Every Film You've Watched in 2024

[Missy]

Go!

[dc20willsave]

I made a spreadsheet for friends to suggest films for me to watch in the new year. I make no guarantee I will get to every film. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_1rq7JBctuOo7WoEZmbQDccYtU5_PjFxuJ9UQks22Tw/edit?usp=sharing

[S-T]

On 1/2/2024 at 9:11 PM, dc20willsave said:

I made a spreadsheet for friends to suggest films for me to watch in the new year. I make no guarantee I will get to every film. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_1rq7JBctuOo7WoEZmbQDccYtU5_PjFxuJ9UQks22Tw/edit?usp=sharing

I would suggest Showgirls, but there's no need to do that.

[Dread]

Lockdown Tower: french horror film set in a high rise apartment building, far better than Evil Dead Rise.

Bronx Lore: feature for the fest.

Nickel City Tinseltown: The History of Buffalo, NY Filmmaking: doc for the fest.

Popcorn: review forthcoming

• Features: 3
• Shorts: 
• Documentaries: 1
• Rewatches: 

[Professor]

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom - I don't really remember the first one either, but I remember liking the first one.  I did not like this one.  You can tell that this was re-shot and edited all to hell.  And edited poorly as well.  Felt like scenes were missing way too often.  Story wasn't great, CG underwater fighting was hard to follow and I felt like it had a lack of Aquaman.  And they really wanted this to be 'Thor & Loki, but DC and underwater' and it failed. 

[S-T]

Scream VI: Now I can finally listen to @dc20willsave and @SkylerQ91's review of this movie. Honestly, I watched it as a prerequisite to the podcast, but I am glad I did.
 

Spoiler

Pretty lucky that Ethan and Quinn really don't look alike, and that Ethan doesn't look like his dad. Also pretty lucky that none of them look like Richie.

Also, crap motivation. Your son Richie was a serial killer. He was killed in self-defense. Just a re-hash of Scream 2.

Spoiler

This does pave the way for an expansion of the franchise, as apparently there is a Ghostface Cult.

The big problem I have with this movie is so many people around the city dressed up as Ghostface.

If this were real, people would think it's in bad taste to dress up like the guy who is actively killing people right now. It would be pretty socially unacceptable at this point. Dressing up like Jason or Michael Myers would be one thing because in this universe, they are fictional characters. Ghostface is an actual group of people who have actually killed a whole bunch of people. It would be like dressing up as the Columbine killers, the Uvalde shooter, Elliot Rodger, Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer.

If nothing else, I think that the police would probably say you are not allowed to wear that costume anymore in public until we find the latest serial killer. It was one thing in the second movie but by the fourth movie you would think people would wise up and not allow a serial killer to blend in among a bunch of idiot fanboys dressing up as him.

Also, getting hit with a heavy frying pan hurts. You don't get up and no-sell it right away.

With that said, I liked the movie a lot. I'm hesitant to say it's my favorite Scream after the first one, because of recency bias. But it's up there. Better than 3, 4, and 5. Don't know if it's better than 2.

[Donomark]

Did a psuedo double feature for a two-part QnoA/With Eyes East podcasting project, covering Steven Segal's 1998 DTV film The Patriot, and the 2000 Japanese arthouse film Shiki-Jitsu a.k.a. Ritual directed by Hideaki Anno and starring Ayako Fujitani -  who was directly inspired by her time filming with her father (Segal) to make the movie.

[Dread]

Brimstone incorporated/Dark Harvest: reviews forthcoming

• Features: 5
• Shorts: 
• Documentaries: 1
• Rewatches: 

[Donomark]

Blood and Bone: Directed by Ben "I wrote Dragonball Evolution" Ramsey, starring Michael Jai White

Holy shit. I was not expecting this to be so awesome!

A very intentional spiritual throwback to the actioners of yesteryear, from the 70s to the late 80s with the most familiar film comparison being Jean Claude Van Dame's Lionheart, Blood and Bone is a more than solid action movie that had ZERO reason to go as hard as it did. MJW soars as the classically stoic, badass protag who never lets a fight down with his martial prowess, but equally awesome is the villain played by Eamonn Walker. I wasn't at all familiar with this man's game, but he took a typical bad guy archetype and made one of my favorite movie villains in a long time. He's essentially a pilot version for Sterling K. Brown, with every bit the emotional conviction, charm and powerhouse presence to go with it. It's the kind of performance where even when the villain is doing evil shit, you can't be mad at him because the performance is so captivating. That drives this film, which is ably enhanced by a script that's pitch perfect. It hits the exact right tone, especially in the dreck years of 2000s American action movies. The more it goes on, the more interested the plot is. Twists are revealed, and they feel helpful and revealing rather than out of nowhere. With the increased stakes come increased style. While most of the fights are entertaining but hardly dynamic (because MJW just steamrolls over everyone), the penultimate fight where he battles an actual master fighter is downright gripping, playing out like a manga fight with the two opponents gauging each other and taking their time before stepping up each attack. It is so cool. 

I went in not asking for much from this, I really wasn't. A movie with MJW punching mother fuckers in the face, that's all I needed for 90 minutes. This movie delivers that in spades, but it's got style, it's got wit, and it's got Eamonn Walker and Julian Sands comparing dick sizes with the gravitas of a Shakespeare play. Incredible, deeply underseen and underrated film. Highly recommended. 

[Dread]

On 1/24/2024 at 7:03 PM, Donomark said:

Blood and Bone: Directed by Ben "I wrote Dragonball Evolution" Ramsey, starring Michael Jai White

Holy shit. I was not expecting this to be so awesome!

Yeah, Blood and Bone rules.

Michael Jai White and Scott Adkins are keeping the classic action movie alive.

Gundala: review forthcoming

North of Normal: decent drama based on a memoir. 

• Features: 7
• Shorts: 
• Documentaries: 1
• Rewatches: 

[Donomark]

Fist of the North Star (1995): Directed by Tony Randel, starring Gary Daniels

I've been reading the recent Fist of the North Star re-publications, having read up to volume 10 with the ultimate conflict of Kenshiro vs. Raoh/Kenoh, so I was more than read up to check this mid-90s DTV out. What I can say that's good about it is that the director and co-writer Tony Randel clearly loves the series. It reminds me of the 2017 Ghost in the Shell movie, the director plainly has an eye on the source material and wants to faithfully adapt it. I think the script isn't good enough to fully explore the narrative, so even though they technically say it through Malcolm McDowell narration, unless you're familiar with this franchise you will not have any idea what is going on. 

But I appreciate the effort, however incompetent. And I actually really liked Shin in this. I think the actor (dark hair notwithstanding) actually resembles the Tetsuo Hara illustrations in his face, and the way he's presented gave off a feeling of recognition. He was pretty well done. Also the girl who played Rin (in this movie she's Lynn) was spot-on. Dante Basco as Bat was 100% appropriate casting, even if he takes up more screentime than he needs. Ditto for Chris Penn, who essentially is playing Jagi - here called Jackal.

But the script is cheesy. The music is real bad. The violence is touch and go, which I get. If every fight were like the manga or anime, this would be an NC-17 easily. So sometimes they actually fight with the famous brutality of the series, and sometimes it's just typical punches and kicks that don't kill anybody.

But the deathknell of this film is straight up Gary Daniels as Kenshiro. This is one of the biggest examples of miscasting the main character killing the entire project I've seen in a while. I get why he was cast. From the neck-down he's physically perfect as Ken. He's also got the moves, and when he does a roundhouse kick, he looks exactly like the character. 
Problem is the guy can't act. His face is all wrong, going for bug-eyes wariness rather than the typically cool, calm and totally in control facial expression of classic Ken. Think Chris Tucker playing Arnold from Hey Arnold. His voice is also way too distractingly bad to deal with. There's an exchange with an opponent where the guy says "Ah finally, a real fight!" and Ken replies with "Your last." Nice line, but his voice has the tenor of like the Mad Hatter. Too high of a pitch and British. It's horribly distracting. Shin was played by an Australian actor, but he made that work and didn't sound out of place. Daniels' voice however doesn't even look like it fits for him. I was begging for him to be dubbed by a tougher sounding voice. And it's doubly bad when he's getting impaled by Shin's fingers and making Jon Pertwee faces all over.

It's too bad, I was rooting for it to have survivable charm, but this movie sucks. It's just too incompetent. It know what it needs to do but can't fully sell it. But like YYH on Netflix, the frustration lies in seeing the possibility of this working in live action. It can be done, just with better folks at the helm.

 

And after seeing back-to-back Dante Basco performances with Blood and Bone in the rearview, I'm thinking Michael Jai White should've played Ken in a live action movie. I'm dead serious, he'd be perfect. 

[S-T]

Scream (2022):  I liked it more this time. Some of that is I know the new characters more after watching Scream 6.
   
Re-watching was also more enjoyable because I noticed some hints as to the identity of the killers that I missed the first time around. The placement of those was well done.
   
I still have the same criticisms that I had when I watched it the first time.
   
As for the title, call it 5cream. Come on. It's right there.

[Dread]

Lion-Girl: review forthcoming, but ai-yi-yi

• Features: 8
• Shorts: 
• Documentaries: 1
• Rewatches: 

[Davedevil]

The Fable and Fable: The Killer Who Doesn't Kill - Two movies based on a manga about a guy who can kill any person in six seconds but is ordered to spend a year not killing anyone. It's mostly a fish out of water comedy about a stone-faced guy adjusting to life in quiet Osaka, but the fight scenes when they come around are incredible and very creative. 

They're both about the same quality, though I might personally favor the second one for having a more emotional story and two action scenes that are at just the right level of over the top. I don't know what happened in the manga afterwards but I'd love more movies in this series.

The Running Man - Good movie, it's just about what I expect from this type of project at this time for Arnold. Knowing the premise, I thought nothing could shock me but the setup that he's been made a criminal for refusing to murder peaceful protesters, then deepfaking it to look like he did so that everyone hates him, still kinda took me aback.

The actual Running Man part of it was really enjoyable, I lost my shit when the Dynamo came in. A big dude shooting lightning out of his wrists and singing opera? If that came from the book, then God bless Stephen King's coke-addled brain.

The last act did lose me though, it was pretty cliche but it was the 80s after all. I'd be curious if there was a 70s equivalent, I'm sure that would be bleaker about it.

[dc20willsave]

8 hours ago, Davedevil said:

The actual Running Man part of it was really enjoyable, I lost my shit when the Dynamo came in. A big dude shooting lightning out of his wrists and singing opera? If that came from the book, then God bless Stephen King's coke-addled brain.

Some of the bones of the book are used but it's mostly it's own thing. The book is really fucking grim.

[Donomark]

Action Jackson: Starring Carl Weathers

A product reportedly based on Weathers talking with Joel Silver during the making of Predator and wanting a Blaxploitation throwback, that's exactly what this movie has its eye on. At the end of the day it's solidly average, with a few drafts short of solidifying a real keeper. Weathers is naturally charismatic, and handles the main role with ease. His character is also ultimately a pretty good guy, and less of a bullying dickhead than most macho characters of the era tend to be. Craig T. Nelson is a terrifically acted villain, with a somewhat convoluted plan but his evil burns through in every scene. And I thought Vanity was perfectly fine, I don't get why she was thrown a Razzie nomination. Of course the romance is a tad hard to buy considering the events of the film, but nothing to take me out of it. 

There's also a TON of "oh it's that guy" moments of random casting throughout. Bill Duke reteams with Weathers after Predator, as well as Sonny Landham. You've also got the "Dead Tired" black guy from Commando, Miguel Nunez Jr and Branscombe Richmond, the valet from Die Hard (same year), Robert Davi, Thomas F. Wilson, and Al Leong - who played the Asian henchman in virtually every late 80s action classic.

What holds this movie back really are the limited drafts. For a movie and character titled "Action Jackson", Jackson himself isn't involved in an action scene until 30 minutes into the film, and it's over an hour before he proactively kicks ass. The sequences themselves are decent, they're passable. But what REALLY sucks are the quips. They are godawful, and just badly applied. It makes Weathers appear less charismatic, because they're just banal and stupid one-liners. Stuff like him saying "You lose." before running a guy over in a car, just huge misses. Certainly the most memorable line: "Barbeque, huh? HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR RIBS" is just stupid enough to pass the muster, because it's ridiculous, but it makes it the best quip in the movie. But the level of bad quips truly are tragic.

Overall the movie is watchable for Weathers and Craig T. Nelson and is entertaining enough, but you wish it were better and can see how it could've been. It got raked over the coals critically, but did well financially, so it's definitely a cult film. 

[Dread]

A Lizard in a Woman's Skin: review forthcoming

The Greatest Night in Pop: a Netflix doc about the recording of We Are the World. I'd seen a lot of footage from this before but I don't think I knew that Lionel Richie hosted the AMAs (including three performances) that same day. That's insane. Paul Simon looking around and saying "If someone bombs this building, John Denver will be on top again" is sadly not represented in the footage. Though it is mentioned.

• Features: 8
• Shorts: 
• Documentaries: 2
• Rewatches: 

[Donomark]

Warrior (2011): Starring Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy

I thought this was alright. Well acted and well directed, but ultimately a sports movies with a number of tropes/cliches that I was surprised by. It felt like an older script that was held over from a decade previous. I enjoyed it, but it took it's sweet time in the first half. I liked how Tom Hardy was the veritable antagonist up through the very end and that this is Joel Edgerton's story. That made the film feel more unique. Otherwise, it's kinda like when I watched Tombstone last year in that it's solid but I was expecting a bit more than what I got.

[Dread]

I Am Not a Serial Killer: This has been on my list for ages as the premise enticed me, but it's based on a novel by Dan Wells, so I was weary. I HATE the Writing Excuses podcast. But, this was a delightful surprise. Review forthcoming.

Knife+Heart/The Wind: reviews forthcoming

• Features:11
• Shorts: 
• Documentaries: 2
• Rewatches: 

[Donomark]

Moneyball (2011): Starring Brad Pitt

I dunno, it was good I guess.

Maybe I've been in a funk or something, but while the cinematography was excellent and the acting is solid throughout, the energy of the film bothered me. I found Brad Pitt generally smug and obnoxious from start to finish. Save for his interactions with his daughter, he is a dick to every single person he encounters. It's one of those films (based on a book about real life events I know) that is really sold on Pitt, who is always watchable. But I wasn't in the mood for his "Everyone is stupid Except Me" act. Plus the film had a weird atmosphere about it. So many scenes of people awkwardly staring in silence. Phillip Seymour Hoffman was excellent however, practically disappearing in his role as the Oakland Athletics Art Howe. Chris Pratt also did a really good job as a naturally well meaning newbie First Baseman. I didn't dislike the movie, but I wasn't won over by it. On another day, I might be.

[Dread]

The Snowtown Killers/The Dunwich Horror: reviews forthcoming

• Features: 13
• Shorts: 
• Documentaries: 2
• Rewatches: 

I have now matched the number of movies I watched in January just halfway through February. Been in a  depressive funk and haven't watched much more than Star Trek: Voyager. Going to really lay some movie numbers down in 2024 though. 

[Professor]

Madame Web - But why?  Total crap, but in a very boring and uninteresting way.

[Donomark]

On 2/17/2024 at 9:05 AM, Professor said:

Madame Web - But why?  Total crap, but in a very boring and uninteresting way.

I've not seen Madame Web and really don't expect to, but from all reports it sounds like we've got a real Catwoman 2004 on our hands. Not like Morbius, which was overrated in its badness, but truly especially lousy.

[Dread]

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: a little bit of harmless fun. We don't get much in the way of family-friendly fantasy these days (unless it's the Willow sequel series which is not only canceled but removed from streaming) and this one fit the bill. It's a bit of harmless fun. Barely any characterization at all. For that reason, I will never watch it again. I appreciate the universe it's set in, and perhaps they'll make better films in this universe. 

Voices Carry: feature for the festival

• Features: 15
• Shorts: 
• Documentaries: 2
• Rewatches: 

[S-T]

30 for 30: Ric Flair - If what he says about his lifestyle is true, it is amazing that this man is still alive.