Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Some reviews didn’t like this installment because of aliens. Why aliens are so wildly out of the picture, while magic chalices, magic Hindu stones, and magic golden God boxes are just fine, isn’t really explained. Either way, I was glad to finally have some Communists get culled and slaughtered this time instead of Nazis.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Semi-horror fighting anime by a bunch of dandy-dressed European dudes. Not my usual thing, but it definitely has its moments. It triggered some Muslim dweebs. Trivia: I made a deal with my daughter that I’d watch the first season of JoJo’s if she would watch Cowboy Bebop.
2010: The Year We Make Contact
Not Kubrick, but it freaked me right out when I first saw it at ~11 years old. I never looked at dominoes the same way again.
IO
A scientist remains on an highly-polluted earth to continue her research. Will she be able to make the last flight off the planet? This was good except for the few scientific inaccuracies I pick up on (there were probably more, but I’m a normie, so most probably escaped my notice). A lot of reviews labeled this as boring or slow-paced. Not every sci-fi movie has to have action, folks.
Occupation
Alien invasion and rebellion movie. It’s got a big Aussie following because it was filmed, etc., there. Was alright, I guess. The aliens followed nearly zero logic associated with war strategy. Lots of decent unexpected character deaths, I think. I can’t remember too much of it. There’s a sequel being filmed.
Tokyo Ghoul
Hapless dude is turned into a ghoul (sort of) by his date. I only watched two episodes. It wasn’t terrible, I just felt that I was going to watch a series that I had watched in bits and pieces in dozens of other anime series. Plus, by the first episode they already started with the “Enemy Within” trope. I don’t need to endure 24 episodes of torturous back and forth arguments with a ghost.
Skyline
This was panned for its weird pacing and acting, but the CGI and story weren’t terrible at all. See my review of the sequel here; I liked this one better since it focused more so on the really interesting idea of attracting humans via some light to capture them.
Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms
Beautifully animated high fantasy story about an elven-type of being that falls in love with a human. Probably based on a Japanese folk legend. Interesting use of the passage of time and fate as a narrative element. It’s one of those movie specifically designed to make you cry. I don’t cry at movies but the emotional element certainly is there in spades.
I Am Legend
Will Smith talks to mannequins and vampires. I liked this especially for its vampire apocalypse origin.
The Fifth Element
Colorful and off the wall bonkers action sci-fi from the late 1997. Bruce Willis plays the best straight man to Chris Tucker’s neurotic narcissist radio DJ, Ruby Rhod. Again, another movie nearly ruined at the end with Leeloo’s Humans Are Bastards revelation. Oof, really?
Terminator: Salvation
The first Terminator film installment with decent CGI. More of a war film than the others. Not a bad story, but it doesn’t feel like a Terminator movie to me.
4 Comments
“Either way, I was glad to finally have some Communists get culled and slaughtered this time instead of Nazis.”
Lol, no punches pulled!
It’s just…the Nazi thing gets old and ends up being lazy writing. Soviet Communists aren’t quiet as demonized by default in our assumptions, so writers have to work at making them bad guys.
Unlike your last batch, which had nothing of interest to me, this list holds a few intriguing items.
If I had to suggest just one, it would be Maquia. It’s actually an excellent portrayal of the strength particular to femininity, as opposed to women who display typically male strengths and abilities in movies.
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