What are we watching now?

[mbenigni]

IRL has been shit lately, so I've been self-medicating with Netflix. (Etc.)

Mo: A little uneven, but overall I really liked it. Jumps a couple of sharks, but it has a lot of heart IMO. Helps that the lead reminds a lot of a dear friend (best friend, in fact) who passed away many years ago. It gets a little heavy-handed with its politics - if you're squeamish about the Israel/ Palestine thing you might get your feathers ruffled somewhat. Anyway, I liked it.

Radioactive Emergency: OK, so the absurdly on-the-nose title should have been a giveaway, but I figured something must have been lost in translation. Turns out there wasn't much to lose in the first place. Disclaimer: I only endured about one episode of this stinker. I got sucked in by the aesthetics, honestly. Parts of South America have that gritty 1970's look to this very day - old Datsun-alikes and buildings that look like there's film grain painted right on them - and I'm a sucker for all that. Unfortunately, the script is a turd, immediately revealing itself as a cynical, low-budget cash-in on the success of Chernobyl - even more so once characters start dropping the name "Chernobyl" into every other line of their dialog. (And I don't know whether this makes matters better or worse, but there is a major character named Evendildo LOL.)

 

[mbenigni]

Netflix instead of real life part deux: SISU Road to Revenge.

This movie hit me completely out of left field. I was just looking for something to fall asleep to, and this popped up on my home screen. My expectations, based on the description and the general anonymity, were very low, but I could immediately recognize that there was serious film craft going on. (Some shots are so amazing, they must surely be CGI - but they look so authentic.) By about a half an hour in, I'm thinking, "This movie is a gem... a masterpiece even!"

It's your basic revenge flick, but instead of the typical oversaturated Hollywood treatment, it's all period-perfect WWII vibes: pastoral European landscapes, orchestral score, flawless lighting and camera work. The only "flash" comes in the form of Kill Bill-style title cards announcing the chapters. (I could have done without them.) Otherwise, there is zero fat on this movie: a couple of characters, a time and a place; and then it just goes ham on the superman revenge thing for all of 90 minutes. The movie is shorter than a Sex Pistols single LOL. It's surely not for everyone; it's definitely not for your kids. The action starts out just on the far side of implausible and gets crazier and crazier with each scene. (It gets into that "live action Warner Brothers cartoons" territory - if you've ever seen Kung Fu Hustle, for instance, you'll know what I'm talking about.) The violence starts out intense and plows right past uncomfortable without even slowing down. But it's got a couple of emotional beats, too, which I thought were effective.

YMMV, but I loved this movie.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Has Paradise been mentioned? REALLY loving Season 2

 

[JiveTurkey]

Netflix instead of real life part deux: SISU Road to Revenge.

This movie hit me completely out of left field. I was just looking for something to fall asleep to, and this popped up on my home screen. My expectations, based on the description and the general anonymity, were very low, but I could immediately recognize that there was serious film craft going on. (Some shots are so amazing, they must surely be CGI - but they look so authentic.) By about a half an hour in, I'm thinking, "This movie is a gem... a masterpiece even!"

It's your basic revenge flick, but instead of the typical oversaturated Hollywood treatment, it's all period-perfect WWII vibes: pastoral European landscapes, orchestral soundtrack, flawless lighting and camera work. The only "flash" comes in the form of Kill Bill-style title cards announcing the chapters. (I could have done without them.) Otherwise, there is zero fat on this movie: a couple of characters, a time and a place; and then it just goes ham on the superman revenge thing for all of 90 minutes. The movie is shorter than a Sex Pistols single LOL. It's surely not for everyone; it's definitely not for your kids. The action starts out just on the far side of implausible and gets crazier and crazier with each scene. (It gets into that "live action Warner Brothers cartoons" territory - if you've ever seen Kung Fu Hustle, for instance, you'll know what I'm talking about.) The violence starts out intense and plows right past uncomfortable without even slowing down. But it's got a couple of emotional beats, too, which I thought were effective.

YMMV, but I loved this movie.

Both Sisu's were great. Road to Revenge was definitely a lot more "cartoon-ish" as you say but killer either way

 

[JiveTurkey]

Watched some diverse material over the weekend

'Song Sung Blue'. Which I thought was a Neil Diamond biopic but was instead about a husband and wife tribute band? Excellent performances and definitely full of emotional moments as well as being heart warming and funny in a watch it with the wife to make up for all the times you made her watch 'Human Centipede 5' sort of way Kate Hudson was great in this. As was Wolverine \m/

'Good Luck, have Fun, Don't Die'. Screwball end of the world action 'comedy' with the most excellent Sam Rockwell. Fear of AI folks get in this one. Quirky, big production with a lot of charm and humor. And dread. Excellent flick.

Finished if up with 'Nuremberg' late last night. A film about what you would expect it to be about. Russel Crowe is fantastic as per usual. Always good to see Remy Malick in things, too. Not a good time for obvious reasons but also done in a way that let you focus on the characters and their interactions just as much as the heinous things that were done. Heavy film because of the subject matter but very well done and worth a watch for the performances most certainly.

 

[FuzzyAce]

I've been watching Long Strange Trip on Amazon. A Grateful Dead doc.
Pretty cool so far, and I was never like a hardcore fan or follower of the Dead, but I respect their legacy and what they were doing. It's interesting to see it now from a different perspective. I couldn't help think back to my first band and compare some things. We just didn't stick to it long enough and let personal drama get in the way.

 

[mbenigni]

Both Sisu's were great. Road to Revenge was definitely a lot more "cartoon-ish" as you say but killer either way

Here's me living under a rock again. I'd never heard of either of them, and had no idea Road to Revenge was a sequel while I was watching it. (Which speaks to its holding up on its own merits.) The first one just made my very, very, very shortlist. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[mbenigni]

Finished if up with 'Nuremberg' late last night. A film about what you would expect it to be about. Russel Crowe is fantastic as per usual. Always good to see Remy Malick in things, too. Not a good time for obvious reasons but also done in a way that let you focus on the characters and their interactions just as much as the heinous things that were done. Heavy film because of the subject matter but very well done and worth a watch for the performances most certainly.

Oh yeah, I forgot I'd squeezed in Nuremberg as well. Good stuff.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Oh yeah, I forgot I'd squeezed in Nuremberg as well. Good stuff.

Crowe is always worth a watch. Even when he is in paycheck movie level material.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Here's me living under a rock again. I'd never heard of either of them, and had no idea Road to Revenge was a sequel while I was watching it. (Which speaks to its holding up on its own merits.) The first one just made my very, very, very shortlist. Thanks for the heads-up.

I actually like the first one just a bit more? It's over the top but a little more 'subtle' comparatively. If there is a such a thing in the action movie realm

 

[mbenigni]

I actually like the first one just a bit more? It's over the top but a little more 'subtle' comparatively. If there is a such a thing in the action movie realm

It's hard to imagine "less subtle" LOL. Though the charm of this movie (and I'm guessing the first, as well) is the way it juxtaposes cliches ("unleash Hell" LOL) and completely over the top action sequences with its straight-faced war movie aesthetic.