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kaiham541
Reviews
Warren Miller's ALL TIME (2023)
I hate to leave a poor review, but this movie wasn't what I hoped
I am not a hardcore Warren Miller fan but I have been watching his work on and off since I was a child and some films of his (especially Cold Fusion) were definitely formative for me.
What I hoped this would be was another film that shows off some crazy snow sports and pulls back the curtain on the personalities of the athletes. This film is kind of that, but it's mainly just a clip show pulled from Warren Miller's body of work with new voice over added. Warren's voice is there occasionally but I think that audio was pulled from his earlier films as well since I recognized some lines here and there.
The new footage in this movie is mostly an extended skit where a pro skier pretends to be a new skier with amazing skills but terrible style. It's pretty funny and I didn't hate these parts but since they were staged it wasn't quite what I was there for.
My biggest gripe with the movie is that it is poorly put together. The rapid-fire editing means they rarely show the landings of big jumps. In the best of these movies, each instance of a skier going off a cliff or a snowboarder hitting a kicker is paired with a little dopamine hit when they land successfully, but in ALL TIME they cut away so often that you don't get that satisfaction. There are a couple of extended montage sequences of crashes which are entertaining but that's not really what I'm there for.
ALL TIME wasn't what I wanted from a Warren Miller film but I still had a good time watching it with a rowdy audience of other local skiers. I think you'd be better off picking almost anything else from Warren's catalog if you are looking to scratch that specific itch though. The biggest thing ALL TIME succeeded in is reminding me why I love skiing and making me want to hit the mountain as soon as possible.
Imawa no Kuni no Arisu (2020)
Astonished at how much I like it!
Ostensibly, this is a silly TV show. Citizens of Japan are sucked into death games somehow.
But I love it. It's surprisingly well shot, the games are very engrossing to watch, and I have actually come to care about some of these characters. It's also the rare TV show that's largely helmed by one person which is always interesting to see; Shinsuke Sato wrote/co-wrote and directed all the episodes.
It is no doubt an adaptation of an anime and comes with some of those tropes (i.e. People are scantily clad or naked for no reason), but it doesn't get too bogged down by internal monologues or melodrama (there is some to be fair) which I appreciate.
99% of what I watch is movies. The only other shows I am current on are Westworld (RIP) and Sex Education. No idea what it is about those in particular that hooked me, but Alice in Borderlands hooked me too.
There is a movie called Circle that is the most streamlined death game concept I have seen, and I thought that was a very fun watch. I might just be a sucker for the genre, but I think Alice in Borderland is legit good TV and encourage you to check it out if you are curious!