At the Movies with Kane and BN

[Black Narcissus]

Possessor

A literal mind**** by the son of David Cronenberg. Don't wanna give everything away plot wise, but it's if he had Scanners crossed with Under The Skin and The Cell with a little bit of Ghost in the Shell and Inception thrown in. Andrea Riseborough, who's always great in everything, delivers an all time performance and Christopher Abbott was incredible in it when it got to the 2nd half of the movie. In classic Cronenberg fashion, the body horror was gruesome in a bizarre way. Cinematography and the music was also excellent. That being said, I will say the movie is a bit rough around the edges, it's not as glossy as it wants to be and there's a bit of a pacing issue. Overall, it's worth checking out if you are a Cronenberg fan or a fan of trippy scifi horror films like Mandy.
4/5



@StarLord @Black Narcissus @Boom

Did you watch a bootleg? Tis' ain't available on digital and want to give my money to Cronenberg.

 

[Kane52630]

Did you watch a bootleg? Tis' ain't available on digital and want to give my money to Cronenberg.

 

[Kane52630]

Shirley

It was alright. It's less of a typical biopic of Shirley Jackson and more of a modern update of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and where the pov character isn't really the title character. It's a performance driven film so naturally the cast was great especially Elisabeth Moss who is trying so hard to get that Oscar nom. Also Odessa Young was surprisingly great in it. Biggest problem I have with it was the pacing and the plot is a bit all over the place. Overall, it's not bad, but also kinda disappointing.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

Hammer

An incredible fast-paced family crime thriller that does a lot with a tiny budget. It reminded me of Blue Ruin and Cold in July where it's a crime story set in a small broken town and they use that to their advantage. They also do the smart thing by getting you right into the plot, so you learn who everyone is as it goes along. Performances are great and it's got a bit of Safdie brothers vibes with the characters. Overall, I really dug it, it's not perfect, but there's a lot to admire about it.
4/5

 

[Kane52630]

The King of Staten Island

Quiet possibly the best film by Judd Apatow and that can all depend on whether or not you like Pete Davidson. It's essentially a story that's loosely based on Pete Davison's life who's working through his problems and it works way more than Adam Sandler's Funny People. While they don't try to make Pete Davidson's character sympathetic, they give you enough charm to root for him. The supporting cast was phenomenal. Everyone from Bill Burr, Marisa Tomei, and Bel Powley (who does a solid Staten Island accent) to Maude Apatow, Steve Buscemi, and Pamela Adlon were great. The movie is a character study so it isn't dependent on plot, but the story does come all together perfectly. They do a great job on making every scene feel natural and lived in and also highlighting a part of NYC that doesn't feel phony and rich. If I have any complaints, it would probably be the length. Overall, it might be the best movie of the year so far.
4.5/5

 

[Black Narcissus]

Polytechnique

A rewatch. This is still haunting and relevant as ever.

Villeneuve is a master.

 

[Kane52630]

Artemis Fowl

Incoherent and dreadful. I felt like I was stuck in a room where everyone is playing some generic fantasy tabletop game and not knowing what anything means. This so desperately wants to be Spy Kids meets Harry Potter meets Men in Black. Every move this movie makes just feels cold and calculated while at the same time is trying to cram in so much story with no downtime. It's 90 minutes long, but it felt like 3 hours. Even the music doesn't let you breathe, it's always constantly going. The lead they have in this is so uninteresting and dull. Oddly enough, the only character that keeps your interest is Josh Gad. Also, between this and Cats, Judi Dench should fire her agent. Overall, it's a Grade A mess by Disney.
1/5

 

[Kane52630]

Da 5 Bloods

Kinda like with most Spike Lee joints, it was unconventional and raw even if it doesn't completely work. Based on his recent works, it reminds me more of Chi-Raq than BlacKkKlansman, where it feels more like a stage play than an actual movie that's filled with mini history lessons.The cast was great, but it was clear early on that this is Delroy Lindo's movie. Even if you despise his character, he was the most complex one out of everyone. It also has a Vietnam war movie plot as they go to find Chadwick Boseman's remains and the gold they hid. Overall, it's more or less on the same quality as BlacKkKlansman where it's great... but the unconventional nature gets in the way of the movie.
3.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Blood Machines

It's not much of a movie but a elongated music video by Carpenter Brut and Seth Ickerman (it's not even an hour long). Essentially, it's the longer and more expensive version of Carpenter Brut's Turbo Killer where it's like a cross between Kung Fury and Mandy. It's all psychedelic visuals and music with little emphasis on story. Joëlle Berckmans and Elisa Lasowski were great in it. I don't think it needs a rating, but If you're a synthwave fan, it's a must see even though it's a lot of beautiful nonsense.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

You Should Have Left

Not bad, but not great. It feels like a lesser Stephen King novel that someone adapted where the scares aren't the main priority, but the relationship drama is. Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried both are really good in here especially when it revolves around their relationship where there's a big disconnect due to their ages. There's some mystery, but you can guess where it's headed by the half way point. As for the scares themselves, it's pretty weak. It plays like someone saw Insidious or any number of haunted house movies by Blumhouse. I will say David Koepp did a great job directing it and made it look like there's a decent budget. Overall, it's alright.
3/5

 

[Black Narcissus]

Recap of the films I've seen past weeks or so:

Da 5 Bloods

Eh, I was truly let down by this. The story and cast is enough to get my hyped, but the final product was just wasted. Some of the acting here is cliche and over the top for me, but it does have a few good moments. Spike is still iffy on action set pieces. This could've been so much more. 5/10.

The Vast of Night

This was the director first film and was very impressed with this. I did feel like it took a bit too long to set up the main story tho, and he was definitely kinda showing off with his walk and talk hand held moment in the opening, which does feel it goes on a bit too long. I don't remember if they do say what year this takes place, but going by cars could be early 50s, got nods here and there to other films. Hell, this could've easily been called ROSWELL. The two leads do a great job with the material. The director made a great meal with left over food! I can see this guy with a bigger budget and doing something great. The page for this flick has all the film festivals this was rejected from. Now I question the taste of those folks in charge. A solid 7/10.

Available on amazon prime.

Belle de Jour

A young bored wife decides to walk into the world of prostitution, while still loving her husband.


1967 film directed by Luis Buñuel. I must admit to never really gone down the rabbit hole with Buñuel films. This was my first. I read that Hitchcock loved this film so much that he began to feel a bit of regret of not ''exploring more sexuality'' in his own films. Buñuel estate has dozens of letters from Hitch, and many of them talk about this flick. When you make an old master like Hitch fanboy, you know one has a classic. I must say, we in the year 2020 and this material/scenes could never be done again in todays climate. This is by far sexist, erotic, filled with masochistic tendencies and our main lady played by the wonderful Catherine Deneuve is merely an object. But it is beautiful to watch, even if some scenes border on the absurd. Hitch was definitely sexually repressed and it can be seen in some of his work. Here, Buñuel might as well be a male rabbit loose with nothing but women. Also, the ending is kinda of a mess. Buñuel admitted that he didn't know what it meant, it does feel like he just didn't know how to finish this and left it open ended on purpose.

8/10.

 

[Black Narcissus]

The Man with the Golden Gun

I like a girl in a bikini. No concealed weapons.

The right amount of sexism, racism, a drink of great misogynist moments by our favorite dinosaur of that era.

In one scene Moore's Bond threatens to break a dame's arm, if she didn't give up information, this is after slapping her a few times. What happened to the charm mister Bond? All is well! Nothing a nice glass of champagne can't fix. I always felt like
Hervé Villechaize deserved better both as a person and an actor, what a tragic ending. Seeing Roger Moore do some of the fight scenes is laughably bad. Christopher Lee's character also deserved a much better movie. His villain was damn good. Still, this is always an easy rewatch for me.

 

[Kane52630]

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

A somewhat enjoyable Will Ferrell comedy. It kinda falls in line with his lesser hits like Blades of Glory and Semi-Pro where there are some good moments, but it's nowhere near his classics. I thought Rachel McAdams, Pierce Brosnan, and Dan Stevens were pretty good and entertaining for what they had to do. It's shot beautifully and having it shot in Iceland stands out with his other films. That being said, probably the biggest issue this movie has is it drags in the middle, this should have been a breezy 90 minute comedy. Overall, not bad but not great.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

Irresistible

A surprisingly schmaltzy political comedy/drama from Jon Stewart that takes a look at the small towns that usually get bombarded by political campaigns every 4 years. I will say it starts off kinda strong, it's takes jabs at both political parties and how their operate. The comedy is pretty hit or miss and even the hits don't really hit that strong. It almost takes a naive take on politics and how they run campaigns and almost feels like they wanted to make this like a James Stewart movie with Steve Carell. The middle really drags and you keep wondering what the point of this movie is until it gets to the end where things get revealed. Overall, it's an okay movie. This should have been so much better than it actually is considering the cast and crew behind this.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Vast of Night

An incredible micro-budgeted sci-fi thriller that borrows heavily from The Twilight Zone/Outer Limits and Steven Spielberg. From a story perspective, it's surprisingly dense for what little they show and it plays out like the Orson Welles's War of the Worlds with their radio broadcast. With the amount of good dialogue they have in here, it's almost as if Aaron Sorkin wrote a UFO movie with Steven Spielberg. They also cast some great actors like Sierra McCormick and Jake Horowitz to deliver that dialogue. Directing wise, Andrew Patterson was phenomenal especially as a first time director and impressive considering the extremely low budget. If I had any complaints, it would be that I wish the payoff gave us a little more. Overall, it's might be my favorite movie of the year so far.
4.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Short History of the Long Road (2020)

A solid little gem of a film that's got a great performance by Sabrina Carpenter who's trying to make her mark outside of Disney. For a character piece that's about family drama that also stands as a "on the road" movie, it really works. It's got shades of Leave No Trace and Captain Fantastic in terms of theme and circumstance. There's also some great performances by Steven Ogg, Danny Trejo, and Maggie Siff who all elevate this movie. It's also shot so well and directed phenomenally by Ani Simon-Kennedy. Overall, I really dug it. It's exactly the kind of breezy indie film that I always look for every year.
4/5

 

[Black Narcissus]

Double Date

Man, I had a blast watching this. After the opening scene you kinda feel like you in for the usual horror plot type, but then the next scene that follows the other characters is hilarious. A very Shaun of The Dead type humor. Kinda brilliant. You take two cliche type characters that one would generally see in a romantic/comedy and place them in a horror element. I laughed a lot. The horror moments were also done very well. I think this would make a good double feature with ''Jennifer's Body''. I also got the sense the director watched 'Martyrs' but decided to keep it funny, if that makes any sense.

I also recommend going in blind, dont watch trailers.

8/10

@StarLord
@Kane52630
@Ash J. Williams

 

[Kane52630]

Force of Nature

Taking out the Mel Gibson & Emile Hirsch problem, this was a pretty typical direct to video movie that takes a recycled heist thriller plot and adds a hurricane element that was nothing more than heavy rain. Emile Hirsch is actually the main star of this and they try to give him more in terms of characterization, but it's all sorta meaningless when it comes to the plot. Kate Bosworth is kinda wasted in this and David Zayas plays the cartoon villain. Stephanie Cayo is the newcomer and is probably the only one who stands out from this in a good way. Hopefully she gets better roles after this. There's also a bizarre side plot that takes a wild turn at the end that takes it to almost Asylum levels. Overall, it's mostly forgettable.
2/5

 

[Kane52630]

Hamilton

Didn't go in with expecting a lot since I'm not huge into musicals/plays, but it was solid. My only criticism is it's way too long and it takes a while to get really good. Cast is phenomenal though (Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr, Daveed Diggs, and Christopher Jackson in particular) and I dug the lighter moments in-between the serious stuff like Jonathan Groff as King George III. Overall, prettay prettay good.
3.5/5

 

[StarLord]

Double Date

Man, I had a blast watching this. After the opening scene you kinda feel like you in for the usual horror plot type, but then the next scene that follows the other characters is hilarious. A very Shaun of The Dead type humor. Kinda brilliant. You take two cliche type characters that one would generally see in a romantic/comedy and place them in a horror element. I laughed a lot. The horror moments were also done very well. I think this would make a good double feature with ''Jennifer's Body''. I also got the sense the director watched 'Martyrs' but decided to keep it funny, if that makes any sense.

I also recommend going in blind, dont watch trailers.

8/10

@StarLord
@Kane52630
@Ash J. Williams

I've seen it listed but not watched it. Maybe give it a go soon.

Have you seen We Summon the Darkness yet?

Spoiler

Force of Nature

Taking out the Mel Gibson & Emile Hirsch problem, this was a pretty typical direct to video movie that takes a recycled heist thriller plot and adds a hurricane element that was nothing more than heavy rain. Emile Hirsch is actually the main star of this and they try to give him more in terms of characterization, but it's all sorta meaningless when it comes to the plot. Kate Bosworth is kinda wasted in this and David Zayas plays the cartoon villain. Stephanie Cayo is the newcomer and is probably the only one who stands out from this in a good way. Hopefully she gets better roles after this. There's also a bizarre side plot that takes a wild turn at the end that takes it to almost Asylum levels. Overall, it's mostly forgettable.
2/5

I watched the trailer and it looks incredibly cheapo. Not a fan of Bosworth but Mel and Emile sure are slumming it these days.

 

[Black Narcissus]

I don't follow Daddario's acting career, only for her gifs, but that one looks decent. I'll add it to my list.

 

[Kane52630]

She's got another movie coming up called Lost Girls and Love Hotels.

looks decent...

Lost Girls & Love Hotels Teaser Featuring Alexandra Daddario

 

[Black Narcissus]

The Old Guard

Gina Prince-Bythewood stepped up and delivered in her first big action budget. She did a hell of a job with the action. I can't give her enough props for that. I can easily see DC/Marvel give her a shot.

This story/plotline shouldn't work, but it blends together ok, enough to give it a pass. I'm not familiar at all with the graphic novels. This is like 'Highlander meets Edge of Tomorrow', but on a much lower scale. Charlize Theron is so great in anything she does. She is one of the few actress that I can easily buy kicking ass on screen. Not to go sidetracked for a bit, but never bought Scarjo as BW for example. Eh. Kiki Layne was good in the action bits, but her acting left me cold. Hell, I think she was miscast. My mans Chiwetel Ejiofor deserves much more. After a great acting performance in !2 Years A Slave, his talent is still being wasted here, marvel, and elsewhere. @Da-Scribe knows what I mean by that. Hollywood building up a brotha only to go nah, we ain't gonna let you become what you should've been, take some scraps. Some of the characters were indeed cliche, and the main bad guy is just lazy, but the action and mostly Theron's acting keeps ya hooked. Some of the music choices weren't bad, but just didn't fit. Pacing could've been a bit sharper, but I get it, they was trying to set up this world. I didn't have issue with the sequel set up and that cliffhanger at the end was worth it. I will be bummed if they don't make a sequel after that. A particular scene during the exposition moment that happens in all of these flicks is what made that character straight up haunting.

A solid 7.

 

[Kane52630]

Money Plane

Hilariously awful. There's direct to video awful and there's whatever Andrew Lawrence made with this. This **** is so cheap you'd think you were watching something by the Asylum. All the dialogue sounds like it came from a 13 year old who just watched his first heist film. Aside from Thomas Jane (who's just playing Thomas Jane), Edge and everyone else was pretty terrible except for maybe Katrina Norman who was kinda trying. The other Lawrence brothers were there just to support their little brother. Kelsey Grammer's performance is probably the most egregious and hilarious out of everyone, he goes full on Tony Montana near the end. Overall, it's pretty much one of the worst films of the year. It's exactly the kind of bad HDTGM would cover.
1/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Old Guard

A half baked idea for a movie in which what looks like a two hour pilot for a Netflix show. This could have been so much better than it actually was. Charlize Theron pretty much carries the film, but not enough to polish the pretty bland script shockingly by Greg Rucka. It's almost as if they wanted make the Netflix version of The Boys but didn't want to commit the time and effort. There's a lot of good moments in here, but none of it really comes together and comes off kinda generic. The flashbacks are probably the more interesting scenes, but they don't really explore the mythos and legends at all, it's all mostly for window dressing. As for the action, it's good but nothing too out of the ordinary. Overall, it's a boring watch.
2.5/5