Movie Record 2024 Edition
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Detective Pikachu. It wasn’t great, but it was fun with a couple of amusing moments. Ryan Reynolds was Ryan Reynolds, but I quite like him, so that’s okay. Six out of ten. -
2. Saltburn
Same as everyone else really, outstanding performances from pretty much the entire cast and the cinematography was lovely. The actual film though was…ok. Really didn’t live up to the noise surrounding it. Kinda disappointing considering.
A decent 6 of 10.
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Agreed Vere. Performances can’t be faulted and the soundtrack was banging. Just felt the script needed something more that I can’t quite put my finger on. -
Patriot Games, then. Pretty underwhelming tbh - set pieces not very actiony (crazy that Harrison Ford was already slightly getting on and the movies is 32 years old now!), plot a bit dull, accents laughable. The house bit at the end is vaguely memorable but otherwise very meh. -
Clear and Present Danger is the best of the lot.
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Oppenheimer Rewatched at home. Its structure is more apparant to me after a 2nd viewing and is all the better for it. This is bloody good.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
John Wick Chapter 4
Well now. I didn't think I'd enjoy this - but I thought I should see the series out. It's best when Ian McShane is on the screen of course but its look and design is also a highlight - interesting because it crosses over into other entertainment media.
There are full on comic book style shots which look very pleasing but I'm not sure what I thought when it merged with videogames. That multi room assault sequence was pure video game - he even had a flaming shot power up at one point.
I expected to grow tired of the film over its lengthy runtime but I didn't. Keanu is always watchable but that awful Matrix film had knocked my confidence. It spaced out the combat sequences well - I was ready for another when it arrived and it must be very difficult to come up with something new. It had started to step into ridiculousness even for Wick with the gunplay and bullet proof suits but it got away with it.
And I liked the humour they introduced with the popcorn enemy dispatches.
The Zatoichi thing got old pretty quickly but overall they just about managed to get away with this and closed the whole thing off well. Bravo. Box ticked.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
Worth it for Donnie Yen’s timing and delivery of the “fuck off” alone
And yeah that overhead sequence was exactly inspired by the game Hong Kong Massacre. -
4. The Black Hole - I vaguely remember this as a kid, and how creepy it all felt, like a haunted house in space. But I must have enjoyed it as my mom bought me two of the robot toys for Christmas one year (Vincent and Maximilian). Watching it now, it’s bad, really bad. The acting is terrible, the special effects, even for the time, are woeful and even the sets look cheap. I’m guessing a Disney exec said “remake Star Wars for us, but you have $50,000”. Oh and a special mention to the music, which is also bad, the composer could be great, but the director had clearly watched Star Wars and said every time there is a shoot out give it a really dramatic score, just like that scene where Luke and Leia swing across the bridge, but they do it for every scene. [2] - one for each of the toys I got out of it being made.
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Maestro Bio pic of Leonard Bernstein - performances, makeup and music weave a by turns amusing, inspiring and tragic tale. This is a towering achievement. The two leads are spellbinding - and I mean that literally - I haven't been engaged in a film as much - maybe ever - at an emotional level. There's the technical side of Cooper's impression and the conducting - but that's only one aspect of the astonishing performances.
It has the feel of a peak Woody Allen film with its sharp settings and smart dialogue - but at times the dialogue is overlapping like an Altman film but without the documentary feel.
An extraordinary film.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
Nobody. Saul does Wick. Entertaining but utterly disposable.rateyourmusic: https://rateyourmusic.com/~Olimite -
Robocop
The 1987 original of course, not the remake.
It's still so damn good.Not everything is The Best or Shit. Theres many levels between that, lets just enjoy stuff. -
I’d watch that for a dollar!
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Leave the World Behind Rather good entry in the "end is nigh" genre. The cast are all great.
I really like Ethan Hawke. Why I have not seen more of him?
Some of it isn't explained but that's kind of OK as there is a possible cause of one of the weirdest phenomena albeit a far fetched one.
It's pretty grounded in the main and for once has a good ending. Enjoyed this.Spoiler:Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
davyK wrote:I really like Ethan Hawke. Why I have not seen more of him?
Your next stop: Predestination.Get schwifty. -
The Matrix
Pretty much everything to say has been said, its still brilliant though.
I watched in Ultra HD and Im not sure if it was because of that or just the fact its 25 years old this year but some effects are starting to look a bit dated now. Probably a mix of the two. The bit where Cypher gets shot for example was the UHD thing. I never noticed before they just shrunk a cutout of him to show him flying backwards.
The liquid mirror not reflecting realistically is just effects getting better. -
Ethan Hawke does some really good mid-budget movies that are easy to miss.
Not necessarily the best movies ever put to film but good stuff if you are after something different you havent seen before. -
He was in a film called Sinister which wasn't bad - he very much made it watchable.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009.
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Olimite wrote:Nobody. Saul does Wick. Entertaining but utterly disposable.
The 2nd half was just enjoyable goofy fun. The 1st half promised more than that. Still enjoyed it - but yeah - disposable.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
The Black Phone is well worth a watch. I like Daybreakers as well. The Purge is quite good, just leave it at there as far as the series goes. He is good in Lord of War.
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Cheers - noted.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009.
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Surely Davy you've seen the Before trilogy? Would have thought they'd be way up your street if you haven't
Before Sunrise
Before Sunset
Before Midnight
The second is my favourite but I think picking your fave depends on how your relationships have been. -
Aye, first think that came to my mind and I love that trilogy. I assued Davy was talking about more recently. Like, why isn't he in more films now.I am a FREE. I am not MAN. A NUMBER. -
ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:Surely Davy you've seen the Before trilogy? Would have thought they'd be way up your street if you haven't Before Sunrise Before Sunset Before Midnight The second is my favourite but I think picking your fave depends on how your relationships have been.
Good films. Almost peak Linklater. -
ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:Surely Davy you've seen the Before trilogy? Would have thought they'd be way up your street if you haven't Before Sunrise Before Sunset Before Midnight The second is my favourite but I think picking your fave depends on how your relationships have been.
Haven't yet - I've been hovering over the Criterion BluRay collection of it. Haven't spotted it in any streaming service as yet
Over the years Hawke just doesn't seem to have been top tier* even though he has the credentials to be so. Perhaps that's a personal choice.
* what does that even mean anyhow? Certainly not appearing in shitty Hollywood blockbusters.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
He does seem to choose stuff he'll enjoy over the stuff that'll put him in the spotlight. He's very consistently great though and I always enjoy seeing him pop up in things
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Hawke has always been great, but he’s been in some absolute stinkers as well as the good stuff.
If you want to trace a path of excellence though:- Reality Bites
- Gattaca
- Waking Life
- Lord of War
- Predestination
- Maudie
I wasn’t a fan of Leave the World Behind.
Predestination is a standout role, but probably only because it’s a standout movie. For me, still the best time travel film ever made. -
poprock wrote:I wasn’t a fan of Leave the World Behind.
I'm not sure anyone has ever really done the idea service. It seems to be hard to do.
A proper version of The Stand might do the trick but there's been a couple of goes at that.
It's main problem is there can't ever be an ending to it (or at least one that's satisfying to the mainstream), unless there's a Hollywood style save the Earth Hail Mary ending.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
It just felt style over substance to me (I know, sometimes I enjoy that kind of thing). For all the big themes, it felt paper thin.
Glad you enjoyed it though. -
poprock wrote:Predestination is a standout role, but probably only because it’s a standout movie. For me, still the best time travel film ever made.
My man.
Rewatched it recently and Matt Villa, who edited the film, absolutely nailed it. I can’t even imagine how you get this thing into something coherent.
And Sarah Snook…wow. She never disappoints, but in this her performance is wonderful. In another genre she’d be showered with awards.Get schwifty.
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