Efficiency grows out of necessity.

Clint Eastwood's motherfucking classic. His homage bygone spaghetti. His one good Western. Hella good. Hella real. I loved those old ones too but this: hella feels.

It takes a while for it all to build, but when it does... oh boy. And that's a big part of what makes it what it is. It doesn't give out on you. You get what's coming.

I realized I'd seen this classic before as soon as a the kid started having trouble with his sight - there's something you can relate to. Or I can. I see myself in him too much. I'd want to be bad-ass too but I don't need to kill anyone to know what that'd cost me. What am I saying? I get swept up in the mood. The times of these times.

It was easier back then wasn't it?

Eastwood made quite the homage with this. To the genre and to the time. It feels like the end of an era. Both a romantic and a melancholy one at that, and a somewhat romanticized variant of the Wild Wild West (not the partial parody movie with the same name) too... though the end sees to it you don't retain said illusion.

The old killer's still got it after all. But how long did you doubt it?

You better not read any reviews before you see this though. Just listen. Just let it build. You'll be forgiven.

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome

The first one was great, the second not so much, the third one I don't know yet, but with this one... it feels like we actually got closure.

Ellen seemed unreasonably old all of a sudden, but Jake a worthy successor in Brody's stead (did Roy Scheider actually die since the last movie, or just not want to participate in another possibly sub-par sequel?), and Michael Caine always lifts up a movie at least a little.

The shark's more alive again too, the Bahamas are a refreshing change of scenery, and Michael jumps in as an extraordinarily interesting pilot no less.

It wasn't all great. I feel like the family squabbles took over a bit, but then again you could sense the tension again, so maybe that was a good thing. Somewhat. Feels familiar again. They managed to fit in at least one beach scene too but when it's over... the showdowns are really the bits that matter the most after all.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

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Police chief Brody must protect the citizens of Amity after a second monstrous shark begins terrorizing the waters.

Same island. Same police officer. Same mayor. Same story all over again too, albeit with both slightly more and slightly less focus on family life, slightly loose ends what with Brody getting fired, and being a somewhat annoying element all through the movie, and not really getting redemption even in the end. There's also the matter of - if I'm not imagining this - a slightly less life-like shark.

Feels like they might've gotten carried away on the success of the former. Or maybe it was overrated. Maybe the weight of legend carried over to my impression of it too.

The beach life's nice and all here, but the threat level's just not the same this time around with the grand reveal out by the cable junction rather than by the more populated turf close to home, and with no time for the family to actually unite at the end as they did with the last one. The problems all pile and then it's over. Did he get his job back? Is it OK now? Doesn't feel as conclusive as it did the last time at all. Not that it ended at the shore there, but it felt inconclusive in a better way. Without loose ends. You really felt the victory of battle, and nothing more.

This one wasn't the one with the lab either... is there another? Hope to find that one next.

 rated 3.5/5: not bad at all

Who knew puppets could be so fun. :)

Was introduced to Jeff Dunham just recently, via this Steve-O podcast, and he seemed like a nice guy then. Had no idea what profession he was in before that, but they delved into some of the spectacularities of his craft then, and just a few weeks later I stumble onto this!

Great show.

He starts with a little regular stand-up, brings in a puppet, and then another, and another, and another, and then a stick, and though I was planning to just leave this playing in the background while I did other things - it seemed like it'd be appreciable more via audio than visual - I was hooked to the visuals too pretty soon.

It's incredible how much lung capacity he has too! How he can shift between puppets and himself like he does, and manage their expressions and particular perks of personality at the same time. Though Peanut's maybe easier than the others. No moving eyebrows or eyes. He was definitely the highlight of the show too. So expressive.

It's a fascinating art form, puppetry, and I had a blast with this. Some of the ask and answer monologue comes across a little monotone but it starts well, and ends well, and I'm in a pretty good mood right now. Thank you Dunham.

 rated 4.5/5: almost awesome

More laughs. More music. Was that what the first one was really all about?

Six years after the original and here they go again! Only this time it's a hippy movie, the Vietnam War is going and Terry's been drafted, John's still racing and the others are all having certain troubles with their relationships.

Compared to the first movie they apparently opted for more comedy than anything else here, for a faster pace, for flipping between stories and fates of the individual characters in a more rapid-fire way and keeping it all the more lively and meaningful... and unfortunately it failed.

It comes across feeling messy and repetitive, without much more to offer than the last one did.

If you saw the original then you've seen this one already, just avoided all the extra clutter. This might've been all the more relevant at the time but now... it feels meaningless. The subtle social commentary going on alongside character relations is all too locked into the time to feel relevant now, and it's less about the people and more about the world as a whole.

At least that's my theory as to why this didn't hold up so well. It has its moments, it was fun to see a Swede portraying an Icelander in the mix and all, but it didn't have much to offer beyond that. Filming feels a bit cleaner, and more creative, but also not as focused. It's all over the place. If fits the name better maybe but not my taste buds. And that's what me and movies are all about. CDB over and out.

 rated 3/5: not bad