Edging the Shadow

Oooh, a Jackie Chan movie? Don't mind if I do!

The police have AI and other electronics working for them, but getting cyberattacked doesn't help as a small team attack a bank and (eventually) get away. They call in retired cop Wong Tak-chung, who thinks they are up against an old foe of his, The Shadow. Wong trains up a new group, and they track down the Shadow, but the Shadow's own group isn't against using him against them, and try their own thing. There is another bit hit planned, but everyone is gathering around and attacks are all over the place.

This is a little confusing at times, and for many moments I was just sitting back and letting it wash over me, but hey, it's a fun (in the enjoyable, not comedic, sense) action flick so thinking too hard was never the top priority.

There's a lot of "kids these days" messages, with Wong and the Shadow getting old-school, and Zifeng Zhang as Wong's niece with a chip on her shoulder, but more than capable herself but still needing to prove herself. There are some very nice character moments, but you better believe there is full on Chan style action scenes knocking things about.

I don't know if the sequel will happen, but I hope I catch it if it does!

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Maddy and Sabby!

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69 mintues

This movie is somewhat longer than 96 minutes.

A bomb expert failed to defuse all the bombs, and a department store exploded, killing a lot of people. Three years later, he and his wife are on a train from a memorial service when he and his director get a call to say there's another bomb. But it's not their train, it's another one, and it'll go off unless they admit what they did. Ah, but if only it was that easy, and simple decisions to be made...

Ah, a quiet train movie...with explosives! This is about guilt and surviving, and revenge for those who didn't, and there is also explosives. Being on a train (two trains!) there is pressure as people can't get away, although some try. Still, I'm sure everyone gets out alive...

Taiwanese movie here, and it's well done. There is some extreme coincidence with who is involved (a teacher happens to overhear the situation and just so happens to be related to people on the other train), but coincidences happen (especially for plot to happen). Good performances all around, big booms, and the dramatic pay off isn't the same thing as the hero gets the girl.

Trains and bombs, what a better pairing could there be?

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Sned Hepl

I've seen the Amanda the Jedi video about this, so I knew what I was getting into, but...

It's a boys club out there, but one woman is doing the best she can... but she finally sees that the boys club is against her. But a plane crash means its her and her new boss, and soon it becomes very prevalent that he will need to rely on her. However, she likes her new life, and is down for this, at all cost.

This reminded me of the third act of Triangle (and that Madonna movie that no-one wants to remember) in that it's all about "well, well, well, how the turns have tabled..." ... and then we see that everyone is terrible. I'm also reminded of the quote of Lord Acton "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

There's definite some Sam Raimi moments, with Raimi-Cam! And hey, a zombie moment! Rachel McAdams is clearly having fun with this, and I hope Dylan O'Brien also had fun but that doesn't come across (acting!).

This movie will depend on how well you can take the revelation of what the people are really like, but if you are here for just "girl-boss moments" I wouldn't recommend this.

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undertony

It's another A24 horror movie!

Evy is doing two things: looking after her dying mother, and recording a podcast. And on the podcast, she and her co-host get sent ten audio files, which get progressively creepier. Clearly everything is fine, and Evy isn't inviting a demon into her house and possibly her mother too, why would you ask that?

Just because you have a low budget doesn't mean you can't get a horror movie working. We have two on screen actors (Nina Kiri as Evy and Michele Duquet as the mother) and a host of other people playing off-screen voices, and the set is one house. There are slow pans, and things in mirrors/backgrounds to pay attention to, but the focus is on the audio files and seeing Evy dealing with things by herself.

This movie is a lot about guilt, of dealing with the mother, of potentially becoming a mother herself, played out through the medium of something praying on pregnant women and not being able to stop yourself from bringing it onto yourself.

There's a lot of potential of this whole thing being in Evy's mind, but that is an easy out. But the ending is definitely touching more on what you think is going on more than that you see (which isn't a lot).

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New Maddy?!

And it seems like there will be a new album!

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Diabadical

What if the Boys... but a cartoon?

This is a collection of standalone stories, set in the universe of The Boys. Some feature the characters we know (with their tv actors providing voices) and sometimes just people being in the world, usually dealing with some form of impact from Compound V.

There are a mixture of writers and so we have a mixture of qualities. Some are a contemplative episode, some is written by Justin Roiland (just the one, but it is so Rick and Morty who can't not think of that), and one features a sentient pile of poo (thanks Awkwafina!). They aren't terrible... but their biggest bonus is that they are only around 13 minutes long, so don't get a chance to outstay their welcome.

There is a variety of cartoon styles as well, nothing too out there, but each episode does have its own style. The character models are somewhat the tv, but also the comic style (Hughie is definitely Wee Hughie of the comic). In common is pretty gruesome images of blood and gore everywhere, so that's on brand.

Not a bad distraction, but I doubt anyone will come back to this for a second look.

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