The Rhythm Section (2019)

[Drunk Monk]

Shatterstarred again

[Greg]

It's nice to know a whole industry is Rick Rolling you.

[Drunk Monk]

Ya know, I get invited to several screeners every weekend.  Most are way out of my wheelhouse.  For example, this morning I got invited to the new Sponge Bob movie.  Not something I could review for KFM, nor would I even want to.  The conditions for attending screeners are simple - don't publish anything prior to embargo date but publish something within a week of the premiere.  Failure to do so boots you off the list.  We've been on good graces with the promo reps for years and are on a first name basis with most of them.  The only trick is the quick turnaround - For this, I saw the screener last night, have to write it up today, and get it uploaded tomorrow to publish Friday.  That's no big really - I can write quickly and set up all my groundwork a few days ahead.  For Bird of Prey next week, the screener is Wednesday so we'll have to be even quicker, but that's a comic movie so I can get Patrick to do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of back story.  

This is obviously an actioner so no great stretch to review.  Like with Deadpool 2, I thought I had an angle.  ON the set of Into the Badlands, I befriended Lewis Tan who played Shatterstar.  We email each other - he calls me 'bro' in that martial way and deeply desires coverage, so getting an interview with him would be a cake walk.  Well, you've all seen that movie by now.  Shatterstar dies in like 5 mins.  Imagine my disappointment.

The Rhythm Section was being filmed when I was in Dublin 

They are filming a movie with Blake Lively next to st Stephens green - tech said it will be called rhythm section. Didn't feel like standing in the rain to see Blake. They have a stage light the size of a minivan suspended by a 40ft crane in front of a nice hotel facing St Stephen's Green.  But it's just making a mess of foot traffic.  No sign of cameras or actors.  

If you follow that thread, some chicanery ensued (see http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...1#pid27051) but I've been keeping my eye on the project ever since, eagerly awaiting its premiere.  I really wanted to see that scene they were filming.  I figured it would give me a nostalgic flashback of my few days spent in Dublin on my own.  What a wonderful adventure that was.  The building, being next to St. Stephens Green, was distinctive.  I remember right well, and there's even pix on my facebook album should I forget.

Well, you know what happened.  You can guess.  The credits confirmed filming in Dublin, but the Dublin scene was cut.  

Having a sad now. 

[Greg]

Psyche. Nothing better than Stephen's Green on a bright sunny day.

Was the distinctive building the white one on the corner? That's a shopping mall.

[Drunk Monk]

Psyche. Nothing better than Stephen's Green on a bright sunny day.

Was the distinctive building the white one on the corner? That's a shopping mall.

right?  although it was a rainy day.  but it was still lovely.

the building was one of the nice old houses that faced st. stephens.  there's actually a pic of it in an article i posted on kfm - see http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/show...ost1306307.

i've pretty much finished my review.  just gotta do my mom's chores then i'll give it a final pass.

[cranefly]

Well, you know what happened.  You can guess.  The credits confirmed filming in Dublin, but the Dublin scene was cut.  

Maybe you need to have a new column called, Fast Forward to the Cut Scene.

Then again, that might be too paradoxical.

[Greg]

Was this the sequel to the Rhythm Method?

[Greg]

Thanks for the link to the article in your other forum that has a broken link to the picture.

You are dead to me.

[Drunk Monk]

Thanks for the link to the article in your other forum that has a broken link to the picture.

Weird.  I can still see it.  Maybe it's blocked by your firewall?  

Can you see this?

You are dead to me.

Nah, Billie is dead.  I'm still kicking. 

I'm beginning to think I could write in a trench under heavy mortar fire.  Yesterday I had to deal with getting home at 1AM after a bar date with the yeti (and no, not a bear bar, some millennial joint, but a decent whisky selection so it's all good).  I had my mom nagging me about a bunch of random chores, plus watching Emergency at top volume, which I had not seen in years but now find it very triggering after decades of working event medicine - that radio traffic gets my attention every time, an instinct beaten into me after carrying a radio at hundreds of concerts.  And I had the looming sadness of Billie and the urgent need to get home and say 'goodbye'.  

That being said, it's not my best review, but it's not that great of a movie.  It's okay. Blake is a fine actress and covers a lot of emotional ground.  The action is decent, not much hand-to-hand but some good car chases - no swordfights but some okay knife work - nothing to write home about really.  The story is uneven however, and Blake's journey to become this international assassin wasn't believable for me.  I did like the global cinematic vision of the film, reminiscent of Bond, but no feckin Dublin.  My 'official' review drops Friday.  Hope you 'like' it.  

[Greg]

I can see that picture in the article. Oh, well.

I need to go back to Ireland. It's been too long. My longing would be less if I cut down on the Irish sites I follow. Most of them are asking what's your favorite place to visit.

[thatguy]

Advertised as "from the producers of Bond"...Blake Lively's family is killed in a plane crash. 3 years later, she's hit rock bottom when a journalist finds her, tells her it was a terrorist attack and shares his research. She wants revenge and long story short, ends up getting trained Karate Kid-style (or should I say Highlander-style since it's in Inverness) by Jude Law. When she's ready, he sends her on a mission and things unfold un-Bondlike.

The movie tries hard, but just doesn't have enough pieces to hook together. The training part seems minimal. The 'wax-on/wax-off' lesson is about breath and heartbeat (drums and bass...the titular "Rhythm Section"), but that never comes up again in the film.

There's a few hits (though she never seems capable) and a twist and then boom, it's over. It wasn't terrible, but I definitely expected more. 

Some knife fights, but no swords. Not doom recommended. 

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

I see a thread merge in your future 

http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...p?tid=5287