tick…tick…BOOM!

Internet Movie Database Movie Review

A composer/writer in New York City during the 80s struggles with The Big Questions.

It was time for the Saturday Zoom Movie, and CoyoteRambles needed to watch this to interview one of the filmmakers the next day; we were happy to oblige him!

This is a very good movie in many ways: it’s a good snapshot of a time and place, showing what it was like to be there and then. Andrew Garfield was amazing in this movie, and now I have to go back and watch his run of Spider-Man movies (I kind of missed him between Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland). And it’s a biopic; it’s fictionalized and turned into a musical version of events, but is (as far as I have read) pretty true to life….and the main character, Jonathan Larson, went on to write Rent, one of the best known musicals of recent years.

On the other hand, Mr. Otter and I don’t like Rent, so I was hesitant to see a movie about the guy who created it…but it was really good.

Go see it, the acting and musical numbers alone are worth your time.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Internet Movie Database Movie Reviews

Broke mom moves with kids to family home in Oklahoma…but mysterious things are happening…

SPOILER ALERT

I saw the original Ghostbusters in the theater when it came out (yes, I am an old Otter) and have loved it ever since, and quote from it all the time. The sequel, Ghostbusters II, was pretty good. I really enjoyed the 2016 reboot, that was all women. And now there’s a fourth entry in the dynasty…and this one is based on the first two, but pretends the 2016 one never happened…

Okay. Sure.

This was good. Mr. Otter liked it more than I did; I enjoyed all the usual shenanigans, and the actors, but I did have three problems with it:

1. All the sequel and reboot movies insist on dragging the original actors in to link them with the hit movie that they’re based on (I’m looking at you, Harrison Ford…!) This is problematic for me because it’s kind of a cheap way to make the audience buy in. Also,
2. Harold Ramis is dead, and they used a computer generated version of him to show up as a ghost in the end shot with the other three original Ghostbusters…I am still having problems with (and I know it’s the way everything is going) dead actors being put in movies with computer animation. Where will this end? says the hero of every single sci fi apocalypse movie…
3. It was good, and well written, but not fall-down-on-the-floor-laughing witty. I miss that about the sequels. I know you can’t catch lightning in a bottle twice, but should a perfect movie be remade or added to imperfectly? I don’t know…

Anyway. This was fun, good f/x, nice storyline. Give it a shot, it’s worth your time.

The Princess Comes Across

Internet Movie Database Movie Reviews

Based on the novel A Halálkabin (“Death Cab”) by Louis Lucien Rogger

So there’s an ocean liner, and on board are:

• A Brooklyn actress pretending to be a Swedish princess (Carole Lombard)
• A dorky but adorable bandleader (Fred MacMurray)
• A blackmailer, and his victims
• An escaped killer
• Five international police detectives

And of course their paths intertwine, and hijinks ensue. This was funny and kind of charming, especially if you like Lombard or MacMurray.

Alfie

Internet Movie Database Movie Reviews

Based on the play of the same name that was turned into a novel and a movie three years later, all by Bill Naughton.

Alfie is a freewheeling womanizer who just wants to sleep with pretty much every woman he meets, but does not want to face up to the emotional and practical consequences of his ways.

This is one of those iconic movies that I’ve heard about all my life but never seen, so when it was Saturday Zoom Movie Night and my turn to pick, this was my choice.

I’m a huge Michael Caine fan, and this was his breakout role. Plus he’s cute as a box of kittens in this movie, unbelievably young and charming. No wonder every woman in this movie wants to sleep with him!

The movie lived up to its press; it was interesting, charming in many ways, and yet infuriating, especially in modern times when woman have made so much progress against just this sort of thing…it was actually kind of hard to watch him sequentially charm all these woman, especially the ones where it was obvious they REALLY didn’t want to. The progression from his happily hopping in and out of bed with multiple women to coming to realize the cost of his lifestyle was very well done, and the ending was perfect.

Highly recommended by the Otter, even though it is hard to watch so many women being so complacent from the vantage point of this day and age…

The Eternals

Internet Movie Database Movie Reviews

A bunch of powerful immortal beings were put on earth to watch for The Bad Guys and fight them when they show up.

I am really conflicted about this movie.

It’s part of the MCU, which I mostly love- I love the characters, the scope, and the interconnectedness. The phase we’re in (5, I think) is more about magic and mental powers, and also the Multiverse, which gives the moviemakers scope to do pretty much what they want to…and unlike the last phase, most of the main characters of the movies are not appearing in other movies.

So that’s fine.

But I still have problems with this movie.

Let me start out by saying that my first impression was WTF IS GOING ON HERE? I literally had to see it a second time for all the moving parts to make sense; this is a complicated, not to say overcomplicated plot, with a whole cast of characters that the moviegoer who has not read the comics (me) has no clue who they are or what they are doing. So they each have to be introduced and given their moment to show their stuff. Then the plot twists and turns like a twisty turny thing, with a lot of ‘this happened in the past’ and ‘this will happen in the future’ and ‘I made you and you will do what I say’ and infighting and bickering among the group and oh my, it was a lot to take in. But I did really enjoy it, and it was a good movie.

My real problem with this movie is (and it was addressed during the movie itself) if these superpowered beings have been on earth literally forever, where were they when Thanos tried to destroy it, and during the Blip and all of that Avenger stuff? Captain Marvel, when asked the same question, pointed out that she is the guardian of a whole lot of worlds, not just Earth, which does make sense…but the Eternals were literally there to guard Earth, even if not for the reason they thought they were doing it…and as much as I liked this movie, that really didn’t work for me.

Having all that overlap between Marvel worlds and characters, and then picking a bunch who seem like they should have been involved in that scenario right up to their prettily-costumed behinds and saying, but this wasn’t in their orders so they just ignored it…is not good writing, and makes no sense.

On the other hand, as far as I can tell (and I peeked at the MCU phase lists for what’s coming out in the next few years) there is no sequel planned for this one, so maybe my objections are moot and it won’t matter.

For what it’s worth, if you forget about it being part of the MCU, this was an awesome and enjoyable movie, with many good characters and hella plot twists. Even though you may have to see it twice to really get why everything is happening!

No Time To Die

Internet Movie Database Movie Reviews

Bond comes back from retirement to face yet another villain armed with world-ending technology…

I am conflicted about Bond. For a long time I was a purist: I loved the books and refused to watch any Bond movies that didn’t at least give a nod to a Fleming book or story…but this is the Franchise That Will Not Die, and so must be fed.

And I really really liked (yes, he’s stepping down) Daniel Craig as Bond; I think he’s the best one since Connery, and have actually gone to see all of his movies in the role, unlike other Bonds whose non-canon movies I eschewed (yes, I’m looking at you, Timothy Dalton. And especially The Man of Wood, Pierce Brosnan.)

But…this one was really good. Daniel Craig was really good. The cinematography and special effects and all were really good…and wow, this movie had a lot going on. It was like they all got together and said, this is Craig’s last Bond film, let’s just throw EVERYTHING into it. And they did. And it was a lot of plot devices, reveals, backstory, imminent catastrophe, you name it…but it mostly worked well, and I enjoyed it as much the second time I saw it, six months later.

So okay. It’s the Bond that makes the movie, not the origin material.

So now we have to wait and see who the new Bond will be…

But this movie? Yes, go see it, it’s serious bang for your buck. Well worth it if you like the genre.

The Day The Earth Stood Still

Internet Movie Database Movie Reviews

From the short story Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates

An alien comes to earth with an ultimatum: abandon war, especially nuclear war, or the Earth will be destroyed by other alien races.

This is, of course, a legendary SF movie. My family always had the TV going on Sunday afternoons to watch whatever cheesy old SF and horror movies were playing (back in the days when you had to watch whatever the Television Gods decreed, rather than choosing for yourself.) This was a big favorite, and my sister had a huge crush on Michael Rennie, who I will admit is easy on the eye.

I saw bits and pieces of it, and of course Klaatu Barada Nicto is a famous catchphrase…but I really don’t remember ever having actually watched it all the way through, until Mr. Otter mentioned it and I said, I’ve never seen it. Well, that was a gap in my cultural literacy that got addressed pretty quickly!

For what it was, a preachy cold war movie about eschewing violence, it was pretty good. The special effects weren’t bad for the time, and the story, although pretty far-fetched (none of his abilities was ever explained, he could just do all this random stuff. And he was exactly like Earth humans…hm.) it all held together pretty well.

The story was interesting enough not to be draggy, and of course the ending, “The decision rests with you…” was great.

The Otter liked this classic and was happy not to be disappointed by it!

Don’t Look Now

Internet Movie Database Movie Reviews

From a short story of the same name by Daphne DuMaurier

Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie are in Venice, trying to get over their grief at the death of their only daughter…then WEIRD STUFF starts happening.

This was at the same time compelling, creepy, slow moving, strange and atmospheric, and ultimately satisfying. Sutherland and Christie are great at showing the strain on their marriage their daughter’s death has caused, and their ups and downs are very believable. The wierd psychic stuff is kind of low-key; you have to watch for what is happening to put it all together at the end. And the ending, the final payoff, is very satisfying.

Worth tracking down and watching!

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Internet Movie Database Movie Reviews

Shang-Chi finds out that A) his father is a Bad Guy and B) he has to use the power of the Ten Rings to save his mother, who everyone thought was dead, and they must also defeat an evil dragon.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

It was actually much better than that description makes it sound. This was a compelling, beautifully made MCU movie (in one post-credits scene the heroes are taken to Kamer-Taj by Wong the Librarian) and very enjoyable…except for one small quibble: the evil dad, Wenwu, was a way more interesting and compelling character than Shang-Chi.

I mean, yes, the MCU is full of people like Captain America who are kind of vanilla; they’re unsalted good guys, probably okay for a snack but not what you are really craving. But to have such a contrast between the two stars of the same movie, and have the bad guy be the one I was really behind for the whole thing, evil or not, didn’t really work for me.

Yes, Loki is a bad guy that everyone likes…but he gets his comeuppance regularly, and bounces back for more. In this movie, the bad guy was just BAD. Until the very end, when he sacrifices himself and gives his kid his power source.

Hm.

I’m going to watch this one again before coming down too hard on it…I’m finding that the MCU movies are so full of stuff both from previous stories and their own that I usually like to see them twice before writing a review…and as I said, it was beautiful and I did get caught up in the story…so I’ll be kind to this one til then.

Dune (2021)

Internet Movie Database Movie Reviews

From the novel of the same name by Frank Herbert

Yeah, right, summarize Dune in one line! Okay, here goes: Paul Atreides’ father is killed, making him Duke of a planet that produces the most valuable substance in the universe, which everyone is assembling to fight over.

LOL. Not even close. The book is, even with its ponderousness, a wonderful classic that all of you should have read by now. It’s rich, full of great characters and inventive storylines and danger and romance and…

It’s good, okay?

But there is so much happening in the book that the 1984 David Lynch version on the big screen has been considered a joke ever since. I liked it at the time, but I had read the book and knew what was happening; I understand that if one has not read the book, it is well-nigh incomprehensible.

There was also an excellent miniseries made in 2000 with William Hurt; it was 4 1/2 hours long, and did a much better job of telling the story and making sense out of it.

So now here is yet another movie version, with all the modern FX tech. Mr. Otter and I were pretty excited and went to see it as soon as it hit the theaters…and our opinion is… (drum roll please) PRETTY DAMN GOOD.

The story is edited down to comprehensibility, and it was well done. The plot moves and makes sense, as far as I can tell nothing important was left out, the FX were, of course, wonderful, and the actors were good. Except Jason Momoa, who is good eye-candy but can’t act to save his life, but he played the warrior who dies nobly almost right away, so that worked out fine.

Really, my only quibble with this movie were the words in the title at the beginning of the movie: PART I.

On the one hand, dammit. I hate waiting for the next part of ANYTHING.

On the other hand, good. Making this into several parts will allow them enough time to actually tell the story right…and it looks like they got a good start.

So the Otter is cautiously optimistic about this one. Stay tuned for more reviews, everyone!