John Wick dressed in a Santa suit! Violent Night is an action thriller dark comedy. It lives up to it's name with lots of brutal violence, creative kills and lots of blood. The action sequences are well-made, inventive and over the top. The goofy dumb humor might not be funny for some but I thought it was hilarious.
The setup and introduction to all the characters was really well-done and it felt flawless. David Harbour is perfectly entertaining in the role of a killer Santa and Leah Brady as Trudy brings some heartfelt moments to an otherwise violent and bleak story - It was the perfect balance. The villains were mainly one-dimensional but very entertaining nonetheless. Their deaths were all well-thought and hilarious. I would of prefered less family stuff and a lot more of Santa's backstory... although it's fine if they're keeping that for a sequel.
My favorite part was the Home Alone for adults scene it's what elevated the movie to great for me. The movie did reference a lot of movies which i'm not too sure if it's a positive or not. I do think it should of been more of it's own.
Definitely one of the better experiences at the theater this year people were laughing a lot. Without a doubt a new Christmas classic I can see myself watching this yearly along with Krampus, they would make a great double feature together. If you're in the mood for an action packed silly holiday fun this is a real candy cane treat!
An underwhelming effort from a company that seems to have fallen behind the curve. Creatively it’s pulling too much from Zootopia and Inside Out while not adding much of its own flavour, almost every choice in this movie is predictable. Sure, the racism/prejudice commentary is more aggressive now that we’ve entered the post-Trump era (seriously, you should go back and look at how Zootopia handled that same topic, it feels quaint now), but besides that it doesn’t bring much to the table. The worldbuilding lacks the clever intricacies of Zootopia, the pretty animation style has some unique textures but it’s no Across the Spider-verse, and emotionally it feels more like Illumination than Pixar. It’s a very straightforward, cheesy romcom with a formulaic set-up for the main characters (think Notting Hill, Crazy Rich Asians, and countless other movies your mom loves), some ok comedy (bad puns notwithstanding) and a boring adventure (fixing pipelines, how exciting). The score’s pretty interesting because it seems to pull a lot from Indian folk music, on the other hand the songs sound generic and overproduced. Overall, I’d easily recommend this over some other animated films from this year, as this does genuinely try as a movie. However, that doesn’t change that I expect both children and adults to be mostly bored by this.
4.5/10
Nothing to say really besides: that’s how you do it!
This has without a doubt the most impressive stunts of the franchise, and it really knows how to use its characters and challenge them. There’s a lot of propulsive energy, lush cinematography and great editing. Lorne Balfe does a great Hans Zimmer impression, and Chris McQuarrie does a great Chris Nolan impression. Alright maybe I’m oversimplifying there, because I have to commend McQuarrie for doing another stylistic reinvention of the franchise, the cinematography and general feel aren’t just that of Rogue Nation 2.0. I’m not even sure if the constant evolution of this franchise comes from a place of creative ambition or commercial opportunity, but at least it keeps the films fresh. Some of its core elements will always remain the same, however. For example, the plot’s once again just a vehicle for all the juicy stuff. You could call it out for being generic or basic, but they find so much creativity and fun in these tropes that it becomes very entertaining (intrigue, the mask sequences, the craziness and constantly rising intensity). Sure, there’s a very predictable twist at the end of the second act, but more often than not, it managed to surprise me. Henry Cavill is a great new addition, bringing back Rebecca Ferguson was the best choice they could’ve made, and Pegg & Rhames remain the reliable anchors that add some heart & humour. It’s all exceptional stuff, it could very well go down as the best action franchise in history if the next films stick the landing.
9/10
If you’d ask me what the highlights of the previous 2 Ant-Man movies are, I’d probably answer: I don’t remember much about them, but I liked those quirky scenes narrated by Michael Peña and the creative use of shrinking powers during the set pieces. For as forgettable as both movies are, at least I still remember the set piece with the train in the first movie, or the kitchen fight from the second movie. With this movie, I'm already having trouble remembering any specifics, because all of those typical Edgar Wright touches have been erased in favor of being a big CGI extravaganza. So, allow me to do a general breakdown of the three acts instead.
1st act: We get a set-up that's similar to Spiderman: No Way Home, which means it’s in a hurry to get to the main dish, making every main character look like an irresponsible dumbass in the process. Once we get to the quantum realm, we're met with a lot of cringe comedy. The design of the world is fine, it feels like a mashup of prequel era Star Wars, Avatar, The Fifth Element and Spy Kids, not like an original creation. A stronger, visionary director probably would've made a big difference here, or at least one who knows how to use the volume stages, because that might’ve avoided the Spy Kids comparisons.
2nd act: Jonathan Majors arrives to do some actual acting, and he somehow pulls it off despite the hammy, pseudo-intellectual lines given to him by the script. Michelle Pfeiffer also gets some time to shine, when she's on the screen with Majors it feels like the movie actually comes to life for a brief second. Still, the scenes with Kang feel tonally inconsistent with the rest of the movie, and I’m not sold on the idea of him being the Avengers level threat we’ve been waiting for. When it comes to the other actors, most of them are given nothing interesting to do, the supposed co-lead of this movie (according to the title) included. I don't like picking on younger actors, but it needs to be said that Emma Fuhrmann expressed more emotion during her 10 second appearance as Cassie Lang in Avengers: Endgame than Kathryn Newton did here. In terms of story, this portion of the movie is all about set-up and clunky exposition as delivered through monologues. One of the characters even gets introduced with his own 'previously on Ant-Man' recap, which I find insulting and shows what little faith this studio has in its audience. Besides, it probably would’ve been better to cut this character, because his inclusion is easily one of Marvel's worst creative decisions (the design and visual effects are laughable). Generally I'd say this act is pretty boring, and occasionally embarrassing.
3rd act: The movie decides it wants to be Aquaman instead, so we're getting an extended battle sequence of stuff fighting other stuff, with plenty of flashes, lasers and more stuff. It's big, it's loud, and I check out. Every cheesy crowdpleaser deserves its fair share of deus ex machina moments, but this movie spams the action movie trope of 'our main character is in peril only to get saved at the very last moment' to death at this point. Furthermore, the cringe comedy makes a big return, with Corey Stoll delivering a line so bad that it will become a meme (you'll know once you see the movie). More punchy stuff, more pew pew, more 'comedy', and thankfully the movie finally decides it has wasted enough of my time. We get a final montage that includes the first good joke of the movie, and the credits roll. Nothing is achieved, absolutely nothing. This is a cynically conceived advertisement that does not deserve your time.
3/10
It does not happen often these days that an anime, or any tv show for that matter manages to get such a tight grip on me. But Made in Abyss manages to do it with flying colors.
For me Made in Abyss is the complete package. The story is captivating, the characters are very likeable, the music is perfect for setting the overall feeling you are supposed to get, and above all, that feeling for wanting to experience the unknown, to venture out into the debts of the abyss (no pun intended) and that feeling you get when watching this anime in your underbelly of yearning for something more, and to press on, no matter the consequences or the dangers is in my opinion one of the absolute cornerstones of this anime that makes this a masterpiece!
The story starts off very innocent and cute. And from the first few episodes you might think that this anime might be just a light anime because of how young the children are, with some comic relief. But if you keep watching that you will see that with every episode as Rico and Reg go deeper into the Abyss the story gets more darker and more disturbing.
To be frank, i did not fully understand when Rico and Reg said goodbye to their friends in episode 3 that goodbye really meant farewell forever. But as you can see in the later episodes (at the very least for Rico) there is no coming back alive once you go down the Abyss deep enough. In my opinion that makes Rico her fortitude and resolve to venture into the unknown, and leave everything and everyone she loves and knows behind even more daring and captivating.
I really REALLY hope that this anime gets a second season. Because this anime is the very reason i watch anime in the first place. I can wholeheartedly recommend this anime to anyone. Trust me, you will not regret it.
Finding the beach by spying on other players was pretty smart. However, they just run, chasing cars, alone in the middle of the street and without being seen ?
There are a loooot of people at the beach. It's a nice concept, so pretty common for a post apocalyptic world. But here I'm not sure how that is possible. You convince what looks like one or two hundred people to all play so only one can escape ? (Also pretty sure that claim is bullshit).
The pseudo rules are also weird. OK for the cards, that's the foundation of it. But the beachwear, ok for the concept, but to make it impossible to hide weapons ? Maybe for women but most men seems to have pockets,and sweaters, and a lot of places to hide weapons. There are also a militia with guns, so... And death to traitors, well, membership does not look to be optional,so to traitors might not be the right word. Anyway, I suppose a lot of the people there have already abandoned and just want to enjoy the days they have left.
I would have hoped for a little more organization though. At least some knowledge gathering department. With the number of people they have, there must be a lot of games and a lot of cards, and they say they have double. So:
Does the same card always appear in the same game ?
Does the same game or card always appear at the same place and/or time ?
Shouldn't they document what all the games are, and debrief people after each ?
The peek at different game was cool, the activists guys are clearly crazy but great fighters. Arisu's game was pretty disappointing though. First it's pretty famous, and no one knew it ? Then the false suspense is pretty stupid there. They wait for 10 minutes, and he never explains his plan and no one asks ? They just wait stupidly like this ?
Actually pretty decent for Michael Bay’s own standards.
You still get the usual cringe, out of touch jokes, pornographic directing and cocaine-fueled editing choices, but it’s also way less obnoxious than some of his previous efforts (Transformers 5, 6 Underground) and surprisingly light on the trademark fireworks.
It’s trying really hard to be a dumb 90’s action movie, and while I admire the attempt, 90’s action movies typically aren’t as much of an instantly forgettable blur that this is. Like, some of the drone shots in this are really cool and could be very memorable in theory, but why aren’t we lingering on these shots for longer than 2 seconds?
Also, I found the meta references in this pretty annoying, it felt like Michael Bay jerking off to himself. He doesn’t just reference himself though, as for example the first action scene is clearly trying to rip-off the big scene in Heat, which you just shouldn’t do, unless you’re Christopher Nolan.
The characters are all pretty flat, acting isn’t great, Jake’s carrying hard and clearly having a blast.
I wasn’t really bored by it, but I don’t really see how you can be entertained by it either.
It’s a lot of visual and sonic noise that in the end is much ado about nothing.
It just sort of exists, it needed to be a lot zanier and use its own stupidity to its advantage.
If you’d retool this to fit with the Fast and Furious brand, and bring in that crew, this would probably be a lot more entertaining.
4/10
Do monsters get their hearts broken? It's probably too far to call Al Swearengen a monster, but he's certainly a man unafraid to take a life when it suits him or beat the women who work for him. And yet, despite the fact that he has been vicious, absolutely vicious with Trixie, you feel for him a little bit here. When he hears word from Bullock (who continues to be my least favorite character on the show for self-centered quips like that) that Star and Trixie are enjoying her work for free, he is unexepctedly heartbroken. The scene where he looks out on the reverend, and you see how his eyes are red with tears while he swigs off a bottl,e show that this is not a mna made of stone; he is one with feeling and a soul, however blackened, to match it.
That's why the final scene of the episode, laden though it may be with unnecessary sexual congress, is the best in the episode. It's not a big leap to understand how Al is projecting when he sees Reverend Smith ailing in the street and declares that if something is soon to be dead, you may as well just treat it like it's dead, not spend your time wallowing over it, just moving on. It's not the first time he's spoken to one of his whores and commented nominally on someone or something else when he's really talking about himself and his own circumstances.
We learn a little more about those circumstances in that scene. Al explains that he was an orphan, one left by a mother who, whether in truth or recreated by his bitter memories, was a woman of ill-repute herself. He grew up in this filth and figured out a way to pull himself up out of it, but more than that, he clearly has abandonment issues. However cruel he is, he can still be wounded by someone turning away from him.
There's other development, few of them nearly as interesting. The only one that really holds focus is Jewel's good humor and Doc's reluctance to not taking away what mobility she has. We haven't seen much of Jewel, but she's a formidable presence here, and her "got knocked up" response to Al's inquiry as to why she went to the doctor is a hoot.
The bit with Alma's dead doesn't do much for me. There's the germ of something there in Alma lamenting how her future is decided by her ne'rdowell father while she, as a woman, is expected to just sit back and let the men talk. But this whole plot has more or less run its course for this season, and a deadbeat Alan Matthews doesn't do much to spice it up. And of course, someone rotten becomes sheriff, and Bullock can't stand it but has to go through his same old routine, with enough hinting that he's inevitably going to take on the job himself. Oh, and apart from Al's romantic troubles, he deals with the murder warrant some more, which is another "law in the land of the lawless bit" that has some depth to it, but feels stretched a little too far.
Overall, the episode is supremely boosted by Al and Trixie (the latter of whom I've probably neglected, but who conveys a great deal without the use of much dialogue and is great it), but the rest of the proceedings, short of the heart of gold sweetness of Doc and Jewel, are much less inspired.
Between this and Cherry, it’s becoming more and more clear that the MCU’s best director is called Kevin Feige.
Netflix clearly spent a lot of money on this, you can feel the price of your subscription going up with every new set piece that’s introduced, but the end results are still unforgivingly bland and generic nonetheless.
It’s their attempt to compete with Bond, Bourne or Mission Impossible, but if anything this feels like a poser imitation of those superior blockbuster franchises. The plot is in fact literally ripping off both Skyfall and The Bourne Identity at the same time, but forgets about any of their depth in regards to story and character.
The Russos are clearly trying to recapture that same tone and spark from their Captain America: The Winter Soldier days, but they end up making something that’s more akin to the quality of Red Notice.
In terms of directing they kinda got outdone by their own second unit director with his Netflix action flick, as I’d argue that Extraction is a marginally better film than this.
The action’s poorly done and cheaply put together, lots of annoying editing choices (heavy overuse of drone shots, quick cuts and can the Russos pick a normal font for once?), corny dialogue, distractingly bad CGI, boring visuals and music (why is everything so low contrast, foggy and muddy?); not a lot to recommend about this one.
The acting’s fine, Evans is having a blast, but I have absolutely no idea why an extremely picky actor like Ryan Gosling chose this script in the first place. It seems like a paycheck movie for someone of his caliber. Just watch The Nice Guys instead of this if you want to see Goose in an action comedy, we don’t need these 200 million dollar direct to streaming action films.
4/10
Oh my god.
This one really hurt.
They REALLY wanted to draw parallels to social issues here and failed horribly.
The whole "what do we do with ZORA" thing was just a joke and the solution laughable. What had they done if ZORA had said "no, I don't want to join starfleet"?
And what happens if she decides that she wants to study flower instead of following orders?
They extracted a Trill conciousness (which was an absolute Taboo (remember how Odo and Curson (never learnt to spell that one) wanted to stay outside of Jadzia Dax?) but when it actually makes sense they draw some parallels to the problems trans people have today? (Them being the only ones besides the people that actually matter showing up to voice their oppinions was pretty on the nose...).
And then we have our alltime favourite Burnham - she didn't give one codescending speech about the federations values this episode, no! no! no! she gave TWO codescending speeches. One of them Stamets gave one at the same time.
Like I said: This episode was pure pain...
Have you ever noticed that no other Captain in the entire franchise has ever given a codescending speech with the exception of Spock?
Some have pointed out the obvious, but they did it as motivation, not this codescending "we have to be better" crap which actually means: "If you don't agree with me you are a piece of shit"
Well, almost all - in the preview we saw Cmdr. Nhan for a few frames - sadly not in a DIS Uniform. Would be really nice if they bring her back permanently.
She is one of the few characters that were actually likeable in this show (Not a fan of the Botox Job, but hey its her body so she can make it less attractive if she wants to...)
An almost self contained episode which did not seem to be the format up till now.
First time that Eun-Yoo doesn't act like a bitch. Well, she still does, but with good motives, weird.
A lot more action on this one, and it is extremely good. That's the obvious development for the genre, after a while, when people learn to deal with monsters, they need to learn to deal with bad people. So much happens.
So great action. Even if they're not seen for long, it feels great when the baddies are killed. Still time for very strong and emotional scenes. And for big revelations.
The ending cut is classic, but perfect.
The slow pace of episodes was totally ok, but wow, when they speed things up a little, that's just a whole other level.
This was a fantastic start to the show. It felt a bit slow. And throughout the entire episode, I never seemed to be immersed. I wasn't digesting most of what was happening as it was happening; yes, there's a "but" coming. But even though there are probably TV shows out there where its premiere won't feel like that at all for me, and this premiere wasn't one of them, it was still good and a great start to the show.
It took the time to establish and introduce the characters, set up the main plot and subplots. And, surprisingly, it was fast-paced as an episode. With every scene, scene by scene, a lot of progress was made while no progress was made.
In fact, I think those aspects were the best parts of the episode. And while this is the first true time that I've ever paid attention to stuff like that, so I have no idea whether what I think is objectively true, I think we were given a significant look into the mindset of pretty much every character, all in a single episode; the premiere of the show itself.
And I can't believe that it took me a few more episodes into the season to realize it back when the first season was airing, and I was watching, week by week; even then, it was by reading a comment from someone else who noticed it ─ the technique of having the actors speak in English but using cues to tell you when the characters aren't speaking in English and having characters speak broken English to those who speak fluent English.
The sound design, that sound of distortion that was used when Wang Chao and Young Jun were talking, I really liked that as well. It conveyed the switch from their language to English. Very nice. I really like that technique and still can't believe I didn't notice it the first time around.
For some reason, it reminded me of video games. But I can't seem to pinpoint the specific thing about them that made me think of video games. It was possibly something like a real person being morphed into an animated person or something to do with RPG video games, maybe.
That is a good technique to use for the actors to not speak that much in another language. But it probably won't ever be used in other shows and movies. It's possible that it's hard to do right, and that will be why, or this show is so under the radar, nobody else knows of it, but I have a feeling it's a technique that won't be used in any other show or movie that I watch.
The choreography of the fight scenes with Ah Sahm; the three immigration officers at the beginning of the episode, the Long Zii hatchetmen in the brothel, and Li Yong nearing the end of the episode; was very well-done. The choreography of the fight scene with Leary and the other Irishman was just as good. Even the choreography of the minor "fight scenes" seemed pretty decent, like with Richard Lee and those two Irishmen that were hammering-in the heads of those two Chinesemen, and Ah Toy with those other two Irishmen.
They looked to be choreographed pretty decently, and the fight scenes themselves may be reminiscent of the fight scenes in Banshee. I haven't watched that show yet, but I think the fight scenes were acclaimed and very distinguishable; Jonathan Tropper created both that show and this show and wrote some episodes in both.
The sound effects used for the fight scenes sound good to hear, too. Especially when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. The first fight scene of the episode had very good-sounding sound effects, and the way it was filmed added to the immersion. Plus, I'm sure there will be fight scenes that will be even better later on in the season that are better choreographed, too.
And here are extra, more minor thoughts, musings, and questions of mine that I had regarding this episode that I feel would make more sense to be listed:
I really liked the music that was used throughout the episode, especially the scores. They sounded very Western-like. The actual songs; I think there was only one, though, during the closing credits, were good as well.
I was slightly surprised and taken aback that the answer was given so quickly and nonchalantly as to why Ah Sahm can speak fluent English. I guess I was expecting that question to linger a bit longer before being answered; I don't know why, but it was almost immediately answered.
What was the meaning of the scene with Ah Sahm and Ah Toy on the balcony? She brought up Confucius by quoting him. Yet, apparently, he never said what she said he said, which Ah Sahm pointed out, to which she acknowledged. Was she flirting with Ah Sahm? If so, I don't understand why that would be considered flirting. And I don't understand what else the meaning of that scene could've been, so I'd appreciate it if anyone can offer some insight.
Of course, the Mayor's wife's name is Penelope. I don't why, but that seems expected. Is that a cliché or a trope, or something? Was that name very, very common back in the day? Because I feel like Penelope is such an expected name for a female character to have in a setting like this, for some reason.
That scene with Buckley was odd. I wonder what the purpose of it was. I mean, it showed us that his right leg below the knee is gone. But there must've been more to it.
That's weird. I thought the task force in Chinatown was made so it would look like Mayor Blake is cracking down on the Chinese to everyone and to appease people like Merriweather in a way that ensures the Chinese workers won't be beaten to death by Irishmen. But Bill bought weapons from Chao. Why? I guess the police aren't particularly welcome in Chinatown; it was to have extra protection if they got attacked.
Bill and Dylan Leary seem to have a history. They're both Irish, so maybe they've known each other for a while and were once friends. Leary likely has a hold over Bill, giving me the impression that it's likely been that way for some time. Bill is probably on his payroll, so to speak, and does favors now and then for him, in return for money. I feel like he's either scared of Dylan, or he needs money. Or both.
I like the subtle nod and reference to Banshee with the bar that Leary and other Irishmen hang out in being named The Banshee. After all, both that show and this show was created by the same person.
Wait, were those two Irishmen that Ah Toy killed at the end of the episode the two Irishmen who killed those two Chinesemen? I just had that thought come to my mind. At first, I figured she did that to protect Ah Sahm, but then I remembered that he wasn't involved with that. Richard Lee is the witness that would've put them in jail with his testimony. I feel like the glimpse of Mayor Blake going to Ah Toy's brothel may have another meaning. It's possible that he went there to inform her of those two Irishmen. If the two men she killed were the same two men, I wonder what will happen with Lee. Leary already went to Bill and paid him to make sure Lee doesn't go the court to testify.
I noticed what could be a parallel of some kind. Penelope caught the Mayor's attention by stripping naked, as if to beckon him to follow but closed the door shut. And Ah Toy did the same thing at the end of the episode with Ah Sahm, and he followed. But I have no idea what that's supposed to signify or represent, or if it's even a parallel at all.
How did Ah Sahm know that Young Jun and Bolo, and the others were Hop Wei based on the colors of their clothing? This is the first time he's ever been in America, let alone San Francisco, presumably. He wouldn't know that. There are two possibilities that I thought of. Either Chao told him on their ride there, off-screen, or the Hop Wei are very well-known and have quite the reputation over in China, and that's how he knew who they were.
