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Lost - Season 1
8.5
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Oceanic Air flight 815 tore apart in mid-air and crashed on a Pacific island, leaving 48 passengers...
Kill the Father
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'The rock cast a sharp, dark shadow over a shape huddled on the ground. Please don't let it be the...
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Army of the Dead (2021) in Movies
May 26, 2021
Took To Long To Get To The Fun Part
I love me a good Zombie flick. I also love me a good Heist flick. So…when I heard that Zack Snyder (JUSTICE LEAGUE) was making a “Zombie/Heist Flick”, I thought “what’s not to like”?
Turns out…plenty.
A pet project of Sndyer’s that has been stuck in “development hell” in Hollywood for almost 2 decades, ARMY OF THE DEAD tells the tale of a group of mercenaries that look to rob $200 million from a vault under the casinos of Las Vegas - one small problem…Las Vegas has been walled off as a way to contain a zombie plague.
My first warning that this was not going to a pleasant experience is that this film has a 2 1/2 hour run time. That certainly seems bloated for a Zombie film and the first 1 1/2 of this flick certainly proves this out as Snyder - ham handedly - seeks to flesh out each of the characters in long, boring exposition scenes that didn’t really add anything to the tension or action. Well…it did add something…restless boredom.
But…I gotta admit, once the group of mercenaries make their way to the vault in Las Vegas, the last hour of the film was pretty darn fun.
Dave Bautista (Drax in the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY films) leads the group of mercenaries and Ella Purnell (Emma in MISS PEREGRINE…) is his estranged daughter. I won’t bore you with the details of why these 2 are estranged…but they are and Bautista insists that his daughter NOT come along on this mission. So you know what happens next…yep, she comes along and I was rooting for her to get killed almost from the start. Neither of these 2 characters work and since they are central to the story they are really at the root of the problems with the first 1 1/2 hours of this film.
The rest of the ensemble, however, are a lot of fun and bring that “B Monster Movie” vibe to the proceedings and they look like they are having alot of fun. Tig Notero, Ana de La Reguera, Omari Hardwick and Theo Rossi are an enjoyable lot and know EXACTLY what type of film they are in.
But the standouts of the ensemble are the always great Garret Dillahunt (John Dorie in FEAR THE WALKING DEAD) who brings his usual “A” game to the proceedings. As does Nora Arnezeder (SAFE HOUSE) as “The Coyote” a survivor who has been in Las Vegas before and - especially - Matthias Schweighofer (RESISTANCE) who steals every scene he is in playing the German safecracker.
I would have loved it if Snyder would have cut the Bautista and daughter scenes (and characters) and just had this ensemble go after the loot - it would have been a much better - and shorter - film.
But…if you can last through the long, boring first 1 1/2 hours, the last hour is “good enough” Zombie action with an interesting “twist” on the genre that I will have to give Snyder credit for.
If you do all this, you’ll have a passably decent enough entertaining time.
Letter Grade: B-
6 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(OfMarquis)
Turns out…plenty.
A pet project of Sndyer’s that has been stuck in “development hell” in Hollywood for almost 2 decades, ARMY OF THE DEAD tells the tale of a group of mercenaries that look to rob $200 million from a vault under the casinos of Las Vegas - one small problem…Las Vegas has been walled off as a way to contain a zombie plague.
My first warning that this was not going to a pleasant experience is that this film has a 2 1/2 hour run time. That certainly seems bloated for a Zombie film and the first 1 1/2 of this flick certainly proves this out as Snyder - ham handedly - seeks to flesh out each of the characters in long, boring exposition scenes that didn’t really add anything to the tension or action. Well…it did add something…restless boredom.
But…I gotta admit, once the group of mercenaries make their way to the vault in Las Vegas, the last hour of the film was pretty darn fun.
Dave Bautista (Drax in the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY films) leads the group of mercenaries and Ella Purnell (Emma in MISS PEREGRINE…) is his estranged daughter. I won’t bore you with the details of why these 2 are estranged…but they are and Bautista insists that his daughter NOT come along on this mission. So you know what happens next…yep, she comes along and I was rooting for her to get killed almost from the start. Neither of these 2 characters work and since they are central to the story they are really at the root of the problems with the first 1 1/2 hours of this film.
The rest of the ensemble, however, are a lot of fun and bring that “B Monster Movie” vibe to the proceedings and they look like they are having alot of fun. Tig Notero, Ana de La Reguera, Omari Hardwick and Theo Rossi are an enjoyable lot and know EXACTLY what type of film they are in.
But the standouts of the ensemble are the always great Garret Dillahunt (John Dorie in FEAR THE WALKING DEAD) who brings his usual “A” game to the proceedings. As does Nora Arnezeder (SAFE HOUSE) as “The Coyote” a survivor who has been in Las Vegas before and - especially - Matthias Schweighofer (RESISTANCE) who steals every scene he is in playing the German safecracker.
I would have loved it if Snyder would have cut the Bautista and daughter scenes (and characters) and just had this ensemble go after the loot - it would have been a much better - and shorter - film.
But…if you can last through the long, boring first 1 1/2 hours, the last hour is “good enough” Zombie action with an interesting “twist” on the genre that I will have to give Snyder credit for.
If you do all this, you’ll have a passably decent enough entertaining time.
Letter Grade: B-
6 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(OfMarquis)
Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated The Cloverfield Paradox (2018) in Movies
Oct 7, 2020
Contains spoilers, click to show
The Cloverfield Paradox is the third and (at time of writing) the last Cloverfield film and it's main purpose is to explain where Clover and his friends come from. Does it do this in an easy to follow, straight forward way that fits easily into the already established Cloverfield universe? Hell no.
The first film was a found footage monster movie and the second film was a psychological thriller that was loosely linked to the first so naturally the third film is a hard Sci-Fi set in the near future. The earth has used up most of it's resources and everyone is nearly at war, the last hope is the Cloverfield space-station which has the 'Shepard' beam, an experimental particle beam that, if it works, will produce an endless supply of energy. The lack of resources and looming war are the only problems, there are no monsters and there never were.
The Cloverfield Paradox mainly follows the crew of the space station and quickly turns into a Sci-Fi horror in a similar vain to 'Event Horizon'. Basically the crew activate the Shepard Beam, it works then crashes and the earth disappears. Then strange things start to happen. At the same time something happens on earth, there is an attack on America and a few people run around trying to find out what happens and one hides in a bunker similar to the one in 10 Cloverfield Lane. Meanwhile the crew of the Cloverfield try to find out where the earth is.
As a Sci-Fi, the Cloverfield Paradox works well, it uses just enough jargon and theoretical physics and as a horror it works well, killing off the cast in weird and wonderful ways. And as an explanation for Clover well SPOILER that's what attacked Earth, of course this is only reviled right at the end and there is no explanation to how they got to the past in the other film's. Except there is, about twenty minuets into the film, after everything has been set up but before everything goes wrong there is a news program shown on a monitor whilst the crew begin to start their experiments. The news show is interviewing the author of a book called 'The Cloverfield Paradox' and, in the interview the author explains everything from what is going to happen to how Clover and the other monsters appear on earth even though know one in the future knows anything about them, so pay attention.
One thing the all three Cloverfield films did well was all of the extra stuff. The original film started with tease trailers, infomercial's form company's seen in the film and fake news reels. This kind of marketing continued for all three films and other information was made available including one big link between Cloverfield and the Cloverfield Paradox. The last scene of the first film, the scene that was set before everything that happened with the couple by the beach shows something falling from the sky in the background, this is part of the Cloverfield space station.
With the revelation that the creatures now exist all through time a fourth film was rumoured - Overlord- however, even though the film was made by the same company and the same people it was never part of the Cloverfield universe and is/was meant to be the start of it's own franchise. Even though it could easily fit even as a ret con.
The first film was a found footage monster movie and the second film was a psychological thriller that was loosely linked to the first so naturally the third film is a hard Sci-Fi set in the near future. The earth has used up most of it's resources and everyone is nearly at war, the last hope is the Cloverfield space-station which has the 'Shepard' beam, an experimental particle beam that, if it works, will produce an endless supply of energy. The lack of resources and looming war are the only problems, there are no monsters and there never were.
The Cloverfield Paradox mainly follows the crew of the space station and quickly turns into a Sci-Fi horror in a similar vain to 'Event Horizon'. Basically the crew activate the Shepard Beam, it works then crashes and the earth disappears. Then strange things start to happen. At the same time something happens on earth, there is an attack on America and a few people run around trying to find out what happens and one hides in a bunker similar to the one in 10 Cloverfield Lane. Meanwhile the crew of the Cloverfield try to find out where the earth is.
As a Sci-Fi, the Cloverfield Paradox works well, it uses just enough jargon and theoretical physics and as a horror it works well, killing off the cast in weird and wonderful ways. And as an explanation for Clover well SPOILER that's what attacked Earth, of course this is only reviled right at the end and there is no explanation to how they got to the past in the other film's. Except there is, about twenty minuets into the film, after everything has been set up but before everything goes wrong there is a news program shown on a monitor whilst the crew begin to start their experiments. The news show is interviewing the author of a book called 'The Cloverfield Paradox' and, in the interview the author explains everything from what is going to happen to how Clover and the other monsters appear on earth even though know one in the future knows anything about them, so pay attention.
One thing the all three Cloverfield films did well was all of the extra stuff. The original film started with tease trailers, infomercial's form company's seen in the film and fake news reels. This kind of marketing continued for all three films and other information was made available including one big link between Cloverfield and the Cloverfield Paradox. The last scene of the first film, the scene that was set before everything that happened with the couple by the beach shows something falling from the sky in the background, this is part of the Cloverfield space station.
With the revelation that the creatures now exist all through time a fourth film was rumoured - Overlord- however, even though the film was made by the same company and the same people it was never part of the Cloverfield universe and is/was meant to be the start of it's own franchise. Even though it could easily fit even as a ret con.
Wild Animals Online(WAO)
Games and Entertainment
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Welcome to the best animal game, Wild Animals Online (WAO) "Go fight! If you don’t fight,...
Fix My Truck: 4x4 Offroad Truck Mechanic Simulator
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Tear down, fix, mod, build, repair and totally upgrade an awesome pickup truck by installing the...
Fred (860 KP) rated Scoob (2020) in Movies
May 16, 2020
Enjoyable enough
The movie was enjoyable enough & I would probably watch it again, just to try to catch the little Hanna-Barbera references throughout it. The movie starts with the meeting of the gang & then, using a very cool remake of the original theme song sequence, moves ahead to when the gang are already seasoned "monster" hunters. But although I did enjoy it, it had a lot of problems.
Most notably, the voice acting. For some reason, instead of sticking with the current actors who do the character's voices, they decided to replace them with more well known actors. Problem is, most of them sound nothing like the characters, it kind of throws everything off. Will Forte may be the exception as his Shaggy is close enough & of course we do have Scooby's current voice, Frank Welker as Scooby. But then, this is where it gets silly. You have Frank Welker, the original voice of Fred in your movie, but you decide not to use him as Fred. WTF? Really? So you got Fred, Velma & Daphnie played by actors that sound nothing like the characters. Quick mention too about the voices of the main characters when they were kids. Terrible & annoying (quick enough?). The movie also features Blue Falcon & Dyno-Mutt. Since this is not supposed to be the original Blue Falcon, his voice change is acceptable. However, Ken Jeong is just a weird choice for Dyno-Mutt. The character has no personality & is nothing like the character should be. And to be honest, I didn't like the role reversal of Falcon being a coward & Dyno-Mutt not being a screw-up. The main villain of the film, Dick Dastardly, is voiced well, but just like the others, sounds nothing like the original voices, so it throws it off. In fact, if they had not said his name was Dick Dastardly, I would have no idea it was supposed to be Dick Dastardly.
So now, let's talk about Dick Dastardly. In the cartoons, it was either just he & his dog Muttley being the bad guys or he had a few others try to help him. But in this film, they instead have him with a whole slew of robot minions, who I guess were supposed to be like the Minions of Despicable Me, but these guys have no personality at all & the character & the film suffer because of this.
There is also another character in the film. She's Blue Falcon's.....something. Sidekick? Helper? I don't remember her name, nor do I care. She is utterly forgettable & useless. But she's the only person of color I can think of in the movie, so I guess that's why she's there. That's fine, but I wish she had a more prominent role, rather than just be there to fill a gap.
So, why did I like the movie then? Well, it's fun & there were many times I laughed out loud. there were jokes that kid's would definitely not get, that I did. The animation is top-notch & beautiful to watch. There is also a lot of nostalgia factor, whether you're a fan of Scooby or of the dozens of other Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the 70s. The story works well enough, for a Scooby Doo movie& the pacing is nice. There are no points where the movie gets slow or boring. Like I said, I'd probably watch it again & that's good enough.
Most notably, the voice acting. For some reason, instead of sticking with the current actors who do the character's voices, they decided to replace them with more well known actors. Problem is, most of them sound nothing like the characters, it kind of throws everything off. Will Forte may be the exception as his Shaggy is close enough & of course we do have Scooby's current voice, Frank Welker as Scooby. But then, this is where it gets silly. You have Frank Welker, the original voice of Fred in your movie, but you decide not to use him as Fred. WTF? Really? So you got Fred, Velma & Daphnie played by actors that sound nothing like the characters. Quick mention too about the voices of the main characters when they were kids. Terrible & annoying (quick enough?). The movie also features Blue Falcon & Dyno-Mutt. Since this is not supposed to be the original Blue Falcon, his voice change is acceptable. However, Ken Jeong is just a weird choice for Dyno-Mutt. The character has no personality & is nothing like the character should be. And to be honest, I didn't like the role reversal of Falcon being a coward & Dyno-Mutt not being a screw-up. The main villain of the film, Dick Dastardly, is voiced well, but just like the others, sounds nothing like the original voices, so it throws it off. In fact, if they had not said his name was Dick Dastardly, I would have no idea it was supposed to be Dick Dastardly.
So now, let's talk about Dick Dastardly. In the cartoons, it was either just he & his dog Muttley being the bad guys or he had a few others try to help him. But in this film, they instead have him with a whole slew of robot minions, who I guess were supposed to be like the Minions of Despicable Me, but these guys have no personality at all & the character & the film suffer because of this.
There is also another character in the film. She's Blue Falcon's.....something. Sidekick? Helper? I don't remember her name, nor do I care. She is utterly forgettable & useless. But she's the only person of color I can think of in the movie, so I guess that's why she's there. That's fine, but I wish she had a more prominent role, rather than just be there to fill a gap.
So, why did I like the movie then? Well, it's fun & there were many times I laughed out loud. there were jokes that kid's would definitely not get, that I did. The animation is top-notch & beautiful to watch. There is also a lot of nostalgia factor, whether you're a fan of Scooby or of the dozens of other Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the 70s. The story works well enough, for a Scooby Doo movie& the pacing is nice. There are no points where the movie gets slow or boring. Like I said, I'd probably watch it again & that's good enough.
Glen More II: Chronicles
Tabletop Game
Glen More II: Chronicles is a sequel to Glen More, expanding the gameplay substantially compared to...
Descent: Legends of the Dark
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Terrinoth is in peril. The demon-tainted Uthuk Y'llan barbarians stalk the realm and the undead...