Matchabox

Wow, even I can tell this is an extreme second monitor movie.

Sean is now a spy and he and his childhood friends are caught up in a bomb mission and...

Nothing that happens in this movie is worth a damn. There is one "original" twist (which I won't give away here), but then they hammer that point home so hard it's not a twist but it is repeated for those who weren't paying attention the first time. Lots of car chases and John Cena getting into fights and explosions... just like Matchbox!

As you expect, the link to the product is really slim. The childhood friends play with them for like a minute, and we see some tiny cars at two other moments, but otherwise it has no relevance what so ever. I will check the trivia after this, and if I find out "this was a generic movie they slapped the Matchbox label on" I will die from non-surprise.

It's fine, the acting is fine (definitely not great), the action is fine, the story is... not fine, but I doubt people are watching this for a heartfelt drama. Watch it if you will, but set expectations appropriately. 

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ACME? Coyote?

ACME and Coyote, together at last! 

Wile E. has had enough of problems with ACME and gets himself a lawyer to put things to right. And he has a lot of problems... but he doesn't have a good lawyer. Kevin Avery goes for the settle, but Wile E. won't accept that, and together (unwillingly) they take on the good name of ACME... and damn if this whole thing isn't heart warming!

I haven't seen Space Jam, so Roger Rabbit was my go-to for human/cartoon interaction, and this is extremely well done as that was. Okay, it's not 100% perfect, but everything fits so well that I just breezed over any interaction problems. My main issue (of course I have one) is that this movie is a tad on the longer side for what we are getting. 100 minutes this doesn't need to be.

Will Forte is great as Avery, and John Cena plays well with his own image as Buddy Crane. Others are decent, and always up for a Luis Guzmán cameo. And Wile E. Coyote playing himself, as does the Road Runner, are complete classics.

So yes, this is a film to watch! 

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Mootiny

Wow, now that's a generic movie!

Jason Statham has a boss that gets killed, and so he goes on a killing spree as a one man army. Okay, that sounds... like any of his movies, but this one is on a boat! And he has a female partner who was a member of the crew, but, unlike all the men, isn't evil! Woooo!

This really isn't winning any awards for innovation. The only reason I'm writing about it is because I watched it and didn't have anything else going on. Aside from Jason, we have some other actors who... I haven't seen elsewhere, so as part of a group of actors they got wholesale? Although there is Adrian Lester, who's scenes feel like they were all filmed in one day on one set.

As an entry in the Statham-kicks-ass series, this is... certainly an entry and is 95 minutes. 

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Teenage and Sex and Death

In many ways this is not a subtle movie... although some parts are probably too subtle for me.

Kris is a new director and brought into resurrect the Camp Miasma slasher movie series. For inspiration, she heads out to where it was films and hooks up with the original final girl Billy. But in order to really understand the movie, to become one with what is happening, they need to give themselves over to the Little Death.

Yeah, Little Death. As I said, this isn't subtle. This movie is more than a little about sex, with the penetrating staff delivering lots of splatter. As Billy says "flesh and fluid".

But as it is somewhat meta... I'm not totally vibing with it. "We're meta because we can be" is not necessarily a great reason to be meta. This is about what a slasher movie series is these days, and about recapturing the sense of sex they represented, and the queerness of following the leading girl, even with the male gaze... no doubt many people will unpack this way better than I can.

Hannah Einbinder is fine as Kris, and Gillian Anderson as Billy is... I can't really tell is she wants to be in this movie or not. I assume so because she is in this movie, but she comes across quite distant. There are quite a few cameos of other famous faces, which is cool. And the whole effects are fine, if not quite believable for representing cinema at the time.

For those that are the target audience, this's gonna go down well.

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Ôdishon

People talk about it, but how many have seen it? I is now one! 

A widower decides to get back into the dating game, and his friend decides "hey, that's a great excuse for a movie" and so they audition a group of young women to be in the movie. But he is already taken with one woman and wants to know more about her. She's got a dark past, and slowly her issues come to light and she takes down others with her.

This is a definite slow burn. From the nature of the movie, we get the sense that something is off about her, but I didn't guess the whole back story. People mention that Miike gets quite shocking, but if so, this is very restrained (until the last part of the movie).

I recognise Ryô Ishibashi (being a fan of the Grudge movies), but not anyone else. The acting is all fine, and Eihi Shiina is suitable creepy.

I don't see this as the start of a Miike retrospective, but I will try to remember to catch some more of his at some point. 

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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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