[Bondo]

Glass (2019)

Glass finds David Dunn set up working with his son to bring vigilante justice to Philadelphia and The Beast still at large with a continued appetite for teenage girls. The authorities aren't wild about either of them and thus it is a fight between them that leads to their capture and put under treatment from Dr. Staple alongside Mr. Glass. She presents a theory that each of their conceptions of existing in a world of superpowers has a specific psychological origin. And even though we've watched two full films that present these powers in seemingly clear terms, hers is not a completely unconvincing argument. Though each of them are certainly housed like people with superpowers, with special mechanics to counteract them.

The twist here is interesting, but the world building we get upon its revelation is pretty thin and based on an outdated world where the public is credulous in the face of video. But even if Shyamalan has never been the strongest action director, it's been a boon because he's made his films more psychological, and the themes here continue that. This is the low point of the trilogy and could have been better, but I'm still not sure there's a better superhero trilogy.

[FLYmeatwad]

Think that we're pretty much on the exact same page with that one.

[smirnoff]

Stand By Me (Rob Reiner, 1986)        ⁹/₁₀

I'm extremely impressed with this film. It's over 30 years old, and I'm even a few years older than it is, yet seeing it for the first time last night I was completely engaged. There's no scenes that stand out as being particularly well executed, a lot of the character moments made me roll my eyes, but I still found myself very moved by it. The general atmosphere, Richard Dreyfuss' narration, and the perfect pacing and length made it such a satisfying and thoughtful experience. When it ended I just thought to myself "god, what a great story"... small but epic, anticlimactic but fulfilling anyways, flawed in small ways but terrific in big ways. An exciting discovery for me.

[jdc]

Movies to watch on a long flights...

The Meg

Normally I think an action film, at least a good one, should be watched on a big screen, but the trailer made this look silly or stupid so I decided it would be better on a flight along with a few glasses of wine. This extends to the next few selections as well.  But hey, this was actually somewhat entertaining though maybe it was just the wine. Heavily borrowed from Jaws, of course and a few moments that seemed like from The Abyss, but I don't think they were trying to do anything original, just fun.

The Predator 

No amount of wine can save this movie, it is just horrible.

Predators

Josh's praise or at least his re-occurring admiration for this one got me curious.  A bunch of familiar faces like Adrian Brody, Topher Grace, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Trejo, Alice Braga, among others actually allow this to hold up quite well. The original Predator is one of those iconic 80's movies that is probably not as good as remembered, it likely doesn't hold up anything close to something like The Thing, but it was the first. It has been too long since I watch it, but if I were to watch again, I would bet this one is better.  But it doesn't mean either are really that great.

Leave no Trace

This was a sober watch on the return. A well-done view of a father dealing with PTSD that cannot live and integrate back in society, so he takes his daughter to live and raise her in the woods. Eventually, they get found and have to deal with a bureaucracy that seems to think everybody has to be accounted for and live in what they deem an acceptable integration with society. His struggles with integration conflict with her desires to have at least a somewhat normal existence, even if it is with those that are just living on the edge.  Slow and meditative but worth the watch.

[Bondo]

BlacKkKlansman

As the lone Best Picture nominee (and most-nominated film) I hadn't seen, I decided to make a priority of seeing this instead of waiting for it to work through the hold list at the library. Having recently watched Green Book, there are certainly aspects here that highlight that film's weaknesses. In terms of narrative slickness, Green Book is the winner, a smartly written crowd pleaser. But I think the argument Spike Lee would make, and that critics of Green Book have made, is the past of racism doesn't have a happy ending. While I argued that Green Book builds into its historical tale parallels to modern politics of white resentment and calls them out, Lee overtly calls those parallels out as a warning of either lack of progress or the risk of regression. This end scene is something that could very well be the type of heavy-handed move that takes one out of the film, but instead it seals the film's success and meaningfully denies us a happy ending.

But if BlacKkKlansman is the more politically salient film, it does have that bump of not being the finely honed, consistent piece of drama. There are a few scenes in particular that feel didactic, letting one character or another lecture to layout a worldview or provide historical context. These contribute to a film that has the tendency to drag. Combining that with performances that I'm not generally sold on and this is a pretty average film attached to a powerful analogy. I guess what I really needed was for Spike Lee to direct a coda to Green Book.

[1SO]

Are you referring to the end of the story or the brief documentary tacked onto the end?


Also, forgot to mention but I like your provocative statement about the best "superhero trilogy". Dark Knight would be the internet's popular answer and I'd put Captain America above that. Still, none treat the form in as interesting and genre-bending a way as The Eastrail 177 Trilogy (what they're calling Unbreakable/Split/Glass)

[Bondo]

The transition into the documentary. There's also the way the story itself has many hallmarks of happy ending, racism is solved, and then they shut the whole thing down, he's dumped, etc..

For me, that I have Eastrail 177 rated highest is partly because Unbreakable is itself probably the best film in the superhero designation, but also because I hold a lot of the other trilogies in lower regard than most. I like The Dark Knight a lot but don't particularly like Batman Begins and certainly don't like The Dark Knight Rises. I was annoyed by Captain America 2's "because Nazis" copout.

[philip918]

The Eastrail 177 Trilogy loses about five spots just for being called The Eastrail 177 Trilogy.

[Sandy]

The Desert Bride



I would like to see all of the other Paulina Garcia movies now, please.

[MartinTeller]

The Eastrail 177 Trilogy loses about five spots just for being called The Eastrail 177 Trilogy.

Agreed, that's just obnoxious.

Also, when the hell did Shyamalan shit out a sequel to Unbreakable? Man, that guy slid so hard into irrelevance.