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What We've Watched: January/February Movie Reviews


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Check out reviews of films your favorite time-traveling podcasters have seen recently! The Quantum Crew throws a film your way that they've seen this past month, and tell you whether to watch or not!




Ash Hurry on Quantum Recast

Aly,

Movie Review: Godzilla: Minus One (2023)

Directed by Takashi Yamazaki.


Let's face it: I'm a sucker for monster movies. Jurassic Park is my favorite movie of all time and, as a result, I have a tendency to love movies with dinosaurs, dragons, and other gigantic creatures. I went into Godzilla Minus One with the mindset of "a giant lizard wrecking everything, let's go!"


Instead, I felt the opposite: these characters had their lives upended and destroyed by WW2 and now there's a massive lizard with atomic breath obliterating their city. I've seen quite a few Godzilla movies, both Japanese and American, but this is the first time I was rooting for the citizens.


The filmmaking is well done, the acting is phenomenal, and the SFX is excellent. Highly recommend.







Ash Hurry on Quantum Recast

Ash,

Movie Review: Master Cheng (2019)

Directed by Mika Kaurismaki.


Shot on location in a remote village in Lapland, this narrative uses the country and culture of Finland as the protagonist, and in the midst, a man from Shanghai bafflingly passes into this town, with his son, in search of something we only know as FONGTRON.



The movie is gentle, it knows how to take it’s time and more is done with less going on. We have a story that is comfortable to follow and during this ambiguity of this FONGTRON, the cultures combine in a beautiful and peaceful way.



The movie compliments itself in the culinary skills of the man that introduces intellectual food to a Finnish society that, at first, are stubborn to change, but submits to this man’s culture and personality.



It's a movie that has unpretentious depth and doesn’t try to exaggerate any part of the story, it’s real life and it’s a visual medicine for the eyes.







Cass Elliott on Quantum Recast

Cass,

Movie Review: Saltburn (2023)

Directed by Emerald Fennell.


“Great movie, crazy concept.”


For someone who enjoyed Emerald Fennells other movie “Promising Young Woman,” I already knew going into this movie would be an interesting time, especially with Barry Keoghan being in the main cast. This wasn’t the first movie that had me creeped out by Barry’s performance but I’m sure it won’t be the last either.


I had no expectations going into this movie and besides hearing about the “bathroom”, “vampire” & “grave” scene from social media, I didn’t know what this movie was about, but with it being a psychological thriller, I was instantly getting tense the entire time not knowing what was going to happen. The film was about a college student named Oliver (played by Barry) who found himself drawn to Felix (played by Jacob Elordi) and his lifestyle and as it usually goes, things started escalating quickly. The writing was really good, Barry and Jacob and the rest of the cast did an amazing job; however, the movie was a little longer than it needed to be and some scenes (as mentioned above) were a little unnecessary.


If you like black comedy psychological thrillers or have a big crush on Barry and Jacob, this movie is definitely for you but if it isn’t your type of movie, I would suggest watching Emerald Fennell’s other movie “Promising Young Woman.” 







Nick Growall on Quantum Recast

Nick,

Movie Review: Mean Girls (2024)

Directed by Samantha Jayne & Arturo Perez Jr.

Written by Tina Fey.


Its crazy that they cloned Pam from The Office and gave us Angourie Rice...


I'm a little surprised as at how much I enjoyed this musical remake(?), given my current hatred towards recycling franchises. But I think the infusion of the musical genre, on top of Tina Fey reminding everyone that she's hilarious and an excellent comedic writer, gave it enough to feel unique and stand out on its own.


Granted, there are some reused lines that won't hit the same (just because they've been used everyday on social media for the past 20 years), but it really does feel like they refreshed it for a new generation. The use of modern tech (iPhones, Tiktok and other social media) were only getting started the last time we did this, and they feel seamlessly a part of the story, versus feeling forced in to seem "cool and hip" (insert "Steve Buscemi with a skateboard" meme here).


There's also a lot of fun that's had with camera work and transitions, from the opening move form Africa to High School, you're kind of set up to know "hey, this is a musical...we're gonna do some wild stuff here." With the camera moving in, out and through all the prepositional phrases of the musical numbers, it gives those scenes a real dynamic energy. While's there a lot of great musical numbers "Revenge Party" is definitely the standout scene, with a Lisa Franklin-inspired high school hallway that I would actually like to go back to high school for (...maybe).


Some of the downside, is that while everyone does generally great in their roles, I wonder if we'll see as many breakout stars from this version as we did in the original. Angourie Rice is likeable in a mousy, Pam-from-the-office way, but doesn't quite match the charisma and likeability of the then-meteoric Lindsay Lohan.


Jaquel Spivey (Damian), Avantika (Karen) and others definitely make the roles their own, with Bebe Wood possibly being a better characterization of Gretchen Wieners, but this movie is definitely all about Renee Rapp. This movie is built and hyped around her star power, and in case you weren't aware of her yet, you definitely will after watching this (or her stellar performance of Snow Angel on SNL).


A more natural , laid back rendition of Regina George, Rapp oozes charisma and demands your attention through the movie. She's not as funny as Rachel McAdams' original performance, but she definitely makes it her own with a more realistic, Gen Z version of a mean girl. This is definitely her moment, and a star making role for sure, putting anyone on notice who wasn't already aware of her.


But yes, this is a movie musical. A lot of people have hang-ups with this genre, and its fair, some things aren't for everyone. But Hollywood has become hyper aware of this, almost afraid to tell anyone when a movie is a musical, even in the trailers (Wonka, Color Purple, and now Wicked definitely don't want to show their hands in their advertising).


When you have tons of people going into a movie unaware that people are gonna stop and SING about their feelings, it's understandable when you feel like you've been mislead. I mean, are we acting like The Greatest Showman, Les Misérables, and other musicals haven't done super well in the past decade?


I'm just saying Hollywood, it's okay to show that inner "theatre kid" side of yourself once in a while. We all know its there, and it's actually most of you, so just own it.


So yeah, if you liked the first, and you don't mind some pop-influenced song and dance numbers, I'd say give this one a go. For everyone else, you're still getting 2 hours of Renee Rapp.







Cory Williams on Quantum Recast

Cory,

Movie Review: Pacific Rim (2013)

Directed by Guillermo del Toro.


Pacific Rim was the best movie I saw in 2013. (Not to be confused with the mundanely titled mockbuster Atlantic Rim, the VOD rip off) Which isn’t saying much given the cinematic landscape of that year. The breadth of the scope of movies in 2013 went from the cinephiles diving into arthouse’s dalliance of trying to make porn mainstream  at the expense of near traumatizing its cast (Nymphomaniac/Blue is the Warmest Color) all the way to Hugh Jackman sporting a scrotum on his chin opposite Kate Winslet in ‘Movie 43’ for general audiences.


Sure, the year had some great stuff but with great caveats rank them low on the rewatchable scale:

Gravity - too stressful.

Her - too uncomfortable

12 Years a Slave - too depressing

Olympus Has Fallen - too White House Down

Wolf of Wall Street - a poor man’s Gatsby

Gatsby - too much Tobey Maguire



My Jake Gyllenhaal obsession was still a few years away so I missed ‘Enemy’ and ‘Prisoners’ back then. I didn’t catch ‘Rush’ until February of 2014 as an Oscar prep watch. And ‘Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ should have been the best movie I saw in 2013 but Kristen Wiig. So these movies are just ineligible and Pacific Rim takes the not so shiny 2013 crown.


Shit. Gangster Squad.


Pacific Rim was the second best movie I saw in 2013.


And it was kind of an accident.

I remember more or less being dragged to the theater to watch it and just pouted in my seat as I knew I was about to be subject to a  2-hour, live action onslaught of the Japanese type on anime adjacent entertainment that I never understood. 


But then Robots started fighting monsters and I realized this was just Mighty Morphin Power Rangers minus the teenagers in spandex.


And before you scream “hypocrite” I am aware that the Power Rangers is a Japanese super sentai product but let’s call it what it was for my generation… Americanized for toy consumerism.


In one of those nights where I could have knocked something off of my watchlist I sat down and just groaned at that idea and landed on a rewatch of Pacific Rim this last week. Maybe it was the “Leaving Soon” banner underneath it on Netflix that sparked a need to click play as if a physical blu-ray isn’t sitting on my shelf in clear view of my couch. But that would require getting up, putting it in a player, and navigating a menu.


Streaming is winning the war on our lazy souls, folks.


Now, Pacific Rim is still a great movie…though I’d have to say the movie hasn’t aged as well one would hope. But that’s not always a bad thing. Listen, things progress and maybe Fury Road and John Wick took action movies to a Mark 5 Jaeger level since 2013 but there’s still a place for the Mark 3 Gipsy Dangers of action flicks in my heart.


I don’t want to harp on the bad too much. Charlie Hunnam continues to be an anomaly of an actor to me. I can’t give up on him…there’s some Brad Pitt-esque bravado buried shallow enough that I see it in everything he does…but I think can’t tell if the ghost of his Sons of Anarchy character, Jax Teller, still haunts him or if that’s just his one note. Either way, Hunnam is very much just playing Jax Teller in Pacific Rim; the cadence of his dialogue, the odd strut…pretty much everything just short of a dawning a leather cut. 


I felt like the other Jaeger teams played a bigger role in the movie than they did and that felt a little disappointing to see they were just canon fodder for the Kaiju's' progressing strength.


Finally, Charlie Day. I’m sure he’s a delightful human being. But I can only take about 5 minutes of his erratic, over the top personality before I get a headache and desperately want to run away from him. I have recurring nightmares about a Charlie Day/Kevin Hart buddy comedy franchise. 


But maybe it’s less about the leather jacket wearing, tattoo covered, kaiju obsessed…okay, Charlie Day’s character is kind of awesome…and more about his arc in the film. For some reason just now realizing how much it kind of just borrows from Independence Day when the film dives deeper into the kaiju. But Burn Gorman is awesome.


The movie has three strengths: 


World building. The not-so-distant future Cyberpunk before Cyberpunk (wait, should Keanu have taken lead over Hunnam…) aesthetic is awesome. The world feels so fleshed out with cities built around the bones of fallen kaiju, the Jaeger program feeling weirdly grounded Gundam program that could exist and black market dealing under the table  in kaiju pharma via Ron Perlman. I appreciate a movie that can lay a lot of groundwork in the opening segment without feeling rushed or bogged down.


Second strength: Idris Elba. That’s it. The guy is a ringer. I’d watch Idris Elba do his taxes because odds are he’d say something bad ass or inspiring while going through his receipts that would make me want to do my taxes even harder.


Final strength, and one that I don’t think I appreciated until this most recent watch. The father-son team of Striker Eureka, Herc and Chuck Hansen. Both characters are a little stock; the father is the more traditional military man/vet that’s all about respect and doing the right thing and the son is a cocky asshole that thinks the world is just in his way. But Chuck Hansen actually has the best story arc…maybe the only real character arc…in the film. He’s the only character that seemingly goes through any real impactful change. 


The three primary protagonists all blast through their initial obstacles early. But Chuck Hansen is the character that has the slow burn change that really hits you when it comes full circle.

Idris Elba gets to tell the cool line about cancelling the Apocalypse but Chuck gets the two most emotional scenes in the movie.


His father trying muster up the words to tell his son that he loves him before sending him on a suicide mission guts any of us with old school dads that would just as soon knew you in the stomach before actually saying those three words. (It’s just understood, dammit!) 


Spoilers: The climactic battle in which Chuck Hansen is piloting a jaeger along side Idris Elba and the play is to sacrificially  remote detonate the nuke strapped to their back and him quoting his dad and telling Elba it’s an honor eclipses and is more emotionally impactful than anything else in the movie. It’s THE moment of the movie. It’s Randy Quaid flying his jet into the alien space ship to protect, not humanity, but his three children.


Pacific Rim is pure fun and one of those movies that makes you say “they don’t make movies like that anymore.” I cannot recommend it enough for anyone looking to just unwind and let a movie be a movie for a night.


Maybe I found better 2013 movies since being amazed by Pacific Rim in a movie theater but it’s still a wild ride worth going on. And it’s probably more digestible than Gyllenhaal’s ‘Enemy’ for most.




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