Movie review rant 2015

[Brum]

Yup, that's a fair assessment - it was the worst of the three. But then again, you did watch it twice!

Rebel is an Aussie! Aussie pride!!

I watched it with the kids and then on my own so I could actually hear the plot... Bad idea!

Rebel may well be an Aussie but she can't doo cockney!

 

[Chlidonias]

I haven't been to a cinema in a couple years, but I really want to see Episode 7 in IMax 3D.

I haven't been to a movie in the theatre since the last Hobbit movie. But fortunately we have a tv channel in New Zealand now, and there are movies on that from time to time.

Terminator - I'm a fan, but I'll wait for the Blu Ray release. Not sure what's confusing about the trailer though - as far as I understand, it's a reboot masquerading as canon because "the future has been reset". And what Terminator movie would be complete with the lines "I'll be back" and "come with me if you want to live". Classic!

I've watched the trailer a few more times, as well as the even more recent trailer, and I am less confused now. It seems like a T800 was sent back to protect Sarah when she was a young girl, and then the rest of the movie is set during the events of the first movie. Unfortunately the trailer is basically a mash-up of scenes re-done from the previous few movies. Even more unfortunately Kyle Reese is played by Jai Courtney. Bleagh.

I'm looking forward to reading a review of Fast and Furious 7 - anyone seen it yet?

I watched the sixth movie on tv last night and it was even dumber than I remembered. (I had seen it at the movies, solely on the basis that Gina Carano was in it).

 

[nanoboy]

I haven't been to a movie in the theatre since the last Hobbit movie. But fortunately we have a tv channel in New Zealand now, and there are movies on that from time to time.


I've watched the trailer a few more times, as well as the even more recent trailer, and I am less confused now. It seems like a T800 was sent back to protect Sarah when she was a young girl, and then the rest of the movie is set during the events of the first movie. Unfortunately the trailer is basically a mash-up of scenes re-done from the previous few movies. Even more unfortunately Kyle Reese is played by Jai Courtney. Bleagh.


I watched the sixth movie on tv last night and it was even dumber than I remembered. (I had seen it at the movies, solely on the basis that Gina Carano was in it).

Don't forget that there is a liquid-metal policeman, so that is from Terminator 2 Judgement Day.

 

[Chlidonias]

Mad Max: Fury Road

You know how you sometimes get those trilogies everyone loves, and the director wants to make a fourth one and somehow despite having decades to work out the plot it ends up feeling like they left it to the last three days before filming to even start writing the script? You know, like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?

Well, this is not one of those movies. This movie is amazing. This movie is what you want your action movies to be like but so very rarely end up receiving. George Miller has taken his three original Mad Max movies, rolled them into one movie, made it better than any of them, and yet somehow still made it possible for it to be seen as a fourth movie in the series instead of a simple do-over. The guy is a genius.

The majority of filming was done on location in Namibia as a stand-in for the Australian outback, but the majority of the actors are still Australian (albeit most of the main characters are not!). He even added in the calling of Australian crows to the sound effects, to keep it in line with the originals. There is plenty of CGI but unlike some movies which could be named, this is mostly used in combination with real effects in such a way that they blend together so well you don't even notice it is there. And where it is used in large quantity, it is usually done brilliantly (e.g. the monstrous sand-storm scene).

There are some nice touches as nods to the original movies like a girl with a little wind-up music toy (the one the Feral Kid had in Mad Max 2), the bad cartridges in Max's shotgun, and the main bad guy, Immortan Joe, is played by Hugh Keays-Byrne who also played the main bad guy Toecutter in the first Mad Max. The V8 Interceptor is also still Max's vehicle (although it was destroyed in Mad Max 2).

The actor choices are almost all great. Tom Hardy makes a brilliant Max Rockatansky, Charlize Theron is fantastic as Imperator Furiosa, Hugh Keays-Byrne is suitably freaky as Immortan Joe, Nicholas Hoult and Josh Helman look creepy as mutilated War Boys. Really the only choice I question is that of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as The Splendid Agharad. I simply cannot imagine the thought process behind George Miller saying "hey, you know who would be great in my new Mad Max movie? That dopey chick from the third Transformers movie. She sure can act...."

Ten out of ten (despite the presence of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley).


Extra: I was just watching a video about the making of the movie, and they were originally supposed to be filming at Broken Hill in Australia, where the other three movies were filmed, but just before they started it began to rain torrentially, the first rain in the area in 15 years, and everything got swamped so they shifted to Namibia.

 

[ThylacineAlive]

The V8 Interceptor is also still Max's vehicle (although it was destroyed in Mad Max 3).

I believe Fury Road is suppose to take place between the second and third movies so it'd make sense that he still had the vehicle.

~Thylo

 

[devilfish]

I've only just discovered this brilliant thread. I was working last weekend but the shifts were calm - very fortunately. I managed to watch four movies and get quite a lot of paperwork sorted.

One of the movies was Paddington (2014):

I had expected that this was a film aimed at a young audience (rated as PG - parental guidance advised), and wasn't expecting a great deal from it.
Colin Firth had notably 'consciously uncoupled' with the role of playing Paddington late in production as he 'couldn't find the right voice' for the bear. Ben Wishaw took over the role to join a very decent cast. The film was also French company StudioCanal's most expensive production to date.
The film is an adaptation of Michael Bond's famous fictional bear from 'Darkest Peru' who comes to England and stays with the Brown family. For a film with a talking brown spectacled bear, there's a surprising zoological effort (inc. a fictional scientific name, Ursa marmalada). Although this can be frustrating at times, for a childrens' movie it's more than they'd needed. Scenes filmed at London's Natural History Museum will be appreciated by fellow enthusiasts, and it's nice to see them make better use of the museum than the corresponding British Museum's role in 'Night at the Museum 3'.
There are quite a lot of funny moments. I found myself grinning and even chuckling on several occasions - a rare occurence when watching a film.
A lot of pleasant touches including the often unorthodox soundtrack and a cameo from Michael Bond lead me to give this charming film an 8/10.

 

[Chlidonias]

I believe Fury Road is suppose to take place between the second and third movies so it'd make sense that he still had the vehicle.

mm, perhaps. But in Fury Road it appears that in the latter half of the movie the V8 Interceptor is crushed between two War Trucks and explodes while being driven by Slit (Josh Helman). [Sometimes it can be difficult telling what is going on in action movies, but that was how I interpreted the scene].

 

[Chlidonias]

mm, perhaps. But in Fury Road it appears that in the latter half of the movie the V8 Interceptor is crushed between two War Trucks and explodes while being driven by Slit (Josh Helman). [Sometimes it can be difficult telling what is going on in action movies, but that was how I interpreted the scene].

also I just realised that it was Mad Max 2 in which the V8 Interceptor was destroyed, not 3. So Fury Road would have had to have taken place between 1 and 2, not 2 and 3, and that doesn't make sense at all. I think Max must have somehow found someone to modify a completely different Pursuit Special for him.

 

[nanoboy]

Mad Max: Fury Road

You know how you sometimes get those trilogies everyone loves, and the director wants to make a fourth one and somehow despite having decades to work out the plot it ends up feeling like they left it to the last three days before filming to even start writing the script? You know, like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?

Well, this is not one of those movies. This movie is amazing. This movie is what you want your action movies to be like but so very rarely end up receiving. George Miller has taken his three original Mad Max movies, rolled them into one movie, made it better than any of them, and yet somehow still made it possible for it to be seen as a fourth movie in the series instead of a simple do-over. The guy is a genius.

The majority of filming was done on location in Namibia as a stand-in for the Australian outback, but the majority of the actors are still Australian (albeit most of the main characters are not!). He even added in the calling of Australian crows to the sound effects, to keep it in line with the originals. There is plenty of CGI but unlike some movies which could be named, this is mostly used in combination with real effects in such a way that they blend together so well you don't even notice it is there. And where it is used in large quantity, it is usually done brilliantly (e.g. the monstrous sand-storm scene).

There are some nice touches as nods to the original movies like a girl with a little wind-up music toy (the one the Feral Kid had in Mad Max 2), the bad cartridges in Max's shotgun, and the main bad guy, Immortan Joe, is played by Hugh Keays-Byrne who also played the main bad guy Toecutter in the first Mad Max. The V8 Interceptor is also still Max's vehicle (although it was destroyed in Mad Max 2).

The actor choices are almost all great. Tom Hardy makes a brilliant Max Rockatansky, Charlize Theron is fantastic as Imperator Furiosa, Hugh Keays-Byrne is suitably freaky as Immortan Joe, Nicholas Hoult and Josh Helman look creepy as mutilated War Boys. Really the only choice I question is that of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as The Splendid Agharad. I simply cannot imagine the thought process behind George Miller saying "hey, you know who would be great in my new Mad Max movie? That dopey chick from the third Transformers movie. She sure can act...."

Ten out of ten (despite the presence of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley).


Extra: I was just watching a video about the making of the movie, and they were originally supposed to be filming at Broken Hill in Australia, where the other three movies were filmed, but just before they started it began to rain torrentially, the first rain in the area in 15 years, and everything got swamped so they shifted to Namibia.

Most of the scenes in the first movie were filmed just outside of Melbourne, Victoria, near the Western Treatment Plant (the famous birding Mecca). The underground police station was filmed in the Melbourne Uni carpark.

 

[nanoboy]

I've only just discovered this brilliant thread. I was working last weekend but the shifts were calm - very fortunately. I managed to watch four movies and get quite a lot of paperwork sorted.

One of the movies was Paddington (2014):

I had expected that this was a film aimed at a young audience (rated as PG - parental guidance advised), and wasn't expecting a great deal from it.
Colin Firth had notably 'consciously uncoupled' with the role of playing Paddington late in production as he 'couldn't find the right voice' for the bear. Ben Wishaw took over the role to join a very decent cast. The film was also French company StudioCanal's most expensive production to date.
The film is an adaptation of Michael Bond's famous fictional bear from 'Darkest Peru' who comes to England and stays with the Brown family. For a film with a talking brown spectacled bear, there's a surprising zoological effort (inc. a fictional scientific name, Ursa marmalada). Although this can be frustrating at times, for a childrens' movie it's more than they'd needed. Scenes filmed at London's Natural History Museum will be appreciated by fellow enthusiasts, and it's nice to see them make better use of the museum than the corresponding British Museum's role in 'Night at the Museum 3'.
There are quite a lot of funny moments. I found myself grinning and even chuckling on several occasions - a rare occurence when watching a film.
A lot of pleasant touches including the often unorthodox soundtrack and a cameo from Michael Bond lead me to give this charming film an 8/10.

I also quite enjoyed Paddington. It's a fun movie that kids and adults should enjoy. The CGI was excellent and you would be forgiven for thinking that they used a real bear. The Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London, was used for the final scenes, so it was great to see one of my favourite haunts featured. I rate this movie 7/10 - rent it.

 

[nanoboy]

Penguins of Madagascar - 9/10

My one complaint about this movie was that there were too many jokes! Isn't there an optimum joke rate in comedies of, say, 2 per minute? Well Penguins were firing them off every ten seconds! I had tears streaming down my cheeks from the consistent laughter.

This is a very funny and witty movie if you're sharp on the draw. "Hugh, Jack, man the pumps!" "Charlize, they're on the deck!"

The movie follows the adventures of our favourite penguins, Rico, Kowalski, Private and Skipper from when they evaded Leopard Seals at birth to their most recent adventure. If you loved the penguins in the Madagascar movies, then you simply must watch this film. Rent it now while we wait for part 2!!

 

[nanoboy]

Into the Woods - 5/10

I am a huge fan of musicals. I enjoy seeing the films as well as the stage productions. In the next couple months I'll be seeing 'Rocky Horror Show' and 'Sweeney Todd', for example, in the theatre.

'Into the Woods' is a Steven Sondheim musical, as is 'Sweeney Todd'. The main difference is that the latter was excellent, and the former left your head spinning. Why didn't they end the story when they got married? Why did everyone have to either die or be unfaithful? Why were the colours so desaturated?

Not even Johnny Depp as the wolf could have saved this film. The songs are catchy, yes, but the story was dark, disjointed, and unenjoyable. Watch it if you're an Aucklander insomniac and it's playing on New Zealand's one TV station at 2am. Otherwise, especially if you're a fan of the genre, don't bother.

 

[nanoboy]

Interstellar - 8/10

My review of this film will be short, which can't be said of the film. At almost 3hrs long, be prepared to take at least one toilet break. Unfortunately for the weak-bladdered viewers, the last 2hrs are non-stop, edge-of the seat action. If they edited out the first half hour, I would have given this a 9/10. Definitely worth renting, especially if you like your sci-fi flicks to have a good dollop of theoretical physics and 'time travel'.

 

[savethelephant]

Dude! I loved Into the woods!
Anyways, time for my review!
Tomorrow Land

I came into this movie with VERY low expectations due to reviews and I was a little surprised. A very well done plot and pretty good CGI combined with some adventure, fun, and robots. My opinion is that they used the words "hell" and "damn" just a taaaad too much. And even better, it had to do with saving the environment. And even better news: it doesn't yell that at you, it's a subtle hint. So all in all I loved the movie

7.9/10

 

[nanoboy]

Dude! I loved Into the woods!
Anyways, time for my review!
Tomorrow Land

I came into this movie with VERY low expectations due to reviews and I was a little surprised. A very well done plot and pretty good CGI combined with some adventure, fun, and robots. My opinion is hat they used the words "hell" and "damn" just a taaaad too much. And even better, it had to do with saving the environment. And even better news: it doesn't yell that at you, it's a subtle hint. So all in all I loved the movie

7.9/10

Nice! I don't go to the cinema, so I might get to see this and other northern hemisphere summer blockbusters around Christmas on BluRay/online here in Oz during our summer.

Have you ever seen 'Sweeney Todd'? Thoughts?

 

[Hix]

Interstellar - 8/10

My review of this film will be short, which can't be said of the film. At almost 3hrs long, be prepared to take at least one toilet break. Unfortunately for the weak-bladdered viewers, the last 2hrs are non-stop, edge-of the seat action. If they edited out the first half hour, I would have given this a 9/10. Definitely worth renting, especially if you like your sci-fi flicks to have a good dollop of theoretical physics and 'time travel'.

I found the first part a little slow and puzzling, the movie got better after that. The ending, which resolved the puzzles from the beginning of the movie, was just crap (IMO). I rank it up there with the ending of 'Lucy'. Up until that point though, it was entertaining even if a little long.



Hix

 

[zooboy28]

Penguins of Madagascar - 9/10

My one complaint about this movie was that there were too many jokes! Isn't there an optimum joke rate in comedies of, say, 2 per minute? Well Penguins were firing them off every ten seconds! I had tears streaming down my cheeks from the consistent laughter.

This is a very funny and witty movie if you're sharp on the draw. "Hugh, Jack, man the pumps!" "Charlize, they're on the deck!"

The movie follows the adventures of our favourite penguins, Rico, Kowalski, Private and Skipper from when they evaded Leopard Seals at birth to their most recent adventure. If you loved the penguins in the Madagascar movies, then you simply must watch this film. Rent it now while we wait for part 2!!

Really? I was soooo disappointed by this movie. Given all that had come before (i.e. the Madagascar trilogy), I was expecting it to be pretty impressive. But it was boring and close to unwatchable. Admittedly those celebrity name drops were very clever, and there were a couple of other clever lines, but overall it was surprisingly dull.
Rating: 2/10

 

[zooboy28]

Into the Woods - 5/10

I am a huge fan of musicals. I enjoy seeing the films as well as the stage productions. In the next couple months I'll be seeing 'Rocky Horror Show' and 'Sweeney Todd', for example, in the theatre.

'Into the Woods' is a Steven Sondheim musical, as is 'Sweeney Todd'. The main difference is that the latter was excellent, and the former left your head spinning. Why didn't they end the story when they got married? Why did everyone have to either die or be unfaithful? Why were the colours so desaturated?

Not even Johnny Depp as the wolf could have saved this film. The songs are catchy, yes, but the story was dark, disjointed, and unenjoyable. Watch it if you're an Aucklander insomniac and it's playing on New Zealand's one TV station at 2am. Otherwise, especially if you're a fan of the genre, don't bother.

Best musical I've seen for ages! Stunning, hilarious, mad and a great cast singing fantastic songs. I get that it did start to drag a bit towards the end, and got really dark really quick, but I still enjoyed it immensely. Highly recommended!
Rating: 8/10

 

[Batto]

Kung Fury 15 out of 15 Mullets

Prepare for a Swedish over-the-top 1980's homage, sporting everything you loved or hated about the cheap movies, Saturday morning cartoons, music, fashion etc. of that era. Guest appearance of The Hoff included!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS5P_LAqiVg

 

[Chlidonias]

I just found the following movie on Youtube, Predator: Dark Ages, where the human combatants are Templar Knights. It is a half-hour fan-made movie which is truly exceptional. Excellent acting and cinematography, good special effects, good story. You might even say it was better than every one of the Predator sequels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRD8jAk274I

Oh, just realised it has only been online for a month. So, hot off the press then!