bigbutchtalks

[bigbutchtalks]

Big Butch Talks Movies: Memento 2000

Watched 11/24/23 (watched with my dad :D)

“Memento” directed by Christopher Nolan

General likes -> the nonlinear storytelling, acting, Leonard’s tattoos and plot. I’d heard about how much attention you gotta pay to not miss anything and I also had fun with the fact that one of the actors was a main character in one of my favorite x files episodes but I digress. Carrie-Anne Moss and Guy Pearce’s performances were totally solid.

General dislikes -> Some of the characterization and relevant motivations felt thin but I think with analysis this can be explained/supported with plot.

Ramble/disorganized thoughts -> That tattoo artist is the queen of asking no questions.

Not-as-detailed-as-usual synopsis (and will not contain spoilers bc I love the way this movie is presented) -> A man with anterograde amnesia (Guy Pearce) is dealing with that diagnosis and doing his best to maintain his independence while on a quest for revenge.

Ending thoughts -> Would I watch this again? Yes! Would I recommend it? Yes, pls do your best to not do other things while watching for maximum effect. Watching this with my dad was very fun because he’s not really a movie guy so it felt extra special. I actually haven’t watched very many Nolan movies but will probs remedy that soon.

[bigbutchtalks]

Big Butch Talks Movies: Tron: Legacy 2010 (rewatch)

Watched 9/30/23

“Tron: Legacy” directed by Joseph Kosinski

General likes -> The viiiibeee! Soundtrack (Daft Punk y’all killed it), visuals and again, visuals. Yes, this is a movie made in 2010 but I think the action scenes (the lightcycles and disc fighting) hold up especially well. I also thought it was cool they brought back the original actors from the 1982 movie! The end of the line club scene, very iconic very fun.

General dislikes -> The born sexy yesterday trope perfectly exemplified by Olivia Wilde’s Quorra. Also the bananas sexualization of women esp as something apparently rated PG?

Ramble/disorganized thoughts -> Some of the cgi looks . . Iffy so if that kinda thing makes you unable to watch (weak sauce) then ig stay clear my dear. (very much Clu’s face being the biggest offense)

Ending thoughts -> Would I recommend this movie? Sure! It’s nothing deep but if you love a fun aesthetic and daft punk with a sci fi aesthetic, it’s fun.

Detailed synopsis (INCLUDES SPOILERS) -> Do you like seeing ppl do motorcycle stunts, electronic music and monochromatic aesthetics? Then do I have a movie for you. Open on some backstory yadda yadda there’s a tech company and a missing dad, let’s ride some motorcycles and do crime about it ! Cillian Murphy is here too which is fun. Young Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) is not happy about how ENCOM is being ran and trespasses about it, one of his dad’s old friends bails him out of jail so he decides to trespass more and gets downloaded into the Grid, a virtual reality that’s realer than he thinks. Sweeping visuals, fun soundtrack, shallow worldbuilding but at 10 and again at 22 I ate it up so it’s a pretty fun time. He’s captured and sent to the Games where we get introduced to a masked villain Rinzler who beats Ass and makes our hero bleed, outing him as a User (a trait he’s gonna have to be kilt because of) but he is rescued by a disciple of his dad! Quorra! Discs=lives so remember that. Asymmetrical hair they are not playing about the aesthetic people! Anyway, his dad isn’t dead so that’s fun, and they gotta do some adventure. Michael Sheen is here and double crosses our heroes but don’t worry the dad saves ‘em. The dad’s disc gets taken bc of aforementioned double-crossing and turns out Quorra is like . . . Made out of data . . And the last of her kind . . And perfect and beautiful and naive . . So that’s. Great. But whatever, our trio are trying to make sure Clu doesn’t take over the real world and Rinzler remembers he’s Tron and tries to kill Clu but Flynn (Jeff Bridges) (dad) makes his move and reintegrates with Clu and sacrifices himself so Quorra and Sam can live in the real world, first ever Real sunrise end movie.

[bigbutchtalks]

Big Butch Talks Movies: So I Married an Axe Murderer 1993 (rewatch)

Watched 9/30/23

“So I Married an Axe Murderer” directed by Thomas Schlamme

General likes -> Mike Myers’ silliness, costuming of Harriett (Nancy Travis), the dad, Rose’s (Amanda Plummer) creepiness and his friend’s (Anthony LaPaglia) whole interactions with his captain.

General dislikes -> general misogyny in such films but that’s how shit is :/, parts of this movie may be very hard for ppl who are effected by seeing meat and butchery. Also I hate any scene where ppl see someone naked accidentally bc I’m a big dweeb.

Ramble/disorganized thoughts -> I think any bit with the dad is so funny I could scream. I’m embarrassingly weak to Mike Myers’ silly physical comedy. As always, healthy communication would terminate any actual problems in the romantic and familial variety.

Detailed synopsis (INCLUDES SPOILERS) -> Slam poet Charlie MacKenzie (Mike Myers) is a serial non-committer in relationships and finds things wrong with any woman to the dismay of his gossip-magazine loving mother. He lives a dream life of fuckin around and being silly while chit chatting with his cop friend who is also easily persuaded. He comes across this beautiful butcher who specializes in international meats, gets haggis from her for his scottish immigrant parents, of which the father’s antics fill me with fucking joy. (The father is played by Mike Myers as well, another joy detail 4 me) “Oh, I hated the Colonel with is wee *beady* eyes, and that smug look on his face.” "Oh, you're gonna buy my chicken! Ohhhhh!” . . he puts an addictive chemical in his chicken that makes ya crave it fortnightly, smartass!” “I'm not kidding, that boy's head is like Sputnik; spherical but quite pointy at parts! . . . Now that was offside, wasn't it? He'll be crying himself to sleep tonight, on his huge pillow.” <- comedy gold I tell you. Charlie becomes enamored with Harriet and bc of his mother’s silly gossip-rag, starts believing she is “Mrs. X” a black widow who kills her husbands on their honeymoon. He becomes so sure of this he immediately breaks up with her but eventually can’t stay away. During their wedding his alarm bells go off and so do his cop friends as his friend desperately tries to alert Charlie to his new wife’s evil past, charters a small plane and gets chauffeured to their honeymoon hotel. Charlie is losing his marbles in fear and his wife is terrified he’ll leave her like her past relationships. It turns out Rose, her sister, has been crazy-person-murdering Harriet’s husbands and leaving her with a note to make Harriet believe they’ve left her. Alls well that ends well and this movie ends how it started, with a silly poem about love.

Ending thoughts -> would I recommend this movie? Yes, especially if you have a silly sense of humor. If you’re expecting something gripping and dark, not the movie for you. If you love a silly voice then go baby go.

[bigbutchtalks]

Big Butch Talks Movies: The Ritual 2017 (rewatch)

Watched 9/28/23

“The Ritual” directed by David Bruckner

General likes -> score and sound design, nightmare/hallucination sequences merging with the forest, creature design, location, generally the acting, overall plot and how trauma effects ppl.

General dislikes -> (this is me being a hater) (also spoilers) the ending result/final character

Ramble/disorganized thoughts -> dudeeeee Luke, played by Rafe Spall, fuckin sucksss I hate how he let his bro Rob get absolutely murdered and was just a coward. Also sorry to be a hater but so many choices could’v been made better and cohesive communication would’ve really helped the group lol. The creature design and the small scares along the way to the climax are fucking terrific! Anything in dense forest can become so scary!

Detailed synopsis (INCLUDES SPOILERS) -> Group of British men who are buddies decide to maybe go on a trip yayyy yeehaw let’s get something for the road! Man it’s too bad Luke is a giant fuckin coward and let’s his buddy be super murdered but yeah let’s go on a difficult hike in the Swedish fuckin wilderness despite none of us having survival skills. Good thing we all have Hardy Bodies Jk dom is made of wet paper but the flask will take care of him <3 man this woods is creepy bananas scary but we’re men so no problemo (Evil House Gives them all night terrors but they’re reallll). Yayyyy camping in the evil forest. Well, Hutch is gonezo. Lets look 4 him Jk bye Phil. We’re all fuckèd. Good thing this scary cult is here :D Moder shall surely take care of us, sadly Dom is taken care of in the murder way. Luke finally gains his courage working through his trauma and hits the fucking bricks and messes with Moder which is super fun to watch. He gets tf out of there and assumedly is totally good to go. I should read the book but Adam Nevill has underwhelmed me before .

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Big Butch Talks Movies: Mad Max 1979

Movie first watched 9/28/23.

“Mad Max” directed by George Miller

General likes -> costuming is probably my Number One like in this movie (absolutely leathertastic!!) homoeroticism, stuntwork/action, use of budget, worldbuilding given with small budget, some of the dialogue, 70s/80s movie dialogue use of slang and nicknames, the Wild West/knight allusions/general vibe, (not as specific to the movie itself moreso this era) the way the characters were very human and while theatrical, still believable and grounded. The crazy revenge violence enacted by Max

Not-so-General dislikes -> threatened or explicit violence against women was a constant in this movie, one could argue that violence is a constant in this movie but the misogyny and sexual assault both explicit and threatened was very hard for me to stomach (crazy fake car crashes and explosions were easily stomached), also the way the Villainous Biker Gang was portrayed seemed very purposefully homosexual and such, in my opinion as a lesbian, definitely came across in a homophobic manner. However this was remedied in part by how homoerotic the cops were portrayed in their interactions. (As such, I welcome my gay brethren’s opinions.) The fact that Mel Gibson who sucks majorly was the main character sucked but thankfully we as the audience didn’t really need to like him to watch. The motive of Toecutter’s gang was mediocre, if one of your dudes purposefully antagonizes the apocalypticops they’re gonna die, don’t involve randos, though as evil maniacs, I guess such a motive makes perfect sense.

Things I think could’ve been done better (aka my time to complain) -> worldbuilding, I think this was done passably for the genre, era and budget however some of the detail (or lack thereof) was confusing (this may be my fault as it was very late at night), female characters that weren’t assault fodder (though I loved the efforts of the auntie and I thought Max’s wife did her best to protect herself) ableism, sadly this seems very common in this era of film but the “Benno” character added literally nothing but a jumpscare and then what I assume to be something to laugh at. (The same effect for the jumpscare could’ve been achieved with a scarecrow, a mannequin, sculpture, tree etc etc.) I would’ve liked some backstory on Toecutter, why was he such a freak, was his gang a sect of a larger one? Is his name literal? Should I bleach my hair like his? Where does he shop? You know, normal questions I’m sure many have. An Actual Grievance I have not relative to misogyny or homophobia is the fact that (to my knowledge) the version available on streaming is the American Dub that for some genuinely insane reason, dubs over the main villain to be much less impactful than the actor actually achieved, apparently the choice is regretted but like, tough, I’d like to have the other version be available? I could’ve somehow been shown the non American version but doubt it bc the dubbing/dialogue seemed to frequently be badly synced and Toecutter’s accent seemed static.

Detailed Synopsis (INCLUDES SPOILERS) -> In the not-so-distant future Australia, the world is changed. Criminals who dress like they’re going to a dungeon party in the 90s roam the “wasteland” and they love doing upsetting things but don’t worry, homoerotic cop duos dressed in leather will drive very very fast and car-crash all of us into safety <3. The main character is Max, a young cop with a wife and toddler and a really really cute dog (do not get attached to anyone in this movie except maybe Max’s sweetass car) bc he’s great at driving fast he causes the violent death of Nightrider and his unnamed gf no one cares abt apparently. Because of this, the gang Nightrider was involved in, promises violent revenge on those involved, and hey, why not, random civilians. Goose, Max’s actually charming buddy gets charbroiled, Max gets targeted and decides to go on a road trip, I’m sure the highly mobile maniac motorcycle gang will move on, (sadly, I am being sarcastic, this does not end well.) Violence is done, Max returns it in kind, barely able to walk but delivering some fantastic torturous murders.

Ending thoughts -> would I recommend it? Honestly? Not that much, only after researching the warnings. Would I watch it again? Maybe. Did I enjoy parts of it? Yes. Did I strongly dislike a lot of it? Yeppie. Is the leather making me want a wardrobe rejuvenation? 100 percent!

[bigbutchtalks]

Big Butch Talks Movies: The Creator 2023

Movie first watched (at the theater!) 9/29/23

“The Creator” 2023 directed by Gareth Edwards.

General likes -> worldbuilding, the sheer idea of it, symbolism, shot framing, soundtrack, language usage, acting, tropes used relative to “western” vs “eastern” politics, propaganda etc!, anti war message, set design

General dislikes -> women are very very relative to being mothers/wives instead of personal independence/agency*, possibly orientalist based on the location (though I am a white american and not the most educated on the topic and believe that some of it is plot relative which doesn’t make it ok, but gives a reason)

Personal thoughts -> absolutely blown away by the worldbuilding relative to the use of technology as shown by the Americans and the RoA/rebels. Acting was fantastic, especially young Alfie (or Alphie?) (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) and how her and Joshua’s (John David Washington) relationship evolved through the movie. The design of the robots, simulants, weapons and transportation was stunning, eye-catching and in my opinion, believable. The concept designers/those involved in design ideas should be cheered for!!!

Ramble -> I wish the character played by Gemma Chan was featured more prominently instead of being more of a simulant + Joshua saint/obsession. However this is a frequently occurring trope in thriller/action movies, woman who is obsessed over and ultimately, not what mc was lead to believe and tragically only important for what she represents rather than who she is and choices she makes. Interestingly enough there are three main women characters; the vengeful mother, hellbent on her delivery of fatal justice for revenge for the children she lost, wife and mother who is a non entity, chiefly a memory and a force used as a Reason To Endure, ultimately a peace maker, the child created as a peace-causing weapon, naïve but gains seemingly language, direction and purpose other than she was programmed with. She is the key to the rebel’s dream so it’s interesting they don’t really use her? That could be explained to be as a result of her tender age or the difference in ideology, if the Americans had a sentient, child weapon, no doubt they’d use her and not lose any sleep bc she’s not “real.” I loved the questions this movie asked: what does it mean to be human or “real”? ethics of robot usage once sentience is gained? how does one justify the use of such weapons? ethics of copying one’s likeness(-could be stretched to be work and other such personal matters)?

The juxtaposition of “eastern” (in this case I’m referring to Buddhism) and “western” (in this case i only mean Christianity) religion was very fun, the integration of the robots/simulants in the republic’s society was such that they were even represented in religious rituals and art/temples! On the other hand, from the Americans we as the viewer gets to observe, only the more shallow sense of Christianity is reflected, the belief (even in the weakest sense of the word) in heaven, sin (to be inferred from the belief that bc Joshua is not “good” and thus “not going to heaven” sin is relevant) forgiveness achieved through actions and absolution through sacrifice.

On IMDB the featured review says this movie is full of plot holes. I fundamentally disagree and believe that through bare bones imagination and analysis one can make plot based assumptions that are relevant to the story and general Vibe the director gives in other relevant works (Rogue One). The only “plot hole” is one that is Consistently used in space based/sci fi movies: the “my arm is stronger than the vacuum of space.” Thats literally the only real plot problem that stood out to me. Some articles are focusing on the AI thing and relating it to the current AI situation with its pollution of art and writing and it’s (in my, a random person’s opinion) such a dumb fucking stance. The problem I have with AI in the arts isn’t bc I hate robots. It’s bc I hate Actual People’s creations being bastardized and glued together in a ramshackle collage of bullshittery.

Detailed Synopsis (INCLUDES SPOILERS) -> the setting is a post-tragedy world where sentient robots and more human looking robots, simulants, have been used for years in harmony with humanity, suddenly a nuke goes off in downtown LA, killing millions and inspiring America (much like post 9/11 America) to launch a nationalistic war on robots/AI. Comparatively, the Republic of Asia is still comfortable with the usage and fully integrates these technologies into society, the home, culture and interpersonal/domestic relationships. This causes America to use the RoA as a scapegoat because the leaders/military believe “Nirmata”, the pseudo-mythical figure said to have ushered in the past/current era of AI-enabled robots/simulants is hiding in the RoA, caused (or at least did nothing to prevent) the attack and is developing a weapon that will end the “West.” This “fact” is used to create and launch attacks from a floating, in-orbit space station that launches bombs, called NOMAD* (*this is visually stunning, incredibly interesting conceptually and HORRIFIC to watch. So much collateral damage and civilian death.) which targets rebel bases and places Nirmata is thought to be hiding. 5 years ago, the main character, Joshua experienced a life altering event and is working a hard manual labor job (that gives the viewer great insight into the worldbuilding), and is contacted by the military saying “hey dude lol let’s go get Nirmata and destroy the weapon it’ll be totes chill and you’ll be a hero and don’t you want to be a hero? Plusbtwyourwifeisalivebro” and so he goes, chaos ensues bc these military ppl suck bananas at following orders, maintaining comms and not killing civilians for no fucking reason. Joshua finds the weapon only, fuck, it’s a simulant in the appearance of an adorable little child (never created before) and appears to know nothing of her purpose. Joshua grabs the kid, hightails it on out of there and goes on a wild goose chase trying to find his wife, in the process learning more about the young weapon, growing to care for her and being hunted by both the local police and the American military.

Ending Thoughts -> would I recommend this movie? Yes! Would I watch it again? Yes! Did it inspire my creativity and imagination? Yes! I found it incredibly entertaining, the action was beautiful, the locations were gorgeous, the devastation of the weaponry was heart-wrenching, the acting was overall quite good and I enjoyed the bittersweet ending and the message. I cried during the ending :)

[bigbutchtalks]

Hello! I’m Seosamh (Seo or Joey) or Diarmuid. I love movies and tv shows and analyzing/giving my thoughts on them so I thought why not make a sideblog! My main is @snoopybutch and my aesthetic, art and horror sideblog is @vampyrbutch ! Cheers!