At the Movies!

[ZpaceJ0ck0]

If Kraven The Hunter is ever introduced into the MCU, I hope he is potrayed by Scott Adskin. Either him or Gerard Butler.

And while we are still at it, I want James Newton Howard to make the soundtrack of a highly hipothetical adaptation of Kraven's Last Hunt.

[ZpaceJ0ck0]

Glass & Halloween Coming To Comic-Con

[ZpaceJ0ck0]

So today I watched The LEGO Batman Movie.

Before I start, I should say that I was never a huge fan of LEGO. I never had the chance to play with the toys. Before watching this movie, my only previous exposure to LEGO was the Star Wars and Indiana Jones shorts from back in the day, along with a couple of episodes of Ninjago. And of course the always obligatory Bionicle stuff, you can't forget about those.

That being said, I actually enjoyed The LEGO Batman Movie more that I should have...

I mean, it is one of the best tributes to Batman out there. This movie encompassed everything you probably know about Batman, and I mean everything. I swear this film referenced everything about him, from Detective Comics all the way to Batfleck. It is both a celebration and a mockery of everything Batman has gone through over the years.

The voice acting is spot-on, specially Will Arnett as the caped crusader. The movie in general is just the perfect balance between silly and thoughtful. The animation itself was really well done as well.

Even if you are not a fan of LEGO you should check it out.

[ZpaceJ0ck0]

Jared Leto to star in Sony’s Morbius the Living Vampire Movie

[CLXcool]

Incredibles II was worth the 14 year wait. Go see it.

[ZpaceJ0ck0]

I feel so excited right now! I cannot wait for this movie.

[ZpaceJ0ck0]

So yesterday I watched Guy Ritchie's Snatch.

Man... what isn't there to like about this movie? The cartonish and colorfull (yet intimidanting when they want to) cast of characters, the cleverly intertwined plotlines and the skillful editing are just some of the reasons why this movie is so good. Everyone in the film puts in an excellent performance, but the two actors that stand out to me the most are Brad Pitt as the near-incomprehensible Gypsy boxer and Vinnie Jones, the former football player who proved to the world that he can act.

Looking foward to triying out some other British comedies.

[ZpaceJ0ck0]

So I watched Blade Runner 2049 the previous Sunday. The reason why I didn't post my review sooner was because 1. I wanted to organize the ideas in my head and 2. I found out that there are three promotional shorts that take place between 2019 (the date in which the original Blade Runner film takes place) and 2049. This shorts are Black Out 2022, 2036: Nexus Dawn, and 2048: Nowhere to Run.

Now, as for the movie itself, the cinematography is excellent. From the addition of the seamlessly blended visual effects, to the mind- blowing scenery constructed by the entire art department, everything is filled with detail and polishment. On the acting department, Harrison Ford (in the role of Rick Deckard) has one of the most sincere and memorable performances in his career. Ryan Gosling, who plays the protagonist, wasn't left behind in this category, far from it. Ana de Armas, Jared Leto, and Dave Bautista also served the story quite nicely.

The fight coreography, while better than those of the first film, it's not as great as some poeple make it out to be. But then again, the action isn't the reason why people like Blade Runner.

About the shorts I mentioned earlier, while they are not obligatory to enjoy/understand the movie, they certainly add to the expierence. They work because they serve as world building, rather than being a 2-minute-long spoiler reel like your typical trailer (aka the reason why I stopped watching movie trailers).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrZk9sSgRyQ (Blackout 2022)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgsS3nhRRzQ (2036: Nexus Dawn)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ9Os8cP_gg (2048: Nowhere to run)

[gamemaster1991]

Watched the two Kamen Rider × Super Sentai movies in the past two nights. My reviews would be as such...

Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen. A good team-up idea with a questionable story. How did the villains trick Captain Marvelous and Tsukasa into killing everyone? Why didn't either one of them tell a team mate (or whatever Diend counts as) if they suspected somethig? Like no seriously, if Captain Marvelous had told his team, Joe wouldn't have tryed to kill Diend. Lastly, Spoiler:why did Diend try to take over Big Machine? That last question may have been answered if I watched all of the episodes of Decade he was in but from everything that I've seen (which is the Cho-Den-O movie Episode Blue and a handful of Decade episodes), he's more of a neutral character then a villain. Other then that, it's really great to see all of these heroes in one spot. I'm not as knowledgeable about Kamen Rider as I am with Super Sentai, but the stuff I did recognized was amazing. Even so, I think if you're only a fan of one or the other, you don't need to know alot about the other side (aside from both Gokiger and Decade can transform into other Rangers and Riders). The last 20 minutes or so are the real reason you came.

Kamen Rider × Super Sentai × Space Sheriff: Super Hero Taisen Z. A better movie, but I have to question why one third of the team up is here. Why was Super Sentai involved? Yoko's role of finding Psyclone could have been given to anyone else, the Kyoryugers show up once and then disappear for most of the movie only to reappear for the mecha/Zord fight they need, and Gokai Silver/Gai's role... actually Gai's role in the movie is important as the Earthling of Gokaiger to remind Geki of how important Earth is. It's also not much of a Kamen Rider movie either, because the main plot revolves around Geki no longer being a Space Sheriff and trying to save the Earth, and Wizard also leaves about the same time the Kyorygers do and shows up for the big fight at the end. Speaking of which the big team up starts a bit differently (and faster at 40 or so minutes vs 20) as different teams of Rangers and Riders help the main cast with the lesser villains. This is nice as it shows more of the team maniac kinda needed, but I do have a probum with it: the lack of any Metal Heroes in the fight. We DO get a brief cameo from six of them, but they are Ranger Keys that the Gokaigers uses only to fire their normal finishing gun. The big fight at the end versus the main villains is still pretty good, but I prefer the previous movie's fight. Maybe it's because I know who Shocker and Zangyack are, but I'm not sure who the Space Sheriff villain is.

Short reviews: 1st movie is a good team up but a bad story. 2nd movie is a good Space Sheriff movie with the other two title teams becoming important near the end. Love the fan survive for both movies.

[ZpaceJ0ck0]

So yesterday I watched Atomic Blonde.

I liked it. Before watching I was expecting a generic action film but upon watching it I was pleasantly surprised with a espionage story (yes, sometimes I'm that serious about watching movies "completely blind")

Charlize Theron (who actually did a majority of her fighting and stunt work on the film) was sassy, enigmatic, and sarcastic on her spy tailored role. The rest of the cast did a pretty good job on their own regard, from from James McAvoy & Toby Jones to John Goodman & Sofia Boutella. The story itself is well developed and requires the viewer to not make too many quick judgements in the plot or characters. The soundtrack was enjoyable.

Overall, it was alright.

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Happy 10th anniversary to Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight!

[ZpaceJ0ck0]

So yesterday I finally got around and watched the first Hobbit movie; The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. And no, I did not read the original book.

Eh, I kinda like it. The actors did a good job on their part, and they have good chemistry. The dwarfs didn't make much of an impression on me though, even if they all looked the part and delivered a few laughs. Also, I don't know about you, but after seeing the main cast survive the impossible for like a third or fourth time I was like "eh, no matter what happens they are gonna do alright". The only scene where I felt had actual tension and uncertainity was the scene where Gollum shows up.

Also, the CGI was... eh. At least the effects and colors mixed nicely so I guess that's neat. The fact that Jackson used real locations also helps.

Hopefully things start to get real by the second film.

[ZpaceJ0ck0]

So for the past two days I watched the second and third films of The Hobbit (for the second time, I did not read the original book), while today I've watched the sequel to John Carpenter's Escape from New York: Escape from L.A

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Well for starters, Smaug looks completely badass. Easily one of the best designed dragons I have ever seen. I liked the sequences where Sauron appears. It was also nice to see Legolas again. Overall, the characters were a little better than before although perhaps I just happened to be more interested in them. 

Not a great film, but it is still entertaining.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: The sequence where we see Thorin corrupted by greed are interesting, both he and Bilbo Baggins (potrayed by Martin Freeman) have the best performances in the film. The eponymous battle was fun. I honestly don't know what else to add, other than Peter Jackson did a good job at filling the gap between the previous Hobbit films and those of The Lord of The Rings.

John Carpenter's Escape from L.A: On one hand, the shody CGI looks like from a mid-90s CD-ROM. Also, we could been show the effects Snake's decision had on the world, but we are barely show what happens afterwards (not going to say more because spoilers). In general, the movie had the potencial to be a great satirical piece, but alas this side of the movie isn't fully explored, likelly because of run time.

Also, the beggining of the film takes too much from the first one, WAY too much, to the point where I was like "so is this going to be a cheap retteling of the previous movie?". I am glad I was proved wrong. 

On the other hand, Kurt Russel still nails it as Snake Plisken, you can tell he has a lot of love for the character. Other menbers of the cast like Steve Buscemi did a good job on their own regard. The rest of the movie can be summed up as pure, unabashed, old-fashioned fun. We are talking about the same movie where Kurt Russell and a transsexual Pam Grier swoop from the sky in hang-gliders firing automatic weapons at an amusement park compound!

Overall, while it's certainly not better than the first one, it is still an entertaining movie.

[ZpaceJ0ck0]

So yesterday I've watched Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining (I should state that I did not read the original book... nor any of Stephen King's books for that matter. Not yet, anyway).

First of all, let's adress the obvious and say that Stanley Kubrick's direction in this film is excellent. He really manages to give the film a cold and atmospheric look, which certainly helps at conveiying terror, and he does this by exercising total control over the filmic environment, manipulating everything down to the tiniest detail, yet at the same time filming with a coldly detatched, objective eye.

Now with that out of the way let's move on to other points.

Jack Nicholson performance as the mad father and husband was excellent, so good in fact that some of his scenes reached pop culture status ("Here's Jhonny!", anyone?). Shelley Duvall, who plays the wife, did a really good job at displaying weakness and vulnerability in a very convincing way. The music choices also helped to set the mood.

And last but not least: did I found this movie to be scary? Well, while I personally didn't found it to be as as scary as most people make it out to be, it was still out there (this may or may not be partly because I watched it on daytime). I can confirm I was at the edge of my seat at some points, so I guess it succeded.

[Berry]

 Shelley Duvall, who plays the wife, did a really good job at displaying weakness and vulnerability in a very convincing way. The music choices also helped to set the mood.

Yeah, you can say that. Daddy Kubrick can sure bring out the best in anyone.

[ZpaceJ0ck0]

So this wednesday I watched Jim Henson's Labyrinth (yes, it is that one movie starring David Bowie, and also the origin of Wardenclyffe's signature. Not to be confused with Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth) and John Carpenter's They Live (the movie from which the "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I'm all out of bubblegum." speech AND the "sunglasses on/off" meme comes from).

Labyrinth:David Bowie nailed as the evil figure of the Goblin King, and the few songs he made for this film are not that bad, either. Jennifer Connelly (who plays the heroine "Sarah") wasn't really behind in the acting department either. In fact, I think some of her scenes came across as rather... natural. I also liked the puppets featured here, not only because of how well done they are, but also because they effectively teach the good old "don't judge a book by it's cover" lesson to young children.

John Carpenter's They Live:Roddy Piper and Keith Davis' performances as the main characters were spot-on. They succeed in dominating the screen, to the point that it is hard to even notice the contributions of the rest of the cast. The way the satirical aspect on this film were employed was simply brilliant. And on retrospect that one fight scene was kind of funny, since it lasts for way too long.

On the downside, I must say the sondtrack is a bit repetitive and sometimes even a little grating.

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As for Thursday? I watched the 2017 re-adaptation of IT.

First of all, let me say that I agree with gamemaster in that the kid who potrayed Georgie did a good job (well, at least as far young kid actors go). Bill Skarsgård nailed as Pennywise, you can tell in some scenes he had fun with the role. I also liked some of the easter eggs about the setting of the film, from the original Street Fighter to Nightmare on Elm Street 5.

On the downside, I think the character development of Mike Hanlon (potrayed by Chosen Jacobs) was a bit rushed.

And last but not least... did I found this movie to be scary? Eh, a little. I mean, sure, there was tension in the film (not to the point of being at the edge of my seat like in The Shining, far from it), but to the point of being actually afraid? Not really. And no, this time it has nothing do to with watching it on daytime. I am sure that even if I watched It at midnight the result would still be the same.

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To wrap things up I watched Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown yesterday.

First of all, let me clarify that comparing this film to others from the Tarantino repertoire like Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs would be a disservice to first-time watchers. Mr. Tarantino himself said the following about Jackie Brown when it originally came out: "This one is at a lower volume then 'Pulp.' It's not an epic, it's not an opera. It's a character study."

Now with that out of the way let's move on to other points.

The big names in the cast (Robert de Niro, Samuel L. Jackson, etc) did a good job on their own regard, but the real stars of this film are the 70s blaxploitation icon Pam Grier and Robert Forster, their romance was potrayed in a believable way. Every character in this movie is great and unique in their own way, but those two stand-out to me. The plot itself is a solid crime thriller that still gives room for Tarantino to do some time shifting as he reveals some key scenes from different perspectives to allow us to see the bigger picture. As a story it fills the rather generous running time pretty well and is enjoyable throughout.

So yeah... I like it. I like it a lot.

P.S Man... this post was to only talk about the movies I have watched on Wednesday but life got in the way and I coulnd't finish it. Add the other movies I watched later and it ended up being larger than expected. Not that I'm complaining, thought. I still had fun writing this.

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EDIT (August 21): Happy 20th anniversary, Blade!