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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated 47 Ronin (2013) in Movies

Jan 12, 2021 (Updated Jul 4, 2021)

47 Ronin (2013)

2013 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

6.5

(17 Ratings)

Movie Rating

As expected this is a lot of eye-popping visual work in service of a story void of even a single drop of weight. Too much gorgeous design fetish on display to truly dislike in spite of it being executed as plainly as can be otherwise - for every mechanical, generic expository beat there's a splashpad of stunning locales, vibrant costumes, luscious CGI, sweeping sets, excellent props, and fully realized art backing it up. It's super atmospheric and the money is *definitely* on the screen but everything underneath the hood is not only lackluster but genuinely problematic. The idea to take one of the most legendary events in Japanese history and not only turn it into another passive whitewashed popcorn flick is gross all on its own, but to frame the entire thing around a bunch of wronged Japanese men + women having to constantly praise and apologize to a white man for bullying him or whatever is - quite frankly - beyond insulting. As much as I won't soon be forgetting the pop aesthetic experience this delivered upon, I'm also glad it bombed. A screenplay this goofy has no right being so tame. And see the skull guy on the poster? He's only in the movie for like 30 seconds so fuck you.

Kudos

LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Swallow (2019) in Movies

Jan 13, 2021 (Updated Jan 13, 2021)

Swallow (2019)

2019 | Drama

9.0

(2 Ratings)

Movie Rating

To be fair, I'd rather swallow a screwdriver than hang out with rich white people too. Gorgeous, nasty, and mean - but never disrespectful. Medically accurate? Perhaps not, but these seldom ever are anyhow so what can you do? In fact I found this to be much more compelling and satisfying as a depiction of obnoxious old-money business whities having their perfect little synthetic image destroyed by people who refuse to shape themselves around it than a portrait of pica. As everyone has already pointed out, Austin Stowell and in particular Haley Bennett are just astounding - easily not only her best performance to date, but the type of galvanizing role that should propel her star-power vastly beyond just Jennifer Lawrence comparisons considering that this is way better work than anything J-Law has done in years anyhow (excluding 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳! [I'm a simp for stupid, manic arthouse cinema I know you don't have to tell me]). Deeply, deeply, *deeply* unsettling - can pleasantly report that its reputation is as airtight as claimed. Super messy but I think that gives it more character tbh, and what an excellent use of music. A bit too on-the-nose at times but also the type of movie that's destined to be misinterpreted by morons everywhere.

Kudos

BackToTheMovies (56 KP) rated Triple Threat (2019) in Movies

Jun 26, 2019

Triple Threat (2019)

2019 | Action, Thriller

6.4

(5 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Triple Threat, from prolific action specialist Jesse V. Johnson and currently streaming on Netflix, is exactly as promised – 95 minutes of complete ass-kicking from a ridiculous cast of ass-kickers who defy gravitational and physical logic with their supreme martial arts and combat skills. Unpretentious, unrelenting, and wildly entertaining, this is a throwback to old-school, non-CGI, action-programmers where the body count is absurdly high, the squibs are going off like crazy, and dynamic second unit work pumps up the aesthetic thrills – it’s the best pure-action film of the year and the best of its type that I’ve seen since The Night Comes For Us (also on Netflix streaming).

Starring an action fan’s dream team of Iko Uwais, Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Tony Jaa, and Tiger Chen. The various beat-downs that these guys dish out look beyond lethal. I loved the real-deal explosions and Jonathan Hall’s slick and steady cinematography which highlighted the insane choreography. Matthew Lorentz’s crisp editing wastes not a moment of the basic but hard-charging script by Joey O’Bryan, Fangjin Song, and Paul Staheli. But let’s be honest, we’re not here to experience Shakespearean-level swaths of dialogue. Triple Threat exists as an outlet for extreme thrills and near-constant mayhem.