Daniel Posted September 8, 2019 Share Posted September 8, 2019 IT: Chapter 2 was a very good follow up. Not as good as the first but certainly had some scary scenes, although it was a little over reliant of effects at times. It certainly completed the story well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Friendly Dalek Posted September 8, 2019 Share Posted September 8, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Daniel said: IT: Chapter 2 was a very good follow up. Not as good as the first but certainly had some scary scenes, although it was a little over reliant of effects at times. It certainly completed the story well. I'm seeing it tomorrow night, so I hope I like it. I've been hearing very mixed things, which is unfortunate because I love Chapter 1. Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Edited September 8, 2019 by The Friendly Dalek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjbleming Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 Seen It: Chapter 2 on Saturday and quite enjoyed it, personally! Enjoyed the banter scene when they were together at the start. 7.5 to 8/10 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicky Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 (edited) IT: CHAPTER 2 (2019) 3/5* (No spoilers) Empire Magazine gave this a 5 star review. WTF?! The first film I liked a lot and it was much fun bit this new chapter is just really average and too long. It's tough though cos Chapter 1 was always the better and more interesting coming-of-age story laced with 80s nostalgia but for Chapter 2 I'll even go as far to say the 1990 version was better and more concise. The film pretty much suffers the same flaws as the first film but worse: there is so much story to be told for each individual character that pacing is compromised as a result. The mid-section is especially clunky as we are shown each character's story in turn and it seems to take forever to do so. By the time we've seen each of their stories you forget what the scene was before it that set them off. Also it feels like James MacAvoy and Jessica Chastain's character's are at the forefront of what ought to be an ensemble story with the remaining character's left in the sidelines especially the Mike Hanlon character. We see even less of the bully, Henry Bowers, this time around too and his relationship with Pennywise and the clown's influence on Henry is hardly touched upon. It doesn't feel like anything new has really been added to the story either. We still aren't clear where Pennywise came from or what he's about. And a lot of the film seems to re-tread old ground that was already covered in the first film namely the character's fears and going back to the old house - it's basically The Losers Vs Pennywise round #2. There is also a scene here which is a direct homage to THE THING (1982) and one character even repeats a famous line from that film which I found totally unnecessary and just took me out. The best scene (for the wrong reasons) was actually the brutal controversial opening but it never really picks up from there and the film in general is a rather unsatisfying and disappointing conclusion to a two year wait. Edited September 12, 2019 by nicky info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicky Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 (edited) X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX (2019) 2/5* (No spoilers) I knew this film would be no good as soon as it was announced that series producer Simon Kinberg would make his directorial debut with it. Films by producers or writers trying their hand at directing are almost never any good (apart from Matthew Vaughan) and this final X-MEN film from Fox (before the Disney hand-over) is unsurprisingly by far the worst. Actually, I was already tired of the X-Men series by the time the last film arrived, I just never liked the new younger cast (Sophie Turner as Jean Grey especially) and felt this latest film was just scraping the barrel. The worst thing about the film is its direction; in the action scenes especially it just feels like a TV movie or straight-to-DVD - gone is the spectacle and grand scale of the previous films and even Hans Zimmer's score is a bit flat. It really seems like the production was given a smaller budget (it was actually the 2nd highest budget of the franchise) and that Fox are relying on the X-Men brand name to do all the work for them, why else risk a producer directing the film? Other than Sophie Turner making a bland Jean Grey, Jennifer Lawrence also seems to be phoning in her performance and I bet she's secretly glad she doesn't have to be in any more of these films. The story is a bit s*** and so is the writing leaving many blank spaces around the antagonists and their cause. What's worse is that only the main four or five X-Men characters are really given anything to do, the rest of them are just space-fillers and even Quicksilver does almost nothing. Didn't he just reveal to Magneto in the last film that he was his son?! Where was the continuation of that arc? This is a very unsatisfying end to the X-MEN films. Edited September 11, 2019 by nicky 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raylenth Posted September 11, 2019 Author Share Posted September 11, 2019 4 hours ago, nicky said: X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX (2019) Didn't he just reveal to Magneto in the last film that he was his son?! Where was the continuation of that arc? IIRC as I saw the last film fairly recently he didn't. He was going to during the final battle but decided not to. But the rest of your review is spot on. I'm not as invested in the backstory as a lot of people as I'm not into the lore, so for me it was an OK film and I may watch it again when it's out on sky, but it's mediocre at best. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bumper8 Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 Let's go retro once more. A 1967 crime/war thriller featuring Omar Sharif as a German Major (?) investigating the murder of a woman in 1942 Warsaw who happened to be a German agent. It becomes clear that the killer is one of 3 German Generals. Great cast: Donald Pleasance, Charles Gray and Peter O'Toole as the Generals, ably supported by Tom Courtney, Joanna Pettet, Patrick Allen and Ealing favourites John Gregson and Gordon Jackson as German officers (that took a bit of getting used to). Harry Andrews and Christopher Plummer make appearances too. A solid thriller-recommended. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurdamoni Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 Alita battle angel: I really enjoyed it, a very beautiful movie. the graphics were amazing, ofcource what you would expect from a James Cameron movie. The story was well done, impressive fighting scenes. Great acting, great music. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raylenth Posted September 14, 2019 Author Share Posted September 14, 2019 The Predator (2018). Starring: A Team The Next Gen. Spacedogs. People with very white teeth. Scary Starey Busey who totally looked at lady Dr's boobs whilst they were in those ridiculously low decontamination booths. Annoying leading man. That was without a doubt the worst film I have watched for a long time, and I'm comparing it with The Meg which says a lot. The entire cast was utterly annoying, and the best parts of the films were when they were wiped out. I could not have cared less for a single one of them including the good guys and Aspergers when convenient kid. This film is so pants it makes Aquaman look like oscar material. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natedammit Posted September 14, 2019 Share Posted September 14, 2019 3 minutes ago, Raylenth said: The Predator (2018). Starring: A Team The Next Gen. Spacedogs. People with very white teeth. Scary Starey Busey who totally looked at lady Dr's boobs whilst they were in those ridiculously low decontamination booths. Annoying leading man. That was without a doubt the worst film I have watched for a long time, and I'm comparing it with The Meg which says a lot. The entire cast was utterly annoying, and the best parts of the films were when they were wiped out. I could not have cared less for a single one of them including the good guys and Aspergers when convenient kid. This film is so pants it makes Aquaman look like oscar material. So you're saying there's boobs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raylenth Posted September 14, 2019 Author Share Posted September 14, 2019 Just now, natedammit said: So you're saying there's boobs? Well, there are women in the film (I saw at least 2 - go female empowerment), controversial I know, so yes, by default there were also boobs (at least 4 of them). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicky Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 (edited) CHILD'S PLAY (2019) 3.5/5* (No spoilers) I was never a huge fan of this franchise but must admit I was a bit disappointed to learn that Chucky this time would be an artificial intelligence instead of an evil soul possessing the doll. I also had concerns that this remake was made without the endorsement of the original 1988 film's creators. Anyway despite all that I actually quite enjoyed this film. The pacing of the film was pretty good and I didn't find myself getting bored but I DID find that I had to suspend my disbelief quite a number of times especially when asking the obvious question: WHY DIDN'T ANDY JUST SHUT THE F***ING DOLL OFF AT THE FIRST SIGN OF DANGER?! This kept nagging at me time and again when Andy had to repeatedly teach Chucky what dangerous things NOT to do. Of course the simple answer to that question is if they did shut the doll off, that would be the end of the movie. Another question I kept asking myself was, why does Andy have to be hearing impaired and how can today's artificial intelligence be that advanced??? In many ways its sort of like a darker version of A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2001) where you have a robot who will do anything it takes to be with its owner. There are also echos of TERMINATOR 2 (1991) where you have the 'boy teaches robot' theme. However in this case, unlike the T-800, Chucky continues to cause harm despite being told not to which of course leads to madness and gore in the form of some delightfully gruesome kills. Personally, I didn't think much to Mark Hamill voicing Chucky, I just didn't think he was creepy or evil enough. Chucky also seemed less of a threat knowing he was merely a malfunctioning appliance and not an evil soul and so his motivation to kill was a bit weak. And as far as villains go he lacked personality because he was simply a machine with no emotions or sense of humor unlike Brad Dourif who voiced those qualities so deliciously in the previous films. There are also some comedic moments sprinkled throughout the film but most of them just feel really inappropriate and misplaced which made me think, 'whaaaaat??' (eg. the young girl). Its not a clever film but as far as remakes go its not bad SO long as you just go with it. It still entertains and is quite fun with some good kills and pacing. WTF MOMENT: Chucky, a TOY, has a setting where you can select how violent he gets?! Edited September 16, 2019 by nicky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicky Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 (edited) CHILD'S PLAY (1988) 3/5* From the director of Fright Night (1985) comes the first film to feature Chucky the killer doll. I don't think the sequels were ever able to recapture the same serious straight-up horror of this film or maybe they didn't want to. I like Chucky when he's funny but I also like him when he's just evil and scary like he is here. It always saddened me that Brad Dourif has never been able to play Charles Lee Ray in human form since this film. I remember meeting him and telling him this at CM many moons ago and he replied Chucky will never make it back in human form even in flashbacks BUT there was an idea of Brad coming back to play his father. It still hasn't happened. CHILD'S PLAY 2 (1990) 3.5* I remember thinking this film was a bit meh when I saw it when it first arrived but after I saw it last week I actually enjoyed it the most out of the first three. Humor is introduced here but not much else new is added, Chucky is just on a mission to possess Andy again. Not sure why the DoP insisted on using wide angle lens so often though. Nice to see Jenny Agutter back in a horror film. CHILD'S PLAY 3 (1991) 2.5/5* I used to think this one was the best but having watched it again I can see why Don Mancini says its his least favourite. I do like the idea of Chucky having a new host to possess though and I loved Andrew Robinson as the sadistic barber. Edited September 16, 2019 by nicky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Friendly Dalek Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 6 hours ago, nicky said: It always saddened me that Brad Dourif has never been able to play Charles Lee Ray in human form since this film. I remember meeting him and telling him this at CM many moons ago and he replied Chucky will never make it back in human form even in flashbacks BUT there was an idea of Brad coming back to play his father. It still hasn't happened. Didn't Brad play Charles in flashbacks in Curse Of Chucky? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VikingGrrrl Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 On 9/14/2019 at 11:51 PM, Raylenth said: The Predator (2018). Starring: A Team The Next Gen. Spacedogs. People with very white teeth. Scary Starey Busey who totally looked at lady Dr's boobs whilst they were in those ridiculously low decontamination booths. Annoying leading man. That was without a doubt the worst film I have watched for a long time, and I'm comparing it with The Meg which says a lot. The entire cast was utterly annoying, and the best parts of the films were when they were wiped out. I could not have cared less for a single one of them including the good guys and Aspergers when convenient kid. This film is so pants it makes Aquaman look like oscar material. It's not as bad as The Meg!! It has predators in it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raylenth Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 4 minutes ago, VikingGrrrl said: It's not as bad as The Meg!! It has predators in it Oh it's worse (Not by a whole lot to be sure, but if I were forced, I'd watch The Meg again instead of this). It's a film where the 12 year old writers were all sitting around giggling about getting the main actress to say feck as many times as possible and the Tourette's guy says 'shocking things' leading to 'humorous' misunderstandings. Every being in this gif needs to crawl into a hole in shame and never come out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicky Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 5 hours ago, The Friendly Dalek said: Didn't Brad play Charles in flashbacks in Curse Of Chucky? Oh did he? I dunno, I haven't seen any of the films past Seed Of Chucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natedammit Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Is Andy from Child's Play the same kid as Andy from Toy Story? I choose to believe that he is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicky Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 (edited) On 9/17/2019 at 2:54 PM, natedammit said: Is Andy from Child's Play the same kid as Andy from Toy Story? I choose to believe that he is. Actually Toy Story 4 and Child's Play were both released on the same day this year. Child's Play even cheekily poked fun at Toy Story in their marketing campaign in some funny posters: http://www.impawards.com/2019/childs_play_ver12.html Edited September 19, 2019 by nicky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raylenth Posted September 20, 2019 Author Share Posted September 20, 2019 Blade Runner 2046. I liked it, it was a long and mostly slow film but it worked, not every film has to be jam packed with action and they really got it right. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted September 21, 2019 Share Posted September 21, 2019 Rambo: Last Blood was a surprisingly good finale to the Rambo saga. It was the best since First Blood. Sylvester Stallone still playing Rambo is certainly an achievement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raylenth Posted September 21, 2019 Author Share Posted September 21, 2019 Basic Instinct 2. Kind of. Not my kind of film but I started watching it for reasons* * reason. I haven't seen Basic Instinct 1 but felt sure I'd pick up the plot points fairly quickly. It has an impressive cast list with David Morrissey, Indira Varma, Charlotte Rampling and David Thewlis but it was as boring as heck and I couldn't be bothered watching past Hugh's exit. Woo hey, an couple of exterior scenes were filmed about 1 minute away from where I work, but aggghhhh Hugh Dancy was 1 minute away from where I work and I didn't know and it wouldn't have mattered anyway as I hadn't heard of him then anyway.....sigh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicky Posted September 26, 2019 Share Posted September 26, 2019 (edited) On 9/21/2019 at 8:06 PM, Raylenth said: I haven't seen Basic Instinct 1 but felt sure I'd pick up the plot points fairly quickly. Basic Instinct (1992) is a pretty good (almost Hitchcockian) mystery-thriller and one of the most significant films of the 90s thanks largely to Sharon Stone's famous leg-crossing scene. Its in my DVD collection but admittedly only because I'm a Paul Verhoeven fan but its still a decent film with Micheal Douglas on top form. It's actually very similar to Verhoeven's previous Dutch film, The Fourth Man (1983), with Jerone Krabbe which I actually prefer over Basic Instinct. I haven't seen the 2nd film but can't imagine its any good. Edited September 26, 2019 by nicky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natedammit Posted September 26, 2019 Share Posted September 26, 2019 7 hours ago, nicky said: Basic Instinct (1992) is a pretty good (almost Hitchcockian) mystery-thriller and one of the most significant films of the 90s thanks largely to Sharon Stone's famous leg-crossing scene. Its in my DVD collection but admittedly only because I'm a Paul Verhoeven fan but its still a decent film with Micheal Douglas on top form. It's actually very similar to Verhoeven's previous Dutch film, The Fourth Man (1983), with Jerone Krabbe which I actually prefer over Basic Instinct. I haven't seen the 2nd film but can't imagine its any good. The film that broke a million pause buttons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjbleming Posted September 26, 2019 Share Posted September 26, 2019 32 minutes ago, natedammit said: The film that broke a million pause buttons. 99% of them being yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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