Posts: 7,153
Threads: 601
Joined: 2015 Jan
Thanks: 1081
Given 1466 thank(s) in 963 post(s)
Country: 
Executive Decision (1996)
watched yesterday on TV, after maybe twenty years on laserdisc; completely forgot about it, apart...
Well, it was fun, quite well acted - sometimes overacted; funny to see Kurt Russell along his previously companion on "The Thing", along with B.D. Wong (Jurassic Park), Joe Morton (Terminator), Oliver Platt, an always beautiful Halle Berry and other faces more or less famous, yet always recognizable - like the air marshall, and the Oceanic airplane! 
Personal note: the actor who acted as the first officer (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587379/) look like LOL ;-) star (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1277856/) and I mean it, almost identical - not only the aspect, but also how he moved...
Yep, SFX were quite poor sometimes, but luckily they last not so much, and did not ruin too much the experience; so, at the end I liked it!
7/10
Posts: 1,008
Threads: 33
Joined: 2015 Jan
Thanks: 736
Given 414 thank(s) in 260 post(s)
Finally watched the undervalued Capra classic Meet John Doe for the first time in years. It's in the public domain and I could never find a decent version despite the Library of Congress doing a restoration years ago. I got the VCI DVD which despite claims of a restoration is merely a port of a PAL DVD and is not very pretty. Way too high contrast, cropped on top, interlaced, frame skips, digital freezes and slowdowns etc. and it's the best version available. Ugh.
This is one we should definitely do ourselves as it really, REALLY needs help and is now still public domain.
Damn Fool Idealistic Crusader
Posts: 759
Threads: 34
Joined: 2018 Feb
Thanks: 648
Given 1064 thank(s) in 404 post(s)
Country: 
There's a good looking 8GB HDTV rip out there for Meet John Doe. Just let me know if you need any help obtaining it
Posts: 1,255
Threads: 14
Joined: 2017 Aug
Thanks: 100
Given 307 thank(s) in 226 post(s)
Country: 
Just watched Venom. It was... average, but I liked it. Had enough action, bullshit sci-fi stuff and dumb fun to keep me entertained.
Posts: 7,153
Threads: 601
Joined: 2015 Jan
Thanks: 1081
Given 1466 thank(s) in 963 post(s)
Country:
Holmes & Watson (2018)
after a miriad of movies about Sherlock Holmes, finally a parody - joking also on the last two movies with Iron Man, you know... 
Yes, far from a masterpiece, yet a nice attempt, technically almost flawless, with a lot of funny gags and even a musical piece - what may you want more?
Reccomended to any Sherlock Holmes and Will Ferrell fans - if you liked Dracula: Dead and Loving it, probably you will like this as well!
6/10
Doom (2005)
watched after several years, time was not bad with this flick; the usual marines (or the like) who must save the day against monsters... Aliens, anybody? Far from original story, still entertaining - and, even if I must admit I may have played Doom only once several decades ago - and so far from being a fan myself - the POV sequence was faithful to the game, and really, really funny! About movies taken from videogames, there are worst, a lot, around - not a lot of movies, a lot worst!
Reccomended to any sci-fi, monsters, action fans - possibly one fan that like them all...
6/10
Posts: 7,153
Threads: 601
Joined: 2015 Jan
Thanks: 1081
Given 1466 thank(s) in 963 post(s)
Country:
Mortal Engines (2018)
Nice steampunk movie set in a post apocalyptic world; the story is (almost) original, with those big cities on wheels hanging around Europe, looking for smaller cities to be incorporated; yet, it has various elements from other movies (Howl's Moving Castle, Terminator). Good CGI effects, a lot of colors, fair acting, a bad agent Smith.
6.5/10
Hellboy (2019)
Another reboot, after the duology directed by Guillermo Del Toro; it's not bad, it's not good, it's not so bad is good... dunno, there are quite various things "wrong"; first, comparing it to both previous episodes let the latter be the winners, in both story and interpretations; also, SFX were quite good in them, while in this is quite bad and uninspiring (but I did like the big monsters near the end); story is everything but original - I thought about "The Last Witch Hunter" for all the time... acting is of no help to improve quality - but I should admit I do love Milla, so... the score is increased a bit thanks to her!
5/10
Captain Marvel (2019)
Another superhero "solo" movie, this time we meet a new protagonist - that will be present in the next movie of the MCU universe, and I bet in other sequels as well; I think the actress is quite uninspiring for the role IMHO, but her acting was OK; Samuel L. Jackson is always great; story quite original, a good twist in the plot near the half raised interest, CGI mostly very good. Note: does Marvel run out of names? Here we have a Talos, in Avenger Thanos... they sound too much alike IMHO.
7/10
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Well, after the end of Avenger: Infinity War, I imagined what could happen in the next movie: some sort of time travel, probably using quantistic properties - and, guess what, I was right? So, even if, after all, story was original enough, there are the usual "back to the future"-ish situations - but at least the superhero themselves joke about this. The first part was quite slow and boring, while the second catch up. CGI top-notch as usual, acting good, a lot of places and times visited. All in all, a satisfactory end for a very long saga, but actually I expected something more - not technically, more about the story...
6.5/10
Posts: 490
Threads: 13
Joined: 2017 May
Thanks: 71
Given 247 thank(s) in 148 post(s)
Country: 
2019-04-26, 09:48 PM
(This post was last modified: 2019-04-26, 09:49 PM by maksnew.
Edit Reason: black color can be barely seen on dark theme
)
Bluff storia di truffe e di imbroglioni 1976
Favorite comedy of childhood, finally came to Blu Ray a good reason to review as)
Posts: 1,255
Threads: 14
Joined: 2017 Aug
Thanks: 100
Given 307 thank(s) in 226 post(s)
Country:
Just got back from Avengers: Endgame.
SPOILERS BELOW: NOTHING MASSIVE, JUST A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE 3 ACTS.
Kind of a slowburn at the start, but hey, we have to feel the tragedy of what happened after the snap, the heaviness of the aftermath, and that's needed. Then, they come up with a plan and it turns into a fun Ocean's Eleven/Back to the Future II time heist. That's the part pretty much everybody assumed would happen because of the time tunnels in the quantum realm that Michelle Pfeiffer mentionned at the end of Wasp, plus the leaked on-set pictures that revisited the 2012 New York invasion. Except that they poured in another ingredient: the threat of Thanos getting word of their plan. And that leads to an holy jamolly third act that's as epic as The Return of the King, plus an emotional ending à la Return of the King, too. Loved it. I'll go see it again.
Posts: 7,153
Threads: 601
Joined: 2015 Jan
Thanks: 1081
Given 1466 thank(s) in 963 post(s)
Country:
Eastrail 177 Trilogy:
Unbreakable (2000)
Split (2016)
Glass (2019)
Usually I write something about each single film in trilogies/sagas/franchises/whatever on its own, but, as I've decided to watch one after another in a mini-marathon, I'll not split (pun intended) my reviews...
Watched Unbreakable something like 15yrs+ ago, and didn't remember a lot - actually, thought at the time it was weaker than The Sixth Sense, but you know, when you watch a movie again, after many years, meanwhile you change your mind, you watch A LOT of other movies, so your opinion could change. And it changed. A lot. It is a great movie - yes, a bit slow, I must admit, but never boring; acting is superb, cinematography essential yet special, music almost absent yet perfectly chosen when present. The story is great, and original. A superhero genesys, in few words - actually, of two of them.
Split started as a horror story, not so different from few others. But is soon steered the direction towards a completely unexpected path - a very interesting one. Again, acting is superb, cinematography quality is lower than previous film, but also due to the fact locations are quite limited. Another superhero genesys.
Glass is the most powerful of the three IMHO; story is never slow nor boring, and plot twists are scattered all over the duration of the movie, until the very - not so predictable - end; another example of superb acting and perfect characters, and cinematography on par with the first film. This is the finale of the excellent trilogy - or not?
Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and James McAvoy were exceptional, and the talent of the director M. Night Shyamalan is again confirmed; as bonus, both young actors are very good.
BEST... SUPERHERO... SAGA... EVER! (yes, unhortodox superheroes, but that's maybe the reason!)
8/10 (for the whole trilogy)
Posts: 7,153
Threads: 601
Joined: 2015 Jan
Thanks: 1081
Given 1466 thank(s) in 963 post(s)
Country:
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Watched with my daughter - almost out of her teenager years, yet amused by both animation and superheroes films; frankly, I expected it worse, so I was happy to discover it was pretty funny - the scene were the two Spider-Men are dragged by the metro was hilarious! Well "drawn", good story - even if far to be original - a lot of colors, nice music... everything quite right, except... Peter Porker! Really? I mean, DeadPool started to be less than serious about superheroes, but... c'mon! Spider-Pig was perfectly understandable in The Simpsons, and here I could even bare the anime-styled Japanese girl, but... a Looney Toon-esque pig is frankly too much (for both of us, we agree) - and he ruined an animated movie that would be great without him!
6/10 ("as is", with Peter Porker)
8/10 (in an eventual edit without him)
The Silence (2019)
I can't avoid to watch it: a NetFlix movie - usually nice feature films with good stories and actors - with monsters, a near future with a big menace for the whole society... I'm in! Also watched with my daughter, we liked it - Stanley Tucci is always good, and the "deaf Hermione" actress was good as well. Sure, story was far from original, yet interesting - think about this like Pitch Black meets The Walking Dead in The Mist!
The only thing I felt "wrong" was that it suddenly ended! We expected something more, but it didn't happen... IMHO a good starting point for a TV series - even if I'm pretty sure it will never happen...
6.5/10
|
