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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2024 18:31:48 GMT
How this film- barely any different to Michael Bay's output (also Bruckheimer produced)- is being lauded as superior to the likes of Citizen Kane and Vertigo on Rotten Tomatoes' audience aggregate score is baffling. 99%?! Jesus... I feel that way about The Dark Knight Rises which feels like a lifeless three hour movie trailer with a shite villain and plot points taken directly from Rocky III. This has been confirmed by Nolan himself so I'm not pulling that out of my arse. Even compared to the other two films in the trilogy, which I'm not a huge fan of it, it still falls short due how vacant yet utterly pretentious it is. How it has an 8.4 is quite beyond me. That makes it as good as Aliens and better than The Terminator and Die Hard! Jeez.... I loved Top Gun Maverick myself. I've only ever seen it once mind, but I do remember it being one of the more compelling and faithful legacy sequels. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2024 14:14:16 GMT
Top Gun: Maverick (2022), streamed for free. Appallingly overrated and braindead- although I guess this isn't unusual for Jerry Bruckheimer produced films. However, unlike the others, this one was an Oscar contender. It is characterised solely by nostalgia-bait, frenetically edited dogfight sequences (with indiscernible geography), montages of fighter pilots performing push-ups, incessant and jarring close-ups, immensely punchable lead characters and neoconservative wank fodder, with no trace of nuance or intelligence in sight. I was pining for the amusingly unnamed enemy (presumably either Iran or Russia) to win the day, courtesy of these characters being such vacuous and hubristic (yet, according to the film, heroic) twats. Mark Kermode's review of this film ("I found myself powerless to resist...Cruise's mercilessly engaging facial muscles, and [was] shamefully brought to tears") is one of the most hilarious things he's ever written, up there with his gushing appraisal of Last of the Time Lords. As Tom Cruise himself said back in 1990- shortly after the release of Born on the Fourth of July by Oliver Stone (who himself wasn't exactly a fan): I wonder what happened to this principle...? ("Money...") How this film- barely any different to Michael Bay's output (also Bruckheimer produced)- is being lauded as superior to the likes of Citizen Kane and Vertigo on Rotten Tomatoes' audience aggregate score is baffling. 99%?! Jesus... I suppose substituting faux-left identity politics for hardline America-lionising military-aided neoconservatism is enough, as if they aren't connected in any way... That Tom Cruise quote reminds me of something Stallone said in the early 80s:  There's been three Rocky films since then and three spin off films. Never believe actors. Most of them are full of BS  |
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Post by mott1 on Jan 5, 2024 15:18:05 GMT
Top Gun: Maverick (2022), streamed for free. Appallingly overrated and braindead- although I guess this isn't unusual for Jerry Bruckheimer produced films. However, unlike the others, this one was an Oscar contender. It is characterised solely by nostalgia-bait, frenetically edited dogfight sequences (with indiscernible geography), montages of fighter pilots performing push-ups, incessant and jarring close-ups, immensely punchable lead characters and neoconservative wank fodder, with no trace of nuance or intelligence in sight. I was pining for the amusingly unnamed enemy (presumably either Iran or Russia) to win the day, courtesy of these characters being such vacuous and hubristic (yet, according to the film, heroic) twats. Mark Kermode's review of this film ("I found myself powerless to resist...Cruise's mercilessly engaging facial muscles, and [was] shamefully brought to tears") is one of the most hilarious things he's ever written, up there with his gushing appraisal of Last of the Time Lords. As Tom Cruise himself said back in 1990- shortly after the release of Born on the Fourth of July by Oliver Stone (who himself wasn't exactly a fan): I wonder what happened to this principle...? ("Money...") How this film- barely any different to Michael Bay's output (also Bruckheimer produced)- is being lauded as superior to the likes of Citizen Kane and Vertigo on Rotten Tomatoes' audience aggregate score is baffling. 99%?! Jesus... I suppose substituting faux-left identity politics for hardline America-lionising military-aided neoconservatism is enough, as if they aren't connected in any way... That Tom Cruise quote reminds me of something Stallone said in the early 80s: There's been three Rocky films since then and three spin off films. Never believe actors. Most of them are full of BS Daniel Craig said the same about playing James Bond again, didn't he? Then he got a fat cheque waved under his nose and even got to f*ck up the character and those around him for the next guy. 🤑 |
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Post by mott1 on Jan 6, 2024 8:21:08 GMT
How this film- barely any different to Michael Bay's output (also Bruckheimer produced)- is being lauded as superior to the likes of Citizen Kane and Vertigo on Rotten Tomatoes' audience aggregate score is baffling. 99%?! Jesus... I feel that way about The Dark Knight Rises which feels like a lifeless three hour movie trailer with a shite villain and plot points taken directly from Rocky III. This has been confirmed by Nolan himself so I'm not pulling that out of my arse. Even compared to the other two films in the trilogy, which I'm not a huge fan of it, it still falls short due how vacant yet utterly pretentious it is. How it has an 8.4 is quite beyond me. That makes it as good as Aliens and better than The Terminator and Die Hard! Jeez.... I loved Top Gun Maverick myself. I've only ever seen it once mind, but I do remember it being one of the more compelling and faithful legacy sequels. There is something off about that film compared to the other 2 in the trilogy. Everyone laughingly points to the trapped cops still all being clean-shaven as the only real flaw, but there's surely worse ones - the pacing, the villain, the ridiculously obvious 'real villain' reveal (which the new Expendables movie tried to top for obviousness)... and then there's the man with the broken back doing his trapeze artist stuff before going straight back into battle! |
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Post by Bernard Marx on Jan 6, 2024 9:24:23 GMT
I feel that way about The Dark Knight Rises which feels like a lifeless three hour movie trailer with a shite villain and plot points taken directly from Rocky III. This has been confirmed by Nolan himself so I'm not pulling that out of my arse. Even compared to the other two films in the trilogy, which I'm not a huge fan of it, it still falls short due how vacant yet utterly pretentious it is. How it has an 8.4 is quite beyond me. That makes it as good as Aliens and better than The Terminator and Die Hard! Jeez.... I loved Top Gun Maverick myself. I've only ever seen it once mind, but I do remember it being one of the more compelling and faithful legacy sequels. There is something off about that film compared to the other 2 in the trilogy. Everyone laughingly points to the trapped cops still all being clean-shaven as the only real flaw, but there's surely worse ones - the pacing, the villain, the ridiculously obvious 'real villain' reveal (which the new Expendables movie tried to top for obviousness)... and then there's the man with the broken back doing his trapeze artist stuff before going straight back into battle! I will concede and say that it’s easily the worst film Nolan has put out, alongside Tenet (2020). It’s mainly elevated by the performances and technical production, but the script isn’t thematically or logistically focused. And Tom Hardy’s voice is unintentionally hilarious. His physique is sound, as is his “eye-acting”, but his delivery completely kills the film’s intended dread. That said, it’s very commonplace to see the film get an outright slagging now, so whether it’s sufficiently ‘rated’ (beyond the initial aggregate scores) is up for debate. He was crap in Mad Max: Fury Road too (spending its entirety incoherently grunting), which I’d say is as overrated as Maverick. |
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Post by mott1 on Jan 6, 2024 11:00:19 GMT
There is something off about that film compared to the other 2 in the trilogy. Everyone laughingly points to the trapped cops still all being clean-shaven as the only real flaw, but there's surely worse ones - the pacing, the villain, the ridiculously obvious 'real villain' reveal (which the new Expendables movie tried to top for obviousness)... and then there's the man with the broken back doing his trapeze artist stuff before going straight back into battle! I will concede and say that it’s easily the worst film Nolan has put out, alongside Tenet (2020). It’s mainly elevated by the performances and technical production, but the script isn’t thematically or logistically focused. And Tom Hardy’s voice is unintentionally hilarious. His physique is sound, as is his “eye-acting”, but his delivery completely kills the film’s intended dread. That said, it’s very commonplace to see the film get an outright slagging now, so whether it’s sufficiently ‘rated’ (beyond the initial aggregate scores) is up for debate. He was crap in Mad Max: Fury Road too (spending its entirety incoherently grunting), which I’d say is as overrated as Maverick. Apparently the script was influenced by A Tale Of Two Cities? I agree Bane is a big problem - however impressive he looks his voice sounds like a grown-up Stewie from Family Guy, and he becomes oddly redundant even before the 'final battle' (which is then followed by another final battle). I think that Bale didn't want everyone laughing at Batman's voice like in TDK! |
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Post by iank on Jan 6, 2024 21:45:19 GMT
Cobra. A hardboiled cop finds himself up against a cult of killers when protecting a witness. Sylvester Stallone stars in this mid 80s mix of action and slasher horror that's hugely flawed, but entertaining enough that I still go back to it every few years.
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Post by rushy on Jan 6, 2024 22:01:03 GMT
He was crap in Mad Max: Fury Road too (spending its entirety incoherently grunting), which I’d say is as overrated as Maverick. Fury Road is a phenomenal action film, but aside from aesthetics, it doesn't really have anything to do with the original Gibson trilogy. They ramp up the post-apocalyptic environment so much that it feels like an alien planet, and continuity went straight out of the window. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2024 12:06:03 GMT
Cobra. A hardboiled cop finds himself up against a cult of killers when protecting a witness. Sylvester Stallone stars in this mid 80s mix of action and slasher horror that's hugely flawed, but entertaining enough that I still go back to it every few years. I love that one. It's pratically a wet dream for a neon obsessed Pepsi addict It is flawed mainly because the film was cut to ribbons in order to compete with Top Gun at the box office. Unfortunately this leads to a lot of continuity problems and a real lack of character development for Stallone's character. That said, I find the 80s MTV style of the film quite appealing. I also like the slasher elements too. I'm surprised Brian Thompson never got offered more roles as an intimidating muscle man in the 1980s. |
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Post by UncleDeadly on Jan 9, 2024 13:20:21 GMT
There is something off about that film compared to the other 2 in the trilogy. Everyone laughingly points to the trapped cops still all being clean-shaven as the only real flaw, but there's surely worse ones - the pacing, the villain, the ridiculously obvious 'real villain' reveal (which the new Expendables movie tried to top for obviousness)... and then there's the man with the broken back doing his trapeze artist stuff before going straight back into battle! I will concede and say that it’s easily the worst film Nolan has put out, alongside Tenet (2020). It’s mainly elevated by the performances and technical production, but the script isn’t thematically or logistically focused. And Tom Hardy’s voice is unintentionally hilarious. His physique is sound, as is his “eye-acting”, but his delivery completely kills the film’s intended dread. That said, it’s very commonplace to see the film get an outright slagging now, so whether it’s sufficiently ‘rated’ (beyond the initial aggregate scores) is up for debate. He was crap in Mad Max: Fury Road too (spending its entirety incoherently grunting), which I’d say is as overrated as Maverick. I had to keep pinching myself to remember that "Legend" wasn't a Steve Coogan film... |
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Post by UncleDeadly on Jan 9, 2024 13:25:47 GMT
I will concede and say that it’s easily the worst film Nolan has put out, alongside Tenet (2020). It’s mainly elevated by the performances and technical production, but the script isn’t thematically or logistically focused. And Tom Hardy’s voice is unintentionally hilarious. His physique is sound, as is his “eye-acting”, but his delivery completely kills the film’s intended dread. That said, it’s very commonplace to see the film get an outright slagging now, so whether it’s sufficiently ‘rated’ (beyond the initial aggregate scores) is up for debate. He was crap in Mad Max: Fury Road too (spending its entirety incoherently grunting), which I’d say is as overrated as Maverick. Apparently the script was influenced by A Tale Of Two Cities? I agree Bane is a big problem - however impressive he looks his voice sounds like a grown-up Stewie from Family Guy, and he becomes oddly redundant even before the 'final battle' (which is then followed by another final battle). I think that Bale didn't want everyone laughing at Batman's voice like in TDK! I thought it sounded like a gay Patrick Stewart on Helium... |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2024 18:33:17 GMT
Expendables 2 (2012) The ultimate celebration of 80s action with a top cast including modern day badasses like Terry Crews and Jason Statham as well as old favourites like Stallone, Arnie, Willis, Norris and Van Damme. It's all so fun and to be honest the story is a lot richer and impactful than one might expect. Obviously the humour is great which is often playful and self-mocking of their own past one liners/films. I particularly like this exchange: Arnie: I'll be back. Willis: No, you've been back enough. Let me go Arnie: *shakes head* Yippe Ki-Yay This is definitely the pick of the Expendables films for me. It's also the only one that critics actually seemed to enjoy, probably because of the more layered plot and the sense that the film knows exactly what it is. I had a lot of fun with this.  8.5/10 |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2024 21:30:47 GMT
Under Siege 2 (1995)
Terrorists take over a continental train and hold the world to ransom after hacking into a space satellite. Casey Ryback and his niece are also on the train and when the latter is taken as hotage, Ryback does what he does best in order to take the bad guys down and save the day.
Decent sequel let down by a clunky third act. The terrorists themselves who are made up of an insane Eric Bogosian, Everett McGill and Peter Greene are pretty memorable if somewhat lacking the quality acting of Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey from the first one. I also like Katherine Heigl as Casey's niece. Seagal's performance is sadly phoned in to the point where Casey doesn't really feel like Casey at all. Thankfully, Basil Poledouris delivers a truly rousing score to give the movie a bit of life and despite some technical mishaps the film is fairly well shot. I do find this sequel pretty enjoyable, but unfortunately it gets messy in the last twenty minutes with poor fight scenes, horrific special effects (even for the time) and an insultingly easy fix to the main problem. Still, as far as a "Die Hard on a ____" movie goes it's pretty watchable stuff.
6/10
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Post by rushy on Jan 17, 2024 21:35:23 GMT
It's a good time to be a Dune fan. Not only do we have Villeneuve's Part Two coming out soon (which will be interesting to see even if you're not a fan of the first, which I'm not), but Lynch's film is being rereleased in theaters AND his script for Dune Messiah was recently found.
Adding a link to the freely available Spicediver Cut of Lynch's Dune, which in my own opinion restores it to the status of a masterpiece, even if it is cobbled together.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2024 10:54:21 GMT
Rocky III (1982) Rocky Balboa is on top of the world. After defeating Apollo Creed, Rocky is now the top boxer with swanky cars, a mansion and all the other things that come with money and fame. Unfortunately, Rocky is so caught up in his new life of luxury that he loses what made him such a brilliant fighter in the first place. His life turns into hell when he is beaten to a pulp by challenger Mr.T and his manager Mickey dies. Old enemy Apollo Creed attempts to guide Rocky back to the top by helping him regain "the eye of the tiger" in order to win the title back from Mr.T. This sweaty, testosterone fuelled 80s Stallone flick is all kinds of awesome. The reflective, down to earth feel of the first two is replaced in favour of rock music, montages, , a fight with Hulk Hogan and Mr.T and a whole lot of product placement. This is probably the second best film after Rocky IV. The highlight of the movie is the section in which Apollo trains Rocky in sunny California complete with the hard hitting instrumental of Eye of the Tiger and a while lot of sweat. Nothing is cooler than seeing Rocky and Apollo race each other on the beach and embrace each other like the true friends that they are. The end fight kicks arse and it's curiously the only end fight in a Rocky film that we see all the way through without any montages. Overall a terrific 80s film and one of Stallone's best. Definitely makes me want to pump some iron. 9/10  |
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