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Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
2/10
From Another Time
7 January 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I will cut to the chase.. this movie has not aged well and is boring, sexist, racist and actually very offensive on a number of levels.

I used to have fond memories of the whole franchise and have watched them plenty of times. I was feeling nostalgic and decided the watch them all again (including crystal skull) I never made it past he first..

Everyone is well aware of this movies failings, the implied inappropriate relationship with an under-age girl and the casual racism towards Arabs. It is hard in this day and age to overlook this and be entertained without viewing through the rose coloured glasses of childhood.

Another thing that I didn't realise is how slow and boring it all is. This may be a symptom of the 30 years of action movie progression and knowing the plot points back to front, but it was a real drag to watch and the pacing is terrible.

I watched this with my partner who hadn't seen it since the 80's and I thought it would be a fun time, when Indy turned up to the bar and was straight up misogynistic to Marion and it was revealed he took adavatege of Her when She was a student my partner checked out.

I have read there is a new Indiana Jones movie coming this year so I guess Hollywood is still OK to trade of this terrible character if it makes them money. What a let down and a real eye opener in how much society has progressed.

My advice if you haven't watched in awhile, cherish the memory you have of this movie as the reality is beyond disappointing.
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Contact
Contact (1997)
2/10
Has not aged well
7 January 2023
I had fond memories of this movie and always thought it was an excellent take on the aleien/first contact genre. There is an old saying, never meet your hero's, I think another should be another, carefull when you watch movies you thought we're great..

My main issues are as follows:

The Mathew MacConaughey character is so bad. A supposed man of God who is not a priest or affiliated with any relgion and is consulted by the president with no explanation. He just randomly appears every now and then when the script needs. It is so jarring because he has a pivotal role on major events for the Jodie Foster character over a number of years but none of it seems at all believable.

The William Fichtner character.. OMG.. He plays a blind man and his acting is so bad I wanted to skip all the scenes he was in. His portrayal is borderline offensive and would not be accepted in a modern movie. It is like he is doing a bad impression of Stevie Wonder the whole time..

This movie is full of so many cliches, bad acting and convenient plot choices it all comes across as having no basis in any reality I live in. What a disappointment. I also recently re watched Raiders of the lost ark, another movie that has aged badly so I should have know this was always going to be a gamble.

I have read this movie was based on a book and that the adaptation was poorly done. Sounds about right. Unfortunately my bad experience rewatching this movie means I will steer clear of the book so I will never know if there is a great story to be found.
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Vandal
Vandal (2019)
3/10
Great Production Values, Terrible Protagonist
19 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I have mixed feelings about this movie. It looks like a competent well shot expose of the underground graffiti scene in Miami, but on closer inspection it reveals a tale of a sociopathic narccasit who makes all people's lives who come in contact with him significantly worse..

There is no better representation of the word "cringe" than the main protagonist of this movie. He is a self important meme machine who lives in a dimension we can all hope never to exist in. From the squinty eye look to the all too cool delivery, he is so consumed by his own ego it is beyond believable that any other character would give him the time of day, let alone be associated with him..

Our hero has the well worn ethos of the artist who is "keeping it real" and not selling out. How he manages to afford to live in a multi million dollar town house with a custome spray can wall is never explained.

I could write endlessly about the prodigal graffiti guy who we never see produce anything, the laughable villan who can't speak due to his lame "grills", the super serious Feds who have dedicated their lives to busting graffiti gangs... But what's the point!

This is the fast and the furious for spray can gangs and on that level it actually works.

I look forward too the inevitable "Vandlas 9- too toxic, too many fumes" when we debate wether tagging the international space station means the series jumped the shark.

3 starts for effort.
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