Not a lot of movies this week but they were good
Rental Family 5/5: Brendan Fraser’s renaissance as sad pudgy American is not where I would have landed him but man is he compelling on screen. I don’t know if his earnestness is natural or refined but it really makes you feel for him even though The Whale and Rental Family are pretty outlandish. Another best actor nod seems inevitable in my opinion
The Martian 4/5: I generally enjoy competence porn. Watching a bunch of really talented people approach difficult problems with very high stakes is very entertaining. It also adapts the book pretty well. It does skip an entire chunk of the book but I don’t think it hurts the story
Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair 5/5: This is the superior way to watch this movie. It feels far more cohesive, I like the slight mixing/color changes, and cutting out the flashbacks makes it feel like a complete movie. I wish I had the chance to see it 70mm
Batman/Superman Public Enemies 2/5: On paper I should like this way more. It’s an hour long, they immediately get to the point and action and it’s choked full to the gills of characters to the point I didn’t recognize a few. However the animation is cheap and looks bad, Batman kinda sucks for most of it and the stakes are largely nonexistent. I also don’t like Lex’s scheme, it’s pretty ham fisted for a super genius
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street
Can’t help but feel like they saved a generation, whether that’s true or not I don’t know. I don’t think it was ever a mainstay here in the UK but I remember the theme tune and certain characters from my childhood. I’m a big fan of Jim Henson’s work and puppeteering/physical props in general so really enjoyed this one.
People of the Corn, 2001
Enter the Void. it was wild. very trippy.
Ah, that was me a month ago. Insane visuals
Free Fire (2016). Not my jam. It felt like a fan boy attempt at a Guy Ritchie story. And the shots of the main location, which takes place in a big warehouse, don’t contain enough reference points so know where all the characters are at in any given moment. It was disorienting and made the fight scenes that much more difficult to follow.
Big World (2024) Chinese drama about a young man with cerebral palsy. This one is a tearjerker.
Shrek (2001) to celebrate its 25th anniversary a little early. Still such an impressive movie, I think a small, B-run studio would still be happy to put out that CGI work today.
