Tommyph1208 on 6/6/2018 at 09:50
Downsizing
Sets out spectacularly with the scientific discovery of the ability to downsize organic lifeforms and how this will save the human race from extinction due to also minimizing human consumption of resources.
But then it turns into a completely different film about Matt Damon finding himself after his wife leaves him, getting involved w. helping others and ultimately finding love again... Not at all what I got from the trailer.
A lot of things are left technically unexplained in the movie.. Basically every thing in the world of the small is the same... just... smaller... You would think that it would be hard to manufacture TV sets, video cameras, nice interior decorations, etc. etc. at such a small scale without getting that dollhouse feel, but no... a few minutes into miniature land and you basically forget that everything is small because it all just looks the same, I think thats a shame....
Sure there are fun gimmicks like over sized wedding rings, a giant rose and equally large bottles of WD40 and Absolute Vodka... but they are scarse. Also, when people get that small you would think that you would have to be super careful around them, similar to say, the rules and regulations around a construction site where there is a risk of getting squashed by giant things or falling really far... but no not really.
The movie does try to make some points about social stratification, immigration etc. and again... It really wasn't what I was expecting from a film about miniature people...
Tony_Tarantula on 10/6/2018 at 05:51
Saw Valerian.
It was great. Not particularly deep but a good flick.
1) It's better than the other films it's most recently weighted against, the Disney Star Wars films, for a lot of reasons. It's better if for no other reason that the characters in this movie have more personality than a cardboard cutout. But since I'm not limited to one reason: the plot actually made some kind of sense without massive gaping holes. the movie's timeline doesn't have any arbitrary "status quo" items that make no sense in the context of the setting The locations all seem to have had a story behind them (unlike "Hey, here's this cool gambling planet!"). Also Valerian is a better male lead than anything Star Wars has given us since Harrison Ford's Han and well....Rey isn't even in the same universe as Sergeant Laureline. The Art design is actually creative and not iterative blandness.
2) I almost passed on this movie because of how mediocre the reviews are. After comparing this movie with ones the critics swooned over I think that critics are collectively idiots.
Thirith on 10/6/2018 at 07:54
Saw John Wick: Chapter 2 and agree with henke and Malf. It's still enjoyably staged action, but I very much prefer the leaner first film. Some of the sequel's expanding of the world is fun, but for me this is a world that's better off hinted at than outright explored, because there's a risk for it all to begin feeling deeply silly. The film doesn't take itself too seriously, but neither is it tongue-in-cheek enough to quite pull it off IMO.
Tony_Tarantula on 10/6/2018 at 17:36
Quote Posted by Thirith
Saw
John Wick: Chapter 2 and agree with henke and Malf. It's still enjoyably staged action, but I very much prefer the leaner first film. Some of the sequel's expanding of the world is fun, but for me this is a world that's better off hinted at than outright explored, because there's a risk for it all to begin feeling deeply silly. The film doesn't take itself too seriously, but neither is it tongue-in-cheek enough to quite pull it off IMO.
That's kinda how I felt too. The "world building" just felt extremely silly because all of the plot hubbub about "underworld" rules felt like contrivances to force the plot along and set up for a sequel that promises an even higher body count.
My take is that if you're going to do world building it should at least make some kind of sense. The first movie worked precisely because it didn't have pretentions of being anything grander than it was.
Renault on 20/6/2018 at 15:29
Went to see Hereditary last night. Oh man, that is one messed up film. I'm not even 100% sure if I liked it or not (yeah, I did), but if you're into horror it's worth checking out. It's definitely different than anything you've seen before. And its a perfectly done slow burn. I don't want to say anymore at the risk of spoiling. It's definitely a movie that will warrant a 2nd viewing to get a whole new perspective on what you've seen the first time through. So yeah, if you're a horror fan, highly recommended.
SubJeff on 22/6/2018 at 17:30
Mother!
Great stuff. 5/5
henke on 28/6/2018 at 06:29
Spiderman: Homecoming - Awwww yeah, this is the best Marvel movie I've seen in a while! Possibly the best Spiderman movie as well.
Thor: Ragnarock - I was expecting it to be weirder, coming from Taika Waititi, but it's still very much a by-the-numbers Marvel movie. It's still good though, but not as good as Spiderman.
Elle - This was intense and interesting and good, although it does threaten to turn into a TV Soap at times, when it's trying to pack a dozen storylines into one movie.
Moana - I've listened to some of the songs a lot previous to seeing it, being a fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda's work, and I'm glad to say the movie lives up to the soundtrack!
Toy Story - I think I've only seen Toy Story 3 previously in this series. By today's standards the 3D animation is pretty rough in this, Pixar's first big feature, especially on the human characters. But the voice performances of the toys really do a lot to turn them into believable, lovable characters. Very good!
OVERALL SUMMARY OF MOVIES: THEY'RE GOOD
Tommyph1208 on 4/7/2018 at 09:28
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Great and fairly unpredictable film, with a great cast. I haven't watched any of Martin McDonaghs other movies, so I don't know if I have been missing out.
The movie does a great job of creating interesting multidimensional characters each with their own good and bad traits. As a viewer you are forced to consider, and then reconsider several of them as the plot progresses, something I think is hard to pull off in a good way within a 2 hour movie, yet I think this one at least mostly succeeded. I was left with as many questions as answers in the end, but that is how it had to be.
henke on 13/7/2018 at 07:53
Split - Damn this was good! :D I went in not knowing much about it (except for the final twist, because of course the internet had ruined that surprise for me). Never a dull moment in this one, I was captivated throughout. That Shaymalan's career has been real up and down, but with this one he knocked it out of the park.
Patriots' Day - This one's about the Boston Marathon bombings. I didn't think the bombings themselves would have enough drama to sustain a entire movie, but I wasn't aware of just how crazy the ensuing manhunt got. I'm sure a lot of it is heightened, but a very thrilling movie anyway.
XXX: The Return Of Xander Cage - Well, it's as dumb and over-the-top as you'd want, but unlike the Fast & Furious movies it doesn't have the character drama to make you care about any of it, and as a result it kinda gets boring long before the end. Shame.
Moonlight - Ok, yes, this was pretty damn good. Oscar well deserved.
People Places Things - Jemaine Clement-starring dramedy about a divorcee cartoonist. It's enjoyable, but I seriously watched almost the entire thing before I realized I'd seen it before. So, uh, not super-memorable.
Cadillac Records - It's about Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf and Chess Records and all that jazz. I mean, blues. Good cast, good tunes, good drama. Yeah, it's a good one.
Cars 3 - Well, this was pretty unremarkable.
N'Al on 13/7/2018 at 08:36
Quote Posted by henke
Patriots' Day - This one's about the Boston Marathon bombings. I didn't think the bombings themselves would have enough drama to sustain a entire movie, but I wasn't aware of just how crazy the ensuing manhunt got. I'm sure a lot of it is heightened, but a very thrilling movie anyway.
I was very positively surprised by this film.
Not a huge fan of Peter Berg's movies, usually. I've found them to be either mediocre action comedies (Hancock) or mediocre rah rah America political action thrillers (The Kingdom). So when he released a movie called Patriots Day, of all things, I was just expecting more of the latter.
Turns out this was far more restrained, almost like a police procedural. And, as you say, very thrilling.