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Post by The Kevstaaa on Feb 15, 2019 16:44:47 GMT -5
#44 White Boy Rick9/14/18 | Director: Yann Demange | Rotten Tomatoes: 59% | Runtime: 111 minutes | Platform: DVDThe Plot: A poor white teen in 1980s Detroit becomes the FBI’s youngest informant. Strengths: The acting in this movie is what carries it to its successes. Matthew McConaughey (Richard Wershe) is great as a desperate, yet hustler father. Watching him bond with son despite losing him is entertaining, but even more is how he attempts to get his daughter back into his life. I’ve never seen Richie Merritt (Richard Wershe Jr.) before, but he does a very good as the lead. Supporting performances from Brian Tyree Henry (Mel “Roach” Jackson), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Alex Snyder) and Bel Powley (Dawn Wershe) are all enjoyable. The final few minutes are pretty heartbreaking when you understand what happens to Rick in real life. Weaknesses: This is less than two hours, but it feels closer to three. I’m okay with a slow pace. However, a lot of what happens unfolds too slowly and it hurts things. There are moments where I found myself disinterested and just waiting for it all to end. It felt like it was attempting to build to something big and yet we never got there. The movie kind of never gets going the way you’d hope. This was the first movie I’ve seen directed by Yann Demange and I came away unimpressed. He didn’t seem to capture 1980s Detroit properly. For example, we should be able to grasp why Rick would enter this dangerous lifestyle, especially after seeing what happened to his sister. There’s only one scene that really seems fun. The atmosphere felt way off. Overall: A decent movie that I don’t regret watching, but not one I’d go out of my way to see again. Solid acting and a fine setup. Just not the best execution. [**½]
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2019 22:32:03 GMT -5
11. Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) - 8/10
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BlackoutCreature
Grimlock
The Ultimate Popcorntunist!
Posts: 14,439
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Post by BlackoutCreature on Feb 15, 2019 22:44:50 GMT -5
6. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) 7. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) 8. Back to School (1986) 9. Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid (1975)
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Post by burdette25159 on Feb 16, 2019 18:01:09 GMT -5
19: Curse of the Werewolf (1961) ***3/4
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BlackoutCreature
Grimlock
The Ultimate Popcorntunist!
Posts: 14,439
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Post by BlackoutCreature on Feb 16, 2019 18:37:32 GMT -5
7. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) 8. Back to School (1986) 9. Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid (1975) 10. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Feb 16, 2019 20:21:22 GMT -5
#45 Close1/18/19 | Director: Vicky Jawson | Rotten Tomatoes: 38% | Runtime: 94 minutes | Platform: NetflixThe Plot: A skilled female bodyguard protects a rich heiress from an attempted kidnapping. Strengths: When you have a premise like this, you need to deliver on the tense moments and the action. Close succeeds in both departments. There are plenty of scenes that show cool ways in which our protagonist survives. She gets to showcase her skillset against tough antagonists and it is all well done. The cinematography was better than expected, making for quite the visual appeal. I also appreciated the score, as it hits the right notes for tense stuff. Noomi Rapace (Sam Carlson) was very strong as the lead. She’s usually a safe bet for some quality acting. Indira Varma (Rima Hassine) is also solid. The slow burn style the movie takes works well for it. Weaknesses: The script isn’t anything super original. You can kind of tell where the story is going as it unfolds. Some of the twists are very obvious and that takes away from the impact. Sophie Nelisse (Zoe Tanner) isn’t bad in her role, but she plays a character who is ultimately unlikable. She does grow throughout the film, yet it’s never into someone I like or enjoy. While I liked the slow build, I think it needed to set up a bigger finish. The ending is kind of flat for everything they built to. Overall: It lacks originality and a punch of a finish, but Close has enough action and good acting to make it a recommended watch. [***]
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adamclark52
El Dandy
I'm one with the Force; the Force is with me
Posts: 8,139
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Post by adamclark52 on Feb 17, 2019 1:29:17 GMT -5
24. City of the Living Dead. Moves as slowly as any of Fulcis movies. The gore was cool. The puking guts scene is so over the top it’s silly. Cool sound effects that are actually scary and a good soundtrack. And the undead looked badass. It was cool to me too that one of the main themes was reimaged by an artist called Purient for a song called Greenpoint from his 2016 album ‘Frozen Niagara Falls’. That was a little Easter egg I wasn’t expecting. It also reuses the main theme from Zombie (same composer). The only downside is the little kids name: “John-John”? That’s seriously the worst name one could come up with.
25. The Beyond. I bought this on DVD last fall but the copy I got was a bad Korean cut that took out the gore from the spider scene, the dog scene, the nail scene, the face melt scene and Arthurs death, but left the gore for intro scene, Joes eyeball scene and the head exploding scene for some reason. You can’t say some of that stuff was cut for rating purpose while other parts were left in. And if those cuts were for time... there’s other stuff that could’ve been cut instead. I think the reason was “to rip off Adam and make him buy the same movie twice in four months. So it was nice to see it in its original cut, and remastered at that. This is paced much better than Fulcis other movies, with the violence being evenly distributed along the whole movie rather than everything happening in the last fifteen minutes. I love Joe the Plumbers line “it’ll take as long as it takes”. I wish I could say that to clients. Us tradesmen of the 21st Century need to get balls like Joe.
26. The House By the Cemetery. I watched this one not even a month ago but I got the Gates of Hell trilogy on Bluray this week and figured I’d watch all three movies in one night just to say I did. It’s the weakest of the three but if you enjoy either of the others you’ve no reason not to watch it. It’s still good but it has some bad writing and painfully slow pacing. There isn’t even much gore to speak of. If anything this one has the prettiest girls: Catriona MacColl (who plays a different role in all three movies) and Ania Pieroni (wow). It also has the most annoying kid.
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Cranjis McBasketball
Crow T. Robot
Knew what the hell that thing was supposed to be
Peace Love and Nothing But
Posts: 41,868
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Feb 17, 2019 1:30:47 GMT -5
I don't recall them all, but...
Action Point
It's not funny.
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adamclark52
El Dandy
I'm one with the Force; the Force is with me
Posts: 8,139
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Post by adamclark52 on Feb 17, 2019 3:54:29 GMT -5
27. Demons. This movie was f***ing awesome. 1980’s gold!!!! Awesome soundtrack, wicked gore and hot girls. I only wish it had of entirely been in the theatre and that the pimp had lived longer.
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BlackoutCreature
Grimlock
The Ultimate Popcorntunist!
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Post by BlackoutCreature on Feb 17, 2019 14:45:37 GMT -5
8. Back to School (1986) 9. Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid (1975) 10. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) 11. Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League - Gotham City Breakout (2016)
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Feb 17, 2019 16:12:38 GMT -5
#46 Star Trek Into Darkness5/17/13 | Director: JJ Abrams | Rotten Tomatoes: 85% | Runtime: 133 minutes | Platform: Blu=RayThe Plot: The crew of the USS Enterprise are thrust into a war with a powerful terrorist. Strengths: The 2009 Star Trek reboot was fantastic. The follow up was nearly as good because it made sure that the things that worked were done again. The interplay among the cast is once again brilliant. Chris Pine (James T. Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (Spock) are even better than the last time. Each scene they share is great and the big moment where they put a twist on the Wrath of Khan is excellent. The supporting players are all delightful in their own way. Zoe Saldana (Nyota Uhura), Karl Urban (Leonard McCoy), Anton Yelchin (Pavel Chekov), and Simon Pegg (Montgomery Scott) are the standouts. Of course, Benedict Cumberbatch (Khan) is the standout. He’s a captivating villain who feels like a true threat in a way that you don’t often get in these movies. I loved every scene involving him. The spectacle of this movie is top notch. There are vibrant visuals that are breathtaking. It’s especially true in the opening sequence. The action is honestly pretty nonstop and always exciting. Weaknesses: The script could be tighter. There are some plot holes and things get muddled throughout the course of the movie. I wasn’t big on the ending. I understand not going with the exact Wrath of Khan sacrifice and switching it around was cool. But it kind of just gets retconned immediately after and that lessens the impact. It’s a major issue that really holds this back from being on the level of its predecessor. Overall: Even with an ending I didn’t love, there’s a ton to like about this installment. It’s a ton of fun, featuring great acting, and some excellent action throughout. That makes this a blast of a sci-fi movie. [****]
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Post by Ryback on a Pole! on Feb 18, 2019 0:19:36 GMT -5
Spirited Away
Seen it plenty of times before. But went to an exhibition that had the original artwork and storyboards so fancied a rematch.
Great film. So imaginative. The famous train scene is so simple yet so sad and beautiful. The music, the scenery passing by, Sen and No Face sat in silence next to mysterious figures. It is great.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Feb 18, 2019 18:14:18 GMT -5
#47 and 48 Captain America: Civil War5/6/16 | Directors: Anthony and Joe Russo | Rotten Tomatoes: 90% | Runtime: 147 minutes | Platform: Blu-RayThe Plot: When the government wants to control the Avengers, it splits the team with Captain America and Iron Man on opposing sides, especially when the Winter Soldier reemerges. Strengths: I praised the original Avengers for the delicate balancing act it did with all its parts. This movie might have don’t that ever better. With so many pieces, this basically plays as an Avengers movie. All the usual players give their typically strong performances. Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America) continues to have great chemistry with Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier) and Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow). The person who may give the best performance of all is Robert Downy Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man). He’s been so good in every movie he’s appeared in, but he’s at his best here. The arrogant pieces of him start to fade as the weight of Avengers, Iron Man 3, and Age of Ultron all crush him. It all comes to a head in the final fight against Cap and Bucky, which is among the best in MCU history. Speaking of great fights, the airport battle between Team Stark and Team Cap is the single best thing the MCU has ever done. It’s so perfectly laid out, with each hero getting several chances to shine. The direction, character moments, and action of that scene are perfect. Paul Rudd (Scott Lang/Ant-Man) is the MVP of the fight, even though that’s really his only scene. The movie gets the humor right, never going too far in with it, but remaining funny at the right points. I especially enjoyed Bucky’s relationship with Sam/Falcon (Anthony Mackie). There was also the tall task of introducing two major new characters, which not even Avengers had to do. Tom Holland (Peter Parker/Spider-Man) and Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa/Black Panther) are both spectacularly cast. Even better, they’re introduced so well. Gone are the generic origin stories. Parker and Stark develop their relationship quickly and it sets up HomeComing, while T’Challa plays mysterious early on. In fact, T’Challa gets one of the better arcs, going from someone basing his actions off rage, to allowing Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) to live. I also enjoyed Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch) much more here than in Ultron. Lastly, I have to praise how the film never leans you towards picking a side between Iron Man and Captain America. You can see how both sides are right and how both sides are wrong. Weaknesses: There were only a few small things in this film that bugged me. One was how Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) came back after his retirement in Ultron. It led to some cool scenes, and I love having him around, but it cheapened Ultron a bit. The other was Vision (Paul Bettany). I just still don’t like his character, even if he was dumbed down a bit here (he was basically a god in Ultron). It didn’t help that he walked around dressed like a dad during the movie. Overall: I often go back and forth on what my favorite MCU film is. It’s either The Avengers or this. That’s how good Civil War is. It manages to juggle a lot at once and never feel forced. To introduce Black Panther and Spider-Man, have great scenes of Cap against Iron Man, feature brilliant fight scenes, and set up future films is genius. It’s a brilliantly paced movie that is among the best ever. [*****] Blindspotting7/20/18 | Director: Carlos Lopez Estrada | Rotten Tomatoes: 93% | Runtime: 95 minutes | Platform: StreamingThe Plot: With just days left on parole, a man witnesses a police shooting that ultimately threatens his freedom and lifelong friendship. Strengths: Daveed Diggs (Collin Hoskins) deserves all the praise possible for his work in this film. He gives a powerful performance in the lead role and also delivers as one of the writers of this film. The character is kind of the perfect protagonist. He’s given a lot of room to grow, is always likable, and gets plenty of scenes to show off his acting chops. I’m also really glad he got to play the role he wrote. The big moment where he confronts the police officer who committed the shooting while freestyle rapping is the kind of thing that would be goofy in someone else’s hands. Since Diggs wrote and acted it, he understood how to deliver it and it’s one of the best scenes I’ve seen in years. Co-writer Rafael Casal (Mike) plays the other main character. He plays the role well and is so great alongside the Collin character. It’s someone that again, could come off poorly in the wrong hands but Casal nails it. Janina Gavankar (Val) is also good, while Ethan Embry (Officer Molina) is great. The confrontation with Collin also allows him to do a ton without saying anything. The movie manages to juggle a lot. It has scenes that are incredibly tense and filled with suspense. There are a handful of laughs. It also works as a social commentary on the terrifying world we live in today. The soundtrack and cinematography are both spot on. I also loved the script. Not a single piece of dialogue feels awkward or forced. It’s all natural and serves a purpose. Weaknesses: A few of the comedic attempts don’t really hit the mark. I would’ve liked it if some other characters had a bit more to do. Lastly, and this is the biggest issue, is that things come together a bit too conveniently. For example, Collin just happens to be working at the house of the exact cop he saw shoot someone. It sets up an incredible scene, but felt a little far-fetched. Overall: A phenomenal film. It mixes so many things so well, led by powerful performances and a gripping story that comes at the right time in our society. [****½]
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Post by edgestar on Feb 18, 2019 19:29:36 GMT -5
Happy Death Day 2 U
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Post by burdette25159 on Feb 18, 2019 23:40:22 GMT -5
#20: Fiddler on the Roof ****
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agent817
Fry's dog Seymour
Doesn't Know Whose Ring It Is
Posts: 21,152
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Post by agent817 on Feb 19, 2019 0:09:35 GMT -5
17. What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
I have to say that I can't believe that I've never watched it in its entirety. It was definitely a good film.
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Post by Ryback on a Pole! on Feb 19, 2019 0:13:20 GMT -5
How is it? I enjoyed the first one.
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,706
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Feb 19, 2019 0:35:26 GMT -5
1) 2019-01-06 "Laser Mission" - 1989 2) 2019-01-13 "Kung Fu For Sale" (Gong Fu Da Pai Mai) - 1979 3) 2019-01-13 "Kung Fu: The Punch of Death" (Fang Shi Yu) - 1972 4) 2019-01-20 "Halloween" - 2018 5) 2019-01-27 "Missing In Action" - 1984 6) 2019-01-27 "Missing In Action 2: The Beginning" - 1985 7) 2019-02-03 "Braddock: Missing In Action 3" - 1988 8) 2019-02-10 "The Born Losers" - 1967 9) 2019-02-10 "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark" - 1988 10) 2019-02-17 "Suspiria" - 2018 Poster {Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler} Review/remarks {Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}Remake of the 1977 cult classic Dario Argento movie, this takes the basic outline of the story (American dancer comes to German dance school and finds it run by coven of witches) and expands on it... and changes it.
This answers the question "why are the witches in a dance school?", and it's because the witches use dance to 'cast spells'. The dance scenes are hypnotic and frightening, especially Susie's 'first dance' which has repercussions for someone else.
The movie is slow, though. There is a lot of time devoted to a therapist, an elderly Jewish-German psychologist played by Tilda Swinton in a ton of make-up (she's also Madame Blanc the lead dance teacher and Madame Markos in even more disgusting make-up), who is searching for a dancer who has disappeared. I felt a lot could have been trimmed down, it hurt the pace of the movie, and that's bad for a movie that's 2-1/2 hours long.
I have to admit I love the original and I spent the first half-hour or so looking for familiar bits or signposts that the original had... and they're not there. This is an original rewrite and the only familiar ground is the situation. Comparing this to the first is like comparing Al Pacino's "Scarface" to the 1932 original with Paul Muni.
The music was a disappointment. It's all dreamy, floaty, tinkling pianos and Thom Yorke (Radiohead) singing in a high-pitched mumble. The music by Goblin drove the original, the music hear drifts behind it like a unclaimed fart.
This movie is 'arthouse horror', and the art and the horror mix so well. The rest of it doesn't work for me, it needed a stronger editor.
Tough to recommend to others, really. Not for casual horror fans (they'd be bored by the first 2 hours).
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Post by edgestar on Feb 19, 2019 7:34:04 GMT -5
How is it? I enjoyed the first one. I enjoyed it!!
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Feb 19, 2019 20:53:53 GMT -5
#49 Moneyball9/23/11 | Director: Bennett Miller | Rotten Tomatoes: 94% | Runtime: 133 minutes | Platform: Blu-RayThe Plot: Working with the lowest payroll in all of baseball, the Oakland A’s general manager tries a radical new approach to gain a competitive advantage. Strengths: If you ever read the book this was based on, you’d wonder how someone ever adapted it to film. It just doesn’t read like something that could transition, but the writing team did a masterful job with it. It’s some of the best work by Aaron Sorkin, which is saying something. It’s not just a baseball movie either, as anyone who appreciate an underdog can get behind it. Brad Pitt (Billy Beane) is excellent in one of his more grounded roles. He brings a realness to the role and dominates the screen whenever he’s on it. Jonah Hill (Peter Brand) is good in his role, as are Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Art Howe) and Chris Pratt (Scott Hatteberg). The baseball scenes that we get are beautifully shot and they give you just enough to keep you interested. The off the field stuff is never boring, even when they’re just sitting around talking about scouting players. They also did a great job inserting pieces of Billy’s past and home life, to give the character more depth. It was also never done to the point where it felt overly long or took away from the main plot. Weaknesses: It’s hard to find any. I guess the final scenes do feel to go on longer than you’d expect. Just when you feel the film is wrapping up, the trip to Boston and stuff after can certainly drag a bit. Overall: An incredible film. The acting, writing, and cinematography are all great. There’s a well-told story that everyone can relate to, while still being great for baseball fans. Outstanding work that turns out to be the best baseball move in history. [*****]
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