I am a Godzilla fan, and the newer Japanese Godzilla movies were always a bit disappointment. Godzilla vs X monster was always the selling point, there were more and more fairy tale like settings. It became a dragon ball z type of movie franchise.
This however goes back to its root, a movie that focus on what would happen if something this terrible happened. And this movie is basically a political movie that heavily disguise as a Kaiju movie.
For most, it is an extremely refreshing to watch a political movie that isn't your country and non-US. It shows a lot about how Japaneses view their own country: its history, its relationship with non-Japan countries, especially the US
If I am not wrong, they actually chose to use some of the sound effects from the older series which is incredible. They also had an old Toho trademark at the start just after the new one. They were old godzilla roar sound effect etc.
I love how it always carries this old evolving into new concept and applies it not only from movie plot setting, but also hinting that Japan politics needs to be evolved to be more efficient Japan.
Anyway: 1. Godzilla screen time isn't bad, much better than the newest American one. 2. The CGI is Ok at start then improves to really high standard 3. Sound effect like I said is a mix of old and new. Sometimes it work VERY well, sometimes I felt the old effect just sounds a little weak. 4. The new atomic breathe animation on youtube might not make sense, that's because they skipped some part in the movie. It actually looks way better in movie. 5. This godzilla has a secret trick, get ready to go WTF when you see it.
The main flaw is that it feels slow in some parts, at points there were just too much talking. Some people walked out the movie and the best part is right at the very end-ish. It also ended quite abruptly, for a movie so focused on politics, I actually wanted to see more about what happens to who and the country itself.
Godzilla movement also looked quite rigid, but the overall look is really solid actually. It is an abomination just like what it should be, a terrible man-made super powerful abomination (not alpha predator crap)
I just got back from watching Your Name. The theater was packed. There must have been only a handful of empty seats, if any. I probably wouldn't have seen this movie if it weren't for all the buzz about it. It's easily my favorite movie I've seen this year. People say this is Shinkai's most ambitious story, and I'd say he pulled it off brilliantly. If it gets a theatrical release where you're at, why not check it out?
Echoing some of what ETisME said: I also saw Shin Gojira recently. I've never seen a Godzilla movie before, so I can't compare it to it's predecessors. It's not really an action movie. If anything, I'd call it a political thriller. It seems to me that political commentary is kaiju's original raison d'être. So it's fitting that "Shin" Godzilla returns to that theme. The political commentary is quite timely I think. And Godzilla's moments are really cool. The young boy sitting next to me in the theater was antsy throughout most of the movie, but was stunned and awed during those particular scenes.
8/10 Probably the most talked zombie movie in years, a lot of hype building up when it was broadcasted in Korea and the hype certainly spread to Hong Kong and Taiwan alike.
It is definitly one of my favorite zombie movies ever and I am pretty shocked Korea managed to execute a genre that is traditionally dominated by the western side.
The pacing is decent. It started slightly slow and go on full speed hyper tension with small slower events and making it pretty dynamic. I overheard quite a lot of people talked about how quick it felt, despite being a full 110mins movie. I personally think the movie could have cut down even more to tighten up some parts towards the end.
Some of the shots were beautiful and the CGI is upto standard. It also does not have one of the most common flaw in zombie movies where the zombies feel less and less threatening as you get used to seeing them. They swarm from all directions and this makes the scene a lot more "3D".
The plot itself is what I find a little disappointing. It has a little too much Korean drama plot. Some of them I like, some really spoiled the overall movie imo. You have the standard good and bad guy. The advantage is that it's easily to digest and focus on the action, the disadvantage is that the movie took it too literally.
The last 20mins is the most disappointing of the whole movie. It is a shame because there are some seriously out of placed scenes and the ending is basically a rounding up. I really wish more directors would say f it and give us non standard ending even if it will be controversial.
tl;dr Korean can do zombie movie just as well. If you liked dawn of the dead, you would probably like this, and maybe even more.
Jason Bourne 7/10 I love the Bourne films - the trilogy anyway. This seemed very much like an unplanned addon, with similar setups and characters to the earlier films, but not quite as good. The story tried to hard to be something it didn't need to be and the whole social media/privacy debate just wasn't really given enough detail to be worthwhile in the context. The action was still good and there were some great little touches and details - the kind of things that made the first films so brilliant - just without the solid plot and character development to back it up. WTF though there's a car chase in it that's just plain stupid. Loses 0.5 points for having English people speaking in Aussie accents in London. Its a sin. Worth watching if you liked the originals, but doesn't contribute anything new or interesting really.
On September 08 2016 07:16 Jockmcplop wrote: Jason Bourne 7/10 I love the Bourne films - the trilogy anyway. This seemed very much like an unplanned addon, with similar setups and characters to the earlier films, but not quite as good. The story tried to hard to be something it didn't need to be and the whole social media/privacy debate just wasn't really given enough detail to be worthwhile in the context. The action was still good and there were some great little touches and details - the kind of things that made the first films so brilliant - just without the solid plot and character development to back it up. WTF though there's a car chase in it that's just plain stupid. Loses 0.5 points for having English people speaking in Aussie accents in London. Its a sin. Worth watching if you liked the originals, but doesn't contribute anything new or interesting really.
If you love the Bourne Trilogy, try finding the comic book called XIII, it's basically the same setting but the plot is very very good, it goes way deeper and grander..
So I just watched "How To Get Ahead In Advertisement" and it was glorious. What a frantic, completely absurd film. The raving lead just never stops and it never got old. If you're up to some good ol' fashion absurdity, a la Being John Malkovich, this movie is for you.
Late to the party on this. I'm pretty picky with movies and think that a movie should at least know what it is and what it's trying to accomplish. This movie knows what it is and accomplishes it in perfect form. It's nothing new or original, it just goes to show that great directing + great acting makes any story regardless of what it is worth watching.
Honestly the only reason why it isn't getting a higher score is because the story is too familiar and Strange has a personality that is basically Stark, minus the inventor and businessman element.
This movie stands out extremely well among all the other superhero movies, the colour grading is very different to all previous titles, the greyish, dull colour that give the overall movie a mature and almost realistic atmosphere. This is to say that despite all the magic, the colourful robe, this movie didn't have that cheap fantasy based that I find Thor had. It actually reminds me of harry potter sort of atmosphere where despite all the fancy magic and creature, you don't feel they are there for showing off only.
I also like the sound track a lot and I love how much time is spent not on training and testing out abilities, but on the character, world and its settings.
Some of the shots are incredible, and I watched it in imax which makes it even more impressive. I did feel they overused the effect a little too much, and I did feel that it's a bit hard to gauge Strange's power because by theory, he is invincible and he could have fixed anything with that one spell of his.
Also Hong Kong does not look like that, I don't understand why they went all the way to Hong Kong to film some parts but later on add in so much fake CGIs, that even the taxi and minibus don't resemble much of the actual one.
I watched it with the gf after work last week and we both enjoyed it a lot, would recommend it to everyone, unless you are specifically looking for some popcorn action movie
On October 31 2016 20:52 ETisME wrote: Dr Strange 7.8/10
Honestly the only reason why it isn't getting a higher score is because the story is too familiar and Strange has a personality that is basically Stark, minus the inventor and businessman element.
This movie stands out extremely well among all the other superhero movies, the colour grading is very different to all previous titles, the greyish, dull colour that give the overall movie a mature and almost realistic atmosphere. This is to say that despite all the magic, the colourful robe, this movie didn't have that cheap fantasy based that I find Thor had. It actually reminds me of harry potter sort of atmosphere where despite all the fancy magic and creature, you don't feel they are there for showing off only.
I also like the sound track a lot and I love how much time is spent not on training and testing out abilities, but on the character, world and its settings.
Some of the shots are incredible, and I watched it in imax which makes it even more impressive. I did feel they overused the effect a little too much, and I did feel that it's a bit hard to gauge Strange's power because by theory, he is invincible and he could have fixed anything with that one spell of his.
Also Hong Kong does not look like that, I don't understand why they went all the way to Hong Kong to film some parts but later on add in so much fake CGIs, that even the taxi and minibus don't resemble much of the actual one.
Just saw Dr.Strange and I must say I was seriously impressed with the visual effects and the amount of effort put into the movie. One of the best Marvel movies they've made.
On October 31 2016 20:52 ETisME wrote: Dr Strange 7.8/10
Honestly the only reason why it isn't getting a higher score is because the story is too familiar and Strange has a personality that is basically Stark, minus the inventor and businessman element.
This movie stands out extremely well among all the other superhero movies, the colour grading is very different to all previous titles, the greyish, dull colour that give the overall movie a mature and almost realistic atmosphere. This is to say that despite all the magic, the colourful robe, this movie didn't have that cheap fantasy based that I find Thor had. It actually reminds me of harry potter sort of atmosphere where despite all the fancy magic and creature, you don't feel they are there for showing off only.
I also like the sound track a lot and I love how much time is spent not on training and testing out abilities, but on the character, world and its settings.
Some of the shots are incredible, and I watched it in imax which makes it even more impressive. I did feel they overused the effect a little too much, and I did feel that it's a bit hard to gauge Strange's power because by theory, he is invincible and he could have fixed anything with that one spell of his.
Also Hong Kong does not look like that, I don't understand why they went all the way to Hong Kong to film some parts but later on add in so much fake CGIs, that even the taxi and minibus don't resemble much of the actual one.
Just saw Dr.Strange and I must say I was seriously impressed with the visual effects and the amount of effort put into the movie. One of the best Marvel movies they've made.
Watched dr. Strange; 1.3/10.
This movie actually made me think Stan Lee is retarded. Guy can only make superheroes and fit them all in one same story/setting/plot/action. It was so bad. Phantom menace is a masterpiece for this movie.
I saw Dr. Strange on a date and I didn't think it was absolutely terrible, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I would've liked. I thought it had a creative ending and there were a few scenes that were legitimately pretty funny. I'm not a huge Marvel fan in general though, and in all honesty the movie was pretty cliche and predictable. One big thing about Dr. Strange was that I gave fewer shits about any of the characters in it than I normally do in Marvel movies. I felt like most of the characters had no personality and were essentially replaceable. Strange was basically an unlikable asshole who gets a superpower and now we're just supposed to care about him? I'd say it was slightly better than the Thor movies, but it didn't have as much action as The Avengers and the plot wasn't strong enough to carry it.
I'd give it a 6/10 for comic book movie fans. Wouldn't recommend it to people who aren't fans of comic book movies though. Unless Marvel really steps up their game, I don't think I'm going to be watching many of their new movies. They haven't been that enjoyable for me and I feel like I've seen the same movie so many times now.
I went to see Moana yesterday. Man, what a GORGEOUS movie, what a FUN movie, and what AWESOME music!
Now, the metric by which I judge my animated movies this year is against Sausage Party, which is a prime example of a movie that knew what it wanted to be and knew how to be a STELLAR version of it. It was paced excellently and had a satisfying conclusion. For me, pacing and the "know what you wanna be" aspects of a movie are the most important parts to it.
Moana really gets what it wants to be as a movie, it takes great advantage of the whole ancient history creation myth. Moana doesn't try and pretend like we care about where some of it's fantastic monsters come from, they just ARE, at most you get that Maui's stealing the heart of Tefiti kind of made them come out from the realm of monsters, but really its just in there to such a degree that you get enough of an idea of how it works without you ever really needing to ask about it again. This is because the monsters are just SO MUCH FUN! The Kakamora are a visual delight! Why are coconut fetishes pirates? How the fuck should I know, but look at their awesome ship and they're so cute and scary and cool and shit they look awesome! It's similar for 'ol Tamatoa, hes not as visually arresting as I thought the Kakamora were, but his song was so good that I still couldn't help but get into him with his shiny, shiny shell. Moana understands what it is (which is the message of the movie!) For the first half or so of the movie (up 'til after the Realm of Monsters) I had Moana pegged as my movie of the year.
Now, the second half isn't "bad" but it wasn't quite at the level of sheer fun as the first half, this is because its kind of an obvious place of character development. The issue is that the character development is kind of... kind of forced overall. Maui breaks down and teaches Moana to sail, they kind of get that friendship thing going on and theres the whole bit of him learning to get his Hook magic back on line and we're meant to know that this is Maui getting his courage back after his little reveal about his parents revealing his character flaw. So Moana gives him some confidence they do the friendship thing and then they find Tecah. Tecah's fight was weird because while I admire that he knocked their asses back, what happened after that didnt feel... great. Maui saves Moana and in the process damages his hook, which he previously associated with everything that makes him great. So he gets very pissed at Moana for not doing as he says and getting his hook hurt, tells her off and leaves. It didn't feel very good to me. The point that I had gotten from their character development moment was that Maui had learned to respect Moana as capable, but he still seems to regard her as a someone to order around by the way he tells her off when they're on the boat post-Tecah. It felt weird to have this character building moment and have it more or less turned back on itself like 10 minutes after. All of the character stuff really just feels rushed to me. Maui is an interesting and relatively complex character, Moana is also very interesting and complex, and it feels like in the processing of reinforcing why Maui is a good character they kind of realised "Oh shit man, we're gonna have to kinda cram this in there." That being said Maui is still pretty compelling and I love his back story, his abandonment issues and desire to be loved by humans lead him to become this creation-mythology-level-demi-god. The ending is about as good as it should've been, exactly the thing they set us up for. Overall I dont think I'd be nitpicking this half as hard if I hadnt fallen head over heels for the first half. So, to wrap this up, even the second half is very good, just not as "best move of the year" quality as the first half. In my opinion. Oh, and to add onnnne more thing, I appreciate that Moana is a great female character and Disney didnt spend the movie going, "SEE WOMEN CAN BE GOOD CHARACTERS, SEE? DO YOU SEE IT? SHES RELLY GOOD, DO YOU SEE IT? YOU SEE IT RIGHT? YEAH, WOMEN ARE GREAT YOU SEE THIS, RIGHT?" Moana just WAS good, the female characters just WERE good. I never got the feeling that they were trying to make a movie about a great female character as opposed to making a great movie with great female characters. Doesn't mean much to most, but I really appreciate that about this movie. (looking at you Ghostbusters.)
Honestly I'd be thrilled to see a Maui-only movie, it may be a little similar to Hercules, but I think it'd be different enough to get away with it. I think Maui is compelling enough to get his own movie and Moana really sets that movie up to be a TON of fun with monsters and gods and pulling islands up from the sea.
Also, the music is probably the best of any Disney movie I've seen. The two standout songs, in my opinion, are Shiny and You're Welcome. They kind of hit what I like about the movie, they're about how great these characters are. Moana is a world of big flashy greatness and these songs hit that note like a gong for me. That being said I know nothing about music and my taste is highly questionable, but I get the feeling most people will probably love the music too.
When I was watching and this song started to play I kept thinking, "This is how Disney is feeling about this movie right now" + Show Spoiler +
And I never once thought that they didnt have the right to feel that way.
Moana is fun, it's beautiful, it's got vibrant characters, the voice actors are perfect and the movie is just REALLY REALLY GOOD! Go see it!
Apocalypto = best of 2006. It's the best version of The Most Dangerous Game I've ever seen (The Running Man, Deadly Prey, that sort of thing). The middle part with the build up from the jungle gradually up to the center of the city is top tier filmmaking. The moment when the mother-in-law and son-in-law look at each other for the last time... The story told at the campfire... Too true.
Blood Father (2016) I felt like it wasn't worth my time. Simple action movie plot, which I don't mind, but everything about it seemed subpar. 4/10
I know nothing of directing, but it kind of amazes me how Mel Gibson can direct a movie like Apocalypto and be an actor in (imo) a quite poorly directed movie like Blood Father at the same time.
watched Jackie Brown for the 38588345th time. 10/10.
i don't care that Pam Grier is 45 years old in this movie.. she is the hottest female to ever walk the face of planet earth. maybe when Elon Musk arranges passenger flights to Mars or Jupiter i can go see if there is a hotter woman on one of those planets.
EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/eMx3Psa.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/5f9GW82.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/HE0ttck.jpg)
![[image loading]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjI4MzU5NTExNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNzY1MTEwMDI@._V1_UY1200_CR90,0,630,1200_AL_.jpg)
