The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

The part I was thinking of

[Show spoiler]would have been right when they left the city and made their way...somewhere else, can't remember if that's right before the bunker or before they found out that Nick Fury was alive. It was something like that though; they had a big action scene (might have been the mall), then they were in a van escaping. Like you said though, there was no action in their escape, so the film didn't need to get into it that much. Still seemed a bit abrupt to me though.

Chances are that whatever gaps I see won't be as big of a deal on a repeat viewing, especially as I spot more detail and get a better understanding of the actual plot.

[Show spoiler]I'll bet that one thumb drive would have had more memory than that entire room of magnetic tape.

EDIT:

I just remembered in that scene:

[Show spoiler]Black Widow asked how Steve learned to hotwire cars, and he just kinda explained it away (something about learning from POW camps or something, I forget now exactly). I think when they said that, it struck me that in two lines they glossed completely over showing exactly how they got a broke into a car and escaped. I think if it wasn't for the dialogue, I might not have given it a second thought, but the talking drew my attention to it.

I believe I know what scene you are talking about now...and it didn't even cross my mind in the two times I watched it. Granted, one of those times was with friends alone in the theatre shouting "MURICA!!" every few minutes when Steve did something awesome

[Show spoiler]The thumb drive also had enough memory to hold all the SHIELD secrets found on that boat. Wish I had that kind of capacity

[Spirit Zero]

Hawk the Slayer (1980)

I'm not sure but this could of been the acorn that sprouted the idea for the titles in the Conan flicks, bare with me. There was a sequel intended for this film that would have been called 'Hawk The Destroyer' (1981), so you can see the obvious similarities with film titles going on here. Probably a coincidence admittedly but I also think this could of been the first swords/sorcery/barbarian type of film that jump started all the rest during the 80's.

This is a hard film to review truth be told, its extremely dated and by the looks of things they didn't have a huge budget to play with. The whole thing is a mixed bag as you would expect being a very old fully British, possibly cheap, production. There's a bit of a Tolkien and Dungeons & Dragons influence about the film if you ask me, the plot is your average sword n sorcery affair with a hero trying to avenge the death of his father and love at the hands of an evil warrior (his brother). The evil bad guy wants the power of the mindstone which his brother (the hero) has power of, so he kidnaps an Abbess to lure him. The hero forms a small band of warrior friends...a giant, a dwarf, an elf and a human peasant, the hero himself being a human of course. Each of these men have unique skills in combat with a big hammer mace thing, a whip, a bow, a crossbow and a sword.

When I say a Tolkien influence I only mean as far as the characters and fantasy locations, dare I say a certain Mr Jackson may have pinched some visual ideas for 'Legolas' using his bow at lighting speed from this film?. When you see 'Crow the elf' battling there is definitely a similarity in concept that's for sure, although the visual method used to achieve this in this film is pretty crude naturally. Mind you this elf is so damn fast with his bow and arrow there is virtually no need for any other heroes. Other characters aren't made up with special makeup or prosthetics, the giant is played by Bernard Bresslaw who was a tall man, the dwarf is played by a short actor (not a little person), the elf has a small amount of prosthetics for his ears and that's it. But as far as monsters and dragons etc...this film has none of that, its actually a very grounded fantasy which I think leans more towards old English folklore and possibly a touch of wicca and paganism.

The musical score kinda typifies this if you ask me with a very odd mix of styles. At times we get this typical 80's pop fused with electronic synth (I think) that to me sounded like melodies from an Abba album!, needless to say I don't think this score fit the film. Other times there is a much better softer score using more traditional instruments to create this olde worlde fairy-esque sound that would suit an old English fable to a tee.

I hate to say it but I couldn't help but chuckle at some of the things on display in this film. Like I said the visuals are weak, it looks like they've filmed everything in some local woods and shrublands just behind Pinewood studios. The sets are very obvious, very small and tight and sparse on detail, hair styles are still very much 1970's, some costumes are OK where as others look like they've cobbled anything together and I'm pretty sure they retrace their steps with locations a few times. The only expenditure appears to be the use of that swirly double ring thing that was used in 'Superman' as a force field to trap 'General Zod' and co.

The other thing that is highly amusing is the fact the big bad evil tyrannical baddie is played by Jack Palance...and even in this film he's old!. This guy has no special powers or weapons, he's just a badass apparently but you don't really buy it frankly. He has a nasty burn on his face so he wears a nifty helmet but that's it, he doesn't look intimidating at all. Mind you the hero is pretty bland himself, he barely talks, looks boring, but he has the mind power to wield his magical sword combined with the mindstone...not that it makes much difference really, just means the sword can float to his hand.

I don't want to give this film a low score because despite the dated visuals, cheesy ass fights and effects it does look like people have really tried to make an effort here. It does come across to me that the crew have done their best with the little resources they had which deserves kudos. It is very easy to just churn out any old loin cloth fantasy crap by just tossing in a few blondes with big boobs to attract an easy male audience and slapping in some blood and gore. But I think effort was made here and it does show. A cult film long forgotten, thou should seek it out.

6/10

[Al_The_Strange]

Next greatest rental: Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!
















uhh...


3.5/5...I guess?

[Darth Marcus]

I had started this a while back, and kept putting it off, and putting it off. Gotta love procrastination! But here it is, my review of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (which I also posted on my Letterboxd):

[Show spoiler]In 2011, Marvel Studios brought Captain America to the screen in Captain America: The First Avenger. This would be the last solo-superhero film before Marvel's gargantuan team-up film, The Avengers, which would go on to be one of the biggest commercial and critical hits of 2012. Captain America: The First Avenger told the origin story of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a scrawny Brooklyn kid who through scientific experimentation became the super-soldier known as Captain America, helping to “defeat” the Nazi organization known as Hydra, then headed by the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving, PLEASE COME BACK!). Cut off one head, and two more shall take its place (don’t ask, just watch the movie). After a fight against the Red Skull and commandeering a damaged Hydra plane mid-flight, Captain Rogers was forced to crash the plane in the northern ice (because he was flying a plane with bombs that weren’t ticking but it was super-dangerous and well... uh... whatever - it’s the damn origin story!). With the super-soldier serum running through his veins, his body was preserved in the ice, and he was subsequently thawed out of his frozen prison by an organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. in the present day.

Captain America: The First Avenger is a fun, pulpy romp that is big on over-the-top montages and little on character development, but it did a good job of whetting people’s appetites for Marvel’s The Avengers. And while The Avengers was the culmination of nerdist wet dreams everywhere, it never really had time to explore the man out of time who is Captain America.

Enter Captain America: The Winter Soldier, an excellent political/espionage thriller masked as a superhero flick. We find our hero at the beginning of the film trying to catch up with the times, soon discovering that the agency he works for might not be the peace-keeping agency he thought it was. Hidden secrets and ulterior motives begin to make our Captain question whether or not S.H.I.E.L.D. is truly acting in the best interest of the people, or whether they’re using technology to keep the American people on a “protective” leash (sound familiar? it should). Captain America is soon thrust into a world where there is no more black and white, where the “good vs. evil” battle is fought in a very grey arena, and the heroes and villains look very similar.

While this film delivers the thrills, it also has the smarts to slow the pace and let characters develop. There are many wonderful conversational scenes between Captain America and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) that not only allow the Captain to adjust and adapt to these new challenges, but also allow Black Widow to grow as a character as well. And these two characters aren’t the only ones who are given a chance to breathe. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), whose secrets have secrets, feels like a living breathing person whose history with S.H.I.E.L.D. is fleshed out more before our eyes. These characters don’t feel like simple pieces that move the plot forward, they feel like actual people with backgrounds and emotions and stories of their own, allowing you to invest in them, thus making the thrilling moments that much more worthwhile (and there are plenty of those).

New to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) and Sam “The Falcon” Wilson (Anthony Mackie) who are also given life through some excellent performances. Alexander Pierce is the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. who may or may not have ulterior motives (who doesn’t in this movie?), and Sam Wilson becomes Captain’s sidekick and is given more time to shine in one film than Don Cheadle and Terrence Howard were given as War Machine in three Iron Man films.

Lurking in the shadows and striking without warning is The Winter Soldier, played by an actor who I will not name because it will be all spoiler-y. What do you need to know about The Winter Soldier (other than the fact that he’s part of the title)? Well, that’s for me to know and you to find out. He has a pretty cool metal arm and a serious temper, which he displays through black eye shadow. And while he’s not the only threat in the film, he is the most personal threat to our hero, challenging Captain Rogers in ways that he could never possibly imagine.

This is the first of the Phase Two films from Marvel’s Cinematic Universe that truly stands proud and tall all on it’s own. Characters truly come to life in this film and are given a chance to pump some red blood through their veins. Events transpire that will forever alter the lives of not only these characters, but the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole. There are wonderful performances across the board, especially from Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson, who are acting forces to be reckoned with. It’s truly one of the best and brightest that the genre has to offer, and for my money, is already one of the best films of 2014. And the same team that delivered this delight will be back to deliver the untitled Captain America 3 in 2016. If that doesn’t get you excited, then get out of my face because I have nothing else to say to you.

P.S.

Hail Hydra!

[wooble89]

Spent the afternoon watching some horror classics. Baron Blood was visually stunning with a fairly normal plot, still good stuff though. The Hammer version of Dracula was solid stuff. Only just getting to the bigger Hammer movies and it didn't disappoint, although Herzog's 79 version of Nosferatu is still my favourite Dracula.

7 and 8/10 respectively.

Horror Vlog - Baron Blood (1972) & Dracula (1958) - YouTube

[Spirit Zero]

Borat (2006)
(Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan)

'Yagshemash!'

The second film in the Cohen trilogy based on his original character creations that we all saw within his Ali G show. Now even though these characters are all very clever creations and work well within the BBC comedy, the films varied. Myself I always thought Ali G was his best and funniest creation offering killer satirical comedy, but the movie of that character turned out to be quite poor and not overly funny surprisingly. 'Bruno', his third film and final original character was easily the next best character offering outrageously embarrassing homosexual tomfoolery, the film also lived up to that brilliantly.

Borat has always been somewhere in the middle for me, the character never really came across that funny on the Ali G show with the small sequences, I thought it slowed the show down. Of course his character is suppose to be simple, backwards, slow, dull, dated etc...that's part of the stinging gag that Eastern Europe is slightly primitive and centuries out of date (dare I say medieval? yes I dare). But working with this angle can also be risky as the jokes can be slow coming and childishly simple, Borat himself being on the same intelligence and life experience level as a child to a degree (when outside his native country).

So it did come as a surprise when this film actually turned out to be very very good, very amusing, highly awkward to watch at times and totally beat Cohen's first foray into the movies in 'Ali G Indahouse'. The main change to the programme here is the fact the plot is strung together around individual sequences showing Cohen making an ass of himself in dreadful cringe-inducing situations. Unlike Ali G where the film was spun into a proper full blown story with actual characters that you didn't care about whilst ruining the background myth of Ali G at the same time. This film merely introduces a sidekick who directs Borat as he goes across America making a documentary for the benefit of his homeland Kazakhstan...oh and searching for Pamela Anderson.

So just like the little sketches on the Ali G show we see Borat meeting various Americans, visiting various places of interest and generally showing himself up as the innocent wet behind the ears traveller who has no clue how to conduct himself in the modern western world. This film easily tops the TV show sketches for embarrassing moments, its like a car crash...you know the rest. Some of the things we see are just unbelievable, apart from much blatant racism against Jewish folk (Cohen's favourite), we meet a racist all American cowboy at a Texas rodeo who accuses Borat of looking like a terrorist down to his moustache. More racism in the South as Borat tries his hand at etiquette lessons (again) from some clearly well to do religious white folk, the funny twist being Borat's fat black hooker girlfriend turning up at the door. Full scale nudity of course, can't not have a bit of full scale public nudity (oh geez!), breaking stuff in a Confederate heritage museum (more obvious racial undertones) and finally assaulting Pamela Anderson in a Virgin Megastore (that shows the films age!).

Being America it is too easy for Cohen, the targets are so obvious and so simple to set up...racism, all American jingoism and homophobia are always gonna be his weapons of mass embarrassment. He sets his sights on these and hits them spot on, be it an old person, a young person, a famous/political person or even a crowd, Cohen can tease xenophobia or discrimination out of anyone with his naive questions and general approach.

While the film does feel more like an extended version of the TV sketches that was to be expected. It was also expected that whatever Cohen got up to here it would be bigger and bolder than ever before, that was certainly achieved. It starts off slow and ends kinda flat but unsurprisingly those are the sequences where Borat is a character within a films plot, its only when he ventures into the reality of everyday America that the film comes alive. Unfortunately the film is riddled with offensive moments which will and have upset many people which I can understand, unlike South Park the film isn't an animated cartoon so it feels more intense.

To a degree you could say that all the commotion surrounding the film only goes to prove it did what it set out to do, Cohen hit the nail on the head. Most will know of this character and Cohen's antics from TV, you know what to expect and get what you pay for, if you don't like this guys brand of humour then you know not to see this, it will offend. Although I do wonder how some of these people carry on their regular lives after being somewhat exposed in this film, that is if they are not actors of course, its actually very hard to tell in my opinion but I'm sure some may be. After the disappointing Ali G flick Cohen pulls it back and produces a great slice of wince-inducing shameful humiliation that will leave you with a sheepish grin plastered across your red face.

'Dziekuje'

7/10

[Astro Zombie]

Here's my short review of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"

Good movie. This new trilogy is starting to grow on me.

4/5

[Al_The_Strange]

Next greatest rental: The Princess and the Warrior

This is one of those bizarre cases where I stumbled across a movie via its soundtrack. You know that nightclub music from The Matrix Revolutions? Well, wanting to download more songs by Pale 3, I found out that it's not so much a band as it is two musicians and a film director, and their music is usually found in the movies. All I could find right away was the soundtrack to this movie: The Princess and the Warrior, which I swear I've never heard of before, never heard anybody talking about it, and never even knew existed. It is a gorgeous soundtrack though - very pleasant ambiance with lovely vocals - so I was curious to see how the music fit into the film, and what kind of experience it would be (my interest was further compounded when I saw that this film is not a fantasy or historic film, as the title would suggest, and it comes from the same dude who made Run Lola Run).

As expected, the music does indeed contribute to the overall experience, and it is a fairly unique experience overall. The film is pretty well-made and stylish, with a pacing that's mellow (maybe a bit too slow for some viewers), a vibrant color scheme, and a lot of well-composed scenes. It's a beautiful film at times. It also doesn't shy away from showing some blood when it has to (including a tracheotomy scene; one of the things I personally can't stand watching ). Above all though, the film's composition is subtle enough to allow the story, characters, and emotions to unfold breathe a life of its own.

The story is a really unusual affair; it's like what you get if the style and urban settings of Crash was mashed up with the story of First Knight and a little bit of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. On a fundamental level, the film relies on a pretty standard fairy tale formula, in which you have a princess whose life is saved by a low-class rogue knight, and they fall in love (causing various friction along the way as they do so). In an urban setting, where the world of crime clashes with the world of working in a mental hospital, the film shifts settings and tone often, and it can seem like a pretty weird, perhaps unlikely story. However, the characters are at their most endearing, and are given adequate treatment to make us root for them.

With quality photography and editing, the film looks great. All of the actors put on great performances. The writing gets the job done, but probably could have used some fine-tuning. Sets, props, and costumes look decent. There are a few special effects used, and haven't necessarily aged that well. And, of course, the music by Pale 3 is lovely.

I went into this film for the style (and music), and came out admiring the combined quality of the film, the characters, and their emotional struggles. I find it strange that after 14 years, the film seems to have fallen into total obscurity, despite garnering its fair share of good reviews back in the day. It does have its haters too though, as folks might dismiss this as a bore or some kind of pretentious nonsense. If you do run across it though, I do encourage giving it a shot.

And, of course, the soundtrack is recommended, if you do run across it.

4/5 (Experience: Good | Story: Good | Film: Good)

Recommendation: Sure why not?

So...what are the chances of a Blu-Ray...?

[Spirit Zero]

Brüno (2009)

The third and final film of Cohen's main trio of characters he created for the Ali G show on TV. After the disappointing movie of Ali G Cohen wisely opted to stick with the plot formula that he used for his second film Borat which was a success. Like Borat this film is again a series of cringe-inducing sketches/setups strung together by a flimsy plot which doesn't really matter, its all about the embarrassing sequences dotted throughout.

The story follows Brüno as he travels to America to try and become the biggest gay star or celebrity ever in any way possible. There is only one other character along for the ride and that is his assistant 'Lutz' who was created for this film. So the plot has a familiar core in that once again Cohen's absurd character is travelling to the States to basically humiliate himself in any way he can...unknowingly on purpose.

This film is exactly the same as Borat's film in structure and execution basically, both characters follow their TV roots as we see familiar setups in various locations. Brüno is mainly set in and around LA, I think, as we see him attempting to become the latest hot thing on the scene. As you would expect much of this consists of hugely embarrassing and awkward scenes where he tries to make his own chat show pilot and gets upset at the focus group reviewing it, interviewing and trying to seduce an American politician (Ron Paul) who angrily storms off after Brüno takes his pants down in front of him and a fantastically funny scene where Brüno visits a spiritualist and mimes performing oral sex on a dead gay ex-lover.

But wait there's more, Cohen takes it even further this time as his character adopts a black baby and goes on an American TV show which just happens to be full of African Americans. He then exposes parents of child models by asking what they are willing to allow their kids to do for a gig, unbelievably these parents will seemingly allow their kids to do anything as long as they get the gig! Nazi uniforms anyone?. Of course this being the wild US Cohen can't resist the old deadly trio so easily found in America...homophobia, racism and American jingoism or extreme patriotism, and Cohen goes for the throat.

Its so easy to offend someone in the US with homosexuality...especially when two half naked men are trapped together in bondage and roaming the streets. Then again going to Christian faith gay converters and trying to chat them up won't help you're case much either, neither will going on a hunt with a bunch of redneck hicks and sexually harassing them whilst flirting with one of them. The best bit has to be the cage fight match where Brüno and Lutz face off against each other but end up making out in front of an enraged southern redneck crowd! Makes you wonder how they got out of there alive.

But wait, there's even more!! not only does Cohen upset the Yanks he also flies to Jerusalem to upset his own people! The sight of all these religious folks faces as Brüno swans around in his revealing camp attire is hilarious and the moment he is chased down the road by some Hasidic Jews (or very touchy religious Jewish folk at least) is mind boggling. How much of these sketches are real is difficult to tell in all honesty, whilst in the Middle East Cohen's character supposedly upsets a Mossad agent and a Palestinian terrorist leader (asking to be kidnapped!) which you'd think could be a very dangerous thing to do in reality. So it does beg the question was it real or setup? you kinda get the impression it wasn't quite as genuine as the US based stuff.

As you all know the character of Brüno is homosexual (did you notice?) so the film heavily features a lot of homosexual jokes, visual gags and naturally the obligatory bits of nudity. Where as in some countries like the UK you could probably get away with much of this stuff as the general public would probably just laugh at it, in the US its very different and Cohen knows it. Manipulating Americans seems to be Cohen's forte and he does it so well.

I think this film is probably the best out of the three personally, its much more riskier and certainly more in your face with all the homosexual references (full on cock n balls in your face actually). Many of the sequences are very funny, very offensive, very clever and very daring...we all know Cohen has balls of steel. As with all of Cohen's work its not gonna be everyone's cup of tea that's for sure, if you didn't enjoy Borat then this isn't gonna change your mind about Cohen. The film can come across as more homophobic than anything at times, so it depends on whether people can look past that. On the other hand if you liked Borat (and to a lesser extent Ali G) then this is you're lucky day as this is bigger bolder and badder than ever before.

7.5/10

[Darth Marcus]

My The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Review

[Spirit Zero]

Cutthroat Island (1995)

Now this was back in the day when Renny Harlin was still a reasonably good director of sorts, think hard. This was also a time when Geena Davis was still a famous-ish star with her own action vehicles, remember her?. For this bombastic pirate adventure she teams up with the American version of Cary Elwes in Matthew Modine and together they sail the seven seas blowing the shit outta everything...this must have influenced Michael Bay's little brain in ways we can't imagine, oh wait.

So Geena Davis is the daughter of a pirate who betroths to her a treasure map on his deathbed which shows Cutthroat Island to be a treasure island. Guess what! off she goes to find this treasure with her fathers scurvy band of errrrrm...cutthroats, aboard her fathers ship. Oh and there are some other pieces of the map to find first naturally, whatever. But what pirate flick would be complete without a scenery chewing baddie to pursue the hero/heroine, I swear could this film be anymore cliche? (don't answer that).

Batten down the hatches mateys...errr, etc...It strange to think this film actually bombed as it did because in all fairness its virtually no different from the now famous Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Yeah it is! take a gander, both films have plenty of massive action set pieces including sword fights, jungle antics and galleon battles, of course you have a wide variety of dirty ugly crew members, the dashing hero and the sultry heroine both of whom are a dab hand at sword fighting, side kicks, monkeys, treasure and various olde worlde nautical pirating names for things. This film plays out very much in the same way as the overblown Depp franchise with similar characters and similar visuals, heck had this not failed then I'm sure we would have had similar sequels too. 'PotC' definitely followed suit from this film I have no doubt, the difference being star power, backing and timing I guess as the plots aren't too dissimilar really. 'PotC' became a convoluted haphazard of a franchise over time, at least Cutthroat was straight forward.

Where this film does fail in my eyes is the fact it feels just like a regular action flick that just happens to be set in the 16th Century. Davis the heroine goes around kicking everyone's ass whilst getting out of some of the most audacious scrapes you ever seen since Milla Jovovich went up against some musketeers. The whole thing starts off OK and you can accept the fact there's gonna need to be some suspension of disbelief required but Jesus Christ! things go from being semi reasonable to totally outrageous as the invincible Davis virtually back flips her way through the film. But nothing here feels genuine, you could take all of it and stick it in the present day and you wouldn't notice a difference, the period setting is just for visual kicks.

Everything just feels so setup and false its terrible, the visuals on the whole are average at best. It all seems to vary depending on the scene, most of the port/building set sequences, either interior or exterior, just look like what they are, sets ready to be blown up, burnt down or wrecked. You can almost see the props ready to go, you can certainly see stunt doubles and safety harnesses. The location sequences do look good as you'd expect with sunny locals and they add much needed authenticity.

Where the film does deserve praise are the well constructed ships we see. Now despite the ludicrous ship battles where cannons are fired by the shit load yet no damage is seen, the ships themselves do look pretty good. The highlight of the entire film being the moment one ship is blown to smithereens which does look impressive if I do say so myself. I won't linger on the fact that our two heroes dove off that ship just as it explodes which I'm pretty sure would cut them to pieces with flying debris and big ass splinters.

There's no real tension or excitement because you know who's gonna die and who's gonna survive. The fact that Davis is the butch hardass heroine (not particularly sexy at all) and Modine is the weaker bumbling love interest is possibly about the only semi decent aspect in the film really. Modine has those classic Errol looks but he isn't the classic dashing hero really, he needs rescuing most of the time in a neat role reversal which sees him as the damsel in distress of sorts. I mean yeah its nothing major in terms of a plot twist but its at least something in a sea of cliched action crap.

Most of the other cast/crew members are your stereotypical salty dogs, most have beards, scraggly long hair, some are bald, the token big black tribal guy, a bloke seems to have Maori tattoos on his face which was quite cool admittedly, eye patches, the odd wooden leg and one guy seems to have a retractable chain for an arm which seems out of place. Then you have the British who...well what do you think, they are all exactly like the British in 'PofC'. The only real stand out character must be Langella as the baddie pirate 'Dawg Brown' (yep that's his name). Now Langella is clearly having a ball as he chews up every scene he's in with gusto. It actually gets to a point where Langella is over acting so much, having so much fun as he growls, barks and roars with evilness, that situations become comedic pantomime in nature. Langella is virtually beating his chest as he looks up to the skies in one scene, its hilarious! but not good for the films tension really.

This really is your typical predictable action blockbuster that doesn't offer any kind of real tension thrills or excitement because we all know the very obvious outcome before its even started. Its like 'Waterworld' in the sense that its purely and simply all about effects and big stunts yet nothing more, the whole film could easily be a spectacular Universal Studious live show (just like 'Waterworld'). At no point do you ever really care about any character or their adventure because its all a cliched rollercoaster, did you really think Modine or Davis' characters would get killed off? or any of the main pirate crew cast? hell even that little monkey makes it.

This film really reminds me of the mid 90's and a time when very simple dumb cloned action flicks still got cinema releases (*cough!*...'Broken Arrow'?...*cough!*) . They were all the same kind of spiel but in a different location or merely with a new duo in the lead roles, same idea, new face combination. The plot and dialog is nothing more than filler simply moving us from one big setup to the next, and what dialog we do get is loaded with God awful snappy quickfire quips that make you cringe. The only one damn thing this film didn't manage to include and pillage was the most iconic visual pirate cliche ever...a parrot.

'Bad Dawg!'

3.5/10

[Astro Zombie]

My review of 'Neighbors'

[Al_The_Strange]

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I: The Egg of the King

Of all the stories I've read and seen, none have captivated and enthralled me more than the Berserk saga. Not only is the action and bloodshed incredible and epic, but the characters are among the most endearing, and provide a solid pathos to drive the story into unpredictable directions. It's a saga deeply steeped in primal myth and mysticism, the likes of which is rarely seen in fantasy fiction. It's also a saga that's notorious for its liberal violence and sex, but these aspects are rarely frivolous, and often times they actually help move the plot. Kentaro Miura's manga has emerged as my top favorite story, and the 1997 anime series was a faithful and engrossing adaptation. However, the show was cut off after just one season, leaving so much untapped potential from the numerous other story arcs.

The Egg of the King is the first in the line of a new, revamped series of films, promising to bring the full story of Berserk to life. It's a short film, crammed full of rip-roaring bloody action. The film breezes through several of the story's classic moments, covering the same ground as about half of the '97 series. It moves fast and furiously with its fair share of visual elegance.

However, it is far from a perfect adaptation. Just over an hour long, the show cuts out huge swathes of the story. Some subplots are understandably excised, but a number of character-building moments are lost, and the most important aspects of the plot suffer for it. You'd never guess that Guts and Griffith become best buddies in this film, and the lack of pathos tragically undermines the entire story, because it is the most valuable asset of the original story. What we're left with is a short flick where everybody goes through the motions. The plot still makes the bare minimum of sense, but newcomers to the series may be bewildered.

To make matters worse, the animation is pretty odd-looking. It's comprised of a type of 3D computer rendering, making most characters appear like they came from some kind of video game. Stuttery frame rates make the show appear pretty gaudy. But there are times when the show looks great, so it's a rather uneven experience. On the plus side, the sharpness, color, and textures of the show are phenomenal, and the designs for all the characters, settings, props, costumes, and creatures are true to the source. Voice-acting is great. The music doesn't really do much for me personally.

Berserk is a great story that deserves to be told in full, but this film is pretty skimpy. It's probably best recommended to fans who are already familiar with the story and characters, but if you're new to the franchise, you might as well start with either the manga or the '97 series.

3.5/5 (Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Average | Film: Average) Decreased from 4.5/5 (yeah, the hype is totally dead).

Recommendation: As a rental. If you do check it out, stick with it, because parts 2 and 3 get better.

On Blu-Ray, this show looks good, save for some banding that I think is pretty easy to ignore. Sound quality is phenomenal, but this is one of those films with some very low dialogue and really loud fight scenes and shouting.

PQ: 4/5, AQ: 5/5

[Al_The_Strange]

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II: The Battle For Doldrey

The latest adaptation of my favorite story didn't get the best start; the Egg of the King had plenty of bloody action and visual elegance to satisfy, but it proved to be sadly anemic with the story. In the Battle for Doldrey, the narrative magic of Berserk finally sinks in. There's still plenty of huge fights and battles with liberal bloodshed, but the film is longer and much more evenly-paced. It's finally assumed the right ratio of style and substance, and both are pretty satisfying.

As mentioned above, the action is as gory and fast-paced as ever. Fans should be most thrilled to see the big 100-man fight, and the actual Battle for Doldrey, all animated at breakneck speed and with no shortage of blood spray.

The biggest draw of Berserk, however, is watching the story unfold, and the turn of events is consistently captivating in this chapter. The film covers a lot of ground. Even through this volume is a bit longer than the last one, it still skimps out on a few subplots and minor details. However, the film does relay all the necessary plot points to drive everything in a logical direction, and the characters start to shine a little better than before. The relationship between Guts and Griffith is still a bit lacking, but the relationship between Guts and Casca seems to take the spotlight consistently. There are a few liberties and embellishments to this film, but they seem to enhance the experience overall (I was personally intrigued to see glimpses of characters from future story arcs - Puck and Farnese - and I thought the scene with the king

[Show spoiler]whipping Griffith

at the end was brilliant). Despite a few flaws, I feel that this storytelling is getting on the right track.

The film's quality seems to be slightly improved as well. Everything still has that weird CGI look, but the action moves smoothly, textures and colors are phenomenal, and the film looks decent overall. It's nowhere near as troublesome to watch as the first film. Designs for the sets, props, costumes, characters, and monsters are still great. Voice acting is great. Even the music seems better in this.

A little something might still be missing, but the second film of the new Berserk film series is pretty satisfying in my eyes. If you're a fan, it's well worth a look.

4/5 (Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Good | Film: Good)

Recommendation: As a rental.

The Blu-Ray is the same as the above.

PQ: 4/5, AQ: 5/5

[Al_The_Strange]

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III: Advent

It has all led up to this. Anybody who knows the story of Berserk knows that the end of the Golden Age arc is the paradigm shift of the overall story, which sets the characters in bold new directions and brings the plot into full circle. And it does so in the most messed-up way possible; the sheer amount of bloodshed and tragedy is jaw-dropping.

Although the last two entries in the new Berserk saga have been rather lacking, Advent makes up for the whole thing by doing solid justice to this integral part of the story. As expected, the story rolls ahead at an even pace, before unveiling the demon-pocalypse and becoming an onslaught of intense gore (and, of course, there is some pretty graphic sex involved too).

Best of all, this film really takes its time way more than the last two films. Coming close to two full hours, the movie covers the same ground as the last few episodes of the '97 anime (or, volumes 8 - 13 of the manga). The film doesn't bother with Guts' time away from the Band of the Hawk, but those scenes are not really missed; the film picks up with the events one year later, and it continues on to hit up all the important plot points aptly. Characters are at their best here, and the film even takes the time to include key moments not included in the '97 show (such as showing the Skull Knight, showing the ruins of the older kingdom, and including an epic fight with Silat). Even after the harrowing scenes of the Feast, the film continues to show the aftermath, effectively rounding off the story arc and paving the way for the next chapter. In the end, we finally get to see the birth of the Black Swordsman, and the start of his quest for vengeance.

The film still has its moments of crummy CGI, but not nearly as gaudy-looking as the last two films. Most of Advent looks great, with awesome colors, textures, and movements. Designs for the settings, props, costumes, characters, and demons are still top-notch. Voice-acting is smashing. Music is okay.

The payoff for the Golden Age arc of Berserk is an inherently dark and grim turn of events, which may be too much for some viewers, but the film adapts these events admirably. I now have high hopes that, if the series maintains this same quality of storytelling and animation, the Conviction arc could be awesome.

5/5 (Experience: Perfect | Story: Very Good | Film: Very Good)

Recommendation: As a rental.

Once again, the Blu-Ray is swell.

PQ: 4/5, AQ: 5/5

[Walts Ghost]

'Godzilla' Review

"The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in our control... and not the other way around."

It’s been sixteen years since Hollywood tried to bring Godzilla to the big screen, in the 1998 Roland Emmerich film, Godzilla, starring Matthew Broderick. For many, the film was everything that was wrong with the Americanization of films from other countries, and everything wrong with giving a popular property to someone who has no understanding or care about what makes the property work. But a lot of time has passed, and the dust has settled, with many letting the film drift quietly out of their memory. Enough time has passed that Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures decided to bring back the King of the Monsters in the biggest way they possibly could, and this time, they had help from director Gareth Edwards, someone who really set out to make a movie that fans, and audiences, could rally behind, while paying homage to what has come before. Gone are the cheesy stock characters and one liners, and the over excessive CGI, and in its place, we find a a story of man vs. nature, family, and redemption, all against the backdrop of the emergence of something that has been hidden from humanity, and the fallout it can cause.

When a series of different seismic activity readings begin to register in Tokyo, Japan, Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) begins to worry about the safety of his nuclear power plant, and the people in surrounding areas. But as the quakes get worse, it destroys the power plant, killing many. Consumed by guilt, Joe begins to research the event, determined to discover the real cause behind the plant’s destruction, which he believes has been covered up. The years pass, and Joe has lost contact with his now adult son, Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who sees him as crazy. But when Joe is arrested in Japan, Ford is forced to reconnect with his father to bail him out of prison, and is thrust into the middle of his father’s delusions. As events begin to unfold, Ford realizes that his father may not be as crazy as he thought, as a monster begins to emerge that threatens the safety of those around the world. With the help of Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe), Ford, as well as the the US military, set out to stop the new MUTO that has emerged, but there are bigger forces at play, and they may need to stay out of the path of Godzilla, as nature sets its own actions in motion.

There’s so much to love about this new film, it’s hard not to admire the ambitions and goals it has. For a film of this scale, it’s actually surprising that so much time is spent on the buildup of the world, and the characters that inhabit it. It’s very reminiscent of films like Jurassic Park, Jaws, Alien, and King Kong (2005), that are all about creating atmosphere, tone, characters, and a slow build up before unleashing the creatures inside. In a time when cinema has been more about the quick reveal, without the build up, it was actually refreshing to have slow boil film that sets the stage. Director Gareth Edwards wanted to make sure that the film had characters audiences would care and connect with, and he uses the opening forty five minutes wisely for that reason. Thankfully, he has a cast that is up to the challenge. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, best known for his role in the Kick-Ass film series leads the cast, and he’s quite good as Ford. He’s been through a lot in his life, but he still cares and wants to help people, and he really does have a heard of gold, something that his wife, Elle, played by Elizabeth Olsen, makes sure he never loses sight of. Olsen and Johnson have great chemistry together, and it’s hard not to love their small family. They’re really the emotional core of the film, and without them, it wouldn’t work nearly as well. But it’s really Bryan Cranston and Ken Watanabe who steal the film. Cranston is so good as Joe, a good man who was forced to make a horrible decision, and one that has taken its toll on him over the years. Cranston plays the roll with earnestness, and he commands the camera when ever he’s in the film. There’s so much talent in this man, and it’s amazing to think it’s only recently really been tapped into. Watanabe is fun as well as Ishiro, a man who knows that man has gotten full of themselves, and that they just need to let nature take is course. He tries to be the voice of reason to a world, and a group of people, who just don’t want to listen, and he’s faced with the horrifying notion that man may destroy itself, or destroy nature, all under his watch.

Edwards himself has really put a strong film together. While at times the dialogue may be a bit cheesy, and the story may seem a bit cliche, it’s the love for the material that really gives the film its strength. Instead of making a film that was all about the CGI and destruction, he doesn’t overload it, letting it progress naturally, so audiences don’t feel fatigued by the time the third act begins. In fact, that third act alone stands as a strong reminder to filmmakers that sometimes less is more, and taking your time to meet the ultimate endgame is completely worth it. While we get spurts of action throughout the film featuring Godzilla and the MUTO, it’s really the third act that takes the film to the next level. The way that Edwards handles the Kaiju action is incredible, and he brings the King of the Monsters back in a way that we’ve only ever dreamed of. Godzilla is a shear force of nature here, fearsome and tough, and the most intense he’s ever been. There’s a real sense of danger when he’s around, and not necessarily because he means to harm anyone, but because he’s literally an animal who is on the hunt, and he won’t let anything stand in his way. The film also features a pretty good score by Alexandre Desplat, that effectively sets the mood of the tone, but it’s nothing that will stand out and be remembered down the line. The only thing that really felt off about the film, overall, was that as the monsters descend onto San Francisco, and the battle has more than well begun, we still see people in office buildings and in other places, while the city has already begun evacuating. With all the chaos happening, you’d have to think someone had alerted people by now, what is happening, or they’d at least hear the commotion.

What could have been nothing more than a cash grab attempt with a highly recognizable name character, Godzilla proves to be one of the best summer offerings in a long time. It’s got a throwback feel, with a slow boil buildup until chaos is unleashed, while giving us time to make sure we care about the people in the film. Bolstered by some excellent performances across the board, and an incredible third act that keeps you on the edge of your seat, director Gareth Edwards has brought Godzilla back in the biggest, meanest, and most impressive way he possibly could. The time of the monster movie is beginning to return, and Edwards, with Guillermo del Toro, who directed last year’s Pacific Rim, may be leading the charge. This isn’t your grandfather’s Godzilla, this is even better.

8/10

Review

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

'Godzilla' Review



Review

Can't wait to catch this in IMAX in two days

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Can't wait to catch this in IMAX in two days

Hope you enjoy it, man.

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Can't wait to catch this in IMAX in two days

But Walt likes everything, so don't get too excited...

[Show spoiler]Kidding, Walt, I swear...

[Al_The_Strange]

Great to see some good reviews for big G.

Probably won't be able to see it for another week or two.