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

TLB

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Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2018)

The first was awesome (pun intended) and I really wondered how they'd pull together a second one. Rather than stick to the same lego world this one sought to break through to a somewhat alternate reality where some of their characters had gone, and our hero sought to save them. For adults, we could see the alternate reality and how it was coming into play, but it wasn't overbearing. The move overall struck me as trying to play itself out as a kids film, and at the same time as an adult level film (there were A LOT of references to catch if you were looking), but it felt like it tried too hard to operate on two levels at once rather than focus and deliver a solid overall film. There were a lot of moments where old tropes where revived from the first film, which was enjoyable and at the same time helping you transition to the current film with the old connection to the characters. All in all, it felt like something was missing while they were trying to provide twice what you expected. Good film for kids and adults of all ages. If the first was a 9, this falls to 8 or 8.5, so still worth watching.
 

Captain Sasquatch

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Pitt and DiCaprio were amazing. Perfect fit together.

Movie was just too self indulgent for my taste. Long uninteresting story. Does tie up in a fun, comical way and thus lives up to its title.

Just a strange movie. Sort of reminded me of the Coen brothers movie, the Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
I was thinking as I was watching it that it had shades of Scorsese, but that just could have been Leo being in the film. I can definitely see some Coen Brothers-esque things there, as well. The more I think about it as time goes on, the more I like it. I get it if people don't, though (as is the case with pretty much any QT film).
 

BostonGator84

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I watched two music movies this summer, Bohemian Rhapsody and Yesterday. Bohemian Rhapsody was definitely the darker/deeper of the two. Yesterday was cute, a light movie but fun to hear all the Beatles songs. Loved the Live Aid scene of Bohemian. I’d watch both of them again.
 

GatorTruth133

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I watched two music movies this summer, Bohemian Rhapsody and Yesterday. Bohemian Rhapsody was definitely the darker/deeper of the two. Yesterday was cute, a light movie but fun to hear all the Beatles songs. Loved the Live Aid scene of Bohemian. I’d watch both of them again.

Watched Bohemian Rhapsody a few weeks ago, it was incredible.

Also, don't know if anyone has mentioned Disney's Penguins (their Earth Day movie this year), but unless you really like penguins, I found it so-so. Granted, I haven't seen one of these films before (my wife wanted to see this), so I don't know if Disney shoe-horns a story into all of these. If you want to see the life of a penguin (I think multiple), worth a watch, if not, avoid.
 

Gatorbait25

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Lion king was good . My two year old enjoyed it before he fell asleep. Which of course I was anticipating . Not a bad way to spend a rainy Sunday . It’s a B

Once upon a time was very good . Margot is always great to look at regardless of if the flick is worth a damn . Some foreshadowing with a flamethrower and can of dog food made me chuckle . Probably could’ve been about a half hour shorter , but would’ve clipped Luke Perry’s part in the process . It’s not PF or even IB but it far surpasses Then hateful eight and Django . A -
 

TLB

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Rocketman (2019)

Cheap theater, wife and I were the ONLY ones in there. This means she was able to sing along at full voice throughout. Yay. :waiting:

I don't really care for musicals. At all. Though, knowing all the songs, and liking them, made this more palatable. Helping with this concern is that you never are subjected to a full length song, just enough to get the tune; and it's not like an interruption to the film as the tracks generally fit into the story at the point they were inserted. Only last point about all the songs, not ALL are sung by the lead - at times, various characters sang portions (again, it fit) which surprised me given all the songs are created by the lead. The wife and I both thought the actor did a phenomenal job portraying Elton over the years. There are a few other strong characters, portrayed well without coming off as too strong and stealing scenes. The film itself flows well between the songs and the storyline, but it struck me how if you took the songs out none of the scenes dug too deep into the various points in his life. Each of the storyline segments touched different periods, and did well to convey his experience and the characters around him, without getting sunk down too deep. Without the songs, one would likely come away feeling like the film was broad enough, but not deep enough. There are several drug scenes, several gay sex scenes to earn the R rating. The whole thing doesn't feel like it's done to glorify him, but more to convey what it was like to be him, and it does it very well. Only male boobs if you're into that. 7/10.
 

stephenPE

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This is a must watch.............

#11 I have used this one a few times in here and doubt anyone gets it...... two from animal house lots from all the Godfather actors ....... Bogart near the top


I do not agree with the order but they hit Almost all the great ones...........almost.
 

TLB

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Bit of binging over the weekend:

The Equalizer (2014)

Many of us are used to Denzel playing an ass kicker with thoughtful looks, so this role suits him immensely well. The story is one you feel comfortable with given the history of the franchise. They give enough of his background to support his bad assedness, and enough allusion to why he's something of a quiet nobody trying to blend into the scenery. All in all, I felt this was a good watch if that's what you were interested in, as it stayed true to expectations without going overboard or coming up short in any particular area. 7/10.


The Equalizer 2 (2018 )

More of the same, but being a sequel they want to one-up the first, right? That's the mistake. This time around he goes up against some guys of equal skill, and while he's not engaging them directly until the big fight scene at the end, the film does a decent job of blending in a few minor characters to help you care about them a bit and how they fit into his world. Similar level of badd assery, but it just feels a little too contrived, a little too much of a reach for who it sets up as bad guys and how he takes them on. I came away not really disappointed as we so often are with sequels, but still not feeling as rewarded as I was with the original. 6/10.


Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018 )

For those that watched the first film, this is more of the same, but slightly different. We still get our big bad robots to fight the enemy, albeit with a new crop of pilots - notably our main character being the son of the lead who sacrificed himself in the first film. Our villains this time around, well, not to spoil it but they begin as 'drone' robots and they end up releasing some of the Kaiju into our dimension again. Three big baddies fighting the Jaegers up until the boss fight at the end which kinda brings a nice twist to things in terms of the boss Kaiju while also bringing along a new Jaeger for this film. Characters are decent - we learn enough about them and what makes them tick, so I'd say this is better than your usual action flick. Though, the action lives up to what you got in the first film - so if you liked that, you should like this one as well. All told, if you know what you're looking for, this film delivers. Not an awesome MUST SEE, but solid for what it intended to be. 8/10.
 

TLB

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The Nun (2018)

Horror flicks, I like 'em. Haven't watched a good one in a while, so I actually used this to kick off the binging listed above. Trailers looked good for a scare, and the movie itself was set in what appears to be earlier 20th century - not any electronics, per se...then again, it was a super priest sent to backwoods Romania, so... Cast centers on the super priest sent to investigate a suicide at a convent, and he's assigned a young novitiate who hasn't taken her vows yet. There are several references to her 'knowing the background' but when they arrive she has no clue to Romania, the convent, or anything. Later, her 'connection' is revealed to be visions she used to get growing up and the message they consistently sent her. Third wheel is the young fellow who found the body as he delivered supplies weekly to the convent. Plot follows super priest and almost nun into the convent and through some interactions with the remaining nuns who appear to be praying all the time to hold some evil back. Throw in a graveyard scare, some demon powers whooshing about, and the super priest having doubts about a successful exorcism in his past where the demon was vanquished but the possessed young man ended up dying...is that success? Mix it all together, use a grainy camera and a bunch of dark scenes and you get a meh. Not the horror or suspense I was hoping for, then again, I am somewhat jaded on the genre. Still, not a lot of blood and gore, an ok amount of suspense and demonry, but overall you can do better. 5/5.


Hotel Artemis (2018)

Set in an alternate future, where there are a lot of electronic gizmos but California is in the midst of a riot, and you have the Hotel Artemis run by Jody Foster who is showing every damn bit of her age. She does the role well, but man is she aging. Artemis is a refuge for criminals in need of medical care, and Foster is the resident nurse and hotel operator with a set of rules all visitors must abide by - no guns, no attacking other guests, etc. Her right hand man is Everest, played by Dave Bautista who also fits the role of nurse and hotel bouncer quite well. Mix in one guest *******, one female assassin, two brothers from a robbery gone bad, and you have the set up. Then, we have a cop caught in the riot, pleading at the door for help...and she was friends with Foster's son when they were kids, so..Foster breaks the rules and lets her in. Suddenly, the hotel owner is on his way in dire straits, though he and his crew may own the place they also have to follow Foster's rules. Now, all the characters start having overlapping story lines, motives, and interaction which could have been pretty cool if it were pulled off a bit better - not through a fault of the actors, as there is a good cast in general, but because of the writing being weak and not deep enough. You get a decent background on all the characters, but not a whole lot other than with Foster and the loss of her son, so you're following very thin characters through plot twists. Whether you can predict the twists or not, doesn't matter, as they come fairly quick and very lightly, not much of a 'woah' more of a 'meh, ok'. The other BIG name besides Foster is Jeff Goldblum, who plays straight up like he does every other role. When he's confronted with his death and spends 5 seconds trying to bargain out of it...then quickly folds and accepts it...the light really goes on in terms of 'this movie isn't trying very hard'. It could have had a LOT more potential, but failed to live up to any of it. Dialogue, characters, action....all underwhelming. I'll give credit for an attempted twisty-turny plot, but it isn't enough to stand on. 5/10.
 

TheDouglas78

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[QUOTE="TLB, post: 934057, member: 493"


Hotel Artemis (2018)

.[/QUOTE]

Got the feeling from previews it was like the hotel in John Wick, same vibe or different?
 

TLB

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[QUOTE="TLB, post: 934057, member: 493"


Hotel Artemis (2018)

.

Got the feeling from previews it was like the hotel in John Wick, same vibe or different?[/QUOTE]

YES. That's the insinuation I felt, and it was very much like that. Maybe that's why I came away disappointed. This is set in a different reality, and comes off much less impressing than the JW versions. Thank you, I knew my expectations were set high from somewhere.
 

AuggieDosta

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This is a must watch.............

#11 I have used this one a few times in here and doubt anyone gets it...... two from animal house lots from all the Godfather actors ....... Bogart near the top


I do not agree with the order but they hit Almost all the great ones...........almost.


There were more duplicates than just Animal House. There were easily 10 duplicates.

Stupid list but had some very good movies. Order was waaaaay off IMO.
 

T REX

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No IT 2 reviews?

giphy.gif
 

Gatorbreath

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Anyone planning to see the Downton Abbey flick? Or, am I the only one on this board that needs to go get his T-levels checked?
 

Gatorbreath

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Ya can’t check what ya apparently don’t have... just sayin ;)

Fair enough and on the surface, I agree with you.

I don't remember the circumstances under which I started streaming the TV show on Amazon. But I can tell you, inexplicably, I was almost immediately pulled in. And without exception, friends that I recommended the show to, after slinging far worse insults than yours at my manliness, also got hooked. And a couple of these guys are the sort you'd likely not mess with, unless you're carrying.

Give the show a whirl. You may be surprised. Or, I may need to get my T-levels checked. Either way.
 

Theologator

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Saw “It Chapter II” last night because I’d seen the first one with my son and knew he’d want to talk about it. I enjoyed it. They managed to weave humor into horror so that you’re laughing at the thing attacking someone. That’s Pennywise.

And a great cameo by Stephen King.

Got a bit hokey and preachy at the end but overall well done.
 

Theologator

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Anyone planning to see the Downton Abbey flick? Or, am I the only one on this board that needs to go get his T-levels checked?

What a great gift for your wife: tickets for her to take a friend or two to see Downton Abbey.

* Avoid soy.
 

ufgator812

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Saw “It Chapter II” last night because I’d seen the first one with my son and knew he’d want to talk about it. I enjoyed it. They managed to weave humor into horror so that you’re laughing at the thing attacking someone. That’s Pennywise.

And a great cameo by Stephen King.

Got a bit hokey and preachy at the end but overall well done.

Hokey and Preachy how?
 

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