Spaghetti Kitchen: Year VII - The Reviews Awaken

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Countdown City

(Spoilers Below)

 

Spoiler

Given the current state of events in the world, I'd be lying if I said cop-based media didn't start to leave a weirder taste in my mouth. Not that I'm holding anything against this series, which had been produced long before this, and certainly not @4815162342. I just wanted to be upfront about this in case.

 

All of that being said, this is the part where I perhaps descend into hypocrisy.

 

Countdown City dives further into the new rules and standards of the world in which an apocalypse looms, and hope is the of the most scarce resources available. Desperate to cling to his old values and way of life, Hank Palace takes on the case of a missing person, embarking on a journey that will drive him further through a world where all is on the brink of collapse, particularly the shreds of decency and civilization that remain. Even utopian communes can hold their dark secrets, and vigilantes feel forced to take matters in their own hands against soldiers wiping out people on the belief they are doing good.

 

As @cookie mentioned in his review, the strength of the movie lies in Hank and Nico's relationship, with Dever getting a lot of juicier material to work with. Her desperation after uncovering a way to possibly set things right and prevent the asteroid's collision sets a powerful contrast with Hank, and drives her to a really powerful performance. However, I will disagree with him in how the mystery is perfunctory. As in the first film, a simple disappearance or murder may seem small, especially with the smaller scope of this solution, but it allows us to see larger puzzle pieces at play and watch the world morph together.

 

Mimi Leder takes the baton beautifully from Cary Fukunaga in crafting a world of despair where mysteries nonetheless still hide, while the whole cast continuously gets strong material to work with. I'm incredibly intrigued where all of this is going to end up. I think, ultimately, what makes this shine even more than the first film is how it balances the dread and near hopelessness of the world with genuine pockets of care, empathy, humor, and hope. There's a really powerful energy to all of this, and I think, overall, I liked it more than the first film. Also the dog is amazing, as others have said

 

Well done, @4815162342. Here's hoping you can knock it out of the park once again for World in Trouble.

 

9.4/10

 

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Temple Run

(Spoilers Below)

 

Spoiler

When @Blankments told me he was making a Temple Run movie, no less directed by James Gunn, I couldn't help but scoff. A movie based on a fucking smartphone app? Well, if LEGO can get a good movie, I suppose I ought to give this the benefit of the doubt.

 

Needless to say, it's explicitly and knowingly a rather silly movie, maybe even slightly parodic of "putting together a team" and "jungle adventure mission" movies. The cliched character relationships and plot points are all there, but get handled, at times, in a very amusingly tongue in cheek fashion. The argument between Cleo and Billy in the parking lot is one of the funniest moments in any Y7 movie so far. The characters, overall, aren't particularly inventive, but they get the job done in fun ways.

 

The fact that they don't hit the jungle (outside the prologue) until the final third doesn't seem to be sitting well with a few of the critics who have read the film so far, but it builds toward a climax that literally had me laughing my ass off. Holy fuck. They actually turn the app into the climax. It's like the entire punchline this movie had been building towards. Gunn gives this sequence breezy direction and completely is in on the joke. Nobody takes this project too seriously, and I have to say, it put a big smile on my face.

 

Clearly this isn't going to be an awards contender in CAYOM, but it has enough tongue-in-cheek charm and fun set pieces to set it apart from other similar tentpoles and offer a unique flavor. This flavor won't wow audiences, but damn if it's not an enjoyable way to spend a chilly day at the movies.

 

7.2/10

 

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@YourMother the Edgelord

 

 

 

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Spoiler

Atrocious rn

 

 

 

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Spoiler

It's not a CAYOM space saga unless there are lesbians.

 

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Spoiler

Basically Atrocious and Sinestro

 

 

Edited June 8, 2020 by Spaghetti

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Spoiler

This bit does hit a good bit different after current events.

 

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Spoiler

Cutting off fingers in a PG-13 movie...

 

[YM!]

7 minutes ago, Spaghetti said:

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Cutting off fingers in a PG-13 movie...

 

Spoiler

To be fair, we never see Sinestro cutting them off. Just the green flash and the hands missing the ring fingers of the incapacitated Red Lanterns.

 

Edited June 8, 2020 by YourMother the Edgelord

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Spoiler

wait this is the same climax setup as Detective Pikachu

 

[YM!]

6 minutes ago, Spaghetti said:

  Reveal hidden contents

wait this is the same climax setup as Detective Pikachu

 

Spoiler

 

[4815162342]

7 minutes ago, Spaghetti said:

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wait this is the same climax setup as Detective Pikachu

 

 

Not enough Psyduck

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Spoiler

Wow Rachel Weisz really lost her head there

 

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Green Lantern Corps: Home

(Spoilers Below)

 

Spoiler

A bit like with Countdown City, recent events may have shaped my perspective of the film, so do keep that in mind.

 

Green Lantern is shaping up to be @YourMother the Edgelord's primary bid in the world of CAYOM's space opera genre. After a first film that was enjoyable and inventive, if a bit much, a stronger, more sreamlined story in its sequels was promised, especially with much of the exposition set up. Of course, we begin to see some divergences, and that the world once set up might be a bit more complicated than we think.

 

Kicking off with a visually awesome locomotive-set action sequence, Hal, Sinestro, and their lantern friends (who are arguably superfluous but still are enjoyable to watch) discover a different kind of lantern - a far more notorious kind. This discovery brings them to Korugar (I keep mistaking it for Khouga) where Sinestro relives traumatic memories of the planet's racism - which is still very much seeped into its modern soul.

 

To that point, it's certainly not subtle about its allegory for racism, particularly towards African Americans. It does get a bit awkward with the main character being white, as others have said, but I won't hold it against YM since he's working with casting from a previous installment, and the secondary main character of that race is played by a black woman. The allergories are clear as day, even if turning Rachel Weisz' (granted, delightfully wicked and appropriately hammy) Queen Imparta into a legitimate supervillain feels a bit at odds with the idea that ordinary, everyday monsters perpetuate this racism. It's still admirable that a blockbuster is tackling these themes head on, perhaps most remarkably in how seeming superhero establishments (the Green Lanterns, in this case) really don't help to dismantle the root causes of this bigotry.

 

Enter Atrocious.

 

Hugh Jackman's Atrocious is fairly serviceable, but when he shines in a unique way, boy, does he shine. The Red Lanterns, driven by rage and a zest for justice, are compromised by Atrocious's simple nihilistic desires and manipulation. Why else would he look down on a slave trader than wantonly attack slaves as collateral damage? As Sinestro pulls away from Hal and fights to create something entirely new, he realizes that his old way is to be abandoned, and that it's time for something new for the galaxy. Fracturing his path from an establishment friend, he sets off on his own, potentially becoming a villain but in his eyes, and arguably in reality itself, seeking justice and helping the oppressed. Wait...this seems familiar.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5V9KwppMfs

 

Some of the flaws from the first film are still a bit present. There might be one action scene too many, and a few characters feel like dead weight. That being said, it's absolutely an improvement over the first film, and it sets up an incredibly promising and heartbreaking battle between two ideologies in the third film. Add good action, good chemistry, and good technical aspects and that's pretty strong across the board. I'm gonna keep this conclusion brief since we all gotta go to bed, but this is a strong and surprising blockbuster in many ways. Not perfect, but it'shaping up clearly that this saga has more tricks up its sleeve than the first might have suggested.

 

8.6/10

 

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And with that, I'm not doing any more reviews. I can offer a brief summary of thoughts on films once I drop all scores and the top 25, which will be done by the end of the next weekend, but otherwise, I'm going radio silent for a bit.

[YM!]

Thanks for the review

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15 minutes.

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Just like any of my output this year, these films ALMOST made it but just missed out.

 

Honorable Mentions

 

Spoiler

Matt Reeves's ATTACK ON TITAN

 

Sean Anders's THE EXCHANGE

 

David Fincher's IN THE DOGHOUSE

 

Pablo Larrain's TOUNGES

 

Duncan Jones's YANG

 

 

 

Edited June 13, 2020 by Spaghetti

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25.

 

 

Spoiler

Julia Hart's LOOPING

 

 

24.

 

Spoiler

Alex Garland's THE FIRST MONTH

 

23.

 

Spoiler

Steve Ahn and Chris Palmer's THE ENDS OF THE UNIVERSE

[YM!]

Hmmmm....