Round-up 24: Double Batch

I missed last week’s round-up, unfortunately, and decided to do a bigger one for this week. Between work and school piling up, I haven’t had nearly enough time and energy to write in the capacity I want to. Nor actually watch any new movies, or old ones for that matter. Work has picked up in pace, far more so than the weeks prior, and while I definitely am feeling the energy draining from me with each passing week, I can’t lie that it feels good to have some level of personal and professional responsibility to ride on. Gives me a certain feeling of empowerment, if you can buy that.

            The previous week, I watched some stuff, but nothing really new. I spent the first couple of days rewatching Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, which I hadn’t actually ever sat down and watched start to finish. Was it worth the time? In my humble opinion, absolutely. All three of the films have their own distinct arc and follow Bruce Wayne as he navigates different eras of his iconic lifespan, as well as battling his most iconic foes. Batman Begins (2005) opens the trilogy with a different direction than previous adaptations, with a young man version of Wayne journeying through the mountains overseas, fist-fighting with street goons until he is picked up by the infamous Ra’s al Ghul and trained into the warrior he would later become as the caped badass of Gotham. What struck me the most about the opening act of the saga was how tight and concrete it is as a standalone film, despite its name clearly indicating it’s only the beginning. The Dark Knight (2008) is the best of the three, obviously, this isn’t a new statement to be making. Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker is one of the greatest acting feats of this century and will likely continue to be studied as such. But it’s not only Heath’s acting, it’s the intensity of the film’s pacing that makes it so exciting and rewatchable, even with its longer runtime. The middle installment follows Bruce Wayne as he deals with the Joker’s chaos throughout Gotham, and simultaneously deals with the arc of his relationship with Rachel, all as she falls for the “White Knight of Gotham”, Harvey Dent, who would later evolve into the villain Two-Face. I was texting my buddy about this as I was watching, and just to go back to the pacing for a brief moment, I was amazed at how, around the one-third area of the runtime, an action scene ensues, and after that point, it’s like all bets are off as to what could happen next. The stakes are large, but not the end of the world, yet are portrayed just as thrilling. The final installment of the trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises (2012), leaves a lot to be desired compared to the previous two. Not only is it pushing three hours long with lots more melodrama than the first ones, but for some reason, Chris Nolan decided to lean into the Marvelization of the superhero genre with corny jokes and more lighthearted nature. The opposite is what made the previous so engaging and exciting compared to the competition. Bloated story, forced side characters, and a goofy script compared to the latter, but still a fun time nonetheless. Overall, a pretty enjoyable way to spend a couple of days.

            Next, I rewatched Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation (1995), the second entry in his Teen Apocalypse Trilogy. If you’ve been following along with my weekly round-ups, then you’ll recall I recently sat down to watch all three of the trilogy, but this was the one I was left continuing to think about in the days and weeks to follow. The story follows a young, horny couple who get in trouble with a reckless drifter named X, and the trio go on the run from a variety of punk villains. The worldbuilding is sparse but intense, designing a vision of an alternate fascist America in the mid-90s. The film culminates in a climax of hormone-fueled ultra-violence that seals the rest of the story’s elements together in a nice, pretty little package. Especially coming in at under ninety minutes. I originally gave this three-and-a-half stars on Letterboxd, but this viewing upgraded it to a clean four with a heart. This deserves the cult status it has earned over the years and is the easy standout of the trilogy overall. This being said, I am working on a new screenplay and have Totally F***ed Up (1993), the first film of the trilogy, on my rewatch list for this coming week as inspiration.

            I also rewatched an old favorite of mine from back in the high school film bro days, David Fincher’s classic drama, Fight Club (1999). Forever tainted by the aforementioned cult that surrounds it, the film has taken on another life in recent years by hormonal teenage boys who entirely misunderstand the anti-capitalist agenda and commentary on masculinity. For those who somehow don’t know, Fight Club follows Edward Norton as an unnamed narrator who suffers from insomnia and other crippling mental ailments that make his life a living hell; that is, until he meets Tyler Durden, a grungy man from the recesses of society, and the two of them join forces to start an infamous underground fight club. They entice men who feel they have been outcasts or abandoned by society into beating each other up for sport, and what starts as only that quickly turns into a network of domestic terrorists who seek to blow up major cities. What stood out to me during this particular viewing was how well-written and executed the dialogue between Edward Norton and Brad Pitt was. I’d say it was the chemistry, and to some extent, it was, but to me, this read as just phenomenal character development and writing overall. My dumbass was completely unaware this was based on a novel, so given how much I’ve enjoyed the writing in particular, I’d say reading that has bumped up my reading list. At the end of the day, despite the common misunderstanding by the cult fanbase surrounding it, this is a monumental piece of filmmaking that will forever stand among the ranks of the best, in my humble opinion.

            The next few days, I took off from work, not feeling the greatest, under the weather, and desperate for something to boost my mood. To remedy the vibes (but not the underlying symptoms, unfortunately), my brother and I popped on the Adam McKay classic Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013). It was between the first and the second one, and my brother smartly opted for the second as we haven’t given it enough love compared to the former. The first film follows the brief rise and fall of Ron Burgundy as the leading anchorman of San Diego, California. The second sees him as a loser burnout working at a SeaWorld-style amusement park until he’s recruited to GNN (Global News Network, clever play on CNN), the first station to try twenty-four-hour news, around the clock. What ensues is a hilarious, if not extremely profane and often mildly off-color, romp through the 80s, with plenty of cameos to go around. Don’t get me wrong, I love the majority of the jokes in here, but I can definitely see some more touchy people not getting along. Actually, my biggest complaint with the film is how long it is; there are plenty of scenes in this that could easily have been cut by a few seconds, if not minutes, with unfunny doubling down of bits that go on for way too long. My complaints aside, this is a great watch to lift you up. The ensemble cast led by Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, and Paul Rudd is really an all-time collection, and a great time capsule into the late 2000s-to-mid-2010s era of raunchy comedies. Carell as Brick Tamland will forever be one of my favorite comedy characters ever.

            The following day, I sat down and spent the hours watching The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, the greatest films of all time, without much objection, I would assume. There’s not much to say about these films that hasn’t already been said a million times before, but I will mention that the build-up to and then the execution of (no pun intended) the baptism sequence is pure brilliance. There’s a reason the first film stands at a clean hundred Metacritic score on IMDb; there isn’t a single flaw throughout the entirety of its runtime. But the way the editing toggles between Michael Corleone’s stoic, yet painfully grim facial expression as he recites the passages with the priest, and the horrific graphic violence of the heads of the other families being murdered is so perfectly structured and layered over one another. Coppola had everything working for him in overdrive, all with Marlon Brando’s iconic performance at the helm. And I’d be remiss to not mention the insane, firecracker performance that is James Caan as Sonny, the older brother of Michael. Always yelling, never chill, and extremely horny. My buddy pointed out to me to pay attention to how many kids he has, and on top of that, he can’t keep his hands to himself (both sexually and in beating the shit out of people). Fredo’s betrayal in the second film hits so incredibly hard, especially against the backdrop of Michael’s ruthless arc as the new Godfather of the family. I personally enjoy the second one more than the first, and I explained it to the same friend by saying the freedom to explore the world and the characters is much expanded in the second one, and definitely due to the success of the first. This exploration creates a more novelistic approach to filmmaking, an approach I personally really enjoy, especially when it’s done right and with good pacing. When you’re making a three-and-a-half-hour crime epic, you’d better have your pacing locked down, and Coppola makes sure to do exactly that. It’s this commitment to making a tight, yet sprawling film that works so damn well that makes me enjoy it more than the first, even if just by the slightest little bit. I have a deep respect for filmmakers who are able to balance so many different aspects and come out on the other end with a certified masterpiece. Bangers. Both of them. Greatest of all time for a reason.

            I am a huge underground hip-hop fan, and since the pandemic, I’ve been really into The Alchemist and his crew of associated rappers he produces for. I also got really into Madlib and his crew, but I mention Uncle Al specifically because of his team-ups with my favorite rapper of all time, Mr. Freddie Gibbs; projects entitled Alfredo, as a mix of their names. Alfredo 2 got released last week, and one of the songs has a hook where Freddie melodically raps “Life’s a Bloodsport, I gotta be Jean Claude”, and it has been an earworm in my brain since it first graced my ears. I’d heard tell of Jean Claude Van-Damme before, but never got into any of his work. Which is sort of crazy because action flicks are my favorite thing to pop on and vibe out to. So, naturally, when I came across Bloodsport (1988) on Amazon Prime, I just had to see it. And oh boy, was this one a doozy. This movie has some of the cheesiest editing and musical choices of all time, matched with terrible voice dubbing and acting, too. And yet, I had so much fun watching this shit. Jean Claude might not be a good actor, but man, can he show off those stunts! Incredible martial arts fighting scenes keep it watchable, even when things get cringey. This might be a new comfort film unlocked. I will definitely be returning to it. In fact, what got me the most excited after finishing was seeing that he did a whole host of action films similar to it. So, thank you, Freddie Gibbs, for putting me on.

            I finished the week out with a viewing of the newly released Amazon Prime Original War of the Worlds (2025), a remake, retelling, whatever, of H.G. Wells’ classic novel. The story has been adapted to the screen at least twice, most famously by Spielberg in 2005. This time, they took the overdone “everything is on the computer screen” approach and stuck Ice Cube front and center to put on a show. But he does anything other than put on a show, he practically sounds like he's reading the script for the very first time with his finger dragging across the lines as he reads. The CGI is embarrassingly bad for how massive Amazon Prime is. Genuinely comes off like a homemade student film in parts, but most students I know would probably be embarrassed to put this out. I really don’t have a lot to say about this except that if you’re home alone during the daytime, have a couple of gummies in you, this will actually hit the spot. My final point on the film is a rhetorical question (well, actually, one might be able to find it out if one were so inclined): how much did the Cube get paid for this? And a brief follow-up, how does one get a cushy role like that? Asking for a friend.

            I have a little secret to share with you. For those who have been paying attention or following along in weeks past, you’ll know I’ve had my sights set on finally watching Salo: Or 120 Days of Sodom. Well, I finally did see it. Took two separate seatings and quite a number of beers, but I succeeded. And oh boy, do I have thoughts. Too many thoughts for an already overstuffed weekly round-up, so it’ll be receiving its very own independent review. Keep a lookout for that soon. As always, watch a new movie, or an old one, whatever. Be good. Talk next week.