After the major misstep that was Quantum, Skyfall is a return to form that we had been awaiting since Craig's first performance wrapped up. Javier Bardem elevates the film to an incredible level and I think securely sits atop the mountain for best villain in the Craig era. Don't get me wrong, Waltz was good as Blofeld but the writing and tone of the next film really held him back from being extraordinary. The action and emotion of each scene hits home and it's visible that great care was taken with this one.
This really struck me as one of those filler movies that you'd see in Old Hollywood where a star was under contract to a particular studio and the execs wanted to get their money's worth so they just cranked out an idea and went with it. Bogart gets virtually no character arc throughout the entire runtime. He starts off a morally repugnant character
and the movie ends with him unchanged.
The plot was ripe for a lot of good character development and excitement but ultimately seems such a pointless venture. Bogart wasn't the only casualty of having no arc, the plot doesn't either.
I was expecting to really enjoy this but instead found it to be a stunningly average film. To make a movie for kids but also be able to capture the attention and interest of an adult watching can be tricky and I don't think it accomplished that for me. Clichés abound and the animation was the only thing it has going for it. Throughout the entire runtime it felt incredibly amateur with the story and the humor in particular. Fairly disappointed.
I vividly remember reading the book because I couldn't put it down no matter how hard I tried. In the novel I think Krakauer deliberately weighs the starry-eyed sense of adventure with the more practical observations of a boy headed for destruction rather well and it's something that translates well into the film. They definitely seemed to focus a bit more on the parent aspect of the story and there are a few choice lines of dialog that can very easily cement the feeling that Alex is almost the villain of the story and just a self-absorbed, arrogant individual. Alex's sister would later go on to write her own book regarding the family's early trials and went into morbid detail about the parental abuse they both witnessed as children. She would go on to say "I don't blame Walt and Billie for his death, but I do hold them accountable for his disappearance..." It really is imperative to understand the whole story and you really won't get it all from this film.
Some see it as nothing more than a tale of one man's sheer arrogance and casual disrespect for nature that leads to downfall but I think it's always been more than that. McCandless in many ways represents our own desire to strike out on our own and see the world, live life, and meet new people. It's a child's wish that he actually lived out and the story stands as both simultaneously a triumph and a warning. You can pursue your dreams, but more often than not they have teeth of their own and can bite you, sometimes fatally.
Kind of surprised at the amount of comments frustrated with the lack of historical accuracy. If that's what you expected or are looking for then... lol, I think you've got the wrong series of movies, friends. In some ways it's more of the same compared to the first one but so much has been lost over time. The original was very much a product of its time and was buoyed by the CGI environments being something somewhat new. It doesn't have the magic it used to. It also doesn't help that the original became a modern day cult classic and practically has its own section among meme culture. You aren't going to catch that lightning in a bottle twice. The blood effects were also incredibly overdone to the point of being comical. Every slash of the sword emits a repetitive flower shaped gush that gets old so fast.
Going into it I had no idea it was an homage to B-horror movies of old but it becomes rather obvious before long. Very well thought out and it captured the vibe of oldies horror pretty well. The movies it's paying tribute to were not shy to
kill people off that you might care something about and break the "rules" that many of us know could disappoint mainstream horror enthusiasts like "killing pets is off limits."
Not only is it an immaculate action film but it also captures that gritty 80's vibe with pure style. Willis is of course great, but Rickman sets a new standard for action movie villains. An incredibly influential film and not to be missed, kind of a tongue-in-cheek Christmas favorite.
Criminally unfunny. The beats are way off and the gags manage to fall totally flat. Price delivers his lines like he's somewhere between disinterested and mentally searching for how anything he's saying could be considered humorous. And wow, first time I'd ever seen Jack Nicholson look young.
Just like the previous installment, the animation is out of this world. Bringing Gwen more to the forefront was an interesting choice and it really serves to elevate the rest of the characters. So far this series has managed to make the multiverse concept very entertaining while I find it a serious turnoff with Marvel's live action offerings. The creativity is off the scales and actually comes from the animators acting out what's going to be on screen beforehand in order to get it right. A lot of improv came from all that, you remember the kid licking the train window? That was born from an improv.
Patty Duke's acting will rock your socks off. A tour de force of a true story and an incredible display of willpower and determination. It's wonderfully filmed with good performances all around.
I can't remember watching a movie and being so utterly desperate for the lighting to not be so dark. It's enough to make you feel like your vision is slowly failing the more you watch and even the daylight scenes are purposely darkened. It's very difficult to care about or invest yourself into something when you're looking at a black screen. This movie thinks it's far more clever than it is and didn't pack the punch I was hoping for. The twists and turns are incredibly self-serving and not crafted with any pizazz. Villeneuve is under the impression that as long as the movie has a twist then that means it's automatically good, but that's not the case. It's called the "M. Night Shyamalan effect."
I liked it, and especially how it keeps you off balance for a lot of the film. Bogart's very well written voiceover does exactly what it's intended to do and rarely fails at being entertaining.
Keaton is a great way to get into silent films. His energy and charisma lights the screen up and keeps you engaged throughout the whole venture. Really looking forward to seeing more of his offerings.
Such a pointless villain makes for a lackluster adventure. Forget Oscar Isaac, you might as well have had AI play the part of Apocalypse and provide the voiceover for his lines for all the development he has. The whole plot of the last movie was "mutants are dangerous, we have to deal with them" and wow, that couldn't have been more true during this one. There's no way the human race is ok with mutants after this one.
I'm taking these movies seriously enough that I actually thought that somehow all of the destruction would be undone by going back in time or some similar gimmick. No way I thought that the planet going through a near extinction level event would just be casually brushed aside like it's nothing... and then that's just what happens LOL!
They tried to almost squeeze an Avengers-level threat into the plot of a single movie and it just doesn't fly.
Like the other films, the now trilogy is really a fascinating look into relationships and romantic feelings put to screen. It's almost a bit like watching a documentary and feels so incredibly realistic. Each one of the films is a worthy film study in of itself. All 3 required viewing if you're a lover of cinema.
I don't really think the X-men universe really works anymore so it's probably for the best that they are converting over to the mainstream MCU which is currently in shambles. The entire POV of the human race that has been a driving factor in pretty much every one of the films has lost all of its luster. I think I've also got some serious X-men fatigue with all the personal drama that continues to spring up between the characters. Maybe when a superhero team first gets together that drama is well warranted but dragging it out film after film gets incredibly tiresome and eats up so much time that could be spent on other avenues.
If there's anything that this quadrilogy of films has made abundantly clear it's that humans/mutants simply can't coexist. The events of the last film effectively slammed the door shut on that. Hilariously enough, I know that Dinklage's character in Days was meant to be portrayed as the bad guy but in retrospect he seems pretty much vindicated.
Did the entire planet conveniently forget that Magneto had a major hand in causing global catastrophe in the last film? Maybe he might have gotten off lightly if nobody knew who he was or what his powers were but in Days he becomes a worldwide celebrity by being on TV. "It's ok Magneto, we know you tried to literally wipe out the human race but here's your own little private island for you to have fun with, no hard feelings mate."
And that whole
alien
plotline felt so mediocre like the writing staff is just done with this series. Chastain, who is a well accomplished actress is reduced to a role that actually requires her to put in a phoned-in performance. The only redeeming factor is the train battle which has a cool few moments involving Magneto and that is literally the only thing worth showing up for.
There's no "X-men" in the title of the movie almost as if it's ashamed to even present itself as part of the series. That says a lot.
Wonderful Bogart film. He has some serious chemistry with Gloria Grahame and it really makes the screen pop. Not knowing precisely if Bogie is guilty, innocent, or at least capable of the crime is played out to full effect and drives the story forward. Even Martha Stewart's short role is crafted in such a way that you feel for her almost immediately, and Gloria Grahame is great.
Though I can't comment on how accurate or truthful the issues it portrays are, this is without question one of the best examples of intertwining actual footage of world events and modern moviemaking. It's so seamless that you have to almost continually remind yourself that a good amount of licence is probably being taken with the material but it's also so easy to fall right down the rabbit hole. It's an incredible ride.
I think I liked it better than the first movie. It's very short and flies by but it fits because the entire film takes place in real time. It's incredibly filmed and laid out in that way. Taking these two movies as a whole it's amazing how they portray the chemistry between the two characters with regards to the scriptwork. Neither movie has a long period of time to work with and so the dialog is crafted in such a way to very slowly and gently build to a believable conclusion. Great care was taken.
I was a bit dismayed at first that Hawke's character was now married and with a kid but that's the trap that is so easy to fall into. This series is meant to be realistic in a way that turns your usual feelings towards romantic movies on their head. Of course he moved on with his life after being left in Vienna six months later because that's precisely what would really happen.
Romantic movies are a bit outside my usual jurisdiction but this one was well filmed and acted despite not really being my cup of tea. A lot of great cinematography abounds and it's very grounded. The part where they're both pretending to be on the phone at the restaurant was magic.
Takes what seems like eternity to get started, but not too shabby when it finally does. The tone is super chill and laid back which is counter to the usual energy of a bank heist film. Those ice cream carts were the coolest little vehicle I've seen.
I've been out of the X-men movie loop for a long time but I felt this one paled in comparison to the original trilogy and wasn't super exciting. So many of the characters get little to no development too, especially Magneto who is treated like a one-trick pony.
And how exactly does Magneto use metal to hack into the Sentinels and override their programming? Does that make a lick of sense? Oh yeah, and Shadowcat can now send people's consciousness back in time, how does she do this with these brand new, never before explained powers you ask? Simple, because otherwise there wouldn't be a movie. I honestly haven't a clue what the post-credits scene was all about.
Supremely entertaining. I adore a good period epic and sadly it's a genre that has pretty much died out in the past few decades. This one will make you smell the salt water long before you're done watching and it's buoyed by a great cast of characters with loads of naval action. Really makes you just marvel at how men could live and fight under such conditions, they were made of stronger stuff.
CGI baby will forever haunt my dreams. Finally the tribulation of viewing this series comes to a close for me. I'm certain the popularity of this series paved the way for other Young Adult novels to make their way to the silver screen. Without Twilight I don't think you'd probably see Divergent, Maze Runner, or maybe even The Hunger Games get its shot. At least it had some battles to watch, and you can't get enough of Michael Sheen.
The major fakeout battle at the end was so unbelievably cringe and I was not expecting it. Just when I thought that the series would have the cojones to actually kill off a few main characters and thereby add some emotional weight... it all comes to nothing. Self-serving fan fiction vibes emanating from that whole decision. I guess Stephenie Meyer really wanted to have her cake and eat it too. She got away with it because I'm certain the majority of Twilight book fans wanted the same.
Comments 1 - 25 of 733
Movie comment on Skyfall
DisneyStitch
After the major misstep that was Quantum, Skyfall is a return to form that we had been awaiting since Craig's first performance wrapped up. Javier Bardem elevates the film to an incredible level and I think securely sits atop the mountain for best villain in the Craig era. Don't get me wrong, Waltz was good as Blofeld but the writing and tone of the next film really held him back from being extraordinary. The action and emotion of each scene hits home and it's visible that great care was taken with this one.Movie comment on Sirocco
DisneyStitch
This really struck me as one of those filler movies that you'd see in Old Hollywood where a star was under contract to a particular studio and the execs wanted to get their money's worth so they just cranked out an idea and went with it. Bogart gets virtually no character arc throughout the entire runtime. He starts off a morally repugnant characterMovie comment on The Lego Movie
DisneyStitch
I was expecting to really enjoy this but instead found it to be a stunningly average film. To make a movie for kids but also be able to capture the attention and interest of an adult watching can be tricky and I don't think it accomplished that for me. Clichés abound and the animation was the only thing it has going for it. Throughout the entire runtime it felt incredibly amateur with the story and the humor in particular. Fairly disappointed.Movie comment on Into the Wild
DisneyStitch
I vividly remember reading the book because I couldn't put it down no matter how hard I tried. In the novel I think Krakauer deliberately weighs the starry-eyed sense of adventure with the more practical observations of a boy headed for destruction rather well and it's something that translates well into the film. They definitely seemed to focus a bit more on the parent aspect of the story and there are a few choice lines of dialog that can very easily cement the feeling that Alex is almost the villain of the story and just a self-absorbed, arrogant individual. Alex's sister would later go on to write her own book regarding the family's early trials and went into morbid detail about the parental abuse they both witnessed as children. She would go on to say "I don't blame Walt and Billie for his death, but I do hold them accountable for his disappearance..." It really is imperative to understand the whole story and you really won't get it all from this film.Some see it as nothing more than a tale of one man's sheer arrogance and casual disrespect for nature that leads to downfall but I think it's always been more than that. McCandless in many ways represents our own desire to strike out on our own and see the world, live life, and meet new people. It's a child's wish that he actually lived out and the story stands as both simultaneously a triumph and a warning. You can pursue your dreams, but more often than not they have teeth of their own and can bite you, sometimes fatally.
Movie comment on 300: Rise of an Empire
DisneyStitch
Kind of surprised at the amount of comments frustrated with the lack of historical accuracy. If that's what you expected or are looking for then... lol, I think you've got the wrong series of movies, friends. In some ways it's more of the same compared to the first one but so much has been lost over time. The original was very much a product of its time and was buoyed by the CGI environments being something somewhat new. It doesn't have the magic it used to. It also doesn't help that the original became a modern day cult classic and practically has its own section among meme culture. You aren't going to catch that lightning in a bottle twice. The blood effects were also incredibly overdone to the point of being comical. Every slash of the sword emits a repetitive flower shaped gush that gets old so fast.Movie comment on Slither
DisneyStitch
Going into it I had no idea it was an homage to B-horror movies of old but it becomes rather obvious before long. Very well thought out and it captured the vibe of oldies horror pretty well. The movies it's paying tribute to were not shy toMovie comment on Die Hard
DisneyStitch
Not only is it an immaculate action film but it also captures that gritty 80's vibe with pure style. Willis is of course great, but Rickman sets a new standard for action movie villains. An incredibly influential film and not to be missed, kind of a tongue-in-cheek Christmas favorite.Movie comment on The Raven
DisneyStitch
Criminally unfunny. The beats are way off and the gags manage to fall totally flat. Price delivers his lines like he's somewhere between disinterested and mentally searching for how anything he's saying could be considered humorous. And wow, first time I'd ever seen Jack Nicholson look young.Movie comment on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
DisneyStitch
Just like the previous installment, the animation is out of this world. Bringing Gwen more to the forefront was an interesting choice and it really serves to elevate the rest of the characters. So far this series has managed to make the multiverse concept very entertaining while I find it a serious turnoff with Marvel's live action offerings. The creativity is off the scales and actually comes from the animators acting out what's going to be on screen beforehand in order to get it right. A lot of improv came from all that, you remember the kid licking the train window? That was born from an improv.Movie comment on The Miracle Worker
DisneyStitch
Patty Duke's acting will rock your socks off. A tour de force of a true story and an incredible display of willpower and determination. It's wonderfully filmed with good performances all around.Movie comment on Arrival
DisneyStitch
I can't remember watching a movie and being so utterly desperate for the lighting to not be so dark. It's enough to make you feel like your vision is slowly failing the more you watch and even the daylight scenes are purposely darkened. It's very difficult to care about or invest yourself into something when you're looking at a black screen. This movie thinks it's far more clever than it is and didn't pack the punch I was hoping for. The twists and turns are incredibly self-serving and not crafted with any pizazz. Villeneuve is under the impression that as long as the movie has a twist then that means it's automatically good, but that's not the case. It's called the "M. Night Shyamalan effect."Movie comment on Dead Reckoning
DisneyStitch
I liked it, and especially how it keeps you off balance for a lot of the film. Bogart's very well written voiceover does exactly what it's intended to do and rarely fails at being entertaining.Movie comment on Battling Butler
DisneyStitch
Keaton is a great way to get into silent films. His energy and charisma lights the screen up and keeps you engaged throughout the whole venture. Really looking forward to seeing more of his offerings.Movie comment on X-Men: Apocalypse
DisneyStitch
Such a pointless villain makes for a lackluster adventure. Forget Oscar Isaac, you might as well have had AI play the part of Apocalypse and provide the voiceover for his lines for all the development he has. The whole plot of the last movie was "mutants are dangerous, we have to deal with them" and wow, that couldn't have been more true during this one. There's no way the human race is ok with mutants after this one.Movie comment on Before Midnight
DisneyStitch
Like the other films, the now trilogy is really a fascinating look into relationships and romantic feelings put to screen. It's almost a bit like watching a documentary and feels so incredibly realistic. Each one of the films is a worthy film study in of itself. All 3 required viewing if you're a lover of cinema.Movie comment on Dark Phoenix
DisneyStitch
I don't really think the X-men universe really works anymore so it's probably for the best that they are converting over to the mainstream MCU which is currently in shambles. The entire POV of the human race that has been a driving factor in pretty much every one of the films has lost all of its luster. I think I've also got some serious X-men fatigue with all the personal drama that continues to spring up between the characters. Maybe when a superhero team first gets together that drama is well warranted but dragging it out film after film gets incredibly tiresome and eats up so much time that could be spent on other avenues.If there's anything that this quadrilogy of films has made abundantly clear it's that humans/mutants simply can't coexist. The events of the last film effectively slammed the door shut on that. Hilariously enough, I know that Dinklage's character in Days was meant to be portrayed as the bad guy but in retrospect he seems pretty much vindicated.
And that whole
There's no "X-men" in the title of the movie almost as if it's ashamed to even present itself as part of the series. That says a lot.
Movie comment on In a Lonely Place
DisneyStitch
Wonderful Bogart film. He has some serious chemistry with Gloria Grahame and it really makes the screen pop. Not knowing precisely if Bogie is guilty, innocent, or at least capable of the crime is played out to full effect and drives the story forward. Even Martha Stewart's short role is crafted in such a way that you feel for her almost immediately, and Gloria Grahame is great.Movie comment on JFK
DisneyStitch
Though I can't comment on how accurate or truthful the issues it portrays are, this is without question one of the best examples of intertwining actual footage of world events and modern moviemaking. It's so seamless that you have to almost continually remind yourself that a good amount of licence is probably being taken with the material but it's also so easy to fall right down the rabbit hole. It's an incredible ride.Movie comment on Before Sunset
DisneyStitch
I think I liked it better than the first movie. It's very short and flies by but it fits because the entire film takes place in real time. It's incredibly filmed and laid out in that way. Taking these two movies as a whole it's amazing how they portray the chemistry between the two characters with regards to the scriptwork. Neither movie has a long period of time to work with and so the dialog is crafted in such a way to very slowly and gently build to a believable conclusion. Great care was taken.Movie comment on Before Sunrise
DisneyStitch
Romantic movies are a bit outside my usual jurisdiction but this one was well filmed and acted despite not really being my cup of tea. A lot of great cinematography abounds and it's very grounded. The part where they're both pretending to be on the phone at the restaurant was magic.Movie comment on Tokyo Joe
DisneyStitch
It's a little bit of a copy of Casablanca in some ways but still a delightful post-war picture with Bogart fully in the driver's seat.Movie comment on Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
DisneyStitch
Takes what seems like eternity to get started, but not too shabby when it finally does. The tone is super chill and laid back which is counter to the usual energy of a bank heist film. Those ice cream carts were the coolest little vehicle I've seen.Movie comment on X-Men: Days of Future Past
DisneyStitch
I've been out of the X-men movie loop for a long time but I felt this one paled in comparison to the original trilogy and wasn't super exciting. So many of the characters get little to no development too, especially Magneto who is treated like a one-trick pony.Movie comment on Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
DisneyStitch
Supremely entertaining. I adore a good period epic and sadly it's a genre that has pretty much died out in the past few decades. This one will make you smell the salt water long before you're done watching and it's buoyed by a great cast of characters with loads of naval action. Really makes you just marvel at how men could live and fight under such conditions, they were made of stronger stuff.Movie comment on The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
DisneyStitch
CGI baby will forever haunt my dreams. Finally the tribulation of viewing this series comes to a close for me. I'm certain the popularity of this series paved the way for other Young Adult novels to make their way to the silver screen. Without Twilight I don't think you'd probably see Divergent, Maze Runner, or maybe even The Hunger Games get its shot. At least it had some battles to watch, and you can't get enough of Michael Sheen.Showing items 1 – 25 of 733