Film review thread

[M.C]

Years ago I thought it would be handy if a similar thing existed for TV, where you could search for a film and see when/if it was being shown. I guess the issue with doing it for on demand services is films drop on and off a lot.

The Campaign 4.5/10 - it had like two funny bits. Goes on the Will Ferrell trash pile...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CKYaBCSXAAA42_E.jpg

[Freddyfruitba...]

[M.C]

I'm not sure streaming services would like to advertise what they have or more importantly haven't got.

[ashley_46]

[M.C]

[pinkyfloyd]

Deepwater Horizon 8/10

I loved it, Thought it was really good, the tension built steadily until the explosion and that was fantastic filming/moviemaking. It showed the difference between the pen pushers at the top and the grunts who take the fall. Well worth a watch.
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[Lord Percy]

Wolf Warrior 2.

Don't expect anyone to have heard of it as it's Chinese.

7.5/10

Propaganda Action movie about an ex Chinese special forces bloke who gets sent down for killing someone in a moral high ground fight. Leaves army but still maintains honour and of course his extreme love for the country. Ends up living in Somalia protecting freight ships from pirates. Film opens with a pretty awesome underwater fight scene.

Then the main plot begins. Still in Somalia, there's a military coup and a Chinese-owned factory is under siege. Chinese navy can't get involved because it would break UN law. Cue Wolf Warrior to the rescue.

Lots of action, generally well made and certainly puts China on the map for increasingly good movie production values. Film has a handful of American, Russian and European actors, it has an American female supporting lead, is peppered with English bits and has English subtitles as standard even here in China, so there's been some attempt at giving it a slight international appeal.

Film then turns into pro-China propaganda fest as everything is for the country, China is the best nation by far, saving its people, eventually the Navy mucks in too. Wolf Warrior saves the day. God Bless China.

Just before the credits roll, there's a nostalgic looking image of a Chinese passport cover with some words slowly fading onto the screen: "Wherever you go in the world, don't worry about encountering any problems. Your country will always be behind you."

Seems to have worked though. The nation is totally in love with the movie. Girlfriend said it's the best film she's ever seen by far.

As far as film quality goes, I'd rate it 'worth watching'. Proper action flick with almost endless fighting, only let down by a slightly sloppy plot. Propaganda is a bit much by the end, but I probably only think that because I'm not Chinese. It's really no different from when Captain America saves the world. Quite interesting in a way too. Certainly did what it set out to do.

EDIT: Just found out the main baddy in the film is performed by Frank Grillo. His last major role was as the main villain in Captain America.

[M.C]

The Take/Bastille Day 4/10 - Idris Elba tries to be the new Jason Statham, he also tries to write the theme tune, sing the theme tune. The main problem's they tried to throw in a plot, which was absurd... these types of films don't have a plot

[M.C]

Unbroken 4.5/10 - Cook from skins time travels bodyguard stylee and ends up in the Pacific circa 1940. Angelina Jolie (behind the camera) then depicts the horror of being a Japanese PoW, in such a drawn out and frankly boring way you don't really care if the characters survive or not.

It's an important story (the films based on true events), as highlighted by the butthurt response of some Japanese people follow the release of the film, but if you want to watch a much better PoW film try Christian Bale in Rescue Dawn.

[Musketeer]

Valerian 0/10 - The worst movie I've seen this year. I saw people leaving half way through. My wife told me I owe her big time for dragging her to this movie. I'm still recovering from trauma it caused.

It's a visual CGI bomb with no plot, no story, very poor acting.
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[M.C]

^ from the trailer, you know those brief 5 second ones, it looked appalling (Pluto Nash stylee). I'm surprised anyone paid money to go see it

[MarJay]

Will I be the first to review Dunkirk?

Dunkirk 9/10

Pure unadulterated tension. Nolan is a masterful filmmaker, and although he has been accused of leaving the emotion and character behind sometimes, in this movie that doesn't matter. You don't get a chance to invest in the characters, or work out their relationships or end up in space inside a giant time-cube, you're kept too busy for that. It does lack something of the emotion you come to expect from a WWII movie, but I think that is reflective of the British 'stiff upper lip' angle. When people say a movie is 'edge of the seat' I don't normally listen, but this is genuinely that. Even Harry Styles is reasonably good, although he isn't given that much opportunity to stuff it up. Tom Hardy does his usual decent acting from behind a mask stuff (this time flying goggles and an oxygen mask) and you do root for the good guys.

Not a "sunday afternoon chillin' with the missus" movie, or even a "watch with a group of mates drinking beers" but if you want pure tension, an undercurrent of adrenaline, and to be educated on what the soldiers on the beach must have felt that day, then you need this movie in your life.

When I watched it, I wasn't really in the mood for this type of movie, I wanted something more familiar and a touch more comforting but it was still massively compelling. It does lack a smidge of emotion, but you can't fault the performances, the pacing, the structure, the script, the art direction etc. The soundtrack is a little samey, a little 'jaws-like' but other than that I think this will be rightly viewed as a classic in years to come.

Remember: This is not a date movie. Send the Mrs to see La La Land, and go and watch this on your own.
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[Rogerborg]

[MarJay]

[Rogerborg]

Aimbots!
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[thx1138]

I saw Dunkirk. I liked it.
But wasn't fantastic.

7 out of 10.

Got better towards the end.

[M.C]

I turned Dunkirk off, found it boring I did make it through:

The Last Man on the Moon 5.5/10 - film documentary focusing on the life of the last man to go to the moon, but also covering the space race (mainly on the US side). There are some visceral descriptions of space travel, and it touches on the human element more than other programmes on the subject.

My criticism would be if you're remotely interested in space stuff you already know a lot of the story, and they probably went a bit too far into the human/family side, which I frankly found a bit boring. Worth a watch but I think it's somewhat overrated.

[M.C]

War for the Planet of the Apes 4.5/10 - having enjoyed the previous two films, I was massively disappointed by this. It's boring, basically a monkey soap opera. The franchise deserved better.

[thx1138]

Arrival - well so far it's a 3 out of 10 for lighting values. Grainy and washed out, and I thought my internets or telly was broken, I'm only half watching it now, as it hurts my eyes.

[Rogerborg]

[RhynoCZ]

The Arrival was way too overhyped. I did barely finish it, was reading and answering emails on my phone all the way through

Not worth the time, nor money if you're paying for it. Checking the IMDb score of 8/10, I must ask if there are any other versions of this film, as I saw the one with Amy Adams and it was crap, regardles of what the trailer and all the hype around sugested.
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[M.C]

Entourage 5/10 - Didny watch the series so this was my first taste of Entourage. It's ok, it has its moments. I felt like not seeing the series left me somewhat out the loop, the celebrity cameos were funny until you ended up wondering who the f**k they were (surprisingly early on*).

*being uninterested in US culture probably doesn't help

Pawn Sacrifice 5.5/10 - The original Spiderman and Victor Creed decide to settle their differences like real men... with a game of chess. It's a biography of Bobby Fischer, who I'll be honest I don't know much about, I was vaguely aware of some chess match in Iceland. It's not a bad film, but come on it's about chess About 30 minutes too long IMO, although he was an interesting character, a chess genius anti-Semite.

[Lord Percy]

Trainspotting 2 - 7/10

Not bad but not special. Nowhere near the same gritty style of the first one. Renton's 'Choose Life' speech, updated for the modern era, was fantastic though.

[M.C]

[RhynoCZ]

Dave made a maze - 7/10.

Comedy/"horor" film about Dave who made a maze. I had no idea what to expect, but I must say it was suprisingly good and well made film with some good comedy bits as well. I got cold with fever, so the film might not be worth 7/10.
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