what was the last movie you saw?

[Adje]

Mindhorn (2017)

Not half as funny as they claim it would be.
Very boring and very predictable (not just the plot, but also the comedy)

4,5/10

[duke knooby]

raiders of the lost ark... still brilliant

[PanicLord]

Originally Posted by duke knooby

raiders of the lost ark... still brilliant

It is a superb film but my dad pointed out something I never thought of before the other day that I thought I'd share... Indiana Jones makes no real difference to proceedings whatsoever. If he didn't get involved the Nazis would probably not have found the ark and just gone away somewhere else. Or in the unlikely event that they did find it, they would have opened it and all died just the same 😃

[Monstro]

Originally Posted by PanicLord

It is a superb film but my dad pointed out something I never thought of before the other day that I thought I'd share... Indiana Jones makes no real difference to proceedings whatsoever. If he didn't get involved the Nazis would probably not have found the ark and just gone away somewhere else. Or in the unlikely event that they did find it, they would have opened it and all died just the same 😃

Your Dad watches Big Bang Theory lol

[PanicLord]

Originally Posted by Monstro

Your Dad watches Big Bang Theory lol

Dammit lol I knew it seemed a bit suspicious...

[duke knooby]

but, if Indy hadn't found the ark, then it wouldn't have been eventually recovered by "the powers that be" and placed in secret storage. And as was explained early on, no one knows what powers the ark has, so whichever army were to hold the ark in their possession could be all powerful... and that's why Indy, getting the ark, was so important.. just not necessarily to the story

[AndrewG]

Originally Posted by duke knooby

but, if Indy hadn't found the ark, then it wouldn't have been eventually recovered by "the powers that be" and placed in secret storage. And as was explained early on, no one knows what powers the ark has, so whichever army were to hold the ark in their possession could be all powerful... and that's why Indy, getting the ark, was so important.. just not necessarily to the story

If Indy hadn't gone on the adventure to find the Ark with Marion Ravenwood they probably would never have teamed up for the Crystal Skull storyline and perhaps some of the swinging monkeys would have made off with the alien spaceship!

[chairboys]

Originally Posted by AndrewG

If Indy hadn't gone on the adventure to find the Ark with Marion Ravenwood

She could sing a bit, too

[MeatGrl1]

Wings Of The Dove with Helena Bonham Carter xx

[Adje]

Nightbeasts (2010)

I love a good B-monstermovie (Tremors, Lake Placid, Deep Rising, to name a few) and I found this title on IMDB. Had a 7.8 rating. So I figured to check it out.

Starring Zack Gallifan (Billy from Gremlins) about a father and son on a hunting trip in the mountains. They stumble upon an ancient horror that have them fight for their lives.

Sounds good but the monsters look like they came from an old Doctor Who episode with Tom Baker (and so was the dialogue and acting). All in all it's one of the worst movies I've seen in a while.

2,5/10

[PanicLord]

Pirates Of the Caribbean Salazar's Revenge

I was in a really bad mood due to work when I saw this so that probably didn't help.

I think it was better than the last two but not as good as the first two. There was humour but I miss the almost cartoon style of the early films. Interestingly by the end of the film everything is moved back into place for any follow up to get back to business as usual.

I'm going to give it 3/5 for now but that might change once I see it at home on Blu Ray.

[LoveFan]

Silence of the lamb, I know its a old movie but I saw it fot the first time and I have to say that was amazing, one of the best movies I ever seen.

[AndrewG]

Wonder Woman.

Pretty awesome.
8/10

DC movies are getting better. Marvel movies (with the exception of Guardians) are getting worse.

[Adje]

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017)

With all the recent Marvel crap that is released, this movie looks better than it actually is. Still very entertaining but not nearly as good as the first one.

7,5/10

[Adje]

Wonder Woman (2017)

I don't like it if they make a movie extra long by dragging things. That is what this movie did. Instead of the ridiculous 140 minutes this could well have been way under the 2 hour mark without losing anything meaningful. Apart from that it was decent enough but it never really made an impact on me.

6.5/10

[PanicLord]

Jurassic World

Dumb. Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb. And dumb in a way that robs of it of a lot of the fun. Sometimes, really dumb films can be really fun. Con Air for example. Face/Off. Broken Arrow. The Rock. Expendables 2. This film is SO dumb that my disbelief gets suspended too often and starts to interrupt my enjoyment of the film.

The plot basically boils down to "the park is up and running, and a big dinosaur escapes". Now who doesn't want to see that? I love the original, enjoy the second one, and tolerate the third, and I have been hoping for 15+ years to see the park up and running and one of the big ones escaping.

But then so many dumb things happen that it is fumbled really badly. I want to avoid spoilers just in case, but at a high level this is all the dumb stuff that happens:

The park is up and running and reasonably successful without us ever seeing any of the effort, investment, or initial excitement or wow factor. Means we are not invested in the characters trying to keep it going. Also, as most of the characters are so dismissive of dinosaurs, so are the viewers. If they don't care why would we? E.g. the lead older boy and even Dr Henry Wu. Fudges the pitch basically right from the start. Make us wow. Make us care.

One way they try to make us care? The "script writing 101" plot device of making the boys parents be going through a divorce. Seems to make no difference at all to the boys. Or the parents. Right up until a point in the movie where they seem to realise - oh there should be a reason for all the whining and whinging. And then hey presto the younger one starts blubbing. Ugh. The kids in the original film were also irritating. But in a largely endearing kind of a way. Not so now.

The dinosaur that escapes is presented as way too clever.
- scratching the wall as a distraction - I see the idea but it should have been presented as "has been trying to escape every day at different times testing the walls" or something. Then when the dumb humans go look at the scratches, the dino seizes the opportunity. They do not plan out strategies.
- ripping out the enormous beeping tracking sensor as a trap. No. Ripping it out because it is enormous and beeps all the time and maybe has got infected and hurts, which coincidentally means the humans can't track it, fine. Using it as bait for the humans? Stop it.

Almost all the humans are presented as way too dumb.
- no decent containment systems at the paddock. I mean, the dinosaur escapes by running out of the door. That's it? That's the containment strategy after all the problems of the original park? Unbelievable.
- a reasonably well trained response team. But only 1. So when they fail, the entire containment strategy fails.
- no huge impenetrable wall / barrier / canyon between where they breed the dinosaurs and the park itself. Just not credible.
- the emergency strategy for the people in the park is to... all group up in one place, like a dino buffet! No. That's just, you know, dumb. There would be fast, well rehearsed, emergency evac procedures. There just would.
- the sphere things can just be driven anywhere with no "return to base" command that cannot be over-ridden? NO!

The raptor training bit is quite cool but then the way they pick sides? No.

Now, at a very base, popcorn thrill level, it is reasonable fun. But it could, and should, have been so much more.

Yes, of course all of the safety and human protocols have to fail, otherwise there is no film. But the dinosaurs shouldn't be the ones with all the plans. They should be able to wreak havoc despite the very best efforts of intelligent, diligent, well rehearsed people. Not because there aren't any.

Sorry, but it's a lazy, dumb script, that robs the movie of any sense of wonder or investment in the characters and therefore only delivers a fleetingly entertaining chase B/C movie.

It could have been so much more.

2.5/5

[Julie in the rv mirror]

Originally Posted by PanicLord

Pirates Of the Caribbean Salazar's Revenge

I was in a really bad mood due to work when I saw this so that probably didn't help.

I think it was better than the last two but not as good as the first two. There was humour but I miss the almost cartoon style of the early films. Interestingly by the end of the film everything is moved back into place for any follow up to get back to business as usual.

I'm going to give it 3/5 for now but that might change once I see it at home on Blu Ray.

I thought a few scenes were pretty cartoonish, like the incident with the bank, and the guillotine scene.

Purely from a visual standpoint, I thought the effects were pretty cool, especially since I saw it in 3-D initially.

[Adje]

The Mummy (2017)

Tom Cruise is so out of place in this one... Bad screenplay and boring dialogue didn't help either.

4/10

[PanicLord]

Originally Posted by Adje

The Mummy (2017)

Tom Cruise is so out of place in this one... Bad screenplay and boring dialogue didn't help either.

4/10

Shame. From some articles I have seen they adapted the movie into a Tom Cruise vehicle rather than Tom changing his performance to suit the movie. A wasted opportunity for Tom to show some range and for the movie to do something new.

Pity because it looked quite promising.

I have to say I like the recent ish Mummy and Mummy Returns so I'll stick to them instead. Fun b movie nonsense films.

[Cherry.Loaf]

Spider-Man Homecoming; if you like Marvel or Joh Hughes films you're gonna love it

[PanicLord]

Can't wait to see it :)

[PanicLord]

John Wick 2

Loved it. Still mental and thinly plotted. But damn Keanu is cool. As is Lovejoy. The movie flew by and I was both sad that it ended and looking forward to seeing what happens next. Those are two pretty important boxes ticked right there.

4/5

[PanicLord]

Logan second viewing but at home this time.

Still very very nearly as good as I remember it being the first time around. Well written, great acting, and genuinely something bold and new for the franchise. Minor niggles that occurred this time? Well I love Richard E Grant but he seemed a bit out of place. Just a tiny whiff of ham in an otherwise very serious (but not humourless) film. Also, looking at it again it's a shame that the person who fights Logan and ends up besting him looked so similar. Yes I get why that was the case and they used it well emotionally. I just wonder if it would have been better with someone completely different. However, these are extremely minor niggles in an otherwise superb film.

4.5/5

[PanicLord]

Kong Skull Island

Much better than I expected actually. A slight twist on the familiar tale and setting it in 70s Vietnam War times gives it some interesting moments. I mean mainly I think it was because they wanted to sell tonnes of soundtrack albums like with Guardians Of The Galaxy. That won't happen. But it is quite a funky soundtrack and an interesting setting.

Most of the characters are fairly interchangeable so you don't invest that heavily in them. When they die it doesn't generally have much emotional impact. And I'm sorry but Tom Hiddleston sounds way too plummy and posh to fit in with the rest of the cast.

Having said all that it's a fun creature feature with some imaginative creatures and reasonable fun.

Am I desperate to see the follow up or rewatch this? Well no but it passed the time enjoyably enough.

3/5

[PanicLord]

Crocodile Dundee 1 and 2.

These movies have an easy charm about them and there is always a happy ending. The first one is basically just a "visit Australia" ad. The easy charisma Paul Hogan has just about carries the films. But not a lot really happens.

2.5/5