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Ashley Valencia (5 KP) rated Christopher Robin (2018) in Movies
Mar 31, 2019
Surprisingly Good
I was very pleasantly surprised by this film. Disney's live action remakes have been pretty disappointing to me, in general. But this one was very well made. I think they did a great job incorporating the fantasy characters into the real life world of post war England.
Ewan McGregor plays a grown up Christopher Robin who most people will be able to relate to. He's trying to find balance between his work and home life and finds himself coming up short on both sides. He's stressed and has put aside childish things to focus on trying to be a competent adult.
Then he gets a visit from a few almost forgotten childhood friends and learns to loosen up a little and see things differently. It's a wonderfully told story and I was so glad that the original voice actor was brought back. It just wouldn't have been Winnie the Pooh without Jim Cummings.
Ewan McGregor plays a grown up Christopher Robin who most people will be able to relate to. He's trying to find balance between his work and home life and finds himself coming up short on both sides. He's stressed and has put aside childish things to focus on trying to be a competent adult.
Then he gets a visit from a few almost forgotten childhood friends and learns to loosen up a little and see things differently. It's a wonderfully told story and I was so glad that the original voice actor was brought back. It just wouldn't have been Winnie the Pooh without Jim Cummings.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Little Buddha (1994) in Movies
May 27, 2019 (Updated May 27, 2019)
Keanu Reeves IS the Buddha in this hard-to-categorise epic. At first glance it looks like a ridiculous choice, but on reflection, which other actor, particularly of his generation, could have done a better job? This doesn't mean that the flashbacks to the Buddha's early life in ancient India are any less difficult to take completely seriously - though vivid and unusual, this part of the film is still as didactic and earnest as the rest of it - but at least they're better than the stodgy present-day stuff, which is afflicted by a performance from Chris Izaak so wooden he makes Keanu look like Daniel Day-Lewis.
Still, for the open-minded there is some interesting material about the origins and philosophy of Buddhism here; not much to reward the cynical, though. It's probably a bit too slow and underpowered to really be considered a success, but few failures are quite as original and interesting as this one.
Still, for the open-minded there is some interesting material about the origins and philosophy of Buddhism here; not much to reward the cynical, though. It's probably a bit too slow and underpowered to really be considered a success, but few failures are quite as original and interesting as this one.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2171 KP) rated Zero-Degree Murder (Search and Rescue Mystery #1) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
When four hikers go missing on a mountain on Thanksgiving Day, Gracie Kinkaid is one of the only people to respond. She and her search partner quickly find one of the hikers, famous actor Rob Christian, but he’s injured. While they wait for help, a snow storm is coming in. What they don’t know is that someone is hunting for them on the mountain – to kill them.
Despite being published by Berkley Prime Crime, this is more a thriller than a cozy, with language and violence to go along with that. The pacing of the plot was uneven, with parts there were page turning and passages that were slow and even predictable. The characters were also not as complex as I would have liked. It wasn’t a bad book, but it also could have been better.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/01/book-review-zero-degree-murder-by-m-l.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Despite being published by Berkley Prime Crime, this is more a thriller than a cozy, with language and violence to go along with that. The pacing of the plot was uneven, with parts there were page turning and passages that were slow and even predictable. The characters were also not as complex as I would have liked. It wasn’t a bad book, but it also could have been better.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/01/book-review-zero-degree-murder-by-m-l.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Gods Of Egypt (2016) in Movies
Mar 17, 2018
Entertainingly bad
Let's face it, you know a film with Gerard Butler in it is never going to be good. But at least with Gods of Egypt it's that bad it's vaguely entertaining.
It's take on Egyptian mythology is actually an interesting one and it's just a shame they decided to take some of it too far with over the top and pretty naff CGI. Gerard Butler hams it up and it's quite funny to listen to his accent constantly switching between English, Scottish and American. Nicolaj Coster-Waldau is a good actor but he's given absolutely nothing to work with here other than a terrible cheesy and stilted script. Brenton Thwaites isn't too bad either but he does seem to be playing a very similar character to that of the latest Pirates film.
This is one of those films you watch just to laugh at how bad it is. And fortunately for this, I've seen worse!
It's take on Egyptian mythology is actually an interesting one and it's just a shame they decided to take some of it too far with over the top and pretty naff CGI. Gerard Butler hams it up and it's quite funny to listen to his accent constantly switching between English, Scottish and American. Nicolaj Coster-Waldau is a good actor but he's given absolutely nothing to work with here other than a terrible cheesy and stilted script. Brenton Thwaites isn't too bad either but he does seem to be playing a very similar character to that of the latest Pirates film.
This is one of those films you watch just to laugh at how bad it is. And fortunately for this, I've seen worse!
Awix (3310 KP) rated Scars of Dracula (1970) in Movies
Feb 24, 2018 (Updated Feb 25, 2018)
Hammer's sixth film with Dracula in the title was supposed to reboot the series from scratch, with a new actor in the title role; distributors insisted on Christopher Lee being brought back, which explains both the opening sequence in which Dracula is (somewhat bafflingly) resurrected, and the general sense of resignation in Lee's performance.
Script rambles, attempts to inject more gore and sex into the Hammer Dracula formula; director Baker doesn't seem to be really up for it, somehow. Some elements from the original novel reappear, also a few from previous Hammer Draculas. Patrick Troughton (looking like Liam Gallagher's granddad) is good value as Dracula's long-suffering handyman Klove. Some of the younger cast would go on to have decent careers; nothing to suggest that here, though. The rubber bat puppet from this film would go on to have no career whatsoever, which is not at all surprising. All really kind of perfunctory and mechanical.
Script rambles, attempts to inject more gore and sex into the Hammer Dracula formula; director Baker doesn't seem to be really up for it, somehow. Some elements from the original novel reappear, also a few from previous Hammer Draculas. Patrick Troughton (looking like Liam Gallagher's granddad) is good value as Dracula's long-suffering handyman Klove. Some of the younger cast would go on to have decent careers; nothing to suggest that here, though. The rubber bat puppet from this film would go on to have no career whatsoever, which is not at all surprising. All really kind of perfunctory and mechanical.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) in Movies
Feb 19, 2018
Ninth James Bond film was rush-released to consolidate Roger Moore in the role, also to cash in on fad for kung fu movies at the time; forms part of the 'British civil servant travels by seaplane to sun-obsessed Christopher Lee's private island in search of missing girl, finds Britt Ekland waiting' movement of 1973-4. Bond must engage in battle of wits with triple-nippled assassin Scaramanga. Then-topical subplot about energy crisis trundles along in the background.
Not bad instance of Bond franchise as pure genre movie; decent fights and chases, but only one moment that really deserves a place on the 'best of Bond' showreel (the corkscrew bridge jump). Christopher Lee barely breaks a sweat as the best actor in the movie. Slightly sleazy atmosphere (in places it resembles a softcore porn movie with the sex edited out); you can kind of see why one of the original producers thought the series had run out of steam and departed before the next one.
Not bad instance of Bond franchise as pure genre movie; decent fights and chases, but only one moment that really deserves a place on the 'best of Bond' showreel (the corkscrew bridge jump). Christopher Lee barely breaks a sweat as the best actor in the movie. Slightly sleazy atmosphere (in places it resembles a softcore porn movie with the sex edited out); you can kind of see why one of the original producers thought the series had run out of steam and departed before the next one.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) in Movies
Feb 12, 2018
Third time's a charm
Wasn't it Oscar Wilde who said that to cast one actor as Spider-Man is a sound artistic choice, but to cast three in only fifteen years is possibly taking the mickey? Hey ho. Marvel Studios bring all their usual skill to this latest addition to the series, and the result is as entertaining as you'd expect.
They do make quite a big deal out of the fact that Spider-Man is back in continuity with the Avengers (et al), much more so than happens in the other MCU films, but I suppose it's forgivable. The movie's two big innovations are to basically tell the story as a goofy 80s-style high school comedy, and to actually have a genuinely strong and memorable villain (Michael Keaton makes a real impression as another sort of birdman). Solid script; also very funny; doesn't quite supplant memories of the Sam Raimi-Tobey Maguire films, but stands comparison to them very well.
They do make quite a big deal out of the fact that Spider-Man is back in continuity with the Avengers (et al), much more so than happens in the other MCU films, but I suppose it's forgivable. The movie's two big innovations are to basically tell the story as a goofy 80s-style high school comedy, and to actually have a genuinely strong and memorable villain (Michael Keaton makes a real impression as another sort of birdman). Solid script; also very funny; doesn't quite supplant memories of the Sam Raimi-Tobey Maguire films, but stands comparison to them very well.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country (1991) in Movies
Feb 12, 2018 (Updated Feb 12, 2018)
One last spin around the Alpha Quadrant for the original crew before they're dispatched to the Starfleet equivalent of a retirement home: the Klingon version of Chernobyl blows up, forcing the bumpy-headed ones to enter peace talks with the Federation; Klingon Gorbachev gets offed and Kirk and McCoy are framed for the murder.
As you can probably tell I've always felt this particular Trek movie to be rather over-rated; it deals with issues of racism and xenophobia but never goes dark enough to properly do them justice. Dramatically it would have been much more interesting if one of the regular characters had turned out to be a traitor, but the Trekkies would have gone berserk (to say nothing of the actor, I expect). Ambles along pleasantly enough, in the end: the studio's insistence on including as many jokes as possible continues to plague the series, and the political allegories are simplistic. Christopher Plummer has fun chewing the scenery as a Shakespeare-loving Klingon warrior.
As you can probably tell I've always felt this particular Trek movie to be rather over-rated; it deals with issues of racism and xenophobia but never goes dark enough to properly do them justice. Dramatically it would have been much more interesting if one of the regular characters had turned out to be a traitor, but the Trekkies would have gone berserk (to say nothing of the actor, I expect). Ambles along pleasantly enough, in the end: the studio's insistence on including as many jokes as possible continues to plague the series, and the political allegories are simplistic. Christopher Plummer has fun chewing the scenery as a Shakespeare-loving Klingon warrior.
Zach Smith (62 KP) rated Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) in Movies
May 29, 2018
The very best
The reboot of the reboot of our web slinger, this time around making Peter Parker with an actor who appears high school aged and not thirty something. It starts off without the origin which was a weird surprise but I think they believed the audience is well aware of how spidey got his powers so why not save some space and skip ahead to where he is experimenting being a superhero. Michael Keaton is cast as the Falcon but he is able to channel his badass side and make this character more than just a glider suite. The relationship between Tony Stark and Peter is cute and again the best part of this is Tom Hollands performance and youthfulness.
Sarah (126 KP) rated IMDb Movies & TV in Apps
Jul 12, 2018
An Absolute Must-Have
This has to be one of my most-used apps, one I go to on an almost daily basis. We use it for settling arguments over what else an actor has been in, the names of people we can't quite recognise, who the familiar voice in an animation belongs to, if a TV channel has missed out episodes of a series that is being shown and even the dates when a new series is due to be broadcast. One of my favourite things is that it also tells you the filming locations for TV shows and films. I really is a one-stop app for almost all the information you could possibly want to know about movies and shows. I have it installed on my phone, my Kindle and my tablet, and frequently use the website. I would hate to be without it now!