Original Movies (not sequel, not reboot, not spin-off)
-
Figure I'd start a thread to talk about new movie releases that are "original" in the sense that it's not a sequel, not a reboot/remake, and not a spin-off (of another movie or TV series or video/computer game franchise). "Book to screen" adaptation may be included, but I hope to avoid "screen to screen" adaptation.
First up is "Old" (2021) directed M. Night Shyamalan.
The premise is interesting enough, and Mr. Shyamalan executed it well enough that I am happy to just let the story run, to let the premise be explored in myriad ways, without looking forward to an "ending." The movie does have an ending, but I see that ending as a rather unimportant part of the movie that does not really need to be there.
Another one is "Jolt" (2021) directed by Tanya Wexler, an Amazon Studio production.
It's a lot like Jason Statham's "Crank" movies, and about the same level of production and story telling qualities, IMO. It's fun for a while but ultimately not all that interesting.
-
"The Green Knight" (2021) directed by David Lowery.
It tries to be artsy and mysterious but end up being boring and confusing. Screechy sound track that just goes on for too long. Some of the actors did their best within the limitations of the material but there's really no saving grace to be found in this film. OK, the fox is either well trained (if portrayed by a real animal) or well animated (if computer generated), that's about it.
-
Added to the "Collection of Pinned Threads" thread.
-
Nine Days (2020) directed by Edson Oda
Premiered in Sundance 2020 but only got its theatrical release recently. One of those philosophical “what’s the meaning of life” type drama. The story revolves around one dude interviewing a number of “souls” to select one to be born into the world of the living. It’s “drama”, not “comedy”, so given the premise it’s not exactly “entertaining.” (If you want “entertainment”, go watch Disney’s “Soul” instead.) It doesn’t “make you think” or pose any new philosophical question. Interesting premise, but ultimately small and limited in its imagination and execution. Acting and direction are fine. Small budget drama with almost all of it filmed indoors, so don’t expect extraordinary cinematography. Brightest spots are the violin solo and violin concerto excerpts. (Then again, Disney’s “Soul” has even better music overall.)
-
Jungle Cruise (2021) directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
A watered-down mash up of Indiana Jones and the Pirates of the Caribbean would be one way to put it. An entertaining family movie in the “action and adventure” category, for sure. High production value, competent acting and direction. Cool stunts and CGI befitting a big budget Disney production. Just ultimately not as expansive or as iconic as Indiana Jones or the Pirates of the Caribbean.
-
@axtremus said in Original Movies (not sequel, not reboot, not spin-off):
Jungle Cruise (2021) directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
A watered-down mash up of Indiana Jones and the Pirates of the Caribbean would be one way to put it. An entertaining family movie in the “action and adventure” category, for sure. High production value, competent acting and direction. Cool stunts and CGI befitting a big budget Disney production. Just ultimately not as expansive or as iconic as Indiana Jones or the Pirates of the Caribbean.
All 3 are rides at Disneyworld.
-
The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (2021) directed by Patrick Hughes
Entertaining action-comedy with many big stars in the cast. Nothing particularly new or profound about it, some cringe inducing jokes and cartoonish characters, nothing particularly memorable, but overall good entertainment.
-
@axtremus said in Original Movies (not sequel, not reboot, not spin-off):
The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (2021) directed by Patrick Hughes
Entertaining action-comedy with many big stars in the cast. Nothing particularly new or profound about it, some cringe inducing jokes and cartoonish characters, nothing particularly memorable, but overall good entertainment.
This was a sequel/spinoff of The Hitman’s Bodyguard. It violates the terms you set in the title and first post. I’m afraid it will be reported.
Me/rry/Christmas
-
@lufins-dad said in Original Movies (not sequel, not reboot, not spin-off):
@axtremus said in Original Movies (not sequel, not reboot, not spin-off):
The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (2021) directed by Patrick Hughes
Entertaining action-comedy with many big stars in the cast. Nothing particularly new or profound about it, some cringe inducing jokes and cartoonish characters, nothing particularly memorable, but overall good entertainment.
This was a sequel/spinoff of The Hitman’s Bodyguard. It violates the terms you set in the title and first post. I’m afraid it will be reported.
Boom.
Ax, you have been pwned.
-
@lufins-dad said in Original Movies (not sequel, not reboot, not spin-off):
@axtremus said in Original Movies (not sequel, not reboot, not spin-off):
The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (2021) directed by Patrick Hughes
Entertaining action-comedy with many big stars in the cast. Nothing particularly new or profound about it, some cringe inducing jokes and cartoonish characters, nothing particularly memorable, but overall good entertainment.
This was a sequel/spinoff of The Hitman’s Bodyguard. It violates the terms you set in the title and first post. I’m afraid it will be reported.
Oh well, I was not previously aware of the existence of “The Hitman‘s Bodyguard.”
-
@axtremus said in Original Movies (not sequel, not reboot, not spin-off):
@lufins-dad said in Original Movies (not sequel, not reboot, not spin-off):
@axtremus said in Original Movies (not sequel, not reboot, not spin-off):
The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (2021) directed by Patrick Hughes
Entertaining action-comedy with many big stars in the cast. Nothing particularly new or profound about it, some cringe inducing jokes and cartoonish characters, nothing particularly memorable, but overall good entertainment.
This was a sequel/spinoff of The Hitman’s Bodyguard. It violates the terms you set in the title and first post. I’m afraid it will be reported.
Oh well, I was not previously aware of the existence of “The Hitman‘s Bodyguard.”
Either that, or you deliberately flaunted your own rules, because you don’t think rules should ever apply to you.
I'm not saying that that's what you did, I am only saying that that's how you made me feel.
You will take my mask when you pry it off my cold, dead face.
-
Free Guy (2020) directed by Shawn Levy
Fun! A lot of it unfolds in a virtual world in a computer game, so you might think “TRON” or “Ready Player One” or “Pixel.” The plot outline is a lot like “TRON” (“evil businessman stole my code and I have to find proof inside the game”) and a key element of the plot is the notion of NPCs coming to “life” through AI (like in “TRON: Legacy”). “Free Guy” is not as iconic or “groundbreaking” as “TRON”, but it is certainly more up-to-date than both “TRON” movies considering its treatment of MMPRPG and NPCs. “Free Guy” also has more emotional depth and appeal to the non-geeks. All in all, “Free Guy” is fun entertainment.
-
@horace said in Original Movies (not sequel, not reboot, not spin-off):
Either that, or you deliberately flaunted your own rules, because you don’t think rules should ever apply to you.
I'm not saying that that's what you did, I am only saying that that's how you made me feel.Cheer up, Horace. Think how much worse you'd feel if he had flouted the rules.
Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace. – Mike Ditka
-
The Protége (2021) directed by Martin Campbell
A pretty standard "skilled assassin kill people" type action movie. Nothing particular innovative or profound about it, just good entertainment if you want to watch a "skilled assassin kill people" type action movie. One scene shows a particularly gorgeous view of an outdoor scenery on the Mekong river in Vietnam.
Reminiscence (2021) directed by Ramin Djawadi
SciFi suspense thriller crime-fighting movie centered around characters who live in a dystopian world where people use technology to relive past experiences from their memories. Overall a good movie with very good story telling and very competently produced on the whole. The "Water World" angle is not strictly necessary but the story does require a dystopian backdrop so the "water world" is as good as any. The individual elements of this movie are not all that original on their own, but the combination of them are quite original. There is a Chinese-looking gangster boss character in there who mixes a few Mandarin phrases into his dialogue ... this is where it shows that the film maker hasn't put enough care into making the incorporation of the foreign language appear natural. The use of those Mandarin phrases are not idiomatic and their delivery and pronunciation are off. It should not be this hard in this day and age to grab a native Mandarin speaker off the street to get the language right.
-
@catseye3 said in Original Movies (not sequel, not reboot, not spin-off):
@horace said in Original Movies (not sequel, not reboot, not spin-off):
Either that, or you deliberately flaunted your own rules, because you don’t think rules should ever apply to you.
I'm not saying that that's what you did, I am only saying that that's how you made me feel.Cheer up, Horace. Think how much worse you'd feel if he had flouted the rules.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/is-it-wrong-to-confuse-flaunt-and-flout
Although both of these words have been in use since the 16th century, the habit of using flaunt instead of flout appears to have not begun until the beginning of the 20th, and became notably more common in the 1930s and 1940s.
Instead of the rich whose opportunities are great setting examples of patriotism and fidelity to principle they flaunt the law and make it a jest.
—The Salt Lake Telegram, 18 Jan. 1905I believe it would have a good moral effect on minor wrongdoers to demonstrate that a man of even Collins’ standing and ability is not able to lightly flaunt the laws and judiciary of the State.
—San Francisco Chronicle, 18 Jul. 1905Anarchy flaunts the law. So does the railroad.
—The Emporia Gazette (Emporia, KS), 23 Jan. 1906As an amateur crypto-historical-lexicographer-catastrophist, I intended the usage from the San Francisco Chronical mere months before the earthquake and fire of 1906. As most serious crypto-historical-lexicographer-catastrophists will tell you, adhering to word usages in place before catastrophes can help mitigate the chance of re-occurrence.
But I know - not all of us care whether civilization collapses due to catastrophes. After all, people voted for Biden.
-
I did not like Reminiscence. I thought Strange Days did it better.
-
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
Originally I did not expect to be able to include this movie in this thread having thought that it would be a spin-off of other pre-existing Marvel movies or TV series/cartoons. But after watching it, I consider it independent of those other Marvel movies/series/cartoons. There is no reference to other Marvel movies/series/cartoons except the name "Ten Rings" and the character "Wong" (associate of Dr. Strange) -- but the "Ten Rings" have been totally redefined (compared to how the "Ten Rings" were presented in previous Marvel movies/cartoons) and the brief appearance of Wong is entirely immaterial to the plot ("Wong" could have been entirely replaced by any other generic fighter and would not have mattered).
It's an entertaining action film for sure. I would not really call it a "super hero movie", more like a fantasy action film with a lot of martial arts fight scenes thrown in. The "fantasy martial arts" aspect is packaged in a manner that is very popular in Chinese fantasy-action films/series in recent years. The martial arts fight sequences draw a lot from the Hong Kong kungfu action designs from the Samuel Hung and Jackie Chan era, and they are done quite well. Guns and laser weapons are conspicuously missing in the conflicts.
This movie gets a lot of the far eastern cultural references right. The Chinese/Mandarin dialogue is a lot more idiomatic than most other Westerner-produced movies (even though the English subtitles do not translate the Chinese/Mandarin dialogue exactly).
Do not expect profundity. (Why would you? It's a Marvel comic derived action flick.) But as entertainment it is very well done and you can watch it and be happily entertained for a couple of hours.
Oh, a special mention for Awkwafina (Nora Lam) the actress and the "Katy" character that she plays. Unlike all other major female characters in the Marvel cinematic universe, "Katy" is neither smart nor powerful nor beautiful/sexy. And she has no romantic connection to anyone in the movie. Awkwafina herself does not fit the usual definition of beauty or sexiness. "Katy" may (d)evolve into a sidekick later on in subsequent Shang-Chi or "Ten Rings" movies but for this movie, "Katy" is a great "friend" character and Awkwafina/Lam did a fantastic job with it.
A few years ago when I became aware of Awkwafina I only thought of her as a comedian. I first saw Awkwafina in a major film when she played a supporting role in the "Crazy Rich Asian" movie (2018). I was surprised that I liked Awkwafina's jokester character way more than the female protagonist in that movie. Then I saw Awkwafina playing the leading role in "The Farewell" (2019). In that movie she's no longer a jokester but a character with serious emotional depth. This time in Shang-Chi, she really nailed the "Katy" character -- a good friend that provides comic relief, yet one with nuance and emotional depth in her own right. I now expect Awkwafina to go very far in the movie business, and no one can accuse her for getting where she gets by her looks.
I guess I might as well mention Ronny Chieng. As comedians go, I like Ronny Chieng as a comedian a lot more than I like Awkwafina as a comedian. For that reason, I am glad to see Ronny Chieng in this movie. He plays only a small part in this movie and he does it well. Maybe he will appear again in subsequent movies with the "Ten Rings" in them.
Other notable actors in the movie are Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh, and Yuen Wah. Leung is well-loved and well-established in Hong Kong movies and TV series. Yeoh and Yuen are established kungfu stars in their own rights (with Michelle Yeoh being a lot more famous internationally; Yuen never plays a lead role but has played many major supporting roles in decades of Samuel Hung, Jackie Chan, and Stephen Chow movies and is generally very well-regarded in the genre).
With Awkwafina, Simu Liu (playing Shang-Chi), and Ronny Chieng being the new kids on the block and Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh, and Yuen Wah being the old guards, it looks like Marvel is finally getting serious with opening up an Asian sector for its cinematic universe, just when the CCP is clamping down on the entertainment industry.
-
"Dear Evan Hansen" (2021) directed by Stephen Chbosky
It is supposedly a musical, but the drama (plot) is so good that I completely forgot it's a musical. The first part is a little slow setting up the background for a teenager with certain psychological impediments that has trouble making friends. Then it really gets into gear and weaved an engaging tale about how the protagonist, through misunderstanding, become loved by the family of another diseased teenager and become popular in school and on social media. The film portrays different aspects of mental illnesses as they affect the youth, but not in preachy or cringy way. It's pretty good movie with a good story once you get past the first part that's a bit slow.
-
"Titane" (2021) directed by Julia Ducournau
One of those French films that left me scratching my head telling myself I do not get French theater (or, more generally, European theater). It's about a woman who, due to a childhood traffic accident, got a titanium plate fitted to her skull. She then grew up to be a serial killer with a fetish for car. The film portrays the woman's very messed up life. Many provocative, explicit scenes depicting fetishes, self-harm, bondage, drug use, even an attempt to self-induce an abortion with a sharp metal object. But I am not sure if all those explicit/provocative scenes actually got anywhere. I could also say "frontal nudity," but it's French so "frontal nudity" is pretty unremarkable by itself. Watch it if you want weird for weird's sake, I suppose. I respect the director and the actors for working very hard at it. But as an audience, I do not get it.
-
"Copshop" (2021) directed by Joe Carnahan
Mob, hitmen (some psychotic), cops (good and corrupt). Gun battles in a police precinct/lockup. Bang bang bang! Lots of bullets and many dead bodies, with some intrigue thrown in (not too much). Though nothing profound or groundbreaking, it's very well executed and quite entertaining, kept the adrenaline levels high through most of the film. One of the better films in this genre.
