Morieris @ The Movies | The 2019 Version

[Morieris]

Because I really enjoyed doing this last year. Only thing is, I saw a lot less movies this year, but I still want to do this.

 

I don't think there's going to be a definite order...or maybe there will be and I'll just post a list at the end.

 

January was a moot month. Saw nothing.

 

February...

 

This movie is distinct for:

 

• Being the last movie our fancypants theater played in D-Box before it replaced the chairs with reserved leather seating.
• The 1st of 2 movies with preexisting source material I had never read or seen before.
• Probably my favorite movie of the year STILL so far

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

Alita: Battle Angel is not a movie I expected to like or even had a great interest in, but Atom gave me a 5$ ticket for ANY movie and welp, what's getting a 20$ ticket for 5$ between friends, eh.

 

There are bits where it gets a teeny bit long in the tooth near the end, but unlike Pacific Rim, it knows it's almost overstaying its welcome and hurries up.

I'm not going to pretend that every character was interesting, or well fleshed out, or even worth seeing - The love interest. And his friends. They were clearly not set up to be the non-entities they were, and yet here we are. Whenever he popped back up, I got annoyed. It's fine enough seeing Alita explore with her adoptive father and even fight other cyborgs more than it is this sad attempt to draw out her humanity via some dope.

 

Also, god, this movie is beautiful. The production value and design alone... and the CGI on all the cyborgs.

 

I don't want to be that person who goes "It made an anime / a manga accessible!" because no, it's accessible if you take the time to read it...but it did kind of shove it into storytelling styles I'm used to comprehending. I find nothing wrong with anime or manga but it never quite held my attention to finish more than a handful of the shorter ones.

 

I genuinely hope Disney finds it within their pocketbooks to create a sequel. This really had me delighted from start to finish, which is not something a lot of movies can say.

 

 

 

[Morieris]

Welcome back. Our next film....

 

• Is not something I expected us to ever get.
• The first of 2 movies starring this actress.
• Really straightforward, barebones, and pretty enjoyable.

 

Spoiler

This is probably the most unremarkable movie on this list, and it's perfectly fine. A biopic about a wrestler? Sure. Straightforward. I really enjoyed the stark color tones of everything at first - dull and muted. Florence is a darling and I want the best for her. There really is truly nothing to say about it besides 'Fine'.

 

I'm more enthused about the next movie.

 

[Morieris]

How do you follow up your first feature film - That netted you several important Oscar noms, including Best Picture - ?

 

 

Spoiler

I don't know, but Us is what we got.

 

That sounds a lot more negative than I intended - It's no 'Get Out', where you really didn't know what was happening and had to rewatch several times to catch the hints.

 

Most people saw the twist in Us very quickly.

 

Spoiler

Said twist being the switched doppelgangers of Red/Adelaide

 

I didn't.  I have no idea how I didn't. And when it happened, I was more disappointed that the film wasn't as violent as I had been led to believe. You've got scissors, stab someone in the temple.

 

It's an admirable effort, though I'm not sure what kind of social class message was trying to come through with it. It's appropriately creepy (at points), and attention to detail is there. It's shot nicely, that's something I was very impressed with.

 

And of friggin' course I would love Lupita to get another Oscar nom for playing 2 characters. Or is it one character? YMMV, just get her a nom. This is not her only horror movie of the year (Which I nearly forgot until right now), but this is definitely the biggest challenge of her career so far - with the best payoff.

 

(Also, does 'Anthem' count as an original score when it has vocals, even in another language? Does 'Pas De Deux' count when it lifts so heavily from another song?)

 

 

[Morieris]

This is probably my second favorite of the year, and my favorite of the franchise so far.

 

 

Spoiler

There was something so terribly delightful about Shazam!, probably the mix of superheroism with the assholeness of children of the current day. There were moments I was laughing for a good 30 seconds after the joke had finished.

 

The humor was right up my alley, and the light moments are contrasted pretty sharply by...well, the opening sequence. That was seriously crazy, I was going "Is this the right movie?"

 

It's not grimdark for the sake of it, but it comes naturally from Billy feeling unwanted and trying to find a place in the world. It stopped trying so damn hard to be the pure antithesis to Marvel and just...I would say 'flowed with the material', but I'm not familiar with it besides 'Was called Captain Marvel'.

 

  I even managed to forget how slightly irritating I find Zachary Levi.

 

Also - The stinger teased Mister Mind. Love it for that alone.

 

Edited December 26, 2019 by Morieris

[Morieris]

Okay, we get 2 movies today because A) I try to do these in order of when I watched them, not when they released, and b)

 

 

I forgot about this one:

Spoiler

I think the moral of THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART is possibly the best one of an animated movie this decade - Don't let the pressure of growing up turn you into a macho douchebag.

 

It just takes so long to get to that point, and there's pre filler of a bunch of nonsense. The music is pretty damn good, especially Tiffany Haddish's Not Evil.

 

But it really left next to no impression on me. And I HATE to say it, because the original is one of my FAVORITE movies ever. But 5 years and 2 other LEGO movies later that diluted the brand...way too late for me personally.

 

And #2

 

 

Spoiler

I've seem mild criticism of POKEMON: DETECTIVE PIKACHU - since Pokemon is the most lucrative franchise of all time, and it's from Japan, why was there not a Japanese protagonist?

 

That's fair. As far as I know, Justice Smith isn't Japanese.  Ken Wantanabe has a bit role.

 

But...I was happy to see that, if the lead couldn't be Japanese, at least he wasn't a white guy. Like, hi, I'm black, have been for nearly 27 years now, and for 20 of those years, I have loved Pokemon*. So it was nice to see a tiny sliver of semi-representation. Even if they did not have my favorite Pokemon in the movie

 

The Pokemon border between "Well, that's about as good as a psychic duck and walking cabbage can come out" and really spot on, and thankfully Pikachu himself is spot on.

 

He is ADORABLE and I LOVE HIM.

 

Honestly, I know different studios, but how did Pikachu come out so much better than Sonic 1.0 and ... all of CATS?

 

This was all filmed on film, which contributed to the gritty, noir-y feel, but I wish it had been a bit brighter.

 

All of that to say, this plot is oddly convoluted in the points where it doesn't tie back to the stories of the original Trilogy of games. And the fact that they tied it into Gen 1 but didn't rely on it? Brilliant, I loved it, but I still think it was a bit too slow, the novelty ran out pretty quickly considering we only saw a handful of 'mon (understandable).

 

It's a very good start.

 

*Still don't care enough about Sword or Shield tho...

 

[Morieris]

First he's blue, then there's two¹:

 

 

Spoiler

I too had reservations about the live action remake of Aladdin for a multitude of reasons - Guy Ritchie? Dude's only made one decent movie in his life*.

 

Will Smith? Well, we can't get Robin back, but, it's a strange choice.

 

The general sterility of most live action adaptations?

 

Personally, my fears were put to rest. While it's not particularly perfect, it's by far my favorite of the adaptations.

 

I do think it loses a bit of the spirit of the original by suddenly making Jasmine empowered. She was always empowered, but now it's so overt and heavy-handed...all to have her be pretty mute in the climax after singing how she won't be silenced. They give her a female friend (nice!), but most of their conversations are still about Aladdin (eh.)

 

It does feel that there was quite a bit filler to stretch this out because they could not rely on the limitlessness of animation. It does threaten to overstay it's welcome. Some of the CGI is a little iffy. Okay, a lot of it is. But it doesn't detract terribly for me bc it's mostly in non entity characters like Rajah and Iago and Abu.

 

Let's talk about the music - While he's not a natural singer, I do think Will Smith carries a capable tune. I really like Arabian Nights and Friend Like Me sung by him. Naomi is a trained singer and yet still sounds pitchy. And Mena is okay.

 

Also, remember how people were hyped for Jafar and he ended up being a non-entity? Heh. Heheheheh. How about that.

 

 

_{* Man From Uncle fans, do not interact.}

 

¹I did not actually see Gemini Man

[Morieris]

In the words of someone else:

Quote

 

 I'm glad Ari Aster is also coming for my waking hours. If anyone could ruin daylight for me it's him.

 

 

 

Spoiler

I hadn't seen Hereditary before this, but I knew about the twist.

"If that's what this dude is rolling with, well, that's kind of corny, guess this isn't going to be a big deal, why not try Midsommar?"

 

It certainly gave me the violence I had been expecting from Us. My most prevalent thought was not "Will they escape?", it was "What's the next bit of imagery I'm going to have to turn away from.", in a good way.

 

You can tell there were bits cut out, despite how the film still flowed pretty well as a whole.

 

You're not left with a sense of triumph, but of abject dread. I'd like to watch the director's cut one of these days.

 

I still haven't see Hereditary, but I did see that scene.

 

[Morieris]

Talk about going Into The Unknown:

 

Spoiler

I walked into Ad Astra knowing it wouldn't be bombastic like Interstellar. I was not prepared for how slow and contemplative it truly was. The slowness is fine, but at 2hr 3m....Could have shaved about 15 off.

 

It certainly is pretty. I don't begrudge it for apparently sparking something in a lot of Film Twitter Men to actually feel An Emotion and not be so wrapped up in themselves to the detriment of the people around them.

 

The reunion was subdued and that's totally fine. What do you get when you run into your murderous space father? A murderous space father still. Ok. This isn't Return of the Jedi.

 

[Morieris]

 

Spoiler

I notice a lot of comedies with children these days have to be subversive in a 'ooh the kids are CRASS!' way for the sake of it these days, in a 'Rage Against the 00's' kind of way (Remember Cheaper by The Dozen?), but something about it felt oddly irritating here.

 

The writing is really my only issue, the concept, the idea, the performances in Little Monsters are fine. I especially love Lupita in this, and seeing Josh Gad play against the only type of him I know (coming in the next post), is hilarious for the first 30 minutes.

 

 

Spoiler

"Parasite is wild!"

 

Perhaps if you've never seen another South Korean film. It's still very good, but I find the second half to be less engrossing than the first. I still root for the family, and it is telling but not surprising to see how the 'benevolent rich people' facade is stripped away.

 

[Morieris]

Where the north wind meets the sea,

 

Spoiler

It's been over a month and I'm still baffled at the choices Frozen II made.

 

I'm not fan #1 of the first film, and I felt this one presented interesting ideas but certainly wasn't compelling and interesting. It wasted a lot of time walking, and the resolutions for things ("Why does Elsa have powers?") were wholly unfulfilling ("Because the weather wanted to spite your grandfather despite him dying long before you were born!")

 

Also, let's be honest, the original film might as well not have happened because no one has really learned a damn thing. Elsa still isolates people, Anna is still terribly clingy, and Kristoff...well, he's a non entity downgrade, which is a pity.

 

The only thing besides the visuals that improves is the music. Brief rundown of the songs I like in Frozen I:

 

1.  Frozen Heart
2. For The First Time in Forever
3. The bit in Let it Go when Elsa goes "And I'll rise like the break of dawn"

 

Songs I like in Frozen II:

1. All Is found
2. Show Yourself
3. Into the Unknown
4. The Next Right Thing
5. Lost in The Woods

 

The music is so much better and people not seeing that...ok, art is subjective, but subjectively, ya'll don't have taste. I'm kidding.

 

 

To the visuals, these movies only have about 2 color schemes - ice blue and dark blue in the first one, and a lot of purple and red in the second one. It's fine...

 

The shining point of this movie is the water fight with Elsa and the Nokk. Absolutely amazing. It is beautiful and worth the price of a 5$ admission alone.

 

I am eager to rewatch it, because I feel that there is something good here that I just need to pay attention to. Elsa's revelation is such a letdown that I can't get over it, and I want to hope there's something I'm missing.

 

There's a murder full of mystery

 

 

 

Spoiler

I saw Knives Out after seeing E9, and...well, I enjoyed the humanity of the characters in KO more, even though I feel there were too many and no one really shined a ton except Daniel Craig and his amazing accent.

 

I feel there were twists just to be twists, but I also do not feel as if whodunnits are necessarily my genre of choice, much like spy movies.

 

I'm sure there's one WDI movie I enjoy...somewhere. & I didn't hate this, as there are a lot of small moments I laughed outloud at  ("he is LITERALLY a nAZI!", the slapfight), and douchebag Chris Evans is funny.

 

 

 

[Morieris]

Quote

Spoiler

So essentially Wilhelm Defoe spends the entire movie negging Pattison while calling him pretty, pushing booze on him, getting him fall down drunk, then high on booze made from pitch, finally tries to kiss him...

 

 

Spoiler

I felt The Lighthouse was very artsy for the sake of it -T hings happen because why not, there's an air of mystery in it, just roll with it - and it's completely fine. A lot of things repeat with growing intensity and then it comes to a head akin to putting mentos in a Coke bottle. Kind of gushed out. Ended abruptly. Would watch again.

 

Spoiler

Now I want a redo with a love triangle of two sailors and a mermaid, but the sailor has to pick between his coworker or the random mermaid.

 

 

Edited January 2, 2020 by Morieris

[Morieris]

 

 

Spoiler

I am not familiar with the Broadway musical of Cats, and after this...I'm more interested.

 

The big kicker is - If the characters didn't look so terrifying, this would be kind of okay. Also the soundmixing for the first 10 minutes is piss poor. The music is not terrible (I really like the Skimbleshanks song) and I think JHud's performance of Memory is very good.

 

Even Taylor's short musical bit was fitting and good until (see above).

 

The production value is quite good, love the vibrancy and design of the environments, and the dancing was great.

 

It's just...eurgh, the characters.

 

[Morieris]

Last but...um, yeah, okay.

 

 

Spoiler

• Jannah and Zorii are strictly here for 'No homo'.
• You can really feel how there was no strict story. TFA sets up a possible Stormtrooper rebellion, just to ignore it (and most of the non white characters) because fans got super mad.
• I wish they hadn't clung so hard onto the original trilogy and let these new characters exist as they are.
• I heard a reviewer (Korey of Double Toasted) talk about Rey best: She's not a character. She's a vehicle for the past.
• Palpatine's return felt so half assed and fandomy that it was all downhill from 'The Dead Speak!'
• Nice to finally see our TRIO acting like a TRIO.
• I enjoyed Rey and Poe's bickering.
• This is the only time I liked C3-PO.

 

This movie made me so tired. I have no interest in rewatching it or thinking about it too much, but I also don't feel horrendously against it. It's just there. It's too long and too pointless.

 

Same time...later this year!