Movie Diary 2019 by pahaK

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While acting in general is fine I don't really agree with all the praise Malik gets from his Mercury - I don't think he has the charisma and his interpretation is too feminine.
That's intriguing. His speaking voice sounds pretty good on the trailer, which may well've benefited from the teeth. When Robert Hardy played Winston Churchill it turned out that they had the same dentist, so he was able to get a copy of Churchill's teeth to wear in the role .



Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) N

An art gallery assistant discovers paintings from the apartment of her dead neighbor. Everyone who sees the works falls in love with them and soon they're sold for serious money. But why did the dead artist demand his works to be destroyed?


For some reason I expected Velvet Buzzsaw to be much weirder than it actually is. Sure, it has some eccentric characters and preposterous dialogue but at its core it's still very traditional horror story that's just set in an environment filled with odd people.

I don't think the horror side of the film is fully utilized. There's no motive or explanation given and for the most part neither is even sought out. It wouldn't be a huge exaggeration to say that Velvet Buzzsaw has no plot at all. With little more depth to its story it could have been a good film. Also while Dease's paintings look good the horrors related to them aren't very imaginative.

The other side of the film is a satire about commercialization, self-importance and artificialness of art. Art is elevated by words and explanations and names, not by the works themselves (like when Dondon starts to praise Piers' garbage when he assumes it's his new work). The whole concept of Dease's art becoming a phenomenon is a snipe towards modern art - even a skilled hobbyist is a marvel when compared to colored blots and metal spheres.

The remaining question is whether Velvet Buzzsaw is part of the art it laughs at or not? I suppose only Dan Gilroy knowns the answer to that.

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Eliminators (1986) r



I
Hilariously bad at its best but otherwise too boring to really enjoy. I still can't give this bad rating though.

I mostly feel the same way except I thought the way they rendered the laser beams was surprisingly good. I've seen lasers done VERY badly, and this did it in a refreshingly clean and effective way, imo.



Abandon Ship (1957) N

A luxury liner hits a mine and sinks. Small group of survivors on a lifeboat waits for rescue.


Couldn't resist this image

For most of the film Abandon Ship is very formal and orderly theater at sea. People speak one at a time and always correctly address each other. While I often dislike how in modern films such groups are at each others throats after a few minutes (as realistic as it may be) this one takes it too far to the other extreme.

The actual drama starts surprisingly late and isn't too engaging. I must say that I don't necessary agree with all of the captain's choices about the people to keep and I certainly don't agree with the reactions of some people who were chosen to stay. On a positive side at least the worst hypocrisy wasn't there (i.e. I was expecting the captain to die as a penance for his "horrible crime").

Overtly theatrical acting and melodramatic dialogue takes the edge off the drama. There's too many characters and it's hard to care about anyone in particular. Soundtrack was truly annoying. I didn't expect much so can't I say I was disappointed - Abandon Ship just isn't my type of movie.




Perfect Blue (1997) N

A pop idol gives up her singing career and starts pursuing a new one as an actress. But someone isn't happy about the change and wants the old Mima back.


Perfect Blue is practically an animated giallo. Its story and, to slightly lesser degree, visuals are heavily influence by the Italian classics. A live action version set in continental Europe would have been a decent match for someone like Dario Argento.

I found the story little too convoluted myself with all its PoV changes, repeats and constantly mixing the show with reality. I think I would have preferred the solution that was implied about twenty minutes before the end but it ended up being a part of the show Mima was filming. Not that I hated the real ending either but other one would have explained all the supernatural away better.

I'm not a huge fan of animated films so that's a little turn-off for me. There are some nice shots but I can't help myself thinking how much better they would look with real actors. Soundtrack was pretty nice and the first J-pop song was OK too.

As a whole Perfect Blue was better than I expected. I'd say it's pretty average giallo.




[Series Review]
Millennium Trilogy (2010)

Mini-series based on Stieg Larsson's books. Journalist Mikael Blomkvist meets hacker Lisbeth Salander during his investigation of a 40-year-old murder and ends up in the middle of a national conspiracy.


For some reason I hadn't watched this before despite the good reviews the series has got. As a matter of fact I have lots of Nordic Noir left to see and Millennium is a good reminder why I should check them out. This also (sadly) reminds me how far ahead Swedish film and television productions are of Finnish equivalent.

Series consists of two episodes per book (or film) and I'll refer to these two episode aggregates as parts. First part, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (or like it should be Men Who Hate Women), is kind of an introduction to characters with a mystery that's not connected to the bigger picture. It does good job in establishing both lead characters, has quite interesting murder mystery and drops enough hints of things to come.

Last two parts, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, form the main story of Millennium. Maybe it's a personal preference (not a huge fan of spy stuff) but I think that the quality drops a little in these. I like how Lisbeth's backstory unwinds but the conspiracy itself feels little shabby. Also Mikael (or pretty much anyone besides Lisbeth) isn't developed much in these parts.

Solid Nordic Noir with interesting female protagonist, good acting and very nice technical quality.




Mortal Engines (2018) N

Evil European colonialists are threatening the world by arming their moving city with ancient weapon of mass destruction. What can the good people of color do to save themselves and their few enlightened white allies? Can white man open the Pandora's Box or are better people able to stop him in time?


"He liked to collect things. Broken Things."

I hope everyone gets the joke of my plot description. I mean, Mortal Engines is a fantasy film and someone has to be the villain but its so blatant in its hatred for the western civilization and white man in particular. It feels like watching a propaganda movie instead of an adventure film.

Besides the politics Mortal Engines offers extremely cliched and formulaic story with minimal characterizations. It moves from one action scene to another without building anything to flesh out its gigantic machine. It sure looks good and shows that Peter Jackson's people can make wonders with $100M budget but there's nothing under the surface.

Half popcorn is minimum and I give another half to nice visuals (including Hester, scars and all) and to Shrike + Hester backstory which had (mostly unused) potential.




As a matter of fact I have lots of Nordic Noir left to see and Millennium is a good reminder why I should check them out. This also (sadly) reminds me how far ahead Swedish film and television productions are of Finnish equivalent.
I'm pretty sure I haven't seen anything from Finland – unless we can count the Moomins .

Series-wise I liked both versions of Wallander; and The Bridge.

Last two parts, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, form the main story of Millennium. Maybe it's a personal preference (not a huge fan of spy stuff) but I think that the quality drops a little in these.
I thought the same. Nowhere near as interesting as the original story.



I'm pretty sure I haven't seen anything from Finland – unless we can count the Moomins .

Series-wise I liked both versions of Wallander; and The Bridge.
There are couple of quite recent Finnish series I'd need to check at some point. Bordertown has got quite good reviews even outside Finland (at least I have such impression). The other is Arctic Circle but I'll have to wait 'till it comes to our public TV later this year (not going to order another streaming service for it, especially as I haven't heard too much praise for it).

Not sure which Nordic Noir I'll pick up next but Netflix has lots of them in here. My brother has recommended Arne Dahl so maybe I'll go with that.



Not sure which Nordic Noir I'll pick up next but Netflix has lots of them in here. My brother has recommended Arne Dahl so maybe I'll go with that.
Funnily enough, I saw the first one of those (I think a two-parter) and wasn't interested enough to watch more .

The Icelandic series Trapped was also very good. Beck I also like, as it's a kind of 'nice' Wallander, but there are still some quite good storylines.



Overlord (2018) N

On the eve of D-Day a small band of US soldiers is sent to blow up a radio tower. But the tower isn't the only thing that needs to be destroyed in the occupied French village.


The opening scene of Overlord is pretty good but after our heroes reach the ground the film begins to loose steam at rapid pace. First half or so is more or less a standard war movie with soldiers hiding inside an occupied village. To me their actions seem weird and writers send Boyce to wander alone just so he can discover the lab.

Latter half with horror elements also starts kinda fine but like the first part it weakens quickly. Overlord doesn't bring anything new to the Nazi scientific experiment formula and (at least to me) stumbles too often to stupid one-liners and video game like action. It's exactly like PG-13 film that's turned R by adding some extra violence - it doesn't even try to be gross or scary but is content with its light and harmless übermensch action.

Disappointingly typical Nazi horror that has couple of good scenes but the rest is terribly boring. And that rap song during the end credits is a massive mismatch (black main character doesn't mean rap is a good music choice for WW2 movie).




28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
I thought Deathwatch was half/way decent

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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews



I thought Deathwatch was half/way decent
Yeah, I did too. I liked some parts of it, especially the

WARNING: spoilers below
living barbed wire scene.



I recommend Entity (2012) as an unusual take on this sub-genre.
Just to be sure, this is related to Overlord? Haven't seen this Entity and a quick glance to IMDb doesn't strike me as too similar film. If I bump into it I'll try to remember to give it a chance though

I thought Deathwatch was half/way decent

This has already been discussed in 2018 thread. I've seen it years ago and remember it having some nice scenes but kinda weak ending. I'm planning to rewatch it at some point though so there will be more accurate and updated opinion coming soon(ish).



Just to be sure, this is related to Overlord? Haven't seen this Entity and a quick glance to IMDb doesn't strike me as too similar film. If I bump into it I'll try to remember to give it a chance though
Although it's a contemporary setting there's a similar jumping-off point for the horror – I wouldn't dream of saying any more .

I was just looking at the gist of Overlord and definitely thought back to The Keep (1983), and Doctor Who's The Curse of Fenric (1989), which it influenced – not your common or garden vampire story .



Robin Hood (2018) N

Finally a realistic depiction of crusades and life in England at the end of 12th century. So tired of all films taking liberties to tell their stories and being filled with historical inaccuracies. They should show this at schools.


Is it the war on terror? Nope, it's the 3rd Crusade.

OK, I just want to make sure that everyone understands that the above is a joke. Based on the trailer and all the bad reviews I wasn't even expecting to finish the film. It certainly isn't a good movie but I must admit that I was positively surprised.

Robin Hood is at its best during the early parts (I was laughing so much for the crusades that were shot like a modern war with "machine guns" and all), starts to drag quite a bit in the middle but gains more momentum during the latter parts again. There's just something oddly fascinating in its stupidity and complete disregard towards anything even resembling historical accuracy.

I guess this is a version of Robin Hood that tries to appeal to modern left-wing radical youth with its masked rioters throwing firebombs at the police wielding riot shields. This time I don't care about the politics because the film so absurd that I can't take it seriously at all. So yeah, not exactly a good film but far more enjoyable than I was prepared for.




28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
I recommend Entity (2012) as an unusual take on this sub-genre.
Just to be sure, this is related to Overlord? Haven't seen this Entity and a quick glance to IMDb doesn't strike me as too similar film. If I bump into it I'll try to remember to give it a chance though

I thought Deathwatch was half/way decent

This has already been discussed in 2018 thread. I've seen it years ago and remember it having some nice scenes but kinda weak ending. I'm planning to rewatch it at some point though so there will be more accurate and updated opinion coming soon(ish).
Can you link me to that discussion?



There's just something oddly fascinating in its stupidity and complete disregard towards anything even resembling historical accuracy.
It's a real cause for concern, and it's something that crops up more and more at the moment.