At the Movies with Kane and BN

[Kane52630]

Moonfall

Three things before I start:

1. Toto didn't deserve this.
2. I apologize to Geostorm and 2012.
3. #FreeBagels.

It's yet another Roland Emmerich movie in which he tries to recapture the magic that was Independence Day, but this time with a moon heading towards earth with a big surprise. This uses the same playbook to a tee except worse.They spend a lot of the opening act to use a lot of scientific mumbo jumbo to make it all sound legitimate to make you buy into it, but it doesn't work this time. The main characters like Patrick Wilson and Halle Berry lacks a lot of charm and the writing is so incredibly half-baked and convenient you don't really care for anyone to survive...except for maybe a cat who Samwell Tarly named... wait for it... Fuzz Aldrin. How governments and NASA responds and function to this crisis is comical. Probably the biggest complaint I got for this is this movie weirdly rewards conspiracy theorists which in today's age is... kinda troubling. I will say I did enjoy certain shots and cinematography where they use scale to its advantage. All that being said, once it gets to the 3rd act exposition dump, this movie jumps to a whole new level of wild that only somebody like Roland Emmerich can achieve. It's definitely a future episode of the How Did This Get Made? podcast. Overall, while I don't think it's his worst film (that belongs to ID Resurgence), it's a wild ride of dumb and stupidity that belongs in WTF cinema.
1.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Jackass Forever

Ehren McGhehey deserves the noble peace prize and the purple heart.

I want everyone to read the first line on wikipedia under plot, it's exactly the theme of this movie more so than the previous installments. The old gang is back and what they have this time is a fair share of updated old pranks and stunts along with some new stuff that were both innovated and f***ed up. The movie also serves as a passing the touch/initiation as they introduce a younger generation of dudes and dudettes that have watched and idolized these guys since they were little. Some of the stunts and pranks that had me rolling: Silence of the Lambs, Spider Helmet, Dirty Dancing, Electric Dance, The Cup Test (which becomes so painful to watch), and Dum Dum Games. If I had any complaints, it would be they didn't use everyone in the new cast that often like Rachel Wolfson, but I'm assuming it's all in the extended cut. Overall, while I don't think it's my favorite one of the series, it's still one of the more entertaining theater experiences I had in a while.
4.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

A Hero

A phenomenal morality tale by Asghar Farhadi of a man who's in debt trying to get himself out of prison with trying to do a good deed no matter what it takes. There's definitely some shades of Uncut Gems considering how the story is constructed only it's somehow less chaotic yet more emotionally draining. With how wide the scope this story becomes and how it examines media and the court of public opinions, it's still a character drama at the center of it and I thought Amir Jadidi did a great job with it. Also, Mohsen Tanabandeh and Sahar Goldoost both have some scene stealers that were wonderful. Overall, a great film and while I think A Separation still might be my favorite film from his, A Hero is right up there.
4/5

 

[Kane52630]

Army of Thieves

For a prequel that nobody asked for, this was somewhat entertaining at times, but mostly... it's a very plain heist thriller that feels like it's a pilot for a Netflix show. Much like Army of the Dead, this was also incredibly stylized that deals with a heist crew trying to find a safe cracker... Only it doesn't really involve zombies even though the movie is happening while there's a zombie apocalypse in Vegas. While the safe cracking scenes are pretty interesting, everything surrounding it feels like it's just filling time. This definitely doesn't need to be over 2 hours long. Out of the whole cast I feel like Dieter was the only well written character. Overall, it's a bit of a dud for me that has all the hallmarks of a netflix show that gets made over and over.
2/5

 

[Kane52630]

A Journal for Jordan

An absolute snooze fest.

It's a melodramatic romantic drama that belongs on the Hallmark channel where the two leads have little to no chemistry. Despite having Michael B. Jordan and his charm, it's basically a movie filled with scenes where you're watching a couple with boring personalities get together. Lots of predicable moments that doesn't really amount to much. Considering how bland this is, it's even more shocking to find out that Denzel directed this with Virgil Williams's screenplay. Overall, it's a dull mess.
1.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Many Saints of Newark

As someone who's only seen like the first couple episodes of The Sopranos, I thought it was pretty enjoyable. I'm sure there's plenty of things that are worth criticizing in regards to the show, but I'm just viewing this as a single self contained movie. While it's got all the mobster drama cliches baked in, it's elevated by the performances by the cast, mainly Alessandro Nivola, Leslie Odom Jr, and Vera Farmiga. I also thought Michela De Rossi was the breakout star in this who pretty much plays the wife of a mobster. I felt like the movie was at its strongest when it's dealing with the riots and the family divide. My only issue is they didn't know how to end this, so a lot of the plot in the 3rd act felt rushed with them trying to connect it to the show. Overall, enjoyable but it could have used another 30 minutes to better develop the story.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

American Underdog

Surprisingly this wasn't extremely faith based as the trailer made it out to be, that being said, this was a pretty average sports biopic (maybe below average) about Kurt Warner. It's super sanitized to where all the nuanced is gone and what you get is a checklist of sports biopic cliches. The only things that made this somewhat watchable were some of the cheesy moments and Zachary Levi who is the only person holding this together with likable attitude to whatever scene he's in. Overall, while it's not the worst thing out there, it's about exactly what you'd expect this to be.
2/5

 

[Kane52630]

Summertime

Carlos López Estrada continues to be one of my favorite directors around. This was a fantastic journey which is essentially a series of poems spoken through various different people that all center around their love and hate for Los Angeles and life in general. It also tackles several other hot topic issues like gentrification, rise to fame, and identity. I will say it took me time to get used to the format and the characters who are not really the most likable people around, but the movie eventually won me over by the half way point. The movie does a great job where it expertly transition from one set of characters to another and how they all intertwine with each other is really well done. This film has a lot of laid back indie spunk where the filmmakers take chances on certain moments and let it loose, it's very similar to a Richard Linklater film. It manages to create one of my favorite fast food restaurant scenes ever. Overall, I really dug it. While I still believe Blindspotting is his best film, this follows right after.
4/5

 

[Kane52630]

New York Ninja

For a movie that was lost and forgotten by time, Vinegar Syndrome manages to resurrect this 1984 urban martial arts film that has all the potential of being a cult classic for garbage cinema. They did a great job with the transfer because ever frame of this is pristine and because they weren't able to find the audio, the soundtrack, and the original script, they had to rerecord all the dialogue (that they made up) with different actors and new music. It pretty much feels like a Frankenstein monster of a movie where you see all the pieces joined awkwardly together and yet you're fascinated to see it keep going. The synth soundtrack by Voyag3r is incredibly on point. As for the story itself, it's pretty much a Bruceploitation movie set in the concrete jungle of NY in the 80s, but it's oddly more similar to a comic book movie... mainly something like Batman or Daredevil with a tinge of Death Wish. The sh** gets really wild once they introduce the bad guys who are straight up comic book villains. Overall, it's definitely worthy of checking out if you're into garage cinema like Samurai Cop or Miami Connection.
4/5

 

[Kane52630]

Jockey

While this isn't doing anything new that other indie sports dramas have done already (IE The Wrestler), this does give Clifton Collins Jr. some shine as a compelling leading actor in a movie. It's a well directed, incredibly well shot character drama that goes into the struggles of horse jockeying and personal relationships. Moises Arias, who I always liked, was also a stand out in the movie where his connection to Clifton Collins Jr. was interesting. I kinda wished they gave Molly Parker a bit more to do even though she's pretty good in here. The biggest problem I have with this is it spends a bit too much on coasting on the view and atmosphere that it doesn't really cut deep into the story as big as they wanted to. It always stays at an arms length with the characters and tension and I wish it got more heated. Overall, it's good for what it is, but it could have been so much better.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

Death on the Nile

Gal Gadot is really on a path to f**k with Egypt as much as possible.

Kenneth Branagh returns as Hercule Poirot in a more predictable whodunnit story than his previous Agatha Christie movie. It's hard to watch this movie with Knives Out in the back your head because this goes back to a classic whodunnit structure, so you're not trying to overthink the outcome of the story or find anything in here clever. The performances are pretty mixed to bad where there's a lot of campy acting going on that sometimes works. Russell Brand and Emma Mackey were the only performances I enjoyed that felt genuine in the movie. The other highlight was they gave Kenneth Branagh's mustache an origin story which cracked me up. The cinematography is odd because while the bad green screen is so incredibly noticeable at times, they would have real shots in between the scenes that looked really good. Overall, it's all below average in quality that will be forgotten in a couple of months.
2/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Water Man

Not bad for a coming of age/fairy tale fantasy adventure flick that really takes inspiration from Amblin films from the 80s. Right from the get go you kinda know what to expect with the plot and what choices this movie will make. It's essentially a kid using escapism to cope with her mother dying from leukemia (played by Rosario Dawson). David Oyelowo makes his directorial debut and he did a pretty good job all things considered and he's also in it playing the dad. It's got a good notable cast but I thought the real stars of the movie was Lonnie Chavis and Amiah Miller who play the main kids who got lost in the woods trying to find the Water Man. Overall, while the writing is pretty predictable and it feels like it was made for classroom kids, this has some moments that really worked.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

Together Together

It's one of those romcom dramas that feels like it's going to be bland from the start, but it quickly wins you over with how it's executed and when you find out it's really a anti-romantic comedy. It's one of these kinds of movies that really works because of Patti Harrison's performance who is incredible in this playing a surrogate mother. Ed Helms pretty much plays Ed Helms only there's a bit of depth to his character. There's plenty of comedic moments that were funny, but I thought the more dramatic stuff dealing with Patti Harrison was far more effective. I'll say the cinematography is oddly sterile and flat which I supposed is intentional considering the plot, but Nikole Beckwith's direction helps a lot with how it's put together. Overall, surprisingly good. I can't wait to see what Patti Harrison does next.
3.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Moxie

This obviously has its heart in the right place, but it's so incredibly not subtle with what it's trying to say about feminism in high schools in the modern day. That being said, it's still charming enough that kinda falls in line with something like Booksmart. Despite a few things, I thought Amy Poehler was pretty good on the directing side of things. It's one of those movies where you find the supporting cast far more interesting than the main character like Lauren Tsai or Alycia Pascual-Peña... and not to mention you eventually find the main character kinda unlikable. One of the big problems I have is the pacing and the 2 hour runtime doesn't help things. Overall, while it's super heavy handed with its message, there are parts that really worked.
2.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Coming Home in the Dark

A brutal and intense psychological horror that uses the beautiful backdrop of New Zealand as their canvas for this movie. Without giving it away, this immediately pulls you in with its opening scene that seems like it takes up for the first third of the movie. It almost feels like it uses movies like Funny Games as a basis without the silly antics by the villains. It's got phenomenal performances by Daniel Gillies, Miriama McDowell, Matthias Luafutu and Erik Thomson. They do the smart thing by the midpoint where stuff gets revealed that changes how you feel about these characters which adds a level of depth to the overall story. I'll say the only thing that kinda takes this down a bit is how some things get resolved in the 3rd act. Overall, really worth checking out if you want a thriller that keeps you invested from the jump.
3.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Drive My Car

Absolutely wild that the opening credits didn't show up until you're 40 minutes deep into the movie.

It's a pretty methodical and melancholic journey about dealing with loss, lies, and regrets. It centers on Hidetoshi Nishijima who's an actor and theater director trying to get back to normal after his wife dies unexpectedly. The movie spends a lot of its time with these small conversations that seems to go on for long, but it all comes together pretty well thanks to the cinematography and direction. I also really enjoyed Toko Miura's performance especially in the 3rd act. While I was enjoying it, I will admit, I did find some parts to be a bit tedious if you can't tell by the 3 hour runtime. Overall, I dug it a lot and while it may be slow paced, it still manages get you enthralled with the story.
4/5

 

[Kane52630]

My final list for 2021

Top 10 Films of 2021

 

[Kane52630]

The Cursed

A solid old fashion werewolf horror flick that has a good use of gory body horror and real world terror that makes it all too relevant for today. The director Sean Ellis, who I loved from his other film Anthropoid, manages to use that late 19th century "Hammer films" atmosphere to great effect where it's a lot of slow build dread as the story unravels. It's got really great performances by the cast... Mainly from Boyd Holbrook, who's essentially playing this version of Van Helsing, Alistair Petrie, and Kelly Reilly. The thing that really makes this werewolf movie stand out from the rest is the HP Lovecraft inspired design and how it operates. Overall, it's definitely worth checking out if you want something that honors the Hammer era of horror really well.
3.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Uncharted

Did this break the video game movie cruse? Not really, but it kinda came close. While there's plenty of stuff in here where I could become that annoying angry gamer over all the things they got wrong in here, I will say first that the movie is actually better than the trailers made it out to be. For an action adventure film, they do a good job showcasing the on shoot locations that was brilliantly shot by Chung Chung-hoon (take some notes Red Notice). Some of the action set pieces are not bad for the most part even though they mostly copied certain moments from the game. As for the plot, they basically put all the games into a blender and it spat out a rushed story that doesn't nearly cover the epic scale of any of the games with a new set of villains. They made the mistake of having Mark Wahlberg be Sully because they essentially have two Nathan Drakes in the movie and the dynamic falls flat. And even then, you have Tom Holland playing Spider-Man as Nathan Drake. On the plus side, I thought Sophia Ali was great as Chloe Frazer and I wish they gave her more to do. All the Uncharted easter eggs was okay but expected. Overall, while it's definitely not the worst video game movie out there, it's was always going to be a fools errand to compete with a cinematic video game. You're better off watching the cut scenes from all the games.
2.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Leatherface kills cancel culture.

After David Gordon Green's Halloween who started this trend, this is probably the worst example of doing a legacy sequel. The movie immediately drops you into the plot that is a redo of the same set up of the original... only they throw in some updated issues like gentrification. The movie is not one bit subtle at what its trying to do here where it's pitting big town liberals vs small town conservatives. The script has big "my paper is due tomorrow and I only have a paragraph done" energy where everything they do is so half-assed and not at all well developed. The entire film mostly takes place in one backlot that obviously looks like a backlot. Olwen Fouéré plays the Jamie Lee Curtis role where it's 50 some years later and Sally Hardesty comes back to finish off Leatherface. Only problem is they barely used her and even when they do, it's so hamfisted and so obvious that it doesn't work. The three things that kept me from really hating on this is the cinematography, the gore, and Elsie Fisher's performance even though it's obvious to what her role is in this. Overall, it's yet another lazy entry into franchise horror that I can see some people enjoying it for how bad it is.
1.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Studio 666

Jenna Ortega is determined to be in every horror movie this year.

This was a pretty chill and laid back horror comedy that is all set in one house where the Foo Fighters are just f**king around. Dave Grohl obviously carries this (along with other comedians and cameos) mostly because his other band members aren't actors. It's clearly not trying to be something groundbreaking so they do what they can in this and the plot is kinda nonexistent. They hired the right director for this because the only thing that really worked was the gore and the kills. The horror aspects is somewhere between The Fog and Evil Dead. And speaking of The Fog, easily one of my favorite cameos in this was seeing the legend himself John Carpenter working on the Foo Fighters music. And it also great seeing Jason Trost in there as well. Overall, on a quality level as a movie, it's just barely average. However, i'll say it makes for a great hang of a midnight horror film that was made for the fans of horror and the Foo Fighters.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Batman

A ★★★★★ review of The Batman (2022)

The Batman finally brought back the D in DC.

The new era of Batman is finally here. Matt Reeves did a phenomenal job bringing back Batman in a familiar yet totally different direction. It's a gritty detective noir epic that feels like a combination of The Crow, Se7en, and The Sopranos. The Long Halloween comic probably owes itself the most with how they use certain aspects to tell the overall story. In this, it takes the Zodiac-inspired Riddler as the big bad to uncover Gotham's corruption on various fronts. One of the biggest aspects they did a great job showcasing was the cinematography and atmosphere by Greig Fraser... not to mention the slow and unnerving pace that builds up over time which may or may not work for some people.

The cast is pitch-perfect and there's not a single one that dropped the ball. Robert Pattinson's performance is truly the stand-out where he's in it a lot and mostly as Batman. His characteristics somewhat reminded me of Rorschach (especially with the narration), but as somebody who's not too far gone yet. He clearly sets his own path among the other Batmen and I absolutely loved his chemistry with Jeffrey Wright's Gordon and Kravitz's Selina Kyle who both felt like fully developed characters. It seems like they were hiding him during the promotion, but there's a big Falcone presence and I thought John Turturro did a great job. We kinda don't get a whole lot of scenes with Andy Serkis and Colin Farrell, but I thought they had their moments to shine. Last but not least, Paul Dano delivers one of the best villain performances as The Riddler... it's truly mesmerizing.

The movie is 3 hours long and they don't waste any of it in fact... what I love the most is they took their time to develop each scene especially when detective work is involved. There are several key scenes that really took it up a notch like the funeral scene or the Batman/Riddler face-off scene which was extremely well crafted and well put together. After having said all that, I do think there are some parts in the big 3rd act action set piece that might seem pretty standard and conventional. There's not a whole lot of complexity when you figure out what the endgame was. Still, it's not enough to derail this incredible Batman movie that finally uses his detective skills and I can't wait to see what Matt Reeves have in store for the next one.
5/5

 

[Kane52630]

After Yang

If the Calm app was a movie.

It's Kogonada's meditative robo/sci-fi drama that takes what we know about common family structures and deconstructs what it means to be a family unit and some existential themes. It uses technology in a similar way as in Her where it's not the obvious tropes of a futuristic scifi world and instead it uses a lot of green earth to cover it in a bohemian kind of way. Much like his last film Columbus, Kogonada does showcase his love for architecture and nature really well. There's a fantastic opening credits sequence that I can't wait to watch again with all the families dancing. Really stellar but not really showy performances by Colin Farrell, Justin H. Min, Jodie Turner-Smith, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, and Haley Lu Richardson. Overall, not for everyone and while I don't think it was as perfect as Columbus, this does scratch that ponderous philosophical itch for me.
3.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

No Exit

You never know when you need a little cocaine.

This kinda falls in line with a lot of those low budget 90-minute thrillers that you would discover on a streaming service that kinda rise above the rest. I thought it started off brilliantly and the "whodunit in a rest stop" setup is probably the strongest section in the writing. There are plenty of interesting moments in the directing and the cinematography that elevates it a bit. What really keeps this movie together is Havana Rose Liu's performance who was incredible in this playing a final girl type. They also got some notable tv actors like Dale Dickey and Dennis Haysbert who I guess did a serviceable job. Where this movie kinda falls apart is once they reveal who the kidnappers were and it's sadly predictable. The movie becomes obvious at where it's going and it oddly becomes a less funny version of Fargo even with the added twist at the end. Still, there are still some interesting moments in the 3rd act and it's all with Havana Rose Liu's performance. Overall, while it doesn't offer anything new, it's still enjoyable enough and it's better made than a lot of similar thrillers like this. I suppose makes for a good starter entry if you're wanting to explore more thrillers.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

Turning Red

A phenomenal coming-of-age animated film by PIXAR where their magic truly shines. The story combines going through puberty with a metaphorical and physical red panda centered around a Chinese Canadian girl set in 2002. Because it's set in the early 2000s, I like how they use a lot of the common tropes from that era like doing a fundraiser to get tickets to see a boy band or sneaking into a rich kid's house party without the parents knowing. It oddly felt like a lot of what you would see in shows from Nickelodeon and Disney back in the day. They also did a super accurate job portraying Asian parents living in North America and the director Domee Shi, who also made Bao a few years ago, did a great job capturing it. The biggest compliment I have for this is the animation itself that is so influenced by 90s anime like Sailor Moon and even older stuff like Tex Avery and Merries Melodies. With everything in here being super stylized and heavily emotive and I'm so glad they used it and it made the movie stand out from the rest of PIXAR. Overall, it's a movie where it excels in showcasing a story (with incredible animation) that comes from something you know or grew up with, and Domee Shi did a great job on it. It's easily the best PIXAR film they've made in over 10 years.
5/5