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Films watched in 2021


Raylenth
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SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (2021)

3/5 (No spoilers)

I was so sad to hear so many people wanted this film to fail simply because it was an Asian superhero film, even after it was proved a big hit. There seems to be both a fear of minorities knocking White off the top of the racial ladder (in mainstream media) and a hatred for anything 'woke'. How is this film woke? It's been in development since 2000 and Stan Lee even tried to get a TV show made in the 90s. And as for 'no one asked for a superhero they never heard of', how many of those people had heard of DEADPOOL, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, BLADE, CAPTAIN MARVEL or THE CROW?! No one had heard of DARKMAN, he was made-up for the movie!

I really wanted to like this film but to me it was only 'alright'. It didn't feel like a superhero film cos Shang-Chi doesn't actually have any powers. It felt more like a kung-fu fantasy film like FORBIDDEN KINGDOM (2008) or Stephen Chow's THE MERMAID (2016) and JOURNEY TO THE WEST (2017) with a hint of Vader/Luke-style family-drama thrown in.

The action was OK but I wanted to see more 1 on 1 fights with actual baddies that were a threat (Death Dealer's fight was too short), not family-members. Tony Leung is the best thing in the film (finally making his Hollywood debut) but I thought the mid-section took a bit of a dip and the climax just dragged on for too long once the big bad appeared - it was further spoiled by CG overload in the form of mythical beasts and green-screen.  

Casting-wise, I like Michelle Yeoh but just cos she's Asian does she (and Awkawfina) have to play every older Asian woman in Hollywood now?! She was already in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 (2017) plus she, Awkwafina and Ronny Chieng were also all in CRAZY RICH ASIANS (2018) - is Hollywood really so unimaginative that they can't cast anyone outside of the Asian 'Brat Pack'? Incidentally Akwafina does nothing in the film, she's just there for exposition so characters can explain the plot to the audience so I'm curious what her future will be in subsequent MCU films.

Edited by nicky
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Ghostbusters: Afterlife was a very good and nostalgic belated sequel. Sure it would have been nice if it was made over 20 years ago but can't have everything. The scenes and storyline paid a great tribute to the original. If you are a fan you'll definitely like it.

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ROCKY IV: ROCKY VS DRAGO - THE ULTIMATE DIRECTOR'S CUT (1985)

I've always liked ROCKY IV but this so-called "Ultimate Director's Cut" was sooo unnecessary. It boasts 40 mins of new footage BUT the 'new footage' is mostly just alternate takes of the SAME OLD scenes. There is nothing significantly different here to justify MGM throwing money at Stallone to re-cut this film. The handful of brand new scenes that are there add very little; they just unnecessarily emphasize what we already know. 

The new cut also reduces the roles of Paulie and Rocky Jr and Mrs Drago especially very heavily, perhaps Stallone is still bitter at ex-wife Brigette Nielsen? It was claimed the Apollo Vs Drago fight was more brutal but all I noticed was a bloody nose and no doubt Stallone just re-inserted some alternate angles. Elsewhere, Rocky gives alternate speeches at the funeral, to his son in his room and after the fight. Also 'Gorbochev' has a different reaction at the end, Rocky meets the boxing committee, Drago gets an extra line ("Yes"), the ROCKY III recap at the start is re-cut and the final song is replaced.

Despite the new 40 mins, the new cut is still 90 mins. The original film was fine as it was and didn't suffer from wonky editing unlike the new version.  If Stallone wanted to re-cut one of his films it should have been COBRA (1986) which George P. Cosmatos ghost-directed for him and fell victim to studio interference. The director's cut of ROCKY IV is a major disappointment and I felt cheated; ALIENS, T2 or BLADE RUNNER it ain't.

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VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE (2021)

2/5 (No spoilers)

Oh dear, this wasn't very good. It's not terrible just a bit urrrgh...but that hardly came as a surprise to me since it was directed by an actor-turned-director (Andy Serkis is no Clint). I enjoyed the first film because to me it was more like a sci-fi film but this sequel is just a bit camp and the tone is all wrong; it tries to amplify the comedy between Eddie (Tom Hardy) and Venom only to fail.

Woody Harrelson is a bit weird in this film and he seems to be wearing a wig throughout - it was quite difficult to take him seriously as a formidable foe. On the other hand, Woody's fiance in the film, Naomie Harris very conveniently has loud shrieking-powers (that can hurt Venom/Carnage) but it's not explained WHY or HOW. And I really don't see why Woody and Naomie were in such a rush to get married either (in a church complete with a huge loud bell tower of course), didn't they have bigger fish to fry like defeating our heroes?! Worse still, we're not told why Carnage is so against Venom/Eddie making it difficult for us to really see him as a solid villain which in turn makes Venom hard to root for. 

This film is a bit of a mess and the editing is kinda jarring seemingly skipping huge chunks of needed character-development and exposition/explanation - it's not a fun film and the ending was lame. This is one of the worst stand-alone Marvel superhero films in recent memory.

 

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SPENCER (2021)

1/5 (No spoilers)

A pretentious load of whack, dull as dishwater and annoying. And that's just the score; a painful assault on the ears. SPENCER is less a biopic and more a psychological exploration of Diana's mental state, a rather one-sided affair as none of the other Royals do anything bar her sons. It kind of reminded me of JOKER (2019) only that film was good.

Set over 3 days during Christmas 1991, the film is a fictional account of Diana crumbling beneath the pressures of the Royal family. Yes, Kristen Stewart is good but she babbles and does this thing a lot where she keeps turning her face away coyly when talking to people she's not relaxed with, almost like a parody of Diana. She also comes across as being 'whiny' and insubordinate and avoids the family much like a sulky kid who won't come out of their room for dinner. If you sympathize with her it's only because of what you've heard in the news or Martin Bashir's infamous interview and not the screenplay. That said, the film only sells because it's about Princess Diana, replace her with a fictional character marrying into wealth and no one would care.

Not only was the experimental jazz score irritable but there also seemed to be an unnerving use of hand-held close-ups too, perhaps a reflection of the intrusive paparazzi but it didn't really work because it wasn't applied to appropriate scenes. As well as JOKER, the film also seems heavily influenced by THE SHINING (1980) complete with long dolly-shots down hallways, isolation, a crumbling mental state, a big house, an informant head butler, hallucinations and a ghost. SPENCER does it's best to be 'haunting' too.

The film was boring, nothing happens; Diana just cuts herself away from the family and defies them, her sanity is questioned and she leaves with her sons. The end. Cue horrible screeching string arrangement or avant-garde jazz score.

Edited by nicky
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NO TIME TO DIE (2021)

4/5 (No spoilers)

I'm not a Bond fan but I surprisingly enjoyed this film a lot more than I thought I would mostly because the plot felt more straight-forward than Craig's previous outings.  Usually all this international espionage stuff makes my head spin but the coupling of a WOMD and interesting characters made it all more accessible. 

Most Bond films are generally formulaic and when you've seen one, you've seen them all but NTTD pulls a few new tricks I wasn't expecting. For a start it seems to rely more upon Bond's relationships with certain characters thus shining a new light on him we've never seen. Elsewhere the bio-weapon/rogue scientist plot reminded me of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 (2000) even as far as naming the WOMD after a figure from Greek mythology again.  

I loved the two opening scenes before the main titles finally arrived and even after that the film didn't slow down as the action was evenly spread-out and the comedy kept to a minimum. However, it almost felt like I wasn't watching a Bond film because it's so far removed from the usual pre-Craig era fare.

There were a couple of plot-holes though and worse still no clear motivation why the big bad, Safin (Rami Malek), wanted to unleash the bio-weapon upon the world or even why he was disfigured (all three key baddies are disfigured). Not sure why Bond is allowed to keep a fully-armed and operational Aston Martin after his retirement either.

Edited by nicky
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18 hours ago, nicky said:

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There were a couple of plot-holes though and worse still no clear motivation why the big bad, Safin (Rami Malek), wanted to unleash the bio-weapon upon the world or even why he was disfigured (all three key baddies are disfigured). Not sure why Bond is allowed to keep a fully-armed and operational Aston Martin after his retirement either.

I think they did mention both in the film, IIRC his family was poisoned, including him by Spectre (hence him going after Mr White in the flash back and the other members in the film), he survived but the poison used disfigured him. 

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Just now, Raylenth said:

I think they did mention both in the film, IIRC his family was poisoned, including him by Spectre (hence him going after Mr White in the flash back and the other members in the film), he survived but the poison used disfigured him. 

I looked it up to remind myself and it says that he wanted to unleash it on the world in an insane attempt to help - he'd been traumatised by the death of his family and made it his life's work to stop terrorists, and in his mind he could do that by having control over everyone, probably in a way that if you attempt to harm people, he could just instantly kill you to stop it.

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On 11/12/2021 at 2:55 PM, Daniel said:

Spencer was a very well done movie about Princess Diana (the last 15 minutes certainly reminded me why she was my favourite royal). It was certainly not easy to watch at times but had a perfect performance from Kristen Stewart. I really hope this proves to any critics it's time to take her seriously as an actress.

I very much want to see Spencer. From what I've seen in gifs and trailers, Kristen looks like one of the best Dianas we've ever seen on screen. Ever since Twilight no one has taken her seriously and everybody loves to claim she has no talent, but it's not her fault she rose to fame in a mediocre role. 

 

As for movies I've watched, I've continued on my Clint Eastwood binge. Magnum Force wasn't as thrilling as I expected it to be, though I liked the plot more than the first Dirty Harry. Better plot but worse pacing, I suppose? 
Also watched The Beguiled. I have no idea where to start with my thoughts on that one. If I had to describe it in one word I'd say it's unsettling. 
And Paint Your Wagon. More progressive than any current movie out there. 

Edited by Faerie Tanith
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23 hours ago, Raylenth said:

I looked it up to remind myself and it says that he wanted to unleash it on the world in an insane attempt to help -

I see. Doesn't make a great deal of sense but then the audience is just meant to go with it as he did say it was "insane". Kinda like how just saying 'nanobots' equally leads to audiences just going with it as per Screen Rant's NTTD Pitch Meeting. 

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6 hours ago, Faerie Tanith said:

Magnum Force wasn't as thrilling as I expected it to be, though I liked the plot more than the first Dirty Harry. 

Magnum Force was written by John Milius and Micheal Cimino (Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter between them) so it was always gonna be a more fleshed-out story than the first film which was basically written with a focus on setting-up the character of Harry. I like the first two films but the subsequent Dirty Harry films didn't have the same impact.

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If Magnum Force had had the same pacing as Dirty Harry, it would have been perfect. Something about it felt too slow, though. Again, I loved the story of Magnum Force. Just felt the pacing didn't work and it felt a bit flat.

I just finished watching Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. Not a fan of that one, gotta say. It felt like three different movies wrapped into one big mess. 
Also, forgot to include Play Misty For Me in my previous post. I liked that one very much. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Spider-Man: No Way Home was an amazing film for nostalgia. It was not the best of the Spider-Man films but certainly the most inventive plot. I won't give away spoilers but make sure you are up to date on all Spider-Man franchises before you watch :spidy:

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On 12/19/2021 at 8:35 PM, Daniel said:

Spider-Man: No Way Home was an amazing film for nostalgia. It was not the best of the Spider-Man films but certainly the most inventive plot. I won't give away spoilers but make sure you are up to date on all Spider-Man franchises before you watch :spidy:

It's so hard not to give away things isn't it. But it was quite simply, a brilliant film, that nailed everything perfectly, when it could quite simply fallen victim to the hype building up around it

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16 hours ago, Mfahey79 said:

It's so hard not to give away things isn't it. But it was quite simply, a brilliant film, that nailed everything perfectly, when it could quite simply fallen victim to the hype building up around it

Personally, I think it did. I very much seem to be in the minority but I was disappointed.

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SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021)

4.5/5 (No spoilers)

This is my favourite MCU movie so far for the same reasons that I enjoyed AVENGERS ENDGAME (2019); both recalled previous films in the series but NO WAY HOME went as far as to bring back characters from decades ago thus adding nostalgia. Nostalgia however, is unfortunately what this film relies very heavily on and without it would have been a very different experience.

I love Alfred Molina as Doc Ock and Willem Dafoe is clearly loving being back as Green Goblin but I wish Sandman and Lizard had more to do; 99% of their role is CG and we hardly see Thomas Haden Church and Rhys Ifans's human faces. I wasn't a fan of Jamie Foxx's Electro before but here he's a welcome and funny addition. It's actually quite a crowded film but it still works although I think more weight could've been added to Aunt May and Peter Parker's relationship as I wasn't invested in her, especially that one scene.

The only gripe for me is that some beats were overly-emotional, they just felt over-drawn and slowed-down the pace too much - the same can be said for one particular moment which was simply fanboy banter...or was it dick-measuring? Nevertheless the good out-weighed the bad and it was a solid fun film with an interesting ending leaving you excited for the next film. 

BONUS: The MCU already started the trend with films set in a shared-universe, perhaps we'll see a new trend with shared-characters in those universes eg. Micheal Keaton's Batman is already returning to the DCU in the new FLASH film. Maybe Mark Whalberg will return in the next PLANET OF THE APES?!

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On 12/26/2021 at 7:22 PM, nicky said:

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SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021)

4.5/5 (No spoilers)

 Nostalgia however, is unfortunately what this film relies very heavily on and without it would have been a very different experience.

 

Agreed.  I enjoyed it very much but I agree with this and am wondering how it'll hold up on a rewatch once the excitement of the surprises isn't there any more.

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As 2021 is nearly at an end,  what films did you see. A little like last year there are more than usual I saw on demand and TV but did see more than last year at the cinema. I'm hoping to add a couple more before New Year's Day but for now here's the movies released this year in Britain I have seen in my choice of order best to worst. 

Please add your lists (or whatever you can remember seeing):

1. Moxie :thumbup:
2. Spider-Man: No Way Home :spidy:
3. Respect 
4. Ghostbusters: Afterlife 
5. Freaky
6. King Richard 
7. The Suicide Squad
8. Spencer
9. To Olivia
10. The Map of Tiny Perfect Things 
11. The Father
12. Cruella
13. Greenland 
14. Lorelei 
15. Godzilla Vs Kong
16. Shang-Chi & The Legend of the Ten Rings
17. Fast & Furious 9
18. The Forever Purge
19. Escape Room 2
20. Venom: Let There be Carnage 
21. Spiral: From the Book of Saw
22. Black Widow
23. 8-Bit Christmas 
24. Old
25. Sound of Metal
26. The Kissing Booth 3
27. Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas
28. Candyman
29. No Time to Die
30. Antebellum
31. Promising Young Woman 
32. Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds 
33. Faraway Eyes
34. Dune
35. Fatherhood 
36. Long Story Short 
37. Stowaway 
38. Free Guy
39. Percy
40. Halloween Kills
41. To All The Boys: Always and Forever
42. Coming 2 America
43. The Ice Road
44. The Woman in the Window
45. New Year's Resolution 
46. Cinderella 
47. Thunder Force
48. Those Who Wish Me Dead 
49. The United States Vs Billie Holiday 
50. Wrath of Man
51. Love and Monsters 
52. A Sinister Secret 
53. The Secrets We Keep
54. Body Brokers
55. Stardust
56. Nomadland 
57. After We Fell
58. Eternals
59. Sightless
60. Fear of Rain
61. Crashing Through the Snow 
62. Jungle Cruise 
63. The Tomorrow War
64. We Still Say Grace
65. Resort to Love
66. Witch Hunt
67. The Dig
68. News of the World
69. Night House
70. Music
71. A Christmas Number One
72. Things Seen & Heard
73. He's All That
74. Locked In
75. I Still Believe 
76. Malignant
77. Aftermath
78. The Conjuring 3 :no:

Edited by Daniel
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Dolittle, because I thought, what the heck.  After I watched it I also though what the heck.

It wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was going to be but wasn't far off.  Not a film I'll ever bother watching again.

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