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David McK (3562 KP) rated Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1982) in Movies
Mar 22, 2022
I was going to start this by claiming this was the middle of the Mad Max trilogy, but I had temporarily forgotten about Fury Road.
Perhaps it's better to say this is the middle of the Mel Gibson era of Mad Max films.
It's also hard to believe that this is nearly 40 years old now, holding up remarkably well for its age. That, I think, is probably due to its reliance on practical effects for most of the scenes of vehicular mayhem that occur throughout (in the post apocalyptic wasteland) rather than CGI.
In my books, this is definitely a step up from the first movie.
Perhaps it's better to say this is the middle of the Mel Gibson era of Mad Max films.
It's also hard to believe that this is nearly 40 years old now, holding up remarkably well for its age. That, I think, is probably due to its reliance on practical effects for most of the scenes of vehicular mayhem that occur throughout (in the post apocalyptic wasteland) rather than CGI.
In my books, this is definitely a step up from the first movie.
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Shazam! (2019) in Movies
Apr 9, 2019 (Updated Apr 9, 2019)
Good Fun
Being the big ol' geek that I am, I usually know the source material of the superhero movie I am going to see pretty well. Shazam is an exception to this, - other than the infamous Captain Marvel/Shazam copyright battle between Marvel and DC's lawyers over the years and the fact that he is a teenage boy who transforms into a grown man who looks like Superman with a similar power set, - I don't know much about the character. Watching Shazam, I was more so reminded of a Mark Millar comic called Superior, which bears multiple plot similarities to Shazam, to the point that I am surprised that DC have never attempted to sue Millar for blatant plagiarism.
In a word, Shazam is fun. I enjoyed my time with it and I would see it again. I enjoyed seeing Mark Strong hamming it up as the movie's villain and Zachary Levi did a great job in the titular role. Also, his chemistry with Jack Dylan Grazer's character was a huge highlight of the film for me. The SFX were on point for the most part other than the fairly cartoony representations of the 7 deadly sins monsters. There was also a charming, dumb, pure, innocence to the movie that really shone through the entire thing.
My biggest issue with the movie was Asher Angel as Billy Batson when he's not Shazam. Not necessarily because he is a bad actor or anything, but more because of how he chose to play the role. He came across as broody and introspective, almost the total opposite of how Zachary Levi came across as Shazam with his over the top playfulness and silly puns. This discrepancy was prevalent to the point where the illusion that these two actors were playing the same character was entirely broken and it was as if they were just playing two totally different characters with entirely opposite personalities that were just never in the same room. I feel like a bit of smoothing out could have been done between the actors to come to a compromise where they could both deliver their respective lines while believably playing the same character.
Also, something that you should probably know going in is that this is a comedy with lessons about family and responsibility before it is a Superhero/Action movie. It does make sense within the context of the film that there are no epic action scenes as Billy is just an untrained everyday kid that has been given a bunch of amazing powers that he is still getting to grips with, but don't expect any mind-blowing action scenes on par with MCU movies etc. Even though I guess it makes sense that there wasn't anything too impressive in terms of action scenes, I was left a little bit unfulfilled as I left the theatre that the film felt more insistent on showing us tender family moments rather than huge scale superhero battles.
Overall, Shazam is dumb fun. Don't think too hard about it and you will almost certainly have a great time watching it. I am glad that the fun factor of DC films seems to be on the up and they have dropped the dour tone of their Batman/Superman stories set up by Zack Snyder and they seem to have almost totally abandoned the idea of following in Marvel's footsteps of tying movies together in order to lead up to a team up blockbuster. This move seems to be for the best and is what they should have been doing from the start rather than trying to win a losing battle and play catch up with a franchise that has been building for an entire decade at this point.
In a word, Shazam is fun. I enjoyed my time with it and I would see it again. I enjoyed seeing Mark Strong hamming it up as the movie's villain and Zachary Levi did a great job in the titular role. Also, his chemistry with Jack Dylan Grazer's character was a huge highlight of the film for me. The SFX were on point for the most part other than the fairly cartoony representations of the 7 deadly sins monsters. There was also a charming, dumb, pure, innocence to the movie that really shone through the entire thing.
My biggest issue with the movie was Asher Angel as Billy Batson when he's not Shazam. Not necessarily because he is a bad actor or anything, but more because of how he chose to play the role. He came across as broody and introspective, almost the total opposite of how Zachary Levi came across as Shazam with his over the top playfulness and silly puns. This discrepancy was prevalent to the point where the illusion that these two actors were playing the same character was entirely broken and it was as if they were just playing two totally different characters with entirely opposite personalities that were just never in the same room. I feel like a bit of smoothing out could have been done between the actors to come to a compromise where they could both deliver their respective lines while believably playing the same character.
Also, something that you should probably know going in is that this is a comedy with lessons about family and responsibility before it is a Superhero/Action movie. It does make sense within the context of the film that there are no epic action scenes as Billy is just an untrained everyday kid that has been given a bunch of amazing powers that he is still getting to grips with, but don't expect any mind-blowing action scenes on par with MCU movies etc. Even though I guess it makes sense that there wasn't anything too impressive in terms of action scenes, I was left a little bit unfulfilled as I left the theatre that the film felt more insistent on showing us tender family moments rather than huge scale superhero battles.
Overall, Shazam is dumb fun. Don't think too hard about it and you will almost certainly have a great time watching it. I am glad that the fun factor of DC films seems to be on the up and they have dropped the dour tone of their Batman/Superman stories set up by Zack Snyder and they seem to have almost totally abandoned the idea of following in Marvel's footsteps of tying movies together in order to lead up to a team up blockbuster. This move seems to be for the best and is what they should have been doing from the start rather than trying to win a losing battle and play catch up with a franchise that has been building for an entire decade at this point.
Lenard (726 KP) rated Toy Story 4 (2019) in Movies
Jul 4, 2019
For a movie aimed at children, Toy Story 4 deals with many themes. First, there is the multi-generational lines of playthings. You have 1940s era ragdolls, 1950s era porcelain dolls, 1960s era plastic resin movable action figures, 1970s era pullback and action toys, plus Plushies, Mr Potato Head, and new-age DIY toys of this millennium. Like Pixar and its films, it serves to connect the generations of humans and demonstrate the similarities we share no matter how old we are. Also, the older generations are always looking out for the younger generation as demonstrated by the grandmother in this film and Woody.
A second theme is the whole concept of what makes a toy. Does a child's love bring it to life? Can a lonely creative child make her own friends? What happens to the toys we no longer play with or forget about? Another thing I noticed is that in the previous installments the toys remain inanimate among the humans, but this time they meddle in the human world.
Along the way, Woody learns about the outside world. Early in the film, Woody is given a chance to escape with the toy he obviously loves and get "lost." He however cannot give up the job he was given as a favorite toy. Now, years later, he has a new owner and becoming obsolete. He still has a responsibility to protect the new toy Bonnie makes. He reconnects with a lost love. Everywhere he goes, he meets various toys who yearn for the love of a child, something they either have never had or lost long ago. Like Toy Story 3, Toy Story 4 becomes a movie about growing up and moving on when you are no longer dependent on the love of your "parent."
A second theme is the whole concept of what makes a toy. Does a child's love bring it to life? Can a lonely creative child make her own friends? What happens to the toys we no longer play with or forget about? Another thing I noticed is that in the previous installments the toys remain inanimate among the humans, but this time they meddle in the human world.
Along the way, Woody learns about the outside world. Early in the film, Woody is given a chance to escape with the toy he obviously loves and get "lost." He however cannot give up the job he was given as a favorite toy. Now, years later, he has a new owner and becoming obsolete. He still has a responsibility to protect the new toy Bonnie makes. He reconnects with a lost love. Everywhere he goes, he meets various toys who yearn for the love of a child, something they either have never had or lost long ago. Like Toy Story 3, Toy Story 4 becomes a movie about growing up and moving on when you are no longer dependent on the love of your "parent."
Ti West recommended The Unforgiven (1960) in Movies (curated)
Dean (6927 KP) rated Mini Projector in Tech
Jan 23, 2020
Noisy (2 more)
Sound quality
Some ports didn't work?
Disappointing
Well this is a shame I got this through the giveaway competition. I've tried to give it a good test but it didn't fare well.
The good thing is the projection area can be very large and still fairly sharp in focus. It recommends up to 60" but could easily get closer to 80" TV screen size equivalent. Any bigger and the image wouldn't be as sharp or colourful but if you don't mind that it could take up a whole wall. The HDMi port works so you could connect it to your sky box, xbox, dvd player. The sound quality from it isn't great though as it's only a small device, unless you also connect a speaker. It can be a little noisy as well during operation.
Unfortunately the microSD card and USB ports don't appear to be working on this unit? I tried a couple of cards and a USB card reader but nothing worked. This would be handy for viewing photos. It also has an AV port for music. It does come with a remote, HDMi cable and an adapter that would work with a camcorder or even a Wii console.
The power cable isn't particularly long but once charged it can be used cordless. It doesn't really have a stand to help if you wanted to project onto your ceiling.
So it really depends what you are going to use it for. Plug your xbox in for wall size gaming, or your phone via HDMi to watch Netflix, YouTube etc. I don't think it's something you would use for serious movie watching if you care about the sound quality as well unless you connect headphones or a speaker as well via the phonejack.
The good thing is the projection area can be very large and still fairly sharp in focus. It recommends up to 60" but could easily get closer to 80" TV screen size equivalent. Any bigger and the image wouldn't be as sharp or colourful but if you don't mind that it could take up a whole wall. The HDMi port works so you could connect it to your sky box, xbox, dvd player. The sound quality from it isn't great though as it's only a small device, unless you also connect a speaker. It can be a little noisy as well during operation.
Unfortunately the microSD card and USB ports don't appear to be working on this unit? I tried a couple of cards and a USB card reader but nothing worked. This would be handy for viewing photos. It also has an AV port for music. It does come with a remote, HDMi cable and an adapter that would work with a camcorder or even a Wii console.
The power cable isn't particularly long but once charged it can be used cordless. It doesn't really have a stand to help if you wanted to project onto your ceiling.
So it really depends what you are going to use it for. Plug your xbox in for wall size gaming, or your phone via HDMi to watch Netflix, YouTube etc. I don't think it's something you would use for serious movie watching if you care about the sound quality as well unless you connect headphones or a speaker as well via the phonejack.
tonidavis (353 KP) rated Limitless - Season 1 in TV
Jan 6, 2018
Premise (3 more)
Finch and Rebecca's relationship
Mike and Ike
Bradley Cooper
Better than the film
I've always liked the limitless premise however for me the movie didn't work that well. I was dubious to watch the tv show but a friend convinced me it was worth doing.
The first episode took me a while to get into mainly because I'm so used to Jake Mc Dorman play Evan in Greek it took a while to adjust to seeing him as Brian Finch. That being said when I got into it I really enjoyed the show.
Brian Finch is a lovable character who has a kind heart but gets into trouble and Rebbeca Harris is just the FBI agent who has the sternness to keep him in check but also the capability to care which makes the team work well. The side characters in the FBI are intresting and amusing poor Mike and Ike ( not there real names but names finch make up.) End up with the rough end of the stick more than once the Janitor is a little hard core.
The first episode took me a while to get into mainly because I'm so used to Jake Mc Dorman play Evan in Greek it took a while to adjust to seeing him as Brian Finch. That being said when I got into it I really enjoyed the show.
Brian Finch is a lovable character who has a kind heart but gets into trouble and Rebbeca Harris is just the FBI agent who has the sternness to keep him in check but also the capability to care which makes the team work well. The side characters in the FBI are intresting and amusing poor Mike and Ike ( not there real names but names finch make up.) End up with the rough end of the stick more than once the Janitor is a little hard core.
David McK (3562 KP) rated I am Number Four (Lorien Legacies #1) in Books
Jan 28, 2019
In the early-00s (well, 2001 - 2011), there was a TV show called 'Smallville' aka - and unofficially - also known as 'Superman: The Teenage Years', in which a large part of the early runs were to do with Clark Kent discovering his powers.
Now, take the same basic idea - that of an alien developing powers on Earth, and change it slightly so that there's nine of them, all teenagers growing up seperately, all refugees from a planet that has itself been invaded/destroyed by *other* aliens and most with their own flesh-and-blood protector with them, and you more or less have the plot for this.
I'd seen the movie a while back and, while it wasn't great, I still thought I would give the source material a shot.
It's not great either.
I don't know whether it the insipid romance between the central characters of John and Sarah, the clunky dialogue or the fact that the writer seems to follow a 'tell, don't show' method of writing (instead of the opposite), but this just did not do it for me at all :-(
Now, take the same basic idea - that of an alien developing powers on Earth, and change it slightly so that there's nine of them, all teenagers growing up seperately, all refugees from a planet that has itself been invaded/destroyed by *other* aliens and most with their own flesh-and-blood protector with them, and you more or less have the plot for this.
I'd seen the movie a while back and, while it wasn't great, I still thought I would give the source material a shot.
It's not great either.
I don't know whether it the insipid romance between the central characters of John and Sarah, the clunky dialogue or the fact that the writer seems to follow a 'tell, don't show' method of writing (instead of the opposite), but this just did not do it for me at all :-(
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Cube (1997) in Movies
Jan 6, 2020
Inside The Cube
Cube- holy shit this movie was good, i liked it alot. I never seen it before, but heard about it. I heard many things about it, like it was a cult classic, a great twisted psycholgoical horror film and has traps. Than i was confused because i thought their were talking about Saw, the first one. Nope their are two different movies but about the same thing basically. Saw is also a cult classic, a great twisted psychological horror film and has traps. So thats aint cofusing at all.
The Plot: Without remembering how they got there, several strangers awaken in a prison of cubic cells, some of them booby-trapped. There's onetime cop Quentin (Maurice Dean Wint), scientist Holloway (Nicky Guadagni), young math genius Leaven (Nicole de Boer), master of escapes Rennes (Wayne Robson), autistic savant Kazan (Andrew Miller) and architect Worth (David Hewlett), who might have more information on the maze than he lets on. The prisoners must use their combined skills if they are to escape.
Its a cult classic and must watch horror film.
The Plot: Without remembering how they got there, several strangers awaken in a prison of cubic cells, some of them booby-trapped. There's onetime cop Quentin (Maurice Dean Wint), scientist Holloway (Nicky Guadagni), young math genius Leaven (Nicole de Boer), master of escapes Rennes (Wayne Robson), autistic savant Kazan (Andrew Miller) and architect Worth (David Hewlett), who might have more information on the maze than he lets on. The prisoners must use their combined skills if they are to escape.
Its a cult classic and must watch horror film.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) in Movies
Apr 8, 2020
Flaming Birds
Mission: impossible II- this is a strange sequel, on one hand its good, on the other its bad. So lets call it in the middle, good but bad. Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames both return. I like how each movie is directed by a different director. The first one was Brain De Palma so his take was putting spy, suspense and thrills in the first one. In this one John Woo directs it. That means alot of slow-mo, birds, and that pretty much it.
The plot: Tom Cruise returns to his role as Ethan Hunt in the second installment of "Mission: Impossible." This time Ethan Hunt leads his IMF team on a mission to capture a deadly German virus before it is released by terrorists. His mission is made impossible due to the fact that he is not the only person after samples of the disease. He must also contest with a gang of international terrorists headed by a turned bad former IMF agent who has already managed to steal the cure.
Its good, but the first one was better.
The plot: Tom Cruise returns to his role as Ethan Hunt in the second installment of "Mission: Impossible." This time Ethan Hunt leads his IMF team on a mission to capture a deadly German virus before it is released by terrorists. His mission is made impossible due to the fact that he is not the only person after samples of the disease. He must also contest with a gang of international terrorists headed by a turned bad former IMF agent who has already managed to steal the cure.
Its good, but the first one was better.
David McK (3562 KP) rated The Lone Ranger (2013) in Movies
Sep 15, 2019 (Updated Feb 14, 2021)
"Hi Ho Silver away!"
Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Carribean) take on the classic Western for Disney, with Johnny Depp's Tonto pretty much playing the same character as his Captain Jack Sparrow, and with Armie Hammer taking on the role of The Lone Ranger.
Set as an elderly Tonto telling the story to a child visitor in a fairground in 1930s San Fransisco, this takes a while to get going (2hour 20 running time!), with a large part of the story settign the scene and the background to how the Lone Ranger came to be who he is/was.
Indeed, apart from a slight refrain at the beginning the stirring William Tell overture doesn't even get used until near the end of the movie (probably for the best, as an overuse would dilute its impact).
I also have to say that this is probably one for the big screen: the sweeping majestic shots of the Wild West do kind of lose their impact on a smaller TV screen!
Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Carribean) take on the classic Western for Disney, with Johnny Depp's Tonto pretty much playing the same character as his Captain Jack Sparrow, and with Armie Hammer taking on the role of The Lone Ranger.
Set as an elderly Tonto telling the story to a child visitor in a fairground in 1930s San Fransisco, this takes a while to get going (2hour 20 running time!), with a large part of the story settign the scene and the background to how the Lone Ranger came to be who he is/was.
Indeed, apart from a slight refrain at the beginning the stirring William Tell overture doesn't even get used until near the end of the movie (probably for the best, as an overuse would dilute its impact).
I also have to say that this is probably one for the big screen: the sweeping majestic shots of the Wild West do kind of lose their impact on a smaller TV screen!