Two films where lonesome protagonists use excessive amounts of hand grenades to deal with their past, both on the action spectrum but at opposite ends:
The Phoenician Scheme
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina
Compared to his recent work, Wes Anderson comes up with an unusually eventful (and surprisingly serious) plot and unusually active characters; anything can, and does, happen, including grotesque and goofy violence. Good acting, except for minor characters that don't have the opportunity to shine. Hand grenades are distributed as symbolic gifts.
In the John Wick spinoff hand grenades are, of course, used to great effect; there's a dedicated hand grenade fight, one of many specialty fights (on ice, with flamethrowers, in a kitchen, with a Japanese-style sword, nonlethal inside the Continental hotel, etc.) that, compared to the last two John Wick films, curb some excesses (for example, a smaller number of more durable goons and less shooting) but still manage to be grotesque in fun and varied ways.
The story seems to have shifted focus from a serious portrayal of the tragic past (and present) of a sad assassin and her family to relentless revenge action: some characters, like Winston and Nogi, seem set up to do much more than they actually do, while the involvement of John Wick himself is "detachable" and entirely unnecessary. Nothing comparable to the reshooting hell of Snow White or typical superhero films, but still a problem.
Movies you've just watched
Re: Movies you've just watched
Teen Witch: **
An incredibly bizarre 1989 teen comedy which bombed hard in the theaters (a total box office gross of only $27,843 on a $2.5 million budget) but which ultimately managed to attain cult classic "So Bad It's Good" status as a result of regular airings on cable TV, which eventually made it a regular fixture on the Midnight Movie circuit. Louise Miller is a 15-year old nobody dealing with all the standard high school cliches, until at the age of 16 she discovers that she has magical powers, which she uses in exactly the ways you'd expect of a 16 year old with magical powers, hitting every single teen movie (and subsequently every 80s movie) cliche you can think of along the way. Also featured are a number of musical numbers and rap songs which have basically nothing to do with the film's plot, but were apparently requested by a distributor to pad the rather short runtime of the film. Film all that on the graniest film I've seen in ages, and the result is a fever dream of a movie.
An incredibly bizarre 1989 teen comedy which bombed hard in the theaters (a total box office gross of only $27,843 on a $2.5 million budget) but which ultimately managed to attain cult classic "So Bad It's Good" status as a result of regular airings on cable TV, which eventually made it a regular fixture on the Midnight Movie circuit. Louise Miller is a 15-year old nobody dealing with all the standard high school cliches, until at the age of 16 she discovers that she has magical powers, which she uses in exactly the ways you'd expect of a 16 year old with magical powers, hitting every single teen movie (and subsequently every 80s movie) cliche you can think of along the way. Also featured are a number of musical numbers and rap songs which have basically nothing to do with the film's plot, but were apparently requested by a distributor to pad the rather short runtime of the film. Film all that on the graniest film I've seen in ages, and the result is a fever dream of a movie.
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Re: Movies you've just watched
Ixmucane2 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 14, 2025 5:03 pm Two films where lonesome protagonists use excessive amounts of hand grenades to deal with their past, both on the action spectrum but at opposite ends:
The Phoenician Scheme
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina
Compared to his recent work, Wes Anderson comes up with an unusually eventful (and surprisingly serious) plot and unusually active characters; anything can, and does, happen, including grotesque and goofy violence. Good acting, except for minor characters that don't have the opportunity to shine. Hand grenades are distributed as symbolic gifts.
In the John Wick spinoff hand grenades are, of course, used to great effect; there's a dedicated hand grenade fight, one of many specialty fights (on ice, with flamethrowers, in a kitchen, with a Japanese-style sword, nonlethal inside the Continental hotel, etc.) that, compared to the last two John Wick films, curb some excesses (for example, a smaller number of more durable goons and less shooting) but still manage to be grotesque in fun and varied ways.
The story seems to have shifted focus from a serious portrayal of the tragic past (and present) of a sad assassin and her family to relentless revenge action: some characters, like Winston and Nogi, seem set up to do much more than they actually do, while the involvement of John Wick himself is "detachable" and entirely unnecessary. Nothing comparable to the reshooting hell of Snow White or typical superhero films, but still a problem.
The fact that the "From the World of John Wick: Ballerina" movie was delayed an entire year with some extensive reshoots done to fit in within the John Wick universe (with it being an "interquel" taking place in John Wick 3: Parabellum but before the events that unfold in John Wick: Chapter 4).
The movie studio, Lionsgate, has said that a "John Wick 5" sequel is slated to be done "down the road" but won't be connected to the 2023 John Wick: Chapter 4 sequel whatsoever.
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