Swan's 2017 Movie Adventures

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It's the Bad Boys II of superhero movies (but in a good way).
I think you throw around Bad Boys II more than Bay does when he's trying to woo the ladies into bed.



Bad Boys II was awesome as I'm sure we all agree. The coverage, editing, amber gradient filters, an oxford commas (?) are firing on all pistonsSHUTUP!SHUT. UP!!. It's a perfectly overlong epic skit comedy with dynamic action sequences. So what's the story with critics not understanding that?



Your Name. -

(Makoto Shinkai, 2016)

[NEW WATCH]



I'm trying to get into anime and needed to escape from the day, so I went into this not knowing anything about it really. I ended up being pretty blown away. There are some weird things that were jarring, like some of the soundtrack, but ultimately I forgave those things because the storytelling here was so damn good. For the first thirty minutes, I was enjoying it without feeling that invested. But this is a movie you just have to stick with, because as the story develops, with each twist and turn, it become captivating and emotionally resonant as f*ck.
I think this would be a good movie to nominate for an animation HoF now. It's like a perfectly executed blockbuster teenager romance movie with some Japanese elements (body switching, although sometimes used in Western fiction is much more typical in Japanese literature).



The Tree of Life -
+
(Terrence Malick, 2011)

[REWATCH]



The Tree of Life seems to be Malick at his most ambitious. In fact, it might be too big for it’s britches thematically. But you know what? That’s kind of what’s cool about it. Still, I prefer To the Wonder and Knight of Cups to this because of their most restrained approach to their themes. For some reason, that restraint causes those films to work on a more profound level, because they’re dealing with specific subjects rather than… well, the theme of everything. Not to say The Tree of Life doesn’t deal with specific things as well, and when it does - when it’s working with themes of childhood and how the relationship between child and parent has such a big impact on both - that’s when it’s at it's best.

47 Meters Down -

(Johannes Roberts, 2017)

[NEW WATCH]



One cool shot... one star. I'm being generous.

A Clockwork Orange -
+
(Stanley Kubrick, 1971)

[REWATCH]



I like Kubrick a lot but this film doesn’t resonate with me as much as it did in my teenage years. I’m not sure why. Despite that, I was still able to fully appreciate it on a craft level. And Malcolm McDowell is, of course, absolutely terrific, giving one of the best performances ever by my count.



Welcome to the human race...
I get the impression that you're kind of supposed to outgrow A Clockwork Orange (which I think was also the point that the book was trying to make in its final chapter). It's one of the more accessible Kubrick films thanks to its relatively straightforward thesis and immediately engaging execution, which makes it impressive at first but doesn't necessarily reward repeated viewings or anything like that.



With all your new found superhero movie love, what does your top ten superhero movies list look like?
That is difficult right now considering there are probably less than ten I know I really like. I wouldn't necessarily say I love the genre though, at least not yet. I'm just more open to it now that I have found some I do really like. I enjoy seeing unique takes on superhero films more than the conventional ones, and when I realized there are actually some that appeal to what I want out of the genre, I became more open to it. I'm still not a big fan of the typical Marvelverse flick, but when I but something like Logan, which is a well-made deconstruction of superhero films? I can get behind that for sure.

Swan, have you seen The Devils (1971)? If not, I think it's right up your alley.
Yes! Great flick. One I've been wanting to rewatch for ages.



The Innocents -

(Jack Clayton, 1961)

[REWATCH]



Some of the best cinematography, lighting, and use of ambiguity I've ever seen. Kerr gives a phenomenal performance full of subtle intricacies. A revelatory rewatch - I didn't remember this film being so good. A nearly flawless piece of cinema, and a newfound favorite.



The Innocents -

(Jack Clayton, 1961)

[REWATCH]



Some of the best cinematography, lighting, and use of ambiguity I've ever seen. Kerr gives a phenomenal performance full of subtle intricacies. A revelatory rewatch - I didn't remember this film being so good. A nearly flawless piece of cinema, and a newfound favorite.
I'm going to watch that again too at some point. I liked it, but my wife liked it more. That just ain't right.



Welcome to the human race...
Watchmen gets by as a superhero deconstruction primarily on the strength of its source material, but I could contest the quality of Snyder's direction. His film certainly plays up the shock and excitement of the violence in a way that seems at odds with the comic's clinical restraint and - by extension - the deconstructive nature of the story.



Watchmen gets by as a superhero deconstruction primarily on the strength of its source material, but I could contest the quality of Snyder's direction. His film certainly plays up the shock and excitement of the violence in a way that seems at odds with the comic's clinical restraint and - by extension - the deconstructive nature of the story.
True enough, but at least it is a deconstruction of the superhero genre.



No Country for Old Men -
+
(Coen Bros, 2007)

[REWATCH]



You know what’s weird about this viewing, is that I was so convinced I was underwhelmed at the end until I realized I was kind of blown away by it for the first time since I first saw it as a young lad in the theater. Maybe that confusion was because I expected to. Every time I watched No Country for Old Men after that first time, I was trying to regain the revelatory experience I originally got. Revelatory because, as a young lad, I hadn’t experienced much cinema quite like this. It is one of the transformative films that started to open my eyes to the possibilities of cinema. More than that, I was simply entranced. But subsequent viewings were always underwhelming.

While I wasn’t quite entranced in the pure way I was that first viewing, I was in a different way. I’m working on my first short film with a buddy of mine, who is also interested in filmmaking. It’s a very short short, but there has still been a lot of thought put into it during this pre-production process. We’ve been thinking about the shots, atmosphere, themes, lighting - everything. Because as the director, I want it to be as good as I can make it. So, since my mind is focused on all this stuff right now, that’s what I was thinking about while watching No Country for Old Men the other day. I was basically asking one question the whole time. How are the masterful, experienced Coens using cinematography, dialogue, character, location, plot, even sound to make the themes and character motivations of this film feel really relevant and powerful?

This is a great film for any young filmmaker to study like that. And through that question, I was able to appreciate the film on a level that blew me away in a unique way. Instead of purely experiencing the film, trying to get entranced by the story, I tried to peel back the curtain to see the Coens’ thought process while making the film. I didn’t end with the simple feeling that this was really well-made, like I do a lot, but with a much better understanding of why it is well-made. I can’t say this is the first time I’ve experienced a film like this, but it’s one of the more powerful times.

Rush -
-
(Ron Howard, 2013)

[NEW WATCH]



I’ve lost all interest in Ron Howard as a director. This film is cinematically uninteresting. It’s also fairly predictable. Of course, in better hands that might not matter. And that’s the thing. There is certainly some talent on display here, but it’s not coming from Howard. With a better director, maybe it would have been something, but as it stands I found Rush to be a pretty run-of-the-mill sports film.

Spider-Man 2 -
+
(Sam Raimi, 2004)

[REWATCH]



As it turns out, given the right director cliches can even become magnificent. Not only that, but this film is beautiful thematically. I love it’s complete optimism about heroism. It’s cheesy and cliched, but it’s pure comic book and it’s incredibly uplifting. I mean, my eyes started to water when Aunt May gave her speech to Peter out in the backyard.

Originally Posted by Aunt May
He knows a hero when he sees one. Too few characters out there, flying around like that saving old girls like me. And Lord knows, kids like Henry need a hero—courageous, self-sacrificing people setting examples for all of us. Everybody loves a hero. People line up for them…cheer them...scream their names. And years later, they’ll tell how they stood in the rain for hours just to get a glimpse of the one who taught them to hold on a second longer. I believe there’s a hero in all of us…that keeps us honest…gives us strength…makes us noble…and finally allows us to die with pride, even though sometimes we have to be steady and give up the thing we want the most – even our dreams. Spider-Man did that for Henry and he wonders where he’s gone. He needs him.



Welcome to the human race...
True enough, but at least it is a deconstruction of the superhero genre.
That is true. I don't reckon that being a deconstruction automatically improves a superhero movie - if it's like Kick-Ass and half-asses the deconstruction before trying to pull a reconstruction towards the end anyway, then that can irritate me more than a bad run-of-the-mill superhero movie.

No Country for Old Men -
+
(Coen Bros, 2007)
Yeah, I don't think that re-watches are ever going to match the experience of seeing this for the first time because it is such a magnificent work of suspense and thrills - I'm definitely reluctant to watch it in case the rest of it doesn't match up. That being said, it's definitely worth picking apart even in its smallest scenes- just check out this video that breaks down the Wells-Chigurh exchange:



Rush -
-
(Ron Howard, 2013)
Sounds about right. Brühl is good, but that's about it. Seeing it maintain a spot in the middle of IMDb's Top 250 is especially baffling even by that list's standards.

Spider-Man 2 -
+
(Sam Raimi, 2004)
I definitely feel like I need to re-watch the first two Spider-Man movies, especially the second. Seeing some people cite that one as being a better superhero movie than The Dark Knight may be upping my expectations a little too high, though.



That is true. I don't reckon that being a deconstruction automatically improves a superhero movie - if it's like Kick-Ass and half-asses the deconstruction before trying to pull a reconstruction towards the end anyway, then that can irritate me more than a bad run-of-the-mill superhero movie.
We're not talking about whether it's a good movie. It's just that I don't think Logan was a deconstruction of the super hero genre.



A lot of cool review man! My fav is No Country For Old Men great flick all-around.
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