Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched
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I thought it was pretty downhill from the bus fight. There were a couple funny jokes and bright spots but I think for a fighting movie those scenes after the first were underwhelming. I honestly kinda spaced out in the big CGI dragon fight. I could barely see what was going on and it felt weightless. I think Hollywood really undervalues practical effects and how they keep the audience engaged. I honestly would have preferred slower big animatronic monsters. At least it would have felt like Shangchi was actually standing on something real. The story was just..fine I guess.
It's gonna be blasphemy to say this, but I "enjoyed" black widow more even if in context it was a less interesting, lower budget film.
Shang Chi - 8/10
A few minor issues, mainly concerning some of the compositing on some of the bigger animals in Te Lo but otherwise my family and I really enjoyed this. It was not life changing, perspective altering or anything like that but I got to sit with my family and smile and laugh and even cheer. So mission accomplished movie. Though I did want to see this at cinemas in retrospect it was better I didn’t since it was more subtitle heavy than I expected and my grandfather and mum can’t follow them so I’d have to have been reading them.
A few minor issues, mainly concerning some of the compositing on some of the bigger animals in Te Lo but otherwise my family and I really enjoyed this. It was not life changing, perspective altering or anything like that but I got to sit with my family and smile and laugh and even cheer. So mission accomplished movie. Though I did want to see this at cinemas in retrospect it was better I didn’t since it was more subtitle heavy than I expected and my grandfather and mum can’t follow them so I’d have to have been reading them.
I liked that too, though I like the effort more than the result. Naturally, it helps that of the main cast, four of them are native speakers (Michelle Yeoh being the exception and it shows, along with some of the dialogue with some of the minor characters), but I think it resulted in something that goes over the audience's head at times. There's a lot of cultural nuance in a fair bit of the Mandarin dialogue which the subtitles don't convey (or can't in some cases because having a paragraph long caption for a ten character utterance is obviously impractical).
I describe the story as... petty. It felt pretty insubstantial to me. I'd've preferred for Little Tony to be the primary antagonist in a different story altogether since the Dweller-in-the-Darkness set up was rushed and underdone with an unsatisfying pay-off. Much as I liked the characters in general, little in the film allowed them to stand out amongst the others of the MCU.
I wouldn't know anything about that (I wasn't even sure if Mandarin was being spoken lol) but that cultural nuance wouldn't have existed in the first place if they hadn't made this choice. I think it's completely fine if that part of the movie was something extra for the Mandarin speakers.
Red Notice on Netflix.
I have officially run out of patience with Ryan Reynolds. The exact same character for the nth time. I also can no longer excuse Gal Gadot. She really just cannot act.
Terrible.
I have officially run out of patience with Ryan Reynolds. The exact same character for the nth time. I also can no longer excuse Gal Gadot. She really just cannot act.
Terrible.
The Last Duel, 6-7/10
This is a Ridley Scott film based on the historical event of the last legally sanctioned duel in 1300s France. It's a multi-POV recount of events concerning the alleged rape of the wife of Jean de Carrouges played by Matt Damon. His wife (Jodie Comer) is accusing Jacques le Gris (Adam Driver), a former friend but increasingly rival of Damon's character of raping her. The central conflict is that Damon's character has decided the matter to be settled by trial by combat, and if he should lose, his wife will be burned alive at the stake. The story is played from the points of view of all three characters, all of whom have different recollections and perceptions of not just of what happened, but of each other as people in general.
It's pretty good. If you've seen Kingdom of Heaven, or Robin Hood, or Gladiator, then this will feel familiar: the production values are outstanding, there's a lot of emphasis put on the griminess and dirt of the time period, and Scott makes no compunctions about what a shithole world he's depicting. The acting is quite good, with Ben Affleck of all people being the standout as a drunken, immoral lecherous c(o)unt. Characters that are heroic and noble in their retelling of events are disgusting misogynistic pigs in another's, but it's done quite subtly, sometimes to a fault. Despite it addressing very topical and timely subject matter, for the most part it avoids being on the nose and hamfisted. There are some stunningly uncomfortable to watch scenes, but that's just a testament of how well done they are.
It's also quite long, almost to the point of feeling indulgent, and could definitely lose some of the fat. The beginning is definitely the worst part of the film, and I feel it starts at the entirely wrong scene. The film takes like half an hour to even get to the inciting incident, before that it's basically just a montage of de Carrouges' shit life and how he's always knocked down from his aspirations. In retrospect it feels quite weird that we're given the longest recount of events from de Carrouges' POV, because later POVs put his character, and therefore also recount, entirely into question. There's a fair bit of battle scenes and politics that don't really flow that well. 10 minutes in I'd already forgotten what year the main event was even happening, because the film speedruns through like 15 years, showing a new year on screen like every 7 minutes. It also feels rather repetitive in parts due to how similarly it shows the same things happening from every main characters' POV.
Overall I enjoyed it, but it could be a lot better: I feel it could be 15-20 minutes shorter, and the structure could be tightened up a bit. But I'd say it's worth watching if you don't mind the usual Ridley Scott flab in places.
Edit: forgot to mention that this movie has the best poster I've seen in ages. It's so simple, yet so perfectly conveys the core idea of the movie: that women in the film's world are immaterial. They exist only as they are defined by men around them, and only matter when they get involved in the squabbles and pissing contests of men, often to a violent end. Whoever designed that poster deserves a frickin' raise.
This is a Ridley Scott film based on the historical event of the last legally sanctioned duel in 1300s France. It's a multi-POV recount of events concerning the alleged rape of the wife of Jean de Carrouges played by Matt Damon. His wife (Jodie Comer) is accusing Jacques le Gris (Adam Driver), a former friend but increasingly rival of Damon's character of raping her. The central conflict is that Damon's character has decided the matter to be settled by trial by combat, and if he should lose, his wife will be burned alive at the stake. The story is played from the points of view of all three characters, all of whom have different recollections and perceptions of not just of what happened, but of each other as people in general.
It's pretty good. If you've seen Kingdom of Heaven, or Robin Hood, or Gladiator, then this will feel familiar: the production values are outstanding, there's a lot of emphasis put on the griminess and dirt of the time period, and Scott makes no compunctions about what a shithole world he's depicting. The acting is quite good, with Ben Affleck of all people being the standout as a drunken, immoral lecherous c(o)unt. Characters that are heroic and noble in their retelling of events are disgusting misogynistic pigs in another's, but it's done quite subtly, sometimes to a fault. Despite it addressing very topical and timely subject matter, for the most part it avoids being on the nose and hamfisted. There are some stunningly uncomfortable to watch scenes, but that's just a testament of how well done they are.
It's also quite long, almost to the point of feeling indulgent, and could definitely lose some of the fat. The beginning is definitely the worst part of the film, and I feel it starts at the entirely wrong scene. The film takes like half an hour to even get to the inciting incident, before that it's basically just a montage of de Carrouges' shit life and how he's always knocked down from his aspirations. In retrospect it feels quite weird that we're given the longest recount of events from de Carrouges' POV, because later POVs put his character, and therefore also recount, entirely into question. There's a fair bit of battle scenes and politics that don't really flow that well. 10 minutes in I'd already forgotten what year the main event was even happening, because the film speedruns through like 15 years, showing a new year on screen like every 7 minutes. It also feels rather repetitive in parts due to how similarly it shows the same things happening from every main characters' POV.
Overall I enjoyed it, but it could be a lot better: I feel it could be 15-20 minutes shorter, and the structure could be tightened up a bit. But I'd say it's worth watching if you don't mind the usual Ridley Scott flab in places.
Edit: forgot to mention that this movie has the best poster I've seen in ages. It's so simple, yet so perfectly conveys the core idea of the movie: that women in the film's world are immaterial. They exist only as they are defined by men around them, and only matter when they get involved in the squabbles and pissing contests of men, often to a violent end. Whoever designed that poster deserves a frickin' raise.
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I love how the movie ends with Moses coming down from the mountain with the tablets, signifying the start of something great, when in the Bible this is the part where he returns to everyone debauching themselves like there ain't no tomorrow and he smashing the ten commandments.
It's also a little iffy when you think about how the death of a couple thousand children is followed up with 'Yay, we're free! Happy times!'
Witch Hunt
(Prime Video)
Verdict / feelings: Perfectly acceptable and passable film that feels like it's straining against it's confines to be something more but never manages to get there.
Trailer:
Review bit:
Witch Hunt feels like the introductory film laying the groundwork for an as yet non existent franchise; it feels like some-one took a YA novel series, filmed only part 1, and said "Yeh but can we make it a bit more brutal?" The answer to that being yes but the film sitting at a 15 rating is now probably just starting to step outside of the normal YA fictional target age range. What the film does well is lay out a lot of the world building for a simple premise, what would the USA be like if it turned out Witches were real? The film spending much of it's 97 minute runtime showing the world, the impact of witch craft being real and the mechanics of how things work. The film using Witches as a sort of allegory to illegal immigration only in this world people want to cross the border wall into Mexico where witchcraft isn't banned while in the USA the 11th amendment differs from our world in that it makes it illegal to practice witchcraft.
The story follows Claire and her family as she has to lead a sort of double life, at highschool having to deal with her asthma attacks essays and witch testing such as witch mark investigations and sinking tests and trying to seem to the outside world that she's a good patriot who hates witches while at home her mother operates basically an underground railroad safehouse keeping Witches safe until they can be helped to cross the border into Mexico. All this in a world where Claire is bombared with the politics about proposition 6 (in the films world something akin to the patriot act where the children of accused and convicted witches would be heavily monitored and their activities controlled).
(Prime Video)
Verdict / feelings: Perfectly acceptable and passable film that feels like it's straining against it's confines to be something more but never manages to get there.
Trailer:
Review bit:
Witch Hunt feels like the introductory film laying the groundwork for an as yet non existent franchise; it feels like some-one took a YA novel series, filmed only part 1, and said "Yeh but can we make it a bit more brutal?" The answer to that being yes but the film sitting at a 15 rating is now probably just starting to step outside of the normal YA fictional target age range. What the film does well is lay out a lot of the world building for a simple premise, what would the USA be like if it turned out Witches were real? The film spending much of it's 97 minute runtime showing the world, the impact of witch craft being real and the mechanics of how things work. The film using Witches as a sort of allegory to illegal immigration only in this world people want to cross the border wall into Mexico where witchcraft isn't banned while in the USA the 11th amendment differs from our world in that it makes it illegal to practice witchcraft.
The story follows Claire and her family as she has to lead a sort of double life, at highschool having to deal with her asthma attacks essays and witch testing such as witch mark investigations and sinking tests and trying to seem to the outside world that she's a good patriot who hates witches while at home her mother operates basically an underground railroad safehouse keeping Witches safe until they can be helped to cross the border into Mexico. All this in a world where Claire is bombared with the politics about proposition 6 (in the films world something akin to the patriot act where the children of accused and convicted witches would be heavily monitored and their activities controlled).
While initially not a fan of the family helping Witches Claire starts to get to know two new arrivals a girl her own age who is mildly "in tune" with genes that give witchcraft powers and her little sister who is massively in tune with said genes. Due to the Bureau of Witch Investigation catching the man helping smuggles witches across the border the Fiona and Shae end up with Claire and co longer than expected allowing Claire and Fiona to bond as friends talking about films with Fiona having very little knowledge of them having been on the run since her bother was burned at the stake for witchcraft leading them to risk going out to a bar where a strange feak feat of magic bring unwanted attention. This escalate when strange visions Claire has been having cause her to end up on the roof of the family house and the commotion gains the attention of ultra patriotic witch fearing neighbour who sees Claire fall and a strange puff of smoke happen before she hits the ground causing her to land unharmed.
I really enjoyed just the level of detail that went into explaining the world but also not explaining magic. As an example the Bureau of Witch Investigation testing old rumoured ideas about witches being unable to sink but with the twist of the girls tied to the chair having aqualungs attached to allow them to be kept under but not die because no-one in the modern world would accept massive numbers of young girls being drowned. The BWI agents stand by with shotguns that contain a shells that are filled with rock salt which stops witches powers working should any girl float to the surface while till shackled to the chairs though ready to take the women to witch detention camps and it's implied to then execute them. The BWI also employing witch hunters which are said to be able to hear activity of witchcraft but it's revealed can actually feel or hear pressure changes cause by magic use and has lead to the more modern reliable pocket pressure gages to be used by said hunters to detect magic and witches. It's also a world where they come up with an idea, which I wish they'd done more with, of films being censored to remove themes of witchcraft with a suggestion from one character that in the films world the film Thelma and Louise was actually censored because the true ending was they're revealed to be witches and use their power to make their car fly as they drive off the cliff. One of the aspects the film leaves ambiguous but can be assumed to be salt water is Claire's inhaler as the obvious thing being Claire actually being a witch, a very powerful one but not having had her powers really fully manifest with the inhaler somewhat suppressing said powers and her asthma attack being her powers trying to manifest in moments when she feels stressed or is around other possible witches with their powers willing hers to manifest.
The films theme kind of ends up almost as a sort of self parody of Hollywood itself however as while the rest of Hollywood has been busy changing red heads into people of colour Witch Hunt has red heads be it's mostly metaphorical stand ins for illegal immigrants or descendants of them with red hair being linked to the idea of possessing witchcraft genes. So yes this is a film where red headed women are literally persecuted and people in society with red hair stigmatised somewhat for having it due to the perceived link to witchcraft in a time where it could be perceived Hollywood is replacing red heads due to some weird sort of stigma in the industry against them.
The true problem with the film though it's it's a 97 minute run time with 60 minutes of that basically spent on world building and the last 30 being where the plot really starts kicking in with revelations about characters and somehow leaving a number of dangling plot threads as it races towards the end such as (Spoilers): Ok so Claire's Dad's family live in Mexico and Claire only witches can apparently cross the wall so does that suddenly mean there are men with the Witch gene as it's implied her father is there? It seems like a plot hole when all throughout the films it's only ever been implied women can have the powers. Also Claire mother hears the witchcraft activity similar to how Claire is shown to but Fiona (who has a weak connection) doesn't hear it at all but it's also specifically stated Claire's powers come from her Fathers side so how come her mother can hear it? It feels like the film was going to do something more with that maybe her mother being revealed to have been from a line of witchhunters now turned good or something but it doesn't seem to have the time to go there before it's over. .
I can say at least for what I'm guessing is quite a low budget film it doesn't feel bad with it being clear a decent bit of budget was saved for special effects that aren't perfect but are serviceable to pretty good while also mostly avoiding all the worst inclinations and aspects of normal indie film making: This is a film which does re-use some footage but mostly to good effect; it has shots linger but not too long cutting them just before it starts to feel self indulgent and it doesn't have long sweeping filler shots showing massive landscape vistas that look impressive but often add little of real substance to films other than make pompous critics mistake filling time for deep moments meant for contemplation. This isn't a film you'll walk away from wowed but it is one you may walk away from going "Can I have some more of that please but with like 20% more less slice of life world building and 20% more things actually going on the drive a plot forward."
I really enjoyed just the level of detail that went into explaining the world but also not explaining magic. As an example the Bureau of Witch Investigation testing old rumoured ideas about witches being unable to sink but with the twist of the girls tied to the chair having aqualungs attached to allow them to be kept under but not die because no-one in the modern world would accept massive numbers of young girls being drowned. The BWI agents stand by with shotguns that contain a shells that are filled with rock salt which stops witches powers working should any girl float to the surface while till shackled to the chairs though ready to take the women to witch detention camps and it's implied to then execute them. The BWI also employing witch hunters which are said to be able to hear activity of witchcraft but it's revealed can actually feel or hear pressure changes cause by magic use and has lead to the more modern reliable pocket pressure gages to be used by said hunters to detect magic and witches. It's also a world where they come up with an idea, which I wish they'd done more with, of films being censored to remove themes of witchcraft with a suggestion from one character that in the films world the film Thelma and Louise was actually censored because the true ending was they're revealed to be witches and use their power to make their car fly as they drive off the cliff. One of the aspects the film leaves ambiguous but can be assumed to be salt water is Claire's inhaler as the obvious thing being Claire actually being a witch, a very powerful one but not having had her powers really fully manifest with the inhaler somewhat suppressing said powers and her asthma attack being her powers trying to manifest in moments when she feels stressed or is around other possible witches with their powers willing hers to manifest.
The films theme kind of ends up almost as a sort of self parody of Hollywood itself however as while the rest of Hollywood has been busy changing red heads into people of colour Witch Hunt has red heads be it's mostly metaphorical stand ins for illegal immigrants or descendants of them with red hair being linked to the idea of possessing witchcraft genes. So yes this is a film where red headed women are literally persecuted and people in society with red hair stigmatised somewhat for having it due to the perceived link to witchcraft in a time where it could be perceived Hollywood is replacing red heads due to some weird sort of stigma in the industry against them.
The true problem with the film though it's it's a 97 minute run time with 60 minutes of that basically spent on world building and the last 30 being where the plot really starts kicking in with revelations about characters and somehow leaving a number of dangling plot threads as it races towards the end such as (Spoilers): Ok so Claire's Dad's family live in Mexico and Claire only witches can apparently cross the wall so does that suddenly mean there are men with the Witch gene as it's implied her father is there? It seems like a plot hole when all throughout the films it's only ever been implied women can have the powers. Also Claire mother hears the witchcraft activity similar to how Claire is shown to but Fiona (who has a weak connection) doesn't hear it at all but it's also specifically stated Claire's powers come from her Fathers side so how come her mother can hear it? It feels like the film was going to do something more with that maybe her mother being revealed to have been from a line of witchhunters now turned good or something but it doesn't seem to have the time to go there before it's over. .
I can say at least for what I'm guessing is quite a low budget film it doesn't feel bad with it being clear a decent bit of budget was saved for special effects that aren't perfect but are serviceable to pretty good while also mostly avoiding all the worst inclinations and aspects of normal indie film making: This is a film which does re-use some footage but mostly to good effect; it has shots linger but not too long cutting them just before it starts to feel self indulgent and it doesn't have long sweeping filler shots showing massive landscape vistas that look impressive but often add little of real substance to films other than make pompous critics mistake filling time for deep moments meant for contemplation. This isn't a film you'll walk away from wowed but it is one you may walk away from going "Can I have some more of that please but with like 20% more less slice of life world building and 20% more things actually going on the drive a plot forward."
You could pay Rob Schneider to dub over all her lines and it would still be better than her acting.
The Eternals - 9/10
I loved this down to its bone marrow. The scope, the visual designs, the globe trotting on location shooting. And man the Celestials themselves are awesome, just these giant and primordial beings that can hold a world in their hand almost.
And I also have a feeling of vindication - admittedly for an opportunity long gone by - about thinking Angelina Jolie making a great Wonder Woman back in her heyday. Because pretty much all her scenes as Athena (one of Diana’s patrons in her original origin) show that she could have done it and been magnificent.
I loved this down to its bone marrow. The scope, the visual designs, the globe trotting on location shooting. And man the Celestials themselves are awesome, just these giant and primordial beings that can hold a world in their hand almost.
And I also have a feeling of vindication - admittedly for an opportunity long gone by - about thinking Angelina Jolie making a great Wonder Woman back in her heyday. Because pretty much all her scenes as Athena (one of Diana’s patrons in her original origin) show that she could have done it and been magnificent.
Well guys, I finally managed to watch it.
I've watched The Original Trilogy of Star Wars, WITHOUT the Special Edition changes.
With Han Shot First, No Jabba the Hutt scene, No CGI Mos Eisley in A New Hope
The Original Actor and Voice for the Emperor in that Hologram scene and the original voice for Boba Fett in Empire Strikes Back.
And none of that GOD AWFUL CGI alien music number and no Hayden Christensen Force Ghost at the end of Return of the Jedi
What do I think in the end of all this?
...Despite everything said against the Special Editions and said in favor of the Original Theatrical Cut....this was still the same movies. Like George Lucas made some glaring changes yes, but in the end its still the same movie structurally.
Return of the Jedi is still the weakest movie of the Trilogy because of the sheer wasted opportunity that the original script had. It was going to be set in Kashyyyk with the Wookies being enslaved to build a new Death Star and Chewbacca would have rose up to lead a Wookie rebellion on the ground, BUT NO we get Ewoks.
But I can still say it was worth watching how the movie original look like especially the small details I do appreciate.
As for the individual films, I think the movie that benefited the most from the lack of special edition changes was A New Hope. Because it was the most blatantly used in that movie.
I've watched The Original Trilogy of Star Wars, WITHOUT the Special Edition changes.
With Han Shot First, No Jabba the Hutt scene, No CGI Mos Eisley in A New Hope
The Original Actor and Voice for the Emperor in that Hologram scene and the original voice for Boba Fett in Empire Strikes Back.
And none of that GOD AWFUL CGI alien music number and no Hayden Christensen Force Ghost at the end of Return of the Jedi
What do I think in the end of all this?
...Despite everything said against the Special Editions and said in favor of the Original Theatrical Cut....this was still the same movies. Like George Lucas made some glaring changes yes, but in the end its still the same movie structurally.
Return of the Jedi is still the weakest movie of the Trilogy because of the sheer wasted opportunity that the original script had. It was going to be set in Kashyyyk with the Wookies being enslaved to build a new Death Star and Chewbacca would have rose up to lead a Wookie rebellion on the ground, BUT NO we get Ewoks.
But I can still say it was worth watching how the movie original look like especially the small details I do appreciate.
As for the individual films, I think the movie that benefited the most from the lack of special edition changes was A New Hope. Because it was the most blatantly used in that movie.
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The movie cuts out a LOT from the book. It only follows roughly the first half of the first book, but no joke they cut an entire other 2 hour movie worth of plot and story.
Dune is one of those stories that doesn't really work as a movie because its such a dense book, and even the smallest details come back in the later stories. So cutting something will eventually lead to confusion later.
The biggest problem for me is the set up to the ending. James Bond has been temporarily reactivated as an agent, but he is basically a civilian with a partner and daughter, so it was totally and absolutely the new 007's job to go back, open the blast doors and deal with the villain, not his.
He’s also a bloody minded control freak with a more than substantial vengeful streak. I agree it’s not the most pragmatic of choices but it is one I can see him making. It may also be a weirdly subtle acknowledgement that for all his earlier paternal fury he still thinks more like an operative than a parent.
- Feb 7, 2011
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Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn): Hot garbage/10.
This is the first time in a long time I couldn't sit through a movie and had to turn it off because I found it too grating to keep watching. I mean, I didn't like [the academy award winning] Suicide Squad either, but at least I was able to finish that movie before calling it a trainwreck. This thing is inexcusable though. How the hell does this have a 60 on metacritic?
This is the first time in a long time I couldn't sit through a movie and had to turn it off because I found it too grating to keep watching. I mean, I didn't like [the academy award winning] Suicide Squad either, but at least I was able to finish that movie before calling it a trainwreck. This thing is inexcusable though. How the hell does this have a 60 on metacritic?
While sales were average for the box office with COVID not helping, most people saw it as a decent or big improvement over SS (2016). BoP has been vindicated by DVD/Blu Ray, Cable, and Streaming. I know the home video sales were better than expected, and BoP was the most streamed movie of HBO Max's first year. So there you go.
- Feb 7, 2011
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- 118
- Country
- 'Merica
- Gender
- 3 children in a trench coat
It is not a big improvement over Suicide Squad. I would struggle to call it any kind of improvement at all.