'Hola, ¿cómo están? ¡Bienvenidos a nuestro fin de semana!'😉
CHASING MATTHEW NICHOLS (2026, CANADA, THEATER) and ChaO ('26, JAPAN, THEATER) were the only theatrical features I took a chance on during another week of dullsville new releases. "CMT" starts as a missing person documentary about a grown-up sister (Miranda MacDougall) trying to piece together what happened when his brother and a best friend disappeared from Vancouver Island 20 years prior. I was honestly fooled and for the first third l thought l wondered into a real doc. Then little by little it becomes a found footage "Blair Witch Project" clone, but a classy one (Christine Willes steals the movie as a veteran detective withholding the truth) that keeps it together until the very end when... damn it, it chooses genre theatrics over the subtlety it displayed for 90% of its running time to end the show. Worth a streaming view on a lazy weekend.🫤
"ChaO" imagines an anime world where humans and merpeople (male and female) co-exist above water, then switches to a feature-length flashback of the first marriage between a human (Oji Suzuka's Stefan) and a mermaid (Ana Yamada's ChaO) as told by an older/wiser Stefan to an eager-for-a-scoop young journalist. Inhibiting that netherworld between 'PG' and 'PG-13,' "ChaO" alternates between silly interspecies newlywed disputes and existential human crisis. The flashback to how Stefan lost his parents in a fishing boat accident when he was a kid is brutal (not shown, just implied), and when it chooses to go for spectacle "ChaO" looks stunning despite an art style different from traditional anime form. Worth a look.🙂
Had never even heard of Nicolas Winding Refn's BRONSON (2008, UK/DENMARK, AMAZON RENTAL) until it was picked for group viewing on Discord's JURY 4.0. A then-up-and-coming Tom Hardy exudes animal magnetism as Michael Peterson, nicknamed 'Charles Bronson,' who has spent almost every day since 1974 in British solitary confinement for violent/destructive behavior. Since this is an early Refn work the naked cage brawlings, f*c*s face rubbing and bloody impalings Bronson endures in prison are done with stylish music in slow-motion for maximum artistic impact. You can't convince me now that Todd Phillips didn't see this when he made his two "Joker" movies, which Tom Hardy crushes in a playful, smiling and menacing host-within-his-mind theatrical presentation. Never want to see "Bronson" again, but glad my visitation rights aren't revoked.🫣😬
Back in October of last year l watched Joel Schumacher's FLATLINERS (1990, BLU-RAY) for Scary Movie Month. This week l unpacked the many new-in-2022 Arrow bonus features/commentary that, honestly, were a bigger attraction to me than the main feature. Most enjoyable was seeing Jan de Bont interviewed, l miss his better directed films (not "Speed 2" or the 2nd Angelina Jolie "Tomb Raider" flick).🤓👍
Felt the need to digest movie cheese (don't ask), so l watched ALIEN APOCALYPSE (2005, TUBI) starring Bruce Campbell and Renée O'Connor. A Sci-Fi Channel original movie when initially released, it's "Planet of the Apes" meets "Battlefield Earth" with badly-rendered CG insects enslaving the human race so they can steal our... wood??!! 😅 Shot in Bulgaria (hence why most extras/supporting characters are badly dubbed), "AA" would be unbearable if Bruce wasn't keeping it alive with his Chuck Heston-worthy assholery. Deep into the story John Carpenter regular Peter Jason shows up as the 'President' every enslaved human wants to lead the rebellion against the aliens ('The President Lives!'). But since Jason was clearly on set for only one day, it falls on Bruce's DOCTOR Ivan Hood to pull an "Army of Darkness" siege on an S-Mart budget (CG rockets). A harmless and cheesy-as-hell way to kill two hours.😇🫡
Last and least, JACK-O (1995, AMC+) is a cheesy horror flick co-written (but not directed) by Fred Olen Ray... 'nuff said. Linnea Quigley gets top billing for an out-of-nowhere shower scene. 😳 Is it June already? 😅
Hardy carries the film and is the only reason to watch it. Refn's style wouldn't be completely dialed until "Drive" a few years later, so his few cracks at a Mise-en-scène in "Bronson" are secondary to Tom's disarming smile, killer stache and imposing (often completely nude) screen presence. 😲😱🥹
Red State (2011): In the Kevin Smith filmography, this is an odd one. Not because the movie is that weird, but because it's doesn't fit anywhere. Well, maybe if you put it next to Dogma, but even then. And somehow it still retains some of the Smith's habits, mainly the long-winded monologues. I personally liked the ending, I always thought it was a clever twist. Though Smith had to do his thing and insert weed in there, but it does allow him to make a small and funny joke (I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it).
Red Sonja (1985): I swear I didn't watch it on the same night as Red State on purpose, I was just very happy to get it (thanks JM for making me spend money). Another bad movie I thoroughly enjoy, and it does scratch that sword & sorcery itch I've had for a while. The transfer is definitely better than the previous Studio Canal 4k.
Life of Brian (1979): Criterion finally release a 4k version of the film. This is arguably the best Monty Python movie: bigger budget, better story, better cinematography, etc. (my favorite is Holy Grail). Now we finally get to see Graham Chapman's dick in glorious HDR. Still a masterpiece.
The Devils Wears Prada (2006): With the sequel coming soon, it was time for a rewatch (not because of Adam's 2k Replay, it was just good timing). Still a fun movie, Stanley Tucci is the best. Can't wait to see how they're gonna force all of those pretty (and now, old) people together.
Poseidon (2006): Look, I won't pretend this is a good movie, but we all love a decent disaster movie, remake or not. Keep character development to a minimum, d3ath and destruction to a maximum. And no epilogue; survivors get out, roll credits. The 4k looks great, obviously, but what really tipped the scale for me, is the video essay by the great Cereal at Midnight's Heath Holland (ex FTM collaborator). Just that video is worth the price of admission. And the movie's just 98 minutes, with credits.
Red Planet (2000): Hey, another 'red' movie, but also another Arrow 4k with a Mr Holland video essay, and a link to Prada with Simon Baker. There's a lot of stuff happening; crash landing, exploding bugs, rogue robot, and more. I won't pretend it's good, it's mostly generic 2000 sci-fi stuff (with a PG rating), but I'm a simple man; show me space, a ship with a bunch of dumbasses, some shenanigans, and I'm hooked. Is it just me, or Tom Sizemore doesn't belong in a sci-fi movie? Actually, I think most of the cast shouldn't be in sci-fi.
Now leave me alone, Hades II just dropped on PS5 😎😜
Rule of thumb for 4K enthusiasts: 9 out of 10 times, an Arrow remaster/transfer beats a competing boutique label's remaster for the same title. 😃 And after "Red State" and "Red Sonja," no rewatch of Bruce Willis' "Red" series? Disappointing. 🙄🤤
That quote ('... see Graham Chapman's dick in glorious HDR!") should be on the back of the Criterion 4K box for "Holy Grail." 😂🥶
'Hola, ¿cómo están? ¡Bienvenidos a nuestro fin de semana!'😉
ReplyDeleteCHASING MATTHEW NICHOLS (2026, CANADA, THEATER) and ChaO ('26, JAPAN, THEATER) were the only theatrical features I took a chance on during another week of dullsville new releases. "CMT" starts as a missing person documentary about a grown-up sister (Miranda MacDougall) trying to piece together what happened when his brother and a best friend disappeared from Vancouver Island 20 years prior. I was honestly fooled and for the first third l thought l wondered into a real doc. Then little by little it becomes a found footage "Blair Witch Project" clone, but a classy one (Christine Willes steals the movie as a veteran detective withholding the truth) that keeps it together until the very end when... damn it, it chooses genre theatrics over the subtlety it displayed for 90% of its running time to end the show. Worth a streaming view on a lazy weekend.🫤
"ChaO" imagines an anime world where humans and merpeople (male and female) co-exist above water, then switches to a feature-length flashback of the first marriage between a human (Oji Suzuka's Stefan) and a mermaid (Ana Yamada's ChaO) as told by an older/wiser Stefan to an eager-for-a-scoop young journalist. Inhibiting that netherworld between 'PG' and 'PG-13,' "ChaO" alternates between silly interspecies newlywed disputes and existential human crisis. The flashback to how Stefan lost his parents in a fishing boat accident when he was a kid is brutal (not shown, just implied), and when it chooses to go for spectacle "ChaO" looks stunning despite an art style different from traditional anime form. Worth a look.🙂
Had never even heard of Nicolas Winding Refn's BRONSON (2008, UK/DENMARK, AMAZON RENTAL) until it was picked for group viewing on Discord's JURY 4.0. A then-up-and-coming Tom Hardy exudes animal magnetism as Michael Peterson, nicknamed 'Charles Bronson,' who has spent almost every day since 1974 in British solitary confinement for violent/destructive behavior. Since this is an early Refn work the naked cage brawlings, f*c*s face rubbing and bloody impalings Bronson endures in prison are done with stylish music in slow-motion for maximum artistic impact. You can't convince me now that Todd Phillips didn't see this when he made his two "Joker" movies, which Tom Hardy crushes in a playful, smiling and menacing host-within-his-mind theatrical presentation. Never want to see "Bronson" again, but glad my visitation rights aren't revoked.🫣😬
Back in October of last year l watched Joel Schumacher's FLATLINERS (1990, BLU-RAY) for Scary Movie Month. This week l unpacked the many new-in-2022 Arrow bonus features/commentary that, honestly, were a bigger attraction to me than the main feature. Most enjoyable was seeing Jan de Bont interviewed, l miss his better directed films (not "Speed 2" or the 2nd Angelina Jolie "Tomb Raider" flick).🤓👍
Felt the need to digest movie cheese (don't ask), so l watched ALIEN APOCALYPSE (2005, TUBI) starring Bruce Campbell and Renée O'Connor. A Sci-Fi Channel original movie when initially released, it's "Planet of the Apes" meets "Battlefield Earth" with badly-rendered CG insects enslaving the human race so they can steal our... wood??!! 😅 Shot in Bulgaria (hence why most extras/supporting characters are badly dubbed), "AA" would be unbearable if Bruce wasn't keeping it alive with his Chuck Heston-worthy assholery. Deep into the story John Carpenter regular Peter Jason shows up as the 'President' every enslaved human wants to lead the rebellion against the aliens ('The President Lives!'). But since Jason was clearly on set for only one day, it falls on Bruce's DOCTOR Ivan Hood to pull an "Army of Darkness" siege on an S-Mart budget (CG rockets). A harmless and cheesy-as-hell way to kill two hours.😇🫡
Last and least, JACK-O (1995, AMC+) is a cheesy horror flick co-written (but not directed) by Fred Olen Ray... 'nuff said. Linnea Quigley gets top billing for an out-of-nowhere shower scene. 😳 Is it June already? 😅
Bronson is great. Weirdly unknown considering Tom Hardy star status
DeleteHardy carries the film and is the only reason to watch it. Refn's style wouldn't be completely dialed until "Drive" a few years later, so his few cracks at a Mise-en-scène in "Bronson" are secondary to Tom's disarming smile, killer stache and imposing (often completely nude) screen presence. 😲😱🥹
DeleteRed State (2011): In the Kevin Smith filmography, this is an odd one. Not because the movie is that weird, but because it's doesn't fit anywhere. Well, maybe if you put it next to Dogma, but even then. And somehow it still retains some of the Smith's habits, mainly the long-winded monologues. I personally liked the ending, I always thought it was a clever twist. Though Smith had to do his thing and insert weed in there, but it does allow him to make a small and funny joke (I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it).
ReplyDeleteRed Sonja (1985): I swear I didn't watch it on the same night as Red State on purpose, I was just very happy to get it (thanks JM for making me spend money). Another bad movie I thoroughly enjoy, and it does scratch that sword & sorcery itch I've had for a while. The transfer is definitely better than the previous Studio Canal 4k.
Life of Brian (1979): Criterion finally release a 4k version of the film. This is arguably the best Monty Python movie: bigger budget, better story, better cinematography, etc. (my favorite is Holy Grail). Now we finally get to see Graham Chapman's dick in glorious HDR. Still a masterpiece.
The Devils Wears Prada (2006): With the sequel coming soon, it was time for a rewatch (not because of Adam's 2k Replay, it was just good timing). Still a fun movie, Stanley Tucci is the best. Can't wait to see how they're gonna force all of those pretty (and now, old) people together.
Poseidon (2006): Look, I won't pretend this is a good movie, but we all love a decent disaster movie, remake or not. Keep character development to a minimum, d3ath and destruction to a maximum. And no epilogue; survivors get out, roll credits. The 4k looks great, obviously, but what really tipped the scale for me, is the video essay by the great Cereal at Midnight's Heath Holland (ex FTM collaborator). Just that video is worth the price of admission. And the movie's just 98 minutes, with credits.
Red Planet (2000): Hey, another 'red' movie, but also another Arrow 4k with a Mr Holland video essay, and a link to Prada with Simon Baker. There's a lot of stuff happening; crash landing, exploding bugs, rogue robot, and more. I won't pretend it's good, it's mostly generic 2000 sci-fi stuff (with a PG rating), but I'm a simple man; show me space, a ship with a bunch of dumbasses, some shenanigans, and I'm hooked. Is it just me, or Tom Sizemore doesn't belong in a sci-fi movie? Actually, I think most of the cast shouldn't be in sci-fi.
Now leave me alone, Hades II just dropped on PS5 😎😜
Rule of thumb for 4K enthusiasts: 9 out of 10 times, an Arrow remaster/transfer beats a competing boutique label's remaster for the same title. 😃 And after "Red State" and "Red Sonja," no rewatch of Bruce Willis' "Red" series? Disappointing. 🙄🤤
DeleteThat quote ('... see Graham Chapman's dick in glorious HDR!") should be on the back of the Criterion 4K box for "Holy Grail." 😂🥶