[CASUAL] January Movie Challenge

[xofelf]

2) How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Look, who doesn't love flying cats? (I also rewatched this because it was requested that I do.)

[T3]

1. 2 episodes of lost in space. the final 2 episodes of season 3.
i liked the finale, it's a good and enjoyable show. it felt like there were a lot of coincidences but it was overall enjoyable.
7/10

[Kublai Khan]

3. The Mitchells vs the Machine (2021)

This was a perfectly good movie. Solid heart-strong story about family and acceptance and trust. Nicely animated and well-acted. Goofy at the right times and poignant at others. But I couldn't help feeling a little letdown. I had high expectations because Phil Lord and Christopher Miller had been the creative forces behind the LEGO Movie and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. I was hoping for something genre- and 4th wall-breaking. This wasn't. It was a conventional follow-up. It's a perfectly good conventional movie, but I wish it had taken more artistic risks.

[VashtaNeurotic]

3. Season Two of the Monument Mythos (2021) (It is a webseries but that seems to be okay)

Uhhhh....wtf?

[xofelf]

3) Crimson Peak(2015)

I'm a sucker for Guillermo del Toro films, and I hadn't seen this one yet. And as always I was struck by the vivid colour palettes throughout this whole movie. And as he seems to do with his horror films, there's always this melancholy and sadness with nuggets of hope tucked in. The story was pretty straight-forward in a way I didn't mind. Costume work was brilliant as I expected. There was a lot of good acting, and it was nice to see a lot of the Pacific Rim actors, but I genuinely wanted just a little more from Mia Wasikowska. Maybe fragile and curious is her whole gig, and if so, she did that bit well. I think I just wanted a bit more than just one note. She seemed more a vehicle for the plot than an active participant, even at the end. Credit where credit is due, Jessica Chastain really knocked it out of the park. Would I recommend the movie? Probably not, it's not one I feel like I want or need to rewatch for more interesting nuance, but if you're trying to specifically watch as many del Toro, or Tom Hiddleston movies as you can, definitely don't forget this one. It's beautifully made, and hits all the right gothic romance notes you could want, it's just not a movie experience I'd want again in it's entirety. But clips from this movie? Oh fuck yeah, it's got some genuine creepy and visceral scenes. But also GDT, I gotta ask, why you gotta injure people in the face like that so often? I get it will always get a gut reaction from people, but I don't

like

that feeling.

Oh but also, I do find this to be an interesting and different perspective on exploring what makes a monster than GDT usually takes and that's awfully sexy of him.

Edit: Also, the ghosts are a metaphor, I promise.

[xofelf]

Also, while you *technically* allow shows and the like, I'm going to be using this month challenge to purposefully do more movies and knock some of my to-watch list down. So even though I watched an unreasonable like 4 hours of Without a Trace as my background show today, I'm not gonna count it.

Also maybe the reviews I write here, I'll even put on my letterbox'd rather than just vague unexplained ratings, you don't know

[xofelf]

4) Firestarter(1984)

You know, I got a real important tip for you people who are terrified about the potential one powerful little girl could have if she lost control: Perhaps leave her alone and let her have what she wants before she figures out how to be bulletproof? Just a thunk.

This movie had come up in a bunch of places as a something that should be seen, so I have now seen it and it was fascinating. A+ on the casting, I could believe that Drew Barrymore was the daughter of Heather Locklear and David Keith. There's really not much to say about the plot of this movie, it's an awful lot like a lot of these powerful psychic kid movies from the 80's as well as you instantly know it's based on something Stephen King wrote. This isn't a criticism, it just is what it is. A lot of the plot is told in flashbacks pretty early on which I appreciated because it left things ambiguous enough for long enough you were genuinely worried that perhaps the kid had truly done something awful rather than you know, set fires with her mind that often is connected to her being annoyed. A vast majority of this movie was filmed with a specific lens type that I'm not sure what to call it as it wasn't a complete fisheye, but it definitely was curved a bit and fuzzy on the edges, which meant that it gave the entire movie a very surreal vibe and you really only noticed if you were paying attention and when the camera panned. For being only 8, Drew Barrymore did a very good job, which was important given she was going to have to carry most of this movie on her shoulders. I have the distinct impression that the ending of this movie is much kinder than then ending in the original story, and I'm quite okay with this ending. It felt very Matilda, and we're all good with that.

[Malkon05]

1) Final Destination 3 (2006)

I technically watched this on the 1st, but I'm reviewing it now since I just learned this was a thing. Honestly, FD3 really pushed the series in a way that hadn't been done before. It introduced the photo taking during the build up to the major death sequence and in the photos were clues as to how the people were going to systematically die. For me there was a little ambiguity in how the people died in comparison to the prior films. Unlike the very specific order in which people died, all people were in rows of 2 except for 2 people. Thus there were times where people died, and I was like, wait did they actually die first in the opening sequence or not? I'm a huge horror fan and while there were so many ways this specific movie pushed the series, a number of questions were left in my mind. However an incredible performance from the lead Mary Elizabeth Winstead (also in Scott Pilgrim vs The World) and some great supporting characters, plus some of the legit most iconic deaths in the series (I never want to use a tanning bed again) it's a standout in this iconic series. 4.3/5 for me. The only real downers focus around how some of the supporting characters such as Ian and Erin (and honestly the sister and her friend) were such throwaway characters I barely got to know them and what little we did get was so superficial. In addition, the order in which some of the people died was a little arbitrary at times. But overall, there's way more good then bad. I would definitely recommend, but maybe watch the series in order to get the full effect.

[Malkon05]

2) The Final Destination (2009)

The highest grossing film of this series thus far because of the introduction of 3-D, it's also by far the worst in the series. The deaths were uninspired, the way the visions occurred were arbitrary, there were a couple confusing moments, and overall the characters were the most bland in basically the entire series, and really that's kind of a feat in and of itself. The milk toast main, his gf, the security guard, the gross friend, the high strung friend, the racist, the suburban mom who has no real relevance to the story, a rando mechanic with no discernable personality (and name?) and the rando cowboy dude who could have been interesting except the movie literally introduces him 2 minutes before his death. I think the ONLY interesting sequence of this entire film was the movie theater vision and the escalator death (that didn't actually happen mind you) and then there was also a semi interesting (ha) sequence at the end. Other than that, the Nascar thing was boring, the way people died were kind of boring (yes even the pool scene), and things just felt way too predictable. There was an interesting twist in that people couldn't die "if it wasn't their turn" and I hope if more movies get made we have more of that because things could be so much more interesting if people figure out this mechanic exists. 2/5, with one or two exciting moments, this is the least inspired and least interesting of the movies in the series and although originally I did see it in 3d, something about watching it in 2d just made it so much less likable for me. Unless you are a diehard fan of the series like me, I can't recommend this.

[Malkon05]

3) Final Destination 5 (2011)

I can't believe we almost didn't get this movie in this series. It only got made because the 4th movie (above) was the highest grossing film of the series. And man we would have missed out. This movie is so much better and has aged probably the best of the movies (aside from 3). The opening bridge sequence is terrifying. It has some of the most iconic deaths in the entire series (seriously the acupuncture, the lasik eye surgery, the gymnasium, and heck even the stuff in the shop were all incredible). However where this movie falls ever so flat for me are once again the two leads who are super uninspired. Like how do you get SUCH an interesting cast (Jacqueline MacInnes Woods, PJ Byrne, Arlen Escarpeta, David Koechner and heck even Miles Fisher and Ellen Wroe who I've literally never heard of) is probably the best supporting cast of the entire series. I loved it from start to finish, but the two leads Nicholas D'Agosto & Emma Bell were just flat as a plank. I could have stuck literally any other two actors there and they would have been better suited. In addition, the climax of the movie was a little predictable and the deaths in that sequence were lukewarm at best. It's weird because the entire film up until that point was genius. In addition, the aftermath of the climax and the ending are a 10/10. I had CHILLS at the ending and I won't say them here because it's honestly the magic of the series. I think another movie is being made and it's a real shame because this was the most perfect ending for a series I've ever seen and I kind of wish they were done. Overall, this was a pretty fantastic experience and I have to give it a solid 4.5/5 but it falls short from two bad leads and an uninspired climax. If you love this series I would recommend this 9 ways to sunday because it's honestly pretty incredible what they did. As a standalone, it's not as impactful so it's a harder recommend. Watch the first 4 movies first to get the full experience if this is your thing.

[Malkon05]

4) NCIS Episodes 9-16

Honestly this series sort of runs together for me and at 40 minute episodes each I know I did watch these but for the love of god I can't recall everything about them. So I'm just going to recall the last two episodes I watched and count this all as 1, feel free to do whatever you want to with this. Episode 15 involves Gibbs sort of getting an expose into his past with a former marine seargant who has gunned down some people thinking there's some FBI conspiracy against him. There's a lot to this episode but it boils down to Agent Gibbs basically having to confront his past and help his former friend figure out what is going on. The other agents I guess are there and the only one who has any real presence in this episode is Abby who figures out a blurry face in a video they have to watch to prove someone's innocence. Honestly, I'm only watching this series because it's about as close to Criminal Minds as I can find and I already went through all 15 seasons of that show. It's not as good as Criminal Minds. Plus there is some gross blatant sexist things that happen in the prior episodes that make me want to gag. Episode 16 has to do with some dude infiltrates NCIS and takes the doctor and his assistant (and later Caitlin) hostage while he gets evidence and smuggles his dead friend dude out of the country that they were examining for some sort of toxin. I actually kind of liked this episode because they stopped focusing on gross sexist stuff and sort of dove into some interesting information about terrorist vs non terrorist organizations and some biowarfare stuff. This was a much better episode than the prior one because even the guy who captured the others was a pretty great actor and the idea of the hostages following rules and FBI having to break protocol to negotiate with the "non-terrorist" guy was pretty interesting. I also love that this episode left on a "clearly this is going to be a thing in the future" type of ending, which is good! Plus this gave the doctor and abby lots of attention and character development which was quite honestly necessary. This show is about a 2.9/5 so far, and I honestly can't recommend it over Criminal Minds so far as that kind of set the bar high for me.

[Kublai Khan]

4. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)

Questlove's directorial debut in a documentary about a little-known summer series of concerts in Harlem during the summer of 1969. There are plenty of fantastic snippets of the concert which featured Stevie Wonder, the 5th Dimension, BB King, Sly & The Family Stone, Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, Hugh Masekela, Aretha Franklin, and a few more. This footage is intercut is a variety of the attendees and performers sharing memories and giving context about the cultural significance. The underlying narrative is the fact that this concert series had some of the top names in entertainment and humongous crowds is virtually unknown compared to contemporary concerts like Woodstock or Altamont. The concert series was documented and parts broadcast at the time, but ultimately was shelved and forgotten in a basement for decades.

[Haschel Cedricson]

Only Murders In The Building (Entire series, ten 30-minute episodes each)

Fantastic show, binged right through it. Steve Martin and Martin Short are obviously old pros with excellent chemistry, and the choice to bring in Selena Gomez as their younger foil works far better than it has any right to. The stylistic choices are fantastic, the mystery is engaging, and it also explores deeper themes like loneliness. Can't recommend enough.

Also, normally I find that Martin Short wears out his welcome fast but this show is perfect in terms of letting him do his thing without overdoing it.

[Kublai Khan]

5. Stowaway (2021)

Meditative space procedural. I was actually kinda happy they didn't try to force too many twists and turns. The creeping inevitability of mathematical certainty is a powerful villain.

[Ythan]

Wow I didn't realize that had been adapted. Read the story back in school and found it pretty compelling.

[Ythan]

Lol not one reference to The Cold Equations in the entire article I just read about this movie. The story seems to be an obvious flesh out of that story by Tom Godwin.

[xofelf]

5) The Secret of Kells(2009)

This is a rewatch, and really there's not much to say about it. Story is fine, it's really all about the visuals. And they're just beautiful. It's got a very distinct artistic style to it that is just utterly charming. And putting the animation on the illuminated pages of this manuscript is just worth seeing at least once.

[VashtaNeurotic]

4) The Secret of Kells (2009)

Unclear what the secret is. Also does NOT feature several woodland creatures flying an airship disappointingly. Animation was solid tho.

[Ythan]

I won a copy of that in a raffle once.

[Porkens]

@ matrix It’s not a reboot it’s a hard sequel and it’s the sequel we all deserved.


I watched to Live and Die in LA again and it’s excellent. Somehow a cyberpunk movie with not a single computer. Love 5/5

[Malkon05]

5) American Dad the complete 13th season

Each episode is about 25-30 minutes long and there are over 20 episodes. I basically binged the entire season today from start to finish. This is not my favorite season of American Dad and really with episodic shows like this, stringing together a cohesive narrative of the plot of the season is basically impossible. As far as specific episodes, my personal favorites were "The Bitchin Race" which was a spoof on Amazing Race, "Death by Dinner Party" which was a clue style whodunnit plot that actually had some genuinely fun twists, "Census of the Lambs" which basically pits Hailey and Stan against each other in a race to beat each other at collecting the most census data and the best episode of the whole season Flavortown, in which the demon persona of Guy Fieri takes over the body of Jeff. There were some very memorable moments in each of these episodes, but just like most adult cartoons there was no connecting theme overall of all the episodes so it's hard to see why this was a season vs any other season. I also didn't like a number of the episodes in this season, most of which was "Twinanigans" which felt like nothing about the plot progressed and it was one of the biggest filler episodes of the whole season. If you like shows like American Dad and Family Guy, you will absolutely enjoy this season of this show. If you are a casual watcher, you probably would enjoy, I caught my partner who knows nothing about the show chuckling at various jokes he caught. But if you don't like these types of shows, or aren't already familiar with the cast, it's a hard recommend. 3/5.

[Ythan]

Also does NOT feature several woodland creatures flying an airship disappointingly.

Is this a Once Upon a Forest reference???

[AcRv]

1. Ant-Man (2015)

I had a lengthy conversation on New Year's Eve about how I didn't enjoy Marvel movies being "oh no the world is in danger". I had remembered Ant-Man suffering less from that.

The main character is an actual human with real struggles and the story focuses more on his personal issues. The "oh and terrorists are trying to buy weapon tech" really just sorta is stuffed into the background while Scott tries to be a good dad.

Bad forced romance, but good giant ant being fed scraps under the table.

[AcRv]

2. Ant-Man and Wasp (2018)

Even less "world is in danger", more "humans being human while physics does weird stuff".

World not even remotely in danger. No real villain outside of the business guys who misunderstand what's happening and they are pretty explicitly sidelined by all the more interesting characters and things that are happening.

Favourite MCU film.

I usually watch other movies but they were relevant to a conversation so I watched them back to back.

[AcRv]

3. Moneyball (2011)

I am bad with baseball and statistics.

I enjoy game theory though so it was fascinating.

Really don't remember much except understanding the frustration of trying to play a game with people who are playing a different game.