Holy shit, the level of second-hand cringe I just got reading this is off the charts.
“I’ll go down this thread with [Chat]GPT or Grok and I’ll start to get to the edge of what’s known in quantum physics and then I’m doing the equivalent of vibe coding, except it’s vibe physics,” Kalanick explained. “And we’re approaching what’s known. And I’m trying to poke and see if there’s breakthroughs to be had. And I’ve gotten pretty damn close to some interesting breakthroughs just doing that.”
The trailer for this made it look like this was just going to be a low-effort reheating of the jokes of the original Happy Gilmore. And, yes, there are a lot of callbacks to jokes in the first film (often with the actual scene from the original film spliced in). But the film (weirdly? bravely?) immediately paints itself into a narrative corner to force it out of its comfort zone and address the fact that it’s 30 years since the first film and a lot of its dumb shit wouldn’t really make sense in the context of a middle-aged man or in the context of society in 2025. As an example, one of the more problematic sequences in the original was the “happy place” scene which is sexist and juvenile. Here it’s been updated to be more sensitive and age-appropriate. And it’s still so stupid (complimentary) and still has that Happy Madison touch and it had me wheezing.
And that’s basically what this whole thing is — a gentle, emotional and compassionate take on nostalgia that works more often than it doesn’t and is probably the best straight-up comedy I’ve seen on Netflix in a long time.
This is only my second time watching this film. The last time I watched it was on the opening day in the cinema and the main thing I remember is how much this felt like a post-9/11 movie. Watching it now, twenty years later, and having lived in Warsaw and learned so much about what happened to the Jewish people there during WWII, it’s clear how Spielberg was channeling the feelings of 9/11 — the confusion, the panic, the helplessness — as well as the imagery (the “lost persons” signs, the dust) to make a film that’s less interested in the “Worlds” and more interested in the “War”. This is a film about the trauma of being a civilian trapped in the machinery of one-sided conflict, and all the terror and devastation that entails.
The first half of this film is an all-timer. The second half, specifically the Ogilvy section, is a tonal shift but still within Spielberg’s comfort-zone, so he handles it brilliantly.
Also I would be remiss if I reviewed a Tom Cruise film and didn’t complain about how he wasn’t the right person for this role. Don’t get me wrong, he’s great at selling the panic. A believable, emotionally conflicted father? Not so much!
James Gunn was the exact right person to direct Superman. But at the same time, he’s also the exact wrong person to direct Superman. For every iconic moment in this film that makes you pump your fist and say “yes! He gets what makes this character so great!” you also a moment of classic James Gunn excess as he once again reaches onto his well-worn grab-bag of directorial bag of tricks that we’ve seen a little too often now, regardless of whether they suit the scene or not.
This works more than it doesn’t and the overall message — especially in the context of recent Superman movies — is a real balm.
Enjoyable-enough mid-level sci-fi/horror that is essentially just the action of something like Kong: Skull Island (tbh there are probably a few dozen films in this “like” category) transplanted into an episode of Doctor Who with a Doctor Who-level budget. The story is generic and unremarkable but the performances just about carry the film. Anthony Ramos is solid, playing the role that probably would have gone to Will Smith 20 years ago. And Kristofer Hivju once again proves he works best when he’s cast as a weird little chaos gremlin.
Surprisingly sweet and effective story about an unlikely friendship. It’s a little saccharine, a little basic, and its lack of ambition is frustrating at times, but despite all this, <big emotional moment> hit me like a ton of bricks and left me in bits, so it was doing something right.
The John Wick films have always worn their videogame influences on their sleeves, and Ballerina is no different. This film is centred less around set-pieces than all-out levels. It’s pure game logic and I’m totally fine with that. I was even wondering if they had deliberately de-rez’d the flame-thrower baddie’s head to make him look even more like a PS1 character.
But this videogame structure contributes to the feeling that, even in a franchise not famous for its story, this is the worst story so far. Cults and counter-cults and there are no consequences for anthing and it all makes no sense. But that’s by design, so I’m left feeling a bit stupid for even mentioning it here?
On the other hand, Ballerina contains easily some of the best fights in the franchise. They’re more physical and acrobatic and weightier than we’ve seen in a while. Axes lodge themselves in bodies with a believable thunk. Obviously helped by the fact that Ana de Armas is almost twenty five years younger than Keanu Reeves, so she’s able to throw herself around a lot more. It also means they’re not relegated to just using stupid kevlar suits as a get-out-of-jail-free card in the fights.
And, I’m sorry to report that I’m a but a weak middle-aged hetero male and so any scene with Ana de Armas kicking ass a split-leg dress and big stompy boots will instantly earn the film an extra star by default.
I enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting to.
Slightly over-long and with an almost entirely unnecessary coda (leading to a series-worst climax), but pound-for-pound, this might be the most non-stop entertaining of all the Die Hard movies. John McClane is a great character but Willis and Jackson have a phenomenal chemistry together and their interplay elevates the bonkers action.
Also how great is it to see actual, on-the-streets, non-CGI New York in a film like this?
One of the things that struck me on this rewatch is how, for such an enormously complicated and consequential film, Spielberg seemed to be directing by the seat of his pants. There are so many continuity errors (e.g. the hatching sequence), logical errors (the reflections in the kitchen), or even just plain error errors (the camera initially missing the tracking on the helicopter as it flies to the island has always bothered me). And none of these actually matter or take away from the enjoyment of the film because the vibes are immaculate.
Some hardcore Polish grimness. Properly cynical, properly bleak. It’s packed with wonderful ideas and some striking political allegories, even if it misses some of the emotional beats. And despite being a little of its time (as opposed to dated), it’s still a visually stunning film. Feels like this was some influence on the look of the future timeline in Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys.
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