Misadventures

This was supposed to be a post dedicated to the pointless and plotless Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. But then I liked this one silly comedy too much so I decided to justify its existence with a short review.

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

For me, the only YA series that actually mattered is The Hunger Games. I enjoyed Divergent too for its sheer garbage-quality yet starpower-appealing. The Maze Runner series is okay-ish at best. The first installment was fun but that's it. I mean, it doesn't interest me to follow the story further. It's mediocre, and the all boys cast is just not rewarding enough for me. The series stars Dylan O'Brien as the lead teen, and supported by Ki Hong Lee, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, and Patricia Clarkson. This second installment has my favorite TV characters, Petyr Baelish/Littlefinger aka Aidan Gillen, Gus Fring aka Giancarlo Esposito and Missandei aka Nathalie Emmanuel. Naturally, I would tell you the plot of the movie from this point but I don't have a fucking clue what is going on here or how the writers define the word 'coherence'

Let's get on with the good part. The effects are top-notch, especially when you compare it to recent YA like Divergent series. It is clear that the high production value consumed all the energy to assemble a decent plot. The movie lives up to its title as the characters are constantly running away from something or running towards something or running both from and towards something. Yep, that's it I've ran out of nice things to say. It's easy to see that the film went on a very rushed production that rewrites must've been lost in the schedule. The zombie people also came out of nowhere. I remember jackshit from the first movie, but I'd surely remember if they mentioned people turning into zombies because of the sun. Bro, even Fantastic Four had a plot. I can at least tell people what the story is about. This film is just escape sequence after escape sequence without one uniting arc. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials: rated 1.5/4


Vacation
Surprised? Yeah this is the film that prompted me to do a double review. I don't know what happened to me. Compared to Scorch Trials, Vacation is a low budget comedy and also with questionable vfx in some scenes. However, what it has is a plot that's involving enough to make me care about the film. As Ed Helms' character Rusty Griswold said, this movie will stand on its own without having the audience know about the original 1983 Vacation, and it sure did. The movie works for me. It stars Ed Helms of The Hangover films, Christina Applegate from Anchorman along with stellar supporting/cameo roles like Chris Hemsworth, Charlie Day, Michael Pena, Norman Reedus, and Keegan Michael-Key. The story is about Rusty who desperately wants to spend time with his family by going on a nostalgia trip to Walley World, a place where his family went on vacation 30 years ago. But like his family 30 years ago, this trip doesn't go well as planned.

If you've seen this movie, you'll see a lot of jokes. At least half of those jokes are too juvenile for me (I'm famously hard to impress with comedy). But those jokes work when they're delivered awesomely by Ed Helms or even Hemsworth. The movie is fun and silly, it's just a light entertainment on a lazy day. It is also moving and has some message to tell to families. For me, when my parents is trying their best, we should support them. It's pretty deep for a film that features Chris Hemsworth with a prosthetic penis stuffed in his underwear. The musical scenes also delivered the best laughs like during the rafting scene or anytime that Seal song is sung. This film might not be among modern comedy greats like The Hangover or Bridesmaids, but it doesn't mean it's not entertaining in its own right. Vacation: rated 2.5/4




SPPS. (super powered post-script)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is having its best season so far. Five episodes and all are confident, mature hour of television. The same can't be said for Heroes Reborn, which is everything opposite of AoS. On the DC camp, Supergirl is nice. At least the effects are good, and the characters are not annoying or fake, unlike The Flash or Arrow. But if Supergirl is going for the alien-of-the-week type format, I'm outta here.


Up next
I might skip Pan because I'm too busy. But I really wanna see that film.
I'm continuing my streak of watching (financial or critical) duds of 2015 in cinemas, so far Jupiter Ascending, Tomorrowland, Terminator: Genisys and Fantastic Four are on that list.
But surely will see Everest when it comes out on Nov 6.

Tokyo Flixin'

When I was in Italy, I looked at my American roommate's Netflix and it's filled with movies I really want to watch. TV series that I always want to watch like Parks and Rec or The Office are in the library, arthouse movies are also there, obscure foreign movies too. So, when the Japanese Netflix was launched last month, I was pretty interested. Then just this week I was doing stuff, and I opened Netflix's website and they offered free one-month trial. So, I accepted the offer and was floored with disappointment. Here are my observation about the new service.

1. Limited film library
The Hollywood movies are mostly the new blockbusters like Star Trek, Iron Man, or The Hunger Games. But mostly they're only a part of the trilogy or the franchise. Like only The Fellowship of the Ring is available among the Middle Earth movies, or only Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk are available from the bulk MCU films. No Harry Potter at all. And the older films are also like that. I was excited when I stumbled upon Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior but then disappointed because the predecessor isn't in the library. The classic movies you can literally count with your hands, like Goodfellas or Breakfast at Tiffany's. Disappointment 1, Netflix 0

2. Handicapped foreign films
I'm so happy that there are titles that I really want to watch but might not be that interested to buy the DVDs or even illegally download. These are the foreign titles like Brazil's City of God or Almodovar's creepy-looking The Skin I Live In or Haneke's The Piano Teacher. The original Millennium trilogy is complete in Netflix Japan. HOWEVER, being a non-Japanese it's pretty hard/impossible to watch those movies as they are only offered with either the original audio or Japanese dub and solely Japanese subtitles. I don't know if this is a free one-month thingy or not but if it's not, then Netflix is heading for a very small market. Disappointment 2, Netflix 0

3. Japanese films are meh
I'm not a fan of Japanese films. But when I see Japanese films section, I excitedly search for Like Father Like Son, which is nada. And then the box office smash Eien no zero, which is also another nada. Even if they're available, it would be useless because they're not offered with any foreign language subtitles or audio. MEH. But if you can speak Japanese, I'm happy to tell you that some good films are here like Rashomon, Battle Royale, and the horror classics like Ju-On or The Ring. But I suck at Japanese so, disappointment 3, Netflix 0



4. TV series are pretty ok
The Netflix originals are here like Orange is the New Black, Narcos (which I just start watching), and Daredevil are here. But sadly no House of Cards. Many of my favorite TV shows are also here like Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Supernatural and my high school times favorite guilty pleasure Gossip Girl. They bring back good memories but sadly some of them are not updated to their current seasons, like for example Homeland is only available until the 2nd season or Downton Abbey is also until the second. Stray thoughts: so many CW shows..

5. Documentary win
The docs are the good stuff in Netflix Japan, but I must emphasize that most of the potential Netflix subscribers are not doc hungry hipsters. But the titles offered are actually really great like Oscar winners or nominees like Searching for Sugar Man, Virunga, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Super Size Me, and Chasing Ice. Virunga and Jiro are currently on my queue.

6. Beasts Idris Fukunaga
Probably the most legit reason to have this free-one month trial right now. Cary Fukunaga-directed, Idris Elba-starring, serious awards contender Beasts of No Nation has been unleashed on Netflix from yesterday.

Update Nov 11: I have officially cancelled my membership to Netflix Japan, although during the last week they have added a considerable amount of movies to their library. Still not sold. In the end, the programs I enjoyed were the documentaries. Finally watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi and Going Clear.

In conclusion, Netflix Japan is doing something new by reaching to new market on the other side of the planet. Although they're not new to the streaming game in Japan (Hulu and some Japanese channels are here first), they should be offering something better. As an international company, which has produced numerous exclusive shows and now a ground-breaking feature film, Netflix Japan is not international-minded. They are aimed at Japanese people, while Netflix might pique the interests of others residing in Japan that are not Japanese people. Imma tell you the cold truth, I learned that Japanese people really respects the way of the olden days, new services like Netflix might not be interesting enough. Therefore, the movies and shows offered have to cater to not only Japanese but also international individuals residing in Japan. This can be improved by having at least English subtitles for every movie on Netflix. Otherwise, Netflix's bound to fail soon.

Summer Recap 2016

From Tomorrowland to Fantastic Four, summer has officially ended. There's some pretty good films and some bad ones. Surprises and also let-downs. Let's have the recap (finally!). Being late is never too late.

Top 3 Films
1. Jurassic World
This film blows my expectations. Granted, they set a really low standard with the stupid trailers but still the film is a fun, loud and a worthy successor to the original film back in 1993. Another summer, another big Chris Pratt movie. I really like this film despite its frequent silliness and plot holes and also blatant product placements. It has a light atmosphere but also seriously satisfying action scenes. This film is what makes summer movie going fun. Oh it's the only movie this summer that I watched twice at the cinemas.




2. Mad Max: Fury Road
Where to start.. How about the Fury Road?! Witness!! Quality-wise, Fury Road trumps Jurassic World. The dinosaur pic might be more accessible and it has a soft spot in my heart as I am very much like that Jake Johnson's character. Mad Max: Fury Road or as I like to retitle it as Furiosa: Fury Road, is the most intense summer film you could ask for. It is a stunning technical and filmmaking achievement. Filmed in the harsh environment of Namibian desert, the film delivered on all levels: visuals, audio, acting, effects. Story might be a little light, but man all the other stuff absolve it from its sins. Witness!!




3. Inside Out
Pixar is officially back. Not in their usual tempo, but still it is a welcome return to form for an animated studio that has been struggling to shell out quality original features. They went basic and touched our emotions with a story about emotions. The film is light on adventure ala Up, Finding Nemo, or Toy Story movies, but it fired on all cylinders on story. It is a smart approach that can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. Pre-adults like me would get the feels the most, especially being away from parents. Man, this movie is ruthless in draining out people's tears.

Honorable mention:
- Tom Cruise's latest, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. The movie is another achievement in the long-running franchise as it keeps the franchise energized with stunning set pieces and surprises.



Most Surprising Film
Jurassic World
One of the main reasons that this film nabbed the title best of the summer for me is the fact that it killed my low expectations. Usually I have this knack of predicting if a movie's bad or good just based on the trailers, and from JW's the movie has bad and disrespectful written all over it. It is an entry to a 22 year old franchise with a questionable rap of producing crap underwhelming sequels. But wow, this movie is great. Humor, action, thrill, perils, sci-fi, monsters all blended into one film. Also, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard is great in this film. A sequel to this would be a hard feat to follow. So far, I'm not sold on Trevorrow's ideas for the next one.


Honorable mention:
- San Andreas, the Dwayne Johnson-starrer disaster movie. A perfect guilty pleasure and highly entertaining (and also informative) summer movie. I didn't even expect the movie to be half as good.



Worst Film
Fantastic Four
Is it any wonder though? There are probably other bad films this summer, but I'm pretty wise to skip them and probably catch them someday. Fantastic Four is bad because it was tampered heavily by the studio. I want this movie to be good. Really I do. Fox doesn't care if the audience like this movie or not. They even released a B-Roll to this movie that contains what seemed to be great scenes if it were included in the finished movie. It's fucking heartbreaking. Let's hope the best for Josh Trank's career and also to future FF films.

Honorable mention:
- The disrespectful, shit-on-your-face quasi-sequel-reboot Terminator Genisys. Even the title should be considered as the worst of the year.



Next up
hmmm.. some posts
Planning to see The Intern, Pan, and Maze Runner 2 this month
Oh, something about Netflix Japan too.

And The Torchettes

This is the last movie in my super short summer slate. A Von Doomed (or Domasheved?) movie before it was even released, a film by Josh Trank and his studio people. It is a reboot of a short-lived franchise that started in 2005, Fantastic Four. Firstly, I was super happy with cast when it was first announced. I remember it being really close to either Batfleck or Eisenberg's Luthor. I mean, Miles Teller is awesome, Kate Mara is amazing as seen in House of Cards, Michael B. Jordan just came off Fruitvale and Chronicle, and Jamie Bell needs some proper recognition. The Jessica Alba-Chris Evans version of Fantastic Four is a pretty low bar to top, so I was pretty confident. Trank made Chronicle and he's the youngest director to have a film open number one in the box office. All seemed well, until principal photography began and we have the news that has since became infamous.

This reboot is set when Reed Richards are still in his pre-university days (I guess? They're still making potato electricity and baking soda volcano. That's like primary school tho). He met Doctor Storm and his adopted daughter Susan and was invited to bring his little science project to a bigger level. He is then joined by Victor Domashev Von Doom, a troubled yet brilliant scientist and Johnny Storm, the biological son of Dr. Storm. They figured out a way of inter-dimensional travel and because of bad decisions they got exposed to a strange energy that gave them powers.

Up until the reviews hit, I was giving Fant4stic the benefit of the doubt. But the abysmal reviews were released and boy, I just had to watch bad movies in cinemas to be objective; I watched Jupiter Ascending in cinemas and I enjoyed it. The buildup to the trip to Planet Zero was good. It had potential and it has a good foundation for a team chemistry. But then the reason for our 'heroes' to go on a trip was based on the notion that this was a drunk decision. That's super stupid. We still had some good sequences on the planet. And I think the film peaked when Reed was trying to check on Ben right after they got back. The film tried to keep the momentum up when we saw them being contained. But then everything went dramatically downhill after the time jump. The time jump was stupid. We missed them as characters and also chemistry-wise. Ben suffered from this the most. I mean, one scene in the 2005 Fantastic Four had more emotion than this whole movie.

I really liked the cast though. They are criminally underused and possibly underappreciated. Not only in their on-screen work. But the fact they still have to promote a film that they haven't seen has to be appreciated. They probably going to hate it but it is their job. The rest of the cast is good too. I like Toby Kebbell in movies I've seen him in like RockNRolla or even Wrath of the Titans. As Doctor Storm, I liked Reg E Cathey. I like him from House of Cards. I also like that despite the horrific and bashed FF films, the always-Doomed franchise is always the most progressive one. The old franchise saw the movies being the first superhero movie to have a black director and the first ever comic-book crossover. This film has a race switch in one of the lead characters (the 2005 films had Ben's gf also race-switched). Also give some credit to Josh Trank who at least we can see his effort to make a watchable film from the first half of the movie. The last battle at the other planet is so badly directed and framed, not to mention the awful CGI. I think the one that's dangerous in this kind of environment might be Simon Kinberg, he's the studio puppy.

Let's talk about the CGI and some of the movie's creative decisions. Why the fuck doesn't The Thing wear any pants? Why don't we have more insight to Ben Grimm's life? Why was he hitting his own name with a baseball in the trailers? Why does he play baseball? Why does the CGI so bad all over the film? Why doesn't Miles Teller show any sign of enthusiasm and spirit in the last battle? Why do we have so many deleted scenes? Why is the mysterious alien energy was green in color? Why doesn't Doc Doom explodes the team's head if he could? Why did Doc Doom die if his the big baddie? Did Doom die so the franchise could be saved? Is Toby Kebbell available for his comments? Why doesn't Fox give more money for the movie's budget? Why didn't Josh Trank exit the film when his vision was tampered? Why Why Why? I got frustrated with this movie so bad. At the end of the movie, I genuinely thought, that was actually passable. And then I got thinking about the movie and how it free-fell halfway the movie. It was frustrating to have an exciting buildup but jackshit materialized instead. Fantastic Four (what happened to the The in the title by the way?): rated 1/4 [this is so low, I haven't rated a movie this low for so long]

Let's add the rough cut version of this movie to the short list of movies I want to see but probably never would. So far the list only includes World War Z with the war ending.

Whenever you have a bad day or you're forced to do something you don't want to do: just remember Josh Trank had to do damage control for a film he doesn't believe in anymore. Look at his face. That's the I'm-willing-to-say-anything-to-get-paid-and-get-the-fuck-out-of-here face.

Summer Sweep

Sorry for being away for more than a month. Although no one seems to be counting or missing me (in this blog). I had a busy camp throughout August, followed by a week-long holiday in the capital city, and in the September, those were just me being a total couch potato or more accurately, bed potato. To be fair, I had a lot of part-time work too. So I'm not a total lazy ass bitch. More importantly, I watched a couple of summer films throughout the rest of my summer and here are their short reviewsss. Spoiler alert, I mostly liked them all like usual.

Southpaw
This film has one of the best leading actors of the year. Jake Gyllenhaal is having his own Gyllenhasance (you heard this term first here) following his Oscar snub for his intense performance in Nightcrawler. Also in the cast is Rachel McAdams in a very different role. She's also opting to challenge the typecast against her by playing strong women as seen in this film and also True Detective season 2. Despite strong performances by everyone, the film is bogged down by cliched boxing drama story. Even the drama dragged a bit too long. If it weren't for Gyllenhaal and Forest Whitaker, this film could be unwatchable. Antoine Fuqua's direction is confident, then again the story written by Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter might be too heavy for the film in overall. Southpaw: rated 2.5/4

Inside Out
I'm so happy that I could see this film in the cinemas. I was already giving up because the film was only shown in its dubbed version, then I went to the capital city and all is well again. After skipping 2014, Pixar made a great comeback after a pretty lackluster couple of years (Cars 2? Monsters U? Anyone?). Pixar excels at bringing out emotions in their films so they went basic and made a film out of emotions. The film hits your heart even before it started, with the sweet short Lava. The actual film is unexpected, smart and funny. It literalizes (is this a word) the stuff you usually say like Train of Thoughts. The film establishes its world smoothly and then play along with the concept greatly. There's also a great breakout star in the character of Bing Bong who's responsible for waterfall-like tears that's hasn't been seen since the ending of Toy Story 3. The only downside is that the film feels isolated and isn't explored much. It feels small compared to most of Pixar films. It even feels small compared to Cars. That's my only complaint, but hey maybe they succeeded in making a small film. Oh fun fact: the film is retitled as Inside Head in Japan. Inside Out: rated 3.5/4

San Andreas
In terms of pleasure, fun and loudness, San Andreas is the best summer movie of the year. Erasing his WWE origins for good, Dwayne Johnson has emerged as one of the most reliable Hollywood action stars lately. At least three franchises has undergone 'The Rock Treatment' for the better (Fast & Furious franchise, Journey films, and--highly debatable--G.I. Joe films). It's just probably fair to give Johnson a studio summer tentpole film to showcase his eyebrows, biceps and acting prowess. He had Hercules last year, but that film is devoid of any fun. The film may not be as iconic as Roland Emmerich disaster films but it is fun in its own way. The story is the cliched-broken-family-reunites-in-the-wake-of-disaster as seen in 2012 most recently but that so-called "disaster film to end disaster film" is too melodramatic. Whereas San Andreas delivers on spectacle and intensity. It has an awesome one-take sequence with Carla Gugino during an earthquake. The cast is pretty cool too. Aside from The Rock and Gugino, the film has Alexandra 'baby blue eyes' Daddario, Ioan Gruffud, and Paul Giamatti. The film is awesome, that's all. You don't need to worry much about story in this kind of film. You just need to be entertained, and this film does even more than fulfilling your needs. San Andreas: rated 3.5/4

Spy

Spy is definitely the funniest movie of the summer. I'm not surprised if it eventually be the funniest movie of the year. Melissa McCarthy stars in the movie with a stellar cast that includes Jude Law, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, Allison Janney, Miranda Hart and a very very brief Morena Baccarin. The film could end up unfunny like Steve Carell/Anne Hathaway's Get Smart which just borderline silly and stupid. What worked in Spy is that it is not a spoof, it is a comedic spy film, like Jump Street films but more women-centric. So the action scenes are treated as an action scene in an action film and the logic of the narrative too, despite it being a basic/template spy movie story with stolen nuclear mumbojumbo going to be used to bomb the world or stuff. Jason Statham went full comedy and boasting nonsensical lines is one of the many highlights of the film. Melissa McCarthy's tough ass lines are also hilarious. Rose Byrne once again proved that she has an overabundance of talent that is still untapped. McCarthy-wise, the film is not as funny as Bridesmaids, which I just watched right after seeing this film. But for 2015, it's a pretty funny movie and I hardly react that much to a comedy film. Spy: rated 3/4

Pitch Perfect 2
Girl power! This is the sequel to the surprise hit and crowd-pleaser Pitch Perfect which also is responsible for kids around the world playing with their cups during dinner. The film is now directed by Elizabeth Banks who did a pretty great job for a first timer. The film is basically the same with the first one. It is still widely unfocused. The story is everywhere. The jokes doesn't always work. Beca's character is so different and quite unrelatable. However, what it lacks is improved by the stellar acapella performances. Not only from The Barden Bellas, but there's this incredible German group Das Sound Machine who covers Fall Out Boy's My Song Know What You Did In The Dark. It's rooftop-blowing awesome. There's also a great sequence featuring great names in acapella music like Pentatonix and Filharmonic singing Anyway You Want It. And as usual the Rif-Off is greattt. There's also nice surprises from the smaller roles like Bella newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, the scene-stealer Keegan Michael Key and a cameo by Snoop Dogg. The film may not show up as anyone's all time favorite, but we watch the film for its pleasant atmosphere and great singing. Pitch Perfect 2: rated 2.5/4

Ant-Man

Marvel's Phase 2 ender is their smallest hero to date. Paul Rudd stars as Scott Lang, a con artist who's "drafted" to be next Ant-Man by the original hero Hank Pym played by Michael Douglas. The film took the DCEU approach by establishing that Ant-Man is already around. So it's more like a quasi-origins film. We all know the behind-the-scene drama which resulted in Edgar Wright's exit and eventually Patrick Wilson too. But I'll try to review the film objectively without that issue in mind. The film is Marvel's second funniest film so far (for me Guardians of the Galaxy is super hilarious), but not because of the lead actor. That credit goes to Michael Pena for playing a straight-up chillin Hispanic character that is rich and dare I say, embracing the stereotype silliness but with so much flair and style. I like Corey Stoll but his villainy is very much wasted in the film. I hate Marvel sometimes for not respecting the villains. I mean, the hero could be good if the villain is really cruel. The opening scene with a de-aged Michael Douglas is great by the way, I just had to mention it. I really like Michael Douglas' role as the mentor in the film. Evangeline Lilly is always badass. Overall, the cast is craycray. It also features Bobby Cannavale and Judy Greer in small roles. The film is imaginative in its visual but not so much in the narrative. The film isn't confident enough to stand on its own that it had to namedrop The Avengers and feature a fight scene with a B-grade Avenger. Ant-Man: rated 3/4

More to come
- Heroes Reborn rant
- Fantastic Four review
- Summer Recap

I need to absolve myself  for not posting anything on September. You'll be seeing a lot of me.