Your movie reviews

[Pultost]

So I thought it could be fun to give short reviews of movies you've seen, doesn't matter if you saw it yesterday or yesteryear or earlier. If you've seen it, review it.

No rules about length, but please don't make "reviews" that go like this: "Batman & Robin. It sucked lol." :rolleyes:

Since I started this thread, I'll begin. xD

Phantasm, from 1979.

For those who've noticed my recent posts in the "last movie you saw" thread, I've had a Phantasm marathon lately, which is about to come to an end. However, I'm just going to talk about the first one this time around.

Phantasm was made with a shoestring budget. It cost them $300.000 to make, which is a lot if they fall into your lap, but not much to make a movie for, even 40 years ago. It's easy to see on the effects and props that it was cheap to make.

The movie is about this alien, known as "The Tall Man", played by Angus Scrimm (Born Lawrence Rory Guy), who sadly passed away in 2016 at the age of 89. The Tall Man takes the dead from their graves, crush them into minions and have them work as slaves in his nasty little universe (which kinda resembles March, although it's never confirmed).

It all begins with the main protagonist's brother being murdered. After attending his funeral, he (Jody), his 13 year old brother (Michael) and ice cream vending friend (Reggie) get entangled in the Tall Man's plan. Together they do what they can to stop him (never heard that before, huh? :P)

Despite the low budget and the cliche "good vs evil" theme, it still has some elements that mess with your mind. As Don Coscarelli, the man behind it all once said in an interview: "People would walk out of the theater, and still don't know what the f**** is going on".

Is it a good movie? No. Hell no. Is it entertaining? Oh yeah. For anyone who enjoy horror, I suggest you give this one a look-see. :yes:

Oh, and a fair warning: I'm probably gonna review the sequels in order after this. :P

[Gazebo]

Black Panther - SPOILERS AHEAD

I have seen this movie regarded as a masterpiece of cinema, a tour de force of film, a true magnum opus. It got like a 98% or something on Rotten Tomatoes and I have seen it compared to one of the best (if not the best) comic book movie of all time, The Dark Knight. Hell, the movie was even nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. So does this superhero movie about the titular feline-suited Wakandan truly live up to all of its hype? Spoiler alert: it does not, not at all.

The effects: The effects may be the worst part of this film, they look almost amateurish and can be downright unbearable at times, such as the final fight between T’Challa and Killmonger. We are also graced with bad looking battle-rhinos and ridiculous dragonfly-themed airships, among other special effects, throughout the film’s runtime. Many may say that a movie’s special effects do not matter, and such people are entitled to this opinion, but I cannot beat to look at a film if it is just downright ugly to look at.

The music: The score of this film, on the other hand, is arguably the best part of this film. It is a blend of Marvel’s traditional superhero themes blended with African-inspired rhythms, drums, and chants. If you can’t bear to watch the cacophony of CGi on screen, then you can at least close your eyes and listen to Black Panther’s score.

The setting: Another plus about the movie is its setting, propped up against the backdrop of the technologically-advanced, central African nation of Wakanda. The movie does a great job of building this stunning world that’s been hidden away from the rest of civilization. Wakanda is just a cool and beautiful place, capped off by the amazing shot at the end of the movie where Killmonger and T’Challa are sitting before a setting African sun.

The plot: The plot of Black Panther is, to say the least, ridiculous. It centers around this miracle metal that can do literally f**king anything. It is THE McGuffin to end ALL McGuffins. Vibranium, which throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe has only been this super strong metal impervious to anything, is now solely responsible for all of Wakanda’s technological prowess. It can heal Bilbo Baggins’ broken back, it can fuel airships and propel magnetic trains, and mutates heart-shaped herbs that give the Black Panther his super powers. It seems that the only thing this element can’t do is make a good movie.

The characters: The characters of the movie are fine. Bilbo Baggins, the movie’s resident white dude, sucks. Shuri, the film’s technologically brilliant little sister to T’Challa, often times comes off as annoying and makes horribly dated pop culture jokes (i.e. “What are those” and “Whip my hair back and forth”). T’Challa is a likeable character, but I can’t help but feel he has been dumbed down in terms of his complexity and badassery since his appearance in Captain America: Civil War. Killmonger is pretty cool, though the uniform he wears throughout the first half of the movie looks weird, out-of-place, and nothing like it did in the comics. The girlfriend character and the queen are very forgettable, but the General character was cool, and Forrest Whittaker’s character was really cool too. M’Baku was the best character though, and steals the show whenever he is on screen.

The action: The action and the fighting for the large part is very bad, made worse by the film’s poor effects and poor plot revolving around Vibranium. The fights between M’Baku and T’Challa and Killimonger and T’Challa over the waterfall are the best fight scenes. But the entire finale, between Bilbo Baggins flying a futuristic fighter jet around, to the fight on the ground with all the battle-rhinos, to the class between the Killmonger black panther and the T’Challa black panther, is really really bad. I do, however, find this to be common in Marvel films, where they just throw a massive CGi f**kfest at the audience that drags down most of their movies (even my favorite one, Infinity War).

Concluding remarks: This movie is not bad. But it is not NEARLY as good as people want it to be or say it is. I understand what the movie has done for black representation in Hollywood, and this is undoubtedly what drove it to be nominated for the Oscar, but this does not excuse the film’s shortcomings. Looking at it from a purely critical scope, as all films should be, Black Panther is nothing more than your average, run-of-the-mill Marvel schlock that they shovel out as filler between Avengers movies. It is, at least, better than Captain Marvel was. Overall, I’ll give this movie a 6/10

[Karalectric]

Here is my review of The Mist directed by Frank Darabont. It was effective horror! Or perhaps i should say it belongs more in the monster movie genre? But it is based on a Stephen King book so that should go without saying. He must be a big King fan because he also directed Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile too.

Basic plot: A mist comes rolling into this small town next to a military base. There are things in the mist. People bunker up in a grocery store. That's it! The monsters were creative and appropriately scary! Like many movies like this where characters are desperate and trying to survive, it asks the question of who the real monster is - them or us? And it is also a warning of dangers of religious fanaticism. The CGI was a bit rough in spots and it is most effective when building a sense of atmosphere and dread and above all, hopelessness. A number of characters felt one dimensional. But the movie TERRIFIED ME, so it worked. Oh and i legit hated the ending. That was just.... no. I can't argue it is not memorable, but AHHHHHHHH. I give The Mist 3.5/4 stars.

[Pultost]

Here is my review of The Mist directed by Frank Darabont. It was effective horror! Or perhaps i should say it belongs more in the monster movie genre? But it is based on a Stephen King book so that should go without saying. He must be a big King fan because he also directed Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile too.

Basic plot: A mist comes rolling into this small town next to a military base. There are things in the mist. People bunker up in a grocery store. That's it! The monsters were creative and appropriately scary! Like many movies like this where characters are desperate and trying to survive, it asks the question of who the real monster is - them or us? And it is also a warning of dangers of religious fanaticism. The CGI was a bit rough in spots and it is most effective when building a sense of atmosphere and dread and above all, hopelessness. A number of characters felt one dimensional. But the movie TERRIFIED ME, so it worked. Oh and i legit hated the ending. That was just.... no. I can't argue it is not memorable, but AHHHHHHHH. I give The Mist 3.5/4 stars.

Have to check out that one! :D

[Karalectric]

Have to check out that one! :D

Thanks. I wanna see yours too. :D

Gazebo i definitely liked BP way more. That's okay. :) i did wanna remind that guy who played Gollum was in the movie too. He and Martin Freeman were the Tolkien white guys? ;)

[InternetTeen]

Here is my review of The Mist directed by Frank Darabont. It was effective horror! Or perhaps i should say it belongs more in the monster movie genre? But it is based on a Stephen King book so that should go without saying. He must be a big King fan because he also directed Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile too.

Basic plot: A mist comes rolling into this small town next to a military base. There are things in the mist. People bunker up in a grocery store. That's it! The monsters were creative and appropriately scary! Like many movies like this where characters are desperate and trying to survive, it asks the question of who the real monster is - them or us? And it is also a warning of dangers of religious fanaticism. The CGI was a bit rough in spots and it is most effective when building a sense of atmosphere and dread and above all, hopelessness. A number of characters felt one dimensional. But the movie TERRIFIED ME, so it worked. Oh and i legit hated the ending. That was just.... no. I can't argue it is not memorable, but AHHHHHHHH. I give The Mist 3.5/4 stars.


That is legit one of the saddest movies I've ever seen.

[Karalectric]

Here is my review of Dark Phoenix, written and directed by Simon Kinsberg.

Basic plot - The X-men go into space to rescue astronaughts and Jean Grey is hit by a solar flair and becomes one of the greatest powers in the universe!!! It is no spoiler to say she goes... dark. Will the X-men be willing to take out one of its own? And how? Meanwhile a new threat emerges.

This is based on a classic comic from the 80s which i have never read, so i can't comment on that. Also i should note that i am not a fangirl here at the same level as i am with the Marvel movies. That said, it was... okay. For the last movie in a franchise, i kinda expected it to go out... bigger? The action sequences were great, especially early on and at the end. It kinda dragged in the middle. Jennifer Lawrence is a great actress, but here it felt like she just showed up to get paid and fulfill her contract. James McAvoy was great as Xavier and sold his motivations and regrets. I also liked Michael Fassbender as Magneto and and he had some kickass scenes with his magentic powers. Sophie Turner was serviceable as Jean Grey, but there was NO chemistry and at all between her and Cyclops. They tried to make so we had some emotional connection with these newer characters in the last movie, Xmen: Apocalypse but i wasn't feeling it and no payoff here. I was reading that they reshot the entire third act because it was too similiar to another movie (my guess: Captain Marvel). It is hard to describe except to say you can tell. They want us to believe the Dark Phoenix has power to destroy entire planets but I never felt the stakes are that high.

The X-men movies as a whole are not quite as thought out as the MCU. It is a mess. Consider that X-men: First Class was in the 60s. This takes place in 1992. Beast has been in all. Shouldn't he be in his 50s? Damn he looks good! :P And there is a character death that doesn't quite add up with the first movies. Well, these newer movies were reboot you say? Not so fast. X-men: Days of Future Past combines the new and old characters so these are clearly prequels. Ugh. What a headache. So yea, don't think about it TOO much and you will enjoy the movie more. lol

2/4 stars.

[Pultost]

Here is my review of Dark Phoenix, written and directed by Simon Kinsberg.

Basic plot - The X-men go into space to rescue astronaughts and Jean Grey is hit by a solar flair and becomes one of the greatest powers in the universe!!! It is no spoiler to say she goes... dark. Will the X-men be willing to take out one of its own? And how? Meanwhile a new threat emerges.

This is based on a classic comic from the 80s which i have never read, so i can't comment on that. Also i should note that i am not a fangirl here at the same level as i am with the Marvel movies. That said, it was... okay. For the last movie in a franchise, i kinda expected it to go out... bigger? The action sequences were great, especially early on and at the end. It kinda dragged in the middle. Jennifer Lawrence is a great actress, but here it felt like she just showed up to get paid and fulfill her contract. James McAvoy was great as Xavier and sold his motivations and regrets. I also liked Michael Fassbender as Magneto and and he had some kickass scenes with his magentic powers. Sophie Turner was serviceable as Jean Grey, but there was NO chemistry and at all between her and Cyclops. They tried to make so we had some emotional connection with these newer characters in the last movie, Xmen: Apocalypse but i wasn't feeling it and no payoff here. I was reading that they reshot the entire third act because it was too similiar to another movie (my guess: Captain Marvel). It is hard to describe except to say you can tell. They want us to believe the Dark Phoenix has power to destroy entire planets but I never felt the stakes are that high.

The X-men movies as a whole are not quite as thought out as the MCU. It is a mess. Consider that X-men: First Class was in the 60s. This takes place in 1992. Beast has been in all. Shouldn't he be in his 50s? Damn he looks good! :P And there is a character death that doesn't quite add up with the first movies. Well, these newer movies were reboot you say? Not so fast. X-men: Days of Future Past combines the new and old characters so these are clearly prequels. Ugh. What a headache. So yea, don't think about it TOO much and you will enjoy the movie more. lol

2/4 stars.

I think I'll just wait until it's available on a streaming site. :P

[Ragle]

I think I'll just wait until it's available on a streaming site. :P

I recommend that too. I say, it isn't worth to watch it on a big screen.

[Pultost]

I recommend that too. I say, it isn't worth to watch it on a big screen.

Yeah I figure our TV screen is big enough. xD

[Ragle]

I got a cheep beamer instead.

[Pultost]

I got a cheep beamer instead.

I guess that'll do. ^^

[Knightley]

Not a really a review but I just want to say everyone should watch Baby Driver Its directed by Edgar Wright so you know its going to have loads of amazing practical camera work and amazing camera transitions. plus all the music is perfectly timed with what is happening in shot including thing like the sounds of the doors closing and gunshots everything lol every time I watch it I notice lots of little details to just amazing how everything you see and hear is all perfectly part of the story like the fact babys sun glasses slowly get lighter as he starts to become less blind to the world around him, or his under shirt get slowly dark as he because more criminal and that all the characters have there own colour themes without being really obvious.

One more really cool thing is that you learn in the film that baby likes to record and sample the thing people say and make music out of it. in the film baby also samples things into what he says like there's a seen where he is watch tv and hes flipping through channels every thing they say as hes flipping he says in the movie at some point how cool is it that

Sorry for the rant but I really like camera work and eg in this film plus the story is really good hahaha

[Karalectric]

I think I'll just wait until it's available on a streaming site. :P

yw :D

Not a really a review but I just want to say everyone should watch Baby Driver Its directed by Edgar Wright so you know its going to have loads of amazing practical camera work and amazing camera transitions. plus all the music is perfectly timed with what is happening in shot including thing like the sounds of the doors closing and gunshots everything lol every time I watch it I notice lots of little details to just amazing how everything you see and hear is all perfectly part of the story like the fact babys sun glasses slowly get lighter as he starts to become less blind to the world around him, or his under shirt get slowly dark as he because more criminal and that all the characters have there own colour themes without being really obvious.

One more really cool thing is that you learn in the film that baby likes to record and sample the thing people say and make music out of it. in the film baby also samples things into what he says like there's a seen where he is watch tv and hes flipping through channels every thing they say as hes flipping he says in the movie at some point how cool is it that

Sorry for the rant but I really like camera work and eg in this film plus the story is really good hahaha

Wow yea it looked like a fun movie with a weird title, but it sounds like lots of creative choices and i appreciate that kind of stuff too. :) Will definitetly check it out!

[Pultost]

Black Panther

I've seen it myself now, and yes, I wasn't impressed. Definitely not the worst movie I've seen, and it wasn't a total waste of time, but not a movie I'd want to watch again. 5/10, and I'm being generous here. :P

[Karalectric]

I heard that the Star Wars Christmas Special was legendary level of terrible.... so naturally i had to take a look for myself! The entire thing is on youtube right now btw, so you can watch it too!! If you dare. lol Unless the copyright police have gotten to it.

My mega spoiler review.....

The plot is basically this: Chewie and Han are racing to try to get to Chewie's home planet in time for Life Day with his family - his mom, dad and lil brother. The problem? Han and Chewie have imperial trouble. The bigger problem?? They cut away from those two - who we care about following and instead we spent more time... LOTS more time.... just observing a Wookiee household and them doing normal everyday Wookiee things.... like his mom watching a cooking show and cooking. And these scenes are BORING AF. Especially since they have conversations in their language, but we don't speak fluent like Han and no subtitles so we are sitting here like :what: At one point his dad is watching some VR Wookiee version soft core porn... or something? :lol3: It was... awkward. :P Every once in a while they galactic Facetime with Luke and Leia and an assortment of other guest stars i did not recognize. Eventually the Empire shows up at the door and they distract them with things like Jefferson Starship music videos (okay, i did like that! :metal: ). And Lumpy.... did i mention that's Chewie's little brother's name? Not making this up.... he does watch a Star Wars cartoon where Luke and the gang meet Boba Fett for the first time. So i admit that was kinda cool. Very meta! Eventually Han and Chewie FINALLY show up and we are like :yeah: ACTION! but they dispatch the imperials in like one minute. :confused: Then the Life Day celebration begins. Leia gives a speech about unity and sings a song and .... i am not 100 percent convinced she was sober. C3P0 and R2D2 are there and we are happy :wub:, but then C3P0 ruins the positive vibes and says something like, "i wish we were not mechanical so we could feel the holiday joy you feel" and then we are depressed. :(

So there you have it, the Star Wars Christmas Special! I give it 1/10 stars. The one star because Jefferson Starship! :D

[Pultost]

Thanks for the review and warning, karacoustic! :D It doesn't seem like I'm missing out on much, I've seen some of it and gave up, and I don't think I'll bother with giving it another try. :lol:

[Karalectric]

Thanks for the review and warning, karacoustic! :D It doesn't seem like I'm missing out on much, I've seen some of it and gave up, and I don't think I'll bother with giving it another try. :lol:

yw :D smart move. xD Here, at least enjoy the best part.

cKL-6rBkQN0

[Pultost]

yw :D smart move. xD Here, at least enjoy the best part.

cKL-6rBkQN0

That's catchy! :D But yeah, not enough for me to suffer through the whole movie. :P

[Gazebo]

Just saw Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker... yuck.

This will be a SPOILER FREE review, but it will be quite harsh.

The pacing is absurdly poor and rushed, at least that is the case with the beginning third of the movie, where you practically get whiplash from how fast you are tossed from place to place. The editing is also poor in the movie, which is uncharacteristic of JJ Abrams’ work. The cinematography and effects are also really bland and flat, which is also uncharacteristic of JJ Abrams and Star Wars films as a whole. Action scenes were dull, I feel we got no meaningful lightsaber duels that you can really look back on with awe and amazement. The space battles too are over the top and overloaded with action that it just numbs your senses.

The characters, for the most part, are total jokes. Finn’s character ark basically finished by the end of the first movie in this trilogy and has done nothing of value since then. Poe has regressed as a character, losing much of his likability and wit and now becoming just a stubborn arse. Rey sees no meaningful growth, you feel that the conflict supposedly going on within her is very forced, and she is beyond overpowered, possessing powers that no other Jedis have been shown to possess. Rose Tico from The Last Jedi is non-existent in the movie, and all the other side-characters that they try to shoe-horn in aren’t remotely meaningful enough to dedicate a separate sentence for them. The only good one was Kylo Ren, he and Adam Driver have owned this trilogy.

The story is ridiculous and was clearly conjured up in some sort of coked-up panic after the dumpster fire that ensued after The Last Jedi’s reception. I can’t delve too much into it in a spoiler-free review, but it seems like something a ten-year old could come up with. There are so many plot points that you are just forced to accept because of “the force” or just by shear happenstance. Plot holes are abound, and decision making in the movie and character motives oftentimes seem baffling. Great performances by the main cast of actors are squandered by shoddy writing. Many of the story resolutions have no satisfactory payoff, such as who Rey is, who her parents were, etc.

Good things: Chewbacca, C-3P0, and Leia were all done well, I enjoyed them. I enjoyed Ian McDermond’s performance as Emperor Palpatine, though his existence in this movie really makes no sense, it was not set up at all. There is a very touching scene with Kylo Ren and Han. The dynamic between Kylo and Rey is good. Uhhhh, and I guess it makes you look back and appreciate The Force Awakens more for being far better than the succeeding two movies in the trilogy.

I have trouble saying this movie deserves any more than 4/10 or 5/10 stars.

[Uniquemind]

Just saw Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker... yuck.

This will be a SPOILER FREE review, but it will be quite harsh.

The pacing is absurdly poor and rushed, at least that is the case with the beginning third of the movie, where you practically get whiplash from how fast you are tossed from place to place. The editing is also poor in the movie, which is uncharacteristic of JJ Abrams’ work. The cinematography and effects are also really bland and flat, which is also uncharacteristic of JJ Abrams and Star Wars films as a whole. Action scenes were dull, I feel we got no meaningful lightsaber duels that you can really look back on with awe and amazement. The space battles too are over the top and overloaded with action that it just numbs your senses.

The characters, for the most part, are total jokes. Finn’s character ark basically finished by the end of the first movie in this trilogy and has done nothing of value since then. Poe has regressed as a character, losing much of his likability and wit and now becoming just a stubborn arse. Rey sees no meaningful growth, you feel that the conflict supposedly going on within her is very forced, and she is beyond overpowered, possessing powers that no other Jedis have been shown to possess. Rose Tico from The Last Jedi is non-existent in the movie, and all the other side-characters that they try to shoe-horn in aren’t remotely meaningful enough to dedicate a separate sentence for them. The only good one was Kylo Ren, he and Adam Driver have owned this trilogy.

The story is ridiculous and was clearly conjured up in some sort of coked-up panic after the dumpster fire that ensued after The Last Jedi’s reception. I can’t delve too much into it in a spoiler-free review, but it seems like something a ten-year old could come up with. There are so many plot points that you are just forced to accept because of “the force” or just by shear happenstance. Plot holes are abound, and decision making in the movie and character motives oftentimes seem baffling. Great performances by the main cast of actors are squandered by shoddy writing. Many of the story resolutions have no satisfactory payoff, such as who Rey is, who her parents were, etc.

Good things: Chewbacca, C-3P0, and Leia were all done well, I enjoyed them. I enjoyed Ian McDermond’s performance as Emperor Palpatine, though his existence in this movie really makes no sense, it was not set up at all. There is a very touching scene with Kylo Ren and Han. The dynamic between Kylo and Rey is good. Uhhhh, and I guess it makes you look back and appreciate The Force Awakens more for being far better than the succeeding two movies in the trilogy.

I have trouble saying this movie deserves any more than 4/10 or 5/10 stars.

I have a vey different takeaway, giving this film a C (or a 7.2) individually, and as a trilogy it’s a 4.

I find it unfair to blame a singular movie for issues that got built up due to prior film’s lacking.

They do go into Rey’s story a bit, they do show her training, but the reason it’s hard to digest is because of the super fast story beats. Next scene, then next scene.

Disney really should’ve given this franchise the Harry Potter treatment and made a quadilogy to makeup for the lack of originality in episode 7, and a slow lore buildup for episode 8.


Surely real life issues like Carrie’s passing complicated matters of storytelling as well as the fact that so many characters that JJ Abrams set up as FOILS got off’d by Episode 8.


Phasma, Holdo, Luke, Han, all gone...without them as living characters it’s hard to use characters presence to buildup the humanism in other characters that the audience feels and relates to.


This is what your feeling, is it not? It feels like a playground story with make believe villains.

[Gazebo]

I have a vey different takeaway, giving this film a C (or a 7.2) individually, and as a trilogy it’s a 4.

I find it unfair to blame a singular movie for issues that got built up due to prior film’s lacking.

They do go into Rey’s story a bit, they do show her training, but the reason it’s hard to digest is because of the super fast story beats. Next scene, then next scene.

Disney really should’ve given this franchise the Harry Potter treatment and made a quadilogy to makeup for the lack of originality in episode 7, and a slow lore buildup for episode 8.


Surely real life issues like Carrie’s passing complicated matters of storytelling as well as the fact that so many characters that JJ Abrams set up as FOILS got off’d by Episode 8.


Phasma, Holdo, Luke, Han, all gone...without them as living characters it’s hard to use characters presence to buildup the humanism in other characters that the audience feels and relates to.


This is what your feeling, is it not? It feels like a playground story with make believe villains.

No I understand, it is very clear that JJ Abrams had a plan for something after the first movie, and was hoping the next director would flesh it out. As we know, Rian Johnson threw pretty much everything out. This movie was essentially just damage control though, trying to amend the mistakes of The Last Jedi AND trying to be an actual movie in and on its own. I feel it definitely would have benefited from either an extra 1-2 hours of screen time or a 10th movie entirely. However, that is not the creative route that was taken, and as a result of the situation that The Last Jedi put everybody in, The Rise of Skywalker suffers greatly as well