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

Big Hero 6 - IMAX 3D
So the latest Disney Animation Studios film, billed as being from the same team as Frozen, Wreck-It Ralpha and Tangled. Out in the UK after a huge delay from October, the wife and I went to a showing at the BFI IMAX.

Overall it was enjoyable, although a bit predictable, with the usual high standard of animation all around. The two central characters were deep and well fleshed out, but some of the support characters fell in to really lazy stereotypes -

Spoiler

I mean giving the stick thin, girly girl, a weaponised handbag? and the nerd dude is in to comics and fills his room with toys, nerf guns and the like?

. I guess my biggest problem is that it is an "origin" story and they all become

Spoiler

superheroes, just like every other movie (or so it feels like right now. I blame Marvel.)

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Disney don't shy away from some punches to the feels, which made some of the kids in the cinema cry. I wouldn't recommend for children under the age of about 7-8, with some leeway for emotional maturity.

7/10

 

Big Hero 6 - Meh/10

a unique and interesting premise ultimately ruined by plebian conformity, because we don't have enough ****ing super hero films clogging up cinema.

 

Point Break - Keanu Reeves/10

One of my fav films of all time, if you haven't watched it you should.

 

The Hobbit - Battle of the Five Armies
3/10

Really, really disappointing.
NO real plot to talk of, acting that can be described as "Dodgy", and sub-par CGI at times. Add to that the 2.5 hour running time, and you have hours of life never being recovered.

 

Noah 5/10

too long, and a weird biblical/fantasy mix.
Ray Winstone desperately trying too look like Mickey Rourke.

Great scenery shots though.

 

John Wick

9/10

Cracking film, great action and good story line. I really enjoyed sitting through it and would watch it again. I don't know what else to say, other than watch it and you won't be disappointed.

American Heist

3/10

I thought at first that it was just a slow starter, so gave the benefit of doubt and let things get going, by the time I got so far through to feel pointless turning it off I decided to put myself through the pain of watching to the end. Thinking that the main action part of the film towards the end would be some extremely good scenes, I was more interested in watching my fish swim around the tank. There were some erm lets say very fake and obvious scenes too which just didn't help it's already low opinion. I'll give it a 3, but I wouldn't recommend watching it.

 

Kingsman - about 100 times better than I thought it would be. 9/10

 

Big Hero 6 7/10

A bit of a 'meh' reaction from me to be quite honest. It had its funny moments but it didn't draw me in massively. Far from the best Disney/Pixar have produced but solid enough.

Nightcrawler 8.5/10

Seriously good. I had no idea what it was about before watching it, and the depths to which the character Gyllenhaal plays would go to were genuinely shocking. An excellent performance by him with some great writing to back it up.

Oculus 4/10

Not scary, not even particularly creepy for the most part. The main positive was that it starred Karen Gillan, and her American accent is actually fairly authentic. Really not great overall.

 

Leaving this for you:-

 

To be honest, prior to watching it I thought it'd be Marvel film because that's the only meaning of Nightcrawler I'd heard of. I didn't even see a poster/cover to try and work it out.

 

Read the quote on the poster...

 

Her - 8/10

This is an exceptional film. If you love Black Mirror, then this is right up your alley. The interactions, fears, personalities all feel genuine. You empathize with all of the characters, which is rare in cinema. There isn't a single bad-guy or right side to pick. It's a movie about the experience this man has with his artificially intelligent computer. It's about the growth this computer has from birth to . . . the end of the film (avoiding spoilers). It's definitely worth a watch for anyone here since we're all geeks who are into computers, gaming, and AI. But it's not for kids.

 

I noticed after posting Would've been a short film if he could teleport!

 

Birdman - 8/10

Lots of long takes. The film is made to look like it's a single take, but it isn't and many of the transitions are fairly obvious. Still, I'm sure more than a few slipped past me since it's done really well. It's a good drama with amazing acting. Even though the actors never break down the 4th wall, the theme of the film certainly does. Because it's a play within a movie, you sometimes forget that when the actors aren't on stage they are still acting. There is one scene where this is made really apparent to the audience. The film also critiques the audience and their need for superheroes, action, and explosions.

Do watch.

 

hey my thread is still alive. Nice

 

Escape Plan - 6

You know you're in for a good movie when 50 Cent is in a serious role with Sly Stallone and Arnie. Didn't expect much, but it was alright. Quite interesting but that might not be because I expected much.

Still surprised to see Vinnie Jones acting, even if it was one of his worst performances.

 

Before I Go To Sleep - 6.5/10

An overused idea that is taken to its limits in this 'psychological chiller'. About a woman who finds out that she can only retain information for a day after an accident she can't remember. She has to be reminded by her husband who he is, where she is and why it is all happening, each and every morning. She begins seeing a neurologist to make sense of her condition and perhaps even cure it. Many twists soon follow.

It's okay is how you sum it up. The acting is fantastic from Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth and Mark Strong (who i'd never heard of) and it is genuinely enthralling to watch, to find out the next part. The disappointing part is that you've normally already figured out what happens next. Going "I bet this happens" is normally right in this film. It's predictable but the acting fantastic, consistently great performances from each actor(ess) is the only real thing to keep it going. The atmosphere sets the mood for the film quite well however, unsettling you as you eventually get to the conclusion.

The ending falls a bit flat, once everything is revealed. It's only a good watch if you're a fan of any of the actors or if you enjoy plays, because it is more of akin to a stage performance rather than a movie.

 

Vinnie has recently been the big bad on Arrow (Danny "Brick" Brickwell - not from the comics!)

 

How to train your Dragon 2

9/10

Loved it, perfect progression from the first film ( helps if you've seen the 2 tv series inbetween, but not essential ) and a brilliant voice cast- only Kit Harington from GOT sounds a little out of place but meh. It's a shame the trailers gave away most of the plot, but the film is just awesome.

I need to watch the Lego movie next and decide which film should have gotten the Oscar, this or that...

 

Definitely enjoyed it, hadn't seen the tv series, may have a looksie, but I felt a couple of the main voice actors were very weak which put a bit of a dent in my enthusiasm, still well worth a watch though.