I didn't JUST watch anything but the last thing I watched was the original Matrix film. I've been doing a chronological re-watch with the Animatrix stuff in preparation for Matrix Resurrections. Before that trailer dropped, I had only seen the films a handful of times (and I had never seen The Animatrix) and I would have considered myself a very casual fan, but since the trailer, I've not only been rewatching the films but I've been diving down the rabbit hole of fan theories, fan examinations (EG: Matrix Explained on Youtube) and the like.

I even plan to watch the John Wick films for the first time before the movie comes out, since there's a fan theory about those films being a different iteration of the Matrix and while that's highly unlikely, I figured it's a great opportunity for me to finally check those films out.

But yeah, it's amazing how one thing was able to get me from being a casual fan who had mostly forgotten about the series, to becoming relatively obsessed with it all.

It's not "unlikely", it's simply nonsense, like pretty much all "fan theories". I just absolutely despise them. It's like a competition to come up with the dumbest idea. Baiscally all those "fan theories" always rely on the the fact the movie in question doesn't explicitly deny some absurd notion they came up with (because how and why could they?). Taken is a parallel universe to Batman Begins in which Neeson's character saved his daughter, so he didn't join the League of Shadows! In the Dirty Harry movies Eastwood is playing the same ghost as in High Plains Drifter, which is why Harry can survive every fight against all odds! I could come up with this shit all day.

You could just as well say that Casablanca is another iteration of the Matrix.

I don't view it as canon or anything, it's just fun food for thought... I don't see anything wrong with that unless people start getting crazy and then being angry when it's not true.

Joker
I quite enjoyed this movie. An interesting take on Joker.
This Joker started quite humbly scratching out a living (as a clown) while taking care of his mother. He suffers from mental illness where uncontrollable laughter starts when highly emotional/or stressed. The laughter's a bit hard to watch at times. Things slowly goes downhill when bad things happens. I found surreal the semi-dance? Joker did after killing 3 Wayne Co. bullies.
Highly recommended.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

I really enjoyed the first one. Sure, it was stupid, but it was fun, and Tom Hardy was great in a surprisngly comedic role. But this was just terrible. Even at the relatively short running time of under 100 minutes, it still felt long and boring. There's barely any plot, there's far fewer funny moments that work, the action is unimpressive, there's no tention to any of it, and even Hardy seems barely invested. It's like he went straight from Johny Depp in the first Pirates film to the last. The one good thing is that the cinematography is rather good, there are some really nice shots here, but that's hardly the kind of thing to save a Venom movie from a bad script, boring performances and lackluster action.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Loved it, and I am delighted that I somehow managed to avoid spoilers going into the film, as I had absolutely no idea what it was about beforehand. It's a good example of a film that is very 'spoilable'.

I re-watched Green Lantern, first time since I saw it in cinema, and I still don't really know why it's so hated and mocked. I mean sure, it's not a great movie by any stretch, but it's no worse than most super popular Marvel films, and better than some. It could sure use some re-writes (or maybe some having some cut scenes put back in), but there's a lot to like here. I think the art design is really good, and I love the idea of the ver organic looking GL Corps uniforms, different for every race. Yeah, the CG is sometimes weak, but honestly for a decade old movie, it holds up better than you'd think. Ryan Raynolds is actually really good as Hal, and Mark Strong is absolutely perfect as Sinestro. It's a damn shame we never got to see a sequel focused on him as the villain. Blake Lively is probably the weakest part of the cast, but still not terrible, and it's a shame Kilowog only gets a glorified cameo.

Overall, I really think that it was a decent foundation to build a sequel around.

John Wick being another Matrix is a silly fan theory that only exists because both properties star Reeves and have Fishburn as a kind of older leader role and Reeves is keeping his Wick look. Wick is a skilled badass but is a normal human (or at least is meant to be) while Neo is the one and can morph the world to suit his needs.

John Wick 1 is really good and does kind of live up to the hype. 2 is also quite good although the ending is a little eh. 3 really goes downhill imo because it loses alot of reality which is what made John Wick such an interesting property. It is also the first film where Kolstad (the creator and sole script writer for 1 and 2) started sharing the workload with other script writers. Given he seems to no longer be involved with sequels 4 and 5, not sure how its going to turn out.

Yeah, the underworld DEEP LORE stuff is by far the least interesting part of John Wick to me, but it seems like it's all everyone involved with it talks about. Secret hotels that only serve criminals but you have to obey the codes of conduct and use special coins to get around and etc.? Bleh. Just give me a tough guy wrecking people because he's trying to avenge/save his dog. It's like the creators watched Highlander and concluded that the most interesting part was how the churches were neutral ground and wanted to elaborate on that endlessly.

I dont mind the underworld lore but the fact that it is so vast is a little silly given that it is supposed to be underworld.

The biggest issue I had with 3 was how John Wick essentially transformed from skilled assassin to terminator. A shame because I did enjoy the first two movies.







SPOILERS

The fight against the two apprentices became comical due to the number of times Wick was thrown through the glass display boxes. The betrayal shot from Winston was even worse. Yes, Wick would have survived the shots due to his special suit but he wouldnt survive the fall from the roof. The building the Continental is based on is 15 floors, more than enough to finish an injured and exhausted Wick. We also know from chapter 2 that Wick's suit protects from penetration from bullets but doesnt block the bullets" force, hence why they still hurt. Even if the suit had some force dispersion, it cant disperse the force from a 15 floor drop.

Again, I'm not saying that it's canon, I'm just saying that it's a fun fan theory that I'm going to use as an excuse to finally watch the films.

Dune 1984

God damn, what a bizarre film. Had I not read the book I think I would've been incredibly confused. Still. I loved the special effects and impressive backdrops (most of the time at least). The music's incredible as well, expect for some reason during the credits.

Really? I love Take My Hand (the end credits music). And the whole end credits sequence. Actually it feels a lot like the credits to Return of the King. Has that same "wistfully musing on the story we just heard" kind of vibe.

But then, I just love the whole movie, even though I'll admit it's not objectively great. But I think its bizarre nature, and mysterious, dreamlike mood are a great representation of the strange world of Herbert's book. And, except for the terrible "shields" effect, I think the visuals and special effects hold up great. The designs are incredible, you'll never see stuff like it elsewhere. The Guild navigators and their ships, the sets... And the cast is just fantastic. And it feels like every other line is memorable and quoteable. To this whenever I encounter a worm-like monster in a game I say out loud "I must conquer the worm, conquer Shai-Hulud".

Watched Lake Mungo before sleep, bad idea. It's a found footage/documentary style film, about a family stuck by the death of her daughter and the subsequent paranormal events. The movie knows how to build suspense and has one of the most terrifying scenes I've seen in a horror movie. The ending leaves you with a hole in your chest, a really sad horror movie.

Oh the song itself was pretty good, great even (in fact I think I'm going to add it to my film music playlist right now), but to me it just felt completely at odds with Dune's theme. It's the type of song I'd expect after a Disney adventure film, or a film like Quest for Camelot.

I'll also have to admit it's not objectively great, especially I'd imagine for someone who hasn't read the book. It really does seem to jump through certain parts in a very inelegant manner. Which I suppose is a byproduct of the film having had to be cut down severely, which I believe is also why the internal monologues were added.
Still, overall I enjoyed the film, especially the great cast (minus the emperor) and masterfully crafted eeriness of the setting. Didn't care too much for every single one of the sets and designs (the emperor's throne room and most of the weapons didn't work for me - though I did quite like the shield effect), but the backdrops were simply exquisite.
It's just those, ahem, shouts from the final battle that unfortunately weren't done right. It made it sound like a bunch of grown ups having a LARP battle.

I hear there is some sort of extended edition, fan-made, that is floating around on the interwebs. I definitely want to check that out, since apparently Lynch has never displayed the slightest interest to do anything of the kind :(