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Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
2004 | Action, Sci-Fi
Amazing performances, especially by Alfred Molina as Doc Oc. Best storyline of the Raimu series. (0 more)
A little dated...already.. no thanks in part to the modern Marvel universe. (0 more)
One of the best pre-universe Marvel flicks
  
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Dave Franco recommended Boogie Nights (1997) in Movies (curated)

 
Boogie Nights (1997)
Boogie Nights (1997)
1997 | Comedy, Drama

"Paul Thomas Anderson made a movie about the porn industry that feels smart and unique and appeals to all audiences, whether it be the toughest film critics or people who just want to go to the movies to be entertained. Thereโ€™s so many great scenes in the movie, like Alfred Molina and the fire poppers. I just love this whole movie."

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Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
2004 | Action, Sci-Fi
Toby maguire (1 more)
Kristen dunst
In my opinion probably not only the best spider - man sequel also the best spider - man movie ever made. from the plot taken from amazing spider - man issue 50 spider - man no more with added doctor octopuss plus Alfred molina as otto octaivus is better villain than the green goblin and then there's the subway train fight one of the best scenes in the movie. Overall good sequel
  
Identity (2003)
Identity (2003)
2003 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Who Can You Trust
Idenity- is a very underrated horror film. It has a good cast, a good plot and a good twist at the end. Its psycholoigcal, suspenseful, thrilling, scary and twisted.

The Plot: When a vicious storm breaks out in the Nevada desert, 10 people seek refuge in an isolated motel. At the same time, a serial killer (Pruitt Taylor Vince) under the care of psychiatrist Doctor Mallick (Alfred Molina) -- who has just found the killer's revealing journal -- awaits execution for murdering a group of motel guests. When the storm-stranded travelers realize they are being killed off one by one, limo driver Ed Dakota (John Cusack) bids to stay alive and reveal the murderer's identity.

Its a really good film.
  
Identity (2003)
Identity (2003)
2003 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Sadly Predictable
This is old-dark-house stuff. A group of people stay at a motel and start dying. My first complaint: I don't like gore. To me it's a good indicator that the people who made the film don't think they have a strong enough plot-line to engage people.
It's not over-board in this film, but there's more than I am comfortable with.
It's not a bad film, and it ticks along quite nicely ,with all the usual, 'we've got to get this guy','we have to stick together' stuff but the trouble is it is usual: seen before in a hundred other films. Eventually the filmakers paint themselves into a corner from where they can only head for an ending that is weak and predictable - although I'm not sure what ending wouldn't have been for this.

A good, strong cast including Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, Alfred Molina, Jake Busey,and Rebecca De Mornay, class acts all, sadly let down by the material.
  
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
2004 | Action, Sci-Fi
The second of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films is a shining example of a comic book sequel outshining it's predecessor. Everything is better, the set pieces, the characters, the effects, and the stakes are higher.

Spider-Man 2 owes a lot to Alfred Molina. His performance as Otto Octavius, and later, Doctor Octopus is pure villainous perfection, whilst lending the character a sympathetic undertone. Spider-Man has a fantastic rogues gallery to chooses from, and Doc Ock is one of the more complicated ones. This movie does the character justice.
Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, J.K. Simmons and Rosemary Harris all return from the first film and all cement their positions in movie history as these beloved comic characters.

The effects look a little dated by today's standards, but they're still more than passable, and another great score by Danny Elfman is the cherry on top.
Spider-Man 2 is both a strong sequel, and a strong comic book adaption.
  
Species (1995)
Species (1995)
1995 | Sci-Fi
Ahh Species. A film I loved to watch when I was a young teen for...research purposes...
It's a bit rubbish really though isn't it? Watching it again now, it's pretty much a bunch of characters talking their way through a manhunt, strung together by regular moments of nudity.
It's suitably corny, boasts some terrible CGI (effects that may have been good back in the 90s, I honestly don't really remember) but in spite of all this, it's still pretty entertaining.

It's cast boasts the likes of Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, Marg Helgenberger, Forest Whitaker, Michael Madsen, even a young Michelle Williams...it's pretty stacked. Natasha Henstridge of course plays the creature, and gives the role a sense of empowerment rather than exploitation.
The rubber suit aesthetic of the alien is pretty awesome (in the parts where it's not haunting CGI) and it has a pretty decent music score.

I fully see why a lot of people consider Species to be trashy, but honestly, it's a fun slice of 90s (as fuck) sci-fi horror. Enjoy it for what it is and just pretend the sequels don't exist.
  
Chocolat (2000)
Chocolat (2000)
2000 | Comedy, Romance
Chocolate is like some ancient Mayan magic that cures bigotry delivered by globetrotting, all-knowing hooded messengersโ€ฆ or some shit? Lol idek just imagine taking any of this dumb shit seriously, couldn't be me. Spoof level of this sort of pure sap Oscar bait, like the full product of one of Kirk Lazarus' ๐˜›๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ trailers. Binoche is beyond annoying as one of those one-dimensional, overly-effervescent 'Mary Sue' (I shudder to even use that term after the Star Wars fanboys sucked it of all its meaning) types - I'm truthfully shocked they didn't cast Julia Roberts here lmao. Part unintentionally comical (Alfred Molina brutally murdering a chocolate assortment display with a letter opener), part irresistibly sweet - much like a confectionary itself (kudos to Dench and Depp), all brainless silliness (just have to wade through a lot of inauthentic syrup to get to the good stuff - which still ultimately isn't enough). Why was this genre of film ever an unironic fad? Still convinced the only reason this was made was for Peter Stormare to be able to successfully use every accent known to man in movies. So it's such a shame that with all this considered it ends up being just watchable.
  
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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Maverick (1994) in Movies

Jul 14, 2020 (Updated Jul 14, 2020)  
Maverick (1994)
Maverick (1994)
1994 | Action, Comedy, Western
Play Your Cards Right
Maverick- is a funny entertaining western with action, poker and adventure. Richard Donner does it once again.

The plot: This film update of the "Maverick" TV series finds the title cardsharp (Mel Gibson) hoping to join a poker contest with an impressive payoff. In order to enter, Maverick must first put up a large cash sum. He scams hopeful contestants Annabelle (Jodie Foster) and Angel (Alfred Molina) in a preliminary card game to win the money he needs, making enemies of both players. While trying to evade Annabelle and Angel, the crafty Maverick realizes a cunning marshal (James Garner) is also on his tail.

Many cameo appearances by Western film actors, country music stars and other actors. Including Danny Glover, Hal Ketchum, Corey Feldman, Read Morgan, Steve Kahan, Art LaFleur, Leo Gordon, Denver Pyle, Robert Fuller, Doug McClure, Henry Darrow, William Smith, Charles Dierkop, William Marshall, Dennis Fimple, Bert Remsen and Margot Kidder.

Danny Glover's cameo appearance references Donner's Lethal Weapon film series starring Glover and Gibson as cop partners. Their meeting in Maverick sees them share a moment of recognition, complete with Lethal Weapon music, and as he leaves, Glover says Roger Murtaugh's catchphrase: "I'm getting too old for this shit."

Country singers also cameo including Carlene Carter, Waylon Jennings, Kathy Mattea, Reba McEntire, Clint Black, Vince Gill and Janis Gill.

Its a funny entertaining western. A must watch.
  
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
2004 | Action, Sci-Fi
Tobey maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-man Alfred molina as Doc Ock Rosemary harris as Aunt May Jk simmons as J.Jonah jameson The train scene The direction The story The action scenes (0 more)
Can be corny at times (0 more)
"There's a hero in all of us"
One of the finest sequels ever made and still counted amongst the greatest superhero flicks in existence, Spider-Man 2 is a remarkable follow-up to its already-impressive predecessor that skilfully builds upon the solid foundation provided by the first film, presents significant upgrades in each filmmaking aspect and beautifully balances all its elements to succeed as not just a de-facto standard of its genre but also as one of the best films of its year.

Set two years after the events of the first film, the story of Spider-Man 2 finds Peter Parker struggling to balance his personal life & his obligations as Spider-Man. His love interest is engaged to someone else, his grades have been steadily declining and he also seems to be losing his powers. Meanwhile, a brilliant scientist named Dr. Otto Octavius transforms into a supervillain with four robotic tentacles fused to his spine after his effort to sustain a nuclear fusion reaction goes horribly wrong.

Directed by Sam Raimi, Spider-Man 2 is a far more mature effort from him in comparison to his previous venture and presents the director in sublime form for this sequel picks up the story right where it was left off the last time despite the 2 years span, progresses the arc of its reprising characters amazingly well while giving a proper introduction to the new ones, and also does an outstanding job in balancing its storytelling elements with moments of action in a seamless manner, due to which everything about this sequel just works.

Alvin Sargent's screenplay is worthy of praise as well for the story takes a darker approach than the last time yet packs in enough humour to prevent it from becoming too bleak, and although the cheesiness of the first chapter isn't reduced, the narrative flow is much more stream-lined than before. Production design team comes up with bigger, more refined set pieces, Cinematography preserves the vibrant camerawork but has a firmer grip on it this time while Editing is definitely one of its strongest aspects for there isn't a dull moment in the picture.

Visual effects is much improved as well and by not overdoing its CGI elements, it keeps the artificiality of its universe at bay for the most part. Sure a number of moments are over-the-top but most of them still fall under the realm of on-screen believability. Last but not the least, Danny Elfman delivers again with a splendid soundtrack that stays true to the original film's score, works as a wonderfully evolved successor, and captures the darker tone with finesse just like it did the last time. Even the existing songs used in the picture are nicely chosen & help compliment the respective sequences.

Coming to the performances, Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco & J.K. Simmons return to reprise their respective roles of Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, Harry Osborn & J. Jonah Jameson and do a better job than before. Maguire builds up on his earlier input to impress once again and what he lacks in star presence, he makes up for it by chipping in a complex performance. Simmons is hilarious as before, Dunst & Franco are still on base level but it's Alfred Molina who impresses the most in what is a sympathetic rendition of Doc Ock, thus making him a classic foe in every way.

On an overall scale, Spider-Man 2 delivers everything one can expect from a sequel. It goes bigger, better & more action-packed than before yet stays completely true to its origin, plus finishes on a high with enough open choices for where it can be headed in later instalments, something that Sony failed to take advantage of. Sam Raimi has weaved a magical web yet again that tightly grasps on to every necessary ingredient to come up with an incredibly fun, highly enjoyable, wildly entertaining & thoroughly satisfying extravaganza that promises yet another high-flying, web-sligning roller-coaster ride and effortlessly delivers it.