crime thriller it has the same weird background noise of United States politics. Which makes it a tough movie to just celebrate, being both expertly constructed storytelling wise and childish in it's glorification of 2000s United States politics.
I recommend to everyone to view it in cinema. It's one of THE experiences in one's life.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
I've seen Beetlejuice and it's new sequel at a mini-marathon at the polish premiere in my local Multiino cinema. Both movies I seen for the first time and this juxtaposition certainly affected my view on them, especially the sequel.
This movie tries to humanize Beetlejuice a bit which is just digesting when put in the context of the previous one. We get his backstory, we spend a lot of time with him and see him more as a just a part of the afterlife then a corruption within. Withe the backstroy, Monica Bellucci enters the scene, spending whole movie walking around with little to none purpose. Her inclusion is a cheap attempt at making Beetlejuice human, with a weird angle of him being a victim.
This plot, along with a lot of other noise makes this movie feel like a collection of "It would be cool if ..." made into a loosely connected story. What we don't have here? My favourites are Willem Dafoe, as an actor who kept it real so much that makes him an iconic afterlife cop, and Jenna Ortega, as a girl that hates her mom and meets cute boy that tries to kill her. It feels more like a material of short series, a sitcom perhaps.
The chaotic story telling certainly has a charm but makes movie a bit of a chore to watch. Comedy on the other hand is better then in original. House covered with veil to allow for proper grief, the soul train are great moments that will return in those little YouTube excerpts of top scenes from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. And it feels like a deliberate production choice, a direct result of what we have seen with Wednesday and it's hold on internet with the dance scene.
This movie is more of a theme park for fans of Burton aesthetic - it doesn't make it bad, quite the opposite, the exposed nature of just having fun with darkness is great. Which makes it both great and forgettable at the same time. Weird movie.
Beetlejuice (1988)
I've seen Beetlejuice and it's new sequel at a mini-marathon at the polish premiere in my local Multiino cinema. Both movies I seen for the first time and this juxtaposition certainly affected my view on them, especially the sequel.
Beetlejuice has a very strong premise that is ultimately dragged down by what's typical for Tim Burton work that I mostly interacted with (Alice in Wonderland series, Wednesday, Charlie and the Choclate Factory) - lack of depth and understanding for what he depicts. His a master of using the visual language, creating a captivating scenery and characters that are buried under several layers of Gothic paint to hide their shallowness. This makes his more serious movies a very tiring experience for me - but Beetlejuice is not a serious movie, it's a comedy, which allowed me to like this movie. Kind of.
I cannot sincerely enjoy this movie with the stench that permeates this film. The weird portrayal of artists, Beetlejuice sexual harassement played as a joke, typical for Burton whiteness and cultural appropriation with poorly made suicide jokes leave a very bad aftertaste. Which really sucks because other parts of the movie are truly brilliant - the bureaucracy and passiveness of afterlife, the hardships of scaring, great comedic death at the beginning of the movie with dog letting the car fall to the river. And even it has a bit of pretty good social commentary with the immediate commercialization of the haunted house.
Looking past the characters, actors performance, especially Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice is impressive. It's hard to imagine that underneath this role there is a normal person and this movie is not a documentary with actual daemon. It has quite a bit of this older Hollywood charm with the theatrical acting.
I hate this justification that sometimes is given for the older movies, that they come from outdated viewpoint of past that is supposedly gone. The context of the times at movie production and release can certainly be helpful towards greater understanding but doesn't justify it's content. And in the case of the Beetlejuice, I think that it is a movie worth watching. Not the classic, not a must watch but can give some good time. But it should come with a big content warning and an understanding of it's issues.
The Umbrella Academy season 4 (2024)
The great series from 2019, about dysfunctional family, with time travels, queer characters and an old wise mentor that needs to rediscover his humanity who destroys the world to protect what is most precious for him and hidden to keep safe while he seeks for a way to cheat death. A comic adaptation, with 4 seasons. From this description, funnily enough, both Doom Patrol and The Umbrella Academy match.
The last season is a bit of a mess, probably due to cut in number of episodes. It feels directionless and rushed. Surprisingly, it has quite an interesting setup but don't utilize it really.
Some nice things
There is a nice idea for the Klaus that I want to explore further below. Some world building is nice, especially the metro system that connects all the timelines, which seems to draw heavily on the Matrix imagery (tbh ending seems to draw a lot from third Matrix). The nicest version of Reginald Hargreeves that we got this season is great.
They failed almost all characters
Let's start with most obvious one, Klaus. His whole story from last seasons is reverted to put him right back where he started. The writers seem to lack any idea for what to do with him. And this is very sad for me since at the beginning of the season the idea is great. We start with safety Klaus, a person that quite understandably after being robbed of his immortality at the end of previous season has grown into the overly cautious person that can't cope with the danger of the world. This is quite typical existential crisis but turn to 11. Great idea and completely fitting the character. And it lasts for one episode while it could be for a whole season with current ending in mind. Safety Klaus slowly coming to terms with his fragility, to finally accept the death and welcome it like an old friend. Instead we got Klaus as a sex slave for a gangster he owns money (which writers don't seem to recognize as act of pure evil that should be very traumatizing for a character) or being buried alive which could be return to form for him, getting to use his manifestation of the dead to save himself but not - he is saved by Alice and doesn't seem to be moved so much by it. I understand that for him, he could be so destroyed by his past that this is not as traumatizing as it should be. But the series and other characters also don't mind it too much. Klaus is being completely sidelined this season.
Where is Luther in this season? Guy is left with resurrection and missing wife at the end of previous season. In this season he is just a butt of a joke, a goofball that is allowed to be a person for just one scene: when Diego is venting about how he doesn't find his life fulfilling, Luther points out how he would do anything to have this "boring" life with his wife. And that's it. Secondary character now.
Allison story seems the most cut from the season. Most of her appearance seems contradictory or pointing to the nice idea that writers had but didn't have time to implement it. Last season, her whole deal was return to being a mother. This season she is very bad at this, so bad that her daughter connects far more with Klaus then her. And show didn't really discuss this other then in one argument between Allison and Klaus that feels out of place and isn't addressed for the rest for the show. Don't have much to say about her since she is also somehow missing from this season while having a lot of screen time.
Lila is very weird this season, being elevated by the story to the status of main character but not by the structure of the show. We don't really have the scenes that are about her, she is mostly a supportive character while having main character story. She with Allison lack so many scenes that are quite crucial to her development. Show wants to trick you with some time skips but you can slap any kind of further and further date, for the viewer it is still emotionally just a couple days.
The most difficult character to write is Five. He is a person that already lived their life once and have to relive it again. This makes him a little bit detached from the others but still with genuine love for them. I like his happy ending in the greenhouse timeline. This should be his ending. Instead due to the poor structure we don't have really any time to realize that since we have go back after 5 minutes in this new, chill reality. To the yet another apocalypse and just absurdly bad triangle Diego - Lila - Five. Further lore dump with another few minutes in Rick and Morty style diner with all different Five variants feels so rushed that when Five tells later about "long conversation" I couldn't believe what I just saw. I think that Five would need a spinoff series or separate plot (instead of Klaus) with timelines and metro system to properly develop it.
After second season Viktor felt for me like a character that writers don't have good idea how to utilize. This time the foundation is good - his connection with his father could be a great base. Sadly we get it only for a few scenes while chasing after Ben with some good ideas sprinkled around - Reginald praising him and giving him official hero of Umbrella Academy status is great. I really hope that we would get a lot more of that instead of just noise that is Ben and Jennifer plot. I really want Viktor to shine, he was my favourite character in first two seasons.
While Viktor had almost a good story that was probably just cut, Diego has just a good story, without asterisk. And it feels a direction that we had with character! His trouble with everyday life fueled by one of the hardest job that is by no means fulfilling, puts him for a perfect trajectory to middle life crisis. His trip to CIA is a much needed push that he needs to fully overcome his foolish perspective of his life. In no means he is delusional with his struggle with everyday life - but he rightly recognizes how much he has with his family.
On final season getting a cut
I wonder how many shows pulled of shorter runtime then planned in their final season. From what I remember it is sadly a common practice to squeeze the same story in fewer episodes not by making a smaller story or focusing on fewer issues but by random cuts and packing as much as possible with the rush of bullet train. The similar case to The Umbrella Academy for me is the Owl House. This show was so great but completely lost itself in the final season, forgetting that we were here for characters and not world building and larger then life stakes. I would happily watch the season of Umbrella Academy when they don't have powers. I would welcome having just another "small scale" apocalypse and not some multiple timelines, TVA bullshit. I still like this show very much but next time I probably will just end at the season 3.
Suspiria (1977)
Feels delusional, like hallucinations from a fever. Most usual things that we value in the cinema - script, dialogues, performances - are underwhelming it somehow adds to the fever atmosphere. Mixed with pretty relaxed world building, the story could just happened in our heads; it doesn't feel real like most movies. The ballet school is a perfect setting and there are so many pretty colors.
I didn't expect to get two so different gems but each beautiful in it's own way from horror cinema. Can't wait for what's to come!
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)
I didn't see this movie in the best mood and my experience might be skewed by it. With obvious comparison to The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which depending on the day I see as either equal or slightly better then Ministry. However, it is still filled with both fun, this time with more graphic brutality that makes it feel fresh.
While Henry Cavil is obviously the star of the show, my second favourite is Alan Ritchson who plays Anders - a bit unhinged persona that was borrowed from Far Cry 3. As another person of culture, Anders prefers to use more sophisticated weapon - a bow - which in his hand is more effective weapon then any pistol or rifle. His choreography is excellent, making him a beautiful menace regardless of distance and opponents count.
With obvious James Bond references, this movie is a perfect mix of action blockbuster, spy thriller and period piece.
Totally Spies! The Movie (2009)
Origin story! And quite good actually. There are some weird elements (beeing sometimes weird is a iconic move of this show), like spy gene or WHOOP tracking girls from the very young age it ultimately is a well put story that gathers the girls and sets them into the life of spies. It feels more like an extended episode then seperate work but you don't feel additional runtime and it has the same energy as the show.
I love that the reason for the gadgets looking that way in the show is that Sam, Alex and Clover wanted to look fabulous while spying.
How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014)
I'm in a middle of writing a longer review, so here I would write some quick thoughts.
I'm suprised that I somewhat liked this show. It has a plethora of weird behaviour from it's characters that makes one tired. However, somewhere in there, there is a heart that gives you found family that tries to stay together despite their many flaws and toxicity. It can be wholesome and I think that it is the main selling point: shitty people being wholesome.
Scream (1996)
So much fun. First time watching this movie, didn't know anything besides that Skeet Ulrich stars in it. I'm so glad that my friend convinced me to watch it.
This movie is not only brilliantly written, well played and beautifully shot; we also have a great soundtrack that not only improves the scenes but is so fun to listen to. Scream seems to be made by one single principle: how to make the most fun movie. And somehow, they did it while maintaining coherence and mystery.
I want to give a quick praise for the cast and their characters. My favourites are:
- our hero, Sidney, played by Neve Campbell, not only has well developed backstory but shines both in self defense and dealing with horny boyfriends;
- wonderful duo, Billy and Stuart, a two man cult with the strategic and cunning cult leader with the bromance broken by the lack of empathy that will show you how much stabbage of your bro is enough;
- our disaster of a reporter, played by Courteney Cox, ready to do anything to get her story;
- the principal, played by Henry Winkler, is a wonderful mix of insanity and classic 80s abusive teacher from Breakfast Club.
Alien: Romulus (2024)
Watching original Alien night before was a poor choice. This gave me a clear picture of how this movie attempts to retell similar story but in much more streamlined and generic fashion. Which makes this movie not only very derivative but also kind of boring. It came at a surprise to me since this was my second horror ever in movie theater and my tolerance for horror, especially body horror is still quite low.
Alien: Rumulus seems like a dumbed down version of the original movie, with more generic structure - we don't have ambiguity with main hero, she is shown from the start; we don't spend time with the crew, instead they all have standard personalities of cosmic genre. We even don't have the fake security during the ending - we know that the person in escaping ship is infected and soon became dangerous. And they even managed to screw this up with some random monster that seems so generic that it could be random model from blender store under horror category.
From what I looked the night before all of the other chapters in Alien story differentiate themselves from the original (sometimes a lot). Some of them seem to revoke the similar feeling as Matrix series - first movie is the classic, then we can step up philosophy game and less focus on action. When you not only already see the monster but achieved victory, making the same thing a threat doesn't resonate as much. I think that was a wise choice from filmmakers, however I only have seen the original one - stay tuned, my opinion could change.
It should be mention that this movie is another entry to the catalogue of resurrection of the dead in the form of return of Ash like looking robot - Rook.
Overall I'm not very disappointed, I definitely would go to the next movie from the franchise. I'm a bit tired watching fine movies - it was what I watched for most of my life and recently I have so many wonderful surprises that the bar has been raised higher.
Side note: as for my second experience of horror on big screen it was surprisingly exhausting - all this tension and squirming makes one tired.
Alien (1979)
Masterpiece.
I am always a bit sceptical to the value of classic cinema. I understand that some films had major impact on industry but for me don't seem quite as fresh today. Some of this is due to the endless memes and references that makes you watch movie from one famous scene to another. Maybe it's different tempo of the movie or poorly aged special effects.
However, Alien is a must watch classic. I can't believe how good this movie is, the vibe of it.
My biggest surprise is how equally important all the crew members are, both in universe and in narration. Ripley is not a main character for a long time which gives this organic feeling of just some story that we happened to see. Every one of them can be the last survivor of Nostromo, the fact that she survived is mostly luck.
The crew paints very clear motive of economic struggle. At first we see some tension due to unjustified (according to some) pay difference. The hierarchy is clear, the captain and higher personal receives more money with a glimpse of power then some ordinary mechanics. However later with a reveal of real Nostromo mission the small scale hierarchy disappears - everybody is equal in comparison to corporate overlords of Wayland-Yutani. In no way this is complicated motive, evil corporations are a staple of action cinema. However, the smooth execution without preachy message or "good system with some bad actors" speech is timeless.
What feels revolutionary still today is how the Nostromo crew lives in a gender abolitionist utopia. Gender only manifest in violence and fear; with the attempted murder of Ripley by Ash being assertion of his dominance invoking rape imaginary, with the horror of Xenomorph reproduction via rape and forced pregnancy.
Finally I would like to praise the special effects and interiors of Nostromo. The eerie atmosphere of the ship is right from the start and all the darkness and bleak industrial corridors create the perfect location for cosmic horror.
Jackpot! (2024)
Great premise with mid execution. Comedy feels forced most of the time, action sequences are good. I love the helpless good guy John Cena that tries not to kill anyone, not even by omission or lack of help. Great to watch if you are like me looking for something to make noise in the background while cooking dinner.
Wish (2023)
The lack of creativity, the corporate soullessness is astounding. It makes me sad that Disney exploits the cultural inheritance and diversity to make some shallow references and such empty story. It's especially weird seeing that the last celebratory movie was Tangled, one of Disney finest.
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
Deadpool and Wolverine lacks something for me, it feels stale. I want to like it, and maybe one day I will.
The musical montages like NSYNC intro or Madonna finale are excellent (although I was offended for how they treated Logan ending). In fact from all the world ending type of superhero ending sequences this movie has one of the best. Cameos were delightful to watch - especially Human Torch, Blade, X-23 and all of the X-Man characters. Car fight scene is brilliant. Deadpools fight scene (bus fight part and Wolverine casually walking with Dogpool is my favourite joke in the movie). One of the best soundtracks that I have heard in superhero cinema, both original music (Rob Simonsen - LFG) and adapted ones. So much good stuff but composition of them is somewhat lacking.
My emotions with this movie fascinate me. I felt out of place. I felt old. I was one of those people that the movie was made for - I watch all of the X-Man Fox franchise, I enjoy old Blade. Then why I didn't feel included? But to be honest, previous Deadpool movies were also nice to watch but not that appealing for me.
Twisters (2024)
My first disaster movie to see on the big screen. A good blend of action and drama, that let's you experience the power of nature from the comfort of the movie theater. I was surprised by how much was I invested into characters and their struggle against their own fears and nature. It felt real and sincere.
The natural disasters was at perfect scale - this type of cinema got me used to world ending threats; this time we are local and personal. This is paired up with really good CGI that is unnoticeable through the movie. Scenes from this movie could easily pass as real footage.
Freelance (2023)
Fun, nice, small, forgettable movie. Watched for Alison Brie, she was pretty good. Feels strangely similar to The Suicide Squad (2021), even has the similar motive of US imperialism.
The dictator was surprisingly good character, with more complexity then usually is given for comedic type.
John Cena is a perfect casting, the contrast of his muscular appearance with his lawyer job is well utilized for comedic purposes (2015 Skyscraper did it poorly with Dwayne Johnson).
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)
Like Shaft it has this feeling of generational disappointment but in a much smaller portion. Not good, not bad, nice movie to watch with your parent that loved previews movies. Don't have the heart that previous one had, feels much more like Netflix got rights, so we have to do something.
Fly Me to the Moon (2024)
A good comedy! I love the current ironic phase of American propaganda, where you are allowed to wink at the viewer and make jokes. But it still remains a nice propaganda movie that allowed me, for the first time, experience the magic of Apollo missions.
Woody Harrelson is my red flag for a movie, I can't stand him in Venom and Now You See Me series. However, recently I found few exceptions, including this movie and Zombieland (in The Men from Toronto he is ok) where he suits pretty well. Channing Tatum was a nice surprise as well, since I mostly know him from comedic roles like 21 Jump Street. Here he delivered all set of emotions, I completely believe his pain and frustration.
Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024)
There are moments where you don't to write anything coherent, you just want to rant and be mad. This is one of those moments. So what I think about Descendants: The Rise of Red?
Disappointing, poorly paced piece of trash that wants to hide it's emptiness behind progressiveness while it's message it's somehow a step back from the first movie in the series. Even the musical aspect of the movie feels out of place and dragging out. It feels cheaper, with less costumes and more traditional setting of magic school were you do potions and spells. Derivative. Makes me sad.
Descendants (2015)
I love the Descendants series and it all started with this movie. Perfect goofy fun for whole family that gives a timeless message of how sociaty and family pressure to conform to established identity can be incredibly damaging. It makes it perfect example of queer narratives generalized for wide audiences (like Matrix, my other love).
Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos go through pretty standard transition process. They need to learn new social behaviour to match their new identity, they have trouble beliving that someone can love them for who they really are, they face rejection from society and family and need to put additional work to prove that their identity is not only valid but real.
My favourite songs are:
- Mitchell Hope - Did I Mention - love the sincere cringe of it,
- Descendants Cast - Be Our Guest,
- Descendants Cast - Set it Off - more movies should end with musical numbers.
Disney did it again, it's High School Musical but with edgy aesthetic. And I love every minute of it.
Inside Out 2 (2024)
Wasn't as excited for this one but Pixar delivered. I love how the message of the movie is composed into the literal story. It lacks any subtlety but is effective. It's motives seem cathartic and I wish I could view it as a teen.
What's the message? You are not your emotions, anxiety is bad and shouldn't drive you, your identity is a composition of all your memories, new emotions can be literal wrecking ball to your brain, friends give you safety and support. Good stuff.
My favourite showcase is your imagination working against you, shown as pillow castle coopted into the anxiety regime, inspired by this Apple ad. My favourite character is Bloofy, however it should just be Mickey Mouse. Pixar don't be shy and utilize the Disney umbrella for good.
I have hope that Inside Out could become a series, that could resolve complex world of emotions with adults in mind (Inside Out 3 & 4). Adult animation has an ugly connotation and it needs it's own Inside Out.
The Rookie season 1 (2018-2019)
This one is interesting. It's fresh to see a premise that promises to deliver more grounded, everyday cop life. It shouldn't have this high stakes, serial killer chasing stakes that traditional cop TV has. I was pretty excited for it, hoping that we get more of a human centric story. Does it held it's promise? Nope, not at all.
Characters tell from time to time that real police work is about serving the community but no. We have to brutalize, we have to kill, we have to have gunfights. Brooklyn 99 or Lucifer, my previous cop shows are much less violent. This skewed representation is really disturbing with how realistic aesthetic is.
This weird relationship of the show with reality, it's characters and plot makes it quite a messy experience. Why do you want to watch a show that is dishonest with you?
See Skip Intro essay "The Rookie & Why Tech won't save Policing" for another opinion, much more detailed and with bibliography! However, words and feelings above are my own and his review didn't influenced this one.
Challengers (2024)
One of those movies that changes your perspective on the whole cinema. So electric, so fascinating.
I never have been a sports person, so I cannot reconcile with myself that this movie was so captivating, with the ending where I was truly excited about the tennis. This narration was so well executed, that at the end you are on edge of your seat. Tennis players on the screen are gladiators, drowning in sweat and fatigue but so sexy and captivating. Camerawork transfers your excitement, you become one with them, you become one with the game. Creativity of the shots paired with music that could fit John Wick series creates perfect foundation for what's to come. You don't feel like watching the movie, you don't see Zendaya. There is only tennis.
Mind blowing. Words cannot describe how good this movie is, anything that I could write in any language feels so trivial. So good, that I am actively thinking about reshaping my tier list for this year since Challengers is outshining others at the highest tier. So good, that I had trouble with getting myself to writing this review, since no words can represent what this movie was to me. I hope that the change in variety of genres from this moment would be the best statement to this movie. Movies like this gives me urge to explore the landscape of cinema now and before, to get from the valley of trivial action movies.
Matrix (1999)
I was at special Matrix screening and my cinema. The experience of watching Matrix on the big screen was truly magical. You can see why this movie became an instant classic. Much was said about this movie, so I'm going to be extremely personal. Such was this screening for me.
Multiple genres
I love when art doesn't limit itself to one specific genre, one specific way and instead is a homage of various different ways that we create art. Elements that I didn't notice previously is cosmic and body horror, perhaps the staples of science fiction. I know that this is primary a action movie, but for me it's only a cherry on top - the most important are the love story or philosophy lecture aspects of it.
This homage style of writing (that Community or Psych also have) makes it feel like a conclusion to the action cinema, an inevitability. It's a thrilling roller coaster ride through the landscape of cinema.
Great writing
I'm always amazed by how great the script is. It puts you right into the world. And gives the birth to the best villein in history of the cinema - Agent Smith - which is proven true by interrogation scene.
I understand why people can create this alt-right narratives from this movie. It requires some cherry-picking, but movie doesn't explicitly reject this idea. It makes me sad that this beautiful movie can be part of a harmful ideology. And seeing the next chapters, especially the 4th one, directors are bothered by it too.
Trans allegory
I will not argue why it is trans allegory, it has been (successfully) done. Instead I want to list how it's trans allegory for me, how it resonates with me in this way. Weird mirrors, that don't show reality, makes you question it. Using your deadname as a means to hurt you, embracing your new name to empower oneself. Surrounding oneself with found family, queer community that helps you to self actualize. Being afraid of change, stuck to the previous life due to years of living a certain lie. The Matrix, as binary, patriarchal, oppressive system, that you could try to escape. Gender affirmation, reflected by digital self image and how Neo confidence makes him dress hotter. Looking gorgeous and sexy with your friends is the ultimate trans experience.
Maybe the greatest thing that Wachowski sisters did with the Matrix is making trans experience universal.
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
Where to seek support where you feeling powerless? How to cope with the reality that you have been thrown into? Do you deserve to be loved, despite your insecurities? At first I didn't see this message, seeing only a fantasy movie with wacky machinery made by a pacifist. Now I see. And admire.
You can't avoid the world
Each of the characters in this movie has their own way of hiding away from reality. Howl, with a trained persona to hide that he is moment away from breakdown, with his castle, with multiple fronts to move away from choosing a side, hiding from duties, playing with his life to feel anything. Sophie, seeing herself as worthless, with only value in her work for others, her only source of validation. When they met, they start forming an unusual found family, that would get them back into the world, to feel again, to live again.
The castle, the one that is always moving, running away from the danger, the world doesn't survive the film. People that want to stay, want to help, want to share the tough moments - they survive.
Side note: Christian Bale is English voice for Howl and you can hear that he was shooting Batman Begins nearby.
Psych season 3 and 4 (2008-2010)
Two seasons with one review, since I don't have much time this month. Also the show become too good to stop watching after the season, especially with the ending of the season 3. Be sure to read season 1 and season 2 reviews.
Season 3 Favourites
Picking here only a few is hard, since this season is filled with great episodes. Creators were knowing what they are doing from the first episodes of season 1 but here they perfected the formula.
- An Evening with Mr. Yang - this funny detective show created the most believable Moriarty type threat for my Sherlock Spencer that I have seen. Impressive.
- Tuesday the 17th - horror parodies are my jam, love how different this episode looks to match the genre they are referencing
- Disco Didn't Die. It Was Murdered! - I love the aesthetic of this episode, 70s are fabulous, especially on Gus
- The Greatest Adventure in the History of Basic Cable - Indiana Jones in your crime show?!
Season 4 Favourties
- Shawn Takes a Shot in the Dark - perfect episode, great premise mixed with the usual great sauce of this show: son-father dynamic, romance with Juliet and Lassie insecurity
- You Can't Handle This Episode - John Cena cameo?! 10/10
- Mr. Yin Presents - part 2 of the Yin-Yang series, also great, this time with a tribute to Hitchcock
Furiosa (2024)
Prequels are bound by the chains of time - they happen later for the viewer, but before what we saw. And this peculiar relationship with time makes prequels hard for creators and for viewers. George Miller, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth and all creative force that stands behind this movie had job harder then usual - create a prequel to one of the best action movies to ever exist.
The solution? Focus on buildup to the second movie, show us the world, it's inner workings. Prepare both Furiosa and the viewer for what's to come in the Mad Max: Fury Road. If we needed any more confirmation, Fury Road is put on the screen as ending credit roll, making it feel as smooth continuation from the first one, action packed third act that we are so used to now.
Furiosa stands perfectly on it's own, however due to weird relationship with time I understand if it may not be for everyone. This movie is not perfectly optimized for entertainment, it's a grim revenge story and want's viewer to sometimes feel uneasy. There are no heroes in the apocalypse. There is no catharsis, no epic ending beyond the stories that one may tell.
I never suspected to have movies that have structure as Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. And here we are, history repeats but sometimes in wrong order.
This gets a little bit long but this is not a straightforward movie. It feels different, unique, uneasy, fascinating. It's one of the movies where you really want to get into directors mind, sit with him and learn why. It reminds me of Matrix series (matrices?).
Anyway, performances. Biggest surprise is Chris Hemsworth who I had a little grudge against after Thor: Love and Thunder, shines in this movie. After first scenes with him, he fully became Dementus, even when we have visual reminders of Thor like his cape. It makes me thing that Hemsworth is really underutilized by his Marvel roles. The mix of laughter, horror, mannerisms and bizarreness that Dementus carries on his shoulders stands out. Script has a big role here too, despite being sometimes silly antagonist, he feels like a person and at the end you somehow understands him (by all means he is not justified, just well defined and somewhat human in the cruelty of Mad Max world.
Anya Taylor-Joy is excellent in showing the rage in Furiosa, both when she has it hidden or on display. Apparently the actress fought for her scream scene and it was worth it. Furiosa does not tell much in this movie but whenever she uses her voice it is very deliberate. Just a perfect performance, as one would expect.
To sum up, Furiosa is a perfect prequel, a surrealistic preface for a postmodern masterpiece.
Pretty Little Liars season 1 (2011)
One of the best pilot episode in the history of TV, you are so hooked up to the premise from the start of the show. And to my surprise the atmosphere stays for a long time. However, the cracks slowly starts to show up and the formula of 22 episodes is a bit long sometimes. It may be my fault, watching it at once when it was designed for one episode per week TV release schedule.
I cannot leave the fashion out of the picture here, it is aesthetic that I grew up it which mixes nostalgia into this lovely picture. It's reflected by plenty of fashion analysis video essays on YouTube which I can't wait to watch but restricting myself to not accidentally spoil the mystery.
Second best thing in this season was sapphic self-discovery of Em, with her relationships. From the first moment, her crush of Maya was so cute. The coming out scene to her parents and further struggle of lack of parental support was perfectly portrayed. One of the best representations that I have seen on TV.
Psych season 2 (2007-2008)
We get more character development and I love it! More of the same good stuff, perfecting current formula.
My favourite type of sitcom (or sitcom like shows) is the cast that has a plethora of characters to resonate with. Psych fulfills this perfectly, giving you relatable and humane moments from all of the cast. I'm most of the time mixture of dumb and smart that Shawn represents perfectly or naive, trustworthy nature with love for good time, fun and fashion that Juliet has.
Favourite episodes
- Lights, Camera... Homicidio - one of the best comedic episodes with nice commentary of toxic fandoms
- Black and Tan: A Crime of Fashion - fashion, style and murder?! Also Gus being hooked up into his model fake identity is my favourite Gus moment for now.
- 65 Million Years Off - I love the wacky premise and Shawn's father genuine fear for his son
Psych season 1 (2006-2007)
So, the next long running series ahead of me (8 seasons!), entering as always with somewhat mid first season. For this one I'm excited, since this mid by IMDb rating season was already pretty fun to watch!
Psych is a Sherlock Holmes inspired TV series where the Sherlock gets to be a little bit goofy. This not only makes the series great for casual watch but allows more wacky stories that don't need to take themself such seriously.
The most promising element for me is the complicated father-son relationship that they slowly cook through the season. The main hero, Shawn, has his childhood written all over his adult self and the show really nicely shows that.
I'm watching it mainly due to the title of this video essay: "Psych: the BEST Sherlock Holmes adaptation in existence". I don't know if I want to watch the second season or it first.
Favourite episodes
- Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast - Juliet gets way to much into her undercover identity as sorority girl mixed with Halloween episode, great stuff
- He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, He Loves Me, Oops He's Dead - going on a quick dating night may get you killed man
- From the Earth to Starbucks - character building for Lassiter, giving really heartwarming moments for the crew
The Fall Guy (2024)
I was THE target for this movie. Love story hidden in the self-referential action movie is the definition of fun for me (just like the Matrix babe). I knew that I was signing for a fun ride with director behind Atomic Blonde and Hobbs and Shaw but I didn't suspect such a great movie overall. The hype generated by the opening is only getting higher through the movie and to my suprise, it gets emotional?! There is a scene where Ryan Gosling sits in the car and turns the heart piercing song as loud as it gets to help him expirience his pain - I use the same method to let go and cry which made this scene very personal for me.
Another aspect that was superb was self-referentiality and overall love for cinema in this movie. Characters were in love in cinema at least as much as I am and so was the creative team behind the movie. My favourite references are Scott Pilgrim vs the World-like fight scene (one in the club, shown in the trailers) and Emily Blunt entering the John Wick mode, including using stationery as a weapon.
Ryan Gosling is also a paragon of masculinity for the XXI century. His performance really sells you this man that can both enjoy his stunning stunt work, be proud of it while beeing just a guy who has trouble with expressing his emotions well but doesn't hide from it. More movies with him in such roles please!
For now this is my favourite action movie of the year. But as I said, I was made for lovin' it.
The Good Place (2016-2020)
The blueprint for TV, one of the best shows of all time with Parks and Recreation and Community.
While shows like Bojack Horseman, Community and Parks and Recreation fight more or less indirectly against the loneliness, void and lack of meaning in the world, The Good Place takes this fight eye to eye - and wins!
It feels a lot like a Philosophy 101, just an entry for the amateur that traverses through the vast lands of Wikipedia but I suppose it is a good thing - this makes it a gateway drug to the world of philosophy, science and appreciation of beauty in life. It also carries this refreshing (for a traditional TV) feeling that creator takes the stance for the goodness in the world. Great stuff, especially after somewhat detached from the reality Parks and Recreation.
I think that the journey from the Parks and Recreation to Good Place really emphesise what TV is, and how it helps us. In the words of the greatest TV fan:
There is skill to it. More importantly, it has to be joyful, effortless, fun. TV defeats its own purpose when it's pushing an agenda, or trying to defeat other TV or being proud or ashamed of itself for existing. It's TV; it's comfort. It's a friend you've known so well, and for so long you just let it be with you, and it needs to be okay for it to have a bad day or phone in a day, and it needs to be okay for it to get on a boat with LeVar Burton and never come back. Because eventually, it all will.
– Abed Nadir in the finale of Community s06e13 "Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television"
The Good Place is that friend. It is here to make you happier, to laugh and cry with you, and finally to make your life a little bit better. And that's why I decided to rewatch it, going myself through a hard time and in need of this comfort escape, that paints a beautiful picture of the happiness at the end of the road for all of us.
Spirited Away (2001)
Fellas, has your dad forget that he drives your family and rally staged a little bit too close to the sun so that you ended in the spirit world? That's the magic of Audi Quattro.
A cautionary tale against consumptionism tell through the great medium of animation. What to tell about this movie that hasn't been told already? One of the most important animations of all time.
One interesting aspect of my personal relation with this movie is that it is deeply uncomfortable for me sometimes. I don't know if this is only me, but the beginning of the movie until protagonist gets to the boiler room is a nightmare and I'm always waiting for it to finish.
Watched on the Studio Ghibli Marathon that sadly I couldn't finish, going home after first movie which was Spirited Away.
Parks and Recreation (2009-2015)
A comforting blanket and bowl of nice soup on cold day in the middle of a winter. Brilliant sitcom filled with charming comedy, quirky and relatable characters, full of passion and love for the world and their work. It's a nice pallet cleanser after the Office, prooving once again that in the battle against nihilism the love is an answer.
If I could recommend one TV show that anyone should watch it would be Parks and Rec. It's gives you hope, that you can overcome the struggles in life with the strong foundation of your found family.
I should write one day about how similar and different the shows by Michael Schur are. Hopefully soon here will be a link to an article about it.
Spy x Family: Code White (2023)
Movie's based on anime are medium less known to me so my perspective is not well-informed. Cute and fun, but more of a special episode then a separate movie.
Final action scene with Yor boss battle is a bit unnesesary for me, and even somewhat dreadfull. I'm much more for the family comedy, cutness and laughter mixed with their poorly executed attempts at beeing normal family despite lacking any kind of role models. The bizzarnes of what they consider normal is the main point of the show and the drawn out action sequences work against that.
Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)
Why this movie exists? Especially with this awful 90s vibe of being more serious. Waste of time and money. Watch first movie yet again, and you would have much more fun.
Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
The obligatory continuation, that has somewhat improved action, not that this mattered. Nice watch, nothing more.
Ok, there is one thing that I like. Billy Rosewood getting more and more unhinged, ending with this supercop, Rambo or Machete style ending was a lot of fun. Especially since it made fun of all of the crap that had yet to come with 90s or Zack Snyder movies. So a little bit worse (but just a little!) but visionary?
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
This movie was so much fun! It somehow balanced action movie, comedy movie and somewhat grounded feeling! Definitely recommend.
The relation and banter between Axel (Eddie Murphy), Det. Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), Sgt. Taggart (John Ashton) is so funny and realistic (and according to IMDb mostly improvised). Eddie is combines in Axel opposites - universal personal charm and quick wit, able to piss off anyone. One of the most believable roles thought all the movies I have watched to this day, superb casting and script choices.
Another surprise is humor, that is not personal or offending but really charming. Especially seeing that this 40 year old movie (birthday at 5th of December) has good queer humor, that could pass in today show targeted for queer audiences by Netflix. Astonishing.
Kobieta z... (2023)
It's hard to review this movie - it's embarrassing that in 2024 it is revolutionary to get basic trans story in Polish cinema. Don't get me wrong - it hits hard and personal, but I expected a little bit more. In the same time - it's a must watch and could have been a little bit better.
Despite my little conflict between being very affected by this movie and wanting something more, I was impressed. The Polish small town was very lovely, conversations grounded and some scenes very personal and intimate. From the craftsmanship standpoint it was almost excellent.
Another bare minimum that we somehow must see as advantage in 2024 is cameos from trans activits, politicians and celebrities in this movie. I hope that we can see more of queer folk in acting roles in Polish cinema in the future.
Side note: coming from Poznań, I was surprised by how much lacking nature the town was. I'm really glad that this time in urbanism is mostly behind us.
Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
The most approachable Hayao Miyazaki movie that I had watched and one of my favorites! I love the car chases with the beautiful Fiat 500, I love Lupin with his gadgets, noble thief personality, I love Fujiko with her strong woman that is the only force capable to oppose and trick Lupin.
For me this movie doesn't feel like something from 1979, action and pacing are surprisingly on par with what we have today.
Space Force (2020-2022)
What a sad, boring show. From how it was shot and how special effects are it makes me angry that so much work went to such weak script.
Steve Carell plays washed up version of Michel Scott and sets the washed up tone for the whole series. You can't as easy create workplace comedy in U.S. Space Force as in paper company, you can't be apolitical while making fun of ridiculous branch of military and you can just hope that look he makes a funny dance is good comedy.
The Office (2005-2013)
The baseline to judge all other sitcoms, not because it's special but for how in the middle it is. It separates good show from the bad ones, with the nice mix of good and bad seasons, arcs and characters.
It's hard to summarize whole 9 seasons, but one thing is clear: how driving away from boring reality ruined the show. The Office is at it's peak when it is trying to find happines in the bleak everyday boringness of office work, when characters want to have fun not because the script wants it but because their boredom motivates them to spice up their life.
No one represents this better then Jim Helpert, a character that trought the series gets washed up into just a cool guy, that hangs out with the gang but is better then them. From guy that pranks his colleague to cope with boring reality in sort of punch up relation becomes a bully that gives up bullying at the end of the road.
Jim and Dwight, heartbreaking but favourite dynamic in the show
I really liked how Jim and Dwight represented two side of the same coin - they both think they deserve better then their current role, that they are meant for greater things. The difference between them is in their acting up on that fact - Jim decides to avoid work as much as possible, relying on how people see him and the mythos that he constructs (soft power) while Dwight seeks any possible way to climb corporate ladder and let his work be the best reflection of his true self (hard power).
In this case the final episodes provides a great conclusion when they are more kind and caring to each other while fully maintaining their dynamic.
I will write more about sitcoms in general soon, just had to finish The Office to get more holistic view on the genre.
Also this skit from the Emmys is one of the best things that happened ever.
Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)
More of a checklist completion for what constitutes movie from this series then actual creation of the true next chapter. Fun movie, but without the strong personal narration and coherence that we loved from the series. I'm a bit sad - I feel like they had the right ingredients to make a worthy sequel but just didn't care or didn't commit hard enough.
The third rule of the street: None’s is interested about your feeling.
Budda. Dzieciak '98 (2024)
It's really hard for me to review this movie - the mojor reason is that this may be my first autobiography that I have seen in cinema. Maybe I don't have the background to review this movie in it's category.
I have very mixed feelings about this movie. The personal context nudges me towards more gullible perspective, when this is really an inspiring story that is worth sharing, with good structure and only small missteps along the way like with pretencious and pseudo-cautious message about the impact of social media that on the one hand can be viewed as needed seeing the average audience age in the movie and on the other hand is an attempt to trick viewer into thinking that this movie has any structure basides look how cool and dedicated influencer I am.
It feels more like a YouTube video then actual movie, somewhat quickly put together from the footage lying around the YouTube channel and it's production leftovers. From what I discussed with my friend who is a viewer, the Budda's channel is filled with content that would shine in a movie - adventures, more technical aspects of car centric video production etc. After all I wish that they would play some of that instead of the movie that I have watched.
Review by Maciej Roch Satora (PL), more negative then mine but it's hard to dissagre with him.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
Review writing in progress
Godzilla x Kong (2021)
I watched this with the sequel at minimaraton event and it was lovely seeing both of this movies together but it has made reviewing them harded due to them mixing in my had together, especially in how similar they are.
This was a true adventure film, that also had some kaijus in it. We have great journey to Hollow Earth, with synthwave music and ships. We have ancient structures with alien like technology that stores the magic artifact that is the only way to defeat Godzilla. It was like watching good Indiana Jones chapters.
I love that Kong is the underdog, that can't outperform Godzilla in pure strength and needs to think to keep up. And Kong keeps up - we even have Assasin's Creed like assasinations and sneaking from him. The monsters have a lot of personality - we seen sorrow, regret, homesickness and generational trauma in Kong. Godzilla is more of a side character, this threat that we know that is close and very dangerous and we know their motivation completely - we see the anger, determination and to my suprise mercy for Kong. Godzilla doesn't want to kill him, only to assert their dominace - any why they feel the need to do it we have a great expansion in the next movie.
Grates Batman v Superman adaptation of all time.
The Promised Land (2023)
Classic tale of man that wants to be left alone having to deal with opening himself to found family and fighting with those who distrub his peace. Well executed, with baeutiful views and stunningly good acting.
Also lots of farming and potatoes. Fills the gap left by more romantized last year Peasants.
The Gentlemen (2024)
Guy Ritchie delivers again. Theo James as Eddie is major suprise for me since I only knew him from awful the Divergent series. Kaya Scodelario as Susie Glass is the shining star of this series. Additionally the setting, scenography and costumes are gorgeus - especially Susie is always so elegant and well coordinated with her outfits, I fallen in love with her style.
The Rock (1996)
It's so avarege that you have feeling that you have seen it before. But! The fan theory about beeing an unofficial Bond legacy mixed with Nicolas Cage and boosted by seeking for tropes that we all know from later Michael Bay works makes the expirience less dry and even quite enjoyable sometimes.
Dune: Part Two (2024)
Let's get the obvious thing out of the way: this movie is a visual masterpiece. Watching it in a cinema is true pleasure for the eyes, I was in disbelief that movie can look this good.
Story wise I have some theory (that may be contradicted by the books, by who cars, I had fun). I feel like the movie is structured more as a story with unreliable narrator, that distorts what happened to make prophecy fullfilment perfect. This solves "contraction" of atheist Chani, that sees but choose to not belive; a Bene Gesserit that had create faith on Arrakis for the prophecy to be fullfilled. We either have some kind of seeing the future (boring) or unreliable narrator that distorts the view of the story based on their particular intrest (probably Bene Gesserit creating faith in the viewers).
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)
Really fun family movie that for one moment slides into Adam Sandler comedy? I don't know, writers think that Sonic is for children and we have some fun for adults? Really weird.
I really like how the lore from the games is mixed up into the movie, the end result is really smooth and natural. Inspiration for all adaptations of comics or games, the mix is excellent.
The Adam Project (2022)
I watched this movie for a performance of Walker Scobell, since one of the reviews of new Percy Jackson TV show mention that he was more Percy in this movie then in the TV series. And I agree, not only he is better Percy, he is one of the best child actors I have ever seen. At the age of 12 years old he not only kept with Ryan Reynolds, but kept with Reynolds that has been playing the same role that he only plays. Truly impressive!
The movie was suprisingly heartwarming, it's a chill action movie that makes you smile. I also really like the dynamic of Mark Ruffalo and Reynolds, I hope to see some of that in a MCU.
Heart of Stone (2023)
Fake hacking is geting good. We have VSCode, nmap, traceroute, MySQL (kinda meaningful!), nmap with some Python action and even some libraries I didn't know like geoip2, love it! Unfortunatelly they don't really keep the role of terminal and text editors seperate but still impressive!
Funny is seeing this movie in the same year that Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One was released, with a similar concept but with infiniatelly better execution. This movie Unfortunatelly has nothing for it which makes me sad.
Also this movie has this feel of potential franchize establishment, bleh.
Keeping Up with the Joneses (2016)
Movie in which Gal Gadot works? I'm suprised! Your standard, generic, boring spy comedy, nothing especially good or bad. Also it's always nice to see Zach Galifianakis in something that isn't Kac Vegas.
Speed (1994)
I wasn't sold on premise when I read the movie description, but I was wrong. This movie is action packed, thrilling with good acting from Keanu Reeves! Seriously, after watching John Wick series, going back to Keanu speaking normally is refreshing. He is such a young sweetie in this movie, love him.
This really is a classic action movie, with great stunt work and fast-paced script.
Dune: Part One (2021)
I knew that this movie was good, I have seen it in IMAX in 2021, but I forgot how good it was. After rewatch (fortunatelly in cinema as a special event before the release of Part Two) is was stunned by what have I seen. Words cannot describe how good this movie is.
Godzilla II: King of Monsters (2019)
I love extended bestiary, ancient humans, Titans as ancient gods. A little too much focus on silly human story, but the visuals pay for it. This movie is definiatelly a wallpaper mine, a visual masterpiece of an action movie.
Argylle (2024)
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) done it better.
Matthew Vaughn another attempt at spy parody, with much more mixed result then previously. It's hard not to compare this movie with much better relative: the first Kingsman. Especially since the Kingsman series is referenced through the movie: wine barrels in Alfie headquarters like bourbon whiskey barrels in Statesman headquarters, emphasis of head smashing, Samuel L. Jackson excited about the progress bar. Argylle is funny with great casting, but lacks in CGI, structure and creativity.
What makes this movie unique is realization of bookworm dream where reality of the beloved book series mixes into ours. Realization of this fantasy is perfect, and is the main source of comedy in this movie.
Watching this movie reminded me of Zack Snyder, where style and visuals were more important then story. This is similar work.
Hazbin Hotel season 1 (2024)
Chaotic, fun, with lovely main couple. I wait for second season, the therapy episodes are my favourites. We need more musicals, especially adult animated ones!
Kick-Ass (2010)
I was avoiding this movie for some time know. I was wrong, it is a quite unique superhero comedy, with a bunch of heart.
The Grand Tour: Sand Job (2024)
Police? Someone has commited homocide on the grand car adventure formula but doing it excatly the same for last 20 years. I miss Seaman special.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)
Suprisingly funny and light. Doesn't have as much flaws as I expected it to has. My main pain is this movie is Wonder Woman. I don't like Gal Gadot in this role, and in this movie she is treaded iRoNicAlY from very sexist perspective. Especially in the first part of the movie when the camera gazes over her body and her face is not shown like it is CW superhero show and DC didn't gave them rights to show her face. Really irritating. Regardless, sometimes fun, simple family movie that doesn't bring anything new but is made quite well. Probably I wouldn't watch it again.
Side note: Shazam and Billy Batson don't have the same personality or even similar one. In this movie they don't even try to make it belivable that they are the same person beside: look! This body replaced previous one!
Upgraded (2024)
Generic romantic unfunny comedy.
The Boy and the Heron (2024)
This movie is a personal journey through relationship of the author (and by extension an artist) with one's art using stunning visuals. Also parrots are absolutely cute.
Mr. ∧ Mrs. Smith season 1 (2024)
Fun romantic commedy with some action and good acting. In love with the main cast, story and structure. Therapy episode as always are the best.
The Beekeeper (2024)
This movie is so interesting. The cultic approach to synthesis of outside of system cop with a few bad apples is so interesting. Jason Statham in this movie is not just his usual normal-job but killer guy - he is a prophet of a bee ideology that utilizes agents above the system to preserve it and throw away bad apples - like bees kill queen when she stops beeing good for a hive. The politics of this movie are fascinating, beeing a radical form of system preservation, redical centrism of sorts. I love Jason Statham normal jobs are for killing people universe.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 1 (2024)
Not a failure, but a dissapointement. Despite the superb casting, the execution is flawed. Most of the characters are washed up version or sometimes meme version of themselves - Annabeth is mostly Percy future love interest, Ares is pathetic goofball and the only flaw in casting - Dionysus is just garbage comedic relief that is played in the same way that Jason Mantzoukas plays all his other characters (the damage he has done to TV will not be forgiven).
Writing issues continue to the pacing of the show, which feels like recap of the first book that you find on YouTube with generated voice narrating it. The only stakes are when we need to make a cliffhanger to the next episode, between it we just wait for something to happen.
It is not a bad TV series, it's a comfort watch, especially for those that have nostalgia for the books (or Percy-Annabeth shippers, she says the word!). It just dissapointing, especially for a person like me that loves the adaptations of the works of Neil Gaiman and has seen how interesting TV series based on mythology coexisting with our era can be.
The Social Network (2010)
It's hard to see pure excellence on the screen when you are not in a cognitive and emotional space to fully appreciate it's beauty. The anxiety, angst, loneliness, chaos and failure at the basic humanity seen in this film are perfectly summarized in the „Hand Covers Bruise”. The soundtrack alone is a masterpiece, paired with the picture it can be overwhelming.
One day I will return to this movie, and I'm already exited for future version of me that can trurly appreciate this film.