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Die Hard (1988)
Die Hard (1988)
1988 | Action
Could there be a better action movie? Don't think so...
When you first heard about Bruce Willis being in an action movie, your first thought had to be "Oh, no! Not the star of Moonlighting" and "Blind Date"! Kind of similar to Michael Keaton in Batman or Heath Ledger as The Joker.

The movie is one of a very few that helped define the modern action genre and propelled Bruce Willis to the complete dickhead he is today ?. He is very believable as John McClane, the everyman who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The cat and mouse he eventually plays with the common thieves led by the menacing, perfect Alan Rickman has hardly been equaled.

The sequels eventually got a little (or a lot) stale, but the first film is an action classic and one of my faves!
  
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The Marinated Meeple (1853 KP) May 24, 2018

you didn't mention that it's a Christmas film!

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Andy R (6 KP) rated Shazam! (2019) in Movies

Oct 17, 2019  
Shazam! (2019)
Shazam! (2019)
2019 | Action, Sci-Fi
Funny, I mean very funny the total premise of the film is amusing and it plays on it alot (2 more)
Story is quite good and characters go on quite an arc
Supporting characters are excellent and are probably what keeps the film going and make it enjoyable
Probably plays on the honour a bit too much which makes the action take a back seat. (1 more)
Film takes quite a while to get going
Good but not brilliant
In the past comic book movies could be deemed as being to serious(batman) but this has changed recently with films like deaspool. Shazam going down this approach with this film being basically a comedy the action takes a back seat. To me the film relays too much on the houmor but the supporting cast and good story make the film quite enjoyable although it does take a little while to get going
  
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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) created a post

Dec 20, 2019 (Updated Dec 29, 2019)  
All of next week, expect for the 25th which i will talk about later. Ill be taking a little break. To spend time with family for the holidays.

On christmas Ill be reviewing:
1. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
2. Batman Returns
3. Die Hard 2

These reviews will be a special gift from me, to all of you. I could of not done it without all of you. The people who follow me, the people who like my reviews and the people who comment on my reviews. So thank you, to the ones who have supported me and help me on this journey. So please if you can like my reviews that im doing on christmas, that will make my christmas.

Ill be back on the 30th, so to all happy holidays, merry christmas and have a nice time with the ones that you love and family.

-Matthew
     
Show all 4 comments.
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Diva (60 KP) Dec 20, 2019

Best wishes to you for a very Merry Christmas!

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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) Dec 26, 2019

Thank you, and to all a merry christmas

Man of Steel (2013)
Man of Steel (2013)
2013 | Action, Sci-Fi
"KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!"

Oh, wait, wrong version of that character!

This is Zack Snyders reboot of the Superman story; basically an origin story for The Man of Steel and setting out is stall pretty early with the absolutely bonkers scene where Russell Crowe's Jor-El rides a dragon as the planet Krypton (a very different take on said planet than in the Christopher Reeve films) begins to die.

It also ends with the massive destruction in Metropolis - to be fair, a consequence of which is shown in the following DC film Batman Vs Superman - and with a shocking scene where this version of Superman commits an action it is almost impossible to imagine his Silver Age counterpoint to do.

Michael Shannon's Zod comes across as less campy than Terence Stamps, while - in this version, at least - the reason Lois Lane is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist *is* actually shown.
  
The Suicide Squad (2021)
The Suicide Squad (2021)
2021 | Action, Comedy, Crime
Hmmm ... not Suicide Squad, but 'The Suicide Squad'.

Like Aliens and not Alien.

A sort-of sequel to the earlier movie (here, Suicide Squad), with some of the same characters - most noticeably, Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn - although it is by no means necessary to have watched that earlier movie.

This is also a fair bit bloodier/messier than I remember said earlier movie being, and has absolutely no mention of either Batman or the Joker (unless you count Quinn's aversion to personalised number plates? See The Jokers car ...) to distract from the plot here, which sees the group of super-villains (all with a tracker and bomb implanted in their head) all sent on a mission to the island of Corto Maltese to destroy a Nazi-era prison and laboratory.

Of the 2 movies, I think this is the better.

It's definitely a James Gunn film through and through!
  
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Nick Beaty (70 KP) rated Joker (2019) in Movies

Nov 25, 2019 (Updated Nov 26, 2019)  
Joker (2019)
Joker (2019)
2019 | Crime, Drama
And the Oscar goes to...
First things first, you can not start a review of Joker without mentioning the lead performance from Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck. I would say he is probably an evens favourite to take home the best actor Oscar at next years ceremony.

As for the movie itself, Tod Phillips take on Joker almost feels like a tribute to early Martin Scorsese movies, with the most obvious being Taxi Driver & The King of Comedy, both starring Robert De Niro who also appears here. This is certainly not a bad thing as they are brilliant pieces of cinema, that will stand the test of time. As will Joker in my opinion for it's excellent cinematography & gritty authenticity, I think people will still be talking about this movie for many years to come.

There are a few very slight flaws that I could point out. The first being that because it is so Scorsese like, for me it loses the feeling of being set in Gotham city and just feels very much like we are in New York city. Secondly the Wayne's and Alfred are very much portrayed as the bad guys in this movie, in my opinion I felt myself siding with Arthur/Joker a little too much maybe, which makes you lose all sympathy for the reason Batman became the Dark Knight in the first place. Last but not least the very controversial choice of adding a Gary Glitter song at a pivotal point of the movie, is a strange choice to say the least.

Overall Joker is an exceptional character study of a very disturbed individual with many mental health issues, add to that a superb performance by Joaquin Phoenix and I think you have a movie that will only get better with time and become a genre classic. With the huge box office success, I just hope DC keep this grim, very true to life approach for their future Batman projects.
  
Batman: Detective Comics, Volume 6: Fall of the Batmen
Batman: Detective Comics, Volume 6: Fall of the Batmen
James Tynion IV | 2018 | Comics & Graphic Novels, Crime, Mystery
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b>OMG!</b> Seriously?!? <i>* one more time *</i> <b>OMG!</b> That volume's ending was off the ever-lovin' Feels scale! I knew it was coming (Yaay! Browsin' on the interwebs!), but still, the death of [Spoiler] packed a lot of emotion as well as distaste towards [Spoiler - Part Deux] for not following B-Man's direction or that of the team as a whole!

And, I would like to correct my statement in the other two reviews, that this was the final book of Tynion's 'TEC run. There is, in fact, one last volume, VOL. 8: BATMAN ETERNAL, which I bought digitally the night before, and I will be tackling that one tonight in what has been a great ride, full of fun and excitement, helping to remind that Batman is still cool (despite all of Tom King's efforts)!

In my reviews, I always try to acknowledge the artist(s), whether good or not so good. In this case, there were two Joe Bennett (did the first couple of the arc), followed by Miguel Mendonça, winding down with Jesus Merina (he was on the finale issue of "Fall of the Batmen"), and finishing up with Philippe Briones (handled the epilogue issue, "Knights Fall"). Oh, and Eddy Barrows worked on the last book in this volume, DETECTIVE ANNUAL #2, which I skimmed over, as it was a retread of Clayface's origin/beginnings. But, yeah, those artists were on fire! Such grand attention to detail, facial expressions, and brilliant use of shadows! They are all names I will be keeping an eye out for going forward!

All in all, this was a truly memorable, and emotional, story arc. It was another winner for James Tynion IV, but come on, they were all winning arcs, as far as I'm concerned! And that, my loyal readers (are there really that many who genuinely follow my reviews? I dunno, but I am still going to go that phrasing), is that! Peace!