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

[Vyn]

Die Hard

First time I've watched it since seeing at the theaters in the late '80's. It has held up well over the years, and in addition to being fun to watch (much of it I had forgotten), it felt like being in a time machine. At one point I looked over at my wife and half expected to see my girlfriend of the time.

Thanks for dropping it in here Charger!

[Charger]

Glad I could help!

[Charger]

DIE HARD With A Vengeance


Lt. John McClane is faced with a series of daunting tasks given by a mysterious Simon over the phone and if not completeled he would set of a bomb somewhere in New York. A Harem shop keeper Zeus is accidentally pulled into the action and is taken on a wild ride with McClane through the city of New York. They soon learn that there is a connection between Simon and John that takes back to a past christmas eve in LA.

Where the previous 2 movies concertared either on a single building of a single airport now the stage is the entire city of New York.

John McTiernan returned to direct and he sure knows how to make some top notch action sequences, mixed with some top notch humor and suberb acting.

Jeremy Irons absolutely shines as Simon and Samuel L Jackson delivers his best preformance ever as the somewhat comically racist Zeus.

This is without a doubt my favourite movie in the series and that elevates it above the rest is the comedic combustive relationship between John and Zeus and the overall grittyness and at times brutal action.


FUN FACT:
The original script was called Simon Says and it was intented as the 4th Lethal Weapon movie, but Joel Silver and 20th Century Fox had a falling out and Fox bought Silver out of the project and it became this movie.


*  *  *  *  * 

[Zzzptm]

Quiz Girl

My wife liked this one a lot and wanted to see it again with me. It's on Hulu, and it's a nice, quirky coming-of-age-in-your-30s tale about two sisters coming together in a crisis. As the title suggests, it involves getting one of the sisters to appear on a quiz show, one that features Will Ferrell as the host in an absolutely charming performance.

The characters are what drives the film and they are well-written. While some plot elements were predictable of necessity, the manner in which they unfold has a freshness to it all.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Catch Up #1

It Ends With Us

Romantic drama starring Blake Lively, Jenny Slate and Jason Baldoni (who also directed).

(From IMDb) When a woman's first love suddenly re-enters her life, her relationship with a charming, but abusive neurosurgeon is upended and she realizes she must learn to rely on her own strength to make an impossible choice for her future.

Not my sort of film but the girlfiend wanted to see it. For what it was it seemed to be quite well done, the abuse scenes were somewhat restrained, but I suspect that was a choice of the film makers. I suppose it was ok. 5/10

Fun Fact: The week this was released in the US, its box office was 2nd to Deadpool and Wolverine... in which Blake Lively also has an appearance along side he husband.

================

The Critic

A period drama set in 1930s London, starring Ian McKellen, Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong and Ben Barnes.

A theatre critic (McKellen) risks being sacked when his paper is sold and the new owners don't like his vitriolic style. He helps a yound actress (Arterton) to become a better actress, but has he an ulterior motive?

While not a dreadful film it got heavily re-edited after test screenings and it shows... McKellen's having a blast though!. 5/10

===============

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice

The sequel to Tim Burton's 80s classic. STarring Michael Keaton, Wynona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Jenna Ortega among others.

(From IMDb) After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia's life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter, Astrid, accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife.

I saw the original looong after it first came out and thought it looked very dated. Whilst the production design is very similar I don't get that "dated" feel about it. While this is very enjoyable I do feel that Ortega was hired to repeat her star turn in Wednesday but it really didn't work. 7/10

[Charger]

Live Free Or Die Hard


The fourth installement brings John McClane head to head with a master hacker who tries to cripple the entire west coast and threatens to send the US back to the stone age...and perhaps steal some money in the process.
John starts the day with a routine pick up of a witness that soon turns into a survival battle against enemies strong and quite well informed.

Director Len Wiseman better known for his work on tv handles the action well and some of the camera runs are innovative.

The cast is again very good although Timothy Olyphant's bad guy isn't quite up to par with the previous ones eventhough he too oozes charisma. But honestly he is better playing the hero. Maggie Q does a great job kicking John's butt in one scene!

All should be good here right? Well it ain't...for some totally ridiculous reason the producers decided to go the PG13 route! Which has to be the biggest mistake in the history of action movie mistakes (only paralled by the same mistake done in Expendables 3)...such a big part of the Die Hard movies was John getting beat up or blown up only to recover with a snappy come back or remark with several f-bombs thrown in. It was an integral part of the character and charm...and they took it all away. It just doesn't seem like you're watching John McClane anymore...What the fuck were they thinking??!?!


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[Thelemech]

I just recently watched the first three Die Hard movies as I have done every Christmas season for the past 15 years
I love the first one and I think that number 2 is good overall but number 3 is almost as good as the original
The fourth is probably not in the same category as the other three but at least it was entertaining
Number 5 is forgettable mess and the actor who plays John's son has horrible charisma and is laughable
I watch the first three Die Hard several times a year but the last two I have never been able to get into them

[Vyn]

I...I didn't realize there were FIVE movies in the Die Hard series. I thought there were TWO.

LOLOL I need to get out more. Or something. Damn.

[Charger]

A Good Day To DIE HARD

In the final movie of the series John McClane finds himself in Russia trying to help his son who has gotten himself arrested, not realising he is actually working undercover as a CIA operative to free a political prisoner from jail who is hunted by a russian elite military force.
Ofcourse in proper Die Hard fashion all is not what it seems and tables quickly turn for the McClane's as they make their way to Pripyat in the Ukraine.

There is some great over the top action in this one and Bruce does his best but the plot is pretty much non existant and the humor just isn't there part from few isolated moments.
Jai Courtney isn't a very good actor and his scenes seem bit forced. Sebastian Koch does a decent enough job and Julia Snigir is gorgeous.

Clearly the weakest movie of the bunch and everything about it seemed bit rushed. A character so iconic as John McClane surely deserved a better send off than this. A shame...a real goddamn shame.


*  *  ½

[Thelemech]

It's such a shame that Bruce has been diagnosed with dementia
One of the greatest action stars ever and he can also act as he has proven several times.

[Vyn]

I used to watch Moonlighting and always liked him in that - when he started making "big movies" I was concerned he wouldn't have the chops, at that level. Turned out he had all the chops and then a few more to spare!

[Thelemech]

I have never seen a episode of Moonlighting but my mother was a big fan.

[Charger]

I remember watching Moonlighting too when I was a kid...I think it was on tv here around the early 90s. Don't really remember one thing about the show though exept Bruce.


And yeah...Bruce was the guy that brought more humor into the heroes....made them maybe bit more every man because of that. It really is a shame that he got ill and never got to do what likes of Sly, Arnie and Harrison have done and brought closures to some of their biggest characters.

[Zzzptm]

Moonlighting was a real gas, I loved that show.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Catch Up #2


Lee

Wartime docudrama of Lee Miller, starring Kate Winslet, Andy Samberg, Alexander Skarsgard, Marion Cotillard, Andrea Riseborough.

(From IMDb) The story of American photographer Lee Miller, a fashion model who became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II.

While it's a story which is little known it is done in a perfunctory, straight forward way. There is good acting, and it has some quite eye-opening scenes at the end of the war. Winslet's boobs make an appearance! 6/10


The Wild Robot

An animation about a robot which crash-lands in a wilderness. This includes the voices of Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Conner, Bill Nighy, Ving Rhames, Catherine O'Hara  and Mark Hamill.

Roz (Nyono'o) is the ship wrecked robot who inadvertently kills a goose family and all but one of their eggs which shortly hatches. In order to bring up the gosling she must learn the ways of nature and soon bonds with the local fauna.

This is probably the best animation film for a number of years (that I've seen anyway), and the best Dream Works ever. The story is heartfelt and emotional and goes in ways you don't expect. 9/10


Venom: The Last Dance

The third outing for the comic book character Venom. Starring Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Iffans.

Eddie Brock (Hardy) and his symbiotic lodger Venom, must make a trip across the country avoiding a strange military officer (Ejiofor) and alien forces from Venoms home world.

It's a fun romp, plenty of action, but the plot is basically the journey from one set-piece to another. Oh and there is a last "Dance" to be had. I enjoyed it, maybe a tad weaker than the first two films but a nice way to complete the trilogy. 8/10