Mulan: Rise of a Warrior

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... Mulan: Rise of a Warrior!

Original image located here. Accessed 25th July 2025

Here's something leftfield: A Chinese movie made about the legendary figure Hua Mulan. Now I've seen the Disney animated film - which I imagine is how a lot of other people became aware of this story - and thoroughly enjoyed it. So why not have a Chinese production take on the same source material? It is, after all, their story.

This is a movie that left me with a lot of mixed feelings: On one hand, the battle scenes are exciting and there is some great imagery throughout. But on the other hand, this is a slow movie. Some moments drag on and that is effectively the death blow to this movie. I have seen numerous epic movies based around a singular figure and I can tell you this is a genre that one has to go all out: It can't afford to be boring. And in this case, yes the second half may be thrilling but the first half was a slog to get through. 

It was engaging yes but somehow I felt the animated Mulan had a lot more personality. 

The Hurt Locker

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Hurt Locker!

Original image located here. Accessed 4th November 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 82 (2009)

As previously mentioned, I am convinced that the movie going public will never forgive Shakespeare in Love for it's upset Best Picture victory. So the question is raised: How do people feel about The Hurt Locker's upset win?
It seems to me that this movie is in the same boat as Shakespeare in Love as it both beat some stiff competition and became something of a watershed for the Best Picture Oscars: It beat out Up and Avatar. It was the lowest grossing nominee. It was a low budget/small scale movie triumphing over the bigger budget movies. It's director, Kathryn Bigelow, was the first female to win Best Director (and who also beat out her former husband James Cameron). It was the first movie since Mrs Miniver to be about a war that was then in progress. 
An impressive legacy to be sure but what of the movie itself?

It certainly is compelling in it's depiction of working in a bomb disposal unit. The setting, Iraq, is also handled convincingly as well as the distrust the troops get from the locals. I don't doubt the realistic manner of the situations and how they are handled but I do question the reckless behaviour of some of the grunts: I may not be a military expert but I'm pretty sure you don't go acting like a tool when the dangerous task of bomb disposal is in progress,
Still I won't fault this movie for it's incredible use of tension and the sense that one is put right into the action. Many war movies can claim to do that but this one, I feel, actually pulls it off.
Looks like we have winner.

Funny People

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Funny People!

Original image located here. Accessed 1st December 2023

Once again, I try to sit through a movie starring Adam Sandler. I have already made my view on Adam Sandler clear previously so to find something where he isn't confined to the formula that made him famous is a challenge and a half. I have been lucky so far (see Reign Over Me and 50 First Dates) so can this recommendation keep that hot streak going?

Apparently no. 
First lets talk the positives:
 - Once again Sandler is playing a jerk but this is shaken up in some interesting ways: Halfway through the movie he makes the effort to stop being a jerk but for second half, this character clearly hasn't learned anything and is still being a jerk. So props to Sandler for taking the time to reconsider the role that made him famous
 - The cameos are fun. The appearances of James Taylor and Eminem are of particular note.
 - Eric Bana's presence was great (you can just tell he is a major St Kilda fan, right?)
 - Given that this movie is about stand-up comedy and features many comedians this clearly was a labour of love for the craft. So I'll give it that much.

But the Achilles heel of this movie is it's length. It's a bloated two and half hour run hat could easily been shorn of thirty minutes - or even forty five. Some scenes drag on and come across as pointless. And matters aren't helped with not all the jokes hitting the mark, leaving moments of radio silence.

So yeah, a disappointment if ever there was one

The Naked Kitchen

  And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Naked Kitchen!

Original image located here. Accessed 1st September 2023

Anyone heard of this? I know I've been throwing a lot of curveballs with my movie selection this year but  this may be the biggest curveball yet.
With a title like that one would think this is a porno but no: It's a South Korean rom-com. I only came about it when Kiera dropped the dvd case in front of me and insisted that I watch it.
I suppose that is one way to get's one attention.
And they say physical media is dead, eh?

As for the movie itself, I'm not sure what to make of it: Guy wants to open a restaurant, brings in a chef to assist him and chef ends up having a fling with Guy's wife? Yeah, not doing much for me. 
As such, I found the movie dull and a chore to get through. 
Easy come easy go I guess

The Hangover

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Hangover!

Original image located here. Accessed 25th August 2023

I recall this movie being a big hit when it was released but, as is often the case, it is only now that I get off my lazy arse and make the effort into seeing it for myself. I guess I was reluctant because I was expecting a 'comedy' loaded with unfunny jokes and gross-out humour (man, the Road Trip/American Pie movies have a lot to answer for).

Thankfully that wasn't the case, Sure the jokes are funny and the interplay between the cast great but for me the strength of this movie is tracing the path of the night before, trying to work out what had happened. It is the journey, picking up the clues and trying to piece together a path of absurdity that leads to the most unlikeliest of outcomes. 
Sure the movie may have it's dumb moment but somehow, it's improbable nature makes it a compelling sell.

Oh and for the record? My bachelors party was nothing like that XD

Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance!

Original image located here. Accessed 14th January 2022

II - End
And it came to pass that in 1999 i became a fan of Evangelion. But when one becomes a fan of something one begins to notice people who do not share a similar opinion and are therefore able to provide an outsider's opinion. And boy did I hear the complaints about Evangelion., Chief along them that Shinji is too whiny a protagonist and the rather baffling ending.
I find the complaints about Shinji interesting because he does have an everyman quality to him: Who doesn't feel despair, have parental issues and have trouble making friends (among other things)? Did having such recognizable qualities strike such a nerve with people? And by the end of the series, Shinji does indeed realise that not only does he wants to be liked but he wants to move beyond such a thought pattern. And to that end I felt happy for him.
When i reached the end of the original TV series, the ending took me completely by surprise. It was indeed a bold move to end such an action/-packed-thought-provoiking series on something of a personal note. I did appreciate it at the time but there were too many questions left unanswered. What on earth was going on? What were the secrets that the series had hinted at previously?
Of course I would later find out that a lot of other viewers were angered by the ending and so Hideaki Anno produced a new movie with a new ending: The End of Evangelion.

As for the second movie in the rebuild, if the first movie was to rely on familiarity to pull us in, here the rug is pulled from underneath. Sure some familiar story beats are here but by the movie's end, a different direction has been firmly established.
What is of particular note is the various character moments speckled throughout: Asuka enters, is still hostile but benefits from some interesting development. Rei is making an effort to bond with the people around her. And Shinji is whining less and showing a more proactive characterization.
If anything, the only major character that does not receive some development is the newcomer Maki, who certainly does an interesting first impression but is, let's be honest here, far too well-adjusted to be an Eva pilot.
And special mention must go to Gendo's line "Grow up Shinji'. It amuses me as it gives voice to many a thought many a viewer of Evangelion has had.
In the end, there are some great moments of animation and action but, much like it's predecessor, Evangelion's real strength is in it's heart. So with the movie ending on an astonishing note, it would be interesting to see what happens next.....

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!

Original image located here. Accessed 13th November 2020

It is interesting to revisit this movies over a decade later. Because I can do it on my own terms and be as far removed from the hostility this series initially attracted as I wish. Of course, a disgusted fanbase grumbling about an adaptation is nothing new but as the years went on, this hatred eventually died down. So I have to ask: Do the Harry Potter fans still hate the movies? I suppose
a) the fact that the movies all came over the course of a decade wore the haters down
b) the Potter fans grew older and wiser
c) the realization from the fanbase that the movies were drawing in new interest
d) the knowledge that we should be grateful that these movies gave us Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe
e) the haters moved on. To Game of Thrones (probably).
Can anyone confirm this?

As for the movie itself, I will admit that this is perhaps the weakest entrant in the series so far. Sure it all looks nice and we get some interesting character moments but far too often Half Blood Prince comes across as meandering and slow paced - which seems to go against the grain of what came previously. I don't object to serials taking the occasional step back and address a more smaller-scale/personal story but not if they make two and a half hours a slog to get through.
HOWEVER! I am willing to forgive this tedium purely for the final half hour. Oh my goodness, is that a rollercoaster of a ride. Atmospheric, frightening, exciting and heart-wrenching, it is proof that when these movies score a hit, they can knock it out of the park.
Ultimately though, I can't shake the feeling that the slower pace of this entrant is a buffer for what's happening next which, as is my understanding, is going to get nasty.

Adam

And this week's Friday night movie has been....Adam!

Original image located here. Accessed 19th July 2019

As regular readers of this series would know, I will show favoritism for movies that feature characters that have Aspergers Syndrome. And this is one such case: A romance that shows a guy in New York, with Aspergers, meeting and falling in love with his neighbour.

It's not a bad movie. Its not the best movie I've seen but the portrayal of an Apsergerian is sincere and it's heart is in the right place. There are some moments that may be somewhat hard to swallow but in the end, the movie is indeed taking the romance seriously and the leads (Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne) certainly give it their all.
Not a bad effort at all

The Princess and the Frog

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....The Princess and the Frog!

Original image located here. Accessed 7th April 2017

I enjoyed this one, what with it's playful animation, snappy soundtrack, New Orleans setting & art design (par for the course with Disney) and a truly glorious villain in the form of Dr Facilier (oh Keith David, is there nothing you can do?).

HOWEVER! I was enjoying the first half hour so much that (and I swear I'm going to be in the minority when I say this) when the movie moves away from New Orleans and to the swamp, I found the movie came to a grinding halt and a lot of what made the film initially interesting got shoved to one side. Needless to say, for me it took some time before it got back on track again.
Grumbling aside though, this movie did a lot right and it did it well.

Moon

 And this weeks Friday night movie has been....Moon!

Original image located here. Accessed 2nd January 2015

Let it be known that my preferred kind of science fiction is of the hard variety. Having said that, this movie does indeed come across as a breath of fresh air. Thoughtful, poignant, taking science fiction seriously and a superb performance from Sam Rockwell - Well, what more could you ask for?

Redline

And this weeks Friday night movie has been....Redline!

Original image located here. Accessed 17th November 2014

You know I always wondered what the guy who did the World Record segment of the Animatrix has been up to - apparently he's spent the past few years working on this.

And what was this? Ermmm...well it was something that's for sure. It's got great animation, ingenious designs, abuse of animation and some exciting moments. It seems weird at times and hectic to the point of incomprehensible, but I'm glad I saw it

Fantastic Mr Fox

And this weeks Friday night movie has been.....Fantastic Mr Fox!

Original image located here. Accessed 12th September 2014

I went into this thinking it'll be rubbish (having enjoyed Roald Dahl books when i was a kid) but no: It turns out it was a right laugh. It was genuinely funny, the crime caper angle was great and the stop-animation is incredible. 

In fact I'll go so far to say this a benchmark for adaptations: It stayed true to the source whilst adding new elements. Which goes to show that such a thing is indeed possible

Up

And this weeks Friday night movie has been....Up!

Original image located here. Accessed 5th September 2014

As is often the case with the movies I watch, this has been a long time coming. Still at least I now know what the 'Squirrel!' gag I've heard a lot is....

As for the movie itself I have no idea what powers the Pixar engine but damn it's working wonders. Exciting one minute and heart-breaking the next, Up is indeed a gem 🙂

Oh and Doug. Doug is awesome. Period.

Watchmen

I saw The Watchmen this evening. 

Original image located here. Accessed 11th July 2014

Not a bad movie - and one day I might actually get around to reading the original graphic novel