Search
Search results
Mark Halpern (153 KP) rated Rough Night (2017) in Movies
Feb 9, 2018
Oh what a night
Four college friends get together to go to Miami for there best friends Jess (Johansen) bachelorette party with the addition of Jess's friend from Australia. Alice (Bell) who is the wild one is Jess's best friend and does not want anyone else to come between them plans a wild weekend with her other friends Blair (kravitz) and Frankie (Glazer) and the addition of Pippa (mckinnion) Well drugs and alcohol get involved along with the person who they think is a stripper and then the unthinkable happens and they have to try and figure out a way out of it. What happens you got to watch
The cast is a who's who in the movie world today. A mixture of action and comedy come together to make this movie. However it is again another movie made of of other movies bits with a higher end cast hoping to make it better. A few really funny scenes but otherwise MEH
The cast is a who's who in the movie world today. A mixture of action and comedy come together to make this movie. However it is again another movie made of of other movies bits with a higher end cast hoping to make it better. A few really funny scenes but otherwise MEH
Tamsin Clark (15 KP) rated Netflix in Apps
Jan 20, 2018
Wide range of films and series (4 more)
Well priced and reasonable package options
Good at creating own content
App and site are easy to navigate
Subtitles and captions available
Some genres lack in content (3 more)
Slow to release newer films
Not everything has subtitles
App sometimes malfunctions on Amazon Fire Stick
Good for series lovers
I have used Netflix for a number of years now and the one thing I've noticed is that they aren't the best for being up to date with the latest movies and releases, especially in the horror field. However, over the years Netflix has excelled in producing their own material and have turned out some very stellar series that have truly been worth the watch. They're also very good for kids programs, with the ability to create a child's profile that limits them ONLY to programs rated for under 12s, which is great for my 5-year-old who can always find her favourite cartoons on her tablet using her profile.
Mark Halpern (153 KP) rated Annie (1982) in Movies
Jan 21, 2018
Everyones favorite redhead
The story or a orphan who believes that her parents are going to be coming back to her ends living with the richest man in the world (Daddy Warbucks) who just happens to despise kids and dogs. The woman who runs the orphanage Mrs Hannagain treats the girls worst than endangered slaves is only housing them for the money she gets from the state and ususes it to buy booze.
Warbucks offers an insane amount of money if someone can prove they are Annie's long lost parents and the only way that can be done is by having the other half of a locket that annie has. Miss Hannigan has the other piece because (well not going to tell ya that part) and trys to hatch a plan to get Annie and all of the money.
The movies based off the musical that is filled song, dance and great cast.
Warbucks offers an insane amount of money if someone can prove they are Annie's long lost parents and the only way that can be done is by having the other half of a locket that annie has. Miss Hannigan has the other piece because (well not going to tell ya that part) and trys to hatch a plan to get Annie and all of the money.
The movies based off the musical that is filled song, dance and great cast.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) in Movies
Feb 4, 2018 (Updated Feb 9, 2018)
Angry in America
One of the more intelligent movies to attempt to deal with the culture wars in America at the moment, this starts off looking like a relatively straightforward tale of a wronged woman taking on the callous reactionary establishment in smalltown USA, but then turns into something rather more nuanced.
Mildred, the main character, may be in the right, but that doesn't stop her from being an intolerant nightmare a lot of the time, while the racist cop who is her main opposition is not quite the uncaring thug he appears to be. In any case, it's the two sides' refusal to even try to consider the others' perspective that leads to the darker events as the story progresses.
Well-acted and well-written, it may be that the movie's refusal to offer easy or upbeat answers will work against it as far as some viewers are concerned. But another impressively provocative movie from Martin McDonagh.
Mildred, the main character, may be in the right, but that doesn't stop her from being an intolerant nightmare a lot of the time, while the racist cop who is her main opposition is not quite the uncaring thug he appears to be. In any case, it's the two sides' refusal to even try to consider the others' perspective that leads to the darker events as the story progresses.
Well-acted and well-written, it may be that the movie's refusal to offer easy or upbeat answers will work against it as far as some viewers are concerned. But another impressively provocative movie from Martin McDonagh.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) in Movies
Mar 1, 2018 (Updated Mar 2, 2018)
Valerian and the Unnecessarily Long Title, more like
Another lavishly imaginative and somewhat incoherently scripted sci-fi movie from Luc Besson, somewhat in the same vein as The Fifth Element. Plot mainly consists of running about in spectacular costumes in front of CGI backgrounds; exactly what is going on is frequently unclear.
The script is certainly baffling and doesn't feel like the work of a man credited as writer or co-writer of fifty other movies; the whole section with Rihanna and Ethan Hawke is just filler, in terms of the actual plot. Or is the plot itself only of secondary concern with this movie? It seems that way. DeHaan is arguably badly miscast as Valerian; however, Delevingne is something of a revelation in this movie (very good hair, too). And it definitely has its moments and always looks interesting. If only Besson could keep the script under control for his sci-fi films...
The script is certainly baffling and doesn't feel like the work of a man credited as writer or co-writer of fifty other movies; the whole section with Rihanna and Ethan Hawke is just filler, in terms of the actual plot. Or is the plot itself only of secondary concern with this movie? It seems that way. DeHaan is arguably badly miscast as Valerian; however, Delevingne is something of a revelation in this movie (very good hair, too). And it definitely has its moments and always looks interesting. If only Besson could keep the script under control for his sci-fi films...
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) in Movies
Mar 5, 2018
Largely superfluous entry to the F&F series doesn't feature any of your favourite characters, probably, was only retconned to have any connection to the rest of the series some years later. Identikit bad-boy teen gets packed off to Japan to teach the locals a thing or two about driving on the famously non-congested streets of Ikebukuro.
Really a film struggling to find a reason to justify its own existence: the plot is very forgettable and the rest of it rather so what - film attempts to make quest to go round corners sideways at high speed look like some kind of spiritual mission; essentially fails. Surprisingly unflattering to the Japanese characters, too; wouldn't happen nowadays. The movie's fascination with the fact some people have cameras on their phones is charmingly quaint, too. All the important parts of Tokyo Drift are recycled in later F&F movies, so you only really need to bother with this one if you're a completist.
Really a film struggling to find a reason to justify its own existence: the plot is very forgettable and the rest of it rather so what - film attempts to make quest to go round corners sideways at high speed look like some kind of spiritual mission; essentially fails. Surprisingly unflattering to the Japanese characters, too; wouldn't happen nowadays. The movie's fascination with the fact some people have cameras on their phones is charmingly quaint, too. All the important parts of Tokyo Drift are recycled in later F&F movies, so you only really need to bother with this one if you're a completist.
Awix (3310 KP) rated War on Everyone (2017) in Movies
Mar 6, 2018
Slightly baffling deadpan black comedy parody of American cop thrillers (probably - it's hard to be sure). A pair of incredibly corrupt New Mexico detectives discover previously unsuspected reserves of decency and honesty as they encounter a ruthless gang of thieves.
One of those movies which seems to be trying ridiculously hard to go over the top, but with an absolutely straight face: the main characters aren't just corrupt, they're absurdly corrupt, and the plot at times seems to be intentionally provocative and also absurd (the story relocates all the way to Iceland at one point, but only for about five minutes). It's so in-your-face extreme in some of its attitudes and jokes that it's quite hard to engage with as a story for much of the time. But McDonagh is too good a director to make an entirely bad movie and there are some impressive moments and sequences along the way. But still a strange and difficult-to-figure-out movie.
One of those movies which seems to be trying ridiculously hard to go over the top, but with an absolutely straight face: the main characters aren't just corrupt, they're absurdly corrupt, and the plot at times seems to be intentionally provocative and also absurd (the story relocates all the way to Iceland at one point, but only for about five minutes). It's so in-your-face extreme in some of its attitudes and jokes that it's quite hard to engage with as a story for much of the time. But McDonagh is too good a director to make an entirely bad movie and there are some impressive moments and sequences along the way. But still a strange and difficult-to-figure-out movie.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Predator (1987) in Movies
Feb 13, 2018
Testosterone-drizzled SF action movie. Elite team of mercenaries - 'veer wescuers, not assahseens!' declares Arnie at one point - are dropped into Latin American jungle on shady political mission, proceed to kill everyone in sight (maybe they need to reconsider how they think of themselves), discover formidable alien big game hunter has plans to turn them all into trophies.
The cast is charismatic, the action is exceedingly well-staged, and there's a very good monster (Jean Claude van Damme was originally supposed to play the Pred but was sacked for complaining about the suit and not being beefy enough). There's also a surprisingly understated subtext about the Vietnam War, for which fighting an invisible monster in the jungle is a not-unreasonable metaphor. Not far off the quality of the other big-name 80s SF movies; inability to produce an equally memorable follow-up suggests the Predator is a one-trick pony, however.
The cast is charismatic, the action is exceedingly well-staged, and there's a very good monster (Jean Claude van Damme was originally supposed to play the Pred but was sacked for complaining about the suit and not being beefy enough). There's also a surprisingly understated subtext about the Vietnam War, for which fighting an invisible monster in the jungle is a not-unreasonable metaphor. Not far off the quality of the other big-name 80s SF movies; inability to produce an equally memorable follow-up suggests the Predator is a one-trick pony, however.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Catwoman (2004) in Movies
Feb 15, 2018 (Updated Feb 15, 2018)
Kitty Litter
Wretched misfire of a superhero film proving that DC were quite capable of making bad movies before Zack Snyder was even on the premises. Attempt at a story of feminist empowerment ends up coupled to repeated spectacle of Halle Berry bending over in a leather bra while wearing jeans with holes in the bum cheeks. Dowdy wallflower discovers corruption, is flushed into harbour, given mouth-to-mouth by passing magic cat, wakes up with feline powers (including ability to stick to walls, unlike any cat I've ever seen).
It's not just that the story is poorly told, it's poorly conceived: around the same time Catwoman came out, Spider-Man was saving New York from a nuclear disaster while the X-Men were stopping psionic genocide. What case is Catwoman dealing with? Someone is trying to sell some dodgy make-up. Not just a really shoddy film, but an offensively patronising one, too.
It's not just that the story is poorly told, it's poorly conceived: around the same time Catwoman came out, Spider-Man was saving New York from a nuclear disaster while the X-Men were stopping psionic genocide. What case is Catwoman dealing with? Someone is trying to sell some dodgy make-up. Not just a really shoddy film, but an offensively patronising one, too.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Wonder Wheel (2017) in Movies
Mar 12, 2018 (Updated Mar 12, 2018)
Not-bad-by-his-recent-standards-at-least Woody Allen melodrama (NB: theme park attractions are not central to plot). Frustrated former actress trapped in unhappy marriage with Fred Flintstone lookalike starts an affair with intellectual lifeguard, becomes insanely jealous when her stepdaughter also catches her lover's eye.
One of Allen's more theatrical movies - it certainly seems to have been made on a relatively low budget. Feels very much like a pastiche of Tennessee Williams or Eugene O'Neill, only considerably less subtle. At least as a character piece focused on a (somewhat) older woman there are fewer of the more problematic Allen tropes on display, and no sign of a laboured message or theme. Film is carried by a tremendous performance from Kate Winslet; Juno Temple is also good in a supporting role. Watchable stuff, certainly for Allen's remaining followers, although you do still wish he'd just make one more all-out comedy in the old-school style.
One of Allen's more theatrical movies - it certainly seems to have been made on a relatively low budget. Feels very much like a pastiche of Tennessee Williams or Eugene O'Neill, only considerably less subtle. At least as a character piece focused on a (somewhat) older woman there are fewer of the more problematic Allen tropes on display, and no sign of a laboured message or theme. Film is carried by a tremendous performance from Kate Winslet; Juno Temple is also good in a supporting role. Watchable stuff, certainly for Allen's remaining followers, although you do still wish he'd just make one more all-out comedy in the old-school style.