[Hutnicks]

Criminal (2016)  7/10
 
 
  Yes it's horribly flawed and hokes out to a point, but the overall concept kept me watching. This one will entertain you, has enough action to keep you going and even though Costner is aging he is nowhere near the decrepitude of Liam Neeson trying to be  a superspy.  This film succeeds because it's not trying to be a blockbuster. It does not overtax anyone's abilities and even the sucky ending can be ignored. If it was up to me I'd have stopped the film after the last explosion.

 

[WraithApe]

  Criminal (2016)  7/10
 
 
  Yes it's horribly flawed and hokes out to a point, but the overall concept kept me watching. This one will entertain you, has enough action to keep you going and even though Costner is aging he is nowhere near the decrepitude of Liam Neeson trying to be  a superspy.  This film succeeds because it's not trying to be a blockbuster. It does not overtax anyone's abilities and even the sucky ending can be ignored. If it was up to me I'd have stopped the film after the last explosion.

 
Fun trivia: one scene was actually filmed on my road - a couple of doors down. KC was holed up in Movie Makers trailers in Toys R Us car park off Old Kent Road for a couple of nights! Glad to hear the film's not a stinker 

 

[Hutnicks]

   
Fun trivia: one scene was actually filmed on my road - a couple of doors down. KC was holed up in Movie Makers trailers in Toys R Us car park off Old Kent Road for a couple of nights! Glad to hear the film's not a stinker 

Awesome. So it has local appeal.  I was pleasantly surprised. Not great, but enjoyable and well executed.

 

[mutabor]

Flight Crew ( 2016, Russia) 7.2/10
 
Remake of a popular Soviet disaster film with the same name but set in our time. Russians are trying to make blockbusters to win some space from Hollywood production ( at least in Russia). In comparison to American blockbusters this one looks like an old-school action disaster movie without contemporary social agenda ( gender, racial and social justice politics) which is heavily pushed in almost every American movie. Instead they offer a moral story of a pilot who is doing good despite his actions hurt him, his career and relationships.
 
 

 

[Hi-Fi EDU]

Ok, I'll take a shot. Some background: I think I'm a tough-ish movie critic with my ratings, in that I don't think I'll ever give a 10/10 because I don't believe there's a "perfect" movie. That said, here are some I've seen in the past few months that I'd give 8 to 9s: Room (9.1), Whiplash (9), Carol (8.7), About Time (8.7), Mad Max: Fury Road (8.5) and even Deadpool (8).
 
Anomalisa (2015) - 7.8/10
 
I see this movie as being a love it or hate it type of affair. You'll enjoy it if, like me, you didn't feel bored out of your mind by it's somewhat slow, dull plot. The animation is really well done and I found it fascinating to take in, especially the close-up shots. The movie's worth the watch just for the stop-motion animation alone. But the plot is so outwardly simplistic that I found myself laughing out loud during some of the seemingly unremarkable scenes. The essence of the movie is mundane, just like the main character's mundane life. As a result the characters felt truly flawed and real to me (apart from the clear fact that one guy ?purposely? voiced a lot of the characters, which was funny in itself). The ending did leave me unsatisfied though...but that's true to life in a way, right?

 

[62ohm]

 
It Might Get Loud - 9/10. What at first I thought would simply be an extended jamming session of three legends (or two legends and one bloke... or one legend and two blokes... depends on how you see it) turns out to be very informative and educational and, above all, entertaining.

 

[WraithApe]

 
The Major and the Minor - 5/10
 
40s screwball comedy directed by Billy Wilder and starring Ginger Rogers. Although it's slickly made and intermittently amusing, there's something fundamentally off about this film; maybe it's just the distancing effect of 74 years, I'm not sure - either way, the writing has not aged well. Ray Milland's character, an army Major, essentially falls in love with a 12 year old girl, which gives the whole film an uneasy Lolita vibe, when it was probably gunning for charming farce. Ginger Rogers, 31 at the time, seems hopelessly miscast as a woman posing as a child to wangle a cheap train fare - the idea that putting her hair in pigtails and wearing a checked dress would be enough to fool everyone around her into thinking she was a minor is as disturbing as it is implausible.

 

[Focker]

  Look who's back 2015.

 
A parody about Hitler in the modern age that still manages to highlight the serious issues surrounding his propaganda fueled dictatorship and regime. 
Great acting by lead actor, Oliver Masucci
 
7/10

 
 
Wow, I wish I was back in college, because I would SO write a paper on this film. I was absolutely fascinated by it. At first I thought it was just a satirical fish-out-of-water movie, but it was far more than that. It makes you think on so many levels, both about Hiter's reign in the 30s and 40s, and the events of today. This is one of the best movies I've seen in a while. 
 
I'd probably go as high as an 8.4/10. Really, really good. 

 

[tdockweiler]

The 5th Wave - 4/10
 
Yes, it's really that bad. Not one good idea in this movie and it's like the author of the book watched 100 similar movies and just stole everyone elses ideas.
Not sure if I hated a movie this much since "Tomorrowland". Pretty painful to watch and somehow I made it to the end.
I'd have rated it higher maybe if it was somewhat entertaining. Luckily the acting isn't as bad as "Maze Runner".
 
PS is the Divergent series as bad as this? I'm guessing that's a yes.

 

[Focker]

The 5th Wave - 4/10

Yes, it's really that bad. Not one good idea in this movie and it's like the author of the book watched 100 similar movies and just stole everyone elses ideas.
Not sure if I hated a movie this much since "Tomorrowland". Pretty painful to watch and somehow I made it to the end.
I'd have rated it higher maybe if it was somewhat entertaining. Luckily the acting isn't as bad as "Maze Runner".

PS is the Divergent series as bad as this? I'm guessing that's a yes.

The premise of that film would typically appeal to me in a huge way. But for whatever reason I have zero interest. Your feedback just reinforces that.

 

[62ohm]

  The 5th Wave - 4/10
 
Yes, it's really that bad. Not one good idea in this movie and it's like the author of the book watched 100 similar movies and just stole everyone elses ideas.
Not sure if I hated a movie this much since "Tomorrowland". Pretty painful to watch and somehow I made it to the end.
I'd have rated it higher maybe if it was somewhat entertaining. Luckily the acting isn't as bad as "Maze Runner".
 
PS is the Divergent series as bad as this? I'm guessing that's a yes.

 
I tried watching it, but couldn't get myself to carry on after 30 minutes..

 

[Hutnicks]

Reconnoiter aka Robot World (2015)   7/10  
 
 
  B level scifi actually worth watching. Variations on themes we have seen before but used surprisingly well. Oddly cut but manages to get through to the main bits on a good pace. If you are into the non action scifi genre this one is definitely worth a watch.

 

[WraithApe]

 
The Golem - 8/10
 
While not as feted as Caligari and Nosferatu, The Golem is an important film in the history of cinema as well as horror. Released in 1920 (the same year as Caligari and two years prior to Nosferatu), it's very much in the vanguard of German Expressionism, with its use of stylized sets and dramatic chiaroscuro lighting. The film tells the story of the persecution of Jewish citizens by the Christian court and how they find their saviour in the clay form of the golem; brought to life through the invocation of Astaroth, one of Hell's unholy trinity. Some of the set pieces are remarkably effective, even now - the summoning of Astaroth, the destruction of the royal palace and celebrations in the streets of the rabbi's town - hard to imagine what a marvel it would have been for audiences almost 100 years ago. It possibly lacks the atmosphere that makes Nosferatu so special, but The Golem, with its strong narrative and excellent set design, still holds its own.
 
On a side note, why is it that uploaders of silent films to YT always feel the need to add a classical score that has nothing to do with the film? I watched this one here and Bruckner's second symphony was used. Not only is it often at odds with the action taking place on screen, it's not long enough, so following a silence around the hour mark it's just repeated from the start! Call me crazy, but I've taken to playing this sound of an old projector running in another window! Digital fakery at its most disingenuous really, but unless the score for a slient movie was specifically composed for it, I still prefer it to some random music playing in the background.

 

[metalsonata]

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and Ant-Man (2015): 7/10
 
At this late point I reckon I can accept that Marvel is just going to keep making the same movie over and over again and sometimes it's going to be a good superhero movie and sometimes it's going to be an OK one, and every once in a rare while it's going to be real bad. I can additionally accept that I can enjoy myself without caring about plot holes, nonsensical shifts in characterization, really boring villains, a near complete lack of stakes, and super cartoony action. So if you can accept all of that then these are alright movies. Better than them is....
 
Captain America: Civil War (2016): 8/10
 
...because it was both more serious and funnier, though it still suffers from all the problems that Marvel movies have always suffered from and will likely continue to. This is good 'brain turned to the off position' entertainment, and if Marvel can keep throwing out the occasional 8 to rub shoulders with the 5s, 6s, and 7s, then I'll probably keep watching. I like these characters and I like the actors playing them, and given the right framework, that's all I really need for my popcorn entertainment. Though admittedly, I'm finding keeping up with all the characters increasingly difficult. Maybe I'm getting too old for this ****.

 

[WraithApe]

 
Seven Psychopaths - 6/10
 
Ensemble piece that shoots for early Tarantino territory and falls some way short. It's hard to say too much about it without giving away the plot for anyone who hasn't seen it, so I'll just say it felt less like a coherent film and more like someone working through writer's block - which is the point of course, but something like Deconstructing Harry does it better. Walken is on fine form as ever but there's just something too knowing, too on the nose about most of the performances and the direction here. As with more recent Tarantino films, you feel like you're watching it with the spirit of the director sitting beside you, digging you in the ribs saying "see what I did there?" at every twist. That said, the film has a fine sense of the absurd and is kind of enjoyable if you can ignore its painfully post-modern hipness and just go along for the ride.