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2025/12/15 15:15:28
Subject: Mini-Movie Reviews- What You Are Watching.... in Miniature
The main issue with Solo is just that it breaks the character down from a lifetime of adventures to everything kind of happening in a crazy weekend kind of vibe. It's really distracting how every scene needs to give him some random bit including dozens of things like his name that did not need backstory. It's less a bad film as a distractingly artificial one.
2025/12/15 15:20:14
Subject: Mini-Movie Reviews- What You Are Watching.... in Miniature
[DCM]
Chief Deputy Sub Assistant Trainee Squig Handling Intern
Yeah I think that’s fair, and feeds into it feeling kinda disposable.
It’s like extra Gherkins on your burger. Great if you really like Gherkins (and I for one do). But if you leave it of of your burger? You’re not really missing out.
So, not a film on my usual rotation, even as a Star Wars fan that’s enjoyed everything so far. Yet it’s a fine Saturday afternoon filler
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Flinty wrote: @MDG - I also remember quite enjoying Solo, but agree it’s not particularly pivotal. Also not every film needs to be.
In terms of the actual storyline, it’s not too far from a Kelly’s Heroes style heist in tone. It’s just that the main cast desert before the heist starts.
It would be cool to watch the original version, before the reshoots.
BorderCountess wrote: Just because you're doing something right doesn't necessarily mean you know what you're doing...
"Vulkan: There will be no Rad or Phosphex in my legion. We shall fight wars humanely. Some things should be left in the dark age." "Ferrus: Oh cool, when are you going to stop burning people to death?" "Vulkan: I do not understand the question."
– A conversation between the X and XVIII Primarchs
2025/12/16 01:26:31
Subject: Re:Mini-Movie Reviews- What You Are Watching.... in Miniature
I watched the new Knives Out film, Wake Up Dead Man (2025).
First one was rather nice I found, then I watched the second one when it was new and found it horrible on every level. This third installment is better again. Not sure if I like it better than the first one. It's enjoyable. I don't trust it, because Netflix and all. It clearly is meandering for too long, and I don't even mean...
Spoiler:
...that Craig's character is introduced relatively late into the film, which seems to distress some people. I could have done without him altogether. Sure, the character is amusing and so on, but actually, the film could have worked just as well without him I think, since he never does anything on his own; he always picks one of the people as his sidekick.
Anyway. once he pops up, there's this scene between him and the young priest in the church, in which Craig's character 'declares himself' very loudly and very wordily to make absolutely sure everybody knows what he thinks of religion. This is a thing I noticed, because I'm a bit surprised by how keen everybody seems to be on declaring themselves and their position in regards to what ever topic, and we all get very jittery as soon as someone's position or identity in regards to what ever isn't clearly spelled out, labelled and fileable by means of buzzwords or hashtags. It's weird. Anyway, that exposition scene irked me a little, because it was so suprisingly unelegant. And probably unnecessary too, because the core of this scene is to spell out the priest's idea of church and faith through the church and so on. I did like the priest saying "neo-gothic" though, because that's a correct term.
...it's just too long. But it's never un-enjoyable I found. It's also never exciting or all too surprising or all too clever. It's Netflix' pre-christmas event film. Very watchable, and it's got some interesting things to say about faith and priesthood.
Spoiler:
That scene with the 'funny receptioist lady', which turned into a display of the young priest being good kinda got me. That was good. A proper moment of humanity.
And no annoying bits, really. A bit too jokey here and there, but okay. Oh, the guy who plays the young priest is good. I mean all the people in there are good actors I thought. Josh Brolin played Kris Kristofferson very well.
Take it or leave it. It's easy to watch, it's rather fun.
Jay Kelly (2025) George Clooney plays aging Hollywood leading man Jay Kelly as he awakens to the realization he let everything, including friends and family, fall away in the pursuit of fame and wealth. It really is more of a series of vignettes than a cohesive narrative and while there are some nice scenes it feels a bit ragtag. Clooney puts in a good performance, and so does Adam Sandler as his lifelong manager, and while it seems to be Clooney commenting on himself the movie really is actually about writer/director Noah Baumbach. I like that a lot of it is unresolved because many of the issues being dealt with are usually chronic and not acute. It can be a bit to on the nose at times but overall it has enough engaging parts that it is worth a watch if you can't figure out what to watch.
Spoiler:
There are a few scenes where he literally walks in to his memories, which just highlights that this is all a movie, which is fun. For example him and his entourage are on a plane and he walks to the back of the plane and through the bathroom door onto the set of a movie he was shooting as a younger man. You can still see the airplane set as he walks onto the old one which breaks the suspension and reminds the audience all of this is artifice, even the main "story".
Much like in Del Toro's Frankenstein when the brother tells Victor he is the monster the ending where he looks into the camera and says he'd "like to do it again", something he is shown repeatedly doing when he wants to do a scene again, is almost face palm worthy.
The character goes to a tribute for his work and all the scenes shown are from George Clooney movies, which is kind of funny.
Not a bad movie but one that definitely wants to think it is deeper than it actually is.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/12/16 21:26:01
Amidst the mists and coldest frosts he thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts.
2025/12/18 16:33:16
Subject: Re:Mini-Movie Reviews- What You Are Watching.... in Miniature
My rewatch of the MCU continues very slowly, but this is another one where my opinion of it has improved a lot since I last saw it. I actually got quite bored with it previously, and while I still think it is a bit too long, it's a much better paced film than I remember it being.
2025/12/22 19:19:08
Subject: Mini-Movie Reviews- What You Are Watching.... in Miniature
Sir Sean Connery comes out of retirement and absolutely spifflicates some naughty American Spec Ops troops.
Nic Cage tries to keep up and mostly does so.
Really fun film this one. Just restrained enough to stop itself becoming farcical whilst remembering to be fun.
Not bad as an "unofficial" James Bond sequel either.
Oh, I watched Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat Annihilation today. Annihilation wasn't as bad as I was led to believe.
It just had some weirdly unfinished bits to it. Like what was Lui's 3rd test? And where did Sub Zero II dissappear to? Also, who thought the CGI dragon vs. CGI hydra looked good?
BorderCountess wrote: Just because you're doing something right doesn't necessarily mean you know what you're doing...
"Vulkan: There will be no Rad or Phosphex in my legion. We shall fight wars humanely. Some things should be left in the dark age." "Ferrus: Oh cool, when are you going to stop burning people to death?" "Vulkan: I do not understand the question."
– A conversation between the X and XVIII Primarchs
2025/12/23 10:15:31
Subject: Mini-Movie Reviews- What You Are Watching.... in Miniature
[DCM]
Chief Deputy Sub Assistant Trainee Squig Handling Intern
Yup. As I mentioned earlier, it’s very precisely restrained. The premise is fairly solid, and the execution confident. Even the action is fairly believable.
Sure there are silly bits (the bullet proof laundry basket thing when it all goes a bit Temple of Doom, that guy that gets shot in the feet, but it’s the top of the feet popping), but it’s still nicely restrained - stuff done for a thrilling scene, rather than to make someone look badass (take note, Mr Seagull).
Teen Wolf
Another childhood staple, but not one I’ve regularly watched.
Michael J Fox stars as Scott Howard, a young man struggling with the social pressies of high school, who turns out to be a Werewolf. A fact which soon sees his social star begin to rise.
It’s otherwise a fairly by the numbers “high school sucks” type tale, but an enjoyable one.
The Werewolf transformation scene is of course family friendly, but still somewhat beyond lazily cut together footage. And of course, Michael J Fox is a perfectly charismatic lead, who convincingly sells himself as a bit of a dork.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Soooo….how does one follow The Rock?
Well, good reader. You’ve a couple of contemporaneous choices.
You’ve got Con Air which is excellent. Or you’ve got Face Off which is also excellent.
And for afters? You could do worse than Broken Arrow which whilst Cageless, does feature John Travolta seriously enjoying his post Pulp Fiction career resurgence.
But I’m going with Face/Off. Not only do we see Cage and Travolta chew the scenery with aplomb? But it’s directed by John Woo. In arguably his proper Hollywood Breakthrough job.
Was quite the time to be just about more or less old enough for such fair. All four are perhaps a more refined take on the 80’s Action Flick without going into the more poe faced fare of Bourne Identity.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/12/23 16:01:09
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[DCM]
Chief Deputy Sub Assistant Trainee Squig Handling Intern
Young Sherlock Holmes
A most excellent kinda children’s adventure movie from the 80’s.
It is aimed at the younger market. And it’s famed for the first use of a fully CGI character. But boy, some of the scenes are still genuinely scary, possibly too scary for some children.
It’s very much the sort of fare only the 80’s could’ve produced. Whilst it’s a shame it didn’t get a sequel? Perhaps it’s for the best, leaving this as an odd little gem as a solid mix of adventure and inventive horror.
It’s also aged very nicely, as many period pieces of decent budget tend to do. On a personal note, the fencing scene was filmed in Penshurst Place, near where I used to live. The same place as some of Princess Bride. And the same room in which friends of mine were married.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/12/25 12:42:31
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[DCM]
Chief Deputy Sub Assistant Trainee Squig Handling Intern
It’s such a unique movie. Kind of feels like a step up from The Goonies, but also more thrilling than Indiana Jones, without really crossing over to something not kid friendly.
Overall? I’d say it’s bold enough to be one of those films that decided what it wanted to do, and just effing did it.
If you’ve not seen it in yonks, or ever before? If you liked aforementioned Indy and Goonies? Get it through your peepers into your brain.
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We picked up Flow on Bluray for Christmas, and just finished it.
Beautiful movie, with a cool story very impressively told with zero dialogue, just a bunch of animals made remarkably expressive through just acting like animals.
Nobody warned me about the ending, though...
2025/12/26 21:18:41
Subject: Mini-Movie Reviews- What You Are Watching.... in Miniature
There’s an after credits scene to Flow that maybe helps a little. We had to find it on YouTube because we streamed the film, and streaming services hate credits.
We really enjoyed the whole story, and especially all the cute animals.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: There’s an after credits scene to Flow that maybe helps a little. We had to find it on YouTube because we streamed the film, and streaming services hate credits.
Yeah, we did see that, as my youngest likes to watch credits to the end, even when there are no post-credit scenes.
Spoiler:
She immediately jumped on the idea that they got the whale back to the water somehow, which is good because she was not ok with the whale dying... and it seems a lot of people took that interpretation, but it doesn't appear to be the intention... You hear the whale take its last breath as the other animals are looking into the puddle. The post credits scene was apparently added well after the movie was finished, just as something pretty to look at, and it was originally just a shot of the water, but the director felt it needed a little extra so added some recycled footage of the whale just for effect.
For what it's worth, apparently some viewers actually went entirely the other way from that scene, assuming it meant that the water came back and the whale was ultimately the only survivor...
I like the suggestion that the whale's death serves to bring the story full circle: It's there with the cat at the start when the cat is scared of the water, and then the cat is there for the whale when the water recedes. It's not a happy ending, but it's a nice one so far as that goes.
2025/12/26 23:51:53
Subject: Mini-Movie Reviews- What You Are Watching.... in Miniature
I tend to agree with your interpretation, with the added “maybe” that perhaps
Spoiler:
The end credits scene takes place in an afterlife of some kind. After the Secretary Bird ascended into the light, we began assuming a supernatural cast to the events of the film. The bird and the ‘whale’ both seem to have completed their arcs, for lack of a better term, while the cat still had a purpose to serve in that world.
[DCM]
Chief Deputy Sub Assistant Trainee Squig Handling Intern
Red Sonja 2025.
It’s…ok. More or less. The magic of the Arnie Conan continues to largely elude Hollywood, but this is pretty much fine,
My main issue is how someone as scrawny and inconsequential as the Emperor becomes Emperor in the first place. He’s right Bag Of Nowt and no mistake.
Points deducted for mild Steam Punk spank. I bloody hate Steam Punk, me.
And whilst I of course understand Ratings play a role? The fight scenes seem pretend the glorious overblown nonsense of Spartacus hasn’t happened.
Still more or less better than the Momoa Conan. How that sucked with a leading man that leaks sheer charisma and screen presence from every pore I don’t know.
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[DCM]
Chief Deputy Sub Assistant Trainee Squig Handling Intern
What follows is merely an expression of opinion.
To me? It’s just so bloody lazy. The heyday of Steam is super interesting and genuinely fascinating, and was the first step on the technological rollercoaster that leads us to right here, right now. Indeed Nuclear Power Stations encompass the same principles. And whilst I’ve not looked into it? I suspect fossil fuel stations do the same. Burn/Expend the fuel to heat the water to turn the turbine and generate the lekky.
It allowed proper industry as we know it, like the agricultural revolution but even more bonkers and advancement.
It evidently and undeniably did huge amounts of good, but with far from insignificant sociological downsides, not to mention all the pollution.
And pretty much all the spaff vomited into the Nerdosphere that is Steampunk denigrates that. Like….actually all those party to taming and harnessing Steam could’ve done more. That somehow mankind as a whole would just Sort Of Stop There.
I don’t mind magic at all. Magic is cool, because it’s magic. But to use an actual, well researched and experimented technology and then just “BuT aLsO MaGiC aNd FoR rEaSoN cOmPleTe EnD tO aDvAnCeMeNt In OtHeR aReAs” in such an insult to humankind’s continued advancements.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/12/28 00:02:12
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Just watched Extraction (again for me) with Mrs Flinty (1st timer). It’s such a good film. Tight, well paced, great action scenes, believable antagonists and protagonists, a nice wee heartstrings puller for the 2nd act downtime. And Mr Hemsworth is just glorious.
Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!
I saw Extraction only once, but I really liked it. The sequel, too. Definite thumbs up from me.
About Red Sonja, in my opinion it suffers most from (partially pretty implausible) stuff happening just to make the plot happen. It's pretty poorly crafted in that regard. I don't know about the technological angle. It felt off to me, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to say if it's close enough to the source material or takes too many liberties.
What I don't mind is that the boss dude is in charge through the power of knowledge. It's hardly a novel idea in the fantasy genre. Even if it's a tech head in the case rather than a sorcerer.
Nehekhara lives! Sort of!
Why is the rum always gone?
2025/12/28 11:31:05
Subject: Mini-Movie Reviews- What You Are Watching.... in Miniature
[DCM]
Chief Deputy Sub Assistant Trainee Squig Handling Intern
It’s more we just don’t see him use it in anyway.
It is implied his book gives him an edge. But all we see is him simpering around, commanding a completely unexplained extreme loyalty from folks that could snap him like a breadstick.
Automatically Appended Next Post: High Rollers
New John Travolta straight to streaming muck. It’s apparently about a casino heist.
It’s not very good at all. It so desperately wants the easy cool of the Oceans movies. Maybe, once upon a time, Travolta had that easy charm. But not anymore.
This is clunky and singularly uninteresting. The editing is frankly laughable. In the opening, we go from Travolta and his crew being held at gunpoint by mystery men whilst his wife/girlfriend is kidnapped. Next Travolta is in his motor chasing the baddies. With no explanation of how he got away unharmed, of could’ve known where the baddies were going.
Then we find out the people he was with prior to the abduction are his Crew, and the abduction is to make them take on a job. Which honestly, feels overly elaborate. Spesh as so far as we can tell? The baddie didn’t even ask or seek to hire them first.
The casino they’re targetting has the worst security. His Crew can just…pretend to be bar staff or a cleaner or a car park attendant thing. And apparently nobody notices these new faces all of a sudden.
I’m most of the way through now, and I still don’t care about anyone in it, or anything they’re doing.
They have however called the MacGuffin the Dirtbox. Which doesn’t mean what they think it means in proper English.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2025/12/28 12:36:30
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High Rollers is the sequel to Cash Out (where they pull a bank job), in case you didn't know. It doesn't help with much else, but at least you'd be familiar with the characters in the beginning of the movie, so no real need to establish them.
Aside from that, yeah, High Rollers is all around pretty bad. Which is a shame because Cash Out is actually decent.
Nehekhara lives! Sort of!
Why is the rum always gone?
2025/12/28 16:21:11
Subject: Mini-Movie Reviews- What You Are Watching.... in Miniature
Decided to go watch all the STARSHIP TROOPERS films.
I keep re-watching the Klendathu Drop sequence though.
BorderCountess wrote: Just because you're doing something right doesn't necessarily mean you know what you're doing...
"Vulkan: There will be no Rad or Phosphex in my legion. We shall fight wars humanely. Some things should be left in the dark age." "Ferrus: Oh cool, when are you going to stop burning people to death?" "Vulkan: I do not understand the question."
– A conversation between the X and XVIII Primarchs
2025/12/29 18:18:38
Subject: Mini-Movie Reviews- What You Are Watching.... in Miniature
I was debating turning off Red Sonja (2025) because I was a teenage boy when OG muscle mommy Brigette Nielsen starred in the first one.
It either gets better as it goes along or one’s brain simply gives into the silliness. It’s okay.
The same two clips of Tomorrowland: A World Beyond kept showing up on my FB feed. Oddly English robot girl trying to help the freaked out heroine
It’s turned out to be kid’s film in which Hugh Laurie gets to say ‘b*******’ because possibly Disney doesn’t realise that’s a naughty word.
It’s great fun, even if unrealistically optimistic
Rewatched Atomic Blonde (Cold War Bournesque action movie) and Paddington 2 (Hugh Grant has a whale of a time vs a wholesome cartoon bear from deepest, darkest Peru.)
[DCM]
Chief Deputy Sub Assistant Trainee Squig Handling Intern
Aquaman 2
Much as I remember from the first? It’s a chain of events just sort of happening so there’s something approaching a plot.
Whilst I think it’s a very deliberate stylistic choice, the CGI resembling traditional animated style isn’t really working for me. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not bad as such, just a style I’m not really enjoying.
I also remain baffled as to why Atlanteans are all superhumans, yet Momoa, being a hybrid with 50% Regular Smelly Hooman is somehow even more superhumaner.
I have enjoyed some of the design work. Undersea Kingdom Peeps ships and that being derived from sea creature morphology is kinda cool.
Given I’m not at all familiar with the source comic, I’m hesitant to say it feels like it’s borrowing a lot from Black Panther. Secret Kingdom, Super Groovy But Dangerous Mineral Only They Have and so on.
Who the hell is funding Black Manta’s effing substantial holdings and criminal enterprise here?
I’m really on the fence with this one. And I’ve still an hour to go. First half has been equal parts fun and abject tedium.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Second half is indeed better. Probably could be been trimmed down from its 2 hour run time,
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/12/29 19:26:20
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Cadre Coronal Afterglow w1;d0;l0 
