Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver
Similar2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Apollo 13 (1995), Armageddon (1998), Catwoman (2004), Code of Silence (1985), Con Air (1997), Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000), Die Hard (1988), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Generations (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003), You Only Live Twice (1967),
Watch afterDune: Part Two (2024), Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023),
My favorite moments in Rebel Moon: Part Two - The Scargiver come during quick breaths before a plunge.
In the first, warriors Tarak (Staz Nair) and Milius (Elise Duffy) come to terms with their likely imminent deaths at the hands of a smoke-spewing tank. Having spent years of his life consumed by survivor's guilt, Tarak thought having a cause to die for would be enough. It isn't. He wants to live, but he probably won't. The next best thing is to die fighting alongside a peer like Milius.
In the second, Kora (Sofia Boutella) is in the midst of blasting her way through the fearsome dreadnought King's Gaze. After slaying a warrior wielding a high-tech superheated sword, she takes a moment to catch her breath. With some pilfered cloth, she wraps the blade's hilt so she can use it without burning herself. It's a moment of improvisation, providing Boutella a chance to deliver a quieter piece of physical acting that stands in contrast to brawling with a corridor of goons or swordfighting Ed Skrein's Admiral Noble. Continue Reading →
Snow
SimilarA Christmas Carol (1938), Apocalypse Now (1979), Batman Returns (1992), Ben-Hur (1959), Billy Elliot (2000), Brazil (1985), Contact (1997), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Finding Forrester (2000), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016), Metropolis (1927), Sahara (2005), Scrooge (1951), Shooter (2007), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Talk to Her (2002), The Apartment (1960), The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), The Holiday (2006), The Last Emperor (1987), The Party 2 (1982), The Tin Drum (1979), Wonder Boys (2000),
Watch afterAquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), Interstellar (2014), Leave the World Behind (2023), Napoleon (2023),
Oppenheimer (2023) Poor Things (2023), Saltburn (2023),
J.A. Bayona directs a heartbreaking adaptation of a true-life tale of tragedy & miracles.
Though we joke about the smallest inconveniences rendering us helpless, in truth the human will to survive cannot be underestimated. When confronted with imminent death, we can and will resort to extreme means to escape it, sometimes in ways that might shock and horrify those who weren’t there. One such story was Aron Ralston, a hiker who was forced to break and cut his own arm off after he was trapped by a fallen boulder, as depicted in 2010’s 127 Hours. Another was a 1972 plane crash in the Andes mountains, after which the survivors, faced with subzero temperatures, no food, and no plant life or animals to be found, eventually resorted to cannibalism to avoid starvation.
The Andes plane crash story was adapted for film a number of times, including the trashy, exploitative Survive!, and 1993’s competently made but whitewashed Alive, in which Ethan Hawke was cast as a character named Nando Parrado. Now J.A. Bayona, whose 2012 film The Impossible was also a harrowing tale of survival, takes a turn with Society of the Snow, a gripping, heart-wrenching look at the emotional toll such an unthinkable event takes on those who somehow came out of it alive, if not exactly well. Continue Reading →
Mandrake
When we talk about thankless jobs, we think teacher, or nurse, jobs that society cannot function without, but which are consistently undervalued and unappreciated. But what about the humble parole officer? They get it from both sides, in which they’re treated with hostility by the clients they’re tasked with monitoring, and suspicion from polite society who believes they’re at least partially responsible for whatever said clients do going forward. If the practical challenges of being a parole officer weren’t hard enough, sometimes they’re faced with the supernatural as well, as seen in Lynne Davison’s Mandrake, which efficiently checks off all the folk horror boxes, but not much else. Continue Reading →
Persuasion
StarringAnthony Stewart Head,
There’s no kind way to say this, so let’s get it out of the way at the top: Netflix’s production of Persuasion thinks you’re stupid. Despite being an adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel, this film has faith in neither its source material, nor its audience. Continue Reading →
De Superman à Spider-Man: L'aventure des super-héros
StarringPatrick Stewart, Rebecca Romijn,
StudioToei Animation,
In Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero, moral ambiguity runs rampant through the life of imprisoned Rahim Soltani (Amir Jadidi). Locked away for a debt he could not repay, Soltani has two days of leave to get his creditor, a family friend, to drop the charges. He owes the man a large sum, given as a pseudo-loan for a failing small business. A father to a young boy with a speech impediment, Rahim is understandably anxious to negotiate his freedom. When his girlfriend finds a lost bag filled with 17 gold coins, the moral conundrums begin, multiplying throughout the film with “nice” deeds and public interference. Continue Reading →
Attica
In the final hours of the 1971 Attica Prison Riot, a helicopter circled the nearly 1,300 prisoners of the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York. It blared the words, “You will not be harmed,” assuming the inmates would be spared any violence if they cooperated. While this phrase repeats, correctional officers and state troopers open fire on the prisoners, killing and injuring those that were fighting for basic human rights. That moment could represent the entire carnage of those five days in Attica. Continue Reading →
Hydra
SimilarKing Kong (1933),
Live and Let Die (1973) Poseidon (2006), Saw (2004), Saw II (2005), Saw III (2006), Zatoichi (2003),
Takashi (Masanori Mimoto, Yakuza Apocalypse and one of Hydra's action coordinators) is a quiet, reserved man. He's the chef at Hydra, a Tokyo bar well-loved by its regulars. To those regulars, he's a mystery wrapped in an enigma, but damn can he cook. To Rina (Miu, Netflix's Followers)—Hydra's bartender and Kenta (Tasuku Nagase, Kamen Rider Wizard)—its waiter, he and his stillness are a regular part of their lives. Rina considers him an adoptive big brother/uncle since he knew her vanished father. Kenta both admires his cool and resents his (relative) closeness to Rina. Takashi is Hydra's constant. He knows just what to cook for a regular in the middle of a bad break-up who orders "anything." He stops potential fights before they can start. And he keeps a leary eye on a sleazeball he suspects of being a sexual predator—making sure that the women the creep might be targeting get home safely. When the schmuck does indeed out himself as a date rapist, Takashi puts the fear of death into him. How is he able to do all this? He's observant. Why is he observant? Because he's a retired assassin. Continue Reading →
Carmen: A Hip Hopera
SimilarA History of Violence (2005), Match Point (2005), Shooter (2007), West Side Story (2021),
The best way to enjoy MTV’s Carmen: A Hip Hopera is with the subtitles on. That way you can catch every outrageous word of Sekani Williams’ singular lyrics. 20 years after its release in 2001, Carmen: A Hip Hopera remains unique, in a genre all its own. Continue Reading →
Elizabeth Is Missing
SimilarCaché (2005), Klute (1971), Memento (2000), Twelve Monkeys (1995),
Based on the novel of the same name by Emma Healey, the new-to-American-TV-movie Elizabeth is Missing seems at the surface like yet another in the seemingly endless parade of missing women in television and film. We’ve seen lost women from trains and in windows, what more can there be? Written by Andrea Gibb and directed by Aisling Walsh, Elizabeth is Missing is less a story about an actual missing person and more a story about loss, aging, and the slippery movement of memory. Continue Reading →