"Now Showing"
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Jordanovichy
Credit Whore 2016
Spectre
I agree with Peep and Ben. I loved Skyfall, but this was such a let down. They have already said everything that I could say so I won't bother again, it just lacked action and oomph!
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Guess what guys, I watched my first ever Star Wars movie! I loved it! It looks a little dated nowadays...it is nearly 40 years old! But even so i was hooked from start to finish, I knew the vague story thanks to playing the Lego games over...and over...and over again. The action is great, as is the story. I can't wait to watch the next one.
I also saw the trailer for the new one whilst watching Spectre yesterday, it looks immense and this is coming from someone who has never been a fan of the franchise before!
I agree with Peep and Ben. I loved Skyfall, but this was such a let down. They have already said everything that I could say so I won't bother again, it just lacked action and oomph!
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Guess what guys, I watched my first ever Star Wars movie! I loved it! It looks a little dated nowadays...it is nearly 40 years old! But even so i was hooked from start to finish, I knew the vague story thanks to playing the Lego games over...and over...and over again. The action is great, as is the story. I can't wait to watch the next one.
I also saw the trailer for the new one whilst watching Spectre yesterday, it looks immense and this is coming from someone who has never been a fan of the franchise before!
Crazycoaster
Giga Poster
^ After watching episode 5, you should then watch episode 1-3 and then finish on 6. It finishes on a much more satisfying conclusion to the story arc that way.
On Netflix the other night I watched Grabbers. Been meaning to watch this for ages. It's a low budget comedy-horror set in Ireland where aliens "grabbers" attack a small island. Only thing that seems to kill them is alcohol. There's a lot of traditional build up which is a bit meh but the final 20-30 minutes is brilliant and there are just some excellent moments. I also loved the reference to Gremlins <3
Then I had a cinema day...
Burnt
I have to admit I didn't know much about the film going in, just that it's about a chef and stars a whole bunch of good actors. The film was ok, if a bit predictable. It almost felt like they added in other little smaller plotlines because the main plot was a bit poor and it all just culminates into something a bit flat. I don't think it helped that last year Chef came out and that was a fantastic film - so much food porn. This film tried the same thing about making food look sexy but all it did was look like a more expensive version of Masterchef.
He named me Malala
Oh wow this is a fantastic documentary based on a brilliant family. I love how from the start they try to show that they're like any other family, siblings mis-behave etc. It's a really captivating film that tells Malala and her farther's stories extremely well. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the future.
Kill you friends
I have a problem with films where the main character is a total bum shower. This is one of those films. It's a fantastic performance by Nicholas Hoult, he really demands your attention (in a good way), but I just couldn't get on board with his character or the plot. If you love films like American Psycho then you'll probably enjoy this but it just wasn't for me.
Then I had a cinema day...
Burnt
I have to admit I didn't know much about the film going in, just that it's about a chef and stars a whole bunch of good actors. The film was ok, if a bit predictable. It almost felt like they added in other little smaller plotlines because the main plot was a bit poor and it all just culminates into something a bit flat. I don't think it helped that last year Chef came out and that was a fantastic film - so much food porn. This film tried the same thing about making food look sexy but all it did was look like a more expensive version of Masterchef.
He named me Malala
Oh wow this is a fantastic documentary based on a brilliant family. I love how from the start they try to show that they're like any other family, siblings mis-behave etc. It's a really captivating film that tells Malala and her farther's stories extremely well. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the future.
Kill you friends
I have a problem with films where the main character is a total bum shower. This is one of those films. It's a fantastic performance by Nicholas Hoult, he really demands your attention (in a good way), but I just couldn't get on board with his character or the plot. If you love films like American Psycho then you'll probably enjoy this but it just wasn't for me.
Spectre
It will definitely go down in history as one of the Bond movies. That's the least controversial thing that can be said about it.
It will definitely go down in history as one of the Bond movies. That's the least controversial thing that can be said about it.
Crazycoaster said:
Or don't watch 1-3 at all, read a synopsis and make it up in your head as it's the only way you won't be disappointed.
Though I have read recently that if you watch all the Clone Wars series between films 2 and 3, it makes 3 not quite as jarringly awful. However, Episode 1 is **** , 2 is even worse and 3 is like licking a dog's arse.
Episode 6 is crap after they leave Tatooine too - with the awful jumbled mess of the end sequence and **** Ewoks. However, it's still better than a lot of stuff out there and is a good round out to the series. It's also got lots of A-Wings, B-Wings and TIE Interceptors - they make everything cool
Jordanovichy
Credit Whore 2016
The Martian
It's sooooo good! I saw it last week and I was hooked from start to finish, it's rare I watch a film at the cinema and never look at my watch. The plot is simple, save the guy from Mars, but I love the sub-plot of him having to survive on the dead red-planet and then him having to be saved. Such a good film...and the geology rendering on Mars...omg <3
It's sooooo good! I saw it last week and I was hooked from start to finish, it's rare I watch a film at the cinema and never look at my watch. The plot is simple, save the guy from Mars, but I love the sub-plot of him having to survive on the dead red-planet and then him having to be saved. Such a good film...and the geology rendering on Mars...omg <3
tomahawk
Strata Poster
Burnt
As peep said, Chef was a lot better and basically the same movie.
Peanuts
I loved it. I didn't want to see it because how they did the animation, thought it was a bit blasphemous to the Peanuts name, but it worked really well. Simple and cute, felt like I was watching an updated version of one of the classic holiday specials.
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As peep said, Chef was a lot better and basically the same movie.
Peanuts
I loved it. I didn't want to see it because how they did the animation, thought it was a bit blasphemous to the Peanuts name, but it worked really well. Simple and cute, felt like I was watching an updated version of one of the classic holiday specials.
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The lady in the van
I absolutely loved this film, it has a great humour to it all and yet it's also very sad (close to bloomin' tears towards the end, only Disney and Pixar are allowed to do that). I highly recommend it to everyone, it's just a great film.
Steve Jobs
Wasn't a fan of this. As you'll see from my Burnt review, I don't like films where the main character is a horrible person, so I should have known I wouldn't like this one really. However I thought I'd give the writer a chance as he's usually pretty great at creating some interesting dialogue. I just couldn't get past the fact that he was just a horrible person and I still don't understand why he was seen as like a messiah to the tech world, he was just a very naughty boy. The whole thing just felt a bit soulless and drab. Meh.
I absolutely loved this film, it has a great humour to it all and yet it's also very sad (close to bloomin' tears towards the end, only Disney and Pixar are allowed to do that). I highly recommend it to everyone, it's just a great film.
Steve Jobs
Wasn't a fan of this. As you'll see from my Burnt review, I don't like films where the main character is a horrible person, so I should have known I wouldn't like this one really. However I thought I'd give the writer a chance as he's usually pretty great at creating some interesting dialogue. I just couldn't get past the fact that he was just a horrible person and I still don't understand why he was seen as like a messiah to the tech world, he was just a very naughty boy. The whole thing just felt a bit soulless and drab. Meh.
MiniGolfer
Roller Poster
Just watched Stanford Prison Experiment. It's a film about the 1970 experiment with the same name led by Philip Zimbardo. So basically the experiment is to study the psychological effects of being a prisoner or a prison guard. College male students were chosen and with a flip of a coin are determined whether they would play as the prisoner or the prison guard.
It's a great movie played by brilliant young actors such. Watched a few documentaries about the experiment before and the best thing about the movie was how accurate the scenes were.
It's a great movie played by brilliant young actors such. Watched a few documentaries about the experiment before and the best thing about the movie was how accurate the scenes were.
Hunger Games: part 4
I've had an interesting reaction to this franchise. I found the first film quite dull, I loved the second film and the third film was just the worst - so dull. This one pretty much suffered from being split with the third one, they should have just made a longer single film, would have improved both films. I thought the flow of the film was a bit of a mess but there were some elements that I absolutely adored.
Overall it got a meh from me, should have been a lot better.
I've had an interesting reaction to this franchise. I found the first film quite dull, I loved the second film and the third film was just the worst - so dull. This one pretty much suffered from being split with the third one, they should have just made a longer single film, would have improved both films. I thought the flow of the film was a bit of a mess but there were some elements that I absolutely adored.
Overall it got a meh from me, should have been a lot better.
GuyWithAStick
Captain Basic
The Good Dinosaur
Oh. My. God. This movie is fantastic. The animation is absolutely fantastic. Some parts look like it's from an IMAX camera. The water, the leaves, the miles of endless background, and everything in between. The idea of dinosaurs evolving to the point of farming and interacting with one another is really interesting. The story is pretty good. Not the best, but still really good. Don't listen to the critics giving this 2 stars. Seduce your eyes for an hour and 40 minutes to this piece of art.
9.5/10
Oh. My. God. This movie is fantastic. The animation is absolutely fantastic. Some parts look like it's from an IMAX camera. The water, the leaves, the miles of endless background, and everything in between. The idea of dinosaurs evolving to the point of farming and interacting with one another is really interesting. The story is pretty good. Not the best, but still really good. Don't listen to the critics giving this 2 stars. Seduce your eyes for an hour and 40 minutes to this piece of art.
9.5/10
As my family name is Cooper I went to see, along with my parents and my sister, Christmas with the Coopers.
It was ok, had some generally nice and amusing moments. Didn't really understand some of the stories though, like, that police car ride lasted half a day, how? Was he just driving in circles for no reason? Still, for a Christmas film it was certainly watchable.
The dressmaker
I really liked this film, it's a bit odd in that it's quite dark plot-wise. Has some generally hilarious moments. The whole cinema was laughing a lot at the cinema scene and the scene where Hugo Weaving gets way too excited over some fabric. I think that's what was the most odd thing about it, underlying throughout is this quite serious, moody story regarding death but then it has lots of flamboyant scenes which cause much joy and laughter. I really enjoyed it though and if you can see it at the cinema I would recommend giving it a go.
It was ok, had some generally nice and amusing moments. Didn't really understand some of the stories though, like, that police car ride lasted half a day, how? Was he just driving in circles for no reason? Still, for a Christmas film it was certainly watchable.
The dressmaker
I really liked this film, it's a bit odd in that it's quite dark plot-wise. Has some generally hilarious moments. The whole cinema was laughing a lot at the cinema scene and the scene where Hugo Weaving gets way too excited over some fabric. I think that's what was the most odd thing about it, underlying throughout is this quite serious, moody story regarding death but then it has lots of flamboyant scenes which cause much joy and laughter. I really enjoyed it though and if you can see it at the cinema I would recommend giving it a go.
GuyWithAStick said:
Okay, I'm with you on the attention to detail. The water and environmental effects where phenomenal. I wasn't convinced at first by how "cartoony" the main characters looked (it seemed a bit of a step backwards to me), but in the context of the film, it was a gorgeous contrast to the realistic environs.
They worked too, everything felt like a believable world unlike any of the other Pixar films I've seen - it was brilliantly produced.
The story though was dreadful. It was bland, clichéd and predictable. The characters were never really engaging and the blatant attempts at jerking your tears were too obvious and hamfistedly done. the story itself was just a mash up of better films (Lion King, Ice Age, Finding Nemo, Land Before Time, etc.) so it never felt original at any point.
Apart from the Cowrexes. The T-Rexes were an fantastic high point in the film and at one point I thought the film wasn't doomed. Then they left and it was. However, the animation and characters of the Rexes are possibly one of my favourite ever Pixar things, but they didn't save the film.
There was a huge issue with the plot motivation too:
His dad's dead and they're suddenly struggling to fill the silo with corn, so they're going to starve if he doesn't help. He then gets washed away for a week and he has to get home. There's a motivational device there that gets mentioned a couple of times that if he isn't back to get the harvest in, they will starve. So as the film ends, he arrives home and... the harvest is done and nobody mentions anything again. He also gets to "make his mark", but with no detail of what he has done to deserve it! How did he help? He got washed downstream and came home to find his mother had worked 24/7 to bring in he harvest on her own - why does he deserver to make his mark now rather than "surviving the chickens"? It just rushed into the ending and didn't close the story down properly - probably because they knew it was turd anyway.
So at least I have a clear "worst Pixar film", and for that I'll give it 3/5 instead of 2/5
Yeah the Good Dinosaur was a bit poo.
It looked amazing so from a technical standpoint it was fantastic but it almost looked too good? Like it just looked real and there was no artistic look to it at all, just real. Like Inside Out has beautiful colours and contrasts for different scenes and a real sense it's 'art', this was just like we might as well have filmed this why did we bother to animate it?
And the human not doing anything meant his role could have been filled by any other animal or a particularly nice rock - so the whole idea of the film exploring 'what if' dinosaurs survived was reduced to a film which could have taken place at any point the dinosaurs were around by replacing the human with anything else of value.
Or that they tell us has value because there was no relationship or growth between the characters other than the story determines he learns to love the burden.
Inside Out needs the best animation Oscar.
It looked amazing so from a technical standpoint it was fantastic but it almost looked too good? Like it just looked real and there was no artistic look to it at all, just real. Like Inside Out has beautiful colours and contrasts for different scenes and a real sense it's 'art', this was just like we might as well have filmed this why did we bother to animate it?
And the human not doing anything meant his role could have been filled by any other animal or a particularly nice rock - so the whole idea of the film exploring 'what if' dinosaurs survived was reduced to a film which could have taken place at any point the dinosaurs were around by replacing the human with anything else of value.
Or that they tell us has value because there was no relationship or growth between the characters other than the story determines he learns to love the burden.
Inside Out needs the best animation Oscar.
Saw a whole lot of films at the cinema....
Black Mass
I was quite looking forward to seeing this. However it ended up being a rather 'paint by numbers' film based on true events. Like, an American TV channel could have made it and it would have looked exactly the same, just without the decent acting. So Depp is pretty great in it, some of the other members of the cast are rather meh (for example, Cumberbatch has an accent that seems to vary every time he speaks). It's ok though, very watchable, but its just very generic.
Bridge of Spies
Same problem, never really feels unique, like we've seen it all before. There was an abundance of fish-eyed lenses used too which I found very distracting. The acting from the whole cast was excellent though and it was watchable enough.
The Good Dinosaur
Well, it simply looks stunning. I do feel (aside from the dinos and animals) that they sort of crossed the uncanny valley, it looked so real that I found it hard to believe it was an animated feature. Just beautiful to look at, I feel we have a new Brave on our hands though. Great visuals, lack of a decent plot. A shame really.
Krampus
Been looking forward to this one, wasn't disappointed. Horror-based Christmas films need to be more of a thing if they're anything like this one. It was funny, there were some decent scares (not that many though which was odd) and the creature design was amazing. The huge amount of characters were well written and you grasped who each person was very quickly which really added to what was essentially a family drama set at Christmas. I really loved all the evil stuff, there's a chase sequence with the Krampus and it's terrifying due to some excellent audio work and visuals and the elves were like a more twisted version of the Purge masks - very creepy and intimidating. I think there was only one thing letting it down a bit and that was the ending, which didn't feel right but I'm not sure if anything would have finished it on quite the right note. If Universal Horror Nights doesn't have an epic maze based off this film next year I'll be very sad.
The night before
Three friends go out for one final 'traditional' booze-up on Christmas eve. The set up is all pretty simple and the way they manage to drag it out for 90 mins is very standard for a film with Seth Rogen in it. There are some very amusing moments scattered throughout though (basically any time Michael Shannon is selling them weed) but there's lots of scenes which don't seem quite right or are a bit dull. It's like it doesn't know if it should be a serious film and then Rogen will enter the scene high as a kite and it's back down to a stoner comedy. Meh.
Oh and that's three Christmas films seen at the cinema in one week, what the hell?
Black Mass
I was quite looking forward to seeing this. However it ended up being a rather 'paint by numbers' film based on true events. Like, an American TV channel could have made it and it would have looked exactly the same, just without the decent acting. So Depp is pretty great in it, some of the other members of the cast are rather meh (for example, Cumberbatch has an accent that seems to vary every time he speaks). It's ok though, very watchable, but its just very generic.
Bridge of Spies
Same problem, never really feels unique, like we've seen it all before. There was an abundance of fish-eyed lenses used too which I found very distracting. The acting from the whole cast was excellent though and it was watchable enough.
The Good Dinosaur
Well, it simply looks stunning. I do feel (aside from the dinos and animals) that they sort of crossed the uncanny valley, it looked so real that I found it hard to believe it was an animated feature. Just beautiful to look at, I feel we have a new Brave on our hands though. Great visuals, lack of a decent plot. A shame really.
Krampus
Been looking forward to this one, wasn't disappointed. Horror-based Christmas films need to be more of a thing if they're anything like this one. It was funny, there were some decent scares (not that many though which was odd) and the creature design was amazing. The huge amount of characters were well written and you grasped who each person was very quickly which really added to what was essentially a family drama set at Christmas. I really loved all the evil stuff, there's a chase sequence with the Krampus and it's terrifying due to some excellent audio work and visuals and the elves were like a more twisted version of the Purge masks - very creepy and intimidating. I think there was only one thing letting it down a bit and that was the ending, which didn't feel right but I'm not sure if anything would have finished it on quite the right note. If Universal Horror Nights doesn't have an epic maze based off this film next year I'll be very sad.
The night before
Three friends go out for one final 'traditional' booze-up on Christmas eve. The set up is all pretty simple and the way they manage to drag it out for 90 mins is very standard for a film with Seth Rogen in it. There are some very amusing moments scattered throughout though (basically any time Michael Shannon is selling them weed) but there's lots of scenes which don't seem quite right or are a bit dull. It's like it doesn't know if it should be a serious film and then Rogen will enter the scene high as a kite and it's back down to a stoner comedy. Meh.
Oh and that's three Christmas films seen at the cinema in one week, what the hell?
TarinMaria
Mega Poster
Re: "Now Showing"
I must say, on the whole I completely agree. I went to see Krampus with very low expectations, having seen a couple of Christmas horror films, watched the trailer and thought 'oh my this looks like trash'. Problem is I hate to miss a horror at the cinema, so off I went.
I was hugely surprised! I laughed, a lot, my jaw dropped at the costume design (which was outstanding) and I had a lot of fun watching it.
The acting was good to great, including the children, I even liked most of the characters! Not something seen often in horror films.
The absolute stars of the show were the costumes, just really beautiful, they stuck fairly close to the folklore with them.
My criticisms are small, one being that I genuinely ended up hating the main boy after a while. The second was the ending, it felt quite long and dragged out.
Overall, I think this will be one of my Christmas traditions, it was enjoyable and fun!
7.5/10
peep said:
I must say, on the whole I completely agree. I went to see Krampus with very low expectations, having seen a couple of Christmas horror films, watched the trailer and thought 'oh my this looks like trash'. Problem is I hate to miss a horror at the cinema, so off I went.
I was hugely surprised! I laughed, a lot, my jaw dropped at the costume design (which was outstanding) and I had a lot of fun watching it.
The acting was good to great, including the children, I even liked most of the characters! Not something seen often in horror films.
The absolute stars of the show were the costumes, just really beautiful, they stuck fairly close to the folklore with them.
My criticisms are small, one being that I genuinely ended up hating the main boy after a while. The second was the ending, it felt quite long and dragged out.
Overall, I think this will be one of my Christmas traditions, it was enjoyable and fun!
7.5/10
I went to see The Heart of the Sea at the weekend.
It was all a bit dull really. It just seemed to drag on for ages. It's not a "bad" film by any stretch. It's very well-made and doesn't just rely on huge action sequences and special effects - though there are some excellent ones - as I thought it was going to.
I don't know; it all just fell a bit flat for me really when on paper I should have liked it.
I'm tempted to go to a midnight showing of Star Wars tonight, just so I can be first to rave about it in here, but I have no interest whatsoever in the franchise and will likely avoid this topic for the next couple of weeks.
It was all a bit dull really. It just seemed to drag on for ages. It's not a "bad" film by any stretch. It's very well-made and doesn't just rely on huge action sequences and special effects - though there are some excellent ones - as I thought it was going to.
I don't know; it all just fell a bit flat for me really when on paper I should have liked it.
I'm tempted to go to a midnight showing of Star Wars tonight, just so I can be first to rave about it in here, but I have no interest whatsoever in the franchise and will likely avoid this topic for the next couple of weeks.
I saw The heart of the Sea last night at a preview screening (not out here till boxing day?).
Really agree with everything Gavin said. It's really well made, the acting is top notch and the visual effects are very good. Overall the direction is excellent but I wouldn't expect any less from Ron Howard, it just suffers from being a typical sea tale, it gets dull very quickly and it just seems to keep on going. A shame.
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Really agree with everything Gavin said. It's really well made, the acting is top notch and the visual effects are very good. Overall the direction is excellent but I wouldn't expect any less from Ron Howard, it just suffers from being a typical sea tale, it gets dull very quickly and it just seems to keep on going. A shame.
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