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

[Vyn]

  Can this be true?  Vyn watched a movie!

No, I must be dreaming.   

It is a rare occurrence! 

[Typhon]

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007)

A man (Jason Statham) sets out to rescue his kidnapped wife and avenge the death of his son – two acts committed by the Krugs, a race of animal-warriors who are controlled by the evil Gallian (Ray Liotta).  Too much fantasy for my taste, but if you don't mind seeing Jason Statham sword fighting, which is about half of the movie, then you may enjoy it.  The only thing I enjoyed was seeing Burt Reynolds playing the king.  3/10

[Charger]

^^^
Wow...I've been following Statham's career forever and seen most of his movies but for some reason I have never even heard of that!!

I quite enjoy fantasy stuff so I need to check that one out! Odd that I have completely missed that!

[Typhon]

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

A man (Philip Seymour Hoffman), desperate for money, convinces his reluctant brother (Ethan Hawke), also desperate for money. to rob a jewelry store.  Things go horribly wrong, to say the least.  An intense story with great acting.  9/10

[Typhon]

Prospect (2018)

A teenage girl and her father travel to a remote alien moon, aiming to strike it rich by harvesting large deposits of the rare gems hidden in the depths of the moon's toxic forest.  But there are some others in the area, so the job turns into a fight to survive.  Interesting little story that I enjoyed.  8/10

[Zzzptm]

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Clint Friggin' Eastwood! Spaghetti Western! 10/10

[Thelemech]

I watch that movie at least a few times a year
Clint and the rest of the cast are exceptional
The music is unique and unforgettable

10 out of 10 indeed !

[Typhon]

The Greatest Showman (2017)

Upon watching this film, I was expecting to see the story of the life of P.T. Barnum, and for the most part it was just that.  However, I was not expecting the film to be a musical.  I admit that I rarely care for musicals, and I didn't care for this one either.  Even though Hugh Jackman does a fine job as this great American showman, interrupting a good scene with a song and dance number, just did not work for me.  P.T. Barnum's character and life is interesting enough to make a great film, without the need for singing and dancing every 10 minutes.  Perhaps other people who love musicals would enjoy this film, but as far as this reviewer is concerned, it didn't work.  4/10

[Zzzptm]

I saw that film a few years back and was similarly nonplussed. I love a good Bollywood spectacle and Singin' in the Rain is a fave of mine, but The Greatest Showman simply flopped as a musical for me. No memorable lines, no plot twists worth rewatching, forgettable tunes.

Funny how as I typed that last part, I was thinking of the "Make 'Em Laugh" tune from Singin' in the Rain:

I might just go back and watch that again.

[Typhon]

The Amateur (2025)

After his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack, a brilliant CIA decoder (Rami Malek) takes matters into his own hands when his supervisors refuse to take action.  Entertaining high tech story.  8/10

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

^^^

Yes, I saw that the other month, not bad at all. I still have some doubts about Malek as an actor, but he's okay in that one.

[Charger]

I've never liked Malek either...I tend to avoid things with him in it.

[Typhon]

Gigantic (2008)

An odd story of a young mattress salesman (Paul Dano) who is trying to adopt a baby from China, but is distracted when he forms a relationship with a quirky young woman (Zooey Deschanel) whom he meets at his mattress store.  The young lady's father (John Goodman) and the young man's father (Ed Asner) add additional oddities to the film.  7/10

[Typhon]

Pride and Glory (2008)

A story about a multi-generational family of New York City Police officers.  The family's moral codes are tested when one of their detectives (Edward Norton) investigates a case that reveals a police corruption scandal involving his own brother-in-law (Colin Farrell).  8/10

[Charger]

I have forgotten to post here with all the painting so I'll be doing a double now.



JOHN CARTER


A civil war veteran and adventurer John Carter get transported into a mystical planet called Barsoom where two factions  fight for the domination of the planet. He quickly befriends a tribe of more primitive beings but soon finds himself in love with a princess of the other faction and is then forced to fight along side her.

An adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' book The Princess Of Mars.

There's plenty of action and the visual effect for the most part are really good, as you'd expect from a Disney feature. The story however ofcourse loses a lot of credibilty as unlike in Burroughs' day we do know Mars to be (most likely) a dead planet...most certainly not huge moving cities. So frankly the movie would have benefitted had they changed the location. Made Barsoom a real distant planet in an other solar system. But I also understand the need to stay true to the original story.

If you find it in your heart to forgive the Mars thing, the movie is actually quite enjoyable and my goodness is Lynn Collins just a sight! However the role of John Carter should have gone to an actor with more charisma. Taylor Kitsch is a great supporting actor but he just doesn't have the chops to carry a whole movie.
Supporting actors were all brilliant though, we have Cieran Hinds, Dominic West, Mark Strong And James Purefoy and voices of Willem Dafoe, Samantha Norton and Polly Walker.

This was a huge flop for Disney, which I do think was partially because of the Mars connection...it's just bit too ludicrous these days.

*  *  *  ½


INFINITE

Evan McCauley is a man haunted with hallucinations and past mental problems but he soon finds out that they are actually memories of his past lives as his soul is one of few hundred that have an ability to be reborn infinitely. He then finds out there is a madman Infinite who wants to end his cycle of reborns by killing every single living creature on the planet.

The premise of the movie is really interesting and the action is fierce and fast and the cast is pretty good. Mark Wahlberg does a great job in the lead as does Chiwetel Ejiofor as the bad guy Bathurst.

I wanted to enjoy this bit more than I actually did, the plot had some issues and some of the action was bit too over the top. But still a rather enjoyable action with a nice sci-fi twist.

*  *  *

Fun Fact: Richard Rawlings of GMG bought the 5 Ferrari Testarossa's used in the opening sequence...and is now making one into a 6 wheeler!