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Creed (2015)

dir. Ryan Coogler 

Just this second finished watching this film and I'm crying like a baby.  Michael B. Jordan is amazing as Adonis Creed, son of Apollo Creed and Sylvester Stallone delivers his best performance in his career as Rocky Balboa, yes, this is the best Rocky film and that surprised the shit out of me.  It was written and directed by Ryan Coogler and it's clear he loves the Rocky films as this encapsulates the mood and characteristics of everything that is great and pure about the Rocky films perfectly.  The fight scenes are particularly exceptional, maybe the best since Raging Bull, and it's incredibly emotional without being schlocky. I cried three times.

10/10

Edited by LimeGreenLegend
  • Like 1
  • 1 month later...

Blair Witch

pMsJqjP.png

*Spoiler free. ---  Spoiler rich review will be posted later in the Blair Witch thread I started a few weeks ago.

Positives

1) Sequel to the Blair Witch Project and Re-lives some of the original's moments and concepts but also extends on some of them, like the use of a drone.

2) Sound design was amazing. When you go to a film where you know you wont be seeing everything in a frame, sound becomes an important character and it is done amazingly well here. When I got home, I stepped out to walk my dog and the neighbor opened her screen door as I passed by, I didn't see her open it but heard the creaking sound and I had to look back and laugh. The sound was similar to one i had just heard 15 minutes before in the film. So yeah, good stuff.

3) Glimpses of the witch were subtle and creepy, especially creepy was the house she attracts you to in both films. 

4) The witch's house is damn scary. The scenes we see in the original were spooky af but now we get an extended tour and it makes you feel lost without feeling that every room is a repetitive gimmick trick shot. 

5) The camera work gets better at the end when it is needed most. Had it happened at the beginning and then at the end you were to get the unnecessary zooming and movement, this would just be in the negative part of the review. 

6) The elaboration of the supernatural concept of the setting from the original was cool and made sense.

7) Not going to see it because a critic called it the scariest movie ever made. He should have said scariest movie he had ever seen. Thankfully, I went because I like the notion of the woods being filled with creepy unexplained stuff. Like right now, in the woods somewhere on earth, strange things are happening and the only witnesses are the insects.

8) If you liked or loved the original for its ambiance, atmosphere, setting, and general creepiness, yes, go see this.

9) I don't live near any thick wooded areas. So creaky doors is all I will hear around here. 

 

Negatives

1) The early camera work is awkward at first and when you learn the camera operator is shooting a documentary for her class, you say to yourself, "well, at this rate, you getting an F," 

2) Some scenes still have me trying to figure out what was happening not because of the camera work but because of the character's behaviors. I'm literally going to look up things like, "In the BW, why did she do this to him?" and "what the F' was that about?".

3) Time loss doesn't seem to occur the same for all the people in the woods and that is fine, but how does one party keep track of time to explain this, maybe I missed something there. Some dialogue, perhaps, but I don't recall any.

4) I had a big issue with something that was missing from the first film that added to it's creepiness for me and while it didn't ruin the movie for me, I liked how it was used in the original, whether it was intended or not, it brings hope to the characters in the original.

5) Jump scares that are not scary because of content but because of loud sound. Now I go to these films and love to anticipate the jump scare but I hate it when it makes no sense, and we see it in horror all the time. I mean, if you are in the woods and you go take a piss and you hear your friend call you to make sure you are okay, you better respond and not wait 5 minutes, silently walk up to them and decide to answer them when you are 6 inches away. 

6) If you  were on the fence or hated the original BWP, you will hate this too. So I wish I could say, hey you might like the sequel, I'm pretty sure you won't. So nothing in this sequel will be enough of a revelation or breakthrough in filmmaking for me to recommend it to you. 

7) If you miss it in theatres, you might never fully experience the great sound design. 

8) The original did a better job at tormenting the characters and I think that is because of what I allude to above in #4.

 

Final Verdict: 3/5....while I welcomed the additions to the narrative, better early moments could have elevated this to a higher score. 


This post has been promoted to an article
  • Like 1
  • 2 weeks later...

Luke Cage (Netflix Series)

Just finished binging this over the last two days and even though it's not a movie I had to write something about it.

Its incredible.  Marvel and Netflix have really been bringing the heat with Daredevil, Jessica Jones and now this, in my opinion the best Marvel series yet.

Luke Cage is the bulletproof man, in hiding since breaking out of prison, sweeping up hair in a Harlem barbershop trying to forget his past and deny who he is and what he can do.  But "Cottonmouth", a club owner and all round mean gangster sob and his politician cousin are taking over Harlem and after some bad shit goes down Luke decides to stand up and do something about it.

In my opinion these street level superheroes are far more interesting than the gods and monsters you get in the Marvel films, and because they have a whole series to explore these characters and their motivations rather than a two hour blockbuster, which are more interested in spectacle than character, they make for a fuller, deeper experience that can really connect with an audience at an emotional level.

Everything about this is on point, the casting, the performances, the writing, direction and music.  For me this is the most satisfying and enjoyable Marvel series yet and I can't wait for season two.

10/10

  • Like 2
On 9/25/2016 at 10:35 AM, PapOiteE said:

Intouchables

9999999/10

Omar Sy's performance is brilliant! I don't remember the last movie I saw that made me laugh so much!! Also the story, we can learn a lot from it. It is a great movie.

Yes!!!!!! Fantastic film. 

I went to see this and all I knew about it was a French film about someone from the inner-city comes into the life of someone with wealth and makes their life better, instead of the usual, Affluent person goes into the hood and saves everyone story line. During the opening credits when they announce that the music is by Ludovico Enaudi, i knew that at least the music would be awesome. But the entire film is magic man. I hear Hollywood is working on a remake....pretty sure they will shit all over it. Sadly most people I recommend it to don't even give it a chance because of the subtitles---but it is their loss. 

 

Edited by Con
25 minutes ago, zmurko said:

Oh yes, I remember this movie too, it's just brilliant and that score sounds just about right. ;)

 

Absolutely. Amazing acting by all. Francois Cluzet was masterful! You guys dont even know how happy I am to be talking about this movie with someone. I mean, I love my horror and my toilet comedies but once in a while a gem is a gem.

Edited by ConGamePro

Zombeavers... The name says it all... I stayed up to watch it all as I thought it couldn't get any worse...it was horrific... The FX were just atrocious and the who ever wrote this is laughing all the way to the bank for the idiots that ok'ed the film. 

 

Worse than Sharknado!

 

-2000/10

  • Like 2
40 minutes ago, Xyon14 said:

Zombeavers... The name says it all... I stayed up to watch it all as I thought it couldn't get any worse...it was horrific... The FX were just atrocious and the who ever wrote this is laughing all the way to the bank for the idiots that ok'ed the film. 

 

Worse than Sharknado!

 

-2000/10

LMFAO. 

2 hours ago, Xyon14 said:

Zombeavers... The name says it all... I stayed up to watch it all as I thought it couldn't get any worse...it was horrific... The FX were just atrocious and the who ever wrote this is laughing all the way to the bank for the idiots that ok'ed the film. 

 

Worse than Sharknado!

 

-2000/10

Nothing can beat Sharknado.

I'll be watching the fourth one this weekend. Can't wait :D

 

  • Like 1
On 05/10/2016 at 11:42 PM, Squirrel said:

Nothing can beat Sharknado.

I'll be watching the fourth one this weekend. Can't wait :D

 

 

14440706_10155910229196959_3238128230577

Until the guy next to  him said "hey what about zombie beavers and the people they bite turn into creepy beaver/human halflings. 

Zombeavers.jpg 

zombeavers.jpg

What you don't see is she grew a big ass beaver tail... seriously I should really get sleep at 1 am rather than watch these films lol

  • 2 weeks later...

Just got back from the theatre. Watched DeepWater Horizon. Great movie but it pisses you off at Big Oil. I've worked in the oil industry and it is an accurate description of the shortcuts in saftey they try to force you to make in their search for a better profit margin. 

  • Like 2

I just re-watched "A Fistful of Dollars"  for the first time in a while.  I love the old Spaghetti Westerns and this may be my favorite. (The Good,The Bad, and The Ugly being the other)   Love this movie!  I even like the modern remake "Last Man Standing" with Bruce Willis.

With the new trailer of RDR 2 I'm now in the mood to watch some more.

This is my favorite scene:

 

  • Like 3
1 hour ago, omarcomin71 said:

I just re-watched "A Fistful of Dollars"  for the first time in a while.  I love the old Spaghetti Westerns and this may be my favorite. (The Good,The Bad, and The Ugly being the other)   Love this movie!  I even like the modern remake "Last Man Standing" with Bruce Willis.

With the new trailer of RDR 2 I'm now in the mood to watch some more.

This is my favorite scene:

 

Don't mess with that man's mule!  I can't wait till someone messes with my mule in RDR2!

  • Like 2

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The Revenant

bTR9Z9o.png?1

 

Positives

1. Amazing, amazing cinematography. Some of those zoomed-out shots of the lanscape and the zoomed in shots all tell a story in themselves. 

2. Really places you in that era thanks to the visuals, so much so that I couldn't help but be glad I live in the modern world. 

3. I learned how the brutal fur trade began and why it was so profitable. Also learned that the Natives only killed what they needed until the immigrants showed up and taught them that profits were more important than respecting the land and its creatures. 

4. Message I got was that you can risk death for revenge but when achieved, it still never rewinds time or brings anyone back. In this case, revenge was hollow as Mr. Glass had already lost everything worth living for. 

5. The art direction of this film was superb. From the sets to the details in the costumes....all superb.

6. Did not paint the Natives as savages but more as a force of nature. There was a a good reason they protected their land----- It was theirs and they lived in harmony with it. Only took from the land what they needed as they needed it. The fur trade really brought change in the form of greed. 

7. Shooting on location and using little artificial lighting, both really take you into that wilderness and the cold. 

 

Negatives

1. During Mr. Glass' last healing period, I could not tell how much time had passed, weeks, months, days? 

2. The bear attack has been praised for realism but I've seen videos of bears rip apart beached whales and it was hard to believe a man would have survived such a brutal attack.I know it was a movie but he gets slashed, bitten, dragged, tossed, and at one point the bear is on top of him and even dies on top of him. I know the real Hugh Glass survived a bear attack but if the attack was like the one in this film, that dude was the fucking Terminator of the Frontier. 

3. Bummed me out to think what if the invaders and the natives would have worked together to build the nation---what kind of country would we have been had we united our humanities, customs and traditions instead of having one side dominate and own it all. The Natives and Europeans creating a land where the moment the first slave ships arrived, they would have been sent back as a message to the world that this land mass would not tolerate such inhumanity. 

4. The end left me a bit unsatisfied, I mean, even if i had not heard about the film before watching it, I would have expected that ending and that isn't a bad thing, just wanted more from the final climax. Spend less time showing the trek and more time setting up the end. Yeah I wouldn't have wanted it to go all "Predator-like" but I sat all that time to watch what to me was an uneventful ending. 

5. The scene when Glass encounters the French group and ends up rescuing a person...was that the same person riding with others later in the film and is that why Glass was allowed to continue? I wasn't clear on that. Not to mention as I watched that scene, I couldn't help but think that it was just thrown in there to balance empathy. 

6. Less of the journey and more substance in the subplots could have tighten the film a bit, almost feel as if good storytelling moments were scratched in favor of scenery. 

 

Final Verdict.....3/5 

While I enjoyed the endurance test DiCaprio was put through and the cinematography, I just felt it was not a film I would watch again and again. I will re-watch it with director's and actor's commentaries but not the film itself. 


This post has been promoted to an article
29 minutes ago, Con said:

The Revenant

bTR9Z9o.png?1

 

Positives

1. Amazing, amazing cinematography. Some of those zoomed-out shots of the lanscape and the zoomed in shots all tell a story in themselves. 

2. Really places you in that era thanks to the visuals, so much so that I couldn't help but be glad I live in the modern world. 

3. I learned how the brutal fur trade began and why it was so profitable. Also learned that the Natives only killed what they needed until the immigrants showed up and taught them that profits were more important than respecting the land and its creatures. 

4. Message I got was that you can risk death for revenge but when achieved, it still never rewinds time or brings anyone back. In this case, revenge was hollow as Mr. Glass had already lost everything worth living for. 

5. The art direction of this film was superb. From the sets to the details in the costumes....all superb.

6. Did not paint the Natives as savages but more as a force of nature. There was a a good reason they protected their land----- It was theirs and they lived in harmony with it. Only took from the land what they needed as they needed it. The fur trade really brought change in the form of greed. 

7. Shooting on location and using little artificial lighting, both really take you into that wilderness and the cold. 

 

Negatives

1. During Mr. Glass' last healing period, I could not tell how much time had passed, weeks, months, days? 

2. The bear attack has been praised for realism but I've seen videos of bears rip apart beached whales and it was hard to believe a man would have survived such a brutal attack.I know it was a movie but he gets slashed, bitten, dragged, tossed, and at one point the bear is on top of him and even dies on top of him. I know the real Hugh Glass survived a bear attack but if the attack was like the one in this film, that dude was the fucking Terminator of the Frontier. 

3. Bummed me out to think what if the invaders and the natives would have worked together to build the nation---what kind of country would we have been had we united our humanities, customs and traditions instead of having one side dominate and own it all. The Natives and Europeans creating a land where the moment the first slave ships arrived, they would have been sent back as a message to the world that this land mass would not tolerate such inhumanity. 

4. The end left me a bit unsatisfied, I mean, even if i had not heard about the film before watching it, I would have expected that ending and that isn't a bad thing, just wanted more from the final climax. Spend less time showing the trek and more time setting up the end. Yeah I wouldn't have wanted it to go all "Predator-like" but I sat all that time to watch what to me was an uneventful ending. 

5. The scene when Glass encounters the French group and ends up rescuing a person...was that the same person riding with others later in the film and is that why Glass was allowed to continue? I wasn't clear on that. Not to mention as I watched that scene, I couldn't help but think that it was just thrown in there to balance empathy. 

6. Less of the journey and more substance in the subplots could have tighten the film a bit, almost feel as if good storytelling moments were scratched in favor of scenery. 

 

Final Verdict.....3/5 

While I enjoyed the endurance test DiCaprio was put through and the cinematography, I just felt it was not a film I would watch again and again. I will re-watch it with director's and actor's commentaries but not the film itself. 

The cinematography of this film was done using only natural lighting which makes it all the more amazing.  I thought it was an ok film but the directors previous film, Birdman, was incredible. A hard act to follow.

  • Like 2

The real Glass is said to have suffered a broken leg and exposed ribs on his back. No slit throat though. He survived by letting maggots live in the wounds. Was also helped by friendly natives that sewed a bear hide to his back.

Of course the entire story was passed through time and Mr glass himself never wrote anything about it so the true extent of his wounds are not really known.

  • Like 1
  • 3 weeks later...

Saw Hacksaw Ridge last night. Solid 8.5/10.  One of the best war movies i have seen in years if not ever.  Mel Gibson may be a bit of a prick but that guy directs a hell of a movie.

Saw The Accountant about a week ago.  I give it 7/10.  It is about what you would expect.  I expected it to be good and it was.  There is some beautiful heavy sniper work in this movie.  He is no Jason Bourne but The Accountant is a bad ass man.

Edited by pete_95973
  • Like 3

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  • 1 month later...

ROGUE ONE

[no spoilers]

Great movie ! Liked it a lot. Not as much as The Force Awakens but it was really great.

Star Wars fans like @Squirrel, @grjkie and @pete_95973 will definitely love it.

Lots of nods to Episode IV, many cameos from previous films and even some from the TV shows Clone Wars and Rebels !

Darth Vader is in there and it's glorious !

I can confirm that the movie takes places immediately before Episode IV.

The story is great, some characters are great too but we don't know much about their backstory unfortunately.

I was expecting to see some sort of heist movie but it turned out to be more of a war film in the Star Wars universe. Not disappointed by that though. It works.

Another hit for Lucasfilm and Disney no doubt.

  • Like 4
10 hours ago, Fido_le_muet said:

ROGUE ONE

[no spoilers]

Great movie ! Liked it a lot. Not as much as The Force Awakens but it was really great.

Star Wars fans like @Squirrel, @grjkie and @pete_95973 will definitely love it.

Lots of nods to Episode IV, many cameos from previous films and even some from the TV shows Clone Wars and Rebels !

Darth Vader is in there and it's glorious !

I can confirm that the movie takes places immediately before Episode IV.

The story is great, some characters are great too but we don't know much about their backstory unfortunately.

I was expecting to see some sort of heist movie but it turned out to be more of a war film in the Star Wars universe. Not disappointed by that though. It works.

Another hit for Lucasfilm and Disney no doubt.

Impressive!

Most impressive. The Force is strong with this review. 

I'll be seeing it in full Imax 3D glory tomorrow afternoon. Definitely looking towards it now, also have good feelings about the Han Solo film which will be set in a similar time period :D 

  • Like 1

2001: A Space Odyssey - 8.5/10

Never seen it before. Loved it. Don't know how to describe it. It's open to interpretation.

It is very slow, not much happens and everything feels like slow-mo.

Visuals effects are great for a 1968 movie. Must have been a weird experience seeing this in the theater back then.

Highly recommend watching it.

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