At the Movies with Kane and BN

[Kane52630]

Boss Level

Joe Carnahan finally comes back with a mostly entertaining time loop action flick that stars Frank Grillo. Groundhog Day obviously comes to mind, but there's a bit of Edge of Tomorrow, Source Code, and Deadpool that is baked into the tone, story, and humor of this movie. Whenever the movie plays into the time loop aspect where you see Frank Grillo trying and failing to get to the end of the "game", it really works. The cast was also great and it's got actors who made the concept work like Mel Gibson and Michelle Yeoh. Unfortunately whenever the movie stops for a long period of time to explain the mechanics of the story (and what the film is really about) with Naomi Watts, the movie loses its momentum. It's also where you notice the limited budget this movie has. They also rely heavily on self narration which kinda hurt the film because (as much as I like him) Frank Grillo is no Ryan Reynolds. Overall, despite some problems I have with it, it's mostly solid whenever they go into the fun part of the movie.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

Coming 2 America

Eh. If a reunion special was made into a movie, this would be it. While it's foolish to think this will ever top the original, you can't help but to see the night and day difference between the two movies just on the filmmaking alone (where one is cinematic and the other is straight up tv quality). For the most part, they do callbacks to all the characters and nods from the first film and while it's not the most clever thing out there, they do work. All the legacy characters in here aren't really well written as they should and the only new character that really works is Wesley Snipes who absolutely killed it. It almost makes you wish he had his own movie as a militant leader from another fictional African country. Overall, not great but not terrible. As mediocre as this was, this could've gone even worse considering how most of these revival comedies go.
2.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

You know the vibes.

 

[Black Narcissus]

Green for Danger

Murder, love triangles, shady characters, a veteran witty inspector from scotland yard, all set in a WWII hospital. What could go wrong? This was very entertaining to watch. I did figure out whodunit right away tho, so it did lower my score for it just a bit. I guess this was suppose to be the start of a trilogy of sorts following the Inspector in other type of mysteries, but it never worked out. I think Hitch would've liked this. @flickchick85 would too. A very solid 7.

The League of Gentlemen

Goddamn! Every modern team up film owes everything to this movie! From now on, I cannot watch a fast furious, superhero team up etc, you name em' with out thinking of this movie. This is the inception of ''Here's the plan'' we need a demolition expert, a point man, driver, etc. This is it. I gotta look up if Nolan has ever mentioned this movie before. I know for damn sure Quentin took from this for Reservoir Dogs. The only down side was the ending, only because the director wasn't allowed to have his original ending. 9/10

Sorcerer

A rewatch

I watched for the first time around Christmas eve of last year. It never once left me. Revisited again. This what we call a ''mans man'' type of movie. Coppolla went to the vietnam jungle to film his was movie, Friedkin went to south america and shot his. The bridge scene took 3 months to shoot! A box office failure as it came out the same weekend as Star Wars. They don't make them like this anymore, sure as hell don't. The original leads were Steve McQueen and Marcello Mastroianni. McQueen dropped out due to Friedkin not giving his then wife Ali MacGraw a small role in the movie. Mastroianni dropped out because he would only take second bill to McQueen, but not to Roy Scheider. Friedkin has then admitted to not giving into McQueen was his biggest regret for this movie. I like Scheider here, but hard not to imagine what this would've been with McQueen.

Still a classic.

 

[Kane52630]

The United States Vs. Billie Holiday

A mostly mediocre Lee Daniels melodrama about Billie Holiday that features a powerhouse performance by Andra Day. It's got all the typical hollywood music biopic trappings you see with movies like this with a bit more Oscar bait scenes that you see in other films by Lee Daniels. The movie would every now and then deliver a powerful scene that deals with Black issues or a scene where the characters just riff, but it will immediately follow up with something incredibly sloppy, uneven, and mainly trite which is a shame. However, Andra Day as Billie Holiday remains consistent and every time she's on, she's electric and incredible to look at and listen to hear her sing. Overall, it's just passable for a music biopic.
2.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Bull

Rob Morgan continues being incredible in everything. It's a phenomenal character study of a down-on-his-luck bullfighter trying to get by on life (played damn well by Rob Morgan) and a teen who is pretty much on her own while her mother is in prison (played by newcomer Amber Harvard who also knocks it out of the park). It's a really great display of realism where every scene is meticulously sown together by real life experiences. The director Annie Silverstein did a great job humanizing all the characters that feels authentic. Overall, really loved this.
4/5

 

[Kane52630]

Zack Snyder's Justice League

If you ever want to know why editing is important, look no further than this. At 4 hours, saying this movie is too long and self indulgent does not begin to cover what this is. It's essentially a celebration of operatic superheroes and excess which as been always in Zack Snyder's wheelhouse. Plot wise, this is 4 hours of getting to know how this version of the Justice League was formed after the events of Batman Vee Superman. It expands and changes the perspective from the theatrical cut and allowing a lot more sideplots and new characters to show up which isn't necessarily a good thing most of the time.... unless you unabashedly love any fan service. Because oft he length and to fill in time, the film veers off and meanders with scenes that feel repetitive and pointless. On the filmmaking side, I don't think having this claustrophobic aspect ratio helps the movie any good, it makes every scene (especially when it's an action scene) look like a posing shot that was done in studio with greenscreen which probably was the case. The Snyder slowmo comes back with a vengeance for better or worse. As much character/plot development this was given to the main cast... outside of Barry Allen and Victor Stone, I thought it was still lacking in personality and relatability or even enjoyment. There's also several missed opportunities with some of the plot and while it's not this movies fault, it's got several inconsistencies with the later DCEU films. All that being said, I will say I did really enjoy most of the smaller and quieter moments that didn't involve stuff like battling Steppenwolf or fan servicey things like the pointless Joker epilogue. Overall, while I don't hate it, it's not much to root about. Just like me writing this review, this was an exhausting 4 hours. While this wasn't totally up its own ass like BVS or totally a Saturday morning cartoon like theatrical cut of JL, it's still not worth the frenzy.
2/5

 

[Kane52630]

Cherry

This movie is the equivalent of getting one of those novelty burgers where it's like 5 meat patties and 6 buns and all kinds of condiments in between. Sure it looks tasty and well made, but there's way too much crammed into one thing and you can't ever really enjoy properly without it becoming a mess. This tries to be a cautionary tale about opioid addiction and a military drama about PTSD... and it also wants to be a flashy Cohen-brothers-esque bank robbery movie with all kinds of bells and whistles on the filmmaking side. As much as I appreciate the Russo Brothers bringing back the mid-level budget dramas, this was unnecessarily stylish to the point where it kinda loses the message a bit. And also after a while, the movie gets tried of being a extremely flashy movie. That being said, I will say I did enjoy the performances, especially Tom Holland who really tries to level himself up as an actor... even if it means playing Oscar baity roles like this. Ciara Bravo also really impressed me because much like Tom Holland, she really threw herself into the role. Overall, it's a mixed bag and whole I do appreciate the ambition, this was kinda all over the place.
2.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Father

A really well done character drama about a older man experiencing dementia from his POV. It's framed as a almost hitchcockian thriller where you are in his headspace as you are trying to figure out who everyone is and where in the chronology this takes place. It's based on a French play and while you do feel the stagyness of the movie, the plot mechanics makes sense for it and how they use time and space. Anthony Hopkins delivers an incredible and raw performance that will really get you by the end even if those moments feel like Oscar bait. The supporting is also pretty solid including both Olivias (Colman & Williams), Imogen Poots, and Mark Gatiss. Overall, it's really good even though it may not be for everyone.
3.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

FP2: Beats of Rage

♪ Two ninjas roll in, one ninja rolls out! ♪

This was like coming back to your favorite junk food that you haven't had in years. Much like the first FP, this is a pure midnight movie that you have to watch with other people. It continues where the first one left off and in this Mad Max meets Dance Dance Revolution world, they introduce a new villain called AK-47 that resembles Immortan Joe if he had Shang Tsung's soul sucking powers. You do notice they have a better budget this time around and they were able to do things they weren't able to do in the original. While I will say the movie is a bit toned down in the script compared to the first one, they surprisingly made the movie a lot more wholesome and full with heart once they introduce JTRO's father and reveal the plot of the movie. The synth score is just incredible and I really dug the scrappy cinematography this time around. Overall, loved it. It's some ambitious stuff by Jason Trost who keeps the b-movie spirit alive.
4/5

 

[Kane52630]

Also...

FP 2's [contemplative middle eastern music] > Wonder Woman's [ancient lamentation music]

 

[Kane52630]

The World to Come

A quite and poetic romantic drama that sets a love story in the middle of the 19th century in upstate New York. It's a really well done script that uses the verbiage of the time in great effect and as result, it created some solid performances. Katherine Waterston and Vanessa Kirby are both phenomenal in it and their chemistry together is very much believable. Christopher Abbott & Casey Affleck are also pretty good when they are needed in the story. Mona Fastvold does a great job directing it and making sure the setting and story feel authentic and genuine to the issues of their relationship and their dynamic. They also do a great job on having the ability to make ordinary mundane life in the 1800s look interesting. Overall, really loved it. While the slow pace and poetic nature of the movie may not be for everyone, it's really effective in those respects.
4/5

 

[Kane52630]

The White Tiger

Yet another incredible film by Ramin Bahrani. It's a really well packed crime film that takes place in complementary India where you see a rags to riches tale of Balram Halwai (played phenomenally well by Adarsh Gourav). It pretty much takes the classism and wealth inequality theme from Parasite and mash it with the self-narration mob movies like Goodfellas. They also did a great job keeping the different cultures as authentic as possible and actually using it as commentary of the social climate in India. There's some great casting here and I will say, Priyanka Chopra finally leveled up as an actress. What she had to pull off with the story was really well done for the most part. There's some great direction and cinematography that adds to the pacing and story. My one and only complaint is I wish this movie was in two parts and that we actually get to see how his business empire rise and the possible downfall of him. Overall, incredible and riveting stuff.
4/5

 

[Kane52630]

TOP 10

Note: This will include a few releases from 2021 due to the pandemic/awards season

1. Minari
2. The Vast of Night
3. First Cow
4. I’m Thinking of Ending Things
5. The Forty-Year-Old Version
6. Palm Springs
7. Black Bear
8. Sound of Metal
9. Nomadland
10. One Night in Miami…


Grade A

11. Bull
12. Boys State
13. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
14. Tenet
15. The White Tiger
16. Let Him Go
17. Mogul Mowgli
18. Judas and the Black Messiah
19. His House
20. The King of Staten Island
21. Wendy
22. Mangrove
23. Pieces of a Woman
24. Possessor
25. VFW
26. The Short History of the Long Road
27. The Mauritanian
28. The Platform
29. You Cannot Kill David Arquette
30. The Lodge
31. Swallow
32. Soul
33. Wolfwalkers
34. Run
35. The World to Come
36. Time
37. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
38. Bacurau
39. The Assistant
40. Big Time Adolescence
41. I Care a Lot
42. MLK/FBI
43. The Other Lamb
44. FP2: Beats of Rage
45. The Father
46. Saint Maud
47. Mank
48. The Trial of the Chicago 7
49. Our Friend
50. Sweetheart
51. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
52. Hamilton
53. The Rental
54. 1BR
55. Guns Akimbo
56. Alone
57. Proxima
58. Host
59. Ordinary Love
60. Greenland


Grade B

61. I’m Your Woman
62. Promising Young Woman
63. Bad Education
64. La Llorona
65. Another Round
66. Valley Girl
67. Skylines
68. Malcolm & Marie
69. A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
70. The Invisible Man
71. Da 5 Bloods
72. Underwater
73. The Way Back
74. Color Out of Space
75. Happiest Season
76. The Croods: A New Age
77. Nocturne
78. Love and Monsters
79. Superman: Man of Tomorrow
80. Sputnik
81. Enola Holmes
82. News of the World
83. Project Power
84. The Wolf of Snow Hollow
85. Hammer
86. The Empty Man
87. Bad Trip
88. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
89. The Quarry
90. The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
91. Vampires vs. the Bronx
92. Shadow in the Cloud


Grade C

93. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
94. The Personal History of David Copperfield
95. Bad Hair
96. Superman: Red Son
97. Scoob!
98. Land
99. On the Rocks
100. The Photograph
101. An American Pickle
102. Lost Girls & Love Hotels
103. The Broken Hearts Gallery
104. Summerland
105. Sonic the Hedgehog
106. We Summon the Darkness
107. The Beach House
108. Relic
109. Gretel & Hansel
110. Freaky
111. The United States vs. Billie Holiday
112. Black Box
113. Peninsula
114. Rebecca
115. Impractical Jokers: The Movie
116. Class Action Park
117. Downhill
118. Extraction
119. The Devil All the Time
120. The Gentlemen
121. Let Them All Talk
122. The Dark and the Wicked
123. Kajillionaire
124. Come Play
125. The Little Things
126. Unhinged
127. Dreamland
128. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run
129. Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story
130. Bad Boys for Life
131. Vivarium
132. Blood Machines
133. Hubie Halloween
134. Onward
135. The Hunt
136. Ammonite
137. The Lovebirds
138. Amulet
139. The Witches
140. Fatman
141. The High Note
142. Blood Quantum
143. Cherry
144. The New Mutants


Grade D

145. Irresistible
146. Ava
147. You Should Have Left
148. Last Moment of Clarity
149. Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
150. Evil Eye
151. Emma.
152. The Old Guard
153. Shirley
154. The Rhythm Section
155. Bill & Ted Face the Music
156. Arkansas
157. Greed
158. Becky
159. My Spy
160. Mulan
161. Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge
162. Antebellum
163. The Tax Collector
164. Greyhound
165. Hillbilly Elegy
166. The Banker
167. Trolls World Tour
168. The Jesus Rolls
169. The Call of the Wild
170. Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons
171. The Midnight Sky


Grade F

172. Wonder Woman 1984
173. All My Life
174. The War with Grandpa
175. Force of Nature
176. The Night Clerk
177. The Iron Mask
178. Chick Fight
179. The Babysitter: Killer Queen
180. Capone
181. The Grudge
182. Songbird
183. Bloodshot
184. Monster Hunter
185. Above Suspicion
186. Jiu Jitsu
187. Blue Story
188. The Turning
189. Brahms: The Boy II
190. Dolittle


Bottom 10

191. Seberg
192. Like a Boss
193. Artemis Fowl
194. Fatale
195. Fantasy Island
196. The Lie
197. Homeward
198. Money Plane
199. Music
200. A Fall From Grace

 

[Black Narcissus]

Danger Diabolik

Directed by Mario Bava and composed by Ennio Morricone.

What if you took James Bond and Batman all in one movie? With a Batcave that would make Bruce Wayne jealous and car gadgets which would make Bond envious. This is it. Instead of Robin or "Q'', he has a busty loyal blonde willing to die for him at any cost. Set in the late 60s with a knock off Goldfinger type villain. I'm honestly in awe of this, so much damn fun to watch. I was disappointed to see that they did not continue making more, not until a modern reboot which was suppose to come out last year and now will do so sometime this year. This would make a great double feature with 'Barbarella'.

I had a blast watching this.

8/10

 

[Kane52630]

Nobody

*dies from Saul Goodman monologuing*

This was an absolute fun action film. It takes the John Wick story model and mixed it with the Home Alone style traps of the Equalizer and then sprinkle in some much needed pathos. They did a much better job setting up Bob Odenkirk with his daily routine as a father and husband with some funny moments. It's a phenomenal performance by Bob Odenkirk who essentially playing a much less depressed version of Gene Takovic in the black & white scenes of Better Call Saul. While there's not a whole lot of action in the first half, there's plenty of great character moments that would lead up to what the plot of the movie is. The bus fight scene is probably the best scene in the movie and I do like how messy the fights are and how brutal it got. From then on the movie takes shape and it becomes that John Wick meets Equalizer movie that has all the action scenes you want that ranges from gory to slapstick to classy. Overall, loved it. This automatically gets a 4 star rating for having Christopher Lloyd just straight up murder people on screen.
4/5

 

[Kane52630]

Boogie

A hood sports movie that feels like it came from the 90s that genuinely wants to say something important, but don't know how to say it effectively. It's essentially a hoop dreams story from the pov of a Chinese American kid who struggle trying to get into the NBA and the big problem with the movie is it doesn't want to achieve something more than that. The characterization of most of the characters are halfbaked and cliched. And almost nothing was new that was brought to the table other than the baseline of it being centered on a Chinese American hood kid from Queens and his family. Taylor Takahashi who plays Boogie doesn't seem likeable despite his struggles, but they also don't give you anyone to root for which is kinda a big problem if you're doing a sports movie. The romance with Taylour Paige is also halfbaked and falls flat for the most part. And how the movie resolves feel unimportant which is so strange for a sports movie. The only positive things i have to say on the filmmaking side is it's shot well and some of the direction is interesting. They do something with Pamelyn Chee's character who plays the mom and while they don't really get into her story that much, she stands out from the rest. Overall, it hurts to say this coming from someone who was from Queens, this was pretty mediocre It's a shame that this had the opportunity to say something more about real issues like race and systemic inequality, but it was afraid to go there. It's like what a lot of folks are saying, this was like watching a live action career mode on NBA 2K.
2/5

 

[Black Narcissus]

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

What does a bore millionaire do on his free time? He is a bank heist mastermind of course.

Steve McQueen
Faye Dunaway

Every time I revisit this it still plenty of fun. McQueen is one of the few American actors that could've done James Bond justice imo. @DKDetective

Also, might be an unpopular opinion, but I don't hate the Pierce Brosnan remake. Eh.

 

[Kane52630]

Godzilla vs. Kong

Somehow this was more coherent than Batman V. Superman. Adam Wingard understands that most Kaiju movies are inherently big dumb rollercoaster rides and he went all in on this from the ridiculous plot of the hollow earth theory to the pro wrestling style fights. The action does deliver and on a wide scope level and they do a good job showing the fights clearly and they include some surprises. That being said, this still suffers from the terrible Bayformers human characters that drag down the film. They're just there to fill time and almost none of the funny moments stick out. I will say though, the kid and Rebecca Hall was tolerable despite truly iconic lines like "Kong bows to no one." I saw this on Dolby which has incredible sound that will rumble your seats from start to finish and it's truly the only thing that kept me from disliking this. Overall, of the current Monsterverse, it's no Kong Skull Island, but it's somewhat entertaining on a summer blockbuster level nonetheless.
2.5/5

 

[Black Narcissus]

I'm Your Woman

A woman is forced to go on the run with her baby after her husband betrays his partners in crime.

Rachel Brosnahan is simply a great actress. Any other year and this would've been at least worth of an oscar nom. Director Julia Hart really nailed the 70s crime thriller setting. Hell, this would be considered part of the 70s classic movies now, if it had been made back then. This reminded me of the often under rated classic 'The Friends of Eddie Coyle'. Slow burning and a few cliche set pieces here and there, but this nails it.

8/10

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Kane52630]

Concrete Cowboy

Mostly decent. It's a got a few bright moments in a mostly familiar territory of a coming of age story. It's unfortunate for me to see this movie after watching Rob Morgan's Bull which has a very similar premise, but Bull has more to say in a realistic way with a lesser budget. Where this movie excels is when they use the real members from the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club as the supporting cast and whenever they are on screen, it's electric. It almost has the feeling of Nomadland which was interesting. Caleb McLaughlin did a pretty good job and proves he can do more than just Stranger Things. I liked Jharrel Jerome in here even though his character feels like it came from Boyz n the Hood. And as much as I like Idris Elba, he feels totally out of place in here and he's not in it for long. Overall, it's decent but this could've been so much better.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Unholy

To be blunt, what a weird ass movie. From a filmmaking perspective, this was such a bizarre viewing on multiple ways. For a typical religious horror flick, this manages to be both incredibly generic and fascinating at the same time with the direction this movie takes. Especially for a cast that has Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Cary Elwes, Katie Aselton, and William Sadler, it's weird how everything comes together. It centers on Cricket Brown's character who is actually decent who plays the deaf girl. This essentially takes Mario Bava's Black Sunday with the Salem Witch Trials and combined it with The Omen. There's plenty of bad jump scares that takes you by surprise because of how lazy they are. On the positive side, the Mary creature is actually interesting and they don't shy away from it which was a bit refreshing. Overall, this is pretty much the bargain bin version of Saint Maud, but I had some fun watching this.
2/5

 

[Kane52630]

@flickchick85 @Black Narcissus @kvz5 @KRYPTON INC. @DKDetective @StarLord @Hunter Rider @scarlet-witch @Snow Queen

I'm trying to think of ways that can bring back the Deathmatch days of the Hype and I'm tagging you folks just to get a sense if this could work. Would any of you be interested in a fantasy movie draft?

 

[Black Narcissus]

@flickchick85 @Black Narcissus @kvz5 @KRYPTON INC. @DKDetective @StarLord @Hunter Rider @scarlet-witch @Snow Queen

I'm trying to think of ways that can bring back the Deathmatch days of the Hype and I'm tagging you folks just to get a sense if this could work. Would any of you be interested in a fantasy movie draft?

Sign me up, bald man.