What film did you watch last night?

10 Cloverfield Lane. 7/10

Never saw the original, don't think you really need to, maybe read what the first one is about.
Its alright a bit "Err Ok" in parts and it ends in a way which made me think of pretty much every other film in the genre which disappointed me. Intense in parts with a few Jumpy moments. John Goodman was "good" playing the role he seems to be typecast into these days.
 
Straight out of Compton - 7/10 - I'm a heavy metal fan with zero interest in Rap music but this film held my attention and managed to keep me focused on the people rather than the music, and it's the people/actors that made this story so gripping. I particularly thought that the actor playing Ice-Cube did a phenomenal job, mastering his facial ticks etc down to a T. Well shot with a good understanding of it's target audience, 75% of which I'd guess only know the bare minimum of NWA etc before seeing the movie.

You'd be better watching Singles then centered around the seattle grunge scene
 
Zootropolis (2016) - 9/10
Colourful, upbeat, comical and entertaining throughout with a good moral message and a catchy theme song.
Although it slows a bit too much towards the end and it ends up labouring the point it’s trying to make, it’s otherwise a fun, funny, vibrant and very well put together animated adventure.

The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016) - 6/10
A solid performance all round, but with nothing really remarkable about it.
The great looking special effects, well put together action scenes and light hearted comical moments keep the adventure moving, but the overly predictable plot and characters leave it lacking in real substance.

Zootropolis was fun but never 9/10 7.5/10
 
Bridge of Spies - 6/10 - Tom Hanks yet again played the same person he always does and yet again, it works. I was surprised by the acclaim that the actor playing the Russian spy got, it's well acted but the performance is very muted. I thought the story was well written but glossed over lots in an effort to get to the bridge swap but the set dressing was amazing with the tiniest of details being period correct.

Our Brand is Crisis - 4/10 - A poor film overall but Sandra Bullock drags it kicking and screaming in to "below average" with a convincing character piece. Everyone else was far below par considering 2-3 of them are A-List stars. The story was predictably written and a bit heavy handed at times but some of the exterior cinematography when they went of tour around the country was great.

Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves - 7/10 - With 4 out of the 5 main stars of this old English story being American you can't expect the story to be much good, and it isn't, but the way all the actors seem to playing it for laughs with a sly wink makes this a much better film than it should have been. Obviously Alan Rickman is the best bit, with his performance being so over-acted it must have been great to film, but Costner also does well to keep up with him.
 
Crossing Over

Crossing Over is a multi-character canvas about immigrants of different nationalities struggling to achieve legal status in Los Angeles. The film deals with the border, document fraud, the asylum and green card process, work-site enforcement, naturalization, the office of counter terrorism and the clash of cultures.

It was alright like - 6.5, maybe a 7/10


Zootropolis was fun but never 9/10 7.5/10

But to him he thought that it was. To you, not so :p

/opinion
 
Minority Report - 7/10

This would have been a near billion dollar earner like Inception or Interstellar had they picked a decent actor rather than Cardboard Cutout Cruise.
 
Another bunch -

Sisters - 4/10 -
I like Amy and Tina, I think they play well off each other and have an easy, unforced manner to their comedy but sadly it's wasted in this film. It's gone for the Bridesmaids "female gross-out" style comedy and while there are some good laughs (an interesting insertion of a small hula doll), it just felt very forced for the rest of the film.

Ip Man 3 - 6/10 but 9/10 during the Wing Chun scenes - I loved the fight scenes in the first 2 and the two non-canon films (prequel & OAP Ip Man) but all the stories were extremely similar, which isn't a "bad" thing as people are only really watching for the fight scenes, however I always felt there was some subtle heart to the stories which came across well and the same is felt here. Mike Tyson has a minor role which was fun but the highlight was the martial arts display for the final fight which was stunning!

5th Wave - 2/10 - A poor mix of teen fiction taken from Enders Game, Hunger Games and whole bunch of other clichéd rubbish ruins what could have been a much better film if it hadn't already been made into a TV show (Falling Skies). It starts off relatively promisingly with a survivalist feel but by the end of the first 3rd it's descended to teen fiction in a very direct way (they kill all the adults) which doesn't help. Chloe Grace is well cast but badly directed and comes across poorly and Liv Schreiber is phoning it in from a different country!
 

Just been listening to a piece about this on R4. The fact its a genuine single take for the whole film is quite something, but it does make you wonder about the point of undertaking a film this way, other than to attract more attention. Does it really help with the story telling?

In the R4 program it was stated that the director chose the last of the three full takes, despite his cast a and DOP disagreeing with his decision, as it had the most mistakes, and a light failed during one section.
 
The Omen (1976).

One of the most atmospheric films I've seen, and so much better than most of what seems to do the rounds today. Great performances by Billie Whitelaw, Lee Remick, Gregory Peck, David Warner and, well, pretty much everyone else. :)


The Omen 2.

Still a good film, though I think it lacks some of the atmosphere that the first one has. Well worth watching, though, and a solid acting cast once again.
 
Last few now, just got 2 more after these -

Creed - 5/10 - Stallone of all people is the best actor in this by a long shot! Wow, I never thought I'd say those words :D The end fight, usually the high point, was shockingly poor with the opposition not looking like a world class prize fighter but more like a chubby bouncer. The lack of a "Hollywood" ending mirrored the 1st Rocky and was a pleasant surprise.

Spectre - 4/10 - Despite a strong opening scene, from the highs of Casino Royale every Bond has only been equal to, or more usually worse than, the last. Lack lustre stunts (with the exception of the Austrian Plane crash) including an "amazing Aston vs Jag car chase" where nothing actually happens, hyped hench-men who are bland throw-aways and a Villain who just isn't "scary" all add to the poor quality of the film. Time to leave it for 5-7 years and start again with a mid 30's actor who won't look knackered after the 4th film.
 
Zootopia/troplis...ducked out of watching this twice already as it didn't appeal, finally bullied into it by wifey today. I really liked it, animation was stunning, great imagination and a deep underlying message that's quite relevant, one of Disney's better efforts. 8.5/10
 
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