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Started by SmallBlueThing, 04 February, 2011, 12:40:44 PM

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Funt Solo

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent - it's not perfect (there's an odd fumble in the first act regarding motivation and the third act just begins to drag a little prior to the climax) but it's a superb comedy. Pedro Pascal is a revelation (and I may have fallen in love with him a little), and Cage does a wonderful job of being different aspects of himself turned up to eleven, while also managing to portray a struggling persona. It has loads of laugh out loud moments and set-pieces (one that seems like a blend of 007 and Inspector Clouseau), and a grand meta-plot. There's even a sort of reverse homage to Austin Powers, but I don't want to say more and spoil it.

There's a theory that you'll get more out of it if you understand some of the references - so it may help if you've been along for the ride of his career and been able to witness goofy, thoughtful Cage (Raising Arizona), passionate Cage (Moonstruck or Wild at Heart), action Cage (Con Air) and manic Cage (Face/Off) prior to viewing this.
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

pictsy

Quote from: Funt Solo on 27 August, 2022, 06:13:26 PM
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent - it's not perfect (there's an odd fumble in the first act regarding motivation and the third act just begins to drag a little prior to the climax) but it's a superb comedy. Pedro Pascal is a revelation (and I may have fallen in love with him a little), and Cage does a wonderful job of being different aspects of himself turned up to eleven, while also managing to portray a struggling persona. It has loads of laugh out loud moments and set-pieces (one that seems like a blend of 007 and Inspector Clouseau), and a grand meta-plot. There's even a sort of reverse homage to Austin Powers, but I don't want to say more and spoil it.

There's a theory that you'll get more out of it if you understand some of the references - so it may help if you've been along for the ride of his career and been able to witness goofy, thoughtful Cage (Raising Arizona), passionate Cage (Moonstruck or Wild at Heart), action Cage (Con Air) and manic Cage (Face/Off) prior to viewing this.

I also watched this recently.  I enjoyed it.  It's very much the Cage version of My Name is Bruce.  Someone not familiar with Cage or his roles over the years may enjoy the goofiness of this film.  Nevertheless it's not shying away from the fact it's pure fan service. 
That's fine for me, I'm loving the Cage revival.
It's nice to see him do comedy again because he does make a good comedic actor.
I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone unless I knew they were into Nick Cage.  He is not for everyone.

Jim_Campbell

Death on the Nile

I really quite liked Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express and had originally planned to see this in the cinema. Well, covid helped me dodge a bullet, there.

I'd heard this "wasn't as good" as the first one, but that undersells what an utter dud this is. The second hour isn't completely terrible, but literally nothing happens in the first. It's not even set-up: there's a point towards the end of that first hour, just before the actual story kicks in, where all the characters are in the same room and Poirot's friend just tells him who they all are. And that's about as much characterisation as most of them get.

I don't know if we're supposed to 'ooh' and 'ahh' over the endless sweeping shots of scenery during that interminable first hour but, given that almost all of it is CGI ranging from startlingly-average to distinctly sub-par, often combined with some shockingly poor green-screen work, it just doesn't wash.

There's an opening sequence set during WWI that's well-enough staged (which basically serves to explain why Poirot is such a mopey twat for the rest of the movie) but you can honestly fast forward to the one-hour mark as soon as that finishes and miss absolutely nothing.

Shit on the Nile, more like. :-)
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Angry Vince

Watched Jordan Peele's Nope
Had some of the weirdness and scares of his previous movies, it's relatively solid sci-fi/horror. No great twists or character moments, a good finale but not too surprising.

Watchable but definitely not one of his best. Get Out was way better.
Angry Vince: One Man Against the World! (So far the world is winning 96:0)

Richmond Clements

Quote from: Angry Vince on 28 August, 2022, 10:02:55 AM
Watched Jordan Peele's Nope
Had some of the weirdness and scares of his previous movies, it's relatively solid sci-fi/horror. No great twists or character moments, a good finale but not too surprising.

Watchable but definitely not one of his best. Get Out was way better.

Watched this earlier today. I agree it's not his best movie, but it's still bloody amazing. The sequence with the [spoiler]chimp going berserk in the TV studio[/spoiler] was one of the most tense and terrifying things I've seen in a long time.

Funt Solo

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 August, 2022, 08:44:54 AM
Shit on the Nile, more like. :-)

I only managed to get half way through the Dirty Dancing homage before switching it off - although I was on an airplane with a plethora of alternatives, so it didn't feel like I'd lost anything.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not dissing Dirty Dancing. It's just that Poirot having some nosh while a bunch of sweaty dancers do simulated sex in front of him was ... not in-keeping with the expected milieu. I assumed the rest of the movie would be similarly wide of the mark, and decided to move on.
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

Funt Solo

Terminator: Dark Fate - the trailer is much, much better than the movie. So, props to the trailer-makers - they did their job perfectly there.

This is really a big-budget parody of the franchise - so it *might* work as a comedy if you know that going in. I'm going to SPOILER the fuck out of it now, so fair warning. First, the original threat from Cyberdyne has been eliminated sometime previously in the franchise, and there was a need to make Sarah Conner super-bitter, so an Arnie turns up at the start and kills young-John. So, that's an Arnie from a now non-existent future. Having killed John, he becomes a sexless family man with a barn full of mil-pr0n.

However, a different future, with a different AI threat has created pretty much the same setup as the rest of the franchise, with very similar terminators - because that's likely. By the time the movie makes all of this clear to you, you may be wanting to do some terminating of your own.

It *could* work as a straightforward actioner, but instead does that thing where it just layers on so many skin-of-your-teeth, highly unlikely, death-defying scenarios that involve humans surviving impacts that would just kill them outright, or perhaps just flay them - that it all becomes a meaningless blancmange of shooty, boom-boom with no fucking soul and Money by Pink Floyd playing in the foreground.

Shit: Dark Shit, more like.
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

pictsy

I really enjoyed Dark Fate.  Best Terminator film since the second one, easily and I'd rate it above the first as well.  Loved the character dynamic between the three women.  Could have done without the Arnie cameo, but it's fine.  It didn't do well at the box office iirc so the next film will likely be another soft reboot.

Definitely Not Mister Pops

Quote from: Funt Solo on 28 August, 2022, 05:48:09 PM
Shit: Dark Shit, more like.

You should probably see your doctor about that
You may quote me on that.

Radbacker

Watched the new Stallone flick on Amazon last night.  Called the Samaritan, two brothers born with powers one good The Samaritan and one bad Nemesis fought to the death at a power station years ago and both were never seen again but a teenager who's a big fan of the Samaritan thinks he's the old guy who lives across the street.  Pretty decent movie, it's budget shows in a couple of places but the action when it comes is decent, there is a third act twist that I took me by surprise but really probably should have seen coming.  Stallone is pretty decent in it but it's really the kid that steals the show and the bad guy is pretty decent and played by that guy that played the pirate in Game of Yhrones.  Doesn't overstay it's welcome at just over 100 minutes is a decent way to spend the evening.
Also Rouge One was on TV, good damn this was a great Starwars movie, had high hopes for the new movies after this one the we got the sequels ☹️

CU Radbacker

M.I.K.

Quote from: Radbacker on 29 August, 2022, 03:56:34 AM
Watched the new Stallone flick on Amazon last night.  Called the Samaritan, two brothers born with powers one good The Samaritan and one bad Nemesis fought to the death at a power station years ago and both were never seen again but a teenager who's a big fan of the Samaritan thinks he's the old guy who lives across the street.  Pretty decent movie, it's budget shows in a couple of places but the action when it comes is decent, there is a third act twist that I took me by surprise but really probably should have seen coming.

I think I've just guessed it from the premise.

Magnetica

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 August, 2022, 08:44:54 AM
Death on the Nile

I really quite liked Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express and had originally planned to see this in the cinema. Well, covid helped me dodge a bullet, there.

I'd heard this "wasn't as good" as the first one, but that undersells what an utter dud this is. The second hour isn't completely terrible, but literally nothing happens in the first. It's not even set-up: there's a point towards the end of that first hour, just before the actual story kicks in, where all the characters are in the same room and Poirot's friend just tells him who they all are. And that's about as much characterisation as most of them get.

I don't know if we're supposed to 'ooh' and 'ahh' over the endless sweeping shots of scenery during that interminable first hour but, given that almost all of it is CGI ranging from startlingly-average to distinctly sub-par, often combined with some shockingly poor green-screen work, it just doesn't wash.

There's an opening sequence set during WWI that's well-enough staged (which basically serves to explain why Poirot is such a mopey twat for the rest of the movie) but you can honestly fast forward to the one-hour mark as soon as that finishes and miss absolutely nothing.

Shit on the Nile, more like. :-)

Saw this with the kids and missus back in the February half term in the cinema. Let's say it falls into the category of a remake that is actually completely unnecessary, and has none of the charm of the original*. And yes the CGI shots were really bad. They reminded me of all those studio based planets the away team used to visit in Star Trek TOS.


*at this point it's decades since I watched the original, so I'm kinda assuming it had charm. But it's a fair bet it had more charm than the remake.

But hey the kids liked it, so we watched Murder on the Orient Express when we got home. Again I didn't think it was great, but they liked it.

Tiplodocus

Thought it was a bit if a dud too. Worse, I remembered who dunnit and how as soon as the first incident happened. I've come to the conclusion that Gal Gadot can't act. Unless you count being luminous as acting. In which case, she's fantastic.

THE FATHER in which Olivia Colman and Anthony Hopkins fight to the death for an Oscar. It shows its origins as a stage play but that's not always a bad thing. Needless to say the performances are all top notch - Rufus Sewell in particular makes the most of his little bit and though obviously only superficial, the staging and the jumping between scenes, locations and topics is cleverly done to give you a feeling of the confusion Anthony must feel. One particularly brilliant bit where a scene circles back round to start again stands out. Anyway, draining - especially if your own loved ones are getting on - but worth 100 minutes of your time.

GODZILLA VS. KONG in which King Kong and Gojira fight to the death for a special effects Oscar. It shows its origins as a pulp toho film but that's not always a bad thing. Needless to say the special effects are gobsmacking - the interaction with water in particular. Though the jumping around and trying to gauge the scale of the beasts (light enough to be carried by helicopters) and the speed with which they interact with background scenery can give you a feeling of confusion. One particularly silly bit where ships and aircraft carriers are used as stepping stones stands out. Anyway,  draining - especially if you try keep track of the four "blink and you miss them" plots and twenty characters  crammed in- but worth 100 minutes of your time.
Be excellent to each other. And party on!

Angry Vince

Just starting watching Thor: Love and Thunder and it is good to see the Thor movies return to their mediocre roots.

I like most of Taika Waititi's stuff, but this has really clunky dialogue, the first scene with Jane Foster is a massive downer at the start of the movie, the jokes don't hit and - dare I say it - there's far too much Guns n Roses.

That last comment might be a bit controversial but [spoiler]within the first 30-odd minutes we have two GnR songs (neither of which suits the tone of the scene), a few posters and someone who changes their name to Axel.[/spoiler]

I thought my time was better spent talking about it online instead of watching it.

And I see online that the average review score for this movie have steadily declined since it came out. There was a reason my son didn't want to watch this and, bless his heart, he was damn well right.
Angry Vince: One Man Against the World! (So far the world is winning 96:0)

Hawkmumbler

CRIMES OF THE FUTURE

After briefly becoming embroiled in an NFT scam, Cronenberg is finally getting back to his meat and potatoes with an erotic body horror melodrama that rivals the best of his peak work. Nasty, gnarly, repulsive and horny as shit. Love it.