What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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The Sisterhood (USA, 1988) [VoD] - 1.5/5
Cirio H. Santiago undoes any good post-apo vibes left by Wheels of Fire (1985) with this dull dud that may have been intended as a children's movie but ended up with an R-rating. In the future men have enslaved all women except THE SISTERHOOD aka two riders one of whom can move light objects with the thought of mind and the other who fires blue beams from her eyes. Yeah, really! Void of graphic violence and with only tiny glimpses of nudity (body doubles for the leads), this comes out as overlong, misguided picture best suited for little girls who like ponies, complete with an odd 80s video game musical score. It only comes alive at the end when the gals find a war wagon and assault rifles, enabling them to go girls with guns.
Markgway wrote: 16 Jan 2020, 08:41 Stallone and Dennehy are great, Crenna not so.
Indeed. I rewatched this recently (for the 1st time in 15 years) and I was like "Crenna is a good actor, he's gonna be cool". But no, he was pretty much the worst actor in the film.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Crenna was better in the sequels.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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The 15:17 to Paris (2018) ***
Three American heroes taking out an Islamic terrorist on board a commuter train sounds like a sure fire premise,
but Clint Eastwood took a huge risk by casting the men as themselves. This gives the film a certain verisimilitude,
but it's also clear that these guys aren't actors. They're pleasant enough company on a long European travelogue section,
but it's the opening and closing acts (childhood development, train confrontation, respectively) that fare best.
At 94 mins this is Eastwood's shortest picture, and whilst it could arguably have lost another 5-10 mins,
he knows not to outstay his welcome. Reviews were mixed, understandably, but I came away rather impressed overall.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Sudden Death (USA, 1995) [DVD] – 3.5/5
Competently made “second class” Die Hard clone set in an ice hockey stadium during Stanley Cup finals. Good action, tight pacing (even at 1h 50m), relatively decent production values and a good use of the location make this one of Van Damme's best. Good performances too, both the Belgian, and bad guy Powers Boothe.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Spies in Disguise (USA, 2019): 3/5
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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The Fate of the Furious (USA, 2017) [VoD] - 3.5/5
More suspense and humour, less headache inducing teen party stuff. The best in the series. The unfortunate GCI is still there, but even this area shows a tad more ambition. Johnson and Statham are a ton of fun here btw, it's a shame their spin-off film Hobbs & Shaw had to suck.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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The Nile Hilton Incident (2017) **
Corrupt Egyptian cop investigates the murder of a glamorous singer in Cairo.
The ingredients - sex, scandal, and corruption - are all present, but this murky thriller is a chore to wade through.
Some good scenes, particularly in the second half, but it's not really worth it.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Cats (2019): 3.5/5

The music is good with impressive staging and sets, the CGI is very strange looking though.
Judi Dench playing the part of the Old Deuteronomy (sp?) cat was a nice touch I thought.
Last edited by grim_tales on 26 Jan 2020, 02:43, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Hell of the Living Dead (Italy, 1980) [VoD] – 2.5/5
Idiotic zombie film mishmash that is nevertheless watchable. There’s stolen Goblin music, nature stock footage, a half-arsed attempt to borrow from Cannibal Holocaust with social commentary, bargain basement gore effects, a staggering lack of logic, and brain dead arseholes (the heroes), one of whom is a reporter running out topless in the jungle. And yet the last half an hour is surprisingly solid, with some genuinely well done scenes (the sound design in the house scene near the end is great, fans of the 1996 Resident Evil video game should feel at home here) and atmospheric footage of zombies walking the earth. At 98 min the film ought to have lost 15 min, though.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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HungFist wrote: 24 Jan 2020, 15:18 Hell of the Living Dead (Italy, 1980) [VoD] – 2.5/5
Idiotic zombie film mishmash that is nevertheless watchable. There’s stolen Goblin music, nature stock footage, a half-arsed attempt to borrow from Cannibal Holocaust with social commentary, bargain basement gore effects, a staggering lack of logic, and brain dead arseholes (the heroes), one of whom is a reporter running out topless in the jungle. And yet the last half an hour is surprisingly solid, with some genuinely well done scenes (the sound design in the house scene near the end is great, fans of the 1996 Resident Evil video game should feel at home here) and atmospheric footage of zombies walking the earth. At 98 min the film ought to have lost 15 min, though.
I dare say this is better than any Resident Evil film!
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Ivan Drago wrote: 24 Jan 2020, 15:20
HungFist wrote: 24 Jan 2020, 15:18 Hell of the Living Dead (Italy, 1980) [VoD] – 2.5/5
Idiotic zombie film mishmash that is nevertheless watchable. There’s stolen Goblin music, nature stock footage, a half-arsed attempt to borrow from Cannibal Holocaust with social commentary, bargain basement gore effects, a staggering lack of logic, and brain dead arseholes (the heroes), one of whom is a reporter running out topless in the jungle. And yet the last half an hour is surprisingly solid, with some genuinely well done scenes (the sound design in the house scene near the end is great, fans of the 1996 Resident Evil video game should feel at home here) and atmospheric footage of zombies walking the earth. At 98 min the film ought to have lost 15 min, though.
I dare say this is better than any Resident Evil film!
That's probably true :lol:

The Resident Evil films... how can the movies be so much much more childish than the video games :? Such a waste of great source material.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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grim_tales wrote: 23 Jan 2020, 20:54 Cats (2019): 3.5/5

The music is good with impressive staging and sets, the CGI is very strange looking though.
Judi Dench playing the part of the Old Deuteronomy (sp?) cat was a nice tough I thought.
Well, I see someone liked it...;)
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Black Butterfly (2017) *½
Has-been author Antonio Banderas makes a fatal mistake picking up surly hitchhiker Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.
Slow burn thriller creates an atmosphere in its early going, before warping into a patently ridiculous mess.
The twist ending actually makes sense of some of what we've just seen, whilst making a non-sense of the rest if it.
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Big Man on Campus (1989) **
AKA The Hunchback Hairball of L.A.(!)... which pretty much sums up this goofy movie.
Funnier than it should be, but keep your expectations low (brow).

Blind Spot (2017) *½
Right-wing Belgian police chief's run for political office is jeopardised by a deadly personal grievance.
Heavy-handed thriller lays out its leftist agenda from the outset, and surprises only in how far it's willing to go:
It's disconcerting to find an Arabic filmmaker justifying a bomber (also Arabic) who murders police officers.
Insensitive propaganda leaves a nasty taste.

Thumper (2016) ***
Undercover cop ingratiates herself with teen drug dealers to get close to their source.
Grubby material, but well done, with good performances.
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The Principal (1987) ***½
Reckless teacher James Belushi vows to clean up the worst school in the city.
A long time favourite of mine.
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Robocop 2 (1990) **½
Watched this a couple of months back and forgot to post a quick take.
Not a classic like the original, but violent sequel has enough satire and balls to be worthwhile.
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The Connection (2014) **½
Righteous judge Jean Dujardin tackles the Marseilles heroine trade and departmental corruption in long, but fair 70s set crime saga.
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Dark Crimes (2016) *½
Jim Carrey is a Polish cop (with an Irish accent) in this moody, seedy thriller.
Incomprehensible and boring.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Bad Boys for Life (USA, 2020) [DCP] – 2/5
There are rats, but they aren’t fucking anymore.
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Beyond Suspicion aka Bent (2018) **½
Surprisingly good thriller has framed cop Karl Urban embroiled in murder and intrigue.
Has an old school feel, which I guess made my response kinder than most critics.
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American Sniper (2014) ***
Good true life action-drama from Clint Eastwood starring Bradley Cooper as record-breaking Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle.
The tragic ending is sensitively handled and not allowed to overshadow Kyle's heroism.

The Hunter's Prayer (2017) **
Not bad thriller has conflicted assassin Sam Worthington turn against his slimy Brit employer to protect a teenage target.
Forgettable, formulaic, but kills the time painlessly.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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The Lighthouse 1/5
Pretentious boring two hander (Robert Pattinson, Willam Dafoe) has had critical acclaim.I thought it was shite.

Double Impact 3/5
Solid Van Damme actioner, from his heyday.

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood 2.5/5
Tom Hanks plays legendary usa childrens tv presenter Mr Rogers, a journalist goes to interview him and they strike up a bond. Not my cup of tea but well acted and an ok watch.

Black Eagle 2/5
Sho Kosugi stars as an cia operative , Van Damme is the russian heavy. So So spy actioner is elevated a little by the two stars.
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Shelter (2017) **½
Israeli agent is assigned to babysit Lebanese spy whilst she waits for safe passage from Germany to Canada.
Overly complicated drama-thriller is flat given the promise of the material, but at least the central relationship is interesting.
There's a better film in here somewhere.
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Nurse (2013) *
Splatter comedy(?)
Utter drivel, extremely badly made. I confess to skipping thru large chunks of it.
Katrina Bowden (the blonde) is an attractive girl and decent actress, the main lead is the opposite,
and I can only assume they cast her based on her willingness to disrobe at every opportunity.
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Proud Mary (2018) **½
Loose remake of Gloria with Taraji P. Henson as the gun-totting killer protecting a young boy.
Nothing special, but I didn't mind it.
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