Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Buscemi2
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish 6/10

The sequel to the 2011 film isn't as fun as the original spinoff of the Shrek series but still has more positives than negatives as Puss and Kitty Softpaws go on a new journey for an all-powerful wish that can give its finder anything they want. In Puss's case, it's the key to immortality and the ability to continue going on adventures without wasting his final life. However, many other fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters want the wish as well. Even with the sameness as the previous film and the Into the Spider-Verse look applied to the film making it look unfinished at times, the script and the voice work do enough to bail it out of its weaknesses. And Perrito, a Chihuahua disguised as a cat who becomes a sidekick to Puss and Kitty, manages to steal every scene he's in. If the film is a hit (and it likely will be, as much of the sneak preview audience seemed to enjoy the end result), he could be the next big DreamWorks character.

At the end, there is a hint for a potential fifth installment of Shrek. Though this one isn't at the level of the original Shrek, the final product is mid-tier for the combined Far Far Away universe and suggests big things coming forward. But if DreamWorks isn't careful, this series could get tired again like it was before Puss in Boots got his own series.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Wendell & Wild 8/10

Henry Selick's first film since Coraline is a unique vision for the modern animation landscape, as even though it's basically Beetlejuice in the Rust Belt, it's the rare example of a mainstream animated feature that's made more for teens while still being accessible for kids and adults. The addition of Key & Peele as the titular characters, a pair of minions for the Prince of Darkness summoned by a troubled orphan to revive her dead parents but end up making matters worse by putting their own wishes ahead of the objective and now have to help save the girl's dying birthplace, liven up the proceedings and add fun to a film that could have easily failed away from the animation. Selick and Peele make for a solid team, as the combination of Selick's stop-motion and his penchant for the macabre combined with Peele's humor, storytelling, and going outside Hollywood convention (for example, this might be the first mainstream film to feature X-Ray Spex and Death on the soundtrack) creates for a film that is among Netflix's best in their battle for animation supremacy.

I didn't think I would be saying this a few years ago but between this and del Toro's Pinocchio, Netflix might really be starting to challenge Disney for the top studio for animation. They aren't quite there yet but with a few more hits, Netflix may become the gold standard for animated features that both entertain and raise the heights for the medium.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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My Father's Dragon 8/10

Cartoon Saloon's largest-scale film to date doesn't have the ambition of Wolfwalkers but is still a beautifully made adventure about a boy who in need of turning his family's fortunes around, is tasked by a stray cat to visit a distant island on a quest to free a dragon and allow to evolve into his final, all-powerful form that he's waited 100 years to do. However, the boy and the dragon soon realize that the mission has become one to save the island from a tyrannical rule and its sinking and in the process, the two become friends as their journey goes on. The 2D animation is detailed and the quality we've come to expect from Cartoon Saloon while the voice cast is impressive and among some of the year's best. But most importantly, it does what a lot of recent major animated features recently haven't done: it doesn't dumb itself down. It respects the audience as well as entertains, putting story ahead of selling products or being advertiser-friendly.

It's going to be interesting to see what comes next from the Irish version of Walt Disney Animation Studios. May they continue to encourage creativity over profit.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Weird: The Al Yankovic Story 9/10

This might be the funniest movie in a long time. Parodying historical inaccurate music biopics while also being a love letter to parody songs, Weird Al Yankovic pokes fun of himself by co-writing his own historically inaccurate biopic but rather than get you to believe artistic license, he and director Eric Appel make things so over the top that if you are familiar with Al's music, you will be entirely in on the joke. From having Al be the world's biggest rock star to him being romantically involved with Madonna to killing Pablo Escobar, this is a movie that is clearly in it for laughs. And it wildly succeeds in doing so. There is nothing in this designed to be taken seriously.

It might not have the polish of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story but it doesn't need to. It does exactly what it it's designed to do and then some.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Violent Night 2/10

This insufferable ripoff of Die Hard and Home Alone seems to have been made solely for the audience of overgrown fourteen year old boys who thought we needed a movie where Santa Claus murders terrorists to help save equally awful rich people because that's what the studio executives want us to watch. The fact that such an idea was produced by a major studio, got decent actors, and a large promotional push really shows how low the bar has gotten for the industry. And to make matters worse, something like this shows how devoid of taste producer David Leitch is. While his John Wick partner Chad Stahelski is promising another good installment of that series, Leitch continues to get the most bottom of the barrel material made. And with one hit wonder Tommy Wirkola and the co-writers of the Sonic the Hedgehog on board, we get perhaps the worst thing that's come from the talentless half of the John Wick team. Its attempts at humor are lame, the excessive violence and gore are more exercises in boredom, and you just want everyone to meet an end that they truly deserve.

The one positive about this cinematic lump of coal is that it was better than Fatman, the other brain dead killer Santa movie this decade made for dumb teenagers and infantile adults.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Werewolf by Night 3/10

For some reason, Marvel decided to make something for the Snydercut crowd and the end result might be one of the most pointless MCU properties. First-time director Michael Giacchino should stick to composing as his direction is flat and lifeless while the premise just feels like the kind of thing Marvel fans usually thumb their noses at (see The New Mutants, Morbius, and the Inhumans series). The attempts to ape the Universal Monsters series are more awkward than novel once you realize that the film is set in the 1960's as well as shoehorned, as the main plot is nothing more than yet another reworking of The Most Dangerous Game with characters designed solely to be killed.

The one main positive of this is that the film is only 55 minutes (48 when you subtract the credits). At two hours, it would have been in contention for the most tedious comic book adaptation ever.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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As underwritten and flatly directed as it is, Werewolf by Night is a filmmaking tour de force compared to Morbius and The New Mutants. Cool practical makeup, solid production design and acting that isn't jarringly awful is much more than either of those wretched pieces of work have
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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The Inspection 9/10

Elegance Bratton's directorial debut, this semi-autobiographical drama about a gay man in New Jersey who joins the Marines to win back the love and support of his homophobic mother and finds a cruel and unforgiving environment in front of him, only managing to survive with the help of another closeted Marine and the determination to prove himself in a place trained to turn recruits into "monsters". Somewhat of a throwback to the 2000's military drama, you won't like this one if you loved Top Gun: Maverick or Devotion. But you want good acting, a bold premise, and a new filmmaker that shows a lot of promise, you can't go wrong here. Lead Jeremy Pope, Bokeem Woodbine (as the Sgt. Hartman-like drill superior), and Gabrielle Union (as the mother) are the standouts in the cast and the premise is a lot better handled than most of today's American films.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Avatar: The Way of Water 9/10

Welcome back, James Cameron. The result of one of the longest film productions ever was worth the wait and then some, improving on the original and making three hours fly by with lots of action, the hallmarks we've come to expect from Cameron, and some incredible visual effects and production design. If the first film was like Titanic in terms of innovation and expanse, this one is more like Aliens and The Abyss in its tone. It is both spectacle and thrilling, something a lot of modern blockbusters today try to do but can't quite getting the second done. It reminded me a lot of the summer movies of old the way everything comes together.

Bring on Avatar 3, even if it is nine hours long.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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The Fabelmans 3/10

Steven Spielberg's ego-stroking epic is nothing more than this year's Licorice Pizza, but with worse acting and more false sentimentality. There is a good movie in here but it should have been a short documentary instead of two and a half bloated hours with many ridiculous plotlines (such as the family having a pet monkey and attempts to convert Movie Steven to Catholicism with an annoying Jesus freak love interest), characters you don't care too much about, scenes that drag on far too long, and a general feel that only a studio executive could love. I cannot understand why Michelle Williams is getting awards talks as her character with a vague mental illness is lots of caricature and mugging for the Academy and nothing else. And it's difficult to buy The Riddler as a loving father as Paul Dano is not the kind of actor that suggests "family man". Not even David Lynch playing John Ford can liven things up.

In the end, you already know the story about how Spielberg became a director before you even see this. After watching The Fabelmans, maybe it's time for Spielberg to hang it up. But unfortunately, the inevitable love this gets from AMPAS will encourage Spielberg to keep coasting with lesser product for the next decade or so.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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The Whale 9/10

As it feels like American cinema is turning more and more into being more about selling things that studios want you to believe are true (such as violence is acceptable, rich people are gods, and nothing bad ever happened in the industry), it feels rare that people can make films about people. And who else but the often-polarizing Darren Aronofsky to make a film that reminds us that we can't escape all the time from our problems but that we must confront them head on? Beyond the often very dark and downbeat subject matter, The Whale might be the most hopeful film this year. Aronofsky gets us down to the lowest of lows but deep down inside, there is a light at the end of the tunnel as our protagonist suffers through his final days as a reclusive professor living in regret over his loved ones fading away from his life. Brendan Fraser, under a large amount of makeup and inside a fat suit, gives an incredible performance in a film that is driven by its performances and without the need to distract us with shiny, empty eye candy to hook the audience. Through Fraser's role, Aronofsky's direction, and the script, we get a sense of realism about humanity and how no matter how much it fails us, there's still that glimmer of hope that we might find what we've been looking for. We just can't give up no matter how often we feel we must.

I've seen The Whale be described as "misery porn", a term that I resent, but by throwing that term onto everything that's not a three-hour action movie or a Ryan Reynolds movie, it leads studios not to try to make things like this. We can't let everything be made solely for fourteen year-old boys who start fights because they didn't get their way one time. The Whale should be championed as daring and truthful filmmaking, not condemned.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Buscemi never sleeps, at least not during December.

Hey guys, its been a while since i checked in. My movie watching adventure has been slowing down but reading these reviews by boosh gives me hope, there will always be something to watch. That said, im slowly shifting to TV shows (isnt everyone?)

Thanks to boosh, these have shot to the top of my watchlist:

The Whale
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Decision to Leave
Avatar 2

The only movies ive seen recently that are recent:

The Fablemans
I think Boosh somewhat bashed this movie, it really is not that bad. But its not very good, like the remake of West Side Story, mostly everything is fairly bland and unspectacular. However, i did think there were some great performances in here, the sisters (with limited screen time), Seth Rogan (in a serious role) and Michelle Williams did well enough as did Paul Dano.
5.5/10

Smile
The newest "hit" in the horror genre, sometimes hits the mark, but more often it just misses. I have to give props to the production team which surely cost far lower than the films ended up grossing. Also 'Kumar' from Harold and Kumar is in this! He is following the footsteps of Harold (John Cho) and starting to dip into serious roles, good for him.
6/10

Samaritan
Old Sly Stallone, being an old superhero, with an emphasis on the old part. Even with Game of Thrones Pilou Asbeak as the villain and the young Euphoria's Javon Walton in the main role holding their own, i was hardly entertained. Decent premise, poor execution.
4/10

Barbarian
What was billed as the scariest movie in years, was ultimately, not that scary. The best parts were from Bill Skarsgard, by a country mile. Justin Long appears as a main character and more or less wastes his opportunity to redeem himself as a major actor. Meh
5/10

Bullet Train
At times super slick, the newest vehicle from Brad Pitt gets the green light from me. The whole cast take on their characters with gusto, i was especially impressed by Aaron Taylor Johnson. Admittedly there are a few lulls, but for the most part its a good ride. One i wished i had seen in cinema as this is my type of movie.
7/10
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams 8/10

Though a film that will likely be viewed as lesser Guadagnino, it's still an interesting watch in that you will likely learn way more about women's footwear than you ever expected to. Salvatore Ferragamo is a man of many notes: inventor, innovator, shoemaker to the stars, and perhaps the most accomplished foot fetishist that ever lived. The man was a savant for feet. And in the process, he built an empire and influenced many fashion designers. Told by his surviving family members, figures in the fashion and film communities, and featuring an end sequence directed by PES of Fresh Guacamole fame featuring animated versions of Ferragamo's shoe designs coming to life, there is a lot to offer in this documentary. It's entertaining and informative and gives us a side of Guadagnino that's not about Timothee Chalamet.

Even if you might get weirded out by the subject, give it a shot. It's more than just feet.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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2nd Chance 5/10

Well-made but difficult to like documentary from the often hit-or-miss Ramin Bahrani. While the concept of depicting the rise and fall of Second Chance, one of the biggest manufacturers of bulletproof vests, is interesting for their shady business practices and their shoddly-made vests causing deaths of police officers, the problem is that the main subject of the film, founder Richard Davis, is an unlikable asshole who never learns from his mistakes. It's hard to care when he spends nearly every interview dodging blame and throwing everyone who isn't him under the bus. The documentary also seems to be more interested in celebrating him than condemning him, as much of the run time feels like a pro-Blue Lives Matter propaganda film when it doesn't feel like a YouTube crime documentary stretched out to feature-length. I'm not sure why this was released theatrically as it seems as if it would have worked better as a made-for-cable title.

Though the film works better when it's not about the founder, there aren't enough of those moments and I wish Bahrani had done more to show Davis as the awful person that he is. Unfortunately, the decision not to do this ends with an only okay and ultimately unsatisfying documentary.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Holy Spider 9/10

If Pedro Almodovar went to the Middle East and made a factual serial killer thriller, this would be the result. Focusing on both the killer and the news reporter seeking to find him, Ali Abbasi's follow-up to Border is quite different from that film, echoing not just Almodovar but the works of Brian De Palma and Costa-Gavras as well. The leads are among 2022's best and Abbasi refuses to shy away from showing the brutality of the killer's actions or the insanity of why he does what he does. This is definitely not a Hollywood-friendly film, being critical of organized religion and society's treatment of women. The end result has an effect on the viewer and might be the scariest film of 2022, proving once again that the most frightening thing of all is humanity.
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