Movies you've seen lately.

[stanard]

Eternals. Enjoyed it.

I haven't seen any of Chloé Zhao's other films, but from what I've read they have a certain spacious, Terrence Malick vibe to them. Eternals had this in places, but also felt like it was held back which isn't surprising considering the controlled nature of the MCU unless you're Taika Waititi. As a result it did feel a bit middle of the road like the reviews have said, but the slower and more thoughtful pace did make a nice change to the formula. Final action set piece was done well, but overall I just felt it needed to be even slower and more artsy to really nail it.

First time back at the cinema since Jan last year too!

[Mavy]

Saw Shang Chi on the weekend and was also surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Was really funny, the fight scenes were really cool and had a great surprise in there from a past movie that I really enjoyed (cause I'm one of the people that didn't hate that reveal when it happened).

Only negs are it dragged a little when it slowed down (which wasn't for long) and the final battle was a bit of a dark CGI mess but came out of it pretty happy.

More optimistic about the eternals now.

[unfnknblvbl]

No Time To Die

An excellent closing to the Daniel Craig arc. Kinda disappointed that he didn't get to drive the Valkyrie that was looming in the background of one scene.

Nine illicit weapons programs out of ten

[Deef]

Shang Chi

Started off looking like it could be cool. With Shang revealing his abilities in the bus fight, and pretty cool music backing it up, I was hoping for more of some kind of... cool, fresh fighting with modern vibes. But nope.

His character did literally nothing from there. He barely had a personality of his own, didn't change at all despite having just announced that there's actually a whole lot of kick ass within him, and the rest of the movie was just him saying "ok" to every single thing and making generic fights look generic-er as it went on. The whole movie was like eating cardboard.

I'm sure Awkwafina was there because someone pointed out they need to put some actual character in some of these characters. The sister was stupendously dull, and the Iron Man tie-in was just as scene/plot-breakingly ham-fisted as comic relief can be. But admittedly it did break up the monotony because by then even Awkwafina couldn't keep carrying 100% of the movie's charm. Genuinely, the dad was the best actor to watch.

And I don't think it was the lead actor himself (but not entirely certain on this); he just had nothing interesting to go with. The written character didn't break rules, he didn't have any selfish kink or irrationality going on anywhere. Just as plain as could be. Not even irrationally good, just plain. And oh yeah he can fight. And now he can fight with super powers, wrapped up in overcooked martial arts theatrics you've seen a zillion times before explained by an equally tired backstory. And the sister's excuse for being so capable was just "Oh, ok, so we're just gonna cheat out of explaining anything then. That's what I have to look forward to." And there is indeed a lot more of that.

Dragged hard in the middle then the end was a "who cares, chuck it in and make up a reason" CGI bleghf.

And you know what else annoyed me? It wasn't even about the ten rings. It was about Ta Lo. The rings just happened to be a thing that could set off Ta Lo's big tricks and the whole movie's plot. It should've been called "The Legend of Ta Lo Once Someone Appeared With Whatever Magic Or Weapon Was Powerful Enough To Crack Open The Dark Gate". The last 3 minutes of the movie was literally the only development of the actual ten rings themselves.

MEH. 6/10.
130 minutes of 6/10.

______________________

Red Notice

This is basically a Ryan Reynolds movie where Ryan Reynolds has to deliberately turn it down to 4 so everyone else can feel like they're a star too. Dwayne Johnson just doesn't get to do his thing practically ever, and Gadot is decent enough but doesn't really command any of the scenes she's in. Again, because it's a movie where no one can keep up with the... quippiness... that Reynolds has on tap, while Reynolds himself just has to keep pulling back from doing his thing. All 3 actors feel stifled, especially the 2 guys, and it's just kind of suffocating to watch as a result. You just want either of them to actually do something hot, but they just don't work together. Not in this setting anyway. Johnson and Hart; that worked. Reynolds and Sammy J; that worked. This didn't.

6.1/10. Yes.

[t0mby]

It should've been called "The Legend of Ta Lo Once Someone Appeared With Whatever Magic Or Weapon Was Powerful Enough To Crack Open The Dark Gate".

Bet Disney execs are kicking themselves for not consulting with you earlier.

[Deef]

Yeah but seriously though, the movie wasn't even about the rings' story. I couldn't even register the appeal of that particular sell.

(Only a minor spoiler here.)

Spoiler!

You get to the end and you're like "Oh yeah.. the story I thought was being told was completely pushed aside by some other legend's story that had no historical connection at all."

What do you actually learn about the ten rings themselves? Well here's an end-credits scene, which is naturally more about marketing than story.

I still have a bit of interest in the sequel nonetheless, because I liked the guy in Kim's Convenience.

[t0mby]

Nobody - 4K UHD disc

Picked up a couple of movies yesterday, this was the first I watched. Really enjoyed it, some great action although the end seemed a bit silly with Christopher Lloyds character kicking ass with shotguns. How overweight Michael Ironside looked, geez, but of you closed your eyes when he was in the scene it was Sam Fischer so that's alright.

8.5 glass stems in the face out of 10

[Peppermint Lounge]

Have you seen Extreme Prejudice yet? Peak Michael Ironside. Get on it.

[t0mby]

Haven't seen it but the name rings a bell, action movie from late 80s? /Googles

[Peppermint Lounge]

Yep. We chatted about it in this thread a year or so ago. 1987 - can't think of a better year for action movies.

[t0mby]

Ahhh yes, as soon as I saw Carolco and Mario Kasars names appear I remember now. That movie was also on the Total Recall 4K disc that featured a 40min mini doco on how Mario started and some of the movie choices they made. At one point, an unstoppable force releasing hit after hit after hit (also released Terminator 2) but hit rock bottom when they had sunk so much money into Cutthroat Island that it wouldve ruined them to scrap it so instead scrapped a Stallone Sci Fi movie and some fantasy movie with Schwarzenegger. We all know what happened with Cutthroat Island.

Anyway, I did a search for Extreme Prejudice on Blu Ray, seems it never got released, only on DVD so I may just see if I can score a Canadian version.

[t0mby]

Resident Evil Apocalypse

The second movie in the Paul Anderson franchise. Last time I saw the first one was waaaaay back when it released at the cinema. Thankfully there was a small flashback scene at the start but geez this movie was a load of tosh. There were some food ideas but they were just executed with subpar acting and too many quick moving scenes. It was a shame because the Dolby Atmos was one of the best I've heard on a UHD but because of the constant quick changing camera angles some parts the sound skipped all over the place. Having the Nemesis in it was cool, he looked fantastic but there was just no tension or anything when he was on the screen. Jill Valentine was a main character in this and it also introduced the Ashford daughter and he father. Some parts I'd be thinking "why am I still watching this" yet despite that I am still keen on seeing where the franchise goes (or went). I'm only rating it this high because of the 4k transfer and and awesome sound.

5 times I thought the action was meh out of 10

[Deef]

Dune

No real spoilers here, but tagged anyway because I find even impressions to be spoilers enough.

Spoiler!

Simple problem: It's just not enough of a movie on its own.

Watching Dune just feels like you've invested in a movie rather than enjoyed a movie. It ends at whatever random place literally by playing a crescendo. That's genuinely the only way you know that it's over. The most high-impact part of this movie's portion of the plot had passed long before, and the resolution to the local event that it chooses to end on is something you don't even register as being all that meaningful, let alone movie-ending. So you're sitting there still just watching a thing happen, then suddenly CRESCENDO!!! and you're like " ... Oh, I uh... "

"... Ok I guess we're done then." And you get up and go home... wondering where the movie was.


Overall it's not that bad. There's really not too much wrong with it apart from simply not being entertaining enough in its own right. Here are some other complaints anyway:

* Remember trying to hear Bane in The Dark Knight Rises? Dune is a bit like that, ten times more often.

* The music doesn't do it for me. Not this time, Zimmer.

* It frequently wants to remind you how big and important it is. That's kind of ok, it's Dune after all, but... it doesn't quite get away with it imo. Needed to develop a little more hype first.


Some good things:

* Casting is pretty good overall. Bardem in particular, as Stilgar, really good. Paul and Leto were other top choices imo, but there are quite a few good ones. Probably the only one I question is Jessica's actor; I always saw her as having a bit of a stronger presence. Zendaya maybe also looks a little too smug a little too often, but she's ok.

* Visuals are solid for the most part. Doesn't look too cooked in CG. Things aren't overwhelmingly spectacular to look at but I think that's part of its appeal; it's relaxing and refreshing. The ornithopters are cool. All that said, there are a few downers. I feel like movie-makers just need to give up on wire-flying if there's nothing else in the scene hiding the strings. One particular scene in Dune is just so bad for this; I don't know how the audience is not supposed to get completely distracted by it.

Actually that's about all the good things I have. Good casting and decent visuals.



So again, it's not that bad, it just feels too much like you've gotten nothing out of it except the requirement to come back next year and buy another ticket.

I would have preferred more time spent on the story's development, since even with 2 parts it still really does gloss a tonne. Things just randomly pop in and pop out again. Mentats are there, but barely exist. Momoa was pretty good as Duncan but doesn't remotely get enough time to develop into a character you care about. There are many similar things that would look completely pointless in an original movie, so just look somewhat pointless and kind of wasted here.

Three parts would have been better for the story imo; two were never going to be enough for Dune. I feel like they could have made this first part more meaningful and entertaining, even if covering less of the story. Or maybe it's just not a cinema-friendly story in the first place.

6.5 / 10 - Great movie that fails to actually be a great movie.

[t0mby]

Oooooh controversial! I can hear Unfunk running to his pc now.

[Ambrose Burnside]

Dune

No real spoilers here, but tagged anyway because I find even impressions to be spoilers enough.

Spoiler!

Simple problem: It's just not enough of a movie on its own.

Whenever something is split into two parts (or more, fuck you Hobbit), this becomes a problem. The last Harry Potter movie, the last Hunger Games movie.

Keen to watch them together. But I'm skipping part one for now.

[unfnknblvbl]

Oooooh controversial! I can hear Unfunk running to his pc now.

ahhhhh Deef is mostly right in his criticisms, we've just come to different conclusions. Although I'm pretty sure all the Ornithopters were models, not CG.

Bring on the 4-hour assembly cut that Jason Momoa reckons exists.

[unfnknblvbl]

The Matrix Resurrections

Some interesting concepts. Good to see old faces back together. Holds up mostly fine, I especially enjoy the way the opening scenes tells us why they made it.

7/10

[t0mby]

Interesting. So many people in the Home Theatre group I'm in have slammed the movie saying it's the worst one yet which I find hard to believe after the previous 2.

[unfnknblvbl]

Well, I had pretty low expectations (the Wachowskis have only made one good film, imo), so I was pleasantly surprised. It's not great, but it's certainly a lot better than the last two.

[stanard]

the Wachowskis have only made one good film, imo

Ummmm Speed Racer!?

I think I'm in the minority who loved the Matrix sequels too. Just re-watching them first before I dive into Resurrections.

[stanard]

So uhh, just finished Reloaded. I think last time I saw it would've been 15 years or so ago, and yeah it really doesn't hold up like I thought it would. Action is still top notch though!

[Rorschach]

Outside of the first Matrix movie (which is subjectively the best movie the Wachowski's have done to date and most restrained) I enjoyed Reloaded the most. Mainly because it was peak wire-fu and the actions sequences where extremely well done. I still watch the Chateau Fight from time-to-time. Highly unrealistic but the amount of choreography that went into that sequence was staggering. Resurrections, comparatively, was a let down. The fight scenes were terrible, Netflix Iron Fist terrible, and the story, whilst having potential at times, had more in common with Sense8 then a Matrix movie. I had read that the other sibling, Lily, was the one that had more interest in the action sequences whilst Lana was the story person. If that's the case, it's easy to see how critical Lily's input is to make the action compelling.

The fake Morpheus and Smith characters were perhaps the biggest let down. I understood the origin of Morpheus in context but Smith was just a call back - they had a chance to move on from Smith, do something different or better. Without Hugo Weaving there is no Smith.

Overall, the whole film felt like a rehash of the first film. I was hoping some of the theories on Reddit would become canon because they were infinitely more interesting than what actually hit the screens. I just hope if more sequels are spun out this that Lily or someone else comes in to help fix the fight scenes and they move the story to an actual conclusion this time as opposed to another do over of the first three films.

[Deef]

Encanto

Not a big Disney watcher but this is probably my favourite of their animated films.

For me, I'm pretty sure that all comes down to the main character. Mirabel (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz - Rosa from Brooklyn 99) is really positive yet less of a Disney-heroine than those that have come before. Probably a deliberate trend in Disney movies; I haven't been paying attention, but yes she's more modern & relatable in her expressions and personality than say, Moana even, but still very sunny, wholesome and optimistic. Just fun and likable.

That said, I also liked that she straight up accuses someone she's supposed to respect, and that this isn't just another moment of deliberately dumb misinterpretation used to generate some fake tension. Instead, it's delivered as justified anger that the movie actually validates and doesn't slap on the wrist. A little respect for the audience there. Really I've just binged a lot of Cobra Kai lately and god damn if I am sick of unrealistically dumb character reasoning and angst being used to push a fake story through mud.

The hair and dress animations were also impressive enough to entertain me in their own right.

I'm also usually barely interested in the songs in a Disney musical either, but there were a few here that were pretty entertaining. The opening number probably my favourite, and "Surface Pressure" did a good job of making one particular character much more likable. Apart from Mirabel, there are a couple of other characters that were always fun to have on screen.

One character in particular was the only real downer I registered, and I could make one or two other little complaints, but really I enjoyed the good enough to not really care. I guess Finding Nemo or some such would rate more highly, but yeah I'd say this is the Disney movie I've enjoyed most.

9/10

[Deef]

Although I'm pretty sure all the Ornithopters were models, not CG.

Oh damn, well there you go.

[Peppermint Lounge]

Needed some mindless entertainment after a NYD bender so:

Suicide Squad - 2016
I accepted the negative buzz around this and didn't bother at the time. Remind me to ignore movie critics. The movie was perfectly entertaining. The plot is weak link but everything else is great, in particular the cast who fit their characters well. Enjoyed it.

The Suicide Squad - 2021
Now this was awesome. My favourite comic book movie ever. James Gunn directs and it's a R-rated roller coaster of action and surprises from start to finish. Margot Robbie is so good as Harley Quinn. Daniela Melchior who I'd not heard of before plays the character Ratcatcher 2 and is a stand-out.
She doesn't quite steal the show because the whole list of anti-heroes have their moments. King Shark, Polka-Dot Man, Bloodsport, Peacemaker and Rick Flag who returns from the first movie. Amanda Waller was great in the first movie and she's back too. Can't recommend it enough.