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Kelly Knows (95 KP) rated Ready Player One (2018) in Movies
Jun 27, 2019
Press Start to Join The Rebellion
A truly excellent movie for the whole family to enjoy. Ready Player One has all of the elements required for a movie to truly excel in the telling of its story. The action is epic, the heroes are cool, and oh boy the fun and laughs you'll have along the way. The voice acting cast was well handled, but is probably the main reason I did not give this one full points. The studio could have gotten higher level actors to sell the more emotional plot points. Olivia Cooke and Tye Sheridan still do a masterful job with their roles, but some lines were delivered with a Spy Kids level of corniness. In truth, you have to hunt for flaws in this movie as if they were easter eggs themselves. Parzival, and the rest of the hunters on the quest, weave a beautiful tapestry of tropes that blends modern gaming escapism with social revolution. Not all the characters are super deep, nor do they have to be. You will find yourself cheering for the good guys, and jeering the bad. That's the beauty of this movie. It is a perfect chance to enjoy a thrilling tale of adventure, romance, and world domination, without having to buckle in for an Oscar level drama. The best of this movie however, and the reason I would ultimately recommend it to just about anyone is the sheer beauty and power of the visual effects, and the warm nostalgia that permeates every aspect of the plot. Pop culture references that are sure to make you grin are peppered throughout as the story unfolds. Any gamer, movie buff, rebel at heart, or really just about anyone who has ever had any kind of electronic fun since the 60s will find a note in the proverbial song meant just for them. Get your game face on, this is a good one.
Phillip McSween (751 KP) rated The Hunt for Red October (1990) in Movies
Jul 15, 2020
Boring
I spent a minute trying to figure out a logline for this movie and I couldn’t quite get a grasp on how to put it into words. Something about a submarine led by a defective Soviet commander headed for American soil and special agent Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) having to hunt him down. That’s the best I can do.
Acting: 10
Performances were strong across the board and is not where the movie fell flat in the slightest. Alec Baldwin delivers as Ryan with a sharp charisma that makes the movie just slightly more bearable. I was also impressed with Sean Connery’s role as villain Marko Ramius. Definitely the type of guy you love to hate and Connery did a solid job of bringing him to life.
Beginning: 8
Wasn’t 100% bought in after the first ten minutes, but enough happened to make me want to watch more. While I have seen way better movies in my day, I have definitely seen way worse beginnings too. It gives you a bit of story while creating excitement and intrigue for the story.
Characters: 5
The acting was fine. The characters, on the other hand, bored the absolute hell out of me. None of their storylines or backgrounds compelled me to ultimately care about the story as a whole. How many times have I said bad characters breed bad movies? Couldn’t be truer here.
Cinematography/Visuals: 5
This movie relies a lot on smoke and mirrors. First you see a submarine, then it disappears. You see a missile, then it’s gone. After awhile the parlor trick gets old and so does the story. It felt like their action sequences suffered from a lower budget.
Conflict: 5
The action was mediocre at best. For this to be a movie about dueling submarines, there certainly aren’t a lot of dueling submarines. I can’t think of a better way to say this: This movie is really boring. There is way too much close-quarters talk and not enough actually happening.
Entertainment Value: 6
For every solid moment The Hunt For Red October brings, it gives you more scenes of people just sitting around discussing strategy. The high points were few and far between. It’s not a total dumpster fire, but I was certainly hoping for more.
Memorability: 4
Pace: 2
Plot: 10
Resolution: 2
Overall: 57
Contrary to what you might think, I hate shitting on movies. Sometimes, as is the case for The Hunt For Red October, it’s unavoidable. With such a stellar cast, I was hoping for more.
Acting: 10
Performances were strong across the board and is not where the movie fell flat in the slightest. Alec Baldwin delivers as Ryan with a sharp charisma that makes the movie just slightly more bearable. I was also impressed with Sean Connery’s role as villain Marko Ramius. Definitely the type of guy you love to hate and Connery did a solid job of bringing him to life.
Beginning: 8
Wasn’t 100% bought in after the first ten minutes, but enough happened to make me want to watch more. While I have seen way better movies in my day, I have definitely seen way worse beginnings too. It gives you a bit of story while creating excitement and intrigue for the story.
Characters: 5
The acting was fine. The characters, on the other hand, bored the absolute hell out of me. None of their storylines or backgrounds compelled me to ultimately care about the story as a whole. How many times have I said bad characters breed bad movies? Couldn’t be truer here.
Cinematography/Visuals: 5
This movie relies a lot on smoke and mirrors. First you see a submarine, then it disappears. You see a missile, then it’s gone. After awhile the parlor trick gets old and so does the story. It felt like their action sequences suffered from a lower budget.
Conflict: 5
The action was mediocre at best. For this to be a movie about dueling submarines, there certainly aren’t a lot of dueling submarines. I can’t think of a better way to say this: This movie is really boring. There is way too much close-quarters talk and not enough actually happening.
Entertainment Value: 6
For every solid moment The Hunt For Red October brings, it gives you more scenes of people just sitting around discussing strategy. The high points were few and far between. It’s not a total dumpster fire, but I was certainly hoping for more.
Memorability: 4
Pace: 2
Plot: 10
Resolution: 2
Overall: 57
Contrary to what you might think, I hate shitting on movies. Sometimes, as is the case for The Hunt For Red October, it’s unavoidable. With such a stellar cast, I was hoping for more.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated The New Mutants (2020) in Movies
Sep 9, 2020
Character-driven storyline rather than wham-bam Marvel action (1 more)
Illyana Rasputin - great character
"Glass" - Half Full.
So, I've heard a lot of bad word-of-mouth about this X-Men flick, but otherwise knew very little about it. As such, I went in with low expectations. And although there is nothing remotely novel about the movie, I didn't think it was too bad at all.
The plot: So, my review title suggests that the plot is very closely aligned to M Night Shymalan's "Glass" - his "Split" sequel from last year. A Victorian-style hospital-cum-prison similarly forms the claustrophobic setting for the majority of the movie. This is where the troubled teen Dani Moonstar (Blu Hunt) is taken after being suddenly orphaned in dramatic and mysterious circumstances. The only doctor present, Dr Reyes (Alice Braga), says she is being held there for her own - and society's safety - while her puberty-driven mutant tendencies emerge.
Locked away with her is Rahne (Maisie Williams), Charlie (Sam Guthrie), 'hot' Brazilian hunk Roberto (Henry Zaga) and the gloriously named Illyana Rasputin (Anya-Taylor Joy). Danni's arrival sparks a serious of escalating events that literally lead to all hell breaking loose.
Blu is the warmest colour: What made this Marvel movie stand-out for me, from the normal glass-shattering standard, is that it is predominantly a character-led piece. We spend quite a bit of time (for a Marvel movie) in building relationships between the teens, including a sweet lesbian-coming-out 'will they/won't they' tension between Rahne and Danni.
I was also very much attracted to the performance of Blu Hunt. I admit that this might not just be due to her interesting performance (the indigenous / LBGT angle is intriguing) but because she reminded me strongly of a girl at school who I had a mad crush on and completely failed to get off with! Blu is actually native American (from the Lakota tribe). Given she is the lead and has to carry the movie, it's a surprise that she is only about 5th in the billing: I'd have been upset with the director (Josh "A Fault in our Stars" Boone) about that.
Maisie Williams is also effective in this, and gets top billing, although arguably Anya-Taylor-Joy has emerged - with her wonderful "Emma" - as the bigger star since filming.
But it's Taylor-Joy's Rasputin that really stands out as the most interesting of the characters on show. There's a scene where she goes into action - eyes blazing and 'daemon' hovering - that would make a splendid PC screensaver! Stuff the "Black Widow" standalone movie: I'd go watch Illyana Rasputin kicking ass in her own follow-up movie! (Of course, Anya Taylor-Joy was also prominent in "Glass", which unfortunately cements the similarities between the films.)
The movie has had a long and tortuous path to its final release, being made waaaaaayyyyy back in 2017. As an X-Men movie, it's appeared after the X-Men universe finally imploded (with the disappointing whimper of "Dark Phoenix"). So in that sense it's a bit of a ghost of a flick.
Overall, it's a mixed bag. There's a sense of great familiarity with the contents - particularly with the strong echoes of "Glass", actually filmed after this one (but with 'inversion', who knows anymore?). Even the "Indian legend" that runs through the movie swaps a bear for a wolf but ends with a familiar, rather groan-inducing, motto. (It was used in "Tomorrowland" I think?)
But the young cast are attractive and entertained me for the (pleasantly short) running time. It's not going to win any prizes for originality, or indeed anything else. But it really wasn't the X-Men bust I expected it to be.
(For the full graphical review, please check out One Mann's Movies here - https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2020/09/08/x-men-the-new-mutants-2020-glass-half-full/ . Thanks.)
The plot: So, my review title suggests that the plot is very closely aligned to M Night Shymalan's "Glass" - his "Split" sequel from last year. A Victorian-style hospital-cum-prison similarly forms the claustrophobic setting for the majority of the movie. This is where the troubled teen Dani Moonstar (Blu Hunt) is taken after being suddenly orphaned in dramatic and mysterious circumstances. The only doctor present, Dr Reyes (Alice Braga), says she is being held there for her own - and society's safety - while her puberty-driven mutant tendencies emerge.
Locked away with her is Rahne (Maisie Williams), Charlie (Sam Guthrie), 'hot' Brazilian hunk Roberto (Henry Zaga) and the gloriously named Illyana Rasputin (Anya-Taylor Joy). Danni's arrival sparks a serious of escalating events that literally lead to all hell breaking loose.
Blu is the warmest colour: What made this Marvel movie stand-out for me, from the normal glass-shattering standard, is that it is predominantly a character-led piece. We spend quite a bit of time (for a Marvel movie) in building relationships between the teens, including a sweet lesbian-coming-out 'will they/won't they' tension between Rahne and Danni.
I was also very much attracted to the performance of Blu Hunt. I admit that this might not just be due to her interesting performance (the indigenous / LBGT angle is intriguing) but because she reminded me strongly of a girl at school who I had a mad crush on and completely failed to get off with! Blu is actually native American (from the Lakota tribe). Given she is the lead and has to carry the movie, it's a surprise that she is only about 5th in the billing: I'd have been upset with the director (Josh "A Fault in our Stars" Boone) about that.
Maisie Williams is also effective in this, and gets top billing, although arguably Anya-Taylor-Joy has emerged - with her wonderful "Emma" - as the bigger star since filming.
But it's Taylor-Joy's Rasputin that really stands out as the most interesting of the characters on show. There's a scene where she goes into action - eyes blazing and 'daemon' hovering - that would make a splendid PC screensaver! Stuff the "Black Widow" standalone movie: I'd go watch Illyana Rasputin kicking ass in her own follow-up movie! (Of course, Anya Taylor-Joy was also prominent in "Glass", which unfortunately cements the similarities between the films.)
The movie has had a long and tortuous path to its final release, being made waaaaaayyyyy back in 2017. As an X-Men movie, it's appeared after the X-Men universe finally imploded (with the disappointing whimper of "Dark Phoenix"). So in that sense it's a bit of a ghost of a flick.
Overall, it's a mixed bag. There's a sense of great familiarity with the contents - particularly with the strong echoes of "Glass", actually filmed after this one (but with 'inversion', who knows anymore?). Even the "Indian legend" that runs through the movie swaps a bear for a wolf but ends with a familiar, rather groan-inducing, motto. (It was used in "Tomorrowland" I think?)
But the young cast are attractive and entertained me for the (pleasantly short) running time. It's not going to win any prizes for originality, or indeed anything else. But it really wasn't the X-Men bust I expected it to be.
(For the full graphical review, please check out One Mann's Movies here - https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2020/09/08/x-men-the-new-mutants-2020-glass-half-full/ . Thanks.)
Awix (3310 KP) rated Alita: Battle Angel (2019) in Movies
Feb 8, 2019
Another case of 'visionary film-makers' getting together to produce something visually lavish but also very derivative and hobbled by a goosey-goosey-gander plot. Cyber-surgeon and part-time bounty hunter (you can tell it's a comic book movie) finds a brain in a can and installs it in his dead daughter's robotic body; she turns out to be Alita, who looks like Gollum's better groomed little sister but fights like a CGI'd version of Bruce Lee. Alita tries bounty hunting, also has a go at roller-boogie, falls in love (somewhat unconvincingly). Some good actors are saddled with unrewarding parts.
Looks good (as you would expect) and the action sequences are impressive (ditto) but it's not especially involving and the shapeless story in particular is a problem. It all feels a bit cool and mechanical, without much of a sense of humour - the one really funny moment is unintentional. Not an outright bad movie but spending $200 million on an adaptation of a relatively obscure comic book with someone equally little-known in the title role is a mistake, unless you end up with a film that people are really going to get excited about. Alita is not that movie: it's just another good-looking but vacuous comic-book film.
Looks good (as you would expect) and the action sequences are impressive (ditto) but it's not especially involving and the shapeless story in particular is a problem. It all feels a bit cool and mechanical, without much of a sense of humour - the one really funny moment is unintentional. Not an outright bad movie but spending $200 million on an adaptation of a relatively obscure comic book with someone equally little-known in the title role is a mistake, unless you end up with a film that people are really going to get excited about. Alita is not that movie: it's just another good-looking but vacuous comic-book film.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Godzilla Vs Megaguirus (2000) in Movies
Mar 9, 2018 (Updated Mar 9, 2018)
Excitable first Godzilla movie of the 21st century has some decent special effects but a more than usually ridiculous plot. Elite anti-monster force known as, and I kid you not, the 'G-Graspers' plan to kill Godzilla by filling him full of black holes; for an elite anti-monster force they seem very unconcerned when weapons test causes an infestation of giant predatory dragonflies known as Meganulons (a call-back to the original Rodan movie in the 1950s). The dragonflies proceed to flood Tokyo (quite how they manage this is not clear) and feed on Godzilla's irradiated mutant blood, which is bound to end badly.
One thing you have to say is that Godzilla Vs Megaguirus is full of big and wacky ideas, but the human characters are unappealing, the plot is very comic-booky even for a Godzilla film (and not in a good way), and the movie can't seem to figure out which of the monsters is supposed to be the good guy. The film drags on for another fifteen minutes after the climactic battle, too. The monster suits and special effects are not too bad, but the same is true of all the Godzilla films from around this point in time, and those don't have the weird flaws of this one.
One thing you have to say is that Godzilla Vs Megaguirus is full of big and wacky ideas, but the human characters are unappealing, the plot is very comic-booky even for a Godzilla film (and not in a good way), and the movie can't seem to figure out which of the monsters is supposed to be the good guy. The film drags on for another fifteen minutes after the climactic battle, too. The monster suits and special effects are not too bad, but the same is true of all the Godzilla films from around this point in time, and those don't have the weird flaws of this one.
Kim Pook (101 KP) rated Bad Boys for Life (2020) in Movies
Feb 19, 2020
They're baaack!!!
Contains spoilers, click to show
Me and my husband watched this at the cinema yesterday and I was pleasantly surprised. After such a long wait for this I half expected it to be disaapointing, but it was far from it. Shortly after the film starts you think it's the end of the road of one of the bad boys as he gets shot multiple times and ends up fighting for his life. Forward 6 months and you think it's his funeral but in actual fact it's a wedding and the character is there enjoying it, and you breathe a sigh of relief. The whole movie is fast paced, full of comedy at every chance they get and a lot more action than the previous movies. Only downside was the death of a certain character, I won't tell you who but in my husbands words "that was bang out of order". We find out quite quickly into the movie that Marcus had hung up his badge and retired and It's this death that forces marcus and mike back together doing what they do best. A very entertaining movie from beginning to end and one to add to the buy list.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992) in Movies
May 27, 2020 (Updated Aug 2, 2020)
Second Hellraiser sequel and the first no-two-ways-about-it lousy one. Chief bondage demon Pinhead has been stripped of the limitations constraining his unpleasant recreational activities, which he likes, but also turned into a piece of interior decoration, which he doesn't. He endeavours to get himself released while a plucky young journalist tries to figure out why people keep turning up skinned or lacerated by flying chains.
A Hellraiser movie made with an American sensibility and for a mainstream American audience - one almost gets the sense the writers think they're making a Nightmare on Elm Street movie. The first half, with Pinhead stuck in a pillar, is not too bad, but they have to let him out eventually at which point the film's IQ and sense of restraint both vanish. Too much lazy gore and silly action (rubbish Cenobites wandering around New York City fighting the police). Doug Bradley just about saves the movie from being completely worthless, as he manages to chew the scenery even while being part of it; Terry Farrell was better in Star Trek. The occasional interesting idea or image but the film's main achievement is making the first two look better than they actually are.
A Hellraiser movie made with an American sensibility and for a mainstream American audience - one almost gets the sense the writers think they're making a Nightmare on Elm Street movie. The first half, with Pinhead stuck in a pillar, is not too bad, but they have to let him out eventually at which point the film's IQ and sense of restraint both vanish. Too much lazy gore and silly action (rubbish Cenobites wandering around New York City fighting the police). Doug Bradley just about saves the movie from being completely worthless, as he manages to chew the scenery even while being part of it; Terry Farrell was better in Star Trek. The occasional interesting idea or image but the film's main achievement is making the first two look better than they actually are.
Joshua Wright (3 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) in Movies
Jan 18, 2018
Luke Skywalker (3 more)
Rey and Kylo Dynamic
Great Space Battles
Some of the Kylo evolution
Not enough Luke (4 more)
Finn romance and side story BLAH
Why Destroy your helmet Kylo
Snoke
Not enough Light saber battles
Savage Review
Contains spoilers, click to show
I loved a lot of things about this movie and didn't like a lot. First off LUKE SKYWALKER BOOM and that cameo of Yoda was amazing. Second the dynamic between Rey and Kylo I really liked its gonna be great to see where they go from here with the good and bad. The space battle where some of my favorites and when their were light saber action it was top notch. I liked certain things about the evolution of Kylo him taking control and being the new top dog. Now to what I hated the Finn romance and side story I liked where they were going with that but they executed it poorly and made it a complete bore and took you out of the movie. Why did Kylo destroy his helmet if you want to be like your grandfather he wears the mask it made you bad ass and it makes you less whiny. I get your conflicted but your tantrums are sometimes too much. Dont get me started on Snoke he feels like a wasted character and I hope they redeem him in the next one somehow. There was barely any light saber action. I liked the small amount in the movie but this is star wars we need those epic Light Saber moments. Now Back to Luke I loved the ending with him it was absolutely brilliant but at the same time I wanted more from him he never left the Island which I understand from the story point of view but I wanted him to battle Kylo in a Epic Battle.
Disney Karaoke: Descendants
Entertainment and Music
App
Karaoke-along with the Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay from Disney's Descendants! • Sing-along to 9...
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Blade Runner 2049 (2017) in Movies
Oct 9, 2017 (Updated Oct 13, 2017)
One of the most visually stunning movies I have ever seen. (8 more)
Awesome production design.
Brilliant direction.
Beautiful cinematography.
Solid performances.
Incredible SFX.
Great score.
Good use of lighting.
Well written script and dialogue.
Villeneuve Strikes Gold Yet Again
Wow, this movie is a feast for your eyeballs. I won't go on about the visuals too much, as I'm sure that you have already heard how good looking this movie is, all I'll say is this; the movie deserves to be seen in the biggest screen possible. What is even better though, is unlike a Zack Snyder film, Blade Runner 2049 has more to it than just surface level, pretty visuals.
Somehow, Denis Villeneuve has achieved the impossible. He has directed a movie every year for the last five years and they have all been absolutely incredible, also he has managed to pull off a fantastic sequel to a 35 year old classic.
I loved almost every part of this movie. The direction was masterful to watch, with the movie being moved along at a deliberate, purposeful pace, rather than rushing through from action scene to action scene. The sets in this were out of this world, some props were really cool to look at and the use of mostly practical backdrops made a huge difference as opposed to using an abundance of green screen. Rodger Deakins' cinematography was astonishing, you could honestly screen grab an image from any time stamp in this movie and it would work perfectly as a beautiful desktop background.
I also thought that the performances were fantastic and everyone did a great job. Although Ford doesn't appear until the movie's third act, when he does he is great. Gosling commands his leading man role as we've come to expect him to. Robin Wright and Dave Bautista were the other standouts for me in terms of their performances.
The more technical elements of the movie worked perfectly in tandem with the story being told as well. The special effects were beautifully implemented and the lighting in the movie added a whole other layer of visual depth as well. The score also worked for the tone that the movie was aiming to achieve. The script was also solid and tightly woven.
The only thing I will say is; if you are going into the film expecting a sci-fi action blockbuster, you will come out disappointed. This is a slow paced, sci-fi noir, detective story. There are a few sparse moments of action and it does feel impactful when it occurs, but it is not the focus of the movie at all.
The one small element that bothered me was Jared Leto's performance. He took me out of the movie and was the only cast member who didn't feel like a real character within this world. Maybe I'm just being biased, as Jared Leto has always annoyed me in general, but for me he was the one bad part of this near masterpiece. Thankfully he doesn't get that much screen time, so it could have been worse. Also, the fact that David Bowie was originally cast in that role adds an extra sprinkle of salt in the wound.
Unfortunately, much like the original movie, this hasn't done great at the box office on its opening weekend. If like me, you are sick of mindless sequel cash cows that are total garbage such as Jurassic World, go and see this movie and vote with your wallet. If you don't, we are telling Hollywood that as a collective, we don't want sequels with depth and integrity, we want dumb, rushed, forgettable nonsense and that is what we will end up getting. Support this movie for the betterment of filmmaking and cinema, even if you haven't seen the original.
Overall I loved the movie, but I can see why people are finding it divisive. For me though, the vast majority of this movie's parts were absolutely fantastic and come together to form a journey that you must experience for yourself.
Somehow, Denis Villeneuve has achieved the impossible. He has directed a movie every year for the last five years and they have all been absolutely incredible, also he has managed to pull off a fantastic sequel to a 35 year old classic.
I loved almost every part of this movie. The direction was masterful to watch, with the movie being moved along at a deliberate, purposeful pace, rather than rushing through from action scene to action scene. The sets in this were out of this world, some props were really cool to look at and the use of mostly practical backdrops made a huge difference as opposed to using an abundance of green screen. Rodger Deakins' cinematography was astonishing, you could honestly screen grab an image from any time stamp in this movie and it would work perfectly as a beautiful desktop background.
I also thought that the performances were fantastic and everyone did a great job. Although Ford doesn't appear until the movie's third act, when he does he is great. Gosling commands his leading man role as we've come to expect him to. Robin Wright and Dave Bautista were the other standouts for me in terms of their performances.
The more technical elements of the movie worked perfectly in tandem with the story being told as well. The special effects were beautifully implemented and the lighting in the movie added a whole other layer of visual depth as well. The score also worked for the tone that the movie was aiming to achieve. The script was also solid and tightly woven.
The only thing I will say is; if you are going into the film expecting a sci-fi action blockbuster, you will come out disappointed. This is a slow paced, sci-fi noir, detective story. There are a few sparse moments of action and it does feel impactful when it occurs, but it is not the focus of the movie at all.
The one small element that bothered me was Jared Leto's performance. He took me out of the movie and was the only cast member who didn't feel like a real character within this world. Maybe I'm just being biased, as Jared Leto has always annoyed me in general, but for me he was the one bad part of this near masterpiece. Thankfully he doesn't get that much screen time, so it could have been worse. Also, the fact that David Bowie was originally cast in that role adds an extra sprinkle of salt in the wound.
Unfortunately, much like the original movie, this hasn't done great at the box office on its opening weekend. If like me, you are sick of mindless sequel cash cows that are total garbage such as Jurassic World, go and see this movie and vote with your wallet. If you don't, we are telling Hollywood that as a collective, we don't want sequels with depth and integrity, we want dumb, rushed, forgettable nonsense and that is what we will end up getting. Support this movie for the betterment of filmmaking and cinema, even if you haven't seen the original.
Overall I loved the movie, but I can see why people are finding it divisive. For me though, the vast majority of this movie's parts were absolutely fantastic and come together to form a journey that you must experience for yourself.