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Awix (3310 KP) rated Cold Pursuit (2019) in Movies
Feb 28, 2019
Latest Hollywood remake of a film with the gall not to be in English (the horror!) is a better-not-call-it-black comedy thriller about a snowplough driver whose rampage of vengeance gets out of control. Liam Neeson drives a plough, murders a bunch of drug dealers, and doesn't think enough about what he says on the publicity tour; the quality of the film kind of vanishes into the backdrop as a result.
After a horribly choppy opening - is it a serious drama about grieving parents or another thickheaded Neeson revenge melodrama? - the film settles down to feel like a pastiche of the sort of thing the McDonagh brothers make, with genre elements drolly deconstructed with offbeat humour and a knowing provocativeness. It's just not quite quirky, funny, or intelligent enough; Neeson underplays it too much and film doesn't seem to have any real point to make. Some good jokes and it passes the time, but it would have slipped into obscurity fairly quickly if only Liam had kept his mouth shut on the junket.
After a horribly choppy opening - is it a serious drama about grieving parents or another thickheaded Neeson revenge melodrama? - the film settles down to feel like a pastiche of the sort of thing the McDonagh brothers make, with genre elements drolly deconstructed with offbeat humour and a knowing provocativeness. It's just not quite quirky, funny, or intelligent enough; Neeson underplays it too much and film doesn't seem to have any real point to make. Some good jokes and it passes the time, but it would have slipped into obscurity fairly quickly if only Liam had kept his mouth shut on the junket.
Awix (3310 KP) rated A Chump at Oxford (1940) in Movies
Mar 24, 2019 (Updated Mar 24, 2019)
Disjointed L&H slapstick comedy, one of their last films for Hal Roach. Originally made as a 40-minute 'streamlined feature' and was extended to 62 minutes by the addition of an opening section which is a tidied-up remake of their 1928 short From Soup to Nuts; naturally, this has no connection with the rest of the story. Stan and Ollie try their hands at catering (badly), stop a robbery (accidentally) and as a reward are sent to Oxford University to better themselves. They antagonise the local students which leads to some surprising revelations as to Stan's past.
The individual sections are not too bad, but the episodic nature of the film means it feels longer than an hour; there are some good bits, but also a sense of the boys having run out of ideas and either repeating themselves or trying too hard. Spotting Peter Cushing (this is possibly the best-known of the films he made while in Hollywood for a couple of years as a young man) adds to the fun, though.
The individual sections are not too bad, but the episodic nature of the film means it feels longer than an hour; there are some good bits, but also a sense of the boys having run out of ideas and either repeating themselves or trying too hard. Spotting Peter Cushing (this is possibly the best-known of the films he made while in Hollywood for a couple of years as a young man) adds to the fun, though.
Dan Barnes (9 KP) rated Halloween (2018) in Movies
May 16, 2019
Jamie Lee Curtis is back! (1 more)
Michael Myers is back!
The night he came home......again
Contains spoilers, click to show
Remember all those Halloween sequels (there's a fair few) well scrap them as this is Halloween 2 (strictly speaking the 3rd Halloween 2)
After that night in 1979 Michael Myers was captured, subdued and put in an asylum (coz that worked so well before). How on earth he got captured is beyond me but anyway go with it.
2 internet bloggers/vloggers want to write up a story on Michael and go visit him. I mean why not he's definitely known for his very chatty nature isnt he....oh and while there take his mask I'm sure he'll love that.
Inevitably Michael escapes and once more begins his pursuit of Laurie Strode (who isnt his sister). Cue tension, that musical score and many gruesome deaths.
An ending that is similar to home alone and that you would 100% confirm the end of Myers.......but this is Hollywood, the film made money and a new Halloween has been confirmed (is it Halloween 2 or 3 now)
After that night in 1979 Michael Myers was captured, subdued and put in an asylum (coz that worked so well before). How on earth he got captured is beyond me but anyway go with it.
2 internet bloggers/vloggers want to write up a story on Michael and go visit him. I mean why not he's definitely known for his very chatty nature isnt he....oh and while there take his mask I'm sure he'll love that.
Inevitably Michael escapes and once more begins his pursuit of Laurie Strode (who isnt his sister). Cue tension, that musical score and many gruesome deaths.
An ending that is similar to home alone and that you would 100% confirm the end of Myers.......but this is Hollywood, the film made money and a new Halloween has been confirmed (is it Halloween 2 or 3 now)
Darkwriter1408 (8 KP) rated Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow (2014) in Movies
Jun 13, 2019
The actors (1 more)
The backing story
Had to be reinvented with a new name for the publicity
So with a story of an alien invasion in which a low tanker soldier finds himself dying but waking up the day previous every time he dies. Hence the name of the film. The film should have been really good, given that you have Hollywood superstar Tom cruise and is supported by Oscar nominee emiky blunt. But instead, the film falls short.
They spend a lot of time off of the battle field and in training and you see a lot of talking and very minimal action. The backing story for me is really good, or has the potential for it being really good. Spending most of there time running or talking in the film, cruise and blunt deliver there lines with perfect execution and I really feel that the film is let down by the writers imagination and the direction given in this film. I'd of given a higher rating if it was just that little bit more on the edge of your seat action.
They spend a lot of time off of the battle field and in training and you see a lot of talking and very minimal action. The backing story for me is really good, or has the potential for it being really good. Spending most of there time running or talking in the film, cruise and blunt deliver there lines with perfect execution and I really feel that the film is let down by the writers imagination and the direction given in this film. I'd of given a higher rating if it was just that little bit more on the edge of your seat action.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Ocean’s 8 (2018) in Movies
Jun 26, 2018 (Updated Jun 26, 2018)
We seem to be at the point where Hollywood is all for giving more and better roles for women in big (ish) genre movies, but no-one seems to have much idea about how to do this beyond clumsily retooling films that would usually star men for a female cast. Hence things like this, which is basically a minimal variation on the formula from the Clooney/Pitt Ocean movies - you know it's about women, though, because they're stealing jewellery and there's a scene where they all swish about glamorously in expensive dresses.
Uninspired and unsurprising plot, distinctly mixed bag of performances, and lack of a moral compass (rather than stealing from a proper bad guy, they're basically just nicking stuff from an innocent jewellery house) mean that this was a rather unengaging experience for me (though a friend who is actually in the target demographic said she quite enjoyed it). Seriously, though, if people keep going to see this sort of thing, it's all going to end up with Sylvester Stallone finally making The Expendabelles, and who really wants that to happen?
Uninspired and unsurprising plot, distinctly mixed bag of performances, and lack of a moral compass (rather than stealing from a proper bad guy, they're basically just nicking stuff from an innocent jewellery house) mean that this was a rather unengaging experience for me (though a friend who is actually in the target demographic said she quite enjoyed it). Seriously, though, if people keep going to see this sort of thing, it's all going to end up with Sylvester Stallone finally making The Expendabelles, and who really wants that to happen?
Dianne Robbins (1738 KP) rated Finding your feet (2018) in Movies
Jan 30, 2019
Delightful
Contains spoilers, click to show
Finding Your Feet is a sweet movie with endearing characters. The stellar cast consists of Celie Imrie, Imelda Staunton, Joanna Lumley, Timothy Spall, and David Haymen. Staunton plays an up middle-class snob, who after finding her husband in the arms of another woman, moves in with her bohemian sister, Imrie, who lives in a council house and who occupies herself with dancing with other seniors. Her sister convinces her to join the class; she had previously been a dancer but gave it up for marriage and motherhood, and slowly, the snobbery gives way to living her best life and having fun, making new friends, and finding romance and adventure. It's a feel-good, hopeful movie, full of laughter and dance.
What I love about the Brits is that unlike Hollywood, actors are allowed to look like the average person on the street in both face and figure, with gray hair, wrinkles, moles, and a paunch. It's about talent and acting, not whether or not they look like gods and goddesses. It's so refreshing.
What I love about the Brits is that unlike Hollywood, actors are allowed to look like the average person on the street in both face and figure, with gray hair, wrinkles, moles, and a paunch. It's about talent and acting, not whether or not they look like gods and goddesses. It's so refreshing.
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