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

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I watched Split the other day, it was a really good file. Excelent acting by James McAvoy, and Anna Taylor-Joy played her part really well.

Unfortuantely I already knew the twist, although it wasn't a twist that impacted the story told in the film, only what was to come and that the film was connected to Unbreakable. The film is based around a man with 23 confirmed personalities, 2 of which are dangerous and not allowed to step into the light (manifest themselves), but as you'd expect that's what happens and they believe a 24th personality called The Beast is coming to feast on 3 kidnapped girls. It's a suspensful film but there's quite a bit of humour in there too, it works together well and the story kept me hooked.
 
Watched a trio of what I refer to as "gimmick thrillers"... films that usually revolve around some sort of contrived premise as the hook. Y'know, stuff like Cube. These movies usually aren't the greatest, but I'm still drawn to them for whatever reason.

Fermat's Room - Cute premise that's essentially Saw + A Numberphile episode... starts off decent, but gets pretty silly and soap opera-esque towards the end. Rating: Bad

Exam - The premise of a single-question exam driving its takers mad isn't as intriguing as it sounds (which isn't super intriguing to begin with), and the conclusion is laughably dumb... and maybe even wrong, depending on how you interpret the exam's question. Mildly entertaining at points, but mostly a waste of time. Rating: Bad

The Box - Rip out the 2/3rds of this movie that is just straight up garbage, and you just might have a very subpar Twilight Zone episode on your hands. Rating: Awful


I also rewatched the two Steve Jobs biopics, so might as well rate 'em.

Jobs - For every nice little nod to some factual aspect of Jobs' life, there's a needless liberty or bastardization made... and Kutcher's performance is a bit of a mixed bag. But at the end of the day, it is entertainingly watchable Hollywood rendition of the Steve Jobs story that gets enough right to be worth a watch. Rating: Good

Steve Jobs - Forgoing the whole origin story route that Jobs and Pirates of Silicon Valley take, this movie instead lets us learn about Steve through a series of fictitious whirlwind conversations/arguments set before key product announcements. The end result perhaps exaggerates the negative aspects of Jobs' personality, but also humanizes him much better than the previous biopic. Rating: Great
 
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Driver: Ryan Gosling as a stunt driver. Bad guy for hire. Small cast and wasn't thrilling or dramatic.

The Shape of Water: I thought it was supposed to be a prequel to Hellboy. Can't remember the story of the water man, from that movie. Was watchable, but almost a waste of good sets, cars and filming.

I'm 0 for 2 today. Might be 0 for 3, as i'm watching The Last Movie Star(Burt Reynolds' last movie?).
 
Just watched Bohemian Rhapsody. Amazing movie! Very emotional, actors are great, sound is obviously perfect. In the beginning everything felt too rushed, but that is the only flaw for me.
 
Pzvejas
Hello!
Yesterday I re watched film Blow. It's my favorite film of all time.
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I've watched Blow many times and it's probably in my top 30 movies of all time, Depp's finest acting for sure.

Blow along with other movies from 2001 like The Fellowship of the Ring, Harry Potter, Donnie Darko, Mulholland Drive, Ocean's Eleven, A Knight's Tale, The Royal Tenenbaums, A.I., Vanilla Sky, Monster's Ball, Rat Race, Waking Life, Evil Woman and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within made it my all-time favorite year for movies.

Pzvejas
Maybe can somebody recommend a similar film?
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This one is similar but not as well written, and it's a lot more flimsy and goes more for comedy than Blow's direction of showing the dramatic and harsh realities of being a criminal.

 
I saw The Prestige a few nights ago. It was amazing! I think Christopher Nolan does not know how to make a bad movie, because every movie that I've seen by him has been absolutely fantastic.
 
I've watched A Star is Born. The movie really touched my heart:( .Lady Gaga was so incredible... Her vioce..omg will give you chills.:)
 
Watched A Serbian Film last night. Heard and read plenty of comments about it being really, really messed up and set my expectations thereafter. A major let down considering how disturbing people found it to be. Weak.

I personally don't care about underlying theme(s) and was a massive waste of time and cringy. There were only two scenes that were truly messed up but it felt they were only made for the sake of shock value.
 
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Deadpool 2
👍👍

Wow!

What a fantastic follow-up to a fantastic first film. It's just as funny, just as irreverent, and it doesn't rehash the first movie, which is so great in a sequel. After finishing the movie, something else triggered me to wonder about the themes. What was this movie trying to say? Well, it has one, it's a great theme (a serious one), and it nails that theme via two, not just one, main characters and the theme song.

The theme of the movie was to not let your past define your future. You have an opportunity to make something beautiful out of the ashes of your history

Very very tight writing, acting, special effects. The total package.
 
Spider-Man into the Spiderverse.


4/5, rather than, 10/10

Started strong. Finished Strong. One scene put me to sleep. Music is awesome. Animation is superb. The Villains were cool. Love where this could and is going, for future movies.

Watched El Recluso/The Inmate on Netflix. 10/10.

Ex-Marine is security for a Texas judge. Has to find where the judge's kidnapped daughter is being held.

I was just flicking past shows and didn't even read the synopsis til after the first episode. If tu espanol es muy feo, like mine, use the Spanish language on, English subtitles on. The English dubbing is horrible(it was default). Loved it. It's one of those awesome sleeper shows.
 
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Just caught Unstoppable on tv. Pretty good action, but a bit predictable. Also camera shots jump around constantly, which got annoying fast.

I'd watch it again, and I will, because I recorded it.
 
Watched Mission: Impossible Fallout. And what a letdown it was.

Not as in it being a bad movie, no, it was an excellent old school action film, full of great stunts and tightly-choreographed set pieces.
No, my issue is with all the trailers I've watched - the best action set pieces and the "twist" were all given away in the various trailers, so there wasn't much besides that. Letdown in that regard - those who cut trailers for this film need a good lesson on how not to cut trailers.... :boggled:
 
John Carpenter's The Thing.

Set in and around a US Antarctic research outpost, the team stationed there are thrown head long into a game of survival as an otherworldly threat lurks in the shadows.

There have been comparisons made between this and Ridley Scott's Alien which was released three years prior, but the way Carpenter's tale (an adaptation of John W. Campbell's 1938 novel Who Goes There?) is spun, makes for a more intriguing affair. It never got the recognition it deserved at the time due to Spielberg's E.T. romping it at the box office, but whenever the topic of favourite films is brought up, among others, I always throw this one's hat into the ring.

Be it a horrific scene or a "what's in the shadow?" sequence, the film is a great fusion of horror and sci-fi. The dialogue is laced with potency and viability for a group individuals trying to keep it together under such duress, while the score is a wonderful eerie pulse beat that further racks up the sense of doom and paranoia seaming throughout the film.

The cast are superb, a solid assembly line of actors led by Kurt Russell, whilst the effects used around the characters get the right amount of impact needed. All supplemented by a conclusion which stands as a fitting allegory to what's gone before.

5/5
 
JKgo
Watched Mission: Impossible Fallout. And what a letdown it was.

Not as in it being a bad movie, no, it was an excellent old school action film, full of great stunts and tightly-choreographed set pieces.
No, my issue is with all the trailers I've watched - the best action set pieces and the "twist" were all given away in the various trailers, so there wasn't much besides that. Letdown in that regard - those who cut trailers for this film need a good lesson on how not to cut trailers.... :boggled:
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This is the biggest problem with modern films..... I think it was venom where the trailer shows a large quantity of the third act.... The fallout trailer has a scene where Tom is driving a lorry when an approaching lorry jacknifes suggesting an impending accident.... It is incredibly suggestive. It's not in the finished film (I like a good hoodwink)!

Back to Fallout, The Shape Of Water was my favourite film of the year, fallout has caused me a great trouble with my 'best of the year' award. Picked up the bluray and it's still brilliant second time around. The bluray is a good purchase actually. Three separate commentary tracks, Cruise and McQ (their commentary on rogue nation is a great listen but they clearly have a crush on Rebecca Ferguson!), composer commentary (plus a music only track) and a commentary track with McQ and editor Eddie Hamilton which made me more excited than is healthy..... It's a defo 5/5 for me.

Went and saw 'Free Solo' at the cinema, Alex Honnold mounting an attempt on climbing a 3200ft slab of granite with only a bag of chalk.... I think it's a difficult film for some, I took my parents who liked Alex but could still couldn't understand why he didn't want to take any ropes..... I race mountain bikes and it was enthralling... I was never scared unlike others because I understood that he isn't reckless, he's doing an incredibly dangerous act as safely as he can. Certainly an incredible experience to watch but I felt it could have been edited down to give the free solo attempt more time to be absorbed by the audience. I really liked it. 4/5
 
Just got back from Bumblebee

Was fine but a bit too boring. It's an anti bay movie, where the action is few and far between but with a decent enough story that has heart. Haillee Steinfield was amazing, and John Cena works as the comic relief (movie was kinda self aware). It still focuses far too much on the humans and honestly -- I couldn't care less, so the movie fell flat for me. I wouldn't recommend it to be honest, but it still is much better than whatever the heck that last Transformers was. 6/10
 
Watched Into the Spider-Verse as my last movie for 2018. Enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. The art style is the most unique that I've ever seen for any movie, and I think that the 'comic book come to life's aesthetic was absolutely nailed.

The soundtrack, while featuring songs that are not my usual cup of tea, actually manage to blend extremely well with the atmosphere, and made me smile because Marvel decided to do something different.

The characterisation was the make-or-break aspect, as is for any superhero movie. Before this movie came out, my thoughts on Miles Morales being the next Spiderman was that, as long as Peter Parker sticks around, then he can be placed in a separate universe. After watching the movie though, I think that Miles is a worthy replacement. Sure he won't come with a memetic theme song, and it is going to be ultimately tough to market him in the same way, but he is possibly Brian Bendis' best work. He is unlike all the other replacements that Bendis has created in that, he has the true essence of a hero, and that is massive personal hardships and flaws that a hero must overcome.

I'm using this analogy because you guys will be the only ones to understand it: If Brian Bendis is the Hermann Tilke of Marvel creative, then Miles Morales must be the Spa-Francorchamps; well handled, and modernised to stay fresh without being detrimental to the legacy. 9/10.
 
How to Train Your Dragon Hidden World 5/10

Not as good as the first two. The bad guy, read like the Bond villain from Skyfall.
Only got started in the 3rd act. Visuals, for the "Hidden World", are awesome. Has an Avatar feel, but would have been cool to spend more time there.

Anyway, I'd advise to pass and wait for it on Stanflix.
 
Watched BlacKkKlansman the other night, I thought it was truly great. It's kind of a bla-- no, that would be the wrong word in this particular case - dark comedy, I thought it was just going to be half lazy 'ha ha the KKK is dumb' commentary, as in that scene in Django Unchained, and half serious, right up until the
screening of Birth of a Nation (which I initially thought was a spoof film-within-a-film, like Nation's Pride in Inglourious Basterds, because it was just so nasty) and then the real footage
at the end. I mean, it was still part serious and part mocking, but the balance was massively redressed by the last third or so. I love films that subvert themselves at the last minute like that, but I can honestly say I can't remember the last time I was moved like that watching a film. It's a brilliant reminder that progress should never be taken for granted, we've come a long way as a society but we're never far from losing it all.
 
Brawl in Cell Block 99. 8/10

Starred Vince Vaughn, as a drug courier, in pick up gone bad. Gore and violence.

A surprisingly, entertaining story.

Only thing I didn't like, was the music. Not because of the genre, but because it seemed like the producer's nephew, was allowed to piece it together.
 
Birdboy: The Lost Children
(Psiconautas)



This one is darkly beautiful. Blending that Miyazaki-like wonderment with a dark, imaginative streak that calls to mind another Spanish import, Pan's Labyrinth... only this is rendered in a very basic art-style that is at once Goth, noir, cutesy and bleak. The symbolism is dense, and not all of the story is spoonfed to the audience. All of the interwoven subplots have a beginning and an end, but whether they're satisfactory or coherent is a matter of debate.

And let's just say: A cartoon featuring drug addiction, demonic possession, murder (including the murder of children), torture, dismemberment, immolation and death isn't something you want to show kids. But if you feel like watching something part-Lovecraftian, part-Maus and part-Mad Max, but with a Miyazaki-like spiritualism and a (sort of) happy (?) ending, this fits the bill.

9/10. Last point held up because of structural narrative issues... but damn did it deserve those awards.
 
I watched Venom as my last movie of 2018. I rate it as 7/10
I thoroughly enjoyed even though it being a critical bomb. It didnt go deep enough in the personal struggles of Eddie Brock, but there is enough potential for a better sequel, now that the origin story is out of the way.
 
Just got out of Bumblebee. It's the transformers film I wanted eleven years ago.... Ultimately it's a fun romp as Hailee Steinfeld gets a new doggie that happens to be a shape shifting alien robot who she goes on an adventure with.

Some well choreographed action that despite the cybertron battle scene at the beginning avoids the 21st century penchant for wholesale destruction making the action infinitely more gripping.

The characters are a little bit cookie cutter but everything is so neatly assembled that the cracks are barely noticeable.

Travis Knight directs, his second directorial feature after the dreamy Kubo and the Two Strings but he has been running the Laika (Boxtrolls, Coraline) animation studio since it's inception. That experience is there on the screen and also in Christina Hodson's script, Bumblebee oozes confidence in itself.

A cracking time at the cinema, the 80's setting aids in this somewhat but Bumblebee feels like it is timeless and a film I will be happy to have on rotation..... If I get around to making a top 10 of 2018 list I think bumblebee might sneak in at the last minute. I really liked it. 4/5.
 
Given Bohemian Rhapsody took various platitudes at the golden globes last night I thought I'd share a comment about it that made me chuckle.

"Bohemian Rhapsody is a badly written film in which the characters argue over how bad each others writing is"

I really enjoyed the film..... But it's total waffle....
 
Knocked off both Aquaman and Spider-Man: ITSV the past two weekends. One I liked much more than the other.

That sells Aquaman a little short, however. I thought it was good for what it is, and I applaud DC for finally shedding the angsty-all-the-time downer atmosphere Snyder is so one-note over. It's cheesy at times, sure, and some of the jokes feel very MCU-esque, but it still feels hopeful, has some solid set pieces, and is exploding with colour. That's what a comic-book movie should be, IMO.

But wow, Into the Spider-Verse. I appreciate a well-resolved art style — that's why Cuphead remains one of my absolute favourite games — and ITSV manages to feel familiar and yet completely new at the same time. There's so many happy surprises your eyes catch during the film, that I can't wait to watch it again. Even though this is the intro into this world, it's one that feels lived-in, no matter the characters. The villain's drive to do what they do feels earned too, although...

I think a little more time could've been spent on the alternate Vanessa and son's negative reactions to his destructive nature to drive home that they would've left in any universe. As is, it felt more like an echo of what had happened, a memory flashing on screen, than a clear statement on the inevitability of it all.

Nevermind it being the best animated movie of the year — yeah, I'll give it the nod over Incredibles 2 — it sits alongside Black Panther for me as the best superhero movie of 2018. Certainly better than the 2005-feeling Venom, although to that movie's credit, it wasn't the worst I saw in theatres this year: that dubious honour goes to Jurassic World 2. Woof.
 

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