Sure, the holiday may have passed, but this is going to become a Thanksgiving must-watch for years to come. Thank you, Eli Roth, for both the original 2007 trailer and serving us this platter full of gore and creative kills.
(<A HREF="https://boxd.it/5f5WuN">Originally published on LG OLED's Letterboxd</A>)
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A few minutes into The Retirement Plan, Ashley tells her husband she hasn't talked to her dad in ten years. Then she puts her 11 year old daughter on a plane to the Cayman Islands with her dad's last known address on a piece of paper. Her daughter who tells the flight attendant she has never traveled before. To the Cayman Islands. With an address on a piece of paper. Don't worry, the flight attendant offers to help her get a taxi to take her to the address after they land.
Some amount of time later, Ashley leaves a hotel room to get ice. The door closes, and she sees the bad guys. She opens the closed hotel room door, no key of any kind. She doesn't lock the door behind her, but the bad guys cannot open it without busting it down. If this feels like a nitpick, it's just that I can't put the rest of the problems into words.
Nicholas Cage is funny a couple of times.
If you haven’t seen any superhero origin story, watch this one!
It is nice to see a superhero with a family that not only knows who and what he is, but is supportive and is a part of the story.
A movie with apes riding horses and shooting guns has no business being good, but somehow this is great. It's even better than the first.
Dawn skips ahead ten years, building on what Rise established. Caesar is leading the rest of the apes from Rise, and all the ones whose names we knew are his lieutenants and family.
I like that it's not as simple as humans vs apes. There are good humans (Keri Russell!) and bad humans. There are good apes (Marcus!) and bad apes and Koba the worst ape ever (but I do appreciate his sympathetic backstory).
Also I spent a lot of Rise being sad about the animal abuse and experiments, so I did feel less sad this time.
I love the “ghost ship” trope, and this one starts out with a great take on that. Then it starts spouting nonsense about the Bermuda triangle and the dark side of the moon.
Once the killing starts, it annoyingly sets some rules but then refuses to follow them.
The story isn’t unsalvageable, and I wonder if anyone has managed to do it better within the sci-fi genre.
It only took the first thirty seconds for me to know I was going to love this. It felt like home.
I don't know if I've ever seen a more realistic story of a tween girl navigating friendships, social dynamics, religion, family, puberty, and figuring out her identity. Most are one extreme of the other. Too immature, the Disney cheerful ones, or too mature, the stylish quippy ones. This is just right.
Rachel McAdams makes everything look easy, and Abby Ryder Fortson is right there with her. I didn't even recognize her from the first two Ant-Man's.
The first time I witnessed pure artistry. 1968. [2001.] Planet of the Apes. I was sitting in a cinema next to my mum watching mastery unfold before my very eyes. After the film, I asked her, "How did they get those monkeys to do those things?" And she patted me on the head and she said, "It's not real, pet. It's just acting." That's when I knew. If they can teach those monkeys to act that brilliantly, just imagine what I could bring to the world.
Not for me, but I did like Helena Bonham and Mark Wahlberg's sexual tension.
Ugh, where do I begin with this one? This entry to the <i>Halloween</i> franchise is my <i><A HREF="https://boxd.it/1XWE">A New Beginning</A></i>. If you know my thoughts about that film, they’re mutual to this.
Watched for the <b><A HREF="http://letterboxd.com/doublethreat">Double Threat Podcast</A></b>.
This movie is so 90's that I almost can't believe it. The Homeward Bound/Adventures of Milo & Otis vibes are strong. If I was still seven years old, I would have recorded this into a VHS tape and rewatched it like crazy.
I'm older now though, so it's probably a one time watch for me. They switch up some things from the original, but I don't really care. It's a cute live action kids movie. The animals are cute, the spaghetti scene is cute, Janelle Monae sings. Not everything has to also appeal to adults.
Who run the world? Apes.
I've never watched any of the original Planet of the Apes films, but I know the key moments from the first. I like that this starts from the beginning when Caesar is a tiny baby. The technology for Caesar is really impressive. The CGI, the motion capture, the way they are able to show expressions and emotions in his face and every movement. Every time James Franco's character betrays him, you see it in Caesar's eyes.
Every human in this is a villain except John Lithgow and Freida Pinto, and I guess the civilian casualties. I'll probably have nightmares about apes on horses tonight.
Favorite (Not Necessarily Best) Four From Every Year Since Birth
I get the marketing urge to say "Let's make Love Actually but a Valentine's Day version." Financially, yes, this made sense.
There are too many characters and subplots. Jamie Foxx was in the first quarter at some point, and then he doesn't show up again for maybe 40 minutes. That could be an exaggeration, but it also could be accurate.
I think if they cut cut a third of the characters, it gets a lot better. They should cut Taylor & Taylor, but I do really like "Back to December" which is written about their break up, so unfortunately that part has to stay.
Annual Valentine's Day viewing. Still a classic.
