Search

Search only in certain items:

RED (2010)
RED (2010)
2010 | Action, Adventure, Comedy
8
7.9 (45 Ratings)
Movie Rating
John Malkovich and Helen Mirren (0 more)
Bruce Willis is the same guy he always is in films. (0 more)
Feel like this has been underappreciated
I really find this funny! I'm a huge fan of John Malkovich too, which is coming from someone that had seen Con Air about 10 times before realizing he is Cyrus the Virus!! (Fantastic actor!) Helen Mirren isn't your usual Older British lady either, she's elegant, classy and DEADLY AND BELIEVABLE. It's the right mixture of action and comedy would definitely recommend.
  
40x40

Ben Foster recommended All That Jazz (1979) in Movies (curated)

 
All That Jazz (1979)
All That Jazz (1979)
1979 | Drama, Musical, Sci-Fi
8.5 (4 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I think I’ve seen it five times in the past two months. I can’t stop watching that picture. The way they edited that — the dramatic scenes have as much musicality as the dance numbers, but it’s completely naturalistic. A man facing his own death; he’s creating his own end. He’s riffing on Lenny Bruce, riffing on his own material, his need to connect, his love of women, and his own mortality and relationship to family. It’s a staggering film. It’s Bob Fosse’s “See ya, and goodnight.”"

Source
  
Army of Darkness (1992)
Army of Darkness (1992)
1992 | Action, Comedy, Horror
The third entry in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead trilogy, a complete tonal shift from the previous two.

And, in my opinion, all that much better for it.

This is the one with Bruce Campbell's Ash transported back to the 1300s, into the middle of a war between two feuding kingdoms, and now looking for a way to get home this own time.

Ash being Ash, he - of course - mucks this up somewhat, reading the wrong spell and waking the army of the dead.

Comedy horror, basically.
  
The Batman (2022)
The Batman (2022)
2022 | Action, Adventure, Crime
Paul Dano and Colin Farrell's Performances (2 more)
The Batmobile car chase with Oz
The different/damaged take on Bruce Wayne
Entirely too long - too much detective work (2 more)
Little to no chemistry between The Bat and The Cat
The raspy adventures of Batsy and Jimbo
When is a Bat Not Quite a Bat?
Matt Reeves’ The Batman isn’t an origin story. Instead Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) treats every villain and every thug as if they were the ones to take his parents away from him. This is a version of Bruce Wayne that hates being Bruce Wayne; Batman is his legacy. The tragedy of losing his parents is his most defining characteristic. Bruce is a social hermit and the world’s biggest introvert in The Batman.

The Riddler (Paul Dano) kills Gotham’s mayor on Halloween night and he continues to target key political figures throughout the film. A cryptic riddle is left for Batman at every crime scene revealing just a big enough clue to keep Batman and Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) entangled in Riddler’s enigmatic bloodbath. As Batman crosses paths with a cat-loving thief named Selina Kyle (Zoe Kravitz) and the magnificently sleazy Iceberg Lounge owner Oswald Cobblepot (Colin Farrell), he soon realizes that the Wayne family may be a bigger piece of the puzzle than he originally imagined.

Paul Dano is essentially the highlight of the film. Matt Reeves stated that his inspiration for his version of the character was The Zodiac Killer and it shows. Riddler’s costume is basically a camouflage gimp outfit with tactical advantages and a fetish for duct tape. Dano’s performance is haunting. His riddles are more akin to Jigsaw’s games from the Saw franchise. The character is at his best when he’s showcased in grainy cell phone videos where his shouting and heavy breathing are even more distorted than if he was standing right in front of you. The intriguing aspect is that Dano seems to be even more mesmerizing as the character once he’s unmasked. He’s able to tap into this lunacy, this dread, and this hypnotic terror that defines the character whether he’s hiding his face or not.

Featured less prominently is Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot, who also delivers a fantastic performance. Farrell is so unrecognizable thanks to the facial prosthetics and fat suit that he’s wearing. Some of the aspects of The Penguin that makes him so dangerous is that he’s incredibly resourceful and he can talk his way into and out of just about anything. Farrell’s best moments as the character come during the Batmobile chase featured in the trailer followed by the conversation Batman and Gordon have with him immediately afterwards. You never knew how much you needed a Spanish lesson from Oz until Matt Reeves came along.

The Batmobile car chase is the best sequence of the film. It’s absolutely explosive and worth seeing in a theater. Michael Giacchino’s score is also bold and thrilling; it helps define the Batman character for a new generation with an undeniably epic theme. Matt Reeves compared Bruce Wayne to Kurt Cobain in this film. Bruce’s relationship with the spotlight and how he’d rather stay away from it is a lot like how Cobain viewed being famous. “Something in the Way” by Nirvana fits the Batman universe so well and it’s surprising nobody has ever thought of utilizing it until now.

This unusual version of Bruce Wayne in The Batman makes it feel unlike any other Batman film. Bruce Wayne is typically a playboy that is consistently showcased at public events that flaunts his fortune and bounces from woman to woman on a nightly basis. In The Batman, we see the smudged black eye makeup as Bruce takes off his cowl. Robert Pattinson didn’t bulk up for the role, so he has this pale and gaunt appearance. He has no interest in the business his father left him in charge of. Vengeance is his only purpose.

The Batman is also the first Batman film to actually feel like a detective story. So much time is devoted to the investigation aspect of the film; maybe too much time. The film is five minutes shy of being three hours long and The Batman feels like a three hour film. Some of these sequences feel like they could have been trimmed (did we really need to see Batman or Bruce Wayne go to the Iceberg Lounge so many times?) or cut entirely, but everything feels like it’s part of the bigger picture of capturing The Riddler. Every little stop along the way leads to the next clue or next big encounter. Unfortunately, it feels like a chore listening to Batman answer riddles for the sixth time in the midst of three hours.

Robert Pattinson is a seriously talented actor outside of the Twilight franchise and Zoe Kravitz chooses interesting projects to be a part of, but their chemistry in The Batman feels forced. Batman tracks down Selina Kyle almost like a stalker as he starts inserting himself into her life after a random encounter at The Iceberg Lounge. Despite being friends in real life, the two actors seem stiff and awkward when they’re around each other. These are two versions of the characters that don’t have the history the comics or the movies laid out for them after decades of publication and on screen appearances. This is supposed to be the first time they’ve met and they go from being bumbling partners to nearly leaving Gotham together after being shot at a few times and finding a dead girl in a trunk; it doesn’t make sense.

Matt Reeves was capable of taking The Batman into a different direction for both the Batman universe and superhero films alike. The action sequences are almost earned here as there’s much more down time while following a lead or doing research. You actually see that Bruce documents his inner monologues and his nightly outings as Batman in handwritten journals. There’s a ton of interesting concepts in The Batman that ultimately don’t pay off.

Paul Dano and Colin Farrell are extraordinary, but The Batman is a three hour slog through Gotham that culminates with an over exaggerated riddle that isn’t worth solving. Having Batman and Jim Gordon both speak in raspy, whispery grunts feels excessive as does Gordon’s insistence on calling Batman, “Chief,” every time that they’re together. The film deserves credit for prominently shining the spotlight on the underbelly of crime in Gotham, but the storytelling in The Batman is a lot like Bugs Bunny meaning to have taken that left turn at Albuquerque; a meandering foray down a dark rabbit hole that isn’t entirely necessary.
  
40x40

Awix (3310 KP) rated Glass (2019) in Movies

Jan 22, 2019 (Updated Jan 22, 2019)  
Glass (2019)
Glass (2019)
2019 | Drama, Thriller
More Than Half Empty
Long-awaited sequel to Unbreakable; also not-quite-so-long-awaited sequel to Split, as M Night Shyamalan's various superheroes and villains assemble in a nuthouse: roll-call includes Bruce Willis (special power: being, um, unbreakable), James McAvoy (special power: one of his multiple personalities is a bit of an animal), and Samuel L Jackson (special power: being older than his own mum - it's true, I checked Wikipedia).

Starts off very promisingly but soon collapses into a saggy and self-indulgent mess in the traditional Shyamalan style; many long-winded scenes and much mysto-babble. Another bravura performance from McAvoy, and Jackson (when he finally turns up) carves himself a thick slice of ham, but the consequence of this is that Bruce Willis mostly vanishes into the background. The climax is remarkably portentous considering it's mostly just two guys wrestling each other fairly clumsily in a car park. Not sure three half-assed plot twists add up to a decent ending. All in all, a curious attempt to make a superhero movie in the style of a horror film, but ultimately rather disappointing given the potential and the talent involved.
  
The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
2019 | Adventure
Amazing, with Feelings...
353. The Peanut Butter Falcon. An amazing movie! We meet a guy named Zak, he has Down Syndrome, lives in a nursing, no family, has Bruce Dern as a roommate and he loves wrestling, so much so, that he plans to break free of his forced housing, go on the run to The Salt Water Redneck's Wrestling School, and with the help of some friends at the home... hint: Bruce Dern... he breaks free. While on the run, he hides on a boat that belongs to Tyler, a fisherman, hobo with a shotgun, and also on the run from a few locals, because Tyler may or may not have destroyed several thousand dollars worth of their equipment. ONce he discovers Zak crashing on his boat, hears his tale, Tyler decides to help him out with the journey. Zak of course has someone looking out for him as well, in this case the nursing home bypasses authorities and just sends a lone aide, Eleanor, out to find him. A touching tale of two guys on the run that form a friendship that feels more like family. Filmbufftim on FB
  
Glass (2019)
Glass (2019)
2019 | Drama, Thriller
Good conclusion to the M. Night Shyamalan trilogy that started with Unbreakable and included Split.

A strong performance for Bruce Willis. James McAvoy revolutionized him self as an actor for this role (between the two movies he starred in) and Samuel L. Jackson was his usual awesome. Vera Famiga was great in her role as well.

Story culminated with a definitive conclusion (not always a given with Shyamalan) that actually had an unsettling nature to it. I highly recommend watching all three movies if you are going to watch Glass.
  
Death Wish (2018)
Death Wish (2018)
2018 | Action, Crime, Drama
Dr. Paul Kersey is an experienced trauma surgeon, a man who has spent his life saving lives. After an attack on his family, Paul embarks on his own mission for justice.



Was it ridiculous? Yes. Was it amazingly entertaining? Also, yes. It does what it says on the tin basically. Bruce Willis doing what we love him doing... shooting people... a lot. There's honestly not much more to say about it. Good action movie, that will leave you having second thoughts about ever using your onboard sat-nav again.
  
Survive The Night (2020)
Survive The Night (2020)
2020 | Action, Thriller
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
SO many plot holes in this one and characters making idiotic decisions. A family dynamic and a strange backstory to make is care (maybe) about the villians? Willis and Murray do the best they can but this movie be is so B it makes Lifetime movies look like Oscar bait. And can we talk about the constant tying up, get loose or untie, get tied up again? Does the writer have a rope fetish? Will watch anything with Bruce Willis in it, but this was tough at times.
  
The Evil Dead (1981)
The Evil Dead (1981)
1981 | Horror
What is there to say about The Evil Dead that hasn't been said before? It's a bonafide genre classic, and a masterclass in what can be done with a tiny budget. The practical effects are equally impressive as they are gross. Tom Sullivans effects work is quite something, even all these years later. Combine all of this with Sam Raimis erratic, invasive, and sometimes nauseous camera work, and the result is a unique and disturbing horror ride that still has the capacity to scare 40 years on.

Also, Bruce fucking Campbell.