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Post by BakFu on Dec 27, 2018 4:26:15 GMT
Avengers Infinity War didn't suck, over two hours, and I didn't fall asleep once (the first one was like a tranquilizer dart for me, and it took me three tries to make it through the second one. Don't even ask about the Civil War movie... Only things that saved that one for me was Black Panther, Spiderman, and Ant Man, but it took me a LONG time to make it through that one, too!), and actually couldn't believe that it was already over. The first two didn't do a thing for me, this one was done right, and had an ACTUAL antagonist (the weird space worm bullshit in the first was was garbage, Ultron was lame, too, but better than the first junk.)! I really like Thanos, he's a bad ass, and I'm actually looking forward to Thanos 2, uh, I mean the next film!
Thor, Doctor Strange, Guardians, and SPIDERMAN were great in this movie, somehow it all worked for me, glad I finally saw it! Even Vision and the Scarlet Witch finally made sense and didn't just seem like simpering stage props, Infinity War was really well done and very entertaining IMO.
Sorry, it's not every day I have time to sit and watch an entire season of one show, and a two hour and twenty minute marvel fan service, excuse me if I'm a little stoked! :D
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Post by BakFu on Dec 28, 2018 1:58:17 GMT
I was just checking out Polygon.com and noticed an interesting story, an article about Jackie Chan's, 1980's Police Story movies. It's great to hear they're getting a 4K update and a re-release, and that more people will get the opportunity to see these AMAZING action films! All of my friends have had the misfortune of me insisting that they watch these movies, getting the "I don't like subtitled movies/I don't like martial arts movies/I don't want to see another one of your corny-ass 1970's/1980s Hong Kong Kung Fu flicks" typical response, them finally caving and watching, and thanking me for exposing them, at the very least, to some of the most ridiculously dangerous stunt sequences ever captured on film. Jackie Chan has done a lot of obscenely dangerous shit over the past few decades, but Police Story has what are likely the craziest of them all. I was going to attach an old, Golden Harvest trailer, but if anyone actually decides to check these films out, I want the stunts and all of the 1980's Hong Kong movie craziness to be fresh! These movies are great, don't go in expecting an incredible story, but DO expect to be entertained and wowed by some of the wildest Jackie Chan shit you will ever see. Please consider watching at least the first one (Police Story circa 1985), I found piles of really old Kung Fu movies in a movie rental place by my house back in the day, I rented almost ALL of them, but Police Story always stood out and is still a favourite of mine to this day! PS: The fight in the mall scene... Oooh, the fight in the mall. :) |
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Post by OrochiGeese on Dec 28, 2018 20:53:41 GMT
Avengers Infinity War didn't suck, over two hours, and I didn't fall asleep once (the first one was like a tranquilizer dart for me, and it took me three tries to make it through the second one. Don't even ask about the Civil War movie... Only things that saved that one for me was Black Panther, Spiderman, and Ant Man, but it took me a LONG time to make it through that one, too!), and actually couldn't believe that it was already over. The first two didn't do a thing for me, this one was done right, and had an ACTUAL antagonist (the weird space worm bullshit in the first was was garbage, Ultron was lame, too, but better than the first junk.)! I really like Thanos, he's a bad ass, and I'm actually looking forward to Thanos 2, uh, I mean the next film! Thor, Doctor Strange, Guardians, and SPIDERMAN were great in this movie, somehow it all worked for me, glad I finally saw it! Even Vision and the Scarlet Witch finally made sense and didn't just seem like simpering stage props, Infinity War was really well done and very entertaining IMO. Sorry, it's not every day I have time to sit and watch an entire season of one show, and a two hour and twenty minute marvel fan service, excuse me if I'm a little stoked! :D I still haven't seen Infinity War and want to, despite kind of knowing what happens at the end. It was hard to avoid spoilers for that but it's okay. I tend to watch a lot of movies and TV shows years after they are released so I've adapted to enjoying things even when I know the ending 😁 The major reason I haven't watched Infinity War yet is because I haven't seen a lot of the movies that build directly to it - like Black Panther, Thor 3, Ant Man, and Dr. Strange. I think the first of those two are a little more relevant for Infinity War but the last two help as well. I want to get all the build. I really liked the first Avengers movie but was really cold on Age of Ultron. I just found him to be kind of a boring villain and it was really hard for me to pay attention to him when I knew he was a means to an end to setting up for Civil War and the ultimate stage of Thanos. I also found it to be really long and almost fell asleep during it which doesn't happen often. I liked Civil War much better than Age of Ultron. I still find it kind of insane that the Infinity Gauntlet saga is playing out as a major Hollywood blockbuster. When I was growing up, comics were nowhere near the mainstream and the Infinity Gauntlet comics weren't even that well known within most comic circles. We were like 10-15 years away from Spiderman and X-Men initially getting some mainstream success. It's crazy just how well Marvel movies (with a smattering of DC movies, mainly the Batman trilogy) have done over the past 20 years. I really wonder what Marvel has planned for after the next Infinity War movie. It's weird that the big Marvel story is ending around the time the new Star Wars trilogy is ending too. Kind of bad timing in that respect, LOL. I still want to see Secret Wars done with a true Spiderman/Venom/Carnage story. And I also REALLY want to see all of the Magneto story explored from the Onslaught incident to House of M. There's so much rich Magneto material to explore and I'd love to see him get his own movie series. His character has gone everywhere from megalomaniacal supervillain to X-Men Team leader but I like him the most as a villain that can look beyond his own agenda to reluctantly help out against bigger planetary threats (like Apocalypse) when necessary. |
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Post by BakFu on Dec 29, 2018 3:29:58 GMT
Secret Wars would be great, and yeah, a proper acknowledgement of Venom/Carnage would be epic. I really liked Spiderman: Homecoming, the new kid seems more like the comic dude, and his spot in Infinity War was well done! I'd love to see a story done with Kraven involved, maybe Mysterio? OG, you should check out Thor, Black Panther, and Dr Strange for sure. The latest Thor was a lot of fun, I can see how it wouldn't be for everyone, but I enjoyed it. The first Thor movie really surprised me, I loved the humour, Hemsworth did an awesome job with that role, and he IS Thor now. Black Panther and Dr. Strange are both great, too, and are my personal favourites of the recent Marvel films. I used to hit used book stores in town and grab old random comics out of a big box of shit no one wanted. I grabbed a pile of Dr Strange, ANYTHING with Black Panther, Power Man/Iron Fist, Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Jonah Hex and a bunch of other shit no one wanted, and loved it all, so it was cool to see these more obscure characters get big and small screen attention all these years later! Now on the DC side, we need a Martian Manhunter movie! :D I never followed the X-Men / Magneto stuff, it was popular and NEVER in the cheap boxes I raided back in the day, and eventually I had moved over to manga, but it looks cool. I also don't know how Hollywood has managed to shit the bed so violently and hard with respect to Fantastic Four and GHOST RIDER!!! How the hell do you cast Nicholas Cage for such a slam dunk of a character?!?! Anyway, take the time, at least hit Black Panther, Dr. Strange, Thor 3, and Avengers 3, some pretty cool stuff there PS: Sorry for spamming this thread, just have too much to say!  |
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Post by El Marsh on Dec 29, 2018 3:47:14 GMT
Finally got around to watching Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
It was entertaining but flawed. The little things that people spazzed out about (furry penguins, milking an alien, topless Kylo Ren) didn't register with me at all. The movie just didn't "flow" well. I was really confused about why they made a big deal out of the pink haired admiral. Is she an Extended Universe character? Someone from Rogue One (didn't watch it or the Han Solo flick)? Just seemed like they all but turned the lights down and put a spotlight on her when she showed up. Damn sure wasn't because it was Laura Dern. Benicio Del Toro playing Brad Pitt was kind of interesting. I liked the last big fight in space and Luke Skywalker doing what Luke Skywalker does. The twist with the Sith thing was good but the cardboard writing of the movie made it less of the big deal it should have been and more of a happenstance. Still, it was pretty enjoyable and I'm looking forward to seeing Episode IX when it hits streaming in a year and a half.
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Post by TheDenizen on Jan 1, 2019 5:31:48 GMT
Please consider watching at least the first one (Police Story circa 1985), I found piles of really old Kung Fu movies in a movie rental place by my house back in the day, I rented almost ALL of them, but Police Story always stood out and is still a favourite of mine to this day! PS: The fight in the mall scene... Oooh, the fight in the mall. :) all of this. Police Story is still pretty much my favorite martial arts movie set in the modern day. In fact I rewatched it not that long ago for like the 10th time. Who Am I - A group of drugged up anti-establishment hackers with personality disorders are out to make a name for themselves, until they get caught up in a much bigger game being played by more serious hackers. While it's novel to see where Mr Robot clearly got a lot of its ideas from, this is just an OK movie. The hacking stuff is all very silly indeed, and the twists are kinda obvious. So, their big plan hinged crucially on the female investigator doing something phenomenally stupid? Alrighty, then. 5.5/10
Train to Busan - A bunch of people trapped on a train during a zombie outbreak try to survive. It doesn't do anything most zombie movies don't do, but it's well acted and has good effects. The trainbound setting is somewhat novel, and the pace is relentless enough to keep your interest throughout. The film lays on the melodrama pretty thick in a couple of places, though, and the dark ending I was expecting would've been much better then what actually happens. Probably would've bumped my score by a full point. 7/10
The Night Comes for Us - An elite Triad assassin defies his bosses, leading to a series of devastatingly brutal fight sequences involving knives and machetes. There's more vicious slashing, stabbing and splattering gore in this flick than in all the Friday the 13th movies combined, and it's pretty cool to see Iko Uwais playing a villain. It's just a shame the story is a jumbled, confused mess, otherwise this would've been an all time classic. The action is still more than worth watching it for. 8.5/10 |
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thelodger
JIM MINY
Building an efed
Posts: 63 
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Post by thelodger on Jan 2, 2019 17:44:40 GMT
The Christmas Chronicles - A goofy "save Christmas" adventure for kids that never strays far from the safe and expected formula, but also isn't overly annoying, making it a mostly inoffensive mixed bag. While Kurt Russell as Santa Claus is pretty decent (with a couple of genuinely funny moments)...the musical number needlessly thrown into the middle of the film is just atrocious. 4.5/10
Good gracious could not agree more with the Santa singing in jail scene. Did not like this movie at all and came in prepared to give it a lot of elbow room. Christopher Columbus seems to be a bit of a hack. |
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Post by BakFu on Jan 3, 2019 1:03:04 GMT
Train to Busan - A bunch of people trapped on a train during a zombie outbreak try to survive. It doesn't do anything most zombie movies don't do, but it's well acted and has good effects. The trainbound setting is somewhat novel, and the pace is relentless enough to keep your interest throughout. The film lays on the melodrama pretty thick in a couple of places, though, and the dark ending I was expecting would've been much better then what actually happens. Probably would've bumped my score by a full point. 7/10
The Night Comes for Us - An elite Triad assassin defies his bosses, leading to a series of devastatingly brutal fight sequences involving knives and machetes. There's more vicious slashing, stabbing and splattering gore in this flick than in all the Friday the 13th movies combined, and it's pretty cool to see Iko Uwais playing a villain. It's just a shame the story is a jumbled, confused mess, otherwise this would've been an all time classic. The action is still more than worth watching it for. 8.5/10 Train to Busan and The Night Comes for Us are both pretty awesome! Man, these films out of Korea and Indonesia are some of my favourite stuff out there these days! For more proof beyond the ones TheDenizen so kindly reviewed above, please check out The Raid movies (as if you haven't already...) and the 2003 Korean masterwork, Oldboy (not the shitty American remake!). You will not be disappointed. (and when you're done, rematch Police Story! :) ) |
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Post by TheDenizen on Jan 3, 2019 3:54:06 GMT
If you liked Oldboy, I hope you've also seen the other two films in Chan-wook Park's Vengeance Trilogy (Sympathy for Mr Vengeance and Lady Vengeance). They're both excellent. In fact Sympathy for Mr Vengeance in in my Top 10 list.
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Post by BakFu on Jan 4, 2019 8:39:45 GMT
If you liked Oldboy, I hope you've also seen the other two films in Chan-wook Park's Vengeance Trilogy (Sympathy for Mr Vengeance and Lady Vengeance). They're both excellent. In fact Sympathy for Mr Vengeance in in my Top 10 list. I missed those two. I had Lady Vengeance on my Netflix list, and was looking for the other one, but it disappeared before I could watch it. I will have to go on a hunt for them now. Just mentioning Oldboy makes me want to see it again, too! |
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Post by TheDenizen on Jan 6, 2019 6:18:26 GMT
The Sunset Limited - In a small and sparse apartment, two men (one a suicidal atheist and the other a Christian ex-con) debate the existence of God, the meaning of life and death. While it doesn't have anything particularly new or insightful to say from a philosophical standpoint, the richness of Cormac McCarthy's language and the brilliant, subtle performances from both actors (Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L Jackson) made this an absolute joy to watch. Typically for McCarthy's work, the ending is dark and ambiguous, but delicious at the same time. 8/10
Hardcore Henry - A cyborg super soldier tries to rescue his wife from some kind of telekinetic Russian overlord. More of an experimental tech demo than an actual film, it's a bloody, non-stop 90 minute first person action sequence. While it's technically impressive, the novelty wears off quickly and it becomes exhausting to watch. The constant shaking jerky camera movements and pounding music gave me a ruthless headache. Probably the best thing about this was seeing Sharlto Copley dying dozens of times. 6/10
Ares - In a dystopian future France, a bare knuckle boxer tries to take down an evil pharmaceutical corporation. Gets some points for the decent world building and cool cyber punk visuals, but the story is pretty hackneyed and the fights really aren't that great. One major beef: We get told that the big corporations have invested millions into presenting these no holds barred fights that the entire world watches, but they take place in dark, filthy gyms in tiny glass boxes? Sure. 5.5/10
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Post by TheDenizen on Jan 16, 2019 4:56:35 GMT
Apostle - An Englishman sails to a remote island where a bizarre religious cult has imprisoned his sister. A tantalizingly mysterious setup that devolves disappointingly into a fairly obvious and cliche tale about Gaia, the evil men who exploit her, and the restoration of faith. It's still exceptionally tense, bloody, and packed with wonderful moments of cinematography, but I feel like this could have been so much better story wise. Dan Stevens in the main role is also a little overact-y at times. 7/10
Headshot - Iko Uwais wakes up in a hospital with bullet fragments in his skull and no memory, but before he can fully remember his past it comes looking for him with a vengeance. It's a fairly standard "getting out of the criminal family" plotline with a dash of "rescue the damsel" thrown in for good measure, but no one watches an Uwais movie for the plot. The bone snapping, face crushing, torso piercing action is plentiful, brutal and bloody as he carves his way through his former companions one by one. 7.5/10
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Post by TheDenizen on Jan 18, 2019 5:02:06 GMT
Ex Machina - A nerdy computer programmer goes to meet his genius reclusive boss in order to help him test out his new AI robot, who is of course a sexy lady robot. Picture the West World TV series but on a much smaller scale. I correctly guessed exactly how this would end after about 20 minutes, but I was still kept completely engrossed during the entire run time, which is a pretty solid endorsement of the filmmaker's skill in my book. Special mention for the sound design, which is excellent throughout. 8/10
Ironclad - Seven Samurai retold as a siege of a Medieval English castle at the hands of King John and his Danish mercenaries. The script is very silly indeed, and the budget clearly didn't match the director's ambition, but it has a very solid cast (James Purefoy, Brian Cox, Paul Giamatti, Charles Dance) and plenty of gory hack and slash action. As per usual, the romantic subplot was completely unnecessary and unbelievably stupid, adding absolutely nothing to the film. Why do filmmakers keep jamming this nonsense into movies that don't need it? 5.5/10
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Post by TheDenizen on Jan 20, 2019 7:13:05 GMT
I Don't Feel at Home in this World Anymore - After being burglarized, a woman teams up with her weirdo neighbor to track down the thieves. Things quickly spiral out of control in a very Coens-esque way, filled with moments of quirky humor and extreme violence. While there were definitely a few instances where the film reaches too hard for the quirk to the point where it becomes strained, it's overall pretty funny and enjoyable. A solid directorial debut for Macon Blair, I look forward to seeing more from him. 7/10
Annihilation - A heady, dreamlike sci-fi flick that serves up tension, wonder, and terror in equal doses, Annihilation asks way more questions than it answers. While this is normally a good thing for sci-fi, the explanations it does give are silly. Josie's prism/refraction analogy is great except for the fact that DNA ISN'T A WAVE. Also, Natalie Portman looks old and ill. Despite that, it's still a visually inspired exploration of the themes of self destruction, rebirth, and fear of the unknown. 7.5/10
Broken Sword Hero - Biopic on the early life and training of Phraya Pichai, a Siamese general from the 1700s and Thai national hero. In his younger years, he was known as Thong Di (meaning White Teeth) due to his refusal to chew betel nut which blackened the teeth of users. Sadly, this flick is just awful, showcasing bad acting, bad CGI and dismal fighting choreography throughout. Flagrant overuse of slow motion during the fights only robs them of what little impact they had. Avoid. 3/10
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Post by TheDenizen on Jan 23, 2019 4:49:24 GMT
At the risk of turning this thread into my personal movie blog, here's a couple more movie reviews :P
FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened - A reasonably interesting behind the scenes look at the hilarious shambles that was the Fyre Festival. More than anything this is a damning statement about the dangerous shallowness of social media. The fact that one charismatic compulsive liar and a handful of so called "influencers" were able to convince thousands of gullible wanna be fame whores to part with millions of dollars in cash strikes me as both fantastically wonderful and absolutely terrifying at the same time. That's not to mention the countless Bahamians who were cruelly financially devastated in the name of a "luxury party" for rich American cunts. #DeleteYourSocialMedia 6.5/10
Outlaw King - Much like Braveheart, this account of the Scottish Wars of Independence plays extremely fast and loose with history, choosing to eschew telling the actual story in exchange for presenting a feast of tasty battlefield butchery. That being said, the battles are well filmed, the costumes and weapons are much more accurate to the period than Braveheart's, and Chris Pine's accent is miles better than Mel Gibson's. Once again however, all Scottish characters are noble, stoic defenders of freedom and all English characters are evil bastards or sniveling cowards. 7/10
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