Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Venom

Its a 3 star s'alright super(ish) flick

[/b] Lucifer S5 [b]

utter drivel, seems even Tom's cheeky suave cant lift it out of whichever Circle of Hell gak scriptwriters go to, crimes that wouldnt make the cut in Hart to Hart, Chloe, Maze and Ella all suffering from plot driven stupid and no Eve or Rae-Rae, avoid unless dissappointment is what you truly desire

Kingsmen

That was... actually good.

That's what a 21st Century James Bond flick should be. Yeah there's an overdone Eliza Doolittle plot (which is lampshaded) and yeah it's British Gentlemen spies, but it was still really good.

I'd watch it again.

Kingsmen has its flaws but embraced the joyful silliness of the older Bond era as all modern Bond seems to do is eternally be one step behind Bourne, MI and Wick

Death Race 2000 (1975)

Yesterday was my birthday. It was a very nice day, mostly spent writing wargamey things while fixing my dad's computer. In the evening I just sat around with my brother and my sister (because no going out or meeting people. Also: it was a Wednesday.). Either way, my brother unexpectedly brought a film along which he specifically chose to watch on my bday. Because he knows I like old genre stuff he brought Death Race 2000! I'd seen parts of the somewhat boring-ish remake starring Jason Statham. The original is anything but (boring or Statham). It stars John Carradine, Sylvester Stallone (in one of his first roles; can't be far off the Italian Stallion) and people who I'm sure I'd be familiar with if I was born 10 years earlier.

The story comes down to this: Dystopian USA, it is hinted that the US are the only remaining superpower (as Mr.President resides alternatively in Moskow and Peking). The economy is on the downswing (for which officially the French are to blame), same as the fact that telephones across the nation don't work any more. But TV does. And so Mr.President instated the Death Races as a sort of gladiatorial gore-sport to entertain the masses. It's basically a race across the US, East to West. Going over the finishing line won't necessarily make you the winner though, as there's an intricate scoring system based on who and how gory the participants run over and kill people on their way. (children and elderly score the most). Each car's got a driver and a navigator, and OF COURSE a gimmick. There's the Nazi car, the Nero (as in roman emperor) car, Calamity Jane car, etc.

The pacing of the film is great. Since it basically starts with the beginning of the race. The film opens with the national anthem and snippets of the audiance cheering and so on, and the more we see and hear the more we learn that a.) something's really off here, and b.) we're in the future (relative to 1975). And from then on the race starts and really helps the film keeping a pretty break-neck pace. Most of the film we follow via the play-by-play commentator (who's delightfully bored with everything) and the colour commentator (who is VERY much like The American Gameshow Host from Monty Python sketches) and a lady interviewer who's great as well.

I also like how the Resistance is depicted - slow, reactionary, very much red-white-and-blue, oldee style US. Rather puritanic and a bit clumsy. Interesting stuff.

A few very graphic (but only split-second usually) gore effects with very brightly coloured blood, some nudity, no guns as far as I remember. Remember when films featured more sex than guns? Yeah, me neither. But as far as I hear that's closer to actual life than the other way around. Okay, that's really unfair I guess, because the film also shows quite a lot of people being run over with cars with spikes in the front. But you get my point.


Oh well. Watch It. It's a classic, it's great fun.

Of course overall it's hokey, camp-looking stuff. I had a ton of fun though. It's fast, it's funny as heck, it's very dark at times.

I remember it having a similar feel to Robocop, in that it was an over the top satire. I also loved that interviewer’s running gag of introducing every celebrity as “a dear friend of mine”.

PS: There might not have been guns, but there was definitely a hand grenade.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And it looks like the whole movie is on YouTube. (I don’t know if it’s been edited.)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0O6mGv1RGA

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I remember it having a similar feel to Robocop, in that it was an over the top satire. I also loved that interviewer’s running gag of introducing every celebrity as “a dear friend of mine”.

PS: There might not have been guns, but there was definitely a hand grenade.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And it looks like the whole movie is on YouTube. (I don’t know if it’s been edited.)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0O6mGv1RGA

Oh yes, all the commentators/interviewers were great characers/caricatures.

I deliberately left out the hand grenade, because that reveal had us in stitches.

Great find on the film being on youtube! I assume it's edited, because there's some gory bits, but who knows. Yeah, it being over the top satire akin to Robocop is pretty spot on.

 Easy E wrote:
AtomicBlonde

I really do not like movies that start the movie at the end, and then replay most of the story in flash back. Typically, this is to set-up a twist in the end, but it pretty much drains the tension out of the rest of the film. WE know they get to that point at the end, it is just a question of how.

This movie, and Extraction both use this technique. I would argue Atomic Blonde uses it better as there is actually a who-dun-it element to the cloak and dagger mystery to be resolved.

The second reason I dislike this movie making technique is because it "forces" a twist, and as a seasoned film watcher, I am now expecting it and predicting it; instead of letting it unfold. This also drains away tension as when it is revealed I am less impressed; either because I think mine was a better twist, or I predicted the "twist" all ready.

Therefore, I hate the story-telling technique that starts at the end of the story and tell the majority of it in flashback. This movie uses that technique but I do not hate it. I was not blown away by it either, and I actually liked it less than I expected too.

Why? The protagonist is not likable in anyway. The who-dun-it was not a surprise. The pacing was a bit tepid. The soundtrack was solid and new wave. The cloak and dagger was mediocre. There was less action than I wanted. The ending twist made no sense.....

Therefore, I was disappointed. However, I love seeing Charlize Theron as an "action" star. After seeing this, perhaps making a Black Widow movie would be harder than I thought......

So. . . basically film noire is a genre you dislike?

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I remember it having a similar feel to Robocop, in that it was an over the top satire. I also loved that interviewer’s running gag of introducing every celebrity as “a dear friend of mine”.

PS: There might not have been guns, but there was definitely a hand grenade.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And it looks like the whole movie is on YouTube. (I don’t know if it’s been edited.)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0O6mGv1RGA

Hand...grenade.....

 Matt Swain wrote:
[

Hand...grenade.....

Movie theatres near my house reopened and started showing old films on the big screen. I took the opportunity to see some classics that I wasn't alive to see in theatres.

Clue (1985)
Yes really, based on the board game. A delightful little mystery film that lampshades the genre while also making many nods to the board game itself through murder weapons, rooms, secret passages. The film has a stacked cast including Tim Curry and Christopher Lloyd. They also did something really cool when it released in theatres where the theatres received 3 cuts of the film each with a different murderer so audiences never knew how it was going to end. Seriously, it's on Amazon Prime and everyone should watch it if they like murder mysteries or the board game.

Jurassic Park (1993)
It holds up, brilliant pacing, and the practical effects still look better than CGI ever could.

Jaws (1975)
I never really understood the people who claimed Jaws was the scariest movie ever back when it came out. However, after seeing it on the big screen, I can kind of relate. That movie has some of the slowest buildup and just a genuine sense of dread the entire time as you watch the town try to ignore the monster literally eating tourists in front of them. For a fun activity, watch this movie and replace every mention of "shark" with "coronavirus"

Inception (2010)
My wife had never seen this one, and I hadn't seen it since it was in theatres in 2010. She said she doesn't understand the hype, it's a good film, but fairly straightforward and she doesn't understand the people who claim it's some giant mindfeth of a film. I'm inclined to agree. I love the movie, and it really highlights Nolan as a director. For sure made me excited for Tenet.

The New Mutants (2020)
It's finally out in the wild, and I (mostly) loved it. The build up is great, I was real into Marvel around 5 years ago and was pretty much keeping up with the modern comics. As a result I was very familiar with all the characters present in New Mutants except for the main character Dani Moonstar(Moonstone?). This worked out well for me as the mystery of what her mutant power is, is the crux of the film. My biggest complaint is that the plot of the film didn't lend itself to a final battle or big climax moment, and what they came up with was pretty meh and anti-climactic. Sucks this film will never get a sequel after the Fox/Disney sale. They even cut out the Post-Credits scene.

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
AtomicBlonde

So. . . basically film noire is a genre you dislike?

Well, it's complicated.....

take Casablanca for instance, that is Film Noir (I think), uses Flash Back to tell a story but the Flash Backs are only to fill in some backstory to help us understand the characters. It is not the entire film, it is a supplement to the film. It does not start at the end of the film, but has its own beginning. There is a difference between using flashback as a tool, and using it is an entire film gimmick to try to heighten suspense. Therefore, I like Film Noir when it is done well.... heck I like any film when it is done well....

The Sleep-over
The Kids are having a sleep over, when their parents are kidnapped by international criminals. Basically, a lower rent version of Spy Kids. Entertaining enough and competently made. I enjoyed it for what it was.

Saying a movie is competently made is pretty high-praise from me. So many films can not even achieve that level, and they get released to the big screen!


The Never-Ending Story
It has been ages since I have seen this film. Re-watching it, this film is full of subtext and a interesting look at how children deal with their emotions through metaphor and story-telling. Also, a pretty interesting reaction to the Reaganism of the 80s when "Greed was good". Very well done on that score, even if the final wrap ending and narration is a bit of a let down.

My daughter kept saying, "Man, I hate CGI. Practical creature effects are so much better." From a teenager, that is a big compliment to what this show managed to do with its FX. Meanwhile, my wife was amazed that she could have made all the flying scenes with the technology she has on her home computer if she wanted to. Things changed a lot in two decades I guess!

The China Syndrome.
A new reporter and photographer (Jane Fonda and Mike Douglas) take a tour of a nuclear energy reactor. While there accident occurs and the news crew surreptitiously records it. Shenangicans ensue.

Pretty good movie. Jack Lemmon plays a serious role outstandingly as the nuclear manager on duty.

Its a good pairing with Chernobyl. Watch this one first then that one.

Bill and Ted Face the Music

It's a genuine feel-good comedy film. No snark, no cynism. Just that burn-out Bill and Ted humor where two really dumb guys and their families try to bring the world together through the power of music and also save the world.

Kick-Ass

This is the second time I have seen this, and I found the second viewing better than the first.

Granted, the core idea that "real" superheroes would be completely messed up, psychotic, and not that effective; is a bit stale. It was probably stale even when the movie came out. However, it does what it does pretty well.

The character's are interesting. The performances are solid. The script makes sense. it is a very competently done movie. However, I find the story arc doesn't quite hang together the way I would have wanted it to.

Am I allowed to do TV shows? I don't care, I'm doing one.

I hate Suzie

Only one episode in and there isn't much of a story, but whoever mixed the audio for that first episode deserves a BAFTA. A barrage of confused voices, music, a brief musical, technology buzzing, country wildlife, a ploppy poo - all contrasted with a deaf child. An aural assault that is magnificent.

 Easy E wrote:
Kick-Ass

This is the second time I have seen this, and I found the second viewing better than the first.

Granted, the core idea that "real" superheroes would be completely messed up, psychotic, and not that effective; is a bit stale. It was probably stale even when the movie came out. However, it does what it does pretty well.

The character's are interesting. The performances are solid. The script makes sense. it is a very competently done movie. However, I find the story arc doesn't quite hang together the way I would have wanted it to.

I preferred Super but still liked Kick Ass as the super genre needs the odd slap (or outright stomping, if you have to call in The Boys) from time to time and its kind of grump inducing its mostly gone out of fashion

Snyder killed it.

Is Super the one with Dwight from the Office (Rain Wilson(sp)?) ?

Weird. Thought I’d mini-reviewed Dark Phoenix....but seemingly not.

X-Men Dark Phoenix

Honestly. I don’t get the heavy rep. It’s not perfect, but was still a better film than Age of Apocalypse.

Currently on Disney+, and pretty enjoyable overall. Definitely superior to X-3. But then, so are a lot of things. Like that time I deleted by the Inqusition.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Weird. Thought I’d mini-reviewed Dark Phoenix....but seemingly not.

X-Men Dark Phoenix

Honestly. I don’t get the heavy rep. It’s not perfect, but was still a better film than Age of Apocalypse.

Currently on Disney+, and pretty enjoyable overall. Definitely superior to X-3. But then, so are a lot of things. Like that time I deleted by the Inqusition.

I think its because our Soph is an awful actor to centre a film around and everyone else bar Fassbender is clearly just running out contract obligations and half assing it

@ Easy, yep and the finest Tyler offspring and wee Ms Page

I dunno.

I thought she was okay in the role? I mean, she’s not gonna be tickling an Oscar any time soon, but she’s hardly incompetent in the role?

I agree Turnip in that Super was better than Kick-Ass IIRC. Perhaps that was why I was disillusioned the first time I saw Kick-Ass as I had also recently seen Super and liked it better.

balmong7 wrote:
Bill and Ted Face the Music

It's a genuine feel-good comedy film. No snark, no cynism. Just that burn-out Bill and Ted humor where two really dumb guys and their families try to bring the world together through the power of music and also save the world.

Just finishing B&T's Excellent Adventure, it is no better nor worse than I remembered it from 1989ish. Just a solid little comedy.

Utterly and completely bewildered by the idea they did a sequel 30 years later but somehow it kinda fits the absurdity of the film.

Now when's the crossover with Wayne's World?

Any why doesn't Netflix have Bogus Journey?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Turnip Jedi wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
Kick-Ass

This is the second time I have seen this, and I found the second viewing better than the first.

Granted, the core idea that "real" superheroes would be completely messed up, psychotic, and not that effective; is a bit stale. It was probably stale even when the movie came out. However, it does what it does pretty well.

The character's are interesting. The performances are solid. The script makes sense. it is a very competently done movie. However, I find the story arc doesn't quite hang together the way I would have wanted it to.

I preferred Super but still liked Kick Ass as the super genre needs the odd slap (or outright stomping, if you have to call in The Boys) from time to time and its kind of grump inducing its mostly gone out of fashion

Not to be 'that guy' but...

AHEM in the original comics the ending is pretty different, Big Daddy is a fraud and a psycho who kidnapped his daughter. No jetpack, no minigun, no last second rescue. I thought the film suffered from that swerve at the end into super heroics.

Yeah, well, The Godfather (the book) spends a surprising amount of time on a woman with a medically-interesting Hoohah and her surgeon. Sometimes it’s good to change things for an adaptation.

Tombstone (1993) is surprisingly accurate to historical texts, Val Kilmer delivers his magnus opem performance, and the use of historical slang is fascinating. Might be my favorite western of all time.

Contact (1997) is a tad divisive. Some people hate the ending, others love it. I enjoyed it more the second time around then the first. It is based on the novel by Carl Sagan and has minimal deviations in plot.

Gattaca (1997). I've watched it twice now and it falls firmly into my list of worth it to watch once movies. Maybe twice to pick up on things you may have missed. The story is stretched very thin in order to make a full movie. Wardrobe and set design is lacking. In my opinion it's an interesting thought experiment that would work better as a short story.

@balmong7: Oh yes, Jurassic Park does hold up really, really well, doesn't it. There was some CGI there, but used entirely correctly. I once heard a really fun little thing about Jurassic Park: The scene the lawyer gets eaten off the toilet by the t-rex features a CGI body being thrown around by the T-rex. At the point in time Hollywood only had one digitized human body - Robert Patrick's. They scanned him for Terminator 2. So they did the special effect using Patrick's digitized body. Essentially the T-Rex ate the T-1000 there.


Is "Face the Music" the new Bill and Ted film? I was very unhappy with the trailers. Not sure I can watch that one. Few years ago I watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, and, as others said on here: It's a charming little film. It's good fun. The German dub of the film was something else (same with Enzino Man and other stoner comedies of the time). They couldn't come up with existing terms for stuff like "dude" and other terms used, so they came up with this entirely new lingo of words nobody would ever use. Gave the films a whole new dimension. The terms from the films actually found their way into every day lingo among young people. Well, for a while.

I watched Kick-Ass once. I think I wrote this ten times before: the endless shot of Nicholas cage sitting in front of the mirror putting up make-up is amazing. Did not like girl. The main guy was ...alright. I don't know. Not my kind of thing. I liked Super a bit better. But in the end I don't find them more moving than Paul Blart and Observe and Report respectively.

@Kid_Kyoto: 'bewilderment' is the perfect reaction to seeing they made a sequel now. I agree. As for Netflix - because they only have crap. AND they just raised prices for the second time within 18 months. I only use Netflix to watch Star Trek these days, Community (which I got on DVD anyway) and The IT Crowd. There are some good films on there, but it's getting more and more crap with the big red N in front.

@trexmeyer: Aye, 90s films! You're speaking my language. Tombstone is epic (Val Kilmer standing out properly), Contact is really good, Gattaca I think I've seen once a long time ago, but I barely remember a thing about it.



Have I watched a new film? Err... I don't think so. Watched Return of the Ninja again, watched Friday again, watched Papa ante Portas.Nothing new.

Space:1999 breakaway.

Yeah yeah I know about the moon getting blown out of orbit and flying thru the universe. I get it.

Ignoring that I think that the pilot ep of space:1999 was pretty awesome. The effects were groundbreaking for the time, immeasurably better than anything on tv up to that date.

The acting was good, the ep was pretty decent and still likely the best one made.

 Sigur wrote:

Is "Face the Music" the new Bill and Ted film? I was very unhappy with the trailers. Not sure I can watch that one. Few years ago I watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, and, as others said on here: It's a charming little film. It's good fun. The German dub of the film was something else (same with Enzino Man and other stoner comedies of the time). They couldn't come up with existing terms for stuff like "dude" and other terms used, so they came up with this entirely new lingo of words nobody would ever use. Gave the films a whole new dimension. The terms from the films actually found their way into every day lingo among young people. Well, for a while.

Yes, it's the new one. I can't recommend it enough. It really is just a nice feel-good comedy that I didn't realize I needed this year.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Yeah, well, The Godfather (the book) spends a surprising amount of time on a woman with a medically-interesting Hoohah and her surgeon. Sometimes it’s good to change things for an adaptation.

Yes, that was...strange, as well as the werid dying old consigliere. I liked the greater discussion about how Sonny was a very effective general in the last mob war, and how Do Corleone felt (at least to me) much more sinister.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:

Not to be 'that guy' but...

AHEM in the original comics the ending is pretty different, Big Daddy is a fraud and a psycho who kidnapped his daughter. No jetpack, no minigun, no last second rescue. I thought the film suffered from that swerve at the end into super heroics.

The end of the film definitely suffers (though Hit Girl's assault is pretty great). I just don't really think the comic ended all that much better either. Part of it is the whole.... Millar... thing, but the story is a knife's edge with the comic falling hard to one side and the movie slipping to the other. Neither really walk it to the end.

Then again, the core appeal of the whole thing was pretty much spent in the first issue. After that "damaged nerve endings" superpower caused the series to lose the "what if someone tried to Batman for real" hook almost immediately.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:


Any why doesn't Netflix have Bogus Journey?

Bogus Journey was made by a different (dead, iirc) studio. The rights would require a different deal, with... no idea who