Is This Something?

Come to Ace of Spades HQ, which shows you the only good part of the movies -- the trailers for other movies. Which at least have the promise of possibly being good, and cannot disappoint you. Yet.

Did anyone hear, at all, that they made a new Fletch? With Jon Hamm?

And it's already in theaters?

Warning: This is not something.

Here's a clip they think shows this movie off at its best:

Fletch F. Fletch is rolling over in his grave. Who's responsible for this? That pederast Hanorhan?

I opined about the earlier efforts to remake Fletch that I think they only have the rights to the books, and not to the Chevy Chase film. That's important, because the Chevy Chase film added almost all of the humor and characterization that people recognize as "Fletch." The Fletch of the book has that one killer joke -- "So. Will you kill me?" "Yes." -- but Fletch is otherwise a pretty standard and serious detective character. He's a toughguy Sam Spade-esque Vietnam War veteran, for one thing, and blond. Not at all what you think of when you think of as the cinematic Fletch.

For example, the Fletch of the movies makes up silly pseudonyms like "John Cocktoasten" or "Arthur Poon."

The Fletch of the book also makes up pseudonyms, but rather than make up ridiculous pseudonyms, he makes up names which are so bland and uninteresting that people cannot remember them. Which is his intention -- he wants to be forgotten. So he might claim his name is "Bob Toland" or something. (Which is a name from what book?)

It's kind of the same idea, except not really. The Fletch book idea is subtly amusing and pretty clever; the Fletch movie idea is definitely laugh-out-loud comedic.

That's my guess, anyway. I think they have to use the style of humor found in the books, and can't use the humor created for the Chevy Chase film, because they don't own that interpretation of Fletch.

MK Ultra:

I used to automatically reject "anti-government" movies. Not any longer!

The Estate. I like people in this, like Anna Farris and Ron Livingston and David Duchovny (well, eh on that one, but I know a lot people like him), but none of this seems funny. It just all misses me.

See if you can figure out who's playing the dying old woman before the trailer tells you.

So, confession: I really liked Knives Out. I thought the mystery was well-done and the detective's summary at the end was almost perfect, leaving no plot holes. (Well, I think I had one minor plot quibble, but I forget what it was, so I guess it wasn't that important.)

I didn't really mention that I liked it because Rian Johnson is a Soyboy Beta Cvck jerkoff and he deserves to fail.

But... yeah it was a good movie and no one makes detective movies anymore.

He's got a sequel coming out, this one apparently a take-off on the old premise of a group of people getting together for a Fake Murder Party but then, oh no, there's a real murder.

Which is a premise I can't resist. I don't think anyone can resist it.

Speaking of jerkoffs, The School for Good and Evil is yet another Harry Potter clone, this one with the small twist that it's a school for fairy tale characters. It's directed by...

Paul Feig. Yes, the Ghostbusters jerkoff.

What can I say? It looks okay, for a highly-derivative corporate rip-off clone-movie. I like fairy tale stuff. (Somewhat, I mean, I'm not a super fan.)

By the way, there's an Alexandria Daddario movie on prime, I think. it's based on a Shirley Jackson story. Called We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Tassia Farmigia and Sebastian Stan are in it.

It's a slow-boil psychological thriller about a twisted family with secrets, and an interloper (Sebastian Stan) with an agenda. The family living in the mansion are rich. They specifically mention that the father (deceased, dead of an unsolved poisoning) did not trust the banking system and so kept all of his money in the house safe.

Pretty sure they mentioned that for a reason.

I like it, though I have to admit I stopped watching it halfway through, but that was largely because I watched a lot of tv on Saturday. I would say it's good and worth watching, even though I'm not done. I like it. I'm recommending it on the strength of the first half.

There's an interesting dynamic. When Sebastian Stan shows up in the second act, you know he's got to have some agenda. It's just required by basic story imperatives. So he's at least somewhat of a bad guy. No spoilers here; I haven't even confirmed this. It's just necessary according to story logic. I mean, he's not showing up to not complicate the story and not add drama, right?

But the family living at the house -- Daddario, Farmigia, and this sad uncle I didn't mention -- are all so weird and twisted that you immediately lock into Sebastian Stan as your viewpoint character, even though you're pretty sure he's at least half a criminal and maybe a complete criminal. But at least he's not insane. At least, even if he is a murdering thief, I can comprehend his motives and psychology.

For the fans, Daddario wears only 40s style dresses with a lot of fabric but there's no hiding a kickin' rack that longs to breathe free air.

I'm going to finish that this weekend.

And then I might finally watch The Haunting, after hearing about it my whole life.

posted by Ace at 04:51 PM

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