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philipelliottrexy
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Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
The Only Bad Episode
I'm not a major STAR WARS fan, but I'm not a stranger to it, either. I just watched episodes I to IX over the course of a couple weeks (the final trilogy for the first time). This one was the only film I didn't like. It's sloppy and rushed, full of coincidences and deux ex machina. The character arcs are forced and sudden. Deceased characters return in spades. Many STAR WARS films (of ep. I to IX) have flaws but all of them are good movies--except for RISE OF SKYWALKER. It barely feels like a STAR WARS film and more like something Marvel rushed out the factory in between SPIDERMANs. Evident here is the cash-grab mentality of Disney prioritizing profits over story. When studios see only dollar signs, a passionless mess is inevitable.
Color Out of Space (2019)
Uhhh...what?
Officially the strangest film I've ever seen, which is saying something. But funny too. Recommended simply for the totally bizarre experience. To say any more would be to ruin the effect.
Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne (2019)
A Groundbreaking Show Becomes a Formula Fairytale
It is baffling how a show that was consistently about subverting and defying the safe, simple, familar cliches of traditional stories became one so hopelessly in the end. Even if said subversion and defiance were wholly because of George R. Martin, the show's writers should have understood pretty quick what Martin was going for, and why it was important to the show. Only a group of idiots could have turned the show into a Disney movie accidentally. Which makes it seem intentional, then. Strange, and unfortunate that in this age of the superhero story, even a show such as GAME OF THRONES mutated into one of them.
The Trust (2016)
A Goofy Heist Movie that Veers Toward Darkness
I don't know why the idea of Nicholas Cage and Elijah Wood starring in a crime thriller together is funny to me, but it is. & for its first half, THE TRUST is funny. But what starts out as a silly neo-noir veers suddenly toward a darker realm as Cage's goofy Las Vegas police officer (echoes of his BAD LIEUTENANT role, but only echoes) reveals his cold-blooded determination to get at the contents of a secret vault at all costs, causing a rift to occur between him & Wood's softer character.
THE TRUST is a heist movie, & it's when the heist begins that the movie really starts to shine. It takes the heist in creative, unexpected & funny directions, & during these parts is an enjoyable & engrossing film. The film wraps up way too suddenly, & overall is quite forgettable, but for a good chunk in the middle it had a certain spark while these two ridiculous men dug themselves deeper into the hole they never wholly grasped they were getting themselves into in the first place. Cage is fun to watch, & though more restrained than usual, his wild energy crackles from him like static off a bedsheet. The dialogue & handling of situations is nicely offbeat, & the script remains ontrack the whole way.
THE TRUST is worth a watch if you like neo-noirs, heist movies, or Nick Cage doing his goofy thing. Or, like me, all of the above.