movies, tv, and other randomness

Pretty much what the title says...I mostly post things related to TV shows and movies I like, and well, other random things

[filmigeek]

hello tumblr! It's been like 2 years since I posted anything on here and I have no idea if any of my followers are still here!

If you're still around say "hi!"

[filmigeek]

I watched the Mulan remake...it was pretty “meh” to say the least

To say a little more...well, I do want to give it credit for at least trying to do something different and not just do another shot-for-shot remake. It’s definitely a case where I actually really liked some of the ideas it had, but the execution in terms of the writing, acting, and directing were all just so poor that a lot of it came off as change for the sake of change and not to actually add anything to the film. Moments that felt really emotional in the original just didn’t land the same way. A great example of this is the scene where Mulan steals her father’s armor; In the animated version, we get that great moment of Mulan dramatically cutting her hair short (among a lot of other things).Here, all we see is Mulan turns around and has armor on.  Now, I had read that they wanted to change this, since it was normal for men to have long hair during this time period in China, but why not even try to replace it with something with similar heft? I’m fine with change, but why do that in the most boring way possible? 

Worst of all, though, is that the characters, Mulan herself especially, just came off as so bland and had almost no personality, which just made it hard for me to really care about what was going on. I can say the same about pretty much every other character, and Mulan’s relationships with them - her father, the general, the new Shang-replacement-character whose name I don’t even remember, all feel similarly bland and underwritten. 

I know that more and more remakes are coming from Disney, and I hope that they can eventually strike the right balance of bringing something new and worthwhile to the table without completely losing what was good about the original.

[filmigeek]

so I’m learning from this Disney Investor Day announcement that...people actually LIKED Hayden Christensen? And are happy he’s back?? REALLY? 

[filmigeek]

hello tumblr! It’s been a while. Today I came across a person on tiktok who was watching and reviewing every Disney animated movie...then I remembered that I did that back in 2014 which now feels like 100000 years ago

then I also had a ‘kids these days” reaction when I realized that I had to go the old-fashioned route of getting all those DVDs from the library, but most of them are probably on Disney+ now 

[health-and-science-things]

I saw this on twitter and felt I had to share it everywhere

I have an MPH in health behavior change and health communication myself– and the one lesson that was always hammered home was that shaming does not change behavior. Every time I see people on social media shaming people without a mask, grouping them all into “Trump loving anti-maskers” or “Karens” I think of this. The more we shame people, the further we push them away from wanting to wear a mask. 

Unfortunately we don’t have policy/mandates on our side in a lot of places in the US, so we have to do our best with improved health communication, and that should not include shaming or fear based messaging 

[filmigeek]

All I really want to do whenever I catch an egg instead of a fish...

[filmigeek]

so...I don’t know if I really liked Toy Story 4? Like it’s a well made movie for sure, but I’m not sure how I feel about that ending, especially since Toy Story 3 ended things so well....

also, as impressed as I am with how detailed and realistic Pixar animation has gotten, did anyone else feel it kind of took them out of things? Like seeing animated people and toys in these hyper-realistic environments was strange to me 

[thefilmstage]

Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite Wins Best Picture at the 2020 Academy Awards

[filmigeek]

Once in a while, the Oscars do get it right!

[chewbacca]

KNIVES OUT dir. Rian Johnson 

[filmigeek]

Oscar hot take-- Daniel Craig deserved a Best Actor nomination just for being able to say this with a straight face

[mcqraw]

1917

[filmigeek]

thesilentmvp replied to your post “Movie Musings: 1917”

I just saw this last night too! Totally agree with your comments about the immersion that the one shot style provides. Also I can't stop thinking about the scene where he's running through the deserted (well, not really) town ruins at night and the flares are going off. Stunning visually, musically, everything.

yes! That whole sequence was amazing and is really where I felt Roger Deakins outdid himself 

And I totally forgot to mention the score, which was also perfect and brought so much tension to the movie as well! 

[filmigeek]

Movie Musings: 1917

(2019, Sam Mendes)

I walked out of 1917 yesterday thinking of Martin Scorsese’s now infamous comments about the MCU being “theme park rides” and not “cinema.” To me, this movie is the ultimate example that those things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. 1917 is like a theme park ride, if that theme park were Westworld. In other words, it’s a harrowing, visceral experience that deserves to be seen in the best theater you can find. It’s the sort of movie that pulls you in, makes your heart race (literally, my FitBit showed up to 140 bpm!), and may even make you scream, but at the same time doesn’t lack depth and emotion. 

A lot of what makes it so successful is that it’s all filmed to look like one single, continuous shot. I’ve seen a lot of folks call this a “gimmick” or “video game like”, but I felt it’s what makes the movie feel like such an immersive experience. You really feel like you’re there, you’re going along on this journey with these characters and seeing what they see. The level of effort must have taken to get this to work must have already been insane, but then on top of that-- Roger frickin’ Deakins! Yes, the cinematographer behind Skyfall, Blade Runner 2049, and so many other beautifully shot films has somehow outdone himself here. In a year with a lot of great cinematography, this is still easily the best. 

All this is to say it’s a feat of directing and cinematography, but I wouldn’t be raving about it so much if it hadn’t hooked me emotionally as well. I’ve seen some folks complain that this is “video game like” due to its continuous shot style and bare bones plot, but this sentiment doesn’t give enough credit to its amazing main actors, George Mackay and Dean Charles Chapman. I can’t believe Mackay didn’t get an Oscar nomination for this. Their performances really go a long way in making us care about these characters and feel what they feel as they are on this journey. In particular, there’s a scene towards the end with a character running (you’ll know it if you’ve seen it) that literally made me feel out of breath watching it-- and so much of that credit goes to Mackay.

Anyway, I’ll wrap this up by again, saying that you should all go see this at the best theater you have available to you. And if you’re like many of my friends and don’t usually like war movies-- see it anyway. I’m not normally a fan of war movies myself, but this is still an experience you can’t miss.  I give it a 10/10  

[filmigeek]

also, now that I’ve seen all the Best Picture nominees, here’s how I’d rank and rate all of them:

1. Parasite - 10/10

2. 1917 - 10/10

3. Little Women - 9/10 

4. Marriage Story - 9/10

5. Jojo Rabbit - 8.5/10

6. Ford v Ferrari - 8/10

7. The Irishman - 8/10

8. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - 7.5/10

9. Joker - 6/10 

I am crossing my fingers for Parasite to win, but certainly wouldn’t be upset if 1917 won instead. Actually, to be perfectly honest, the only win that would really make me upset is Joker...

[filmigeek]

I just saw 1917

So, for me this is the last of this year’s Best Picture nominees I needed to watch-- given that I’ve really loved half of them, expectations were high, but let me tell you-- this surpassed all of them. What an experience this movie was. Please go find the best quality theater you have available and go see it (I saw it in Dolby and it was amazing)

I’m honestly still crossing my fingers for Parasite to win, but I for one won’t be upset if 1917 takes it instead. 

a longer write-up to come soon!

[filmigeek]

Movie Musings: Joker

(2019, Todd Phillips)

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen quite the sudden change of “this is amazing!” to “no it’s horrible!!!” as fast as it happened for Joker. Basically I had heard about it premiering to a standing ovation at Venice Film Festival, then next thing I knew it got a wide release and everyone was talking about how it would inspire white men to lash out at society. I watched this anyway, figuring that this was just The Internet over-blowing things, as it does with any movie that’s doing well and winning awards. I will also say that I liked the trailers a lot and was genuinely interested in it.  So I’m amazed that, for all the criticisms I heard of it being “dangerous,” somehow, I never heard that it’s just a bad movie. 

Ok, maybe “bad movie” is harsh. It’s watchable, Joaquin Phoenix is really good, and it generally looks really great (I’m not against it getting recognition for its cinematography). It does have a handful of strong moments. For the most part I liked the gritty, 80s New York-esque version of Gotham, although as many have pointed out, it is very Scorsese-inspired. 

But that brings me to just what I disliked about this so much. It basically feels like a pretentious, shallow imitation of a lot of better movies, shoved into an existing franchise (because money, I guess?) This is a movie that thinks it’s really deep, but really has all the depth of a puddle. One just needs to hear Joker’s monologue at the end to get that this wanted to be a villain origin story with themes of class struggles and violence, and how society treats the mentally ill. For something that’s supposed to be a “character study,” all the characters just come off as so cartoonish-- like they all basically exist to be dicks to Arthur, and not even in an interesting way. I never felt like I was watching a character’s slow descent into madness, more like a bunch of people are mean, and because the main character has some vague mental illness we’re supposed to accept that this would make him become The Joker. 

And just, in general, for everything this movie tried to do, I can probably name another movie that did the same thing and did it better. Taxi Driver (which this is very inspired by) and Fight Club (also a possible inspiration?) come to mind. Even just from this year, we had Knives Out and Parasite do much, much stronger explorations of the theme of classism. Actually Parasite even does a better job of showing a character get pushed to his breaking point. 

Ok, I think that’s enough venting about this one. I think this is a case of where I just felt that the writing was so poor, it just felt very style-over-substance to me. I thought it had good ideas that all just seemed underdeveloped. 

And maybe it’s the kind of thing I’d have liked if I had seen it with no expectations, but c’mon! Best Picture? Best Director?? I don’t get it. I give it a 6/10 

[filmigeek]

well, I finally got around to watching Joker.

So, let me just start with, I had heard about the controversy around it and the criticisms about it... but figured this was just the internet over-blowing things (like what happens with pretty much every Oscar nominated movie). So I went in with an open mind and............wow I hated it 

I’m amazed that like, regular people, let alone critics and The Academy thought this was a good movie?? This might be the most pretentious movie I’ve seen in my life. 

[alienoriana]

“why do women’s stories fall short of recognition time and time again“

About Academy Awards and lack of women’s acknowledgment and representation… again

And why a mediocre film about men and their friends and/or their guns have more chances to win Best Picture than a strong movie led by women