What was the last movie you saw...? Part IV

[Charger]

I'm looking forward in seeing the last Venom... I've never understood why all the hate for the previous ones...I've liked them both. Good action, great humor, for the most part good casts...

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Catchup #3


Wicked

This is the first part of the adaptation of the successful stage musical of the same name, Part 2 comes out November 2025. It stars Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey and Peter Dinklage.

[From IMDb] Wicked follows Elphaba, a young woman with green skin (Erivo), as she navigates life at Shiz University and forms an unlikely friendship with the popular Galinda (Grande). Their bond deepens as they encounter the Wizard of Oz (Goldblum), leading to a series of events that ultimately shape their destinies and transform them into the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.

Can't say I'm the target audience for this film, but the girlfiend wanted to see it. It's not a bad film in all honesty, it is overly long (2:40) for the first part... and the stage version was only that for the whole story! The production design is pretty good (think Harry Potter and you're about there). The singing is fine, infact all the acting performances are fine... and we see the origins of the flying monkeys! It's enjoyable enough, 7/10


Paddington in Peru

Paddington, with the Brown's in tow, fly's off to Peru to visit his Aunt Lucy in this third out for the friendly bear. Starring Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas, Hayley Atwell and Imelda Staunton.

When they get to Peru they discover that Aunt Lucy has gone missing form the Home for Retired Bears, there are clues to what has happened and Paddington and Browns head off into the Amazon to find out what has happened to her, uncovering ancient mysteries in the Andies along the way.

This is a perfectly good Paddington film... it's just not quite on a par with the first 2 in the series. People have said - and I'm inclined to agree - is that Paddington works best when he is roaming the streets of London... not rainforests in Peru. But, as I say it's not a bad film, it's most enjoyable in fact. The CGI / Live action mix still works very well. 8/10


... I was intending to do the last film I saw last year (Gladiator II) but I'll do that one tomorrow.

[Charger]

DOOM


A group of scientists working on Mars become under attack by mysterious beings and a group of elite Marines is sent to their aid. They soon discover that the scientists were up to something sinister and soon they are fighting for their lives.


A Doom movie was something that was expected and anticipated by many for years and years. When it finally did come the end result was not what the people were expecting...at all. Not only did they re-write the basic storyline but based the monsters (and majority of the outlining plot) to the 2004 released Doom 3 which was also hated by the fans of the originals as it was NOTHING like the original Dooms.

The cast is pretty solid though. Dwayne Johnson as Sarge, Karl Urban as Reaper and Rosamund Pike as Dr. Grimm all do a very good job.
The action is good, the monsters are mostly done with using Practical Effects which is great and because of that the movie doesn't seem or look dated, and it's suitably gory.

BUT this isn't DOOM. There are no demons, there are no large scale battles and the little refrences to the game, although fun and accurate (like the BFG and the very cool, but too short FPS-sequence) they don't cover the fact that this DOOM in the name only.

I first saw the movie when it came out and didn't much care for it to be honest...and it was interesting to watch it again after all these years to see if my opinion would have changed...and...well yes and no. I truly appreciate the practical effects (as that is nowadays sadly a forgotten art) but I still hate the fact that this really has nothing to do with the DOOM I grew up with. Much like Doom 3 this should never have been made.
 

*  *  ½


Fun Fact: Back in the late 90s there were talks about making DOOM with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead and base it on the first game. But that never became reality...sadly.

[Charger]

MARKED FOR DEATH

A retired DEA agend John Hatcher returns to his small childhood hometown only to find it being over run by a gang of ruthless Jamaican drug dealers. Accidentally he and his family gets on the hit list of the gang so he needs to fight back with help of his friends.

Steven Seagal delivers one of his best (and most brutal) prefromances as Hatcher. Keith David does a great job as his side kick and Basil Wallace absolutely shines as the brutal gang leader.

This was one of my childhood favourites and it still does not dissappoint. Incredible action, truly evil bad guys and a tough guy hero that takes no shit and kicks ass. The fight scenes in this one are quite brutal and in fact they are still edited from what they were meant to be.

A true 90s classic action flick. And still among my all time favourites. Nothing bad to say about this one.


*  *  *  *  *


FunFact: This contains Steven Seagal's all time favourite kill scene of all time.

[Thelemech]

Those first dozen movies that Steven Seagal made still stand up and they were quite different from what had come before
Nowadays he is in the most horrible straight to DVD movies

[Charger]

Those first dozen movies that Steven Seagal made still stand up and they were quite different from what had come before
Nowadays he is in the most horrible straight to DVD movies

Quite true...he hasn't really done anything of real merit in the past 15 or so years...which is a shame.

Actually the reason I picked this movie up again was seeing the trailer for the new Jason Statham movie A Working Man which kind of made me think that it would have been the kind of movie Seagal should have been doing...

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Gladiator II

The follow up to Ridley Scotts Oscar winning film. This time starring: Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielson, Derek Jacobi, Matt Lucas and Tim McInnerny.

Set 16 years after the events of the first film, Rome is ruled by the twins Geta and Caracalla. Lucius (Mescal) the grandson of Marcus Aurelius, lives in hiding but gets captured when the Romans - led by General Acacius (Pascal) invade their city. Taken as a slave to Rome to fight in the Colosseum he attracts the attention of Macrunus (Washington) a wealthy merchant who has desires to advance his status with the rulers.

The film is a spectacle for sure... some of it mind blowingly stupid! Some of the set pieces are very impressive, and you can see where the $250m budget has been spent! The acting is on the whole fine, some of the casting is questionable; McInnerny as a senator doesn;t feel right even though he is suitably slimy. I still see him as Lord Percy or Captain Darling from Black Adder. And seeing Matt Lucas as Master of Ceremonies at the Colosseum took me out of the moment!

It's very well made, slightly illogical in places, but enjoyable enough. 7/10

[Vyn]

*The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly* is one of those movies that doesn’t just define
a genre; it transcends it. One of my favorite movies of all time, I've watched it
countless times over the years, most recently last night. I'm going to reach back
in time to my cinema classes in college and see if I can apply some of that to this
masterpiece of film art. It was directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood,
Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach, this 1966 spaghetti Western is a masterclass in
style, storytelling, and sheer cinematic bravado. At its core, it’s a tale of three
morally ambiguous characters racing to find buried treasure during the chaos of the
American Civil War. But calling it just a Western doesn’t do it justice—this film
is an amalgamation of visual and auditory brilliance.

Leone’s use of cinematography is nothing short of iconic. The extreme close-ups of
eyes juxtaposed with sweeping wide shots of barren landscapes create an intense
emotional and geographical scale. Every frame feels deliberate, like a painting.
The opening sequence alone, where we meet the characters in rapid, tension-filled
vignettes, is a crash course in visual storytelling. And then there’s the pacing—Leone
isn’t afraid to let scenes breathe. Whether it’s the agonizingly slow buildup of a
standoff or the quiet moments of reflection, he understands how to let tension simmer
until it boils over.

The soundtrack by Ennio Morricone is, quite frankly, legendary. The haunting whistle
and coyote-like cry of the main theme have become synonymous with the Western genre.
But it’s not just the theme; the entire score is a character in itself. The music
punctuates every major moment, from the melancholic strains during the Civil War
sequences to the unforgettable "Ecstasy of Gold" during Tuco’s mad dash through the
cemetery. Morricone’s work elevates the film, giving it a mythic, almost operatic quality.

What really sets *The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly* apart, though, is its tone and
character work. Eastwood’s “Man with No Name” is a study in stoic cool, while Van Cleef’s
Angel Eyes exudes calculated menace. But it’s Wallach’s Tuco who, for me, steals the show,
balancing comedy, desperation, and pathos in equal measure. Leone’s direction brings
out the best in all three, crafting a story that feels raw and real despite its larger-than-life
stakes.

In short, this is a film that redefined what Westerns—and cinema—could be. From its
groundbreaking cinematography to its unforgettable soundtrack and perfectly cast
leads, *The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly* was as riveting last night, in 2025 as it was
when I first saw it in the theater in 1970 or therabouts.

It’s a film you don’t just watch; you experience. 12/10

*written in Emacs at 80 chars per line for your enhanced enjoyment of the review

[Charger]

^^^
I have to say I prefer the two movies that came before it.   




BLUE VELVET


In memory of the recently passed David Lynch I thought I'd return to this classic I haven't seen in over 25 years.
My memory of it was hazy but I did recall not liking it very much back in the day.

The story revolves around a young collage student Jeffery who discovers an ear in a field and begins to solve the case himself. He finds out about a club singer who is blackmailed by a vicious (and very very weird) crook named Frank to do some sexual favours. Jeffery gets bit more involved than he ever bargained for.

In a true Lynch manner all the characters are odd to say the least and the story telling is slow and sometimes oddly spaced. Some of the camera angles are bit...lets say unusual as well.

Kyle MacLachlan in the lead is very good, Isabella Rosselini as the singer does a good job but the real star ofcourse is Dennis Hopper who over acts his every scene.

The movie itself is a mixed bag of oddities and goodies. This has gotten a lot of praise over the years, but I feel most of it is hyberbole. The movie is quite slow and the plot is bit off for the most part. The chracters are what drives the movie not so much the story. And that is it's biggest flaw.

*  *   *

Fun Fact: Anthrax wrote a song about this movie called NOW IT'S DARK...and I still enjoy the song more than the movie!

[Zzzptm]

^ Yojimbo is the Japanese samurai film from Kurosawa that has a strong strong influence on The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.

[Thelemech]

I truly love all the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns but I think that the films he did himself were better
Pale Rider, The Outlaw Josey Wales and Unforgiven are my favorite westerns of all time and in my opinion superior to the spaghetti westerns
Don't get me wrong I love all 6 of those films

[Charger]

Also lets not forget Hang 'Em High and High Plains Drifter. Both very good as well... Also I've always enjoyed Two Mules For Sister Sara as well for the more comedic approach, which was bit of a rarity for Clint.

[Vyn]

I like most of what Clint Eastwood has been in, for some reason I have never liked High Plains Drifter. I think it's the midget.

[Charger]

High Plains Drifter is quite different indeed...but I still kind of like it. Surely not my favourite from Clint but still.

[Thelemech]

I like Hang em High and have seen it several times
I enjoy High Plains Drifter especially the supernatural elements that are hinted at almost as if Eastwood is playing a spirit of vengeance