MinosOfCrete

Right off the bat, I went into this having read the dismal reviews and having been majorly disappointed by the **** that was Batman v Superman. I expected a similar **** aside from a shaky start with a few too many flashbacks, I was rewarded with a can of enjoyable blockbuster action with an offbeat superhero movie that actually had a few good comedic moments that genuinely made me laugh out loud. I'm going to say I wasn't really blown away by Leto as the Joker, even though I love him in other roles and when he's singing in his band, but don't get it twisted, this isn't the next Nolan Batman series, but it was never meant to be, it's a fun slightly messy story about misfits who don't really mesh well with everyday society and does well in telling that story.

I know alot of people are bashing this film as some kind of disgrace to the sci-fi genre, but take it for what it is, a blockbuster flick to enjoy your popcorn with and watch cool explosions (and they ARE cool, special effects in this are great just like in the last one). I remember watching the first one when it came out and loving how 90s it was. It had that mixture of gritty action of the 80s but was also campy, slightly upbeat and kind of signalled that sense of optimism everyone had after the Cold War ended(none of us are enemies now, we're all on the same page kind of vibe). It was awesome, and I liked the way this one captured that same tone in never taking itself too seriously whilst also creating a certain sense of suspense at the same time(yeah we all know the goods guys are going to win, but the journey matters more than the destination). For everyone who's pretty cynical or prefers hyper-realistic sci-fi, don't go for this, but if you just enjoy alot of crazy weapons tearing things apart and some pretty cool dogfight scenes, go for it. I loved the way they brought back alot of the old characters and had that sense of harking back to the last film without completely leeching off it. It's not meant to be the next Citizen Kane, so take it for what it is and enjoy it!

I went into Victoria with the knowledge that the whole thing is captured in one take, which is pretty impressive considering the fact that for the whole 2 hours and 20 minutes, the actress actually does a pretty good job of maintaining a realistic performance. **** whole thing is way too drawn out, and obviously since it's one take, there are super long filler sections which aren't emotionally interesting or significant, it's literally just sections of the characters driving or walking to more interesting set-pieces or scenes. In a normal movie, moving from say a nightclub to a rooftop store scene is edited out because it bring you to the best part quickly. Here, the technical trick erodes the cogency of the story and leaves us looking at people just rambling along or driving in silence. Does that make for a good movie if we ignore the 'wow' factor of it being taken in a single take? Having said that, there are actually a few interesting scenes towards the end which actually felt tense, and the cinematic style was pretty effective in making that tension felt. However for me, this is no Breaking Bad level of tension, the payoff isn't really worth the wait as the story can't really evolve into something more complicated within the rigid format within which it's allowed to operate. Final thoughts: This isn't a 'bad' movie, but it's not a great one either. In some parts though, it's just flat out boring, and being long, it just feels like it's fiddling with its thumbs, as we wait for the characters to travel to another place to do something more enthralling than what they're doing right now. Maybe that's why editing really is so crucial, and it really shows with this film. If you like the super-organic feel of characters in a film though, you might enjoy this one.

Rarely do I ever bother giving anything above 8, never mind a 10, but somehow, most of these critics seem to have missed one of the best pieces of sci-fi to have graced us not only for the past decade, but possibly since the 80s renaissance of sci-fi classics. Interstellar is quite simply a stunning spectacle, but also achieves an unprecedented amount of characterization for each individual character whilst also using them as a platform to scrutinize humanity's greatest flaws, but also its greatest strengths, something which lends this epic a broad emotional range as well as amazing shots of the cold, bleak and beautiful desolation of space and other worlds. These characters would have been nothing though without the great acting carried out by everyone, especially McConaughey, who has somehow gone from generic 2D 'pretty boy' rom-coms to bleak, apocalyptic sci epics with apparent ease, he manages to root the existential chaos of the barren future with very human roots, and lends a defiant optimism in a film which does bleak and despondent very well indeed. The theme of survival is done exceptionally well, and whereas Inception was an ambitious mess which seemed to trumpet its importance without ever truly justifying it, the setting of unpredictable and chaotic space lends itself much more naturally to the confusion and awe which Nolan strives towards. The beginning is slow, but you begin to appreciate its purpose later on in the film as it straps you in metaphorically for the roller-coaster ride that is the journey itself. I will admit, I feel Nolan indulges a bit too much at the very very end in terms of falling to his Inception like weakness of overly abstract symbols, but he saves the brilliant coherence of the movie with a more thematically consistent ending. Enter this movie with zero expectations, endure the first 20 minutes or so of painful nothingness, and then embrace the cosmic splendor that awaits. This movie feels like a terrific re-imagining of 2001 without becoming cliche.

Dracula Untold is a film with an intriguing premise of one man's struggle between man and monster that seems to flit between half-hearted depiction of Vlad's dark moral descent whilst somewhat absurdly portraying him as the Blockbuster action hero good guy in order to make us feel like we still have to root for the guy. It's sad that so many more complex aspects of the film, such as the relationship between Vlad and the Turks, or even the personal relationship between Vlad and his 'Turkish brother' quickly becomes sidelined in favor of a less mature 'good guys vs bad guys' battle. There really isn't that much character development in anyone, even the supposed 'dark descent' of Dracula never really transforms his character in a plausible or sophisticated way. Everyone who knows Dracula just seems to be like, 'You're an all powerful bloodthirsty vampire? Hmm k, whatevs.' The thing is, there are actually some really good actors in this film, here and there, so I have to chalk it up to a family-friendly, Hollywood approved script that stops the characters from treating Dracula as anything more than the amoral badass who we're supposed to be rooting for rather than the brutal monster which the film insists now and again we should view him as. If you like Dracula and vampire films, I'd say give it a go, but just as long as you realize this is a Call of Duty-esque rehash of a tried and tested formula rather than something truly innovative. If you don't like vampires, and you're into complex, emotionally powerful movies, don't be fooled, this is through and through a popcorn action flick.

I don't know about the other reviews but I loved this movie! It's not Allen's best, sure, but it's still a charming tale of Firth's cold, miserable Hobbesian rationalist confronted not merely with the logic-defying mysteries of Stone's character alone, but more importantly, the perennial battle of love as a rational, cold game of calculation vs a more abstract and unknown spiritual doctrine. Firth's acting was always on point, although I have to agree that the final 20 minutes or so of the film seem to halt abruptly in terms of pace and wit, and whilst it isn't quite a car crash, it isn't as consistently engaging and entertaining as the rest of the film. My advice, don't go into this film expecting the best Woody Allen film ever, this is an enjoyable character study of Firth's character, and whether the caustic and cynical nature of modern day life can continue to embrace the illogical passion and mysteries of romanticized love.

Awesome trailer, lacklustre film. This is a film which is supposed to be about monsters fighting monsters, but seems intent on focusing as little attention as possible on the incredible struggle between two monoliths, to concentrate on a decent, but far from original story of a 'man torn away from family, and suffering to fight for his family' tale. The craziest part of this whole film isn't what's in it, but rather, what ISN'T in it, primarily Godzilla himself. Like seriously, they mention godzilla a few times at the start of the film, but the next 40 mins isn't even about Godzilla, it's about some other plot instead. Godzilla then briefly appears, and boy when he appears for his 4 minutes, he sure is an awesome sight to behold...until we switch back to some annoying plot about how the military keep on angsting like a teenage girl before prom about how they can't kill the beast, and how ineffective they are, and so on and so forth. For me personally, this feels like a few parts of an A+ film sprinkled over what is essentially a B movie. Bryan Cranston is awesome(as always), making his personal tragedy felt even across the screen, and portraying his role as haunted paranoid in a brilliant fashion...which makes everything else look ridiculous when you see how unenthused the other actors seem to be in their roles. Even the Godzilla special effects are amazing, when they actually show **** that makes the 90% of the film where Godzilla is absent(and he is absent, not like a 'i'm doing something awesome' absent, but more like a 'I show up, wreck **** for 5 mins, then return back to the sea for some relaxing swimming for the next 50 mins' absent) feel so incredibly dry and sterile. For the action sequences, I hope you enjoy watching 100 foot lizards wrestling with 80 foot **** A CRAPPY TV FOR 30 SECONDS(seriously, look at the movie where Godzilla first appears and the kid is watching TV, and that is how long it's shown for). Don't be enticed by the A+ special effects or 20 mins of Bryan Cranston into looking at 60 minutes of essentially nothing of note. This is not worth your time, and should be renamed from 'Godzilla' to 'Walking with MUTOs', because the only thing this documentary(not action film) is lacking is a David Attenborough voiceover.