Movie Reviews

[J-Dogg]

Arrival

Sci fi film built around the concept of deciphering an alien language. 12 pods or "shells" located around the world as the story focuses on the american team and its iteractions with the aliens. Taken from an old sci fi short story but excellent acting by Amy Adams. Creative visuals and a better clean up of the climax than interstellar. The transitions between the scenes are so perfectly interwoven you won't see the mind fuck happen until it hits.

It starts off slow but picks up in the middle once contact is made. Definitely a watch again if u can see the subtle nuances in phrasing.


4/5

Stars Amy Adams and jeremy Renner alongside forest whittaker

 

[take8easy]

Saw Arrival today and was quite disappointed. I found it manipulative and poorly written

Arrival

Sci fi film built around the concept of deciphering an alien language. 12 pods or "shells" located around the world as the story focuses on the american team and its iteractions with the aliens. Taken from an old sci fi short story but excellent acting by Amy Adams. Creative visuals and a better clean up of the climax than interstellar. The transitions between the scenes are so perfectly interwoven you won't see the mind fuck happen until it hits.

It starts off slow but picks up in the middle once contact is made. Definitely a watch again if u can see the subtle nuances in phrasing.


4/5

Stars Amy Adams and jeremy Renner alongside forest whittaker

Two totally different reviews. I read very good reviews on it though. I've been waiting for it to come to theaters, I think I am going to go and see this one.

Thanks.

 

[johnsmit]

Is it down the lines on the outer limits one. "How to serve man"???

 

[johnsmit]

Not to distract from the reviews .
But put your tin hat on now.

The ultimate mind fuck is the real one that has been going on for decades if not centuries . The one the governing body of this planet as been tell civilization. That there are no aliens.. And yet every thing points to the fact they have been here ..and probably still are here.

Was roswell , UFO sittings,alien abduction and even the suspicion that humanity technology advances are alien manipulated ,is that enough prove that aliens are real ..Not to most people.

But for the the last 60 yrs we have been told that science is looking for extraterrestrial signs of life,but they have not found it yet.
We have spent trillion on space exploration and we went to the moon 7 times. .Sent robots to mars and Probes to out reaches of our solar system ..and they say .Nope have not found any life forms.
Now again there is a big push on to spend more money and in 20 yrs we might get a man to mars..

It's all just a distraction from the truth, that they have known about aliens and have contact with them .But tgey cant or dont want to tell us. So instead there is this manipulation of minds and emotions and doctoring of what the evidence is., to make us doubt .
And now another alien moving where they are not friendly .and we are nieve..

When was the last time they made an alien movie where they just want to know us and help advice civilization .

Of course I don't think they want a race like ours running amuck in the universe with out a leash.
Lucky for every one we are far away from any possiable other creatures that we can't infect them or cause there anialasion.

All though I have no ideasy of what the truth could be , because there are just tomany mind fucks going on .o

Note tried to correct the errors and changed nan to man
Not sure what a nan is lol

 

[jamasianman]

I saw some more films too.

Hacksaw Ridge: Well acted, with intense battle scenes. Mel Gibson has lots of demons but he's a great director and its a great movie

Doctor Strange: Excellent visual effects, the villains are underdeveloped, but its entertaining enough to see in 3D on the big screen

 

[clu]

When was the last time they made an alien movie where they just want to know us and help advice civilization

When's the last time someone said, "yeah! That's a movie I got to see!" Movies without conflict don't tend to draw much of an audience and CG isn't cheap. Alien visitation movies come in two flavours: humans as the underdogs defending against the onslaught (Independence Day), and humans as the distrusting (usually military) brutes that botch the benevolent first contact (Starman). I think Carl Sagan's story Contact is the only one that comes to mind that was a slight departure but it was still mostly category B.

When I saw the trailer for Arrival first I wondered if it was along the lines of Contact again (or maybe a take on the A Day in the Strife episode of Babylon 5), but since streaming video would play the ad 3x every break on the Comedy Network I don't think I could stand to watch it now. (I wonder if their advertisers get charged more with the excessive dumping and whether they realise how counterproductive it becomes?)

Anyway on a different note though the dearth of comic movies doesn't seem to be slowing down I found Doctor Strange a nice change of pace. It actually was the first "blockbuster" I've seen in a while where I was surprised it was nearly over. A lot of blockbusters tend to drag just before their stereotypical third act action blow out.

 

[johnsmit]

Ok
I read the movie plot of arrival on wickapedia .
Sound interesting and a little empty for a conclusion.
But it is typical Sci fi , which is really all about the human condition and interaction.

 

[Cock Throppled]

Hacksaw Ridge - way over-the-top violence, with no apparent reason except to showcase the FX. Some really cartoonish scenes like a guy being dragged on a blanket while he never runs out of ammo, mows down seemingly hundreds of Japanese who can never manage to hit them with even one shot. Many other unexplained scenes that were obviously not carried out the way they were depicted, even though they were heroic. Not a bad movie, but Gibson's intent was to promote religion, and, while belief was a large factor in the real story, Gibson even goes so far as to have him suspended in the air in an angelic pose.

Arrival - first hour and a half were great. The big reveal was a disappointment. I'm sure the audience figured out at least the relationship aspects, but the director had to overdo it. Not really a science fiction movie (although there are the usual plot holes in every sci-fi movie) but more of a look at relationships, family and how we interact and adapt. Amy Adams is terrific. The movie merely good.

 

[J-Dogg]

To be honest I'd thought they would have gone with Clark's ending from "childhoods end" where the alien basically tells humanity to go fuck themselves bc they are insignificant and are ultimately destroyed in the end


"It In this single galaxy of ours there are eighty-seven thousand million suns. [...] In challenging it, you would be like ants attempting to label and classify all the grains of sand in all the deserts of the world.is a bitter thought, but you must face it. The planets you may one day possess. But the stars are not for man."

 

[take8easy]

Blue Ruin: This movie came back in 2013 and I finally caught it. I have to say this is one of those pictures that don't make much splash but are pretty good. It is a revenge story, which is not really a new concept. It is the way it has been made that distinguishes it. Also, it is the lead character played by a relatively unknown actor Macor Blair ( I saw him in Green Room as well). He plays a simple guy so well. The overall tone of the movie is quite grim and dark. Lots of blood and gore but it is a revenge movie like I said above. Yes it seems to have plot holes but there aren't too many movies that don't have them. 3 out of 5 for me.

Recommend: Yes, if you like movies because of the subtle and finer points of movie making.

The Lunchbox- This movie came out about a year ago and it was really well liked by critics and audience. It is made in India and tells story of a lonely housewife (get your mind out of the gutter, it is NOT what you think ) and a widower about to retire and how they come into contact with each other by pure chance (Sometimes, wrong train takes you to the right destination). Although the story is quite simple it is the acting and the pace of the movie that distinguishes it. Also it captures big city life of Mumbai, a throbbing city. It is available on 123movies with English subtitles and it stars Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi and Inferno) and Nawazzudin both great actors of this era. I know it is not playing anymore but otherwise it would make a great date movie. Recommend: Absolutely for its fine performances and story telling.

 

[Cock Throppled]

Blue Ruin: This movie came back in 2013 and I finally caught it. I have to say this is one of those pictures that don't make much splash but are pretty good. It is a revenge story, which is not really a new concept. It is the way it has been made that distinguishes it. Also, it is the lead character played by a relatively unknown actor Macor Blair ( I saw him in Green Room as well). He plays a simple guy so well. The overall tone of the movie is quite grim and dark. Lots of blood and gore but it is a revenge movie like I said above. Yes it seems to have plot holes but there aren't too many movies that don't have them. 3 out of 5 for me.

Recommend: Yes, if you like movies because of the subtle and finer points of movie making.

The Lunchbox- This movie came out about a year ago and it was really well liked by critics and audience. It is made in India and tells story of a lonely housewife (get your mind out of the gutter, it is NOT what you think ) and a widower about to retire and how they come into contact with each other by pure chance (Sometimes, wrong train takes you to the right destination). Although the story is quite simple it is the acting and the pace of the movie that distinguishes it. Also it captures big city life of Mumbai, a throbbing city. It is available on 123movies with English subtitles and it stars Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi and Inferno) and Nawazzudin both great actors of this era. I know it is not playing anymore but otherwise it would make a great date movie. Recommend: Absolutely for its fine performances and story telling.

Agree- lunchbox is very good.

 

[JimDandy]

I posted this else where on this site but thought I would post it here too:

This reminds me of a great movie I saw years ago:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243493/?ref_=nv_sr_2

It is absolutely hilarious! At one point in the movie an executive is taking some Japanese investors on a tour thru his company building in after hours. They look down into a room and two of the employees (one being the main character in this movie) are having sex on an office table. The company happens to be a condom manufacturing company so the quick thinking exec says that the 2 employees are doing product testing. The Japanese execs are clearly impressed lol.

This movie is 15 years old now but I suspect it has aged well and I definitely recommend it!

JD

 

[J-Dogg]

They borrowed/modified the ending from Jojo bizarre adventure part 5 Vento aureo.

Http://imgur.com/a/9b5tt

As a bbc sherlock fan I was suprised to see BC lines being capped. The man usually speaks in paragraphs and sounds more bassy.

Overall a good movie. Definitely get high bc some scenes are trippy as fuck

 

[Man Mountain]

Arrival

I definitely liked it more than rexxx did. Probably liked it more than CT if I'm reading his review correctly. I think my feelings about the movie are more in line with J-Dogg's thoughts although I'm not sure I could sit through a repeat viewing only because the pace is so incredibly slow for the first half or so. Despite the slow pace, it did hold my interest and I got a kick out of the "reveal" even though I did figure it out just before it was revealed.

Pseudo SPOILER WARNING
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Just one other note: Abbott and Costello...? Should've called them Kang and Kodos!

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END SPOILER

 

[take8easy]

Arrival: Finally watched it this evening. I have to say it is very different and I did know that going in. Like pooning, I do my research before ... going for it. Sadly, I took my kids with me who were like ... "huh?" I guess they expected alien ships being blown up to pieces and lots of bombs going off.

The movie is philosophically deep, visually appealing and directionally very good. I found this sci-fi movie working in different layers and so many angles of life. Like I said before, although it is a sci fi movie, it just uses sci fi (very effectively) to dig deeper into other issues. Amy Adams depicts the character very well. Jeremy Reiner is underused, once again. I kind of figured what the movie was overall about but still it held my interest. I think I am going to watch it again, just to watch all the pieces fall into place. I do recommend the movie but don't watch it expecting any fireworks a la Independence Day, War of the worlds, Predator or Alien.

T8E

 

[take8easy]

After watching Arrival earlier in the evening, I came home and decided to make it a movie night. Thanks to free online movies, I watched these two.

White Girl: I am not going to lie to you, I watched it for obvious reasons. (It was described as a young and pretty white (blonde) girl's wild ride of drug use and descent into darkness. The poster shows her having sex against a wall so I was in. ) It is what it was advertised as but surprisingly I enjoyed the acting and story telling part of it. It was directed by a female (Elizabeth Wood) and the movie is loosely based on her own life. Most of the actors are really not well known but they are all impressive. Basically, a lovely blonde girl (played VERY well by Morgan Saylor) moves to a new apartment and gets involved with a small time drug pusher and then her life spirals out of control. It is quite violent, shocking, explicit and drug use is all over the movie. The direction is uncompromising and story is told in a very raw and harsh way. I do recommend it. 3/5

Tunnel: This one was also available on 123movies (I hope it is ok to mention the website here). This was my second (South) Korean movie. The first one was Train to Busan which I thoroughly enjoyed a few months ago. Tunnel was equally good although it doesn't have as much action in it. Despite that it I found it spellbinding. A tunnel collapses on top of a young father as he drives thru it and his attempts to survive and his rescue is pretty much the whole story. I won't reveal what happens to him, does he get rescued, how long does it take for them to get him out etc but I have to say I was quite impressed with it. Thanks to English subtitles, I liked how they placed dark humor here and there throughout the movie. Also I must say, apart from just being a disaster movie it has this dark satire on society, corruption, media and politics as well. If these two Korean movies are any indication, Koreans are at par with Hollywood in movie making. My only complaint was that it was a bit long (about two hours) or may be it felt that way because this was my third movie in less than 8 hours and I started watching it after midnight! Overall I liked it and I do recommend it. 3/5.

 

[jamasianman]

I saw a few recently:

Nocturnal Animals: Despite the good cast and performances, this film is pretentious and doesn't pay off well. Not worth a viewing for the good acting, a total of time in my opinion. Its not even a thriller or anything like the trailer makes it out to be.

Moana: A very strong offering from Disney, its not Frozen but its well animated and a lot of fun. Its an adventure film with monsters, and friendship and all that good stuff. Lots of culture too, I'm glad Disney is getting more bold and not always doing white princess stories.

Allied: The stars are beautiful, the set design is gorgeous, but the movie is kind of ho-hum by the third act. See it if you must, but most likely you'll be bogged down by the awkward pacing and fizzling finale.

The Edge of Seventeen: Distinctly going for a John Hughes vibe, this film was alright. When I say that I'm saying that is was mildly amusing, the best parts were Woody Harrelson and the asian actor. Its doesn't have a lot of plot or is even that great, but its a basic coming of age flick and nothing more.

 

[J-Dogg]

hawkeye just doesn't get any respect

 

[agentman]

War Dogs – starring Jonah Hill, Miles Teller and Bradley Cooper. Imdb lists the movie as comedy/crime/drama but in my opinion I wouldn’t call it a comedy, just some humor sprinkled here and there. It was fairly entertaining, not terrible/not great, I give it a 5.5 out of 10. YMMV.

 

[agentman]

Magnificent 7 – starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt. Disappointing remake of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and the following 1960’s western version. Okay to watch if you’re really bored or better off watching the 2 previous iterations. 4 out of 10.
Main points
-good cast that was underused
-bland dialogue/very little characterization
-pg13 was a bad idea

Well there’s John Wick 2 coming at February.