at this moment the critic guy for our local news is going through all the new stuff including season, sequels, and whatnot. This piece plays every day and there is almost so much and im always just yuck. I think this is why I have moved more toward video games and just tooling around onlline in my personal post covid era.
I'll go based on letterboxd release year. Often times it's hard for me to judge towards which year I should count a film that might have had a limited release in the previous year, but then a wider cinema run later.
So far I've enjoyed:
Dune part 2: epic sci-fi and that is exactly my jam, so thus far my favorite movie of the year.
Civil war: Imo flawed in some ways and not quite what I expected (expected it to be more social commentary and less about war photograpy), but overall still very much a recommendation and good movie. Alex Garland has made some of my favorite films of all times (ex machina and Dredd, also enjoyed annihilation), but it didn't reach those heights, so I'd rank it below those.
Exhuma: usually not a horror fan, but I guess I very much enjoy the Korean ones. More direct compared to "The wailing", which it somewhat reminded me of, but that had more of a mystery aspect.
Movies that don't yet have a wide release, but that I already saw at a film festival:
Black box diaries: Documentary by the journalist Shiori Itō about her own sexual assault case and her battle against the outdated judicial system and social views in Japan. Sadly I missed the screening with q&a afterwards. I found it interesting and overall well made, definitely gets a recommendation for whenever it gets a wider release later this year.
All we imagine as light: Drama set in india. Feels like comparatively I've seen less movies set in India, so it's always nice to get a view into other cultures. Overall I enjoyed it and can also recommend it to people that like this type of movie.
Also watched "the substance" (body horror) during the festival, but while decent that just isn't quite my cup of tea.
Some movies that I found "meh" so far include Furiosa and monkey man, but there is also a lot that I haven't seen so far.
I never liked Jennifer Lawrence until I saw No Hard Feelings. Just the sheer balls it took for that performance. And it was fucking hilarious to boot. She earned my respect for that role.
“The first version of ‘Anchorman’ is basically the movie ‘Alive,’ where the year is 1976, and we are flying to Philadelphia, and all the newsmen from around the country are flying in to have some big convention,” Ferrell said. “[My character] Ron convinces the pilot that he knows how to fly the charter jet, and he immediately crash-lands it in the mountains. And it’s just the story of them surviving and trying to get off the mountainside. They clipped a cargo plane, and the cargo plane crashed as well, close to them, and it was carrying only boxes of orangutans and Chinese throwing stars. So throughout the movie we’re being stalked by orangutans who are killing, one by one, the team off with throwing stars. And Veronica Corningstone keeps saying things like, ‘Guys, I know if we just head down we’ll hit civilization.’ And we keep telling her, ‘Wrong.’ She doesn’t know what we’re talking about. So that was the first version of the movie.”
This sounds hilarious. I know the cast of Anchorman could have made this one work.
Some will argue that sequel or franchise fatigue is not really a thing, in that it is immediately disproved when a hit like Bad Boys: Ride or Die comes along. But it’s hard not to feel fatigued when original films are just croutons in a Hollywood buzzword salad: made entirely of sequels and prequels and existing IPs and brands and reboots and remakes.
So basically the evidence suggests it isn't a actually a thing, but you're going to continue to imply it is?
The whole article just reeks of projection. The writer feels something, and insists the rest of the world feels it too, to spite the evidence to the contrary.
I also don't get what they're trying to imply by saying original films are "just croutons in a buzzword salad". I mean...yeah? What year is this? Does this writer believe this is a fresh take? Original films share the space with franchises and adapted IPs, that has been the case for decades now, and people have been complaining about it for just as long.
But so what? Original films are getting made all the time, and really good ones at that, you just have to stop giving a shit what Disney or Warner Brothers are doing and seek them out.
The Fall Guy was one of the most fun times I've had at the movies this year. It's an action romcom involving a Hollywood stuntman trying to solve a murder mystery.
Mars Express is technically from 2023, but it got a limited theatrical release a few months ago, so I'll include it here. It's an animated futuristic sci-fi adventure, with a police detective and her robot partner solving a conspiracy.
SPYxFAMILY Code: White is an anime film based on the series. You don't need to know anything about the show to watch it, they explain everything in the exposition. Another fun and action-packed film to add to your list, when it eventually releases in the US.
Civil War is not actually about the war in the movie, it's about the journalists trying to get the perfect shot. Though I haven't seen it yet, I've heard it's very chilling, and the sound mix is amazing.
Of course, I'm a fan of the less cerebral and "turn your brain off" films like Kung Fu Panda 4, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and Despicable Me 4.
The Fall Guy was one of the most fun times I’ve had at the movies this year. It’s an action romcom involving a Hollywood stuntman trying to solve a murder mystery.
It was thoroughly entertaining, pity more people didn't go and see it as it was a pretty much guaranteed fun time.
Civil War is not actually about the war in the movie, it’s about the journalists trying to get the perfect shot. Though I haven’t seen it yet, I’ve heard it’s very chilling, and the sound mix is amazing.
Definitely go and see it - they've managed to capture some of the most (in)tense scenes I've seen.
Maybe controversial, depending on who you talk to I suppose. It's no Fury Road, at all. But it's in the same world and it's a good film. I'd imagine following with Fury Road directly after works quite well as a pairing
Apply this idea to Hollywood, and its paralysing aversion to taking risk, and you end up in our current situation: cinemas clogged with safe, so-so sequels no one really asked for.
How many years have we had a Past Lives, The Zone of Interest, Anatomy of a Fall, Poor Things, Oppenheimer and The Holdovers?
They watch what we’re watching and rewatching and it means they bring back, to varying degrees of success: The Matrix, Scream, Top Gun, Indiana Jones, Mad Max, Hocus Pocus, Legally Blonde, Ghostbusters, Home Alone, Blade Runner, Kung Fu Panda, Jurassic Park, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Beetlejuice and many, many more.
An investment banker’s approach to film-making that has left us hungry for more original, mid-budget films when they’ve put all their money in intellectual properties (IPs).
Some will argue that sequel or franchise fatigue is not really a thing, in that it is immediately disproved when a hit like Bad Boys: Ride or Die comes along.
But it’s hard not to feel fatigued when original films are just croutons in a Hollywood buzzword salad: made entirely of sequels and prequels and existing IPs and brands and reboots and remakes.
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I’m actually curious about that - I think it had significant reshoots and many of the villain's lines are badly ADR’d. I’m guessing the final product had very little resemblance to what was in the script.
Oh this hasn't been released in the US yet? I saw it last month and it's fantastic, one of my top ten films of the year. If you liked Kung Fu Hustle then go and see this. If you haven't seen KFH then watch that now. I mean, stop reading this and go now. I can wait...
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