Passengers

Passengers ended up being a complicated thing. I understand that ten years ago it was on the so-called Hollywood Black List and that the ending was somewhat different. My feeling after watching it was that it was really two stories -- a story that tried to deal with the horror of being stranded alone for the rest of your life while also trying to deal with the fact that someone essentially stole the rest of your life from you -- while at the same time there's this drama and pressure from the ship falling apart. The stories feel separate, like the horror stories were not enough to keep people's interest so they shoe-horned on the tension of the ship failures, a situation only really handled by the sudden convenient appearance of <>. And then the horror stories get morphed into this rom-com type thing, completely shying away from dealing with the issues raised -- and the audience is for the most part along for the ride, because the stars are just so darned attractive that you end up rooting for them to get together.

There's also a lot of conflicting reviews on the movie, nobody really seems to like it because either it is to muddled or because of post-feminist outrage at the idea that a man in a horrible situation might do something horrible to a woman. (One review remarks that Aurora tries to bring attention to her plight, only to get it "mansplained" away -- my reaction to that review was yeah, the fucking ship is falling apart right now, but lets stop and take the time to make this all about you.) Let's face it, this can't be another Castaway, and if Pratt's character didn't make some bad decisions it would be an awfully boring movie.

All this is set against frankly gorgeous production -- the exteriors are beautiful, the interior sets crisp and clean, the props realistic, the internal technology fascinatingly well done. The music fits the pseudo-Wall-E type of music you'd expect. Visually it is amazing.

Too bad the story doesn't measure up.

Rogue One

Rogue One isn't a bad movie by any measure. It has its moments, fun moments, dramatic moments. Sometimes those moments are maybe shoe-horned in to give the story legitimacy by borrowing from the Episodes. It is, for the most part, a fun ride -- even if the ending is decidedly un-Star Wars and un-Disney.

It did seem that they spent too much effort pasting in the actors from the past -- the fighter pilots for example. And some of the dialog was repetitious from Episode four -- "Commence primary ignition" for example. And you have to feel a bit sorry for the actors who go around wearing other people's faces -- like the guy who played Tarkin this time around spent the whole movie with Peter Cushing's face on him. The effect isn't quite there yet -- Leia at the end looked especially plastic -- but it has come a long way from where we saw it in Tron: Legacy.

But the main thing I take away from it is -- was this story worth telling? Why is it important that we learn how the Death Star plans end up in the hands of the Rebellion? (I mean, besides Disney's plan to Get All The Moneys.) What does this really add to the Star Wars universe that was lacking before? I might have been more forgiving it it had really been merely "a stand-alone story in the Star Wars universe" rather than this thing shoe-horned in between two already-existing Episodes. But this smacks of Lucas' original indecision where he made Star Wars then decided after the fact that it was actually Episode 4. And now that we have Episodes 1, 2, and 3 Disney has gone back again and ret-conned history to insert these details that they now deem important to add to the canon. If it really was important, the details perhaps could have been inserted as a "meanwhile back in the past" kind of parallel story in a future Episode, where the arcs of the two stories combine and emphasise each other. 

It occurs to me that perhaps I'm not the target audience -- I never watched The Clone Wars, and I think there was another Star Wars animated series that I didn't watch either. I'm no longer of the age where I hunger for more, more, more of something. I can take what's there and either enjoy it for what it is or fill in any gaps myself that I deem needing of fill. But in today's market, it is much easier to provide more, more, more, ever more, for those who crave it. And I think perhaps that filling the demand ultimately cheapens the whole.

But, as I've always said -- and about Star Wars in particular -- you can't sell out if nobody's buying. And if you have nothing to sell, you can't Get All The Moneys.

Review: Arrival

Amazing. To say anything more is to spoil it.

Dr. Strange

Writing this up makes me realise that I still have not written up Captain America: Civil War. However, Dr. Strange is not that movie, it is a different movie.

We didn't get to see it opening weekend, or even opening week. Even so, I was a pit surprised when we arrived at the theatre 10 minutes before showtime to see this:

Including us, there were probably half a dozen people in the theatre by showtime.

Another thing that was surprising: the Marvel Studios splash at the beginning was all movie clips, with no comics. Looks like Marvel is trying to stand on its reputation as a movie studio rather than a provider of comics. Which is a bit sad, since all of the movies are rooted, at least vaguely, in comics, and it seems a shame not to at least acknowledge that.

Anyways, the movie gets up your nose really quick with the "this is magic, take it or leave it" and as long as you buy into that as a premise you'll do fine. Stephen Strange gets on my nerves a bit, this movie does have a bit of the "beating a dead horse" thing going on when it comes to Strange's (lack of) acceptance of the mystical. Everyone says this is one of the best Marvel movies ever -- I wouldn't go that far, but it's definitely top half.

Sully

I wasn't sure about this movie when I saw the trailers for it, and having seen it I'm still not sure anyone really needed to make or see this movie. Yes Sully was the hero and everyone got out alive, but the "conflict" was artificial and contrived and the end result inevitable. One reviewer called it "the perfect movie for our post-fact world", refering to how Sully's instincts were proven right even when the computer simulations all insisted he was wrong, and this is a reasonable summation. To be sure it was a pleasant way to spend 90 minutes or so, but I don't think the theatre's marquee is so jammed with bad movies that a mediocre one needs to be added.

Kubo And The Two Strings

I think the animation would work better on the small screen than it does on the large screen; the movement, especially in the fine facial details, could look very juddery. Overall the look is gorgeous and well carried out. Nice sweep to the story, even if the ending is a bit weak; however I don't think the kids will mind very much. Well worth the time. Possibly mislabelled because the magic guitar always had three strings; the reference to two strings may be metaphorical, but is beyond me.

Suicide Squad

Will Smith gets a(nother) superhero movie. Long here-are-your-character sequence. After that, things moved along nicely. Darker than the first teaser made it look. The joker was lacking. Absolutely better than Dawn Of Justice, probably one of the better DC made movies. Still outclassed by all but -- say -- the bottom third of the Marvel pantheon.

Review: John Wick

Late to this party, but I really like this movie. The Red Circle sequence was just art from start to finish. This is one of those movies that knows exactly what it is, and doesn't pretend or aspire to be more.

Review: T-SLOP

...aka The Secret Life Of Pets. This is a solid children's movie. There isn't much adult-only content in it, but it also doesn't have much of the deep-dish cringy kiddie content either. I'd have to say I enjoyed it.

Review: The Legend Of Tarzan®

Actually a pretty good story. It is interesting that studios feel safe telling at least some stories about the slave trade, even if this is a safe, "free all the slaves" type of story. The movie manages to weave the Tarzan® origin story with the new story. Some of the animal stuff is a bit on the unbelievable side, but then again it always is going to be.

Review: (T)error

Documentary about a FBI informant who lets a documentary crew film what he's doing -- without his FBI handlers knowing. Nobody comes off looking good here; the supposed target ends up looking like the victim.

Review: Terminus

Very indie-movie which is science fiction without the science fiction. Saggy middle. The point it is trying to get at is rather difficult to see, even if it is interesting at the end. Overall though I wouldn't rate it as worth anyone's time.

Review: X-Men Apocalypse

Our next instalment in the retconned X-Men universe. Having sequels in disaster universes is interesting since the sequel has to at least mention the previous disaster and some of the fall-out from it. But overall I thought this offering a bit thin, despite the global scale of the destruction. I will allow that it was better than the trailers made it look, low bar that that was.

That reminds me, can we have the second trailer for Doctor Strange drop please. I only go to the movies once or twice a month and I'm sick of the one that is currently out.

Review: Independence Day Resurgence (in 3D!)

Big, loud, flashy special effects that totally ignore physics. Flimsy story. A dog in distress. Basically everything you want in a summer blockbuster.

The 3D was, at best, distracting -- and at worst, terrible. We only saw it because this showing was the best fit for our schedules. I remain unconvinced that 3D is anything other than a ticket revenue buffer.

Review: London Has Fallen

Well hey, it sure wasn't My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2. Not sure if there's much more positive to say about it. It isn't that it was bad, per se, but I'm too old for these gratuitous shoot-em-up type things. Still better than having to sit through MBFGW2.

Review: Batman Vs. Superman

DC really doesn't know how to do superhero movies, do they. I mean, they did a good job of addressing the elephant in the room of most superhero movies -- what about all the collateral damage caused by these superpower-infused romps of violence -- and turn that into a gritty, ugly churn of nastiness. Because really, could it turn into a garden of unicorns? Of course not. But it turns out that an ugly churn of nastiness doesn't, in fact, make a good movie.

And then there's the unsatisfying portrayal, motivations, and actions of Lex Luthor, the implausible monster which is produced for the final climax, and Superman's yo-yo-ing between yes-I'm-dead-no-I'm-not-oh-oops-I-guess-I-am. The whole end was just... stupid. Not to mention Batman's whole I'm-so-done-with-this-helo-bullshit.

I did like Wonder Woman, though. Even if she did have a shield made of unobtanium or fictionite or some other bullshitium.

The whole tone of the movie is so different from the DC TV multiverse, which ranges from The Flash's "the grownup world is just like highschool" (which is taken to extremes in Supergirl, where it is highschool in all but name) to Legends Of Tomorrow (which wants to be campy but forgot to bring a backpack) to full scale comic-book insanity in Gotham.

But put it all together and the only DC movies I'll really make an effort to see again are the latest Batman trilogy, because even though it has its problems it tells a cohesive story.

So: it (BvS) was pretty good for what it is, but man I don't think I'll want to see it again.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2

So we see a preview for this thing and Jenn decides she wants to watch the original. We're both pretty sure we own it... but it isn't in the collection of ripped DVDs.

"OK, so we can work around," she says, clicking over to NetFlix. And once again proving that NetFlix is for browsing not for watching, she can't find it there either.

"Well, I didn't want to buy it, but I guess we have no choice," she says, and clicks back to the iTunes movie store.... and it isn't in there either.

"So let me get this straight," I said. "They made a sequel to a movie so bad it isn't on iTunes OR NetFlix?"

I clearly don't understand Hollywood.

Ex Machina

(On Netflix) Not sure what this movie was trying to be -- suspense, horror, open-ended question. As such it felt like it was trying to be something without trying to be that something. I didn't like the end, but I don't see how it could end any other way. It was OK, but I won't watch it again.

Zootopia

Alex got to go to Montreal on the train, so Nathan and I went to see Zootopia. It wasn't painful at all. I liked it. Not sure how well it will stand up to repeated viewings, but I'm sure that thanks to iTunes I'll find out.

Deadpool

This movie was so good on so many levels.Well worth seeing, if you are old enough.