Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

[Buscemi2]

He also appears in the film as Vince McMahon's dad.

As for indie filmmakers, I think there's still a big market for low-budget filmmaking. Tubi has been a goldmine for no-budget genre cinema, we have the Wakaliwood movies that were made for the most minuscule of budgets, and pretty much anyone can make a movie with off-the-shelf products and a few friends. Some have even become hits.

[StarLord123]

Mickey 17
This is certainly an oddball film that won’t have much appeal beyond a specific demographic, but I was mesmerized by it for most of the runtime. The glue that really holds it together is Robert Pattinson, he shows an insane amount of range in the dual role of Mickey. The film is at times really funny thanks to him selling the shit out of the comedic bits. The plot is quite interesting, and the technical aspects are also terrific. Does it all come together? Not quite. There’s about 3 films’ worth of ideas on display (cloning, multiples, the romance, the loan shark, the creeper bugs, colonizing the ice planet, crooked politicians, some mystery drug). It still manages to be cohesive, but it absolutely would’ve benefited from a few rewrites to streamline it, as parts feel undercooked. Still, big budget Sci-fi films that are unique and feel like a singular vision have almost gone extinct. So despite some flaws, I’ll just be glad that a studio head actually went and greenlit this. 7.5/10

Meanwhile, if you’re wondering why I didn’t compare this to Bong Joon-ho’s other work, it’s because I haven’t seen any of it. I know that’s shocking, but it’s because I didn’t start getting into independent or foreign films until around 2022-23. I will certainly correct that before too long…

[Buscemi2]

The Rule of Jenny Pen 7/10

Creepy, if a bit silly, horror film about a judge, rehabilitating after a stroke, is terrorized by a patient who rules the hospice care center with a iron fist...and with a baby doll puppet always on his hand. The strength of the film lays in its leads, with Geoffrey Rush capable as always as the protagonist and John Lithgow at some of his most unhinged as the man with the puppet. The production itself has a bit of a throwback to 90's horror, when you saw acclaimed actors making movies like this and the dread is felt as despair comes knocking.

Shudder originals often miss for me but this one hit pretty well.

[Buscemi2]

Anora 3/10

Filmbros can flame me because I don't get how anyone could enjoy this film. The main character is obnoxious, superficial, and a massive homophobe, the love interest is an idiot, and everyone else is stupid, violent, or both. The story is thin, the film is 40 minutes too long, and while there are glimmers of actually good moments (such as a few shots that work or times when the characters have moments that display they have a working brain), it's just another example that shows Sean Baker doesn't show realism. He's an exploitation director that gives the terminally online what they believe is realism.

And now that I've seen it, I can now avoid it for the rest of my days on Earth.

[transformers2]

This is something I've wanted to ask you for a while Boosh: Why do you spend so much time watching movies you know you're going to hate? The world is overflowing with misery, willingly inviting more in-even if it's only for a couple of hours at a time-just feels like a senseless act of self-torture.

[Buscemi2]

Because the thing won Best Picture and I felt I had to watch it (I would have picked I'm Still Here if I had a ballot). I don't actively seek to hate movies. There always comes a point where you either decide whether or not you care about what happens to these characters.

Meanwhile, I could ask you why you like damn near everything. If everything is good, then nothing is good. It's just wallowing in mediocrity at that point.

[transformers2]

Sure, Anora won Best Picture, but you also loathe Sean Baker's work. Why spend 2+ hours further affirming well-earned negative feelings? If there was a food item that you tried a half dozen or so times over the years that you were repulsed by, would you eat it again just because it won a fucking award? Of course not!

Again, this goes well beyond Anora. Your dislike of the film merely served as the entry point for my question. Clearly, you're rolling the dice every time you sit down to watch something, you just seem to make a habit out of consuming shit that is completely removed from your cinematic interests, and it just baffles me why you do that with the degree of regularity that you do.

[Buscemi2]

Maybe I might get surprised and say, "I probably should have paid full price for this" (note: I saw Anora for free) or "I was wrong to doubt this movie". You don't know until you try. And sometimes, a bad movie might be fun to watch, such as The Happening or most of the movies covered by Mystery Science Theater 3000.

I have a personal mantra: every filmmaker is capable of at least one good movie. Even Sean Baker (that movie for me is called Take Out).

[Chienfantome]

I can understand why You'd be willing to go and give a shot to a film you suspect you won't like. Because there's always the possibility of surprise indeed as you say Boosch, and because it's very rare to dislike every single film of a fimlmaker.
especially when a film gets great reviews, WOM or awards, the curiosity is too strong. I often go see films from directors I usually don't like. Not every film of them, but once in a while, to see if I change my point of view about them.

What I don't understand, though, Boosch, is your obsession with the "filmbros" you always talk about.
Especially when you talk about Anora which is a film that won the Palme d'Or, the Oscar, and gets great WOM from many people. So I don't know who the "filmbros" you're always talking about are, but Anora certainly isn't a film whose success and reputation was made thanks to them.

As for Anora itself, I love Anora's character herself, she is amazing. And Baker's film beauty is close to the the one of the best Coen brothers film, an art of describing absurdity and mediocrity and turning it into something touching. That's what I love about Anora.

[Buscemi2]

It's because filmbros have taken over a lot of the industry. The industry only cares about what the Internet wants now and it's filmbros, a vocal group of terminally online, usually white, male, and conservative-leaning, individuals that control the Internet's tastes. And if you disagree with them, they will figure out any way possible to destroy you. They are no different from Gamergate, QAnon, Snydercut, or doomers and a lot of them are connected with those same groups.

[Buscemi2]

Novocaine 6/10

A much better action romantic comedy than last month's Love Hurts. While a slow starter, once Meg Ryan's son starts having the most brutal things happening to him, then it manages to be a reasonably fun, violent movie with a nice surprise or two. It probably could have used a little tightening but it's decent enough.

[Buscemi2]

The Day the Earth Blew Up 8/10

It's great that some distributor rescued this one from the shelf as it's probably the funniest movie so far this year. Instead of trying to modernize the characters, the mad lads who wrote this one decided keep the feel of Daffy and Porky and drop them into a modern setting and adding sci-fi elements while keeping the tone of the old cartoons (think the essence of Ren & Stimpy but without the raunch or the troubling things behind the scenes). The end result is something that both kids and adults will like. There's also a lot of adult humor but it's not overpowering like some of DreamWorks humor can be.

In the end, the shot in the arm the Looney Tunes franchise needed and hopefully the start of some more character-focused features. Imagine a Bugs Bunny feature or a Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote movie or that long-in-the-works Marvin the Martian movie finally happening.

[StarLord123]

The Electric State 4/10
A real head-scratching misfire. There’s no excuse for this not being at least mildly entertaining. It’s incredibly bland, convoluted, the emotional core driving the plot is flatter than a board, and the performances range from merely passable to “when’s payday?”. Then the final act is this tonal disaster that tries to be exciting, funny, and heartfelt and fails at all of it. It’s not completely worthless only because there’s some fairly interesting worldbuilding (that they don’t fully capitalize on), and the VFX work and production design are generally solid enough (not $320m good though). This feels like it’s soullessly trying to mimic a big blockbuster, not like something from the creative team behind Infinity War and Endgame.

Novocaine 7.5/10
As far as action movies go, this isn’t swinging for the fences, but it’s a solid base hit. Jack Quaid is likable as the mild-mannered guy who’s thrown into an unenviable situation. Nathan’s romance with Sherry does enough for you to understand why he’s putting his life on the line. Nathan’s inability to feel pain provides some cool creativity to the action/fight sequences, those plus the blood/gore effects, and punchy sound design are all quite good for a modestly budgeted movie. It is predictable though, there’s a certain 3rd act reveal that’s meant to be shocking but it isn’t really. It’s also maybe a tad overly serious and not quite as comedic as some might expect.

[Buscemi2]

The Russos got lucky when they became Marvel's go-to guys. They were hacks before then and went right back to being hacks after Endgame.

They are basically if you cloned Doug Liman and had two directors doing one's job.

[Buscemi2]

Borderline 3/10

This 90's-set thriller that combines Bjork's stalker with the Madonna/Dennis Rodman relationship makes the mistake of trying to be funny. The characters are often one-dimensional, the humor seems to be limited to the villains overacting, and the film really doesn't go anywhere, even often backtracking to explain things that don't really need to be. As a serious film, this could have be an effective commentary on celebrity worship. But as a comedy from the writer of Cocaine Bear, it's just more of the same from said writer.