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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on Dec 18, 2019 18:41:53 GMT -5
Usually I don't believe in Rotten Tomatoes scores. But in the case of Star Wars 9, currently sitting at 58%, I'll make an exception. Those are early reviews, meaning mostly written by embedded, heavily catered to and thus easily susceptible journalists. If you can barely manage to get slightly more than half of those to like your movie, that's not a good sign. Of course it could also be the case of a movie being too artistic and too subtle for mainstream appeal...somehow written and directed by, uhm, JJ Abrams. I wasn't really planning on seeing it in theatres, but I kind of want to now that I know the reaction is kind of mixed. Probably won't be until next year, as I'm going to see Knives Out this weekend, and I still need to catch Parasite before it's too late.
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Post by windfisch on Dec 18, 2019 19:58:50 GMT -5
Sometimes a mixed RT score can mean it's a love it or hate it thing. Other times it just means most of those critics think it's mediocre, but some people liked it slightly more and others slightly less. So far I haven't seen a glowing review for Rise yet.
Jokes on me, as I've been foolish enough to let friends of mine talk me into making plans to go see it in the theatre (even though I didn't think any of the recent movies was actually good). Not sure if I'm actually gonna keep my promise, though. As a social event it could be kinda fun, but if it turns out even more unoriginal than Force Awakens, I'm still going to be pissed.
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Post by kaoru on Dec 19, 2019 2:41:35 GMT -5
Anna and the Apocalypse is a great and fun Christmas romp, and the only good zombie movie besides Shaun of the Dead and Warm Bodies, everyone go watch it. Kthxbye.
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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on Dec 19, 2019 4:17:56 GMT -5
Jokes on me, as I've been foolish enough to let friends of mine talk me into making plans to go see it in the theatre (even though I didn't think any of the recent movies was actually good). Don't feel too bad, me and a group of friends went to the second Hobbit film even though we didn't think the first one was very good. Then a year later we went to the third one. Sunk cost fallacy I guess.
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Post by alexmate on Jan 2, 2020 12:03:04 GMT -5
Just watched Golgo 13 - The Professional... Holy cow! I am blown away! It didn't even seem like an anime, it was amazing. Like, it didn't seem like a Western cartoon either. It was just a movie. An awesome one. A beautiful one. I was... I am absolutely amazed by it. I honestly can't put it into words. After it ended, or rather as it ended, as Laura pulled the trigger on Golgo 13 and you get a sort of mystery ending, the music started to swell and I let out a bellow of excitement. For a movie made in 1983, and dubbed... later? the voice acting is terribly awesome. Like, I was blown away at the characters. It must have been awkward for the ladies to do orgasms. Snake is a creepy motherfucker... The CGI is sweet too! Wow! Pointless, but sweet! It blew me away, 1983 for it be made? Awesome (and I'm tired, what an awkward sentence...) This is obviously an amazing film, and should be watched by all. I think I might put it above Blade Runner! I've also got Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Friend, Fist of the Northstar, and Twilight Samurai ready to watch. Wow! ;D Holy shnook. I'd love to see Kyouki's thoughts on this, it seems like a movie he'd quite like. Damn. I used to own this on DVD. Great film. The CGI of the helicopter is really good for the time.
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Post by Woody Alien on Feb 1, 2020 16:31:57 GMT -5
Jojo Rabbit. Funny, sad and poignant. Scarlett Johansson's Oscar nomination is well-deserved, but to me the real surprise was Taika Waititi, who also directed it. He's very funny in the part of the bizarre imaginary Adolf Hitler, but he can quickly become similar to the real one at certain moments... also, his lack of similarity to the real Fuehrer and errors in characterization (such as him smoking) are wholly intentional since 1. it's an imaginary friend of a very young kid and 2. Waititi didn't want to do any research on Hitler since, in his words, he was just a "fucking cunt".
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Post by shelverton on Feb 19, 2020 11:16:13 GMT -5
The Curse of La Llorona
I think this is the weakest entry in the Conjuring universe so far and I’m struggling to find anything to like about it. This is coming from someone who found both The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 to be pretty good (The Annabelle movies were alright IMO and The Nun was meh for reference). But Llorona is just bad. Felt pretty low budget, poor plot, no atmosphere, no scares. I hope things pick up from here with...uhm...Conjuring 3, is it? Or whatever is next for this shambling franchise.
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Post by windfisch on Feb 20, 2020 19:37:08 GMT -5
Mortal Engines
Basically "Steampunk Star Wars", but frankly more interesting than any of the post-Return of the Jedi movies. Not only was the setting refreshing, with designs you'd otherwise probably only see in the more fantastical Ghibli movies, but it was also slightly less black and white in terms of morality than your avererage action-blockbuster. Overall it is a bit too ambitious for its own good: There's enough material for at least two movies and thus many elements felt somewhat rushed. I still enjoyed it, it was a fun ride.
Seemingly it was a huge flop, so a sequel is sadly unlikely. Guess I'll have to start reading the books then.
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Post by alexmate on Mar 16, 2020 16:22:04 GMT -5
Mortal Engines Basically "Steampunk Star Wars", but frankly more interesting than any of the post-Return of the Jedi movies. Not only was the setting refreshing, with designs you'd otherwise probably only see in the more fantastical Ghibli movies, but it was also slightly less black and white in terms of morality than your avererage action-blockbuster. Overall it is a bit too ambitious for its own good: There's enough material for at least two movies and thus many elements felt somewhat rushed. I still enjoyed it, it was a fun ride. Seemingly it was a huge flop, so a sequel is sadly unlikely. Guess I'll have to start reading the books then. I saw this at the cinema. I really enjoyed it, other than Snowpiercer which it reminds me of I'm not a huge fan of this type of film, but this is well worth a watch. Glad you enjoyed it.
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Post by windfisch on Mar 18, 2020 17:38:43 GMT -5
I've watched Snowpiercer a couple of years ago (I think via streaming) - I wasn't too impressed. Though since I absolutely loved Parasite by the same director I now want to give it another try some day.
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Post by Bumpyroad on Mar 19, 2020 3:01:17 GMT -5
The Jewel of the Nile First movie wasn't exactly a jewel and this one's kinda terrible.
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Post by windfisch on May 16, 2020 18:14:23 GMT -5
John Wick 3
While I don't necessarily adore the series, I find it rather enjoyable. The best thing about it is probably that it doesn't pretend that it's about "good versus evil" - the possible propagandistic and xenophobic elements are at a low level at best (compared to most action-blockbusters), so I can give the makers the benefit of doubt (I cannot say the same for Atomic Blonde, which sadly enforces some awful Cold War tropes). I mean, it's definitely gun-porn, but at least there is no painfully overt anti-Russian or anti-Muslim message, as far as I can tell.
Another strenght, obviously, are the action scenes. Those are well-choreographed, beautifully lit and thankfully utilize longer takes as opposed to quick-cuts, following the unwritten law of good action scenes: "the more intense the action, the lower the edit-rate should be". However, I still wish the action was slightly less frequent and thus more impactful and that there were more "breathers" like dialogue or mood-establishing scenes instead, since I enjoyed those even more. Still, this was about as good as the first two movies.
I really, really hope that they won't make too many John Wick movies, though. John Wick as a character deserves to die a very violent and hopefully surprising death, that's the only proper way to end his story, imo. They could, however, establish a new and distinct lead character in the same universe. I wouldn't mind that.
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Post by toei on May 17, 2020 2:33:31 GMT -5
I've watched Snowpiercer a couple of years ago (I think via streaming) - I wasn't too impressed. Though since I absolutely loved Parasite by the same director I now want to give it another try some day. Late reply, but I'd recommend watching his other Korean movies instead. It's extremely rare that a director's work in a foreign country is on the same level of quality as what they made at home in a society they're familiar with, especially when there's a language barrier and the cultures are significantly different (ie it's not so hard for a British or Canadian director in the US).
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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on May 17, 2020 11:43:26 GMT -5
I completely forgot to post about Parasite after I watched it. It and The Lighthouse were the last films I saw in the theatre before the whole covid stuff happened. I found it very enjoyable. It's definitely very original and makes me want to check out more of Bong Joon-ho's stuff. It does go a little off the rails towards the end, I have to say. The Lighthouse, however. Holy shit...there's a movie you have to see in the theatre. It looks amazing and the sound is super intense. Willem Dafoe is insane. Loved it. John Wick 3 While I don't necessarily adore the series, I find it rather enjoyable. The best thing about it is probably that it doesn't pretend that it's about "good versus evil" - the possible propagandistic and xenophobic elements are at a low level at best (compared to most action-blockbusters), so I can give the makers the benefit of doubt (I cannot say the same for Atomic Blonde, which sadly enforces some awful Cold War tropes). I mean, it's definitely gun-porn, but at least there is no painfully overt anti-Russian or anti-Muslim message, as far as I can tell. Another strenght, obviously, are the action scenes. Those are well-choreographed, beautifully lit and thankfully utilize longer takes as opposed to quick-cuts, following the unwritten law of good action scenes: "the more intense the action, the lower the edit-rate should be". However, I still wish the action was slightly less frequent and thus more impactful and that there were more "breathers" like dialogue or mood-establishing scenes instead, since I enjoyed those even more. Still, this was about as good as the first two movies. I really, really hope that they won't make too many John Wick movies, though. John Wick as a character deserves to die a very violent and hopefully surprising death, that's the only proper way to end his story, imo. They could, however, establish a new and distinct lead character in the same universe. I wouldn't mind that. I feel they're definitely going to milk John Wick until the public gets tired of it. I really enjoyed all three (even though I saw them in the timespan of two days), but I'm afraid they're going to go a little too overboard with the next one. Compared to 1 and 2, the third one is already like a cartoon. It's much more crazy and over the top and violent. I will say there's a good chance I'll see John Wick 4 in the theatre since 3 was such a good theatre experience. The guns in the battle at the Continental were so damn loud though. Anyway, I've been watching tons and tons of movies recently. Notably, I've finally watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy for the first time. They're not perfect, but they're very enjoyable. It's great to knock them off my watchlist. The second and third ones are a bit over-long, though. I also watched The Wizard of Oz for the first time a few weeks back. It isn't as much watched in the Netherlands as in the US. It's a little harder for english family/kids movies to gain traction over here when they're live action, I think. Anyway, I loved it. It's visually insanely impressive for its time (though I won't pretend I've seen that many 1930's movies), and I still have the songs stuck in my head. Also been catching up with some Coen bros. films. I watched Fargo, The Big Lebowski and Barton Fink recently. The Big Lebowski I've seen two times before, but with a rather large group of friends over some drinks back in my teens, so I've never properly watched it. Upon this rewatch I can safely say it's a 10/10 movie for me, as is Fargo. And Barton Fink wasn't too bad either.
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Post by windfisch on May 26, 2020 20:14:07 GMT -5
Blade Trinity
Another threequel and this time it's bad, really bad.
I actually did enjoy Blade 2 - it's pretty dumb, but also pretty fun and pretty to look at. Trinity however, is just dumb and ugly. It tries sooooooo hard to be edgy and cool but fails miserably at being engaging in any way. There is no joy, just some lame attempts at humour here and there. I mean, I did laugh once, but that was at a scene that was supposed to be tragic. The editing in particular is some of the worst I've seen in a big budget movie like this, it's almost like shots had been contractually forbidden to last longer the a second or two.
What a waste of time this was.
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