First Impressions: The FILMS of 2023

[Jay 37,373]

 

Vacation Friends 2

 

A decent sequel here.  The first film showcased Howery and Orji's parents, this one add's Hagner's father (Steve Buscemi) into the mix, who brought a fun energy to the proceedings.  I hope they conclude the trilogy with some great stunt casting for Cena's parents.  Escalating things to include Cuban drug runners was a bit out there but it all kinda worked.  I can't imagine the escalation they'd get to if they do a third though.

 

It's on Hulu

[JNHFan2000 2,968]

The Killer

 

This was....okay.
Don't get me wrong. This is a really well directed film, it's Fincher for god's sake. There are a lot of cool and interesting shots and it has that Fincher atmosphere all throughout it's DNA.

 

It's just that the rest of the film is pretty standard I thought. It's about the titular killer taking revenge on a few people because they hurt his girlfriend. It's all very well executed and the supporting cast is great, but it just didn't pop enough for me.

 

Michael Fassbender is really good in the lead, but I did find it a bit hard to engage with a person like this. There is not really a bigger emotional hook or a way into the character, mostly because he is so passive. He really is just there to do a job and nothing more. I was hoping for a more exciting role for Fassbender after four years.

 

Charles Parnell is great in his one scene. As is Sala Baker, who makes sure there is one really great fight scene. That fight scene was the best thing in the whole film, together with one other person, one of my favorite actors of all time: Tilda Swinton.

I was really hoping she would be more in this film, but the time that she was, she completely stole the film and elevated it. The initial look she gives Fassbender when he confronts het is brilliant and she keeps giving fantastic facial expression throughout her scene. She was fantastic.

 

So yeah, I enjoyed it for what it was, but I was expecting a bit more and to be honest another film. But maybe that's on me.
 

[Knight of Ren 789]

Agree with this. I got to watch it a couple months ago and I don't really get all the fuzz it's been having with the release. I found the film to be okay, a bit empty and extremely cold and cynical, which made it really hard to connect with. Fincher's directing is great and my favorite part of the movie is the opening sequence, where the editing also gets to shine, but after the film kind of meanders around and I wasn't really into it. Reznor and Ross' score wasn't really my thing either, and I even found it a bit distracting at times.

[A24 4,345]

Did this one go straight to streaming?

[JNHFan2000 2,968]

It had a limited release in theatres

[Jay 37,373]

The Killer is playing in cinemas near my house!

[Faleel 5,359]

18 minutes ago, Jay said:

The Killer is playing in cinemas near my house!

 

 

[iamleyeti 114]

Watched ANT-MAN 3. Usual Marvel stuff: botched editing and subpar sound mixing. Beck's music is never heard and doesn't really shine IMO. Everybody but the audience seems to be having fun in front of blue screens. The Kang stuff is really good, but again, it's quite complicated and it slows the already sluggish movie to a stop.

[A24 4,345]

The Killer (2023)

 

 

A little too much voiceover during the first 15 minutes, but all in all, The Killer is entertaining (due to Fincher's cinematic language) yet ultimately forgettable.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,552]

Has anyone seen ANATOMY OF A FALL?

It's meant to be quite good.

[A24 4,345]

3 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Has anyone seen ANATOMY OF A FALL?

It's meant to be quite good.

 

Seen bits of the trailer. Feels like a Nordic crime thriller, not a big fan of those. But yeah, critics seem to love it to death. 

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,552]

I'll catch the DVD at my local thrift store... in about three years 

[saulocf 79]

9 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Has anyone seen ANATOMY OF A FALL?

It's meant to be quite good.

I have and it is fantastic. Gripping all the way through! I recommend!

[JNHFan2000 2,968]

Co-directed, executive-produced & written + music written by Christopher Lennertz.

 

I liked it

 

 

[JNHFan2000 2,968]

Rustin

 

Films like these are right up my alley. True stories told about a person who deserves their time in the spotlight, but has never really had that time. In this film that person is Bayard Rustin, a leader in the social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence and gay rights.

 

This film focuses on the preparations for the 1963 March On Washington, of which Rustin was the organizer. The film is anchored by an award worthy performance from Colman Domingo. He is fantastic in this film. Playing both the sadness and joyous parts of Rustin's life with extreme sincerity and respect. It's one of the best performances I've seen by him and should be up for an Oscar nomination.

There is a large supporting cast, with some big names and some smaller, but all are great. They are mostly there to be supporters of Rustin or stand in his way, and they very much serve their purpose in those roles.

 

The film moves quickly, but it really helps to sell the point home that this whole thing was only organized in 7 weeks. It's helped by an incredible score from Branford Marsalis. It's full of jazz and piano. It (literally) adds rhythm to the film.

 

So yeah, I don't really have any negatives on this one. It was an absolute joy and Domingo's performance is one of the best of the year!

[JNHFan2000 2,968]

The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes

 

Prequels are a tricky thing. It's hard to make a prequel that feels like it has stakes. Because most of the time we know the fates of the characters already it's hard to feel danger sometimes. I feel this film has succeeded in letting the audience feel the dangers of the situations the characters find themselves in.

This ranges from The Hunger Games themselves to the final moments of the film. The games in this film felt very unique and distinct from the games in the other films. This was very brutal and felt less like a spectacle. They really showed here that it was just kids killing kids and at points it's very hard to watch. There is one moment during the games when a tribute rebels against the Capitol by tearing down a flag, which actually gave me goosebumps. It was a very powerful moment.

 

The cast is terrific across the board. Tom Blyth is very engaging as a young Snow and really shows the difficult emotions the character goes through. Rachel Zegler is also very good. Great in both the action moments and the dramatic moments. I was a bit skeptical of there being songs in the film. But I actually thought they really worked, and this is in large part to Zegler's performance.

And then we have Viola Davis. What to say about her performance? It's mesmerizing, powerful, scary and a joy to watch. Davis is one of those actors who isn't afraid to play an ugly person and it's all the more enjoyable because of that. Everything from her perfomance, the costumes and the hair and make-up, makes this a villain for the ages.

 

The only thing that would've benefitted from a bit more time, is the change in Snow to the president we see in the other films. The final hour of the film is focused on this, but I did feel that it could've used maybe 10 to 15 minutes extra to fledge him out a bit more. I really enjoyed the last part of the film, but I did feel that something was missing.

Other than that, this was a great film. I think Catching Fire is still my favorite of the series, but this is my 2nd favorite.

[Bayesian 1,364]

Napoleon

 

4.25 stars out of 5.

 

I just left the first showing that was playing in my area, and even though it’s not perfect, I loved this film. In its production design, it’s epic in a swing-for-the-fences way that reminds me of Waterworld (an astonishing achievement in a far different genre, the likes of which Hollywood will never manage again). The film cost a fortune to make, but you see every last dollar and British pound up on the screen.
 

At the moment, the only things I can find fault with involve Scott’s fairly staid blocking and the way the film sort of breezes from one major event or setpiece to the next. The former is only a problem to the extent blockbuster moviemaking has become a vertiginous mess in the last two decades and conditioned us to expect more camera motion, but even so, I’d have loved to see a bit of the Spielberg touch to make camera moves a little more captivating. (That said, Scott’s steady camera does at times allow your eyes to drench themselves in a beautiful unfolding of armies rushing to collide with each other, and those moments are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Oh, if only they lasted longer on screen!). As for my second quibble, the cause of it is simply that there is so much ground to cover. I very much expect the 4-hr cut to resolve a lot of that problem.

 

Phoenix and Kirby are excellent in their roles. Actually, everyone is terrific. Not a bad one in the bunch. Costume design is top-shelf. Music is very good; I love what Phipps wrote for the coronation and for the battles at Austerlitz and Waterloo. The staging of these two battle scenes, incidentally, was glorious, in particular, Waterloo. I wouldn’t be surprised if they show these scenes in classrooms in the future. 
 

The critics are right when they say this film doesn’t glorify Napoleon or his battlefield successes. Indeed, the very idea that France in the first decade of the 19th century had vastly expanded its territory across most of Europe is barely hinted at. Scott never takes the viewer to the 30,000 ft view of things, so unless you already know the history, you never really learn why Napoleon and his army are fighting the battles they fight in the places they fight them. By a similar token, the Reign of Terror, the Egyptian campaign, the Congress of Vienna… all are shown in glimpses with little to no context. If you don’t already know about them, they’ll come and go from the screen without leaving much of an impression. (All the more reason we need Spielberg’s miniseries/docuseries more than ever.)

 

But all these issues evaporate in the avalanche of sumptuous eye candy Scott gives us. The burning of Moscow. The port at Toulon aflame. The coronation scene. An utterly magnificent shot of Napoleon marching with his followers through a European hayfield upon escaping Elba. The eerily beautiful, snow- and windswept shots of Austerlitz. The Prussian march toward Waterloo from the east. I could go on and on. The film is a visual revelation and absolutely worth watching on the big screen for that reason alone.

[Brónach 1,302]

i've seen people complain that the armies seem ridiculously tiny for the period and that the film makes no use of color to show off the characteristics of the uniforms of the period which sounds really annoying if true

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

M3GAN ('unrated' version) - an orphaned child is taken under her aunt's wing. The aunt just happens to work for a toy company who need someone to test their AI doll prototype on, which is fine until said doll begins to exceed her 'protect the child' programming ... 

Enjoyable horror (which pulls off being both creepy and knowingly daft) which will do absolutely nothing to ease your technology-related fears. lol. 

[JNHFan2000 2,968]

Napoleon

 

In this film, Napoleon is portrayed in two ways. As a ruthless intelligent general on the battlefield and as a angry, pathetic little man in his personal life (which is pretty funny). I thought it was interesting how these two lived alongside each other without intersecting. It is the moment when the latter bleeds into the former that Napoleon's winning streak comes to an end.

 

The film is not without it's fault. It's a little jarring that no one in the film has a French accent. Phoenix is American and Kirby and the entire supporting cast are British. It's a little weird, but it was less distracting than I thought it would be.
The middle part of the film drags a little. It's focused on Napoleon & Josephine's relationship. And although it's very interesting, I thought there were a couple of scenes that were too alike and it kinda felt you were watching the same thing twice.

 

By far the best parts of the film are the battle scenes. These are battles worth seeing on the big screen. It felt like you were right in the middle of it. Two of them stood out to me. The one in the snow and on the ice, that is truly shocking to see. And the final battle at Waterloo actually gave me chills. The scope, violence and image of seeing so many people fight each other is something that hit me very hard.

Besides the weird accents, the cast is outstanding. Phoenix is kinda playing the Joker, but does enough different things to keep it interesting. Kirby on the other hand is transcendant. She oozes charisma and her character is very interesting. Napoleon gets his power from victories in battle, she gets her power in the bedroom. The way this is portrayed and how she is able to make a tiny man of Napoleon through just her words and body is very interesting and I would've liked to see that being explored more.

 

So yeah, I really enjoyed this. It's not a perfect film. Scott again hires a composer, but used his temp score and diegetic music almost more. And again he is not able to make just one cut, which leaves you wondering what was left out. But overall, I thought this was a strong film if you can go along with it's creative choices.

[JNHFan2000 2,968]

Wish

 

Disney's 62nd animated feature and it's celebration of the 100th anniversary is good. I would say that is the best description.
Look, I'm a big Disney fan. As a lot of people did, I grew up watching their films. Some are my earliest memories of seeing a film. And to this day, while I'm in my twenties, I still love Disney.

 

I love almost all their features (I'm a Home On The Range defender haha). The strongest years of Disney Animation have been the early years, then the 90's and the 2010's. I feel this film tries to be like all of the films from these times, but therefor kinda forgets to be it's own unique thing.

For example, take Encanto. Encanto is in my opinion one of the best films Disney has made. It has a great story, representation that feels authentic and earned and feels very unique.
Wish feels more like they tried to tick as many boxes as possible and made a film from that.

 

Don't get me wrong, there are some really strong aspects to the film, but it also feels a bit rushed and muddled at times. The story needed more time to breathe and even though they are fun, the easter eggs distract a bit from the story. 

There's more stuff that didn't work, but I don't want to only bang on about that, so I'll go over to my positives. Asha & King Magnifico are great characters. Both actually feel really lived in and are brought to live through terrific animation and fantastic voice work by Ariana DeBose & Chris Pine.

 

The music is also strong. I think the songs by Julia Michaels & Benjamin Price) are really good and "This Wish" I feel is a strong contender for an Oscar nomination. The score by Dave Metzger is also really good and beautifully evokes the magic of this film and Disney overall. Add to that the beautiful animation and the film was able to pull me in and give me chills.

 

I just wish (pun intended) that the film focused more on it's story instead of celebrating 100 years of Disney. They should have done that with the short film they released earlier this year. That was perfect. Besides that I really enjoyed this, because I feel that there is enough of that Disney magic present to have a good time.

[JNHFan2000 2,968]

The Holdovers

 

This film is something special.
Like many people, I wasn't really blown away by the trailer for this. But there was more and more buzz about it online, so I put it on my watchlist. Then after a review I read, I wanted to make sure I saw it earlier than I was planning to. And I'm glad I did.

 

I think it's hard to try to explain this film, because it could sound not too exciting or special. So I'm not gonna do that, because it really is. I just want to say that the script is so brilliant in it's simplicity but at the same time it's very complex. That's a very hard thing to do, but this film pulls it off.

 

Then you have the fantastic performances by Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph & Dominic Sessa. The scenes between the three of them were brilliant. Chemistry exploding of the screen. My favorite scenes were the Christmas dinner and the cherries jubilee. So good!
Then all three characters are fleshed out in the most fantastic ways. You just felt so much for them and I actually really want to know what happens to them.
Oh, and I've never gotten so emotiomal by a fucking handshake. I was in a puddle of my owm tears.

 

So yeah, this film is something really special, but I can't really explain why. IT JUST IS! I'm a bit at a loss for words, just because it made such an impact. And I urge everyone to go and see it, then you will understand and we can bask in it's glory together.
 

[JNHFan2000 2,968]

Silent Night

 

After 20 years John Woo is back directing a film in America. His last one was Paycheck in 2003.

This is kind of a frustrating film to review. There are moments that are really good. For example the film is shot really well. Lot's of long takes, especially when the action gets going (the stairwell is done very well), and some inventive camerawork.
Joel Kinnaman is also very good and is able to bring out a lot of emotion with speaking.

 

But that is also where the film faulters. The concept of the film is really strong. He gets shot in the throat, so he loses his vocal chords. But why does the rest of the cast also not speak? That made absolutely no sense. It's not like A Quiet Place, where the "no dialogue" is a crucial part of the story. It just felt really odd here and not well executed.

 

Another negative of the film was that at points it was kinda boring. Every once in a while the film becomes good and you're like "Oh, yeah"! But then it stops and meanders on for a while again. And this repeated itself multiple times, to the point it got annoying.

 

To me, the trailers made this film look like John Wick at Christmas time. This was not that at all. It's a very dark and depressing film and because of that when the action does happen it all felt a little dour.
My sister said, does this film in anyway add something to my life? And to be honest the answer to that is no.
If you want a fun Christmas action flick you should watch last years Violent Night or Die Hard.

 

Oh, Beltrami's score is either a string elegy or an impression of the John Wick scores.

[JNHFan2000 2,968]

Godzilla Minus One

 

I've seen quite a lot of films featuring Godzilla, but this was the first time I was genuinely scared of him.

 

The film takes place in the aftermath of WWII and shows how the people in Japan rebuild their homes and start to live the lives they did before the war. 

It's in that moment, when everything feels safe, that Godzilla shows up. Just when people came to terms with the losses and heartbreak a creature destroys everything they've just rebuild. A literal nuclear bomb rains down on them.

To see what this does to people and the way the film explores that, is truly something special. Yes, it's a monster film, but it's also a deeply emotional and heartbreaking film.

 

Director, writer and visual effects supervisor Takashi Yamazaki is the creative force behind this film and he deserves all the praise he is getting. There are shots here that are just pure art and the whole visual effects team made sure Godzilla looks the best he can. Godzilla holds a sense of awe and wonder when he appears on screen, while in contrast he is the most scary and frightening version of the character.

 

The whole cast does a wonderful job and sells every emotional beat the script asks of them.

I also loved that the plan they came up with to stop Godzilla was based on actual dcience. It wasn't just guns and bombs, because they knew that didn't work. It was a very clever plan and it was so cool to see it unfold on screen.

 

Of course a shoutout the composer Naoki Sato. Sato is one of the busiest and best composers in Japan and to finally see him score a Godzilla film is really cool. His score is not the bombast we've come to expect with a Godzilla film. He choses to score the emotion above the action, which was an incredible choice. There are three moments in the film when Sato uses the original Godzilla themes composed by Akira Ifukube, to excellent and frightening effect.

 

I was expecting a good film after the first reviews, but I wasn't prepared for this. It's the first time a Godzilla film was able to make me cry. I never thought that would happen. I think it's excellent on all fronts and is one of the best films of the year!

[Bespin 8,484]

I just saw Maestro (2023).

 

What a horrible movie. At first, I'm not a fan of Leonard Bernstein, neither of the conductor, nor the composer, nor the man himself. I hoped to better understand the 'character' by watching this film, and I realized it only confirmed what I already knew and thought of him. A charismatic figure, with a strong ego, excessive in his artistic expressions and speeches (almost a bullshitter) and who ultimately played everyone throughout his life. It's neither interesting nor glorious. A horrible film that starts off in black and white, truly a torment, and ultimately doesn't achieve its goal.

 

Why? Because it's not a movie about Bernstein's career, it's a movie about a failed marriage. When a biopic fails to make its hero likable and moving, what purpose does it serve? This melodrama, because it's not a biopic, should have been named "Felicia" instead!

[Schilkeman 964]

4 hours ago, Bespin said:

A horrible film that starts off in black and white, truly a torment

wut

 

4 hours ago, Bespin said:

When a biopic fails to make its hero likable and moving, what purpose does it serve?

wut

 

4 hours ago, Bespin said:

should have been named "Felicia" instead!

wut

 

In all seriousness. The New Yorker ran a slightly more nuanced review that has me enthused to see it, but then, I've always appreciated Bernstein - the conductor, the composer, and the pedagogue. He could wring music within an inch of it's life, but I always felt he was riding it, too. He was an intense and chaotic man.

[Bespin 8,484]

@Schilkeman I can confirm to you that this movie is NOT a good starting point if you want to learn more about Leonard Bernstein and you're not already a part of the fan club. That's it.

 

I watched four horrible movies in a row since two weeks: "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Deconstruction", "Battle Beyond the Stars," "Barbie," and "Maestro".

 

As a result, I'm now extremely frustrated and disillusioned about cinema in general.

[A24 4,345]

 

Watched the whole movie without knowing it was the director of Rogue One or that Hans Zimmer wrote the soundtrack. The best thing about this movie is the CGI and and its art design. 4/10

[JNHFan2000 2,968]

Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom

 

And so comes the end of the DCEU.

 

Personally, I loved the first film. It was fun, colourful, had fantastic visuals and action and Jason Momoa was having a blast. At the time it really felt like something new and special. This film is much of the same, but it was lacking at several moments and maybe because we have had an Avatar and Black Panther film underwater and The Little Mermaid that special factor was missed a bit. 

 

Momoa is still great in the role, but I felt he was let loose just a bit too much. There was only one joke in the entire film that made me laugh (it involves Patrick Wilson and running) and unfortunately Black Manta is still not an interesting enough villain. I feel these things pull the film down quite a bit and it's a shame, because had these thing worked better, it could've been like the first film.

 

What I did like were the action scenes. Nicely designed and choreagraphed. The final Trident fight between Aquaman & Manta was especially cool with that long take. Almost all the visual effects are really strong, even though the film felt less colourful than the first.
I thought Nicole Kidman was fantastic and she has one really cool action scene that I'd love to see again.
Amber Heard is in it more than I thought. And it's thanks to her cool powers that it didn't bother me too much.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is a very good actor, but his role was badly written and got some awful oneliners.
Patrick Wilson was again very good and got some fun stuff to do.

 

As I said, some of the visuals again are really strong (like the yellow submarines and Topo the octopus). Although I wish James Wan leaned more into his horror background at times. The score is also really fun, needle drops are awful though.
But it's all just a bit meh and the very final joke of the film is a cheap ripoff that left a bad taste. The film also tries to say something about the climate crisis and the environment, but completely misses it's mark.

 

In my opinion it's not the worst DC film of the year. It's quite fun, but it is sad that this is what the DCEU is ending on. Let's see if James Gunn can turn it around (I'm not sold yet).

[JNHFan2000 2,968]

Rebel Moon Part One - A Child Of Fire

 

The first hour of this film is awful. No action, barely any story, not enough character work layed out, the slow motion didn't work and I was actually quite bored.
It wasn't until we got to Staz Nair's character that I thought it became a bit more interesting. His introduction was cool and finally brought some fun energy to the film. After that the sequence where Doona Bae is introduced is also very cool. Her character has a great design (those swords are the best thing in the film), a lot of heart and the action scene worked really well.

 

The rest of the film isn't awful, but I did feel it was a bit uninspired. I've always enjoyed Snyder's work (I even like Batman V Superman), but after all the talk about how this is his take on Star Wars I was left unimpressed. So many things felt like stuff I've seen before.
Just of the top of my head this film has (big) influences from The Seven Samurai, Star Wars, Dune and Game Of Thrones. Now that isn't a bad thing, but it didn't feel unique enough to stand on it's own. There are a lot of weird things and characters which go nowhere and add nothing to the film, but took me out of the film every time.

 

I did enjoy the action scenes (when they came). The fighting was strong and when the slow motion came here, it was less of a distraction. Sofia Boutella is best in the action, especially the final fight with Ed Skrein is cool.
Djimon Hounsou is great, but underused. The same goes for Anthony Hopkins' character.
Ray Fisher was okay and Michiel Huisman and Charlie Hunnam are good, but don't get a lot to do.

 

Visually this film is fantastic. There are great shots, action moments and designs, but it's the story and writing that let's it down. The lines here are pretty bad sometimes and there is hardly any character development and I didn't really care about the characters (I can't even remember their names).

 

A pretty mixed bag I would say. Snyder's been talking about an R-rated cut that is a completely different film and I would like to see that version please. Or they should not have cut the film in two. This really feels like half a film.

[Edmilson 7,471]

 

The first Aquaman was no masterpiece (I thought it was fun) but it's like Citizen Kane compared to this sequel. So if you hated the 2018 movie, you will find this one just unbearable.

 

Everyone there looks like they were just cashing a quick paycheck, whether it's the cast, director and even RGW, who just reprises material from the first score and writes some generic background stuff for the moments where he couldn't fit Aquaman 1 music - really, the theme (?) for the Lost Kingdom sounds like something you could find on any Two Steps from Hell epic 3 hour YouTube video.

 

Momoa appears to have gone to the same acting school that Zachary Levi went, since both of them just act like children and crack childish jokes all the time on their respective DC sequels. The rest of the cast looks so uninterested, repeating stupid dialogue filled with complicated words (~worldbuilding~) and cliche lines from every action movie so they can cash their paychecks and leave that stupid movie from a completely failed franchise behind as quick as possible.

 

The screenplay... oh my gosh. This got to be the worst generation of people writing screenplay for big budget spectacle movies ever (not that it was always great, but it's gotten worse and worse over the decades, reaching its pinnacle of shit in current day). It's so dumbed down and utterly stupid, it seems like something a kid or a teen could have written. Really, it reminds me of the "movies" I used to make with my toys as a child or the "epic sagas" I wrote as a teen. Not something that a professional screenwriter with years of experience would do.

 

I remember a few years ago when Captain America: Civil War came out and some critics from nerd websites were raving about the airport battle: "It reminds me of my childhood when I played with my action figures and made them fight!". Apparently, Hollywood loved that compliment and decided to actually make movies that would be closer in quality to a kid playing with toys.

 

It's pathetic, really. Just pathetic. The only way you can actually tolerate this movie is if you are below the age of 11 and is just discovering action movies for the first time. "Wow dude, that was so badass! The way Aquaman punched that evil dude and then BAAAAM! Then everything went BOOOOOM! Best movie ever, ngl".

[Mr. Hooper 1,801]

2 hours ago, Edmilson said:

So if you hated the 2018 movie, you will find this one just unbearable.

 

I couldn't get through the first one, but did enjoy seeing Willem Dafoe riding a shark. It's one of those things I didn't know I needed to see.

 

[crocodile 8,018]

True, although it should have been this Dafoe. 

 

 

Karol 

[Nick1Ø66 4,722]

On 22/12/2023 at 2:17 PM, JNHFan2000 said:

(Rebel Moon) Snyder's been talking about an R-rated cut that is a completely different film

 

On 27/12/2023 at 6:27 AM, Bayesian said:

(Napoleon) Seen it twice already in theaters and I'm front row center for the 4-hr director's cut when it hits Apple TV+

 

Despite looking forward to both, I haven't seen either, and I think I'm going to wait for the extended cut on both these films.

[Edmilson 7,471]

6 hours ago, Mr. Hooper said:

I couldn't get through the first one, but did enjoy seeing Willem Dafoe riding a shark. It's one of those things I didn't know I needed to see.

 

Dafoe was lucky to escape this disaster. Nicole Kidman and Dolph Lundgren, on the  other hand...

[Nick1Ø66 4,722]

7 hours ago, Mr. Hooper said:

I couldn't get through the first one, but did enjoy seeing Willem Dafoe riding a shark. It's one of those things I didn't know I needed to see.

 

 

Fake. I think they're trying to gaslight us. That's clearly CGI.

[Tallguy 3,401]

11 minutes ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

 

I think they're trying to gaslight us. That's clearly CGI.

 

I think you just don't know what Willem Dafoe riding a shark would ACTUALLY look like.

[Nick1Ø66 4,722]

6 hours ago, Tallguy said:

 

I think you just don't know what Willem Dafoe riding a shark would ACTUALLY look like.

 

Now how do you know that I don't know what Willem Dafoe looks like riding a shark? For your information, I'm not only a rather prolific SCUBA diver, but I happen to love both The Meg and The English Patient. 

 

GOOD DAY Sir.

 

14 hours ago, JTWfan77 said:

You shouldn't make assumptions about people you don't know.

[Mr. Hooper 1,801]

2 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Dafoe was lucky to escape this disaster. Nicole Kidman and Dolph Lundgren, on the  other hand...

Yes, Lundgren's career was on an upward trajectory until 'Aquaman'. 😂

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

Riding a shark is probably better than jumping it. 

[Edmilson 7,471]

1 minute ago, Mr. Hooper said:

Yes, Lundgren's career was on an upward trajectory until 'Aquaman'. 😂

You may joke, but Aquaman (and Creed II, which released a month before) were the biggest and most proeminent movies he did in a long time, maybe since his role on the Expendables movies. It's not like Aquaman saved his career or anything, but it did gave him some exposure and introduced him to young people who didn't grew up with his action movies from the 80s/90s.

 

Aquaman 2 OTOH he seems like completely uninterested there, just like the rest of the cast (except for Momoa, who took his job as "seriously" as Levi did on Fury of the Gods). The way everyone just mumbled their idiotic lines made clear they were eager to collect their paychecks and go home to call their agents to get more interesting roles on less failed franchises.

[Mr. Hooper 1,801]

It took a while, but he hung on and recovered from 'He-Man', so I think he'll survive 'Aquaman', especially since its success didn't depend on him, and he's mainly cast in smaller supporting roles.

[JNHFan2000 2,968]

Lundgren was the best and funniest thing in Expendables 4. The rest of the film was shit

[Bellosh 3,419]

 The Creator

 

A beautiful.........mess.

 

I swear he was like "don't worry, people will be too in love with the visuals to care about the plot holes"

 

But the plot holes weren't entirely my issue with the film, it's just that I had no emotional connection to the characters even though it was practically begging us to.  And absolutely no connection to any of the AI.

 

I guess when there's an obliterating explosion every 10 minutes, you stop caring.

 

But for real though, the action was so well done and felt next level, and..... classy.  Shit, if the MCU had half of what the action was like in this film, I might be a fan.

[Tallguy 3,401]

  

5 hours ago, Mr. Hooper said:

It took a while, but he hung on and recovered from 'He-Man'

 

I LIKED He-Man. I haven't checked on this in 35 years, so don't test me.

  

On 08/12/2023 at 9:36 AM, JNHFan2000 said:

I've seen quite a lot of films featuring Godzilla, but this was the first time I was genuinely scared of him.

 

RIGHT?!?

 

5 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said:

Riding a shark is probably better than jumping it. 

 

Most shows WISH they could be a successful as when Happy Days "jumped the shark".

 

7 hours ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

GOOD DAY Sir.

 

Good AFTERNOON!

[Mr. Hooper 1,801]

1 hour ago, Tallguy said:

  I LIKED He-Man. I haven't checked on this in 35 years, so don't test me.

I'm also living in that bubble filled with warm nostalgia goo, so wouldn't ask you to pop it. It's cozy in here. lol

 

9 hours ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

GOOD DAY Sir.

 

1 hour ago, Tallguy said:

Good AFTERNOON!

I love to see civil discourse.

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

I am reminded of the story of Stallone visiting the set of Masters Of The Universe ... he incredulously said to the crew of Lundgren 'You gave this guy LINES?!?'  

[A24 4,345]

Is this the former 2023 movie thread?

[JNHFan2000 2,968]

13 minutes ago, A24 said:

Is this the former 2023 movie thread?

Yes, but it's been called this for the whole year

[A24 4,345]

Wasn't it called First Impressions or something?

 

A24 - who longs for the more simple days of "What Was The Last Movie You Watched?"