Soldato
Back to consuming shed loads of Netflix on the commute, most recently:
Straight Outta Compton - 8/10 - Excellent biopic, I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did as I'm not really a rap fan, but it's well scripted and well acted considering the cast are relative unknowns. Even enjoyed the music which was a nice surprise since I'm traditionally more inclined toward rock, there's one scene with Ice Cube recording a diss track aimed at NWA (No Vaseline) which cuts between him in the studio and NWA listening and reacting which is absolutely brilliant. I also really enjoyed the time they dedicated to the historical context, the Crips and Bloods stuff, the LA riots, Rodney King etc. Ever since I played San Andreas back in the day I've had a real interest in the situation within LA during the late 80's early 90's. So watching this led on to....:
Boys n the Hood - 7/10 - How have I never watched this? Cuba Gooding was good, Fishburne was good, the only issue I have is that it felt somewhat dated, and I was kind of trying to find a film that gave a wider picture of the situation at the time and the focus of Boys n the Hood is quite narrow, aiming at the interpersonal relationships and the impact of gang violence rather than the specifics of what was going on. Not a failing of the film at all.
The Bye Bye Man - 5/10 - I love Halloween, it always kind of puches me to get back into my old love of horror movies. This started off pretty promisingly, tighter main cast focussing on three close knit people so there was no feeling of expendability there which I find makes it difficult to invest in similar films. However after about the half way mark it all descends into nonsense, I've not watched the ending yet but the final 3rd feels very rushed and the cognitive leaps required for some of the thinking exhibited by the main guy is just nonsense. I can't even adequately explain it away by focussing on his mental state, it's just nonsense. In contrast I watched Hellhouse LLC the other day and I really enjoyed that precisely because it didn't try to have its protagonists unravel some big mystery, bad crap happened, there's no string that you can pull that will fix all this.
Straight Outta Compton - 8/10 - Excellent biopic, I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did as I'm not really a rap fan, but it's well scripted and well acted considering the cast are relative unknowns. Even enjoyed the music which was a nice surprise since I'm traditionally more inclined toward rock, there's one scene with Ice Cube recording a diss track aimed at NWA (No Vaseline) which cuts between him in the studio and NWA listening and reacting which is absolutely brilliant. I also really enjoyed the time they dedicated to the historical context, the Crips and Bloods stuff, the LA riots, Rodney King etc. Ever since I played San Andreas back in the day I've had a real interest in the situation within LA during the late 80's early 90's. So watching this led on to....:
Boys n the Hood - 7/10 - How have I never watched this? Cuba Gooding was good, Fishburne was good, the only issue I have is that it felt somewhat dated, and I was kind of trying to find a film that gave a wider picture of the situation at the time and the focus of Boys n the Hood is quite narrow, aiming at the interpersonal relationships and the impact of gang violence rather than the specifics of what was going on. Not a failing of the film at all.
The Bye Bye Man - 5/10 - I love Halloween, it always kind of puches me to get back into my old love of horror movies. This started off pretty promisingly, tighter main cast focussing on three close knit people so there was no feeling of expendability there which I find makes it difficult to invest in similar films. However after about the half way mark it all descends into nonsense, I've not watched the ending yet but the final 3rd feels very rushed and the cognitive leaps required for some of the thinking exhibited by the main guy is just nonsense. I can't even adequately explain it away by focussing on his mental state, it's just nonsense. In contrast I watched Hellhouse LLC the other day and I really enjoyed that precisely because it didn't try to have its protagonists unravel some big mystery, bad crap happened, there's no string that you can pull that will fix all this.
