Last movie you saw.

[Bear 1817]

Cool. Have had Danger 5 on my watchlist forver now. Been planing to watch it, but I never got as far for some reason.

 

 

Also, I decided to see the Harry Potter series as I had only seen the four first, and was keen to see the rest as well.

 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - I watched this a time after it came out, and I was not impressed at all. The second time I was probably even lesser impressed with it. But today I actually thought it was OK. Not great, but allright entertainment and a decent enough start, even though I am not tempted at watching it again anytime soon. The child actors seems to lack confidence and direction, the special effects are godawful and looks bloody cheap, and the plot and done of the film ain't all that good. Decent start, but nothing too memorable at all and the climax is poor as fuck. 5/10

 

 

 

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - This is an improvment on every lever IMO. Despite having a smaller budget, it looks twice as expensive and twice as good as the first one. It makes the Sorcerer's Stone look like a b-film to be quite honest, and that is quite an achievement. But the best thing about this is the darker tone of the film and the plot, which is a lot better and feels more like a proper adventure film, whereas the first one felt moe like a family fantasy film. But the child actors are way better as well, and they seem both less stiff and much more confident in themself, and that's very nice. The special effects are a ot better too, but not all that impressive anyway. But at least nto annoyingly bad like in the first one. And it has a great climax. 7/10

 

 

What I think is weird is that despite being in the same series of films, the both of them seem to be aimed towards a different audience than the other. I think they did right by going in a darker direction.

 

Really looking forward to the next now as I remember the next one being fantastic, and the fourth to also be very, very good, though a bit weaker.

 

 

 

 

Also, keep in mind that I have not red the books, so I don't know the tone of the books or how they are (the teacher read the two first one back when I went to school a thousand years ago, but I can't remember much at all)

[Tokage 5930]

3-Iron by Kim Ki-Duk. Once again proof that South Korea is pretty damn great at making movies. Over the course of the whole movie the two main characters have like a total of two or three whole lines of dialogue shared between them, but that doesn't matter. Based on what I've seen by him so far, Kim Ki-Duk always succeeds at making his films feel like a poetic experience and this one is no different. Rec'd to anyone who wants to have an interesting film experience, although it might feel a tad draggy at times.

[Bear 1817]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Just like the Chamber of Secrets was a massive improvement on the Sorcerer's Stone, the Prisoner of Azkaban is again a massive improvement on the Chamber of Secrets. Both the characters and the plot gets more complex, it gets hella lot darker and the younger actors once again grew massively in their roles. Looking confident at what they're doing, and playing with more passion than before. Gotta like that. A great film, simple as that. 8/10

 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - A bit of a letdown after the Prisoner of Azkaban, but a good film nonetheless. Feels like a mix of the lighter adventure of the Chamber of Secrets and the darker adventure of the Prisoner of Azkaban. It's not as well-paced as the Prisoner of Azkaban, but other than that ist's almost up there with it. I don't buy the romance, though. It comes off as very artificial in the film, and that is the film's biggest weakness. But it's very enjoyable! Some parts of this film can even be classified as horror, and it has a lot in common with the satanic 70's horrors. I'm not even shitting you. It's great. 8-/10

[Bear 1817]

I've had a bit of a marathon today, spending something like 10 hours on Harry Potter. When saying it like that I have to admit I come off as sadly pathetic, but my girlfriend's been gone for half a week and I've had the chance to just watch a shitload of films for once so I'll forgive myself.

 

 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Again, a huge improvement on the last film. This time they've even gogten most of the CGI right - and with right I mean allright. Still some awful CGI, but more often than not decent enough for me to overlook.  Action-packed, lovely cinemathography and fantastic acted by everyone. Not sure why this gets so much stick to be honest. Also, this is pretty much a film for older teens and adults. What a change from the first one which is a childs film. Darker, rawer and more complex. 8/10

 

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Well, what can I say? Even better than the last one. Visually stunning, for most part that is, and it's got great cinematography. Acting is better than ever and it's just a fantastic film. Once again darker, rawer and more complex than the last one. Beautifully shot film, btw.. 8+/10

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - Way slower, and for a change it's not better than the previous one. A bit weaker I'd say, but the actin are once again much better than the last. It's a bit of a slow-burner and it''s basically a huge build up. While it does suceed at building tension, excitment and whatnot, it doesn't manage to prepare you for what were to come... 8/10

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - Here we are at the end of the franchise, and what a way to end the series. Absolutely fantastic, and the only thing I disliked was the "heaven" part. I mean, the way it looked. But other than that, fantastic! So much better than the rest of the films, and all the younger actors has grown up to become proper actors who really knew what they were doing. Class! 9/10

 

 

Wel, I am happy I decided to have a go at this series again having only watched the four first from before. What a fantastis series it was. Lots of great acting, but my favourites throughout the series are Michael Gambon, Ralph Fiennes, Brendan Gleeson, Gary Oldman, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. Emma Watson was the worst of the young actors in the two first films, but suddenly she rose and got great. She ended as the best of the young ones I'd say.

 

And I love Clémence Poésy. Christ, what a girl.

[Bear 1817]

Bronson - This is the weakest of all of Nicolas Winding Refn's films, but it's still a very good fictional biographical drama with a MASSIVE Tom Hardy in the role as Bronson.  Charles Bronson / Michael Peterson. That is a fantastic performance, and an Oscar worthy performance as well. Classy, believable and crushing. One thing I love though is the fact that it has Nicolas Winding Refn written all over it. That's awesome, and this guy know how to make goodfilms with lots of character. It's easy to see that it's a Nicolas Winding Refn-film. Quality!

 

Big Ass Spider! - A potential fantastic giant-monster film ruined by poor CGI. If this was made in the 50's-60's it would've been an amazing film, because the special effects back then, even in small budget films, looked cool. But this has poor CGI and it sucks. But it's a great film other than that. A fine mix of giant-monster and buddy cop-film, with a fantastic Lombardo Boyar in one of the leads. This guy steals the show from the minute he stepts onto the sceen. But the title kinda tells you all you need to know about the film. Big Ass Spider!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

The Doom Generation - A friend of mine recommended this director Gregg Araki for me to check out, this was my first taste. Pretty fun nihilistic, bit nonsensical / weird teenage roadtrip kinda movie in a twisted way. Awesome visuals. All in all, cool stuff (also dat soundtrack).

 

Mysterious Skin - Another one by Mr. Araki, this one is newer and way more serious in tone. Totally disturbing but beautifully presented and executed. Kinda heartbreaking story actually. I loved this one too, so def gonna seek out more of his works.

[indigo 389]

Youth Of The Beast - Directed by Seijun Suzuki who directed 40 films in 11 years between 1956 - 1967 and about a dozen films after that. This movie is considered to be his breakthrough. The plot is similar to Yojimbo and A Fistful Of Dollars but this time it's set in the yakuza world. Violent, stylish and highly entertaining, just the way I like it!

[Bear 1817]

Yeah, Youth of the Beast is great. You just gotta love Jo Shishido. Fantastic actor.

[Bear 1817]

Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons - Stephen Chow, best known for his kult-films Kung-Fu Hustle, and to some degree Shaolin Soccer, returns with a loose re-interpretation of the novel Journey to the West, a Chinese literary classic written by Wu Cheng'en. It's got great action, fantastic adventure-feeling and lot of humor, but despite all these great features I just can't help but feel as if it should've been done a lot better. There's lots of CGI here, and it looks awful. Everything in the film is so well-made and powerful, except for the lackluster CGI. That really ruins the whole experience for me. A potential 8/10 drawn down to 6/10 because of awful special effects. Such a shame.

 

Both leads, Shu Qi and Wen Zhang, are fantastic.

[Bear 1817]

American Hustle - Jesus, what's all the fuzz about? Mediocre at best, and it's rarely at its best. Uninteresting douchebag characters which I wanted to just die already through the whole film, it's way too long and Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper are overacting so much it becomes a bit sad actually. Not was both Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams mistcast, but neither comes close to being believeable. Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K. and to some degree Christial Bales does allright, but that's basically it. The direction is pretty good, but it lacks feelings, charm and looks kinda uninspired IMO.

 

I wonder how much money people got paid under the table not only to nominate this film and make a big fuzz about it, but to also make it win plenty of awards. Jesus.

[Bear 1817]

In a World... - A dramacomedy about a girl who wants to become a voice-over girl and do voice-overs for trailers, but the voice-over occupation is male-dominated and she's having a hard time getting there, most of all because her dad is one of the best there ever was. The plot is good and the whole feminism-thing is real feminism, not what way too many known as feminism today, the acting is good and the direction is very good. But the characters are less good and the script is lackluster at best. It just doesn't come off as believeable, and it is lazy written. The sublot with betrayal is awful. You don't even get the time to blink before it's over. It's a waste of time.

 

But with that said, this wasn't awful, and director-writer-leading actor Lake Bell shows potential with her first feature lenght. Looking forward to her next film.

[indigo 389]

Cold Fever - Road movie about a japanese guy who travels to Iceland to perform a memorial(?) ritual on a river where his parents drowned. He has to travel across Iceland to get to the ricver and all kind of shit happens and the people he meets are interesting to say the least... Some things seemed a little absurd to me but that just made the film funnier. The main character did a decent job and the landscapes were beatiful. nOT BAD.

[Bear 1817]

Man of Steel - Absolutely dreadful. I can't find a single thing about this film that's actually good. Everything from the poor script to the boring directing to the dreadful acting to the aaaaaaaaaaaaaamazingly poor special effects suck. This is down there with Catwoman, Daredevil and The Dark Knight Returns as the worst superhero films ever. Well, down there with the worst films ever. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit film.

[indigo 389]

Crows Explode - Fuck yeah! I have been waiting to see this for a long time. It was directed by Toshiaki Toyoda who's one of my favorite Asian directors. He's faithful to the first two Crows movie, uses same theme song, filming places etc. but brings his own flavor in too. The plot is pretty much the same again, high school delinquents beating the shit out of each other. The main cast is completely new but there's a few familiar, minor characters. I wouldn't have minded some more substance or development to the characters, though. But the movie looks very good visually and it's bad-ass. That's all I was hoping for. This is quite straight-forward for a Toyoda movie but it's nice to see him do something good again because his previous movie was a little underwhelming.

 

Blues Harp - A movie about an ambitious yakuza small-timer and drug-dealing, harp playing bar tender who become friends. And they are in opposing clans. A yakuza movie that's more focused on the characters than action, but there's some of that too. The first ~5-10 minutes are great and the rest ain't bad either. Good camerawork all around.

[Youko_o 51]

God Bless America. I think it's a great movie cause at the same time it has humor on it, it makes people think about how idiot and superficial they are. I had a great time watching it.

[sai 868]

Man of Steel - Absolutely dreadful. I can't find a single thing about this film that's actually good. Everything from the poor script to the boring directing to the dreadful acting to the aaaaaaaaaaaaaamazingly poor special effects suck. This is down there with Catwoman, Daredevil and The Dark Knight Returns as the worst superhero films ever. Well, down there with the worst films ever. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit film.

 

GOD FUCKING THIS. The script and dialogue felt overly cheesy, the pacing of the story was terrible and the action scenes at the end weren't that exciting either. Just breaking down a few buildings isn't going to make an action scene. Probably the worst Superman (and DC) movie I've seen myself. Here's hoping Batman vs. Superman will be better, though I actually have more hope for Wonder Woman that's planned for 2017 lol.

[Bear 1817]

I have no hopes for either to be honest. Zack Snyder haven't done anything good since 2009's Watchmen, and he's just getting worse with each film. He's lost his touch. I really like Wonder Woman, and I like Gal Gadot a lot. But judging from the pictures of her as Wonder Woman, she looks awful. Her clothing looks like some poor, teenage goth shit, and she just looks weak. Lynda Carter looked looks a bit weak as Wonder Woman in the series from the 70's, but it's a good-hearted, campy TV-series which doesn't take itself serious. That's why it works. It's the same as with Adam West's Batman. He's weak as fuck and doesn't look like Batman as far as his physique goes, but it's a campy series which is why it works so well.

 

So yeah, no, no expectations for me. I just don't see it work well, especially not Wonder Woman. But I hope I am mistaken. But she'l need to bulk up, or instead she won't pass as Wonder Woman.

 

Also, I expect both to be 110 minutes of CGI wanking. Ew.

[sai 868]

I totally agree with you about Gal's physique. While I do like Gal Gadot, I think that she doesn't have the right body type for the role as of now. I understand that Hollywood prefers a certain body type on women but you can't let a size 32-34 girl play Wonder Woman, unless she's properly muscled. Wonder Woman is a warrior with wide shoulders, muscled arms and firm thighs. She's always been like that and I absolutely adore Wonder Woman so unless Gal is required by directors to muscle up I'm going to feel a little bit awkward about her appearance as such. I'm not that big on the uniform either. I mean if both Batman and Superman keep sporting their original uniforms, why can't Wonder Woman?

[Bear 1817]

Considering the dark tone that these recent superhero films have got I can understand why they want something darker than her most known, flashy uniform. If I were to choose I'd go with this one:

 

 

It screams Wonder Woman and it is sexy, but isn't very flashy, so it wouldn't look out of place or anything. Maybe with dark blue pants.

 

The new Wonder Woman costume looks like Xena to be honest.

[Bear 1817]

I watched the extended version of both The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey only had something like 12-13 extra minutes, and most of it wasn't of very high value. But it did help the pacing a lot, and the meeting with Elrond changed the tone of the film drastically. So yeah, I liked it. But if I had owned it on DVD/Blu-Ray already I wouldn't have bought it again before I found it used, so a very low price.

 

Other than that, still a good film, and sady still one of the visually ugliest films I've ever seen.

 

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug however had something like 25 minutes extra, and this is exactly what an extended version should be like. A massive improvement from the regular version. The meeting with Beorn, Gandalf in Dol Guldur and Gandalf and Thorin at the Prancing Pony should never have been cut, especially not the meeting with Beorn. It's snacks for fans of the book. Awesome! Better pacing, a cooler overall tone, and despite being 25 minutes longer, it felt 25 minutes shorter than the regular version.

 

Great film and such an improvement from the first one. Better visually as well, but still way too plasticy for my taste. But this is a great film!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Interstellar - I was really looking forward to seeing Mr. Nolan's sci-fi epic and epic it was! Maybe a bit too overly dragged out and sentimental at parts but overall it was a very enjoyable and touching experience. The space shots and sequences were great and the tension and anxiety (mixed with wonder) of feeling so lonely and small in the universe really came through. Fantastic music as well that really elevated the atmosphere! I was afraid that they'd put in some time travelling bullshit but thankfully they wrapped all the things up in a surprisingly good way. Highly recommended.

 

John Wick - "Oh great, another dark action-thriller flick where the hero is a retired [insert violent profession here] and must come back cuz THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL" is what I initially thought upon seeing the trailer, but it was a totally cool movie. Keanu played the total badass title character out for vengeance nicely / appropriately and the action scenes were super rad. Bonus points for having no unwanted romantic subplot, minus points for actually being a bit tiresome after a while (I can only take so much action, heh). Recommended tho! (oh and extra bonus point for featuring some new Marilyn Manson music! song was kewl and dark-bluesy in the vein of his last album kinda)

[indigo 389]

Confession (2014) - One of the better movies I've seen this year. It's about three best friends since childhood and that's all I'm going to tell. It's a movie best enjoyed if you don't know anything about it. The story grips you from the start and it never feels boring. It is quite dark too. 8/10

[Flame-X 441]

John Wick

Saw this movie today and it was one of the most satisfying action flicks I've seen this year. Very simple story about a retired hitman getting revenge for his dog.

 

I'm definitely gonna see Interstellar tomorrow. Also quite excited for the upcoming movie, Exodus.

[beni 2149]

Alien

Pretty unusual when I rewatch a movie but after hearing about the death of the original alien concept artist, I felt the need to watch the movie again after watching the trailer. And my god is it legendary. Seriously, what a gem. About a spaceship crew attempting to escape from the extraterrestrial creature which, literally, just wants to breed with us humans. xD I wasn't scared while watching it, but it's just so creepy and eerie and executed so brilliantly I was mesmerised from the start to end. I'm not all up for any sexual undertones but damn was H.R. Giger one freaky alien lover. Anywho, If you haven't watched it already, what are you doing? GO NOW!

[Bear 1817]

The Sword in the Stone - Rewatched this today. Ages since last I saw it, and it's still a fantastic film, and one of the most underrated Disney films ever. The story is great and the characters are great, but the animation god damnit. Few times have the world seen animation as fluid, organic and fantastic as this. It's a pleasure to the eye. Really is.