against the better judgement of my inner Jimminy Cricket voice I went and saw San Andreas today whilst on a required trip to Reno.
shoulda listened to the damn cricket.
i was tentative about the film in the first place, based on the trailer and that gawdawful cover of "California Dreamin'", but I tend to give The Rock the benefit of the doubt.
He really needs to get a new agent/rep, somebody that will actually help him pick out decent scripts.
the best things about the film were:
1. The Special Effects - the destruction looked pretty damn real.
2. The Rock - dude has great screen presence
3. Carla Gugino - she is aging well
4. Paul Giamatti - okay, so he was a little over-the-top, but he's pretty good at the being the cheesy schlep
That said, they obviously blew their budget on the FX and didn't have any money left over for a script. Tons of plot holes. Even the FX, The Rock, Gugino, and Paul G. couldn''t save this turd.
They obviously didn't spent much money on editing, either (at one point The Rock calls Gugino "Melissa", but her name in the film is "Emma" and that's only one of many editing gaffs).
Not sure why Hollywood thinks that big budget action films don't need good storylines or scripts. This one was paint-by-numbers.
Would have made a helluva good 30 minute short film with just all the destruction of Cali.
In the end, it was 2012, but with a more realisitic undertone (although 2012 was better by a nose).
Bottomline: don't bother.
Saw Mr. Holmes yesterday - not for the impatient or short attention span crowd; pretty low key and understated, but I enjoyed it immensely ..... being all old an stuff. Plenty of mystery, but not so much in the classic Holmes deduction way i.e. Doyle style.
I want to see this bad in IMAX, but doubt that will happen - out in a few weeks
http://www.merufilm.com/
https://vimeo.com/117236385
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Natures peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn. - John Muir
"How long can it last? For fuck sake this isn't heroin -
suck it up princess" - XXX on getting off mj
“This is infinity here,” he said. “It could be infinity. We don’t really don’t know. But it could be. It has to be something — but it could be infinity, right?” - Trump, on the vastness of space, man
This guy wasn't really a fan of Pixels.
Just saw "Amy" at the AFI in Silver Spring. Really good, and based nearly completely on archival footage and home video. Walking out of the theater I want to beat the fuck out of her Dad and castrate her husband. What a wreck, what a shame, what a voice.
I was pleasantly surprised by Terminator: Genisys.
Had some nice twists/homages to the first two films and some decent time travel paradoxes, as well.
Bunk ending, however (i.e. blatantly left it open for another sequel/reboot).
and if you wish to dissect the pretty obvious undertones, then it's an anti-technology rant gussied up as a sci-fi action thriller.
Jurassic World was mildly entertaining, as long as you left your brain at the door, but in the end it was basically a rehash of Jurassic Park and The Lost World. That said, it can also be viewed as an anti-Monsanto/GMO film, if one were looking to tag it as propaganda...Chris Pratt basically saved the day, though. and like Terminator: Genisys, the ending left it wide open for a sequel/another reboot, which is pretty callous and calculated imho (I miss the days when a film just ended and left something to the viewer's imagination).
Ant-Man was entertaining.
Pretty by-the-numbers Marvel cinematic venture that reminded me of Iron Man 1 and the first Captain America.
Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas save the picture; the villain is pretty ho-hum (and almost identical to the villain portrayed by Jeff Bridges in IM1).
The effects are pretty damn sweet.
There's a faint echo of what I presume to be Edgar Wright's original satiric/goofy Brit comedy vision lurking in the script (he exited the project over creative differences), but the direction by his replacement, Peyton Reed, fails to capture the visual insanity/nuance that Wright's films have (Shaun of the Dead; Hot Fuzz; At The World's End). I would have liked to have seen Wright's version, as it probably would have been a bit quirkier (and can't figure out why Marvel got cold feet considering how well Guardians of the Galaxy performed, largely due to it's quirk).
Still, a pretty entertaining summer popcorn flick and definitely one of the better Marvel movies to date.
Anyone considering checking out A Walk in the Woods? Set to be released today... Redford and Nolte should pair up well as far as the storyline goes.
I've read the book - eager to see how close the film matches. Gotta love a movie about the AT.
Finally made it back to see the entire film today ( a few weeks ago while I was watching it, the power went out in the theater complex about 30 minutes into the film). I gotta say it might very well be the best Mission Impossible of the lot.
The set piece were all pretty damn tight, especially the opera and the aforementioned motorcycle chase. The film reminded me of the best Bonds of yore (Connery's later escapades and Moore's early ones), what with a very bad (i.e. mean and devoid of morals) bad guy and tons of exotic locales, topped off with solid pacing and a strong cast. They probably shoulda let Christopher (The Usual Suspects) McQuarrie write and direct the series a lot sooner
Meanwhile, the new Fanastic 4 reboot, while not quite as bad as all the negative reviews would lead one to believe, still ain't that great.
It's pretty hollow and devoid of heart, at least in terms of character development and storyline.
The casting was interesting, but quite a few of those involved felt like they were just going through the motions and collecting paychecks.
Betting that they shelve the series for awhile (like they've done with The Hulk) and reboot it again further down the road.
Upon reflection, the motorcycle/car chase in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is definitely up there with the chases in Bullit, The French Connection, To Live and Die in L.A., Ronin, The Matrix 2, in terms of short chases inserted into longer movies (not including Mad Max: Fury Road, since the entire film is a chase or Road Warrior, since the climactic chase is the entire 3rd Act).
For some reason my mind was drawing a blank on pure motorcycle chase scenes (most involve other vehicles), but ya gotta love the webz (searched "Great Motorcycle Chase Scenes"):
http://whatculture.com/film/13-best-...hases-film.php
http://motorbikewriter.com/top-10-mo...rcycle-chases/
http://www.motorcycle.com/top10/top-...es-movies.html
http://motorcycle-central.com/motorcycle-movie-scenes/
Last edited by dookey67; 09-02-2015 at 11:50 PM.
Meru: beautifully photographed and the narration wasn't stupid like a lot of climbing movies. Jimmy Chin did a great job - recommended.
The Martian -
Sure glad ridley Scott took the gig. Stunning movie that just on the cinematography and cgi level took it to a whole different level. Would love to see it in imax. Book readers will nitpick all the stuff they obviously had to leave out, but that only subtracts .1 to give it 4.9/5* in my book.
* - based on a standard where the dd and Mike Wilson sex tape is
.0001/5
Last edited by NoPostholio; 10-02-2015 at 07:17 PM.
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Natures peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn. - John Muir
"How long can it last? For fuck sake this isn't heroin -
suck it up princess" - XXX on getting off mj
“This is infinity here,” he said. “It could be infinity. We don’t really don’t know. But it could be. It has to be something — but it could be infinity, right?” - Trump, on the vastness of space, man
There is no reason not to see The Martian.
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Natures peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn. - John Muir
"How long can it last? For fuck sake this isn't heroin -
suck it up princess" - XXX on getting off mj
“This is infinity here,” he said. “It could be infinity. We don’t really don’t know. But it could be. It has to be something — but it could be infinity, right?” - Trump, on the vastness of space, man
Took my daughters to go see Everest this weekend.... I liked it....Pretty cool cinematography... Definitely a different perspective than Krakauer's, which is prolly why he's bitching about it. Oh, and my daughter asked me beforehand if it was "safe" to go to this theater, because "people get shot at the movies".... She's ten. I know, I know, I'll take it to Polyass....
Sicario - there is no reason not to see it
Went initially b/c emily blunt is my kind of brit - really surprised at how good of a film it is. Dark, disturbing and brutally honest about our drug policies. If you watched Narcos on netflix, it is almost like a movie continuation of that plotline. Benicio kills it - best supporting actor in the bag.
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Natures peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn. - John Muir
"How long can it last? For fuck sake this isn't heroin -
suck it up princess" - XXX on getting off mj
“This is infinity here,” he said. “It could be infinity. We don’t really don’t know. But it could be. It has to be something — but it could be infinity, right?” - Trump, on the vastness of space, man
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