At the Movies with Kane and BN

[Kane52630]

Beneath the Planet of the Apes

Wowey wow. Such an interesting series of events. The film starts as a lame generic copy of the first movie only they subbed out Charlton Heston for a younger version of himself minus any of his signature odd charisma. For the first half, it pretty much plays more into the anti-Vietnam War undertones of the story which kind of worked but it's not as subtle as they hoped. And then it goes into some Cold War commentary that would lead into what happens at the end. A lot of it felt kinda lackluster compared to the first movie and I thought the scenes with the apes weren't as well written. It doesn't get interesting until they discover the NYC ruins and then the story really loses its mind. Everything that dealt with the nuclear bomb and the telepaths with human masks was so out of left field that it felt like you were watching another episode of the Twilight Zone. The ending of this movie for me bumps this up a rating just on the sheer WTF-ness they were able to pull off because it's up there with some of the darkest endings to a movie I've ever seen. I'm actually so interested to see how they continue with this series because there's really nothing you can go from here.
3.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Escape from the Planet of the Apes

A fun uno reverse card on the original film by having Zira and Cornelius (and Milo) be the Taylor of this story. By having them travel back in time and escaping the events of the last film, it was pretty much the only way to go. It's funny because realistically and cynically, all the humans would have gone to the nuclear ET option where they would be experimented on the moment they showed up on shore, but that's not where the story takes us. The US council/commission scenes mirror the scenes with Taylor in the original film which was pretty interesting although sometimes played for laughs as if were a sitcom. Bradford Dillman and Natalie Trundy play the human friendlies of the cast where they eventually help them out and I thought they were just okay but kinda forgettable. Kim Hunter as Zira felt more like the main focal point of the story and I thought she did it pretty well as well as Roddy McDowall. Eric Braeden is probably the most interesting character of the movie who plays the antagonist much like Dr Zaius. There's also a fun Ricardo Montalbán performance as well. There is some commentary regarding abortion and a woman's choice that felt pretty apparent. The ending here remains to be also pretty bleak and horrific considering who they killed off but I can already see where it's headed and a certain name is probably going to be mentioned. Overall, I really dug this one through.
4/5

 

[chintai80]

Escape from the Planet of the Apes

A fun uno reverse card on the original film by having Zira and Cornelius (and Milo) be the Taylor of this story. By having them travel back in time and escaping the events of the last film, it was pretty much the only way to go. It's funny because realistically and cynically, all the humans would have gone to the nuclear ET option where they would be experimented on the moment they showed up on shore, but that's not where the story takes us. The US council/commission scenes mirror the scenes with Taylor in the original film which was pretty interesting although sometimes played for laughs as if were a sitcom. Bradford Dillman and Natalie Trundy play the human friendlies of the cast where they eventually help them out and I thought they were just okay but kinda forgettable. Kim Hunter as Zira felt more like the main focal point of the story and I thought she did it pretty well as well as Roddy McDowall. Eric Braeden is probably the most interesting character of the movie who plays the antagonist much like Dr Zaius. There's also a fun Ricardo Montalbán performance as well. There is some commentary regarding abortion and a woman's choice that felt pretty apparent. The ending here remains to be also pretty bleak and horrific considering who they killed off but I can already see where it's headed and a certain name is probably going to be mentioned. Overall, I really dug this one through.
4/5

for me, this one is the 2nd best film in the original series, after the first one with heston.

i very much enjoy all 5 of original films, and i love the franchise as a whole.

but this one had such a dark and bleak ending (it has such a visceral cruely to it), it really contrasted with the light-hearted tone of the first half of the film, so it almost catches you off guard with how it ends.

 

[Kane52630]

for me, this one is the 2nd best film in the original series, after the first one with heston.

i very much enjoy all 5 of original films, and i love the franchise as a whole.

but this one had such a dark and bleak ending (it has such a visceral cruely to it), it really contrasted with the light-hearted tone of the first half of the film, so it almost catches you off guard with how it ends.

Yeah with the way it ends, I'd love to see youtube reactors react to Escape and even Beneath. Jaws will most certainly drop. I just finished Conquest and I don't know which one is my second favorite after the original.

 

[Kane52630]

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

This Ceaser had that Koba in him.

A pretty damn well sequel that is very clear on its intentions and commentary on the race protest and riots of the 60s and early 70s. It's funny how this feels more in line with how it went years later in Rises but the meaning and intentions are very different. While I think they could have added a few more scenes of Ceasar's character development early on and given him more scenes where he interacts with the other apes, this was a pretty great performance by Roddy McDowall and maybe his best of the previous three movies as an actor. And a lot of the time they gave some more screen time to Ricardo Montalbán, Don Murray, and Hari Rhodes, who were all great. The makeup and prosthetics are probably at their very best here and they do a good job moving their mouths. J. Lee Thompson, who was originally supposed to direct the original 68 movie, is here as the director and it's incredibly well-shot and directed. They do a great job showcasing the visual language of the apes vs the humans and the obvious undertones of Nazi Germany whenever they go to the scenes with the futuristic government of the 90s. And funny enough, the set design looks similar to the Empire in Star Wars which I'm sure it's no coincidence that Lucas definitely saw this movie. Overall, I really dug it and I think it edges out the last film by a little bit.
4/5

 

[chintai80]

Yeah with the way it ends, I'd love to see youtube reactors react to Escape and even Beneath. Jaws will most certainly drop. I just finished Conquest and I don't know which one is my second favorite after the original.

conquest was great too!
it's like terminator, where you can't really stop judgement day...you either speed it up or delay it.

lot of people consider battle of the planet of the apes as the weakest, but i still liked it, even when you can tell the studio cut the budget for it haha.

the whole POTA franchise, both the original and new series, are an example of when storytelling and characters are given priority.

 

[Kane52630]

conquest was great too!
it's like terminator, where you can't really stop judgement day...you either speed it up or delay it.

lot of people consider battle of the planet of the apes as the weakest, but i still liked it, even when you can tell the studio cut the budget for it haha.

the whole POTA franchise, both the original and new series, are an example of when storytelling and characters are given priority.

I do find it interesting how the storytelling of the original series so far is always based on an allegoric take on current events of the time whereas the new trilogy/series is more based on a more biblical and Shakespearean style of storytelling and more about the hero's journey.

 

[Kane52630]

Battle for the Planet of the Apes

I guess the wild ride had to come to an end in a blah fashion. This was just fine, I suppose. With how things ended in the last movie, this kinda takes a step back in tone and thematic quality and becomes something that has a wider appeal... even more than Escape. I also guess this is the movie that general audiences who have never seen any Ape movies think of what all these movies have to offer. While the movie doesn't really offer much, I did like seeing all the connections it has to the previous films and more importantly this retroactively in regards to the later reboot sequels. Other than that, by the time you get to the 3rd act, it's just one long battle scene that revolves around Ceasar, Aldo, and the humans and how it sets up the future lore which goes back to the original film. I just kinda wish they went along and gone with the darker version of the script that got scrapped where Ceasear is actually a ruthless ruler and the themes are more apparent. Overall, not bad but it's pretty lackluster compared to the previous films.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

Unfrosted

Where the last year is probably defined with movies about products (Barbie, Blackberry, Air Jordan, Tetris, and even flamin hot Cheetos) that mostly turned out pretty well, Jerry Seinfeld decides to get into the product movie business and make a movie about pop tarts and it turns out to be everything we feared what those other movies were going to be. It's essentially just one extremely long SNL bit that runs out of steam before it hits the midway point with a ton of comedians and actors as cameos. It's nothing more than a lot of these other recent steaming comedies like Good Burger 2 and The Beanie Bubble where it's incredibly prepacked and simple and trying to cash in on a known name or brand. It almost feels like a script that was untouched in the 90s that Jerry Seinfeld trying to get made but never could where it's a lot of his stand-up jokes about 60s pop culture. That being said, there are a couple of scenes that were pretty funny to me like Bill Burr as JFK or Kyle Dunnigan as Walter Cronkite but those moments are very few and far between. Everyone else is just kinda doing themselves and it's just kinda lazy. Overall, pretty terrible and a waste of time. It so wishes to be Best in Show or This is The End or even Tropic Thunder but it ends up being more on the side of the parodies by Friedberg & Seltzer.
1.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Fall Guy

Crazy how the fake movie in the movie "Metalstorm" actually looks better than Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon.

This was a fun time at the theater but it's got its problems. I really enjoyed how this started and getting a behind-the-scenes look into the world of action cinema in today's age as well as Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt's chemistry which I feel like they kind of underestimated. I also really dug the inside jokes and references from other movies and most of the action set pieces from just on a technical level. There are definitely some shades of Tropic Thunder, The Nice Guys, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang but not nearly as good as any of them. To me where this movie kinda fumbled the bag is they could have just easily made this movie about Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt and not have this insane murder/missing person plot that kinda rambled on or at the very least didn't have to take over the whole second half. The movie's plot becomes kinda simple and you know where it's headed. It's a shame because there are a lot of good bits and gags they had throughout the movie and if it had been more like Tropic Thunder, I would have easily loved it so much more. Overall, it's fun but I wished it was so much more other than just paying homage to stuntpeople.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

Tarot

Mercury retrogrades into a sh***y movie about killer astrology characters

This was some supreme horror trash that could only exist and be forgotten about within a week. It's essentially Final Destination with astrology signs and the filmmakers don't really know how to set up a movie nor give any sense of fear or build-up (except for one scene). The cast based on their acting might as well be from the CW and it's one of those where you don't buy any of them are actually friends with one or another. The movie goes right into the set up and it just keeps playing by slasher rules without any real character development and it being PG-13, this movie has no bite to it at all. There is only one horror set piece that takes place in an elevator that I thought worked really well and even then they kinda cheated. Overall, this is kinda the bad horror movie that you can have fun with if there are friends over so you can make fun of it, but other than that it's super abysmal.
1.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

The American Society of Magical Negroes

A swing and a miss. It's a movie that is trying to be a satire on the magical negro trope with a lot of things to say but it ultimately doesn't fully go there. It mostly becomes a mumblecore romcom that makes you forget the premise of the movie. The whole idea of the secret society where it feels like a cross between Men in Black and Harry Potter doesn't get as much time spent and the satire of it all doesn't land. I feel like Justice Smith is severely miscast in this if they were trying to get the point across of him being extremely uncomfortable around white people when he's really just acting like a weird guy in the movie regardless of race. I also think this movie and director doesn't really get the satire of it all and it kinda becomes the thing it wants to satirize. That being said, I thought David Alan Grier was not bad and Nicole Byer is funny as always. It could have been something interesting if they had just made this as a full romcom because An-Li Bogan was pretty great in it even though the material wasn't all there and even then where her character goes at the end was kinda lame and too on the nose. Overall, it's a shame the movie doesn't even remotely live up to the title.
2/5

 

[Kane52630]

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Love Raka, all my homies love Raka!

WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY!!! An absolutely brilliant continuation of the Apes franchise that expands the world while also taking inspiration from past films. This could have easily been a lazy cash grab that the studio mandated and got some director that would just recreate the magic of the last trilogy in a lazier way and nothing more but thankfully it's not. They couldn't have picked a better director to follow in Matt Reeves's footsteps than Wes Ball who knows how to make a post-apocalyptic epic with his Maze Runner films. He does a great job capturing what those last two films were but also adds his sensibilities while setting up a new trilogy. Now having seen all the original Apes films and not to spoil it, there are some inspirations and nods that are drawn from the original 68 film and Beneath of the Planet of the Apes that are really interesting. The CGI and practical environments continue to impress and it's incredible how much emotion they pack in. Really loved all the performances, Owen Teague as Noa was great, and can't wait to see where he goes from here. Kevin Durand as Proximus Caesar is actually an interesting antagonist whose personality is so far removed from Koba. Freya Allan as Mae has one of the best reveals in a movie and Peter Macon as Raka is so damn loveable and he immediately raises the movie every time he's on screen. It's an Apes movie where the social commentary is about the power of knowledge and how it can easily be manipulated to subjugate beings. I really loved how things went in the 3rd act and where it goes from here got me super excited. Overall, it's one of the best movies of the year and I hope I don't have to wait long for the next one.
4.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Last Stop in Yuma County

Jim Cummings really does look like Norman Bates.

Absolutely blown away... literally. It's a fun powder keg single-location thriller that is so inspired by other crime thrillers from the '60s, '70s, and '80s. If anything else it reminded me of films like Psycho, Duel, and Blood Simple. It's both Spielbergian and Hitchcockian in plot and filmmaking and you're best not knowing anything going in. The director Francis Galluppi does a fantastic job executing on the tension and suspense while having fun with it too. They did a great job making it feel like a movie straight out of the 70s with how certain story beats play out and the production design of the diner and motel. A lot of what makes this movie great is the cast and the performances along with a clever script. I thought Jim Cummings, Jocelin Donahue, Richard Brake, Sierra McCormick, and Faizon Love, in particular, were brilliant in this. The soundtrack was also great, loved the cinematography and I love they used the Arizona setting to great effect. Overall, for a small indie film, I absolutely loved it. It's exactly the kind of movie I love to see especially done as well as this. And knowing that Francis Galluppi will be directing the other Evil Dead movie, I can't wait to see how he pulls it off.
4.5/5