Rate The Last Movie You Saw
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I just finished watching When Pigs Fly (1993). Directed by Sara Driver, the film stars the always wonderful Alfred Molina as a struggling jazz musician who is given an old rocking chair. It turns out the rocking chair is haunted by two ghosts, a middle aged woman and a cute little girl. This was an unusual and interesting film that I liked. Molina is great and I liked the two ghosts, played by Marianne Faithfull and Rachael Bella. I would rate When Pigs Fly a .
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I just finished watching When Pigs Fly (1993). Directed by Sara Driver, the film stars the always wonderful Alfred Molina as a struggling jazz musician who is given an old rocking chair. It turns out the rocking chair is haunted by two ghosts, a middle aged woman and a cute little girl. This was an unusual and interesting film that I liked. Molina is great and I liked the two ghosts, played by Marianne Faithfull and Rachael Bella. I would rate When Pigs Fly a .
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I haven't seen them, but there are actually three sequels 
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Hmmm. Small sample size for sure, considering I haven’t seen anything from Adkins at all, and probably won’t ever, but Jet Li seems much better judging from this one scene.
Now compare Adkins to virtually every single Western action star, even based on this small sample size. Find me a Seagal, JCVD, or Statham sequence that beats it.*
Chuck Norris is the only one that’s clearly a better martial artist, but he’s possibly the best Champion fighter in film history. It didn’t make his fight sequences particularly good though.
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Jet Li is a world class martial arts prodigy that was given the full thrust of the Chinese and Hong Kong film industry. There’s no shame in him being better than Adkins.
Now compare Adkins to virtually every single Western action star, even based on this small sample size. Find me a Seagal, JCVD, or Statham sequence that beats it.*
Chuck Norris is the only one that’s clearly a better martial artist, but he’s possibly the best Champion fighter in film history. It didn’t make his fight sequences particularly good though.
Now compare Adkins to virtually every single Western action star, even based on this small sample size. Find me a Seagal, JCVD, or Statham sequence that beats it.*
Chuck Norris is the only one that’s clearly a better martial artist, but he’s possibly the best Champion fighter in film history. It didn’t make his fight sequences particularly good though.
But, Legitimately? I’d say Keanu is better at his actions scenes from what I’ve seen lately. Especially the John Wick films. You may disagree, of course.
Again, this is a small sample size, but I don’t see anything all that particularly amazing. Decent, sure. Certainly has better movements compared to Seagal, maybe JCVD.
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Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
how heart warming they could have said "what the cuss" a lot less...
how heart warming they could have said "what the cuss" a lot less...
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Why are we narrowing it down to western stars only? Seems slightly arbitrary.
But, Legitimately? I’d say Keanu is better at his actions scenes from what I’ve seen lately. Especially the John Wick films. You may disagree, of course.
Again, this is a small sample size, but I don’t see anything all that particularly amazing. Decent, sure. Certainly has better movements compared to Seagal, maybe JCVD.
But, Legitimately? I’d say Keanu is better at his actions scenes from what I’ve seen lately. Especially the John Wick films. You may disagree, of course.
Again, this is a small sample size, but I don’t see anything all that particularly amazing. Decent, sure. Certainly has better movements compared to Seagal, maybe JCVD.
That said, I think Adkins holds his own far better than Keanu when held alongside Eastern contemporaries. Comparing how Adkins handles the choreography with/against Tiger Chen, Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais in Triple Threat and there’s a far greater sense of equal give and take.
Whereas in John Wick 3, when Keanu is placed against Cecep Rahman and Yayan Ruhian from the Raid 2, he is clearly dwarfed by their speed and acrobatic ability. The film makes this work dramatically, by emphasizing how tired Keanu is but he’s still expected to beat them to a draw.
Let me put it this way, Scott Adkins could do the John Wick films (they’re even tapping him for part 4) but I don’t think Keanu could do half of the aerial acrobatic kicks that Adkins is asked to do in virtually any of his films, especially without the benefit of wire work that he was afforded in the Matrix films.
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Because he’s a Western action star that isn’t going to have been inundated in a lifestyle and cinematic culture that’s been aimed at martial arts specifically his entire life? No Westerner is going to have the Peking Opera background of the Dragons (Chan, Hung, Bao) or the network of highly specialized and trained martial arts teams that make dozens of movies a year. It’s a completely different ballgame.
That said, I think Adkins holds his own far better than Keanu when held alongside Eastern contemporaries. Comparing how Adkins handles the choreography with/against Tiger Chen, Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais in Triple Threat and there’s a far greater sense of equal give and take.
Whereas in John Wick 3, when Keanu is placed against Cecep Rahman and Yayan Ruhian from the Raid 2, he is clearly dwarfed by their speed and acrobatic ability. The film makes this work dramatically, by emphasizing how tired Keanu is but he’s still expected to beat them to a draw.
Let me put it this way, Scott Adkins could do the John Wick films (they’re even tapping him for part 4) but I don’t think Keanu could do half of the aerial acrobatic kicks that Adkins is asked to do in virtually any of his films, especially without the benefit of wire work that he was afforded in the Matrix films.
That said, I think Adkins holds his own far better than Keanu when held alongside Eastern contemporaries. Comparing how Adkins handles the choreography with/against Tiger Chen, Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais in Triple Threat and there’s a far greater sense of equal give and take.
Whereas in John Wick 3, when Keanu is placed against Cecep Rahman and Yayan Ruhian from the Raid 2, he is clearly dwarfed by their speed and acrobatic ability. The film makes this work dramatically, by emphasizing how tired Keanu is but he’s still expected to beat them to a draw.
Let me put it this way, Scott Adkins could do the John Wick films (they’re even tapping him for part 4) but I don’t think Keanu could do half of the aerial acrobatic kicks that Adkins is asked to do in virtually any of his films, especially without the benefit of wire work that he was afforded in the Matrix films.
I’ve looked at a few of his clips, and he does seem to be pretty talented. They sure do like to use slow mo for his moves. *
Keanu’s scenes seem better in comparison to me, although he lacks the aerial acrobatics that you mentioned. Adkins seems to rely on too many flashy moves like that, it seems.
I’ll take the crisp hand to hand movements of Keanu, for the moment, but I need to see more from Adkins to make a firm decision.
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Which still seems a little arbitrary to me, but I’ll let it go?
I’ve looked at a few of his clips, and he does seem to be pretty talented. They sure do like to use slow mo for his moves. *
Keanu’s scenes seem better in comparison to me, although he lacks the aerial acrobatics that you mentioned. Adkins seems to rely on too many flashy moves like that, it seems.
I’ll take the crisp hand to hand movements of Keanu, for the moment, but I need to see more from Adkins to make a firm decision.
I’ve looked at a few of his clips, and he does seem to be pretty talented. They sure do like to use slow mo for his moves. *
Keanu’s scenes seem better in comparison to me, although he lacks the aerial acrobatics that you mentioned. Adkins seems to rely on too many flashy moves like that, it seems.
I’ll take the crisp hand to hand movements of Keanu, for the moment, but I need to see more from Adkins to make a firm decision.
That’s not Keanu’s ability as an action star, that’s fight choreography. The John Wick films have wonderful choreography and Keanu handles it extremely well (especially weapons handling). One need only watch a couple of Adkins more gun oriented flicks to recognize that he’s more than capable of such choreography.
I’ve never seen Keanu do anything without the benefit of wires that Adkins can just do. They’re not even in the same ballpark on that level.
I also think Adkins is probably the better actor (Avengement would be my choice for that) though Keanu definitely has that star quality.
I’d say watch Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning if you only wanna give one a chance. If you dig it, Avengement, Triple Threat and the rest of Ninja 2 would be nice follow ups.
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theres another one called Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil so make sure to watch it also
Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil
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Him consuming Alma's food is the ultimate pact (I like that you used that word) in this toxic relationship where he agrees to suffer physical illness, as long as he can have that maternal care he longs for, even if it is by proxy.
A "thread" is something that ties together pieces of cloth, obviously a reference to the craft of dressmaking. But metaphorically, it is a symbol of what ties both Woodcock and Alma (and to a certain extent, Cyril) together. Something that is not necessarily evident to everybody ("phantom") considering how much they clash, as well as all their other differences (age, class, etc.) But regardless of all of that, that "phantom thread" is there.
Him consuming Alma's food is the ultimate pact (I like that you used that word) in this toxic relationship where he agrees to suffer physical illness, as long as he can have that maternal care he longs for, even if it is by proxy.
A "thread" is something that ties together pieces of cloth, obviously a reference to the craft of dressmaking. But metaphorically, it is a symbol of what ties both Woodcock and Alma (and to a certain extent, Cyril) together. Something that is not necessarily evident to everybody ("phantom") considering how much they clash, as well as all their other differences (age, class, etc.) But regardless of all of that, that "phantom thread" is there.
There again, "Phantom" in the title is too abstruse for me. OTOH one sees plenty of titles with obscure meanings.
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I already posted some thoughts in response to Thief's Phantom Thread review over in his thread, but just to reiterate, I agree with you that it wasn't as good as it could've been... although not necessarily for the same reasons, since I found the resolution to Reynold/Alma's relationship to be plausible enough (and fairly unexpected/intriguing to boot). The real problem I had with it is that Reynold's mother/control issues felt underdeveloped to me, having been set up fairly early in the film, but then mostly forgotten about afterward, except for the moment when
So, it was still a good movie despite that, but it should've been at least a little bit better, IMO.
WARNING: spoilers below
Reynolds hallucinates his mother on his sickbed, which, while a striking image, still ended up clashing with the tone of the rest of the film, as a left field turn into pseudo-supernatural imagery in an otherwise overly restrained Drama.
So, it was still a good movie despite that, but it should've been at least a little bit better, IMO.
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The story is dark, bleak, convoluted, and a bit nuts, all of which was just aces for me. The cast is excellent with Everett Sloane, an actor I don't really know, being surprisingly effective going toe to toe with Welles and Hayworth. Glenn Anders seemed off to me for a good portion of the movie until I realized that he is supposed to be "off" and that's an important part of the story. He ended up being very effective and integral, really. Hayworth is excellent, honestly. I've never seen her in a role like this and she was extremely effective, especially at the end when Welles (as the director and her husband) pushes her further than I am accustomed to seeing in films from the 1940s. Even 1953's The Big Heat, which I think of as a landmark of grit, isn't quite as gritty as Hayworth's final scene, in my opinion.
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The story is dark, bleak, convoluted, and a bit nuts, all of which was just aces for me. The cast is excellent with Everett Sloane, an actor I don't really know, being surprisingly effective going toe to toe with Welles and Hayworth. Glenn Anders seemed off to me for a good portion of the movie until I realized that he is supposed to be "off" and that's an important part of the story. He ended up being very effective and integral, really. Hayworth is excellent, honestly. I've never seen her in a role like this and she was extremely effective, especially at the end when Welles (as the director and her husband) pushes her further than I am accustomed to seeing in films from the 1940s. Even 1953's The Big Heat, which I think of as a landmark of grit, isn't quite as gritty as Hayworth's final scene, in my opinion.
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IMO it's a semi-masterpiece, behind only his Citizen Kane and The Third Man. I thought some of the scenes on the boat dragged a little, but I forgot about that later.BTW Everett Sloane was part of Welles' stable, appearing as Mr. Bernstein in "Kane", and also in Journey Into Fear-- the two films preceding "Shanghai". I never liked him that much as an actor (too theater like), but he got the job done in "Shanghai".
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Not really a review even, because I only made it like 2 minutes into the film, but tried to watch Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (for the 2022 Film Challenge) and what is with the number of people who are cool with making and consuming art where animals are actually tortured? And I'm not talking, like, footage from a slaughterhouse or something.
Everyone involved with this movie can go jump in a lake.
Everyone involved with this movie can go jump in a lake.
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Not really a review even, because I only made it like 2 minutes into the film, but tried to watch Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (for the 2022 Film Challenge) and what is with the number of people who are cool with making and consuming art where animals are actually tortured? And I'm not talking, like, footage from a slaughterhouse or something.
Everyone involved with this movie can go jump in a lake.
Everyone involved with this movie can go jump in a lake.
So imagine my shock when I saw it’s a Tsui Hark film starring Lo Lieh? Two favorites of mine whom I would never expect would *checks IMDb* torture mice? What a world.
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Not really a review even, because I only made it like 2 minutes into the film, but tried to watch Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (for the 2022 Film Challenge) and what is with the number of people who are cool with making and consuming art where animals are actually tortured? And I'm not talking, like, footage from a slaughterhouse or something.
Everyone involved with this movie can go jump in a lake.
Everyone involved with this movie can go jump in a lake.
I do remember liking the movie, but things like that are hard to defend.
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You probably made the right call here. There's another scene where something awful happens to a cat.
I do remember liking the movie, but things like that are hard to defend.
I do remember liking the movie, but things like that are hard to defend.
Just what the actual hell.
I'm getting tired of having to read a ton about movies and spoil the plots/endings just so that I don't have to watch actual animal torture and murder.
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