So, I just watched a new Adam Sandler animated children’s movie called Leo. It’s about these two class pets of a fifth grade classroom, a lizard and a turtle, voiced by Sandler and Bill Burr respectively. To my surprise, it was pretty good. It’s funny at times, has a good message behind it and is fairly stylistic. I haven’t been into a lot of stuff that Adam Sandler has done over the past decade and a half really, but this was very enjoyable and I recommend it.
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Sufficiently and surprisingly good at entertaining children has been my assessment of pretty much the latter half of Sandler’s directorial career.
His animated films tend to do better broadly because Sandler is smart enough to marginalise himself in those projects sticking to shared writing and production roles and being the leading man. In case of Leo he is one of around three writers credits and he only had to produce the film with the rest of Happy Madison as well as act of course.
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My wife’s parents are visiting us for Thanksgiving and we just watched the Equalizer trilogy today. It’s pretty much Jason Bourne meets John Wick, in a good way; it takes a lot of what makes both of those series work and blends them together, but makes the result its own. If you don’t like either of those series, this is a good alternative. Denzel Washington remains unique among Black actors in that he has the energy you expect from Will Smith, the intensity of Samuel L. Jackson, and the gravity of Morgan Freeman, all rolled into one. I have yet to see him in a role that he does not absolutely own, and he remains the actor with the most intimidating characters for the past 30 years. I wouldn’t be scared of Keanu Reeves, Matt Damon, Liam Neeson or even Jason Statham if they were interrogating me. Oh, I’d be scared of what they might do to me, but I wouldn’t be scared of them. Denzel scares the hell out of me. It’s that smile of his; even when he’s a good guy and is smiling what is meant to be a friendly smile, when those lips separate and those teeth shine through, I feel a chill. This is coming from a fan of the Joker, mind you. Overall, I would recommend the Equalizer films for anyone looking for a good vigilante justice flick.
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Which would you say is the best of the trilogy, or maybe the best plot/story/character wise and the best action wise?
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I’m gonna go with the second one, because of the final act. It was so much like a video game. The main boss at the top of the tower ready to snipe, the main character having to sneak around with three sub-bosses on the ground that you have to avoid and kill before addressing the final boss. Plus the investigation mystery at the heart of it and how it was personal. Yeah, I’d say the second is my favorite, followed closely by the third because of the Italian setting being a really good location (even though the bad guys were no challenge whatsoever), and then the first, mainly because of how closely it was to John Wick, which I would say is the better film, but the first Equalizer had better characters and better long-term motivations.
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This isn’t one I’ve only just watched, I’ve seen it before but not for a while.
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 1.
Gosh, it’s cheezy, funny, scary, awesome, and overall a great homage to the coming-of-age-style origin of Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
The CGI was probably okay for its time, but very dated today, especially the chase scenes with Peter in his Wrestling outfit. It practically looks like a blurry video game cutscene at times.
Special mention to Willem Dafoe as he really kills it as Norman Osborn/Goblin. You can really tell how he shifts between Norman being a desperate, angry, scared businessman, and when he goes full-tilt Wildly unpredictable as Green Goblin, full of flamboyant monologues and sinister pleasure.
Also on that note, I really noticed how Norman really gets fixated on Peter throughout the film, being way more fascinated and interested in bringing him under his wing and neglecting his son.
Really felt bad for Harry, even though he was kind of a jerk as he wooed Mary Jane right in front of Peter and clearly tried to impress her with money rather than his own person.
When I saw Spider-Man 2 again a few years ago before going out to see No Way Home, I think I remember that being a bit more of an enjoyable, typical action movie that had less strange cheesy moments like this first film had. (The weird Power Rangers-style fist-fights between Spidey and Goblin at the unity festival was one such scene.)
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Thanks! Great little breakdown. I always avoided these movies because they seemed like low hanging fruit cynical cash grabs. Maybe I’ll check em out.
I feel confident that I’ll still prefer the John Wick films, however.
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Netflix has limited theater screenings of their upcoming movie adaptation Leave the World Behind, written and directed by Sam Esmail.
Some friends and I went to see it tonight, and we had fun! Tense, unsettling fun, but fun!
(We were also the only ones in the theater which was wild! We could talk and jabber about the movie together all we wanted!)
It’s a great mystery-thriller, centering around a family that goes on vacation, only to cross paths with a mysterious man and his daughter, and then the world starts going haywire.
https://youtu.be/tvWUroNu61E?si=D061myE2EBac-AnA
It can be a pretty tense, nail-biting journey, as more and more strange things keep happening around the group, and the mystery keeps unravelling. But there’s a good payoff with a shocking/satisfying ending – at least in my opinion, for one specific plotline.
The movie is a great watch for some Mr. Robot fans too, as it’s got lots of little easter eggs that I apparently missed, though I did catch a few references.
It’s also got Sam Esmail and Tod Campbell’s unique filming style too, with lots of uneven & symmetrical framing and good tracking shots.
Mac Quayle also does the score again, with some great unsettling piano tracks.
Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali do some standout jobs. Julia’s character at first acting very standoffish and suspicious of the couple on their doorstep, before the insanity of what’s going on seems to make her do more and more irrational impulsive decisions. Mahershala has a fantastic mysterious air about him and is very candid and open about himself as the movie goes on – though always feeling like he’s got something to hold back.
It’s out December 8 on Netflix if anyone is interested!
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I watched the back half of Crash (2004) last night because a streamer I like was doing commentary. I cried laughing when Sandra Bullock’s character abruptly slipped and fell down the stairs. 10/10 legitimately hilarious film
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So, this week I finally watched Shin Godzilla, then went to the theater and saw Godzilla Minus One, and what a world of difference there is in those two films. I’m not going to blur spoilers, so this is your warning that I’ll be spoiling things about both films.
Shin Godzilla is… dull. I get what they were going for in the movie, the themes are the inadequacies of government bureaus to act fast enough and competently enough to help the people they are supposed to be caring for. That message got across really well. But that’s pretty much the film’s only positive. Godzilla himself is hideous, slow, and ineffective at basically anything except walking forward. This was the response after Japanese audiences said that the Legendary Godzilla of the Monsterverse was too fat and plodding? This one’s worse! I do like how they get around some of the usual stuff about how a creature that size would be impossible by specifying that Godzilla is not made of flesh and bone as we understand it, but entirely new elements being created in his nuclear reactor of a body. His atomic ray is appropriately devastating in the extreme, although I did notice that after he blasts a huge portion of the city, later in the film in that exact same spot, he ends up destroying buildings that were already destroyed when he blasted them. Overall, a movie with a message, but a Godzilla so ineffectual, I could never see him taking on Ghidorah.
Godzilla Minus One, on the other hand, is a whole different animal. Essentially a remake of the original film, this movie had probably the best human story found in any Godzilla movie, ever. It truly paints a picture of the horror of war, the consequences of guilt and shell shock on those who survive it, and the desperation of a nation to rebuild itself after a war is over. You really feel for the main characters in their struggles. One commenter I’ve seen even pointed out that it’s also a genuine positive movie for men. It shows a realistic depiction of men who must live up to their responsibilities in a male-dominant society like 1940s Japan. These aren’t fearless action heroes, nor are they good ol’ boys belittling the women around them while they waste time drinking instead of doing what they need to do. These guys are afraid to face Godzilla and admit it, and their reasons are understandable because they all know what was already lost in the war and they don’t want to go through that again, some even admit they can’t do it and leave. Others gather their courage by working together and supporting each other, cooperating instead of competing, for the sake of their families and their country, and do what they can on their own, without relying on the government or scientific superweapons to save them from Godzilla and the common people save themselves for a change. The main hero must overcome his crippling fear and guilt while wrestling with the notion of whether it’s more cowardly to live when you’re expected to die, or die for a cause you know is lost. By far the most interesting humans of the franchise.
Godzilla himself in the film is an absolute beast, in every meaning of the word. Pre-mutation he’s already attacking humans, seeing them as intruders on his territory, making this one of the few versions of Godzilla who is actively aware of and hostile toward humans. After his mutation from the H-bomb tests, he gets even more pissed at humans and starts attacking viciously any humans he comes across, and the depths of his rage are easily felt. His atomic ray has never been more devastating over such a wide area on impact, and that it even damages him in firing it is testament to its power. His regenerative abilities have also never been so explicitly shown, demonstrating how indestructible he is. Indeed, the only things I didn’t like about this Godzilla was how far he seems to be leaning back as he walks, like his spines are too heavy, and how his spines pop out of his back before firing his atomic ray.
The movie is definitely worth all the buzz, and may even be seen as the best Godzilla movie of all time, if it can surpass the original. If it can’t, it’s a decent runner up.
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Saw the Taylor Swift Eras Tour movie at the behest of my sister.
It was very fun!
I wouldn’t consider myself a Taylor fan after this, but it really showed me how she’s definitely an icon, a next-level artist with immense star power, holy shit. She’s such a cool person. Fuckin’… 3-hour concert show?? Wow
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She’s a bonafide rockstar for sure. I dunno if you like The 1975 but when she was dating their lead singer she showed up mid concert once and was fantastic. She pretends to drink on stage (which their lead singer is known for) and plays AntiHero and then covers one of their older songs. Lots of fun to see.
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I’ve heard The 1975 is pretty popular, but wow. She shows up at their show, plays one of of her own songs, and everyone sings along to the lyrics. Crazy stuff lmao
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Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child of Fire
A pretty good looking movie with some obvious Zack Snyder-isms (like a loooot of slomo), and at times decent action.
The story and characters aren’t involving. The world building is insufficient. Acting spans from bad to ok-at-best. Terrible decision to put Sofia Boutella in a position where she needs to carry the movie, because she simply cannot.
I like other music by Tom Holkenborg, but this just sounds anonymous to me.
Not as abysmally bad as Army of the Dead, but not good either.
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Just saw The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. A worthy prequel that actually feels like a prequel without the need to rely solely on dropping references to the original work, but also feeling like its own standalone story. Seeing how Snow went from a privileged but open-minded member of Capitol society to the cynical, bitter, sadistic dictator we saw in the previous films was handled far more believably and satisfying than seeing how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, or how Hannibal Lecter became a cannibal, or how Cruella Deville became a fur-obsessed, animal-killing fashion queen. Definitely a must-see for any Hunger Games fan.
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Right, so! Godzilla Minus One, very fun and great film!
If you’re looking for some monster action, be aware the beginning of the film serves as setup to the protagonist’s sad story and life leading up to Godzilla’s full iconic reveal.
But man! The human story in this film is very depressing and heartbreaking.
A kamikaze pilot who failed to do his duty in WW2 is wracked with guilt and shame over having survived when others died in his stead.
After taking in a random woman and child off the streets due to feeling responsible to help them, he eventually manages to help them live with him and get a job on his own – and it’s at this seafaring job that he encounters Godzilla, a constant presence he crosses paths with after that wreaks destruction and leaves very little in his wake.
And at fear of sparking tensions with other world superpowers, it is up to the Japanese people to work together and figure out a way to take down this monster terrorizing them all.
It’s got great special effects, one massive godzilla, a very touching story about honour and war, just a great watch all around. Definitely reccommend.
Now I’m imterested in how the Americans handle Godzilla since I don’t remember anything from that first movie, other than a really cheezy moment where GZ gets knocked down at the same time as the human protagonist in a fight, and they have some sort of bonding moment I guess idk
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Welcome to the cult, son! Now watch: Godzilla '54 (Japanese Cut), Godzilla vs Biollante, Godzilla vs King Ghidorah, Godzilla vs Space Godzilla, Godzilla vs Destoroyah and Shin Godzilla - no particular order, they’re all great.
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I’d recommend skipping Godzilla vs King Ghidorah; the time travel aspect is an absolute mess and that version of King Ghidorah, while looking imposing, is a complete wuss who does nothing without being under someone’s control and whom Godzilla basically just shot to death, twice.
Try instead Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla vs Megaguirus, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack, Godzilla: Final Wars, and then, back to back, King Kong vs Godzilla and Godzilla vs Kong.
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@MrOchoa with the release of Godzilla: Minus one. Do you have a favourite Godzilla film? A lot of people are calling Minus one their favourite.
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Yeah Minus one is pretty fantastic. Personally I think the original from 1954 is the absolute best, followed by vs Biollante and vs Destoroyah.
I really like Spacegodzillas design but the movie itself is just alright.
Shut up, the movie is worth watching just to see M-11’s impression of the Linkara Running GIF! 
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