Discussion
  • Read More
    hickspy1A.A. Dowd
    12/04/17 10:11am

    I found “What Happened to Monday” to be the dumbest setup any action movie has ever had. Everything in it related to world-building was stupid and heavy-handed in order to portray a dystopian vibe, but in the the most complicated way possible.

    There are too many children being born, what should we do? Implement birth control and mandatory pregnancy screenings or something? No, no, let’s create a force of Nazi stormtroopers that will hunt down everyone’s siblings (it usually takes us 8-10 years after they were born to find them but oh well) and then we’ll burn them alive. Nailed it.

    Couldn’t take any of the movie seriously because of that setup.

    Reply
    • Read More
      BlastProcessinghickspy1
      12/04/17 2:22pm

      You’ve got to admit it’s the most compelling title since “The Man Who was Thursday,” though. 

      Reply
    • Read More
      Vitamin Shoehickspy1
      12/04/17 5:41pm

      I kind of hand waved the ridiculous setup and enjoyed what it did with it. It’s silly sci-fi that tossed out its thesis and was fun for a watch, if you don’t dig into the logistics, which as basically an action flick at heart with some maudlin moments it doesn’t ask the viewer to do.

      Reply
  • Read More
    spoilerA.A. Dowd
    12/04/17 10:28am

    eh, call me a philistine, but that Hong Kong exploding tunnel movie is the first one I’m watching from this list.

    Reply
    • Read More
      Oops All Crunchberriesspoiler
      12/04/17 10:44am

      Same, but replace “first” with “only.”

      Well, maybe the one about Monday too.

      Reply
    • Read More
      Joshua Nortonspoiler
      12/04/17 11:20am

      China’s one of the few countries that actually shells out the money for a big cast of extras these days. I know in the West CGI people are cheaper and don’t need catering, but there’s nothing quite like seeing a crowd of a hundred plus real people running away from the movie’s danger.

      Reply
  • Read More
    FanamirA.A. Dowd
    12/04/17 9:19am

    A photographer in their senior year of high school, two former best friends reconnecting, lingering guilt over one friend abandoning the other, a small town, supernatural elements, quirky teen dialogue, geeky nostalgia, LGBTQ subtext... what is this, Life is Strange?

    Reply
  • Read More
    DMIA.A. Dowd
    12/04/17 3:46pm

    I hope Boys in the Trees is as good as it looks. Shock Wave looks like Speed in a tunnel mixed in a blender of Hong Kong crazy so I’m down for that completely. And Tragedy Girls looks like a gory and darkly humorous good time. Whatever Happened to Monday though? Interesting enough premise (if comically far fetched) but I couldn’t stand the characters and the story itself was snooze worthy and clicked at best.

    Reply
    • Read More
      DMIDMI
      12/04/17 6:18pm

      “cliched,” at best.

      Reply
    • Read More
      Pinkie FisticuffsDMI
      12/07/17 1:52pm

      The wife and I absolutely loved Boys In The Trees. We just stumbled across it on Netflix and watched it on a lark. Totally not the movie I expected, either. Absolutely loved it.

      Reply
  • Read More
    CubAvengerA.A. Dowd
    12/04/17 3:22pm

    And still no God’s Own Country.

    Reply
    • Read More
      namebobCubAvenger
      12/04/17 4:06pm

      Has it been released in the US yet? They could be waiting to review it until then.

      Reply
    • Read More
      CubAvengernamebob
      12/04/17 5:05pm

      Yeah, it’s opened in the U.S. and there have been multiple opportunities for critics to see the film.

      It played Sundance in January 2017 where it won the World Cinema Directing Award.

      It had three screenings at the Chicago International Film Festival in October 2017 where it won the Silver Q-Hugo Award (notably, the seats reserved for critics in the otherwise sold out screening I attended were empty).

      It’s been playing in New York at the IFC center since October 25, 2017 and has been expanding across the country since. It’s distributed in the U.S. by Samuel Goldwyn Films.

      Illustration for article titled

      The AV Club has covered every other non-mainstream LGBTQ film this year (Lovesong, BPM, Beach Rats, Princess Cyd, Thelma, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, and A Fantastic Woman), but not God’s Own Country.

      I’m just curious and a little confused. It’s in my top three films of 2017 and everyone I know who’s seen it has absolutely adored it.

      Reply
  • Read More
    Doctor MemoryA.A. Dowd
    12/04/17 11:49am

    “Tragedy Girls” sounds like it’s as much an updated take on “Man Bites Dog” as “Heathers” and I am 100% here for such a thing.

    Reply
    • Read More
      DisquietousDoctor Memory
      12/24/17 10:17am

      I love to recommend Man Bites Dog while simultaneously warning people that they may be extremely disgusted by the uncut version if they happen to run across it. I know the Blockbuster copy I saw in 2003 was missing the extreme mutilation and rape scene I not-so-fondly recalled from the limited theatrical release.

      Reply
  • Read More
    hcd4A.A. Dowd
    12/04/17 9:21am

    Huh, I found Our Time will Come to be really well done but completely patriotic and blockbustery--not epic maybe, but sufficiently close that when I watched it I was a little let down by it’s mainstream ease. (That’s not the movie’s fault--my expectations had been a bit more art film at the time.) I think of the focus on women’s lives an expansion of the usual and maybe that’s a kind of radical act, but unless I read the politics entirely wrong the patriots are still patriots, and it wasn’t a rebuttal at all.

    Reply
    • Read More
      Random Monkhcd4
      12/04/17 11:19am

      it wasn’t a rebuttal at all

      ...so, a mere buttal, then. Shit.

      Reply
    • Read More
      Vitamin Shoehcd4
      12/04/17 5:36pm

      I guess Im confused is it merely patriotic or jingoistic, not that either should devalue the good qualities of a film if it is entertaining and you know what you are getting into.

      Reply
  • Read More
    Unexpected DaveA.A. Dowd
    12/04/17 4:37pm

    I saw two movies this year that the AV Club didn’t review.

    The first was a Chinese animated gangster film called Have A Nice Day. It’s about a bunch of people chasing after a bag full of dirty money, with all kinds of Tarantino/Coen-style plot twists and double-crosses. The animation is very static; it’s almost like a motion comic.

    I also saw a documentary called Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World. It’s a great history of the contributions of Native Americans (and Aboriginal Canadian Robbie Robertson) to 20th century blues and rock music. It’s at its best when it’s talking to Native peoples themselves, and using archival footage of the artists in question, but it still relies heavily on Talking White Dudes to fill gaps and recite facts in a concise way. At least Bono wasn’t in it.

    Reply
    • Read More
      TaumpyTearrsUnexpected Dave
      12/04/17 6:28pm

      I enjoyed Savage Dog, an action revenge movie set in 1950s Indochina. Like most of Scott Adkins’ movies, it was Direct to Video/Streaming, so it was not reviewed here or most other places (which is why I have made The Adkins Diet podcast, devoted to discussing every Adkins movie ever). It was dumb, mean, super violent, and quite enjoyable. Plus it re-unites Adkins with Marco Zaror from Undisputed III, lets Adkins face of against Cung Le, and has Keith David in a supporting role. Machete squad!

      Reply
    • Read More
      iMODOKTaumpyTearrs
      12/05/17 10:27am

      Savage Dog was mediocre Adkins. It was especially disappointing given the solid cast and interesting setup — exiled soldiers, ruled over by a colonel Kurtz-like former nazi officer, turning a remote slice of 1950s Indochina into a hellish haven for gangsterism and blood sport. The film just deliver on the potential of that premise.I wasn’t expecting it to be Apocalypse Now, but Universal Soldier and Boyka show that Adkins’ films can deliver effective, emotional drama in the right hands. There were only three good fight scenes: Adkins’ fights with Le and Zaror, and the rumble at David’s bar. The rest of the action was pretty standard imo. I had to rewatch Ninja II to regain my Adkins enthusiasm. I’m a bit worried that Scott is going to continue collaborating with the filmmaker behind this on at least two more projects., because his action direction is underwhelming for a former stuntman.

      Reply
  • Read More
    lorem ipsumA.A. Dowd
    12/04/17 12:21pm

    “What Happened to Monday” sounds a little like Philip Jose Farmer’s Dayworld series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayworld

    Reply
    • Read More
      Frank Walker Barrlorem ipsum
      12/05/17 4:57am

      I’ve always found it odd that Hollywood/TV loves Philip K. Dick but has pretty much ignored Philip Jose Farmer (well, there was a terrible SyFy movie/failed pilot of Riverworld). But both Philips have a similar trippy 1960s vibe to their works.

      Reply
  • Read More
    HuskyBroA.A. Dowd
    12/04/17 10:24am

    Wow, how did y’all not review Tragedy Girls? That looks ridiculously awesome (and I am not a horror fan) and you had two X-kids in lead roles, too? Wow.

    Reply