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

[JKgo]

Creed (2015) 7.5/10

Spoiler: Theatrical poster

...Man, I bought this on BluRay ages ago but it got shoved down the pile of other movies I got and I completely forgot about it. But due to a stroke of luck, I fished it out and saw it. Better late than never.

There are several noteworthy things in this movie, most of them positive, some not.

First, what a gorgeously shot movie this is. Using the familiar backdrop of a decaying, modern gridlocked cityscape the cinematographer somehow managed to extract scenes of unexpected beauty one after the other. It isn't just Zack Snyder who knows how to craft a pretty shot - Ryan Coogler's not too far behind.

Secondly, and this is coming from a guy who thinks every type of music becomes 100% better with a distorted electric guitar accompanying it, the usage of evocative music was well, well done. The remixes of the old themes with newer elements works really well, so much so I was nearly tempted to buy the soundtrack. Don't worry, I got my sanity back before that, thanks.

And the performances are strong throughout. I haven't seen too many of Michael B Jordan's films, but he's got a great future ahead of him. By no means he pulls his role off perfectly, as there were spots where I thought he fell a bit short, charisma-wise, but with more experience I think he'll come good. Very good.

The bigger surprise is good ol' Sly himself, though. We all knew he had it in him, as long as the material was right, and as he gets older, he's getting right for this kind of roles conversely. His turn as the aging, frail Balboa is quite effective, and I was glad to see that the film makers didn't force the "oh hey let's wring some tear ducks" route.

The biggest issue I had with the film was its running time. Clocking at just over 2 hours and ten minutes minus the credits, I felt it was a bit too long, and there were some redundant scenes that could've been cut in order to tighten up the overall pace. The main character's arc felt a bit short as well - perhaps the scenes should've been replaced with the ones that gave a bit more flesh to the MC's internal turmoil. That'd been... well, better.

Overall, a decent, good lazy Sunday type movie, watch it with brain firmly in the off mode.

 

[Sanji Himura]

Suicide Squad (2016)

No, the argument that you have to read the comics in order to understand Suicide Squad certainly does not apply to me. Clocking in at a little over two hours, the film's general pacing was good enough to where I was stuck to my seat for most of the film (I got up once to get a refill of my drink, which I drank up during the previews). While the cast of characters that made up the squad was brilliantly casted, the only real disappointment was that WB's arcadic rules regarding DC film properties made it near impossible for General Eiling and Dr. Hugo Strange from appearing in the film (General Eiling and Hugo Strange appeared or will appear in The Flash and Gotham respectively). The plot is pretty straight forward:

Spoiler

demon from another dimension (The Enchantress) wants to create a device that destroys mankind, but the city that she chose to build the device contains a high value government operative (Amanda Waller). The Suicide Squad is sent to get Waller out at the cost of their own lives. Add in some antics from The Joker, and everything goes boom.

Where it works!

Aside from the terrific casting of the Suicide Squad themselves, where the film works is the simplicity of the story. You do have, basically speaking, ordinary criminals taking on an ordinary threat. Sure, there are moments where comic book logic has to be applied, but their origins could be told in a neat hour long package, which this delivers nicely.

Where it fails hard!

Joker! Jared Leto would have made a superb Joker, but this Joker fails in two ways, one is there wasn't enough screen time for the Crown Prince of Crime, and second is that his "Gangsta" Joker wasn't really grounded in any form of continuity (he pimped out Harley in one scene for crying out loud.) That wasn't to say that the overall performance was bad, it was just that the script failed him.

The second is the lineup itself. It drew inspiration from the 70's run of Suicide Squad, with Harley Quinn inserted in. Most non-comic book readers will not understand who half the characters are, and even if they did, would not take the time to research their history in the Suicide Squad.

Overall

This was a fun romper, if you have a grasp of what was happening in the DCEU. Watching Batman v. Superman isn't necessarily a requirement, but it would help you obtain a better grasp on what is going on in the story.

Final Score: 8/10 with a Bronze Bad*** Seal of Approval

About My Rating Scale:

As of 2016, I rate movies and games on a straight 10 point scale (no decimal point BS here). Movies and games that are rated 8 or above qualify for a Bad*** Seal of Approval award. 8 qualifies for a Bronze award, 9 a Silver, and a 10, Gold. (for example: a movie rated a 9 may earn a Bronze award or a silver award, but not a gold award.)

On Video Games: The rating given only applies for the version that is being reviewed with the latest patches available at the time of review. For example, if I review Fallout 4 for the PC at launch, I will disclose that I am reviewing it for the PC, and not the XBO or PS4 versions. I will also disclose time spent on the game in question, so you know how much weight you should give to the score.

 

[Brend]

Star Trek Beyond: 8.5/10

As someone who has no real history with series and who became a fan after the 2009 reboot, Beyond was fantastic. This series just seems to go from strength to strength and is an enjoyable, fun romp that from what I can tell actual trekkies enjoyed too! A bit too much Scotty but aside from that I recommend it highly.

Jason Bourne: 6/10

It was enjoyable to watch though nothing special. Much better than the Supremacy.

 

[MeanElf]

Convenience.

A simple convenience store robbery goes wrong - the problem though is actually the customers who come in afterwards.

It started like Triads, Yardies and Onion Bhajees but then went into a 'what if follow-on' to the original ending of Clerks but set in the UK.

It is a really fun film about a robbery and two friends. With Adeel Akhtar from Four Lions, it's well worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM5pQc9TqVI

 

[Lain]

Watched The Butterfly Effect last night. An amusing ride, even if it's wrought with problems... plot holes and inconsistencies, rough acting and general stupidity. And jesus christ, damn near everybody in this movie is complete prick... main character included.

 

[Robin]

Watched Transformers 3 Dark Of The Moon the other day, never saw it the first time round but I had seen 1,2&4 beforehand.

Seriously, what did I watch. It has to be one of the worst movies I have ever seen!

The whole film was a bloated disaster and what's worse was that it started out well with all the Moon landings stuff. The whole slapstick comedy section of getting a job was odd like it was a whole other film and the rest was a yawn fest apart from some big action sequences.

Also Rosie Huntington was terrible, clearly only got the gig because Jason Statham is in the business and pulled some strings. Totally unbelievable as Sam's love interest, at least Megan Fox was somewhat believable and had much more personality.

I can't believe so much money was spend on so little content. It was just a plain stupid movie.

 

[Brend]

Finding Dory: 6/10

Pixar's less-than-perfect run continues with a sequel that didn't really need made. I personally don't find Dory strong enough to carry a movie and this film backed it up. Still had it's moments and it has gorgeous animation.

The Shallows: 8/10

This was the girlfriend's choice - and it turned out pretty good! As far as survival thrillers go it's kept interesting enough and Blake Lively's 'I'm an actor but I basically play the same person in every media' schtick actually works well. Would recommend for those who enjoy Jaws and another survival type movies.

David Brent: Life on the Road: 7/10

A pretty funny follow up to BBC's The Office. Putting up with Brent and basically only him for over an hour and half is a bit exhausting at times but there's funny moments throughout. Soundtrack is a stand-out.

 

[JKgo]

The Last Witch Hunter

Spoiler: Theatrical poster

...One of the lessons in life a person learns when growing older, is to keep your expectations as low as possible, so the ensuing disappointment doesn't gouge your heart out. On the flip side of that, you might even get pleasantly surprised by the quality of an experience.

Case in point: The Last Witch Hunter.

Popping the disc in, I had very low expectation for this Vin Diesel starrer. The reviews had labelled this as a middling, uninspired film, so yes, I wasn't all too chuffed at the prospect of spending 100 minutes with uber-manly Mr. Diesel's grovelly voice.

Guess what, it is genuinely not as bad as I feared it'd be. Sure, it's exceedingly idiotic in many places, and I did roll my eyes a couple of times, but it isn't carcinogenic in any way. I'd thought the producers might be tempted to go down the route of nothing-but-bombastic, balls-out action-fest a la Fast and Furious series, but to their credit, there was a serious attempt at trying to tell a decent if flawed story here.

The biggest failing happenes to be the script however - it just is plainly stupid and tests the patience of the audience. There were couple of scenes where I was going like, "Well, how did you even know to go there in the first place, you a fortune teller or something?" Or, "Oiiii, you're supposed to be a badass Witch Hunter yet you got suckered in that easily? Whaaaat?"

But then, there's the cinematography. Now we've seen Manhattan-esque cityscape literally hundreds of times in film but hey, it looks quite pretty here. The production design was also quite impressive, which leads me to think that the film could've benefited more by spending just a little extra time in those locales. Along with a better script, obviously.

Vin Diesel is, well, Vin Diesel. He can only play one type of macho tough guy, and he certainly plays that. In some scenes, you'd swear it's a collection of deleted materials from a recent F&F moive you're watching. Not knocking him down with that, it's just that Vin can act if he's given a right stuff to work with. Which didn't happen here. Oh well.

Elijah Wood and Michael Cain are totally wasted in their roles. They do what they can, that's for sure but, Mr. Cain, really? Feels like you're beginning to enroll in the Robert de Niro/Al Pacino "pay me $$ and I'll sell you my face" school. Bah.

Above rants might make you think this is a pure rubbish, but it isn't - the pacing is quite decent, keeping things brisk, and coupled with pretty cinematography and action set pieces that admittedly look not too bad (even though there are some visible attempts at cutting corners) it's a good way to kill time. If you're a fan of Diesel, then sure, you are going to be pleasantly surprised. Just remember to keep your expectations low.

Overall, it's a 6/10.

 

[Lain]

Just finished watching Jagten.

What a film. Great writing, acting, directing and cinematography. Given the subject matter (an Elementary school teacher becoming the target of erroneous allegations of child molestation), it's not exactly a traditionally entertaining movie and therefore won't be everybody's cup of tea. But if you've got the stomach for it, it's excellent. Just brace yourself... it's likely to make you feel ill and/or make your blood boil.

A+

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Or, as I like to think of it, Indiana Jones and the Two Hours of Wasted Potential.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my favourite films, but sadly, the rest of the franchise never lived up to its name. Temple of Doom never really did anything, much less anything interesting, and while The Last Crusade was fun, it was really just a re-tread of Raiders. But in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull there was a real seed of potential that was sadly squandered away.

I know that the idea of ancient aliens took a lot of criticism from fans at the time, but I think that the basic idea worked really well. With the onset of the Cold War, the world moved from a territorial conflict to an ideological one, and so replacing the Nazis with a Soviet psychic warfare research unit worked really well. And I struggle to see how ancient aliens is ridiculous given that Jones has sought mystical artefacts in previous films. I even think that Shia LaBeouf was perfectly cast as a greaser trying to overcompensate for a lack of a positive male role model with impotent bravado.

The problem is that the film is full of lengthy and pointless action sequences. The beauty of the previous films was in seeing Jones work everything out as he went, but here he knows the answer to everything almost straight away so that the next fight or chase can begin. It takes him all of two seconds to translate a language that has been extinct for thousands of years, or to spot what the world's best psychic researchers missed despite weeks of trying. Halfway through, the writing just gets downright lazy. Need to communicate with a man who is out of his mind? Use the crystal skull. Need to protect yourself from a horde of aggressive, carnivorous ants? Use the skull. Need to open a millennia-old door? Skull.

Disappointing, to say the least.

 

[Lain]

Saw three movies (and one short) since my last post.

First up, Fracture.

Entertaining enough, and good performances... but the script was kinda weak. The courtroom "drama" was pretty flat, and you could see the big reveal from a mile away without even trying.

C+

Next, Frances Ha.

Charming movie about an immature free-spirited woman. Cute and quirky, with solid effort all around. The poster, might I add, is quite striking.

B

The short, Sintel.

A computer animated short made in the free open source Blender software, this tells a surprisingly effective story about a girl and her pet dragon, with only a few minor missteps.

Not gonna bother assigning it a rating, since it's only a short film. Worth checking out though, and certainly an impressive showcase for Blender's capabilities.

Lastly, Persona.

Great acting and cinematography, but I feel I might need to give this one another viewing to fully wrap my mind around it.

As it stands, I'll give it a B+.

 

[Brend]

The Purge: Election Year 7.4/10

It's the Purge, if you liked the others - you'll like this. Twisted and fun, keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. Would do much better without resorting to jump scares though.

Hell or High Water 9.2/10

Despite a slow start, the tension here is amazing. The acting is also great and gets you right on-board with the brothers' motives early on and then from there you're engrossed. A Cannes contender for a reason, Chris Pine's best performance in a long time.


Kubo and The 2 Strings 9.6/10

This film was pretty much faultless. In an age where even Pixar are recycling animation films, this is a total fresh take on how an epic should be told. Engrossing characters, on-point story telling and enough feelings to make you well up. I can't stress just how good this movie is - my favorite of the year so far - go see it!

 

[niky]

Can't wait for Kubo to open here!

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Disappointing, to say the least.

I'm surprised you actually got past the refrigerator scene.

Although, to be fair, that scene was better than the entire rest of the movie.

The short, Sintel.

A computer animated short made in the free open source Blender software, this tells a surprisingly effective story about a girl and her pet dragon, with only a few minor missteps.

Not gonna bother assigning it a rating, since it's only a short film. Worth checking out though, and certainly an impressive showcase for Blender's capabilities.

I've been looking at CGI shorts for a while. Can't believe I missed this one.

Watching it now. Nice and atmospheric. Ah... wow... wasn't expecting that.

Makes me want to learn Blender. I could stand to learn a new skill in my old age.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I'm surprised you actually got past the refrigerator scene.

I can accept the occasional plot contrivance.

 

[Brett]

Hell or High Water 9.2/10

Despite a slow start, the tension here is amazing. The acting is also great and gets you right on-board with the brothers' motives early on and then from there you're engrossed. A Cannes contender for a reason, Chris Pine's best performance in a long time.

Kubo and The 2 Strings 9.6/10

This film was pretty much faultless. In an age where even Pixar are recycling animation films, this is a total fresh take on how an epic should be told. Engrossing characters, on-point story telling and enough feelings to make you well up. I can't stress just how good this movie is - my favorite of the year so far - go see it!

I watched these two on back to back days. Both are fantastic movies. I would recommend them also.

 

[Brend]

I watched these two on back to back days. Both are fantastic movies. I would recommend them also.

I was the exact same! Absolutely spoiled movie-wise this week.

 

[JKgo]

Criminal (2016)

Spoiler: Theatrical poster

...So yeah, Criminal. Starring Kevin Costner, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Gary Oldman and Tommy Lee Jones, and released early in 2016.

Now, I do understand all the unkind things said about this movie. I really do. But why was it that I actually found this more engaging than some of other films I've seen this year? I think I know why.

No, it's not because they were all rubbish, but instead, this movie isn't as bad as it was made out to be. If you're a Brit, then there will be more than a few moments in the film you'll feel rather aggrieved, but hey, Hollywood's been doing that for years - mis-portraying other countries. Hell, they even do that to their own country, so there.

The film sees grovelly-voiced Costner as a brain-damaged psycopath named Jericho, who, by the miracles of dodgy movie science, is implanted with memories of a dead CIA agent, played by Reynolds. Within the maze of his jumbled up head, Jericho holds the "key to saving the western civilization" from a vaguely-motivated mad anarchist.

A word of caution: Reynolds is in this film for whole ten of its 113 minutes running time, so if you're his fan, then this movie might not be your thing.... Unless you wanna see what his brain looks like....

Ahem. Anyways.

The reason why I liked this film so much, or at least not hate it as some of the most vocal critics, is because Costner's performance. He is utterly excellent as Jericho, a man with a screw definitely loose inside his head. He is intimidating, unpredictable, scary, but at a flip of a switch, funny, surprisingly unsure and lost. Only a veteran can pull off such a taxing role, and Costner does himself proud in it.

The rest however, with exception of Gadot, don't have much to do. Oldman's playing archetypal shouty CIA beaurocrat, Jones looks very confused as if he's wandered off from a different production altogether, and Gadot tries hard to emote, and thankfully succeeds more often than fails, which bodes well for her solo outing as Wonder Woman next year.

It is by no means an Oscar contender. As a matter of fact, it's only at the level of "serviceable" by genre's standards. Sure, the script is not that good, and sure, some of the action set pieces could've used more imagination.

But, and there's always a "but", the quieter, tense moments land solid blows and it's those scenes I enjoyed the most. I know my tastes in movies can be.... obtuse at times, so in my good conscience I can't recommend this one to a cinemaphile.

To a layman looking to waste two hours? Then well, you could do worse. A lot worse.

A solid 6/10.

 

[Lain]

Watched three movies since my last post.

#1 - Stray Dog

Probably the Akira Kurosawa film I've been most eager to watch, sadly I must say I wasn't enthralled. Interesting premise, and it starts off strong... but it quickly becomes plodding. Maybe if it were cut down to somewhere between 1 to 1.5 hours it'd have fared better. As is, I don't think it's aged particularly grac

C

#2 - Field of Dreams

For all the supposed financial difficulties Costner and his family went through due to him destroying his crops to build a baseball field, this movie sure didn't have any shortage of corn as a result.

Stupefyingly dumb (I was seriously in awe by the time the credits rolled), but not without its moments.

C-

#3 - The World's Fastest Indian

This was one fun ride. Fascinating story, and a stellar performance from Hopkins really sells the character. This film's two hour runtime flew by at 200 MPH. It might be a little bit too sickly sweet for some though, and perhaps a little bit of trimming here or there could've made it more palatable for those individuals.

A-

 

[Lain]

Changeling. Stellar film, A+

Unreal true story, told in a compelling way... and it turns out it's mostly true. Script was very well written and very well-researched. Some simplifications and/or slight embellishment here or there, but it could be argued that these changes were mostly (or at least partly) done for the sake of believability.

Also, despite being a period piece, it somewhat echoes the issues people are having with law enforcement lately.

 

[Danoff]

Captain America: Civil War 👎👎

God what a dumb movie, and I like the Avengers movies. This is the kind of terrible screenplay that brings down the characters because they have to buy into the terrible screenplay logic. From the image above you know that this movie pits the Avengers against each other. Well, as you might guess, the reason they turn on each other has to be one that both sides can reasonably take opposing sides over, and care enough about to fight each other over. Well, it's not that. One side is dumb (and it's ironic how that gets divided up), and the dumb side shouldn't really be fighting the other side over that issue. Poorly motivated supporting characters pop up, pointless scenes ensue that could just as easily be completely removed from the movie, and ultimately the movie wraps up in a plot "twist" that is only achievable if the bad guy has read the script ahead of time. No character comes out of this movie unscathed, that is to say, I like everyone who appears in this movie less than I did before watching the movie.

If you don't like the Avengers, you probably won't like this movie. If you do like the Avengers, you probably shouldn't like this movie. Iron Man is one of my top 10 movies of all time, and I just took the time to re-watch the first Thor movie... and I, the target audience, still couldn't shove the pencil far enough into my ear to think this movie made any sense.

I want my life back, and I want my previous impression of these characters back.

 

[Lain]

Godzilla (2014)

Tries to be serious like the original Gojira, while also aiming to be a fun action packed showdown between monsters like some later Godzilla films. It could've potentially worked, but cheesy cookie-cutter Hollywood "characters" ensure it doesn't. To make matters worse, the monsters don't look great and the action mostly falls flat. With all the military porn, I wouldn't blame you if you mistook this for Battleship... though I actually think Battleship is superior, simply by virtue of the fact it takes itself much less seriously.

If you're a Godzilla fan, it might be fun to watch for the easter eggs though... I'm not a Gozilla fan in the least, yet I was somehow able to catch two: MUTO on a poster in Cranston's son's room near the beginning of the film (I initially thought it was Godzilla himself), and the word "mothra" visible in a scene where Cranston & Son are exploring the quarantine zone. Who knows how many more there might be?

D+

 

[RX-7_FD3S]

X-Men Apocalypse : Kinda liked it, scenario was decent, much better than the last dc/marvel films I've seen and the effect were pretty cool. All in all a well done movie I thought.

Captain America Civil War : Scenario was probably the worst of all the marvel series so far. Didnt like it at all, the fights were pretty cool and well done I thought but the rest is honestly such a letdown. I was waiting for this movie and it was a huge disappointment.

Tarzan : Another huge disappointment with a very bad scenario and I thought it was pretty poorly done cg wise too. Gorillas didnt look like they were real. The only character that I remotely liked was Jane.

Warcraft : Not a fan of wow but I like the world they created, movie was decent I thought to introduce the mass to the world of warcraft. Actor werent particulary good tho but you dont really need awesome actor for movie like that.

 

[sems4arsenal]

Seen the magnificent seven: Fine-ish movie, boring first two acts but the last one has some decent action and a not so predictable ending. Wouldn't recommend it though.

 

[JKgo]

Gods of Egypt (2016)

Spoiler: Theatrical poster

....So, yeah - Gods of Egypt, probably one of the most panned films of 2016 so far. I swallowed the brave pill and watched it. Here's my report:

Now, I'm not a card carrying member of The Political Correctness Overload brigade, so don't really care for whitewashing of the main characters in movies as long as the cast provides adequate enough performances. But maaaaaan, whoever was the casting director for this film, he/she needs to get shot.

Everyone, and I do mean every actors involved in this project, were totally miscast. From Nicholaj Coster-Waldau to Elodie Yung, from Gerard Butler to Chadwick Boseman - wrong, wrong, wrong.

Nicholaj was so unconving as the MC, I wonder how he got past the auditioning process. Gerard gave his best Gerard Butler impression and did it way too effectively - meaning he's chewing the scenery so hard, there's virtually nothing left behind in his wake.

And if I've seen this film ahead of CA: Civil War, then I'd have no hope whatsoever for Boseman portraying Black Panther. He's just so freaking terrible here, it's nausea inducing. What the frack was he thinking?! Sweet bejesus, his performance was awful.

And then, there's PS3-era CGI. They did a great job of making me feel like I'm watching cutscenes of a God of War clone. So, less said about it, the better....

And then, there's the script. Clocking in at just over 2 hours and 7 minutes, I feel about ten to twenty minutes were edited out to help the story flow at a reasonable pace. And the film succeeds at being brisk enough not to induce yawns. The trouble is, those missing scenes probably could've served to better flesh out one or two glaringly sudden 180' turnaround in characters' behaviors and personalities. As it is, I was left wondering "Well, ain't that convenient. Weren't you an a-hole two minutes ago? Why you so nice now?"

And never mind the logic jumps that cover the plot holes large enough to swallow a pyramid.

This is painful to say, as I usually enjoy Alex Proyas' films (Dark City is still one of best films I've ever seen) but I feel he was rather out of his depth in making this one.

To add insult to injury, the whole film is capped off with a barely-there score by Marco Beltrami, an Academy Award nominee for The Hurt Locker. He phoned in this one for sure. Or did he fax it in? Who cares.

If I were to say anything kind about this film, it's that under the direction of more.... competant director, this film would've set a new benchmark in visual design. Some of the imaginative things contained in this film are quite amazing, actually, to a point where a lot of other fantasy/Sci-Fi films feel a bit staid in comparison.

But at the end of the day, it's not enough to save this one.

A regrettable 4/10. Had some potential... and was totally wasted.

 

[JKgo]

Warcraft (2016)

Spoiler: Theatrical poster

...This time, I had the thorough displeasure of watching Duncan Jones' Warcraft, starring unrecognizable Toby Kebbel, Dominic Cooper and some other blokes I couldn't really care any less even if I tried.

What a waste of two hours this was. Believe you me when I say this, Gods of Egypt is a superior film compared to this stinker. And that Alex Proyas-directed fantasy was also a certifiable turkey. This one much more so.

The words that I associate with this clunker is "Messy, Unfocused, Meandering, Dull, Head-scratching" and that's just off the top of my head. If I think a bit deeper than I'm sure there will be other choice terms that better describe this turd.

The biggest issue with this film, is that seemingly it's far too disjointed at every turn and the story has this stop-start jerkiness to it. A little more explanation, a little more exposition might've helped here, but instead, it feels like watching one of those TV mini-series special where the entire 12-episode season was condensed into a two hour long "hightlight reel."

Performances of non-CGI actors also are bad. There are a couple of glaringly wrong casting as well, one of them flip-flopping between a forced Brit accent and that of a LA resident, depending on the scene.

Speaking of which, CGI was easily the best thing about this film. You can see just where all that immense budget went into, and the depictions of orcs were really convincing. Even in motion, they look quite believable. Yes, there are "magic" effects that look off, but overall, it's not as wonky as the early trailers suggest.

To think this movie made a lot of money in China. What were they thinking?!

Anyway, I don't know whether a sequel will be greenlit, but if it goes ahead, hopefully it can only improve from here on.

3/10, solely for the impressive CGI bringing Orcs to life. Otherwise, avoid.

 

[JKgo]

The Nice Guys (2016)

Spoiler: Theatrical poster

...Shane Black's rather well known as the guy who set the template for the "buddy cops" genre with the first Lethal Weapon. And his almost entire body of work reflects that. Iron Man 3 had some of that, even if it's not readily apparent.

Out of all his prior directorial efforts, this one must be the one with most comedic elements. I laughed really hard at some of the jokes and the sight gags in this movie. Actually, more than some of the supposed comedy films of this year.

Part of that comes down to Gosling's performance as Holland March. He's easily the best thing in this movie by far. Crowe is more subdued as his eventual partner Jackson Healy, but by no means terrible. The actors have good chemistry together, which helps a lot when it's time to land some jokes involving both of them.

Shane's direction is also good here, it's snappy, quick-witted, and never dwells on one thing for too long. Nothing's been drawn out unnecessarily. As a result, movie moves along at a brisk pace, never over staying its welcome.

But it's not all good news. There's just something unsatisfactory about the movie. Humor's good, acting's fine, direction's on point, yet, it feels a bit undercooked. The central murder mystery wasn't all that, there were no clear "Big Bad" with any proper motives other than 'em money, and the resolution felt too uninspired, too flat. Also, the allegorical "theme" of the movie was too damn obvious, you can see certain plot points from miles away.

A weird beast this, then. It's funny, action set pieces are okay, perfomances are more than passable, but ultimately, not a genre must-watch.

It's a slight disappointment as a proper thriller, if you choose to look at it that way. But if you are expecting a comedy with action and thriller bits, then it works a little better.

A 6/10. Ryan Gosling as a comedian. Better believe it. 'Cuz he's good.

 

[JKgo]

Spotlight (2015)

Spoiler: Theatrical poster

...I tend to avoid biopics, or movies supposedly based on true stories, if I possess some knowledge on the subject depicted, even if in passing. Initially, I didn't want to see this film, because I sort of knew how the scandal central to this film unfolded and because of that, could guess the climax & ending. That takes the wind out of my sail, so to speak.

But, a good opportunity to see the movie for free came by my way, so I said, "Well, why the hell not?"

Let's get one thing straight first of all: this movie might be one of the weakest Best Picture Oscar winner since Crash. Make no mistake, it is an excellent, nay, exemplary piece of film making. But, was it the best film released in 2015?

I confess, I have not seen every note-worthy films of last year but, I got this sneaking suspicion that Spotlight wasn't the best American cinema had to offer.

The Best Picture award winner must be that one film showcasing the highest-tier of craftsmanship in every facet of its production. Or, at least, add an intangible but all-too-important mark in the annals of cinema. This film does neither of those things.

Alright, let's start with the problems first. It's an ensemble piece, featuring some of the most talented actors of their generations. And they possess wonderful chemistry together, no matter the pairing. But, there are one or two weak links. Mark Ruffalo, for example - in the pursuit of recreating Bostonian accent, his lips get distorted rather uncomfortably, and it's all too graphically visible on screen. It kind of detracts from his performance a lot.

And then, the script. Interactions between the characters were natural and well written, but it falls apart slightly when it comes to the scenes where journalists must act like journalists. There were moments where I wanted to cry out and say, "Oh my god. Even I can make a better rebuttal than the ones you made. Hopeless. Utterly hopeless."

Also, I should mention that, as an ensemble picture, it suffers from the Marvel-Villain-lite Syndrome. Yes, I made that up just now. What this syndrome basically is, the film spends most of its running time establishing the good guys, it hardly spends any with the bad guys and thus resulting in pretty bland/unremarkable/forgettable/not-threatening type of villain. Even though there are some lines of foreshadowing thrown in there for a good measure, nothing threatening ever happens. No tension whatsoever. No tension of failure, no tension of drama, no tension of excitement. Nothing.

Final nail in the coffin, is the score by Howard Shore. Winner of multiple Oscars himself, here he somehow ended up writing a bunch of lounge jazz that's as memorable as a fake potted plant sitting on top of your TV. It's sort of there, taking up background sound, but it might as well not be there and wouldn't make one jot of difference. Disappointing.

I'm not trying to denounce this film as terrible. On the contrary, it is, as I wrote before, an exemplary piece of filmmaking. From the cinematography, to costumes, from the set design, to acting, from relentless pacing that only lets up to take a short breather before sprinting forward again, to its slightly unsettling ending, it is a well made film in almost every sense. But it simply isn't a Best Picture Winner worthy.


You'll read about it being a good detective story, a good journalist story, a good retelling of a shocking, shameful event in the history of Christianity. All true, all valid. As long as you do not seek this film out because of its label as 2015's Best Picture, then I can honestly say, you'll find something to deeply appreciate in the two hours spent watching this movie.

8 out of 10. A good film, but not perfect.

 

[JKgo]

Midnight Special (2016)

Spoiler: Theatrical poster

...Type "misleading movie titles" in Google search, and chances are, you might run into this film. Yes, that title is very misleading, to a point where only connection it has with the movie itself is.... "night" bit. That's it.

To say I'm somewhat baffled with this movie is an understatement. I wouldn't even know where to categorize this film's genre as. Is it a road trip movie? Is it a mystery? Is it a Sci-Fi? Is it a drama? A thriller?

It's all of those, and yet, unsatisfyingly, none of those too.

Michael Shannon plays Roy Tomlyn, who, at the beginning of the film, is sought by the police for the kidnapping of an 8 year old boy named Alton. Assisting him in this endeavor is Lucas, Roy's friend. It becomes clear that it's not kidnapping at all, but some sort of rescue and the subsequent attempt at getting away. No explanation is given, no backstory, not even a morsel of what happened prior to the kidnapping itself, why a rescue was necessary.

You the viewer is supposed to figure things out as more and more tiny bits of information is revealed. Roy is taking the boy to a place, which is never specified. The boy has powers, which is never explained but eventually shown. He can only travel during the nighttime, as he causes a powerful.... event when exposed to sunlight.

It's not a Summer blockbuster type film at all. In parts, it's quite subdued and contemplative, and at times, it's muddy and simply meandering. Performances of all the actors involved are more than passable, but I felt the script was too threadbare and sparse to be.... hmm, realistic? Not sure if that's the appropriate word to use here. There is a subplot of a religious organization that takes a fair chunk of running time but disappears completely midway and is never mentioned again. What a waste of screen resources, that was.

Adam Driver and Kirsten Dunst are almost unrecognizable in their roles. Driver is totally transformed into an NSA analyst, from the bad-ass that is Kylo Ren, while Kirsten, with no makeup, looks nothing like the romcom heroines she used to portray. Still, they give solid performances, even if Driver's role seems a bit unnecessary.

Music's passable too, all atmospheric and like, quite fitting for a proper Sci-Fi, but in some scenes it feels off because of that. But it's sparsely used, and when it does, it's evocative enough.

Its strongest suit though, is its cinematography. It relies heavily on that to tell the majority of its story. And it's certainly beautifully shot and framed. In some key scenes, it even comes off.... magical. That's no mean feat, seeing the budget for this film was only $6 million.

But ultimately, I couldn't figure out why Warner Bros stamped their logo on the film itself. If it was one of their subsidiary divisions that handles indie fairs, then I'd understand but Warner Bros? Hmm. It's like, the Warner execs were sold on the premise of a Sci-Fi movie where The Big Brother aka Government is giving chase to a super powered boy, while the film makers were making a movie about a father desperately trying to save his dying son. Hmmm.....

You know what, by writing this review, I'm even more confused. I don't know where I stand with this film at all. It's well acted, beautifully shot, but also meandering, too self-serious and weakly scripted for a Sci-Fi/thriller/chase movie.

As I said before, baffling. Very baffling, indeed.

6/10 on the strength of the acting and the cinematography.

 

[Sprite]

Watched "Arrival" at the cinema last night and really enjoyed it. Compared to a lot of other first contact movies this one was actually good.

 

[Brend]

Trolls - 7/10

A happy, pleasant surprise. I seen the trailer and initially hated the look of it. If there's anything that requires the least effort and personality these days - it's over-simplified CGI. Films like The Life of Pets and The Minions using that ugly over-stylized approach to design is absolutely hideous. Trolls looked like this more than anything.

That being said, the actual movie was more intricate than I expected, the animation wasn't too bad at all and colourful as all hell. The songs were good and the plot moved along without feeling like it dragged. Not as forgettable as Storks but not up there with the likes of Shrek. A decent entry from Dreamworks.

Doctor Strange - 7/10

Another nice addition to the Marvel universe, by the numbers origin story where Cumberbatch steals the show. Like most Marvel films now, it's pretty disposable. I don't see why I'd ever watch it again.

A Streetcat Named Bob - 9/10

A great, touching story that doesn't feel like it panders the cat element too much. Tackles some hard issues those facing 'rehab' have when they try and get clean yet maintaining a family friendly image. A beautiful story with a fitting conclusion. Recommended for those wanting an endearing watch.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back 5/10

It's pretty much Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise with as little charm as possible. I really enjoyed the first movie but this was so by-the-numbers it was tragic. Character cliches and predictable plot ahoy!

Bridget Jones Baby 7/10

For those inclined to the odd chick flick - Bridget's latest movie managed to capture the magic of the first 2 quite a while back. A lot of laughs and occasionally crass, if you end up needing to watch this with your gf/wife there are much worse fates.