The Search for Women Villains I came to this to have something to watch with my 9 and 10 year olds, and for that it was a rousing success. As I’m not familiar with the source material, I can judge it purely on the films and stunts that came before. It seems to register well… Continue reading Uncharted (2022)
Category: Twos
Films rated two stars out of three
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)
The Last Supper’s Table If you come to this for the much advertised fight choreography or exciting chase scenes, you will be disappointed. We’ve seen more exciting of each many times. There’s no new ground here, no stunts in the Tom Cruise sense to speak of. No risks at all. Fightwise the only novelty we… Continue reading John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)
Exit Through the Giftshop (2010)
Mister Brainwash A key insight for me is what I amusingly call Ted’s law. In this, when we layer abstractions in art, the “distance” between layers is equal. This is a great example. The idea builds on the notion that humans alone are capable of seeing themselves in the world as they see the world.… Continue reading Exit Through the Giftshop (2010)
Coherence (2013)
Encounters with Selves The idea behind this is promising: troubled couples escaping their problems and focus on their partner by encountering themselves — other versions of themselves. There is some scientific hocus pocus enlisted to enable this, but that is just incidental. And I have to admit that the execution is good. Yes, the camera… Continue reading Coherence (2013)
Looper (2012)
Annoyingly Trustworthy Monkey Time is all we must encounter; all else is urges. Narrative is built on this simple principle, usually with time forcing the cadence and agents with fate embodying the urges. So when time enters the story as a citizen, we have the opportunity for seriously disruptive experiences. You have to judge these… Continue reading Looper (2012)
Pacific Rim (2013)
Water, Ink Yes, I do find this man more disappointing than your average action director. It isn’t that his movies are any dumber than others. They aren’t. It is a reverse prejudice based on two qualities. He has a powerful visual ability, in beings, environments and machines. It irks me to no end that he… Continue reading Pacific Rim (2013)
The Hunger Games (2012)
More Games, Less Hunger I am seeing this a second time with pre teenagers, close to the target market for the books I assume. I think for them, the film is serviceable and as they see the series the plot complications will be engaging. But it reminds me of a persistent challenge in film and… Continue reading The Hunger Games (2012)
Vantage Point (2008)
Unbraided Gosh what a seductive idea. Gosh what a spasm of waste. The problem is that clever ideas were borrowed and spliced together with no annealing. So we have this business of recorded movies and the movie we watch overlap. The movies within are by Forrest Whitaker and a TeeVee crew managed by Sigourney Weaver.… Continue reading Vantage Point (2008)
Exorcist: the Beginning (2004)
The Phantom Devil You know, the very best film experiences are sometimes the ones that are the hardest work. If you don’t work at this one, you’ll be stuck at the John Carpenter level. But if you do… Consider it this way. Some movies are made by fundamentalist Christians as part of their battle with… Continue reading Exorcist: the Beginning (2004)
Exit to Eden (1994)
Whipped I am particularly attracted to odd genre-crossing experiments that fail. When they work, the reasons why are too tied to the mysteries of perception to tease out. Like explanations of the economy, they are all speculations bound to be bogus. But failures are easier to understand and appreciate. Gerry Marshall has accumulated some heavy… Continue reading Exit to Eden (1994)