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The Fate of the Furious (2017)
The Fate of the Furious (2017)
2017 | Action
Loud, dumb, eye pleasing action (2 more)
Jason Statham and a baby
The Rock coaching girls' soccer
RIP Paul Walker (2 more)
We want Han Seoul-Oh back
10-year-old autonomous cars?
Over the Top and a Little Too Far
Contains spoilers, click to show
I put up with the endless runway (was it a Möbius strip?) in Fast 6. That alone should prove I have a very high tolerance for movies that really put the concept of "suspension of disbelief" to the test. The Fate of the Furious, however, had more than a few moments that left me unable to suspend my disbelief. A movie about cars should not have a whole scene showing 10-year-old cars being controlled autonomously (I specifically remember seeing 2005-ish Volkswagen Jetta in a World War Z zombie swarm of driverless cars). Even most cars being produced in 2017 would not have this capability. Also, why would Jeep/Chrysler want their cars prominently featured in a scene involving a hacker taking control of cars in order to create mass destruction and chaos? Just a thought, and I digress. There are more unbelievable moments in the movie, nothing out of the ordinary for a Fast and Furious movie though (winning a race in reverse, anyone?). It's great dumb fun, as always, and if you don't care about all the physics and reality breaking nonsense it's a wild ride. For me though, it feels as if the Fast and the Furious franchise has finally jumped the shark, or should I say submarine? I will say this though, this one scene near the end of the movie involving Jason Statham and a baby was worth the price of admission alone.
  
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
2001 | Adventure, Fantasy

"I’d put The Fellowship of the Ring in there. I just think Peter Jackson did a fantastic job with the movie, and I loved those books. It’s one of those things where, reading the books, and getting so excited about them, and just praying that the movie did it justice. And it totally did, to me. Plus, the relationship between Frodo and Sam, and Gollum, and all of that. I loved it. I’m also a huge fan of The Chronicles of Narnia, and I had the opposite experience with that, where it just didn’t click like it did with The Lord of the Rings. So I just loved what Peter Jackson did with that."

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Rachel Lambert recommended Wonder Boys (2000) in Movies (curated)

 
Wonder Boys (2000)
Wonder Boys (2000)
2000 | Comedy, Drama

"It’s dramatically different [from The Godfather] in terms of this town and the world of it. It’s a good movie, tremendously. I’m a writer, so obviously I enjoy the content because it’s about writer things and writer dramas and writer people. It’s just one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. I can watch that movie over and over again. Robert Downey Jr. gives one of his best performances ever. And very funny. And I love Michael Douglas in it; he’s great. But it also has this wonderful capacity for pathos in this very earned way. It doesn’t feel kitsch. It feels really earned and honest, so it can play those lines really well."

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Dumbo (2019)
Dumbo (2019)
2019 | Animation, Family, Fantasy
Disney's continuing plundering of their back catalogue (see also: Beauty and the beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Cinderella …) continues with this latest attempt to turn their 1940s cartoon original into a live action movie.

It doesn't really work.

Starring, for once, a pretty 'armless (sorry not sorry) Colin Farrell, this crams the story of Dumbo (circus elephant, learns how to fly, lives happily ever after …) into roughly the first 30 minutes or so, before going off on its own tangent (for that, at least, it needs lauded), and introducing both Michael Keaton's circus businessman alongside Eva Green's aerial trapeze artist.

Ironically, however, I found the movie never really takes off at all!
  
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David McK (3687 KP) rated The Day After Tomorrow (2004) in Movies

Nov 20, 2019 (Updated Aug 3, 2025)  
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
2004 | Action, Drama, Mystery
Roland Emmerich sure likes his disaster movies.

This is his 2014 disaster movie that, taking climate change as it's starting point, has entered the popular vernacular - "it's like the day after tomorrow out there" - and, until the movie 2012 came along (I'm typing this in 2019) also must have held the record for portraying natural disaster on the big screen.

The main focus of this one is on both Jake Gylenhall and Dennis Quaid, with the former becoming trapped in New York when a series of natural disasters leads to a new ice-age leading to the latter (who, natch, is an experienced climatologist) to trek has way across the frozen North America to rescue his son.
  
Dr. No (1962)
Dr. No (1962)
1962 | Action, Classics, Mystery
Bond. James Bond.
The first James Bond movie, based on the 6th Bond book, and starring who is for many, arguably, the best Bond of all in Sean Connery.

Now over 60 years old (at the time I’m writing this), it’s noticeable how ‘fully formed’ the tropes of the series are here right out of the gate: the flirting between Bond and Moneypenny, the mutual respect between Bond and M, the exotic locales, the girls (for better or worse), the secret bases, the villains with a penchant for explaining their dastardly plans before letting Bond escape …

There is, however, also a reason that a later incarnation of M (Judi Dench) would call Bond something along the lines of “a dinosaur. A misogynistic relic from the Cold War …” which is also on full display here!

I suppose it was the 60s, though …
  
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Andy K (10823 KP) rated Crash (1996) in Movies

Aug 31, 2018  
Crash (1996)
Crash (1996)
1996 | Drama
Bad words in review (0 more)
Do you get turned on after being in a car crash?
Contains spoilers, click to show
The people in this movie do and it pretty messed up. I love David Cronenberg and all his body horror films and also the deeply provocative and sometimes controversial subject matter in his films; however, this one seemed just a bit too random and out there for me.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a great steamy sex scene in a film as much as anyone, but this movie seemed like a never-ending stretch of handjobs and random nastiness for no reason whatsoever.

The characters were not even that interesting in that all they wanted to do was grope, suck and fuck each other just for the turn on of being around a crashed car and that didn't really make any sense.

Do yourself a favor and watch Naked Lunch or Videodrome instead.
  
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
J.K. Rowling | 2014 | Children
9.0 (221 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"Finished this one last week and forgot to mark, but I loved it. I ended up taking a massive break for several months because I'm such a mood reader but I really have always loved this one. I remember missing the magic as a teen since Umbridge was being Umbridge but the last act remains one of the most exciting in the series. And I was really happy to get to revisit the scene where Harry talks to Nearly Headless Nick about why some wizards become ghosts and why most don't. I always wanted that scene in the movie, but it's beautifully done in the book. Also loved the extensive conversation between Harry and Dumbledore, which was also reasonably shortened in the film. #AdamRereadsHP"

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