As we approach the middle of the year, all the movies that I missed in January and February are slowly released on DVD and VOD, meaning I can finally catch up and rack up a few more 2016 releases on my 'watched' list. That means, for the first time in forever, one of my Mini Reviews posts has a theme. These three movies were all released in the UK at the start of 2016, and I've caught up!
OH MY GOD WHAT WAS EVEN GOING ON HERE. Seriously. I was so excited for High-Rise (2016) when I first saw the trailers. A suited and booted Tom Hiddleston? I’m in. A weird and quirky plot? Excuse me, I already told you I’m in but now I’m excited. I was gutted I missed this in the cinemas, but now? I’m relieved. This movie was so weird. It was like Snowpiercer but in a high-rise building. Snowpiercer also had a plot! This had so many suit-clad characters I forgot who was who. What made it worse was that the movie starts with the ending, so it’s not like I felt the need to stick with it to find out what even happens. Argh!
I had no intention of seeing Triple 9 (2016) in the cinemas, truth be told, it’s not my kind of movie, but I saw it get a lot of decent reviews, so I made sure I gave it a try once I could. It’s your typical action-heist movie, filled with dirty cops and criminals, and takes a few turns that the veteran action fans probably smelt a mile away, but I really enjoyed it! My fiance (probably husband by the time you read this!) plays a game called Rainbow Six Seige, and I got that vibe from this, so he was kind of bummed that I watched it without him. Still, he gives me this proud kind of look when I start spewing lines about breaching the door and stuff…
I don’t know what made me give Dirty Grandpa (2016) a watch, but sometimes you just need to watch some mindless comedy, you know?! These things are so hit and miss and even though general consensus seems to be that this is one a stinker, it just hit my funny bone in a way that a comedy hasn’t for a long time. Maybe it’s my growing appreciation for Zac Efron, or the shock of such foul words coming from Robert De Niro, but this worked for me. Sure, the plot is tired and has been used time and time again, and yep, 99% of the comedy relies on rude jokes, but what more did you expect? I’m still laughing at the ‘Jenny from the c*ck block’ line, and it’s been weeks.
I'd suggest a re-watch of High-Rise Allie :) I thought the exact same thing as you did after the first watch, but the more you watch it the more you can see what it is saying. And some of the very best films need two or even three watches to fully understand
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked Triple 9, it was by an Aussie director :D
Okay, I'm going to take that on board now you've said that and after Hogan's explanation, too!
DeleteTriple 9 was so much fun! :)
- Allie
Loved Triple 9!!
ReplyDeleteBut moving swiftly on, I'm sorry to read you didn't enjoy High-Rise. The film isn't a basic linear story, its a satire. Its a reflection of society and a prediction of the future from the point of view of JD Ballard the author of the book it was based on, but he wrote it in the 70s.
I know other people who didn't like it too and I think it was down to the marketing of the film. Its an Inglorious Bastard situation again. The audience thought they were watching an action movie and got angry with all the talking. Its the same thing here, everyone expected a story about a man who moves into a new flat and things go wrong and what they got was something crazy. I wouldn't say its an art film as its a comedy. A very dark comedy. I wouldn't worry about Tom Hiddleston's character too much, he was a character to reel the audience in. He's a device to let the audience into the building and all the chaos. You could look at as each character represents a piece of society, but thats going deep.
My friend who hated it said it wasn't realistic and I said to him, the tip off point was right at the start with the BBQ dog. I also mentioned that if this was a conventional story, the police would have arrived to investigate after the first body thrown from the building, but in this world, they don't.
I've just seen the size of my comment..... sorry for the ramble but I truly believe the film is brilliant and needed my defense. :)
Don't ever be sorry for rambling! I really did feel like the movie was smarter than I was, and I don't think I've ever watched a satire before. In fact, I wish I could have read your explanation before watching the movie itself because I would have appreciated it a lot more then :)
Delete- Allie