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gavin said:
Transformers: Whatever the New One's Called

I semi-watched the first one years ago, and didn't think much to it. Friends were going this afternoon though, so I tagged along. They wanted to go because a lot of it is filmed in Hong Kong.

two and a half hours of CGI robots fighting.

the dialogue and one-liners are atrocious.

Then there's all the ridiculous product placement

Transformers: Age of Extinction

Here is what I highlighted from Gavin that I agree with. I was cracking up with the product placement, and when I first red Gavin's post, I thought, it can't be that bad. It was so much worse. We get it, Bay does the Victoria Secret fashion show. We get it, Chevy just through money at you faster than their cars turn off in the middle of the road. We get it, China funded MOST of this movie.

But, I enjoyed it because it is exactly what Gavin said, 2.5 hours of CGI robots fighting and explosions, so exactly what I thought it would be. Bad acting, bad script, barely legal teen showing as much skin as possible (not a complaint) and just stupid, ridiculous fun. Why would I expect anything else from a film called Transformers? The first two minutes it was making fun of itself by talking about **** sequels ruining film and nothing original coming out. It was great!

JJ Abrams has a lot of work in front of him to out due Bay's solar flare work there. I'm sure a lot of **** will say it is racist for having a Japanese guy play a samurai. Just stop. If you bitch abut that, bitch about John Goodman being a fat guy too.

Grab popcorn, and check out for 3 hours, and you will enjoy it. They already announced number 5 so start groaning. We can all hope a new director and writer will appear, but I'll settle with writer. Bay can make stuff explode good.
 
Chinese Puzzle

An unusual French film mainly set in New York about relationships and life as a whole. There are some very amusing moments and some which are just bizarre. Overall it felt like the style of the film was a hodgepodge of different ideas and I don't think it worked. Although I didn't really enjoy the film I felt like some of the scenes were great and the ending made me happy.
 
Chef

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Lots of amazing looking food, a nice story which just makes you feel happy and some amusing moments. It may have ended abruptly but I kinda liked that, rather than drag out the film.
 
Tammy

As I expected, it's a stupid and enjoyable movie. But it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There's actually a few good laugh-out-loud moments and a bit of drama in it. Overall I thought it was alright.
 
How to Train Your Dragon 2

It was pretty good really. I think it's probably the most visually impressive animated film I've seen. I can't think of anything better off-hand anyway. Definitely worth a watch.
 
Monuments Men

Anytime you hear passion project, it's a red flag. Add Clooney into that, spells disaster. This was an interesting film, not great, but entertaining.
 
How To Train Your Dragon 2

Not quite as good as the first film but still worth seeing. Started to drift off slightly towards the middle but it soon picks up again and packs quite an emotional punch. Plus it has an amazing soundtrack.
 
Schindler's List

Been looking for it foe years, never finding anyone who owned it, or sold it. Anytime I mentioned I hadn't seen it, people were shocked as my focus was Nazi Germany while getting my degree. I absolutely **** loved it. I'm going to buy it when I find a physical copy, but it was tremendously done. I'm now reading the book, so I'll see how it compares.
 
I've not just been working working working, but also catching up on some film watching.

Where to start..?

The bad..? NoahDull tosh with Hemione still unable to act. To be fair, it's got me interested in the extended biblical universe (keeping in mind it's not a Christian myth), but as a film it was the worst kind of Hollywood balls. 6/10

The worse..? [strike]Fast and the furious[/strike]Need for Speed. Actually, it wasn't as awful as I was expected, but it did its best to live down to my expectations. Obvious, poor plot to cobble together some bad driving action sequences that completely failed to live up to cutscenes from the games. Bland, boring and nothing worth seeing ever again.

The bland..?A million ways to die in the West Sub-standard comedy western (think an unfunny, unoriginal Blazing Saddles) with a Family Guy (R rated) "shock" moment thrown in every 20 minutes to make it "funny". Meh.

The good..? The Zero Theorem. I say good. That's good only if you have taste and enjoy Terry Gilliam films.

It's nowhere near the heady heights of Time Bandits or Brazil (two of my all time favourite films) - but it's in a similar league. Unlike the hugely popular and least Gilliam like 12 monkeys (and which Time Bandits and Brazil capture so fantastically), it's a fantastic satire of the modern day presented through a weird futuristic fantasy.

I love that you can watch the films and have this wonderful snapshot of the current way of life presented as though it's the future. When you watch it back in the future it will seem so out of date, yet will capture the feel and ethos of the era perfectly. Brazil is a brilliant way to understand how it felt to live in the early 80's. Zero Theorem will allow us to look back in 20 years time and laugh at how pathetic our life today is.

On top of that, it's a dysfunctional oddball of a film and brilliant for it. It's so hard to like the lead character, but you grow to pity and love him as the film goes on. It's a superb and subtle transformation.

The biggest issue is GIlliam's permanent flaw - the films are "too real". He doesn't smooth things over or make them "Hollywood shiny". So watching the film is like playing with a cheap plastic toy that you know will break. It's like he does nothing once a scene has been filmed to try and "filmify" it. So things look dated and production values low immediately. It's odd and hard to explain but it's just somehow not professional.

The oddest thing though is how much effort he puts into everything - every tiny detail - yet it still feels cheap.

Anyway, I laughed, I considered getting emotional, I was lost for an hour and half in a wonderful future world that felt too real. 9/10
 
^I really want to see that Phil, it eluded me at the flicks and I keep forgetting it exists, thanks for jogging my memory!
 
I'm really not a fan of his films, I decided to give this a miss after hearing that even he didn't like it! It also looks cheap because it is ;)
 
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes of the City on Earth in a place with trees

I was very pleasantly surprised by RotPotA so I was excited to see this, and it matched my expectations. Visually beautiful. Enjoyable film.
 
peep said:
I'm really not a fan of his films

You suck :p

I think they work for me because I understand the way his mind works and what he's trying to get across - whether he succeeds or not. I guess that's why I'm not a massive fan of Twelve Monkeys. It's his one film that actually works as a "Hollywood movie" and therefore I find doesn't work well for me - it's too obvious and not enigmatic enough :)

peep said:
, I decided to give this a miss after hearing that even he didn't like it! It also looks cheap because it is ;)

The thing is, it isn't cheap. There's so much depth at times it's unreal. Some really great (and expensive looking) stuff going on in the background. Then it's all naff at the front :lol:

tomahawk said:
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes of the City on Earth in a place with trees

I was very pleasantly surprised by RotPotA so I was excited to see this, and it matched my expectations. Visually beautiful. Enjoyable film.

I want to see it, but I'm the only one and don't do the cinema on my own :lol: I half enjoyed the Rise - ruined by some bad casting but generally was actually a decent film. So I'm quite excited about it... Just need to find a partner, I don't think MMF would enjoy it.
 
Watched Wolf of Wall Street the other night (with the missus....)

Anyway, how do I get my brokers license? Excellent film. Intrigued on the full story behind it now. I reckon mcgoughchris could be one of my whipping boys.
 
I enjoyed it until the end and I read a bit more.

I don't have a beef with the the fact he made money and the way he acted (beyond the obvious that he was a reckless tosser).

However, he was found guilty of ripping people off and still owes over a hundred million in restitution to pay back everyone he defrauded. He made about $2 million from sales of books and film rights and gets $30,000 a night for "motivational speaking".

He claims he'll make over a hundred million this year and "will pay everyone back". He's so far paid back about $200,000 of what he owes over the last ten years.

He's living rich and getting famous while people live in poverty because of him. I just don't think it's right.

I know it has nothing really to do with the film, other than it portrays him as "a lovable rogue" - particularly at the end. In reality, he's a thief who has ruined lives and continues to live a high life on the back of that. He's a ****
 
Going to see movies by yourself is the absolute best sometimes. Just a relaxing experience, for me at least.

Dawn did a much better job casting, but I wasn't a fan of Gary Oldman's character. The rest of the cast was much smaller in name, which made it more enjoyable. Can't wait for the eventual third one.
 
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