[amphibian]

Belle was an odd movie - there's not a lot of there there if that makes sense. It's beautiful and some of the action is great, but the story flat out does not make sense or cohere into something that's amazing.

[Primateus]

It would seem that Terrance Stamp has passed away.

[Tsundoku]

Just saw that. Damn. He was really good. 87 - wouldn't have thought he was that old. RIP.

"Kneel before Zod!".

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 17 August 2025 - 08:37 PM

[QuickTidal]

So after avoiding it because I'd heard so many people say it was bad, even though I'm a huge fan of the series...I finally sat down and watched KARATE KID LEGENDS...

And it wasn't terrible at all...in fact there are two VERY good movies buried in there. The back half feels rushed because of that "jamming together" of ideas...

Like as a concept for a new Karate Kid flick:

Spoiler

A kid from Beijing, who studied kung fu under Mr. Han, brother dies, mom moves them to NYC to avoid the same fate for younger brother....that kid finding a love interest whose father is a former boxer who is up to his eyeballs in debt with local thugs, so that KID trains the adult (In this case Joshua Jackson) boxer in kung fu training to get him back into the ring to win enough money to get the thugs off his back...

That works WELL. It flips the master apprentice vibe from the original KARATE KID film on its ear, where the kid if the teacher, not the student.


And IF you want to tie that to the original film (and the remake with Chan) then you have the buildup to the fight for Jackson's boxer, and the guy doing the illegal movie on him and putting him in hospital at the end of that first movie...that's your ending....guy trains well enough and starts to get the upper hand, but the other guy illegally takes him out....so now he's out, and you still need money to pay off the thugs, right? So now the SECOND movie has the kid deciding to train to take part in a martial arts tournament for money to pay off the debt, so you have Mr. Han and Daniel come to train him in both styles, and then have the second movie build to THAT fight. And this would allow time for the villain to become more than a one-dimensional idiot.

But yeah, that's the problem here, three concepts (aging boxer trained by kung fu/karate kid, Mr. Han from 2010's KK remake, and Daniel Larusso joining the branches of the martial arts tree) mashed up into one film, where no one gets enough time to shine much. You don't get enough Jackie Chan, you DEFINITELY don't get enough LARusso, and the boxer plot line almost disappears by the end.

Which sucks because everyone in it was good, and the fights scenes (when they happened) were excellent (you can tell Chan had them choreographed), and acting was solid (except the one-note villain kid who was awful), the score was great, and the chemistry between the two young leads was really great.

Then they put that stinger on the end with Johnny and Daniel getting the pizza and it felt like a slap...

This movie was not a mistake, but what it became after they realized how big a deal COBRA KAI was, is the mistake part. They should have let the original plan stand, and then made sequels.

Anyways, it's entertaining if rushed...I wish it had been better.

[QuickTidal]

Also re-watched MR. BASEBALL. I still love that movie. Also the fact that it avoids being overtly racist like most movies that took place in Japan but were about Americans.....it sticks pretty hard to the American-fish-out-of-water tropes where Selleck's character is the butt of the jokes...and avoids doing too much "Look at these crazy Japanese people" thing that other films in that era fell into.

The only thing I don't like is the ending. Jack going back to America feels like a regression. They literally didn't want him there but no one was willing to help him get his stride back....but in Japan with the support of the Japanese players and managers around him, he does...so I feel like he should have stayed with the Dragons, and then Hiroki would not have had to move.

[worry]

Bunch of quick notes from the past month or so:

• The Day the Earth Blew Up: This is the recent Daffy Duck/Porky Pig movie. Petunia is also in it with a pretty prominent role, which is cool. I liked it! A zany classic sci-fi story with some neat twists.
• Sinners: Also pretty good. Not perfect by any means, but it was energetic, stylish, and entertaining. I might have liked the first half more than the second, like before most of the horror stuff happens.
• Alien Romulus: Disappointed. I liked the android character a lot, and there was the occasional cool idea or effect, but it was otherwise "mid" as the kids say. The direct fan service stuff in particular was very poorly done.
• Final Destination - Bloodlines: This ruled. Maybe not best in franchise, but it was full of good kills and actually had a decent angle for the "bloodlines" element. Plays with expectations in a good way.
• Opus: Pretty bad. I don't know how to describe this one, but it squanders a decent premise. Recluse pop star (played by John Malkovich!) returns after decades with a new album, invites some music press to his compound, which naturally is also a cult. Mayhem ensues. Except there aren't any real characters, because it's a satire of something or other, so none of the mayhem really lands.
• Freaky Tales: This wears its influences on its sleeve, and isn't necessarily as good as any of them, but it's still a pretty good time. Four semi-interlocking stories set in Oakland in the 80s. Violent but cartoony. It has a cameo by Too $hort (who is also a character in the movie portrayed by someone else), which is cool.
• Friendship: Liked this a lot. Very funny, and a decent amount of awkward, which is all I was asking for.
• The Monkey: I didn't like Longlegs, and though I liked this somewhat more, I still didn't like it that much. Some good kills but something about it didn't click with me.
• Babylon: Big budget movie about Hollywood transitioning from the silent era to talkies, but mostly about the decadence and debauchery of the era through the eyes of like 3.5 main characters. I thought it was obnoxious and abrasive in a bad way. It's got a strong cast and isn't without its moments, but it's 3 hours long so those moments don't really save it from all the surrounding wankery.

[QuickTidal]

worry, on 20 August 2025 - 02:08 PM, said:

Alien Romulus: Disappointed. I liked the android character a lot, and there was the occasional cool idea or effect, but it was otherwise "mid" as the kids say. The direct fan service stuff in particular was very poorly done.

How very dare you sir!

[worry]

Sorry. This wasn't my only problem with it, but the cast was too small. These kinds of movies -- the top tier of which I'd include Alien, Aliens, Predator, and The Thing -- generally need like 7-10 decently drawn characters so the monsters have people to pick off.

[QuickTidal]

Re-watched REVENGE OF THE NERDS II....not only one of the better sequels of all time, but this BANGER opening credit sequence is so very 80's and makes me nostalgic.

[Tsundoku]

Not quite sure what to make of this. I have a memory of the original Deathstalker being rather tongue-in-cheek but I may be wrong.

[Tsundoku]

It has Mads Mikkelsen, so that's usually a good start.

[amphibian]

I saw KPop Demon Hunters and I think it's a decent, yet shallow movie that doesn't have deep characters or a fully coherent story. It feels like a vibes based movie with great visuals, the suggestions of emotions, centering Gen Z awkwardness in mini social situations, and maybe not the fullest appreciation/understanding of the American black R&B/hip hop scene that it's basing songs and performances on.

I'm not sure why this is a mega hit, as it's not a great movie and the songs are somewhat truncated each time out.

[Abyss]

amphibian, on 16 September 2025 - 12:34 PM, said:

I saw KPop Demon Hunters and I think it's a decent, yet shallow movie that doesn't have deep characters or a fully coherent story. It feels like a vibes based movie with great visuals, the suggestions of emotions, centering Gen Z awkwardness in mini social situations, and maybe not the fullest appreciation/understanding of the American black R&B/hip hop scene that it's basing songs and performances on.

I'm not sure why this is a mega hit, as it's not a great movie and the songs are somewhat truncated each time out.

Found the other Saja Boys fan.

[QuickTidal]

amphibian, on 16 September 2025 - 12:34 PM, said:

I saw KPop Demon Hunters and I think it's a decent, yet shallow movie that doesn't have deep characters or a fully coherent story.

There is a lot of deeply Korean cultural stuff present here (as well as a TONNE of insider K-pop jokes; some of them harsh critiques like the girls eating what they want....while most management companies in the industry keep hardcore tabs on what the band members eat) that only comes off if you're aware of the historical stuff...especially when it comes to Jinu and his choices and the state of Joseon when he made them. I think the fullest view of this movie is enhanced by that knowledge.

Another part of it is that it was made by people who live in North America and wanted to mix up where they came from with where they live about drew up. Like Maggie Kang (Toronto REPRESENT!) is Korean, but grew up in Canada and as such wanted something that straddled those cultures.

amphibian, on 16 September 2025 - 12:34 PM, said:

maybe not the fullest appreciation/understanding of the American black R&B/hip hop scene that it's basing songs and performances on.

Are we still doing this? All musical genres that used Rap and hiphop as part of their base clay (even though that happened like 30 years ago) have to somehow show reverence for the base clay in some vocal way? Or can K-Pop be its own thing now? I don't see people complaining about uses of classical music in modern pop without "appreciating/understanding" the base clay...

Let's stop doing this. Not everything that can be tired back to black American culture needs to reference it all the time...the music is enough of a reference.

amphibian, on 16 September 2025 - 12:34 PM, said:

I'm not sure why this is a mega hit, as it's not a great movie and the songs are somewhat truncated each time out.

The songs have been topping the charts since the debut and songs like Golden have become bigger hits than BTS or Blackpink have released. It's also an entrance vehicle for a lot of people (many of them kids) who had never heard K-pop before and so there is cross cultural appeal that is exactly what Maggie Kang set out to do.

Moreover, it's a fun movie that my kids love...and I think that was again, the intent.

[Tsundoku]

Robert Redford passed away. He was 89. Damn.

https://www.news.com...fe9699879a22d45

Butch and Sundance together again.

[amphibian]

QuickTidal, on 16 September 2025 - 02:47 PM, said:

amphibian, on 16 September 2025 - 12:34 PM, said:

I saw KPop Demon Hunters and I think it's a decent, yet shallow movie that doesn't have deep characters or a fully coherent story.

There is a lot of deeply Korean cultural stuff present here (as well as a TONNE of insider K-pop jokes; some of them harsh critiques like the girls eating what they want....while most management companies in the industry keep hardcore tabs on what the band members eat) that only comes off if you're aware of the historical stuff...especially when it comes to Jinu and his choices and the state of Joseon when he made them. I think the fullest view of this movie is enhanced by that knowledge.

Another part of it is that it was made by people who live in North America and wanted to mix up where they came from with where they live about drew up. Like Maggie Kang (Toronto REPRESENT!) is Korean, but grew up in Canada and as such wanted something that straddled those cultures.

amphibian, on 16 September 2025 - 12:34 PM, said:

maybe not the fullest appreciation/understanding of the American black R&B/hip hop scene that it's basing songs and performances on.

Are we still doing this? All musical genres that used Rap and hiphop as part of their base clay (even though that happened like 30 years ago) have to somehow show reverence for the base clay in some vocal way? Or can K-Pop be its own thing now? I don't see people complaining about uses of classical music in modern pop without "appreciating/understanding" the base clay...

Let's stop doing this. Not everything that can be tired back to black American culture needs to reference it all the time...the music is enough of a reference.

amphibian, on 16 September 2025 - 12:34 PM, said:

I'm not sure why this is a mega hit, as it's not a great movie and the songs are somewhat truncated each time out.

The songs have been topping the charts since the debut and songs like Golden have become bigger hits than BTS or Blackpink have released. It's also an entrance vehicle for a lot of people (many of them kids) who had never heard K-pop before and so there is cross cultural appeal that is exactly what Maggie Kang set out to do.

Moreover, it's a fun movie that my kids love...and I think that was again, the intent.

I got the jokes/pointed inclusions of how they eat what they want, go where they want, the manager actually working for them, the focus on the idol shows, excessive and constant promo work, ridiculous rankings, the tonics silliness etc. I did go into this with some idea of what KPop of today is.

At the end of all of the above, I felt that this movie probably could have gone 20 more minutes to actually start and finish a song, develop some of the characters out a bit more (for example, why did the adoptive aunt do what she did?), spend more time with the demon king fight, and to work with more than vibes/suggestions of emotions and resolutions.

It's a decent movie and kids will like it, but it doesn't have the range of Josie and the Pussycats as a decent comparison. I am disappointed that the movie moved things along too quickly.

[QuickTidal]

amphibian, on 16 September 2025 - 08:56 PM, said:

develop some of the characters out a bit more (for example, why did the adoptive aunt do what she did?)

Spoiler

You mean telling Rumi that she could turn the Honeymoon golden and it would erase her demon marks? I could be wrong, but I think she (as a former hunter herself, and having fostered Rumi even though they are not blood related) truly believed that the mingling of human and demon blood in Rumi would indeed result in the golden Honmoon...I think her being wrong about that is part of what helps Rumi accept them.

[QuickTidal]

Wife and I finally got to watch MI: THE FINAL RECKONING.


Really enjoyed it. It was a long morning cerebral than the previous entries, but I'm not slighting it for that. It was also quite emotional. Really great capper to a really great series.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 17 September 2025 - 11:35 AM, said:

amphibian, on 16 September 2025 - 08:56 PM, said:

develop some of the characters out a bit more (for example, why did the adoptive aunt do what she did?)

Spoiler

You mean telling Rumi that she could turn the Honeymoon golden and it would erase her demon marks? I could be wrong, but I think she (as a former hunter herself, and having fostered Rumi even though they are not blood related) truly believed that the mingling of human and demon blood in Rumi would indeed result in the golden Honmoon...I think her being wrong about that is part of what helps Rumi accept them.

Intersting bcs my take is different....

Spoiler

I understood that Selene was massively conflicted over Rumi's mixed heritage and hoped that turning the Honmoon gold would resolve the problem, not that her mixed blood was the solution. Zoey and Mira's entire hardcore 'demons bad must kill all demons' attitude reflects Selene's training and doesn't suggest any acceptance of Rumi's other side at all, which is a whole other layer of complexity since Rumi's mom was her Hunter/sister and she didn't know Rumi was half demon til after Rumi's mom died.

...which also leads to the note that while I agree w Amphi that aspect of the story gets downplayed, it's still complex and important.

I may be giving Netflix/Sony too much credit, but that's a pretty giant hook for a sequel/prequel/spinoff too.

The 'doesn't finish a song' thing is also interesting.... the only musical number not interrupted by action or plot is 'Free' (Rumi and Jiru's flying number) which is arguably the dullest part of the movie even if the song is nice enough.

[Briar King]

Finally watched Superman..I felt nothing during that entry. One and done.