Films watched in 2023

[Daniel]

Sorry, it's a little late starting this thread but here we go.

 

Plane was a brilliant action film. It was what you'd expect from the trailer but very entertaining and well filmed with some very impressive action scenes.

[nicky]

(2022)

3.5 (No spoilers)

Another killer-doll? Don't we have enough of them already? We just had the updated A.I. doll in CHILD'S PLAY (2019) so what could M3GAN possibly offer that we haven't seen before? The answer is, nothing much - even the 'robot learning to love a human' angle has already been done to death in TERMINATOR 2 (1991), A.I.: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2001) and BICENTENNIAL MAN (1999). 

I actually enjoyed the film more for it's science-fiction elements (rather than horror) such as the idea of humans relying on technology for emotional support - this would have made a very interesting film on its own but of course this has to be about the killer-doll. I also liked the tug-of-war the robot and the aunt (GET OUT star Allison Williams) had over the kid but again, this was sidelined in favour of horror.

It's a bit of a slow-burn which isn't good for a 90 mins film; it took too long before the robot was actually brought home and the build-up wasn't that great. I didn't like some of the supporting characters either like the boss (Ronny Chieng) who tries to inject his humor but isn't really funny at all - in fact a lot of the humor throughout was lost on me so I was surprised to find out later this was labelled a horror-comedy. The choices of music in the film I didn't find a good fit either especially the end credits.

It's not original of course but it is at least a fun little horror and I preferred it to CHILD'S PLAY (2019) but mostly due to its science-fiction angle. Having said that, if these domestic robots are SO advanced why is it so difficult to teach them the difference between right and wrong and why are they always made so strong and indestructable?!

 

[nicky]

THE FABELMANS (2022)

3/5 (No spoilers)

This is basically Speilberg's version of CINEMA PARADISO (1988) in which we follow a semi-autobiographical tale of a boy's love of film-making while dealing with family drama and adolescence. The core theme here seems to be family getting in the way of art and vice versa - something that the Uncle Boris character (Oscar nominee Judd Hirsh in a 10 min role) make a huge point of halfway through the film. 

It didn't really feel like a story worth telling but rather an excuse for Speilberg to make a film loosely based on his young life - that's probably why it bombed. It's long and although not completely boring it still struggled to keep me invested until about half way into the film so it certainly feels inconsistent. The latter half of the film is much better as we follow Sam (Gabriel LaBelle) through his journey into high school but even then it starts to feel like a basic teen-drama. But in general the film seems to be more focused on being a pretentious ode to film-making rather than telling an interesting story about people although it does have that familiar Speilbergian trait of a broken-family.

Michelle Williams as the mum is very good and my bet is she'll win the Oscar, possibly Judd Hirsh too but the rest of the film is pretty bland and not quite the romantic portrayal of cinema that Speilberg had hoped for. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by nicky

[natedammit]

On 1/30/2023 at 9:05 PM, nicky said:

Having said that, if these domestic robots are SO advanced why is it so difficult to teach them the difference between right and wrong

Who is to say what is right and what is wrong? Humans struggle with the grey areas of morals and ethics, so AI doesn't stand a chance. 

[nicky]

4 hours ago, natedammit said:

Who is to say what is right and what is wrong? Humans struggle with the grey areas of morals and ethics, so AI doesn't stand a chance. 

True. I was actually specifically talking about killing and the taking of human life.

[nicky]

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

3/5 (No spoilers)

Its easy to compare this Oscar-heavy WWI drama to 1917 (2019) and every other war film before it but of course AQOTWF has the uniqueness of showing us the story from the other-side. What we have here is a story about a young man's journey into the German army and how he goes from raw recruit to experienced killer and the life-lessons he learns along the way - in that sense its similar to PLATOON (1986) but AQOTWF is a much more political film with the soldiers' stories sharing the run-time along with the anti-war message and negotiations for peace.

The first 45 mins are great and the cinematography is really something special (particularly the opening scene) - I really enjoyed the story of Paul entering the army, making friends and experiencing war for the first time and for a while I actually thought we were getting a story about friendship and Paul's group of friends going to war together but this wasn't the case at all unfortunately. The rest of the film kind of dwindles a bit as Paul's story momentarily takes a back-seat as the script darts in and out focusing on the military's negotiations for a cease-fire. The battle scenes throughout are great.

Edited February 11, 2023 by nicky

[nicky]

PLANE (2023)

3.5 (No spoilers)

Gerard Butler has always been an underwhelming action star so you'd be forgiven for thinking PLANE was another mediocre thriller, even more so with such an oddly imaginative title. However, the film is surprisingly entertaining, filled with good action and some interesting characters but it's biggest flaw is it doesn't use them and so ends up treading closely to being "just another dumb action movie". At best it's a good straight-to-DVD/streaming movie.

The plot makes the mistake of not focusing on the characters; what we have essentially is the hero-pilot (Butler) teaming-up with an extradited prisoner (Mike Colter) to save hostages after their plane crashes in hostile land but there's no tension or anything between the two; no bickering, no banter, no building respect or forming a friendship like other 'buddy movies'. Plus half-way into the film you soon forget the prisoner is actually a threat or concern to anyone - its as if the writers just decided to ignore he was a prisoner since its hardly mentioned as the film goes on. It's definitely not like Connery/Cage in THE ROCK (1996) or even Nolte/Murphy in 48 HRS (1982) or even ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (1976) (the director of PLANE did the remake) so PLANE is a wasted opportunity to have chemistry between the two opposing leads. 

The premise is good but the plot is so thin and the ending feels quite rushed - I thought, "Is that it? Is that all they had to do?!" It's a quick simple 90 mins action romp which could have had much more meat added to it if only they focused on the prisoner and not the situation. They really wasted the potential to do something with the hero/prisoner team-up and the baddies just seemed to be baddies for the sake of it without giving them much motivation other than them being just scum. 

Edited February 14, 2023 by nicky

[Daniel]

Knock at the Cabin was fairly good but was too much of a slow burner and didn't really do enough for what was a interesting premise. Some quite impressive scenes but not enough character development or back story explanation.

[Daniel]

Women Talking was a very well acted and well written film. It did feel slow though and lacked a backstory that would have added more context to the story.

[natedammit]

On 2/21/2023 at 11:02 PM, Daniel said:

Women Talking was a very well acted and well written film. It did feel slow though and lacked a backstory that would have added more context to the story.

100+ minutes of women talking? Sounds like my worst nightmare.

I'm pretty sure I'm the first person in the world to make a joke like that. 

[Daniel]

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania was a good fantasy action film but as with a few Marvel films it seemed let down by the amount of effects. I wish they'd stick to super heroes on Earth than putting them in an over the top CGI World.

[nicky]

WHITNEY HOUSTON: I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY

2/5 (No spoilers)

I was looking forward to this coming from the writer of BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (2018) but was very disappointed. It may not have been totally the filmmaker's fault though but more so because Whitney didn't really have that much of an interesting life to begin with, at least that's how it comes across in the film. Yes, she had a rocky relationship with Bobby Brown and struggled with drugs but those parts of her life are not given the emphasis they deserve.

It's a long film and out-stays it's welcome especially the over-stretched boring finale. The filmmakers try to fit a lot of plot-lines into the film but the script annoyingly never really spends much time on each individual line beyond more than one scene - the film plays very much like one random event after the other without having much connection. There's not much of a story really here at all and instead the screenplay is just a bunch of stuff strung together. Biopics should have an angle and stick to it but this film has none of that, it feels like a bit of a cash-grab because I can't see how this appeals to anyone but Whitney's fans.

I didn't like the casting of Naomi Ackie as Whitney either - nevermind her not looking like Whitney but not even being anywhere near as attractive as her was distracting. Whitney was known for her amazing looks and its mentioned a lot in the film but you never buy it cos you look at Ackie and think "Whaaat?!" - especially the scene when her dad's HOT secretary compliments her. The title is horrible too, should've just called it "Whitney". Stanley Tucci though was very good as her manager.

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by nicky

[Faerie Tanith]

Just watched Get Out.

Felt a bit short? It was great and I really liked it, but once the 'big reveal' happened I felt like the ending was very rushed. Otherwise loved it.

[Mfahey79]

Ant-Man Quantumania

Not a bad film by any stretch, just not as good as the previous outings. And I know they are setting up the next few years, but there was just something missing that I cant quite put my finger on.

But at least there was enough to like about this film, unlike the last Thor film

[Daniel]

Creed III (or Rocky IX if you prefer) was a brilliant sequel. Not as good as the first two and certainly strange without Sylvester Stallone but still a terrific boxing movie to keep the franchise alive.

[nicky]

THE WHALE (2022)

3.5/5 (No spoilers)

Now this was an Oscar performance worth raving about, forget Joaquin Pheonix. Brendan Fraser does SO much in his role as Charlie; an obese gay divorcee who works from home as an online English teacher trying to re-connect with his angry estranged teenage daughter (Sadie Sink) despite her best efforts to resist him. It's a film about people; about love, forgiveness, honesty and reconnecting - real things people can relate to and none of this fluffy superhero s***. It's beautifully done but also rather depressing (like I hear other Darren Afronofsky films are).

The film is set in one location; Charlie's home, so its no surprise that the screenplay is actually adapted from the play. I think that's why I didn't like it more as its easy to get bored of the same environment so its important for the characters to really shine and carry the film since it's all dialogue. Some of the characters I didn't like such as the daughter and the missionary (Ty Simpkins) and I wish there was more backstory or glimpses into who Charlie's dead boyfriend was. But Fraser really carries this film and its such an intelligent insight into obesity and isolation and it's affects on others. Not only that but the LGBQT angle actually felt really natural and had purpose.

I loved the film's emotional ending and how it connected all the dots - throughout the film you're thinking "what's that all about?" and then suddenly it all becomes so clear giving the build-up beforehand some meaning and insight into the film's title. I'm surprised it's not up for Best Adapted Screenplay.

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by nicky

[Daniel]

Scream VI was a very worthy edition to the franchise. It certainly wasn't as good as the original trilogy but an improvement on the fifth film. It had some good characters and some creepy settings. It was a shame Neve Campbell wasn't involved but great to see Hayden Panettiere acting again.

[Faerie Tanith]

Intensity (1997)

For a tv movie, absolute banger.

[Daniel]

John Wick: Chapter 4 was a good action film. It was much longer than necessary and too many action scenes which distracted from the story. That said the action and car chase scenes were hugely impressive and fans of the franchise won't be disappointed.

[Daniel]

Shazam! Fury of the Gods was an enjoyable superhero comedy. It wasn't as good as the first but had good performances and special effects. Plus a good cameo at the end. If you enjoy light hearted superhero films you'll like this.

[Daniel]

Super Mario Bros: The Movie was an enjoyable and faithful adaptation of one of the greatest video games ever. It was well animated with a good soundtrack that will entertain children. It definitely wasn't as good as the 1993 movie though (I don't care what anyone thinks I love that film).

[Daniel]

Air was a hugely entertaining true life comedy which was great for 80s nostalgia. It was the story of the Nike Air trainer created when Michael Jordan turned professional which told the story very well. Good for everyone even if you are not a Basketball fan.

[Daniel]

Renfield was a very funny and different Dracula film. Nicholas Cage certainly made a good Dracula but the whole cast played their parts well. If you enjoy comedy horror you won't be disappointed.

[Daniel]

Evil Dead Rise was an acceptable addition to the franchise. It contained some creepy moments but seemed too reliant on gore and not enough on creepiness that made the first two Evil Dead films classics.

[Raylenth]

Nobody:  I finally got around to watching this film and it's a fairly decent offering in the genre, and was enjoyable to watch, but it is pretty much a John Wick knock off.  Still, it was decently done with a good cast and storyline.

Guardians Of The Galaxy 3: I thought this was really good and the best thing the MCU stable have produced in a while.  I don't know how it'll stand up to a rewatch when it's on Disney +, once you know what's coming, but it was a very good film.