Has Terry Gilliam made any films that are remotely “lighthearted?” In fact, I can’t think of anything Monty Python-adjacent I would describe that way.
I’d argue that Monty Python and the Holy Grail counts as “lighthearted.” Sure, there’s plenty of violence, but it’s cartoon violence, all there to make us laugh.
Jabberwocky? A lot of the same type of jokes later seen in Holy Grail but not quite as successful.
Also: Michael Palin plays a villager named Dennis in it.
Co-directed that one with Jones.
I’d say Time Bandits is definitely that, with some dark moments.
Nitpick: Grail came first.
A Fish Called Wanda.
So it did. I stand corrected.
I guess I’d call that lighthearted, but Fierce Creatures is even more so. And, get ready, I think Fierce Creatures might be funnier or at least Wanda’s equal.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day Felt my 10 year old was finally ready. He enjoyed it, and the special effects didn’t seem too outdated. A few cringeworthy car scenes but for the most part that was it. The plot moved along and it was a delight to revisit.
But that’s it for the series as far as I am concerned, if he wants he will have to watch the additional installments on his own time.
A Shock to the System (1990). A surprisingly fine little thriller that in my opinion was critically underrated. It features an impressive performance by Michael Caine that really carries the whole film. Also starring a young Elizabeth McGovern, who I didn’t even recognize until she started speaking; the voice and intonation immediately evoked Lady Grantham in Downton Abbey, a role she would begin 20 years later. Caine is a marketing executive who doesn’t get an expected promotion to department head. Under pressure from corporate politics and domestic problems, he resorts to murder.
I watched Robots, the animated movie from 2005 that I hadn’t seen since it first got released on DVD because my main takeaway from it was that there were better things to do with my day than watch this a second time. But, 20 years later, I figured more than enough time has passed to reassess my opinion of it.
There are better things to do with my day than watch this a third time.
It’s just fast paced chaos that never relents, with a villain who is only superficially intimidating, and a moral that is a lot more relevant to now than it was to then. But it’s loud, and frenetic, and visually too busy, and Robin Williams, who can sometimes be annoying, is really fucking annoying. What little plot there is does not really hold much interest. Bad guy takes over business and turns it away from its original goals to help people, and into a money-making franchise for superficial wealthy clients, but then bad guy gets defeated by… a chase sequence. No moral come-uppance or lesson learned, just a big chase and a chaotic fight.
Anyway, BlueSky Studios, who made this, had much more success with their Ice Age property, and ran that into the ground before being subsumed by the Disney juggernaut and now are gone. There may be some irony in there somewhere.
I’ve watched a million clips from the movie Sisu. Anyone here seen that yet?
Sure, it was pretty good if you want to watch uber-violent Nazi killing. I didn’t like it quite as much as others, but it was a fun and again, ultra-violent movie. It is always pretty satisfying seeing Nazis get butchered.
We watched Love and Monsters just because it was on the screen when my wife yelled, “Just pick something, already!” We were both delightfully surprised by how much we enjoyed it. Very good natured and excellent creature design.
We also rewatched Dune part one because we are seeing part two with friends on Friday and we had no recollection of the plot. It felt like doing homework.
We watched this under much the same circumstances as you, and really enjoyed it. There’s a lot to make you smile, well-acted all around, and wonderfully evil and disgusting monsters to menace the young would-be hero on his long journey to join his lost love. The giant crablike monster was an obvious homage to Ray Harryhausen’s “Mysterious Island,” and the part with the leeches was right out of “The African Queen.” It’s no classic but at about 1:45, it’s a good watch and never drags.
Watched the Triplets of Bellville. Wow. That was weird and wacky and really good! There were so many little details to catch. I loved the Vacances de M. Hulot movie poster on the wall in the triplets’ apartment.
I loved Bruno. What a good job of portraying an actual dog, and not a dog that’s “really” a human. The barking at the trains bit reminded me strongly of our departed dachshund, Shanni, who’d listen and watch for the trash truck going down the driveway outside our living room sliders. Then, as soon as she actually saw it, she’d bark her head off until it was completely gone. They even had Bruno do one little extra “woof” as he was turning away from the window once which was something Shanni occasionally did, too.
Beautiful to look at, as well, and nice soundtrack.
Napoleon is streaming at no extra cost on Apple TV so we watched it. Plot-wise, it’s just checking off boxes, but Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal is the most human I’ve seen. He’s like a little boy playing with his toys.
Best line ever…
Bumblebee (Transformers)
I was pleasantly surprised. Bumblebee is more character driven than the other movies. There’s less transformer characters in this movie. I prefer this film because there less fight scenes compared to the other movies.
The scenes with just Charlie and Bee are quite good. The director even included some humor.
I grew up watching the Herbie VW movies. Naturally this movie appealed to me in a similar way.
I recommend watching this movie. It’s silly but also entertaining.
It has none of the nasty voyeurism of the Bay series and plenty of fun, which is what the Transformers films should have been all about from the start.