Last movie watched...

[Tiplodocus]

ARGO
Which was mighty fine.  What was particularly good was the completely ridiculous idea seemed pretty sensible by the end of the movie.  Fantastically tense opening as well with the storming of the embassy.

Minor quibbles? There's a scene of "false drama" as they check the flights on the computer "Oh no they aren't there." "Can you check again, please? My CIA colleagues are hacking your mainframe right now". This has been done enough times to be put to bed, I feel.  Similarly the phone is ringing... will they get to it on time?

That main bloke with the beard would make a good comic book hero. He should maybe see if there are any roles going.

KILL ZONE
A Cosh recommendation: Donnie Yen has a fight with Sammo Hung. 

That should have sold you on it already but if it hasn't, it's a fantastically bleak and brutal cop thriller as Simon Yam's team of "good" cops take the law into their own hands and try and bring down crime kingpin Sammo Hung. Then Donnie Yen comes in and says "Fellas, you're doing it wrong!" Does he convince them?. 

There's many a time when it sledgehammers home the messages about how violence cycles into and affects the next generation and there is a gut-punch ending. 

Oh and a brilliant old school alley fight with truncheon vs. blade. if there were wires, CGI and stunt doubles used, I couldn't see them. Given Sammo's age and size, there are some wires and stunt doubles in the final throwdown but not distractingly so.

And again, THAT ending.

[Zarjazzer]

Star Trek Into Darkness. Thoroughly enjoyable characterful, action film. Cumberbatch was a good baddie and I enjoyed the designs and ho-hummed at the new Klingons. love that new D4 look though. How come we have no instantly adjusting wings for atmo craft? Mmmmmm.

[radiator]

Bad Boys on Saturday night - a compromise between me and my girlfriend (I was pushing for The Untouchables...).

Not bad, but very not good either. Probably a film you had to see as a teenager in the mid-nineties to fully appreciate (I've never seen it until now). Could have been a really decent little buddie cop thriller if it were half an hour shorter, but as it is, it really drags in the middle and vastly outstays its welcome.

Then on Sunday, Jurassic Park 3D at the IMAX - boom! What can I say? A pretty much perfect film as far as I'm concerned. I think all people tend to remember about the film is the dino effects, which is a real shame, because its amazing in every department, from sound to costumes to sets to art direction to script - it just drips with movie magic. A smash, every bit as good as it was on release twenty(!!!) years ago.

One thing that becomes clear watching it now is it lays pretty bare the limitations of animatronics - one to point to to counter the "all cgi is crap/practical effects are better" brigade. Great-looking though the dinosaur puppets are, their stilted, lifeless movement really jars nowadays, and it's only Spielberg's use of sound, editing and masterful visual storytelling that sells them. Witness the joy on Sam Neill's face as he leans against the sick Triceratops' breathing chest - a single moment like that helps to sell the effects more than any amount of technical wizardry.

So was Spielberg really preoccupied with Saving Private Ryan when it came to The Lost World? Cause that film is a turd next to the original.

[Frank]

So was Spielberg really preoccupied with Saving Private Ryan when it came to The Lost World? Cause that film is a turd next to the original.

Steve oversaw all the editing and most of the post production of Jurassic Park while on location, shooting Schindler's List.

[JamesC]

I've never been a big fan of Jurrassic Park. It's entertaining enough I suppose but I always get fed up with the raptors (I wanted see more of the T-Rex and some of the bigger dinosaurs, maybe even a Harryhausen-esque T-Rex vs Triceratops battle). It's one of those films that make me feel that there's a more interesting story happening elsewhere. Richard Attenborough plays the most interesting character but isn't given enough to do.

[radiator]

Think we must have different definitions of what is interesting. JP isn't really about dinosaurs fighting one another. It's actually a very restrained film - we only see five or six different species of dinosaur, and the only gunshots in the film happen off-screen. That's why the sequels are so shit - they just concentrate on spectacle, piling on guns and new types of dinosaurs and chases and completely forgetting about good storytelling, pacing, themes and characters.

[JamesC]

Think we must have different definitions of what is interesting. JP isn't really about dinosaurs fighting one another. It's actually a very restrained film - we only see five or six different species of dinosaur, and the only gunshots in the film happen off-screen. That's why the sequels are so shit - they just concentrate on spectacle, piling on guns and new types of dinosaurs and chases and completely forgetting about good storytelling, pacing, themes and characters.

I get that, and I think the first act is actually the best part of the film. I'd argue that it goes rapidly downhill after the T-Rex attack. We see the raw power of the dinosaur and it's utterly terrifying. I think that scene is far more tense than the kids vs raptors cat and mouse scenes.
I think there are almost too many adult characters with Attenborough being the most interesting in my opinion. I would have liked to have seen a little more backstory about how he played his manipulative game to get the park built in the first place.
As for the dinosaurs fighting each other- there has to be some of that, it's what gets the bums on seats. I guess it's all about balance. In my opinion the original King Kong probably gets the balance of character, plot and spectacle better than any other film of this type.

I completely understand that many others don't agree but these are some of the reasons I don't love Jurrassic Park like I thought I would. I like it well enough though - I'll watch it if it comes on telly on a Bank Holiday Monday but I may not wait for the ad break to make a cup of tea.

[Buttonman]

Poker improv comedy The Grand followed by Wilder Napalm an early screen writing credit for Breaking Bad creator, Vince Gilligan.

[Frank]

Wilder Napalm an early screen writing credit for Breaking Bad creator, Vince Gilligan.

I remember Barry Norman reviewing that when I was a teenager! I made a mental note to wait for it to come on telly, but it never seemed to appear. Thanks to Youtube, my twenty year wait is over.

I'm less than ten minutes in, and the titles are in green lettering; a character is wearing green clothing and seems to be associated with the colour green; a character has a condition which makes him bald; and a partner's spouse has made him a breakfast of bacon and eggs, which she has arranged in the shape of a smiley face. Thanks to your review, I know that two male characters who were at one time close fell for the same girl, and one of them took a boring job in a small town to get away from the situation, keeping his history, his potential, and his true nature hidden.

Are you sure you wanted to say that this is a very long way away from Breaking Bad, Buttonman?

[Keef Monkey]

Bad Boys on Saturday night - a compromise between me and my girlfriend (I was pushing for The Untouchables...).

Not bad, but very not good either. Probably a film you had to see as a teenager in the mid-nineties to fully appreciate (I've never seen it until now). Could have been a really decent little buddie cop thriller if it were half an hour shorter, but as it is, it really drags in the middle and vastly outstays its welcome.

Don't know if you've seen the sequel, but if you think the first is overlong...man. It actually has a couple of pretty thrilling set-pieces and some really funny moments (well, I laughed) but at two and a half hours it's soooooooo much longer than it has any right to be and just feels like it absolutely will not stop. It's a shame because it'd be perfect popcorn action fodder if it wasn't so bloated.

Pretty sure Will Smith has been quoted as saying that somewhere in Bad Boys 2 there's a really great 90 minute action film. Maybe it can be the first director's cut where they knock an hour off the running time!

[radiator]

I'll be giving that one a miss then.

There were so many endless, skit-like scenes in the first one that served absolutely no purpose in the plot. The slog of the middle section really sapped any goodwill we had towards the film after a quite enjoyable first half hour.

It's actually got quite a good twist on the buddy cop genre - the two mismatched cops must - for convoluted reasons - switch lives.

The problem is, is that we've literally only just been introduced to these two characters, so we barely know who they are to start with. Feels like it should have been the premise of the sequel.

[Recrewt]

I thought Bad Boys 1 & 2 were both great.  Will and Martin work well together and have some great dialog.  Everything is ridiculous and unrealistic but it works well.  Sometimes do you not just want to watch something that makes you laugh and doesn't have a thought provoking plot or big message to deliver?  In my opinion, they don't make enough movies like this nowadays.

Bad Boys, Bad Boys, What Ya Gonna Do, What Ya Gonna Do When They Come For You
Bad Boys, Bad Boys, What Ya Gonna Do, What Ya Gonna Do When They Come For You

[JamesC]

I thought Bad Boys 1 & 2 were both great.  Will and Martin work well together and have some great dialog.  Everything is ridiculous and unrealistic but it works well.  Sometimes do you not just want to watch something that makes you laugh and doesn't have a thought provoking plot or big message to deliver?  In my opinion, they don't make enough movies like this nowadays.

Bad Boys, Bad Boys, What Ya Gonna Do, What Ya Gonna Do When They Come For You
Bad Boys, Bad Boys, What Ya Gonna Do, What Ya Gonna Do When They Come For You

I'm all for fun, dumb action films (Commando is one of my favourite films - god knows how many times I've seen it) but even I found the Bad Boys films hard going.
There's a lot to like - both the leads are very watchable and there are some nice bits of humour and some very nice action scenes (great car chase in 2) but there's just too much fluff and boring 'family' scenes. They aren't focused enough. I think there should be a rule that no action film can be longer than 120mins, with 80-90 mins being optimum.

[radiator]

I thought Bad Boys 1 & 2 were both great.  Will and Martin work well together and have some great dialog.  Everything is ridiculous and unrealistic but it works well.  Sometimes do you not just want to watch something that makes you laugh and doesn't have a thought provoking plot or big message to deliver?  In my opinion, they don't make enough movies like this nowadays.

What you've done there is mistake me demanding tighter pacing and stronger/more cohesive narrative for demanding a film be 'Thought provoking' or 'Deliver a message'. Not the same thing. At all. Dumb action flicks are as much of an artform as any other genre.

As it goes, I love dumb action movies - I'd go so far as to say it's my favourite genre - but I only really like ones that are well-crafted and balanced. I like Die Hard. I like The Rock. I like Speed. I like Predator, Aliens, The Terminator, Robocop, Point Break and The Raid. These are all - at least on the surface - brainless action movies. But they deliver 'dumb' action and quippy dialogue a lot better than Bad Boys does. I refuse to 'switch my brain off' and sit through any old shite just because it has a couple of good action scenes in it - to me, that's just not good enough.

[sheldipez]

I love Bad Boys but hate the sequel, it's an hour too long and it feels like the two are participating in some Virtual Reality game because there's so much dodgy CGI in it (quick slo-mo dodge the bullet - matrix did it - you can do it Will! oh no! a CGI car coming at you! hit the X button!).