At the Movies with Kane and BN

[Kane52630]

Brittany Runs a Marathon

It's a dramady similar to Trainwreck, but Jillian Bell and the filmmakers manages take a more realistic approach to the insecurities and issues she's tackling. They do a good job of going for the crowd-pleaser inspirational audience, but also give it some nuance and not having to focus on making her likeable. It's probably the best role Jillian Bell has done so far and she's definitely got some dramatic acting chops down. My only issue is the 2nd half isn't nearly as strong as the first half. Overall, a movie worth seeing.
8/10

 

[Kane52630]

One Child Nation

A fascinating documentary about the one child policy in China that lasted for decades and the aftermath of it's effects. Nanfu Wang does a pretty good job covering why it was implemented and how extreme and horrifying the Chinese government went with regulating it. It's when the documentary focuses on the families and their stories is where this doc hits its stride. Overall, it's definitely one of the better documentaries this year.
8.5/10

 

[Kane52630]

The King

A solid old fashion medieval epic about King Henry V with some obvious Game of Thrones inspired sensibilities. For the most part, the movie works really well. It's got almost everything you want out of a movie like this and they did it without changing up the formula drastically to appeal to younger audience. The acting across the board was great and Timothée Chalamet continues to show that he's gonna be a huge name in Hollywood. For me the scenes with Robert Pattinson were easily the best part about the movie along with the battles. Overall, highly enjoyable.
8.5/10

 

[Kane52630]

FYI: I've created a Top 10 thread for the decade.

Top 10 Films of the Decade (2010-2019)

 

[Black Narcissus]

Uncut Gems

Sweet lawd. I just want to have a one on one conversation with Sandler and ask him wtf happened after 'Punch Drunk-Love'. This is his best performance as an actor, but why did it take so damn long to do another one? I know Netflix gave him a bunch of millions to make his crap, but he could've done work like this. Hell, I still remember him passing on IB because of that 'Grown Ups' flick or whatever other crap unmemorable flick he did instead. Sandler deserves to be nominated for an Oscar imo. Safdie brothers delivered another one, and hard to believe this was more intense and more fast paced than 'Good Time', but they never hold back, just when you think whats going to happen next, they hit you on the face, and follow Sandler making these dumb-erratic choices that only gets him in deeper. Great to see.

I'm also going to get into perv territory, but the actress Julia Fox. This is her first movie and she just has ''it'', what ever that is, I don't know. I knew from her look that she is a freak in real life, and looking her up, I WAS RIGHT. I could go to hell in her demonic-dead eyes. She is great.

One of the years best flicks.

9/10

 

[Kane52630]

Primal

A b level movie that's got a sweet set up, but poor execution. It's got the feeling of a action movie from the late 90s that would probably also star Nic Cage. On the Cage-O-Meter it's a mild, just slightly unhinged, performance by Nic Cage. They give all the craziness to Kevin Durand who's playing a captured assassin on board that got loose. The first 20 minutes had some potential of being decent even with the low budget. The CG on all the animals are pretty awful particularly the white jaguar. Once the chaos starts happening, it quickly becomes a bad direct to video thriller. They completely wasted Famke Janssen who doesn't get more than 10 lines and who's only there for a love interest. It's got full of cliches and bad dialogue that ultimately torpedoes this movie down. It's not even entertaining on a bad level. Overall, it's just plain generic.
4/10

@StarLord did you see this?

 

[MovieSlave]

Uncut Gems
I'm also going to get into perv territory, but the actress Julia Fox. This is her first movie and she just has ''it'', what ever that is, I don't know. I knew from her look that she is a freak in real life, and looking her up, I WAS RIGHT. I could go to hell in her demonic-dead eyes. She is great.

I can see why.

 

[StarLord]

Primal

A b level movie that's got a sweet set up, but poor execution. It's got the feeling of a action movie from the late 90s that would probably also star Nic Cage. On the Cage-O-Meter it's a mild, just slightly unhinged, performance by Nic Cage. They give all the craziness to Kevin Durand who's playing a captured assassin on board that got loose. The first 20 minutes had some potential of being decent even with the low budget. The CG on all the animals are pretty awful particularly the white jaguar. Once the chaos starts happening, it quickly becomes a bad direct to video thriller. They completely wasted Famke Janssen who doesn't get more than 10 lines and who's only there for a love interest. It's got full of cliches and bad dialogue that ultimately torpedoes this movie down. It's not even entertaining on a bad level. Overall, it's just plain generic.
4/10

@StarLord did you see this?

I've seen the trailer but it didn't really strike an urge to watch asap.

 

[Kane52630]

Marriage Story

A phenomenal movie with two stars giving it their all. It's essentially the modern day version of Kramer vs Kramer. You see all the meticulous steps that went down that caused their marriage to fall apart. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson are incredible in this and their chemistry works really well together. The movie also does a great job highlighting divorce attorneys (played by Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta) and how messy and brutal that can all get. My only issue with this is the son who is vastly underwritten and undeveloped. They could have easily give him a more prominent role, but they chose to make him a simple kid who don't say much. Overall, it's definitely one of the years best with two award caliber performances.
9.5/10

 

[Kane52630]

Dark Waters

A pretty traditional and well made legal drama about the Dupont's environmental disaster that caused harm to thousands of people. The movie does a good job of going straight to the point of the matter without trying to be melodramatic for movie sake. It's similar to Spotlight only with less stars and moving parts. Great performance by Mark Ruffalo and Bill Camp and whenever they're both on screen, it's electric. They sadly don't give Anne Hathaway a lot to do, but she does have her moments. Overall, it's a solid movie and a solid showcase of what corporate greed and carelessness can do to people.
9/10

 

[Kane52630]

Waves

A family drama that becomes a rollercoaster of chaos and tranquility. Trey Edward Shults has done it again and he manages to capture the millennial/gen z culture in a real and brutal way. It centers on Kelvin Harrison Jr.'s character and you follow him through his journey of self-destruction. I love how symmetrical this movie is even down to the changing aspect ratio. Once it gets to the 2nd half movie switches over to Taylor Russell's character and you follow her journey through the aftermath. Sterling K. Brown, Lucas Hedges, Alexa Demie, and Renée Elise Goldsberry did a phenomenal job as the supporting cast. The music and cinematography are a huge part of the movie and it's masterfully done well. It's a movie that is a complete gut punch that will make you uneasy and tense. Overall, it's by far one of the best movies of the year. I highly recommended it, it blew me away.
10/10

 

[Black Narcissus]

Zeroville

Directed by James Franco.

Shot in 2014 and released till now because the movie is iffy and mostly because Franco and all them inappropriate allegations against him, so naturally many ppl decided to run and file for bankruptcy and thus, this ends up on Amazon Prime without any real promo.

Set in 1969. This is like the Jerry Springer cousin of 'Once Upon A Time in Hollywood'. Film even starts with them talking about Sharon Tate murder. Looking at them RT scores and briefly scrolling through some reviews, eh, they seemed to have given Franco an extra punch on the balls here or there, does he deserve it? I don't know. I do know this flick ain't as awful as they make it seem tho. Two tattoos on his bald shaved head of Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor sets up the character right from the start. We see him make his way up in the business through the 70s. We see many real life counterparts on screen, like Scorsese, De Palma, George Lucas, Spielberg, but they don't refer to them by name for obvious reasons. Seth Rogen producer character puts George Lucas in a headlock while pointing a gun at Spielberg, and then proceeds to tell Lucas to **** about them space robots. That scene alone made me not hate this movie in full, no matter how empty and meh the rest of the flick is, I can't hate this for that reason alone.

Megan Fox playing the other side of Margot Robbie's Tate character. She is playing a character based on the real life actress Soledad Miranda. She had a very tragic ending to her life, and thus also developed a cult following of sorts. One of the original scream queens of trash B european movies. Fox is mostly here to look sexy af, and she does, but no real material to work with.

The only actor that is WAY out of place is Will Ferrell. He plays a studio executive with all the cliches, but I kept waiting for him to look at the screen and say ''Saturday Night Live!'' that is how awful he is in the movie. Goddamn awful.

Eh, Franco got too caught up on his influences here and wanted to make his version of Muholland Drive mixed with other flicks we've all seen before, but again, I didn't hate most of it. A solid 6.

Tis' also thanks to this flick that I even looked into Soledad Miranda and will check out her flicks. Go into that rabbit hole.

 

[Black Narcissus]

Marriage Story

A very well acted movie, but as I reach out for more, I'm just left with a small violin between my fingers. I just didn't care. Scarjo is the mvp for me here, she deserves to be nominated at the very least, but I've seen this story before and done better. 'Blue Valentine' comes to mind instantly, but that left me heart broken, this just left me with a chore, even knowing I was watching very good performances. I have no desire to ever see this again, but not because it was emotionally painful or whatnot, but simply because it just nothing else there. The back and forth with all the lawyer moments was great, and it shows how awful they truly are, till we need them! I would've liked to see that movie instead, Liotta v Dern as they smile at each other. Eh, I feel like this is a bit over praised in certain parts. It won't be on my top 10 for the year.

7/10

 

[Kane52630]

I started a Pickems thread. Anyone who's an awards watcher should sign up!

Award Season Pick'ems (2019)

 

[Kane52630]

Luce

A psychological drama that tries to tackle topics like race, privilege, and tokenism, but it's done as a cheap thriller from the 90s. I thought it started off interesting enough and if it had stuck to a more realistic tone, this could have been something really worth while. But instead the movie starts to become more of a typical thriller than an actual drama. Even some of the performances I thought felt kinda stagy and contrived. If anything, I thought this proves Kelvin Harrison Jr. has some major range as an actor just from this year alone. Overall, it's slightly above average.
6.5/10

 

[Kane52630]

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Bit of an odd choice for Richard Linklater. It's essentially a family drama that revolves around Cate Blanchett who's going through a deep depression. It at times feels disjointed because it tries to go from situational comedy to a melodrama and it never quite fit together. Best thing about the movie is Cate Blanchett's performance who's really going for it. There's also some decent performances by Billy Crudup and Kristen Wiig. There's also some incredible cinematography that shows off Seattle in such a unique way. Aside from that, the story has a lot of first world problems and privilege that didn't get touched on or acknowledged. Overall, while there are some good moments in the film, it feels tonally uneven. Sidenote... I wouldn't be surprised if Quentin Tarantino put this on his top 10 of the year.
7/10

 

[Black Narcissus]

6 Underground

The opening car chase felt like it was put through a blender of different action genres. Not a good thing at all. It was also shot from so different angles and then slowmo here or there, awful soundtrack here, hot chick in a vespa here, truly a Bay film from the opening shot. I'm pretty bummed to say this was a bloody bore and chore to sit through. It should've been awesome. Bay with no studio restrictions and he gives us this meh of a mess. Ryan Reynolds should just stick with them DP movies, that is it. Melanie Laurent said in an interview a while back that she only does films now, to pay for her own director driven films. Her past two films that she directed are good. Ya'll should check them out. She is kinda the only positive mention out of this. The other characters are cliches and Michael Bay once again replaced them joking robots but he did it in a form of a talking latino man. lol

The only cool action scene was the giant magnet moment, but even that wore off quickly. Eh, at least Bay was smart enough to make Laurent wear bra and panties as she talks about something in a scene.

4/10

 

[Black Narcissus]

Harper (1966)

Watched this a few days back. This is the tone and setting I would place my eventual @C. Lee detective series, but with a handsome actor like Ryan Gosling playing him or go the opposite direction and have Danny Devito play C.lee. I don't know yet.

Paul Newman being cool and nothing really much else. A great supporting cast in name only as they don't have much to do. Lauren Bacall still looking like a sexy fox as she got older here. Janet Leigh and her silver hair still does it for me, man. Her few scenes with Newman are good. Robert Wagner is an ass. Newman is a private detective hired to find a missing billionaire who has mysteriously vanished. I will say this, I did not see that ending coming, which the tone shift makes it even more uneven in a way. Yeah, this dude committed cold blood murder, but I'm going to make a joke about it and go about it ina big lebowski kinda way, even before lebowski was a thing.

I think the best scene in the movie is him driving up to that mansion. Same mansion used on 'The Godfather' and many other flicks. Also, the car that Cliff Boothe drives on OUATIH is very similar to the one Newman drives and even his tonal voice in that kinda reminded me of Newman here. I doubt that wasn't intentional now after seeing this.

5/10

Eh, this at least introduced me to the lovely Pamela Tiffin.

 

[Black Narcissus]

Dead Reckoning

Yeah. You know, I've been thinking: women ought to come capsule-sized, about four inches high. When a man goes out of an evening, he just puts her in his pocket and takes her along with him, and that way he knows exactly where she is. He gets to his favorite restaurant, he puts her on the table and lets her run around among the coffee cups while he swaps a few lies with his pals...

Never trust a dame with a Cinderella face and a husky voice!

I can watch Bogy smoke and drink for hours. He plays Captain 'Rip' Murdock' investigating the disappearance of his good friend. Dames, murder, alcohol, smoke filled rooms, the works. I'd say this is down in the pecking order when it comes to Bogy films one must watch, but it was still pretty ok. Nothing bad, but we've all seen it done better in other Bogy films. This flick introduced me to the lovely Lizabeth Scott. So that was worth the watch. The blonde Lauren Bacall as she was mostly known. I was bummed to read she had past a few years ago. She mostly retired a bit early from acting, a tv show appearance here or there. I will add her flicks to my watchlist now. Eh, this film was worth a watch if only for Bogy and Scott.

7/10

 

[Kane52630]

Jumanji: The Next Level

While it's not better than the last film, this was just as entertaining and fun. They do a great job on handling the plot of the real life characters and how their friendship drifted away after high school. Having Danny Glover and Danny DeVito show up was great and having them be the centerpiece of the story was really well done. I dug the character swamping throughout and it was great seeing The Rock and Kevin Hart do a silly imitation of Danny Glover and Danny DeVito. I also thought Awkwafina did a great job as well. The action set pieces was great, especially the scene with the mandrills. Overall, it's a worthy sequel that makes me look forward to the 3rd film.
8.5/10

 

[Kane52630]

Black Christmas (2019)

A remake of a classic that completely subverts the classic slasher troupe that went into the original... and instead puts in an almost parody/grindhouse take on on-campus sexual assault and misogyny. It tries to be relevant in 2019 to a fault and what becomes of that is you get dialogue and conversations that is very on the nose and devoid of any subtly. On the horror side of things, you can also tell this originally had a R rating and they had it changed so teenagers can see it. It all gets incredibly silly once things get revealed in the 3rd act which could have worked if it had better writing. Overall, while I didn't hate it, it's definitely a mess.
5/10

 

[Kane52630]

Richard Jewell

Taking the politics and the bad optics out of it, Clint Eastwood manages to make an interesting character piece of a guy who's got power hungry aspirations, but is too incompetent and utterly inept to get it and lets people to walk all over him. It's a great Paul Walter Hauser performance and it's pretty similar to his role in I, Tonya. Sam Rockwell and Kathy Bates were also terrific in this. What pretty much derails this movie are the villains of the movie, particularly Olivia Wilde's character who's a very two dimensional reporter that walks around acting sleazy every time she's on screen. She's kinda like a scum bag version of Lois Lane. They try to give Jon Hamm some more depth as the FBI agent, but even he's not given a lot to work with. Aside from the opening act, the movie also conveniently leaves out the actual bomber and how that got resolved. Overall, it's a mixed bag of a film which is somehow better than all of his recent films.
6.5/10

 

[Kane52630]

Honey Boy

A very personal and intimate character drama that is loosely based on Shia Labeouf's life and experience as a child actor. The film acts like a therapy session and it alternates between him as a grown up in rehab and him as a child when he was on a kids sitcom. It's on a indie budget so it doesn't fully go into the world of being a child actor or an actor in a blockbuster, so instead they solely focus on the relationship between him and his dad who's played by Shia Labeouf. Alma Har'el does a great job directing it and while I don't think the script was as thrilling, there are some moments that really work. Noah Jupe is by far the best thing about the movie and he was give a lot to work on. Overall, it's a solid comeback for Shia Labeouf.
8/10

 

[Kane52630]

6 Underground

Imagine if cocaine and libertarianism manifest itself as a movie, this would be that movie. Just from the opening scene alone, you get the idea that Netflix gave Michael Bay carte blanche to do whatever he wants. It pretty much got all the Bayisms into one single film. This is obviously his answer to Mission Impossible and the Fast and Furious franchises with Ryan Reynolds being the lead. One thing I will give credit Bay for aside from the action set pieces is they don't shy away from the carnage and civilian casualties that would happen in a real life situation. That being said, the plot is next level ridiculousness. Even though there's jokes, they take the plot too seriously. Overall, it's exactly the kind of movie you'd play at a group party, it's pure mindless entertainment.
6/10

 

[Kane52630]

Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker

Overcorrection: The Movie. Where The Last Jedi was trying to shake out of repetition and deliver something new and interesting, Rise of Skywalker goes backwards and deliver a greatest hits album to close out the saga... even go far as resurrecting a major character that had zero build up. You see all the strings that are being pulled and know exactly where it's headed. In almost every way, the movie follows through with what the angry mob of fanboys wanted and didn't get from the last film. That all being said, the movie plays it safe enough from not being too terrible. JJ Abrams does deliver on the action set pieces and the lightsaber fights. A lot of plotting was pretty bland except for the subplot with Osccar Isaac and Keri Russell. Overall, the movie ends up being very mediocre. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the movie that will be the poster child for why you should never listen to the fans because they never know what they want.
6/10


1. Rogue One 9/10
2. A New Hope 9/10
3. The Last Jedi 7.5/10
4. The Force Awakens 7.5/10
5. Solo 7.5/10
6. Return of the Jedi 7/10
7. Empire Strikes Back 7/10
8. Rise of Skywalker 6/10
9. Revenge of the Sith 5/10
10. The Phantom Menace 4/10 (Duel of Fates 9/10)
11. Attack of the Clones 2/10