John Wick 2 - Not as good as 1, but was still pretty sweet.
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I liked it but, what in the hell was the point of having Ruby Rose in there???
She literally added nothing to the movie.
Ya, it was kinda dumb. I think it’s because there was the female assassin in the first one that sorta gave Wick some problems so they were playing that angle again.
War for the Planet of the Apes
I’ve been waiting for YEARS for Matt Reeves to make a movie that would blow my mind like he did with Let Me In. He’s finally done it. There are lots of flaws since this is a PG rated blockbuster movie with talking cgi motion capture apes but you are going to have a rare movie experience with it’s use of framing, lighting, imagery and emotions expressed through long lingering shots and somber music. There are also lots of not-so-subtle references to Apocalypse Now. Yes, in a movie about talking apes. That should be enough to blow your mind.
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Watched Dunkirk today.
I watched it on an converted IMAX. If you can’t find a true IMAX, then I’d recommend you do this too. The sound is very much a part of the film.
I don’t really know whether I liked the film or not. I don’t know whether I found it entertaining or not.
You should watch it anyways. The best I can describe it is that the film is enormous in its scope and ambitions.
By far Nolan’s best film.
Spiderman Homecoming
I don’t have much to add to the thousands of other reviews out there. I will say that superhero movies are starting to bore me, but this one did not. Saw this at Star Cinema Grill in Houston while scarfing down wings and beer, which was awesome.
Notes:
-Michael Keaton is a surprisingly well-written, endearing, 3-dimensional villain.
-I like how they raised the stakes of the final showdown by “de-powering” Spidey in a legitimate way.
-Everyone is right: Tom Holland is the best Spider Man, without question.
-The girl that plays Peter’s bitchy teenage female friend is hilarious. She’s like a less hostile version of Aubrey Plaza in Parks and Recreation.
Score: 8/10
Baby Driver
I thought this was a bit of a disappointment, probably because my expectations were too high. I was entertained, which is enough for me to feel like I didn’t waste my money. I’m not sure what was missing either; I guess I just didn’t really give a fuck about anything that was happening. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to? It was more of a “fun” movie than a deep, character-driven one, so that might be it.
7/10
War for the Planet of the Apes
Solid end to a great trilogy. Cesar is one of my favorite characters in all of cinematic history. I still liked Rise better, but this is a better ending to a trilogy than TDKR was.
8.5/10
Dunkirk
Saw this in IMAX. This is a hard one to describe. It might be the most tension-filled movie I’ve ever seen. I know you’ve all probably read hundreds of reviews of different movies that say “the tension never lets up” or “keeps you on the edge of your seat” or some other similar hyperbolic nonsense, which is mostly bullshit. But, this movie is literally non-stop tension. Like, if it were any longer, it might have given me an ulcer. I’ve never been so relieved to have a movie end, which is a weird thing to say for a film that is, for lack of a better adjective, ultimately spectacular. That still might not be the right word, but it’s the best I can come up with at the moment.
Anyhow, like magick said, I don’t even know if I enjoyed watching this movie; I’ll just say it was one hell of an experience and leave it at that. See it on the biggest screen you can find.
9.5/10
I forgot to mention this little anecdote.
I watched the film with my folks. They walked out at some point because the tension and atmosphere built up to such a fever-pitch that they just couldn’t take it anymore.
They blamed their old person nerves, but I’d agree with them. This film felt terrifying.
This really is a film that you can only experience properly in theaters and with the biggest possible screen you can find and the best stereo system you can find.
Re: Dunkirk
Yeah I agree with everything you guys wrote. I think the most important thing here is that it’s irrefutable proof that Christopher Nolan has brass balls.
Would you say the tension in Dunkirk is like the feeling of the first 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan?
No, it’s nothing like Saving Private Ryan. It’s the complete opposite of it because there was some emotional release after each violent battle/engagement concluded. This movie has minimal violence. Most of it is in the background. The characters are deliberately undeveloped so you’re kind of just following a bunch of different people in different situations around. The entire movie is like one long 3rd act that maintains it’s slow burning tension without any release for the entire 2 hours. That’s why some people couldn’t sit through it. It’s not a pleasant viewing experience.
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Wolf Warrior 2
Forget all the high budget, arty farty Chinese crap that you pretended to like because hacks like Ang Lee made them. This movie is the real deal that actually justifies it’s budget and it’s made exactly like a HK flick back when they could effortlessly transition between comedy, gut-wrenching melodrama and over-the-top action in a span of 2 hours. Movies like this were why idiots like me sourced and watched every single HK action flick released in the 80s to early 2000s. The trailer does not do it justice. And here’s the thing about characters. When you actually spend time making the audience invest their emotions in them, you can make them do fucking ludicrous things like catch an RPG with mattress coils and it will look AWESOME. Will be released internationally.
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Are you kidding me? That trailer looks awesome! Should I be searching for Wolf Warrior 1 to give it a watch?
I haven’t watched part 1. It looked like a typical Chinamovie about the military with overdone patriotic themes so I skipped it lol.
Agreed with your Dunkirk review. To further the cliche, the film is much like a rollercoaster. You basically know where it’s headed, you don’t necessarily enjoy it during it’s duration, and you’re glad when it’s over. But it’s a fantastic experience that stays with you long after being over.
Hidden Figures - I really enjoyed this and was pleasantly surprised at how much was true rather than added for the sake of the movie. Some dates were off and Kirsten Dunst’s and Kevin Costner’s characters were amalgams of actual people but much of the details were correct.
Annabelle 2
Lots of pointless jump scares and loud noises. The Conjuring could creep the living fuck out of you by having a little girl point at some unseen object in the shadow behind a door and cry out to her sister, “It’s looking right at you!” because the little girl REALLY LOOKED LIKE she believed it herself. Prior to that, they had already set it up with creepy ass stories about a witch haunting the place so they’re playing on your expectations but they never reveal her. Then, when you least expect it, she’s squatting on top of a cabinet and pouncing on another girl.
These movies just don’t get it. You need interesting characters, with at least one or two actually capable of acting. You need to properly set up the scares. You need to fucking earn them by making them tie in with the story, not throw everything you can think of at the audience and hope most of them will hit home. Watching shit like this is like sitting in the dark and some clown is jumping in front of you yelling, “BOO!” every few minutes.
Crap.
with the appalling shitness of Annabelle, I’m surprised you even watched the sequel
@dt79 you sure watch a lot of movies man, do you like work at a cinema as a projectionist or something? hah
I thought the reviews might just be a little objective because there simply can’t fucking be any reason not to. It’s a silly commercial horror movie. What kind of political subtext can you possibly derive from it? I don’t have high expectations for movies like this other than to be mildly entertained.
I only realized why this wasn’t the case during the movie:
- All female cast
- Lead 1 = Disabled girl, scenes of verbal empowerment by (3).
- Lead 2 = Nun; empowered chick who doesn’t have sex nor relies on men.
- Worthless male supporting role; serves bedridden chick who summons him by ringing a bell.
- Refusal to use any Christian themes, which can be creepy as fuck, even though the lead is a fucking NUN.
- Conduit fluid demon that identifies as a little girl, a doll and a scarecrow.
Which are all fine. I don’t care if a movie has a chick dragging a guy by a leash and kicking him in the balls every 5 minutes as long as it’s a GOOD movie.
Fuck the critics.
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No, but I did work as an usher in my teens lol.