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Autómata (2014)
Robot made from scrap parts cobbled together
Some lovely robot design, and the environment is the usual shabby post apocalypse decay with some shiny tech, now slightly dulled.
Quite how all these robots function so well among all the sand and dust is a tribute to their designers.
The story is a bit uncover the mystery, a bit philosophical musing on what it is to be alive, a bit goodies and baddies, and the big conspiracy.
There aren't too many robot/android films around, and if you're a fan of them (like me), then you will probably want to watch this.
But for the most part I found watching the film to be a reflection of the contents of the film - feeling a bit faded and bleached out, detached, with various scrap parts cobbled together and hobbling across a dry and dusty desert.
Blackhat (2015)
For Michael Mann completists only
Wow, I'm in shock.
I didn't know anything about this film before watching it, I just about made it alive to the end and I see the director's name - Michael Mann!
Michael Mann!
One of the most interesting visual stylists and sound innovators, great story teller and action director ... Heat, Last Of The Mohicans, Thief, Manhunter, Miami Vice are among my favourite films, and are films that I can always watch, no matter what mood I'm in they just grab me because they're so well made ... and then there is this turkey which is like a terrible Chuck Norris B-Movie. Awful, ridiculous script, terrible acting, dreadful characters, dumb dumb dumb.
While I was watching it I had thought the director was heavily influenced by, and 'ripping off' Michael Mann's style - the night-time yellow lighting, lots of hand-held, the quick brutal violence and gun sounds. And I wish I could have enjoyed that aspect of it because Michael is still the best at those, but every other aspect of the film is so bad that I just wanted it to end.
John Wick (2014)
Wooden man shooting people in the face
A lot of video games have been influenced by films - the plots, the characters, the framing, the cinematography. And increasingly a lot of films are now influenced back by video games - the plots, the characters, the framing, the cinematography. And so it is the case with John Wick.
It's set in a world where everyone seems to be a gangster or an assassin, or a formal part of that world. It's all rather cold and detached. There is the flimsiest of back stories but it mostly consists of a very wooden Keanu Reeves shooting people in the face, sometimes stabbing them, and of course the obligatory 'throwing people through sheets of glass'.
The whole point of a video game is that you control the character. Even if the game consists merely of killing people, the fact that you are controlling them makes it an immersive experience.
Just passively watching a wooden game character shooting people in the face, sometimes stabbing them, and of course the obligatory 'throwing people through sheets of glass', makes for a rather pointless and tedious 101 minutes.
Inherent Vice (2014)
Not A Long Goodbye ... Just Long
Lots of mumbling and bumbling around.
Smoking, drugs, who are these people?
Some people seem to know each other, there's a mystery of some kind.
Names get mentioned, move on from one character to the next.
A couple of people appear in a few scenes, others just once.
Is this person important? Is the mystery solved?
Something mumbled that I couldn't hear, was that another clue?
More drugs, a bit of sex, a bit of violence.
Occasional jokiness, more smoking, more driving around, new locations.
A look at my watch, how long was this film? I forgot to check beforehand.
Let's play spot the actor. I recognise a face, what have I seen him in?
Are the good guys meant to be the ones I care about? I don't know who any of these people are, and I don't care.
Surely this is the end ... No, there is more.
A bit more mumbling and it's over.