Movies Rate and Discuss the Last Movie You Saw v.16

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Dragonlord’s Review of FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA (No Spoilers)

Bottom Line: Doesn’t reach the same greatness as Fury Road, George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is still rip-roaring fun thanks to its turbo-charged action sequences, beautiful cinematography and a captivating performance by Anya Taylor-Joy.

In 2015, George Miller unveiled his cinematic opus Mad Max: Fury Road, a relentless action masterpiece that introduced one of the great action heroines ever – Furiosa (played by Charlize Theron). Nine years later, Miller is back in the Mad Max world with a prequel that tells the origin story of a young Furiosa (played by Anya Taylor-Joy).

Set 15 years before Fury Road, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is broken down in five chapters. The film starts with Furiosa as a child taken away from her home and raised by Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), warlord leader of the Biker Horde. Over the succeeding chapters, the film shows how Furiosa ends up in the Citadel and how she eventually became the top imperator for Immortan Joe.

Unlike in Fury Road where it feels like the whole movie is just one extended car chase scene (which is part of its charm), Furiosa loses some momentum chronicling the life of Furiosa from abducted child to warrior driver. Furiosa’s story did not allow me to have the same intense emotional connection with Fury Road. There’s also a lot of restrictions and lack of unpredictability on the story due to the fact that this is a prequel.

The action and car chase sequences are still amazing, absolutely top-tier but it just doesn’t reach the same heights as Fury Road. Part of me thinks Miller spent all the best ideas for Fury Road and what Furiosa is left with are the second or third choices. The cinematography is still magnificent, the wasteland never looked so beautiful and spectacular. Junkie XL’s thunderous and battering drum score is still fantastic.

Anya Taylor-Joy is just marvelous as the action heroine. If I’m not mistaken, this marks the actress’ first pure action role and nails it brilliantly. She perfectly captures the smoldering intensity and quiet fury of the character. Yeah she might be on the skinny side but at least they made her action scenes believable as she was mostly driving and shooting people up, and not constantly going toe-to-toe with her opponents.

Tom Burke was wonderful as Praetorian Jack, the skilled and noble driver of the war rig. The character had a strong Max Rockatansky vibe that immediately hooks the viewers in. Alyla Browne was terrific as the young Furiosa. They did such a great job with her that I wouldn’t have mind if the movie was all about her. Australian model Charlee Fraser, who plays Furiosa’s mother, was another magnificent supporting cast member. Her portrayal of a no-nonsense, bad-ass mother in an unrelenting pursuit to save her daughter was one of the highlights of the film and could have worked in a standalone movie just about that (just without the Furiosa connection).

Chris Hemsworth as the Warlord Dementus was a mixed bag, but mostly positive. He was compelling at first but I think overstayed his welcome by the end. In the wacky and crazy world of Mad Max, Dementus seemed somewhat tame. The character needed to do something brutal and outlandish for the audience to really root against him.

We also get to see some old characters like Immortan Joe, Rictus Erectus, the Organic Mechanic and the People Eater. But since they’re not the main antagonists of the film, they all seemed mild and unintimidating unlike the first time they appeared in Fury Road. Miller must really like actor Josh Helman, who played the War Boy Slit in Fury Road, as he is back playing a different character as one of Immortan Joe’s son, Scrotus.

Although this is R-rated, there are times it feels like its holding back and the action felt a bit sanitized. A few sprinkle of gore and gruesomeness could have sold the vibe and atmosphere better, especially since this is a Mad Max world. It definitely would have sold Dementus better as a despicable villain.

Overall, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga was still a blast to watch. I’m eager to watch it again without my preconceived expectations and accept the film as it is presented. George Miller proves that he is still a maestro of action carnage and unparalleled when it comes to exciting car chase sequences. Let’s just hope that it takes the filmmaker less than nine years to come up with the next Mad Max installment.

PRELIMINARY RATING: 8.5/10

Spoiler: A FEW SPOILER THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS

I was not a fan of the ending that showed Furiosa rescuing the five brides, in essence tying everything up in full circle with the events of Fury Road. Not a fan either of them showing clips of Fury Road during the end credits. Seemed desperate and trying hard for that nostalgic bait.

I thought that scene where we see Praetorian Jack being tortured and Dementus' crew was circling around with their bikes FOR HOURS was stupid considering the scarcity of gasoline in their world.

 

[GSP_37]

I recently started watching but failed to finish in one sitting Indiana Jones and Dial of Destiny, Iron Claw, Bloodshot, Where the Crawdads Sing. Where the Crawdads Sing is the only one that captured my attention partially because the actress in the poster/bluray case looks very pretty and partially because of the thriller/mystery genre and because of the story and characters.

 

[eddymotto]

Bullet Ballet (Japan, 1998)

Japanese noir drama directed by and starring Shinya Tsukamoto (Tokyo Fist, Killing).

Goda (Tsukamoto) a salaryman who produces commercials. After a night of drinking alone, he arrives home at his apartment to discover that his long time girlfriend has killed herself with a gun. Goda is shocked that his girlfriend appears to have committed suicide and he has no idea where she would have acquired a gun.

Goda becomes obsessed with getting a gun of this own (a Chiefs Special revolver in particular). I think Goda wants to recreate the suicide, but I am not sure.

Guns are incredibly difficult to acquire in Japan and to find one, Goda descends into a criminal underworld where he has no experience and even less aptitude. He comes across Chisato, a young woman with her own fixation with death, who is part of a street gang.

The film is shot in a jarring monochrome black & white. The neon drenched Tokyo we are used to in film is nowhere to be seen. Instead the city is brutalist, dirty, and decaying. The characters are often depicted in bleak, industrial environments where they are dwarfed and overshadowed by the sheer scale of the man-made shapes and forms around them. The effect is dehumanizing, as is Goda's obsession with the mechanical means of his girlfriend's death. Goda is more focused on the technology that his girlfriend used to end her life, than on what she meant to him when she was alive. It feels utterly nihilistic. If Goda's girlfriend had hung herself and Goda became obsessed with owning the exact type of rope that she used for the noose, the film would play as a black comedy. However, a gun, both as a mechanical device and as a means of violence, is fundamentally different because of power that it grants whomever wields it, heightened by the sheer difficulty of obtaining it in Japan. If we view Goda's often quixotic quest to obtain a gun from this perspective, he appears driven to (re)gain power over his own existence.

The film is extremely stylized. In addition to the b&w print, Tsukamoto uses a lot of shaky cam and so many quick cuts that even a music video director would think they are a bit much.

Tsukamoto does not seem concerned with narrative coherence. The film lurches between scenes without explanation. We are left to observe what we can, although Tsukamoto sometimes seems to be working against us even for this.

For all that, the film undoubtably possesses a dark beauty and a propulsive hyperkinetic quality. While there is probably a lot to be gleaned from a close watch (probably even more from multiple watches), I enjoyed the film more once I gave up on all that and just let the film unroll in front of me. I was not always sure why people were doing what they were doing in every scene but when the film ends it mostly makes sense, albeit with lots of loose ends.

This feels like a polarizing film. I can see a lot of people hating it and a few people absolutely loving it. I fall in-between. There is a lot to like in the film and it has a stark, frantic beauty. It also sometimes felt like a slog in the middle parts, which is rather incredible given that the entire movie is only 85 minutes long.

Rating: 6/10

 

[lostdog000]

fall guy
mostly good
just a bit too much action
7/10

 

[HenryFlower]

Bullet Ballet (Japan, 1998)

Japanese noir drama directed by and starring Shinya Tsukamoto (Tokyo Fist, Killing).

Goda (Tsukamoto) a salaryman who produces commercials. After a night of drinking alone, he arrives home at his apartment to discover that his long time girlfriend has killed herself with a gun. Goda is shocked that his girlfriend appears to have committed suicide and he has no idea where she would have acquired a gun.

Goda becomes obsessed with getting a gun of this own (a Chiefs Special revolver in particular). I think Goda wants to recreate the suicide, but I am not sure.

Guns are incredibly difficult to acquire in Japan and to find one, Goda descends into a criminal underworld where he has no experience and even less aptitude. He comes across Chisato, a young woman with her own fixation with death, who is part of a street gang.

The film is shot in a jarring monochrome black & white. The neon drenched Tokyo we are used to in film is nowhere to be seen. Instead the city is brutalist, dirty, and decaying. The characters are often depicted in bleak, industrial environments where they are dwarfed and overshadowed by the sheer scale of the man-made shapes and forms around them. The effect is dehumanizing, as is Goda's obsession with the mechanical means of his girlfriend's death. Goda is more focused on the technology that his girlfriend used to end her life, than on what she meant to him when she was alive. It feels utterly nihilistic. If Goda's girlfriend had hung herself and Goda became obsessed with owning the exact type of rope that she used for the noose, the film would play as a black comedy. However, a gun, both as a mechanical device and as a means of violence, is fundamentally different because of power that it grants whomever wields it, heightened by the sheer difficulty of obtaining it in Japan. If we view Goda's often quixotic quest to obtain a gun from this perspective, he appears driven to (re)gain power over his own existence.

The film is extremely stylized. In addition to the b&w print, Tsukamoto uses a lot of shaky cam and so many quick cuts that even a music video director would think they are a bit much.

Tsukamoto does not seem concerned with narrative coherence. The film lurches between scenes without explanation. We are left to observe what we can, although Tsukamoto sometimes seems to be working against us even for this.

For all that, the film undoubtably possesses a dark beauty and a propulsive hyperkinetic quality. While there is probably a lot to be gleaned from a close watch (probably even more from multiple watches), I enjoyed the film more once I gave up on all that and just let the film unroll in front of me. I was not always sure why people were doing what they were doing in every scene but when the film ends it mostly makes sense, albeit with lots of loose ends.

This feels like a polarizing film. I can see a lot of people hating it and a few people absolutely loving it. I fall in-between. There is a lot to like in the film and it has a stark, frantic beauty. It also sometimes felt like a slog in the middle parts, which is rather incredible given that the entire movie is only 85 minutes long.

Rating: 6/10

i highly recommend you seek out the short film, Shuffle (1981), directed by Sogo Ishii (Crazy Thunder Road, Burst City). i’ll post the trailer below, but the quality is shite. someone put up a real solid quality upload on youtube, but it only has hardcoded italian subs. lmk if this is something you’d maybe wanna check out & i’ll get you the file i have w/ eng subs

The young Hiroshi Kobayashi is chased by a police officer through whole Tokyo, because he's suspected of murder. Through flashbacks we learn about his quarrel with his girlfriend and something that might be reminiscent of his schooldays. It all leads into one of the bleakest endings in film history... Sogo Ishii's 5th film based on the short Manga story "Run" by Katsuhiro Otomo. Shot on 16mm black and white material and later blown-up to 35mm this is Ishii's last fully independent effort before shooting Burst City for Toei.

 

[Patrick Jane]

Jiu Jitsu (2020)

10/10
One of the best, if not the best movie i've ever seen in my life. Superb in every aspect, especially the fight scenes.

 

[eddymotto]

Jiu Jitsu (2020)

10/10
One of the best, if not the best movie i've ever seen in my life. Superb in every aspect, especially the fight scenes.

this is perhaps the prime example of a Nic Cage "I was only on set for 2.5 days of this POS but I tried my best" film.

some day Criterion is going to do a package release based on that theme

 

[eddymotto]

i highly recommend you seek out the short film, Shuffle (1981), directed by Sogo Ishii (Crazy Thunder Road, Burst City). i’ll post the trailer below, but the quality is shite. someone put up a real solid quality upload on youtube, but it only has hardcoded italian subs. lmk if this is something you’d maybe wanna check out & i’ll get you the file i have w/ eng subs

Looks wild.

If you are recommending it, I am down to watch it. I could not find it on my own with a quick google search and so if you can hook me up with a good version, I would appreciate it.

thanks

 

[GSP_37]

Where the Crawdads Sing - 8 out of 10

I am now a fan of Daisy Edgar-Jones. Bounces back and forth from very pretty to Plain Jane. Sometimes looks a bit like Anne Hathaway or MEW. The actress who played the mom briefly had top tier face and boob size. Might not necessarily rewatch this movie over and over like Road House or Clue, but it kept my interest. It's kind of a crime story. It does get you in the feels.

 

[revoltub]

Footloose (1984)

-

A little mixed on this one. The basic plot is that Kevin Bacon moves to a place where dancing is illegal, which seems really dumb and yet dancing bans are in fact a real thing.

But the film isnt really about dancing as much as it is about allowing the youth to express themselves in a strict protestant religious society. And then also your "New guy in a new town" highschool drama with Bacon making friends, making enemies, getting hazed, etc etc just the typical stuff you'd expect.

it isnt as obviously campy as I thought it would be going in, there are a few sort of dark moments here and there. The MVP to me was John LithGow as the town minister who is the main proponent of the dancing ban but you get to know the reason why as the film goes on.

The story moves enough to not feel stuck in place and it builds up to a good enough finale. However throughout I did find myself getting pulled out of it several times.

The soundtrack is very good and helps out a lot.

6/10 range I guess but a lower tier 6 compared to some others.

 

[eddymotto]

Footloose (1984)

-

A little mixed on this one. The basic plot is that Kevin Bacon moves to a place where dancing is illegal, which seems really dumb and yet dancing bans are in fact a real thing.

But the film isnt really about dancing as much as it is about allowing the youth to express themselves in a strict protestant religious society. And then also your "New guy in a new town" highschool drama with Bacon making friends, making enemies, getting hazed, etc etc just the typical stuff you'd expect.

it isnt as obviously campy as I thought it would be going in, there are a few sort of dark moments here and there. The MVP to me was John LithGow as the town minister who is the main proponent of the dancing ban but you get to know the reason why as the film goes on.

The story moves enough to not feel stuck in place and it builds up to a good enough finale. However throughout I did find myself getting pulled out of it several times.

The soundtrack is very good and helps out a lot.

6/10 range I guess but a lower tier 6 compared to some others.

I watched this for the first time a few months ago. There were fewer actual dancing scenes than I thought, but they were electric. The rest was meh.

 

[supermurph]

On the one hand you admire Kroc for his persistence in the face of failure over and over again, 1st as a salesman and later as a franchiser. On the other hand, you see how a greedy, moralless, profit matters more than anything businessman & a scumbag lawyer stole & corporatized something that started as an innovative and descent family-owned business.

 

[revoltub]

I watched this for the first time a few months ago. There were fewer actual dancing scenes than I thought, but they were electric. The rest was meh.

Yeah there really wasnt as much dancing as I expected. I expected a lot of it to be honest.

 

[revoltub]

On the one hand you admire Kroc for his persistence in the face of failure over and over again, 1st as a salesman and later as a franchiser. On the other hand, you see how a greedy, moralless, profit matters more than anything businessman & a scumbag lawyer stole & corporatized something that started as an innovative and descent family-owned business.

I would probably have this as one of the ten best films of the last ten years but I'd have to think about it.

Either way a really fantastic film.

 

[eddymotto]

Fat City (USA, 1972)

American boxing drama directed by the great John Huston and starring Stacy Keach, Jeff Bridges, and Susan Tyrrell.

Billy Tully (Keach) crosses paths with Ernie Munger (Bridges) at a gym in Stockton, California. They briefly spar before Billy quits due to a minor injury. Billy sees potential in the 18 year old Ernie and encourages him to go see Billy's former boxing trainer, Ruben (Nicholas Colasanto), at a nearby gym.

Billy was a reasonably well known local boxer. While only 28, he seems like he is 45 and the decade gap between him and the fresh faced Ernie feels like an eternity.

Ernie decides to try boxing and Ruben predicts great success for him. Meanwhile, Billy drinks and loses so many jobs that he has to beg to work as a field labourer, a job mostly taken by migrant workers. He ends up living with Oma Lee (Tyrrell), an exhausting, caustic drunk.

Billy and Ernie exist in a world only made possible with lies and in a sport that takes so much and gives so little. Both men are win some, lose some fighters stuck in the lower rungs of the Stockton boxing circuit. Their sporting careers, and their lives themselves, are sustainable only by the shared delusions that all the participants silently agree on. Billy tells himself that he just needs a few weeks to get back into shape and then he could become a contender. After a single day in the gym, Ruben sees the lanky Ernie as a potential champion. Ruben's crew crowd into old cars to drive to decrepit venues to fight in front of small crowds but they all see themselves as one lucky break from escaping their current circumstances. In this world, nobody ever really loses but instead are merely the unfortunate victims of bad luck or bad referees. To do anything else would be to face a reality that is untenable.

This is a brilliantly directed and acted film. Huston strips away all sentimentality and we all too clearly see the reality that the characters are blind to.

My only complaint is the technical execution of the boxing scenes. Many of them, especially early on, are not credible and took me out of the film at times. Billy's comeback fight is incredible but even it falls short of the technical proficiency I would expect from Huston. I wish that this film had the fight cinematography of Raging Bull or Cinderella Man.
Rating: 8.5/10

 

[HenryFlower]

Looks wild.

If you are recommending it, I am down to watch it. I could not find it on my own with a quick google search and so if you can hook me up with a good version, I would appreciate it.

thanks

word, i gotchu. i’m currently visiting the other side of the country, but once i hook my compooper up to the hotel wifi i’ll figure out a way to send you Shuffle

 

[eddymotto]

word, i gotchu. i’m currently visiting the other side of the country, but once i hook my compooper up to the hotel wifi i’ll figure out a way to send you Shuffle

thanks. no rush. just do it whenever suits you. I had never even heard of this short until you mentioned it and so it is all a bonus to me

 

[eddymotto]

Outrage (Japan, 2010)

Japanese yakuza film written, directed, and starring Takeshi Kitano. It forms a trilogy of films with Beyond Outrage and Outrage Coda. Outrage stands on its own as a self contained story.

The plot is a labyrinth of yakuza pacts, double-crosses, side arrangements, deception, revenge, murders, and betrayals; all in no particular order.

Suffice it to say, everybody is trying to fuck over everybody else. Lies and brutality are equal currencies in a quickly expanding gang war. One henchman dares to tell his boss that he knows about the boss's unsanctioned skimming on local drug deals and asks for his cut. The boss says, "you are an even bigger piece of shit than I am". The henchman shrugs and replies, "you are dealing with the yakuza".

In the middle of this mayhem is an old school mid-level yakuza named Otomo (Kitano). As with almost all Kitano characters, Otomo's speciality is to sit impassively before exploding into brutal violence. His crew is competent and ruthless. Otomo's challenge appears to be that he takes the yakuza code seriously. The central theme of this film is that the yakuza is a completely hallow concept. The loyalty pledges, family structure, and ritualistic finger amputations are meaningless conventions used to manipulate enemies. Everyone is out for themselves and loyalty exists only to the extent that it is enforced with violence. How does a man like Otomo survive in that type of institution? Is his code of honour a strength or a weakness? (To be clear, Otomo is a terrible person. He is simply a terrible person who operates with a certain code.).

The direction and cinematography is crisp and well executed. Kitano builds this world of gangsters and pulls the audience into it. We know that violence is coming and Kitano does not disappoint.

My main criticism is that this feels like a really good gangster film but the Otomo character does not rise to the heights Kitano achieved in films like Violent Cop or Fireworks. This is unfair. As a gangster movie, Outrage is exceptional. I was often confused about the plot (to be fair, so are the characters half the time) but by the third act I was completely invested in the fate of the main characters.

Rating: 8/10

I don't like the trailer that much but I include it for reference.

 

[therealdope]

The Beekeeper

Jason Statham movies are progressively decreasing his script lines and any notion of plot. This is a solid 7.5 on a scale of Statham movies. I watched it on a cross atlantic flight 2 days ago and I'd suggest that it's a very good movie to watch before trying to catch some sleep on the plane.

 

[llperez22]

Glass onion : a knives out mystery

7/10

I enjoyed the first movie and heard there was going to be a third so I decided to give this one a watch. I think they did a good job keeping it light and fun and presenting something unique from the first film that makes me look forward to seeing what future crimes Daniel Craig's character will encounter going forward. Just a genuinmely fun movie to watch. However, I found the ending to be anticlimatic. Whodunit murder mysteries are supposed to filled with genuine twists and turns that keep you guessing, but I feel that this film was not particularly twisty or turny once the reveals start coming in and we realize who the killer is. Fun ride but didnt quite stick the landing.