Recently watched movies!

[jellydonut25]

[sentaison]

Kikaider Reboot: Great costumes and fight sequences, pretty good f/x, real weak plot and characters.

[jellydonut25]

Gone Girl - prrrggggkkkkaaakkkooowwwww!!!!! That was the sound of my mind exploding, which is odd, because this is more of a mind-melting experience.

This movie will suck your soul dry. It's so incredibly cynical, and so incredibly good. If you know nothing about it other than "Ben Affleck's wife goes missing and he's presumed the killer" then keep it that way when you go into the movie because there are some twists and turns that will have you RIVETED.

[Hybrid Gojira]

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

[Hybrid Gojira]

[lhb412]

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla

The very definition of 'meh.' It's not terrible, not good, not very interesting, and short enough that it never wears out it's welcome.

It's just kind of there.

[Dr Kain]

Goldfinger - A fantastic movie with some awesome moments. I love the conversations between Bond and Goldfinger and it was nice to see a villain that was really going to kill Bond had it not been for his associates freaking out. My main issues come with the female characters in the movie as they were utterly useless and despite it all being a hoax with the gas to kill the army, those planes would have been shot down the moment they touched Knox's airspace. Nevertheless, I give it an 8/10.

[Dr Kain]

Sailor Moon S The Movie - Outside of the creepy cat falling in love with man aspect, the movie is quite enjoyable. It has a really good plot with a nice balance of action scenes and the animation is gorgeous. For a movie based on an anime, it has a lot of heart going for it, more than I would expect out of a movie made to make a quick yen. Plus, even though she has no development, Princess Kaguya is a really awesome villain. If anything, the only negative with the final battle is it was lacking a kick ass song like R had with Moon Revenge. Nevertheless, I give this movie a 7/10.

[Gwangi]

Just saw "Lucy". Interesting premise, though in the end, it falls short. Scarlett Johansson is quite good, but the character for a time reminded me a lot of Black Widow, but this time with some powers. It could have been an intriguing study on human nature, but then it divulges itself to becoming a fast-track actioner in the end.

**1/2

[Dr Kain]

Maleficent - I am so glad we borrowed it from the library rather than spend a dime on it because it sucked!! First off, the movie should have been about Maleficent and only Maleficent. There should have been no Aurora in it. The movie should have ended where the Sleeping Beauty story begins. Secondly, that leads into my next complaint, the movement of time. The pacing was down right terrible. Time moved so quickly that you could never even enjoy a moment of it because it was gone in an instant. Stephan's betrayal just came out of the blue with no rhyme or reason for it. We should have had a good hour spent before he cut off her wings, not 10 minutes. The CGI was awful, especially on the pixies. Good god their heads were huge. Another negative was its acting. Except for Jolie, the acting was atrocious, especially Stephan's, whose acting was down right laughable because of how bad it was. That scene when he is stabs the sword into the table was hilarious. It is unfortunate at how bad this movie was because there were some really great moments throughout the movie where it really shined, especially when Maleficent turned the Moar into darkness. That was awesome. Like I said, the movie should have been about her decent into madness rather than spend 5 minutes turning her evil and the remaining 70 redeeming her. Another positive was its music and that was well done. Overall, I have no choice but to give this turd a 4/10 stars. Let's hope Disney does Cinderella better and actually give the movie time to develop something.

[XvGojira]

Well at least Cinderella has been told and told again. Did we really need a movie to make one of the coolest villains sympathetic?

[Dr Kain]

[jellydonut25]

John Wick - This movie was awesome. It's like a cross between Dredd and The Rover. Having the more action-based fast-pace of Dredd but the more personalized revenge motivation of The Rover. If you like Keanu at all you should love this movie. It's a simple story, but the stylistic flashes, riffs on some of the motifs in revenge stories and little twists and wrinkles they bring to the story really make it a lot of fun.

Oh and Ouija is awful, not that anybody needed to be told, but if you just want a SLIGHT glimmer of how awful it is, everyone in the movie has never heard of a Ouija board before.

[Xenorama]

Finished the second Hobbit movie today-
http://xenorama.blogspot.com/2015/02/th ... -over.html
I'm glad I didn't waste my money in the theater.

[Dr Kain]

The Kingsmen - We got to see an advanced screening of The Kingsmen tonight and the trailers were completely misleading on this movie. This movie was utterly fantastic. It had a ton of great one liners mixed with some pretty damn stylish action scenes. All of the actors were phenomenal in their roles with both Colin Firth and Samuel L Jackson being at their A game here. The story was interesting with some nice nods to old school spy movies along with a ton of comedy that did not feel forced in. There is not too much more I can say about the movie without giving it away other than this is one of the best Not James Bond James Bond movies movies all time. I give it an 8/10 and it more than makes up for the lackluster movies that have plagued theaters these last few weeks.

[lhb412]

The Hidden Fortress

There's a lot to love in this swashbuckling Kurosawa adventure. A lot. It could be one of my favorite Kurosawa movies ever... but there's one big thing holding it back for me: the two peasants who are our POV characters for the film. Now, I understand that the idea of telling this kind of story from the point of the two 'sidekick' characters is a big part of this movie's claim to fame, and I understand that they're the inspiration for the droids in Star Wars. I have no problem with this storytelling device, it's just that the two peasants are deeply unpleasant characters, who several times try to betray the rest of the heroes and at one point contemplate raping the princess! I know they're meant to be comically pathetic, but I for one am always wishing they get plugged with a rogue arrow when I watch the film.

[XvGojira]

[klen7]

Watched 'The One I Love'... very cool, refreshingly different movie. Small budget with high concept worked incredibly well. I don't know if it will have much in the rewatchability category, because a lot of the fun was not knowing where it was going. I might have to put this in my top films of 2014 after i finish watching a few more that i missed. All i knew about it going in was that all the reviews for it were good but none of the reviewers thought it was fair to the viewer to describe the plot, so i was admittedly intrigued.

[Dr Kain]

We did a Robocop double feature with the original and remake as I have seen none of them before.

Original - It was a pretty good movie. I loved the build up to Alex becoming a machine and everything that came after. I liked that they declared him dead and tried to keep him memories erased in order to have a perfect machine. Watching him naturally return to his human thoughts felt natural and was well done. I also liked that the movie was just just one giant action scene after another and they paced themselves. There were quite a few of awesome actors to be found here too. Finally, they did a nice job of making Detroit look run down, dirty, and ridden with crime. Overall, I give the movie a 7/10 stars.

Remake - I have to be honest, this was actually not that bad. I liked that they tried to do their own thing with it rather than making it a shot for shot remake. The only problem is that it came off as generic and unoriginal. I have seen this plot done in the past and done better. There was too much action in it and I did not feel anything for Murphy. Also, Detroit was way too clean and did not feel like they were in need of a robot police force. Another negative is I felt like I was watching a movie set in the Metal Gear Solid 4 world because the Ed209s felt too much like the Gekkos rather than ED209s. Finally, the black was just ugly and this is coming from somewhere who wears black all of the time. There was no need for it other than to make it edgy. Still, as I said, I give it a lot of credit for doing its own thing, but I do miss the made up commercials the original had, especially Nuke'Em. Overall, I give it a 6/10.

[hanshotfirst1138]

In the Blood- Unbelievably boring Gina Carano vehicle which disappointing gives the action star very little action to do. Hardly any fight scenes, mostly dull action elsewhere, the plot the film insists on focusing on at the action's expense is totally uninteresting, the direction is mostly flat and dull, the movie is WAY too long, and is dully shot. Even for a DTV martial arts star, Carano's acting is wooden, and she doesn't get enough to do to compensate. Dull, dull, dull 108 minutes of my life which I can never have back. Shame, because her blend of physical skills and sex appeal is fairly rare, and she's have been a big star back in the VHS-era of DTV fight flicks under Jeff Pruit.

Ninja- Super 35 ninja flick from DTV maestro and Power Rangers veteran Isaac Florentine. In spite of being shot in scope, it's direct-to-video fare through-and-through, with Nu Image's usual cheap production values, though Alpha Stunts alum Akihiro Noguchi's fight choreography is at times impressive. Still, the film's lean runtime isn't enough to compensate for its cheesy plot, hammy acting, and cheap-looking special effects. Passable B movie fare for martial arts fans, but even then, you can do better.

Ninja 2: Shadow of a Tear- Like THIS, for instance. Though still a thinly plotted revenge storyline, Florentine again directs this sequel, this time shot on Red, with much more vigor. The narrative is still unimportant and thin at best, the acting remains comically overwrought, the production values continue look low in spite of the digital sheen, but the fight sequences all pack the proper kick this time, and they're plentiful. For DTV martial arts fare, this is absolutely what the doctor ordered, edited with the proper impact, and wisely lean. Kane Kosugi, son of Golan-Globus favorite Sho, is his father's son. Nothing groundbreaking, surprising, or particularly memorable, but a cut average but and DTV punch up movies should be. Adkins is no actor, but he's a great screen fighter, and the movie takes full advantage of his skills.

[canofhumdingers]

[Rody]

The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course
A pair of CIA agents are sent to recover an intelligence beacon that crash-landed in Australia... and got swallowed by a crocodile... Which an angry rancher is gunning for... Which prompts the local sheriff to call in Steve & Terry Irwin to relocate the croc. The Irwins have no idea what sort of a mess they're walking into...
It's been a long time since I watched anything with Steve Irwin - too long, I think. Watching this film again certainly reminded me of why I enjoyed his show so much. The movie plot isn't anything remarkable, but it does everything to present the Irwins' job at its craziest. There's some exaggeration, of course - I don't recall Steve being that clumsy in real life - but nothing takes away from the sheer fun of it all.
I think the selling point of the plot is how the Irwins - two real-life naturalists & adventurers - are woven into a completely fictional story without even knowing it (in-story, obviously). It's quite funny watching Steve racing around, catching snakes and spiders and talking to the audience like he was filming a show, while these other, fictional characters clash and scheme and blow events out of proportion - with the Irwins constantly, accidentally one step ahead. Collision Course is a charming, innocent tribute to Steve Irwin's legacy, and definitely worth a watch every once in a while.
7/10.


Rashomon
Akira Kurosawa's tale of the rape of a woman and the mysterious murder/suicide of her husband is a startlingly cynical commentary on human nature. Apparently, this is also the first film to prominently utilize storytelling methods such as repeated flashbacks and unreliable narrators. There are only six characters in the entire film - only five of which are significant to the story - but the acting is stellar all around, with particular note to Takeshi Shimura as the troubled woodcutter, Toshiro Mifune as the bandit Tajomaru, and Machiko Kyo as the woman. The story is patient, yet intense, and each character's varying testimony builds the story to - what is almost an anticlimax of sorts. I won't spoil the ending, but I will say that when the (presumed) truth is revealed, it doesn't do anyone any respect. Really, the only thing I could almost complain about this flawlessly done film is how extremely, depressingly cynical it is. Trust? Honesty? Honor? Dignity? These human virtues are spat on and driven into the ground mercilessly, and it is painful to watch in its raw realism.
...Yet at the very end of the movie, there is a ray of hope offered. It doesn't feel tacked on, but rather arrives as a surprisingly natural development of the main character. I wasn't sure I would appreciate Rashomon in its bitter commentary of man, but this tender redeeming scene truly makes the movie for me, and as I reflect upon the movie, the whole story shines better for it. Rashomon is only the third Kurosawa film I have seen, but I can see, without a doubt, that Rashomon is a masterpiece; and Kurosawa, without a doubt, was a masterful and inspirational filmmaker.
10/10.

[jellydonut25]

Dumb and Dumber To is really awful. It's disappointing because I still think the first movie is REALLY funny but this one just didn't have the same energy at all. It was like a cheap, terrible Dumb and Dumber ripoff instead of a Dumb and Dumber movie. One thing I can point to pretty easily is that the first one had pretty much only Carrey and Daniels being stupid and funny and everyone else playing it very straight, while this has a whole supporting cast of people playing it extremely cheesy and "funny" and so the antics of Carrey and Daniels feel like part of the background noise instead of the main attraction. Rob Riggle is especially awful.

Nightcrawler - REALLY good. I love the indie route Gyllenhaal is on. He does these really risky movies that wind up usually being really good buthe gives these great performances and brings us these really good small little movies.

The Theory of Everything is good but inconsequential. I ultimately just don't really care about Stephen Hawking's love life, but it's a good movie with great performances.