What movies have you seen lately? Now with reviews!Movies 

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-Zootopia/Zootroplis: I am not going to lie. This film grabbed me and didn't let go. A perfect blend of witty comedy that was relevant and up-to-date with current going-ons. Plenty of jokes that were in your face yet still hilarious and similarly underhand jokes that may have went under the radar initially ("Now we bunnies may not be street smart but one thing we are good at...is multiplying" to name one that really cracked me up).
The message the film put across was utter genius too, put across in a non-pretentious easy to understand fashion it was the cherry on top of the cake really. I'd give it a solid 9/10, my favorite animation since How To Train Your Dragon/The LEGO Movie.

-Batman vs Superman: I put my thoughts in the relevent thread but all-in-all a pretty average affair with bad storytelling. Still nowhere near as bad as critics are saying in my opinion but not great by any stretch of the imagination. 6/10
 
-Batman vs Superman: I put my thoughts in the relevent thread but all-in-all a pretty average affair with bad storytelling. Still nowhere near as bad as critics are saying in my opinion but not great by any stretch of the imagination. 6/10
Average critic score on Rotten Tomatoes is 5/10, so not much better. Your score is lower than the average user review of 3.8/5.

The critics used click bait language in their write ups, but gave it a fairly honest score.
 
Average critic score on Rotten Tomatoes is 5/10, so not much better. Your score is lower than the average user review of 3.8/5.

The critics used click bait language in their write ups, but gave it a fairly honest score.

The "Super Reviewer" scores on both MetaCritic and Rotten Tomatoes seems much closer to the critic scores, but there's no automated script on either site that allows you to select only those. The movie gets a huge boost on both sites from drive-by votes and brand new registrations.

I'd say BvS isn't so much audience versus critics as enraged fans versus critics.
 
I went to see Eddie the Eagle last night - utterly fantastic feel-good movie. I love a good sports tale and this was definitely one.
 
I saw Zootopia yesterday and wow was it great. It was funny and witty with great story pacing and voice acting, and a great story itself to top it off. It exceeded my already high expectations.
 
Breakdown (1997)

Hadn't seen it in a long time but Tivo'd it the other day. Pretty good action/crime/suspense film, was one of my favorites.

8/10
 
-Zootopia/Zootroplis: I am not going to lie. This film grabbed me and didn't let go. A perfect blend of witty comedy that was relevant and up-to-date with current going-ons. Plenty of jokes that were in your face yet still hilarious and similarly underhand jokes that may have went under the radar initially ("Now we bunnies may not be street smart but one thing we are good at...is multiplying" to name one that really cracked me up).

Same here, especially with that joke too. Don't know about the original, but the Spanish translation was very good and the way Judy delivers the line (without forcing the audience to realize it's a joke) is fantastic.

Makes me wonder how many jokes in classic Disney films I have missed from being too young to catch them.
 
Makes me wonder how many jokes in classic Disney films I have missed from being too young to catch them.
Looney Tunes. Bugs Bunny made that same joke before I was born. He was tutoring his nephew in history (poorly) for a school test. After his nephew fails Bugs apologizes and asks what his next test is. When his nephew says its math Bugs tells him he can help him with that because, "Rabbits are good at multiplying." Cue music and carrot eating.
 
Just saw Kung Fu Panda 3.

I liked it but I think it was the weakest of the 3 movies, though I don't think it was the movie's fault for that and I blame myself. It uses a lot of elements that I've already seen in several Anime (especially Yugioh and Cardfight: Vanguard) that it feels a bit like a parody. Granted the final fight scene takes a very interesting twist on the "Super" character cliche.

I would give it a 7/10.
 
Just saw Kung Fu Panda 3.

I liked it but I think it was the weakest of the 3 movies, though I don't think it was the movie's fault for that and I blame myself. It uses a lot of elements that I've already seen in several Anime (especially Yugioh and Cardfight: Vanguard) that it feels a bit like a parody. Granted the final fight scene takes a very interesting twist on the "Super" character cliche.

I would give it a 7/10.

It's not you. The movie rehashes too much from previous movies and the plot sort of just moseys along to the all-too-predictable finale. KFP2 was much more dynamic and striking.
 
Ip Man 3

IpMan3.jpg


This movie is one of those cases of "I wanna like it more, but there's just something not quite right here".

I dunno about you, but I felt first Ip Man was rather unfocused and at times pretty messy film, saved only by its outstanding fight choreography. The second film felt a little more coherent but still had a lot of faults - but again, beautiful fight scenes saved it.

Now for the third film.... well, it does have one of the most impressive fight scene I've seen in ages, which I think, inspired that climatic fight scene from Daredevil season 2, episode 3.

And Donnie Yen shows he has more range than you think he has, but the acting is still all over the place. The problem is exacerbated even more with really obvious mismatched lip synchs in, funnily enough, Chinese dialogues.

The problem here is again, the story - there isn't much of one, other than a real estate shenanigans involving a school which, the second son of our protagonist so happens to attend. Cue alleyway fisticuffs against dozens of men, not a speck of dust on our hero. Cool. Usually most films would end there, when the big bad is vanquished at the end, but not with this one.

Another sub-plot involving a Wing Chun practicing upstart ensues, and some sincere-but-still-eye-rolling plot unfolds, making this flim feel as if the producers tried to mesh two different scripts into one as both stories were a bit on the short side.

I'm not overly disappointed however - I knew what I was in for, and I can think of worse ways to waste 110 minutes.

6/10. Sorely for the fight scenes.
 
Still haven't seen Ip Man 2, but the first one was pretty great.

Anyway, I was going to watch the original Godzilla last night, but I ended up watching 12 Angry Men instead. Not quite as explosive as 1 Angry Lizard (which I'll probably watch tonight), but still quite gripping. The ending felt oddly anticlimactic though.
 
Ip Man 3

IpMan3.jpg


This movie is one of those cases of "I wanna like it more, but there's just something not quite right here".

I dunno about you, but I felt first Ip Man was rather unfocused and at times pretty messy film, saved only by its outstanding fight choreography. The second film felt a little more coherent but still had a lot of faults - but again, beautiful fight scenes saved it.

Now for the third film.... well, it does have one of the most impressive fight scene I've seen in ages, which I think, inspired that climatic fight scene from Daredevil season 2, episode 3.

And Donnie Yen shows he has more range than you think he has, but the acting is still all over the place. The problem is exacerbated even more with really obvious mismatched lip synchs in, funnily enough, Chinese dialogues.

The problem here is again, the story - there isn't much of one, other than a real estate shenanigans involving a school which, the second son of our protagonist so happens to attend. Cue alleyway fisticuffs against dozens of men, not a speck of dust on our hero. Cool. Usually most films would end there, when the big bad is vanquished at the end, but not with this one.

Another sub-plot involving a Wing Chun practicing upstart ensues, and some sincere-but-still-eye-rolling plot unfolds, making this flim feel as if the producers tried to mesh two different scripts into one as both stories were a bit on the short side.

I'm not overly disappointed however - I knew what I was in for, and I can think of worse ways to waste 110 minutes.

6/10. Sorely for the fight scenes.

I disliked Ip Man 3 because it felt like they were banking on Tyson's appearance to hype up everyone. I can't say I was getting on board for the fight with Tyson as I was simply in it just to pass the time on a martial arts film. Like you said, there is no real story. There's no well-defined antagonist worth troubling the protagonist for. The stir-up of having some random dude who doesn't fit in the setting simply demanding to buy the school's property seemed like a unrefined idea. I was sitting there going "Really? That's it?"

Also the fights weren't as entertaining as hey were in the first Ip Man. Biggest disappointment here.

5/10
 
It's not you. The movie rehashes too much from previous movies and the plot sort of just moseys along to the all-too-predictable finale. KFP2 was much more dynamic and striking.
What concerns me the most is that there is supposed to be another 3 movies. While 2nd one was able to give hints to a much more bigger story, the 3rd one feels like a conclusion. Unless the next 3 are meant to be a different trilogy with a new protagonist, I'm not sure what there is left for Po to do besides 3 more prophecy's.
 
I disliked Ip Man 3 because it felt like they were banking on Tyson's appearance to hype up everyone. I can't say I was getting on board for the fight with Tyson as I was simply in it just to pass the time on a martial arts film. Like you said, there is no real story. There's no well-defined antagonist worth troubling the protagonist for. The stir-up of having some random dude who doesn't fit in the setting simply demanding to buy the school's property seemed like a unrefined idea. I was sitting there going "Really? That's it?"

Also the fights weren't as entertaining as hey were in the first Ip Man. Biggest disappointment here.

5/10

....You are so right about Tyson; someone else could've played that role and no one would give a damn. He was there just to sell the film to US audiences (presumably).

But I deeply enjoyed the technical aspect of all the one on one fight scenes, so I have to disagree with you on that one - the aforementioned stairwell fight, 3 minute punch up with Tyson, and the climatic fight all flowed smoothly, shot expertly, and the stakes felt almost real.

If I am to take the biggest offence from the whole thing, it would be the utter, utter pointless inclusion of Bruce Lee side plot that went nowhere and took up the grand total of five minutes of running time. Kudos to the producers for finding an actor that looks remarkably similar to the screen legend, but edit those scenes out and the movie would still more or less chug along the same.
 
What concerns me the most is that there is supposed to be another 3 movies. While 2nd one was able to give hints to a much more bigger story, the 3rd one feels like a conclusion. Unless the next 3 are meant to be a different trilogy with a new protagonist, I'm not sure what there is left for Po to do besides 3 more prophecy's.

It's obvious the original concept wasn't meant for an extended franchise. Master Tigress? Master Monkey? What if you have another Tigress or Monkey?

And beyond that, there's very little left for Po to do, as you say... so any future movies have to revolve around a different protagonist, and they haven't developed any future protagonists within the movies themselves.
 
So... Godzilla.

I've seen movies from the 1910s that have aged better. But as an NGE fan, it was at least fun seeing the many ways that Godzilla inspired Hideaki Anno's work with Evangelion.
 
It's obvious the original concept wasn't meant for an extended franchise. Master Tigress? Master Monkey? What if you have another Tigress or Monkey?

And beyond that, there's very little left for Po to do, as you say... so any future movies have to revolve around a different protagonist, and they haven't developed any future protagonists within the movies themselves.
They could probably pull off what was done in an anime and have Tigress be the next protagonist probably Po goes missing and maybe add more mystery by probably having Tigress being the only one that remembers him. Tigress goes in search to not only find Po but Answers. With the next sort of trilogy focusing on how she is able to overcome enemies even without a prophecy or fortune.

That's my 2 Minute Plot Idea anyway.
 
Saw 3/4 of Zootopia yesterday. My nearly 5yo daughter wasn't too interested. The jokes were way over children's heads. Not a peep from the kids in the theatre. And it was a packed theatre.

A "all natural" holistic scene was just not needed for kids. Us parents in the theatre were like what the? Wasn't tasteless but, really? Do we need the visual after the implied?

The sceneries are amazing. The micro cities are awesome. I've wanted exactly those in real life when I wanted Sea Monkeys(showing my age).

Even though we walked out, from what I watched, I'll still give it 8/10. Leave your kids at home.
 
The Room (2003)

There's nothing I can add that hasn't been written about it before, except, man, does Tommy Wiseau's face remind me of the Toy Story 3 scene, where Mr. Potato Head has to use a tortilla wrap...
 
The Big Short

The-Big-Short-BD.jpeg

...Based on a true story, The Big Short tells the story of a group of people who made a killing in the 2008 market collapse. Directed by Adam McKay and starring (in the order of most amount of screen time) Steve Carell, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt. Also, produced by Pitt's own company, Plan B.

Now I feel totally weird about this film. On one hand, I liked it a lot. It had, uh, personality and charm. But on the other hand, I didn't know what to make of it at times.

It's told in semi-mockumentary style, with several characters frequently breaking the 4th wall and speaking directly at the audience. It's funny, sometimes incredibly so, but it's also not a comedy either. I've seen some marketing material trying to paint this as some sort of heist caper, but it definitely isn't one too.

It's more like a dramatic retelling of unrelated people seeing opportunity to make money, while offering some harsh criticism of the way banking/Wall Street operates.

While I liked it, I can't completely love it. The problems are two fold: first up, the characters. What we have here is a bunch of rather unlikable protagonists, surrounded by even more unlikable people. There are some attempts to make them more relatable, but it's a hit or miss. Even with sharp dialogue and on-point acting, most of these characters are a bit on the thin side. Beside Carell's and Bale's, no other characters are provided with an arc of any note.

The second issue, was that this film lacked a pay-off, a climax. It just kind of arrived at the end, a predictable one at that, and that was it. There was an effort to increase tension but it never felt much threatening at all for the protagonists.

Jumpy, arty editing also grated just a bit too but that, I can forgive. :lol: I'm generous like that.

Overall, 6 out 10. Could've been better. No scratch that; the end product should've been better, considering the talents involved.
 
Ip Man 3

Saw it some time ago, story wise, it's passable, but the real attraction for me is the martial arts aspect of the movie. From Wing Chun teaching, Ip Man way of life ( though not accurate ), and virtue of being a martial artist.

There are several fight scenes with Ip Man involved, each has something to convey from the way Ip Man fights, how he dealt with the adversary and how he deliver the last strike ( winning or draw ). For example the fight against the Thai boxer, Donnie Yen showed how Ip Man/Wing Chun used in confined spaces against unknown enemy with clear intent of killing with no regard to others ( Ip Man's wife in the elevator ). In here, Ip Man tried to protect his wife at all costs, using his own body as blockade when the Thai boxer strikes strayed off course or may intentionally aimed at his wife to make an opening.

Ip Man defeated the Thai boxer after he got out of the elevator, and made sure his wife is safe. Here we can see the different techniques used on the stairs, and how he ended the fight, he let the Thai boxer go, showing mercy.

The Mike Tyson fight and Cheung Tin Chi fight ( last fight ) also has similar message, Ip Man used one of the Wing Chun strikes against the eye, he didn't use the fierce strike against Mike Tyson ( to defeat and not to cause excessive damage - swipe instead of poke though I'm not sure if Tyson evade it or Ip Man went wide ), but Cheung Tin Chi ( Ip Man last fight opponent ) used the same strikes differently, his intention is to harm Ip Man in order to end the fight with strike to the head afterwards. Here, Ip Man experience shown as he gauge the punches distance, avoid them and delivered the famed Wing Chun one inch punch to the rib :)

Mike Tyson fight also served not just for namesake ( getting more western audience to watch ), in here Ip Man with smaller stature pitted against a big boxer with extreme upper body strength and punches ( any other big body boxer may have played the role, but Tyson may be picked for his notorious past of KO punch ). Ip Man has only to hold for 3 minutes, the fight is not about winning , it's about surviving the Tyson barrages of punches for 3 minutes.

The first part showed Ip Man tipping the water, trying to gauge how powerful Tyson punches are, blocking them and took some direct hit. Ip Man realized he is outclassed in strength and endurance, each of Tyson punches could be the last to drop him cold. Ip Man uses some kicks to keep some distance, but the aggressive Tyson keep on coming and he had to evade often. After the window smashing, he tried to go for the neck, but Tyson is just too strong, and this made Ip Man changed his strategy to go for lower body ( usually the weak point of a boxer ) and even employing throw move. This also fails to hurt Tyson, and another blow delivered to Ip Man as he failed to capitalize a ground attack. Ip Man really hurting from several body strikes by Tyson, this lead him to use the elbow, which Ip Man seems to be reluctant to use from beginning, he's desperate to hold on. The elbows against fist works as an effective block and can hurt the hand of the attacker. This part of the fight may also be the cause of Tyson finger getting injured during the shoot.

Tyson quickly adapted to the Ip man elbow blocks, and counter it with a nice upper to send the elbow upward and make an opening, another body blow hurting Ip Man and Tyson still seemingly unharmed. Ip Man launches kicks and the poking strike that I'm not sure Tyson did evade it or Ip Man went wide, in the end Ip Man swipe Tyson eye and then delivered the last attack which he stopped before hitting the target ( a low kick to the groin ) as the bell rang and Tyson also stopped his uppercut. If both attack hit each other, Ip man would have been lost, but the fight shows that both are not dirty :) No one loses and no one wins, both respect each other in the end silently, a closure to the school take over plot.

Just my rambling :p
 
Saw the movie for Cardfight: Vanguard.

As a stand-alone movie, it is 🤬 like most card game movies. It totally ruined my favourite story of Kourin trying to retain her memories by bringing back the character from the dead that kept her memories intact and was really there to show off the new Grade 4s Cards and the Generation Stride Technique. The actual Cardfights were ignored and sort of replaced replaced with images of monsters fighting which does deem cool but it doesn't belong in a Card Game show IMO.

The only thing that caught my attention was the ending and the villain Ibuki. Which really did go a long way to help build up the Vanguard G Series that came after with Ibuki, Generation Striding and Ibuki's new Messiah becoming prominent parts of the G Series.
 
I just watched The Good The Bad The Weird. It's a South Korean take on the Spaghetti Western, set in Manchuria during WWII. It's also extremely entertaining, rather intense at times and weirdly funny at others. It has a treasure map, near constant gunfights, a train robbery, the Japanese army, a diving helmet, and an opium dealer who gets it in the end. (If you've seen it...)

This is also the third really good South Korean movie I've seen. The first was The Host, a different take on the monster movie genre, and the second was N.L.L The Northern Limit Line, about a patrol boat battle and tensions between North and South Korea during the World Cup. That was quite powerful.
 
I just watched The Good The Bad The Weird. It's a South Korean take on the Spaghetti Western, set in Manchuria during WWII. It's also extremely entertaining, rather intense at times and weirdly funny at others. It has a treasure map, near constant gunfights, a train robbery, the Japanese army, a diving helmet, and an opium dealer who gets it in the end. (If you've seen it...)

...Which version did you get to see? The DVD I have is the so-called "uncut" which adds about twenty extra minutes of a sub-plot involving human trafficking.

And yes, it's a funny movie no doubt.
 
...Which version did you get to see? The DVD I have is the so-called "uncut" which adds about twenty extra minutes of a sub-plot involving human trafficking.

And yes, it's a funny movie no doubt.

Interesting. Does that involve the opium dealer and the kids? As I wondered what happens to them as they're there and then not. Anyway, I watched the US Netflix version.
 
Interesting. Does that involve the opium dealer and the kids? As I wondered what happens to them as they're there and then not. Anyway, I watched the US Netflix version.

...Yes. There's this whole subplot which for some reason got axed for the international release. Even the DVD I have (which is from many many years ago) has this as an "extended deleted scene".
 
...Yes. There's this whole subplot which for some reason got axed for the international release. Even the DVD I have (which is from many many years ago) has this as an "extended deleted scene".

Thanks. That seemed like a pretty major edit / remnant of a larger story. And there were a few other things that "broke the suspension of disbelief" (like why wouldn't the jeep driver just stop when the guy they were chasing was in the jeep?) but it was inventive and entertaining enough to just go with it.
 
The Judge.

Good God this movie is amazing. I rarely watch movies that aren't comedy, action or superhero themed but this movie is really interesting. The sad moments really gets you. All the cast did an amazing job at this.

9/10 from me.
 
Angry Birds (6/10)

If you enjoy veiled adult humor in a kids movie then you may like this. Otherwise it's just okay. It has a decent, though recycled story, but just when you start to feel like it's going well some slapstick, stupid joke pops up. Sometimes it gets drawn out far too long.

In short, kids will love it. Adults will most likely roll their eyes at things like Magic Mike parody scenes. It's forgettable. That's the worst thing for a movie: Not good enough for me to care and not bad enough to leave bad memories or become an odd cult favorite. It's just, meh.
 
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