Search
Search results
Lee (2222 KP) rated The Curse of La Llorona (2019) in Movies
Apr 21, 2019
I've said it before, The Conjuring is my all time favourite scary movie. However, since the success of that first movie, there have been a number of spin off movies, in an bid to build what's now known as the 'Conjuring Universe'. These movies have all varied in quality, ranging from the not too bad (Annabelle Creation) to the downright awful (The Nun). With a third Annabelle movie due out this year, not to mention another Conjuring sequel and other planned universe movies such as The Crooked Man, there's no sign of them stopping anytime soon.
Which brings us to The Curse of La Llorona, the latest entry to the universe and one which is based on Mexican folklore. La Llorona, also known as "The Weeping Woman", is the ghost of a woman who drowned her children and now cries while looking for them in the river. Nowadays, children are told to be well behaved and respectful of their elders, otherwise La Llorona will come and take them away.
This movie wasn't originally billed as being part of the Conjuring universe, and featured a pretty dull first trailer. However, a subsequent trailer featured a familiar face from the Annabelle movies in the form of Father Perez (Tony Amendola), and a link to the Conjuring universe was later confirmed, despite his presence in this movie being somewhat brief.
We're in Los Angeles, 1976. Anna (Linda Cardellini) is a widow with two young kids and working in social services. She still mourns the death of her police officer husband while trying to keep her family together and maintain her demanding job. That job involves dealing with some difficult cases involving children and one such case takes her to the Alvarez home. The mother appears to have lost her mind, while her children are locked in a cupboard that has strange markings on the door. As the title of the movie suggests, there is a curse at play and it's not long before that curse, and the horror that brings with it, is passed onto Anna and her children.
Like The Nun, La Llorona is essentially just a woman with scary face makeup who shrieks at people every so often and tries to make you jump. But thankfully, there's a little more to La Llorona than just that. Some slow, effective reveals provide some pretty decent chills and scares, making this a much more solid and enjoyable movie as she begins to terrorise the children before eventually invading their home and going full on evil.
After Father Perez brings us all up to speed on the backstory of La Llorona, and a flashback to 1763 gives us a visual and graphic representation, the family are referred to an ex priest who is better suited in helping them shake off the curse. He comes to their home in order to prepare for the arrival, and hopefully the removal of, La Llorona. It all feels very formulaic, similar to countless movies we've seen before, such as Poltergeist.
The Curse of La Llorona is pretty corny at times, attempting to inject humour which doesn't always seem to work. However, I did like it. It's certainly a huge step up from last year's disappointing Nun movie and featured enough intensity and scares in its short 93 minute runtime to make it enjoyable enough.
Which brings us to The Curse of La Llorona, the latest entry to the universe and one which is based on Mexican folklore. La Llorona, also known as "The Weeping Woman", is the ghost of a woman who drowned her children and now cries while looking for them in the river. Nowadays, children are told to be well behaved and respectful of their elders, otherwise La Llorona will come and take them away.
This movie wasn't originally billed as being part of the Conjuring universe, and featured a pretty dull first trailer. However, a subsequent trailer featured a familiar face from the Annabelle movies in the form of Father Perez (Tony Amendola), and a link to the Conjuring universe was later confirmed, despite his presence in this movie being somewhat brief.
We're in Los Angeles, 1976. Anna (Linda Cardellini) is a widow with two young kids and working in social services. She still mourns the death of her police officer husband while trying to keep her family together and maintain her demanding job. That job involves dealing with some difficult cases involving children and one such case takes her to the Alvarez home. The mother appears to have lost her mind, while her children are locked in a cupboard that has strange markings on the door. As the title of the movie suggests, there is a curse at play and it's not long before that curse, and the horror that brings with it, is passed onto Anna and her children.
Like The Nun, La Llorona is essentially just a woman with scary face makeup who shrieks at people every so often and tries to make you jump. But thankfully, there's a little more to La Llorona than just that. Some slow, effective reveals provide some pretty decent chills and scares, making this a much more solid and enjoyable movie as she begins to terrorise the children before eventually invading their home and going full on evil.
After Father Perez brings us all up to speed on the backstory of La Llorona, and a flashback to 1763 gives us a visual and graphic representation, the family are referred to an ex priest who is better suited in helping them shake off the curse. He comes to their home in order to prepare for the arrival, and hopefully the removal of, La Llorona. It all feels very formulaic, similar to countless movies we've seen before, such as Poltergeist.
The Curse of La Llorona is pretty corny at times, attempting to inject humour which doesn't always seem to work. However, I did like it. It's certainly a huge step up from last year's disappointing Nun movie and featured enough intensity and scares in its short 93 minute runtime to make it enjoyable enough.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated The Mummy (2017) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
Before my week off I managed to squeeze in a screening of The Mummy before whizzing home. I was a little bit on the come down from stress, but I don't think it massively changed my mind that I was confused by this movie. I really wish everyone had left off with the "it's a reboot" thing. Say it's a reimagining of the mummy monster movie, but saying it's a reboot really makes you want to compare to the original, and quite frankly, every mummy movie is a bad knock off of the original. I liked some of it... That's as enthusiastic as I can get about it. The ending for me was too bizarre. And afterwards when I looked into it leading in to the Dark Universe... well, I wept a little for classic monster movies.
tapestry100 (306 KP) rated Wonder Woman (2017) in Movies
Jul 26, 2017
To be honest, the first time I saw WW, I was honestly disappointed; my expectations were clearly set too high. The second time I saw, I enjoyed it far more as I knew what to expect and was able to enjoy the movie for what it was. DC must be ecstatic that WW did well. I can't imagine they could have kept their cinematic universe running for much longer if this had been a dud like the previous three movies.
Bostonian916 (449 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) in Movies
Aug 18, 2020
Again, as a stand alone movie this film deserves more credit that it has gotten. It allowed an understanding of certain things that the viewer might not have even realized that they wanted answered, and that's always a pleasant surprise.
Visuals were outstanding (as with the entire franchise in my opinion). Sound was great as expected given the pedigree. Story was solid beyond what it's recognized for. Definitely worth seeing for even the slightest fans of the universe it is a part of.
Visuals were outstanding (as with the entire franchise in my opinion). Sound was great as expected given the pedigree. Story was solid beyond what it's recognized for. Definitely worth seeing for even the slightest fans of the universe it is a part of.
David McK (3248 KP) rated Stargate (1994) in Movies
Aug 3, 2019 (Updated Feb 12, 2023)
Stargate.
The Movie.
Bet you never knew the pyramids were built as landing pads for alien spacecraft!
Now nearly 30 years old (as of the time of writing), and the seed for the later 9and more successful) TV spin-offs Stargate: SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis and Stargate: Universe.
Looking back now, it's actually surprising just how 'bare-bones' this is compared to those: there's no Goa'uld, for instance, or even any mention (like, at all!) of the same.
Still enjoyable!
The Movie.
Bet you never knew the pyramids were built as landing pads for alien spacecraft!
Now nearly 30 years old (as of the time of writing), and the seed for the later 9and more successful) TV spin-offs Stargate: SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis and Stargate: Universe.
Looking back now, it's actually surprising just how 'bare-bones' this is compared to those: there's no Goa'uld, for instance, or even any mention (like, at all!) of the same.
Still enjoyable!
Jon Dieringer recommended Eight Hours Don't Make a Day in TV (curated)
Russ Troutt (291 KP) rated Rocketman (2019) in Movies
Jun 28, 2019
Rocketman was good. Wasn't what I was expecting, but not in a bad way. If you're expecting a Bohemian Rhapsody type of movie, you should know it's not. It was shot more in the style of Across the Universe, which is one of my favorite musical movies. They did a great job of incorporating his songs to associate to different parts of his life and helping in telling his story. If you're a fan of Elton John and musicals, then I think you'll enjoy it.
Troye Sivan recommended The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) in Movies (curated)
Awix (3310 KP) rated Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) in Movies
Sep 3, 2021
Approximately sixty-seventh Marvel Studios project to date starts off as a pretty good king fu movie, as parking attendant Simu Liu is forced to come clean to his best friend that he is in fact the renegade son of an immortal warlord, before turning into a not quite so good fantasy movie (immortal warlord wants to invade a magic kingdom, which may inadvertently cause the end of the universe).
Good martial arts choreography, but the non-stop CGI of the climax isn't nearly as interesting or fun to watch, and the movie seems to lose its edge and sense of humour as it goes on. Feels very much like an attempt to do something akin to Black Panther, but with Chinese culture; may well do very good business in Asian markets. The usual links and references to other Marvel movies are a mixed bag; some of them feel very contrived and gratuitous. Still, they're integral to the Marvel project and I doubt this movie will disappoint the faithful.
Good martial arts choreography, but the non-stop CGI of the climax isn't nearly as interesting or fun to watch, and the movie seems to lose its edge and sense of humour as it goes on. Feels very much like an attempt to do something akin to Black Panther, but with Chinese culture; may well do very good business in Asian markets. The usual links and references to other Marvel movies are a mixed bag; some of them feel very contrived and gratuitous. Still, they're integral to the Marvel project and I doubt this movie will disappoint the faithful.
Rickey A. Mossow Jr. (689 KP) rated Aquaman (2018) in Movies
Jun 30, 2019
Jason Momoa makes Aquaman a cool superhero. (2 more)
CGI is beautiful.
Amber Heard is gorgeous here with her red hair.
The story is all over the place. (1 more)
Acting is a bit cheesy in some parts.
Made Aquaman cool, but not without its flaws.
To be honest, I've never viewed Aquaman as a major character in the DC Universe. He was always that weird cousin that everybody just kinda puts up with and halfheartedly oohs and aahs when he tells a dolphin to pull a rope. So, firstly, props to Jason Momoa for bringing the grit and toughness to this superhero. He makes Aquaman cool, if for the first time ever. Also, the movie is beautiful. The fight scenes are well shot and the CGI makes every land a picturesque landscape of color and flash. Also, Amber Heard is absolutely gorgeous in this movie. Her red hair and outfits pop every time she's on the screen. The story, however, is kind of all over the place. How do they stop pollution? Isn't it a bad thing to let someone die? What are these people's motives? The film feels like its a bit too long as well. Did I enjoy the experience of the movie? Yes. Would I watch it again like I would other current superhero films? No. Still, great job making Aquaman a cool and valuable character again in the DC Universe.