Thief's Monthly Movie Loot - 2021 Edition

Thanks, man. Appreciate it.

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Paris. The future. Full of people in constant movement. Cars driving all around. No vegetation around. Traditional buildings have been replaced with sterile, squared buildings full of buttons and thingamajigs. A future where brooms have headlights and doors make no sound. That is the future that we see in Jacques Tati's Playtime.

The film follows Monsieur Hulot (Tati), a bumbling Frenchman trying to find his way around the city. During the course of the film, he gets lost in a maze of offices while waiting for an important meeting, stumbles upon a trade exhibition full of modern gadgets, meets a couple of friends "from the army!", and spends the night with a group of guests at a restaurant being renovated. During most of his journey, he befriends a young American tourist.

This is my first Tati film and I have to say it was, for the most part, a pleasant surprise. The film has a very loose narrative with very sparse dialogue and little "actual" plot, but is rather a cavalcade of physical comedy, slapstick, running gags, "jabs" at modern society, and clever visual jokes. For the most part, it works perfectly well, as I found myself smiling and chuckling most of the time.

Tati's direction was great all around; from the perspective of building this huge set to how he populates every inch of the screen with *something*. For pretty much every shot, you could look at any corner of the screen and see *something* happening, which I found both amusing and impressive.

I do think that the film runs a bit too long for what it is, and the connection with the American tourist just wasn't there for me. Not that it matters too much in the end, but they do try to amp that up towards the last act. But overall, I had a lot of fun with this.

Grade:

When I first watched Playtime, I really hated it and my reaction was "Am I missing something here? This was a horrible film. How can it be so popular?" The next day though, I realized I watched the wrong version. The Playtime I watched was actually a porno from the 90's with the same title.

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That's how 30-year veteran engineer Frank (Denzel Washington) lays it out to rookie conductor Will Colson (Chris Pine) on their first day together in charge of a locomotive. You gotta do things the right way, or else, lives are put at risk. Simple as that. But there was nothing simple on the day that awaited them.

Loosely based in real life events, Unstoppable follows the two men as they try to stop an unmanned freight train that's speeding down the tracks. To do so, they have to learn to settle their differences, work around the bureaucratic and incompetent barriers of the company, and try to focus on the job at hand. The thing is that both Frank and Will are dealing with their own personal issues which might put their concentration to the test.

This was an interestingly weird watch because, before watching the film a couple of days ago, I knew little about it other than its stars and that it had to do with trains. But for some reason, I was under the impression that it had to do with some terrorist or criminal taking control of the train, and that the man was Pine. Don't ask me why, but that's how I approached it. So imagine my surprise as the film kept going on and I was wondering, "well, what is he going to do??". In that aspect, it was nice and funny that it kept me guessing what was going to happen, even if it was for other reasons.

But putting that aside, director Tony Scott walks a fine line between excellent tension and edge-of-your-seat thrills and being too loud and in-your-face. He keeps himself in check most of the time, even if the film does spill sometimes into the latter. There's also some excess of "expository" news reels, as well as a couple of dumb contrivances and convenient occurrences in the script, but the film is mostly held together by Washington and Pine's committed performances. Rosario Dawson is also solid as the yardmaster trying to help the men.

Unstoppable was Tony Scott's last film before his untimely death. It might not be the best film, but it more than delivers in well-executed action and tension. For a man known for directing some of the most well-known action films, it seems he led his career by Frank's rule: you're gonna do something, you do it right.

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What is the "definitive" version of Brazil I should check out? It applies to one of my categories (the Criterion one) and there's one on Tubi, but I'm not sure if I should go with it. I'd say that film is one of my biggest blind spots. Anyone?

I believe that either the 142 minute European cut or the 132 minute US cut by Gilliam are both considered acceptable. There are some differences between the two but both preserve the intent of the film. If I had to choose I’d go with the European cut. The 94 minute version is bad and should be avoided.

The one on Tubi is the 132 minute version. Guess I'll give it a shot this week.

There is an old quote that says "it's impossible to be sure of anything but death and taxes." And, as cheeky and bleakly amusing as the quote might be, the sad thing is that even taxes are not certain, but death certainly is. We are born, we live, and then we die. That's it. What we do in the process will vary, but the end will undoubtedly be the same, regardless of the decisions we take down the road. That sentiment seems to be at the core of David Robert Mitchell's breakthrough hit It Follows.

The film follows Jay (Maika Monroe), a young college student that is haunted by a supernatural presence after a sexual encounter with new boyfriend Hugh (Jake Weary). Terrified by it, Jay tries to fend off this presence, whatever it is, with the help of her sister Kelly, and friends Paul, Yara, and Greg.

The disturbing thing is that this *presence* "could look like someone you know or it could be a stranger in a crowd. Whatever helps it get close to you", which obviously makes it all the more difficult to avoid. Even though Jake shares some thoughts about how you can be "free" of it, there's no assurance. Its arrival is, well, certain and there's little they can do about it.

With a budget of barely over a million dollars, director and writer David Robert Mitchell relies more on an eerie mood and a dread-filled atmosphere to keep us on our toes. There are a couple of well executed jump-scares, but the key is a constant sense of fear and danger lurking around every corner which is definitely effective. This is transmitted especially by Monroe, who takes a subdued but confident approach to her character.

I wish the film would've been more clearer with the connections to Jay's father (which were never clear to me), I wish the film was a bit more edgy, I wish Mitchell would've dared to push his limits a bit further. Regardless of that, I found this to be a pretty solid effort, with good performances, a great story and atmosphere, and some cool camerawork. That is certain.

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The 1970s and 1980s seemed to be the source of many of the horror subgenres we continue to see nowadays. From slashers to deadly rural killers, from zombies to Satanist cults. But another horror subgenre that was very prominent in that decade, and from which we're still seeing output from is the "killer kid" subgenre, which is what this little known film delivers, times five.

Devil Times Five (also known as People Toys, The Horrible House on the Hill, or Tantrums) follows a group of "killer kids" that escape from a psychiatric hospital and find their way into the luxurious cabin of a real estate tycoon that's having a group of people over for both business and pleasure. As you might expect, there isn't much of a chance for neither business nor pleasure.

This is a film I don't think I had seen mentioned ever... at all, but when I was looking for something to fit this criteria, I was intrigued by the premise. The film doesn't feature any notable cast and crew member as far as I'm concerned, it seems to be very low budget, direction is somewhat amateurish, and the film is overall fairly exploitative, featuring a lot of nudity and violence (even if it's not that graphic).

But what it might lack in so-called "finesse", it kinda makes up for with a certain edge and boldness to its topic. Even though its presentation of people with mental issues is problematic, to say the least, I was captivated by how daring the film was in its story and eventually in how things end.

So even if this is not technically excellent, if you're in the mood for some cheap-ish slasher with loud, obnoxious characters, women in underwear fighting, and a somewhat surprising ending, then go with the one with "the g0ddamn kids".

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*adds Devil Times Five to watchlist*

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Captain's Log
My Collection

To be fair, I think I "enjoyed" (and rated) this more than I had any right to.

The legend goes that a couple of years ago, Chris Rock had a chance meeting with a big honcho from Lionsgate at a wedding in Brazil, where he expressed his interest in doing something in the horror genre. So, knowing that Lionsgate was responsible for the Saw franchise, the comedian pitched a "fresh" idea for a sort of sequel/spin-off, which he saw as an opportunity to change, evolve, or progress maybe? This put the Lionsgate gears in motion which, fast forward to 2021, spiraled into what we just got.

Spiral follows Detective Ezekiel Banks (Rock) as he pursues a serial killer that seems to be inspired by John Kramer, a.k.a. Jigsaw. He is reluctantly partnered with rookie cop William Shenck (Max Minghella) as they start investigating the murders. This is complicated by the fact that the killer seems to be targeting cops, especially those close to Banks, all of which seem to be corrupt at some level, something that Banks had uncovered before, earning their repudiation.

I've never been a fan of the Saw franchise. I did like the original, which I saw in theaters back then, and consider a fairly strong psychological horror film. But I bailed out after the third one as the films became more a showcase of gory yet ludicrous traps, with barely a narrative to hold them together.

However, I won't deny the fact that I found myself intrigued by Rock's involvement, and the potential for change, evolution, and progress in a spin-off. Unfortunately, there is little of that here. The film does take a different approach, focusing more on the "cop" angle, but the plot is too predictable and director Darren Lynn Bousman shows little skill building tension or creating genuine intrigue. So the film ends up in a weird, awkward middle ground, where it is too bland for a Saw-related film or too dull for a crime thriller.

I do give props to Rock for trying something different and putting some effort into his performance, even if it's not entirely successful. The presence of Samuel L. Jackson, as Ezekiel's father and former captain Marcus Banks is also a welcome sight. However, much like the killer in the film rejects originality in favor of being a Jigsaw copycat, an uninspired script, mediocre direction, and a predictable twist neuters any potential for real change, evolution, and progress, dishing more of the same instead.

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Yes, that was understood. This describes half of the films I like, so it's fine.

FINALLY, after much delay, the latest episode of Thief's Monthly Movie Loot, Episode 37, is out. In it, I talk with the great @ThatDarnMKS about "hidden gems" and little known films that we think deserve more attention. We also share five recommendations each of such films, and talk a bit about his career as well.

Thief's Monthly Movie Loot 37: The Hidden Loot (with Tyler Jones)

Thanks to MKS for agreeing to do this!

Also, Spotify users can check it out here.

The Bad Night In T-Botz guy? Sweet.
I've fallen behind in my looting, still haven't listened to the Harry/Sally episode. I'll definitely check this one out though.

Excellent...tuning in now!

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I liked recording the Harry/Sally episode, but there's also another special episode on The Godfather, Part II that you might want to check.

This episode with MKS? Had a lot of fun with it. Longest episode I've recorded so far, and that's after editing, which means that time flew by us.

Thanks for the support!

On a related note, since I just posted my Spiral review, this weekend I guested on another podcast where we talked about, well, Spiral. Once that one's out, I'll share the link here.