Moviewatcher122's 2017 Film Diary: November & Dec.

November 7



"I'm gonna go out in this world and get everything I can get. I mean, I'm gonna be rich, super rich. I mean, I'm gonna be spending money like a chimp in a beat-off contest."

This was a funny movie. I don't really have a whole lot to say about it as I've never really watched Mr. Show, but it still delivered a decent amount of laughs for me and it reminds me that I should check out Mr. Show since David Cross and Bill Odenkirk are both funny guys.

November 10



"Sometimes to love someone, you got to be a stranger."

I've seen some surprisingly high praise for this sequel and it was always on my radar ever since I saw the trailers which looked great and Denis Villeneuve directing it had me convinced that it was going to be good. While I did like this movie a very good deal, I can't help but think it's just a little overhyped. Don't get me wrong, this sequel does a lot of things right. Visually, it's amazing to look at, but this is Blade Runner we're talking about. I'd be surprised if it didn't look great visually, but yeah the visuals are stunning and it rivals the original in terms of effects. It also captures the tone of the previous film very well and the story and dialogue feels right at home with what you'd expect from a Blade Runner sequel. (Although that probably has to do with the fact that Hampton Fancher who also wrote the first one was involved with the screenplay for this as well.)

I loved some of the ideas explored here, Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford turn in great performances, the ending was great, so why am I not as enthusiastic about this film as much as the rest of the internet seems to be? Well, it just went on way too long for my liking. I loved the first act of this movie and I was really excited of where it was going to go, but after that there were still some really good scenes from here on out, but there were quite a few scenes where I was bored and I think that has to do with the runtime. I knew it was long going in, but after seeing it I'm starting to wonder if it really needed to be almost 3 hours. There were quite a few scenes where nothing interesting happens and those scenes go on for a while. It just feels like they're drawn out for no real reason other than to make it longer, but longer isn't always better. The original Blade Runner is 2 hours, but it never felt like it overstayed it's welcome or felt like it dragged on for too long.

I was close to calling this movie great and if it maintained the same level of quality that the first act had, I would be agreeing with the rave reviews and would be saying that it's even better than the original, but as a whole it's a solid sequel. It's just a little overrated and feel like the praise is overblown to an extent. I still can see why people are loving this sequel and there are still a lot of things I liked about it which is why my rating is as high as it is. Who knows? Maybe I'll like it more when I revisit it.

November 14-15



"You have to be a prick in this business. If you don't, the wrestlers will run all over you. Their egos are such and-and-and their characters are such that they will just walk all over you. So if you think you can be a nice guy and be a successful promoter in professional wrestling, you better get out of this business right now."

As someone who isn't well-versed with wrestling other than the few wrestling video games I've played, I found this to be a very fascinating documentary. I was interested in the lives these wrestlers lived and I liked it's overall point that while wrestling may be staged, the things surrounding it are very real.

November 18



"Hulk always... always angry."
"I know. We're the same, you and I. Just a couple of hot-headed fools."
"Yeah, same. Hulk like fire, Thor like water."
"Well, we're kind of both like fire."
"But Hulk like real fire. Like... raging fire. Thor like smouldering fire."

Didn't really know what to expect going into this one as I have only seen the first Thor and have yet to see The Dark World, but it turned out to be a great outing. The film starts off with a bang and the first few minutes showed that I was in for a ride. I was invested in the story and the characters even more than I was with the original Thor and there was a good number of moments that made me laugh, but most importantly this movie was really fun. Like I said, the opening was fantastic and the action scenes are some of the most exciting that Marvel has to offer in recent years. This was the kind of fun I was expecting from Age of Ultron but it didn't deliver as much as this film did. So yeah, I liked this even more than I was expecting to and if Avengers: Infinity is able to maintain this level of quality, I'll be more than satisfied.

November 20



"You told me my father died of disappointment the day I was born!"

I would've been excited for a third Despicable Me once upon a time, but when the trailers came out I wasn't impressed. It looked really underwhelming and after seeing it, I can safely say that it's no better than I thought it would be. If there's one word that describes this sequel accurately, it would be forced. Nothing about this sequel felt natural or genuine, it just feels like it exists for the sake of existing. The story is cliche to the point where you can easily predict each plot point, the new characters weren't that interesting and it wasn't really funny. That's not to say there aren't any amusing moments here and there because there are, but for the most part I just didn't laugh much.

On top of that, a lot of the cast sounds bored. Apart from Steve Carrell who's still decent as Gru and Trey Parker sounded like he had the most fun out of all of them, but the rest sounded tired and seemed like they were just phoning in their performances and only cared about the paycheck.

This is by no means a terrible movie. The animation is still good, some of the heart from the first two movies is still there at times and the other qualities like Steve Carrell's voice work and the jokes I did find funny keep it from being worse than mediocre. I just wish they put more care into it and went out on a higher note than this. (If this is the last one, that is.) It's just a lazy sequel and this is coming from someone who didn't mind the Minions movie.

November 30



"What? This isn't true! I didn't write this!"
"Of course you didn't. The real Mima is writing this."

I heard many great things about Perfect Blue and after seeing it, I have to say that it's quite possibly one of the best anime films I've seen. It's a mix of mystery, thriller and psychological horror and it's all blended exceptionally well. Throughout some of it, I was questioning if some of the stuff that happening was real or if it was all in the main character's head. The animation did feel really choppy at first, (Well, at least compared to what I'm used to with anime.) but after a while I got used to the animation style and there's some great camera angles and background art. I was sucked into this world from start to finish and I already want

December 2



This is seen as a classic of the silent film era and while I didn't really find it uproariously funny or even one of the best silent comedies, it still has a good number of funny moments and I can see why it's considered a classic even though it's far from a personal favorite.

December 3



"He had this kind of magical quality that all the genuine poets and artists have: to elevate things. To get above the mundane, the prosaic. All the bullshit. All the mediocrity that's everywhere. The artist, the artist is the pioneer."

This was a very informative and powerful documentary. I knew a little bit about this musician before I saw this, but I learned a lot more about him after watching this documentary and it's amazing to see how his music impacted South Africa during apartheid, but was pretty much unknown to the rest of the world with a few exceptions like Australia. It was a fascinating watch from start to finish and I was especially moved by how it ended. It also made me want to check out more of his music which is definitely a testament to how much I loved it.

December 6



"Why must fireflies die so young?"

After finally watching this movie I can easily say that it lives up to its reputation as one of the most depressing films of all time. It takes you through a very dark point in history and it conveyed the emotion of it all flawlessly. It's so powerful that it actually made me tear up a little a couple times which is a first. I don't want to say too much for anyone that hasn't seen it, but it's essential viewing if you have a tolerance for depressing films.

December 8



"My Mommy says smoking kills."
"Oh, is your Mommy a doctor?"
"No."
"A scientific researcher of some kind?"
"No."
"Well, then she's hardly a credible expert, is she?"

Out of all the satires I've seen, this one might be one of the best. It's not only hilarious, but it is a satire that doesn't really take sides and tackles the issue in so many clever ways. I also loved how they took Aaron Eckhart's character, one that would normally be seen as unlikeable and make him into an oddly likeable character. I'm kind of surprised that this film was actually a directorial debut just because of how good it is.

December 10

Re-watch



-

"I kill you, you bastard!"
"You couldn't kill me if you tried."
"You betrayed me! You're not good. You, you're just a chicken. Chip-chip-chip-chip-cheep-cheep."

I normally wouldn't do something like this, but because I was so hyped for The Disaster Artist, I decided to re-visit The Room. Now I got more out of it this time around as there are a good amount of so bad it's good moments from the laughably absurd scenes to the script that doesn't feel like it was written by an actual human being who knows how people communicate. However, there are quite a few slow moments where it feels like a chore to sit through at times. Because of that, I don't consider it to be the best bad movie like some people do, but I do think that it's a movie that's bad in a very unique way and not bad in a "It's bad, but it gives me nothing to talk about." way. It's just an anomaly of a film.

December 10



"Tommy, dude, this really isn't necessary."
"No, no! Very necessary. I need to show my ass to sell this picture."

Now this was everything I was expecting it to be. It's a hilarious look at the making of The Room and the cast does a great job of bringing it to life. Most notably, James Franco as Tommy Wiseau who pulls off the role perfectly. From the way he does the voice to mimicking his over the top mannerisms, it was all great. I loved every minute of this film and if I had to compare it to any movie, Ed Wood is the first thing to come to mind. Both of these are great movies based on films that are considered to be the worst.

December 11



This was a comedy that had a lot of potential for jokes, but for whatever reason isn't really that funny. The comedic premise had a ton of possibilities, but the way the script was written was in the most autopilot way possible. The way the plot progresses is so simple that you can pretty much predict it from plot point to plot point and sometimes the characters are really stupid just for the sake of moving the plot forward. There are still some decent jokes here and there, but unfortunately a good chunk of them was from the trailer. That and the cast does try their best with the weak material they are given, but overall this film could've been so much better.

December 14



I was skeptical of seeing this in theatres. Mind you, I thought Coco itself looked great, but the Frozen "short" preceding it made me skeptical. Fortunately it got pulled from showings shortly after and I can vouch for this because after the previews were over it started immediately with the feature presentation. Still, why break the tradition of having Pixar shorts before each film for a Frozen short that's 22 minutes and sounds like it's more fitting as a TV special or some DVD extra? I really think this is something they should've put more thought into, but enough about that.

Coco is one of the most original films to come from Pixar this decade. The plot is something fresh for once and there's a lot of great things from the music, to the creative ideas and how they explored the culture of Mexico. What I really liked the most about this film though is how it's not afraid to show kids the darker aspects of storytelling. A lot of kids movies these days tend to shy away from topics such as death that it's refreshing when a movie like this doesn't back down. Plus the emotional ending is arguably one of the most powerful Pixar moments to date.

It didn't quite reach that perfect score for me, but it is still a great achievement for Pixar and it deserves all the praise it has been getting.

December 23

Re-watch



"The nerve of those Whos. Inviting me down there - on such short notice! Even if I wanted to go my schedule wouldn't allow it. 4:00, wallow in self pity; 4:30, stare into the abyss; 5:00, solve world hunger, tell no one; 5:30, jazzercize; 6:30, dinner with me - I can't cancel that again; 7:00, wrestle with my self-loathing... I'm booked. Of course, if I bump the loathing to 9, I could still be done in time to lay in bed, stare at the ceiling and slip slowly into madness. But what would I wear?"

No matter how many years have passed, I still can't figure out for the life of me why some people hate the live-action adaptation of The Grinch. Sure, it's not on the same level as the animated version, (Well, the original animated one since they're making a CGI Grinch... ugh.) but out of all the Dr. Seuss films, this one feels the most focused in terms of plot. Instead of the useless padding that plagued The Lorax or the godawful Mike Myers abomination that we do not speak of or even Horton Hears a Who to an extent which I still liked, this one uses the feature length time to give The Grinch a backstory. I think it added a bit more character insight to how he became The Grinch which makes it stand out from being a typical adaptation.

Besides that Jim Carrey is fantastic as The Grinch although that's a given since he's my favorite actor as I've stated many times, but even with that I'm amazed by how he did that performance through all that make-up with the facial expressions and animated-like movements. He was born to play The Grinch and he really gave 110% for that role. Also, the effects in general are really good and they put a lot of work into bringing Whoville to life.

Like I said, it's not as good as the animated version, but it's still good in its own right.

December 24-25

Re-watch



-

"This time John Wayne does not walk off into the sunset with Grace Kelly."
"That was Gary Cooper, asshole."

It's been years since I first saw this, but this is the first time I actually watched it during around the holiday season. Yes, it is a Christmas movie and I'm not listening to anyone who says otherwise.

I already thought very highly of Die Hard when I first saw it, but after seeing it again, I now consider it to be one of the best action movies of all time. It broke some serious ground when it came out and it's just as awesome now as it was back then. Everything from the action, to the witty one liners, a great villian played by the late Alan Rickman and Bruce Willis as the badass John McClane and how he's able to handle this all on his own.

Not much else I can say, but I can't believe this is only my second time watching this. I should've seen it more times than that by now and starting now I'm going to try make it a thing to watch it every December.

December 28



"The racing is the reward, not the stuff!"

Only watched this because I'm a completionist when it comes to Pixar. I wasn't looking forward to it even with the trailers not just because Cars 2 is their worst film, but because Cars should've just been one movie. While the first Cars is a good movie, it was their least original idea at the time and the story they had was already cliche.

It's more apparent here as it's not too much different from the first installment. The story is predictable and doesn't really break any new ground. I mean, I'll give Cars 2 this, as over the top the story was, it at least attempted something a bit different. However, I wouldn't call this movie terrible because there's some positives with it. There were at least a few moments that made me laugh quite a bit and it does have some heart to it which was really lacking in its predecessor. Plus another problem that they fixed here was Mater. Last time he hogged too much of the spotlight, but here he only has a few scenes which is good because he didn't overstay his welcome this time around.

Still, this is one of the weakest films to come from Pixar. It may be marginally better than Cars 2, but I know that Pixar can do better than this and hopefully they'll chill with the sequels soon and go back to making originals. Out of all the sequels Pixar has made, the only ones I can say warranted a sequel are Toy Story and The Incredibles.

December 31



"The Empire, your parents, the Resistance, the Sith, the Jedi... let the past die. Kill it, if you have to. That's the only way to become what you are meant to be."

Wanted to catch this before the year ended and it exceeded my expectations which were already high to begin with. Now one of the biggest criticisms with The Force Awakens is that it was too similar to A New Hope and played it safe. Now I personally didn't have that problem with it sharing similarities to A New Hope, but I bring this up because this one takes a few risks which was bound to alienate fans.

As much as I loved The Force Awakens, I can easily say that this is the best Star Wars movie since The Empire Strikes Back which is fitting since this is the Empire of the trilogy. There are many things I can say about this like how I connected with the new characters even more here, the story being solid and the risks it took being rewarding, but the biggest thing for me was that this was the most fun I've had at the cinema in quite some time and I've seen a number of great movies this year, so that's saying something. There was not one dull moment to be found here and for the first time we get a new Star Wars movie that truly feels like one. (Although Force Awakens did to an extent.)

It's a fantastic movie and it's easily the second best movie of the year. (Baby Driver is still number one, even considering the fact that Kevin Spacey is an asshole.) Don't listen to the incredibly biased and hyperbolic negative reviews on other sites. This is a cinematic experience that deserves to be seen.

Anyways, now that another year's over, I'm going to go back to yearly list formats from now on. There's no point in me doing monthly lists when the amount of movies I watch each month seems to decrease a little more. Good riddance to 2017 and hopefully 2018 will be better.