But, due to all the unforeseen stuff happening in my neck of the woods (i.e. crazy weather, sporadic internet services, family drama), it's coming out a lot later than I planned, which has allowed me to see a few more things that, in turn, ended up knocking a few planned entries off the list to accommodate them, which is a good thing, I think, as I imagine a lot of people would have expected to see them on the list, while some of the ones that had previously been on there... not so much.
Hence, my downsizing the list, and taking off a few dubious choices and adding a few in their place. The end result is a list I'm much happier with, and I think you will be, too. That said, I've got three new movies that could be on it, assuming I like them as much as I think I will, so I'm waiting to post it until Monday to see if changes need to be made accordingly.
Either way, count on the finalized list happening by next week, so whatever I watch this weekend will either make it onto the list or it won't, depending on how much I do or don't like it. We shall see. In the meantime, here's some movies I watched that didn't make the list, but I wanted to comment on, nonetheless, so as to give you some content while I'm finishing things up. Enjoy! 😉
Depending on how you feel about writer/director Rob Zombie, this was either the movie you were most looking forward to him doing, or the one you most dreaded him doing, given that it would represent him going back to the well again for what would almost certainly be a total cash grab, given that the last installment of the ongoing series ostensibly ended with the Firefly clan getting gunned down.
The truth, I think, lies somewhere in between. On the one hand, I think Zombie genuinely missed the characters and was aware of the fact that it might end up being the last time he was able to do such a film, given much-beloved star Sid Haig's rapidly declining health.
This turned out to be all-too-true, as Haig sadly ended up dying shortly after its theatrical debut. The film ended up grossing some $10 million on a $3 million budget in its limited theatrical release- not too shabby- before heading to home video and the like, where it has enjoyed further success.
On the other hand, the resulting film itself is pretty compromised, albeit through no fault of Zombie's own, as Haig's health was in such disarray that it was clear that he wouldn't be able to do what the script required of him, and would only be able to shoot a few scenes.
This led Zombie to have to overhaul the script at the last possible minute and essentially write most of Haig's role out of the film and instead replace it with a heretofore unknown new character, Winslow "Foxy" Coltrane (Richard Brake, the undeniable highlight of Zombie's last film, 31), Otis' half-brother.
The disjointed nature of the script leaves the viewer wondering if maybe Zombie wouldn't have been better off leaving well enough alone. But, as the behind-the-scenes documentary makes clear, the film was so deep into production, it almost wouldn't have made sense to abandon the project so late in the game.
So, understandably, Zombie soldiered on, opting to make the best of what he had, and ended up shooting the film in under a month, for better or worse, changing up things as he went, accordingly. While it's totally ludicrous to think that one, much less all three Fireflies survived a full-on assault by the cops in the first place, it is what it is.
You just have to go with it or skip it altogether, because that sure doesn't seem to have slowed the roll of anyone concerned, save Captain Spaulding (Haig), who, as aforementioned, is written out of the script early on. This event hangs heavy over the film, which loses one of its most viable and amusing characters as a direct result.
"Foxy" isn't a terrible addition- Brake does his best to differentiate his character from the others by adding a fixation on old Hollywood- which Zombie obviously shares- which manifests itself in his imitation of classic stars like Humphrey Bogart and the like. However, this proves to be a short-lived character element that is dropped early on, showing that Zombie was clearly rushing things, albeit because of forces beyond his control.
Indeed, speaking of rushed, boy does Zombie gloss over a lot of things, i.e. how exactly Baby is able to get out of prison- I know she was dressed as a guard, but like that was going to fool anyone in the main office she would have had to walk past- or how the gang was able to cross the border with ease, being wanted criminals and all.
Also, why would the warden help Otis when he knows good and well he's just going to kill everyone once he gets what he wants- at the very least, he could have demanded that Otis send out his wife first, in exchange for Baby. These are just a few of the massive plot holes Zombie just expects the viewer to go along with.
What we're left with beyond all the wack plot machinations is a lot of inter-family squabbling, not just between the brothers, Otis (Bill Moseley) and "Foxy," but with Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie) as well, who has gone off the deep end after years of solitary confinement, leading her to do a lot of stupid things, once she and Otis escape from prison, stuff that basically should have gotten them all busted sooner than later. None of the actors are bad, to be sure, but boy, is Captain Spaulding's brand of levity missed.
The end result is basically the prison section of Natural Born Killers and its aftermath combined with, of all things, a Mexican variation of a Spaghetti Western. It's never less than watchable, I suppose, but that's pretty faint praise coming off the most beloved films in Zombie's oeuvre to date. I certainly didn't hate it, but it just seemed unnecessary, especially with Haig (mostly) out of the picture.
That said, as per usual, Zombie fills the film with lots of welcome character actors, many of them the sort of cult favorites he's known for bringing back, such as Dee Wallace (The Howling, Cujo), near-unrecognizable in a juicy turn as a prison guard; Austin Stoker (Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13, Sheba Baby) as Earl Gibson; Clint Howard (Rock n' Roll High School, Evilspeak) as an inexplicable, out-of-nowhere clown- I guess this was one of the bits meant for Haig that Zombie repurposed- Richard Edson (Howard the Duck, Stranger than Paradise) as Carlos; and Sean Whalen (The People Under the Stairs, Batman Returns) as Burt.
As I mentioned in my 31 review, I'd love to see Zombie go outside of his usual box, in particular within a different genre, such as his long-proposed Groucho Marx biopic- maybe the success of this film will allow him to do just that, and if so, then maybe it will have been worth it. As it stands, 3 From Hell just barely gets the job done, but it's mostly for die-hard fans, and even they may end up a bit disappointed overall.
It's disjointed as hell- pardon the pun- although it ends strong, with an entertaining showdown between the Firefly Clan and a Mexican gang out for blood for Otis having killed the leader's father. Still, at this point, you're either with Zombie or you're over him, so opinions may vary.
Suffice it to say, if you're not a convert by now, this likely won't change that. But even for those who already are, it's passable at best, but nothing great. Proceed with caution, and lowered expectations, and you'll be fine. Maybe.
Speaking of lowered expectations, at this point, you're either with the ongoing Fast & Furious franchise, or you're against it. I've seen a couple of them and found them passable entertainment at best, but nowhere near the level of classic of the films of its ilk that preceded it, i.e. Bullitt, Vanishing Point, Gone in 60 Seconds, et al. Back then, they didn't have CGI, so everything was done for real, and it really does make a difference.
Nowadays, everything is so computerized, you can't tell what's real and what isn't, rendering the whole thing kind of moot, IMHO. As such, I'm always skeptical of these kind of movies until I find out different. I do enjoy the Mission Impossible flicks, but then, we all know that a lot of that is for real, given star Tom Cruise's level of insanity for doing things himself. But the F&F franchise is so ludicrous that it might as well be a cartoon.
TBH, the real attraction for me here was co-star Vanessa Kirby, herself a vet of Mission, and who single-handedly steals the movie out from under her decidedly more high profile leading men, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Jason Statham, as the titular twosome. She's fantastic, and smoking hot, and makes the entire film worth seeing alone. Don't miss the tussle between her and Johnson, to be sure, which is also available in slightly extended form as a bonus feature/deleted scene.
That said, Johnson and Statham are fine, and sometimes amusing as the constantly squabbling duo. They have some funny, possibly improv'd banter that will crack up fans of such stuff. There's no denying the two have an easy chemistry, much more so than Johnson and Vin Diesel, who famously were at odds with one another in the films they did together, which is probably why this film exists in the first place.
I'd have to say I enjoyed this more than any of the F&F films I saw (though I really don't think it needed to be well over two hours long), but that's not saying much, as I'm not exactly a fan, so your opinion may vary accordingly. But if you're a fellow Kirby fan, this is an absolute must. 😍
Likewise to F&F, I'm not a big Pokémon person- I didn't collect the cards, watch the animated shows or play the video games at all, in fact- but I don't have anything against it, either. I just wasn't the age to have gotten into it the first time around, being a little too old to be the target audience for such a thing. Anyway, the movie looked cute, got positive reviews, and I like stars Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies, The Society) and Suki Waterhouse (The Bad Batch, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies), so I figured it was worth at least a rental.
Turns out it was actually a lot of fun, coming off like a combination of a Film Noir and a over-the-top sci-fi/fantasy film from the 80's. So, basically Who Framed Roger Rabbit? 2.0, only focused exclusively on the Poké-verse or whatever. I'm not particularly well-versed in said universe, so I probably missed a lot of the references to that end, but I got the gist of things, plot-wise, and I really enjoyed the film overall.
Having Ryan Reynolds (who also cropped up in Hobbs & Shaw) voice Pikachu was a brilliant gambit, and pays off in dividends, as the character has plenty of amusing lines, many of which were clearly improvised. What's more, star Justice Smith (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) and Newton have an easy chemistry together, as do Smith and Reynolds, which makes you immediately root for the characters to succeed in their task at hand.
This is key in a film like this, especially when it gets somewhat bogged down by all the Poké-stuff. Thankfully, though, with the film clocking in a just under one hour and forty-five minutes, it doesn't overstay its welcome, meaning it doesn't get TOO crippled by all the exposition overall, which is a good thing.
I suppose you basically know going in whether this is going to be your cup of tea or not, but as someone who had next-to-no past experience with Pokémon, I've got to say, it didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. A good movie is a good movie, not matter what the things that led up to it might be.
In a weird way, this is like a vastly better version of what The Dark Tower movie was going for, which is to say, a film that used past stuff as a jumping off point, and hoped that people unfamiliar would be able to keep up and enjoy it. That film completely and utterly failed- this one nails it. Check it out, if you like 80's sci-fi/fantasy or, to a lesser degree, Film Noir. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how good it is.
I was also a bit on the fence about seeing this one, being an unabashed fan of the original, and Disney animation in general. I've had mixed feelings about all these live-action remakes: for every admittedly exceptional film like Jungle Book or Lion King, there's a lesser one, like Maleficent or Cinderella that are just okay, if not outright meh. And let's face it, say what you will about Will Smith, he's certainly no Robin Williams, as I think even he would acknowledge.
Imagine my surprise then, when Aladdin turned out to not be half-bad. For one thing, kudos to Disney for thinking outside the box in hiring, of all people, crime/action/comedy filmmaker Guy Ritchie, to direct. He brings an action movie-style approach to the film that makes even the musical sequences fun to watch. Ritchie constantly keeps things moving and grooving- the film comes off like an Indiana Jones flick with full-on musical numbers.
Star Mena Massoud (Jack Ryan, Reprisal) has charisma to burn, and his leading lady, Naomi Scott, is as lovely as the days are long, with a fiery intelligence to boot. As with other modern Disney flicks, this one updates the material to make the characters more robust, vital and developed, as well as more politically correct, but in a good way. In other words, Princess Jasmine is more involved in things and vocal about her situation, such as her role in her kingdom- and in whom she chooses to marry. Nothing wrong with that.
I just loved how the film was staged, with lots of creatively-choreographed scenes and wow-inducing set design and cleverly staged sequences, from the expected visual delight of Smith's big number, "Friend Like Me" and the classic "Whole New World," but also slightly-lesser known ones like "Prince Ali" and "One Jump Ahead," which are just as entertaining. Add to that, the lovely new song "Speechless," which highlights Scott's considerable vocal skills, and you have a new soundtrack that may well outshine the original.
Don't get me wrong- the original will always hold a special space in my heart- I loved it as a kid, and still do. But this was nowhere near the disaster some people made it out to be, thanks to advance grumbling about Smith's look, which inspired a host of amusing memes.
For the record, Smith is just fine in the role, making it his own, without disrespecting Williams' groundbreaking work in the slightest. Yes, the rap break in "Friend Like Me" is a bit much, but Smith isn't exactly known for his singing prowess, so I'll allow it- besides, it suits his version of the character, and it's admittedly kind of fun to see Smith having a good time again, after a few too many dour roles as of late.
It may not all be quite enough to eclipse the original, but it's not trying to, really. If anything, it's just a solid companion to the original that should please both old-school fans and new ones alike. I dug the cast- Scott is one to watch, for sure- and, as someone with mixed feelings about musicals in general, I actually didn't mind the songs here, though having grown up with most of them probably didn't hurt matters.
The film was excellently executed, with first-rate direction by Ritchie, quite possibly making this one of the best things he's ever done, and that's saying something, being a big fan of his past work (Snatch, Lock Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels). Even if you shared my hesitation about seeing this in the first place, you might want to give it a shot now that it's readily available on home video/streaming/et. al. It's worth at least a watch, especially if you loved the original like I did. Check it out!
Well, that about does it for now. Thanks for reading, and look for my Films of the Year to finally drop next week sometime! 😎
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