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

The VVitch 8.5/10

Bit of a polarizing film it seems when I look at reviews, but I really enjoyed it. Very atmospheric with beautiful visuals despite the limited colour palette (almost reminiscent of an Andrew Wyeth painting at times).
Clearly a lot of attention has gone into making the setting and clothing look authentic, it genuinely feels like a real time and place. I see some complaints about the pacing, but the movie flew by for me. The score and sound design are top-notch and I can imagine the film wouldn't be half as immersive if you don't watch it in a completely quiet space. Won't spoil anything about the plot.

Lots of atmosphere, the right amount of disturbing and no jumpscares. I liked it.

EDIT: Also, child actors who aren't terrible. Impressive!

Spoiler

I see people online saying it's a bit cheesy and trope-y and I do get that.
The witch is shown right at the start, leaving nothing to the imagination, the literal devil is speaking through a goat and an actual satanic dance happens at the end... but in a way that's the whole point isn't it? It's a completely honest, literal interpretation of 17th century mythology that doesn't make any attempt to subvert the source material (which is refreshing, in a way).
You just have to suspend your disbelief a bit. If you take off the 21th century glasses (lol a spooky goat) and try to immerse yourself in the frightening, cruel, often incomprehensible world 17th century people must have lived in - especially uneducated, superstitious settlers moving into untamed lands on the other side of the globe - I think the movie works very well.

A Ghost Story 8.5/10

What a sweet film. Such a simple premise, executed perfectly. I think RedLetterMedia found exactly the right word for it: it's quaint, in all the right ways.
Don't be deterred by the hipster-y aesthetic with the 4:3 aspect ratio and the curved vignette, and especially the very long - infamously long - takes. It's all done very deliberately, without wanting to spoil anything.
Recommended.

 

Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom - 8/10

Really enjoyed it, nice level of action, story and horror.
The lass in the seat next to me jumped a few times that sh!t me up

 

12 Strong - Murica/10
So Thor is in my opinion a miscast for this.
Other than that, this is a pretty generic "oorah america" war film based loosely on a true story.
It's not bad, it's not amazing... it just is...

 

Deadpool 2 - GunzBlazin'/10
I went not expecting much from this, but was pleasantly surprised, was great fun. Sugarbear is my new favourite superhero.

 

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? - Better than Goofy/10

One of my all-time favourites.

 

Jurassice World: Fallen Kingdom - Too Dumb To Live/10

This film has one big problem, besides that it has been made. You have to suspend disbelief enough to believe that an island that is home to genetically engineered man eating super predators, including flying and aquatic variants, wouldn't be destroyed by systematic nuclear bombardment once they got loose and ran amuck. I mean Isla Nublar is less than 30 square miles, the US Navy could render it devoid of all life in an afternoon. That's what happened in the book (ok, Napalm not nukes), are book characters really that much smarter than in movies?

But nope, after two and a half decades the people of Jurassic Universe are still popping dinosaurs out of test tubes, underestimating them at every turn and getting dismembered in increasingly implausible ways. The various ways themselves are actually quite entertaining in a slasher movie kind of way, something to look out for on Youtube when the supercuts inevitably arrive.

 

Tomb Raider - 7/10

It was better than the Angelina ones. The tone changes were a little.. Jarring, though.

Like, drowning a dude in a muddy puddle and being visibly distraught, then within four scenes she's arrowing people without a second thought.

 

Triple 9 8/10

Loved this. Really engaging narrative (albeit lacking cohesiveness) and the acting is phenomenal, especially Kate Winslet. Does have its faults but for me it was good enough for a high score. Some scenes in particular were incredible.

Alone in the Dark 0/10

Switched it off after about ten minutes... script is dire and acting much the same.

 

All of this +1

 

Super Troopers 2 - 8/10

tbh i was worried that after so long that it would be crap, happy to be proved wrong, its awesome.

 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - 6/10

When it comes to the Jurassic Park franchise, I am easy to please:
Dinosaurs, The old theme song, I am pretty happy. If it's not JP3, I am happier.
I LIKED Jurassic World. Sure, it was flawed, but it was also a lot of fun to watch.
This one - less so. It's not bad, but it felt like a missed opportunity.
If you're not going to focus on Dinos, then focus on characters or solid plot.
The ethical question of cloning and genetic tampering comes up every 30 minutes in this, and never get played beyond "Hey here's a thought". This wouldn't be an issue if the characters meant anything at all. But they don't. I think Bryce Dallas Howard is cute as a button. I didn't mind her running in heels. But her role in the JW films hardly make a compelling reason to watch.
The Dino action is muddled with the whole "splicing" thing as well, which would be OK if they riffed on that an the whole responsibility of the scientist bit some more... but it's just not happening.

Ultimately, this isn't bad. Put your brain in a jar, get some popcorn, and maybe even watch in 3D (I did, it was OK - and I hate 3D normally). Be a child and don't think about it.
it's not Jurassic Park 1 or 2, and it's not Jurassic World. But, It's also not as bad as JP3... that's a win.

 

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - 6/10
Good simple fun

Downsizing - 3/5
Starts well, the scifi-setup is good, then just as you expect the movie to go, it turns full drama. The last half an hour is dominated by an unnecessary plot twist, that doesn't really connect to the rest of the movie.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - 7/10
Pretty Girls in period costumes doing roundhouse kicks....what's there not to like? I thought the movie hit the right tone and balanced the zombiehorror/slasher - period movie combination very well.

The LEGO Batman Movie - 7/10
silly and cynical, a great combination

 

Double post….please delete

 

Skyscraper - 6/10
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson does "Die Hard meets Towering Inferno", with a side of prosthetic leg.

 

I have to disagree - it was just one last squeeze of the cash cow's teat. It felt like it was written by accountants and the cast phoned it in.

Jurassic World was ok as a popcorn flick, but this was shite.

 

Yeah it was all just a bit too... Buffy? Like a high school movie with super hero rather than super hero in high school. Not sure if my rose tinted spectacles of watching the tobey m version ripped by my dad (in 2 parts) on a laptop whilst hungover alters my perspective.

 

Makes sense to me, the auntie of a teenager should be in her 40s, plus having her swear at Peter is one of my favourite things, makes her a proper character instead of the usual inexplicably perfect granny. And he's got Spider Sense, watch the movie again!

 

Rampage: 6/10

fire and forget mindless popcorn but still better than most of whats on TV.

 

You're just getting older G.