sff: Gunpowder Milkshake
So, Gunpowder Milkshake crossed my radar a month (two? three?) ago, and reading the cast list was like someone dangling a carrot in front of a giant-ass rabbit.
Lena Headey? Karen Gillan? Angela Bassett? Carla Gugino? Michelle Yeoh? ALL IN ONE MOVIE, and it ISN'T about women falling in love and learning to realize they're Beautiful Inside?
Is it my birthday?
(and not to mock movies about women in love and finding beauty and stuff, lbr, my thing for Carla Gugino happened during her stint as Nan in The Buccaneers, and so did my Mira Sorvino thing. And I suffered a Woody Allen movie for the latter, so, like. No stones here.)
It has been released on Netflix, and in some theaters. I'm still not leaving the house, so I watched it on Netflix. I sort of want to see it on the big screen, too.
This movie knows exactly what it is: a silly action romp with a lead character learning to reconnect with people, and coming out on top after a Big Sacrifice. And it's ok. It's good the movie knows what it is. I didn't need it to be Einstein or Hegel.
It is also very very stylish, and washed in color everywhere. From blood to lighting to clothing, it's incredibly colorful, and looks great.
It's violent--so while I think my mother would actually enjoy parts of it (the library! the clothing! the mother-daughter-and-friends conflict!), the violence would absolutely turn her off of it.
One of the few things I disliked about the film: how many men were still in it. Yes, the leads were women, yes, their relationships were all totally significant. But dudes still had a hell of a lot of the dialog and placement in the plot. I honestly did not care about the bad criminal dude and his organization, or The Firm. Almost all of their scene were completely telegraphed and weren't needed.
(Ava had a similar issue, but the dudes were somewhat compelling enough to get over that. Also, Ava was one woman, this movie had five plus the kid).
I really would have liked at least some of the bad guys to be women.
Anyway.
That aside, this was a quite enjoyable movie, with lots of awesome moments where Karen Gillan ran roughshod over everyone, Lena Headey shot people and knifed people, and the other three put in their hits.
I love love LOVE the library as armory concept, and I wish we'd had a lot more time there. I wanted to know so much more about how that operated.
And the Diner! Is the Diner neutral territory for everyone, like The Crown is in Excalibur? Rose, the waitress was interesting, too. I would have liked a scene with her and the Library team to set up the end fight. I felt a little cheated for that (and I don't think anyone doubted for a second that would happen, so pretending it wasn't the plan was such a waste of time).
I also wanted more with the nurse at the hospital, is she part of the Library-Diner network? Something else?
Oh well.
Meanwhile, though, can I talk about how Anna May and Scarlet are exes, and Anna May is not going to forgive her for leaving without a word? And how sort of stupid that was (seriously, if Nathan or whatever his name was, knew about Scarlet, how good was she at hiding? Ugh, that back story annoys me more). Scarlet might have come to the States for revenge, but she stuck around for Anna May.
Florence and Madeleine were also lovers, though still lovers at the time of the movie.
Also, good fucking god, were all three of the librarians so hot. /fans self. All of that concentrated violence and intelligence.
The relationships between them all were great. I loved the anger and rage, and how it took the fight to get them all working together. And Sam and Scarlet bonding while under fire. <3
(also, how often was Karen standing in a hole so she wasn't too tall in some shots? Because she is V v tall, at times)
Wiki tells me there's a sequel in the works. Good. I need more.
I also want a series set when Scarlet arrived on the scene and her and the librarians raising Sam while killing people.
Well. I can hope.
ETA: I forgot: it is also probably the only time ever that you will get to tell people that Amy Pond accidentally killed Danny Pink. Cross-posted from Dreamwidth. (comment wherever)
Lena Headey? Karen Gillan? Angela Bassett? Carla Gugino? Michelle Yeoh? ALL IN ONE MOVIE, and it ISN'T about women falling in love and learning to realize they're Beautiful Inside?
Is it my birthday?
(and not to mock movies about women in love and finding beauty and stuff, lbr, my thing for Carla Gugino happened during her stint as Nan in The Buccaneers, and so did my Mira Sorvino thing. And I suffered a Woody Allen movie for the latter, so, like. No stones here.)
It has been released on Netflix, and in some theaters. I'm still not leaving the house, so I watched it on Netflix. I sort of want to see it on the big screen, too.
This movie knows exactly what it is: a silly action romp with a lead character learning to reconnect with people, and coming out on top after a Big Sacrifice. And it's ok. It's good the movie knows what it is. I didn't need it to be Einstein or Hegel.
It is also very very stylish, and washed in color everywhere. From blood to lighting to clothing, it's incredibly colorful, and looks great.
It's violent--so while I think my mother would actually enjoy parts of it (the library! the clothing! the mother-daughter-and-friends conflict!), the violence would absolutely turn her off of it.
One of the few things I disliked about the film: how many men were still in it. Yes, the leads were women, yes, their relationships were all totally significant. But dudes still had a hell of a lot of the dialog and placement in the plot. I honestly did not care about the bad criminal dude and his organization, or The Firm. Almost all of their scene were completely telegraphed and weren't needed.
(Ava had a similar issue, but the dudes were somewhat compelling enough to get over that. Also, Ava was one woman, this movie had five plus the kid).
I really would have liked at least some of the bad guys to be women.
Anyway.
That aside, this was a quite enjoyable movie, with lots of awesome moments where Karen Gillan ran roughshod over everyone, Lena Headey shot people and knifed people, and the other three put in their hits.
I love love LOVE the library as armory concept, and I wish we'd had a lot more time there. I wanted to know so much more about how that operated.
And the Diner! Is the Diner neutral territory for everyone, like The Crown is in Excalibur? Rose, the waitress was interesting, too. I would have liked a scene with her and the Library team to set up the end fight. I felt a little cheated for that (and I don't think anyone doubted for a second that would happen, so pretending it wasn't the plan was such a waste of time).
I also wanted more with the nurse at the hospital, is she part of the Library-Diner network? Something else?
Oh well.
Meanwhile, though, can I talk about how Anna May and Scarlet are exes, and Anna May is not going to forgive her for leaving without a word? And how sort of stupid that was (seriously, if Nathan or whatever his name was, knew about Scarlet, how good was she at hiding? Ugh, that back story annoys me more). Scarlet might have come to the States for revenge, but she stuck around for Anna May.
Florence and Madeleine were also lovers, though still lovers at the time of the movie.
Also, good fucking god, were all three of the librarians so hot. /fans self. All of that concentrated violence and intelligence.
The relationships between them all were great. I loved the anger and rage, and how it took the fight to get them all working together. And Sam and Scarlet bonding while under fire. <3
(also, how often was Karen standing in a hole so she wasn't too tall in some shots? Because she is V v tall, at times)
Wiki tells me there's a sequel in the works. Good. I need more.
I also want a series set when Scarlet arrived on the scene and her and the librarians raising Sam while killing people.
Well. I can hope.
ETA: I forgot: it is also probably the only time ever that you will get to tell people that Amy Pond accidentally killed Danny Pink. Cross-posted from Dreamwidth. (comment wherever)