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Awix (3310 KP) rated A Hill in Korea (Hell in Korea) (1956) in Movies
Feb 8, 2019
Gritty, old-school British war film, where keeping a stiff upper lip is at least as important as seeing off the enemy. During the Korean War, a patrol runs into trouble and must take shelter on a hill-top with no way down; the enemy close in. Sort of a bit like Zulu, I suppose, it certainly has the same sort of cast (many well-known faces on the way up) and feeling of sweaty heroism in extremis.
Good performances and well-staged, authentic-feeling action; Portugal stands in for Korea, not especially convincingly. Most likely a bit problematic by modern standards: cast consists entirely of white dudes, one of whom is unconvincingly made up to be the patrol's Korean guide. But it was the 1950s, after all.
Good performances and well-staged, authentic-feeling action; Portugal stands in for Korea, not especially convincingly. Most likely a bit problematic by modern standards: cast consists entirely of white dudes, one of whom is unconvincingly made up to be the patrol's Korean guide. But it was the 1950s, after all.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Troy (2004) in Movies
Mar 26, 2019
Hollywood retelling of the tale of Troy is just a bit better than you might expect in pretty much every department. Trojan prince Paris steals Greek queen Helen, leading to... does no-one read the Iliad any more? There's a lot of bother, let's put it that way.
Whole thing is handled in broad strokes and there are quite a few divergences from the traditional legend (the Trojan war lasts about a fortnight, not ten years, and you can forget any notion of Brad Pitt's Achilles being into, er, Greek-style romance, if you know what I mean), but overall this is fun, rousing stuff. Looking back on it now the various bits of political subtext not-so-subtly inserted into the film seem amusingly quaint more than anything else. A well-staged, classy blockbuster.
Whole thing is handled in broad strokes and there are quite a few divergences from the traditional legend (the Trojan war lasts about a fortnight, not ten years, and you can forget any notion of Brad Pitt's Achilles being into, er, Greek-style romance, if you know what I mean), but overall this is fun, rousing stuff. Looking back on it now the various bits of political subtext not-so-subtly inserted into the film seem amusingly quaint more than anything else. A well-staged, classy blockbuster.
Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) in Movies
Jun 10, 2019
Then it all came crashing down with 2006’s The Last Stand. All the fan favourites returned and the cast remains a highlight of this film, but everything else was such a mess. It didn’t help that Bryan Singer left the franchise and Fox brought in Brett Ratner, hardly renowned for his understated filming style. The Jean Grey side-plot was muddled, the special effects were poor and this was such a disservice to the fans who had stayed with the franchise for six years. To its credit however, the action was staged well and there were some very exciting set pieces that saved it from total oblivion. Unfortunately, Vinnie Jones as the Juggernaut was the final nail in this film’s coffin.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2019/06/01/the-entire-x-men-franchise-ranked/
https://moviemetropolis.net/2019/06/01/the-entire-x-men-franchise-ranked/
Awix (3310 KP) rated Flash Gordon (1980) in Movies
Feb 12, 2018
Post-Star Wars high-camp reimagining of the famous Alex Raymond sci-fi comic strip. Ming the Merciless, Emperor of the planet Mongo, terrorises the Earth; a mad scientist, a football player and a travel agent rocket themselves into space in an attempt to make him knock it off.
One of those movies where the ostensible leads are the least well-known people in it - everyone else has a great time overacting: the gold medal goes to Brian Blessed, who steals the entire movie as Vultan, Prince of the Hawk People. Visually lavish, with a strong script, lots of well-staged action for younger viewers, and tongue-in-cheek jokes aplenty for older people who ought to know better. Point knocked off for some inappropriately nasty violence; put straight back on again for Queen's soundtrack.
One of those movies where the ostensible leads are the least well-known people in it - everyone else has a great time overacting: the gold medal goes to Brian Blessed, who steals the entire movie as Vultan, Prince of the Hawk People. Visually lavish, with a strong script, lots of well-staged action for younger viewers, and tongue-in-cheek jokes aplenty for older people who ought to know better. Point knocked off for some inappropriately nasty violence; put straight back on again for Queen's soundtrack.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Dog Soldiers (2002) in Movies
Feb 12, 2018
Raucous and highly derivative low-budget werewolf movie. Director Neil Marshall went on to bigger and somewhat better movies, but this is a decent calling card.
A group of British squaddies on a training exercise run into a pack of werewolves in the Scottish highlands (as happens all the time, I expect); they take refuge in a remote farmhouse. What follows is largely composed of bits lifted from Evil Dead and Assault on Precinct 13, done with a great deal of enthusiasm by all concerned. Part of the fun of this kind of movie is being able to guess what's going to happen next; you may well be able to do so even if you haven't seen the same films that Marshall has. Well-staged gory action; rather impressive werewolf suits considering the low budget.
A group of British squaddies on a training exercise run into a pack of werewolves in the Scottish highlands (as happens all the time, I expect); they take refuge in a remote farmhouse. What follows is largely composed of bits lifted from Evil Dead and Assault on Precinct 13, done with a great deal of enthusiasm by all concerned. Part of the fun of this kind of movie is being able to guess what's going to happen next; you may well be able to do so even if you haven't seen the same films that Marshall has. Well-staged gory action; rather impressive werewolf suits considering the low budget.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018) in Movies
Nov 20, 2020
This is one of the most visually striking films of 2018 in its luscious CGI, stunning costumes/makeup, and seamlessly staged practicals but holy shit is it ever insufferable to get through. 99 minutes has seldom ever felt so long, harkens back to that era of intolerable slimehouse kids films with the most bland scripts imaginable as if that genre was somehow worthy of an early nostalgic lookback (though according to millennial social media, it is...) Knightley is aces and single-handedly saves it from dogshit status with that squeaky-dog-toy voice and cotton candy wig paired with an unreserved commitment to chewing the scenery. Freeman is as boring as he has been for seemingly the past 9 years and it also suffers from a severe lack of Eugenio Derbez.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Lost Horizon (1973) in Movies
Apr 26, 2019 (Updated Apr 26, 2019)
Horribly misjudged update of Frank Capra's classic fantasy. A group of westerners are abducted to a mystical Himalayan paradise, where the locals pass the time practising politeness and kindness; everyone should really spend more time practising their choreography because the dance routines in this film are really, really grim, although the songs may actually be worse.
You know how some films are hilariously bad? This is not one of them. This one is just jaw-droppingly awful: poorly-staged (the remote lamasery resembles a resort hotel) and stuffed with terrible creative decisions (John Gielgud plays an Asian character called Chang, through the miracle of sticky tape on his eyelids). Once the shock wears off it is more gruelling to watch than anything else; you stay to the end out of a sense of sheer disbelief more than anything else.
You know how some films are hilariously bad? This is not one of them. This one is just jaw-droppingly awful: poorly-staged (the remote lamasery resembles a resort hotel) and stuffed with terrible creative decisions (John Gielgud plays an Asian character called Chang, through the miracle of sticky tape on his eyelids). Once the shock wears off it is more gruelling to watch than anything else; you stay to the end out of a sense of sheer disbelief more than anything else.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Deadpool (2016) in Movies
Feb 19, 2018
Not the first R-rated superhero movie, nor the first superhero comedy film, nor even the first movie to feature Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson, but it does a good job of appearing to do something new and different, and has lots of good jokes. Garrulous mercenary volunteers for special procedure in attempt to fend off terminal illness; basically ends up with cancer as a super-power.
The plot is really very secondary to the style of the film, anyway, which is all about being very irreverent and transgressive towards the perceived conventions of the superhero movie; there's a bit of a straw man argument being made here, but the action is well staged and it is, as mentioned, very funny. Not the future of the genre, no matter what people may say, but a well-crafted piece of entertainment nevertheless.
The plot is really very secondary to the style of the film, anyway, which is all about being very irreverent and transgressive towards the perceived conventions of the superhero movie; there's a bit of a straw man argument being made here, but the action is well staged and it is, as mentioned, very funny. Not the future of the genre, no matter what people may say, but a well-crafted piece of entertainment nevertheless.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Atomic Blonde (2017) in Movies
Feb 11, 2018 (Updated Feb 11, 2018)
Blondes Have More Gratuitous Nudity (Apparently)
Self-consciously stylish action thriller in which Charlize Theron swanks around 1980s Berlin for two hours in a series of thigh-flashing outfits, pausing only to beat the living daylights out of groups of grown men, engage in a little modish girl-on-girl hot action, and interrupt revivals of Andrei Tarkovsky movies (for shame!).
Quite good fun if you like this kind of movie: the plot is rather secondary to the look of the thing, but it has a good cast and the action is very well-staged. Can't help thinking it's just a little bit exploitative - don't imagine the studio would have been quite as keen on the main character being gay, or indeed so frequently naked, were they male - but it doesn't come across as offensively so.
Quite good fun if you like this kind of movie: the plot is rather secondary to the look of the thing, but it has a good cast and the action is very well-staged. Can't help thinking it's just a little bit exploitative - don't imagine the studio would have been quite as keen on the main character being gay, or indeed so frequently naked, were they male - but it doesn't come across as offensively so.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Tell It to the Bees (2019) in Movies
Jul 24, 2019 (Updated Jul 25, 2019)
Well-staged hats-and-ciggies period drama struggles to find anything new to say, or indeed to surprise or engage in any way. Much-put-upon single mum (Grainger) meets newly-arrived town doctor (Paquin) in a laborious cute-meet; what follows you can probably write for yourself, with the exception of a really weird climax involving bees (the bees are a sort of motif throughout, but it's still weird).
Reasonably good acting, although Paquin's attempt at a Scottish accent is not particularly easy on the ear. The problem is that the film is deeply predictable and not especially subtle (the girl-on-girl stuff is classily handled, though). I found it quite heavy going; the bit with the magic bees is a genuine 'You WHAT?' moment bafflingly at odds with the dour realism of much of the rest of the film.
Reasonably good acting, although Paquin's attempt at a Scottish accent is not particularly easy on the ear. The problem is that the film is deeply predictable and not especially subtle (the girl-on-girl stuff is classily handled, though). I found it quite heavy going; the bit with the magic bees is a genuine 'You WHAT?' moment bafflingly at odds with the dour realism of much of the rest of the film.