The Movie I Just Watched Thread 2: Revengeance

Inspired by engineer's original thread on the Trouble City boards (R.I.P) I always liked having a place for quick, bite-sized discussions of movies that don't require a whole thread. So this is that.

Ricochet (1991)

Perfectly serviceable action/thriller nonsense elevated by Denzel Washington and John Lithgow's performances, which I can only assume were the product of a bet to see who could chew the most scenery at any given time. It's a premise that starts at preposterous and only gets sillier from there, but the movie never takes itself particularly seriously so it's easy to just go along for the ride. This is a movie where prisoners settle their differences with a literal gladiator fight, and it's fascinating seeing the kind of schlock HBO was producing before they settled into serious prestige mode. Hardly essential viewing, but as a 90's relic it's a fun curiosity.

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Having recently watched Hard Eight and Boogie Nights and loving both, I went into Licorice Pizza with mixed feelings knowing this was a decidedly lighter story than his usual fare but still hoping to be wowed. I wasn't. In my family, "charming" is a code for a movie with a kind of twee pleasantness that sets your teeth on edge, and unfortunately I would describe large chunks of this movie as decidedly charming. I just never connected with Alana and Gary, finding them mildly amusing at best but generally annoying. No blame on Haim and Hoffman, who I think both give good performances. Rather, I just think for me PTA's particular type of realistically flawed protagonist just works better in a more dramatic setting. Here, paired with the various weird side characters, it just felt like PTA trying to do Paul W.S. Anderson and not really pulling it off. The awkwardly racist Japanese restaurant owner, angry Bradley Cooper, the atheist boyfriend, all of it had a forced quirkiness that I didn't get out of his earlier work. I didn't love the later stuff with the mayor, but it at least felt more cohesive with the overall low-key dramedy vibe. Ultimately though the movie just feels weightless, a series of vignettes that offer a very believable glimpse into the lives of these two characters, but not really offering much I wanted to see.

Thanks to huntertarantino for the recommendations!

The Innocents (2021)

A movie that'll make you want a drink and a vasectomy, The Innocents takes the "killer children" premise and removes any trace of irony from it. The result is an undeniably effective horror experience that had my squirming in my seat the whole time, but it also means the movie lacks any of the campy fun you might get from similar fare. This is an honest to god scary movie and a good reminder of why I typically limit myself to one month a year for this kind of thing, because gah was this hard to sit thru. The movie basically starts creepy and never lets up, and all the child actors are phenomenal in their roles. There's no real jump scares, instead it's the unsettling real horror of something like Dogtooth, the kind that lingers and sticks with you after you walk away. There's a supernatural element, but it's a testament to how little the movie relies on spectacle that the final battle *SPOILERS!* basically climaxes in someone sitting down, and it's as intense a scene as you'll get in a movie.

That said, I do think the movie takes one big misstep with *MAJOR SPOILERS SERIOUSLY SPOILERS* the death of Aisha. The actual death itself I have mixed feelings on. On the one hand, I don't think you would have lost much by taking a less mean-spirited route, and it personally would have made the movie a lot more enjoyable and possibly re-watch worthy. On the other hand, historically I've chastised kid-focused stories that felt like they lacked real stakes, so I can't entirely fault them for going there given this is, you know, a horror movie. Regardless, what I do think was a clear mistake was the timing, as coming as early as it does really robs the movie of a lot of its tension. Once it happens, setting aside the possibility of a super feel-bad nihilistic ending, you basically know the sisters are going to team-up to take down Ben and the questions arising from Ida's early ambiguous morality are basically gone. It's still satisfying seeing them succeed, but it's tempered somewhat. Still, an impressive film and one guaranteed to bum me out for a long time!

Thanks (?) to Evi for the recommendation!

Haven't seen the other two, but I have seen Ricochet. Your description is perfect. And it's sort of hilarious that Mulcahy basically restaged the end fight from Highlander here...only in a prison.

Ha, didn't recognize the name but yep, fits. Hey, if it ain't broke...

Decided to end my Lockdown challenge (Part 1!) on a high note with a couple of re-watches"

Mandy (2018)

This is one of those movies that I think improves on a second viewing because knowing the structure and when things go full gonzo I was able to appreciate the relatively slow opening and savor some of the movie's quieter moments. I also think that I more clearly dialed in on the movie's direct inspiration: Heavy Metal. There's even a very specific homage to the glowing green orb in one of the animated dream sequences that I don't think I caught the first time around, and while the movie obviously draws from a wide pool not only does it share that movie's fantasy elements, but the focus on mood and aesthetic over complex narrative. Which, when your mood and aesthetic are this good, isn't really a drawback. I also think the movie perfectly threads the needle between having a sense of humor and trying to be ironic. There are funny moments in the movie, but just because things aren't 100% dour doesn't mean it doesn't take it's fantasy elements seriously. It takes a sure hand to make Nicholas Cage forging a custom axe not eye-rolling but Mandy pulls if off with aplomb. This actor, this concept, it easily could have been goofball schlock but instead finds a way to seamlessly merge those exploitation and art-house elements into a cohesive whole. Impressive stuff, and I can only hope Cosmatos continues his upward trajectory with whatever he does next.

Predator (1987)

Yeah, it's pretty good.

Random hojillionth re-watch observations:
After Dutch attacks him with the bow & arrow, the Predator wildly firing blind into the trees is a nice mirror of the same scene with Dutch's crew earlier.
I'm continuously amazed by the small details they put into the Predator and his gear. I'd completely forgotten about the little laser he uses to clean his blades!
Having seen this movie dozens of times on TV, watching it now in glorious 4K made me realize this might actually be the first time I'd seen the opening few minutes. Almost every scene is indelibly burned into my memory, but I genuinely couldn't remember them getting off the chopper in civilian clothes. It's a small thing, but it made me realize yet again how certain aspects of the way I watched movies growing up are going to be totally alien to future generations. It never stops being depressing!

I threw on 1997's BREAKDOWN this morning.

This was my third time revisiting it in two years, and I'm confident calling it a classic thriller of the 1990s. Kurt Russel is so good here.

BREAKDOWN is excellent. First time I watched it, it took me 90 minutes to unclench and go to sleep after.

I saw it as a kid back when it first hit HBO and it’s one of the most riveting films I’ve ever watched.

It's very good suspense filmmaking.

Breakdown was a theatre watch with my old man. I was 15 and loved every minute of that damn movie. Mostow filmed the Southwest perfectly, a vast space that holds no regard for humanity or it’s problems. JT Walsh in full on seemingly nice dude hiding the ultimate scum .

Love the opening credit sequence too!

BREAKDOWN is another one of those 'better than it should have been' movies. Just a well made genre picture.

Its a shame T3 derailed Jonathan Mostow's career like it did because BREAKDOWN is a legitimately great thriller. Top tier Kurt.

Yeah man, T3, woof.

Kurt had a pretty good couple of years with Breakdown and Executive Decision, watched recently and it’s still a fun time!

I'm traveling for work, so I've been firing up whatever movies I happen to own on Google Play. Truly a roll of the dice. Last night: THE DARK TOWER

I'm feeling a little more charitable towards it these days, but ugh. Every narrative choice that's made in the first act feels like the result of a studio note written explicitly to frustrate fans of the books. Just lean into the Weird West aesthetic and do a straight adaptation of THE GUNSLINGER!

Its a shame, because there are good building blocks here. Elba is killer casting (let him wear a hat though, wtf). McConaughey is chewing scenery like a pro. Some of the gunplay really does pop; love to see Roland sorta pouring the bullets into his gun. Its not a total waste.

Call Me Roy Again wrote:

Yeah man, T3, woof.

Kurt had a pretty good couple of years with Breakdown and Executive Decision, watched recently and it’s still a fun time!

Oh, yeah. EXECUTIVE DECISION holds up very well - much better, IMNSHO, than the other big airplane hijack movie of the time, AIR FORCE ONE.

MikeK wrote:

I'm traveling for work, so I've been firing up whatever movies I happen to own on Google Play.  Truly a roll of the dice.  Last night: THE DARK TOWER

I'm feeling a little more charitable towards it these days, but ugh.  Every narrative choice that's made in the first act feels like the result of a studio note written explicitly to frustrate fans of the books.  Just lean into the Weird West aesthetic and do a straight adaptation of THE GUNSLINGER!  

Its a shame, because there are good building blocks here.  Elba is killer casting (let him wear a hat though, wtf).  McConaughey is chewing scenery like a pro.  Some of the gunplay really does pop; love to see Roland sorta pouring the bullets into his gun.  Its not a total waste.    

Man, it really is a maddening work. Tacking on a bunch of elements from Book 7, including basically resolving the entire universe ending threat, while ostensibly just setting up the series is such a strange way to self-defeat.

We did a whole podcast episode on the series, which includes me ranting quite a bit about the movie.

BREAKDOWN is a favorite of my Mom's so I saw it quite a bit when I was a kid. It has one of the best villain denouements. RIP J.T. Walsh. I also liked his hammy turn in NEEDFUL THINGS.

Flash Gordon wrote:

Call Me Roy Again wrote:

Yeah man, T3, woof.

Kurt had a pretty good couple of years with Breakdown and Executive Decision, watched recently and it’s still a fun time!

Oh, yeah. EXECUTIVE DECISION holds up very well - much better, IMNSHO, than the other big airplane hijack movie of the time, AIR FORCE ONE.

I’m scared to go back to Air Force One.

That was a theatre watch and I enjoyed it enough, but watched it again maybe around 2002 or so and it had aged pretty badly. It’s a very much “peacetime, late 90s Clinton era” action film.

Gary Oldman departs too soon and that water crash sequence looked bad when it came out…

Watching Night of the Living Dead, hosted by Joe Bob Briggs with a cameo by Svengoolie.

I always thought that this shot was super disturbing.

HP Pufncraft wrote:

BREAKDOWN is a favorite of my Mom's so I saw it quite a bit when I was a kid. It has one of the best villain denouements. RIP J.T. Walsh. I also liked his hammy turn in NEEDFUL THINGS.

The way he's finished off is just perfect. Exactly the right kind of silly to make the audience smile at the sight of this mega-asshole getting what he deserves.

Call Me Roy Again wrote:

that water crash sequence looked bad when it came out…

I'm still astounded that was a finished effect.

just got back from EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE. it got a bit too absurdist in spots but it was overall an effective and entertaining movie with an excellent emotional throughline. The wife liked it a lot as well.

Judas Booth wrote:

just got back from EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE.  it got a bit too absurdist in spots but it was overall an effective and entertaining movie with an excellent emotional throughline.  The wife liked it a lot as well.

I was at the Alamo last weekend for Vertigo and saw the huge hallway, billboard add for this. Need to check it out in the theatre.

And that was my first Alamo experience, what a good time!

Took Thursday and Friday off from work and watched some weird stuff:

BEYOND THE INFINITE TWO MINUTES (2020) - A Japanese shop owner discovers through his television that he is stuck in a two-minute time loop. Staggeringly creative, done mostly in one shot with a smartphone, and only 70 minutes! Well worth seeking out.

PAYDAY (1973) - Rip Torn plays a rowdy drunken country music artist, tearing his way through the South while on tour. Torn's a total bastard in this one, just a complete slimeball. He's incredible.

BUSTING (1974) - This came out the same year as FREEBIE AND THE BEAN, and they're very similar, with a pair of shaggy cops stumbling their way through a "problematic" story. This one has Elliott Gould and Robert Blake. Gould pretty much plays Philip Marlowe with the 'stache he had in MASH. Blake is also good, but I kept thinking "oh right, he's a murderer."

REMEMBER MY NAME (1978) - Directed by Alan Rudolph, this movie could be described as Robert Altman's "Fatal Attraction." Geraldine Chaplin comes into town and starts stalking married construction worker Anthony Perkins for reasons which eventually become clear. Produced by Altman, it has that same kind of energy, just shambling along until some shocking moments. Chaplin and Perkins are both excellent.

SPIONE aka SPIES (1928) - I've liked everything from Fritz Lang's silent period that I've seen, including this one. He made it right after METROPOLIS, and it's another long epic. Frankly, it's a bit overlong, and I think it's hurt a lot by having a standard silent movie score, all synthesizer strings and barroom piano. Give it a more modern soundtrack and I would have loved it.

ALL THE OLD KNIVES (Amazon Prime, 2022)
For 3/4 of its running time, it's a perfectly serviceable spy movie/thriller, with Chris Pine doing some good work amidst a very tired plot. He and Thandiwe Newton have real chemistry, despite both of them wearing very bad wigs for the 2012 storyline.

But the film, which was already pretty tropey, then suddenly makes Pine's character quite stupid both in the present and past, and the movie shits the bed in a bad, bad way. I'm absolutely terrible at spotting plot twists or picking up on things, and yet Pine's experienced, badass operative makes a mistake at dinner so rookie-ish that it beggars belief...especially after the film has him notice something suspicious. It then has him make an incredibly ludicrous choice in the past, one that is not earned or hinted at by anything we've seen by the character.

I'd been hoping for a relaxing, made for adults spy flick and ended up more than a bit pissed about having wasted my time. At least it was under two hours.

I rather liked that one.

Gave RAMBO: LAST BLOOD another whirl today.

It's not very good! The last 20 minutes are undeniably entertaining in a schlock way, but I was struck this time by how so many obvious set-ups in the script were completely tossed aside, and the result is a very strange story that has no stakes in the final section.