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Rebecca Billcliff (2409 KP) rated Jurassic World (2015) in Movies
Nov 11, 2019 (Updated Nov 12, 2019)
Bast-a-saurus from the Past
Contains spoilers, click to show
Jurassic Park was the first film I ever loved, and sparked my love of cinema. So this film had a lot to live up to for me, and you know what, it was not bad. A bit heavy on the CGI in places, but did bring back the practical effects to create that element of fear you just can’t get from CG. The way the suspense is built up around the Indominus is very good, and brought back that same filling of tension where you find you are actually holding you breath and seat, just a little.
Characters and plot did suffer a little from that repetitive remake syndrome, see also Star Wars the Force Awakens, where the film tries so hard to recreate the love of the original, it just repeats everything.
Two kids, one young and cute, the other a been of a moody teen. A large escaped Dino, which should have been the main attraction. A knowledgeable-about-Dixon’s man and his almost-a-not-sexist-but-still-a-steriorypical-woman love interest out to save the kids, and themselves as things emulate. An overly complacent billionaire, ignorant to the potential danger.
Which film am I talking about....
That said, if what you want is a trip back to your youth and the thrill of seeing dinosaurs on screen, or just some resurrected reptile based mayhem, it’s a great film, and well worth a watch.
Characters and plot did suffer a little from that repetitive remake syndrome, see also Star Wars the Force Awakens, where the film tries so hard to recreate the love of the original, it just repeats everything.
Two kids, one young and cute, the other a been of a moody teen. A large escaped Dino, which should have been the main attraction. A knowledgeable-about-Dixon’s man and his almost-a-not-sexist-but-still-a-steriorypical-woman love interest out to save the kids, and themselves as things emulate. An overly complacent billionaire, ignorant to the potential danger.
Which film am I talking about....
That said, if what you want is a trip back to your youth and the thrill of seeing dinosaurs on screen, or just some resurrected reptile based mayhem, it’s a great film, and well worth a watch.
TG
The Great Demarcation: The French Revolution and the Invention of Modern Property
Book
The Great Demarcation explores how the French Revolution transformed the system of property-holding...
KyleQ (267 KP) rated Halloween (2018) in Movies
Jul 20, 2020
I wanted to like it.
Ignoring every entry other than Carpenter's original, 2018's Halloween attempts to reboot the Franchise in anew direction.
Oddly enough, comedian Danny McBride was a writer, while director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) directed.
I blame much of my distaste on their overhyping it. They said this would be a slower movie focused on creating suspense ala the original.
In reality, this more than tripled the body count, even surpassing Rob Zombie's remake which was 10 minutes longer.
From the get-go, Michael just wanders about killing people, at one point we just follow him walking down a street randomly killing people. This has more senseless violence then Zombie's outings.
Another thing I didn't like was that, with this only following the original in which after escaping, he killed 4 people. It doesn't make sense that he would be this popular legend still talked about 40 years later.
Also, victims are idiots, it's no shock who gets killed. Honestly, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) was the only likable character, and even she pushed it a bit.
For positives, Carpenter's score was great, I liked some of the camera work. Intro credits were cool, throwing back to the original. And Curtis was good returning as Laurie Strode.
I really wanted to like 2018's Halloween, but it lacked suspense, characters were dumb, it felt more like a senseless action/comedy than horror. This would've fit the Friday the 13th franchise better. I really hope that the sequels are better.
Oddly enough, comedian Danny McBride was a writer, while director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) directed.
I blame much of my distaste on their overhyping it. They said this would be a slower movie focused on creating suspense ala the original.
In reality, this more than tripled the body count, even surpassing Rob Zombie's remake which was 10 minutes longer.
From the get-go, Michael just wanders about killing people, at one point we just follow him walking down a street randomly killing people. This has more senseless violence then Zombie's outings.
Another thing I didn't like was that, with this only following the original in which after escaping, he killed 4 people. It doesn't make sense that he would be this popular legend still talked about 40 years later.
Also, victims are idiots, it's no shock who gets killed. Honestly, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) was the only likable character, and even she pushed it a bit.
For positives, Carpenter's score was great, I liked some of the camera work. Intro credits were cool, throwing back to the original. And Curtis was good returning as Laurie Strode.
I really wanted to like 2018's Halloween, but it lacked suspense, characters were dumb, it felt more like a senseless action/comedy than horror. This would've fit the Friday the 13th franchise better. I really hope that the sequels are better.
Taco Cleanse
Wes Allison, Stephanie Bogdanich, Molly R. Frisinger and Jessica Morris
Book
Tired of the same old cleanse? Instead of feeling rejuvenated are you feeling depleted, anxious, and...
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change
Book
In "The Power of Habit", award-winning "New York Times" business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to...
Chloe (778 KP) rated Enola Holmes (2020) in Movies
Nov 7, 2020 (Updated Nov 7, 2020)
Millie Bobby Brown (1 more)
Henry Cavill
Lacking mystery (5 more)
Lacking plot
Too much done badly
Disappointing
Boring
4th Wall
Disappointing
Contains spoilers, click to show
This is the first time that I have felt disappointed about a Holmes universe remake. Usually they are done well out of respect for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The plot could have been so much better, it seemed to get lost within itself.
There were some good ideas and potentials for much better plot e.g. the suffragettes rising and the bombing plot but this was only touched on. The only reason we kept watching was to see if the mother was going to be involved with a bombing plot. The feminist aspect was then reversed when she went chasing after a boy, although with a political meaning this was still heavily focused on their relationship.
All the clues were spoon fed to you and had no real significance. There was no audience immersion like other Holmes movies. I don't know if that was what the 4th wall stuff was supposed to do, this did not work for me and soon became boring as it added very little.
This could have been half an hour shorter and achieved the same story.
Considering this seemed to be aimed at teens, some of the fight scenes were brutal especially where Enola is nearly drowned!
The only redeeming features are the cast list. Bobby Brown was endearing and is an excellent young actress. With more Henry Cavill in it this may have improved the whole story.
There were some good ideas and potentials for much better plot e.g. the suffragettes rising and the bombing plot but this was only touched on. The only reason we kept watching was to see if the mother was going to be involved with a bombing plot. The feminist aspect was then reversed when she went chasing after a boy, although with a political meaning this was still heavily focused on their relationship.
All the clues were spoon fed to you and had no real significance. There was no audience immersion like other Holmes movies. I don't know if that was what the 4th wall stuff was supposed to do, this did not work for me and soon became boring as it added very little.
This could have been half an hour shorter and achieved the same story.
Considering this seemed to be aimed at teens, some of the fight scenes were brutal especially where Enola is nearly drowned!
The only redeeming features are the cast list. Bobby Brown was endearing and is an excellent young actress. With more Henry Cavill in it this may have improved the whole story.
Terry Crews recommended The Thing (1982) in Movies (curated)
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Black Christmas (2019) in Movies
Dec 17, 2020
Fuck I really hated this.
Ignoring the politics side for a moment - it's a hugely poor horror film. It's devoid of any scares, it cuts away from any gore, and perhaps worst of all, it has the audacity to be called "Black Christmas" - which is quite simply one of the best slashers ever made.
Did this film even start as a Black Christmas remake? It basically goes: Men are shit - some people get killed offscreen - weird supernatural twist - oh shit, it's Black Christmas, better throw in a glass unicorn sculpture.
The supernatural part is something I'm not mad at actually - at least it tried something different rather than being a straight re tread.
Then of course, there's the aformentioned politics, which is what most people's issue is with this film. Feminist messages in horror movies can be hugely effective - the original Black Christmas does it well for example - but I can't help but feel that the message this version putting out there is severely mishandled. As a guy, I am willing to hear how I'm wrong in this instance, but it feels sooooo over the top with what it's trying to do. It's not too hard to be on board with for the most part, but the final scenes really go for it - I mean the lines "you're insane!" "No, we're just men" - really!? It just feels very in the nose to me.
Other than that, this film is turd. It gets a star for Imogen Poots and the creative snow angel death scene at the start. Watch the original instead.
Ignoring the politics side for a moment - it's a hugely poor horror film. It's devoid of any scares, it cuts away from any gore, and perhaps worst of all, it has the audacity to be called "Black Christmas" - which is quite simply one of the best slashers ever made.
Did this film even start as a Black Christmas remake? It basically goes: Men are shit - some people get killed offscreen - weird supernatural twist - oh shit, it's Black Christmas, better throw in a glass unicorn sculpture.
The supernatural part is something I'm not mad at actually - at least it tried something different rather than being a straight re tread.
Then of course, there's the aformentioned politics, which is what most people's issue is with this film. Feminist messages in horror movies can be hugely effective - the original Black Christmas does it well for example - but I can't help but feel that the message this version putting out there is severely mishandled. As a guy, I am willing to hear how I'm wrong in this instance, but it feels sooooo over the top with what it's trying to do. It's not too hard to be on board with for the most part, but the final scenes really go for it - I mean the lines "you're insane!" "No, we're just men" - really!? It just feels very in the nose to me.
Other than that, this film is turd. It gets a star for Imogen Poots and the creative snow angel death scene at the start. Watch the original instead.
Hades Miller (2 KP) rated Mulan (2020) in Movies
Dec 13, 2020
Acting (1 more)
Fight scenes
Plot (1 more)
Liu Yifei
More like...Meh-lan
I have to admit, I am one of those people who doesn't really get why they are remaking animated Disney movies and not just...animating them again. Live action is fine, but animation, especially American animation, is just much more expressive. Mulan falls victim to this problem. If they didn't try to follow the original somewhat, it wouldn't be true to the source material & if they didn't try something new, it would just be a rehash. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed quite a bit of this movie, but the finished product didn't really feel like it had a purpose.
My biggest issue is that every new idea they added never felt like it went anywhere. "Here's another woman who is a powerful fighter like Mulan...oh wait she let's gone." "Mulan has a sister! She adds nothing to the plot." Nothing new is ever followed through in an interesting way and just seems half-heartedly thrown in. This basically just leaves the rehashed parts of Mulan which, outside of more serious fight scenes...isn't all that interesting
Is it worth watching once? Sure. Is it something worth watching over and over again like the original Mulan, or heck, even the straight to DVD sequel? Well, that's obviously up to you, but I likely won't be watching this again anytime soon.
Also, replacing hard-work, dedication, and a good old fashioned dose of pig-headedness with chi is a lazy way to try and separate a remake from it's source.
My biggest issue is that every new idea they added never felt like it went anywhere. "Here's another woman who is a powerful fighter like Mulan...oh wait she let's gone." "Mulan has a sister! She adds nothing to the plot." Nothing new is ever followed through in an interesting way and just seems half-heartedly thrown in. This basically just leaves the rehashed parts of Mulan which, outside of more serious fight scenes...isn't all that interesting
Is it worth watching once? Sure. Is it something worth watching over and over again like the original Mulan, or heck, even the straight to DVD sequel? Well, that's obviously up to you, but I likely won't be watching this again anytime soon.
Also, replacing hard-work, dedication, and a good old fashioned dose of pig-headedness with chi is a lazy way to try and separate a remake from it's source.