Movie afternoon with the in-laws, 2/3:
Good old-fashioned b-movie with teeth. Pun 100% intended. It's alright, though the most fun I personally had was with how the movie kept making up its mind as it went along about whether or not Rainn Wilson's shithead billionaire was an actual villain or just a regular shithead. Once that was resolved my interest dropped like a stone in water. (Sorry not sorry.)
Movie afternoon with the in-laws, 1/3:
Contagion
Another rewatch, the first for some of my in-laws. What struck me this time was how long the denouement actually is. At one point my brother-in-law had to leave and he asked me how much time was left and I said five minutes. It was actually closer to 12. This is because the movie takes its time with seeing most threads of the movie to their conclusion, in keeping with the methodical, clinical…
I've seen it multiple times and I was struck this time by how exact and clear the movie's pandemic language is. From "social distancing" to the R-0 number and more, it's almost an exact match to what we have right now. And it's alternately terrifying and comforting to see the movie's scenario play out, since in real life we're not looking at a potential 26 million deaths yet and we're still some ways out from riots and looting, but the potential for devastation is out there, and the movie makes clear how quickly and easily it can tip over.
I wasn't a fan of a few plot points late into the second act (one character in particular I could never quite grasp the logic of the turns he takes) but the movie delivers the thrills thoughout and it is quite smart about rooting the horror on misogynistic abuse and gaslighting. It helps to have a terrific Elizabeth Moss in the title. The direction is very ingenious about how not to present the titular monster, making it scary and repulsive…
My wife wanted something chill and funny and this did the trick for both of us. I remember this movie coming out in 2011 and immediately being hit with a "this is a movie that exists" vibe of indifference despite Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in the lead roles, Hanks directing himself from a script by him and Nia Vardalos and a stacked supporting cast doing great work (Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson, Wilmer Valderrama, George Takei, Pam Grier,…
The best performance in Gerard Butler's life still makes for a pretty bleh, painfully earnest movie. Figures.
And it's been a while since I've seen a twise be this ridiculous and this bland at the same time.
***
La mejor actuación en la vida de Gerard Butler solo para que termine en una película indiferente y dolorosamente sincera. Tiene sentido.
Y hace mucho que no veía un giro narrativo tan ridículo y tan equis al mismo tiempo.
Rohan sigue siendo igual de fascinante que siempre. Un reino en decadencia que no le queda nada más que su dignidad.
Rohan remains as fascinating as ever. A decaying kingdom with nothing left save its dignity.
Todavía recuerdo casi todo el guión de esta película, palabra por palabra, momento por momento.
I still remember almost the entire script for this, word for word, beat by beat.