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Justin (2 KP) rated Power Rangers (2017) in Movies
Feb 2, 2018 (Updated Feb 2, 2018)
Meh
I dont get what this movie is trying to do. I kinda grew up with the original power rangers so the last thing i need from a movie based on them is loads of screen time taken up by character introduction. You could well argue that its targeted at a younger audience who might not have experienced the shows and latter movies first time round. But i would imagine they would have been as dissappointed and bored as i was by the majority of the movie being character intro and development and barely any of the fast action monster arse kicking that both us oldies and the younger generation would be expecting to see. Skip to the last half hour and you have a great high budget episode. Or just watch the trailer and see the last half hour condensed into a teaser that cons you out of your time/money into thinking youll get that throughout. Either way avoid like the plague.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Pacific Rim (2013) in Movies
Feb 25, 2018
Brave and comparatively rare (these days) attempt to do a blockbuster that isn't a remake nor based on a novel, comic book, toy line, TV show or theme park attraction. Which is not to say this isn't a tremendously derivative movie; clearly inspired by tokosatsu movies, manga, and anime, just with most of the actual Japanese characters replaced by Americans and Australians. (Hmmm, isn't this cultural appropriation?)
Anyway: big monsters lumber out of the sea, get smacked in the mouth by giant robots. Story isn't really anything special, but the background details of this slightly cartoony world are engaging, as are some of the supporting performances. Film subscribes to the prevailing American dogma, which is that giant monster fights must take place at night and preferably in bad weather: apparently this makes them much more believable. The Hong Kong battle is terrific, the others not so much. In the end I think the premise of this movie is really much better than the way it is realised; maybe the sequel will address some of the shortcomings here.
Anyway: big monsters lumber out of the sea, get smacked in the mouth by giant robots. Story isn't really anything special, but the background details of this slightly cartoony world are engaging, as are some of the supporting performances. Film subscribes to the prevailing American dogma, which is that giant monster fights must take place at night and preferably in bad weather: apparently this makes them much more believable. The Hong Kong battle is terrific, the others not so much. In the end I think the premise of this movie is really much better than the way it is realised; maybe the sequel will address some of the shortcomings here.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Gorgo (1961) in Movies
Feb 12, 2018
The poster tagline 'Like nothing you've ever seen before' is really pushing it a bit considering this British suitamation movie is composed almost entirely of bits from other, better-known films. Generations of British people have grown up believing they've seen a proper Godzilla film when in fact they were just exposed to this in their childhood. On the other hand, Eugene Lourie also directed The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, one of the original Godzilla's main inspirations, so you could say he's just repeating himself rather than actually being derivative.
Soundly scripted with a decent twist and pretty good performances, and the devastation of London by Gorgo's mum in the final reel is well-staged. Persistent rumour suggests that a young John Carpenter made an unofficial sequel, Gorgo Vs Godzilla, but no-one seems to know for sure if this even exists - shame, as on the strength of this outing Gorgo and his mum had potential for their own series. Only really of interest to fans of vintage monster movies, but a distinctive and rather distinguished entry to this genre.
Soundly scripted with a decent twist and pretty good performances, and the devastation of London by Gorgo's mum in the final reel is well-staged. Persistent rumour suggests that a young John Carpenter made an unofficial sequel, Gorgo Vs Godzilla, but no-one seems to know for sure if this even exists - shame, as on the strength of this outing Gorgo and his mum had potential for their own series. Only really of interest to fans of vintage monster movies, but a distinctive and rather distinguished entry to this genre.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Trollenberg Terror (1958) in Movies
Jun 22, 2019 (Updated Jun 22, 2019)
Independent sci-fi movie has the inevitable hokeyness of films of its period but shows flashes of intelligence, until the climax at least. Vaguely Lovecraftian alien creatures take up residence atop a Swiss mountain, rip the heads off passing mountaineers, turn other people into zombies to eliminate nosey psychics, and so on. Fearing the world supply of cuckoo clocks, cheese with holes in it, and multi-purpose knives may be in peril, a group of assorted boffins attempt to sort things out.
Well, at least it's original, if not always in the best of ways. Things proceed in a relatively effective way until the aliens decide to come down the mountain and attack in person, at which point they are revealed to be tentacled monocular blobs entirely beyond the budget of the film to convincingly realise. The same could be said of many alien invasion and monster movies of the 50s and 60s and this is neither the best nor the worst example of the genre from that period.
Well, at least it's original, if not always in the best of ways. Things proceed in a relatively effective way until the aliens decide to come down the mountain and attack in person, at which point they are revealed to be tentacled monocular blobs entirely beyond the budget of the film to convincingly realise. The same could be said of many alien invasion and monster movies of the 50s and 60s and this is neither the best nor the worst example of the genre from that period.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Werewolf By Night (2022) in Movies
Oct 6, 2022
The latest offering from Marvel Studios has arrived and it is a change of pace for the studio as it delves into the darker side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Werewolf By Night is a visually appealing tale that lovingly plays homage to the classic Black and White horror movies of old yet infuses modern content and a touch of humor.
When a group of Monster Hunters is assembled at Bloodstone Temple following the death of their leader, the assembled guests are tasked to compete against one another to find a relic and oh yes, content with a deadly monster in the maze as well.
The hunters are informed that they are fair game for one another and the combination of competition and survival promises danger and deadly encounters along the way.
Things are not as they seem as one of the hunters named Jack Russell (Gael Garcia Bernal) has a dark secret or two and when he ends up working with Elsa Bloodstone (Laura Donnelly), things get very interesting and deadly.
The show is deeply-enjoyable and makes me wish that this was a series versus a special but I would think that audiences will see some of the characters again in the future. There is a bit more violence than one might expect from the MCU but due to the Black and White filming, it is not as graphic as it could be but still might be more than some younger fans would expect.
Composer Michael Giacchino has done an amazing job with the show as the pacing is solid, the characters are interesting, and the visuals capture the enduring nostalgia of the bygone classics.
I enjoyed the special from start to finish and should be an enjoyable experience not only for Marvel fans but for horror fans everywhere.
Look for it on Disney+ on December 7th.
Werewolf By Night is a visually appealing tale that lovingly plays homage to the classic Black and White horror movies of old yet infuses modern content and a touch of humor.
When a group of Monster Hunters is assembled at Bloodstone Temple following the death of their leader, the assembled guests are tasked to compete against one another to find a relic and oh yes, content with a deadly monster in the maze as well.
The hunters are informed that they are fair game for one another and the combination of competition and survival promises danger and deadly encounters along the way.
Things are not as they seem as one of the hunters named Jack Russell (Gael Garcia Bernal) has a dark secret or two and when he ends up working with Elsa Bloodstone (Laura Donnelly), things get very interesting and deadly.
The show is deeply-enjoyable and makes me wish that this was a series versus a special but I would think that audiences will see some of the characters again in the future. There is a bit more violence than one might expect from the MCU but due to the Black and White filming, it is not as graphic as it could be but still might be more than some younger fans would expect.
Composer Michael Giacchino has done an amazing job with the show as the pacing is solid, the characters are interesting, and the visuals capture the enduring nostalgia of the bygone classics.
I enjoyed the special from start to finish and should be an enjoyable experience not only for Marvel fans but for horror fans everywhere.
Look for it on Disney+ on December 7th.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Terror in Meeple City in Tabletop Games
Aug 6, 2019 (Updated Sep 23, 2021)
I don’t know about you, but one of my guilty pleasures is monster movies. Godzilla, King Kong, even the Jurassic Park franchise – if there are giant creatures terrorizing the world, chances are I’m going to love it. So when I heard of Terror in Meeple City (formerly known as Rampage, RIP), I knew I had to give it a try. Is the chance to embody one of these great monsters and wreak havoc on an innocent city as exciting as it seems? Or will your lack of dexterous ability result in a rampage? (See what I did there?)
Terror in Meeple City is a dexterity game of area movement and set collection in which players are trying to amass the most end-game Victory Points by devouring meeples, collecting building tiles, teeth, and by successfully completing their Character cards. To begin, setup the board as described in the rulebook, constructing buildings and placing meeples and vehicles accordingly. Each player receives a screen, Body (monster), and Paws (disc) in their chosen color, placing the Paws on the starting area closest to them. Players receive 4 Teeth tokens and are dealt a Character card, Power card, and Secret Superpower card. The Character and Power cards are visible to all players, and are permanent throughout the game – providing special abilities or scoring conditions for the end of the game. The Secret Superpower card is secret (duh) and revealed only when you are ready to use it – it is a one-time use in the game, and then discarded. Select a starting player, and the game is ready to begin!
On your turn, you will perform 2 of the following actions: Move, Demolish, Toss a Vehicle, or Breathe. You can perform the same action twice on your turn if you want! To Move, you will first take the Body of your monster off of the Paws disc. Using your finger, you will flick the Paws disc on the board, hopefully to end up where you wanted it! After a successful flick, put your Body back on the Paws. To Demolish, your Paws must be touching the sidewalk surrounding one of the buildings in the city. If that is the case, you can try to demolish that building – by picking up your Body, holding it over the appropriate building, and dropping it! In order to Toss a Vehicle, your monster must be located in the same neighborhood (area of the board) as a vehicle. Pick up the chosen vehicle, place it on top of your monster, and flick it! And finally, you can Breathe – place your chin on top of your monster, inhale, and then blow as hard as you can. While performing these actions, there may be some collateral damage, that could be beneficial or detrimental to you! If you knock down another monster on your turn, collect one of their Teeth and put it behind your screen. If after your action, there is a building tile with nothing on it (meeples, monsters, etc.) then you collect that tile behind your screen as well.
Once you have taken your 2 actions, it is time to Chow Down – eat as many accessible meeples in your same neighborhood as you have Teeth tokens left. Devoured meeples go into your stomach (behind the player screen). If at any point during your turn, any meeples end up fleeing the city (knocked off the board), they will be added, in order, to the Runaway Meeple board. Once a line on this board is filled, the active player suffers the negative consequence – so be careful not to scare off too many yummy meeple morsels! The game continues in this fashion until it ends in one of two ways. Either the last building tile is collected, everyone takes one last turn, and then VP are tallied. Or the final line of the Runaway Meeple board is filled, causing the player who filled it to lose, while everyone else counts up their VP. VP are earned for any Teeth collected, building tiles consumed, sets of meeples devoured, and any points earned from your Character card. The player with the most VP is the winner and is the greatest monster of the game!
So I know that sounds kind of chaotic – and at times it can be. But it is a light-hearted and silly game that engages all involved. The simplicity of the mechanics (flicking/blowing) are countered by the strategy required for success. Yes, by all means, go on a crazy rampage – but the goal is end-game VP, so how can you use all these moving components to your advantage? The strategy is there, with enough luck/randomness from a dexterity stand-point that it keeps the gameplay interesting. And it is just plain fun to play! Getting up to move around the board for a better angle, knocking over opponents accidentally (or on purpose!), and sending components flying across the board makes for an entertaining and engaging game. That being said, unless you are incredibly dextrous and can perfectly execute your desired actions, be prepared for some frustration when you whiff big on a flick.
Let’s talk components for a minute. They are pretty good in this game! The board and cardboard building tiles are all pretty sturdy, which is really necessary in a game where the components can take quite a beating. The wooden meeples and monster parts are thick and high quality as well! I take great pride in keeping my games in good condition, and even this one has withstood the test of time and plays. So, good production quality all around, if you ask me!
Is Terror in Meeple City my favorite game? No. But it’s one that I’m glad to have in my collection. It works well in so many situations – a gateway game, a light-hearted filler game, a game to get everyone up and moving, and a game that can be played with younger gamers as well. Although it’s not really a brain-burner or a game of high-level strategy, it’s one that still makes for a good time. Purple Phoenix Games gives it a 7 / 12. Give it a try if you’re itching to smash some stuff!
Terror in Meeple City is a dexterity game of area movement and set collection in which players are trying to amass the most end-game Victory Points by devouring meeples, collecting building tiles, teeth, and by successfully completing their Character cards. To begin, setup the board as described in the rulebook, constructing buildings and placing meeples and vehicles accordingly. Each player receives a screen, Body (monster), and Paws (disc) in their chosen color, placing the Paws on the starting area closest to them. Players receive 4 Teeth tokens and are dealt a Character card, Power card, and Secret Superpower card. The Character and Power cards are visible to all players, and are permanent throughout the game – providing special abilities or scoring conditions for the end of the game. The Secret Superpower card is secret (duh) and revealed only when you are ready to use it – it is a one-time use in the game, and then discarded. Select a starting player, and the game is ready to begin!
On your turn, you will perform 2 of the following actions: Move, Demolish, Toss a Vehicle, or Breathe. You can perform the same action twice on your turn if you want! To Move, you will first take the Body of your monster off of the Paws disc. Using your finger, you will flick the Paws disc on the board, hopefully to end up where you wanted it! After a successful flick, put your Body back on the Paws. To Demolish, your Paws must be touching the sidewalk surrounding one of the buildings in the city. If that is the case, you can try to demolish that building – by picking up your Body, holding it over the appropriate building, and dropping it! In order to Toss a Vehicle, your monster must be located in the same neighborhood (area of the board) as a vehicle. Pick up the chosen vehicle, place it on top of your monster, and flick it! And finally, you can Breathe – place your chin on top of your monster, inhale, and then blow as hard as you can. While performing these actions, there may be some collateral damage, that could be beneficial or detrimental to you! If you knock down another monster on your turn, collect one of their Teeth and put it behind your screen. If after your action, there is a building tile with nothing on it (meeples, monsters, etc.) then you collect that tile behind your screen as well.
Once you have taken your 2 actions, it is time to Chow Down – eat as many accessible meeples in your same neighborhood as you have Teeth tokens left. Devoured meeples go into your stomach (behind the player screen). If at any point during your turn, any meeples end up fleeing the city (knocked off the board), they will be added, in order, to the Runaway Meeple board. Once a line on this board is filled, the active player suffers the negative consequence – so be careful not to scare off too many yummy meeple morsels! The game continues in this fashion until it ends in one of two ways. Either the last building tile is collected, everyone takes one last turn, and then VP are tallied. Or the final line of the Runaway Meeple board is filled, causing the player who filled it to lose, while everyone else counts up their VP. VP are earned for any Teeth collected, building tiles consumed, sets of meeples devoured, and any points earned from your Character card. The player with the most VP is the winner and is the greatest monster of the game!
So I know that sounds kind of chaotic – and at times it can be. But it is a light-hearted and silly game that engages all involved. The simplicity of the mechanics (flicking/blowing) are countered by the strategy required for success. Yes, by all means, go on a crazy rampage – but the goal is end-game VP, so how can you use all these moving components to your advantage? The strategy is there, with enough luck/randomness from a dexterity stand-point that it keeps the gameplay interesting. And it is just plain fun to play! Getting up to move around the board for a better angle, knocking over opponents accidentally (or on purpose!), and sending components flying across the board makes for an entertaining and engaging game. That being said, unless you are incredibly dextrous and can perfectly execute your desired actions, be prepared for some frustration when you whiff big on a flick.
Let’s talk components for a minute. They are pretty good in this game! The board and cardboard building tiles are all pretty sturdy, which is really necessary in a game where the components can take quite a beating. The wooden meeples and monster parts are thick and high quality as well! I take great pride in keeping my games in good condition, and even this one has withstood the test of time and plays. So, good production quality all around, if you ask me!
Is Terror in Meeple City my favorite game? No. But it’s one that I’m glad to have in my collection. It works well in so many situations – a gateway game, a light-hearted filler game, a game to get everyone up and moving, and a game that can be played with younger gamers as well. Although it’s not really a brain-burner or a game of high-level strategy, it’s one that still makes for a good time. Purple Phoenix Games gives it a 7 / 12. Give it a try if you’re itching to smash some stuff!
Lee (2222 KP) rated The Shape of Water (2017) in Movies
Feb 8, 2018
Sally Hawkins (1 more)
Michael Shannon
Beautiful and Enchanting
The Shape of Water really is one of those movies where I feel the trailer doesn't really do it justice. From seeing the trailer, I wasn't really sure how much I was going to enjoy the movie. Like I'm sure many others will be, I was persuaded that I might be wrong by the 13 Oscar nominations it recently received. I shouldn't have had any doubts to be honest. Pan's Labyrinth, also directed by Guillermo del Toro, is one of my favourite movies and The Shape of Water shares many similarities with that. A beautiful and enchanting mix of fairy tale, love story and monster movie.
Sally Hawkins plays Elisa Esposito, a mute woman who works nights as a janitor for Occam Aerospace Research Center along with friend Zelda Fuller (Octavia Spencer). At home she lives a simple life, watching musicals with her gay neighbour Giles (Richard Jenkins) and finding joy in the simple things in life. One day a strange creature is brought into the research center to be studied, surrounded by military and medical personnel. Colonel Richard Strickland has accompanied 'the asset' from it's previous location, and appears to have developed a serious dislike to it. He carries an electrified cattle prod, which he takes great delight in using on the creature. In return though, the creature does manage to remove two of Stricklands fingers, and also inflicts serious injuries on others.
But Elisa takes pity on the creature and over time tries to befriend it, bringing him hard-boiled eggs and teaching him sign language. When she learns that plans for the creature involve vivisection, she hatches a plan to help him escape, and from that point their feelings for each other develop into love. A true Beauty and the Beast style fairy tale.
I found myself absolutely captivated, swept along by the story, and everything about it is just beautiful. Sally Hawkins is incredible, portraying such varied emotions without speaking, she provides much of the films humour, and shines in the more serious scenes too. Doug Jones does what he does best as the creature, but the real monster of the movie is Michael Shannon as Colonel Strickland. Terrifyingly brilliant.
For me, I'm not sure if this beats Pan's Labyrinth, but The Shape of Water is certainly worthy of all the praise, and hopefully the awards, it receives.
Sally Hawkins plays Elisa Esposito, a mute woman who works nights as a janitor for Occam Aerospace Research Center along with friend Zelda Fuller (Octavia Spencer). At home she lives a simple life, watching musicals with her gay neighbour Giles (Richard Jenkins) and finding joy in the simple things in life. One day a strange creature is brought into the research center to be studied, surrounded by military and medical personnel. Colonel Richard Strickland has accompanied 'the asset' from it's previous location, and appears to have developed a serious dislike to it. He carries an electrified cattle prod, which he takes great delight in using on the creature. In return though, the creature does manage to remove two of Stricklands fingers, and also inflicts serious injuries on others.
But Elisa takes pity on the creature and over time tries to befriend it, bringing him hard-boiled eggs and teaching him sign language. When she learns that plans for the creature involve vivisection, she hatches a plan to help him escape, and from that point their feelings for each other develop into love. A true Beauty and the Beast style fairy tale.
I found myself absolutely captivated, swept along by the story, and everything about it is just beautiful. Sally Hawkins is incredible, portraying such varied emotions without speaking, she provides much of the films humour, and shines in the more serious scenes too. Doug Jones does what he does best as the creature, but the real monster of the movie is Michael Shannon as Colonel Strickland. Terrifyingly brilliant.
For me, I'm not sure if this beats Pan's Labyrinth, but The Shape of Water is certainly worthy of all the praise, and hopefully the awards, it receives.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) in Movies
Feb 12, 2019
Archetypal Toho monster mash with exuberant men-in-suits wrestling and an all-over-the-place plot - Flying Saucer enthusiasts predict the apocalypse, a Himalayan princess survives an assassination attempt when she is possessed by the spirit of a Venusian (or Martian, depending on which version you watch), a mysterious meteorite hatches out Ghidorah the three-headed space dragon. Earth's fate depends on the ability of a caterpillar to persuade a nuclear dinosaur and a giant pterodactyl to work together.
Lots of fun if you enjoy this sort of thing, with many incidental pleasures - not least the startling shades-and-ruff outfit adopted by the chief villain at one point. Not quite as jokey in tone as King Kong Vs Godzilla, but still notably lighter than most of the previous films in the series - the various monsters are treated more as characters than before, too (there's a fairly lengthy conversation between Mothra, Rodan and Godzilla). Calling this the mid-60s Japanese version of The Avengers is probably stretching a point, but it's certainly one of the better early Godzilla movies; hopefully the forthcoming American take on these characters will be as much fun.
Lots of fun if you enjoy this sort of thing, with many incidental pleasures - not least the startling shades-and-ruff outfit adopted by the chief villain at one point. Not quite as jokey in tone as King Kong Vs Godzilla, but still notably lighter than most of the previous films in the series - the various monsters are treated more as characters than before, too (there's a fairly lengthy conversation between Mothra, Rodan and Godzilla). Calling this the mid-60s Japanese version of The Avengers is probably stretching a point, but it's certainly one of the better early Godzilla movies; hopefully the forthcoming American take on these characters will be as much fun.
M0v134ss4ss1n (3 KP) rated Ready Player One (2018) in Movies
Apr 23, 2019
A Gamers Dream Come True
Contains spoilers, click to show
The movie is in a distant future where GAMING is the way of life. Which, lets be honest, isnt really that far off for us, anyhow...We find out that within this world that there is this great inventor who has hidden 3 magical keys within the game, and in order to find the keys players must crack the clues to figure out where the keys are or how to obtain them. For those of us who grew up in a time where games where just taking off and that grew up in the 80s there is alot of nostalgia within the movie. Anything from the Delorean from the Back to the Future movies, to Bigfoot the monster truck, to songs that make us remmeber when life seemes much more simple, and fun. In the end our heros must face the evil corporation trying to take over and must save the world from said Corporation. All in all this is a must see for gamera and 80s geeks alike.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Humanoids from the Deep (1980) in Movies
Apr 10, 2020
Roger Corman-produced mash-up of Jaws and Creature from the Black Lagoon aims for maximum schlock and succeeds; ends up with a vague resemblance to The Shadow Over Innsmouth which it really doesn't deserve. A chemical accident produces a race of fish-men in cheap-ass monster suits who have the hots for anything in a bikini. The disreputable godfather of any number of dodgy Sci-Fi channel movies, and the kind of thing Hannibal used to appear in between episodes of The A-Team.
The odd thing is that credited director Peeters seems to have been trying to make a relatively serious movie; much of the more explicit fem jeop stuff was edited in by Corman having been filmed separately by Jimmy Murakami. The rather primitive production values and slightly stodgy plot means this would never have been a particularly great film, but the brazen tackiness of the fish-want-girls plotline makes it feel that bit more trashy. Doug McClure, to his credit, looks vaguely embarrassed to be participating. These days, much of it leaves an unpleasant aftertaste; certainly less enjoyable than it sounds.
The odd thing is that credited director Peeters seems to have been trying to make a relatively serious movie; much of the more explicit fem jeop stuff was edited in by Corman having been filmed separately by Jimmy Murakami. The rather primitive production values and slightly stodgy plot means this would never have been a particularly great film, but the brazen tackiness of the fish-want-girls plotline makes it feel that bit more trashy. Doug McClure, to his credit, looks vaguely embarrassed to be participating. These days, much of it leaves an unpleasant aftertaste; certainly less enjoyable than it sounds.