My Cultural Diet
Quick reviews of movies, TV shows, books, restaurants, etc., as I enjoy them. My own private Goodreads, Letterboxd, and Yelp all rolled into one (more info here). Ratings are 100% subjective and non-scientific. May contain affiliate links.
If I remember correctly, this was the start of the Mission: Impossible films where Tom Cruise did the big stunts himself. (I’m not sure the Shanghai scene in Mission: Impossible III counts.) Cruise’s climb up the Burj Khalifa still gives me heebie jeebies to this day. | ||
My son’s going through a bit of a pirate phase, so this was an obvious choice. Still pretty entertaining after nearly 20(!) years. It’s impossible to imagine anyone else but Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow. | ||
I watched the original Rescue Rangers quite a bit as a kid, so I suppose I was the target audience for this modern spin. Its barrage of post-modern pastiches, pop culture references, and self-referential humor were, by turns, amusing and annoying. But mostly amusing. | ||
I mainly watched this because it’s from the director and star of Netflix’s Lupin, which we really enjoyed last year. As a buddy cop movie, The Takedown has its moments, but it really just made me want the third season of Lupin to get here even sooner. | ||
Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham is a pretty strong combo, but this felt like it was trying to be a lot moodier and more intense than it actually was. | ||
I knew this would be a disaster even before I started watching it, and yet I still stayed up way too late to finish it. I only have myself to blame. I’m giving it an extra half star because there are moments that hint at a much cooler, weirder movie. Still doesn’t change the fact that G.I. Joe titles should only ever be animated (e.g., G.I. Joe: Resolute). | ||
It’s heart is in the right place, and I chuckled when I saw myself in the protagonists’ zeal for their favorite music, but a bit underwhelming overall. That said, I can see this becoming a cult classic in 10 – 15 years. | ||
This movie didn’t need to be three hours long. Normally I’m all for slow pacing and atmosphere, but this should’ve been a lean, mean action film. That being said, I really liked Robert Pattinson’s super-emo Batman. | ||
Completely bonkers Bollywood action film that makes the Mission: Impossible movies look like made-for-TV movies. Come for the crazy stunts and increasingly improbable twists, stay because you can’t resist Hrithik Roshan’s smoldering looks. | ||
Funny, trippy, wildly creative, and over-the-top in every way possible, but also surprisingly emotional at times.
(Read my review) | ||
I enjoy this kind of spy thriller, which emphasizes mood and atmosphere over action. But it wasn’t very thrilling, not even when the final twists began revealing themselves. | ||
Not sure if this gave me a lot of new insight into Kon’s films, but it was neat to see how respected he was by other filmmakers. We lost someone truly special when he died. | ||
Direct-to-video martial arts action comedies from the mid-to-late ’90s don’t get much better than this.
(Read my review) | ||
And yes, I’ve had “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” going through my head ever since. | ||
Is there such a thing as a too-sarcastic Ryan Reynolds? This might be it. | ||
It pains me to rate a Jackie Chan movie so low, but compared to the first Police Story, this one feels underwhelming. The cafe and playground brawls are still topnotch Jackie action, though. |