|
|
Post by Jesse on Apr 13, 2019 22:01:19 GMT -5
My girlfriend took me out to see the new Pet Sematary earlier. Fair warning I have an extremely high tolerance for bad horror movies and consider myself of fanatic of the genre. If you're a fan of the original and plan on seeing this I don't think you'd be wasting your money seeing it in the theater but if you wait to catch it on cable you're not necessarily missing out on much either. I gave it 3 out of five stars on Letterboxd and if I had to choose either to rent, buy, or pass on this movie I definitely rent it at least once. I haven't read the source material but plan to so I have no idea how close of an adaptation it is. The pacing in the early half of the movie feels uneven and there were jump scares to be expected. For me the highlights of the film were the few places where it subverted my expectations to what would happen compared to the original film. I especially enjoyed the ending and John Lithgow is always cool in my book.
|
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Apr 23, 2019 15:19:07 GMT -5
Just watched Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs (released last year):
I knew nothing about this before, and was very pleasantly surprised. It's sweet and very, very funny - well worth watching.
|
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Apr 29, 2019 12:09:51 GMT -5
Attention all Shakespearean lover's: ran across this notice for an upcoming movie due to be released on 5/17/19. Branagh back doing Shakespeare once more! Not adapting play's but actual historical biography movie. Add to the list!
ALL IS TRUE
RATING PG 13 - for thematic elements, suggestive material and language
The year is 1613, Shakespeare is acknowledged as the greatest writer of the age. But disaster strikes when his renowned Globe Theatre burns to the ground, and devastated, Shakespeare returns to Stratford, where he must face a troubled past and a neglected family. Haunted by the death of his only son Hamnet, he struggles to mend the broken relationships with his wife and daughters. In so doing, he is ruthlessly forced to examine his own failings as husband and father. His very personal search for the truth uncovers secrets and lies within a family at war.
DIRECTOR: Kenneth Branagh
STARRING: Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Kathryn Wilder, Jack Colgrave Hirst, Matt Jessup
|
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Apr 29, 2019 12:13:17 GMT -5
And noticed this one coming out this weekend 5/13/19. Perfect timing in between action movie overload to rest the brain on something more substantial!
Bolden: Inspired by the life of Buddy Bolden, the film re-imagines the compelling, powerful and tragic life of an unknown American hero and the social context in which his revolutionary music was conceived. The birth of jazz was the birth of American popular culture from Louis Armstrong to Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Fugees and Dr. Dre and Bolden is where it all began. Weaving together distant memories of his
past, BOLDEN immerses you in a world fueled by passion, greed and genius in early 1900s New Orleans.
Director
: Dan Pritzker
Starring
: Gary Carr, Erik LaRay Harvey, Ian McShane, Michael Rooker, Yaya DaCosta
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2019 21:59:54 GMT -5
Got around to seeing a few movies released the last few years-Atomic Blonde, Red Sparrow and Assassin's Creed.
Red Sparrow is an absolutely brutal movie. It was exhausting to watch because it was just so harsh and bleak. Well done, but not one I will revisit.
On the flipside of the cold war espionage thriller coin was Atomic Blonde, which was much more the intense action thriller. still some brutal scenes, but overall had a faster paced narrative flow and far more action scenes to relive the brutality, but was not quite as good a film overall as Sparrow.
The stinker of the bunch was Assassin's Creed. I am a sucker for Templar mythology (even when cast as the villains and the Hashshashin as the heroes) but this just suffered form poor execution at every level wasting an interesting backstory by telling a sub-par story in a sub-par manner. I haven't played the Assassin's Creed games, but the backstory lore established by the movie which came from the game seemed like it would lend itself much better to an ongoing multi-layered television or streaming series than a standalone feature film. The film. as executed featured a needlessly convoluted plot with terribly unbelievable pseudo-science at its core,relying on unbelievable elements or massive coincidences disguised as conspiracy to connect the dots in its narrative flow (which mostly failed too), mucked things up by trying to intertwine storylines in two different time periods which limited the screen time of your leading man and provided an obstacle to viewers buying onto his story (which was also lacking depth and development leaving him almost a cipher except for the unlikable parts they did reveal). All in all a failure on every level as a film.
-M
|
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Apr 30, 2019 1:29:30 GMT -5
The only one of those three I've seen is Atomic Blonde, which I thought was really good. The final twist did spoil the overall impression the movie left me with, but that's more to do with my own personal foibles, not the movie itself. I think most people would be fine with it, especially the US audience it was aimed at.
Forgot about Red Sparrow, that's one I'd meant to see when it came out but missed at the theatres.
Last new thing I saw was Edmond, a French movie about Edmond Rostand and the genesis and production of his famous play, Cyrano de Bergerac. I don't know enough about Rostand's bio to tell how much was invented for this film, but my guess is that much of it is a fantasy - the conceit is that some of the famous scenes of the play (e.g. the balcony scene) were directly inspired by corresponding incidents in Rostand's own life as he was writing it under the pressure of a deadline.
For this reason, in order to appreciate the film you would probably be well advised to read Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac (or watch a movie of it) beforehand, because the characters, the plot, the dialogue are all paralleled in one way or another. Not having ever seen any of the numerous film versions of Cyrano, I read the play itself for the first time just a few days before seeing Edmond, and it was not only a help, I'd say it was pretty much necessary in order to understand what was being done.
Overall, it I found Edmond good fun, though it was sometimes a bit too "feel-good" and prettified for my taste - and really, as I'm sure the film-maker would agree, most of its power is derived second-hand from Rostand's incredibly moving and virtuosic Cyrano.
|
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on May 13, 2019 8:14:04 GMT -5
Went Saturday to see Detective Pikachu. Never played the video game that the movie is based upon. I have seen some of the anime series here and there but never really became interested since it plays to the younger crowd. There are plenty of serious and silly Pokemon designs so I figure the movie could at least be interesting with Ryan Reynolds voicing this iteration of Pikachu. I was correct and enjoyed the movie. It has heart and charm enough to entertain. Thankfully they avoided the low end childish humor ( I have read that is in thanks to the Pokemon company owners) and went for an older teen/young adult vibe. There is an actual story with some nice twists on the usual villain/good guy concepts.
There are worse movies I have sat through and while this won't be on my to buy list I am glad to have watched it on the big screen. Some gorgeously done CGI mixed in with some of the sillier concepts and while it is somewhat slower paced it makes for a nice family outing. Surprisingly not a lot of smaller kids or families at the showing, more teens who have likely played the game and adult couples who have grown up with Pokemon.
|
|
|
|
Post by berkley on May 13, 2019 19:57:29 GMT -5
Saw the new Claire Denis science fiction movie, High Life today: there were a lot of things to like about it - especially some of the cinematography and imagery, also the atmospheric soundtrack - but in the end, it never really came together for me as a whole. While I never lost interest in what was happening on the screen, I never felt very involved with the characters or the story. Still, worth checking out for any SF fans, I would say.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on May 15, 2019 10:36:37 GMT -5
Saw the new Claire Denis science fiction movie, High Life today: there were a lot of things to like about it - especially some of the cinematography and imagery, also the atmospheric soundtrack - but in the end, it never really came together for me as a whole. While I never lost interest in what was happening on the screen, I never felt very involved with the characters or the story. Still, worth checking out for any SF fans, I would say. I heard a commentary on the radio about it; someone had pretty much the same opinion as you, and added that it looked as if so much money had been put into outstanding special effects that little had been left for anything else... resulting in spaceship interiors that looked like a Holiday Inn. When I watched the trailer, I couldn't get that unfortunate image out of my head! It does look like the film was shot in hastily tricked up hotel rooms! Still, it's apparently serious sci-fi so I'll give it a chance when the opportunity arises. |
|
|
|
Post by berkley on May 15, 2019 13:12:09 GMT -5
Saw the new Claire Denis science fiction movie, High Life today: there were a lot of things to like about it - especially some of the cinematography and imagery, also the atmospheric soundtrack - but in the end, it never really came together for me as a whole. While I never lost interest in what was happening on the screen, I never felt very involved with the characters or the story. Still, worth checking out for any SF fans, I would say. I heard a commentary on the radio about it; someone had pretty much the same opinion as you, and added that it looked as if so much money had been put into outstanding special effects that little had been left for anything else... resulting in spaceship interiors that looked like a Holiday Inn. When I watched the trailer, I couldn't get that unfortunate image out of my head! It does look like the film was shot in hastily tricked up hotel rooms! Still, it's apparently serious sci-fi so I'll give it a chance when the opportunity arises. Definitely worth watching. I forgot to mention that Juliette Binoche is really good in it. But I didn't like the lead male actor, unfortunately, so that was another problem for me. |
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on May 20, 2019 14:05:05 GMT -5
John Wick 3" Parabellum hit the $92.20 million mark over this weekend. With the bounty upon his head from killing inside the NY Continental our favorite assassin is looking for a way out of the city and a way out of his excommunication/predicament while killing EVERYONE coming after him. There is minimal plot set up throughout the movie while the mayhem and body count becomes ridiculously high. Considering ALL 3 movies are told (in context with this movie) to be occurring 5 years after Wick "got out" and within a few weeks timeline of killing you have to wonder how Wick is physically capable of surviving all he has endured so far? Now at this point the movies have become almost a cartoon/parody of themselves (as the Fast and Furious has also done) of violence, which is fine since we surely are NOT here for the story but to see Keanu kicking ass in the most excessive and skillfully filmed ways.
Simply put: this is PURE action/adrenaline to turn your mind and cohesive thoughts off and enjoy watching the creativity (somebody MUST love the old Shaw Brothers martial arts of the 70's) which abounds as each new scene is set up and delivers in spades (card of death indeed!) and loads of gun shots, fist fights and knife fights all culminating in death for anybody dumb enough to think about going up against the Baba Yaga (Wick truly is an incarnation of ultimate horror) of the assassination world. The fight choreography stands heads and shoulders above anything ever filmed before as it evolves into true artistic levels. Every fight tells a story of it's own and shows the many (silent/unspoken of) facets of the Wick character. We find out Wick's reasoning for wanting to stay alive (even as the idiots of the Hightable and others don't have a clue) while touching upon pieces of his past whom he turns to for assisting him in his "escape" from the bounty.
More of the world building is shown with behind the scenes of the Continental(s) and the staffing of those who run them. There is more depth built upon the hierarchy for the above and below of those who work for the Hightable (reflecting reality that those in upper management forget or don't care about those who do the real jobs) while the "leaders" remain unseen declaring their "rules" of conduct. Wick's real name is given to us as well as some behind the scenes insight into the life and training he underwent as a child in learning his trade. We see his connection with another elite killer (Berry) which shows more of the sense of "honor" Wick lives by. We also see Wicks honor and "friendship" with Winston and Charon who run the New York Continental.
There is intensity and humor throughout the movie doing a fine balancing act upon the edge of a blade as it were in superbly fine moments. Mark Dacascos is both at times scarily serious threatening as hell while in another turn is superbly fanboyish and gushing and joking over Wick. Berry provides another sexy woman capable and strong in EVERY way within this franchise. Laurence Fishburne has a much smaller appearance than in Wick 2 but delivers some fine moments as well.
By the end Wick does what he does best (take that Wolverine) in killing all targets and the 4th movie in the series is set up for us as the Bowery King Fishburne asks if Wick is "pissed off" now. Where 1 has Wick responding to being forced back into the dark world he thought that he had escaped from and 2 has him beginning to understand he can never truly be free and 3 has him running for his life and finding a reason to live, with 4 we will get to see what happens when Wick is "fully unleashed" and seeking true retribution upon the Hightable "lords" of the world.
|
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on May 30, 2019 8:52:19 GMT -5
Spent Memorial Day morning watching the new Disney Live-Action (CGI filled) Aladdin. A very well done Guy Ritchie production utilizing the basic Aladdin story/concepts while "updating" characters away from the cartoon simplicity into more realistic (for a movie) delivery. Of course Will Smith is no Robin Williams but he does deliver a more "human" Genie without the manic intensity. All of the cast is splendid and do great in their roles, except Jafar comes up short for me, seemingly more slimey than villainous.
There is plenty of action, songs, dance and CGI to entertain from the smallest child to the Adults. While it is not nearly as "creative" as Burton's Dumbo in re-interpreting the cartoon to live action the movie does all Disney wants/expects and that is to adapt the original cartoon essence. Like the earlier Beauty and the Beast there is plenty of visual style and entertainment to enjoy. Quite sure this will be on most family DVD or Blue-Ray watch list.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 30, 2019 9:13:35 GMT -5
I'm off to see Godzilla, King of the Monsters tomorrow morning ... looking forward seeing this movie.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 2, 2019 11:13:13 GMT -5
I waited for it to be on Netflix, and boy! I’m not sorry. Covenant was disappointing on many, many levels.
spoilers, naturally.
It doesn’t really work as an action movie, because we’ve been there so many times before. A number of interchangeable red shirts get offed by assorted monsters until only a Ripley stand-in remains (with one or two other bystanders)? It’s old school now. We know how it’s going to end: run, run, rin, OHMAHGAHD, kaboom GRRR kablooie the monster’s dead but he returns and we kill it again. It’s like a mandatory rite, now, and it’s becoming more of a chore to watch than an exciting moment.
The plot showed promise, though, and that’s a pity; I think this could have been a much better movie if Scott hadn’t decided to follow the ruts of the genre. The idea that David wants to create a perfect organism is intriguing, especially if he had explored further the concept of his being imperfect (as demonstrated by Walther). His utter callousness in sacrificing a person he claimed to love to pursue his quest was also very chilling, but in the end was merely used as a way to show us that he’s the villain of the play.
As a horror film, it’s also disappointing despite the brave attempt at the end (when the main character realizes that she!s facing David, not Walther). I think this particular aspect (“we were wrooooooong”) would have worked better of Scott hadn’t attempted to make a mystery of the switcheroo, because it was so transparent as to be utterly unconvincing.
The unending series of clichés made the film borderline ridiculous at times. A shower sex scene? Really? I mean, the movie Scream made fun of that decades ago. Also, who in their right mind would decide to jump in the shower and have sex right after a dozen of their friends were horribly killed by space aliens?
The sequence where a panicked medic shoots her big gun next to her ship’s fuel tanks reminded me of a similar scene in Prometheus, and really suggests that heavy guns shouldn’t be available to people who show so little control over themselves. Also, when are people in these films going to learn to obey security protocols?
Prometheus, this film’s precursor, managed to give us at least one sympathetic character (even if her physical resilience was downright unbelievable). This one doesn’t manage that... some are kind of nice, but none provide any kind of deep emotional involvement.
I don’t know if there will be a Covenant 2 / Prometheus 3 / Alien 6, but if so I hope it will do something else than follow what feels like an overused formula.
|
|
|
|
Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jun 2, 2019 15:40:02 GMT -5
For a man that made the best Aliens franchise movie; Alien, Ridley is single handedly destroying the cinematic Aliens universe.
|
|
