Last movie watched...

[pictsy]

I read The Hobbit. I read the LOTR. I couldn't manage the Silmarillion. Is that where the elves are dicks?

Yup.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

The Silmarillion made me realise that the main story is the only interesting bit of any fictional world, and all the background lore should just be left to your imagination. The old Star Wars EU reinforced this.

[Funt Solo]

He made the Kessel Run in overblown CGI.

[Mardroid]

I watched The Eternals as well I enjoyed it.

Ditto. I will admit that I came to it with low expectations, (I don't know the characters at all, and for some reason muddled them in my mind with the Inhumans. ) This wasn't quite as good as some other Marvel films, but it was fine, and did something a bit different.

Speaking of the trailers showing Angelina Jolie prominently, I was amused how prominent she is in the poster, on the Disney App, wearing that body sculpted armour, compared to Gemma Chan who actually does lead the film. I guess it's understandable since the other lady is relatively unknown and they probably wanted a big star to draw people in, but the actual lead is real good. I recognise Ms Chan [spoiler]playing another robot[/spoiler]* in that British TV series Humans. She was wonderful in that too. She brings a real sense of gentleness and quiet inner strength to her roles. (Oh my, do I have a crush?)

*[spoiler]Okay,the Eternals aren't really robots, seemingly as biological as us, but I'm sure you get what I mean.[/spoiler]

[The Legendary Shark]

Just watched Eternals again - it gets better. I don't know anything about the comics but I fecking love this film!

[Hawkmumbler]

On a slight side step I rewatched SHANG-CHI last night and ya know what, I really really like this one! Certainly of the three HK actioner headed Hollywood efforts that dropped last year its the lesser entry of the three but its certainly a hell of a time with some of the most clear and engaging choreography in a mainstream feature in years. Really glad theres at least one of these movies I can vibe with.

[milstar]

Swamp Thing

Ah... This was mild fun, stupid, trashy, monster flick. That'll probably satisfy afficionados of B monster flicks of the 1950s. In this case, overly cheap look, sets look unreal and design of the creature leaves much to be desired (man in rubber suit. Allegedly, budgetary constraints, even for the early 80s (meaning no computer sfx) meant that a lot of goodies from the script had to be put in oblivion. I was aware of this film before, but only because Wes Craven did it, but haven't seen until now. I think Adrienne Barbeau gave the performance of her lifetime; she could have been action heroine much like Sigourney Weaver was. It was odd to see David Hess from Craven's debut, controversial The Last House on the Left (who came a bit like a creep in an interview), makes appearance playing a dumb goon. The actor who plays Arcane, (who also played the main villain in Octopussy), delivers another diabolical, but sophisticated character and chews all the scenes he is in.

Overall, I think it's pretty decent DC adaptation, and while definitely not a high point, nor is the bottom of the well either. I think it came in a rather interesting time. Swamp Thing comics weren't selling well at that point as Moore's run on Swamp Thing occured year afterwards.

[pictsy]

From Dusk Till Dawn

A lot of fun.

From Dusk Till Dawn 2:  Texas Blood Money

Boring and not well made.

Better Luck Tomorrow

Watched it because it is supposed to be cannon in the Double Eff You.  It doesn't fit into that film series at all.  The character of Han from FF and from this film are quite different and although I accept that characters can change off screen I couldn't reconcile the two.  The film is largely about a group of Asian-American rich kids playing gangster and getting pissed off at a somewhat richer kid.  [spoiler]And killing him.[/spoiler]  The narrative isn't exactly tight, the kids are all arseholes with little charisma and it's pretty creepy in places... especially the end.  Nevertheless, it's fine.  Just okay as a film.  Justin Lin uses some themes in from this film in Tokyo Drift and I think he finally laid to rest the demon of creepy unrequited love he had with that film.  It's not a Fast and the Furious film and it's not really worth watching for the expanded universe.  It is it's own thing and probably fairs better being taken as such.

[pictsy]

Thir13en Ghosts

A jumbled mess in many ways.  Not a good film.  Although the set design and make-up work is very impressive.  The worst thing about the film is the editing.  Horrendous cutting throughout.  This film is certainly less than the sum of it's parts.  A wealth of missed potential.  It reeks of a film that was pulled in too many different directions by too many people that any clear vision was lost.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

Boss Level on Prime video

I think the reason that there has never been a good movie adaptation of a video game is because the plots and settings of these games aren't suitable for a movie's narrative. They are at best, very pretty, sometimes overly detailed, window dressing. My hot take is that the fun of video games comes from playing them. That's why there's usually an option to skip the cutscenes.

Boss Level does a good job of capturing the fun of video games. The premise of the recursive deathloop (there's actually a recent game called Deathloop), perfectly echoes reverting to a save point in a game, with our protagonist (white grizzly chiselled man*, just like most video game protagonists) improving and learning to avoid curveballs with every loop.

The plot is a load of bollocks, and there is an unskippable cut-scene at the end of the first act, but if you're looking to switch off and see some cars zooming around, guns going DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA, explosions and swordfights, this is quite enjoyable.

Oh, Mel Gibson's in it. That might be a deal breaker for some people.

*I'm pretty sure he's played by that guy who was in that thing. I'm sure if I bothered to look him up on IMDB, I'd instantly say "Oh aye, that thing" and then it would slide straight off my brain again.

[Tiplodocus]

VALLEY OF THE GWANGI
Off the back of the excellent Harryhausen exhibition and a pub chat, I dug this out from my old DVD pile and had a jolly good time. Basically, "King Kong was great but it really needed some cowboys!"

Much more stop motion than I remembered (I may time it to see how it compares with Jurassic Park!) and it's top notch stuff with a degree of complexity in some scenes that borders on masochism.

Obviously it was written at a time when men were men and women could be put on your knee and spanked, so that may wrankle with some viewers but I was fascinated about how irredeemable (or is it refreshing?) some of the characters were. "Oh forget all our dreams of settling down, there's money to be made here!"

But you want depth too? Hey, here's a scientific discovery destroying a church yet simultaneously being destroyed as a result.

Jason and the Argonauts next. Then either One Million Years BC or the Sinbad's.

[Colin YNWA]

Captain Marvel

Watched it over a couple of nights while doing other bits and pieces, but in that context really good. Really enjoyed it. Not sure I have much to say, which does make me wonder if it will stand up to a rewatch terribly well, but on this basis ace fun.

And Hole on the closing credits - that's cool!

[The Legendary Shark]

Cry Macho. Directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. He's looking very doddery now, as if walking is painful for him. This is a very gentle film and made me sad, but not in a good way. It's more like a saccharine t.v. movie of the week rather than a vehicle worthy of one of Hollywood's True Greats.

[Jim_Campbell]

Not sure I have much to say, which does make me wonder if it will stand up to a rewatch terribly well

We did an MCU rewatch over one of the lockdowns and out of all the movies up to that point, I thought Captain Marvel one stood up least well on re-watch. We saw it in the cinema the first time and enjoyed it well enough — the 90s thing is kind of fun, and de-aged SLJ has an amusing novelty, but coming at it a second time, I was acutely aware of the almost complete lack of peril in the movie — there's no sense of danger to Danvers at any time.

Although I understand the reasoning behind holding back revealing the [spoiler]refugee twist[/spoiler] I think bringing that in earlier would have allowed the film to use them as the target for any sense of danger the narrative was trying to build. Add to that the fact that I actually have to google the name of the main 'villain' every single time I want to mention them because they're so unmemorable, and you get a sense of the problem.

I mean, I want to like it. The cast are fine, the plot hangs together OK, but it just felt really... flat.

[Funt Solo]

Dune - oh-ho-holy shit, but that was good. Movie poetry right there. I really enjoyed that - and it really felt like we were on Arrakis - a place I haven't visited since my Dune II days on the Amiga. A great cast as well - I could watch Dave Bautista out-maniac Sting till the cows come home.

Teensy criticism was that Jason Momoa's character, Duncan, was a little too bruh-dude - but then I don't know what else you do with Momoa. I wanted to build a small cottage in Oscar Isaac's beard. Bardem was wonderfully low-key.

The battle-scene was suitably brutal, and the Empire's gutteral language was dark and ominous. Also - just the right amount of spaceships. A wizard arrive's exactly when he means to.