Terminator: Dark Fate Ive seen too many movies lately and Im a bit burned out, but I wanted to get a late night showing of this one as the (first two) Terminator movies, especially T2, are my favorite films. Im going to spoiler the whole review since its hard to dissect without talking about plot points: Spoiler Its hard to say if I enjoyed this movie. I like many parts of it, but I think I hate it overall. There was just so much that could have been better but some things that were done better than I thought they'd be. The Good: It was cool to see Linda Hamilton and Arnold back on screen together. She stepped back into Sarah Connor easily. It was also cool to see Edward Furlong back as John Connor, kind of. MacKenzie Davis was really good and her character actually made sense in that shes a human with cybernetic augmentations. I think it was better than just another T-800 being sent back as the protector. Some of the action scenes were really cool and well done. I think the ending battle was the best of the whole movie. The anti-aging, deep-fake stuff they did on Linda Hamilton and Edward Furlong in the scene where he dies looked good. It completely ignored T3, T4 and T5. The Bad: It also rendered T1 and T2 completely pointless. They killed off John Connor right away by having a random T-800 walk up and pop a few shotgun shells into him. The entire plot of the first two movies was around this one guy growing up to be the savior, only to have him gunned down for no reason. Then the whole rest of the plot was basically a rehash of T2 with a new savior and just changing the name of Skynet to Legion. Why even bother doing that? That brings us to Arnold's character. He's the older machine that killed off John Connor in the beginning. He then decides he needs to go out and find a purpose and get a family and a dog or whatever. That was completely absurd and made zero sense. However his character was less goofy than he was in Terminator: Genisys, whatever thats worth. The Rev-9 might be the least intimidating Terminator so far in the entire series. He just furrows his brow and does stupid shit like hulk jumping, quipping about destroying a shed, etc. Also, its liquid metal over an endoskeleton, kind of like T3 except he can partition himself into two machines rather than having onboard weapons. Robert Patrick looked like a snake as he moved through the environment and was scary as hell. This guy was generic and boring. Liquid metal is really hard to top and this really doesnt do it. The nano, phase-matter terminator from Genisys was a cool idea, but that movie was utter garbage. The story overall just didnt make sense. If Skynet was ultimately defeated and allowed a completely separate AI to rise up and take control, why does it then deploy terminators that look exactly like the ones that Skynet developed? I have no idea why Sarah Connor would even give a shit at that point? Sure, they try to explain it. But logically it doesnt make sense. The social justice nonsense was a little on the nose. Yeah we get it, women can be leaders too. How many times did they need to beat that into the audience? Also, the idea that they deliberately had the Latino Rev-9 slaughter a bunch of border patrol officers was also blatantly obvious. Some of the other reviews Ive read are right, it basically does with Star Wars Episode 7 did, but without the respect for the movies that came before it. Its better than T3, Salvation and Genisys, but thats not saying much. 4/10
Parasite I’m saving hope for “The Irishman” to be the best film of the year. Because if it isn’t, this movie most certainly is. South Korea is the “it” country for cutting edge movies now. And Bong Joon Ho is the “it” filmmaker for the entire planet. Here he makes the first AND last word on films about class war. Full stop, period. For those of you sick of preachy Hollywood rich vs. Poor bullshit, this film is the ultimate pill for that: an utterly original, unpredictable and absolutely insane film about a poor South Korean family that sleazes their way into friendship with their rich employers... with some outright wild and tragic consequences. Gorgeously shot, directed and acted with brio and just straight-up fucking whack. A masterpiece. 10/10
Ford v Ferrari: A very good movie even if you are not a racing fan. Kind of a Buddy movie, kind of a father son movie, a movie about huge egos getting hurt. I loved it, but I was also about the age of Ken Miles son when this was happening.
I really liked it. Bale and Damon were good. Two things I really liked: Spoiler Using the device of young Peter showing the hand drawn map of the Le Mans race course to talk it through, so during the scenes of the race, we the viewers knew where he was on the course. And, the way the scene with Shelby and the Deuce in the car was shot, holding on his tearful outburst, the tension-release of the real reason he was crying.
The Irishman Dropped on Netflix today and spent half the day watching it because it’s over 3 hours long. It was pretty good, but I’m not sure if it’s in the same league as Goodfellas, Casino or The Departed. It was basically a love letter from Scorsese to his younger self and this movies seeps with the DNA of those earlier films. The cast was amazing and included a who’s who of casting from Goodfellas, Casino, Boardwalk Empire and The Sopranos, including a cameo from Steven van Zandt/Silvio Dante. It was great seeing Joe Pesci back on screen and in such a great role that wasn’t another unhinged character like he portrayed in earlier films. It was also DeNiro’s best role in years. I don’t know if I bought Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa though. Although the movie itself is terrible, Nicholson’s portrayal in Hoffa was better. As for the movie itself, some the editing was garbage. There was at least one scene in particular where the conversation didn’t line up with what their face was doing and there were some other jump cuts that were distracting. The de-aging CGI was also a little odd. Whatever they did to DeNiros eyes was really jarring and no matter how hard they tried, they still looked like old men. One scene with him and grocer stood out in particular. Otherwise, the set pieces were really well done. The story was also not bad but also just not that interesting overall I think. Some elements weren’t needed at all and some I wish were more developed. The relationship Sheeran has with his daughter didn’t really pay off emotionally the way it was trying to. I think this would have been better as a two part series or something. It was really good just not amazing, but definitely worth watching. 7/10
The Irishman It’s not perfect. But it is great— solid, old fashioned storytelling that depends on interactions rather than razor dazzle. The anti-aging is decent, and sometimes creepy. This is another thing to improve over time in cinema. DeNiro walking like a hunched old man as opposed to his determined stride in Goodfellas is just silly. And its way too long. ....that being said, performances are tip-top across the board. DeNiro gives a fantastic and completely believable minimalist performance; Pacino his best performance since the 90’s as an overworked and stressed-out Hoffa; and Pesci Jesus CHRIST god bless him for doing this. Pesci is playing the polar opposite of Tommy here—patient, wise, calm. Hyper-sensitive to everything said around him, and in total control. His careful and polite performance makes me wonder how many other great roles he could have had since his retirement. And his final scenes in this movie are devastating in ways I may have never seen in acting, I mean.... FUCK. It’s will wretch your emotions around. If the film feels disjointed, you find out why you’ve arrived in the movie’s absolutely crushing final half hour. Regret. Loss. Crossed Loyalty. Acceptance of death. Losing. Over the years, Scorsese has brought these criminals to the screen in ways no other filmmaker could ever dream. He turned them into pop culture legends, souvenirs, wall hangings without ever once trying to glamorize them in the least. These people are scum. And in the end, the get what’s coming to them. This is a good way for Scorsese to make a trilogy of non-fiction mob epics. It’s has the trademark voiceovers, dynamite soundtrack and exquisite period detail, It’s not beyond-perfect like Goodfellas, it’s not kinetic like Casino. It’s taps a very realistic vein and it’s cold touch lingers long after the credits finally roll. One thing is certain: Martin Scorsese is the greatest living filmmaker. Probably the best ever, period. 9/10
The Irishman w/ Spoilers The last half hour after Hoffa's disappearance was so ungodly boring I almost turned it off. I think Scorsese left that whole section in as a sort of swan song for Deniro and Pesci seeing as they are now the geriatrics that portion portrays. This is their last dance in the mafioso gangster epics. If it's what Crown is suggesting it didn't land, like Juice said the emotional relationship with his daughter(s) was never fully established and changing gears from the movie's over all historical story to that didn't work. It could have helped if they gave Anna Paquin more than half a line (that's not hyperbole she said one half a sentence in all of her screen time). I don't get why they tried getting Pesci's character to connect with Deniro's daughter either. It just felt weird, awkward, and out of place. It certainly didn't add to Deniro's character's emotional arch with her. It's too bad because if they just lopped that part off even at 3 hours it could have felt like a taut film that could have be a great end cap to a Scorsese Epic Italian Mob Trilogy with Goodfellas-Casino-The Irishman. Deniro's character's Forrest Gump esque rise through the underworld in the first act was fun and Pacino's introduction in act 2 was great as I think Pacino killed as Hoffa and stole every scene he was in. Maybe it was more of Pacino doing peak Pacino but I thought it was great. The first half felt like a Scorsese movie like Tarantino films feel like Tarantino films. I really like how once the events of Hoffa's disappearance were set in motion they went with zero music score. Like No Country For Old Men it just adds a layer of impending doom. It would have been a great contrast to Goodfellas frenetic coked out final act if they'd ended with that and tied up the movie shortly after. Instead it drags on and we get to see Robert Deniro do geriatric things like take daily pills and fall using a cane. I have to agree the cgi de-aging Deniro just didn't work. When we have multiple Scorsese movies with Deniro actually being in his late 20's early 30s seeing a geriatric hunched over Deniro trying to be portrayed as the same is just disheartening. It was painfully evident he was too old to portray even the minor scenes of action. The scene where he curb stomps his corner store grocer is laughably bad. They should have tried using a younger stunt double and laying Deniros face over that for those scenes. The uncanny valley is far from being bridged. If you are a Scorsese fan it's required viewing. It's just not nearly as rewatchable as his other Gangster films. 7/10
Knives Out Cast is excellent. Rian Johnson did a great job with script and directing. There are some things you can see coming, and some you don't. Without spoiling anything, the best way I can describe the movie is "fun" - it's just a fun movie. It's hard to do that with an ensemble that has lots of star power, sometimes. I recommend it.
I agree first time in a while me and the wife both had the night off and no kids, so glad we went to see it. it was refreshing, it wasn't a marvel movie a remake, a reboot, it was different and original well worth the trip.
6 Underground What a mess. There were some sick stunts, action and interesting new ways to blow things up. But, holy shit, this thing is a disaster. It was a 2 hour watch commercial starring Ryan Reynolds, who couldn't decide if he was intense, or wise-cracking, or philanthropic, cared too much or cared too little. The plot was convoluted, the timelines were awkward, the editing made it all worse.
I've heard various things... but regardless, I'm not sure what they expected when they try and create a trilogy with different teams and no real direction... they just make the first 2, then dump them off to JJ and say, "here, you finish it". The one thing I have heard is that there are a TON of plot points that have to get covered to wrap up the trilogy, so it gets a bit hard to follow. Still, it's Star Wars... I'll watch it at least once.
It’s just hard to believe that the same company that delivered the MCU goes and fucks up Star Wars beyond all repair. There are now more terrible movies in this series than good ones. The internet goons that claim they saw the Hollywood showings say that the leaked plot points were all accurate. If that’s the case, yeesh.
Yeah, I follow a good Electrical Engineer on YT who's a bit whacko and an Aussie, and he is a huge sci-fi nerd who does reviews of sci-fi on his second channel. He just reviewed it quickly from his car after watching it, and yeah... it's not sounding good. (No spoilers, really)
....you saw the last one. How is any filmmaker or series supposed to recover from that franchise-ruining shitpile of a movie?
From what I hear, JJ basically gives them the finger in the way he wraps some of it up... almost treats it like it never happened.
Well, there’s at least one reason to watch it. However pretty much everyone is saying the film is a jumbled mess.
And thats after they re-wrote and re-shot a large chunk of the movie because the original version was torn to shreds by test audiences. The reviews Ive seen have offered a re-thinking of George Lucas's prequels that at least his story cared about the lore of saga and wasnt another version of the original trilogy.