Netflix: instaView rec's

**dookeyXXX** · 05-10-2021, 03:07 PM

Here's my take on SYNCHRONIC:
2/5
It is very similar to the writer/directors' previous effort, The Endless. First up it's yet another of their Lovecraftian homages.
And, as with their previous film, the first act is cool, the second act sees things starting to unravel, and the third/final act completely falls apart.
I felt the film suffered on a number of levels, chief amongst them being the use of the "Magical Negro" trope (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Negro).
I kept thinking how they (the writer/director duo) could have avoided such a lame device and realized that if they they had switched the leads, they would have ended up with a "White Savior" trope. In the end they would have been better off with either an all white cast or an all black cast.
Anyway, the first act was stellar, delivering some seriously fugged up imagery, creating a sense of unnerving mystery, and setting us up for some bugged out happenings, but then it just went downhill from there, first with a disease-of-the-week subplot, and finally the aforementioned "Magical Negro" elements.
Aside from that, the writer/directors kept throwing stuff at us, chief amongst these were not-so-subtle allusions to America's racist history,. Yet they never really seemed to flesh these elements out all that well and kind of failed to link them into the present day (granted, there was the cop in the opening scene who almost arrests Anthony Mackie's character because he looks like 2Pac, but they could have mined the modern day racism angle even deeper and tied it in more cohesively to the historical racism elements; all of this just seemed glossed over).
In the end, it was an interesting concept, which I felt was poorly executed.
But, hey, YMMV...

**stealurface831** · 05-10-2021, 03:14 PM

Don’t know if it’s been mentioned but State of Play is a must watch.

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**toast2266** · 05-10-2021, 04:56 PM

Originally Posted by dookey67

Here's my take on SYNCHRONIC:
2/5
It is very similar to the writer/directors' previous effort, The Endless. First up it's yet another of their Lovecraftian homages.
And, as with their previous film, the first act is cool, the second act sees things starting to unravel, and the third/final act completely falls apart.
I felt the film suffered on a number of levels, chief amongst them being the use of the "Magical Negro" trope (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Negro).
I kept thinking how they (the writer/director duo) could have avoided such a lame device and realized that if they they had switched the leads, they would have ended up with a "White Savior" trope. In the end they would have been better off with either an all white cast or an all black cast.
Anyway, the first act was stellar, delivering some seriously fugged up imagery, creating a sense of unnerving mystery, and setting us up for some bugged out happenings, but then it just went downhill from there, first with a disease-of-the-week subplot, and finally the aforementioned "Magical Negro" elements.
Aside from that, the writer/directors kept throwing stuff at us, chief amongst these were not-so-subtle allusions to America's racist history,. Yet they never really seemed to flesh these elements out all that well and kind of failed to link them into the present day (granted, there was the cop in the opening scene who almost arrests Anthony Mackie's character because he looks like 2Pac, but they could have mined the modern day racism angle even deeper and tied it in more cohesively to the historical racism elements; all of this just seemed glossed over).
In the end, it was an interesting concept, which I felt was poorly executed.
But, hey, YMMV...

I thought the Endless was a bit better (although neither movies were all that great). Both movies required some overlooking of plot holes, but the Endless had a bunch of weird things happen that they didn't try too hard to explain or constrain with rules. It's just some magical bullshit that isn't really explained, and the movie is mostly about how people deal with said magical bullshit. Synchronic, on the other hand, had magical bullshit happen that they then tried to anchor and constrain with real world, explainable rules, which just makes the whole thing feel even more ludicrous and the plot holes even harder to ignore.

You take this pill that sends you back in time. Ok, that's ridiculous, but whatever, I'm along for the ride. And a guy, that we meet in a fairly odd encounter, invented the pill while trying to produce MDMA or something. So now they've anchored this completely ridiculous premise in the real, non-magic, non-extra-terrestrial world, which just makes it even harder to overlook the preposterousness of the premise. And now we find out that how far back you go in time is defined by your exact location? How does that even make any tiny bit of sense? And Mackie is going to find someone who went back in time by finding the exact location that they went on their trip? mmmkay.

PB · 05-12-2021, 08:27 AM

Re Synchronic: sad dog part made me sad

**JimmyCarter** · 05-13-2021, 06:25 AM

Originally Posted by MontuckyFried

Look what's just around the corner!!! Buckle up, boys! It's gonna be a good one. I am psyched!

Fuck yeah!

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**splat** · 05-23-2021, 10:08 PM

Army of The Dead for the mutherfukking win!!

**buttahflake** · 05-24-2021, 05:11 AM

One of the worst movies I’ve ever sat through. Don’t bother, it’s really just that bad.

**MontuckyFried** · 05-24-2021, 05:33 AM

Originally Posted by splat

Army of The Dead for the mutherfukking win!!

Originally Posted by buttahflake

One of the worst movies I’ve ever sat through. Don’t bother, it’s really just that bad.

Huh. Sounds polarizing. Must be one of those love it or hate it movies. You guys wanna elaborate a bit? I haven't seen it yet, but did enjoy 2004's Dawn of the Dead, also by Zack Snyder.

**buttahflake** · 05-24-2021, 05:53 AM

Not even Bautista, who I enjoy in Guardians of the Galaxy could save this piece of crap. Just another weak-ass zombie flick with a half-ass heist movie tacked on. So fucking bad.

**Mustonen** · 05-24-2021, 06:20 AM

I thought it was fun. Expectations weren’t high going in, so maybe that helped.

**toast2266** · 05-24-2021, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by MontuckyFried

Huh. Sounds polarizing. Must be one of those love it or hate it movies. You guys wanna elaborate a bit? I haven't seen it yet, but did enjoy 2004's Dawn of the Dead, also by Zack Snyder.

I haven't seen it yet, but I was reading a thing yesterday about how the sidekick in the movie was 100% edited in during post production. The original sidekick had some rape allegations against him, so they edited him out and edited a new actress in. Apparently Bautista has never actually met his co-star in person. That whole scenario is just kind of crazy to me.

https://www.vulture.com/2021/05/zack...-the-dead.html

**AK47bp** · 05-24-2021, 12:19 PM

Originally Posted by toast2266

I haven't seen it yet, but I was reading a thing yesterday about how the sidekick in the movie was 100% edited in during post production. The original sidekick had some rape allegations against him, so they edited him out and edited a new actress in. Apparently Bautista has never actually met his co-star in person. That whole scenario is just kind of crazy to me.

https://www.vulture.com/2021/05/zack...-the-dead.html

Huh? Well they weren’t in any scenes together that I remember, maybe a tiny bit in the beginning.

This movie is 2.5hrs long for some reason. No different than any other zombie flick. Unlimited bullets, full auto spray with all head shots.

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PB · 05-24-2021, 02:39 PM

Well shit; I got Buttah's back here - godawful waste of time and resources. Took me three tries just to finish this steamer (yeah, partly on me). The dialogue made me numb, the plot was rotten oatmeal. Truly epitomizes the depths of stupid that Netflix, and we in general, have sunk.

**Marshall Tucker** · 05-24-2021, 02:48 PM

Originally Posted by Danno

Just started watching Shadow and Bone (2 eps in), pretty good so far.

Not impressed. sorta russian GOT wannabe

**MontuckyFried** · 05-24-2021, 05:02 PM

Not that I've seen Army of the Dead yet, but this cracked me up. It seems that many of the critiques here are certainly warranted:

I'll still watch it, but sounds like I better go into it with very low expectations? Perhaps for maximum potential enjoyment, I should pair said lack of expectations with copious amounts of alcohol.

**Mustonen** · 05-24-2021, 05:20 PM

Originally Posted by MontuckyFried

I'll still watch it, but sounds like I better go into it with very low expectations? Perhaps for maximum potential enjoyment, I should pair said lack of expectations with copious amounts of alcohol.

Turn off your brain, grab a couple beers.

I’ve seen worse.

**AK47bp** · 05-24-2021, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by MontuckyFried

Not that I've seen Army of the Dead yet, but this cracked me up. It seems that many of the critiques here are certainly warranted:

I'll still watch it, but sounds like I better go into it with very low expectations? Perhaps for maximum potential enjoyment, I should pair said lack of expectations with copious amounts of alcohol.

Ha. Yup that about sums it up.

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**dookeyXXX** · 05-24-2021, 08:26 PM

Even though they are the same age, I have always considered Zack Snyder to be the Michael Bay for Hipster Millenials...

**splat** · 05-24-2021, 11:27 PM

It's an action flick that plays on a lot of standard cliches but it kept me going start to finish.
I had been ignoring 'another zombie movie' until the trailer hooked me in.
People who can't suspend belief might have an issue with it.

**Yonder_River** · 05-25-2021, 12:45 AM

Originally Posted by MontuckyFried

Not that I've seen Army of the Dead yet, but this cracked me up. It seems that many of the critiques here are certainly warranted:

I'll still watch it, but sounds like I better go into it with very low expectations? Perhaps for maximum potential enjoyment, I should pair said lack of expectations with copious amounts of alcohol.

Omg, that dude is funny as hell.

**Mike Pow** · 05-25-2021, 06:45 AM

Hilarious

**Mustonen** · 05-25-2021, 07:25 AM

Originally Posted by Mike Pow

Hilarious

“Unclear…”

I’m pretty sure he nailed all of my wtf moments.

I’m a terrible critic and easy to please, I guess. I’m usually looking to stop thinking when I watch a movie.

**MontuckyFried** · 05-25-2021, 07:47 AM

Originally Posted by dookey67

Even though they are the same age, I have always considered Zack Snyder to be the Michael Bay for Hipster Millenials...

LMAO. You're 100% spot on. Now I won't be able to see view Snyder any other way. That said, Michael Bay really did have some fun movies. I guess his biggest downfall for me was that all his films became so paint by numbers after not too long. Totally formulaic where I've simply lost interest. Haven't seen a single Transformers movie beyond the second. And then MCU took his formula and applied it to EVERYTHING. I've even lost interest in that entire franchise years ago. Not that they're bad. Just that I got kinda bored. Same goes for Snyder. I liked Dawn of the Dead, Watchmen, 300, but now I'm like "meh." I'm sure I'm missing out, but I haven't seen any of his newer DC-based stuff. One day I guess I'll get around to them.

**dookeyXXX** · 05-25-2021, 08:04 AM

Get ready for more suspension of disbelief action from NF...

Looks like a serious cross between Shoot 'Em Up and the John Wick franchise...