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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020
Yet another Woody Allen group of unhappy, neurotic, misanthropic unlikeables who cheat on each other, bluntly recite surface-level themes, and belittle the dead while he glosses over most of the consequential parts of the story only leaving behind the scraps of tawdry, tedious conversations that hardly ever feel genuine and who fucking gives a fuck? Not nearly as cynical nor unpleasant as 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 (not that it isn't also either of those things... because it is) but about one hundred thousand times less meaty compared to a film that really wasn't all that meaty to begin with. This doesn't even have a premise, a bunch of assholes just sit around and scold each other about being assholes - oh and also life is meaningless, again. K man. I'm all for some good feel-bad cinema but this shit just tries my patience. The literal only thing of note is how magnificent Gemma Jones is, otherwise this barely even qualifies as distracting. Never before has the usual Allen autopilot been *this* indifferent - the same movie he's made like ten+ times over the last two decades. And what a waste of a good Banderas...
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Bodyguard (2016) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020
Stately mixture of sentimental drama and bus-pass-bad-ass martial arts movie. Ding (Hung), a fat old man suffering from dementia, is befriended by the perky young daughter of a crook. When his various hi-jinks place her in danger from gangsters, Ding finds his award-winning kung fu skills are still there when he needs them.
The film may be a plea for consideration for dementia sufferers, but nobody watches it for that reason: people watch it for the sight of an obese man in his sixties battering the living daylights out of much younger stuntmen (much like every other recent Sammo Hung vehicle). However, the action sequences, though decent, are a long time coming, and most of the rest of the film is a slow-moving and sentimental melodrama which doesn't quite hit the spot despite decent performances from Sammo and Jacqueline Chan. (The tonal mismatch between all this and the bone-crunching, throat-slitting nature of the gangster scenes is considerable.) Fans of the big man may find this enjoyable enough to persevere with, but it's probably too slow and weird for everyone else.
The film may be a plea for consideration for dementia sufferers, but nobody watches it for that reason: people watch it for the sight of an obese man in his sixties battering the living daylights out of much younger stuntmen (much like every other recent Sammo Hung vehicle). However, the action sequences, though decent, are a long time coming, and most of the rest of the film is a slow-moving and sentimental melodrama which doesn't quite hit the spot despite decent performances from Sammo and Jacqueline Chan. (The tonal mismatch between all this and the bone-crunching, throat-slitting nature of the gangster scenes is considerable.) Fans of the big man may find this enjoyable enough to persevere with, but it's probably too slow and weird for everyone else.
Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated Faction Paradox: Of the City of the Saved... (Faction Paradox, #2) in Books
Nov 30, 2020
I didn't finish the book, but as you can only either list your books as "Want-To Read", "Currently Reading" or "Read", I went with the latter choice, as it was the only that seemed to fit even remotely. So, my review..
I try to keep an open mind for most things - meeting new people, going to see a movie or checking out a new TV series, or even when starting a new book. This book came highly recommended, the highest recommendation coming from Faction Paradox creator, Lawrence Miles. So, without even cracking the book open, it already had high expectations thrust upon it.
After five attempts at reading it, I gave up tonight! The book bored me unbelievably! Things got to be so bad that I used to help me to get to sleep the last 2 re-reading attempts.
I felt there was just too much going on, with a difficult to really get a feel for *any* of the characters in the first quarter I trudged through. After devouring Miles' FP debut novel, 'This Town Will Not Let Us Go', I thought this would be just as good; sadly, not so much.
I try to keep an open mind for most things - meeting new people, going to see a movie or checking out a new TV series, or even when starting a new book. This book came highly recommended, the highest recommendation coming from Faction Paradox creator, Lawrence Miles. So, without even cracking the book open, it already had high expectations thrust upon it.
After five attempts at reading it, I gave up tonight! The book bored me unbelievably! Things got to be so bad that I used to help me to get to sleep the last 2 re-reading attempts.
I felt there was just too much going on, with a difficult to really get a feel for *any* of the characters in the first quarter I trudged through. After devouring Miles' FP debut novel, 'This Town Will Not Let Us Go', I thought this would be just as good; sadly, not so much.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Return of the Fly (1959) in Movies
Dec 5, 2020
Its Bird, Its a Plane, No Its a Fly
Return of The Fly- im not sure if we needed a sequel to "The Fly", cause it was such a masterpiece. The good thing about this sequel that it has Vincent Price in it. It is scary and horrorfying too.
The plot: Philippe Delambre (Brett Halsey) has been wrestling with his family legacy for years, knowing that his father perished as a result of his experiments in teleportation. Though warned by his uncle Francois (Vincent Price), Philippe insists on refurbishing his father's laboratory and continuing his investigations. The idea would be bad enough on its own, but Philippe hires an assistant who calls himself Alan Hinds (David Frankham) but is actually a wanted criminal.
Bernds says his original draft of the film incorporated footage from the first Fly movie but they were not allowed to use it. He also said Vincent Price insisted on reading the script before signing on to the film. Once he did, he objected when Bernds cut down on some of his scenes for length.
You can skip this one, watch it if you seen the oringal.
The plot: Philippe Delambre (Brett Halsey) has been wrestling with his family legacy for years, knowing that his father perished as a result of his experiments in teleportation. Though warned by his uncle Francois (Vincent Price), Philippe insists on refurbishing his father's laboratory and continuing his investigations. The idea would be bad enough on its own, but Philippe hires an assistant who calls himself Alan Hinds (David Frankham) but is actually a wanted criminal.
Bernds says his original draft of the film incorporated footage from the first Fly movie but they were not allowed to use it. He also said Vincent Price insisted on reading the script before signing on to the film. Once he did, he objected when Bernds cut down on some of his scenes for length.
You can skip this one, watch it if you seen the oringal.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Rampage (2018) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
When three different animals become infected with a dangerous pathogen, a primatologist and a geneticist team up to stop them from destroying Chicago.
Lots of eyebrow action from The Rock, but even that couldn't save him from being upstaged by George the gorilla.
I've got no knowledge of the video game this is based off... but really, who needs it. Yet another film that does what you want it to. It's a solid action adventure with hints of comedy.
The parental advisory at the beginning saying there were crude gestures had me confused. After all I feel like we see that quite a lot in movies but it's never listed on the rating card at the beginning. It all makes sense once you see a giant gorilla flipping off The Rock.
A great monster movie that won't leave you disappointed. I'm almost certain that I'll be seeing this one again. My initial viewing was in 3D, there were no particularly bad parts to it in this but I certainly didn't feel like anything benefited from it.
Classic enjoyable Rock action, love Jumanji, and looking forward to Skyscraper. He's definitely on a roll.
Lots of eyebrow action from The Rock, but even that couldn't save him from being upstaged by George the gorilla.
I've got no knowledge of the video game this is based off... but really, who needs it. Yet another film that does what you want it to. It's a solid action adventure with hints of comedy.
The parental advisory at the beginning saying there were crude gestures had me confused. After all I feel like we see that quite a lot in movies but it's never listed on the rating card at the beginning. It all makes sense once you see a giant gorilla flipping off The Rock.
A great monster movie that won't leave you disappointed. I'm almost certain that I'll be seeing this one again. My initial viewing was in 3D, there were no particularly bad parts to it in this but I certainly didn't feel like anything benefited from it.
Classic enjoyable Rock action, love Jumanji, and looking forward to Skyscraper. He's definitely on a roll.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Knives Out (2019) in Movies
Sep 5, 2020
Rian Johnson is back with a bang with Knives Out, a classic Clue like murder mystery, packed with twists that will keep you on your toes, even when it seems that everything is figured out.
There's really nothing bad to say, Knives Out is a thoroughly entertaining movie. The cast for one is just stacked - Daniel Craig and Ana de Armas are the two leads here and are both great. The supporting cast features the likes of Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Christopher Plummer, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Frank Oz - it's an ensemble cast oozing with quality.
The whole film is shot beautifully, and has a gorgeous setting. It's easy to look at for sure. The plot is masterfully written as well - as mentioned, providing plenty of twists, but presented in a clever way, from multiple perspectives, with different accounts of events being told as the truth slowly unravels. The screenplay is fantastic and often funny, helped immensely by all of the cast and the strong chemistry they share.
Knives Out is definitely not one to miss, easily Rian Johnson's finest film as far as I'm concerned.
There's really nothing bad to say, Knives Out is a thoroughly entertaining movie. The cast for one is just stacked - Daniel Craig and Ana de Armas are the two leads here and are both great. The supporting cast features the likes of Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Christopher Plummer, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Frank Oz - it's an ensemble cast oozing with quality.
The whole film is shot beautifully, and has a gorgeous setting. It's easy to look at for sure. The plot is masterfully written as well - as mentioned, providing plenty of twists, but presented in a clever way, from multiple perspectives, with different accounts of events being told as the truth slowly unravels. The screenplay is fantastic and often funny, helped immensely by all of the cast and the strong chemistry they share.
Knives Out is definitely not one to miss, easily Rian Johnson's finest film as far as I'm concerned.
Horrible Histories: The Movie (2019)
5.4
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Roman teenager Atti is forced to join the Roman Army when one of his clever schemes falls foul of...
Get Frosted (Christmas Falls #3)
6.0
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Contemporary MM Sports Seasonal Romance
Amy Norman (1048 KP) rated Captive State (2019) in Movies
Jul 23, 2022
Not the usual alien movie.
It's not all over glorified action, instead it is a slow burn, centering around a small rebellion, with the feel of a government espionage/spy thriller.
Overall it felt slightly predictable but I wasn't hugely invested, so was happy to go along for the ride, and just enjoy it for what it was.
There are some acting giants here, that deliver as usual, but were given such short screen time for it to have much impact.
A couple of newbies, that I hadn't encountered, held up the leads, but unfortunately for them they weren't given much to work with, or build on for you too truly feel for them.
It certainly wasn't a bad film, it had some interesting moments but it will likely have faded from my purview within a week or two.
Don't watch if you're into all out battles with humans vs aliens going toe-to-toe, and trying to outsmart each other.
Do watch if you enjoy the slow unfolding of a spy thriller, with small doses of peril peppered throughout (and aliens just to spice it up a little).
It's not all over glorified action, instead it is a slow burn, centering around a small rebellion, with the feel of a government espionage/spy thriller.
Overall it felt slightly predictable but I wasn't hugely invested, so was happy to go along for the ride, and just enjoy it for what it was.
There are some acting giants here, that deliver as usual, but were given such short screen time for it to have much impact.
A couple of newbies, that I hadn't encountered, held up the leads, but unfortunately for them they weren't given much to work with, or build on for you too truly feel for them.
It certainly wasn't a bad film, it had some interesting moments but it will likely have faded from my purview within a week or two.
Don't watch if you're into all out battles with humans vs aliens going toe-to-toe, and trying to outsmart each other.
Do watch if you enjoy the slow unfolding of a spy thriller, with small doses of peril peppered throughout (and aliens just to spice it up a little).
David McK (3557 KP) rated Sworn Sword (The Bloody Aftermath of 1066, #1) in Books
Jan 30, 2019 (Updated Jul 9, 2023)
About a month or so ago, I was in my local Waterstones when I spotted two books both set around the time of the Norman Invasion but telling the tale but different angles: <i>Hereward</i> and this. Humming ang haaing, I eventually decided on <i>Hereward</i> and then, later, came across this novel for sale in Tesco's picking it up there.
Of the two books, I have to say - and despite a title that sounds like a bad b-movie ('"Sworn Sword: 1066: The Aftermath!" coming soon to a theatre near you!') - this is the better. Told in first person prose, this novel is from the point of view of a Norman Knight (whereas <i>Hereward</i> was from that of an Anglo-Saxon), and reminded me very much of one of the better Bernard Cornwell books in that the history covered (albeit slighlty fictionalised to fit the demands of the story) is just as interesting as the actual plot.
The first in a series of books set in the same period, I think I will be picking up more of these!
Of the two books, I have to say - and despite a title that sounds like a bad b-movie ('"Sworn Sword: 1066: The Aftermath!" coming soon to a theatre near you!') - this is the better. Told in first person prose, this novel is from the point of view of a Norman Knight (whereas <i>Hereward</i> was from that of an Anglo-Saxon), and reminded me very much of one of the better Bernard Cornwell books in that the history covered (albeit slighlty fictionalised to fit the demands of the story) is just as interesting as the actual plot.
The first in a series of books set in the same period, I think I will be picking up more of these!