LoL Spielberg is laughing his way to the bank he doesn't care. Also, the "we have got to weaponize this for greedy megacorp" trope is as tired as all the weak class struggle allusion plot lines in everything.
You guys judge this like it’s a fucking god father sequel. Have you seen The Lost World lately? If you haven’t, it ends with then taking a T-Rex to San Diego, on a boat. It kills everyone on the boat. The boat crashes into land (like in Speed 2 cruise control) and reeks havoc on the city. They lure it back to the boat using its baby as bate. They then drive the crashed boat back to Costa Rica, while news helicopters follow it. The series has been shot for a long fucking time. I haven’t gotten a chance to see it yet. But I’m expecting it to be terrible. It stars Chris Pratt as a dinosaur trainer. How could it be good at all? But it will be fun. There will be cool fights. And I will walk out with a smile. Because I know it’s a movie about cloning dinosaurs. And not one about 9-11.
Meh the whole concept of Jurassic World was playing on nostalgia of much more well crafted movie. You go see Rampage too, same movie, slightly better leading man?
Does it ring a bell when it wants to be let outside? Time for walkies! For the final film I want it to climax with Liam Neeson fighting the raptors on the roof of a moving train. That’s full of children and nitroglycerin. Heading straight for the Bottomless Pit.
Sicario 2 I have mixed feelings about this one. The first 2/3 of the movie are excellent and a great continuation of the first movie. The third act is kind of a mess. The action scenes and tension are on par with the first movie, although not quite to the degree that Villineuve and Deakins delivered scenery-wise. Also, I wasn’t sure why they showed the suicide bombers in the beginning when that never really goes anywhere. Also, what was the ultimate goal with transporting the girl? I don’t think that was ever established. According to some reviews, the first 2/3 of the script were drafted by the same screenwriter as the first movie. The last third were butchered by the director, and it shows. Overall, I did enjoy it even if it is somewhat flawed. 6/10
Agree with pretty much everything you wrote. I think the only payoff from the suicide bombers was when Keener said they found out they were from New Jersey when she was trying to rein in Brolin. I also didn't follow exactly the transport goal - I read somwhere that Isabel will be a big part of the third movie. So, if the script was penned with that in mind, maybe something key was cut. Hell or Highwater is still my favorite script from him. He must need the right director, because I enjoyed Wind River, but Soldado seemed to suffer from the same plot holes and confusion as WR. (Don't knkw if you noticed, but even though there was a new composer this time around, they used one of the previous works from him (Johansson?). All that said, Spoiler: In case I thought two scenes with Benicio del Toro were incredible: when he's signing with the deaf father, and when he's driving back, half-conscious.
For me that was the point where it spun off axis. He’s supposed to be a mysterious, bad-ass lone wolf mercenary and he gets bested by amateur drug dealers/human traffickers. I also thought it was a bit cliche how they were going to put Josh Brolin against him. I think the movie would have had a stronger message if they were committing brutal acts of violence on par with the cartel. I did like it though.
Ocean's 8 3/10 It's not very good. It lacked just about everything that made Ocean's 11 (the remake) good. Assembling an all-star cast is not a recipe for a quality film. First of all, the music. All of it was lame. No clever original score stuff that properly punctuated on-screen action (and I use the term "action" very loosely), and no good throw back tunes or anything. The best was "how much is that doggy in the window" and they even managed to ruin using "these boots are made for walking." Those were unnecessary failures, and they could've improved the music. Second, there was virtually no tension. Where were the scenes where you were thinking, "oh, no, they're gonna get caught! hurry, hurry!"? For instance, while Mindy Kaling was trying to break up the jewels and the security guy was coming towards the door. It was so suspenseful that he got . . . into the kitchen? How does the radio call not come as he's reaching for the door handle? Or, as he knocks? Again, easily could've improved those scenes. Aren't you supposed to be rooting for these criminals? Third, complete failure of using the supporting cast. Awkwafina was the best part of the ensemble. Everything she said was funny or at least better than the rest of the cast. How do you not highlight that and punch up her scenes more? Why was Mindy Kaling there? She was so bolted on to the crew, you could re-edit the movie without her scenes and miss nothing. She's supposed to be the awesome jewelry maker - why wasn't she amazed when she got a chance to be with the $150mm necklace? The first time at the showing or the second time as she split it up? They could've easily had her do some soliloquy chastising her partners for not recognizing its beauty, had her fawn over it at the showing, and then ruefully wince and mutter things as she split it up. Fourth, complete failure of using the leads, with the exception of Anne Hathaway. She was great and nailed her parts. But, why are Cate Blanchett and Sandra Bullock cool? What backstory do they set up to show how slick they are? The whole stylistic premise was how they are polished and savvy, and there was never any reasonable establishment of that. Fifth, random holes in the writing, like the couple ordering at the food truck: was that supposed to make the timing tense? The conversation Bullock has with the guard as she's being freed from prison? If Hathaway is in on it, why does Blanchett need to spike her food? I don't know - I think I was writing all this out of frustration. I normally wouldn't take the effort for a movie I graded so low. But, there was so much more that seems like it would've been sooo easy to fix and improve the movie. The whole easy-going crew vibe actually took away from any opportunity to pace it in a way that made it thrilling. Don't bother seeing this.
I just needed to tack on to this comment: the class struggle/forced social justice bullshit being put into movies in the last five years is becoming staggeringly obnoxious. Since when did screenwriters start turning pretentious Oscar speeches into plot details? Why does everything has to have a “message”? I can’t watch any of these new Star Wars movies for three minutes without having to roll my eyes at some bullshit.
Since Hollywood starting falsely equating their entertainment value with political thought. Where did it begin? Maybe Brando having that Indian accept his Oscar for him the 70s? Who knows. I saw the new Oceans movie. It was fine, nothing particularly memorable. But like the new Ghostbusters movie it was more about "HEY LOOK GIRLS" rather than bringing some new, fresh idea into the franchise. The original Oceans movies are more vanity projects for the ensemble cast rather than decent movies. They're ok, but again, nothing special about them.
I felt the Oceans movies tried to do nothing more than make their cast members look “cool”. I never cared for any of them but the new one is especially bad, and honestly nobody asked for it in the first place. As for Ghostbusters, it looked bad and was bad. It was annoying, unfunny and the special effects often sucked. It disgraced a classic film that didn’t need to be remade. The reason it failed? Misogyny. Toxic masculinity literally willed it into being a bad movie.
Did anyone see Ready Player One? Fuck, what a disappointment. Guess I'll go read the book; scootah gave it a glowing review in the book thread a while back. The character development was such shit. I would say these are spoilers but they're not. They're the kind of bullshit cheese that happens in all crappy Hollywood movies. Our hero meets the heroine in the game. You'll be disappointed, she says. I don't look like this in real life, she says. A core plot point: we all hide behind our avatars, and our real personalities have to shine through in a place where anyone can look like whatever they want. Hero meets heroine in real life. Heroine is ... beautiful and skinny. Oh! But totally fatally flawed because she, uh, has a light, somewhat-other-than-flesh-toned birthmark on her face? Hero awkwardly announces he is, "not disappointed." Ultra Evil Megacorp Boss literally bombs a fucking trailer park and murders a bunch of people. Climactic end of movie, the hero calls in a desperate plea for protection from the denizens of that trailer park. Success! A crowd shows up to protect our hero from UEMB, showing the resiliency of spirit and loyalty that being poor cannot extinguish! The crowd steels itself, we know what you've done, you bastard, we will not give in just because you're rich. Then the crowd... gives in and parts? And allows UEMB to just walk right up to the hero with a gun? And then UEMB has some weird softening of the heart he hasn't displayed any inclination towards the entire movie because the hero has a tear falling from his eye? And the message all along is, "winning isn't everything, playing the game is more important." Which is clearly demonstrated by a random easter egg in an old game which results in the person who finds it... winning everything. Jesus Christ.
Skip the book, IMO. Its more nostalgia fan service than anything, to the point where there are literal lists of 80s and 90s call-outs littered throughout. Its really overrated.
I actually really enjoyed the book, often because of said nostalgia but I also liked the story. But ya the movie didn't live up to it at all.
Movies have always had political bents it just seems more recently, on top of being completely against new movie ideas, theyve decided political overtones can carry a movie alone without any story or decent execution. To top it all off when an obviously shit movie bombs, the Hollywood assholes and media folks blame it squarely on white males. Give me a fucking break.
Ready Player One This movie is an 80's and 90's pop culture reference overdose. It seems like this has been a theme lately in movies and TV, but now they aren't even being subtle about it. Just making nod after nod to the childhood years of my generation and cramming them up our asses. Besides that, it's just the same, tired old plot of the corporate rich vs. the downtrodden yet resilient common people. The part at the beginning when he talks about the "Corn Syrup Droughts" made me want to shut my fucking TV off. 2/10 because of the shiny visual effects.
So it's on TV then? Because that's the only way I'd ever watch it, if only to see what minor miracle Spielberg pulled off in translating the book to screen.
Eighth Grade I saw this with my wife a few days ago. One of the few movies that accurately captures what its like being in middle school. And surprisingly, the lead actress actually looks like shes in 8th grade with zits and all. The movie was really good, especially so since its Bo Burnham who put it together as his first major film. I havent cringed this hard in a movie in quite a while. Not because it was bad, but because it was so punishingly accurate for anyone that remembers how awkward being 14 was. One thing I didnt quite relate to or really have a grasp on beforehand was how much social media shapes the landscape for middle school and high school life nowadays. Thankfully I missed all that, I cant imagine the kind of shit I would have said at that age.The movie was genuinely funny and heartfelt. Its worth seeing. 9/10.