Monday, August 17, 2015

Hellboy

#note.//
Watched it again, this time with Lil on Netflix.

I couldn't even remember that there was a girl.love interest! It that bad?! The movie came out in 2004 and I must have watched it somewhere on Netflix?!? Did I rent it on DVD or watched it on one of my vacation movie binge?

#actor.//
Ron Perlman as Hellboy. He was also the Beast in the TV show Beauty and the Beast!

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

#note.//
Watched at the theater with Lil @Red Rock Casino/Theater - Las Vegas

This was a Guy Ritchie.director movie-- fun and stylish. I loved the split screen, multi-panel action sequences. It had the same feel as Lock, Stock and two smoking Barrel.<link> The required torture scene was uncomfortable for me because it was probably historically real, but the movie quickly adds some dark humor to bring us back into fantasy spy land again! Well done.
 
Pacing was excellent.
Dollops of semi-naked girl and well-dressed spies was vintage.
There was no ultra-violence and minimal blood.
Nothing complicated here, but enjoyable to watch.

A good wholesome, fairy-tale family movie about WWII and the Cold war!

I don't really have time to read reviews by the "critics" so here's my reaction to the short Google blurps of some reviews:

Though I strive to set aside all prejudices when the lights go down, I had a hunch that The Man From U.N.C.L.E. would be excruciating. Well, it turns out to be absolutely delightful.
David Edelstein·Vulture
CORRECT. It was enjoyable for JoJo Brand.

Note to millennials: No one stops to text or take a selfie. You've been warned.
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
INCORRECT. Blurp is too hip for me to understand. Rolling Stone is quickly becoming irrelevantly hip.

Though the pic is solidly made, its elegant vintage flavor simply doesn't feel modern enough to cut through the tough summer competition.
Peter Debruge·Variety
INCORRECT. It's near perfect combination of vintage feel, beautiful people, innocent flirtatious sexual tension, well-done basic action sequences, and mainstream stylized violence will cut through the typical summer competition.

CONCLUSION: If I were to generalize base on a very small sample size, I would say the the older magazine reviews are out of touch with JoJo Brand.

#actor.//
I didn't recognize any of the stars, but that is typical these days when I try not to remember unless they pop up in another context.

Who are: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander?!?

Saturday, August 1, 2015

I Robot

#note.//
The only thing of note is that the movie takes a radically different view on future robots. Asimov always viewed them differently<link>. We've changed them into killers.

 #actor.//
Will Smith as ...oh I don't remember, the usual action character he plays. Now he gets to fight and destroy cool looking robots from Terminator... no, more like the liquid robots from Terminator 2<link>


Terminator

#note.//
A classic where Arnold is still bad but good.  How many times have we watched this movie?

#actor.//
Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator.
Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connors

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

#note.//
Tongue-in-cheek fun flick. Very good stylized violence on top of classic movie memes.
The super-spy.
Killing the dog, relative, or twin brother to pass the test.


 #actor.//

Legally Blond

#note.//
For want it is, it does an excellent job. I liked it, and just as Joe T. would say Billy Madison<link> is a classic movie, I would say Legally Blond is a classic movie

#actor.//
Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods a smart, SoCal blond going to Harvard to get her man, but finds a career and the-other-man instead. She hopes to eventually marry that man, and have the quintessential modern woman's life.

Ex Machina

#note.//
Not much really new Sci-Fi, but has a beautiful killer robot. It's basically a killer robot movie with some nice acting, sets, special effects, and wanting to explore the many possible outcomes of Turing's thoughts on AI, but we end up with basically a killer robot movie.

It reminds me of how we've changed Asimov's benevolent robots<link> into a Will Smith killer ones in-- I, Robot<link>.

 #actor.//

Tig

#note.//
A Netflix documentary on the still ongoing life of Tig Notaro. She lost a Mom a freak accident, got cancer, did "legendary" standup routine just after losing her Mom and being diagnosed with cancer, fought and so far beat cancer, and has now a hot red-headed girlfriend who reminds me of her Mom.


Lucy

#note.//
Faulty science and neuroscience but OK movie. We actually use 100% of our brain. It makes no sense to say we only use 10% of our brain. What does the rest of the brain do then?!

If only drugs or artificial hormones could turn you into a demigod. What was stopping her from destroying the world on a whim?

The same problem as, The Survivors.Star Trek: The Next Generation.e3.<link>
Kevin is an immortal Douwd.

The movie had no tense once she became demi-god Lucy. A superwoman with no fault, no kryptonite.


#actor.//
Scarlett Johansson as Lucy.

Mad Max: Fury Road

#note.//
I watched it at movie theater with C. One of the most action dense movie I've seen in a long time. The magic is it is so well paced. I didn't get bored, and I didn't get overloaded. Just enough narrative to understand and motivate, but not too much to slow down the movie.



#actor.//
Charlize Theron as hero

The Princess Bride

#note.//
A classic! Mike F. would be watching this in our house at UCLA.

How many times did Tom R. and I watch it at our house in Brentwood?

So many meme quotes:

Have fun storming the castle!
You think it'll work?
It'd take a miracle.

No more rhymes, I mean it.
Anybody want a peanut.

Inconceivable!

My name is Inigo Montoya, prepare to die!

Marwage.

Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, "Dear God! What is that thing," will echo in your perfect ears.

#actor.//
oh you know them all by now.




30 Rock

#note.//
The classic TV series which I've watched mostly. I'm sure I've watched the first 3-4 seasons in their entirety and the finale. C. and J. would have this playing as background noise on their laptoptv. There's a wealth of short meme quotes there!

I would watch this rather than Friends.

#actor.//
Tina Fey as Liz Lemon
Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy