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Saving Private Ryan

A classic for bloody good reason. Certainly to my mind the first mainstream movie which isn’t at all shy about the horrors of fighting a war.

Our protagonists absolutely are heroes, but still just men doing their best in horrific circumstances. And yet, they’re not all good men, as we see the execution of surrendering Germans.

It of course paved the way for Band of Brothers, Fury and many other bits of media in a similar “warts and all” vein. But this was the first to really break out, and possibly the first made.

For ww2 maybe, but Platoon, FMJ and Apocalypse Now rather pipped it to the post for depiction of war as hell.

I'd say though that SPR is kind of a post Platoon/FMG/Apocalypse now film. It depicts war as still being hard, but also focuses more on comradery, nobility, and how war can build people up rather than just tear them down. It's less oppressively nihilistic about war and being a solider than the previous generation of war films, willing to explore beyond the horrors of death and destruction to let little moments of friendship and courage really shine rather than just be the pointless waste that comes before horrific ends.

I always found The Big Red One to be the WW2 Vietnam movie. It just feels off.

In a Violent Nature

This is an interesting idea for a movie.

Slasher flick but you follow the movie monster, not the victims for nearly every step of the film. And I'll give them credit. It's an interesting idea. Bold.

But the plot suffers horribly for it, turning the film into one long 'follow a guy walking menacingly around while he kills some kids.'

I wish the movie endeavored to do something more creative with it. Tell an old-fashioned story in a new way rather than just follow the killer around between gory kills. Or maybe tell the killer's story even. For the life of me the movie alludes to the movie monster having feelings and stuff, but I couldn't tell you what they're supposed to be or why they aren't just the usual shallow excuse for a slasher film to explain some gory murders.

The gimmick is cool. It's kind of neat to watch for that alone but the movie otherwise makes a bold choice and proceeds to do nothing with it.

Fair point on the Vietnam set movies. Dunno why I didn’t think of those.

I just watched Moonraker (the 007 movie where Bond goes to spaaaace!) again the other night, and I have to say that it's possibly the cheesiest of all of the Bond movies. In other words, perfect for Roger Moore's version of the iconic character. So much of the space stuff just was so wrong in that movie; I kept saying "That's not how physics works!" over and over again just like I usually do when I watch Armageddon (another cheesy space movie). It's fairly obvious that Moonraker was the Bond filmmakers' attempt to cash in on the success of Star Wars, complete with a big pew pew laser battle.

All that being said, it's still a Bond movie, and I enjoy the movie in spite of its flaws.

2001 - A Space Odyssey

About halfway through at the moment... Decided it was time to revisit it, as I watched it when I was about 17 and was completely underwhelmed. Teenage me was confused about what the apes were doing there, didn't mind the middle bit, and hated the ending.

Since then, I've read the book several times so understand why the apes are there, although I expect to still hate the ending.

It does strike me though that if the moon landing was faked, it wasn't by Kubrick. The special effects in 2001, while undoubtedly excellent by the standards of the time, have not held up as well as those in the moon landing video.

It is beautifully shot, though, and still a cool story. Aside from the ending.

I can never hate the end of 2001, not since my teacher told us how he had seen the film in a theater in San Francisco and during the big lightshow at the end, some guy tripping balls jumped up, shouted something about seeing God, and ran straight into and through the screen.

Anyway, 2001 was one of those films I was super impressed by in high school, alongside Full Metal Jacket, until one day I went to rewatch it and found it dull, self important and unimpressive. Something clicked in me and I just can’t stand Kubrick films anymore.

I think it's very much a product of the times. Like the three-week-long flyaround of the Enterprise A in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the drawn-out, musical scored space scenes would have been much more impressive to audiences seeing that sort of thing for the first time.

It does drag a little, bit I love all of the little touches to make the sets feel lived-in, and the choice to do the EVA scenes with just the sound of the astronauts' breathing is kind of cool as a contrast to all of the usual overly-sound-effect-laden space scenes we're all more used to.

Audience Firsts are definitely something it’s easy to lose sight of.

Whether they’re the result of clever special effects now commonplace even on TV, or a scene approved by censors for the first time in a horror film which by today’s standards is now extremely tame? We in the modern day find it easy to forget when a given scene was innovative.

An almost modern example? The Matrix’s use of “bullet time”. It was mind blowing at the time, an original and visually striking exploitation of CGI. But then….every bugger started using it. The same with wire fighting to western eyes. Amazing at first, then quickly deemed passed as everyone jumped on that band wagon.

Other TV based examples? The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. To those like me who hadn’t (and still haven’t) read the source material, having seemingly main characters killed off left, right and centre was quite the novelty after decades of Plot Armoured Heroes.

Another example off the top of my head? MCU post credit scenes and teasers. For a while it was the MCU’s thing. Now lots of people do it, and they’re incredibly funny when they’re on a film that was meant to kick start a shared universe but instead buried it 600’ under. Like Tom Cruise, The Mummy and the Universal Monster Universe.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
I just watched Moonraker (the 007 movie where Bond goes to spaaaace!) again the other night, and I have to say that it's possibly the cheesiest of all of the Bond movies. In other words, perfect for Roger Moore's version of the iconic character. So much of the space stuff just was so wrong in that movie; I kept saying "That's not how physics works!" over and over again just like I usually do when I watch Armageddon (another cheesy space movie). It's fairly obvious that Moonraker was the Bond filmmakers' attempt to cash in on the success of Star Wars, complete with a big pew pew laser battle.

All that being said, it's still a Bond movie, and I enjoy the movie in spite of its flaws.

Moonraker is my favorite Bond movie. Moore is up there as one of my favorite Bonds, and as you say, going to space fits him perfectly. it's a silly film, but that's what James Bond has always been

oh, and the space station set was incredible. James Bond has never lacked for great sets, but it's one of the best

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Audience Firsts are definitely something it’s easy to lose sight of.

Whether they’re the result of clever special effects now commonplace even on TV, or a scene approved by censors for the first time in a horror film which by today’s standards is now extremely tame? We in the modern day find it easy to forget when a given scene was innovative.

An almost modern example? The Matrix’s use of “bullet time”. It was mind blowing at the time, an original and visually striking exploitation of CGI. But then….every bugger started using it. The same with wire fighting to western eyes. Amazing at first, then quickly deemed passed as everyone jumped on that band wagon.

i watched The Matrix for the first time a few years ago, and what struck me most of all is that bar maybe one scene, i had seen it all before. references in other films, clips in video essays on youtube, homages, so on and so on. the film has become so utterly ingrained into pop culture that you don't even need to watch The Matrix anymore to watch The Matrix (but, of course, you should. no one does The Matrix better than The Matrix)

(PS: calling The Matrix "modern" is funny. the film is barely younger than me)

I did say almost modern you young whipper snapper you!

But yeah, The Matrix is definitely a victim of its own impact. Not just its lacklustre sequels, yet everyone jumping on the bandwagon, burying its originality in meme status.

Star Wars suffered the same, with the opening “that is a huuuuuuge ship” shot being spoofed and pinched and repurposed all over the shop, along with the other innovations being hired out to other productions.

It’s not a moan as such. Good effects are good, and help improve cinema overall. But it does muddy the waters as to just how impactful and breathtaking the first use was.


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The Flash

Crap CGI! Including I think an inexplicably CGI Batfleck! Worse use of super speed than the two redeeming scenes in those otherwise fairly ropey X-Men films! Instantly unlikable lead star! Absolutely no thought given to the impact of rapid deceleration on the human body! A script I’m sure someone thought was actually witty!

So low effort, you can tell the opening scene was filmed in Glasgow, because nobody thought to change the road signs or traffic lights.

Oh good. Gal Gadot is back to remind us she still needs acting lessons.

Ayyyy! Sanjeev Bhaskar! What did he do to deserve being in this cinematic drivel? He brought us the sublime Going For An English for heaven’s sake.

Will it get worse than the opening 20 minutes or so?



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45 minutes left to go, and it’s still crap.

Plot is nonsensical. It’s ripping off Spider-Man, Winter Soldier and End Game, with absolutely no charm.

Our main character is just utterly unsympathetic.

Keaton Batman does of course serve as a high point, but what a way to crap all over his legacy. Leaning far too much into ‘member berries over anything like wit and a snappy script. It’d also internally inconsistent. Barry 2 phases for the first time? Clothes don’t follow. Second time? Clothes follow.

Who the hell signed this drivel off??

Black Adam

Overall a fun, if pretty derivative outing. We’ve pound shop versions of better known Marvel characters and settings, and as is seemingly sadly par of the DCEU, decidedly ropey and inconsistent CGI.

On balance, it is fun enough to be worth your time, but I think I’d have felt ripped off by a cinema price.

A pretty comfortably 6.5/10.


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Shazam, Fury of the Gods

Now this is a proper fun movie, and not a piece of the scenery is without tooth marks. Fun heroes, fun and effective enough villains.

And unlike the last two I reviewed? Not directly ripping off other movies, and for once the DCEU has solid effects.

This I’d say is a solid 8.5/10.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Black Adam

Overall a fun, if pretty derivative outing. We’ve pound shop versions of better known Marvel characters and settings, and as is seemingly sadly par of the DCEU, decidedly ropey and inconsistent CGI.

On balance, it is fun enough to be worth your time, but I think I’d have felt ripped off by a cinema price.

A pretty comfortably 6.5/10.

Just saw this last week as it's finally made its way to basic cable. I definitely agree with the CGI not being up to snuff at times (Sabbac is particularly bad, and every time they mention him, I wonder why they're talking about a card game?).

Dragnet: The Movie

The one with Connie Swail.



80’s Dan Aykroyd as Joe Friday teams up with 80’s Tom Hanks to take on 80’s Christopher Plummer’s evil band of P.A.G.A.N.s. The film has decent comedy, decent action, a rap version of the theme song for the closing *and* opening credits, and one joke you will remember for the rest of your life.

Oddly enough, Dragnet had two music videos, and the Art of Noise video is the second best. If you have any love for art or music or joy, you owe it to yourself to watch Dan and Tom go Full Will Smith.

The virgin Connie Swail

The_Real_Chris wrote:
The virgin Connie Swail

Raised eyebrow...

pgmason wrote:

The_Real_Chris wrote:
The virgin Connie Swail

Raised eyebrow...

Dum-dee dum-dum!

Dragnet was fun. Haven't seen it in ages, but the baddies organization left an impression on me.

Now. The Matrix. A very modern film OF COURSE. Iconic as hell. Years ago I sat with two ladyfriends and got raving about how great that film was and how it was just the right film at just the right time. They didn't like it, they said it was just some computer nerds power fantasy. :| That's where that dialogue ended. Oh well. No, the Matrix - apart from being just a rock solid, exciting action film - paved the way for everything in Western (and probably Indian too) action cinema thereafter. The influence is just so prevalent that we often don't notice I think. I think that in terms of how films were shot, tinted, looked and so on it possibly was more impactful than Star Wars.

Of course NYPD Blue did away with main character plot armour, but I wouldn't dare to scratch GoT's legacy.


I'm watching the three Gundam films on Netflix. Very nice. Loads of nice characters, I love the designs of all the machines, I like the family-like dynamics of the White Base crew, I like Amuro, I'm having loads of fun with Char. He certainly isn't your regular Darth Vader type (which I initially thought he was). The whole conflict isn't too black and white, it's all lovely.

Goodness. I was in Linear Algebra and Differential Equations when the Matrix came out. That ad campaign, “No one can be told what the matrix is”, was the I Didn’t Do It of the math department, by turns hilarious and infuriating.

…

I cannot hate the Flash no matter how bad it is because it gave me Nicholas Cage’s Superman fighting a giant spider. That and the George Clooney cameo were two of the best fan service experiences I’ve had in years.

….

About the baddies from Dragnet—I always love a good evil cult. Dragnet and Young Sherlock Holmes had the two best cults led by robed socialites wearing animal masks. I’m not sure I could choose between them.

I mean, You g Sherlock Holmes has that Waxing Elizabeth Etare Rametep chant, a fantastic bit of music, but Christopher Plummer’s virgin sacrifice rhyme is too cute. “White and pure as driven snow/ From Orange County, here we go!” Brilliant.


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Shazam: Fury of the Gods was fun in a cheesy Krull or Doctor Mordred of way. But it was budgeted like an Iron Man. Without the DC baggage, it still would have bombed, but I think it would be remembered fondly as a cult classic like House 2 or Legend.


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 insaniak wrote:
I think it's very much a product of the times. Like the three-week-long flyaround of the Enterprise A in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the drawn-out, musical scored space scenes would have been much more impressive to audiences seeing that sort of thing for the first time.

It does drag a little, bit I love all of the little touches to make the sets feel lived-in, and the choice to do the EVA scenes with just the sound of the astronauts' breathing is kind of cool as a contrast to all of the usual overly-sound-effect-laden space scenes we're all more used to.

It’s not the space scenes that are the problem for me.

Bobtheinquisitor wrote: I cannot hate the Flash no matter how bad it is because it gave me Nicholas Cage’s Superman fighting a giant spider. That and the George Clooney cameo were two of the best fan service experiences I’ve had in years

Not even Barry Allen’s moronic laugh, which you just know is Ezra Miller’s real laugh, and was laughed when they were busy choking people, stalking people, threatening people, harassing people, committing burglary etc etc?

I hadn’t really followed that news before seeing the movie, just like I saw The Road Warrior before I heard Mel Gibson tell his wife to get ******** by a ******* of ********, so it wasn’t on my mind at the time. In retrospect, I would never want to watch the film again, but would absolutely recommend watching clips of Nicholas Cage on YouTube.

To some extent I generally try to separate the artists from their art unless their objectionable qualities become inextricably linked to their art (like Kanye). In this case, Ezra Miller isn’t a talented enough actor to warrant the effort.

 Sigur wrote:
Now. The Matrix. A very modern film OF COURSE. Iconic as hell. Years ago I sat with two ladyfriends and got raving about how great that film was and how it was just the right film at just the right time. They didn't like it, they said it was just some computer nerds power fantasy. :| That's where that dialogue ended. Oh well. No, the Matrix - apart from being just a rock solid, exciting action film - paved the way for everything in Western (and probably Indian too) action cinema thereafter. The influence is just so prevalent that we often don't notice I think. I think that in terms of how films were shot, tinted, looked and so on it possibly was more impactful than Star Wars.

To be fair, on the surface Matrix is just a superhero origin movie. Two decades later, especially after the run of good Marvel movies we got for a decade, its original impact would be gone for good because the context in which the movie exists to first time viewers is now completely different.

I watched all four movies last week, and the fourth one for the first time. The first three are fine. I've never been big on the Matrix, but they have enough going for them to keep interest through the many drawn out, stylized scenes of the second and third movie. The new one? I suppose the first half is okay as a parody of the original movie. I'm not even sure anymore what I watched, other than half a comedy movie. Watching the movies back to back, I did notice a discrepancy in the sets and maybe overall cinematography between the first three and the fourth one. The latter didn't catch the slick and rich look, for lack of a better expression, of the originals. Bit of a shame. But then it doesn't feel like the movie added anything to a concluded story, so whatever.

Furisoa

Absolutely phenomenal. A bum number at 2h 20m, but riveting, and quite unlike any prequel origins story I’ve seen, as it’s more of a biopic of our titular heroine.

It gets a real sense of time across, each segment flowing into the next despite often significant chronological gaps.

Most impressively? It dovetails in the previously non-canonical Mad Max video game, with Scrotus and Chumbucket being canonised.

That being said? If you didn’t enjoy Fury Road, there’s really not a lot here for you. Whilst a very different kind of film, it is still Mad Max in that specific vein, despite the slower and more deliberate pace.

I’m particularly taken with certain scenes which really harken back the previous Mad Max films in terms of style, really making the wasteland a terrifying place to exist.

Because I needed something rather specific rather quickly I finally caved and got that amazon prime trial week thingy.

Naturally I had a look at their video library. Boy, what a clusterhowdy. "You can watch this, but you gotta pay extra.", or "You can watch this for free, IF you also get a free trial week for some other streaming service!". And it's all mingled together. In the end I found somehting I'd wanted to watch ever since it came out back in 2017.


The Wall (2017)

A war film taking place in Iraq in 2007, directed by Doug Liman (does he have an ever interesting filmography!). Starring Aaron Taylor Johnson, who apparently is British, I read to my surprise and a post-Marine-, but pre-wacky-comedy phase John Cena.

The plot is this: Two US soldiers get pinned down by an enemy sniper and sit behind a wall. Kinda like the last 15 minutes of Full Metal Jacket. This wall is great. It's like this singular piece of terrain you put on the gaming table without any rhyme or reason. No other walls within 2km, just a single straight wall. For this film I'll allow it, on a gaming table it always looks kinda funny. It's also the wonkiest wall in the world. I'm sure that a lot can be read into it, its properties and what happens to it during the film, but either should be done by a much more clever or much less clever person than me.

Anyway, this premise got me hooked ever since I heard of it, because usually this is about 2 minutes of a film even though there is a LOT of potential in the situation. It's not a long film; about an hour and 17 minutes, and I feel like they didn't get the whole potential out of the premise, but I liked it alright.



Yeah, I liked it just fine. If you wanna read into the thing I'm sure you could have hours of fun digging into it, but I'm not sure if it's worth it. But if you think that the premise is interesting you should Watch It.


No idea why, but just now I'm reminded of that Australian(?) thriller film in which the sniper dude has the teenagers behind the car pinned down. That one had more action and more screaming and so on, but I enjoyed it less. Btw, I'm NO fan of snipers. Okay, that's a given, but take it in the context of the tabletoppy-wargamey world we all inhabit. Some people have this fascination with them, I find them creepy and just unappealing. Maybe that's why I was so intrigued with that film.



Oh, I also caught a good chunk of that film where Vin Diesel plays a bulky lawyer who's got hair on his head. He sure looks more relateable in that role, and it's always cited as some of his best work, but somehow he still didn't convince me.

If you enjoyed the Wall, have you seen Phone Booth with Colin Farell. Similar premise, but with a civilian backdrop.

I've seen Phone Booth, I remember liking it. Also a very strong premise, also about telephoning with a git.

I realized that Harley Davidson & The Marlboro Man is on Amazon Prime. So I'm watching that. Because that film makes me happy.

Beverly Hills Cop Axel F

Let's start with the big thing. The movie is actually good. Weird, right? How did that happen?

Probably because while there's a ton of Beverly Hills Cop in there, it's also simply a well made action comedy cop movie that doesn't need all the nostalgia bait (of which there is plenty) to appeal. It also benefits from the complete absence of borderline super heroic feats in the original movies, so an elderly Eddie Murphy playing and elderly Axel Foley isn't actually too old for this gak and can believably play the role in a way that, say, Harrison Ford can't pull off anymore as Indiana Jones.

The production value and themes are there. There's a bit of modernization and a look at how things have changed over the years add a sense that the main character is not frozen in time, which seems like a fitting way of adding something worthwhile to the series.

Bonus points for an appearance of Luis Guzman as a bit of a goofball cartel boss.

An observation I made is that while the movie doesn't explicitly disown Beverly Hills Cop III, there are a few hints that suggest Axel F is to be understood as a continuation of the first two movies more than the third one. Not as in the third movie didn't happen, but more acknowledging that the first two movies are good and the third one is not, and we shouldn't give that movie any more thought than absolutely necessary.

Finally, as I learned from discussions of Ghostbusters Afterlife, apparently a movie can be too reverential of its forebears for some people's taste. I could see those same people have similar issues with Axel F. They got pretty much all the old actors together, some set decorations might stand out too much as references to the old movies and they made the good choice to use some of the songs from the first movie to get those 80s vibes back that got lost in the mania of the third movie's 90sness.

Overall if you like the first two movies, I think you might enjoy Axel F. It's not flawless, but as far as I'm concerned it has a lot of good going for it and it's nowhere near an embarrassment to the franchise as some other late sequels might be. And it's not Beverly Hills Cop III.

Latter Day Sequels can be an uneven bunch.

Some (Fury Road, Furiosa etc) are fantastic additions to the tale. Others are just lazy “remember the 80’s, do you? Do you remember? The 80’s. Remember?” affairs.

What makes good ones good? I’d say carrying its lineage on its sleeve proudly, without being afraid to be its own thing,

Ghostbusters Afterlife pulled that off nicely, and it didn’t poop all over its preceding films for shock value.