RATE or REVIEW The Last Movie You Watched.

Hit Man -- 8/10

A very fun little movie that's definitely worth checking out. Not sure I totally bought Glen Powell as a dweeb, but he's still fantastic in this and the story takes some surprising and interesting turns.

Jurassic World: Dominion -
Love it! Just watched it on cable tv - the extended version..
which is only 14 minutes longer. I like how the original main cast from Jurassic Parks 1, 2, and 3 are in this.. along with the guy who brought the dinosaurs back.. the main cast from the Jurassic World movies... and a few new characters whom I like, as well!

The movie has plenty of action, and we learn a few new things about some of the characters, too.

Great movie!

A Quiet Place - Day One - 8/10

Really enjoyed this after a rewatch of the first one with the kids.
Good characters and some nice tense moments. Maybe not as edge-of-your-seat as the first movie, but a very solid story from a different vantage point. Totally fine if they make one or two more of these at this quality.

Seven Samurai: 10/10

Wonderful. The story is nuanced and compelling, with several interesting subplots that speak both to Japanese culture at the time and the university of the human condition. The acting is top notch. Mifune in top form in a role completely different from Yojimbo, though Takashi Shimura and Seiji Miyaguchi were also amazing and memorable. Miyaguchi is one of the great all time movie badasses here. And of course, Kurosawa's craftsmanship is second to none. The drama, action, suspense, and comedy all shine. This is as good as it gets with movies.

Witness 4K Arrow 8.5/10
Another gorgeous Arrow UHD. This one is really subtle though. John Seale’s photography is just so gorgeous. This film would work great with the sound turned off. An amazing film. Tremendous performances. One of Ford’s very best.

Used Cars 4K Shout 8/10
One of my favorite comedies of all time. Yes I know I’m probably in a minority on this one. But I would have seen it at a very impressionable age. And unlike most films I watch over and over and they become less funny each time I never fail to laugh uproariously at everything that Gerrit Graham does in this film. And pretty much everyone else for that matter.

Lethal Weapon 1 and 2 8.5/10
I pretty much hold these two in the same regard. The first probably has a slight edge because it at least acknowledges and considers the pain Riggs is going through after the death of his wife. Any pain that Riggs has in the second one gets glossed over rather quickly. But the widescreen action in the second one is better and it’s much funnier as well. Another case of showing these to the kids and they loved them.

The Abyss Special Edition 4K 7/10
I love and hate this film and this new JC approved transfer just confirms how I feel about it. It’s probably the best looking of all the recent transfers where Weta was involved with their AI image processing but they have still removed too much grain and faces especially, have lost the film quality present in the previous transfers.

The film itself, everything not involving the aliens is fantastic and incredibly compelling. Everything involving the aliens is just second rate. It’s not the the alien plot feels shoe horned, well it does a bit, but its just so predictable and uninteresting and from this film on in JC’s career he gave up being subtle with his themes and became so over tne top and pretentious I just can’t help but squirm in my seat when the aliens show Bud war footage. Terrible stuff.

I need to rawatch Used Cars. I saw the commentary track years ago and it was hilarious as I recall.

karamazov80 said:

I need to rawatch Used Cars. I saw the commentary track years ago and it was hilarious as I recall.

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Yes it is. Any commentary w Russell is fantastic.

choombaz said:

The Abyss Special Edition 4K 7/10
I love and hate this film and this new JC approved transfer just confirms how I feel about it. It’s probably the best looking of all the recent transfers where Weta was involved with their AI image processing but they have still removed too much grain and faces especially, have lost the film quality present in the previous transfers.

The film itself, everything not involving the aliens is fantastic and incredibly compelling. Everything involving the aliens is just second rate. It’s not the the alien plot feels shoe horned, well it does a bit, but its just so predictable and uninteresting and from this film on in JC’s career he gave up being subtle with his themes and became so over tne top and pretentious I just can’t help but squirm in my seat when the aliens show Bud war footage. Terrible stuff.

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When I watched this for the first time earlier this year, I selected the theatrical version without realizing. After looking up the SE ending, I can't say I regret it.

Throne of Blood: 8.5/10

Another homerun from Kurosawa and Mifune. Interesting take on Macbeth, and one man's spiral into paranoid madness. I'm still trying to figure out how they managed some of the great effects.

BeefEaster said:

In A Violent Nature - 6.5/10

Unique concept that turns out to ultimately be pretty boring overall. Excellent kills though. Some of them reminded me of Mortal Kombat fatalities.

It basically answers the question, "What does the killer in a horror movie do when they're offscreen?".

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felt exactly like watching someone play a videogame.
I didn't find it boring since I'm used to watching videogame playthroughs on YouTube. but it doesn't feel like a movie at all.
the ending was really bad.

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 - 7/10
It was certainly great to see a western on the big screen again. Felt like a nice change from the usual stuff Hollywood pumps out. I really liked the movie, but it being the first part in what's probably going to be like a 12 hour saga, it felt a bit incoherent at times.

It covers the introduction of numerous characters in different locations in quite elaborate (and sometimes slow) storylines that seem to meander a bit here and there. I feel Costner took inspiration from the novel Lonesome Dove where there are similar storylines and characters that are elaborated upon, which don't really contribute to the main story but do help expand the feel of the world, the motivations of main players and overall story.

I think this movie will benefit from a rewatch once the next chapter(s) are out. It all will start to feel like one big story then. I for one am really looking forward to the second part. I only hope we will see it in theatres over here. The movie premiered only last thursday, but it already is at barely one showing a day. When I went yesterday there were six people there including me. I give it two, maybe three weeks before Minions, Twisters and Wolverine push it out.

The Entity said:

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 - 7/10
It was certainly great to see a western on the big screen again. Felt like a nice change from the usual stuff Hollywood pumps out. I really liked the movie, but it being the first part in what's probably going to be like a 12 hour saga, it felt a bit incoherent at times.

It covers the introduction of numerous characters in different locations in quite elaborate (and sometimes slow) storylines that seem to meander a bit here and there. I feel Costner took inspiration from the novel Lonesome Dove where there are similar storylines and characters that are elaborated upon, which don't really contribute to the main story but do help expand the feel of the world, the motivations of main players and overall story.

I think this movie will benefit from a rewatch once the next chapter(s) are out. It all will start to feel like one big story then. I for one am really looking forward to the second part. I only hope we will see it in theatres over here. The movie premiered only last thursday, but it already is at barely one showing a day. When I went yesterday there were six people there including me. I give it two, maybe three weeks before Minions, Twisters and Wolverine push it out.

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I reckon so my friend.
When the Saga is complete it shall deserve a second viewing.
We are now part of the saga ready for more.

Fly Me to the Moon -- 5/10

Decided to give this a shot since the reviews were decent, but it just didn't work for me. Scarlett gives it her all and keeps the movie watchable, but Channing Tatum plays such a stiff and uptight character that it kills whatever romantic chemistry they were trying for, and drags down the entire mood.

And worse yet, the moon landing hoax part of the movie doesn't kick in until very late, despite the trailers making it seem like the main storyline. And so it feels like the movie is just killing time until the fun stuff starts.

Ultimately this felt more like some middling made-for-streaming movie than something made for the big screen.

Longlegs - 3/10

Without much logic, this movie mostly aims to unsettle. Unfortunately, it does so by clumsily mashing together every horror cliche of the last 70 years. If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought the whole thing -- editing, sound design, premise, etc -- was generated by AI.

Rotfish said:

Longlegs - 3/10

Without much logic, this movie mostly aims to unsettle. Unfortunately, it does so by clumsily mashing together every horror cliche of the last 70 years. If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought the whole thing -- editing, sound design, premise, etc -- was generated by AI.

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Boy did it fail to unsettle.

I’ll never get how a film like this gets hyped up. I have read a few “hidden meanings” about the film which could make a rewatch interesting but for the most part it’s meh.

Now Im a big Nick Cage fan but boy did his performance take me out of the movie each time he was on screen. The tone of the rest of the film did not lend itself to this type of over the top Cage silliness. If anyone has seen Cage in Deadfall, this might be what happened to that character had he survived. Hell it’s even the same prosthetic nose I also believe there may have been some Tiny Tim influence in there.

3/10 is about right.

JAWS said:

Now Im a big Nick Cage fan but boy did his performance take me out of the movie each time he was on screen. The tone of the rest of the film did not lend itself to this type of over the top Cage silliness.

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I chuckled when he was onscreen, doubt that was the intended effect



Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) - 8/10

You guys weren't lying, this was pretty good... but Lucy creeped me out more than the Count.

Twisters - 7.75/10

Classic 1990's style summer fun and an awesome antidote to current year Disney crap.

Twisters
7.5/10
Sooooo much better than the first one.
This is how you do it Hollywood.

Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell … chefs kiss!

ET
10/10
This film has a power over me like no other.

Twisters 7.5/10
Up to 7.9 if your a storm chaser or huge fan of the original.

Pros: Hey look , real character development. Great actors, and a decent idea (albeit a totally unrealistic one. Overall the effects were done very very well, and were not in your face every scene. They let this one breath, but I am already hearing the younger people call it boring and slow. Most importantly , we got a little more than cookie cutter level characters from this one. Granted the "background" people were the typical fare, but the mains had some depth to them. Also kudos for not inserting a romantic subplot where someone get the girl and the kids at the end.....

Cons: some heavy borrowing from Twister, that's was totally not needed in this film. Wacky crew could have been mostly cut and nothing would have been lost. Also , it did feel a bit like they were glorifying the really stupid behavior many storm chaser engage in for views. As a chaser, these people are dangerous and should not be show and "fun and crazy" , it's a disservice to the science and it's gotten people killed and will continue to kill more. They needed a scene where Youtube chasers get killed violently, instead of a scene where the "hero" does something totally wreckless to good ol" American country music.

In a personal note, as a horse rider and owner, showing "good ol' fun" as a rodeo where animal are abused for entertainment was a huge turnoff. Tie the balls of a horse so tight that it bucks is disgusting American pastime, that should be outlawed. Can you imagine people being ok with tying a dogs balls off to make them entertain us? But because it's cowboy nonsense it's still tolerated. We get disgusted at bull fights , but constantly abusing horses is AOK.... YaY Merica!

For the chasers review: The opening scene felt very much like a nod to El Reno and its Meso dropping on the chases from the Twistex team. As tragic as Tim's team deaths were, it's important to highlight that these storms are dangerous, and one that looks like a mild F2 can become a monster in 30 seconds.

Later of course , we actually SEE the large one hit EL Reno, which I kinda felt was in poor taste. I fully expected an after film statement on screen that said the film was dedicate story the town of El Reno and the twistex team.....it would have made those obvious nods more palatable given the high number of casualties and the film trying to justify a characters motivation in helping storm victims .

xipotec said:

Twisters 7.5/10
Up to 7.9 if your a storm chaser or huge fan of the original.

Pros: Hey look , real character development. Great actors, and a decent idea (albeit a totally unrealistic one. Overall the effects were done very very well, and were not in your face every scene.

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I was really surprised that ILM did most of the effects for this film and yes they are excellent. I did see that there were a few smaller houses but I am wondering if there is a move away from the effects work being split out to too many different houses that the quality is affected. Helped that the wonderful local boy Aussie Ben Snow was the supervisor (plus he was in the cast as Australian Tourist lol!!)

xipotec said:

Cons: some heavy borrowing from Twister, that's was totally not needed in this film. Wacky crew could have been mostly cut and nothing would have been lost.

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Yeah that bugged me a bit as well. Not only do they cover a lot of similar ground with the science of it you constantly get a sense of deja vu watching two sets of four wheel drives hammering around the Oklahoma country side.

xipotec said:

In a personal note, as a horse rider and owner, showing "good ol' fun" as a rodeo where animal are abused for entertainment was a huge turnoff.

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Completely agree. Disgusting stuff.