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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Captain Marvel (2019) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
Marvel Studios has once again launched a new franchise within their expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe with the arrival of “Captain Marvel”. The film tells the origin of the title character (Brie Larson), who struggles with gaps in her memory while serving as a Kree Protector under the supervision of Yon-Rogg (Jude Law).
When things do not go as planned during a mission; the good Captain finds herself on Earth forced to wait for her crew to retrieve her. The gaps in her memory combined with the arrival of the shape-shifting Skrulls are bad enough, but now there is also the arrival of S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) for her to contend with.
Being set in the 90s we get a Fury that has yet to be awakened to what is truly out there so he finds the claims of alien beings a bit hard to grasp until fate pairs him with the Captain who must stop the threat posed by the aliens and unlock the mystery of her missing memories.
While the film takes a while to get going; there is enough action scattered throughout to keep your interest and the finale is a rousing FX showcase that really helps establish the character and delivers what fans expect.
Naturally there is a good amount of humor along the way and the dynamic between Larson and Jackson is very good and I hope we get to see them paired on future Marvel adventures.
The supporting cast of Jude Law, Annette Bening, and Ben Mendelsohn is great and it was nice to see many other characters from past Marvel films appear as younger versions of themselves.
The film had to balance establishing the character and setting up further adventures with making sure audiences understood her importance and why her presence in “Avengers: Endgame” is connected and does so very well.
Larson was amazing in the title role as she portrays a strength and confidence without ever being arrogant but there is also a quick wit and at times; a vulnerability that makes her character more well-rounded than people would expect from a comic based film.
It is amazing to me how Marvel Studios can take some of their lesser known characters and turn them into Box Office gold and their winning formula continues with this entertaining new franchise.
http://sknr.net/2019/03/05/captain-marvel/
When things do not go as planned during a mission; the good Captain finds herself on Earth forced to wait for her crew to retrieve her. The gaps in her memory combined with the arrival of the shape-shifting Skrulls are bad enough, but now there is also the arrival of S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) for her to contend with.
Being set in the 90s we get a Fury that has yet to be awakened to what is truly out there so he finds the claims of alien beings a bit hard to grasp until fate pairs him with the Captain who must stop the threat posed by the aliens and unlock the mystery of her missing memories.
While the film takes a while to get going; there is enough action scattered throughout to keep your interest and the finale is a rousing FX showcase that really helps establish the character and delivers what fans expect.
Naturally there is a good amount of humor along the way and the dynamic between Larson and Jackson is very good and I hope we get to see them paired on future Marvel adventures.
The supporting cast of Jude Law, Annette Bening, and Ben Mendelsohn is great and it was nice to see many other characters from past Marvel films appear as younger versions of themselves.
The film had to balance establishing the character and setting up further adventures with making sure audiences understood her importance and why her presence in “Avengers: Endgame” is connected and does so very well.
Larson was amazing in the title role as she portrays a strength and confidence without ever being arrogant but there is also a quick wit and at times; a vulnerability that makes her character more well-rounded than people would expect from a comic based film.
It is amazing to me how Marvel Studios can take some of their lesser known characters and turn them into Box Office gold and their winning formula continues with this entertaining new franchise.
http://sknr.net/2019/03/05/captain-marvel/
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Spectre (2015) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
In the latest cinematic outing for James Bond (Daniel Craig), Director Sam Mendes has crafted a thrilling and deep film which deftly combines the threads of the three previous Craig outings and sets the stage very well for future outings for the series.
In “Spectre” Bond finds himself operating alone when the 007 division is in danger of being shut down due to his latest unsanctioned actions and a change in the political landscape back home.
With the powers that be convinced that surveillance is the way of the future not agents with a license to kill, Bond is racing against time to get the truth behind a mysterious figure named Franz Oberhausen (Christoph Waltz), who is the head of a very mysterious, large, and deadly organization.
From locales ranging from Mexico City, London, Rome, Austria, and North Africa, Bond stalks his target in a deadly game of cat and mouse as his every move seems to have been anticipated by the deadly organization.
Further complicating matters is that Bond is not able to call upon his resources as M (Ralph Fiennes), is unable to do little more than watch due to the pending end of the division and his new superior.
In the trademark style that the series is known for, we have exotic locale, beautiful women, gadgets, fast cars, and thrilling and intense action sequences that combine for a winning formula.
I had been a bit disappointed with Craig’s earlier films as I found them to be a bit muddled and did not find his take on Bond to mesh with the suave agent I had grown up following. That being said, “Skyfall” helped turn things around and with the plot elements of “Spectre” in place; it clearly shows a connection between the earlier films and sets the stage very well for future outings in the series.
Waltz is fantastic as the lead villain as his less than imposing stature is highly deceptive to the danger the man empowers. Audience learn more about the backstory of Bond and how he became the man that his is and Dave Bautista makes a fantastic henchman echoing shades of Odd job and a train sequence from “From Russia With Love”.
In all, thanks to the intense action, great characters and compelling story, “Spectre” is the best of the Craig Bond films and I cannot wait to see what they do next.
http://sknr.net/2015/11/05/spectre/
In “Spectre” Bond finds himself operating alone when the 007 division is in danger of being shut down due to his latest unsanctioned actions and a change in the political landscape back home.
With the powers that be convinced that surveillance is the way of the future not agents with a license to kill, Bond is racing against time to get the truth behind a mysterious figure named Franz Oberhausen (Christoph Waltz), who is the head of a very mysterious, large, and deadly organization.
From locales ranging from Mexico City, London, Rome, Austria, and North Africa, Bond stalks his target in a deadly game of cat and mouse as his every move seems to have been anticipated by the deadly organization.
Further complicating matters is that Bond is not able to call upon his resources as M (Ralph Fiennes), is unable to do little more than watch due to the pending end of the division and his new superior.
In the trademark style that the series is known for, we have exotic locale, beautiful women, gadgets, fast cars, and thrilling and intense action sequences that combine for a winning formula.
I had been a bit disappointed with Craig’s earlier films as I found them to be a bit muddled and did not find his take on Bond to mesh with the suave agent I had grown up following. That being said, “Skyfall” helped turn things around and with the plot elements of “Spectre” in place; it clearly shows a connection between the earlier films and sets the stage very well for future outings in the series.
Waltz is fantastic as the lead villain as his less than imposing stature is highly deceptive to the danger the man empowers. Audience learn more about the backstory of Bond and how he became the man that his is and Dave Bautista makes a fantastic henchman echoing shades of Odd job and a train sequence from “From Russia With Love”.
In all, thanks to the intense action, great characters and compelling story, “Spectre” is the best of the Craig Bond films and I cannot wait to see what they do next.
http://sknr.net/2015/11/05/spectre/
Andy K (10823 KP) rated Glass (2019) in Movies
Aug 10, 2019
The Anti-Avengers!
Funny how director M. Night Shyamalan's career has gone. His first major hit blows everyone's minds with one of the most mind-bending plot twists ever captured on film (do you remember being mad at yourself you didn't figure it out).
Then he makes Unbreakable, a thinking man's superhero film which is just as good as The Sixth Sense, but does only modest box office. Then Sign and The Village (both decent, but a step down for sure) and then over 10 years of crap including Lady in the Water and The Happening.
In a strange move, he decides to write and direct a "sequel"? or another film in the same universe with Split which dos well with critics and audiences enough to warrant the 3rd film in the trilogy, Glass.
Train wreck survivor David Dunn is still the one man vigilante "Dark Knight" who lends a hand to the unfortunate when he comes across "The Horde". The two men end up being captured and incarcerated in a mental institution with Elijah Price, another man and David's former nemesis who is currently catatonic. The doctor in change says she has been given only 3 days to diagnose and treat the men before they are sentenced to life in an institution.
One of the men has an agenda which involves all three of them he wants to see played out and will go to any length to ensure its success. The lives of the men are intertwined in certain ways they themselves may not even be aware of.
I was worried when I started watching since I thought the first hour was VERY SLOW to develop with mostly just talking and plotting. Once thing finally get going and the men start interacting with each other it becomes way more interesting.
Good to see Bruce Willis back in a film which actually ran theatrically. He is showing signs of age, but still gives a great performance along with Samuel L. Jackson and James McAvoy.
The ending may not sit well with everyone since it may be considered atypical, but I thought it was fitting and didn't see it coming.
Here's to hoping a revitalized career for the film's interesting and entertaining filmmaker.
Then he makes Unbreakable, a thinking man's superhero film which is just as good as The Sixth Sense, but does only modest box office. Then Sign and The Village (both decent, but a step down for sure) and then over 10 years of crap including Lady in the Water and The Happening.
In a strange move, he decides to write and direct a "sequel"? or another film in the same universe with Split which dos well with critics and audiences enough to warrant the 3rd film in the trilogy, Glass.
Train wreck survivor David Dunn is still the one man vigilante "Dark Knight" who lends a hand to the unfortunate when he comes across "The Horde". The two men end up being captured and incarcerated in a mental institution with Elijah Price, another man and David's former nemesis who is currently catatonic. The doctor in change says she has been given only 3 days to diagnose and treat the men before they are sentenced to life in an institution.
One of the men has an agenda which involves all three of them he wants to see played out and will go to any length to ensure its success. The lives of the men are intertwined in certain ways they themselves may not even be aware of.
I was worried when I started watching since I thought the first hour was VERY SLOW to develop with mostly just talking and plotting. Once thing finally get going and the men start interacting with each other it becomes way more interesting.
Good to see Bruce Willis back in a film which actually ran theatrically. He is showing signs of age, but still gives a great performance along with Samuel L. Jackson and James McAvoy.
The ending may not sit well with everyone since it may be considered atypical, but I thought it was fitting and didn't see it coming.
Here's to hoping a revitalized career for the film's interesting and entertaining filmmaker.
Neon's Nerd Nexus (360 KP) rated The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019) in Movies
Jan 29, 2020
Hard Cake
The personal history of david copperfield really disappointed me especially after such a cracking trailer and while no means a bad film it just really wasnt a film I enjoyed. What I was expecting was a sharply written, quirky yet dry and playful adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel something similar to a yorgos lanthimos film like the favorite for instance but sadly I found this movie to be extreamly dull, uninteresting and severely lacking overall. I wouldnt say its necessarily bad however it all just felt very flat to me. Characters didnt feel believable, humour seemed forced and while david patel burts at the seemes constantly with energy the film around him didnt seem to follow along the same. Very interesting ideas are present here and the emphases is on life almost being like a stage play with people we meet being the characters in it. See everyone in life is unique and has their own distinctive traits/interesting stories and no matter what happenes in our lives neither one is no less meaningless or important than the other. This does come across brilliantly and shows the bad traits of human nature, see everyone is on the path to happiness its just what they do and who they exploit or how much they choose to lie to get there and achieve sucess is diffrent from person to person. Then on a positive side it also shows how we should all realise where we have come from, to be greatful for what we have, to let our creativity flow and to appreciate these characters that enter our lives and inspire/care for us. So heres where I feel conflicted as much as I like these great ideas I feel they they just aren't integrated well enough with the dull story or the forced comedy and sure the film is well made but to watch its just not exciting or that engaging and the characters all became forgettable once off screen just like when watching a sketch show. Failing to keep my intrest constantly made the runtime feel a drag too and by the time I left I struggled to remember much of what had just happened infront of me wishing I'd of just stayed home and watched Perfume or The Favorite instead in the warm. No doubt some will enjoy this but will they be talking about it in a month? I highly doubt it.
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Neil Gaiman recommended Beauty and the Beast (1946) in Movies (curated)
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated BlacKkKlansman (2018) in Movies
Sep 9, 2020
BlacKkKlansman just ticked all the right boxes for me. Spike Lee has created a piece that is moving, hilarious, horrific, poignant and something truly important.
John David Washington and Adam Driver are a winning leading pair, portraying Ron Stallworth and Flip Zimmerman respectively, two police officers from Colorado Springs who manage to infiltrate a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, in an attempt to foil a potentially fatal and racially charged attack, and it's all based on a quite incredible true story.
Washington and Driver are both fantastic, providing this movie with most of it's heart, humour and emotion.
Topher Grace is great as well, as David Duke, a top brass member of the KKK. He's so smarmy, and easy to dislike, much like his real life counter part. This applies to all the racist pieces of shit in this story actualy. The characters are all horrible, but the cast bring them to life in a disturbingly believable way.
The screenplay is nothing but tight from start to finish. It's very funny in places, and heart wrenching in others. A particular highlight is a speech spoken early on by black rights speaker Kwame Ture. It's a lengthy monologue that is so damn powerful. There are multiple scenes that strike hard throughout the runtime - another standout moment is the truly uncomfortable visuals of Ron Stallworth looking on in quiet despair as KKK members cheer loudly whilst watching The Birth of a Nation. Humanity can be extremely ugly, and although BlacKkKlansman veers towards comedy at times, Lee is sure to never stray too far from that fact.
Some of the criticism I've read of this movie are along the lines of "it has an agenda" and "it's being forced down the audiences throat". Well, yeah if course it has an agenda. It's dealing with a topic that shouldn't even exist in the first place, but it's certainly not being force fed. No one is forcing anybody to watch it, but I highly recommend that EVERYONE does watch it.
The inclusion of real life footage of protests in 2017 is a strong statement, it's a director publicly taking a stand for something he believes in. In 2020, these topics feel more important than ever.
BlacKkKlansman is an incredible movie, and nothing can change my mind about that.
John David Washington and Adam Driver are a winning leading pair, portraying Ron Stallworth and Flip Zimmerman respectively, two police officers from Colorado Springs who manage to infiltrate a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, in an attempt to foil a potentially fatal and racially charged attack, and it's all based on a quite incredible true story.
Washington and Driver are both fantastic, providing this movie with most of it's heart, humour and emotion.
Topher Grace is great as well, as David Duke, a top brass member of the KKK. He's so smarmy, and easy to dislike, much like his real life counter part. This applies to all the racist pieces of shit in this story actualy. The characters are all horrible, but the cast bring them to life in a disturbingly believable way.
The screenplay is nothing but tight from start to finish. It's very funny in places, and heart wrenching in others. A particular highlight is a speech spoken early on by black rights speaker Kwame Ture. It's a lengthy monologue that is so damn powerful. There are multiple scenes that strike hard throughout the runtime - another standout moment is the truly uncomfortable visuals of Ron Stallworth looking on in quiet despair as KKK members cheer loudly whilst watching The Birth of a Nation. Humanity can be extremely ugly, and although BlacKkKlansman veers towards comedy at times, Lee is sure to never stray too far from that fact.
Some of the criticism I've read of this movie are along the lines of "it has an agenda" and "it's being forced down the audiences throat". Well, yeah if course it has an agenda. It's dealing with a topic that shouldn't even exist in the first place, but it's certainly not being force fed. No one is forcing anybody to watch it, but I highly recommend that EVERYONE does watch it.
The inclusion of real life footage of protests in 2017 is a strong statement, it's a director publicly taking a stand for something he believes in. In 2020, these topics feel more important than ever.
BlacKkKlansman is an incredible movie, and nothing can change my mind about that.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated The Thing (2011) in Movies
Jan 10, 2021
This one is pretty straightforward - The Thing (2011) is an ok film that is completely dwarfed by The Thing (1982) - honestly, fuck knows why it doesn't have a different title.
This prequel to the iconic John Carpenter movie does have some decent aspects to it - it has a mostly agreeable cast and a good screenplay that's engaging, although a vast majority of the characters are hugely forgettable, and not a patch on the crew of protagonists from the 82 film. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is a perfectly likable leading lady, but everyone else is just kind of there. Even Joel Edgerton blends in with the furniture.
I also think it has good pacing for the most part - the opening third builds things up nicely, and when things finally kick off, it feels earned.
The attention to detail is admirable as well, with various objects and hints of past chaos found by Kurt Russell and co in the 82 film being placed perfectly.
Unfortunately, the end project suffers from a couple of things. Most infamously, the CGI is ropey, and is an ill advised addition considering the 82 film boasts some of the best practical effects in cinema history. This is made even worse by the fact that practical effects and animatronics were initially used before being smothered in digital effects to the point where it actively makes the whole movie less enjoyable. The narrative also apes the Carpenter classic a little too often for my taste, and serves more of a reminder of that film, rather than feeling like a homage.
The final act is just silly as well. After a strong build up, the climax snowballs into uninteresting bad-Predator-sequel-esque nonsense, and even saves the most laughable digital effects for last, just for good measure.
I did like the very last scene though, which genuinely ties nicely into the start of the 82 film.
Messing with such an iconic horror heavyweight comes with huge risks, and ultimately, The Thing (still really hate that they didn't use a different title) isn't the car crash that it easily could have been, but it does fall flat on really important aspects, resulting in a film that is average to the casual movie goer, and is thoroughly underwhelming for fans of its far superior predecessor.
This prequel to the iconic John Carpenter movie does have some decent aspects to it - it has a mostly agreeable cast and a good screenplay that's engaging, although a vast majority of the characters are hugely forgettable, and not a patch on the crew of protagonists from the 82 film. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is a perfectly likable leading lady, but everyone else is just kind of there. Even Joel Edgerton blends in with the furniture.
I also think it has good pacing for the most part - the opening third builds things up nicely, and when things finally kick off, it feels earned.
The attention to detail is admirable as well, with various objects and hints of past chaos found by Kurt Russell and co in the 82 film being placed perfectly.
Unfortunately, the end project suffers from a couple of things. Most infamously, the CGI is ropey, and is an ill advised addition considering the 82 film boasts some of the best practical effects in cinema history. This is made even worse by the fact that practical effects and animatronics were initially used before being smothered in digital effects to the point where it actively makes the whole movie less enjoyable. The narrative also apes the Carpenter classic a little too often for my taste, and serves more of a reminder of that film, rather than feeling like a homage.
The final act is just silly as well. After a strong build up, the climax snowballs into uninteresting bad-Predator-sequel-esque nonsense, and even saves the most laughable digital effects for last, just for good measure.
I did like the very last scene though, which genuinely ties nicely into the start of the 82 film.
Messing with such an iconic horror heavyweight comes with huge risks, and ultimately, The Thing (still really hate that they didn't use a different title) isn't the car crash that it easily could have been, but it does fall flat on really important aspects, resulting in a film that is average to the casual movie goer, and is thoroughly underwhelming for fans of its far superior predecessor.