Army of the Dead. I walked out of the room 20 min. Movie is political! And a Vietnam war helicopter can't carry 8 armed people and 200 million in cash, no space and it's heavy.
1) "Ford v Ferrari" -- Folks love this movie, or so I've heard, so I figured I would finally take the plunge and endure two and a half hours on the couch. These days, I rarely want to watch a film longer than ninety minutes, as most every film or story follows a set formula. Essentially every story has already been told--or so us writers love to say, and to a large extent, this is true. "Ford" was a good film, but I was expecting great. Four star great, or so I have been lead to believe. Well, I can't rate it four stars, sadly, but worry not. The acting was practically flawless, the cinematography was fantastic, the sound was brilliant, the writing was tight and checked all the boxes, but... it was still formulaic. I assume that since this was based on a true story, some liberties were taken, but for the most part I hope it was all true. I haven't bothered reading the real history yet. Alas, something was missing in the end... That "Right Stuff" feeling, or what we felt from "Top Gun" or "Aliens," or even the absurd tasty desire to watch yet again that I felt with "Days of Thunder." The urge to go back and watch again, immediately... wasn't there. To reach the exalted halls of four stars, a film must be a) timeless, b) infinitely rewatchable, c) memorable, and d) have amazing characters. I do not feel "Ford" checked off a, b or d. It was #%&*$# good, but it wasn't tops. *** 1/2 out of ****
2) "Code 46" -- I really should read the description more closely of films I think I will watch and look for tiny details, rather than the bigger picture of what the film might be about. Two weeks in a row I snagged a film that involved infidelity. Alas, this one had a twist, and unlike the last, didn't exactly try and justify what had happened. This film was true science fiction. Interesting concepts about cloning, entertaining dialogue, and the plot highlighted some points in scifi that aren't often seen in film. Short, sweet, to the point, I almost dare say this was hard sci-fi because of world building and technical structuring, without all the in-depth "Trekkie" jargon. I am happy to have found another sci fi movie I enjoyed, for rare are these films in modern times. This one was released in 2003, though. Good movie! *** out of ****
To reach the exalted halls of four stars, a film must be a) timeless, b) infinitely rewatchable, c) memorable, and d) have amazing characters.
I agree with this definition because the highest accolade (in this case 4 stars) should only be achieved by a very small percentage of films. Just think about the thousands and thousands of films that have been made since the 1920's or so. How many of those films have made a major impact on either pop culture or the artform or both and will continue to be watched 50 years from now? Even if we say just "1%" that probably is still too high.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
1) "Ford v Ferrari" -- Folks love this movie, or so I've heard, so I figured I would finally take the plunge and endure two and a half hours on the couch. These days, I rarely want to watch a film longer than ninety minutes, as most every film or story follows a set formula. Essentially every story has already been told--or so us writers love to say, and to a large extent, this is true. "Ford" was a good film, but I was expecting great. Four star great, or so I have been lead to believe. Well, I can't rate it four stars, sadly, but worry not. The acting was practically flawless, the cinematography was fantastic, the sound was brilliant, the writing was tight and checked all the boxes, but... it was still formulaic. I assume that since this was based on a true story, some liberties were taken, but for the most part I hope it was all true. I haven't bothered reading the real history yet. Alas, something was missing in the end... That "Right Stuff" feeling, or what we felt from "Top Gun" or "Aliens," or even the absurd tasty desire to watch yet again that I felt with "Days of Thunder." The urge to go back and watch again, immediately... wasn't there. To reach the exalted halls of four stars, a film must be a) timeless, b) infinitely rewatchable, c) memorable, and d) have amazing characters. I do not feel "Ford" checked off a, b or d. It was #%&*$# good, but it wasn't tops. *** 1/2 out of ****
2) "Code 46" -- I really should read the description more closely of films I think I will watch and look for tiny details, rather than the bigger picture of what the film might be about. Two weeks in a row I snagged a film that involved infidelity. Alas, this one had a twist, and unlike the last, didn't exactly try and justify what had happened. This film was true science fiction. Interesting concepts about cloning, entertaining dialogue, and the plot highlighted some points in scifi that aren't often seen in film. Short, sweet, to the point, I almost dare say this was hard sci-fi because of world building and technical structuring, without all the in-depth "Trekkie" jargon. I am happy to have found another sci fi movie I enjoyed, for rare are these films in modern times. This one was released in 2003, though. Good movie! *** out of ****
Code 46 definitely looks interesting I'll give it a go. Thanks.
Pretty good film to be honest. I always enjoy a bit of Dave Bautista. The movie is 2 and a half hours long but it didn't feel like it.
As to NFB's 'review' and his conclusion about the Huey. It never carried '8 armed people' or '200 million in cash' which he would have known if he'd watched the whole movie but that's par for the course with this guy.
If you watch Jaws backwards, it's a heart warming story about a shark that spits out so many people that they have to open a beach.
A good stiff-upper-lip morale-boosting film from 1942, though I read they had to put a curb on leading man Noel Coward's attempts to seduce the men playing ratings!
though I read they had to put a curb on leading man Noel Coward's attempts to seduce the men playing ratings!
YIKES. That sort of behavior wasn't exactly acceptable in 1940's era Europe or North America to say the least.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
So no one told you life was gonna this way (when you age).
Joey and Chandler are no longer Friends, they are Old Friends. Joey got big too.
The unscripted idea was dumb. They should had made an episode following up on the events of the series finale instead of 103 minutes of them sitting around on the Friends set gossiping.
Who invited James Corden? Justin Bieber also show up. I can't stand them!
Some TV series should not have reunion episodes after 17 years! Worse reunion episode ever!
I never watched the original show, so I don't know what all the hype or hysteria is about.
My ex wife loved the show so by extension I was forced to watch a few episodes. It was a HUGE ratings success in the 90's but the idea of doing a "reunion" show at this time seems utterly dumb to me.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
I never watched the original show, so I don't know what all the hype or hysteria is about.
Unfortunately it was shown in the UK before Homicide : Life On The Street came on so used to catch few minutes of the end of Friends. I was never tempted to watch the whole thing!
Plus the boyfriends and husbands who were forced to watch it or else they ended up sleeping on the couch.
Last edited by PanzerMeyer; 05/27/2104:19 PM.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
Wrath Of Man was quite good. Not normally a Statham fan but watched it as my boy wanted to. Quite gritty, good action scenes and full of stars that were nice to see.