Maaaydaaay

It's Ryan Reynolds acting as Ryan Reynolds... I know that doesn't narrow it down. 

It's the cold war, and Ryan Reynolds (he has a character name, but it's just him) is a pilot that ends up shot down in Russia and teams up with Kenneth Branagh (who also has a character name, but whatever). Together they pair up to get Ryan back to the USA, and have to deal with a KGB agent who is very driven to catch them.

It's a buddy comedy, where it's relaxed and fun as they get through Russian military, huzzah! It is a very light movie, and it's going to be superdisposable, and I won't be surprised that I forget this movie before I even hit Publish.

There are some interesting directorial shots, where the camera is placed in unusual locations and follows the action in odd ways. And the action itself lends more to Jackie Chan antics than the usual fighting style. (Somehow Kenneth is more kung fu master than old man.)

And in conclusion.. what was I watching again? 

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Huo zhe yan

Ah, a "Somewhere In East Asia" film! Classic genre!

A daughter gets kidnapped, and her father immediately goes into fight mode to beat up people, but initially fails. And the cops are useless. Tracking down one person, he teams up with someone else who is looking for his journalist wife, and the two of them start tearing through gangs to get to the kids. And then we are about halfway through the movie, so need more fights!

Lots of great fight choreograph here, quick jabs and punches, some little prop work, but a lot of just moving around the area, nicely done. I don't know who the main actors are, so don't know if it is a big deal that they are together, but it's all good. (Although I did recognise Yayan Ruhian... (although not to the extent of knowing his name, just that I went "hey, I recognise that guy!"))

People compare this to The Raid and I can see that... might have to go back and rewatch that some time... Want a full on action piece? This works! 

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LEOPARDS!

I saw some Leopards! Indeed, I had a Close Encounter with some Snow Leopards! Pictures and Videos!

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Have Luck, Good Fun!

Oh, it was a Gore Verbinsky movie! 

A man comes from the future to try to save it by gathering a group of people to slow it (it's gonna happen) from happening in such a bad way. And then we follow them, with some flashbacks to see how some of them got to be the way they are.

And it is fun! However, it is not a subtle movie. It has an anti-technology bent and isn't shy about it. And I saw the twists miles before they were twisted. Which doesn't stop it being fun, but does take some of the air out of its wind.

Sam Rockwell is great, even in a plastic trenchcoat. We also get people I recognise such as Zazie Beetz,  Michael Pena, and Asim Chaudhry, and one I don't, Haley Lu Richardson, who seems to have a successful career too. The effects are decent enough, and work fine as it's not trying to take itself too seriously.

Enjoyable movie, but I don't see my coming back to it. 

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Gekijōban Zero

Movie based on the video game? What I recall about Fatal Frame is that it involves taking photos, ghosts, and either a curse or a cult. So what have we here?

At an all girls boarding school, run by nuns, young girls are falling in love (infatuation?) with one particular student, and then they come under a curse that only girls affect (the translation of the subs are slightly bad, it's clearly supposed to be a curse only affecting girls). And then they die. Another student is drawn into this, and her and the one they are all in love with uncover that there is more going on, and really, it is the adults who are the real monsters.

So... what does this have to do with the video game? Killing ghosts via camera? Nope. Running around some old houses? Nope. But apparently there was a novel based on the game, and this is the movie of that novel. Okay then.

As the perspective shifts around a lot, I did have trouble tracking who was whom, doing what, but about halfway it settles down into a main protagonist to follow. However the solution does come a lot out of nowhere, with exposition at the end to explain it all.

I can't say I recommend this film, even aside from it being in a video game universe. 

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Lee's Cronin's Muu-mee

It might be from Lee Cronin, but I'm not sure about the Mummy aspect... 

Katie is abducted from her family while in Egypt, then turns up eight years later. Completely driven by guilt and grief, her parents decide that the best idea is to take care of her themselves, despite this being a patently stupid thing to do (like, I get how the doctor might recommend that them being around is a good idea, but ... no, they clearly need medical support). It turns out that she's a demon possessed child who is really enjoying herself by possessing and tormenting others, so the only course of action is revenge from everyone involved.

How is this a mummy? Yes we technically have that the kid was wrapped in bandages, but... she is just a possessed child, there are a billion movies of those, this isn't that special. We are lucky in that we don't get an exorcism scene, but it's not like the mummy isn't easily handled when people know what they are doing. Bring back Arnold Vasloo's arse!

Acting wise... no-one really seems to know what they are doing, either in character or out. And it's just as well the kid playing Katie is possessed, because her playing Katie the kid isn't at all believable. The effects are mostly fine, with there being a LOT of fluid work to handle the grossness.

People have said that this is not great, but it's not until you see it for yourself that you see how not great it is. (For example, here's Amanda the Jedi's review.)

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He's the Scratchman

From what I recall, back in the Tom Baker days they wanted to do a movie, and while one version involved Krittekmen, another one was a darker take. That didn't happen, but eventually this book did.

The Doctor is telling a tale to the Time Lords (similar to the book set of The Massacre) where he is being judged for an adventure. This one involves him, Harry and Sarah going to an island where people are being turned into Scarecrows... and then they go to Hell. Actual Hell. Well, one inspiration of Actual Hell, seen over by the Devil, also known as the Scratchman. And he wants to know the Doctor's fear. In any way possible.

This is written by Tom Baker, and also narrated by him. It's a weird mix of first person and third person omniscience (excused by the TARDIS recording things), and it's a rather rum collection of scenes where wackiness happens because... because wackiness happens. The initial adventure on the island is somewhat straightforward, but once they go to Hell it gets extremely random, justified by Scratchman doing random things. A great excuse for Tom Baker to just go nuts with ideas?

And he certainly enjoys narrating it. He goes full ham in many places, and I doubt the book (which I have, but haven't checked) quite goes into him breaking out laughing in various places. He's just having fun and doesn't care who knows it.

There's a surprising amount of continuity in this, with references to other Doctors. That said... I'm not exactly sure when this story takes place, as that combination of characters didn't really have opportunity for this adventure, especially with references they make. Ah well, such is the nature of stories.

Odd, and yet, glad I finally got around to it! 

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