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popcornblotter · 6 years

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My Top 10 Favorite Films of 2017

Good news everyone! No need for intros here, let’s end the year on a high note shall we! Here, we, go!

#10

Writer/Director Sofia Coppola further proves her mastery of filmmaking with The Beguiled. A drama set in Virginia during the Civil War when a wounded Union soldier makes his way to an all girls school in the summer, the Headmistress and students wonder what to do with him, and subsequently find out how he affects their lives.

The biggest standout for me was the lighting and cinematography. Each shot is perfectly well framed as well as only using light sources that would be available in that setting. Candles, lanterns, and the sun brought this ambiance of uneasiness. The location of schoolhouse and it’s surroundings was marvelous as well, transporting you to an almost ethereal bayou of sorts.

Colin Farrell continues to impress as he furthers his career. Bringing an edge of quiet fear, seduction, and anger all within a 95 minute runtime.

I know this film was very divisive for comic book fans, and I can understand some of their qualms, but Justice League was just a heck of a lot of fun.

I loved the coming together of the team, as well exploring a bit into the newer character’s stories. Ezra Miller and Jason Momoa were the standout actors here.

I loved the humor, the interactions between the characters, and man did I love the scene when The Flash knew he was in trouble.

Despite it’s problems, the sometimes not great CGI, I still had fun, and would easily revisit this film again as it made me hopeful for what is to come from DC Films.

The first time I saw this movie, I wasn’t super crazy on it. Did I think it was funny? Yes, but something didn’t quite hit the first time. So after a second viewing, I grew to love this film. While the first Guardians is a little more straight forward, plot wise, stop the bad guys from doing this, and save the day. Guardians 2 is a little less structured, there isn’t a necessary Point A-Point B plot because most of this film is exploring familial relationships. Whether its Peter and his dad, Gamora and Nebula, or Yondu and Rocket. It brings forward the idea that your family doesn’t always have to be blood. And by the time this movie ends, I was a mess.

Blade Runner 2049 was a surprise for me this year. Mainly because I’ve never seen the original. I was curious, it looked cool, I’ve enjoyed director Denis Villeneuve’s work in the past, so I thought I’d give it a shot.

The way this film is shot is extraordinary. You could take any shot out of this film and have it be a painting on your wall. The sound was so booming and explosive it transported you to this neo-noir Los Angeles. The acting is superb as well, especially the chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas. You felt from the first scene they have that this is a couple who’ve known each other for a while.

My only nitpick with this film is a pro and a con, which is it’s pacing. This film moves much slower than a normal film does these days. It has a very slow pace, which I enjoyed for most of it, because it allowed you to soak in this world with so much to see and hear. But towards the end, when things start coming together, you expect for things to speed up, which they don’t. In that, its very realistic to a world that is far removed from ours. I’d just hoped it would’ve wrapped up a little faster.

Despite that nitpick, I loved this film, its great, and it is genuinely a great mystery that keeps you guessing until the end.

This past July, the web slinging, wall crawler returned to the MCU in a big way.

The biggest achievement of this movie is the cast that is multi-racial, extremely talented, and can make you laugh at a moments notice. Director Jon Watts was able to represent the population of New York with the characters they have, even changing the origins of some to fit the story.

Tom Holland is obviously the standout, being able to be funny, awkward, and charming all in one go. I just loved that we actually got a high school looking Spider-Man. Yes, I know Tom Holland is in his 20’s, but it’s all about what age you can play, not what age you are. Versus Maguire and Garfield, looking like they were both about start investing in 401k’s.

Michael Keaton as The Vulture does a great job, probably being the second best villain, behind Loki. He was able to make you understand where he was coming from and why he was doing what he was doing.

This is a big thumbs up for me that’ll have you laughing all the way through.

All I can say is cool, cool, cool. I’ve been a fan of writer/director Edgar Wright for a bit, and his films always have this top, fun layer that you can appreciate, but then there’s this emotional layer underneath that just hits it home, and Baby Driver is no exception.

Ansel Elgort plays Baby, a get away driver with tinnitus, so to drown out the ringing in his ears, he constantly plays music on old iPods. What comes out of this film is a rollicking good time with all of the great witty dialogue Wright is known for, along some of the best edited action I’ve seen in a film. Since we watch the film through Baby’s perspective, we’re constantly hearing the music he’s listening to, either loud, or droned out. But when the action kicks up, you can’t help but say wow as gunshots and hits are timed perfectly to soundtrack in Baby’s ears. And I’m just a nerd for that kind of stuff.

Ansel Elgort has charm coming out of his ears in this film, and makes you wonder how he isn’t swarmed by women everywhere he goes. You also have a great supporting cast in Jon Hamm, Jon Bernthal, Jamie Foxx, and a small role from Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

If you’re looking for an action flick with a twist check this one out.

With no surprise to myself, Marvel Studios gets another spot on this list with Thor: Ragnarok. I was immediately hooked into this new tone change from the first trailer. Marvel was finally going to let Chris Hemsworth do what he does best, and that’s be hysterical. I think the person to thank for that is New Zealand director, Taika Waititi, who’s known for wacky, off the cuff humor that works brilliantly.

I was hooked within the first minute when Thor is trapped in a cage, talking to someone about how he got there, and they flip the camera, and it’s a skeleton, which then proceeds to drop his jaw. That is the type of ridiculous humor I love. We then get a taste of the awesome action accompanied by Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song. And I was smiling ear to ear like a fool.

While the previous Thor movies have been done with a more serious, Shakespearean tone, this one goes for crazy, balls out, 80’s metal look with almost every frame look like something you’d want painted on the side of a van.

All of the actors were great. Tessa Thompson was great as Valkyrie, I loved the appearance by Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, and of course you can’t forget Tom Hiddleston as Loki and his chemistry with Hemsworth. Other great additions were Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster and Taika Waititi voicing a rock alien named Korg.

To me this was the tightest made film that Marvel Studios put out, with a crisp runtime of a little more than two hours it’s just enough to make you want more, but not long enough to check your phone.

Anyone who knows me knew this would be on my top 10 of the year. I’m a Star Wars nut! What can I say that I haven’t already? Porgs, porgs, porgs, porgs, and porgs.

If you haven’t seen this film yet, do yourself a favor and get your ass to theater.

I’ll be completely honest here, I didn’t have high hopes for Wonder Woman. At the time, here’s a studio with three movies with mixed results critically, and this one being directed by someone who hadn't made a film since 2003. But I went opening day with some slight chance of hope. And I gladly ate my words.

Words can’t necessarily describe how great a film Wonder Woman is. Patty Jenkins made what some have called a masterpiece in superhero filmmaking. I agree with about 98% of that. My only qualm was that on the second viewing in the theater, I did feel its runtime a little more, which is why it isn’t in the number 1 spot.

Gal Gadot and Chris Pine have a romance that seems practical for the amount of time they spent together, it seemed genuine, and I loved how Diana would call people out on their shit if she thought they were wrong. The No Man’s Land sequence left me in tears of joy at how wonderful everything worked from the cinematography, the music, the acting, the action, just everything.

You can’t miss this one, even if you aren’t a fan of DC characters, this is just a damn good movie.

I wanted to put some honorable mentions that didn’t quite make the cut.

What would’ve been #12

Christopher Nolan’s war film, Dunkirk is a technical marvel. The cinematography is breath taking and the sound scared the shit out of me. I saw this in an IMAX theater and when bullets fired, you never knew where they were coming from until they made contact. This literally made me jump several times throughout. The reason that this didn’t make the top 10 is that none of the characters particularly stood out in any way. I could tell you the names of the actors, but not their character’s names.

What would’ve been #11

The reason It isn’t higher is because I’m not a fan of horror movies. But I was intrigued at all of the critical success this movie was gaining, so I saw it with a few friends.

The reason this movie works as well as it does is because of the writing and the great child actors they got. Aside from Finn Wolfhard, of Stranger Things fame, the rest of these kids were unknown. But damn it if they didn’t knock it out of the park with their acting chops and chemistry. But if it wasn’t for that reason, I probably would’ve left the theater within ten minutes because I don’t do scary well. And as much as I enjoyed this one, I probably won’t revisit it.

And my favorite film of 2017 is

Logan is the perfect combination of my two favorite types of films. Action blockbusters and deep, emotional character pieces. When I went into Logan, I didn’t know exactly what to expect. I’d heard it took some inspiration from some of the comics where Wolverine is an older man, but that was about it. What I got was something that seriously fucked me up.

Like a lot of people, I grew up with Hugh Jackman playing Wolverine since the first X-men film in 2000. And it seemed with each iteration Jackman tried to deepen the character to reveal Logan’s core, instead of just being a mindless killing machine. With this you get the best of both worlds. Jackman stripped Wolverine down to the point it seems like he’s given up and is ready to die. But at the same time we get to see what would actually be the effects of a guy with claws for hands mauling people like an animal, and you learn that in the first few minutes. It is gory, but damn is it awesome!

Patrick Stewart also has a phenomenal performance as a Charles Xavier that we’ve never seen the likes of in the films. His mind wandering, breaking down, plagued by what I assume is the mutant version of dementia or Alzheimer’s. Seeing Stewart’s and Jackman’s near 20 years of working together is heart warming, heart breaking, and brutal.

This film also breeds a new star in newcomer Dafne Keen as Laura. This is a girl who is wise beyond her years as an actress. For about the first half of the film she doesn’t say a word, but you see all the emotion in her face communicated brilliantly. She is definitely someone who will have a prosperous career.

What director James Mangold succeeds with Logan is that he’s able to make a superhero film, but not have it be about something super, per se, but makes it about something everyone can relate to, family. Whether it’s Logan’s relationship to Charles, Logan to Caliban, Logan to Laura, its about the relationships that you grow with and foster when you inevitably have to say goodbye. Mangold was able to make a western, a superhero film, a family piece, a deep character study, an action film. This literally has something for almost everyone. I think Logan is the perfect example of what the superhero genre could and should become.

I’ll be completely honest, like I said before, this movie fucked me up. And I was crying for almost the last five minutes. And for me to cry at a piece of media, whether it be a series or movie isn’t uncommon, but to the degree that I did was what stayed with me. It was a typical silent cry that I usually do with most films I see, but this was uncontrollable, hard breathing, loud noised, ugly face sobbing. When the word “Daddy” is said, I lose it every time.

I guess I didn’t expect to get as attached to this film as I did. But I guess with Jackman playing that character for as long as he did, he sort of became synonymous with that role. I guess it’s to the effect of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker or Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter. But the sendoff Jackman and Mangold give this character is one of pure mastery, sadness, and hope. With the Fox/Disney deal, there is some part of me that wishes Jackman will return as Wolverine for the MCU, but if he doesn’t, that’s fine as well. Because this film is all but perfect to me.

I hope this film gets nominations for Jackman, Stewart, Keen, and Mangold for the Oscars because I think it deserves it because it broke boundaries of what a superhero film could be. And that is why Logan is my favorite film of 2017.

I want to thank you guys for reading this and for the support. Here’s hoping that 2018 will be even better! In the vain of a dumb catchphrase I tried to start years ago, stay tuned for more blotter!

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 7 years

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Baby Driver review

Edgar Wright can do no wrong. This may seem like a horrible pun, and it is, but after seeing his latest cinematic offering, Baby Driver, I think it’s a pretty safe thing to say. Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and now Baby Driver… the man just seems incapable of disappointing with his films. This film was still a risky move for Edgar Wright; the man is known mostly for comedic films, or at least films where comedy is a huge selling point. Scot Pilgrim and Hot Fuzz are both action-comedies, whereas Baby Driver is more of an action crime thriller with comedic elements (hey, Wright’s not just gonna drop his signature style, is he?). It is also a low budget film where Wright insisted all the stunts and driving be done with practical effects rather than CGI, and it was originally going to be tossed in August, which is a dump month for… but after being screened at South By Southwest and receiving critical acclaim up the wazoo, it was pushed on up to June. The riskiness of jumping into another genre paid off, because Baby Driver made up its production budget its opening weekend and is still going strong!

In short, this movie is a massive sleeper hit, and for very good reason: it’s fantastic, stylish, exhilarating, and populated by some of the finest actors playing the most intriguing characters in a crime film since The Usual Suspects or GoodFellas. So what story could produce characters so good? Well, let me tell you! The story centers on a young man known only as “Baby.” Baby is the getaway driver for a criminal kingpin known as Doc, who has a gang of bank robbers he sends out to commit crimes. Baby is a kid with a tragic past, as an accident claimed his mother’s life and gave him tinnitus, which is why he constantly listens to an iPod at all times. One day, he meets a lovely young waitress named Deborah, and the two soon fall in love… and now Baby finally has a reason to leave the criminal world behind after his last job. But things never turn out so easy, do they?

The most important bit to note here is the soundtrack, and how it plays into every scene. Actions in a scene with music down to the smallest detail happen in rhythm to the music… and in scenes where things are going poorly, things start going noticeably off rhythm. Bullets, hand gestures, steps, movements, they all match up to the rhythms of the awesome soundtrack constructed of tons of awesome, old school music. This is a level of soundtrack and film synchronicity the likes of which I’ve rarely seen done so well not just in live-action film, but film in general. Even better: in the times when Baby’s music gets taken away for some reason, we are treated to the same sort of humming, ringing, buzzing sound he hears and drowns out with his tunes (this is usually a sign things are about to go to shit).

And now we have the characters: Ansel Elgort, best known for playing the lead love interest of everyone’s favorite teenage cancer romance story The Fault In Our Stars, here shows off just how badass of an action star he can be. From his awesome driving skills to his impeccable taste in music to his seemingly endless supply of cool shades, Baby is one cool customer and a likable protagonist. Kevin Spacey is here as Doc, and, well, it’s Kevin Spacey. I don’t think I need to tell you that he’s amazing. Jon Hamm and Eiza Gonzalez play Buddy and Darling, a Bonnie & Clyde-esque criminal duo who are almost always all over each other when not committing heists. Darling gets major props for subverting your expectations that she’s just the arm candy of the duo by going in guns blazing a couple of times, and Buddy… well, I’ll be explaining the full extent of why he’s great shortly. The final major character is Bats, played by Jamie Foxx, and again, I will explain the full extent of him in the following paragraph, just know that he, too, is a very well done psychopathic criminal. Even some of the more minor characters are interesting, such as the one-scene wonders Griff (a bank robber played by Jon Bernthal in the awesome opening scene and who relentlessly taunts Baby) and The Butcher (an arms dealer who is such an incredibly large ham he refers to the arms he’s dealing out using meat-related terms and is played inexplicably by famous singer-songwriter Paul Williams. You know, the guy who wrote “Rainbow Connection.”). But now, let’s go into Buddy and Bats in a bit more detail, so that I can explain why these two are perhaps the best characters in the film... but be warned; there’s some SPOILERS ahead.

The movie’s greatest trick is how it constantly subverts your expectations. Bats and Buddy are the greatest examples of this in the film; for all of the film up until the final heist, Bats is built up to be the main antagonistic force. He’s absolutely bloodthirsty and mocks everyone around him, he’s creepy, he’s intense, and he’s also disturbingly hilarious. He’s just an out-and-out bad guy who doesn’t give a fuck how many people he wastes as long as he gets paid, and proudly proclaims how no one who has ever done a job with him lives afterwards. The guy is an absolute psychopath and Jamie Foxx plays him to perfection; you can just tell Foxx is having a blast. Buddy, on the other hand, is portrayed throughout the whole movie as being a pretty affable guy; sure he’s usually seen snogging Darling, but he does try and defend Baby and even Bonds with him over music. Hell, when it seems like Baby is ducking out before the final mission, Buddy straight up tells him it would be better if he just goes if he’s having second thoughts because he doesn’t need that kind of risk. Buddy certainly lives up to his name, which is probably why Bats laughs off Darling’s speech of how crossing Buddy is a bad idea and her claim how “Once he sees red, you only see black” is nothing but a bunch of fabricated movie bullshit.

Bats is absolutely wrong. In fact, Bats dies first out of the final crew after going a bit too far. It is, in fact, Buddy who is the major antagonistic force, going from the affable bank robber to the fucking Terminator after Baby costs him something very important to him. Jon Hamm’s range is on full display here, and he is truly threatening as a villain. The jarring switch from the laid-back and cheerful big brother figure he was earlier to a cold, violent, bloodthirsty killer hellbent on destroying Baby and his happiness is nothing short of incredible. Bats and Buddy are truly great antagonists in their own rights, and fully exemplify how this film plays with your expectations. Hell, even the ending plays with your expectations a bit, but I won’t get into that level of spoilers. SPOILERS END HERE.

So after all this gushing, is there anything bad I can say about the film? Actually, yes! The romance with Deborah is the absolute weakest part of the movie, in no small part because Deborah is flat out not an interesting character. We never really get to know her beyond her being the object of Baby’s affection, and she basically functions as a satellite to baby and a plot device. She’s not badly acted or anything, but she’s not really given much to do and really seems to be there just so Baby has a solid reason to quit. It doesn’t really bring the movie down, but it certainly doesn’t improve it and is the clear weak link of the story.

Even with that, though, Baby Driver is nothing short of incredible. This is a damn good movie, perhaps even Wright’s best. The characters are great, the story is solid, the music is awesome and is woven intricately into every scene… this movie has the potential to be considered a classic down the road. Hell, considering how well it’s doing and the rave reviews from critics and moviegoers alike, it’s well on its way there! I can’t recommend this one enough, do yourself a favor and check this out as soon as you can.

Edgar Wright has apparently had this film in his mind since the middle of the 90s… let that sink in. He spent more than twenty years trying to get this off the ground, and he finally did it! If nothing else, this film should act as inspiration for any struggling director; no matter how long you have to wait for your dream, never give up on it because, who knows? You could be the one to make the next Baby Driver, and who wouldn’t want to do that?

#Movie #Movie review #Baby Driver #Edgar Wright #Jamie Foxx #Jon Hamm #Ansel Elgort #Kevin Spacey #action crime drama #music #soundtrack

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alecthemovieguy · 7 years

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Music fueled ‘Baby Driver’ is terrific entertainment

Director Edgar Wright, a master subverter of genre, brings his unique voice to the heist and car chase film with the pulsating, music-fueled “Baby Driver.”

Wright, who directed and co-wrote “Shaun of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz” and “The World’s End” with Simon Pegg and directed and co-wrote “Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World,” tends to make comedic homages to his favorite genres. He takes familiar tropes and flips expectations to not only comment on the genre itself but to make a comment on the characters that inhabit his stories.

“Baby Driver,” his first film without a co-writer, crackles with sharp, quick-witted dialogue, but is less comedic and has a harder edged than his previous works. Essentially, Wright has made a mid-’90s Quentin Tarantino film in the vein of “Pulp Fiction” or “Jackie Brown.”

And yet, Wright’s film has its own personality and visual style. Wright has invigorated the genre by setting nearly everything to music. The action is edited perfectly in sync the with pop- and rock-filled soundtrack. In many respects, this means the films is structured like a musical but with the cars doing the dancing.

“Baby Driver” isn’t merely style over substance as its the title character who is dictating the style. Baby (Ansel Elgort), a getaway driver for the meticulous crime boss Doc (Kevin Spacey), has tinnitus and listens to a constant stream of music through iPod earbuds to drown out “the hum and the drum.”

This music becomes the soundtrack to Baby’s life. He takes great joy in syncing the world around him to his music, even to the point of making a crew of robbers wait for the drums to kick in on The Damned’s “Neat Neat Neat” before they leap out of the car.

A lot of films set action to music. This is nothing new, but Wright has taken a different approach.

“It’s more than just editing it to music afterward,” Wright said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “Actors and stuntmen are choreographing the action to that. So, overall, it creates a real spell.”

Wright hired people familiar with action, like second unit director Darrin Prescott, who worked on “John Wick,” as well as dance choreographer Ryan Heffington who has worked with artists like Sia.

Heffington’s major contribution is a wonderful opening credit sequence in which Baby goes out for coffee. The sequence is one continuous shot with Elgort dancing his way around the busy streets of Atlanta to Bob & Earl’s “Harlem Shuffle.” Heffington also helped with the elaborate foot chases and gunfights.

“It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside when somebody like Ryan Heffington, who is a fantastic dance choreographer, and Darrin Prescott, who’s kind of like an action wizard, can be working hand-in-hand, and learn a lot from each other,” Wright told Entertainment Weekly. “When those guys are suddenly thick-as-thieves because of the shoot, it’s like, ‘Well, my work here is done.’”

“Baby Driver” warrants repeat viewings to study Wright’s craftsmanship and meticulous eye for details. As is true with Wright’s previous films, nothing is wasted and little things pay off later. Wright has stated that unlike many modern films, 95 percent of the stunt work was done in camera, meaning that most of what’s in the movie was done for real.

While the filmmaking on display is in many respects the star, the actors shouldn’t be slighted. Even though Wright is playing more with broad archetypes than complete characterizations, he still manages to create vivid characters within those types.

Baby’s quirks are explained in heartbreaking flashbacks that haunt him. He doesn’t say much, instead allowing music and his skills to speak for him. To Elgort’s credit, his facial expressions are able to create a character who is clearly a good person stuck in a criminal world. This theme is further emphasized by his gentle relationship with CJ Jones as his deaf foster father.

Naturally, there’s a love interest, Debora (Lily James), who is a symbol of a better life for Baby. While her character is thin, James has a warm, believable chemistry with Elgort. This shines most in a conversation about the lack of songs featuring her name. They conclude there’s only Beck’s “Debra” and T. Rex’s “Debora.”

Jon Hamm and Jamie Foxx play a pair of psychopaths that are both frightening and funny. Foxx is the more overtly deranged character while Hamm is more outwardly amicable.

Hamm and Elgort share a scene in which they bond over Queen’s “Brighton Rock.” The moment is Hamm defending Elgort from Foxx and there’s almost a big brother quality to Hamm’s performance that plays in stark contrast to later develops in the film.

Spacey is ever the master of being coolly menacing. In one moment, he can proclaim “That’s my Baby” with almost fatherly pride, only to later cruelly strong-arm Baby into doing another job for him.

There are also strong performances from Eiza González, Flea and Jon Bernthal as other members of the heists.

“Baby Driver” is just about as perfectly crafted a film as you could wish for. It is thrilling, inventive, joyful filmmaking. It is one of the summer’s few must-see films.

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therealdjqualls · 7 years

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Post-Baby Driver thoughts:

Okay so I hardly ever see movies in theaters these days so I like to document my immediate thoughts. I’ve been excited for Baby Driver for a very long time too so I have many things to say. Spoilers ahead:

The acting was incredible across the board and brought the film to another level. Angel Elsort, Lily James, Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx were phenomenal.

Jon Hamm, though, was even more exceptional. I know we know this, but holy shit is he a good actor. Weird mullet/combover thing and all.

Kevin Spacey is an immensely talented actor but he should also play mob bosses and crime lords exclusively.

Also: Kevin Spacey fucking diiiiiiiiiiiiiiies, like really dies, like real bad

The casting of Sky Ferreira and Flea in minor parts cemented the use of music in the movie. Also, Jon Spencer, Killer Mike and Big Boi all have cameos (although I missed them).

The use of music is unprecedented - each scene is soundtracked with a perfectly selected song, from Queen to the Damned to Jonathan Richman to Yung M.C.

Although I will say that the trailer was soundtracked by “Radar Love,” one of the coolest rock songs ever; but it’s only in the movie for 30 seconds or so

Jon Hamm’s character goes through Elmer Fudd levels of violence and really, it’s only believable because of how straight Hamm plays it.

The only real criticism I’ve seen of this movie is how Debora is simply used as a plot device, but I don’t think it’s true. She definitely drops everything for mr. dreamy *very* quickly, but I think Edgar Wright did a sufficient job showing us how stuck she herself is, and how she’s practically sitting around waiting for adventure

The movie is definitely a lot of fun, but also gets a lot darker and unsettling than the previews lead you to believe.

There’s one five minute scene that’s practically just parkour, and another five minute scene where Jon Hamm gets hit by Baby in like, four different cars.

Shouldn’t Debora have gotten arrested too? For aiding and abetting and possibly assault?

It’s not until later in the movie during a flashback that you can piece together how old Baby is, which I found distracting.

Was Bats getting impaled through the neck a reference to Hot Fuzz, or does Edgar Wright just have a weird thing for people’s necks getting impaled?

20+ minutes of previews is Too Much

fast cars, vroom vroom

go see it it’s very very very good

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sirrobin126 · 7 years

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A reference tag list for my gorgeous people ( and some fictional characters) tags. This is more for my benefit, to keep it all together, but feel free to peruse.

Angel Coulby - actual angel

Bruce Campbell - you ring my campBELL (also autolykiss me)

Bruce Greenwood - stupid fucking gorgeous canadian cupcake

Charles Dance - Fuck off Charles

Christoph waltz - hello handsome man (also beardstoph, glassestoph and stachestoph)

Colin Farrell - fuck offfff

Colin Firth - every time is like the firth time (also, i love mark darcy, and, i love mr darcy)

The Dames (Dench, Mirren, Andrews) - hey girl hot dame

David Morrissey - David morrissey owns my ass

Emma Thompson - damn thompSON

Eric Johnson - my boyfriend whitney

Ford Pines - fuckin ford pines

Harrison Ford - I want to fuck harrison ford

Jaime Murray - jaime murray made me bi

Jennifer Aniston - she is so goddamn beautiful

Jeremy Irons - austere beauty

Jon Hamm - So hammsome

Kenneth Branagh - my man ken bran

Kevin Kline - I wouldn’t deKline

Kevin Spacey - kevin no

Leonard McCoy (de kelley) - baby blues

Lucy lawless - Lucy Flawless

Lucy Liu - kill me with your cheekbones lucy

Meryl Streep - just ask me and i’d streep

Orson Krennic - Walking disaster Orson Krennic

Paul Mcgann - pretty man mcgann

Peter Capaldi - cute fucking fucker

Pierce Brosnan - Double oh OH

Stannis Baratheon - just call me davos cause i’m a STANnis

Stephen Colbert - I can’t colBEAR it

Terence Stamp - I’d kneel before zod

Timothy Dalton - timothy dalton’s chin cleft owns my soul

Timothy Omundson - your face is the bane of my existence

Tom Hanks - t hanks for your existence

Tom Selleck - Mr moustache (also, minus the moustache)

#no tony tho #cause frankly you can just go on my blog and see him anywhere #lots of others tho #ref #gorgeous people ref

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literateape · 6 years

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Everything You Need To Think After Watching Black Mirror: Season 4

By Keith Gatchel

You put off watching it until now. I did, too. In my case, I make it a point to watch the episodes in order, so I'm not tempted to skip one because I'm afraid of the concept. But, this season of Black Mirror seemed to benefit in that way, like an album, more so than previous ones. So, let's go through each episode, with the calm, cool academic composure fans of speculative fiction are known to keep.

SPOILER ALERT!! EVERYONE DIES. BUT, BY THAT, I MEAN, WE ALL DO. IT'S THE CIRCLE OF LIFE. ALSO, THIS TO KEEP FROM SPOILING WHAT HAPPENS IN THE FOURTH SEASON OF BLACK MIRROR, WHICH I ASSUME YOU CONSIDERED FROM THE TITLE ABOVE. BUT, STILL, IN THE END, DEATH COMES FOR US ALL. SPOILER ALERT.

"USS Callister":

To start off, stand-up comedy, and specifically The Daily Show, helped me call out my own beliefs, with scalding hot comedy, that made me question why I had them in the first place. Having said that, USS Callister burns so damn hot that I love it. To keep it simple, I have enough in common with Robert Daly to relate to him (…to a degree) who’s probably also had him as a friend (but, none of you, of course…). I, too, thought the episode would be the usual "guy gets girl from jock" scenario, perhaps with a Back To The Future-like uppercut, or a riffing on it of some kind. But, instead, Daly turns into Billy Mumy in It's a Good Life and gets called out on his control issues. When it turns out the characters in the game were live-avatars (is that what we're calling them?), I was worried we'd get a retread of the "White Christmas" episode.

But, really, it just used a concept. That seems lazy at first. And, the more episodes Black Mirror has, the more it’ll tend to stretch their concepts. But, seeing as it's already an anthology show, and one that's earned its stripes, let's not ding it when other writers want to play with the toys, too. What sold it and brought out the originality was how lived-in the concept was: gameplaying aside, what else do people do with genetic-memory-scanners? Do people save their deceased souls in the cloud and talk to them? Can you save multiple copies of them to sell or hand out? Can police use this to interview murdered victims from the dead? Haven’t these all already been episodes?

But, specifically, how the episodes rifted on Star Trek until the end. I thought the “cloud of code” was a bit shoehorned in, but it worked. Also, making Cristin Milioti’s real-life counterpart steal the extra DNA needed an ending of some kind, too. The subplot was too good not leave out, but did it really have an end? Did she stay and watch Robert die? Can the live-avatars still contact her, or her them? Did anyone see her leave Robert’s place, seeing as how she’s the last one to see him alive? But, to wrap up, the nihilist in me loved the fact that victory for the little people in the computer was the sweet release of death (“I really hope we die”), and the Star Trek fan in me loved that they flew into a reboot (and finding Aaron Paul).

“Arkangel”:

Black Mirror has a tendency to ride some of their concepts too long in an episode, spending too much time establishing or reestablishing it. Usually at about the 15 minute to halfway point, you know what the story is and you just want to get it going. In this case, it felt like they kept starting different stories that just introduced new concepts: the girl goes missing, she gets a tracker implanted, she gets violence censored to her, her grandpa has a heart attack, but it’s not fatal, then it flashes forward to when he does pass away, and so on…

They’re all well-written scenes, but the story keeps stopping once a new concept is introduced to start on another. Plus, I’ve always thought Black Mirror’s idea of “blocking” people is weird, where you’d just see a hazy pixilation and muted sounds. Wouldn’t that also be terrifying, especially to a child? Can't they still hurt you? I like that the effects it had on the daughter once the parental blockers were removed, but I couldn’t tell how that really effected her as a teenager (angsty, yes, but not too much more than a normal teenager).

I also really liked the scenes of Rosemarie Dewitt looking through her daughter’s eyes, like Being John Malkovich, and I like everything she did here (and, just her in general). And, slipping contraception into a shake is plenty reason to get your face beaten in. But, much like “Shut Up And Dance”, that other episode where everything turns out to be a game show, and the one where the husband yells at his cheating wife for an hour, this one was well done, but needed to fill in a lot of gaps.

“Crocodile”:

The more I think about this episode, the more I find what I think it was trying to do, and then realize it didn’t do that. What the episode did right was start off on a great murder scene and subsequent disposal. I have a personal affinity to scenes where characters have to get rid of bodies, and it’s shown as realistically as possible. I’m going to assume I’ve just watched too many super-hero and action movies, where thugs and henchmen are thrown about, but I find it hilarious when the time, weight, and reality of cleaning up your own murder is depicted. Make it as boring and inconvenient as possible. I love it. Even once it became clear that the episode was going to be about a series of murders, I got into it.

And, I like a story where our protagonist spirals deeper and deeper into evil, or misfortune, and never gets out in the end. Or, I love stories where the killer gets away. Just the fact that it’s unexpected can be enjoyable. However, this never seemed to achieve it’s goals. It never really became a series of causes and effects, because there were too many coincidences with memory readers and pizza-vans (and a blind baby). It never really became a showcase for technology because it’s too specific (or are you a successful developer who’s 2 murders could be discovered after a car accident 3 stories down and perfect mind-reading?). Even when they tried to show Mia in a dark hood under back-lighting, resembling the Angel of Death, it felt underwhelming.

It never became a story of a killer getting away, because she’s about to get caught at the end. Plus, we never really got to know Mia very well in the first place. And, while the scenes with the investigator are well directed, and the devices are fun to see in action (the investigator carries around beer!), the fact that you only get a weird flash of a person leading out if they’re trying not to think of murder undercuts that technology as well. In fact, aside from being well shot, can anyone think of anything this episode achieved?

“Hang The DJ”:

This was another perfect balance of story-telling and concept, and another example of the show upending that concept halfway instead of riding it. The whole thing starts off with a familiar date, but with armed guards, and then sleeping over in a house neither of you own (did anyone else think those houses looked like the bathrooms you see at parks?). The whole thing felt natural, but raised questions from the beginning. Specifically, were these people on a dating website? Or a part of some social club? Or part of a closed community?

I loved how it became a streamlined romantic comedy, with “The System” playing matchmaker, best friend counsel, and by the end, the controlling parents the kids have to run away from before the arranged wedding. In this case, though, you start to wonder what else these people do, and why they are never talking to their friends. I assume we all realized it was a simulation once Amy noticed the rocks always skipped “no more or less than 4 times”.

But, that didn’t diminish how I identified with the characters (although, I’m going to assume they are also live avatars, because that’s how this show rolls). Their ruminations on love kept things going to the point that by the time Amy wants to get the hell out, I was on board with them pulling a Logan’s Run and booking it.

“Metalhead”:

Probably the most original episode this season, and the one each Black Mirror season seems to have where they throw off the ties to the rest of the episodes (I’ll get to whether it’s an anthology or a shared universe below). This is a pure cat and mouse chase with any semblance of background or world-building getting run over by a either a survivor or a Terminator-Dalek.

First off, anyone who isn’t scared of an unstoppable killer robot has apparently never had a nightmare, ran for their life, or done both. I’ve read/heard some people complain about the black and white, or how that’s just used to make it seem original. But, it makes the light pop and helps with the fact that, yes, the “dog” wasn’t great CGI. And, while I feel like too many times lately we’re expecting our action movies to be more and more streamlined, this episode earned the right to leave out exposition so we can imagine why they’re risking lives to get one, or a box of, teddy bears.

“Black Museum”:

Overall, “White Christmas” was better. But, it also had the advantage of being first (and Jon Hamm). In both cases, it’s great for the show to have place where it can dump a few ideas together that won’t all fill around an hour, even though the narration of Rolo Hanes took away from scenes that could have really stood on their own. But, we all jumped up when we saw the red sucker in that display case (…there’s a sentence).

So, this brings us to the well-suited cigarette-smoking narrator in the room. Black Mirror tends to get referred to as “the new Twilight Zone”, and while it very much holds up to that title, most people tend to just use that as short-hand for “anthology”. However, the Twilight Zone tended to also lean towards the supernatural and science-fantasy, whereas Black Mirror is all about technology’s affect on us. So, is Black Mirror a shared universe like some people are starting to think? Charlie Booker officially said “No” to that… and done.

What Black Museum did was not show us a world where all the other episodes are intertwined, but, I think, showed us a world where those particular events happened. If the universe is part of a multiverse and everything that can happen will happen, this is one where the Black Mirror episodes happened together. Thus, if you’re watching any other episode, that is in it’s own universe. It just so happens something similar ended up in the Black Museum (also, there’s a universe where Hitler got the atomic bomb first, so maybe let’s not jump into multiverse travel when we get to it). The reason I bring up the connections/lack thereof, is because at the end of it, after Charlie Booker is done playing “Night Gallery”, the new kid burns it all down.

I hope this is the show acknowledging where it’s gotten repetitious, making this it’s version of a cliffhanger episode. They know it’s the last one most people will watch. So, even though I do love the live-avatars (really), I hope this is the show promising to shake things up going forward. Or, even if it doesn’t, it’s still an amazing show. I barely even mentioned the music.

Rankings, best to worst:

USS Callister Metalhead Hang The DJ Black Museum Arkangel Crocodile

#Black Mirror Season 4 #Black Mirror Season 4 Review

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stgeorgesmovielover-blog · 7 years

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Baby Driver

Director, Edgar Wright's, latest offering: Baby Driver, has raced into cinemas with the momentum of a race car driver- but is it actually any good? Firstly, Baby Driver feels like an amalgamation of many films: Drive, Heat, The Fast and the Furious, and even La La Land, but that is definitely no bad thing! With more brains than The Fast and the Furious franchise, more pace and action than Drive, and less musical cheese than La La Land- but still all the class of Heat, Edgar Wright has certainly created a blockbuster hit with Baby Driver. This is a film that sees a concerted shift in focus, bold confidence, and freedom within the filmmaker's journey and it signposts an exciting change in his career after the charming, but niche, likes of Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, and even Ant-Man. A rather simple, yet efficiently executed story, the film's titular and main character is, the mostly silent, Baby (Ansel Elgort), a young man that lives with his deaf foster parent, Joseph (C. J. Jones), and moonlights as a getaway driver for Doc (Kevin Spacey), a criminal mastermind, to whom he owes a considerable debt. To add to the story (and as an excuse for the banging soundtrack), Baby also suffers from a bad case of Tinnitus, which he manages to suppress thanks to his omnipresent earbuds and his impressive iPod collection; playing hits after hits that superbly, brilliantly and utterly set the pace and fuel the action for this flick! Indeed, this is one album you will want to buy immediately as the definitive soundtrack to your life (much in the same way as the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack stole the show for the 2014 blockbuster). But further on the music, later. Back to the action, boy oh boy, is there bags of it! Baby Driver is, after all, a heist thriller at its core and this plot formula is not only clever, but cleverly executed throughout. Doc designs heists to ultra, military-grade, precision and he never uses the same crew twice- though believes that Baby is his 'lucky charm'. Meanwhile, outside of the driver's seat, Baby meets and falls in love with doe-eyed diner waitress, Debora (Lily James), and the lovebirds decide to run away after Baby completes his 'one last job'- and thus completely pays off his debt to Doc. Sadly, however, the course of true love never did run smoothly, and it's not long before their plans are thrown into disarray when paranoia, distrust and macho posturing between two of Doc's regulars, Buddy (Jon Hamm), and Bats (Jamie Foxx), come to a head and things unravel into a deadly fight to double-cross each other, with Buddy squarely in the middle of the whole ordeal. Needless to say, there's a definite feel of Bonnie and Clyde, between our two lovebirds, Baby and Debora, who are forced to take matters into their own hands for a chance at the freedom they both crave so desperately. This is a tightly wound, fast-paced plot that works well with the talents of our cast, especially Elgort, himself, who plays Baby so effortlessly, that it's hard to ever imagine him having played another role- such as that of the dying teenager, Augustus (Gus) Waters in The Fault in Our Stars. He is every bit as cool and understated as his character and yet keeps the tempo moving, throughout the film with, oh so much, sincerity. Back to the music, though, Wright has well and truly woven a humdinger of well-curated tunes to set the ambience for his action, including such icons as: Queen, Barry White, and Blur, and other amazing artists such as: T.Rex, The Damned, Golden Earring, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Danger Mouse, Dave Burbeck and Young MC. At the very least, this soundtrack will have you toe-tapping your way through the action, if not completely (albeit, internally), rocking your way through the film and straight to your local music shop, or online retailer! Perhaps the greatest difference between Baby Driver and a film such as Drive, is that the latter takes itself far more seriously and is rooted, quite firmly, in the existential elements of the Film Noir genre, but Baby Driver is unafraid to be over-the-top, offbeat and even a little cartoony its style, and this works wonders for the film, ultimately bringing it a more rounded and (overall) entertaining feel. Now, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Drive, but I'd be lying if I said I thought it would beat Baby Driver for all-round entertainment, and that's even after my considerable love for Ryan Gosling! No, it's undeniable that Wright illustrates a clear skill for crime fiction storytelling- a skill we did touch upon in Hot Fuzz, though not as brilliantly executed (and not on such a grandiose scale) as Baby Driver. The 'cartoony' style works like a charm, especially when Wright shows off his alchemy and applies his magical touch to some epic chase scenes and in-camera car stunts that are not only jaw-dropping, but honestly make some of the stunts in other, heavily-CGI'd, car chase films look like child's play! Wright's is a surprisingly simple film executed with absolute craftsmanship and dexterity, which serves a much-needed respite from the other run-of-the-mill, overly bloated blockbusters that clog up and over-saturate the big screen, particularly during the Summer months. This is a superb film; sleek, action-packed, witty, impressive and bold and I'd be surprised if Baby Driver leaves anyone unimpressed as we roll on to the Summer big-hitters. Quite frankly- this is already the action flick to beat this year! Bring it on, Hollywood! 5/5

#Babydriver Movielover review moviereview

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houstonlocalus-blog · 7 years

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Edgar Wright on “Baby Driver”

Of all the ways you could drive a car-themed heist thriller Edgar Wright chooses to go 100 m.p.h. down a crowded street with the pedal to the metal in Baby Driver.

When Baby Driver had its world premiere at SXSW a few months ago, Wright autographed over a thousand mini posters for the movie that were handed out to the exiting crowd at the Paramount Theater. “I sat down at my house and autographed 1,200 posters,” Wright tells Free Press Houston in a phone interview. “It took about four hours.”

Wright reunited with many of his regular collaborators for Baby Driver. “My crew is generally the people I’ve worked with several times: my producers Nira Park and Eric Fellner, my production designer Marcus Rowland. For Steven Price, the composer, it’s the second film we’ve worked on. And it’s the third time I’ve worked with [Director of Photography] Bill Pope.

“He’s done everything in his career once before, I like him because of his visual style but he also thinks about the heart of the story. The characters and what they’re thinking. Bill’s not just thinking about what it looks like, he’s thinking about what it feels like,” says Wright.

Director Edgar Wright (left) and Ansel Elgort on the set of TriStar Pictures’ Baby Driver.

Editors Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss, also alumni of previous Wright films, were working on the movie before principal photography. Many of the sequences are timed to specific rock songs and as such required advance planning.

“What’s interesting is we did some editing before we even started. We had the songs locked down – those were written into the script,” says Wright. So before we even start shooting we were editing the sequences with storyboards in animation. Then you start rehearsing with the actors. And then you start the film for real.

Ansel Elgort plays Baby, a heist car driver who constantly listens to music to drown out tinnitus caused by a childhood trauma. Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm, Eiza González, Lily James, Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx co-star.

“Anytime there was a two-shot of Jamie and Kevin I would whisper to Bill ‘Oscar shot,’” laughs Wright. “But there’s another Oscar winner in the film, Paul Williams who has a small role won an award for Best Original Song.”

Wright literally composes action scenes in tempo to songs like Queen’s “Brighton Beach,” and “Hocus Pocus” by Focus.

“All of the action set-ups were difficult in their own right. Anytime cars were involved it got very tricky because of the precision and the timing. The safety aspect means that everything has to be worked out.

“A lot of times the actors are driving on actual roads. The entire affair becomes a ballet of teamwork,” says Wright. “Other factors include how exhausted you are on a particular day. We were shooting the finale during the middle of the schedule, things like that where you’re going from day to night and day again are punishing.

“With a lot of the key action set pieces in the movie I would literally have the idea for the movie based on the song. Some of the songs you mention like ‘Hocus Pocus’ or ‘Bellbottoms’ [Jon Spencer Blues Explosion] or ‘Neat Neat Neat’ by The Damned — I would listen to the song and imagine the scene. I always wanted to use ‘Hocus Pocus’ by Focus, and I love the idea of it starting and stopping.”

Baby is running away from a botched robbery during the opening of the “Hocus Pocus” sequence. “But then there is the yodeling interlude and a character is hiding behind a tree and then the guitar kicks in and Baby starts running again. Then later there’s gunfire in time to the track. When it all comes together in the editing — that’s what I intended to do with the movie.”

For the use of “Brighton Rock,” the film mixes car engine sounds into the song. “In the mix we tuned the car sounds so they would be in the same key as the song,” says Wright.

Some of Wright’s previous films include Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and The World’s End.

Free Press Houston asks Wright if he would ever consider doing a sequel to one of his films, like Hot Fuzz?

“Yes and no. Have we ever thought about it? Yes. The tricky thing is I make a movie every three years, I’d like to do it quicker sometimes, but the idea of spending three years in the same world — that’s the less appealing part to it.

“I agree you can do something more with those characters. It would have to be something really special. I’m really proud of Hot Fuzz,” says Wright. “Oddly it’s a personal film for me because it was shot in my hometown in Somerset, England.

“I wouldn’t do it just for the paycheck, that’s for sure.”

Baby Driver is currently unwinding in area theaters.

Edgar Wright on “Baby Driver” this is a repost

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