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

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I watched Disclosure Day on an IMAX screen this past Sunday, and then I rewatched Saving Private Ryan (Bluray) at home.

Disclosure Day is good and entertaining, as Spielberg still knows how to get a hold of the audience until the very end, but of his alien-themed movies, this is barely better than War of the Worlds, and nowhere near as iconic as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. I will give it 7/10 and will probably rewatch it when it hits the streaming services.

Now, there is a detail that could dramatically change what you feel about the movie if you play along:
After the truth comes out (after all the chasing) the weather report lady/improvised news anchor played by Emily Blunt is about to convey to the audience the message whispered to her by the alien, then the screen goes black. That can completely change the tone of the movie, depending on what you imagine the message is.
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Now, on rewatching Saving Private Ryan, the gap from peak Spielberg to good Spielberg is considerable! (Good Spielberg is still superior to 80% of films out there though.)

While the middle still drags a bit between the explosive D-Day assault and final battle, I paid closer attention to corporal Upham's running subplot, and its really a narrative hidden in plain sight with its own arc and resolution.

Shakespeare in Love winning the Oscar for best picture that year is one of the biggest travesties in the history of the award... Anyways, Saving Private Ryan is 9.5/10, and my second favorite Spielberg movie.
 
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TheCracker
Great film. If you enjoyed The Martian, you'll probably enjoy this too. It has a similar upbeat feel to it. 👍
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Ryan Gosling Thumbs Up GIF by Project Hail Mary
 
Today I rewatched Jurassic Park for the umpteenth time it seems (streaming on HBO Max). And while is always a fun watch, it's not aging well, and today I noticed so many continuity errors that I just had a good laugh: Lex the self-proclaimed "hacker" that doesn't hack anything, and no, navigating a fictional 3D UI slower than molasses is NOT hacking. Ever heard about a command prompt? Also, the park is bone dry after the storm the next morning; Ellie and Hammond talk in low voices while seated and separated about 10 ft away, and then Ellie reaches for ice cream that clearly was nowhere near her table's end, etc. And, other that some memorable lines here and there, dialog and its delivery in general is bad. Also, the advances of Malcom towards Ellie are just creepy: He should have croaked, like in the book.

But then I remembered how exciting it was in a theater all those years back, and man, that's the greatness of Spielberg, the cinema experience that grabs you from beginning to end, and that timeless score by John Williams. So, 8/10 for the memories, and all silliness is forgiven, but I'd love a full remake (the newer movies don't count).
 
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Finally watched The Last King of Scotland. Just revolved around the dumb choices James Mcavoy's character made from the start.

I never read the novel. So I don't know if the book is better than the movie.
 
Just finished watching Citizen Vigilante, and here's my honest review: idea 9/10, execution 2/10.

I've not heard of Uwe Boll before, nor seen any of his films (the only one I'd heard of was In The Name of The King and didn't watch it cos of all the bad reviews). Citizen Vigilante is a very low-budget film, and it shows, it really shows! I found it to be badly made in nearly all aspects, and the first hour was a real slog to get through. However, the last third did pick up slightly, and, as an Englishman from the UK, the finale was extremely cathartic to watch. Also, the message at the end genuinely choked me up. I would not recommend this film to anyone other than those who are absolutely appalled by 'a certain UK scandal' and are looking for some kind of release.
 
The Nice Guys (2016). Liked it a lot, which was no surprise. A Crowe/Gosling film from Shane Black is right in the centre of my sweet spot. A pity it was a relative bomb so there’s not much hope for a sequel even with all that star power.

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Watched the 16:9 from open matte version of The Matrix tonight, and was totally blown away by it. The colour timing was absolutely astonishing: I think it was the original one done for film in the cinema and not altered at all. I can't describe just how incredibly natural it looked compared to all the re-releases which have been digitally filtered into oblivion. Also, very nice to see extra material on screen, which was hidden by the regular widescreen versions black bars.

Here's a little look at what I'm talking about:
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In that video it’s described as a digital file put together by a bedroom editor and not an official open matte.

Also the video shows the open mad and widescreen versions overlayed but the widescreen isn’t formatted correctly and aligned to make the open matte seem like there is more info. Which from what I can see there isn’t much.

However I do love watching open matte presentations of films as it give a peek into the film making process. Having watched the Bladerunner and Ghostbusters ones it’s quite interesting.

I agree on colour timing. Choices done by DP’s and Directors can be odd at times but unless it comes from the Director of DP I take any alterations by fans to be just their opinion. However some studios liver tinkering and some directors are worse than others.

Cameron, Jackson & Lucas are the three big offenders of repeated messing with their films. Recently Fincher did it with the UHD of Se7en using digital to alter windows and doorways. I think the colour timing also got messed with which fans were not happy with too.
 
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Also the video shows the open mad and widescreen versions overlayed but the widescreen isn’t formatted correctly and aligned to make the open matte seem like there is more info. Which from what I can see there isn’t much.
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It differs from shot to shot. Sometimes you have the full open matte, and other times it is slightly cropped, but not fully like with the old pan and scan technique.

However, it was a different experience, and I enjoyed it very much indeed.
 
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Spirited Away (2001) - Studio Ghibli / Hayao Miyazaki

This is about the 5th time I've watched the film and it is only growing in my estimation. This time around I have the benefit of watching a great deal more of SG's output, and this certainly stands out as among the very best they did.

The soundtrack is particularly evocative, but it's really the sheer imagination and surrealism that blows me away.

It's also quite crazy to consider that it is already 25 years old, but it stands out as a timeless masterpiece.
 
05XR8
Project Hail Mary.

Good watch. Funny movie. Clever take on other life forms.
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Watched this last night. Very good movie indeed. A feel-good film, highly recommended. Great soundtrack too. 9.10, IMHO.
 
Watching Shelter starring Statham and it’s too funny watching a car chase with two SUVs. Statham in a police Volvo and a bad guy chasing him in an Audi Q5 from like 2010.
 
I’ve just watched Gran Turismo: The Movie because my local free-to-view TV broadcaster had it on air the other day, and TBH, I think I can shamelessly say that I made the right decision in not going to buy a ticket to watch it in a cinema. It really is quite bad in overall execution, with cinematography (or the lighting, mood, and camera angles) and, to a lesser extent, the computer-generated effects being the only saving grace.

If you’re interested in reading my preliminary thoughts about the movie more, the dialogues are just plain uncaptivating. I don’t understand why after the fatal crash at the Nordschleife, the second question a just-waking-from-unconsciousness Jann asks is “Did the spectator die?” It just sounds unnatural, and something like “How badly is he injured?” followed by a morose silence and then something like “He couldn’t be saved, but we’re in contact with his family…” from Jack Salter would’ve been more smooth and creates better tension. And there are inconsistencies left unattended in the plot that may have the audience go “huh?” Why is it that Jack tells the GT Academy graduates in the briefing before Le Mans that every driver is only going for 4 hours per stint instead of the normal 3, and yet once we reach the race’s midway Antonio is seen driving non-stop beyond that limit and Jann is in the car from the 18th (or I forgot when) hour all the way to the finish? There is also a crapload of artificial tension (races where Jann is on target by hundredths of a second, I honestly can’t think of one race where it doesn’t end like that), and a crapload of fabricated antagonism (rivals wanting you to die on track is kinda taking it a bit too far already, but the pit crew being all demeaning and trash-talking? I haven’t been to a pit garage IRL, but really?)

I dunno what this movie is trying to be though. If it’s trying to capture the grit Jann went through from gamer to racer, then I suppose it’s not realistic enough. If it’s meant to be a motivational message for kids aspiring greatness and dreams, then I guess more needs to be done on depicting Jann’s learning in his journey. Either way, I treated it as an unserious piece of work, and with that attitude, the more I progress into the movie, the less disappointment I feel as a GT fan. :lol:

As a movie, Ford v Ferrari all the way. This, I think, is even worse than Ferrari: The Movie.
 
Minions and Monsters was a good watch. Graphics are realistic. Don’t know if it’s for small kids though. No side jokes like Shrek or clever words like a Disney movie. More like, “They did that?”, “Wait, what?”. Eye openers that had me and daughter looking at each other and saying, “You see(not saw) that?!”.

We weren’t offended. Just more like it was pushing things to old Tom & Jerry levels of showing the violent act all the way through. Lots of butt play. 🤔 Not like Ren and Stimpy, but we were saying, “what the what?!!”, as things were focused on happening in real time.

Anyway, interesting references and cameos and if people have been wanting Minions, they’ve got them. I’d expect if there any new toys they’d sell well.
 
05XR8
Minions and Monsters was a good watch. Graphics are realistic. Don’t know if it’s for small kids though. No side jokes like Shrek or clever words like a Disney movie. More like, “They did that?”, “Wait, what?”. Eye openers that had me and daughter looking at each other and saying, “You see(not saw) that?!”.

We weren’t offended. Just more like it was pushing things to old Tom & Jerry levels of showing the violent act all the way through. Lots of butt play. 🤔 Not like Ren and Stimpy, but we were saying, “what the what?!!”, as things were focused on happening in real time.

Anyway, interesting references and cameos and if people have been wanting Minions, they’ve got them. I’d expect if there any new toys they’d sell well.
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I watched M&Ms in the theater and I enjoyed all the references to old cinema and Lovecraftian mythos (!) If the jokes were more physical and risque, well, the franchise has been with us since 2010, so it's growing with its original audience.

Last night, after hearing about Sam Neill's passing, I streamed Bicentennial Man, where he carries the movie about 1/3 of its length, until Robin Williams finally puts his face on the robot he plays. The story is rather bland and risk free all around, and its themes about sentience and humanity are better explored in contemporaries such as Star Trek: The Next Generation and Mr. Data, and the later A.I. by Steven Spielberg.

Many of the special effects hold well for the time, but the soundtrack by the great James Horner is just a recycled variation of the "Gift of Thistle" theme from Braveheart. He also did that with Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan and Aliens II.
 
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Caught up on a few I have on backlog.

Masters of the Universe - What a shambles of a film. Not funny, not charming, not good. 4/10 and that’s been generous as I have a soft spot for He-Man.

The Furious - not bad but not great. Some of the fight scenes are good but they just go on too long. Also you just don’t get the feels from the characters so it just ends up with lots of action and nothing more. 6/10

Mortal Combat 2 - again not a terrible film but it just jumps into it with not much buildup. The way it’s made also makes it obvious the higher paid actors Urban and Sanada just show up for shortish periods of time to save on money. Fight scenes are mediocre and as such it’s worth the watch if a fan of the original film and will be served better off the back of it. 6/10
 
I saw The Odyssey. I opted for a 70mm screening, as the only IMAX screenings were booked out. Personally, I don't get the hype for 70mm, The Odyssey isn't a great "tech demo" for that.

I knew all the main story beats (thanks Dan Snow), so I missed out on the tension of going in blind. That being said, I really enjoyed it. Robert Pattinson and Mr F3!N were perfectly despicable in the roles, and I feel like Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and Telemicus (Tom Holland) were properly fleshed out. My only gripe is that there should've been more infighting between the suitors.

All in all, I give it a 9/10.
 
It was hyped to hell but definitely lived up to it. Only complaints are that it felt a bit rushed at times.

I also found the "contreversy" to be hilarious because this could totally be interpreted as a right wing alpha male pic just as easily as they think it is "woke" (it is completely neutral on modern social commentary).

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I alps saw The Odyssey this weekend. I enjoyed it a lot. Once the opening prologue, which lasted about 15-20 mins was over the film moved like a freight train. It didn't feel at all close to it's run time. I'd highly recommend it to anyone unless you really dislike the genre/subject material. The one thing I will say, the Cyclops scenes did make me want a KFC for some reason.
 
Yesterday watched about two thirds of The Prestige (because I get sleepy at my age). Anyways, I've just seen this once in theaters, but never again in home media, and as far as I recall, I was more entertained/moved by the Illusionist that came out the same year.

I will post my review after I finish it today, but my early impression is that Hugh Jackman commands the movie with the better role and acting here, as Christian Bale's antics feel too close to Batman Begins, which came out a year earlier. The rest of the acting crew is solid: Michael Caine, Scarlett Johannson, David Bowie, and Andy Serkis, to name a few.

After this I will probably rewatch Interstellar and Oppenheimer, before I go to see The Odyssey.
 
Since we're talking Christopher Nolan films, i caught Oppenheimer last week when it was shown on network TV (BBC?).

Enjoyed it but wasn't convinced it was as good as i'd been led to believe. A lot of the scenes in the first 1/3rd of the film were edited very tightly, almost like the trailer for film, rather than a film itself. The story was cut in that way that moves back and forth in time and whilst it wasn't distracting, or even confusing as it can be with many films that utilise this technique, it did serve to split up some of the post-Trinity Test section of his story which to be honest i felt were a little boring. I know him being discredited for what he achieved under so much pressure is what makes his story a story worth telling, but i found it all a bit dry. Had i been a captive audience in the cinema i'd have been okay with it, but at home at what was a fairly late hour i was easily distracted.
 
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TheCracker
Since we're talking Christopher Nolan films, i caught Oppenheimer last week when it was shown on network TV (BBC?).

Enjoyed it but wasn't convinced it was as good as i'd been led to believe. A lot of the scenes in the first 1/3rd of the film were edited very tightly, almost like the trailer for film, rather than a film itself. The story was cut in that way that moves back and forth in time and whilst it wasn't distracting, or even confusing as it can be with many films that utilise this technique, it did serve to split up some of the post-Trinity Test section of his story which to be honest i felt were a little boring. I know him being discredited for what he achieved under so much pressure is what makes his story a story worth telling, but i found it all a bit dry. Had i been a captive audience in the cinema i'd have been okay with it, but at home at what was a fairly late hour i was easily distracted.
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That's not far off how I feel about that film. It is mostly well acted, it has its moments, and it's certainly not a bad film. But having seen it once, I don't think I'll ever have much desire or need to see it again. There could have been more feeling in some of the emotional/dramatic scenes.
 
Nacho Libre
Yesterday watched about two thirds of The Prestige (because I get sleepy at my age). Anyways, I've just seen this once in theaters, but never again in home media, and as far as I recall, I was more entertained/moved by the Illusionist that came out the same year.

I will post my review after I finish it today, but my early impression is that Hugh Jackman commands the movie with the better role and acting here, as Christian Bale's antics feel too close to Batman Begins, which came out a year earlier. The rest of the acting crew is solid: Michael Caine, Scarlett Johannson, David Bowie, and Andy Serkis, to name a few.

After this I will probably rewatch Interstellar and Oppenheimer, before I go to see The Odyssey.
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I'd be interesed if your opinion of Bale's performance changes once you've (re)watched the entire film.
 
Saw the new Masters of The Universe (2026) last night. It was a fun film, not especially great, but worth a watch (free on Prime right now).
 
Just watched Masters of the Universe. Too much corny jokes. Some had me laugh out loud. Couldn’t fault any of the graphics and costumes. A bit of moral of the story stuff that should have been kept to the tv show, but it’s a kids movie. Bad casting for Evil-Lyn. Should have switched the actors of the Sorceress and Evil-Lyn.

Me and my wife gave it an: “It’s alright.”

Now, my wife put on the Dolphin Lundgren version and said I’m watching it.
 

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