Bullets 'n' Babes

Markgway wrote: 16 Jul 2018, 07:04 Creed (2015-USA) **½
Stallone's sympathetic reprisal of Rocky is the linchpin of this otherwise ordinary boxing drama.
Without him there'd be nothing to see.
Michael Jordan is better here than in Black Panther, but his performance doesn't scream franchise.
It'll be interesting to see how the sequel (with Stallone crucially more involved) turns out.
Terrible hip-hop songs are par for the course, but nondescript score is especially disappointing.

I'm with you on Jordan - his MIT genius with a Hollywood street slang dialect in BP was horrible - and yet, so many praised that performance. Him and Miles Teller are exceedingly overrated, and not even big box office draws, though at least MBJ has 'The Wire' on his resume.

Vanilla Sky (2001): 3.5/5

Pretty good but I think I prefer the original. Tom Cruise's character is too much of an asshole to make me care too much what happens to him. Even though I hadnt seen Abre Los Ojos in some years I could guess some of the answers and puzzles here.
When David's face is disfigured, at one point he looks almost exactly the same as he did before the accident and even at it's worst, not as bad as Cesar in the original movie.
Something I dont get... did David kill Sofia (Penelope Cruz) by accident so Julie posed as her
The film has a dream-like quality and the ending scene reminded me of David Fincher's 'The Game' (1997)

Penelope Cruz is so beautiful and sexy it hurts
Surely the best line is:
"I swallowed your cum! That means something!"

13 Sins (2013-USA) **½
Not bad black comedy-horror.

Argo (USA, 2011) [Hulu] - 3/5
Not bad thriller by Ben Affleck, but I don't quite get the high praise. The last 20 minutes is the most intense part, though almost entirely fictional in a film advertising itself as true story. That's quite ok in the name of entertainment; stealing the honour from the Canadians (who, in my understanding, came up with a lot of the stuff credited to the Americans here) on the other hand was a jerk move.

HungFist wrote: 18 Jul 2018, 14:34 Argo (USA, 2011) [Hulu] - 3/5
Not bad thriller by Ben Affleck, but I don't quite get the high praise. The last 20 minutes is the most intense part, though almost entirely fictional in a film advertising itself as true story. That's quite ok in the name of entertainment; stealing the honour from the Canadians (who, in my understanding, came up with a lot of the stuff credited to the Americans here) on the other hand was a jerk move.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/U1mlCPMYtPk

The Town (USA, 2010) [Hulu] - 3.5/5
Another good action/thriller/drama by Ben "I direct better than I act" Affleck. Good story, decent action scenes and an ending that seems like an improvement over the source novel. Oh, and in all honesty Affleck isn't a bad actor these days, he makes a pretty good lead here, as he did in Argo.

A Few Good Men (1992-USA) ***½

My first UHD title.

Markgway wrote: 21 Jul 2018, 22:28 A Few Good Men (1992-USA) ***½

My first UHD title.

Welcome aboard

Thanks.

Don't when I'll go 4K (tech may have moved onto 8K by then, lol). I'm happy with what I have for now

Child's Play (USA, 1988) [Hulu] - 2/5
Seminal but frustrating piece of 80s horror, occasionally entertaining but full of irritating characters acting like idiots. Amazingly enough, this was banned in Finland back in the day (Finland had its own "video nasty" craze that extended to both video and theatrical releases in the late 80s / early 90s, probably influenced by the UK) despite being remarkably tame in terms of violence.

A friend of mine gave me a day pass to the theater he works at... with lounge chair seating!

Sicario: Day of the Solado (2018, USA) 4/5
I'm surprised I never saw the first of this series, as I'm a big fan of both Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro (and the first one even has Emily Blunt), but after seeing this, I'm on board for any of these movies they make. When a US middle east operative (Brolin) is given the ok to do the same type of job in Mexico (be a ghost and start a war amongst specific enemies - in this case the drug cartels), he enlists the aid of his friend (Del Toro), a former Mexican lawyer whose family was killed by the cartels, who now hunts them to send a message. When they kidnap a cartel boss' daughter to blame it on another cartel, things go wrong, and everyone gets hung out to dry.
Straightforward in its storytelling, it lets the adrenaline of every scene propel it to the next act, and there are moments here that truly gave me goosebumps. Brolin and Del Toro are scary in their focus and sometimes violent behavior, and the supporting cast is excellent.

Skyscraper (2018, USA) 2/5
I really wanted to like this, as I generally DO like most Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson movies as a guilty pleasure - the guy truly IS an action movie star - but... this is just generic stuff you've seen a million times before.

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018, USA) 2.5/5
Pretty lazy writing, lazy science, not as good jokes as the original... Rudd and Evangeline Lilly are fun to watch, especially together, and having Lawrance Fishburne in your movie never hurts, but... its more miss than hit.

Juan of the Dead (2011-Spain-Cuba) **½
Zombies take over Havana in this amusingly silly black comedy-horror.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018-USA-Hong Kong) ***
Epic blockbuster packed with action set-pieces rarely lets up for a second.
The convoluted story's not the thing.
This is all about the adrenaline and on that score it delivers.

The Human Tornado (USA, 1976) [DVD] - 1.5/5
Tongue-in-the-cheek blaxploitation flick is positively nuts, but unfortunately an amateurish mess. The joke wears off fast and the plentiful action is painful to watch. Some fun lines and a ridiculously over the top racist sheriff character just barely kept me from falling asleep.

Markgway wrote: 27 Jul 2018, 00:14 Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018-USA-Hong Kong) ***

Looking forward to this. Opens here next week.

The Old Dark House (1932-USA) *½
Not the murder mystery I expected, but rather a peculiar black comedy, in which not much happens, with little real threat or menace.
Boris Karloff is wasted in a wordless role.
Melvyn Douglas and Lilian Bond fall madly in love in the time it takes to get a haircut.
Eureka's Blu-ray print is excellent.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 (USA, 1985) [DVD] - 3.5/5
Unexpectedly good horror sequel full fun effects and homosexual subtext, once it gets past the dull opening 30 minutes. I'm not sure if it stands the test of logic, but it's so original compared to your average slasher sequel that it's better not to think about that.

Sphere (1998) **½
Intriguing deep sea psychological horror loses it's way in frantic second half.

Blackhat (2015) ***
Michael Mann's slick hacker thriller; unpopular with the critics, but, eh, I enjoyed it.

Terror of the Tongs (1960-UK) *½
The real terror is sitting through this tripe, in which a bunch of white people unconvincingly play Chinese.
Embarrassing stuff.
The BBFC evidently had some fun with this, some cuts are quite obvious.

I just youtubed the trailer for this. Christopher Lee was a great actor but playing an early 20th century Chinese guy - oh dear.
At least he spoke with his natural voice.
The voice over uses the term "half-caste" (?) in the trailer - how did they get away with that?

grim_tales wrote: 31 Jul 2018, 19:45 I just youtubed the trailer for this. Christopher Lee was a great actor but playing an early 20th century Chinese guy - oh dear.

You sound surprised? Not seen the Fu Manchu films?

Nope, unfortunately not

The Equalizer 2 (2018, USA) theater 3/5
Denzel, in hiding from the first movie, extracts revenge upon those who deserve it, while doing good deeds in the multi-cultural neighborhood he hides out in. Basically a revenge movie that doesn't really tread any new ground, it nevertheless is mostly enjoyable to watch Denzel whoop some butt.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (USA, 2017) [BD] - 3.5/5
I made a mistake seeing Rogue One in theatre. And I made another mistake not seeing this one. The uneven film has been partly rightfully criticized, though. Firstly, there's a long plot thread that leads absolutely nowhere. Secondly, the new cast is largely uncharismatic and playing superficial characters. This is also what makes the film's much talked about gender equality approach stick out in a bad way. While some of the males are able to hide under an unshaven beard and benefit from the "soldiers = male" association, the equally uncharismatic women too often seem like they ran off from a fashion show and were cast simply to comply with a new gender quota. Finally, there are some frustrating deus ex machina moments. All that being said, you do get used to it, Adam Driver is terrific as the villain, Benicio Del Toro is the new Han Solo, the whole island segment with Hamill is great, Fisher is cool as the only female you actually buy as a resistance leader/fighter, and the film is visually much nicer and the action better than in Rogue One. Quite a bit of fun despite its issues.

Hell or High Water (2016-USA) ***
Good western, but nothing special, and not really worthy of its Best Picture nomination.
Jeff Bridges, in another of his crusty old bugger roles, takes it up a notch or two.