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Posted: |
Feb 14, 2020 - 10:59 PM
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By: |
Xebec
(Member)
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Knives Out
7.4/10
Good fun. Nicely directed. Packed with distinctive actors who are naturally gifted and fun to watch, even if some are given more to do than others.
The mystery i don't want to spoil, but my friends and I thought the plot made where the guilt lies a little too obvious and the detective does too little detecting. There's also a couple of moments of very obvious political commentary crow-barred in, that just sound like the thoughts of the director, but not enough t damage the film.
There are some nice moments of humour peppered all the way through, and a running gag about a nurse's place of origin. The ending is nice and pretty satisfying.
The music is also really nice throughout, though in the first thirty seconds it sounds a note away from Elfman's Batman theme - i'll have to relisten to it on album at some stage to see if i hear it that way again. Also, in the final scene i thought it sounded similar to another score but couldn't quite place it. Anyway, it worked.
Daniel Craig has more charm and charisma here than he's allowed to exude in any Bond film, and I'm sure another outing with him, possibly doing a bit more to solve a crime, would be a fun diversion.
It's amazing the person who wrote this also wrote the completely cretinous Last Jedi script, with its absymal humour, plot, characters, dialogue and recycled scenes. If you didn't like the director for that, give him a pass and enjoy this. He may be a tenth-rate Star Wars scripter, but he's a third-rate Agatha Christie writer. And i mean that as a compliment.
It felt like a decent sunday afternoon film to watch and enjoy and kill a bit of time. Good fun.
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Posted: |
Feb 14, 2020 - 11:49 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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THE TRAITOR (2019) - 7/10
This is the real life story of Tommaso Buscetta (played by Pierfrancesco Favino), the so-called "boss of the two worlds," the first Mafia informant in Sicily in the 1980s. Following a reputed peace conference between the two main families controlling organized crime in Italy, Buscetta tries to quit the Cosa Nostra, and he goes into exile in Brazil. But the other crime family starts killing all of his former associates. When Buscetta's two sons are murdered, and he is arrested in Brazil and extradited to Italy, he decides to turn informant.
The film never makes it clear why the one family decides to start killing Buscetta's family. All these murders take place in the first third of the film. The remaining two-thirds is taken up first with extended conversations between Buscetta and the main judge assigned to prosecute the cases against the Mafia, Giovanni Falcone, played by Fausto Russo Alesi. This is followed by depictions of the trials held in Italian courts, where the defendants are permitted to cross examine Buscetta themselves as they sit next to each other before the justices.
While it sounds as if these scenes should have considerable electricity, these courtroom encounters are ultimately unsatisfying, as Buscetta and the defendants spend most of the time hurling insults at each other. In truth, the lengthy courtroom scenes show almost no substantial evidence being presented by the prosecution against the dozen or so defendants, other than Buscetta's testimony as to who killed whom in the past. Nevertheless, nearly all of the accused are convicted and given lengthy sentences.
While the film's depiction of the chaotic Italian courts is probably close to reality, the movie does not make a convincing case as to how this one man brought down the Mafia in Italy.
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....I don't ever give 10/10 BTW so 9 is high praise from me. For me a 10 has got to be perfect...... And that would not include the 40 Year Virgin, funny though it is, in parts..."
This.
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In fairness, ive seen unbreakable and i agree with mitch its cack. Probably a 4. And sadly i saw glass too, which was just a mess and worse. Maybe a 3!! Thankfully the middle one, whatever it is, has luckily evaded me.
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Posted: |
Feb 15, 2020 - 5:11 AM
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By: |
Mark
(Member)
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I haven't a clue what Eastrail 177 is (a trilogy?). Your comment suggests I shouldn't bother finding out 
Mitch
Hi Mitch, Eastrail 177 is a trilogy. It consists of Unbreakable, Split (which introduces James McAvoy as Kevin Wendell Crumb - a guy with split personalities. BW only appears briefly) and Glass, in which the three characters from the first two films are united.
I am not an admirer of M. Night Shyamalan's films. I lilked The 6th Sense, The Village and Signs, but he has made some right turkeys - The Last Airbender was dreadful and, rightly, in my opinion, scooped a number of razzies, as did The Lady in the Water. After Earth and The Visit were pretty naff too.
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Mark, you need to stick your /endquote command between what youre quoting n what you type.
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November criminals
High school tosh about a slightly- eccentric lad whose pal is shot so he decides to try and investigate. The film's only redeeming feature was that he was lucky enough to have the rather adorable Chloe Moretz as his girlfriend and she wants to sleep with him!
Lump of fluff. 17 year olds who dont know movies would probably think it was cool and awesome. 6.3 out of 10.
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The King's Choice
2016
Its 1940 and on the pretence of protection, German forces invade Norway and take over many of its major cities. The norwegian monarch, King Haakon VII, evacuates his family and they go on the run. There is much negotiation between the king and the country's cabinet, with the German ambassador trying to negotiate a peaceful occupation and the military wanting to take a harder line. Eventually the king cannot agree to the terms and retreats to London, where he and his son, crown prince olaf, support resistence groups throughout the remainder of the war.
Well-made film, a little slow and talky but it held my fascination. Fairly effective score was by Johan Soderqvist. Quite a poignant payoff in the credits "For our children and for you - the generation about to take over - understand, remember, and pass it on."
7.5 out of 10.
THOR ...have you seen this film?
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Posted: |
Feb 17, 2020 - 1:01 AM
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By: |
Xebec
(Member)
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Ford v Ferrari
7.5/10
I found it entertaining and pretty interesting considering i find cars boring and car racing boringier. Matt Damon and Christian Bale are both good but i really liked Bale in this. He seems to be enjoying himself with his Brum-ways accent. Though at one stage he reminded me of Steve Coogan's Saxondale. The kid actor was decent too. There's some lovely cinematography in it and some very golden shots and it is very well directed. The story, i assume, is mostly flannel, like other "true stories" but held my interest. The score worked in the film bit not sure i'd buy it.
Doctor Sleep
6/10
Surprised i liked this as much as i did. Not a fan of Ewan MacGregor or modern horror, but he's decent in this. Rebecca Ferguson is good as the villain, very striking looking, but probably lacking a touch of real menace needed for what are truly vile villains. The child actor is decent too and the friendship her character and MacGregor's character share seems genuine. Cliff Curtis, an actor i'm a fan of, is wasted. He's the main character's best friend. Guess what happens to him. The film isn't scary. There's a gruesome, disturbing child murder, which i wasn't a fan of, but other than that there's nothing in the way of horror or scares, but some nice moments of tension. Sort of more like a dark X-men film. The music works in the film and there are many callbacks to the original film. Worth a watch. There's one stupid moment where a character gets hit between the neck and shoulder with an axe and they're absolutely fine, which i found confusing and irritating, as it didn't need to be included if it had no actual effect, as it was a real life incident.
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"boringier"
Thats going in Phrases!
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Posted: |
Feb 17, 2020 - 4:33 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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The King's Choice
2016
Its 1940 and on the pretence of protection, German forces invade Norway and take over many of its major cities. The norwegian monarch, King Haakon VII, evacuates his family and they go on the run. There is much negotiation between the king and the country's cabinet, with the German ambassador trying to negotiate a peaceful occupation and the military wanting to take a harder line. Eventually the king cannot agree to the terms and retreats to London, where he and his son, crown prince olaf, support resistence groups throughout the remainder of the war.
Well-made film, a little slow and talky but it held my fascination. Fairly effective score was by Johan Soderqvist. Quite a poignant payoff in the credits "For our children and for you - the generation about to take over - understand, remember, and pass it on."
7.5 out of 10.
THOR ...have you seen this film?
Looks interesting.
When I was in high school, our headmaster was a large shambling kindly old guy who seemed happier tightening signs around the school with a screwdriver he always carried with him than in teaching physics. We later found out that he'd been a key figure in the Norwegian resistance as a young man. Maybe he'd killed scores of Nazis with that very screwdriver...
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Posted: |
Feb 17, 2020 - 4:43 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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Toy Story 4 - 7.5/10
Toy Story was fantastic and Toy Story 2 was equally good, albeit they introduced an element of sentimentality (Jessie's story) which was refreshingly absent in the first one. Toy Story 3 went full on tear-jerker with the handing over of the toys from Andy to Bonnie (it was something in my eye, kids, honest).
Toy Story 4 carries on from 3 with the sentimentality, unfortunately, but there's still much to like about it. Of the regular main characters, only Woodie really features in this one, with Bo Peep stepping up and a slew of new toys introduced, many of them actually quite funny. Buzz, Jessie and the regular troupe are pushed somewhat into the background. As ever, there are jokes that you could easily miss but which are well worth looking out for, and of course Randy Newman's score and songs are up to their usual standard.
Just about the best part were the ventriloquist's dummies, which were genuinely terrifying, and I think that, were I truly in the target age-group, I would have dreamt about them last night, and not in a good way.
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Toy Story 4 - 7.5/10
Toy Story was fantastic and Toy Story 2 was equally good, albeit they introduced an element of sentimentality (Jessie's story) which was refreshingly absent in the first one. Toy Story 3 went full on tear-jerker with the handing over of the toys from Andy to Bonnie (it was something in my eye, kids, honest).
Toy Story 4 carries on from 3 with the sentimentality, unfortunately, but there's still much to like about it. Of the regular main characters, only Woodie really features in this one, with Bo Peep stepping up and a slew of new toys introduced, many of them actually quite funny. Buzz, Jessie and the regular troupe are pushed somewhat into the background. As ever, there are jokes that you could easily miss but which are well worth looking out for, and of course Randy Newman's score and songs are up to their usual standard.
Just about the best part were the ventriloquist's dummies, which were genuinely terrifying, and I think that, were I truly in the target age-group, I would have dreamt about them last night, and not in a good way.
Good review. Saves me doin one. Saw this on sky yesterday. You covered it.
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