[Redcarmoose]

Read about this one for 20 years and after seeing it for the first time? It's OK but not equal to my personal Woman-In-Prison favorites like the She Wolf of the SS. Rate it. 5-10


Great one-liners though!

 

[WraithApe]

  Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Episode VII) [7.8/10]
 
Just kind of the same ol' in a new wrapper. The movie was definitely enjoyable, and probably funnier than it should have been, but in the end, it was a lot of face palms, "Oh come on!"'s and just flat out predictable, especially where they just couldn't help themselves rehashing the story for a new generation. Especially was when I went ""you will undo these restraints." in my most terrible english accent 5 seconds before it actually happened in the movie. I was kidding, the movie wasn't. Maybe the gravity of the original trilogy is just too much to overcome, or they felt they owed the fans something after the prequels. In the end, it ended up being just a decently fun movie floating in a pool of nostalgia. I'd say the biggest surprise of the movie was Mark Hamill getting second billing, only to be outdone by seeing "Stand-in for Mr. Hamill" later in the credits.
 
The movie just didn't have that same feeling that the original trilogy had. Something about it was off. Not bad, just not the same. They tried to do more of everything and ended up a parody of itself.
 
Other than that, the music was back to basics for John Williams, there was a terrible shortage of wipe transitions, and some of the 3D just felt out of place and almost cheap. 
I felt particular standouts were the supporting cast, especially Lupita Nyong'o as Maz and Oscar Isaac as Poe, which helped infuse the movie with the original feeling of warmth and camaraderie that was mostly missing throughout and otherwise seemed a bit forced through probably less than stellar dialogue.
 
In light of my getting caught up with the series and being able to re-assess the Episodes (mostly) outside of the reality distortion field, my revised ratings are as follows:
 
Episode I:      6.5/10 (Yea yea, i know =P)
Episode II:     2/10
Episode III:    6.8/10
Episode IV:    8.5/10
Episode V:     8.8/10
Episode VI:    8.3/10
Episode VII:   7.8/10

 
This pretty much sums up my feelings on the film. I don't really understand all the opprobrium it received, when it's basically just a nostalgic retread of A New Hope for fans who want to draw a line under the travesty of the prequels. Obviously if Episode 8 doesn't take more risks, it will be disappointing, but as a transitional film, I thought it did its job. I must admit I've mentally taken it down a notch since I saw it - at the time, it was the early hours of the morning, watching it at the IMAX and I was a bit swept up in the hype, thrilling inside every time an old character appeared. In the cold light of day, I can see it a bit more for what it is - as you've done in your review.
 
Generally concur with your ratings, except I'm way harsher on Phantom Menace and would knock Sith down to a 5 as well (the best the prequels had to offer and still only a very mediocre sci-fi film IMO). Have you seen Rogue One yet? I think it might be my favourite so far outside of the original trilogy. The look and feel of it took me right back to the original universe, that "lived in" look Lucas was initially so keen on, and yet which was strangely absent from the airbrushed prequels. The new droid was pretty cool too.

 

[sti23]

  La La Land and Moonlight  3/10? somewhere around there anyways..
 
Don't understand the hype around either of these movies.  Both were boring, slow, not very creative, meh acting. 
Moonlight especially was just slow and boring.  They clearly put all their effort into checking every possible box - black cast, crackhead prostitute mother, bad neighborhood, gay, bullied, shy, prison, drug dealer... they forgot to actually make a good movie with any actual substance, and counted on no one having the guts to say it wasn't any good for fear of being called a racist, bigot, homophobe, etc... 

Haven't seen either of these, but yeah, all the hype has got me curious. And now your bad review has got me more curious as to why it's bad. LOL

 

[oqvist]

La la land didn´t sell me either. But not a lot of musicals do. Actually I think most is better to listen to not watch and listen.

 

[Redcarmoose]

[VIDEO] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pr3xyEp5zMY [/VIDEO]


A movie made in 1975 which was too much for most and still remains way too much for most.
An example of perfect horror, mankind's inhumanity to mankind.

Call it bad taste or call it art.
10/10

 

[Redcarmoose]

Shocking Asia

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_9FwAMs2ewg

Just as fun as when I saw it last in 1991. It has become a legend in the mondo sub-genre of documentary filmmaking. 8-10

 

[Hoegen]

 
Great movie. A real cult classic. Deserves more praise. 

 

[mutabor]

Manchester by the Sea ( 2016) 7/10
 
Simple indie movie overhyped to the level of "one of the best of the year" by powerful hype machine of American media. In comparison to Manchester and Moonlight, La La Land looks like something special.

 

[serman005]

Skyfall  --  8.5/10  Action packed from start to finish and filled with psychological subtext, this is one of my fave Bonds. Craig brings a gravitas that steals the film. Visually stunning. I must say, Craig is probably now my favorite Bond of all time. He is just too good. Highly recommended!

 

[shaisalem15]

Let's be cops
8/10 I like those comedy movies, but I like more verbal humor such as herold and kumar

 

[WraithApe]

City of Tiny Lights - 6/10

Nice to see a contemporary thriller set in London which isn't about gangsters and doesn't fall back (too much) on tired clichés. As a neo noir, it draws heavily on the tropes of the noir genre, but mostly it feels like a fresh take rather than lazy regurgitation. It's a London on film that for once, I recognize. I found it amusing to see a couple of North American users on IMDb complaining about the sound mix. I suspect the fact is, they just couldn't understand the dialogue. As with Trainspotting, an international audience may struggle at times with thick accents and localized slang. Maybe subs would help! As for the cinematography, I know it was shot on a shoestring and it may be a bit harsh to be critical, but the frequent use of blurry slow mo doesn't add anything IMO. On the other hand, the segues into the past - a different time but always in the same space - are effective.

Riz Ahmed, an actor whose star seems to be in the ascendance since Four Lions, delivers a solid performance as Tommy Akhtar; a hard boiled PI with a street wise exterior but deep-lying moral compass, and it's refreshing to see a British Asian in the lead role where it's not about his racial identity. It is a film about the past though, and Tommy is haunted by the ghosts of his youth, both literally and figuratively - laying the past to rest is as much his mission as solving the case at hand, though they are inextricably linked.

On the down side, the plot is fairly linear, and some of the situations seem a little far-fetched. The pieces of the puzzle fit together a little too neatly in the end.

I Walked With a Zombie - 8/10

It's not often that a film casts a spell on me like this one did. Atmosphere is everything in this unconventional RKO horror flick, set in the West Indies against a backdrop of Haitian voodoo. A dreamlike otherworldliness suffuses every frame and it really transports you to another time and place. It's a bit difficult to put my finger on the appeal of this movie but it's strong! In truth, not a whole lot happens in terms of plot, but the gradual revelations of the Holland family, for whom nurse Betsy (Frances Dee) has come to work, is deftly handled. It's very nicely shot and all of the characters are intriguing.

Apparently, producer Val Lewton was initially sceptical about working with seasoned horror writer Curt Siodmak and was also unhappy with the title. However, he sold it to the crew as Jane Eyre in the Caribbean, perhaps in search of credibility he felt the horror genre didn't have. The romantic twist makes for an unusual film that is more character study and mood piece than straight up creature feature. The 'zombies' aren't what we imagine now, thanks to the legacy of Romero's classics, but closer to the original idea of permanent catatonia; dead in life, rather than undead.

Despite having no lines, Darby Jones as Carrefour steals the show with his incredibly ominous presence - almost a parallel to the figurehead in the garden of the plantation house - ghosts of slavery which haunt the film and gives it an air of suppressed menace throughout, despite the apparent paradise of the setting. As Paul Holland tells Betsy: "Everything seems beautiful because you don't understand. Those flying fish, they're not leaping for joy, they're jumping in terror. Bigger fish want to eat them. That luminous water, it takes its gleam from millions of tiny dead bodies. The glitter of putrescence. There is no beauty here, only death and decay."

 

[alpha421]

Logan - 9/10
 
A very well done script and execution from start to finish, IMO.

 

[FallenAngel]

Logan - 6/10 I don't regret watching it but I wouldn't say it's good.

Predestination - 8/10 Good, interesting from beginning to end but a little predictable.

 

[Hutnicks]

Life (2017)  7.5/10
 
  Well put together and acted Alien knock off for the new generation. Worth a look for those who enjoy the genre and have never seen Alien. Totally predictable fare though with high production values standing in for originality of plot. Arrival, this aint  The big shock ending, of course, is not and you will see it a mile off.

 

[WraithApe]

Predestination - 8/10 Good, interesting from beginning to end but a little predictable.

 
A little predictable? Totally predictable more like. Terrible movie IMO - Hollywood mind rot.