What did you watch this week ombres? (11/19-11/25)

First time in these WDYWTW threads and I love them, so thank you for these, StoneKeeper, and I hope you don't mind if I bump and revisit some of the older ones, too. I'll add my watches later this week, but for now, my thoughts on yours...

Samsara (2011): This has been on my watch list for years, but I'd forgotten about it, so thanks for reminding me of it. I'll come back to this one.

Baby Driver (2017): I loved Wright's Hot Fuzz so looked forward to this movie, which started off really well with the playful tone and energy of the opening bank heist. But from there, the plot, tone, and characterizations start to go too many different directions, and when Buddy [spoiler]starts losing his cool, it feels like Wright has lost sight of the movie he had opened with. By the time the sympathetic-turned-unsympathetic-turned-sympathetic Doc is unceremoniously run over and Darling is gleefully brandishing two machine guns simultaneously at a squad of cop cars[/spoiler], it feels like Wright is going for a parody of his own movie.

As for the acting, Ansel Elgort does a nice job with the material he's given and his interactions with CJ Jones as his character's foster father Joseph is a bright spot. I would've liked to see more of Jon Bernthal's Griff; he made a stronger impression in his cameo than Jon Hamm and Jamie Foxx in their entire screen time (and I don't fault the actors; I think the script and direction took their characters so overboard that it numbed us to their characters). Kevin Spacey, as usual, didn't make any mistakes performance-wise, but his character's changing motivations made no sense and so felt haphazard. I expected much better from an experienced and then-respected actor with enough leverage to have some say into his character.

(cont.)

Whiplash (2014): I love a lot of jazz music and I'm partial to movies with strong character dynamics, so I really enjoyed this film for these aspects, but I was also impressed by the editing and thought the film sounded great. I would've liked a little less time on the music sequences, though, and more exploration into exactly what made Andrew tick, what drove his obsession. Was he wanting to prove himself for the sake of proving himself? Or did he truly LOVE music? I didn't get a sense of Andrew's passion for music, for rhythm, and maybe that's intentional, but the film never really tells us one way or another.

Still, the film is so well-acted, so kinetically edited, and sounds so great, that I love it. Miles Teller's and J.K. Simmons's performances are excellent.

The first three episodes of "The Night Of", an eight part HBO series.



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Heat (1995) - 5/10

I know Heat has its share of fans but I honestly found it boring and superficial. The characters to me, felt like walking clichés, and a lot of the dialogue too felt recycled from a bajillion other movies. The whole dynamic of pitting an obsessed cop with streaks of moral grey against a loyal, compassionate criminal who cares deeply about his friends has been done to death in tons of other movies already, so I never once felt emotionally invested. Pacino also tries way too hard to play a badass in this, with him shouting at the top of his lungs every scene and saying "motherfucker" again and again like he thinks he's Sam Jackson or something. The movie does look and sound great, but other than that, it did nothing for me.

Stardust (2007) - 10/10

I'm actually shocked as to how much I liked this one. Very witty, very clever, full of wonderfully imaginative set pieces, gorgeously filmed, and with a genuinely heartfelt love story to boot. It's an all-around great fantasy film, and probably one of my new all-time favorites.

Wheels on Meals (1984) - 7/10

Less action oriented than one would expect and more centered on situational comedy antics, but still good fun nonetheless. The stupid, wacky plot is really just an excuse to pit the three leads in various set ups and pay offs to jokes, and to be honest, it does get a little tiring by the end. But due to the great chemistry between Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao, the film remains effortlessly charming from beginning to end. The Barcelona setting, car chase, Lola Forner's sexiness, and the excellent fight scenes towards the end (most notably the one with Benny "the Jet" Urquidez) don't hurt either. All-around, good fun.

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - 8/10

A great sequel that successfully updates and delves deeper into the themes of the original while standing well on its own. It's a great film, just not quite as impressive to me as the first.

it's spelled Hombres, and that means "men" I know, or I think you're not talking to just men,
you could say Amigos which means "friends"

Collision (2009 DVD) - I'm not a fan of continual flashbacks, but at least in this mini-series, for the most part, you know when you're seeing one. It was interesting to see how seemingly ordinary everyday events converged to one life-altering event. I like suspense, especially when the viewer is allowed to come to their own conclusion. I didn't learn until after I watched that I saw the heavily-edited version. Still, in my book, 8/10.

Stranger Things on Netflix, and The Night Of on DVD.



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Split was great. I take it that you've never seen Unbreakable; I do recommend it, especially if you liked Split.