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Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut





Oxfordshire

I think kids can be quite diverse in what scares them. As a grown up I still can't stand most jump-scare horror films but I love atmosphere horror.

Chamber has big spiders and the basilisk, but most kids would be ok with those. Hallows pt 1 has an unpleasant bit with the snake that's a bit jumpy (and they've started putting blood smears around too). And in the same film there's the bit between Bellatrix and Hermione. As it's not a jump-scare I'm not sure how scary it would be to a kid, but to an adult it's powerful in its horror. It's part of why I think that film is one of the best.

While baddies die at the end of nearly every film, goodies die at the end of nearly every film from Goblet onwards, and Hallows pt 2 pulls no punches in mowing down characters like they're new born chicks in a nugget factory. The hardest hitting are deaths at the end of Goblet, Half-blood and Hallows pt1. The series does not shy away from showing death and that's something only you as a parent can judge the appropriateness of.

You can probably tell that I'd recommend, if you are concerned, watch Hallows pt1 to see if your kids would be ok. The rest can be bleak at times but should be all right.
   
Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

Still better than the Percy Jackson film.

   
Made in in
[MOD]
Otiose in a Niche






Hyderabad, India

Thanks, appreciate it.

I'm not a Potter fan by any measure but I certainly respect their quality and impact.

And I am proud as punch to see Baby #1 reading them at the clip of a book a week.

 
   
Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

Ghostbusters Afterlife

We finally got a chance to see this. It was fine.

In my opinion this is the Terminator: Dark Fate of the Ghostbusters franchise; a much later sequel that was better than it had any right to be while still not holding a candle to the original duo, best enjoyed as a “what if” story than a direct, canon sequel. Competently made with a decent enough script, mostly good pacing, no terrible actors and a few standouts.

I’d recommend it with those caveats.

Now on to the nerdy nitpicking:

Am I the only ine who realized Egon might not have been telling the literal truth when shooting down Janine in the first movie? The producers clearly knew he wasn’t serious when he said “print is dead”…but took him at face value about collecting spores, molds and fungus? Taking everything at face value just to cram in some more call backs makes the film feel more childish.

There’s no way someone on the set for the ending didn’t mention Dragonball Z, the Cell Saga, and the final fireball fight where Goku’s ghost stands beside Gohan, right? That whole sequence feels like an homage (hopefully an homage).

They didn’t understand what made the first movie work, lore wise. Focusing on the “Sumerian” and rising dead instead of the “Rectification of the Vuldronaii” and “four-fold crossrip” aspects made the world feel smaller, the threat lessened. They reduced Gisler from some extra-universe Lovecraftian being only tangentially within the scope of human comprehension to a Buffy villain. Minor nitpick for most, I know, but the Vinz Clortho rant did so much for the imagination, and this movie has a dampening effect instead.

   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Nah thanks for the Harry Potter reviews, I read the books but only saw the first film or two and now Kyoto Secunda is reading the books.

Good to have some idea what's coming down the pike. In your opinion are any of them too scary for 9 year olds?


My five year old nephew watched Tremors and loved it, but I think some elements of HP are potentially scarier.
Strangely enough I never watched all of them until recently, despite having read all the books multiple times. Goblet of Fire, the film, really ticked me off.

1 - Fine. Nothing really scary.
2 - Also fine. The basilisk might be scary.
3 - Probably the best of the lot and last of the real children's friendly versions. It has a werewolf, but the werewolf looks goofy. I think the Dementors would be scarier, but fine for a nine-year old.
4 - It gets dark at the end and marks a tonal shift in both the books and the series. I would say it's less "scary" and more morally upsetting as Voldemort and his lackeys become prominent.
5 through 8 - Generally darker than the rest, but there's no real gore or horror. The scary elements tend to be more of the same, Dementors, Voldemort and company being evil, giant spiders, creepy-looking giant, Voldemort's snake might be creepy.

I agree that 1-3 are the best and it goes downhill in terms of creativity after that. They never become awful movies, but they never approach LotR in terms of translating the books into film.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Henry wrote:
I think kids can be quite diverse in what scares them. As a grown up I still can't stand most jump-scare horror films but I love atmosphere horror.


My 5 year old nephew shocked me when I found out he knew what jump scares were and apparently he's played Poppy Playtime which is a bit creepy, but it doesn't seem to frighten him all that much. I watched the TV version of The Exorcist at around 9/10 and managed to endure it, but couldn't get through the gore in John Carpenter's The Thing. You're correct, it depends on the kid.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/03/18 20:57:58


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Made in in
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Otiose in a Niche






Hyderabad, India

My daughter noticed the last chapter of Goblet of Fire is called The Beginning and IIRC it's the start of things turning serious.

No more school hi jinks, things become deadly.

 
   
Made in gb
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Spider-man No Way Home

Came out the other day on Streaming. Bloody love it in the cinema.

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MN (Currently in WY)

Rush

NO, it's that OTHER Formula Movie that came out around the time Ford vs. Ferrari did. This one is directed by Ron Howard and stars Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Bruhl, and Olivia Wild.

It is a pretty standard racing movie. Everything I know about Formula One I learned watching Speed Racer, so nothing at all. James Hunt is the more passionate, live fast, die young type of driver vs. Nikki Lauda's more precise Moneyball driver. They compete to be world champion.

The film is structured in a way to make Hunt look like the protagonist of the film, but Nikki Lauda makes the more heroic choices. Strange flick in that sense. Odd structure and tonal choices, perhaps in order to teach some moral lesson? I don't know.

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Decrepit Dakkanaut





 Easy E wrote:
Rush

NO, it's that OTHER Formula Movie that came out around the time Ford vs. Ferrari did. This one is directed by Ron Howard and stars Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Bruhl, and Olivia Wild.

It is a pretty standard racing movie. Everything I know about Formula One I learned watching Speed Racer, so nothing at all. James Hunt is the more passionate, live fast, die young type of driver vs. Nikki Lauda's more precise Moneyball driver. They compete to be world champion.

The film is structured in a way to make Hunt look like the protagonist of the film, but Nikki Lauda makes the more heroic choices. Strange flick in that sense. Odd structure and tonal choices, perhaps in order to teach some moral lesson? I don't know.

Cars go vroom.


Uhh. . . rush is like, 10 years older than Ford vs. Ferrari


And uhh, its a fun movie. . . If you're a huge racing fan, the movie is interesting because Lauda and Hunt were indeed great rivals, this movie does bizarrely try to paint them in a similar light to todays Max and Lewis rivalry, where they genuinely do not like each other. But from Lauda (and Hunt's) interviews, they were actually really good friends off the track, however their personality traits on the track led to some great fireworks. And yeah. . . it's I guess sort of highlighting the 2 types of racing driver of that era, so kind of odd to make you feel like one is more the protagonist/hero than the other.
   
Made in gb
Joined the Military for Authentic Experience





On an Express Elevator to Hell!!

It's not a great deal older - 2013 vs 2019 for Ford Vs. Ferrari

I really enjoyed the film, and for many that are really into motorsport it highlighted two of the biggest names during the 'golden age' of the sport. I know what you mean about the rivalry - there was certainly a lot more bon homme between racers generally back then, I think simply because of the shared danger and mutual respect - even if you 'hated' your competitors (and you were there to beat them) you had to have respect for someone else who was putting their life on the line each time they sat in the car.
These days it is very different, much of the danger has gone and I'm not sure if it just because of that (probably because there is so much money involved also) but you don't have the same impression. You have shows like Drive to Survive and the media generally which tries to create antagonism and drama, but really there is a lot less space for personality and the individual skills and abilities of the competitors.
I think the motorbikes are still a little different as you do still have that danger, the rider can make more of a difference - and the capability to kill someone else if you ride badly. At least, that has been my impression of the differences between the two sports, and the people involved in the bikes feel a bit more endearing in that regard.

Anyway.. I thought a great film that captured their exploits really well. I know James Hunt's son was involved in the films creation, think Hemsworth did an admirable job (apparently he had to slim down a fair bit!)

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MN (Currently in WY)

Man, when your old five years feels like about the same time..... or something.....

Yeah, it was a fun flick and they name check Mario Andretti alot. He is about the only F1 name I really knew before the film.

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Secret Force Behind the Rise of the Tau




USA

Hosts

There's a few films with similar names. This one is a British flick where a family Christmas goes horribly horrible and... Yeah that's it.

I'd heard good things about this film but for the life of me I don't know why. It's not bad. It's actually so inoffensive mediocre it's probably worse than bad and I honestly can't put a finger on why. The acting is actually pretty good in some parts. Way better than the film seems to deserve.

I guess if I had to put a word on it, it's cheap.

Everything about this movie is cheap. The drama is cheap. The characters are cheap. The cinematography is cheap. The scares are cheap. The movie kind of combines possession with home invasion and the end result is a solid yawn. I don't even know what the plot is to be honestly. Mostly it's just a cavalcade of 'scary thing happens' and no amount of full commitment by the cast is saving the blaise march of bad stuff that happens. Such a shame too. The actors really committed to their roles shockingly well. They just had nothing to work with.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/03/22 21:28:04


   
Made in at
Posts with Authority





Vienna, Austria

The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982)

Yeah, they even did self-aware cheesy fantasy films better in the 80s.
The plot is that evil king Cromwell of Arabia summons the devil to help him win a war against King Richard's good guys kingdom, but his youngest son Talon can flee with King Richard's awesome sword. Talon swears revenge.

It's not very good. It's very fun, but not very good. Lots of very fun wigs, loads of swordfighting (not that great), one VERY self-aware dude who looks a bit like OJ Simpson, a hero who's half-way between looking heroic and strapping and like a dork, some really good practical effects, and many, many characters too many, I thought. This one's been produced by a dude and his wife, and it fees like there is a TON of backstory to it which landed on the editing room floor. The plot is pretty all over the place, even though there's a fair amount of exposition here and there.

Watch It, if you're into that sort of film, and have seen all the others. It's alright fun overall, but it's hard to look past its obvious shortcomings in terms of the plot. Which is a weird thing for me to say, but that should tell you that there is some serious jumps and conveniences in there. On the plus side, there's some good actors here and there, mainly Simon MacCorkindale and the incomparable Richard Lynch.


The really fun thing is that the credits begin with the announcement of a sequel "coming soon". And it did come, in 2010, starring Kevin Sorbo, Ralf Möller and Michael Paré (Tom Cody!). We'll watch that one soon I hope.



Afterwards we watched the first 15 minutes or so of The Village. What a cool film that one is. Watch The Village.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2022/03/22 22:37:59


   
Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

Dragonslayer

Old school 80’s fantasy film. The effects are pretty typical of the day, but I still love them. I expected my son to think they were cheesy, but he was swept up and kept asking me how they did the effects. Still one of the greatest dragons in cinema.

As for the story, it’s decent. The acting is not award winning but full of bad ADR and ‘character’. The sets and locations are straight out of ,uh, the production equivalent of central casting.

If you’ve ever wanted to see young Emperor Palpatine incinerated by an animatronic dragon, this is the movie for you.

   
Made in sa
Master Engineer with a Brace of Pistols





Northumberland

Baby Driver

Great soundtrack, sort of interesting story, a bit meh but not a terrible film. Characters seemed like they tried exceedingly hard to be whacky. Jon Hamm was the best part of that movie. Hard to believe a real human being is called Ansel Elgort. Lily James just plays the same role in every movie she is in.

Enjoyment of film slightly marred by two ballistic missiles being shot down close to my hotel.

6/10

One and a half feet in the hobby


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# Olthannon's Oscillating Orchard of Opportunity #

 
   
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Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






I’m sorry your viewing was marred by what?


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Waaagh! Ork Warboss




Italy

 Olthannon wrote:
Lily James just plays the same role in every movie she is in.


Yeah, I fall in love everytime I see her on screen, pretty much all her characters are my ideal girl . She's actually one of my favorite actresses.

Her latest work was portraying Pamela Anderson, which is extremely different from her typical roles, though.

 
   
Made in in
[MOD]
Otiose in a Niche






Hyderabad, India

Olthannon wrote:

Enjoyment of film slightly marred by two ballistic missiles being shot down close to my hotel.



Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:I’m sorry your viewing was marred by what?





Yeah.

The Gulf.

Makes me glad I'm in nice sane Cairo where there hasn't been a car bomb in at least 2 years. And cops with AK47s on every corner making me feel safe.

 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






Alien

A film we all know a lot about. But….one I’ve really not seen a great many times, let alone in one sitting.

As with many of my movie foibles there’s no real reason for that, let alone a good one. But fixing that right now.

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Northumberland

Blackie wrote:
 Olthannon wrote:
Lily James just plays the same role in every movie she is in.


Yeah, I fall in love everytime I see her on screen, pretty much all her characters are my ideal girl . She's actually one of my favorite actresses.

Her latest work was portraying Pamela Anderson, which is extremely different from her typical roles, though.


I think she's a nice looking lass yes but I've yet to see her actually act, which to me is what matters. I have heard that Pam and Tommy show is good so I might give that a watch.

Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Olthannon wrote:

Enjoyment of film slightly marred by two ballistic missiles being shot down close to my hotel.



Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:I’m sorry your viewing was marred by what?





Yeah.

The Gulf.

Makes me glad I'm in nice sane Cairo where there hasn't been a car bomb in at least 2 years. And cops with AK47s on every corner making me feel safe.


Yeah can't say I was entirely keen on it. They were shot down mid air but it still rattled the absolute bollocks out of the hotel. It's a 3 week stint here with work and I was thinking great, in and out. Just my sort of luck really.

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:Alien

A film we all know a lot about. But….one I’ve really not seen a great many times, let alone in one sitting.

As with many of my movie foibles there’s no real reason for that, let alone a good one. But fixing that right now.


Sadly for me I think Alien has hit a point where it has aged noticeably. I still enjoy it but I prefer Aliens.


I forgot I watched 2 films on the plane.

The Many Saints of Newark which I thoroughly enjoyed. Big Sopranos fan and the backdrop of the Newark riots was very interesting. It took me a long time to watch just because I've not had the time. Would love to see it again in the cinema.

And then because there wasn't much selection I mistakenly decided to watch Free Guy. Which although the idea of a freethinking AI NPC was cool and a more serious movie with that idea would be great, this was not. I did sort enjoy Taika Waititi just being an arsehole. A better movie like this already exists in The Truman Show. I think made considerably worse by the contrast from just having watched a very good film and then turning to this.

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Italy

 Olthannon wrote:


I think she's a nice looking lass yes but I've yet to see her actually act, which to me is what matters.


I don't think she's particularly attractive, although she's definitely nice enough on screen, but pretty much all the characters she portrayed are the (rare) kind of girls I always fall in love with.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Darkest Hour, Yesterday, The Dig, Little Woods (her character here was really different than the usual though), The Exception were all great performances.

I also like how she can work on her accents.

 
   
Made in us
Terrifying Doombull




 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Dragonslayer

Old school 80’s fantasy film. The effects are pretty typical of the day, but I still love them. I expected my son to think they were cheesy, but he was swept up and kept asking me how they did the effects. Still one of the greatest dragons in cinema.

As for the story, it’s decent. The acting is not award winning but full of bad ADR and ‘character’. The sets and locations are straight out of ,uh, the production equivalent of central casting.

If you’ve ever wanted to see young Emperor Palpatine incinerated by an animatronic dragon, this is the movie for you.


Its a weird film. I always had a hard time sitting through it, as parts of it are bizarrely dull and the first half is almost the platonic ideal of dragon/medieval/wizard tropes and cliches (virgin sacrifice lottery!) and then, suddenly, all the rails are gone.
But it lands right back on them, like the mine cart sequence in Indiana Jones.

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Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

I have to agree that the first half was the ideal for a Wizard and dragon movie. This rewatch, I picked up more of the backstory, with Christianity supplanting magic in the world, and the growing sense of loss that fills the movie, so not quite as dull as I remembered. There are also some twists in the first half and at the very end, while the middle chunk of the story is basically moving the pieces where they need to go with a bit of melancholy.

I rewatched Raiders and Temple of Doom with my son recently, and realized how much our society has changed since then. At least Last Crusade aged well.

   
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 Easy E wrote:
Man, when your old five years feels like about the same time..... or something.....


Lol, I guess 2020 was a long decade
   
Made in gb
Joined the Military for Authentic Experience





On an Express Elevator to Hell!!

 Olthannon wrote:
Baby Driver

Great soundtrack, sort of interesting story, a bit meh but not a terrible film. Characters seemed like they tried exceedingly hard to be whacky. Jon Hamm was the best part of that movie. Hard to believe a real human being is called Ansel Elgort. Lily James just plays the same role in every movie she is in.

Enjoyment of film slightly marred by two ballistic missiles being shot down close to my hotel.

6/10


I was going to say the extremely hollywood ending of that film kind of dropped it a few points
Spoiler:
("he did his time and was re-integrated into society" - and people take the piss out of the Chinese with Fight Club reworks?)


But I will say your ending certainly sounds a lot more dramatic! Jeez...

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Executing Exarch





I'm still on the fence about the ending, given it's shot in a strange 50's happy after ever style it may well be his fantasy and he's still in prison

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MN (Currently in WY)

6 Underground

More Ryan Reynolds!

Once the film was over, I was not surprised to see it was a Michael Bey film. It really had all the hallmarks. Terrible editing, frenetic pace, "gear" focus, a flat nihilism, heroes made flat, and ogling camera.

I also have no idea what the deal is with Ryan Reynolds. He just does nothing for me as a leading man. I guess he is handsome, but he is not charming and actually has a anti-charisma of grating smugness. Huh, who knows?

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Waaagh! Ork Warboss




Italy

 Easy E wrote:


I also have no idea what the deal is with Ryan Reynolds. He just does nothing for me as a leading man. I guess he is handsome, but he is not charming and actually has a anti-charisma of grating smugness. Huh, who knows?


I can't stand him either, and he repeats the same role over and over again. I guess americans like his style of acting and his way of making jokes, considering him cool. I don't think there's currently anyone as annoying as him on screen .

 
   
Made in gb
Leader of the Sept







For me he’s a bit hit or miss. I really liked him In deadpool, the hit man’s bodyguard and the Adam Project, but red notice was just a bit annoying, and he wasn’t even that over the top in that one. It might depend on how invested he is in the project.

Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!

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Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

I like his way of making jokes and consider him cool. Really, I just skip a lot of his movies, so I tend to get him in small doses where he shines.


But seriously, most annoying actor? In a world with Jared Leto? You, sir, are grievously wrong.

   
 
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