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Watched The Martian (2015).

Damn near perfect adaptation of Weir's novel. Cast Away in space mixed with some NASA-propaganda, but self-aware enough to avoid the usual pitfalls of such a movie. Very good.
 
Maturin said:
Watched The Martian (2015).

Damn near perfect adaptation of Weir's novel. Cast Away in space mixed with some NASA-propaganda, but self-aware enough to avoid the usual pitfalls of such a movie. Very good.
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I watched that recently for the 2nd time.. really good movie. One of the better space movies in some time.

On another note, I re watched Monk (the TV series) ... one of my all time favorites and the first real cable break though that does and should get credit for the large number of quality shows in the US that exist outside of the networks that came after it
 
I've not had a drink in days. Not that I have a problem, I do enjoy my drink, I just need a clear head this week.
 
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So we watched two movies yesterday, Sleepy Hollow (1999) and mother! (2017). I don't remember when was the last time I wasted so much time during a single day watching such dreck. Warning - spoilers and profanities ahead.

Regarding Hollow - I can't really say I was disappointed, because that'd mean I'd actually had serious expectations. I was looking for a movie that would get me into that proper autumnal mood and in that regard I guess it really works. The fallen leaves, the visible cold, In Mist She Was Standing whatever. Unfortunately that's about it. The story feels incoherent and sometimes defies logic altogether, Depp is probably one of the most overrated actors ever (I mean, he was rather "cute" here, but his characters are much too alike for my liking and he also fails to resonate emotionally with me in any way) and the movie couldn't even decide what fucking genre it wants to be - this sometimes works (Evil Dead 2), but here it certainly didn't because you really wouldn't be scared by this if you're over three and despite the occasional snigger this movie is no comedy either, let alone the fact that most "funny" moments consist of Depp getting some shit (blood) in his face. Apart from the atmosphere, the best thing about this would be the Christopher Lee/Walken cameos.

Oh, and for 105 minutes it feels overlong as fuck.



mother!... first of all, sorry about the possible spoilers, but this movie is pretty much impossible to talk about otherwise. If I were to sum it up in two words, I'd borrow a song name from Blixa Bargeld's Einstürzende Neubauten - Tanz debil. The last time I was this riled up by artistic pretensions of a director who couldn't help but to make his incompetence more and more conspicuous throughout was probably watching the excretions of Lars Von Trier and damn if I wasn't reminded of his Antichrist several times over.

I never really liked Aronofsky all that much (the only movies I actually appreciated were Pi and Black Swan), but I at least respected him as a director. I think I can safely say that's over now.

The way I see it, there are 4 main "interpretations" of the movie:

- the Aronofsky Himself/male artist point of view - this actually makes the most sense and could be seen as a commentary on the fact that many artists tend to be knobheads who use their work as a reason to act as dicks. I guess that seeing the whole movie in this way would make it look like Aronofsky thinks he's the God (which, well, might not be that far from the truth because 1.) that's more or less the state of the affairs nowadays with many people, 2.) thanks to the never-ending fellation of all "artists" nowadays he might be almost forgiven for thinking so). Well, "Him's profession is as a poet, and his narcissism, hunger for praise and casual neglect of his marriage all seem to be tied to his art".

- the feminist point of view - makes little sense, if only because in the end it again falls into the "men act, women are" cliché. Well, maybe not even that, because ... you know what? Fuck it. Let's just say that if I was a woman (and my wife is and feels the same), I still would be pretty much offended by the movie's portrayal thereof. Let's cut the crap - Lawrence's mother here is no actual person (I'll get to this later) - she is great and a "hero" mainly because she gives birth - again, interesting message nowadays when intentionally childless couples start to spread.

- the environmental point of view - allegedly the main idea of the creators - I guess this kinda makes sense, but 1.) it doesn't really tell us anything new, does it? Except for possibly "Saint-Martiners, we're sorry but you're dead because the US didn't ratify Kyoto". 2.) Also, considering the beginning and ending, that is, the endless repetition, it really makes no sense, because you could (and probably should) interpret it as "more or less the contrary to climate change activists' warnings of irreversible harm and it affirms denialists' belief that climate change is a matter of "natural cycles" that naturally repair themselves". Also, the "Gaya's vengeance" aspect is pretty dumb in general, because philosophically it makes no sense and is a cheap, third-grader way to explain catastrophes. BTW what about those disasters on other planets where no-one "loots"?

- the Abrahamic religion point of view - Both the most offensive and the most ignorant part/interpretation. I don't know what it is that makes everyone think they are experts on religion and theology and are both entitled and erudite enough to comment thereon, but it's getting tiresome. Aronofsky here tries to pick certain parts of Abrahamic religion (but only parts) and then tries to put his kinda spin on it, but he only makes it obvious he knows jack shit. I will refrain from commenting on the "eucharist", apart from saying that I've probably never seen anything so stupid, misinterpreted and ... well, disgusting. The level of idiocy here is simply immeasurable.

(I suppose someone could see the movie as a commentary on the immigrant crisis/Trump vs. Mexico issues, but considering the fact how the movie sees the "invaders" and what would the message then be and considering it was made in Hollywood, there's no way that was intentional. I'd still like to see it that way, if only for the fact that injecting racism and xenophobia would make Aronofsky's struggle for a perfectly offensive film complete).

The symbols and allegory are nonsensical, because they sometimes work and sometimes don't, the director obviously can't make up his mind what point he actually wants to make and in the end, it's just plain old "throw everything on the wall and something sticks". The film's chasing too many rabbits and most get away. It's no wonder it feels underbaked.

Despite this, it could have worked - I mean, Black Swan is really about nothing in particular, yet it's a great thriller movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat. This bogging smegma of a movie is no thriller. It's not scary, it's not unnerving, it does not thrill. It's not psychological, either. The characters are not even real characters. They are cheap cardboard trash that revolve around a single theme each. To put it simply, if we scratch the symbolism and allegory (which should always come second in a good story, after the storyline and characters), the movie doesn't even work as a movie. Where's the fucking story???

Lawrence's acting is good, albeit a bit histrionic, but that's way too small a comfort.

I have no doubt whatsoever that Aronofsky's main intention was to spark controversy and be the "talked-about" director. Unfortunately, I already helped in that regard by this rant here. So let's just make peace with that by saying I will never ever support any of his creations again.

And for anyone thinking I can't stand it because it's offensive to religion - no, that's simply not true. First of all, that would be weird coming from the bloke who has Simons in his avatar, but I also really like to have worthy opponents. Go read Ivan's rants (and short story) in Brothers Karamazov. Or some stuff by Eco. That's some stuff. Devilishly clever, thought-provoking, ingenious, even. Aronofsky is just the next Dawkins. He might have thought of himself being the next Hitchens, but he's not. He's just the next Dawkins.

Anyway, it doesn't really matter how the world is, what truly matters is the way the "artists" see it, right?

Sorry for the rant. I just had to get it out of my system. Fuck it. Judas out.
 
Just caught up on FTWD. Last 3 eps have been as good as the main show, especially 3x13. The only problem the show has is that I don't really care for most of the characters.
 
Looks like something I might enjoy.

Watched BBC documentary The Killer Summit yesterday about the K2 disaster in 2008.
 
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And tonight we watched The Visit. First of all - I admit I absolutely hadn't seen the twist coming. Either shame on me for not taking my lesson from Dahl or it was truly well done. Second of all - it was a great movie, not breaking any new ground in general, but very carefully and thoughtfully put together. I love the actors here - the two youngsters are quite lovely - and it also gives a new spin to the "found footage" genre, if only because it doesn't look like shit. There were certain scenes that almost made me shit in me trousers (the "hide and seek" came totally out of the blue and made me feel rather weird), the story made sense (I think) and there were all these cute little touches, like the "kid-rap" of the male protagonist. BTW, this movie's messages were not only stronger and better thought-through than yesterday's mother!'s, but also resonated much more with me. Despite this being an old-school thriller with pretty much no ambitions whatsoever contrasted with the "world-describing" pretentiousness of mother that tried to tackle everything at once. Let alone the fact that this film works on its own, even without any additional agenda. So, yeah, Aronofsky, I find Shyamalan to be a better director than you. Suck on this.

In fact, I realised I actually really like Shyamalan. In my opinion, the movies from Sense to Village are all awesome (yup, I mean it, including the latter) and Lady in the Water, while weird and having its flaws was still pretty good. The Happening was shitty (or at least I think so - I haven't seen it since '08 when I went to see it in the cinema) and I still haven't even seen Avatar and After Earth. Since this here piece is again great, that's - at worst - 6 to 3 ratio of good->awesome movies against the really bad ones. Makes me want to watch Split ASAP.

P.S. - I admit that the twist
that is "Those are not your grandparents" was one of the chilliest and most well executed Wham Lines I have seen lately. Where can I find more movies like this one?
 
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