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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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Now, the one good thing about facebook - and - not a good thing particularly, it just means I'm too much there. But there was a clip with an AI narration, interesting, and I recognized the plot points as being from "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov.
A favourite book of mine.
SO, a fair bit of digging and I found a place to download the movie - the 2024 edition, in Russian/German and searched a dozen other sites and tried a variety of subtitles before I found one that was any good and synced with the movie.
And watched it, of course. I've not had a lot of luck with movies lately, tried some early 2000's horror, was pretty lame, bailed on it, another horror - "Late Night with the Devil" - which begins with an annoying narrator introducing the plot, the star, and continuing for 10 minutes, 12 minutes, and I'm still not into the movie and he's still narrating the back-story and I just give up, it's nonsense...
So this was a treat. Adapting that novel for the screen - well, not an easy chore, but well done. A bit heavy on the CGI (not a fan of the CGI landscapes), but otherwise, acting, theme, atmosphere - all relatively close to the source and true to the author.
And since I had to go to great lengths to find a copy and working subtitles I've saved you the effort by uploading them to "WeShare"; a file hosting site, the links are good for about 27 days from today.
Link (Movie): https://we.tl/t-pLUNvolmVY
Link (Synced and working subs): https://we.tl/t-xKdG9NRzR9
Note, Woland is speaking in German to the Master, hence the annoying Russian Voiceover. And - Bulgakov wrote in the Russia of the 30's, but in regards to the political motifs the same is happening here...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
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This, free on YouTube, a movie playing into the Nuclear Armageddon fears of the late 20th Century.
Not bad, and I lived in London just a couple of years after it was produced, so - while to me it looked dated (severely) - I was also there. So curious. A fair summary of what to expect following a Nuclear Holocaust, although I have to admire the British View that "Governance" of any sort would survive and take effect. Not bad, not great, merely a period film that taps into a lot of our unconscious social fears and conditionings.
It's still the endgame, but there are more imminent fears to boondoggle us...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 252
My daughter has a thing for Pedro Pascal, and having heard that I was watching "Temptation Island" - (appalling, but I can see the appeal. Something about a group of idiot couples that want to 'test' the boundaries of their relationships by writhing naked in a hot-tub or pit with 12 hot members of the opposite gender seems appropriately absurd) has recommended I watch "The Last of Us".
Which I did, mostly so you don't have to.
If you're as clueless as I was, it's about a Cordyceps pandemic that turns humankind into flesh-eating zombies. So we go from there, the episodes follow, mostly drivel - a better and more entertaining quality of drivel than "Temptation Island", for sure, but drivel nonetheless. On the plus side it was largely filmed in Calgary and the surrounding areas, if you pay close attention you'll recognize the city, and - I noticed, Calgary looks a lot better when you add 20 years of post-apocalyptic decay. Certainly it's improved the population.
On the bad side (and here I took great delight in confronting the daughter), well, too many bits of silliness to forgive. Like that the cities are all in complete and utter post-apocalyptic decay and ruin, yet the countryside remains largely pristine. That the gas in 20 years works fine. That power lines and many other bits of infrastructure will remain upstanding. I could go on, and if you were my daughter and I was drunk and raving I'm pretty sure I did.
But - what really annoyed me were the "flashback" episodes, where they attempt to provide emotional depth and backstory to the characters. Like the much-talked about gay relationship between Bill and Frank, well done, for sure, but in no ways relevant to the story at hand, merely a "Woke" interlude to embitter conservatives and pander to a liberal fanbase. The same with Ellie's "Best friend/got bitten" episode. Irrelevant, Woke, and just plain bad storytelling.
So, overall, 1/10, lightly entertaining, but if you don't have a crush on Pedro Pascal probably not what you're looking for.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
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I finished watching this today. A South Korean horror film about a Geomancer (Feng Sui) and Shaman (*Local Equivalent) who are engaged to remove a longstanding hereditary curse against a Korean who now resides in the US and is trying to save his son.
And so digging into the past the first unearth one skeleton, then another, and another, and every skeleton they unearth bringing them to an even more insoluble - or trying - passage, first a ghost, then a "spirit", and from here ...
Well done, and interesting (to me) if only for the rites and superstitions of the South Koreans, their links to "Primitive Superstition" and still prevalent beliefs in ghosts, demons, spirits, worthwhile, not great, but curious. I don't know how many ghosts, spirits, demons there are, in Nelson, in the Valley, but they are surely outnumbered by the number of Geomancers and Shamans we have, and surely some of them are competent. We'll be seeing soon enough...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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This, on the list, although in discussion with the boy I rather failed: "It's an animated Latvian film about a cat trapped in a Flood".
He's impressed by the diversity of my cinematic tastes. Now of course, no spoilers, you can watch the trailer here:
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgZccxuj2RY
If you were inspired to watch it you will probably enjoy it. The animation, great, the haunting presence and reminders of humanity, the implied spirituality and evolution of the creatures the Cat encounters, the personalities of said creatures (well depicted, without being too anthropomorphic, 'Disneyfied'), the questions it suggests - or raises - are curious.
So, despite being a little off my beaten track it was good and "off my beaten track" was rather the point.