Awww. I was hoping for Matthias Hues.
Heard about it, don’t recall stumbling upon an evaluation copy to view, though.
Well, I blew off “Brides Of Frankenstein” tonight on teevee to watch “Know Nothins”. Odd little flick, but pretty engaging.
It starts abruptly, and ends abruptly, with just a few flashbacks along the way when needed, and covers the time between when they just finished pulling off a Big Heist, and when they meet their transportation to get them out of Dodge.
Right from the beginning things smell like a setup, they hole up at their benefactor’s hideaway, and have to wait it out ’til their transportation arrives. Things start to unravel a little, then some more, then even more, ’til they find the truth why things went sideways for ’em.
All in all it was pretty good. The abrupt beginning is fine, as just a roundtable discussion about it sets the stage without having to show the heist itself. In fact, showing the actual heist would’ve been unnecessary filler (or most of a movie in itself). Nope, we jump right to the “Okay, wotnahell was that??” part.
What I wasn’t crazy about was the ending. Sure, you can figure out the last 5min and what followed, but… dunno… I would’ve liked to at least seen the getaway, and to know that wasn’t another setup.
The cast was really good, well, except for a couple. The Governor (Gubernator? 
) didn’t seem very gubernatorial, certainly not like your typical oily politician (and a hip-deep corrupt one to boot), but more down-homey and like a country doctor instead. I was expecting Senator Palpatine and got Holling Vincoeur instead. And the Mafia Girl seemed to kinda phone in her lines, especially where she’s supposed to be riled-up, ’though at the end she’s definitely enjoying herself. 
She’s hella cute, though. Everyone else played their parts very well.
But all in all, it was a pretty kewl flick, and I’d definitely watch it again.
recovering from shoulder surgery, so watching lots of them.
today:
- Divergent. it was awful. high hopes, but nope.
- Batman Begins. lots of CGI. the old guys carry this one.
- Catching Fire. lots more CGI. villains are good. hate the heroes.
I saw Les Misérables (2012).
It's a real disappointment.
The acting is very good, but most of the music is pretty lame, and it's a musical.
That's a deal-breaker.
The movie is very slow and desperately needed editing to shorten this boring film.
With an all-star cast, I expected a lot more.
I'm just glad I didn't pay a fortune to see the Broadway musical this movie is based on.
I like the “general” concept, but this variation is too much. An induced genetic change allowing rapid healing? It really doesn’t make any sense. There’s no “secret” in human DNA that could make this happen. Now, if they had discovered some special substance that “integrates” into a human body providing a rapid healing then perhaps… and they’d become like vampires, in that they’d be totally dependent upon the substance to stay active (without it, you shut down and go into a hibernation state).
You get hit with a bullet and it’s inside you. Even if you’ve got some magical super healing powers, there’s still a bullet inside. It’s not going to mysteriously dissolve or be automatically ejected. Also, what if you take a bullet through the skull? Or a limb is severed? Or an organ shredded? No… can’t see any sort of rapid healing on those kinds of injuries. Especially if your heart is destroyed. You’re not going to live long enough, too much blood loss (which can’t “magically” self-replace).
I’m surprised Charlize Theron took this role.
Sorry to hear of the glaring inaccuracies. These days, the bar has been raised rather high (thankfully), and screenplay writers make a very deliberate point of trying to be historically accurate. Of course there are always liberties to be taken to advance a story & embellish sub-plots, but eye sore inaccuracies should be avoided. Really sad they took all of this potential and squandered it, considering the many millions involved in production. I just don’t fathom how producers would get away with this at this point in time.
At least it’s more glaring than the usual “goofs” people bitch about on imdb.
“The car’s license plate had 6 digits, and Pennsylvania switched from 5 digits to 6 in 1944, but the movie is set in 1942.”
Like… who cares? And who but the most pedantic would even notice?
Wow, two really good ones tonight…
First up was “Landfall”, a nifty little flick from Down Unda. Simple concept, a sort of home-invasion in the middle of a cyclone. Aside from a few frustrating “stupid people doing stupid things” moments, and two kinda glaring technical goofs, it was pretty awesome overall. Better yet was that all the “loose ends” were very neatly tied up at the end, after the surprise twist.
And it’s got Vernon Wells in it! He was so familiar, his looks, his voice, and I just couldn’t place him. And even after the baddie’s “favorite movies” speech, even mentioning “Schwarzenegger movies” and “The Road Warrior”, I didn’t connect the dots. Arrgh!
Anyway, great little indie flick, highly recommended, make sure to catch it somehow.
Next up was something a bit lighter, “Blood & Concrete — A Love Story”, with Billy Zane. ’Nuff said, it must be good, and it was. Crime, comedy, romance, thrills, it pretty much had it all. With a yummy Jennifer Beals, wonderfully cranky Darren McGavin, and a disturbingly buff Mark Pellegrino, B&C was a roller-coaster ride of hoots.
A lot of it bordered on (and crossed over into) the absurd, but it was still a hoot. Poor Billy is being squeezed from both sides by a drug kingpin who wants his package, and the one-track-mind detective who’s been the Ahab to his Moby Dick for 40yrs. Hilarity (and a trail of corpses) ensues.
If you like quirky crime-comedies(?!?), this one’s for you. And it’s got Billy Zane!
“Archive”. One word: WOW.
This is what science-fiction is all about.
Just watch it. Don’t read the spoilers or even the reviews.
You might be tempted to call its pacing “slow”, but it’s more… deliberate. It’s not an action flick, nothing blows up, and it’s punctuated with quick interludes of some beautiful scenery, and tells its story in an incredible way. Wonderfully thought-provoking, too, once you get past the final “HS!!” moment.
I get the feeling anything I’d say about the plot would potentially ruin it, even as little as shaking a wrapped box under a Christmas tree. Don’t do it.
This is one I’m definitely going to make time to watch again, to Hell with my ever-growing must-watch list.
“Final Resolution”… meh. Wasn’t great, wasn’t nearly as bad as the rating makes it out to be.
Interesting question, but meanders quite a bit without coming to any conclusion. Guess that’s pretty good as far as not shoving an opinion down the watcher’s throat, but it doesn’t quite make any point, either.
Next up, “Killer Raccoons! 2! — Dark Christmas In The Dark”.
Silly movie, descending like a bathysphere into a sea of stoopit, but some chuckles along the way. Problem is, it makes “Twisted Pair” look like “Citizen Kane” in comparison.
It also stars(?) a faded and weatherbeaten Ron Jeremy as a general. ’Nuff said.
Last, “Alpha Code”. Ugh, and it started off so well. In fact, it was pretty damned good up to the last 10-15min or so, when it did a nosedive. Like, wtf??
Well, this summary pretty well sums it up:
You can buy Alpha Code Movie only on MilanFriedrich.film Alpha Code is an American sci-fi/thriller/romance film, inspired by real events which happened to the film's screenplay writer and producer Milan Friedrich.
Ooookay. Based on real events, eh? Nah, I’m not even gonna go there.
I shouldda known…
The F**k-It List
Interesting movie about college admissions and how a guy who got into all ivy-league schools got suddenly rejected.
I saw The Neon Demon (2016).
This movie is mostly style, with very little substance.
The acting is okay, and the music is excellent.
The problem is that the movie is extremely slow, with not much happening in the film.
At the end of the movie, I asked myself, "What was the point?"
I say avoid this one big time.
ok, wasn’t sure whether I’d like this one. It is still streaming and I am half-way through. It is not a masterpiece or a cinematic achievement in any way. But this flick is funny enough to watch it when you have nothing else in your Kodi queue.
girl meets guy, wants more, guy is elusive and girl writes angry email. then tries to retrieve this message after phone call from guy comes through. guy was in a coma and woke up.
that’s it.
Lawrence of Arabia
More binging today; too hot to do much else.
First up was “Racing Against Pandemic”, a dated-by-now documentary about the whole corovirus thing, its origins, making headway to knock it back, etc. Pretty good, pretty interesting.
Second was “Game Of Death”. Umm, that one sentence on imdb sums it up:
Kill or be killed is the golden rule of the Game of Death. Sucks for seven millennials who ignored that rule. Now each one's head will explode unless they kill someone. Will they turn on each other to survive, or will this sunny day be the last for the innocent people of their middle-of-nowhere town?
Yeah, that’s pretty much it.
Lots of reeeeally nice scenery (most of the grils pretty much walk around in bikinis), and lots of useless padding that just stretched out the already-short (1:15) flick by at least 15min or more.
What’s the fixation with manatees, I have no idea.
Still, it was pretty good. FX were okay with exploding heads, arterial spray, etc. The scenery was the main selling point, I’d think.
So if you ever get an octagonal game with Microvision™-like display, dump it, unless you want your head to explode. But watching the flick is worth at least an hour or so.
Last was “House of 9”. Interesting. Confession: I never caught “The Saw” or “The Cube” or any of those flicks, so if this is derivative of those, don’t go hatin’ on me.
A bunch of people are abducted and tossed into a rather nice house, wake up, and a disembodied voice tells them only 1 will survive, and gets 5Mbux. Difference is, there are no traps, etc., but they pretty much have to kill off each other instead.
Mayhhem ensues, twist at the end which I was not happy about. Of course, I expected a twist, but not the silly one this was.
More nice scenery, some hateable people you wish would go first, etc. Bonus is seeing Dennis Hopper as a priest instead of a psycho. And Peter Capaldi minus any sonic screwdriver/sunglasses, else they would’ve been outta there in minutes.
Quite good, except for the lame ending.
The Others.
Kidman and her kids
are ghosts. saved you
about 2 hours.
International Falls (2019)
Excellent, realistic movie about a middle-aged woman in International Falls, Minnesota who is unhappy in her marriage and working in a hotel, when she meets a middle-aged professional comedian who comes to town to perform at the hotel, and the relationship that develops between them. She wants to change her life and do what the visiting comedian does for a living, while he wants very much to stop doing it. The script is intelligent, and raw - this is no light comedy for children. The two main actors infuse their characters with plenty of flaws, but you can also clearly see the decency and honesty in them, as well. Great movie all around - if only there were more like this one being made.
SOOO good. I recommend Scott Anderson’s book “Lawrence In Arabia,” if you haven’t read it.
I saw Omen II: Damien (1978).
The acting is good.
The music, though not always present, is excellent.
The movie isn't that great.
The movie just isn't that entertaining.
The actor that plays Damien reminds me of someone that I grew up with, so that made the movie a little creepy for me.
The first film in the series is much better than this sequel.
I think I am done with this movie franchise, as this movie wasn't that great, and the other sequels and the remake got even lower scores on IMDb.
My advice:
Catch the original (especially if you like horror movies from the 1970s) and avoid this sequel.
“Falling Down”
Michael Douglas in a great role. A classic that covers many aspects of Los Angeles.