Films The Official bit-tech Movie Thread - What have you seen lately?

Also watched two other films on Saturday, but was coming down from seeing TFA to post about them

Ant-Man
A touch corny, a touch silly, overall good fun.
7.5/10

Coherence
Very good. Very very good in fact.
Sci-fi-esque thriller about a dinner party while a comet is flying by earth and weird stuff happens.
Can't say much else without spoiling bits so yeah, recommend at a 8.5/10.

 

That's what I was expecting...maybe it was just me going in with too high expectations, then again, the other people I watched it with were not impressed either.

 

Sadly, I think he probably watched it and thought "WOW! This is good! They're almost as good as I, II and III"...

I watched Star Wars on Saturday night, and agree with most of the comments. I particularly like the lack of overt merchandising opportunities (other than BB-8) and that nothing was shoe-horned in just to make Lucas extra money. I also liked the echoes and nods to the original series, especially in the clothing that people wore.

I'd score it Star Wars!/10

Colin Trevorrow has got a lot to live up to.

 

Jupiter Ascending: 3/10
A science fiction Cinderella version with plot holes bigger than Jupiter, pacing all over the place and a story that’s so far out there even the Star Wars prequels seem brilliant in comparison. The ending is especially stupid.

Spoiler

The princess of Earth goes on cleaning toilets, right…

However I really liked the baroque design of the spaceships and landscapes. So the movie wasn’t a complete waste of time.

Wanted: 1/10
What a terrible movie. Seriously, After Earth was better. Easily the worst movie I have seen this year.

Spoiler

Bullet time reactions by having a heart rate of more than 500 bpm instead of heat attacks, sure. Healing bullet wounds by drowning people in white blood cells, okay… Shooting around corners by moving their hands fast enough while shooting? How about no.

 

I don't think this is a movie that should be taken seriously. I watched it twice as an over-the-top action comedy (a bit like Kung Fury (though not half as good)), and both times I found it pretty entertaining.

Spoiler

Especially the ridiculous bullet-bending. Just thinking about that scene at the end in the circular room still cracks me up.

 

Once I had time to reply, this was pretty much exactly what I would've said.
It's based on a comic, and it's pretty evident in the overly stylised nature of the film.

So long as you disengage your brain from reality, it's a fun watch.

 

Spy 8/10

Very pleasently surprised, I was expecting cringeworthy "Hangover Style" humor, but that was kept in check.
Statham spoofing himself, fantastic

 

Star Wars VII 5/10.
Weak story (a Star Wars tradition), recycled everything, and bad guy is a wimp. The only good things I can say about it are no Lucas, no Jar Jar, and no muppets.

 

That's because they recycled everything from the first movie but decided they didn't need a story or plot or any reason to fear the bad guys or cheer for the good guys. It's horrible fantasy that is being carried by fond memories of the First movie. That is why it just feels like a highlight reel with a few new bits thrown in.
The baddies weren't bad at all, they were absolute wimps.

When I was a kid I loved the first two Star Wars movies, everything since Empire Strikes Back has been garbage.

 

Star Wars VII 10/10. Absolutely incredible and a return to former glory.

 

The Martian 10/10. Great Movie.

 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens- 6/10

Spoiler

So JJ just made A New Hope with modern effects. Nice work but...

A New Hope has already been made, fourty years ago -1 point.

The Bad Guy is Prequel Era Annakin Skywalker cosplaying as Darth Revan, - 1 point

The writing and pacing in Abrams movies continues to be terrible, too many stupid coincidences to list but the real sin is the Not Death Star firing sequence, somehow Abrams removed all the emotional weight from the death of an entire solar system, also the seat of galactic power,-1 point

Awkwardly animated rubbish CGI monsters and characters, -1 point

Supreme Leader Snoke, what, was Chairman Snuggy too terrifying? Does JJ have a marketing deal with Mercedes? Why is discount Voldemort in charge? Why are the empire and the rebellion given new names all of a sudden? -1 point


JJ Abrams continues to be a spectacularly lazy film maker, I think in a few months once the desperation for this to be good dies down a serious hatedom's going to entrench itself.

On the other hand, the new heroes are likeable and interesting. The cinematography, sets and the non-creature effects are stupendously gorgeous too. So +1 point for those. I'd see the next one for the vistas alone, but I don't expect it to be a better movie particularly.

Better than Episode 1 though, I still enjoyed it, but I won't be forcing my kids to watch it like the original trilogy.

 

The Hateful Eight - 8/10

One of Tarantino's best films I think. I saw it in 70mm with the roadshow thing they're doing. I takes a bit to get going, but when it does it's fantastic. If you like Tarantino films then I highly recommend it.

 

Conversely, if you don't like Tarantino films...

Hateful 8 - 4/10
Slow to pick up and when it does it's just stock Tarantino. The story is guff, and despite solid performances from just about everyone involved there's no meat to it to get your teeth into.

 

Star Wars: TFA

10/10 — an hour after the first watch, for obvious reasons.

8/10 — a few days later, when I'd calmed down. The humour was a touch forced in parts. The pacing was a bit odd. General Hux looks too much like a smug highschooler to take seriously. Oddly enough, I had no problem with the villain(s). I was expecting some PG13 d-baggery but instead I thought the villain(s) were good, especially considering we have two movies yet to come. I'm looking at this movie as a combination of introducing new fans and youngsters to Star Wars, and laying the groundwork for bigger and better things, the way ANH did.

Still, I enjoyed it, and at the end of the day, that's all I am looking for.

 

The Force Awakens - 7-8/10

I'm not a Star Wars fan. I know the films, the story and whatnot, but I've no real fandom of the universe. If I had to pick a favourite character, it'd be Chewie because he's the most sane IMO.

Anyway. Film was good, reasonably paced action, couple of comedy moments, couple of "ohhh, I see now" moments.

I do have a bone to pick, though.. (PREWARNING: It's not a major plot event, and comes down to about 90 seconds of footage, but still)

Spoiler

The Stormtrooper with the shock baton. When did Storm troopers get lightsaber resistant weapons or armour? I was under the impression that it was rare as tits, notable examples of use being Boba Fett and Vader's armours. Or is Finn just that **** with a saber?

There were a lot less lens flares than I was expecting for a JJ film, which was nice.

 

Spoiler

The Riot control baton can resist plasma blades (light sabers) also Finn is shat with a saber

 

Spoiler

I guess it got more common in the ~30 years between then and now? Just strikes me as odd that it's gone from rare as balls to common enough for J-Random Storm Trooper to have it. Still. Not that it makes any difference really, it wasn't exactly a major plot point.

 

Cool Runnings - Cool Runnings/10

 

Spoiler

That was one of my major gripes with the film. 30 years between 6 and 7, and technology/military/etc hasn't advanced at all. Really, storm troopers still look the same? Spaceship tech and designs haven't advanced at all? The shock staff is one of the few things that is new.