Agreed. This one had a great premise and took a total nose dive. We have seen that very same movie a hundred times. But not on Mars, that's true
So I saw "Noah". Last night. I'm still trying to articulate what it is that I sat through for two hours. Makes The Fountain look like a solid cinematic entry.
It was mostly silly and joyful, and ridiculous. A good 75% of it wouldn't have looked out of place inside Spike Milligans head, although he'd have given the schmaltzy bits a damn good kicking.
Bit of a wasted film. There some really interesting bits - at the start where we pretty much commercialized the gaiju and lauded the Jaeger pilots, and the question of who the builders were - but we mainly got Beeeg and Stuhped.
Well, already reviewed the last movie I saw, so I'll do the last but one! Went to see How to Train Your Dragon 2, have a bit of a soft spot for the first one as it was pretty amusing, a hero who is clever, wry and self-depreciating, plus Toothless looks a bit like my cat, minus the wings, leathery skin and ability to spit fireballs. Thankfully. The hairballs are bad enough. Kids film, yet it manages to progress the characters better than most non-kids films do. Hiccup has become an adult, and his father his pushing him to become Chief, but he's more interested in exploring and flying. And that's another thing these films do well, the inbetween bits. Many movies you get filler for fillers sake, or slow motion walking through splosions and wreckage, these take time to show the simple joy of the characters. Not since as a kid watching Superman has flying looked so exhilarating. So yeah, it's a simple film, done well, and with character growth most other sequels would be shamed by. Take your kids, take your significant other, or dress in a dragon onesie and go on your own. Fun film. 9/10.
Anyone seen Sabotage with Arnie? I watched it last night and I rather liked it. Far fetched nonsense but entertaining nonetheless. But it's got absolutely slaughtered by the critics and the "experts" on IMDB.
I saw "Sabotage" and rather liked it, thought it was a good (and more age-appropriate/credible) role for Arnie. The basic story--"Ten Little Indians" in an elite DEA tactical team, with stolen cartel loot as the motivator--was good and engaging. I thought Arnold showed some decent acting chops, mainly by not over-acting in the scenes that called for deep emotion. After this and World War Z, Mireille Enos is on my radar; she's very good here. Sam Worthington, as usual, strikes me as completely unstriking, but Joe Manganiello is a VERY credible badass. The scene where he and Arnold are in each other's faces, I was thinking, "Arnold, dear friend, you don't want NONE of that."
Saw the sequel to 300, covering a glorified and fictionalized account of the sea battle of Salamis, which happened concurrently with the battle at the Hot Gates. Basically the same as 300 - cartoony with overblown and impossible action, slow motion, mega-blood-spatters. Eva Green continues to be her generation's Mimi Rogers by being irresistibly sexy and creepy as hell at the same time. Lena Hedy returns as Mrs. Leonidas, and has a larger role, leading the Spartan fleet in her late husband's stead. Good thing she's a brunette here or you couldn't tell her apart from Cercei in Game of Thrones. Lots of goddam fun, basically. As for the overblown heroic style: I said this after the first film, and a historian in the extras echoed my opinion - this is the way it would have been told around a campfire in ancient Greece.
Caught End of Watch on Netflix. Pretty solid Cop film. Jake Gyllenhall continues to show he's a good actor, and it was a nice twist on the "found footage" genre. 7/10
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. What can I say, it's a damn good movie. I've probably watched it a dozen times and it never gets old. One of the "Man with No Name " trilogies, all of them are great classics. Nearly 50 years old by now, but still great movies.
I thought End of Watch was a terrific film. But, man, that ending...a real gut punch. Great movie, though watching the extended version last year I realized it's a little too long. The "ecstasy of gold" sequence at the end is one of my favorite film moments: mesmerizing and accompanied by a perfect score.
The Mexican stand-off at the end is one of the greatest moments in film history. The taught emotions of the three men, the crescendo of the trumpet, the stark surroundings, just fantastic.
The Ice Cream Man starring CLINT HOWARD! 8 out 10 in my opinion. Plus I saw it on VCR tape, the way a movie like this should be viewed. Clint rocks this movie as a creepy ice cream man who kills a few folks. Also starring Lee Majors II (never knew LM had a son who also acts) and Jan Michael Vincent. Obviously played for laughs - but anything with Clint Howard won't exactly be Shakespear anyway.
Video Catnip (entertainment for cats) on VHS. It's on Amazon if anyone's interested. I give it four stars out of five, because the very beginning has a silly "Benny Hill Theme" intro. What cat wants to hear this? Once that passes, it's straight up non-stop bird on feeder action, with occasional squirrels. Of course this is great entertainment for humans, watching our cats go ape-shit trying to tear through your TV screen. That said, among our cats the tape had mixed reviews. Our oldest cat dismissed it outright. Our new kitten sat mesmerized, glued to the screen like that big guy in The Green Mile when he saw a movie for the first time. Occasionally she would paw at the critters in vain. It kind of looked like "Mystery Science Theater" with our cats head outlined against a giant screen of closeup birds and squirrels. Toward the twenty minute mark my kitten started poking around behind the monitor in a pathetic attempt to see how the birds were getting into the monitor. Anyway, if you have cats get this - but order on E-bay! You can get them way cheaper.
The Apostle. For some reason I really enjoy this film, but I can't really explain why. Well-acted by all, including a very young Walton Goggins (Boyd Crowder from Justified). 7/10 mainly because it's a bit slow in parts.
I just got back from seeing The Purge - Anarchy. I hadn't seen the first one, and didn't read any reviews about it or this current sequel prior to viewing it. I was entertained and involved in the story. The political overtones (this won't give anything away, feel free to read on) are ham-fisted and can be summed up succinctly as: Rich white people with guns = bad But this is media central, so no time for all that. The chicks were pretty hot, the pacing was not too fast to follow for pinheads like myself, it had a few darkly humorous moments, and guy who looks like Wesley Snipes but isn't Wesley Snipes! I'll give it three out of five. BE WARNED! I saw something watching trailers before the movie that cannot be unseen. I'm talking the most ridiculous, cartoonish, awkward, over-the-top but not in a fun way movie I could ever imagine: The Expendables III. Yes, The Geezer Gang is at it again! It looks chock-full of explosions and close-calls escaping sure death while delivering catch phrases in between hits on the oxygen tank. Definitely a "must miss" movie.The only people seeing this must have lost a bet. BTW a new Denzel Washington movie coming out soon - he can keep any movie from swan-diving, so you know it will be at least watchable, if not great.
I was excited when the first Expendables came out, and it was mainly due to nostalgia. I was so pumped to see all the action stars I grew up all of them together on the Big Screen. While it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be, it was still fun to see all of them one the screen at once. And I liked that they kept a bunch of the cheesiness that they were all known for in the movie.
"Avatar: The Return to Trollalla" Experimental drama by Lars von Trier which tells the story of a freelance writer and activist for vaping. The protagonist gets trolled on a message board, and hilarity ensues. Sadly, even after 15 hours of watching I can't decide if the flick is a satire, a comedy, a serious social study about internet personas or just a stupid buddy movie with lots of harsh language. Nevertheless, I give this flick three of ten points because it's one of Von Triers better efforts. A huge improvement to his last film"Nymphomaniac". It's a pity that von Trier copied himself with this one. "Avatar" shows many similarities with "Idiots", the drama from 1998 which gained him much praise by critics all over the world.
Just Saw "A Million Way to Die in the West," and was plesantly surprised that I enjoyed it, especially when it combined two things I normally couldn't care less for: Seth MacFarlane and Sarah Silverman as a prostitute that is waiting till marriage to sleep with her boyfriend Easily the only work of Seth MacFarlane's that made me glad he didn't board Flight 11
I just re-watched Godfather III. It's a solid 7/10. The plot was somewhat weak, but that's down to Puzo. Andy Garcia totally channeled James Cann as Sonny, and for my money, Eli Wallach stole the show. It gets ragged on unfairly IMO mainly because it isn't as flat out brilliant as the first two, and because of Sophia Coppola's performance. It wasn't her fault though. She just happened to be visiting the set to see her dad 24 hours before shooting when Winona Ryder had a nervous breakdown and pulled out of the movie. In a panic, Francis gave Sophia the script, and said you're now Michaels daughter, we start shooting tomorrow. Nobody could give a good performance under those conditions, least of all someone who didn't want to be an actress. It had problems, but it was still a solid outing and very much worth seeing.