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Victim of The Night
SALLIE GARDNER AT A GALLOP
(1878, Muybridge)



I would've loved to be in the room when the guy started flipping pictures and went "HOLY S-HIIIIT!!!"


ROUNDHAY GARDEN SCENE
(1888, Augustin Le Prince)



"Here we go around, (round, round, round)"


WORKERS LEAVING THE LUMIÈRE FACTORY
(1895, Lumière)



It's good to know that bolting out of work like a speed demon is a centuries long tradition.

A bunch of really old short films from the 19th Century I saw in preparation for the next episode of my podcast. Really interesting to see those first steps of film technology and cinema, and people trying to figure out what they can do with this. It's amazing.
Awesome. I love this kinda thing.



Victim of The Night
I vastly prefer this one to the 1932 one, which I think was rather dull.
I agree.



Needless to say, if we do Musicals, The Apple will be pretty high up on my, probably limited, list. Just terribly wonderful. There's also a Rifftrax for it.
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28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
The Matrix: Resurrections




I saw this movie when it first came out, then theatres in Ontario shut down. I put my rating in here and it hasn't changed, but I felt compelled to write something about it. Why? Because I feel that the film is actually doing something different, something ambitious and it's getting a lot of flack for it.

Lana Wachowski has come back, by herself, to direct this fourth installment of the franchise. She is quoted as saying that she lost her father, then a close friend, then her mother in a short period of time and when the opportunity to "resurrect" two characters that she loves, she jumped at the chance. So there is a feeling of passion and heart built into the bones of this movie. This film could have been like every other film that sucks at the teat of nostalgia, but it's not.

When The Force Awakens came out, people loved it, but after a short while they felt the familiarities of the story. It was a rehash of something they had already seen. So with The Last Jedi, they did something different and subverted everyone's expectations. Well, we all know the controversy of that film. So what do fans want? Do we want the same old thing or something different and new? There is no pleasing everyone. Lana Wachowski knows this, comments on it and actually brings something interesting to the table with this film.

We start with a familiar scene as Agents arrive to a scene where a female character in black leather is hacking the system. One of the police officers says to the Agents, "don't worry it's just one girl, we've got this". The Agent's response is "No lieutenant, your men are already dead." Exact wording from the original film, familiar shots and colours...yet something is different. We see two characters watching the scene from the shadows commenting on how it's not the same. This is our first clue that Lana is not going to regurgitate the same old stuff to us. The scene plays out, we are introduced to some key players then we move on to find Neo asleep at his computer. There are toys of Trinity, the sentinels and Neo scattered about his room...what? We find out that he is a creator of a very successful video game trilogy called The Matrix and the people over at Warner Brothers want him to do a fourth video game. They say, they will do it with him or without him. Lana name drops Warner Brothers and the fact that they were willing to go forward without her. The film has a very meta self-awareness that is refreshing. Lana is here to tell a story that won't be the same because the people the studio would replace her with would do exactly that. You are either on board with it or not.

The entire first half of this film is nothing like the previous Matrix movies and might throw some people off. There are literal references to the previous films here, but it is used in such an organic way that it makes sense. You soon start to put the pieces together and realize what is going on. The second half of the film follows the more traditional Matrix storyline and the transition from one to the other is rather smooth. It doesn't feel jarring at all. There are new elements introduced to the world that also feel natural. Programs being able to interact with real world characters outside the Matrix for example is introduced and it make sense how they present it. Alas, much like the previous movies, the real world sequences tend to drag a bit.

At the centre of this movie is a love story, it's a romance. Now that Neo is being resurrected, I guess the question is can they do the same for Trinity? The second half of the film is where it starts to lose me and for multiple reasons. The biggest one is something that I have been asking myself since I first saw the film and I have no idea if it is intentional or not. The action sequences in this movie are terrible. Absolutely terrible. Gone are the smooth and easily watchable kung-fu scenes and introduced are some slow and poorly editing fight sequences. Keanu is showing his age with this entry and none of the fight choreography is good. Now, is this Lana having full control and not letting us have what people want from a Matrix sequel? You go in expecting some great fight choreography and she is denying the viewer this. I still wrestle with that. They have a different fight choreographer, so maybe they just had really bad coverage, stunt doubles and a lack of inspiration? No idea. Next, the gunplay in this movie is laughably bad. Take any James Bond or 80's action film where dozens of people shoot at our hero and miss, then multiply that by eleven. People are literally a few feet away from their target and still miss. It's embarrassingly bad.

Neo now uses force field like moves to push people or bullets away. He uses that every chance he gets. It's kind of lazy and overused. I was actually bored during these action sequences. I'm shocked to say that. There is not one single wow moment in the movie. Each film had one (Lobby fight, freeway chase, attack on zion) this film has zero. If it's intentional, then it's a bold move to piss off people like that, if it's not...then it's a huge misfire. Either way, I left the theatre disappointed in that aspect of the movie.

If you thought they were done with exposition dumps via an Architect, guess again. The Architect is not in the movie, but there is a character like him who takes a good twenty minutes to explain to Neo and the audience how it is possible he and Trinity are both alive, why they are alive and what the purpose of everything is. It's hard to get this information across to people, but the film literally slows down (he even refers to it as bullet time) to explain.

As for the new characters, Jessica Henwick plays Bugs, like the bunny she says. She is a fresh face and brings something exciting to the table. I was really into her scenes, her look and her energy. The chemistry between Keanu and Moss is still there, but individually Keanu still feels stiff as a board.

So who is this movie for? I still don't know. If you're going in for the lightning in a bottle experience of the original, you are going to leave disappointed. If you want exciting action sequences and memorable fight scenes, you will leave disappointed. If you want a film that has something interesting to say about loss, IP, reboots, sequels, media, nostalgia, etc....the first half of this film is for you. I don't expect them to expand upon this series after this one, probably because I don't know where they could take it from here. I enjoyed the ride back into The Matrix but it was a extremely bumpy one.
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Suspect's Reviews



And I forget, have you seen Charulata or The Big City? I suspect you will like both of those a lot if you haven't seen them.
I have seen Charulata and loved it. I haven't seen The Big City.

a nice real-life counterpart to De Palma's Scarface in capturing Miami back in its 80's drug war era (speaking of which, have you ever seen that one, Tak?).
I haven't, and I cannot overstate how uninterested I've always been in watching Scarface. I mean, go ahead and convince me, but you've got some heavy lifting ahead of you!



I haven't, and I cannot overstate how uninterested I've always been in watching Scarface. I mean, go ahead and convince me, but you've got some heavy lifting ahead of you!
It’s a terrific movie. A classic of American Cinema. Pacino is so good in it.
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*sighs and adds Scarface to watchlist*
Add Carlito’s Way as well, as it’s the superior DePalma/Pacino drug dealer joint.



As a bonafide De Palma apologist (and he needs us), Scarface is obviously essential. But it has so many different ways to hate it, I never would consider pushing it on anyone as its main character is unapologetically unlikeable, is overlong, feels like it takes its absurdity much too seriously and is anchored by the most ridiculous performance of Pacino's career. These are, of course, all pluses considering the films ultimate goals and the affect it has on the audience. But (like pretty much every single great De Palma film) has so much in it begging you to dismiss it, or be annoyed by it, that I'm always slightly amazed that it has such cultural cache. I think it is a pretty difficult movie in a lot of ways. But, is likely, the movie that best encapsulates the dumb, gross decade it was made in.


I would honestly love to see Takoma's take on it, because I have no idea what that would look like..........it probably won't be pretty.


As for MKS mentioning Carlito's Way. Is that a better movie? It's definitely more enjoyable. And it's one of DePalma's best. But Scarface is such a weird, uncompromising thing, how can't it beat it? Scarface is some audacious and annoyingly brilliant ****.



Underneath all those mountains of cocaine is also a Giorgio Moroder soundtrack that I'll give a shout out to. And of course that finale is worth mentioning.



The trick is not minding
Count me among those who feel Carlito’s Way is better than Scarface. I actually feel CW has a much better script and doesn’t overstay it’s welcome, unlike Scarface, which could have trimmed about 20 mins.

Much like Tony Montana, Scarface wallows in its excess, which is the point I suppose, but sometimes it just feels like it doesn’t have as much to say as it thinks it does.



Add Carlito’s Way as well, as it’s the superior DePalma/Pacino drug dealer joint.
I have never been able to finish even 30 minutes of this movie. And I have tried more than once.



I have never been able to finish even 30 minutes of this movie. And I have tried more than once.
Why not?



As for MKS mentioning Carlito's Way. Is that a better movie?
With a caveat that I've seen Carlito's Way only once when it came out, but that's a strong no from me. I'm standing steadfast in the Scarface camp.
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I prefer Scarface to Carlito's Way (Crumbsroom summarizes it's qualities well; it's also funnier), but I do like that the climaxes of both movies feel like different sides of the ultimate Hong Kong shootout.