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

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3

Just released, the third standalone Guardians film has the usual cast: Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillen, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff and Bradley Cooper. Supporting cast comes from Will Poulter, Elizabeth Debicki, Sean Gunn, Sylvester Stallone with the main villain being Chukwudi Iwuji (a new name to me). Once again directed by James Gunn.

At the beginning of the film whilst the guys and gals are relaxing in a space port, they are attacked by Warlock (Poulter), who tries to capture Rocket Raccoon. Rocket gets injured and in trying to revive him they realise they need to steel his source code. This means infiltrating the laboratories of The High Evolutionary (Iwuji). The story progresses from there with the usual retro soundtrack, and action.

Rocket's back story is covered in some details from when he was in a litter in the labs, the modifications he has and friends he made while there and his departure. These scenes are possibly the finest film making in the MCU or indeed anywhere and is very dark and heart-breaking.

There's a lot of story in this film, the sub-plots, locations and characters are all well developed and Iwuji makes a fine villain. The 2½ hour run time flies by, and while there are some very funny moments, it's darker than previous ones and is probably better for it. Thinking about this, this is better than the previous two and might well be my favourite MCU film (certainly top 3).

9½/10

[Charger]

That's great to hear! I'm thinking about seeing it maybe next week!

[Zzzptm]

Absolutely agree with the ranking. It's a real classic and has great heart in it. One of my favorites, will be happy to watch again, especially for the ending.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

From one extreme to another

Book Club: The Next Chapter

Let's be honest, I didn't want to see this but sometimes you have to take one for the team. So I was dragged to see this by the girlfiend today. A senile comedy starring Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen and Candice Bergen, with support from Don Johnson, Craig T Nelson and Andy Garcia.

Four friends of 50+ years Diane, Sharon and Carole (Keaton, Bergen and Steenburgen respectively), persuade Vivienne (Fonda) to go to Italy with them to have the holiday they didn't have decades earlier. And as Vivienne has just agreed to marry her long time partner Arthur (Johnson) - even though she's never expressed an interest in marriage - they turn the trip into her bachelorette party.

The trip to Italy is so cliché-ridden it's embarrassing, but they might have gotten away with that if the writing was any good. It isn't!

I know I'm not the target audience and the girlfiend rather enjoyed it... but jeez! 3/10

[Vyn]

¡Que viva México!

It's in Spanish, and is a mish-mash of comedy, satire, and a little drama. It is such a send-up of Mexican stereotypes that even the president of Mexico spoke out against it. Basic plot is a dirt poor family in a remote village in Mexico is living their dirt poor lives. The patriarch of the family (the grandfather) actually has some money, no one else does though. One of his grand kids splits for the big city, finds success, and hasn't been back in twenty years. Grandpa kicks the bucket, his will states no one gets anything unless the kid who cut out comes back and reads it. So him, his wife, and kids return to La Paridisio and he gets re-acquainted with his family.

Crazyness ensues.

Overall I enjoyed it, but there were parts where I wanted to kick my TV, then recalled it is a satire and calmed down lol. Recommended.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Fast X

the 10th film in the franchise (or 11th if you include the Hobbs & Shaw spin-off). The usual - extensive - cast return: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Nathalie Emanuel, Charlise Theron, Jason Statham, Helen Mirren, Scott Eastwood, John Cena, Sung Kang, Brie Larson and the villain this time is Jason Momoa, with Leo Abelo Perry playing Dom Toretto's 8-ish year old son!

In this film the past comes back to bite them. The son of the villain from Fast 5 is out for revenge and always seems to be one step ahead of the game. The locations are more varied than a Bond film with visits to Rome, London, Rio, California and the Antarctic. There's the usual car chases, big explosions and hand-to-hand fighting. There's ridiculous gadgets and escapes when all seems lost... and Dom going on about *family* way too often.

I only really watched this because the girlfiend likes it, I would have much preferred to have seen Guardians again (which I probably will do!). The plot is ridiculous, the action and stunts are so unrealistic it's laughable. This film is so far from the first three street racing films, it's like finding out The Godfather series now includes interstellar space battles! Seriously this is all nonsense and you don't care for any of the characters...

: show

There's a cliff-hanger at the end of the film where many of the main cast are in a military transporter which gets hit by a missile and 30 or 40 seconds later crashes into a cliff above a lake. My guess is they miraculously escape by jumping into the lake but we don't see that... I sorta hope they all died, but I expect they live for episode 11!

The kid who plays Dom's son looks to have some promise, little else to recommend in the film. 3/10

[Charger]

One thing about that Fast X is that there's a very pretty Finnish stunt driver in it...she does a lot of the car stunts in the film.

https://www.is.fi/viihde/art-2000009391064.html

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

One thing about that Fast X is that there's a very pretty Finnish stunt driver in it...she does a lot of the car stunts in the film.

https://www.is.fi/viihde/art-2000009391064.html

Hubba Hubba

[Charger]

BLACKHAT

After a cyber attack at a Hong Kong nuclear power plant a chinese cyber security agent requests help from an american hacker friend who has been sentenced in prison for his crimes. They along with some american agents and the chinese agent's sister go after the people responsible.

Chris "Thor" Hemsworth stars as the hacker Hathaway and Leehom Wang and Tang Wei as the chinese siblings. Viola Davis and Holt McCallany are just in it for the ride.

I never thought director Michael Mann could out do Miami Vice in all things bad but I was very very wrong.

The movie is just stupid. The plot is stupid, the premise is stupid, the hacks are stupid, the agents are stupid, the shaky camera runs are stupid, the lack of action is stupid, most of the dialogue is stupid...the movie is just...well...stupid.

All the style and and flare that Mann has is nowhere to be seen.

It's a real shame that Hemsworth wasted his time and talent on garbage like this....and it seems that Mann just can't capture the magic anymore.

Heat 2 has been announced...oh please god no...don't do it Mann....don't do it!

One star goes to the insanely beautiful Tang Wei...the half for the movie.

*  ½

[Zzzptm]

Dungeons & Dragons

Y'all this one's a real hoot! 100% recommend, especially for gamers. Cameo appearances from Displacer Beast, Gelatinous Cube, Mimic, Intellect Devourer, Rust Monster and ***OWLBEAR!!!*** OWLBEAR!!!

Yes, I was nerding out as I recalled their stats when they rolled up for battle with our party of adventurers. The dialogue is straight outta a game session, at times, which totally helps propel the vibe of the movie forward. Great action, special effects, and FUN! Best movie made on the D20 system, by far.

[Charger]

BATMAN

Gotham City is ravaged by outlaws and the police force can't handle it so out of the shadows comes a vigilante known as Batman.

Tim Burton's masterful gothic take on Batman is what made the character truly come to life after the campy childish 60s tv show. But Burton still managed to maintain some elements of humor and didn't make it overly serious...and ofcourse Michael Keaton is absolutely perfect for the role and Jack Nicholson really goes to town as Joker. The lovely Kim Basinger fills the main trio with grace.

Nolan's Batman's were good but they were overly pompous and serious to a fault...and the Batman's that followed...rubbish is too kind of a word.

Burton understood what making a good comic book movie requires...something that has been sorely missing from most (if not all) DC movies ever since. A good balance of over the top characters, action and well placed humor.

Sure some of the visual effects have dated but so what...it doesn't take anything away from the story and the great acting and characters.

An absolute masterpiece.

*  *  *  *  *

[Charger]

INFERNO

Robert Langdon wakes up in a hospital in Florence suffering from an amnesia not sure what has happened only soon to discover his life is in danger and a young doctor saves his life and he goes on a quest to find what has happened to him. He uncovers that a billionaire is about to release a virus that threatens to kill half of the human population in order to save the future of mankind. He has to follow some clues left by the now deceased billionaire to find the virus before his followers do.

The plot is much more grounded than on the other two movies although the clues follow Dante's Inferno.

Tom Hanks does his best Langdon yet and Felicity Jones is great as the doctor. Irrfan Khan and Sidse Babett Knudsen do great roles as well.

Director Ron Howard this time focuses bit more on the action and it is much better than on the first two films. The shorter running time helped as well. This was the perfect length and didn't have any slow moments. And the plot twist was something I wasn't expecting which too was very nice.

Most certainly the best of the Langdon films and in fact a very good action mystery movie.

*  *  *  *

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Just a quick catching up on a few films...

Greatest Days - a film based around the songs of the boy band Take That. Starring Aisling Bea she takes her friends from school to a Take That reunion concert in Athens. I adore Aisling Bea but this is a rubbish film.... it's no Mamma Mia, Yesterday or Blinded By the Light... just avoid 2/10 +1 star for Aisling!

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The Fablemans
Inspired by the early life of Steven Spielberg and how he grew to love film making. Starring Michelle Williams, Gabriel LaBelle, Paul Dano, Judd Hirsch and Seth Rogen.

Post War Arizona sees young Sammy Fableman uncover a devastating family secret and explores how movies help us see the truth.

I thought this might be a bit of a bore-fest but it is quite interesting... to a point. I don't know how much this really is Spielberg's youth and how much is fiction but as a coming of age story it was okay! 6/10

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Asteroid City
The latest Wes Anderson film, starring Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Bryan Cranston, Ed Norton, Adrian Brody, Tilda Swinton with cameos from Margot Robbie and Jeff Goldblum.

In the 1950s a recently widowed war photographer (Schwartzman) takes his kids to Asteroid City -- a small community near a crater which is within sight of the Nevada nuclear test area -- to take part in a junior astronomy contest. Whilst there his car breaks down so he arranges for his father-in-law (Hanks) to come and collect them. He befriends an actress (Johansson) and during the contest they are visited by an alien (Goldblum), leading to the site to be quarantined by the army.

I don't want to suggest that this is a good film but it soooo much better than The French Dispatch. It is quirky, stylized and an awful lot is going on. Anderson has moved a long way from his roots where stories had a straightforward trajectory... if still quirky! It's no Grand Budapest Hotel but it's better than some of his! 6/10

[Zzzptm]

I really enjoyed The French Dispatch, so I'm ready for Asteroid City, looks like.

[Charger]

I noticed that all the Bond movies had made their way to Amazon Prime and in HD so I thought I'd watch them all in a row.  And I mean all the REAL Bond movies not those Craig abominations...those I will not be watching as it would be tantamount to torture.

But no real point in writing any reviews of them as everyone knows them already anyways.

Today I finished Thunderball...I remember not liking this one back in the day (it being my least favourite Connery Bond) but found out I had now grown to quite like it. The underwater scenes were brilliantly shot considering when they were made....and the women in this one...holy moses were they all just gorgeous!

I think now I'd rank the first four

GoldFinger
Dr. No
Thunderball
From Russia With Love

Tomorrow on to the next one.