Looking back, most would agree that no other year this century had a more top-notch lineup of films than 2007 (although 2019 would come to mind).
That said, it is somewhat forgotten that the year was also solid in its output of musicals. You had originals like Enchanted (which showed the world how alluring Amy Adams can be) and High School Musical 2 (though not as adaquate as the original in my book, the music to that trilogy had popularity like you would not believe). Then there were stage-to-screen adaptations, such as Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (one of Tim Burton’s very best films) and Hairspray, which took delight to a whole new level. Still, no musical (of any year) had me rushing to iTunes to buy the whole album quicker than Once.
Who would have thought that a Predator had personal problems?
Apparently, director Dan Trachtenberg.
The formula for the first few Predator films (I have only seen the first two of the ones made before Trachtenberg) was reminiscent of the Alien films (which, oddly enough, I also have only seen the first two of that franchise): a bunch of humans are in the near vicinity of an extraterrestrial monster, and only a few survive. Then, in 2022, Trachtenberg came in and made the film Prey, which used somewhat of the same approach but in the early 1700s with Indigenous peoples. Now, he flips the script with Predator: Badlands, asking the question: What does it mean to actually be a Predator?
The predator protagonist in question is Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamantangi), considered the runt of the clan (and in the Predator species, runts are seen as too weak to be allowed to live), but still eager to prove himself. So eager, in fact, that when it comes to finding the adversary, he must hunt to be accepted, he goes after an unkillable monster called a Kalisk.
Upon landing on the creature’s home planet of Genna, Dek runs into Thia (Elle Fanning), a damaged android who is only accepted by Dek (since Predators only work alone) when she is seen as a “tool”. She is in search of her counterpart, Tessa (also Fanning), whom she was separated from after their last encounter with the Kalisk. They also encounter a monkey-esque creature that Thia names Bud, whose true objective is to steal every scene it is in (and succeeds with hardly any effort).
The planet of Genna itself is indeed dangerous, but not “bad”. It does have some rather inventive naturalistic dangers to behold, such as blade grace, an unstable purple cactus thingy, and exploding caterpillars/slugs. The result is (mostly) rather profound CGI that does not feel like a low-rent MCU film that is almost always in front of a green screen.
Parents, this is a rare case where I actually agree with a film being PG-13 instead of R. There is indeed violence and blood (albeit green blood, since that is what a Predator’s blood color is), but there is no sexual content or nudity. There is some swearing, but nothing drastic. In my theater, I saw a dad with his two sons, who were probably between 10 and 15. I would argue this is a great “guys’ night out” type of film.
There are clear homages to other films such as Aliens and The Empire Strikes Back (Thia is basically C-3PO even before she is being carried around like him). I read on Wiki how Trachtenberg is hoping to do at least one more film in this universe if Badlands makes enough money back.
I’d be down for it because he definitely has a caring mind for the material. Plus, I am a fan of Elle-3PO…or maybe it should be C-3P Elle.
It is rather difficult trying to put into words my feelings on the films of Yorgos Lanthimos.
Granted, I have now only seen four of his films, which started with 2018’s The Favourite. I then went back to discover The Lobster (2015), which is possibly my personal favorite to date. Then came 2023’s Poor Things, which, despite having a wonderful performance by Emma Stone, was way too much for me (a reincarnated woman with a childlike mind discovering sex is just…no).
In High School, my english class always seemed to be one of the first of the day, and that was no exception back in my sophomore year.
Yet one day in January of 2004, I can safely say I don’t at all remember what we were supposed to be doing, because I was not paying any attention. We were in one of the computer labs (do those even exist anymore? I don’t know), working on research of some kind, but my mind was elsewhere: the Oscar nominations.
Perhaps I am late to this realization, but with short films, it is much easier to find out the intent of the filmmaker(s) since there is not too much to worry about plot wise.
Such was the case with two new short films I saw by Chris Paicely and Miles August (“Chris and Miles”): Silk (directed by August) and The Girl in the Street (directed by Paicely), both of which each of them wrote.
“You know what freedom is Bob? No fear. Like Tom ****ing Cruise!”
When this is said by the character Sergio (Benecio Del Toro) in the recent One Battle After Another, you get a sense of content agreement. Growing up, I always saw Cruise as the guy who was able to sleep with the girl in some way shape or form, whether he was risking his life or not. That was not the case when I saw him in Minority Report.
Recently, there was news that a company named Particle6 had created the world’s first AI actress, and that certain agencies were looking into hiring her.
The idea of this actress (named Tilly Norwood) has understandably upset most of Hollywood. I read one actress said one of the main reasons this won’’t work is because Tilly lacks one of the most crucial tools an actor needs: past experiences to draw from. This is one of the main ingredients that makes Dwayne Johnson’s performance in The Smashing Machine so remarkable.
Months ago, my friends and I had a night where we had fun making power point presentations on anything we wanted.
I generated positive feedback for my presentation as I managed to dream cast our cohorts into Disney characters. While I did not do a slide for myself, I was asked at the end which character I would best associate with myself. As someone who does not do well socially all the time but is also a hopeless romantic who yearns for romance, I easily identified with the titular character of my favorite Disney/Pixar film to date, WALL-E.
Nothing else to say 