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

RedTails

6/10

Hard to explain really, I just think they got the tone of the movie wrong- it's a war film, about a fairly serious & important subject matter, but it felt too light-hearted most of the time. Ended up feeling more like an action film ( lighter than Pearl habour ) with some not great but not too bad CGI, and the dialogue was ropey and delivered badly quite often too.

Spoiler

I nearly facepalmed when a single P-51 fighter took out a whole fecking German destroyer with just 2 passes. I mean sure, I've seen the library footage of fighters attacking warships and they do some damage, but what the film depicted was total bullpoop...

 

I so wanted RedTails to be Men of Honor in the skies but it was just complete and utter ****.

 

Spoiler

Agreed. Seems there was more storyline for one of the pilots getting tail than anything else.

 

I skipped over those short sections after I began watching the first one as it happened, felt tacked on to try and give the film some kind of depth and it didn't work at all.

I'd suggest going and watching Memphis Belle if anyone wants to see a good war film about aerial combat, you won't find anything better IMO.

 

Jodorowsky's Dune - 5/10

It was interesting to be sure, but I'm not really sure what the point of the movie was. It would have been a crazy movie if it had been made, but it didn't. Everything that was said in the movie was at least a little bit interesting, but it just wasn't presented in a compelling way.

 

The Frozen Ground 4/10

It's not abysmal, but it isn't good either.

Starring Nicolas Cage and John Cusack, it tells the true story of the Alaskan hunt for Serial Killer Robert Hansen. Some great actors and a 'true story' should be good starting points; you'd be wrong.

It starts off slow and it doesn't really take off. It's boring for the majority of the film, John Cusack is possibly the only good part of this film, his scenes were the most interesting, being a serial killer and all; I think he plays the role pretty well. The Script is horrible and the plot is riddled with holes all over. 50 Cent plays a pimp, which is hilariously terrible. It's interesting to watch because you think "it's a true story, I want to see what happens here", but as a piece of entertainment, it's pretty bad. Nicolas Cage didn't give this film his best performance; he isn't the best actor by any means but he's capable of a hell of lot more than this.

I wouldn't watch it again nor would I recommend anyone else to watch it. I found online documents about Robert Hansen more interesting than this film.

 

Snowpiercer 7/10

This was much better than I thought. There are a few good surprises (because there are a few really good red herrings). It's a bummer this movie didn't do better financially, because we really need more 'out there' stuff like this being made in Hollywood and fewer reboots and bad adaptations.

 

I agree that red tails was a massive disappointment, I reckon if you combined the effects with the live acting scenes from The Tuskegee Airmen (made for TV, circa 1995) you would have had a much better film.

 

Noah - 4/10

Wish I could reclaim those minutes wasted. Emma Watson is annoying!

 

Still bang her though. Film was a load of crap - 2 out of 10.

 

The Selfish Giant

7.5/10.

British film, quite enjoyed it although slightly predictable.

 

Bad on EPIC proportions and some think this is historical. I'm talking Bats**t crazy here.

I don't think I've ever given a Zero before but I will now 0/10!!!

Not even Miss Watson looking ever so fragile could muster any points.

 

Godzilla ( 2014 )

7/10

I'd call this a cocktease of a film, always offering glimpses of the monsters up until the end where poop gets real and you finally see more of what you came for. Lead up was compelling, though

Spoiler

killing off Brian Cranston so soon was a bummer move

, and I wouldn't say the film was a dull as many are claiming- I'd say it's cleverly done, almost like Alien in it's approach in some ways. Looking forward to seeing a decent quality copy

 

The Raid [:Redmption]/Serbuan Maut (2011) - We are not here to do good/10

Indonesian film... Written and directed by a welshman... similar in premise to 'Dredd', by which i mean 'Dredd and The Raid are virtually identical'...

one last thing... for the love of sanity do not watch the English dubbed version... it's utter garbage...

 

BladeRunner

7/10

It's been a while, so thought it was time to re-watch this 'masterpiece'. Visual style is outstanding, dialogue perfectly fine, but it just didn't really hold my attention too well and was very plodding; I've seen 'arty' films done much better ( Drive being a great modern example ) without the need for slow pacing that makes the film feel drawn out too much.

I'll leave interpreting the messages and visual cues to those who like that sorta thing ( I call a spade a spade; for example, 'Alien' is not about the fear of male rape, it's a about a giant fecking alien ripping people to shreds and breeding- you can tell because men and women are on the menu as such... ).

 

Pom Poko 7/10

If you like Studio Ghibli, then you'll like this movie. There are some really weird cultural things that you should look up before watching, like Japanese raccoon dogs (Tanuki) and the folklore around them, especially the idea that they have giant scrota that can be transformed into props and things during their shape-shifting. Strangely, the movie is still really family friendly, but I'm fairly liberal about that sort of thing.

Again, if you like Studio Ghibli or anime in general, I would recommend.

 

Carrie (2013) 3/!0

What where they thinking? Why did they think they could improve on the original? A classic horror in my opinion.
Why is it that American film makers always show Americans in a poor light. In Carrie it seems that the whole school is complicit in the cruelty shown to Carrie when she experiences her first period. In other films colleagues, particularly in the police, are always shown coming to blows, hospital staff are depicted as rude and uncaring.

But back to the film it had few redeeming features, special effects were pretty rubbish, characters were mainly unpleasant with little depth, it seemed as if this film was just made because no one could come up with a fresh idea.

Skip this unless someone gives you the DVD and you really have nothing better to do like watching paint dry.

 

The LEGO Movie - Never place your butt on a pirate's face/10

In all honesty the film itself was a bit meh, but I loved how the animation was done... I'll probably watch it again just for that...

... and Morgan Freeman

Thor: The Dark World - Well done! You've just decapitated your grandfather/10

 

War Games (1983). I must finish all James Halladay media if I am to become a Gunter.

8/10 - good film. I especially liked the way they never reference the term hacker. I guess it was too old.

 

Appleseed Alpha - Very realistic CGI work, believable characters. 8/10