2781

I’ve read that JW-4 fights are even farther from reality than the first 3.
The odd thing is that the main actors go through live fire training to make their gun handling more realistic.
All the Best,
Jeff

2782

The un-realism I saw mostly involved superhuman durability (surviving long falls, getting hit by multiple cars etc.) Plus, you really have to suspend disbelief (Wick always has body armor but apparently nobody can hit is head). These elements were present before but are magnified in JW4.

The actual handling of guns is pretty good although I’m sure someone who actually trains for combat would point out that the training undergone by the actors is clearly for competition shooting and not for actual combat, even if certain fundamentals might translate.

I have to say, I really appreciate that people actually run out of bullets and have to reload in this series. It always bugs me to no end when no attention is paid to this. Heck, in Open Range (2003) Costner’s character fires like 10 shots out of a six-shooter at the beginning of the final battle.

2783

I saw Avatar: The Way of Water (2022).
[Recommended]
This movie is amazing.
The acting is mostly pretty good, but a number of characters intentionally speak in broken English, which is not very impressive.
The music is superb.
The visuals of the movie are breathtaking.
Most of the movie is CGI, but it looks quite realistic.
The movie is a little over three hours long.
The first hour is slow and kinda boring.
The second and third hours are much more entertaining.
Even with the annoying broken English and slow first hour, this movie is an excellent action sci-fi flick.

2784

Liked the first Avatar, but had a lot of trouble suspending disbelief.
Like how come an ultra ecologic aware population didn’t notice a mining thingy - the size of a Wall Mart crunching through the spiritual heart of the sacred forest and not know it’s there till what’s his face nearly trips over it.
Looking forward to seeing the new version.
All the Best,
Jeff

1 Thank
2785

Tetris (2023)

This was an enjoyable watch, even if some parts were subject to obvious Hollywood embellishment.

If you grew up in the 80s and played Tetris when it was all the rage, you’ll enjoy it even more, I think.

2786

I have no idea how many hours I spent lost in Tetris when it first came out.
Totally addictive for the era.
The father of so many dropping “stuff” games. Frozen bubble Etc…
All the Best,
Jeff

2787

From the other side of Babylon:

2788

That was really strange…
All the Best,
Jeff

1 Thank
2789

I saw The Hand of Death (1976).
This is the first of forty-seven Jackie Chan movies I plan to watch.
(It might take me over a year to watch them all.)
This movie is good.
It’s directed by John Woo, and it’s a pure action film–there is no comedy like in many Jackie Chan movies.
Jackie Chan plays a medium-sized role, though he steals the show.
His martial arts stunts are better than anyone else in the film.
I would give the movie an R rating, mainly for the violence.
Strangely enough, there’s some f-bombs in the subtitles, but not in the English dubbing.
I’m guessing the Chinese language version has much more serious swearing than the English dubbed version.
The voice acting in the dubbed version is actually pretty good.
The music is also quite good.
The main problem is that the action sequences aren’t all that great, except the ones featuring Jackie Chan.
The movie has many (somewhat) mediocre action sequences, and so I call the movie good but not great.

2790

Tetris movie on Apple TV. Incredible movie and story.

2791

The Banshees of Inisherin - While the film was engaging and the cinematography excellent, I disliked it as I found it not believable.

Like long friend never wants to talk to you again? Not believable.

“Accidentally” kills former best friends donkey? Not believable.

Cuts off another finger (despite being a violinist and wanting to express himself more musically) every time former friend talks to him? Not believable.

That is 3 of many not believables, which is more than I can take. Was flying home from Ireland and watched it on the plane, loved the filming, great scenery, but the plot was simply…Not believable. Not believable. Not believable.

1 Thank
2792

Agree. Normal people just don’t act this way. Friends do fall out sometimes, but this is not how it ever happens. And musicians want to lose fingers even less than regular folks do.

On the plus side, I thought a lot of the dialogue was very entertaining.

1 Thank
2793

Movie was great IMO. 9.5/10
Take it as allegory. Events took place in 1923 - during Irish civil war. Now it’s simple.
Inisherin is Ireland and conflict between Pádraic and Colm is personification of that. Shows the senselessness of war.
Everygody lived friends, all was fine.
One day everything changed. They become enemies, divided as supporters and opponents of the revolution… Colm, the personification of rebellion and kindly Pádraic, who don’t understand what happened and want to turn back time.
It escalates, finally house is burnt (Ireland on fire).
Mike

1 Thank
2794

Seems like The Banshees of Inisherin is a very polarizing movie - opinions seem to be very much split on this forum. As for me, I liked the movie a lot. The behavior of Colm was not unrealistic to me, as I see many “normal” people acting self-destructively every day. Colm’s behavior was irrational in harming his ability to play his instrument, and it also had the indirect result of burning down his home - but it was rationally related to his strong desire to rid himself of Padraic’s company.

1 Thank
2795

Living (2022)

This remake of Ikiru (1952) stars Bill Nighy in an excellent performance as a life-long civil servant who manages a County department that has a long-standing policy of not accomplishing anything, as an endless supply of paperwork is signed and shuffled from department to department. Going to work is his entire life, as his wife is long gone, and the son and daughter-in-law he lives with are focused on their own lives. When he suddenly learns he has a terminal illness and less than a year to live, he takes his first days off work in 30 years to ponder how he can begin to live the life that has eluded him so far.

The screenplay was written by the Nobel-prize-winning author of The Remains of the Day, An Artist of the Floating World, and Never Let me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro. Ishiguro had the good sense to leave the basic structure of the movie as it was in the original, with the last third of the movie taking place after the main character has died, and his family and co-workers are left to ponder the reasons for the sudden changes in his behavior, and his secrecy involving his own troubles in the last months of his life. Patience rewards the viewer in this movie, which moves at a languid, deliberate pace that is in keeping with the setting and the mannerisms of the main character, as he finds the wisdom and courage to change his life and find the sense of purpose and happiness that have escaped him previously. The viewer is left at the end to ponder whether the lessons of his life, and his death, will be lost on the family and co-workers who survive him, and whether he was able to leave any lasting changes in his world (and whether it matters that the changes he made were almost certainly not going to last).

Kazuo Ishiguro reportedly had the idea to remake Ikiru with Bill Nighy in the lead role for many years, but it was only when he and his wife found themselves sharing a taxi home from a party with Nighy one night that Ishiguro proposed the project to Nighy. Nighy had never seen Ikiru, but after he watched the original, he enthusiastically signed on to the proposal. The movie is set in the 1950’s, and the look of the entire film reflects the style of films from that era - from the opening titles, to the costumes and sets, to the old newsreel footage interspersed throughout the movie. The period details and the unity of the tone and look of the movie are impressive.

2 Thanks
2796

I saw Shaolin Wooden Men (1976).
This movie is pretty good.
It stars Jackie Chan, and he plays a character that doesn’t talk.
It’s interesting to have a main character that is mute.
The action sequences are mostly very good, especially the ones featuring Jackie Chan.
Jackie Chan is in excellent shape for this movie, and probably all of his movies.
A bit of trivia:
In the Tekken video game universe, the character Mokujin is inspired by this movie.
The music in the movie is decent.
I saw the Mandarin language version, but the acting seemed good.
Some parts of the movie are a bit slow, otherwise I would like the movie even more.
This movie has plenty of kung fu training, which I appreciate.
The final battle is impressive.
I would rate the movie “R” for violence.

2797

I saw Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978).
[Recommended]
This movie is amazing.
It’s one of the best kung fu movies that I’ve seen.
The action sequences are top notch.
I watched the English dubbed version, and the voice acting in that version is excellent.
Some of the music and sound effects are somewhat annoying, but the movie is still quite impressive.
The plot is very good, and everyone that fights in the movie is great at “motion picture kung fu.”
Although Jackie Chan is the main star, there are several other large roles in the movie, and they all do an excellent job.
This movie has plenty of action, a good amount of comedy, and a bunch of pretty good one-liners.
Although there is a lot of kung fu action, there isn’t much blood, so I would rate the movie as PG-13 mainly for violence, and for some language.

2798

Beau is Afraid.

It’s completely absurd. I liked it.

2799

I saw Scream VI (2023).
This movie is pretty good.
The acting is decent for a horror film.
The music is great.
Parts of the movie are quite entertaining, but some parts aren’t all that great.
The movie has a couple of nice twists to keep things interesting.
I had some trouble following the plot of the franchise (even though I’ve seen all of the movies fairly recently) because of three reasons.
The plot of the Scream movies are convoluted.
Many of the characters aren’t all that interesting.
And the third reason is that I sometimes have trouble following the plot of movies/franchises.
What I want to know is what the heck happened to Courteney Cox’s appearance.
She looked pretty good in Scream (2022).
Yet in Scream VI (2023) she looked quite old and unattractive.
According to the internet, she has had many cosmetic touch-ups, and I’m guessing that they didn’t go over well.
It’s such a shame because she was so beautiful for so long.
Anyway, back to the Scream franchise.
I think Scream VI is probably as good as Scream 2 and Scream 4.
The best of the series are the original Scream and the 2022 Scream requel.

2800

I saw Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin (1978).
This movie is good.
I saw the Mandarin language version.
The acting seemed to be decent.
The music is pretty good.
This movie is light on plot and heavy on kung fu fighting.
This movie is mostly an action film, but it has some mystery elements.
There is no comedy in this movie, and once the mystery is revealed, the mystery is not all that impressive.
I mean, the mystery element makes the movie better, but don’t expect much from it.
Not only does Jackie Chan star in this movie, but he’s also one of the stunt coordinators.
There are many action sequences–some of them are decent, some are good, and some are great.
The final fight sequence is quite impressive.
There is a female character that usually dresses as a male, but her face and voice are obviously female, so I don’t know who the filmmakers think they were trying to fool.
If all of the action sequences were as good as the final battle, I would like this movie a lot more.
Because most of the kung fu fighting is kinda generic, I say this movie is just “good.”
I would give the movie an R rating mainly for violence, and for some swearing.