Saw A BUNCH OF STUFF during the incredibly long flights to- and from-USA recently

[chronovore]

Guardians of the Galaxy — I'm not sure what you guys liked about this. I liked the first one better; the action seemed more human-level, while 2's CG felt like it dominated the entirety of the movie. I'll watch it again at some time that is not 2AM on a fucking long flight. I really wanted to like this more; maybe the second time's a charm?

 

F8 of the Furious is the cinematic version of what I visualized when playing with Hot Wheels and action figures in my youth, plus the realistic family drama of a Mexican telenovela. Adolescent humor, girls in hotpants, and plenty of destruction to go alongside the vroom-vroom races. It's fun, but nothing else. 

 

Ghost in the Shell was MUCH better than I'd expected. The visuals are better than the writing, a pretty common occurrence lately, but I was surprised how much of GitS comic style, attitude and basic theory they managed to put into this new work, while deftly avoiding Shirow's tendency toward UTTERLY FUCKING OPAQUE political subtext. I'll probably buy this just to watch the purdy pictures.

 

Unlocked stars Noomi Rapace, one of my current favorite actors, alongside a surprising appearance by Orlando Bloom. I had no idea this movie existed, so was completely open for whatever it delivered. It's a good, possibly overly convoluted spy movie, where Rapace plays an interrogation specialist for the CIA (they do some hand-waving about her birth and accent) who is on psychological leave of absence, but is called in for an emergency job. Things get hairy quickly. It was good, not great. 

 

Kong: Skull Island is a fun action movie with just the right amount of social/ecological commentary. I enjoyed that they placed it in an earlier era, and against the backdrop of a war which we more clearly lost. They could have put it up against our successful but lackluster Desert Storm, or the ill-advised GW Bush follow-up, but by putting it in the era of Viet Nam, it was clear what kind of dilemma the military had been facing, and why they might long for a black-and-white struggle against which to pit themselves. 

 

Also saw Jeepers Creepers with my family, and was pleasantly surprised. I'd heard it was a good movie, full of surprises. It has snappy dialog, good twists, and reinforces my belief that no-one should ever visit rural Florida. Ha ha, Justin Long.