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Ross (3284 KP) rated Gemini Man (2019) in Movies
May 5, 2020
Good action but unsettling CGI
Much like the Justice League film, the CGI distracted me too much to enjoy the film. I don't know whether Will Smith used a body double and his Fresh Prince face was superimposed or if he did it himself (or likely a combination) but it is a little unsettling. Especially so in long frantic action sequences where it just jars and detracts from the action.
Overall a decent film but maybe too ambitious for the technology available.
Although it did amuse me to think about how the film would have been if they had just inserted clips from the Fresh Prince into the film and wrote the script around that.
Overall a decent film but maybe too ambitious for the technology available.
Although it did amuse me to think about how the film would have been if they had just inserted clips from the Fresh Prince into the film and wrote the script around that.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Vikings (1958) in Movies
Apr 15, 2020
Slim-line Hollywood epic is strong on rousing action, less so on historical authenticity. Separated-long-before-birth siblings Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis rip chunks out of each other while drinking, raiding, pillaging and taking an interest in Janet Leigh.
Basically the silliest sort of Hollywood camp, with dialogue like 'Love and hate are two horns on the same goat!', but the photography and score do occasionally combine to produce something rather stirring. It occasionally has a rather harder, darker edge than you'd expect (there's quite a lot of mutilation in the script), but not that much more than Ben Hur. The combined wattage of the various stars keeps it watchably entertaining.
Basically the silliest sort of Hollywood camp, with dialogue like 'Love and hate are two horns on the same goat!', but the photography and score do occasionally combine to produce something rather stirring. It occasionally has a rather harder, darker edge than you'd expect (there's quite a lot of mutilation in the script), but not that much more than Ben Hur. The combined wattage of the various stars keeps it watchably entertaining.
The Naming Game (The Company Files: 2.)
6.0
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Whether it’s Hollywood or DC, life and death, success or failure hinge on saying a name. The...
International Mystery Crime Fiction
Dean (6927 KP) rated Spontaneous (2020) in Movies
Aug 19, 2021
Witty funny script (1 more)
Katherine Langford
Explosively Good
A fun, bloody love story. Quite an odd concept, definitely more a Rom-Com with an explosive twist. Students at a high school in their final year start combusting at random. Never knowing how long they will live does this change their perspective on life.
The film is very likable, very witty with some funny exchanges and the relationship feels very genuine for the likable duo. It's bloody without being overly gory for people exploding. The only down side the film seemed to lose it's direction a little bit in the final third. Overall though a fun and quirky, Rom-Com with a difference.
The film is very likable, very witty with some funny exchanges and the relationship feels very genuine for the likable duo. It's bloody without being overly gory for people exploding. The only down side the film seemed to lose it's direction a little bit in the final third. Overall though a fun and quirky, Rom-Com with a difference.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Drag Me to Hell (2009) in Movies
Oct 28, 2020
Sam Raimi (1 more)
Alison Lohman
PG-13 (1 more)
Justin Long
Old Lady Curse
Drag me to Hell- is a anethor movie that ive wanted to see for couple years now and it was not disappointed. Its gory, horrorfying, terrorfying, scary, gory and overall a excellent movie.
The plot: Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) has a loving boyfriend (Justin Long) and a great job at a Los Angeles bank. But her heavenly life becomes hellish when, in an effort to impress her boss, she denies an old woman's request for an extension on her home loan. In retaliation, the crone places a curse on Christine, threatening her soul with eternal damnation. Christine seeks a psychic's help to break the curse, but the price to save her soul may be more than she can pay.
Raimi wrote Drag Me to Hell with his brother, Ivan, before working on the Spider-Man trilogy.
The original story for Drag Me to Hell was written ten years before the film went into production and was written by Sam Raimi and his brother Ivan Raimi. The film went into production under the name The Curse. The Raimis wrote the script as a morality tale, desiring to write a story about a character who wants to be a good person, but makes a sinful choice out of greed for her own betterment and pays the price for it. The Raimis tried to make the character of Christine the main focal point in the film, and tried to have Christine in almost all the scenes in the film.
The most significant parallel is that both stories involve the passing of a cursed object, which has to be passed to someone else, or its possessor will be devoured by one or more demons. Unlike his past horror films, Raimi wanted the film to be rated PG-13 and not strictly driven by gore, stating, "I didn't want to do exactly the same thing I had done before."
After finishing the script, Raimi desired to make the picture after the first draft of the script was completed, but other projects such as the Spider-Man film series became a nearly decade-long endeavor, pushing opportunities to continue work on Drag Me to Hell to late 2007. Raimi offered director Edgar Wright to direct Drag Me to Hell which Wright turned down as he was filming Hot Fuzz and felt that "If I did it, it would just feel like karaoke." After the previous three Spider-Man films, Raimi came back to the script of Drag Me to Hell, wanting to make a simpler and lower-budget film.
Raimi said he set out to create “a horror film with lots of wild moments and lots of suspense and big shocks that’ll hopefully make audiences jump. But I also wanted to have a lot of dark humor sprinkled throughout. I spent the last decade doing Spider-Man and you come to rely on a lot of people doing things for you and a lot of help, but it’s refreshing and wonderful to be reminded that, as with most filmmakers, the best way to do it is yourself, with a tight team doing the main jobs."
Its a excellent movie.
The plot: Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) has a loving boyfriend (Justin Long) and a great job at a Los Angeles bank. But her heavenly life becomes hellish when, in an effort to impress her boss, she denies an old woman's request for an extension on her home loan. In retaliation, the crone places a curse on Christine, threatening her soul with eternal damnation. Christine seeks a psychic's help to break the curse, but the price to save her soul may be more than she can pay.
Raimi wrote Drag Me to Hell with his brother, Ivan, before working on the Spider-Man trilogy.
The original story for Drag Me to Hell was written ten years before the film went into production and was written by Sam Raimi and his brother Ivan Raimi. The film went into production under the name The Curse. The Raimis wrote the script as a morality tale, desiring to write a story about a character who wants to be a good person, but makes a sinful choice out of greed for her own betterment and pays the price for it. The Raimis tried to make the character of Christine the main focal point in the film, and tried to have Christine in almost all the scenes in the film.
The most significant parallel is that both stories involve the passing of a cursed object, which has to be passed to someone else, or its possessor will be devoured by one or more demons. Unlike his past horror films, Raimi wanted the film to be rated PG-13 and not strictly driven by gore, stating, "I didn't want to do exactly the same thing I had done before."
After finishing the script, Raimi desired to make the picture after the first draft of the script was completed, but other projects such as the Spider-Man film series became a nearly decade-long endeavor, pushing opportunities to continue work on Drag Me to Hell to late 2007. Raimi offered director Edgar Wright to direct Drag Me to Hell which Wright turned down as he was filming Hot Fuzz and felt that "If I did it, it would just feel like karaoke." After the previous three Spider-Man films, Raimi came back to the script of Drag Me to Hell, wanting to make a simpler and lower-budget film.
Raimi said he set out to create “a horror film with lots of wild moments and lots of suspense and big shocks that’ll hopefully make audiences jump. But I also wanted to have a lot of dark humor sprinkled throughout. I spent the last decade doing Spider-Man and you come to rely on a lot of people doing things for you and a lot of help, but it’s refreshing and wonderful to be reminded that, as with most filmmakers, the best way to do it is yourself, with a tight team doing the main jobs."
Its a excellent movie.
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated The Upside (2019) in Movies
May 8, 2019 (Updated May 8, 2019)
On The Up and Up
This movie had a bit of a strange release, at least in my area. It was one of those movies that only had two showings a day on it's opening weekend and they were both at really obscure times like 10:30am and 2:40pm, - times that would suggest that this movie was being put out to die. This was disappointing as, after seeing the trailers, I was looking forward to seeing it and never got the chance while it was in cinemas. Anyway, I finally got around to seeing it upon it's home release and I really enjoyed it.
Although I did like the look of this project from the trailer and I am a big fan of Bryan Cranston, I was wary of Kevin Hart starring opposite him in this role. It looked like a role that would require a more serious actor than Kevin Hart and I was concerned that Hart had been miscast and only chosen because of the recognition of his name rather than whether or not he was the right actor for the part.
Surprisingly and thankfully, I was proven entirely wrong. Hart shows here that he is in fact very capable in a more serious role such as this and doesn't just have to resort to screaming in every film he is in. I hope that he takes on more serious stuff following this as I much prefer it to any of his 'comedic,' roles. The rest of the cast are also great, Cranston gives a sublime performance as he always does and Nicole Kidman works well as Cranston's character's secretary/ potential love interest.
This film is a remake of a French film called The Intouchables and there are other elements of it that bear similarities to other movies that we have seen before, but it is a well told story that has various worthwhile messages littered throughout it. The script is witty and snappy enough that the film never feels slow or boring.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this one. It isn't the most original thing I have ever seen, but it was entertaining and it had heart. The script was well written and the direction was solid. The performances from the entire cast also help elevate the already funny script even further.
Although I did like the look of this project from the trailer and I am a big fan of Bryan Cranston, I was wary of Kevin Hart starring opposite him in this role. It looked like a role that would require a more serious actor than Kevin Hart and I was concerned that Hart had been miscast and only chosen because of the recognition of his name rather than whether or not he was the right actor for the part.
Surprisingly and thankfully, I was proven entirely wrong. Hart shows here that he is in fact very capable in a more serious role such as this and doesn't just have to resort to screaming in every film he is in. I hope that he takes on more serious stuff following this as I much prefer it to any of his 'comedic,' roles. The rest of the cast are also great, Cranston gives a sublime performance as he always does and Nicole Kidman works well as Cranston's character's secretary/ potential love interest.
This film is a remake of a French film called The Intouchables and there are other elements of it that bear similarities to other movies that we have seen before, but it is a well told story that has various worthwhile messages littered throughout it. The script is witty and snappy enough that the film never feels slow or boring.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this one. It isn't the most original thing I have ever seen, but it was entertaining and it had heart. The script was well written and the direction was solid. The performances from the entire cast also help elevate the already funny script even further.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated One Night in Miami (2020) in Movies
Apr 15, 2021
Keeps the audience at arms length
The issue when adapting a stage play to the screen is that, often times, the subject matter and style of the script does not lend itself to being “opened up”, what is powerful when sitting in a theater with the actors performing the piece in front of you can often times be seen as “flat” when it jumps to the screen.
Such is the case with ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI the Major Motion Picture Directorial debut of Oscar Winning Actress Regina King and based on the stage play by Kemp Powers. This film/play fictionalizes the true story of 4 powerful African American legends that meet up in a hotel room, one night in Miami.
And…this film feels like 4 people sitting in a hotel room talking - and that’s the problem with it. What should be powerful dialogue (and, I’m sure, IS powerful when seen live on stage) just doesn’t translate well enough on the screen, so the film just sits there demanding we pay attention, while not inviting us in to do so.
Since this is a story about 4 people sitting around talking, the acting needs to take center stage and hold our attention and, quite frankly, it just does not. Eli Goree as Cassius Clay, Aldis Hodge as Jim Brown and Leslie Odom, Jr. as Sam Cook are all “fine” in their roles, but they don’t rise above the script and direction. Odom gets an Oscar nod for his turn in this film, but I have to think that, maybe, it is as much for his turn in HAMILTON as it is in this film.
Only Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X shows a spark and draws an emotional response in this film and that might not be fair to the other actors for he has the flashier role with the most speeches.
The Direction by King and the Script by Kemp Powers (based on his stage play) has some moments, but never draws the audience in. It keeps everyone at arms length and doesn’t touch the soul.
The subject matter in this film is an important one, and depicts a pivotal time in American History, but other films do a better job of driving that point home by inviting the audience into the conversation.
Letter Grade: B-
6 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Such is the case with ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI the Major Motion Picture Directorial debut of Oscar Winning Actress Regina King and based on the stage play by Kemp Powers. This film/play fictionalizes the true story of 4 powerful African American legends that meet up in a hotel room, one night in Miami.
And…this film feels like 4 people sitting in a hotel room talking - and that’s the problem with it. What should be powerful dialogue (and, I’m sure, IS powerful when seen live on stage) just doesn’t translate well enough on the screen, so the film just sits there demanding we pay attention, while not inviting us in to do so.
Since this is a story about 4 people sitting around talking, the acting needs to take center stage and hold our attention and, quite frankly, it just does not. Eli Goree as Cassius Clay, Aldis Hodge as Jim Brown and Leslie Odom, Jr. as Sam Cook are all “fine” in their roles, but they don’t rise above the script and direction. Odom gets an Oscar nod for his turn in this film, but I have to think that, maybe, it is as much for his turn in HAMILTON as it is in this film.
Only Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X shows a spark and draws an emotional response in this film and that might not be fair to the other actors for he has the flashier role with the most speeches.
The Direction by King and the Script by Kemp Powers (based on his stage play) has some moments, but never draws the audience in. It keeps everyone at arms length and doesn’t touch the soul.
The subject matter in this film is an important one, and depicts a pivotal time in American History, but other films do a better job of driving that point home by inviting the audience into the conversation.
Letter Grade: B-
6 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Film and stuff (30 KP) rated Ghost in the Shell (2017) in Movies
May 15, 2019
Watch the original
Directed by - Rupert Sanders
Starring - Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, Takeshi Kitano, Chin Han and Peter Ferdinando.
Plot - In a future where most of the human race have embraced cybernetic enhancements there exhists an anti-terrorist unit named Sector 9.
The Major and sector 9 are on the hunt for a cyber terrorist who is targeting and killing key memebers of Hanka Robotics, the same organisation who gave Major her artificial body.
Thoughts:
The 1995 Ghost in the Shell is a favourite here and I am torn. I loved the nods to the original Anime and the Stand Alone Complex series that followed. The issue is there is enough of the original story here for it to feel like someone simply changed a few names, added a back story we didn't need, ask for or want and slapped it all together and hoped we would simply enjoy a Live action version.
That being said, I loved it. I left the cinema wanting more and actually wanting and wishing that the world I had just witnessed was the world I lived in now and that hasn't happened since I was a child.
The script needs work and actors may not have been well picked but the world building is magnificent. The visuals are stunning and the performance that have been given were very enjoyable.
I would recommend you see this in cinemas to fully enjoy the world that has been created. Just don't expect the same brilliance of the original.
Starring - Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, Takeshi Kitano, Chin Han and Peter Ferdinando.
Plot - In a future where most of the human race have embraced cybernetic enhancements there exhists an anti-terrorist unit named Sector 9.
The Major and sector 9 are on the hunt for a cyber terrorist who is targeting and killing key memebers of Hanka Robotics, the same organisation who gave Major her artificial body.
Thoughts:
The 1995 Ghost in the Shell is a favourite here and I am torn. I loved the nods to the original Anime and the Stand Alone Complex series that followed. The issue is there is enough of the original story here for it to feel like someone simply changed a few names, added a back story we didn't need, ask for or want and slapped it all together and hoped we would simply enjoy a Live action version.
That being said, I loved it. I left the cinema wanting more and actually wanting and wishing that the world I had just witnessed was the world I lived in now and that hasn't happened since I was a child.
The script needs work and actors may not have been well picked but the world building is magnificent. The visuals are stunning and the performance that have been given were very enjoyable.
I would recommend you see this in cinemas to fully enjoy the world that has been created. Just don't expect the same brilliance of the original.
The Monty Python's Flying Circus: Complete and Annotated: All the Bits
6.0
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Every script, every episode of the innovative, hilarious, and absurd Monty Python's Flying Circus,...
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Creed II (2018) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
Insert the standard "I haven't seen any of the previous ones" line here. Luckily it's such a big part of popular culture that I knew enough about Rocky to get all the references.
I had a lots of urges to leave in the first half of the film. There was very little happening and the script seemed a little bit half arsed. I was rather optimistically thinking that the film was nearly over when the fight was announced. Luckily the action packed second half of the film was much more engaging.
The emotion was so much more real. There were plenty of opportunities to shine in the first half but none of it grabbed me until we got into the first fight between Creed and Drago.
If we discount the beginning then the rest of Creed II is an excellent story of family loyalty and letting go of the past.
Did anyone take a word count for Viktor Drago? I imagine that most of his script just read "*glares with [insert random emotion here]*". Despite the fact we have a long list of excellent actors no one seemed to give a memorable performance. There was certainly nothing that made me want to go back and watch any of the others in the franchise.
What you should do
Unless you're absolutely obsessed with Rocky and Creed then you should probably just wait for this one when it's streaming.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
That apartment with it's amazing view would be a very therapeutic thing to come home to.
I had a lots of urges to leave in the first half of the film. There was very little happening and the script seemed a little bit half arsed. I was rather optimistically thinking that the film was nearly over when the fight was announced. Luckily the action packed second half of the film was much more engaging.
The emotion was so much more real. There were plenty of opportunities to shine in the first half but none of it grabbed me until we got into the first fight between Creed and Drago.
If we discount the beginning then the rest of Creed II is an excellent story of family loyalty and letting go of the past.
Did anyone take a word count for Viktor Drago? I imagine that most of his script just read "*glares with [insert random emotion here]*". Despite the fact we have a long list of excellent actors no one seemed to give a memorable performance. There was certainly nothing that made me want to go back and watch any of the others in the franchise.
What you should do
Unless you're absolutely obsessed with Rocky and Creed then you should probably just wait for this one when it's streaming.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
That apartment with it's amazing view would be a very therapeutic thing to come home to.