Amph What was the last movie you saw? (Ver. 2)

OK, I can clearly identity Joaquin Phoenix, Heath Ledger, Jack Nicholson and Cesar Romero, but I am drawing a blank on the other three.

 

Casino Royale

Having only seen two James Bond films prior, having little time for/interest in the franchise, I was pretty blown away by how exciting and suspenseful this film is.

The opening set pieces are amazing, no doubt, but if there were ever a Gary Stu portrayed onscreen, it is here; makes Rey look like the hardest working person in the galaxy.
Joking aside, CR rocks, and I thought about it for hours after watching it.

And Bond does eventually pay a heavy price in the second half, somewhat balancing his near super human invincibility and clairvoyance from the first half.
And I love me a good villain, so Mads Mikkelsen was the absolute worst in the best possible way. What an amazing actor he is, damn.
Galen Erso ftw.

I will definitely be continuing my new journey through the Daniel Craig Bond films. This film is gangbusters and completely implausible in the best possible way.

The Shining

Bought the new 4K release, but as I don't own gear to play it on yet, I watched the new blu ray transfer and cashed in the digital copy that was included. And enjoyed the cool steelbook packaging.

The film has never looked better. And that's after 50+ viewings for me on various formats/versions.

I saw and heard new details yet again; something that happens every single time I watch this picture. It's uncanny. There are literally new subtleties and details to behold every single time one watches this movie.
It's truly one of a kind and the work of a genius director in Stanley Kubrick.

This last viewing, I really focused on Shelly Duvall's character, Wendy, and I must say I saw many subtle nuances and genuinely touching moments to her portrayal of the character that are perhaps overlooked; especially her work in the first half, before she has a nervous breakdown, which is understandable given her character's circumstances in the story.

Her facial expressions and line delivery actually brought me near tears a few times, as she is so sweet and innocent and is simply caught up in the mayhem and horror of the supernatural events that haunt her poor son and hot headed husband.

So my take on watching the new transfer of The Shining in 2019 is that the film looks better than ever, rewards multiple rewatches, is truly a masterpiece, and Ms. Duvall delivers a classic, underrated performance worthy of admiration and respect for her courage, as apparently the shooting of that film coincided with a difficult period in her life, in no small part due to the subject matter and the gruelling schedule.

The Shining does not frighten or scare, rather it hypnotizes.

 

@Dagobahsystem Quantum of Solace is considered to be not very good, but Skyfall and Spectre both own, Skyfall in particular.Great Bond film.

 

Thanks.
Yes, I've heard that about QOS.
I'm looking forward to watching it.
As well as the other two.
I've heard Skyfall is the bomb.
Will post reviews after I see them all.
Really looking forward to watching them now!

 

QoS is massively underrated and underappreciated. Spectre is arse for the most part.

 

Two movies over the past two days

Bits of Yesterday (2018)
This was on Amazon Prime. An interesting documentary on the pop culture of collecting video games. It's pretty amazing seeing the collections of some of these people; pretty much every Nintendo, SEGA, Atari, Playstation, XBox game you can think of - and some you've never heard of. They talk about how they got involved in collecting, the trials and tribulations of the hobby, how they got started, what they might've been doing if they never got involved in it. If you're a gamer, even a modest one, I'd definitely recommend it.

Spiderman: Far From Home (2019)
I'll be completely honest, I've never been all that fond of the sole-Spiderman movies; especially the reboot on reboot ones over the past two decades. This one certainly wasn't high on my list as well. The first half hour or so was kind of a drag.

Spoiler

Yeah, we get it, young Peter's got raging hormones and it's about time he gets serious with MJ to coincide with the comics. But there was really nothing major going on. I get they were trying to establish the new setting for the movie and obvious villain (which I'll get to), but it just seemed to drag forever.

And about that villain. I mean, seriously? Was anyone that gullible into believing Mysterio was a good guy? I don't read comics, as many of you know, and I knew relatively quickly that he seemed too good to be true. As it turned out, he ripped the screenwriting pages off of the original Incredibles movie with Syndrome; trying to create his own superhero by taking down hardcore enemies with relative ease - all by technology. You're left scratching your head as to why, even in the biggest event in London, none of the Avengers were called in to help.

Oh well, at least I can say I saw the movie.

 

Cool.
I'm really looking forward to seeing them all for the first time.

 

Let me take a step back.

Spectre is better than all the Roger Moore films and a good chunk of the Connery/Brosnan ones.

 

Sicario

Want an example of stunning visuals and cinematography? Go here. There are some really exquisite sequences in this, the descent to the tunnel against a sunset dusk sky, but it's the ending that is particularly brilliant and haunting.

From the start I had read the film as being about a cartel hitman.

Spoiler

Turns out there is a hitman, but he's not necessarily working for the cartels in the way you expect. This card is kept in reserve, right up until the end, then it gets played for maximum effect.

A well-told story, backed up by an excellent cast, what stands out is it commitment to its premise. It starts and follows through all the way to the end without deviating. And it would have been very easy to deviate, to provide some warm moral comfort. "This ain't that kind of movie, bruv"

Sicario 2

Different and distinct from its predecessor, but set in the same world, this takes a very different tack.

It also managed to make me be very happy with the idea of a psychopath brat being kidnapped. That said brat gets kidnapped and then done over psychologically, by her kidnappers presenting a fake version of being her rescuers, starts to reverse that.

However as

Spoiler

one kid ends up exiting this world, so does another wish to get deeper into it and does so. In both cases it's an examination of the roads open to each character - or the lack of.

One weakness of this film was that it used the now cliche plot device of politicians sanctioning extreme operations, then retreating from said authorisation when it all gets a bit too hot and reality bites.

 

I guess @The2ndQuest has me on ignore

 

The Dark Tower (2017)
I was in the mood for some gun-fu, and I thought, Idris Elba as Roland the Gunslinger, how bad can it be? I really shouldn't ask that question, cuz there's usually a resounding answer. Elba did the best he could with the material they gave him, which was fairly crappy, and the fight scenes held my attention, but during everything else I kept checking the clock.

Can anybody recommend a good gun-fu movie? Equilibrium doesn't count.

 

If you've never seen it, try John Woo's Hard Boiled. Best of the gun fu genre really. Chow Yun Fat is awesome as the cop Tequila. So is former Venom Kuo Chue as Mad Dog. (Kuo also choreographed the action for it). Or if you have seen it, please revisit.

 

I very nearly made the same recommendation but wasn't sure if it counted as gun fu. Certainly there are guns. Certainly there is fu. But is there gun fu?

I mean, it kicks ass regardless. But still!

 

Yes. Even though Ti Lung is in A Better Tomorrow and its sequel with Chow, I consider HB more gun fu than those. I may be spanked for thinking this, but Hard Boiled is my most watched Woo.

Haven't seen Woo's The Killer in ages, so I forget if that qualifies.

 

I'm even less sure about The Killer. Sure, there are guns. But fu? Not so much. To say nothing of gun fu.

 

You're probably right about The Killer. Not going to trust my fading HK memories on that.

 

Welcome to Marwen

Wish they would have further explored the porn angle and the high heels.

 

Watch the documentary, Marwencol. It explores everything in detail on the true story that the movie didn't.

 

Destination Wedding


In an emoji or so:

Destination Wedding is a film where the actors with speakings parts are the start Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves. I didn't pick up this until like 30 minutes into the film. And thus my emojis of the film. I love the pairing of Winona and Keanu as both actors are having a somewhat of a notable return in the limelight and this being a sort of an onscreen reunion. So that put a smile on my face. However, with just the two actors given speaking parts it gets kind of tedious and a little boring. That being said, the dialogue serves as building character depth and insight to their thoughts are each don't hold back in what they are thinking. The conversations are very honestly blunt. It's almost like Kevin Smith wrote this film, but instead of the foul language and nerdom. I suppose it's a mash up of Seinfeld type of observation humor and speaking without filters.

 

Eli on Netflix

How I've been drilled and drilled to expect a twist for a movie like this. Are they all dead? Are only some of the already dead? Which of them are already dead? Here is a movie that is deliberately playing on our pop culture Sixth Sense hangover. I got as far as guessing ritual cult sacrifice before I ran out of time. Are there any clues that could have given it away? No, I don't think so, and that's a shame. A moody supernatural thriller with an arbitrary twist that is impossible to guess is Shyama-lame. It's Shyama-langweilig. Imagine a universe where fertility clinics are unnecessary and maybe you'll do a better job than I did trying to figure the whole thing out.

 

The Great Wall (2016)
Matt Damon single-handedly saves mythic China from hordes of demon beasts. I liked the sets and costumes, and some of the stuntwork was impressive, but the story was nonsense and the characters were boring.

 

Escape Room


In an emoji:

Escape Room is the less horrific version of the Saw films. I think it's like Saw meets Jumanji meets see spoiler. Not a lot story setup, which I actually like for this type of film. Character development is built through the adversity the characters face.

I found the film pretty well paced, it kept my attention, entertaining and overall enjoyable. Thus my emoji:

Spoiler: other movie

Belko Experiment