Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Monday, May 11, 2020
The Scene That Explains Why Iron Man Worked and Man of Steel Didn’t
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiECJOTd_Lk
I liked Man of Steel. It might not be perfect, but it is entertaining. It was the first Superman movie that didn't gloss over the fact that aliens have come to earth. It explored their technology. They felt more like hard science fiction.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Friday, May 1, 2020
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Saturday, March 14, 2020
The 2011 movie Contagion
The 2011 movie Contagion is starting to look prophetic. Fortunately, COVID-19 is not as deadly.
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Onward
A long time ago there was magic. Magic was used to help people and to make their lives better. However, magic was difficult to master, and once people discovered technology which was easier, they forgot about magic.
This feels like a world that could have been much more explored, but the movie plays it safe by having all the characters be no different than modern boring humans. However, that is part of the point, since this is a culture that has lost its heritage. The movie holds a surprise for us, because what seems on the surface like a three-star film, delivers in a big way with a four-star ending. This is by no means the best Pixar film, but Pixar can still work a magic of their own.
Our two main characters, both elves and both brothers, go on a quest to find something magical that will bring back their long-deceased father just for a day so that they meet him. As a result, they discover more about themselves and help their culture regain some of what it lost.
Rating: B+. I would love to see a sequel where they better explore this world.
P.S. There is much stuff in the trailer that didn't make it into the movie. This happens sometimes when a movie undergoes many revisions before being released.
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Sonic The Hedgehog
The first trailer for Sonic The Hedgehog sparked an internet backlash because many people thought that the Sonic character looked kind of creepy. The production company responded to the backlash by redoing the animation, and the final result looks fairly good. I noticed some very minor imperfections in the CGI, but nothing too distracting.
Because of the initial backlash, some of the critics expressed great surprise by saying that the movie is actually good. This is not what they were expecting.
Sonic is mostly a kid's film that is not intellectually deep at all, but it has enough jokes that connect and fun stuff to make it a good time. Jim Carrey plays Dr. Robotnik. He is essentially playing a cartoon villain, which he plays way over the top, so much so that I found him annoying, but Jim Carrey is also the funniest when he is way over the top. I was laughing out loud several times, which is a good thing. We get Jim Carrey at his full nuttiness, although it would have been better if he were more restrained.
There is a bar fight scene in the middle of the movie that is mostly gratuitous because it feels like filler. However, like the rest of the movie, it is mildly amusing.
If we compare Sonic to another videogame adaptation, Pokemon Detective Pikachu, the story is much more coherent and less of a mess.
Rating: B.
Sunday, February 9, 2020
Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
I enjoyed the Star Wars sequel trilogy, but in terms of story, it felt like a lost opportunity to do something more significant. What we got was like leftover turkey.
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John Coffey
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John Coffey
Saturday, February 8, 2020
Highly rated movies that people actually hated
There are some interesting choices here because some of the movies listed are really good, and others not so much.
P.S. I didn't like "Crash" despite it winning Best Picture. There were a few critics who also hated it.
I also hated American Beauty that won Best Picture. It was slow, dull and meandering.
https://www.geekycamel.com/highly-rated-movies-that-people-actually-hated/
P.S. I didn't like "Crash" despite it winning Best Picture. There were a few critics who also hated it.
I also hated American Beauty that won Best Picture. It was slow, dull and meandering.
https://www.geekycamel.com/highly-rated-movies-that-people-actually-hated/
1917
I saw 1917 for the second time today and this might be the movie of the decade. Since it opened to limited theaters in 2019, I'm not sure which decade. ☺
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Sunday, February 2, 2020
Thursday, January 30, 2020
The Rise of Skywalker
On the positive side, the film is a grand spectacle, and I pretty much had a blast for the first 75% of it. The last act is still a grand spectacle, and I understand the movie better and what it was trying to do by seeing it a second time.
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Saturday, January 18, 2020
The King vs. Henry V
Henry V is a 1989 movie by Kenneth Branagh adapted from Shakespeare's play. The King is a 2019 Netflix film covering the same historical events.
Henry V had a falling out with his father, so his father Henry IV appointed Henry's younger brother to be the successor to the monarchy, but Henry's younger brother was killed in battle shortly before Henry IV's death and Henry V became king at the age of 26. He succeeded in conquering France in an ongoing 100-year series of wars between France and England. But he died at the age of 35 and most of his military victories would later be reversed.
Henry V was a young king. Kenneth Branagh played him at the age of 39 in the movie adaption of Shakespeare's play.
One of Henry V's major was victories was at the Battle of Agincourt. It was a battle that he should have lost because he was badly outnumbered, but a combination of strategy and weather worked in his favor. At this battle, it was said that Henry V gave a powerful speech to motivate his men, but history does not record this speech. Shakespeare wrote a fantastic speech for the play ("We happy few. We band of brothers."), but the movie The King substitutes something less grandiose. Shakespeare handles the battle by having the actors march offstage and the battle is not shown, and the movie version only shows a bit of the battle. Instead, the King gives us what feels likes a historical re-creation of the battle.
Whereas the Netflix movie The King seems more historically accurate, the movie Henry V is more fun because it is hard to top Shakespeare.
Rating: The King: B.
Rating: Henry V: A-.
P.S. I watched The King the same day I watched 1917. I failed to notice that Dean-Charles Chapman was in both movies.
P.S. I watched The King the same day I watched 1917. I failed to notice that Dean-Charles Chapman was in both movies.
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
The Drinker Recommends... 1917
I recommend watching this video after watching the movie.
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Uncut Gems
Adam Sandler plays a jeweler who is also a gambling addict in trouble with the mob, and who can't seem to stop his gambling. He is a bit of a conman because he has to be to keep at bay all the people who are after him. He is also unfaithful to his wife with a couple of affairs, so his wife is planning to divorce him.
This is actually a good performance by Adam Sandler, but my problem with the movie is that it is about unpleasant people doing bad things. In addition, the film is dropping f-bombs literally every five seconds. I didn't hate the movie from start to finish, because the ending is pretty good, but overall I found the movie to be an unpleasant experience. I feel the same way about Uncut Gems as I did about American Beauty; there is no way I want to spend two hours with such horrible people. There is an unpleasant tension as Adam Sandler's character goes from bad to worse. The Guardian said, "Uncut Gems is so stressful it should come with a panic attack warning. Adam Sandler thriller is brilliant, but watching it is a horrible experience." I feel the same way.
All the tension in the film does make it somewhat watchable. I actually considered walking out of the movie, but I wanted to see how the movie ended, so I stayed. I am glad that I saw the ending because it is the only redeeming part of the movie.
Maybe the movie serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of addiction.
Rating: C.
Saturday, January 11, 2020
1917
The movie 1917 is likely to be one of the best movies I will see this year. It follows a pair of World War I soldiers on a time-critical mission to get a message to another unit so as to avoid an attack that will end in disaster. This is based on a real story told to writer and director Sam Mendes by his grandfather.
The movie is filmed in such a way that it appears to be one continuous shot, except for a couple of obvious breaks. There are continuous shots that last at least 40 minutes. The camera follows the soldiers through long trenches, across fields, into farmhouses, rivers, underground bunkers, and troop transports. This is like another character because I spent the whole movie wondering how on earth did they film this? It is technically very difficult to have everything properly lit while the camera follows the actors through miles of territory.
The movie creates a suspense that is perfect. There is not much direct combat, but the horrible aftermath of combat is everywhere in this movie. On the journey, the soldiers are constantly passing dead bodies and destruction. The way the movie is filmed gives it an extra sense of realism.
The movie is rated R for war violence and a few swear words.
Rating: A+.
Sunday, January 5, 2020
Knives Out
Knives Out is a mystery whodunit in the spirit of Agatha Cristie, but with quite a few twists, which is a given since it is from director Rian Johnson. As entertainment, it works really well, although I didn't find it totally believable and I predicted the twist ending. The movie also tries a little too hard to be a social commentary.
However, Rian Johnson shows that he can make a pretty entertaining movie.
Rating: A-. My initial thought was to give it a B+, but I did find the movie thoroughly entertaining. Knives Out has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Sunday, December 29, 2019
Saturday, December 28, 2019
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