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Films watched in 2020


Raylenth
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Eurovison Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga.  It's a weird film, kind of a cross between a comedy and something else, I'm not sure what but it feels like it's trying to be something else.  I didn't find it outright funny, though I did laugh in a few places.  I really enjoyed it though and would say it certainly worth a watch, and I really liked the music as well.

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12 hours ago, Raylenth said:

Eurovison Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga.  It's a weird film, kind of a cross between a comedy and something else, I'm not sure what but it feels like it's trying to be something else.  I didn't find it outright funny, though I did laugh in a few places.  I really enjoyed it though and would say it certainly worth a watch, and I really liked the music as well.

I would very much like to see this film.

Could I have your Netflix password please?

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Maleficent 2.  I quite enjoyed this, a little silly plot wise in places and some of the characters are annoying but it's not a bad film

 

The Operative.  Boring, turned it off after about 15 mins

 

Frozen 2.  Really enjoyed this and it's a good follow up.  Slightly predictable in places but I do want to rewatch it again

 

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Rams. An Icelandic film about two sheep farming brothers who haven't spoken to each other in 40 years for some reason. A ram comes down with a suspected case of Scrapie, which threatens all of their sheeps. It's a terrific film, but I won't bother recommending it, as we have already established most of you are a bunch of philistines. 

Oh, and:

On 7/19/2020 at 11:07 PM, wjbleming said:

Who's Randy?

Who isn't these days!!!

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The_Old_Guard_2020_film_poster.png

THE OLD GUARD (2020)

3.5* (No spoilers)

I had to force myself to watch this. My first thought was, "Uh-oh. Another Netlix graphic novel". Netflix films to me have only ever been "alright" at best and THE OLD GUARD was...alright at best. 

Charlize Theron leads a team of immortal mercenaries who are double-crossed by their employer and then stumble across a new recruit. But just how and why these characters suddenly became immortal at a point in their lives leaves us scratching our heads. However, there are some interesting backstories, flashbacks and themes touched-upon for these characters (similar to the HIGHLANDER and WOLVERINE films) but there's also a lack of danger because we know they're unkillable. 

I was entertained for the first half of the film where we're introduced to the team's new recruit but somewhere in the middle the plot changed to a rescue mission. The action scenes are kinda John Wick-lite and the film steers towards a climax which goes on for too long (who knew central London streets could be so empty and then SUDDENLY fill?). 

The film has a straight-to-DVD feel to it, maybe that's cos I *know* it's Netflix but it still definitely feels like one on those projects that A-list action stars (Nicolas Cage, Bruce Willis etc) resort to making when their careers are in decline. This cheap feeling is only heightened by the badly chosen music; pop songs during action scenes always make a film look tacky. And the main villain was very typical and hard to look at; my God what a distractingly uncomfortable-looking face.

Its not a solid film but it did have great potential and I think would served better as a series - there's even cliffhanger ending which alludes to a sequel. There was certainly a lot to fit into the runtime but I think it could have done with 15 mins shaved off.

Edited by nicky
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220px-Eurovision_Song_Contest-_The_Story

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA (2020)

3* (No spoilers)

What a peculiar event for Hollywood to make a movie out of, I didn't think Americans even knew what Eurovision was. It turns out producer/star Will Ferrell was introduced to the contest by his Swedish wife and immediately became a fan. Like most of Ferrell's films, I thought this was pretty mediocre.

Ferrell and Rachel McAdams play an unpopular Icelandic pop-duo with dreams of winning Eurovision and making Iceland (and Ferrall's father, Pierce Brosnan) proud. It's a pretty standard underdog story, there's nothing new here. But there are emotional beats within the film which are overly-sentimental at times which becomes confusing as you try to separate drama from comedy. It's as if the film is confused about what genre it is; a drama that wants to be a comedy or a comedy that wants to be a drama.

The casting of McAdams (not really known for comedy) is also an odd choice and only takes away the comedy aspect even further while the chemistry between her and Ferrell is pretty underwhelming. There is also a love-story subplot between the two leads which I felt was unnecessary and only added to the film's long length. There's a scene that really felt like the film's climax but when it was over I checked the timer to see there was still 30+ mins left. What was also unnecessary was the Russian rival (Dan Stevens) who's purpose and motivation in the story is unclear. Was he supposed to be an antagonist or not??

It's not a bad film and I did enjoy the original songs but as comedies go I expected something lighter and shorter. Eurovision fans will be glad to know there is a musical sequence halfway into the film that features cameos from past Eurovision contestants, all singing right into the camera just like a music video. This was obviously fan-service but it came at a cost because it really took me out of the film...especially when a hot babe turned around only to reveal herself to be that bearded transgender winner from 2014. I shuddered. 

BLADES OF GLORY (2007) was better.

 

Edited by nicky
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20 hours ago, nicky said:

 It's as if the film is confused about what genre it is; a drama that wants to be a comedy or a comedy that wants to be a drama.

 

I'm glad it wasn't just me that thought that.  I did like Rachael in it and I didn't have any issue with the relationship between her and Will but I do agree the euro contestants number, whilst enjoyable felt like a music video dropped into the middle of the film, which essentially it was.  I also think the second half of Demi Lovatto's characters purpose in the  film was very unnecessary and could have been cut.

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