In Retrospect: Glass

This has been a long time coming.

My problem with Glass is the way it ends. The rest of the movie is done very very well, the acting is great, the cinematography and editing is utilized to it's full potential, I appreciate what it means and the events of the film. However! You could have ended it leaps and bounds better. And you know what the sickest part is? I knew exactly what Shyamalan was going for, I completely and totally get the ending. But I, along with many other people have concluded that it fell flat. I had to see this movie again because I was practically radiating rage walking out of that theater so we gotta talk superheroes and the ending so hunker down y'all and avoid everything I say from this point on if you still haven't seen the movie. Okay? Okay. I fully understand the intent of the director, that the mantle of superheroes does not begin and end with our three main characters and that they inspire the future, and more so the fact that it underwhelms the audience with the way it ends. I've been hearing a lot of use of the term "subverting expectations" pretty much since The Last Jedi, I've never heard of it before until then and people started talking about it. This movie does that, they don't end the movie with a grand gesture, a limited edition story with a standoff on top of the tallest building in the city for all to see their extrodinary abilities, but a shocking hard cut that kills every one of our main characters. By this supposed secret organization that has been systematically eradicating superpowered people for over 10,000 years! Did I also mention this organization, or cult, or whatever the flying purple people eating bullshit this is was introduced in the movie, with and I'm not kidding, 21 minutes left in the movie. MINUTES! You don't know their name, or anything about them. And the reason they give is the most misguided pig shit I have ever heard in my life! To justify their actions they claim that "there cannot be gods amongst us" and because it's "not fair." Just....

Okay. I am not saying this is what Shyamalan believes, but I am saying this nonsense cult has no reason to be in the movie and are misguided fools. Allow me to part some wisdom that I have known for years now. Superheroes are the modern day equivalent of medieval knights, specifically the King Arthur knights. They go out and do good, might FOR right, compassion is not weakness, strength is not vital, and the best superhero comics of all time reinforce that. Where they rise above, and protect, and help others. They can inspire greatness in everyone. Superman is known all over the world, his S symbol is the second most known symbol behind the christian cross! And yet even other heroes can do that same thing, illicit that same response, that's why people will say Aquaman, or Black Panther, or Spawn, or any other comic book character is their favorite. They can identify and grow through that hero. It's not that kid power fantasy that so many assume it is, it can go deeper than that. So why not go through with the limited edition story we were promised? They throw the two nurses in the back of the van, drive off to the tower, David is in pursuit, they tear through the tower and get to the roof, there's helicopter cameras all over the place, Elijah is on the loudspeakers doing his thing, David squares off against The Beast, the world sees their amazing feats while Elijah tells the world how he did it all, then David remembers overhearing Kevin's name, uses it against him and throws him off the tower! Kevin dies, then David has to take Elijah in as the world is aghast, Elijah is put behind bars, The Overseer goes undercover while keeping an eye on Mr. Glass and various individuals are inspired to use their amazing gifts for good or for evil. But no! Some nameless assholes shoot Kevin and drown David, and poor Elijah's ribs get crushed by The Beast. I mean, the showoff happened but not at the new tower and it ruins these characters! I was enraged because these characters died, and in really honorless, pathetic, and underwhelming ways and they deserved better. That shows how well they were written and acted because you wanted so much more of them! To see them just offed in such a shitty way makes you upset, and I get that was the intent but was it in best interest of the film series? Through the credits they show a collage of scenes from all the movies signifying those were stepping stones to a bigger picture. And this was it! The buildup and exchanges were done so well, but the payoff felt like you were getting two big middle fingers shoved straight up your ass! Maybe my ending I pitched was too obvious or something(?) but you could imagine that stuff going down with these characters and how awesome and well done it would have been! This series desperately needs a good comic book running where they just take these movie characters and write original stories for them and maybe incorporate this organization and build upon them and give us a 10/10 ending. You could even keep Elijah's knowledge and commentary on comic books for a healthy dose of meta. Up yours Wade Wilson! Totally do that, it'd be better than this intentional anti-climatic betryal of these characters! It's just sad man. I'm happy I'm moving on.

And next week, starting Sunday it's time we talk about one of the best series based off the best movie series ever even to this day!

Glass

Well damn it, I wasn't expecting that.

I've never felt so jaded toward a movie. Glass was really good but it pissed me off too, this was the other end of the extreme, I was getting hyped and really liked the movie but it didn't end the way I wanted it. I know that is ridiculous, but hey man when you get jaded something had to happen to your emotions. In fact, that's a great thing! This movie got me all wound up and got some blood coursing through my veins, and it has been awhile since that last happened. It really did deliver everything I wanted, so this movie takes place I don't even think 6 months after Split. David has started a sort of homebrew crime fighting career, I mean we've seen tons of super rich heroes start out but we've never really seen a realistic no budget crime fighter so that was neat, but David soon comes into contact with Kevin and they confront and are taken to a psychiatric hospital where they along with Elijah are treated to believe their superpowers are imagined. We all know they are not so that makes the head of this hospital an absolute tool who I hate with every fibre of my body, it doesn't slow the movie down because the characters are still interesting and their interactions are a joy to see. So the movie is really good and if you asked me which is the best....maybe Split but this was the culmination of it all so it probably will win out for me. Will this movie hit the top 10 of this year? We shall see but for the first new movie of the new year, we're off to a strong start.

Unbreakable

My first Shyamalan movie how about that?

Strange that this is the one above all others that I decided to review first but hey, with Glass right around the corner it was time. And I'm going to be honest out of all the films this guy has directed, Unbreakable is the one I hear the least about. I'm not entirely sure why though, it's a good movie, it came right off the heels of The Sixth Sense so Shyamalan was still a golden boy, and he took an interesting turn on a superhero-esque movie never seen before. So Bruce Willis stars as David Dunn a security officer who goes through a horrific train accident that kills every single passenger yet he comes through without even a scratch on him. Now that's an interesting movie all on it's own, it presents a good mystery that slowly makes more sense as the movie progresses. He soon comes in contact with a comic book aficianado named Elijah Price played excellently by Sam Jackson, and I gotta say this really is one of his best performances! Jackson really is, to me, the reason why the movie works so well. His passion for comic books I think dives well past an obsession, and his actions and more important his conversations with David are endlessly fascinating in the context of the movie. I think it's needless to say what the twist is regarding recent events but I would be lying if the reveal wasn't spectacular. There's tons to talk about in terms of comic book archetypes, character motivation, and the formation of a basis for future films which is actually what this movie is, a foundation for things to come. We will be talking about what comes next, but I wanted to talk more about smaller details I noticed that made the movie really good in my eyes. I like how the movie was shot, there are tons of shots where you see characters move and talk strictly through a small reflection somewhere in frame, in fact the framing is quite good and it does seem off with not much camera movement or even really many cuts, now the odd thing is I read up on this movie a bit and there is actually a multitude of long takes and I barely even noticed because the shots don't drag or even reach Birdman levels of camera movement and blocking of characters but they stick around for a bit then cut, I simultaneously really like and dislike the poncho David wears because it looks awesome in shadow and silhouette yet he wears it because he doesn't like water and I'm sure I could make a case for this movie influencing Signs but whatever. I'm interested to see what happens next in this world, and I knew when I saw the Glass trailer I had to get to this movie. I feel the movie warrants more discussion, because it is a good movie, and something one of my reviewers I watched made a really good point, they said something along the lines of, when there's pressure on Shyamalan he stumbles and falls but when there's no pressure or expectations he does well. After seeing this movie, he started to stumble with Signs, then fell and fell and fell, and smashed into the pavement with After Earth, now it seems he's dusting himself off and getting back on track with our next movie of the week, Split. See you then!

Moonrise Kingdom

Holy shrimp, this movie was amazing! Talk about starting the year right, I friggin' loved this movie!

Moonrise Kingdom is that special kind of quirky odd movie directed by Wes Anderson, who if you know anything about, this is his style of movie. The story centers on two lovestruck kids who decide to run away together while their families and the authorities try to find them. Now I want you to read that synopsis very carefully. Now throw it all out of your head, because this movie is so much more. Moonrise Kingdom made me laugh consistently throughout with it's bizarre comedy, but it's so difficult to describe though. I say just go watch the movie to fully understand what I mean. Now again I must strongly state this is an odd movie. Not...subject matter wise, the film is grounded in reality but more, how the story is told. The first say, 10 minutes of this movie is going to either make or break your interest, granted the opening scene is shot magnificently and it sets the mood very quickly by the second setting we are in, but I do strongly suggest you stick around. Another element in this film, you could even say the most important element, is the romance between the kids. And you know what? I absolutely loved it, I found it endearing, quirky, but very charming and I really wanted to see them escape and live their lives together. Honestly, if you just have a very open mind and an even weirder sense of humor, and just roll with it, Moonrise Kingdom will not disappoint you. I have to say, when this movie was new, I really wanted to see it. And now I finally did! In fact, I will buy this movie, that's how much I loved it! It was just a quirky, funny, charming movie that really put me in a great mood. Just all the ingredients were perfect, and I loved this movie. I was stumped for the first movie of the year, but with this I honestly could not have picked a better movie.

Die Hard

One of my favorite Christmas movies ever!

Die Hard one of the best action movies ever created starring Bruce Willis and the always awesome Alan Rickman. So the plot of Die Hard follows John McClane who is meeting with his divorced wife at a high rise tower for a buisness party before a group of terrorists break in, take hostages, and try to break into the vault in the basement to gain $640 million dollars, so John has to take on all the well armed, well trained terrorists while also battling the city police to prevent the hostages from being killed. It's a great plot, with awesome characters, spectacular action, and good sparing use of comedy. I think people need to see this movie just for Alan Rickman as the ruthless Hans Gruber, he friggin' slays it in this movie. You want a great villain, Alan Rickman was your man and this movie is proof of it. Bruce Willis really came into his own in the action genre after this, but damn guys can you power down the sequel machine? I have not seen one single movie after the first one. Why? Because, 1. This is a damn near impossible movie to top, 2. There are FAR too many sequels, I think we are up to about number 5 by now? Ridiculous. 3. I got maybe, 15 minutes into Die Hard 2 and I tapped out. You can't beat the original. Case closed. But hey, we got this movie so really doesn't matter. Because this is a movie worth your time around the holidays. But you may be saying, "But Dude, this doesn't have anything to do with Santa, Jesus, the Christmas spirit, or spending the holidays with your loved ones." and yes, you are correct. Does it diminish the movie though? Not at all, it has a Christmas feeling to it all even though there is no snow (It takes place in Los Angeles.), there are decorations, Christmas music playing, a few seasonal clothing pieces spread around, the most notable being the machine gun sweater (Which I wouldn't mind owning one day.), it just works. The damn movie ends on the song Let It Snow! What action movie ends on Let It Snow? This one, and I think maybe the second one. Why? I don't know, don't even think it took place at Christmas time. But getting back to the film at hand. I know I'm not alone in the fact that this is a Christmas movie, and quite honestly those types of people are awesome. I can harp on this movie all day, it is just that glorious. And if I'm being truthfully honest, this might be my favorite action movie of all time. It never gets old, I love the dialogue scenes with Alan Rickman, I love the shootouts and the unbelievable stuntwork, I love the comedy sprinkled in, and it has the best use of Ode To Joy ever put to celluloid. Watch it, have fun with it, give it a shot, and see a whole different kind of Christmas movie.

Sin City

This movie really did surprise me but not in the way you would ever expect.

Sin City is a pretty damn good adaptation based off of Frank Miller's graphic novel and it does a very, very accurate telling of the story. When I say this is a noir film, I mean it's a noir film especially in the visual sense. This is the noir film you could ever hope or wish to see, it's stylistic, dark, bloody, and faithful to the source material. Now the surprising bit I was talking about is the fact that the movie is split up into parts, almost like a compilation of short films done all in the same style. But not like you would expect. In this two hour and twenty minute venture into the dark and gritty world of Sin City, at about the 40 minute mark the end credits start to roll. Yeah, you read correctly. They literally split this movie into four parts, with closing credits and all. Hell, it takes 50 minutes before you see the title of the movie. Damn. That blows my mind, you never see this. Now storywise between all our short films, there really isn't that much connecting them like in Pulp Fiction, some plot points intersect but it is not the case with all the short stories. One follows a cop who took the fall after saving a little girl and his reuniting with her, a brick of a guy on a revenge hunt for the killing of a woman, and a man preventing an all out gang war between different sections of the city. And the I think genius part of it all is, it's played up. It's melodramatic, and almost theatrical in a way which is how old noir crime dramas, and even the pulp magazines which this movie took inspiration from were made. Another thing I found quite interesting is the fact the entire film shot on location here in Austin, although because of it's unique stylish and gritty backdrop most of the movie is computer graphics. And they did a good job with creating the look of this world with one exception. Okay so the entire film is shot in black and white as your typical noir film but there are pieces of color in the movie, usually around an object or a identifying aspect of a character. Like a guy has red shoes on, or a girl has blue eyes, but there is no real consistency with it! You see blood both red but also white, some characters have color on them and some don't, it seems so inconsistent like you think there would be some kind of rhyme or reason why this is red, that is blue, etc. but no! That's really the only bad thing I can say about this movie, everything is fine. I mean it wasn't great but it's not terrible either. Would I suggest it? Well maybe. Depends on if you like crime drama/noir movies or you enjoy seeing comic adaptations (even if it's from Frank Miller.) so I say approach it with caution. You really kind of have to be in a mood to watch this movie. But I thought it was okay so I leave it entirely up to you.

Pulp Fiction

Still my favorite Tarantino movie.

Pulp Fiction is a fantastic movie by Quentin Tarantino, combining very film noir-esque storytelling with a galleon of star power behind it. I mean we got Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, and of course...Christopher Walken. Oh come on, how can you turn it down now? The plot is...a bit confusing cause you see, it is told out of sequence. No lineart strict progression from start to finish you really have to piece this puzzle together which is why I call it sort of a film noir but it is not a central character in the movie, it's you. You are present for all events and you try and figure out what sequence it went down in. And the plot itself is crazy and hell I don't even think I could recount it without giving something away but it revolves around quite a crew of characters, with a hitman and his partner, a mob boss and his wife, a boxer too, the Professor and Mary Ann, you get the picture. Still awesome and very quotable dialogue, good sense of humor but can still do tension filled scenes, memorable characters, and all around just a great film. Tarantino fan or not, watch this movie if you haven't already you will enjoy it.

And thus tomorrow we will look into more of a comic book film noir, in black and white and stylized like hell. Can't freaking wait man.

Rock The Kasbah

Yet another really good new Bill Murray movie.

I'm not quite sure why most people were not very fond of this movie, it could have been much worse and I had a good time watching it. Bill Murray like always, if doing reviews for Bill Murray movies for more than a year should tell you anything Bill is still great. I was kinda shocked to see Zooey Deschanel and Kate Hudson in this movie, and the sad thing was Zooey was in the movie for maybe 15 minutes but Kate was awesome throughout the whole movie, she was a blast to watch. The story itself is something I got to admit, I've never seen before. Bill Murray plays a music manager who decides to go on tour with one of his singers in Afghanistan, his singer soon leaves which causes him to not have an act. Not very long afterwards he discovers a girl with an incredible singing voice and wants her to be a part of his team. Her father says no and says it is forbidden and looked upon as a sin in their culture, but nevertheless she wants to sing on national television and change the views of her own culture. A very interesting premise and it does delve into the cultural and ideological standpoints of modern day Afghanistan. The film is a comedy even though there is some surprising amounts of gunfire in this mostly just for laughs. But the real element that steals the show is not in fact Bill Murray, but Leem Lubany who plays the singer Salima Khan. She is goregous, she sings like an angel, I couldn't give her more props if I tried and yet she is mostly in the background in this movie. But when she has her moments, she really shines through! I had a good time with this movie, I'm not sure what you'll think but if you ever get around to it, give it a watch and tell me what you think.

The Expendables 2

Re-watching this again, I have to say it's leaps and bounds better than the first.



I'm serious, everything that was good in the first Expendables is even better in the second one. The dialogue is better and is even funnier than the first, we get to know the characters better and even see some new additions to the team, the action is just all around better and that is very evident from the very first action scene, cause in the first movie it was really just a standoff for some hostages but in the second one it's a straight up rescue mission and it is so much bigger and more flashy and exciting. So the story of The Expendables 2 is that Bruce Willis contacts Sylvester Stallone and company to retrieve a mysterious object from a shot down plane in Albania, the team soon gathers together including their two new members of the team played by Liam Hemsworth and Nan Yu to retrieve secret data and return it back to the U.S. government before it falls into the wrong hands. But our heroes soon come face to face with the villain of the movie, whose name is Vilain....I am so not kidding it's only one letter away from spelling villain played by Guile himself from Street Fighter The Movie, Jean-Claude Van Damme who I got to say is an interesting choice for the villain of this movie and I'm not sure why but he's just a joy to watch. And just like in Street Fighter I can barely understand what he is saying, like I understand Christian Bale's Batman better than this guy. His accent is what does it, it sounds ger-russian-nese but it's still pretty cool to see him in the movie. So the chase is on to stop Vilain from using the secret data to cause chaos in the world. I think the reason why I enjoy this movie better than the first is because of the better dialogue and the new characters we get to see in action, even though the dialogue is very tongue and cheek sometimes, like there's this scene where Arnold Schwarzenegger tells Terry Crews to give him his gun and Terry Crews says, "If I don't get this back your ass is terminated." and it's dialogue like that which makes he movie a bit more fun, but we don't only get to see Arnold throw down and shoot em' up, we even get the most badass dude in existence to help out our heroes, Chuck Norris. And yeah he kicks the most ass in this movie, he's one handing this big machine gun tearing through guys left and right, he takes out a friggin' tank and he even says one of the Chuck Norris facts about how a king cobra bit him and after 5 days of pain the cobra died. Best part of the movie but another fantastic part of the movie is Dolph Lundgren and he is my favorite character in the entire film, cause he is super smart like he can make a bomb out of just a few ingredients, and he keeps hitting on the girl who tags along on the mission with him, he's totally awesome. So yeah, this movie was a hell of a lot better than the first, and I think the best part of The Expendables movies are the continuity is loose, like it's not necessary to watch the first movie to get the second movie so you can just skip the first movie and go straight for the second movie. This is The Expendables movie you have to see if you want to watch the franchise, so I hope you enjoy it just as much as I did, and I will see you guys and gals tomorrow when we wrap up the trilogy.