Film Reviews - what have you seen lately, what did you think?

-THE DUDE-

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Saw Frozen 2 a couple weekends ago...not as good as Frozen but there were some catchy tunes...the 80s style power ballad by Kristoff was simply a masterpiece
 

TheDouglas78

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Have not seen them, wouldn’t be opposed to it now.

.

They are awful, but some are awful in a good way. Don't expect great cinema, it's like if you took the quality of the original Shaft and Shaft 2 took them down a 50 levels.
 

GatorJ

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They are awful, but some are awful in a good way. Don't expect great cinema, it's like if you took the quality of the original Shaft and Shaft 2 took them down a 50 levels.

Weren’t we watching one of them 20 years ago? And Dolemite has to swerve from being hit by a mic boom?
 

Theologator

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Anybody seen 1917 yet?

Watched it tonight. Gripping and gritty realism of the trenches and other particular horrors of that war. The story is compelling. It is filmed as a continuous shot, as though you are right with the protagonists.

I’ve done some reading recently that noted how WWI shocked western civilization with its brutality and futility, trashing the “myth of progress.” (The civilized world grew to believe that everything was on an evolutionary upswing, making war obsolete.) the depiction of “No Man’s Land” and the trenches illustrate that crash if you’re alert to it. I suspect someone unfamiliar with WWI would think it about a particularly bad spot in the battle rather than the years-long mess it was.
 

TheDouglas78

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Weren’t we watching one of them 20 years ago? And Dolemite has to swerve from being hit by a mic boom?

Yes, axel and I had watched 2, 3, and a really bad Shaolin Monk one (thanks Netflix)
 

JDW

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Frozen 2 was a straight to DVD type of movie that must have been big for merchandise
 

Detroitgator

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Anybody seen 1917 yet?
I went to see it yesterday.

I realize that I am jaded on these (not in the nitpicky detail way, just in the general way), so I'm writing this in a "pre-jaded" way! ;) Because let's be honest, no movie can capture smell and filth and adrenaline and fear and horror... we ain't there YET in the 4D and beyond movie experience!

It is beautifully filmed and the attention to detail is great. The whole "single take" effect is pretty amazing too. It should win all kinds of awards for that kind of stuff. The first third of the movie had an odd side-effect for me given how they did the "single take." For that first third of the movie, I totally felt like I was flashing back to playing the original Game Cube versions of Call of Duty and Medal of Honor games with Sons #1 and #2, when you were in "campaign mode" and each time you finished a section of the game, the game would take over when you "met" an "in game character" that would look at you and talk at you and lead you around to the next stage/mission. It wasn't a CGI thing, it was that the effect tried to make you feel like you were with them, but I felt like I was in a video game. Not a bad thing, it was just a strange effect for me. That "issue" resolves itself with a plot turn.

I don't want to say anything else about the story, cuz it would ruin things. I could add a bunch of nitpicky detail things that don't fall into "jaded", but would fall more into "they didn't have a good military adviser like Saving Private Ryan" for the things the soldiers did. I'm talking about things veteran soldiers (and they were) would not do, but I think they did it for the audience so that "we" would see more things.

All in all, it's a really good movie worth seeing, especially on the big screen. You'd need at least a 65" TV to do it any justice. It really is a "2 man Saving Private Ryan" story line set in WWI, so novel in that way and the way it was filmed, but I would still put Saving Private Ryan WELL above this, but it is good, shot differently than any other movie you've seen, and visually very well done.
 

gingerlover

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Wife and one of the kids was out of town and it was just me with the other one and time to catch up on a few things thanks to Redbox, my DVR and Disney +.

Zombieland 2[/B][/U] - Same cast as before and same plot basically. Zombie's are evolving and they are starting to meet more survivors while keeping their family unit together. The young girl runs off to meet people and it becomes a rescue mission. This movie fell victim to what many comedies do in the sequel. They try to hard. When you have to try to hard to be funny you probably shouldn't have made the movie to begin with. Its descent and is enjoyable at times, but nothing special or must watch. 6/10

Joker[/B][/U] - Came into this with a lot of expectations due to the hype and was left feeling a little underwhelmed. I think part of it comes into the whole lets rewrite Batman's origin again to fit into this movie type thing. Maybe they will play this as an alternate universe. As a stand alone and it being about a man's descent into madness it is really good. If it is meant to be something that plays into a larger universe it is a little different than what we want. I guess we have to wait and see what they do in the future and if these are just meant to be films on their own. Honestly they should have just left the Wayne's out of it and i would have liked it better. 7/10

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood[/B][/U] - Tarantino once again with another period piece that bends the rules of history. this is done extremely well. I really enjoyed this movie and the outcome of classic over the top Tarantino. Not sure if I would say Dicaprio or Pitt had the better performance, but everyone in the cast down to the smallest part did a fantastic job. 9/10

Aladdin (Disney +) - The live action one with a little twist on it to stand out more. It was far more enjoyable than I imagined it would be. 6.5/10

Rocketman[/B][/U] - Not saying it wasn't a good movie, but I found myself doing many other things during this without the need to pause it. The music is great and is a descent movie, but much like the one about Queen I wasn't feeling this was a monumental moment in film. 6/10

Jay & Silent Bob Rebooted - By far the one that surprised me the most and the bar was pretty low. I watched these movies in my younger years (high school & college) and always enjoyed their stories and connected universe. However as time went on I grew out of the stick of Jay and Silent Bob because what loser you find funny at 16 isn't as funny at 38. That being said they did a tremendous job of maturing and expanding the two main characters beyond what I thought was possible. Don't get me wrong they are still stupid and there is plenty of dumb in this movie, but if you have seen the movies you will see how they have grown the last decade.

The film centers around them loosing the rights to even call themselves by their names and after meeting with some past characters go to stop the movie, again. They stop by Jay's old girlfriends house and find out he has a daughter, but swears he won't tell her the truth as they make their way to Hollywood. you then watch him grow into someone who could take on the responsibility of being a father and leaving some of what made him a selfish loser behind. The best part of the movie is when they meet up with Ben Affleck's Chasing Amy character and the speak he gives basically summing up what the theme of the movie is about, which is once you have kids you stop trying to be the hero of the story and instead become your kids number one fan as you watch their story play out and their dreams come true. A level of wisdom these movies have not shown since Chasing Amy.

At the end of the day if you ever watched these you will probably enjoy it. If you know nothing about this connected series (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Clerks II) then this will probably not be anything you will enjoy. For me it was a shocked 7.5/10.

Also if you are a Clerks fans pay attention to a small revelation in one of the credit scenes showing an answer to something that has plaughed Randall for 25 years.
 
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TLB

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Darkest Minds (2018)

Premise is kids start having powers, they are classified according to what type of power (Greens are highly intelligent, Blues have telekinesis, Gold have electrokinesis, Reds have pyrokinesis and are used as attack dogs by the bad guys, and Orange have psionic mind control power). Everyone's afraid of them, and our central character discovers her powers over the course of the story. All kids are rounded up by gov't for rehabilitation camps (screening for reds as warriors, oranges to be terminated immediately for everyone's safety). Our core group of kids runs from the gov't, gets chased by bounty hunters, mixes with an underground resistance of escaped kids, and rub shoulders with 'The League' which is trying to save kids from gov't and turn them into fighters to fight back.

Actors do fairly well with the roles, plot doesn't go real deep, several explosions (not Michael Bay level, but acceptable for the premise). Teens, so not a lot of ooh-la-la eye candy. Ultimately, it feels like a less frantic version of Maze Runner or yet another remake on the Divergence type story. And, like those, it's the first in a series of books, so sequels will be floated about. Like the others, there is a high likelihood sequels will only appeal to fans of the book who will ultimately be disappointed, and for the rest of us we should have stopped after the first film. 6.5/10, no boobs, find a better use of your time (only watch if you're like me and determined to watch some films regardless of quality).
 

Gator By Marriage

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I went to see it yesterday.

I realize that I am jaded on these (not in the nitpicky detail way, just in the general way), so I'm writing this in a "pre-jaded" way! ;) Because let's be honest, no movie can capture smell and filth and adrenaline and fear and horror... we ain't there YET in the 4D and beyond movie experience!

It is beautifully filmed and the attention to detail is great. The whole "single take" effect is pretty amazing too. It should win all kinds of awards for that kind of stuff. The first third of the movie had an odd side-effect for me given how they did the "single take." For that first third of the movie, I totally felt like I was flashing back to playing the original Game Cube versions of Call of Duty and Medal of Honor games with Sons #1 and #2, when you were in "campaign mode" and each time you finished a section of the game, the game would take over when you "met" an "in game character" that would look at you and talk at you and lead you around to the next stage/mission. It wasn't a CGI thing, it was that the effect tried to make you feel like you were with them, but I felt like I was in a video game. Not a bad thing, it was just a strange effect for me. That "issue" resolves itself with a plot turn.

I don't want to say anything else about the story, cuz it would ruin things. I could add a bunch of nitpicky detail things that don't fall into "jaded", but would fall more into "they didn't have a good military adviser like Saving Private Ryan" for the things the soldiers did. I'm talking about things veteran soldiers (and they were) would not do, but I think they did it for the audience so that "we" would see more things.

All in all, it's a really good movie worth seeing, especially on the big screen. You'd need at least a 65" TV to do it any justice. It really is a "2 man Saving Private Ryan" story line set in WWI, so novel in that way and the way it was filmed, but I would still put Saving Private Ryan WELL above this, but it is good, shot differently than any other movie you've seen, and visually very well done.
Mrs G and I went to see this last night and enjoyed it very much. (Of course, I enjoy any movie that I can see at a Movie Tavern - recliners, beer, food, and wide aisles - and it was $5 Tuesday!) You pretty much hit all the highlights, but my two biggest "this" comments to your post would have to be the effect of the "single take" and the advice to see it on a big screen. Definitely glad I saw it in a theater - and we have a 70" TV!
 

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