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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated The Favourite (2018) in Movies
Jun 22, 2019 (Updated Sep 25, 2019)
We're at yet another point in history that I'm not familiar with, let's just take that as read for all historical films from now on. As such I don't know how accurately it portrays things.
Our leading ladies each give outstanding performances, Weisz being the stand out of the three. Lady Sarah was the only one who's character seemed consistently believable the whole way through. Coleman gave a strong performance of Queen Anne and her moods. Stone though was the only one that suffered from the quirks of her character, Abigail's change towards the end of the film to a much more grotesque demeanor was not enjoyable.
That wasn't the only thing that was troublesome to watch. The camera work and the transition pieces were some strange choices. Early on we have a scene set in a dark shadowed room that means we're just watching two silhouettes, we see other scenes that are shot in darkened rooms and they're all handled much better than this shot. The other two issues I came across feel very old fashioned. Firstly cross fading transitions, I can't say added anything. Secondly the random fish eye lens, again it doesn't add anything and would be more at home in a sci-fi film than a historical one.
I can't say I enjoyed the film overall. It's a rather bland tale punctuated by overdone lavish moments, unnecessary sex and nudity, and all punctuated with some gratuitous additions of the C word. I'm not even offended by any of these things but none of it felt like it needed to be in the film, I genuinely feel it would have been a better production without some of it.
What you should do
I wouldn't bother with this one, and I'm aware I'm in a minority on this point. Personally I feel like time would be better spent researching the real point in history than this account.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
Lady Sarah's shooting outfit.
Our leading ladies each give outstanding performances, Weisz being the stand out of the three. Lady Sarah was the only one who's character seemed consistently believable the whole way through. Coleman gave a strong performance of Queen Anne and her moods. Stone though was the only one that suffered from the quirks of her character, Abigail's change towards the end of the film to a much more grotesque demeanor was not enjoyable.
That wasn't the only thing that was troublesome to watch. The camera work and the transition pieces were some strange choices. Early on we have a scene set in a dark shadowed room that means we're just watching two silhouettes, we see other scenes that are shot in darkened rooms and they're all handled much better than this shot. The other two issues I came across feel very old fashioned. Firstly cross fading transitions, I can't say added anything. Secondly the random fish eye lens, again it doesn't add anything and would be more at home in a sci-fi film than a historical one.
I can't say I enjoyed the film overall. It's a rather bland tale punctuated by overdone lavish moments, unnecessary sex and nudity, and all punctuated with some gratuitous additions of the C word. I'm not even offended by any of these things but none of it felt like it needed to be in the film, I genuinely feel it would have been a better production without some of it.
What you should do
I wouldn't bother with this one, and I'm aware I'm in a minority on this point. Personally I feel like time would be better spent researching the real point in history than this account.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
Lady Sarah's shooting outfit.
Jordan Binkerd (567 KP) rated Zombicide: Black Plague in Tabletop Games
Jul 21, 2019 (Updated Jul 21, 2019)
Improved ruleset vs. the original game (3 more)
Fantasy theme
Excellent miniatures!
Improved components vs. the original game
Primarily a combat simulator (1 more)
Low complexity
Improved rules and components, plus the fantasy theme? I wish I discovered this before the original.....
My wife and I love the original Zombicide and have most of the content for the modern setting, minus Kickstarter exclusives and the guest artist characters. So when we found ourselves at the local ComicCon and there was a copy of Black Plague in the game library? We jumped all over that! Compared to the original game, they've fixed several of the rules that bugged us about the game, especially regarding shooting and resources. They've also upgraded the dashboard system to a plastic thing with pegs, which is so much better than the originals that we've seriously considered buying them on eBay and Photoshoping cards for the modern characters so that we can incorporate the upgraded dashboards. We did incorporate a lot of the rules changes into our own games. So if you want to get into Zombicide and can only pick one setting, make it this one.
Like I said, we love Zombicide. But there are a lot of people in the gaming community that feel it lacks something in the way of complexity and strategy. They're not necessarily wrong. It's primarily a tactics game: here's your mission and goal, here's the situation, go! Is it easy? Sometimes. Depends on how lucky you are. Sometimes the zombies spawn in ways and locations that play right into your hands. Sometimes the Abomination spawns right in front of you and you either die immediately or the game bogs down while you scramble to outmaneuver him or find the (scarce) resources to defeat him. It can be pretty random and frustrating at times, and there are people who avoid randomness like the plague in their gaming. But like I said, my wife and I love the system, and this is the best version of it that I've seen.
Like I said, we love Zombicide. But there are a lot of people in the gaming community that feel it lacks something in the way of complexity and strategy. They're not necessarily wrong. It's primarily a tactics game: here's your mission and goal, here's the situation, go! Is it easy? Sometimes. Depends on how lucky you are. Sometimes the zombies spawn in ways and locations that play right into your hands. Sometimes the Abomination spawns right in front of you and you either die immediately or the game bogs down while you scramble to outmaneuver him or find the (scarce) resources to defeat him. It can be pretty random and frustrating at times, and there are people who avoid randomness like the plague in their gaming. But like I said, my wife and I love the system, and this is the best version of it that I've seen.
JT (287 KP) rated The Losers (2010) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
If you want an action film that does precisely what it says on the tin, then this is clearly going to be the film of choice for you.
It’s thoroughly enjoyable without taking itself too seriously as other films of this genre do, and includes one of the funniest scenes I have seen for sometime. Hats off to the talented Chris Evans for that one.
The story is as straight forward as it could be, a group of CIA black ops narrowly miss being assassinated after a smash and grab rescue mission in the Bolivian jungle. So of course they want pay back, who wouldn’t, and they link up with the beautiful Aisha (Saldana) who has motives of her own.
The group are a somewhat mismatched bunch, but then any good special ops team is a mixed bag of personalities, just look at the A-Team.
It’s thoroughly enjoyable without taking itself too seriously as other films of this genre do
Jeffrey Dean Morgan leads the way as Clay a straight talking no nonsense commander, Jensen (Evans) a wise cracking tech, Idris Elba as the not to be believed Roque, Pooch (Columbus Short) whose handy at the wheel of anything with a motor and Cougar (Óscar Jaenada) who is deadly at long range with the sniper rifle.
The villain of the piece is Max (Jason Patric) a billionaire with plans for world domination, he dresses smartly and even has a villains affliction in the form of a damaged hand which he covers up with a variety of classy gloves. There are times though in a plot that is loosely built around a sonic bomb, that they better developed an ending worthy of a film that had everything in it.
Still, you won’t be overly bothered too much and when the adrenalin levels increase and the sharp shooting beings you’ll be keeping your fingers crossed for any signs of a possible sequel.
It’s thoroughly enjoyable without taking itself too seriously as other films of this genre do, and includes one of the funniest scenes I have seen for sometime. Hats off to the talented Chris Evans for that one.
The story is as straight forward as it could be, a group of CIA black ops narrowly miss being assassinated after a smash and grab rescue mission in the Bolivian jungle. So of course they want pay back, who wouldn’t, and they link up with the beautiful Aisha (Saldana) who has motives of her own.
The group are a somewhat mismatched bunch, but then any good special ops team is a mixed bag of personalities, just look at the A-Team.
It’s thoroughly enjoyable without taking itself too seriously as other films of this genre do
Jeffrey Dean Morgan leads the way as Clay a straight talking no nonsense commander, Jensen (Evans) a wise cracking tech, Idris Elba as the not to be believed Roque, Pooch (Columbus Short) whose handy at the wheel of anything with a motor and Cougar (Óscar Jaenada) who is deadly at long range with the sniper rifle.
The villain of the piece is Max (Jason Patric) a billionaire with plans for world domination, he dresses smartly and even has a villains affliction in the form of a damaged hand which he covers up with a variety of classy gloves. There are times though in a plot that is loosely built around a sonic bomb, that they better developed an ending worthy of a film that had everything in it.
Still, you won’t be overly bothered too much and when the adrenalin levels increase and the sharp shooting beings you’ll be keeping your fingers crossed for any signs of a possible sequel.
JT (287 KP) rated The Fall Of The Essex Boys (2013) in Movies
Mar 23, 2020
Violent (1 more)
Acting is OK
British grit
Loosely based on a true story surrounding the brutal shooting of three infamous drug dealers from Essex in December 1995, it’s a surprise that this is the fourth film to tell the tale.
After films such as Essex Boys, Rise of the Footsoldier and most recently Bonded by Blood you’d wonder why director Paul Tanter chose to helm this version, had this not already been done? Then you sit down to watch it and you realise that it’s a film in its own right, with powerful performances from British actors that need to be seen and heard in their delivery.
If you don’t know the story by now, and it’s one of underworld folk law, it follows three of Essex’s toughest and hardest drug-dealing criminals, who came to a gruesome end when they wanted to go one step too far.
Pat Tate, Tony Tucker and Craig Rolfe want to corner the drug trafficking market, they’re in it for the long haul and to make serious cash. The trio is vicious to the point of no return and will stop at nothing to get what they want and no one will stand in their way.
The film is told by Darren Nicholls (Nick Nevern) who himself narrates for a portion of the film, giving us the story as it unfolds before us. He’s up to his neck in it, and he wants a way out, seemingly with nowhere to turn he has to go into the lion’s den while keeping himself close to a friend on the outside that is looking for a similar end game.
It’s violent but then you have to expect that, the acting is genuinely disturbing and Tanter’s sharp direction keeps the viewer on tenterhooks. It’s a film that is not going to be for everyone, but fans of the director as well as the genre will love it.
After films such as Essex Boys, Rise of the Footsoldier and most recently Bonded by Blood you’d wonder why director Paul Tanter chose to helm this version, had this not already been done? Then you sit down to watch it and you realise that it’s a film in its own right, with powerful performances from British actors that need to be seen and heard in their delivery.
If you don’t know the story by now, and it’s one of underworld folk law, it follows three of Essex’s toughest and hardest drug-dealing criminals, who came to a gruesome end when they wanted to go one step too far.
Pat Tate, Tony Tucker and Craig Rolfe want to corner the drug trafficking market, they’re in it for the long haul and to make serious cash. The trio is vicious to the point of no return and will stop at nothing to get what they want and no one will stand in their way.
The film is told by Darren Nicholls (Nick Nevern) who himself narrates for a portion of the film, giving us the story as it unfolds before us. He’s up to his neck in it, and he wants a way out, seemingly with nowhere to turn he has to go into the lion’s den while keeping himself close to a friend on the outside that is looking for a similar end game.
It’s violent but then you have to expect that, the acting is genuinely disturbing and Tanter’s sharp direction keeps the viewer on tenterhooks. It’s a film that is not going to be for everyone, but fans of the director as well as the genre will love it.
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