Furiosa

As if to rub salt in the wound, I liked it better than Fury Road.

That could either be a huge credit to this movie or just another rambling review from an old fool. But honestly it was a pretty solid movie all around, it's crazy to think a prequel took about 9 years to materialize in this day and age, but I will never complain about a series taking a hot ass minute to continue. Gives plenty of time at the drawing board to figure out the plot, the production, raise the funds, and fine tune the project just the way the filmmakers like it. Obviously George is back in the director's chair and this movie follows the same aesthetic and visual language as Fury Road, as we follow for quite awhile young Furiosa's turn of fortune from dwelling in the green place to the wasteland which I really appreciate! It's not just, they took Furiosa 5 minutes into the film and then time jump to her grown up they actually take the time to fill her backstory with as much as they could. Utilizing the 2½ runtime completely with nary a drop of filler and ties a nice bow on it when this movie ends Fury Road begins. Anya Taylor-Joy is a good lead and while I haven't seen her in much action-y fare she does admirably here and earns her wings. First also for seeing Chris Hemsworth be a villain, and kind of a right bastard as well I felt he did really well in this role and had that balance between a threat while also having bits of humor. Also props to Alyla Browne as young Furiosa, she got that drama and rage down very nicely. Strange it is to say but I felt the wide breadth and scope of the wasteland was more confined to the fortress hubs this film around, not that I minded because I wanted to know more about them other than Imortan Joe's territory yet it still looks quite good I must say! The action is more varied since it's not a constant moving convoy and though it's an R rated film the blood and viscera is more often than not subdued which is very much the same as the last movie. I liked seeing the story of Furiosa and it was indeed a tale worth telling, what lies for the future of Mad Max I cannot say but I'll be sure to brush up on the rest with any luck before the next new release. 3 stars, 8/10, worth a trip to the theater to feel that intense rumble from all the guzzoline machines.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Well I was partially right.

The new Mario Bros. movie is good, but again you have to divide it between an adaptation and a movie on it's own. I do really like despite what others might grumble about how they craft the world, with Mario and Luigi as plumbers in New York who discover a warp pipe and get transported to the world of the games we know and love. Luigi gets seperated and ends up in enemy territory while Mario meets up with Peach in an attempt to stop Bowser and save his brother. It's a completely decent plot, and while the pessimist in me wants to say well they sure figured out how to cram each gameplay mechanic into this, they do Super Mario, they do 3D World, they do Mario Kart, they even pretty much do Smash Bros., yet the optimist in me has to give minor applause for how they strung each setpiece together and did make it work quite well! Though I'm split on how things in the game world carry over into the movie, and what I mean by that is the characters know a red flower gives you fire powers or what a question block does but there's no explanation as to why they are there, who made them, or how they know that. I suppose it's just one of those don't question it things. Voice acting was pretty good though I gotta say, I didn't hate the Chris Pratt voice like so many were dreading, and I did NOT need this lavish, over the top "It's-a me Mario, I'm gonna beat the living ragu out of you and then drink a lot of red wine while shouting about the new Ferrari Stradale while making my world famous linguini!" I'd put my foot down on that pronto. It peppers it in but not much. Charlie Day, solid casting as Luigi I must say and was almost expecting them to do some Luigi's Mansion stuff at one point, but I liked him! Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, here to throw down and do what must be done so rock on there, it's odd seeing her in this considering her previous films I've seen but hey I'm here for it and I really really dig the backstory they give to her. Jack Black as Bowser is the best part of the movie in my opinion, yeah the voice has been augmented a fair bit but only Jack could deliver these lines and these moments. The animation is everything you imagined and more, it really does look like the newest games with a Hollywood budget creating some colorful, beautiful, even atmospheric worlds with more easter eggs and references than you could throw a blue shell at, and not just Mario stuff either! The music is...interesting, they throw in a lot of Mario music in full orchestral fashion which was fantastic, but then they throw in tracks like ACDC'S Thunderstruck and A-Ha's Take On Me seemingly random at times but I dig those songs so it was jarring but not bad. The comedy was good, but the big shining stars are Bowser and a quite literal star from the Super Mario Galaxy games that made me laugh until I had to cover my mouth, bite my lip, and shed brief tears just so I wouldn't laugh like a cross between a strangled hyena and the friggin' Emperor. It's exactly as advertised and oh yeah, people will be shouting cash cow advertisment product placement galore with this movie and even I gotta admit it worked on me. I would love to fire up Super Mario World on my SNES or marathon 3D World with some friends (dibs on blue Toad), but it's Mario man. It's been around awhile, it most likely is the first video game we have ever played, I know it was mine when I was starting to get around on my own two legs and going to my cousins place where they had an NES with Super Mario/Duck Hunt and I really liked it. Not long after that Super Mario 64 and more importantly the N64 made me the gamer I am today. It's okay to watch and love it. As an adaptation it's pretty much a 9 if not 10/10! But as a movie all on it's own I give it a 7.5/10, good movie, pretty fun, will we see Wart in a sequel? You never know. So hey fuggetaboutit, get you some italian food after the movie, school your family and friends at Mario, and have a fun day to yourself. Now if only we could get a Zelda movie...

The Northman

Oh! Thank you gods above, below, and in-between!

Bit more than you would think is found here, I mean I could tell from the trailers and TV spots that it was more or less a revenge story of a boy avenging his father who was killed by his uncle, I know, very commonplace, and yet there were snippets of more otherworldly aspects so I knew there was something more afoot here. I'm partially correct but you could almost argue the instances of nordic mythology are legit or more imaginary, and I'll let you know my standpoint later. Also, highly appreciative of so many aspects of that particular culture in that particular time and place in the world without any handholding. They don't need to explain it, you either know or can infer what the customs are save for one particular tidbit which I was proud to know of beforehand. For a director who has barely begun his career, Robert Eggers has made quite a name for himself in recent years and really shows the grandiose scenery in abundance, with excellent use of editing and camera techniques. Casting though not everyone is super recognizable does mighty good work and sells the often times highly dramatic form of speaking in that period of history, I mean of course I give love to Alex and Anya who were great and had a nice dynamic throughout. But I give fair props to Claes Bang for being more than just a foul bastard to hate and hiss at throughout but has moments where you genuinely think maybe he is a different man. I very much loved the possible inspirations for a lot of the material here, I saw bits of Shakespeare, Assassin's Creed, The Witcher, quite a fair bit of Ghost Of Tsushima, even Clash Of The Titans. Now for the discussion of whether or not there is some higher power at play here, without spoiling much you see some non-mortal forces in this movie and it is appropriate for the characters and the time period, and I was up in the air on if it was for really realsies or not until we got to the ravens. Through my readings I learned some time ago that Odin's eyes and presence are ravens and you see them several times including an important scene for our hero, and again it's not spelled out for you so when that occured there wasn't a doubt in my mind the gods had a hand in this plot. I friggin' loved that. Gives it a sense of being bigger and epic for our hero which gives more a drive for the audience. Though honestly, the soundtrack alone got me involved so quick and got me fired up for events, spectacular work on the score. A sort of unconventional movie for sure in terms of style and culture but great nontheless. 4 stars, 8.5/10, and the birthday week has officially started so we'll find something to talk about before too long.

Last Night In Soho

Oh my God. Where do I start?

This is easily one of those movies that I have a lot to say but can't. It's truly a film that must be experienced, and it surpassed greatly what little expectations I had for it. It follows a young girl named Ella who moves out of the quiet countryside straight to London to become a fashion designer, and starts to have strange dreams of a young performer in the mid 1960s, as reality and dreams shift, merge, and stir madness. I swear if this movie does not nab best director, cinematography, editing, picture at the Oscars I will f***ing riot. It has been too damn long since I have seen a film this good looking. The colors are nothing short of kaleidoscopic, the editing and framing is a masterclass, the performances are so engrossing, the music selection is very good, just all the technicals are top notch. Speaking of performances, I would die to protect Thomasin McKenzie she is so sweet and charming, such a great lead for this film and she carried it brilliantly. Believe it or not, I'm gonna have a hard time seeing Anya Taylor-Joy as anyone but aspiring star Sandie, she could not have looked better and more suited in 60s style and fashion if she tried, despite me seeing her in other stuff. Her story only gets more involved and it had me hook, line, and sinker. Matt Smith is a dashing young man in a plot involving time travel, I'm trying so hard not to go there, and boy is it wonderful to see that handsome man again. Oh, I need to watch The Crown to see more of him. It would take me longer than the movie to gush about these visuals so I'll just say, holy shit. Edgar you mad lad legend, just how did you get it this psychedelic yet refined? Unbelievable. And it dips it's toes into the horror genre without question, though it focuses more on mystery and a severe psychological thriller side of things. All of it plays brilliantly, it's one part The Lovely Bones, one part The Night Walker, with a dash of Mean Girls, and a twist of Cruella, with a cherry on top of Corpse Bride. As last reviews go for October, this was great! 4 stars, 8.5/10, some people will bitch and moan that the plot makes no sense, or it's just artsy for artsy sake, well you can't have too much positivity in the world. Go see it! It's a wild time.

Split

Well. That was interesting.

That's the word I would describe Split, interesting. This is an interesting film, centering around 3 teenage girls who are abducted by a man with multiple personality disorder, accumulating 23 personalities that the girls must try to use in order to escape. And just like Unbreakable it has a very fascinating premise before anything even happens. A thriller based around a person with multiple personalities is a film idea that I don't think I've ever come across, at least not off the top of my head so it already won brownie points for originality. But then the movie goes and goes, and another thing I noticed in this movie like Unbreakable is this continuous mystery that builds and builds to a fantastic reveal. No discredit to the other actors in this movie, but this movie would be hard to do without James McAvoy, I mean he gets it and if he didn't win awards for this, I'm gonna be upset! He changes on a dime and it is amazing to watch, he pulls off every persona, he's a joy to watch in...several ways, it's a great performance. And I'm sure lots of praise has been given to Anya Taylor-Joy who plays the main girl Casey, but there was a lot to her character and she was so interesting to watch because she seems and is in fact a very damaged character and thus acts like an outsider even in this heavy situation, I'm not sure if we will see her again but I will be looking out for her cause she did good. It was a shock to know that Shyamalan actually got the cinematographer from It Follows, this guy just really knows how to film uncomfortable, stressful, and scary situations and make it look good while doing so so that was a treat. Just all these elements complimented an interesting and creepy story and I'm even more hyped to see what will come of Glass, just to see what they do with these characters and this world they built. So join me next time for our final(?) foray into the Unbreakable world.