Donomark

Damn Happy Belated Birthday!!

It's on Netflix!

A Silent Voice (The Shape of Voice) A film adaptation of the seven volume manga about a high school boy trying to make amends towards the deaf girl that he bullied in middle school. This is one of the most grounded anime films I've seen in a long time, and the hardest to watch since Wicked City (for different reasons). It's a little long at over two hours, but well worth the time. Very sad and emotionally stirring piece of work.

Raw Deal: Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in this utterly rote and flavorless actioner, one year after the seminal Commando. The only other attractions are the presences of Robert Davi and Ed Lauter. The lone female character is completely worthless, and the script doesn't know how to deal with Arnold. He isn't on the same level as a Norris or a Stallone or a Lundgren, you can't plug him into just any old genre exercise and hope it'll work because of him. He's larger than life, he has to be played to his strengths. As such, the film exists as merely a cautionary example of what not to do with one of the most charismatic actors in the world. Red Heat: Now this is more like it. From the word go, this film knows how to depict Schwarzenegger, as an ubermensch freak of nature. Whether he's play a cop or a special-ops solider or a Russian combination of the two (he barely gets away with the Russian "accent" cuz he's Arnold), as long as Arnold is in the room, the camera should react like we and everyone else in the scene does, with frightened awe. Walter Hill was quoted about this and he's exactly right, it's not in Arnold's size or his muscles that compels you. It's in his eyes, his cold-ass stare. The first immediate image of him is indistinguishable from the T-800. And the fight scene that follows is a perfect match for this bizarre human experiment in the line between machismo nirvana and complete idiocy. The film actually settles down from that Commandonian opening set piece (a mix of Conan and something out of the Venture Bros), and straightens into a more traditional buddy cop flick with Jim Belushi. Like Bill Murray, the best of the Belushi era is before my time, so I went into this one expecting a lot of groaners from his wise-ass, smarmy "everyman" persona that I predicted to a T. But Belushi was a very good actor, and he and Arnold work well as an Oil and Water foil. There are also some surprising scenes of quality writing and direction that seem a cut above from the fare this usually swims in. The film as a whole isn't exactly a revelation, but it's perfectly solid for what it is, and a decent runner up under the stone cold Arnold classics like Total Recall, Running Man and True Lies.

Tick, tick...BOOM!: I enjoyed this. Andrew Garfield is such a reliably good actor that he can do pretty much anything and I won't be shocked by the competency, although I had no idea he could sing. I think the most effective scene for me was him and Alexandria Shipp splitting up in his small apartment cut simultaneously with him wackily singing with Vanessa Hudgens. The "Sunday" sequence with the musical theater cinematic universe was probably my favorite song showcase. IDK if I overwhelmingly loved it as much as its rave reviews exemplify for others, but it was a fun watch all the same. Encanto: Like Raya, this is another Disney film that kind of snuck up on me, or it would've had millennial internet not gone on and on about Luisa and the film's themes of transgenerational mental health. I think this is the Disney movie with the smallest comparative conflict, with "virtually" no villain and no traveling from location to location. But maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I found the pace to be very brisk. By the 2/3rds mark it felt like the movie had just started. Not complaining, but these films used to feel so much longer when I was a kid. But the animation is incredible. Disney has nailed realistic looking fabrics on clothing, and the body language and facial expressions are all so well realized. Even though Mirabel has that conveyer belt brand of modern Disney princess "clumsiness", I found her to be a really unique main character. I enjoyed Raya quite a bit, but the requisite sidekicks sort of bugged me. This film didn't have that, just a big family with individual personalities, hang-ups and abilities. Very much recommended.

I'm gonna fall down on Blade, as his breed of movie is far less common compared to Jim Carrey's trilogy of hits in 1994.

Too true..! Also, shoutout to Pandy for the Streets of Rage reference 💪

It's been such a horrible last couple of years, that no matter how many months go between episodes out of necessity for mental health, it's always a pleasure to see a new episode up online. And the last few have been wonderfully sequential with their releases, I just want to take time to express my massive appreciation for you guys and thank you for the collective decade of entertainment between this show and FYEO. And I promise to write in more this year!

For the past year, since the start of 2021 I've been working for HBO MAX, in addition to DC which was doing a huge structural change with the whole Discovery thing. Part of that work involved working for the Peacemaker show in terms of finding ways to promote it. Similar work was done with the Titans series. This is a segment starring Danielle Brooks. I co-created the segment and picked all the comics she talks about!

Scream 3&4: I watched both of these last night, and I barely remember Scream 3. The first Scream could be really annoying at times but the while the sequel and this were less annoying, they also are kind of bland. This is one where the cast is clearly just in service for the meat grinder, so memorable performances from Patrick Warburton and especially Parker Posey get wasted in pretty unsatisfying ways. At some point everyone gets picked off one after another, and with the reveal being a single person, that grates on me a bit. I didn't hate Scream 3, but ultimately it's not very good. Scream 4 I actually thoroughly enjoyed. The time skip into 2011 helped it's flimsy early 2000s sensibilities, and there are some seriously good performances in this. Alison Brie was made for these kinds of films, for any role, and it's always fun seeing her gleefully play a bitch. Hayden Panettiere is really good at playing a high schooler who's not a walking cliche (she looked a lot older though, almost like a young mom). The humor worked for me better as it was just self-aware enough without being cocky about it, although I hear that might be a unique opinion judging from general reviews. The Ghostface kills were much more violent, which I liked as it answers the call from the very first one in the series, which the films never matched beyond that. I enjoyed this a helluvalot more than the last two. If I had to rank the series up to this point, it'd be... Scream>Scream 4>Scream 2>Scream 3

Scream 2: A definite improvement on character over the first, more than simply not irritating, I actually liked the cast of characters in this sequel. The writing was generally better in terms of dialogue, and even though there's some stock late 90s stereotypes like the Sorority Girls, they don't really go anywhere so it's fine. I kind of don't care about Courtney Cox and David Arquette's romance, and much of this movie was cleaning up her character. My favorite performance in all of this was Liev Schriber. I had no idea he was in these, and he plays Cotton Weary like the most true-to-life, kind of scummy but still generally understandable kind of guy. His scene harassing Sidney in the library was a highlight.

Fellowship is an awesome movie and my favorite of the series, but Aladdin is funnier, has greater animation compared the Fellowship's CGI, has a genuinely engaging romance - I'd argue the best of the Disney ouvre, and works as a stronger viewing experience as a done-in-one.

True! TRUE! Live Action version is mediocre at best, since you can't help but compare it to the animated classic. Scream (1996): I didn't know there was a new Scream movie coming out soon and I've heard it referenced regularly on Earth-2, so I figured it was finally time to check it out. I remember when it was a huge success back in the day. This must've played like gangbusters in the theater. The opening sequence is very effective, being unpredictable, creepy and gruesomely violent. The randomness of this film works a lot in its favor, with Ghostface bursting out into shot when you least expect him. I was surprised as the series has a comedic reputation how dark it started off. The rest of the film was more up and down for me. I like Neve Campbell, but this is one of those late 90s/early 2000s films where Hollywood clearly despised teenager, as they're written super-broadly, completely unbelievably and irritating to no end. And that's obviously part of the point with this one, but the transparent mean-spiritedness of it was distracting. I get that a lot of this is having fun with the Horror genre, so I'll allow for the cheeky dialogue, but the moment Matthew Lillard and Jaime Kennedy bounce on-screen, I knew this was going to be tricky sit. Not only are these actors clearly ten years too old for their roles (I know, I know, that's how it was done for decades, but I think modern shows are better about teen casting - or maybe we all age slower - shows like Riverdale don't stand out aaaaaas bad to me as something like this), but there's not a ton of actual characterization with any of them. I think the screenwriter was a first-timer, but I just wish there was more recognizable humanity and decency with the cast. Because it watches more like a Hollywood product than a story to get invested in. It was also incredibly apparent that the movie was a Weinstein bros. production. There's a consistent, aggressive misogyny internalized in the script that was impossible to step over. So much slut-shaming to the point of the main character arriving at the realization that "Maybe my raped and murdered mom was a whore and I just need to accept it" would've been jaw-dropping, but you aren't surprised with how the script brought you there. But it's really foul throughout. Overall I enjoyed the movie but with a ton of asterisks. Is this meant to be the best in the series? I might go after Scream 2 next, just because I fall into film series pretty quickly.

VERY nice!

Spider-Man: No Way Home(less): I want to see this at least one more time before elaborating, but ATM this is in the conversation for the best Spider-Man movie ever made. It's easily the best of the Holland trilogy, and my favorite MCU film. Mo'Better Blues: One of the Spike Lee films I missed back when I saw a glut of them in college. Denzel Washington stars as a career trumpet player, blalancing multiple women and his career along with a number of Lee alums. Bill Nunn, Giancarlo Esposito, Joie Lee, Samuel L Jackson, John Tuturro, Wesley Snipes and more all immediately check this as a quintessential 90's Spike Lee flick. Like Jungle Fever, it's a bit meandering and there's not much of an actual solid plot. But that's alright, the cinematic aesthetic is really fun to watch, especially as a former jazz trumpet player myself. The music is also above-peer. Although it has to be pointed out that Spike Lee really doesn't give a crap about infidelity in the least, does he? It's always treated as a cheap gag, and rarely as a dramatic issue. Must've also been awkward filming sex scenes with Denzel boning his sister several times.

His Deathstroke has been unmatched with every failed reimagining. Look at this artwork. I think the earliest exposure I had to his work was this LPOD cover which always haunted me, the cheerful image juxtaposed with the dark title.

Pawn Sacrifice (2013): Starring Tobey Maguire Story of Bobby Fischer's chess match against Boris Spassky in 1972 (Spassky played terrifically by Liev Scriber). Kinda sought this out more because of the meme rather than any No Way Home excitement, and it's the last thing I remember Tobey Maguire being in, as I listened to him promote it in an interview on the Nerdist at the time. It didn't have any promotion, but apparently critics liked it. It's a very watchable film, and Tobey is quite good as an obviously neurotypical, egocentric Bobby Fischer. I was unaware of this guy's personality being so insufferable, and he's one of the most unlikable movie protags I've seen in quite a while. He's just plain unpleasant to watch, and the movie knows that, but the most tries to have him be intriguing enough that you're not totally turned off. That doesn't quote work, so it's the supporting characters and Schriber's Spassky that keeps your emotional engagement. I also didn't really get the sense that this match was all that big a deal. I know it was the Cold War and everything, but it was hard for me to both understand the stakes of the match and the statement that Bobby Fischer started this huge chess craze and was at one point called the most famous man in America/The World. Like, is that true? 1972 wasn't that long ago, I figured pop culture osmosis would've properly informed me of that before now. IDK if I want to call this movie a noble failure, because I think it portrays Fischer as best and accurate as it can, but the world at large has a lot of telling and not showing, which is tough. There's a scene with Fischer waking up on the beach, seeing Spassky swimming and thinking he's being spied on, which spurs him on to re-entire the tournament scene. We then cut to a montage where he's already annihilated a bunch of opponents and has got his global reputation back, better than ever. That does a lot of heavy lifting for the story which resulted in me going, "Huh, really?" But I couldn't say how better to do that, and much of this hasn't been brought to the masses in terms of general information. Also the actual chess playing wasn't greatly presented in a way that the audience could follow. By the last act there's a lot of "What is he doing?" and silent reaction shots that, again, are meant to carry meaning to the audience rather than the game itself. But, again, I do not know how to best present Chess matches on film and make them suspenseful without holding the audiences hand. I liked the movie, despite its struggles, but it's struggles are very apparent.

Quite a trip down memory lane with all the horny for Lara Croft anecdotes. I'd almost forgotten, but yeah that was totally a thing.

Gotta play catch up with some of these. A Few Good Men: I saw this about three months back after watching Steve Jobs, which I loved. This affected me far less. I'm not a Tom Cruise hater but I didn't care for his cocky lead character. I didn't like how Demi Moore played THE typical 90s drama movie lead, who's smart and competent expect when she needs to be sidelined for the male hero. Jack Nicholson was ridiculous in this though. I usually enjoy his antics, but he's totally unbelievable as anything other than a teeth-gnashing bad guy from the moment you see him. The whole thing felt way too histrionic for me. Chloe: Starring Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried A woman believes her husband is cheating on her, so she hires an escort to suss that out by baiting him. This is one of those movies where the sordid premise has the idea that it's enough to hold viewer's engagement, but the script calls for Moore to do the same "I just got through crying" look on her face in every scene. Liam Neeson is good in the role as the husband, and this was the movie he was filming when his wife tragically died. The ending suffers from homophobic violence for the sake of an ending, it feels contrived. It's kind of an intriguing movie throughout but once you're done you realize it never took you anywhere. DUNE (2021): So I thoroughly enjoyed this. Much of the criticism comes from the monotone characters, the serious mood and the sci-fi world building done at the expense of much else that might grab audiences. I was prepared for all of that. If you saw this movie and it bounced off of you, that's completely fair. I totally get how this is not everyone's cup of tea. However I arrived that this thing ready to watch an "epic", based off of a very old book. And I really really liked it. The cast is the most bullet-proof I've seen in a long time. Everyone's just on, especially Oscar Isaac and Rebecca Ferguson. Is it perfect, no, but this really isn't a movie that I think the contention with some reviewers holds much water for me. There's a need to take this movie down I've seen that feel un-earnest and uncreative, where the movie is another in a consistent line of greats for Denis Villenuve. Call Me By Your Name: I watched this after seeing Dune as I hadn't been familiar with Timothee Chamalet before. I went in not knowing how Italian the story was. This was a long movie. I think it's well over an hour a twenty minutes before there's forward movement in the central relationship. The directing really did not hold my interest, and I was resenting how dull they were playing everything out. I will say the ending haunted me, mainly the final shot, and I was left with a disquieting feeling. Chamalet's a great actor, but the movie itself for the most part was long and boring. No Time To Die: I gotta say, this is the first Bond film I've ever seen where I walked away unhappy and kind of mad. It has nothing to do with the ending, which did piss my dad off. The ending I kind of imagined for a while going into it. It's that it's WAY, WAY, WAAAYYY too fucking long. This might have played differently if I watched it in April 2020 when it was originally set to come out, in theaters (I saw this on YouTube for $20). As it was, it felt like a long film with zero deleted scenes cut out. It's not boring, and it's not complicated at all. It just takes it's time with everything. I was really enjoying the first act, but by the end I just wanted the damn thing to end. Craig plays the role very differently in this film than in any of his other entries. He's a far chummier, nicer, even jokier Bond. He's got a couple quips that are straight out of Moore's playbook. I don't mind a less grim Bond, but it was kind of jarring after him being so consistent for fifteen years. It's also a little weird from a character standpoint where I figured he'd be even more disillusioned with what's happened to him. It reminded me of Affleck in the Snyder Cut, who played Batman so overly chummy and nice that it was bizarre. But after the film ended I realized something about Craig's era. He's the Bond actor who's very much the Anti-Bond. In every film he's either quitting MI6 or a rogue agent on the run or something. Casino Royale - he quits in the third act Quantum of Solace - He's hunted by M for going rogue Skyfall - He's presumed dead and lives a retired life for an undetermined amount of time, until he doesn't. Spectre - He retires at the very end again And in this, he's not 007 until the very end which is more out of pity by the actual 007. I get that they wanted to keeps Craig's Bond consistent and do different things, but I really would've liked at least one film where he just shows up at M's office and takes an assignment to kill some bad guy across the world. The fact that they repeatedly disregarded that formula to the point where it was regularly not doing that for over a decade and a half bothers me in retrospect. It's a shame because I love Craig in the role, but now I look at his tenure differently, with a less rosy lens.

I really liked episode 1 of Flux, I thought it was cool. Episode 3 I had no idea WTF was happening. Zero idea. I mean I get confused easily on the plots of Doctor Who all the time anyway, but these Chibnall episodes fly by so fast with their stories, there's hardly ever time to sit down with the characters. Is that just me?

He comes off more ingratiating and appreciative of the franchise and the fanbase, it's just the BBC that ruined things for him.

I've been yearning for a Yaz and Doctor duo since I first saw her, and I resent that the BBC appears hesitant to keep it just the two of them. An all-female TARDIS just appeals to me. and I thought they worked great together. I also liked how the Doctor eventually got tired of Yaz asking her stuffed and gave a bit back.

Love Sascha Dawan as the Master, and I remember Davos from Iron Fist, but still failed to recognize him. I think it's because his head was shaved in that show. Regarding the Nazi Death Trap the Doctor had set upon him, I did break into a laugh when it first happened, cuz this Master is such an evil asshole. Whereas Simm in the RTD era had that goofiness which sort of fought with any evil genius characterization by saying he was simply crazy, this guy is intent with his hate. That scene where he orders the Doctor to bow to him and say his name is amazing. It's like this regeneration reflects upon himself and what he wants more openly than the others, from what I've seen. But when he comes back later and describes living through a decades long Nazi nightmare, that definitely sours things. Because initially I just saw him getting trap as a move against him from the Doctor. That fact that he didn't escape for forever is hard to think about, if also a little hard to buy as well. IDK, mebbe if he'd escaped soon after it wouldn't be that big a deal since we wouldn't have to think about bad stuff happening to him for years and years?

You're shittin' me.

That was five years ago, and he was being run ragged well into the first act. I don't blame him. The Re-Animator: Jeffery Combs makes this movie. At the end of the day it's another variation of the zombie genre, but Comb's obsessive, amoral Dr. West is a terrific sci-fi horror character who alone drives this movie into classic status. It's got the vibe of a late 80s horror-porn anime like Legend of the Overfiend or Wicked City. Very cool. Alien 3: Watched this for anticipation of a commentary for Alien Resurrection. Thought it was well cast (Charles Dance, Paul McGann, my ex-uncle Charles Dutton) and perfectly decent for these kinds of movies, but ultimately uneventful. I agree with what Harry says in that the ending is kind of overwrought for what should be a very non-epic series that doesn't get too high on itself. That begins here when Ripely achieves legendary status with her ending. Raya The Last Dragon: Very solid Disney actioner in the vein of Mulan in how the action scenes are more prevalent than most Disney fare. Some of the side characters are a bit eye-rolly, but I think the movie justifies their presence by the end, with a moral that I found to be very touching and appreciable. The main protagonist and antagonist had a terrific rivalry that always kept me rapt with attention each time they were on-screen together. Awkwafina may sound like Michaela Dietz after smoking a pack of cigarettes, but she's a good voice actor whose character's personality was legitimately integral to the theme of the story. Whereas there's no reason for Mushu to be Eddie Murphy or the Genie to be Robin Williams, Awkwafina's Sizu was actually important to be Awkwafina, and that's cool. The animation was incredible as well. Not the best Disney film ever, I wish there were some slower scenes to resonate on the horrible events that happen, but the ending was terrific. However, even though I've personally not watched Avatar The Last Airbender, even I picked up similar vibes throughout. Maybe it had already been put in my head, but still, the comparisons are a million percent fair.