Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (2485)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

David McK (3550 KP) rated Skyfall (2012) in Movies

Aug 27, 2023 (Updated Jun 9, 2024)  
Skyfall (2012)
Skyfall (2012)
2012 | Action, Mystery
7
8.0 (41 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
"What were you expecting, an exploding pen? We don't go in for that sort of stuff anymore"

That, for me, summed up everything that was wrong with the Daniel Craig Bond films, of which this was the third - give me my exploding pen, dangit!!

Anyway, this oft pops up on lists of 'best of' Bond films, with the plot to do with Bond on the trail of a stolen hard disk drive that contains a list of undercover agents, and with Judi Dench's 'M's past (and a bit of Bonds own).

Thankfully, they start bringing back the gadgets towards the end of the film - in particular, during the final act in Scotland - in the form of Bond's Aston Martin(?), complete with machine guns behind the headlights and an ejector seat!

It is a strong entry in Craig's tenure, yes, but I *think* I still prefer Casino Royale.
  
40x40

Lee (2222 KP) rated Assassination Nation (2018) in Movies

Nov 13, 2018 (Updated Nov 13, 2018)  
Assassination Nation (2018)
Assassination Nation (2018)
2018 | Thriller
2
6.3 (12 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
The last 15 minutes are bearable, it's just a shame the rest of it isn't (0 more)
Characters aren't interesting, memorable or believable (3 more)
Badly edited
Poor use of music
Trying too hard to be edgy/shocking
Really, really bad
Assassination Nation really, really wants to shock you. At the beginning, it even gives out a warning, listing out all the offensive and shocking things coming up, along with a very quick clip of them all, that's how cool and edgy it thinks it is. It's all parties and social media, the girls are all bitches, the boys are all idiots. And it's all held together with bad editing, loud jarring music and a nonsensical plot. Maybe I'm just too old but I found it more annoying than shocking.

So, I think what they did with this movie is start at the end and then try and work backwards. They had this really cool idea of four schoolgirls, all standing there dressed in red, armed with guns and swords, ready to take on a town of crazy people wearing masks, and then they tried to come up with a way of getting to that point. The answer comes in the form of hacking, exposing everyone's data so that mob mentality ensues.

The hacking begins with some more prominent figures. The local mayor has all his private, kinky photos released and ends up publicly committing suicide. Then the local principal, a kind family man, has all of his messages and photos exposed. He has photos of his 6 year old daughter taking a bath, so he's branded a paedophile, obviously. The next logical step? Form a large crazed mob, demanding his resignation and terrorising his family by smashing his front door down. It's shocking right? Right? No. No, it's all just annoying nonsense.

Ok, so we've got the whole town acting like they're in a Purge movie, now how do we get the girls to start getting involved with guns and stuff. Well, let's have their data exposed too - nudes, details of the married man they've been texting. Then let's get somebody to falsely accuse one of girls of doing all the hacking so that the whole town hates them and is either trying to arrest them or kill them. And then the girls come across a stash of guns and knives laid out on the floor. There you go, job done, that's our movie.

To be fair, at that point the movie does improve in quality, but it's too little too late. There isn't a single interesting or memorable character in the whole thing, nothing to make you care or believe in anything you're seeing. And as I mentioned earlier, the whole thing is a complete mess. Pointless split screen scenes, dull voiceover narration, dramatic music that doesn't match the scene it's in. Character reactions, actions and interactions that are just complete nonsense. Officially one of the worst movies I've seen this year.
  
Show all 3 comments.
40x40

Lee (2222 KP) Nov 13, 2018

@Kevin Phillipson I was obviously a bit grumpy when I wrote my review ? but if you liked the look of the trailer then just go see it, don't listen to me. Looking at the reviews from last nights screening, they were a 50/50 mix of good and bad, so it's definitely one of those that splits people. You'll get a pretty good idea after the first 10 minutes or so if it's going to be the kind of film for you
40x40

Kevin Phillipson (10072 KP) Nov 13, 2018

Thank u I will reserve judgement when I see it
40x40

Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Pulp Fiction (1994) in Movies

Mar 2, 2020 (Updated Mar 3, 2020)  
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
1994 | Crime
9
8.6 (93 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Is Pulp Fiction a gangster film? Well, if you define the genre as a morality tale about organised crime, then yes, it is. Of course, it is so much more than that. There is so much going on in Tarantino’s opus that it can’t be clearly defined – which is obviously part of the appeal. You can try not to enjoy every minute of it, but why bother? Once you are in on that amazing soundtrack, and the interwoven tales so unique it hurts, you are in to the end, no matter how many times you’ve seen it already. Incredible dialogue, naturally; colourful characters everywhere, it goes without saying; violence, remorse, betrayal, guns, cars, a gold watch, a samurai sword and a briefcase. A moment of decision or hesitation has a consequence that plays out in strange and mystical ways – as a theme, that in itself connects it to the gangster / crime genre.
  
40x40

Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Miller's Crossing (1990) in Movies

Mar 3, 2020 (Updated Aug 6, 2020)  
Miller's Crossing (1990)
Miller's Crossing (1990)
1990 | Drama, Mystery
9
8.2 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating
In a word: Style. Note, in the picture, how Gabriel Byrne’s posture in the chair reflects that of Micheal Corleone in The Godfather! Knowing Joel and Ethan Coen, that is not a mistake. This is a movie designed to the millimetre. The clothes, the furniture, the guns, the cars, everything is meticulously chosen, creating nothing less than a moving work of art. Even the language is poetry, using a vocabulary, largely invented, to highlight the rhythm of the wiseguy era that is entirely romanticized, but so perfectly consistent we wish it was history. It steals knowingly from the best in the genre at every turn, weaving a tale so nuanced and detailed that it demands several watches to truly mine every multi-layered meaning. In every way, a rich feast, about loyalty, weakness and humanity. The film on this list I am mostly likely to keep watching at the drop of… a hat!