Last movie watched...

[broodblik]

Watched Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings over the weekend and I enjoyed the movie. It is definitely  one off the better recent Marvel movies. Maybe because it never felt 100% if it is a Marvel movie but rather something that can stand on it own accord. Soon it will be gobbled up in the MCU and pulled into another 40 movie bore fest reaching another illogical and stupid Averages End Game ending.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Watched Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings over the weekend and I enjoyed the movie. It is definitely  one off the better recent Marvel movies. Maybe because it never felt 100% if it is a Marvel movie but rather something that can stand on it own accord. Soon it will be gobbled up in the MCU and pulled into another 40 movie bore fest reaching another illogical and stupid Averages End Game ending.

Watched it last night and thought it terribly dull.

[Tiplodocus]

If any movie should have shook off the 12a shackles, I would have said a martial arts superhero movie. But they played it very safe. The best scenes are at the start but the leads being pretty terrible people at the outset, the love story between Shang Chi's parents seeming false, the fights all seemingly on CGI backgrounds (e.g. the scaffolding fight would have been miles better in a real building site) and the final baddy being an unimaginative CGI horde led by a bigger CGI beastie all let it down.

Nice dragon though.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Nice dragon though.

Yeah, but no Falcor.

[pictsy]

Dolemite Is My Name

I liked it.  It put a smile on my face.  Probably the best I've seen from Eddie Murphy.  It is interesting, funny, engaging and well paced.  Definitely on the better end of the biopic spectrum.

[CalHab]

I really enjoyed that film as well! It was a touching tribute to a man pursuing his vision. Not unlike Ed Wood (both the film and the man).

I was also really interested in the folkoric aspect of the stories Rudy Ray Moore took from the homeless guy. Its akin to Alan Lomax, going around recording artists without proper attribution or acknowledgement of copyright (to be later ripped off by Moby). There's some interesting historical and ethical questions in there, tied in with exploitation of African-American culture.

[pictsy]

I really enjoyed that film as well! It was a touching tribute to a man pursuing his vision. Not unlike Ed Wood (both the film and the man).

I was also really interested in the folkoric aspect of the stories Rudy Ray Moore took from the homeless guy. Its akin to Alan Lomax, going around recording artists without proper attribution or acknowledgement of copyright (to be later ripped off by Moby). There's some interesting historical and ethical questions in there, tied in with exploitation of African-American culture.

For sure.  As an extension to this I find Eddie Murphy's casting interesting given some parallels (comedian to film star).

One disappointment I had with the film is I found out that multiple sources have gone on the record revealing that Rudy Ray Moore was bisexual and it would have been nice to see some bi representation.  I think the film certainly baits at it, but bait ain't representation.

[Funt Solo]

Cold Skin - free on that there YooToob.

In the new genre of "two slightly mad people stuck in a lighthouse", this mashes up, well, The Lighthouse and survival horror Sweetheart and comes up with something that's watchable but fairly ridiculous. The moral and sexual politics are entirely FUBAR, and David Oakes does a better job of emoting his way through a difficult script than Ray Stevenson manages in his Robinson Crusoe on PCP wig.

Takeaway: you cannot defend your castle if you set fire to it. Oh, and perhaps more importantly - having a meet-cute with a race you decimated the day before is ... weird.

[milstar]

Risky Business

I've not watched that one in a long time but I'll add it to my list.  Tom's obviously weird but he's generally solid in whatever he's in.

It's a fair point but I don't think it has aged particularly well.

Definitely is a huge time capsule.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Cradle of Life

I disliked this the first time I watched it, and I don't like it now either. Nearly everything is wrong with this movie. Plot holes are apparent throughout. Nobody really bothered writing any decent scene – just embarrassing cliché after embarrassing cliché – there are no surprises and almost no suspense. Flawed it may be, the first Tomb Raider is definitely much more engaging and superior in any way film. The plot arc about the quest for Pandora's box for the vast portion of screentime feels more like a James Bond flick. And witless and convoluted one at that, plus lacking humour and exotic locations, characteristic for TR. Only the last quarter (in Africa) has the feel of the proper Tomb Raider film. Angelina delivers another fine Lara (manners and charisma), but the material she got is just subpar. Plus, her accent is still hit or miss.
Ciaran Hinds delivers your typical cliched mad scientist, bent on destroying the world, and his dialogue is senseless, all-around "humans are filth, so let's create a new world."
On the other hand, Gerard Butler proves to be a more handy sidekick than bit part player Craig; but this is Lara's show, having a sidekick proves to be a mere distraction from otherwise shallow plot.

[repoman]

Shang-Chi

Apparently two hours long but felt like four.

I was into it for a while though.  All the kung fu goodness on the bus and at that club.  That was fun and it reminded me just how much I enjoyed fight films back in the day.

But it was a bit of a mess visually.  The CGI was just so apparent constantly.  And all that dragon stuff at the end was tiresome.  It made me feel exactly how I did during Man of Steel and at least a couple of the Marvel films.  If you show too much and go too big, so to speak, it's just too much to take in and becomes tedious.

A lot of these Marvel films are going to look so dated in the future.

[I, Cosh]

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Cradle of Life
...
Nearly everything is wrong with this movie.
...

Doesn't she have a really good coat in the snow bit?

[CalHab]

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Cradle of Life
...
Nearly everything is wrong with this movie.
...

Doesn't she have a really good coat in the snow bit?

I vaguely remember watching this in the cinema, and there was a bit where time is reversed and rerun, which at the time I thought was an interesting way of showing the try-die-retry dynamic of the game.

Maybe that was the first film, though.

[milstar]

Doesn't she have a really good coat in the snow bit?

touche.

I vaguely remember watching this in the cinema, and there was a bit where time is reversed and rerun, which at the time I thought was an interesting way of showing the try-die-retry dynamic of the game.

Maybe that was the first film, though.

Yeah, that was the first. I realized that Daniel Craig plays gender-reversal role (so he wasn't totally useless), opposite of "damsel in distress". But how do you call a guy in distress? Dane in distress?

[Funt Solo]

But how do you call a guy in distress?

I think that's just all men, so there's no need for a qualifier.

[Rara Avis]

Dandy in danger?

No it's ok! I'll see myself out.