Movie Catch Up 8

Loved

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John Wick 2

“After returning to the criminal underworld to repay a debt, John Wick discovers that a large bounty has been put on his life.” IMDB

I talked about the first John Wick last week – we have now seen the second one. It was somehow even more beautiful than the first one, in every aspect. The budget has clearly gone up, so the fake death scenes were a bit more bloody and sometimes even slightly gory, perhaps this would be too much for some who did enjoy the first one.

We learn a little bit more about the hitman universe this time, which I appreciated a lot. In particular we learned why the suits are a must – they are basically a bullet proof vest hidden in a suit. I loved that the costume designer played the part of the tailor and he was utterly fantastic in *both* roles. The costumes in this are excellent.

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In the first movie a story was told about John Wick killing 3 people with a pencil, and this time we see exactly how he does that. I kind of feel like the myth was better than the actuality but it certainly gave all involved an opportunity to showcase their skills, whether it be stuntmen, actors, art department and/or prop department, and probably more people than we will ever know about. It makes me hope there will be a DVD commentary track so we can find out more about how this was done.

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There are a lot of big names showing up in this movie and I imagine there will be even more in the next one. Everybody is going to want to get killed by John Wick! The stand out for me was Common. That is the first time I have seen him in a movie bu I am now a fan so I will be putting some of his other works on my to-see list.

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The other stand out features of this film was the amazing cinematography, there were some stunningly gorgeous shots in here. The set design was truly killer especially in the last museum sequences, and the beginning action sequence of this film where John attempts to retrieve his stolen car was so incredible and brilliantly done. I loved the door thing.

Recently they announced they will be doing a TV series spin off from this world called The Continental, which is the hotel chain that is home to the world’s league of assassins. No cast has been announced yet but I do believe this is a great idea and there are so many stories that could be told here. If Lance Reddick signs on, the levels of awesomeness will be huge. I want to know more about his character! However he is likely to be in Bosch season 4, which might make that difficult.

This is the best action movie I have ever seen. Ever. Truly great work by everyone involved. It makes total sense to me that both of these John Wick movies were directed by Chad Stahelski who has a long career as a stunt performer and coordinator. If this is what happens when stunt performers direct movies, then we need a lot more stunt performers to direct movies.

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Buster’s Mal Heart

“A family man’s chance encounter with a conspiracy-obsessed drifter leaves him on the run from the police and an impending event known as The Inversion.” IMDB

Am I here? Who am I? Why am I here? Should I grab a stock pot, put it on the kitchen counter, and poop in it? These are all questions that came to me as a surprise when I watched this film. I think there was life before seeing that scene, and life afterwards, and the two are not the same thing. I did not screenshot it for you, see how nice I am? ;) But it was quite the sight.

It did not take long for me to become a huge Rami Malek fan. The camera loves him, even when he has all the hair and the beard they add on in parts of this movie. I have no idea what the heck this movie was all about or whether *any* of it was real, at all. Rami has such a talent for making the unreal seem like it is real. He does it beautifully in Mr Robot, too.

I enjoyed every minute Rami was on the screen, and if you are a fan you will too. if you are not a fan, this is not a movie for you. I would not have enjoyed this at all with a lesser actor or someone I was not a fan of. I have no clue what this movie was trying to tell me. Was it all a dream? Was it caused by sleep deprivation? Was it mental illness? What really happened, and in what order did it happen?

It is especially interesting that Rami Malek signed up to do this movie *before* he signed onto Mr Robot, and yet the two could easily be entwined within each other, some of the same themes run through here, and there is some music at times which felt like it could be put into Mr Robot.

All I have are questions, and zero answers. I loved this movie even though I am – like Buster and Jonah, completely and totally lost. Am I floating in a boat, out at sea, covered in frogs? I DON’T KNOW. :)

The one thing I do know, I am excited to see Bohemian Rhapsody where Rami will play the role of Freddie Mercury, due for release in late 2018.

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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

“The adventures of writer Newt Scamander in New York’s secret community of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter reads his book in school.” IMDB

I have never seen or read anything Harry Potter related at all. I saw part of the trailer for this a while ago and I thought I might like to see it, so when I discovered The Other Half intended to watch it I said I would like to sit in.

I think it might actually be a quite scary place, the inner mind of J.K. Rowling, if some of these beasts actually live there. But it might also be quite a magical place. This movie certainly was magical. There will be a second one, and this might be one we go to the cinema to see, along with John Wick 3.

I am not the biggest fan of CGI stuff and there was a lot of it in this movie, but I did love the movie. Even though I have an irrational dislike of Eddie Redmayne. It is odd, because I have seen movies where he was in them and I quite enjoyed them, I just do not like the guy and I have no idea why. It might be hair related. I did want to get a pair of scissors and just trim his hair slightly shorter, so it was not quite so close to his eyes.

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2 thoughts on “Movie Catch Up 8

  1. We downloaded John Wick but have yet to watch it. Keanu is touch and go for me…Sometimes I think he’s great, but other times, a bit too flat, if you know what I mean! We’ll probably watch it this weekend!

    • I really enjoyed Keanu in this set of movies. I do know what you mean by sometimes a bit flat, sometimes you can tell when he is not Feeling It, but he seemed to be Feeling It Bigtime in these movies. :) And I loved some of the fighting ballet. I had no idea he was such a talented ballerina! ;)

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