This film's main problem is that it doesn't make any sense. He's trying to be David Lynch and failing. I don't mind the "transgressive" routine, it's that it ultimately doesn't really go anywhere. Ambitious, but ultimately... meh.
Reviews
7 Reviews
Wolf Warrior
(2015)
Awesome action film and a nice little look at the "other side"
20 October 2021
Awesome action film and a nice little look at the "other side" - where the baddies are Western and speak English, and the goodes are Chinese and call each other "Comrade". I liked it anyway, and here is my review:
This awesome action flick has all the classic tropes and cliches we've come to expect - the goodie who is a bit of a wild card but always comes up trumps, the baddie who is a complete dick, the baddie's boss who wants to destroy all of China by creating a bioweapon (or something, I dunno), the homo-erotic showdown, the techno-death spunking gadgetry and cool war machines, the deadline to kill all of the baddies in an hour and a half or the General will bomb the crap out of everything - it's got it all!
The Wolf Warriors are China's bestest and specialest of all the Special Forces - Very Special Forces, if you like. They recruit only the baddest of the bad-asses, in the case of our hero directly from the military prison, where he's languishing for killing a bad guy against orders. Their boss is a hot lady and they have respect for her, because she keeps them in line, and is awesome! And the baddies are, ohh, they're so bad, such bad lads, that they broke into China just to... but that would be telling, let's just say it's to do with the whole reason our hero is in the Wolf Warriors in the first place OMG!
If you go in expecting Tropic Thunder levels of silliness, you'll actually be quite pleasantly surprised by how not stupid this film is. I mean, it's propaganda, but so was Rambo III, sod it. The baddies are bad, the goodies are good, and the action is awesome. Not to be missed! (as long as you like stupid action films)
This awesome action flick has all the classic tropes and cliches we've come to expect - the goodie who is a bit of a wild card but always comes up trumps, the baddie who is a complete dick, the baddie's boss who wants to destroy all of China by creating a bioweapon (or something, I dunno), the homo-erotic showdown, the techno-death spunking gadgetry and cool war machines, the deadline to kill all of the baddies in an hour and a half or the General will bomb the crap out of everything - it's got it all!
The Wolf Warriors are China's bestest and specialest of all the Special Forces - Very Special Forces, if you like. They recruit only the baddest of the bad-asses, in the case of our hero directly from the military prison, where he's languishing for killing a bad guy against orders. Their boss is a hot lady and they have respect for her, because she keeps them in line, and is awesome! And the baddies are, ohh, they're so bad, such bad lads, that they broke into China just to... but that would be telling, let's just say it's to do with the whole reason our hero is in the Wolf Warriors in the first place OMG!
If you go in expecting Tropic Thunder levels of silliness, you'll actually be quite pleasantly surprised by how not stupid this film is. I mean, it's propaganda, but so was Rambo III, sod it. The baddies are bad, the goodies are good, and the action is awesome. Not to be missed! (as long as you like stupid action films)
Metal Hurlant Chronicles
(2012–2014)
Crap Twilight Zone knockoff (mild spoilers)
24 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Metal Hurlant (English Language title: Heavy Metal) was great in comic form, but I fear it doesn't take to the screen so well. All the twist endings are so obvious - It Was Earth! It's Hitler As A Boy! The Humans Were The Evil Aliens All Along! That I'm not sure I can even give a spoiler warning. Oh, go on then. There are a couple of gems, like the space heroes who end up knocking each other off over oxygen and the knights who have to fight to be king of a post-technological feudal dystopia - but generally it's rubbish. The main thing the comics had going for them was the art, without the art it's a little... sad.
It does have a lot of style though, and retains the titillating hot nearly naked people of the original, which makes it a bit better, but not much. Avoid unless you are a fan. (I'm a fan)
It does have a lot of style though, and retains the titillating hot nearly naked people of the original, which makes it a bit better, but not much. Avoid unless you are a fan. (I'm a fan)
Bliss
(I) (2021)
Don't listen to the critics, if you like Virtual Reality Simulation movies you'll LOVE this
20 August 2021
OK, for a start, I liked the 13th floor but thought it could have been better. I liked the first half hour or so of the Matrix but thought they'd horribly screwed up the rest of it.
This film is AWESOME. People who don't like it, basically have no imagination. I can't say too much or I'll spoil it, but what other film would have Owen Wilson (Zoolander, Loki), Salma Hayek (sorry, not a fan so I don't know), AND cameos from Bill Nye and Slavoj Zizek?!?
In a way it's the anti-Matrix. It asks questions about interpersonal manipulation, addiction, mental illness, and simulated reality in ways that other films don't even begin to consider. There's a scene where you think "Is she gaslighting him? Is this what's happening?" And then you go "OK, fine, so that explains a lot", and then you're right back to the start! Somehow it shows you the mindset of a messed up junkie AND the mindset of a spoiled citizen of a futuristic utopia - and they're both equally real!
If you're not a complete moron and you like simulation movies, go out and watch it, but if you're a basic betch and just want to watch stupid hackneyed Hollywood capesh*t, don't bother. Peace out!
This film is AWESOME. People who don't like it, basically have no imagination. I can't say too much or I'll spoil it, but what other film would have Owen Wilson (Zoolander, Loki), Salma Hayek (sorry, not a fan so I don't know), AND cameos from Bill Nye and Slavoj Zizek?!?
In a way it's the anti-Matrix. It asks questions about interpersonal manipulation, addiction, mental illness, and simulated reality in ways that other films don't even begin to consider. There's a scene where you think "Is she gaslighting him? Is this what's happening?" And then you go "OK, fine, so that explains a lot", and then you're right back to the start! Somehow it shows you the mindset of a messed up junkie AND the mindset of a spoiled citizen of a futuristic utopia - and they're both equally real!
If you're not a complete moron and you like simulation movies, go out and watch it, but if you're a basic betch and just want to watch stupid hackneyed Hollywood capesh*t, don't bother. Peace out!
Good Kill
(2014)
Grim, powerful stuff.
27 February 2018
I had very low expectations of this film, expecting a sanitized Hollywood "product" with a toothy pilot bravely quitting his job on the one freak occasion that he's ordered to do something morally questionable.
It wasn't like that at all. In fact, he's ordered to do something morally questionable almost on a daily basis. And he does it. Every time. And then he goes home to his wife. Day after day after day. The film bears a strong resemblance to newspaper articles I've read about drone pilots - who reportedly, do indeed go off the rails due to the corrosive nature of the work, ie, either killing from a safe distance or watching powerlessly as allied troops are attacked themselves (by IEDs - the closest thing the enemy has to drones).
This film does a great job of depicting the disintegration of Ethan Hawkes' mind as he's continually ordered to commit what are, by any definition of the word, war crimes. Even if you still agree with the war, by the end of the film you'll be thinking "This is not a job for a normal human being. This is a job for psychopaths or possibly artificial intelligences".
It wasn't like that at all. In fact, he's ordered to do something morally questionable almost on a daily basis. And he does it. Every time. And then he goes home to his wife. Day after day after day. The film bears a strong resemblance to newspaper articles I've read about drone pilots - who reportedly, do indeed go off the rails due to the corrosive nature of the work, ie, either killing from a safe distance or watching powerlessly as allied troops are attacked themselves (by IEDs - the closest thing the enemy has to drones).
This film does a great job of depicting the disintegration of Ethan Hawkes' mind as he's continually ordered to commit what are, by any definition of the word, war crimes. Even if you still agree with the war, by the end of the film you'll be thinking "This is not a job for a normal human being. This is a job for psychopaths or possibly artificial intelligences".
Eye in the Sky
(2015)
A film about the Trolley Problem
2 February 2018
You know that philosophical question - What if you could save five people in the path of a runaway train by switching the points, but this would lead to one person being killed? This film dramatizes that problem brilliantly.
Terrorists are preparing to strike, and we're all ready to drop a bomb on them when a sweet little girl from Central Casting wanders into the line of fire. Cue bickering, buck passing and nail biting suspense as the protagonists try to work out what to do. And this film is brilliant at asking: What would you do? Would you drop the bomb, trade one life for eighty and accept responsibility for killing an innocent? Would you wait, let the terrorists strike and cynically win the propaganda war?
The most terrifying thing about this film are the implied questions. This is just a film, it says - the protagonists are idealized Hollywood characters who genuinely want to save lives. How much worse is it in the real world, where people aren't nearly as nice? How many times has this happened this month, this week, today? And - how long before the enemy gets hold of this sort of technology?
A thought provoking, disturbing film that left me with the sense that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.
Terrorists are preparing to strike, and we're all ready to drop a bomb on them when a sweet little girl from Central Casting wanders into the line of fire. Cue bickering, buck passing and nail biting suspense as the protagonists try to work out what to do. And this film is brilliant at asking: What would you do? Would you drop the bomb, trade one life for eighty and accept responsibility for killing an innocent? Would you wait, let the terrorists strike and cynically win the propaganda war?
The most terrifying thing about this film are the implied questions. This is just a film, it says - the protagonists are idealized Hollywood characters who genuinely want to save lives. How much worse is it in the real world, where people aren't nearly as nice? How many times has this happened this month, this week, today? And - how long before the enemy gets hold of this sort of technology?
A thought provoking, disturbing film that left me with the sense that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.
Pink Floyd: The Wall
(1982)
Brilliant psychology. This film had me in tears.
22 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Pink Floyd: The Wall definitely improves with age. It isn't just a great depiction of one mans' descent into madness and the world that created him and a fascinating takedown of narcissistic rock stars and neo-Fascists alike, looking back it is also an insight into the Baby Boomer generation's mindset. Raised in the long shadow of the Greatest Generation, messed up by parents themselves scarred by war, many Baby Boomers do seem obsessively self-protective and self-centred (it's no coincidence that Trumps' signature project is a wall).
What strikes me most about The Wall though, is the way it almost unintentionally shows us just how violent the 20th century was. From the wars that ultimately create the Pink Floyd character, to the corporal punishment at school, various riots and neo-Fascist insurrections depicted, Pinks' violence against women and even the casual racism of the old films he constantly watches - the 20th was an incredibly brutal century and this is, if nothing else, a piece of 20th century art. That we can see this shows us that things have got a lot better! An insight into narcissism, an historical artifact, and above all a complete mind f**k, there's a lot in this film. Don't watch it under the influence though - you will miss too much!
What strikes me most about The Wall though, is the way it almost unintentionally shows us just how violent the 20th century was. From the wars that ultimately create the Pink Floyd character, to the corporal punishment at school, various riots and neo-Fascist insurrections depicted, Pinks' violence against women and even the casual racism of the old films he constantly watches - the 20th was an incredibly brutal century and this is, if nothing else, a piece of 20th century art. That we can see this shows us that things have got a lot better! An insight into narcissism, an historical artifact, and above all a complete mind f**k, there's a lot in this film. Don't watch it under the influence though - you will miss too much!
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