Brian's Thoughts on Movies

Spoilers for the films below as well as for the old Spider Man and Amazing Spider Man films. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) Marvel's first Asian inspired film, directed by Destin Daniel Creston, has some incredible imagery clearly inspired by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the films surrounding it.  The film uses ancient lore and old family rivalries in its epic tale of Shang-Chi who teams with his aunt Ying Nan and his sister Xu Xialing, to battle his father Xu Wenwu who is being tricked to try to resurrect his mother, Ying Li.  The film leads Shang-Chi, who is accompanied by his best friend Katy from San Francisco to Macau to Ta Lo which is in a separate dimension.   The opening sequence in which Xu Wenwu, who has been established as greedy man in possession of the ten rings which grant supernatural powers meets Ying Li in Ta Lo and they battle is probably the highlight due to the playful nature.  Interestingly Xu Wenwu had let go of his ...

Back at Mi6, Bond protects Madeleine, looking uncomfortable, claiming he doesn't know her and then drives straight to her house in northern Norway.     Bond's approach at Madeleine's home mirrors several shots from Safin's from the opening (overhead, a  from the right showing the gun out but Bond is walking much faster than Safin who has a limp, and a shot from behind him as he comes up to the lake in front of the house but the music, different season (it looks like early fall whereas the opening was winter) tells us that this is going to be different.   The scene inside the house is one of the best in the film and is helped by my favorite cue.  Zimmer's "Home" goes from the warmer theme outside to more suspenseful inside.  Bond has his gun out, probably because he is not sure if he can trust her or what he will find there.  Madeleine appears, challenging Bond to trust her, by referencing the gun.  Bond uncomfortably puts it awa...

This is a long one so I broke it into two parts to make it more digestible.  Spoilers for all things Bond below:  No Time to Die faced so many roadblocks from original conception to release that it feels it was willed into existence, despite having a clear setup from the end of Spectre.  At the end of that film Bond captured Blofeld but opted not to execute him.  Bond left the secret service to try to start a life with Madeleine Swann, the daughter of Mr. White, Bond's onetime nemesis who had worked for Spectre.  In Spectre Madeline told a story of a man who entered their house which left a thread to be explored. Daniel Craig made a comment to an interviewer right after finishing the long shoot for Spectre, on which he broke his leg, that right at that moment he would rather slash his wrists than play Bond again.  I read the entire interview (as opposed to just the headline) and in context he was speaking about how tired he was in the moment and was clearly...

My discussion on the Rocky films, continued.  Spoilers below:                                                                                       Rocky V  (1990) Rocky V has a reputation as the nadir of the series.  Stallone has said that it is because he created a story that is too depressing and Rocky movies are supposed to be inspiring.  The producers have said that the film was scripted for Rocky to die at the end until an 11th hour change which gives the film a mixed tone.  I will admit I have a soft spot for it because after all the showiness of Rocky IV it tried to go back to focus on the characters and develop the relationship between Rocky and his son, which had not been don until this point....