Rewatching "Captain America: The First Avenger." This is still in my top five superhero movies ever; a great balance of action & story with a lot of genuine heart to carry it all.

and holy SHIT, Hayley Atwell is gorgeous.

Finally got around to watching This is The End.

The biggest problem with the movie is it's fucking boring. At the initial party, it was kinda fun seeing all these actors play up the worst parts of their media personas for our entertainment, but once the disaster portion starts, we have to sit through an hour long slog of a bunch of unlikeable dicks, sat around in a house, being dicks. I get that this was done on purpose, and was supposed to be like a critique of reality TV and all that, but I hate reality TV anyway, let alone a movie playing up the worst aspects of it in an attempt to make their giant demon dick movie seem more intelligent than it really is.

And sure, the last half an hour was pretty awesome, where the movie suddenly decided to go all out and not even question what was going on and turn it into an all out apocalyptic blockbuster with demons and shit, but that doesn't change the fact that I was so bored during that middle section, I kept pausing it to browse porn just to stop myself nodding off.

Maybe if it was like forty five minutes shorter, or maybe if the initial party or final demon bouts were longer this could have been pretty great, but I just found it coma inducing, which is a shame as it did have a strong beginning and end.

Watched the Lightning Thief sequel, Sea Of Monsters. The biggest problem is how the movie comes together, with a top range SyFy original look, Sea of Monsters is basically two hours of climactic action sequences, so when the final climactic battle and aftermath arrive, you don't even realise you're at an ending until the credits start rolling.

Still, you could do a whole lot worse than two hours of decent looking CGI monsters, this film is actually pretty fun, even if it is fun of the most vapid, popcorny variety. It blazes along at breakneck speed, leaping from one set piece to another with barely a breath in between, and despite the speed no set piece feels like it's going through the motions, as every blend of the modern and Greek Mythology feels inspired and genius. So you may have no idea what is going on, but you're watching a dude fight a transforming flame thrower bull robot thing and it is AWESOME.

The other good thing, is the movie is funny, intentionally! Especially Hermes as portrayed by Nathan Fillion who makes a comment that for the certain kind of cross over fan, is going to leave you in hysterics.

Sadly, beneath all the imaginative sequences, is a very typical core at the heart. A dude betrays his kind as he feels downtrodden, he wants to rebel so he turns evil, gets way in over his head, luckily there is an under achieving dude who is actually destined to be the hero to stand in his way etc etc it's pretty much the plot of every Young Adult fantasy novel ever written.

I'll say this, the books are considerably better.

I read the first three years ago, hearing that Sea of Monsters isn't getting a sequel makes me kinda wanna start reading them again.

I started reading the books after the first movie came out.

Needless to say, I was disappointed with the first movie when I finally watched it.

Why would they take out Ares appearing at the end on his motorbike! And make Luke the main villain?

Why would they make the ENTIRE F*CKING PLOT OF THE MOVIE revolve around a bunch of pearls that were LITERALLY GIVEN TO PERCY IN ONE CHAPTER‽‽ Who the f*ck thought that would be a much better story‽

I just don't get it man.

No one does.

Today's viewing is The Worlds End, the final part of the Cornetto trilogy and hopefully better than the similarly titled 'This is The End'. Like many films this year, this was one I was following for a long time, and was very excited for, before it came out and life moved on before I even realised as such, and missed my opportunity to watch it on the big screen, so I had to wait for home releases. Thankfully though, it was worth the wait!

The great thing, about films like this, is if you're of the right age, they are just so relatable. Gary King himself is a despicable sleezeball (intentionally so, and utterly sympathetic by the end), but when you get to a certain age, it's true that you're expected to grow up and also know what growing up actually means. You get to a certain age and you can no longer really define where home is. You get to a certain age where you either pull ahead of old friends, or simply get left behind. And if you do watch your friends disappear onto the horizon of six figures a year and a nuclear family, you can't help but to retreat further into your past, a time where we can pretend it was the best and conveniently edit out the bad - and live a life of what ifs, and regrets.

Most impressively, is just how well the whole thing works. As it moves from a piece of social realism (that errs on the side of melodrama that totally works because that is how all of these films have always been) into all out sci-fi blockbuster, it seems like it would be a jarring affair, like watching two halves of separate movies. Instead however, the film slips between these two genres with such ease of back and forth exchange that you can't help but believe that these two genres were always made for one another. And as the film reaches a head, and has to bring the whole thing together, it's utterly brilliant.

Also. What a cast! This is an ensemble of English talent held together by a ridiculously sharp screenplay. It isn't quite a laugh out loud affair, but it's bound to have you chuckling near constantly. Especially Nick Frost, who steals the show of every one of these movies.

Plus, the fight scenes are kick ass.

It's quite possible that Maniac is not only the best horror film of the year, but possibly one of the best horror films of the decade. Why is Maniac so good? Largely because it never takes the easy option, even though it has constant opportunities to do so.

Modern horror is driven by novelty, novelty has surpassed the importance of all other aspects of modern horror cinema, so when Maniac promised a slasher from the point of view of the killer, that would have been enough.

Sure it wouldn't have gone down as a classic, but the novelty would have appealed to the teeny boppers until the next fad came along. But that wasn't enough for Franck Khalfoun. We don't just wear Frank's shoes during the hour and a half of the run time, we become him. For an hour and a half, we're in his world, we are killers. And that is what makes this film so bonechilling.

Perhaps most scary of all, is the world Frank lives in is gorgeous. Frank appreciates true beauty, and sees art everywhere he goes and in all he does. To reflect this, this film bleeds style, but style that never feels like it's in place of substance. It's just that no shot is conventional, Khalfoun truly understands his medium and tries to use it to its maximum potential.

And most important of all? The effects are fantastic. Frank's scalping may feel a little simplistic when compared to the theatrical carnage of modern horror cinema but the effects are so convincing, the scalpings are terrifying all the same.

It's ultimately an incredible experience, watching a film that can be artistic, beautiful, sexy and grotesque all in the space of a single scene, often switching on a heartbeat, it shows masterful film making that it all works. And as Frank spirals more and more into pure madness, the surrealist beauty of the twisted piece only grows. Gorgeous.

I'm still waiting for a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" movie where Leatherface and his family are all tortured and murdered by average Joe Texans or maybe a series of films where classic slashers (Freddy, Jason, the schmuck from Scream, Jigsaw, the Creeper, etc) are hunted down and killed by cops, citizens with shotguns, and anyone else who is a normal person.

Or horror films that are character studies. Like John Carpenter's "The Thing."

finally saw Thor 2 The Dark World last night.

I loved it. I'm not quite sure it's my second favorite, after Avengers, as many people are saying, but it's at least tied for third with IM3 and Captain America. really really great film. saw it with my cousin, definitely want to take my wife to see it soon.

Finally watched Pacific rim. Was alright.The doctors were freaking annoying though. And what is it with helicopters? Completely pointless and a waste of the animators(?) time.

So yeah, pretty good action scenes save it, other than that it was meh...

Finally got around to watching the Way, Way Back. It's nothing special, but it's well written, well acted (Sam Rockwell especially seems to be having the time of his life and Steve Carell plays the biggest douche of his career) and I'm pretty sure a lot of us can see ourselves in Duncan. So it was really enjoyable overall.

Assault on Precinct 13 - This was my first time seeing it and it was very good. I loved how the whole movie comes together for its first half and then becomes a siege movie afterwards. As usual, Carpenter is a master of his own work as both the score and cinematography were as incredible as the movies that came after this one. In fact, I am going to say this straight up, but he is the Quentin Tarantino of the 70s and 80s. I love the dialog between the characters. I really enjoyed seeing how it does not matter if you are a cop or a criminal, you are all pretty much equal when it comes to being fodder. My only complaint about the movie is how emotionless the cop lady was. Of course, it did make for a great scene inside the holding cells when she is shot in the arm, just stands there, and then kicks the crap out of the thug. Overall, I'm giving this movie a nice 8/10.

Assault on Precinct 13 - Holy crap, as a remake, this movie sucks ass. As a movie, this movie sucks ass. What the hell is going on here? There is absolutely no build up to siege on the police station. The characters are cliche and boring. The music is bland. And between the two, it is kind of sad that an unruly gang of thug lowlifes were better organized for an assault on a police station on a whim to take out a man who fled to it over trained military personnel who planned to take out one prisoner. What the hell?! Another thing that made the original unique is that there was no main leader. They were there just for the sake of being there. Here, we have to have some big man giving orders with a complete reason for doing what he is doing. The acting in this movie was down right atrocious, especially from the police lady and her sex addiction. I am not sure what the director was going for, but it came off as annoyingly laughable more than anything else. WIth that said, I want the $4 I spent to rent this movie back because this piece of **** was not even worth a penny. It gets a 1/10 from me.

So I just watched Prince Avalanche.

My biggest criticism is Paul Rudd, don't get me wrong, I love this guy. But he's playing the same character he does in every movie, and that character works fine in the context of movies like 'I Love You, Man' or 'Role Models' as they are simple minded (but enjoyable still) comedies.

Prince Avalanche however is a deep, thoughtful, incredibly emotional and utterly beautiful little art film, leaving Paul Rudd to feel completely out of place and woefully miscast. He hits all the right notes in the comedy scenes (as expected) but this isn't a straight comedy, this is a dramedy and so I just found him distracting in every single scene that wasn't about the laughs (and there are a lot of those), especially as he takes part in pretty much every crucial scene in the movie (which are rarely comedy scenes). And he does try, bless him, but a strained performance is in many ways worse than a weak one.

I never thought I'd see the day where I can claim something like Emile Hirsch is the strongest actor in the piece, who puts a surprising amount of gravitas into a very simple, kinda pathetic character.

And honestly, it's surprising just how much Hirsch saves the movie. When Rudd has to carry a dramatic scene on his own, he fails, but with Hirsch there with him it's like Rudd rides his wheel. The chemistry between the two actors is wonderful, and they only seem to better one another's performance.

It makes surprisingly good use of its setting, as well. The film rests on the notion of solitude, something that hasn't really existed for fifteen years now. With the world of the internet, smart phones and tablets we are never truly alone, ever. Social networking connects us to the entire planet, and that is beautiful, but we've somehow lost the importance of space and room because they are two things that no longer really exist. Pretty much none of the events in this movie, could have transpired if they set it today, and I found that really kind of awesome. Which kinda sums up the whole movie for me, easily one of the best films released this year.

Finally got around to watching Iron Man 3. The weirdest thing about Iron Man Three is it feels nothing like an Iron Man movie. Stark is rarely in a suit, and even when he is, he is quickly taken out of it. Some of the biggest action scenes involve him out of a suit all together, and who takes down the big bad? Pepper. Honestly the Iron Man suits just sort of feel like cameos in their own movie, there to please the audience rather than be part of the narrative.

I wouldn't have minded that if the character stuff in this movie was good, but the movie is far too stupid to create a compelling character drama. Stark having panic attacks doesn't count as a character study, it counts a novelty and a cheap one at that.

I guess at least The Wolverine wont be getting the title of 'closest thing to a boring superhero film' title this year.

The Kings of Summer is better than Way, Way Back? Are you mad?!

The Kings of Summer is technically two narratives running side by side, the primary narrative involves three young tens running away from home and making reality a fantasy that was only ever in our childhood dreams. This fantasy world is constantly draped in menace, as fantasy isn't supposed to exist in reality.

Oddly enough though, the breakdown of the utopia all starts with a girl, which has troubling implications. And the primary bromance is so half baked that the ultimate breakdown of it isn't really all that compelling until right at the very end, where it seems the movie finally catches up to how much of an asshole Joe is and punishes him for it, as reality comes in to clean up what is left of their broken dream. The only point of satisfaction in the whole of the primary narrative.

Overall, I'm really not a big fan of the primary narrative of the film. Minus Biaggio who is loveable in how utterly oddball he is, the other two primary boys are both assholes. I know their brattiness is something we all experience at one stage in our teenage years, but that doesn't make it right, and that doesn't make them enjoyable to watch on screen. Unless your tastes are 'to see how much you relate to the biggest asshole on the screen', then this movie is made for you. It's a shame because the cinematography is beautiful, and the core wish fulfilment aspect is nice.

The secondary narrative though, is where the movie really shines. The secondary narrative is basically a reactive narrative to the primary one. The brats may not think about anyone but themselves, or the consequences of their actions, but that doesn't mean the reverberations do not exist. As such, the parents left behind wondering where their children are, are left to look into themselves to try and understand why their children ran away, and what their flaws always were. Are they really bad people? Or is it just hormones? Nick Offerman being the highlight of the entire movie, playing the equally hilarious and equally sympathetic Frank - who is also a bit of a bastard.

Sadly though, when the film has to wrap up and bring all the narratives together, you pretty much hate everyone who isn't Frank or Biaggio so it's pretty much impossible to enjoy the climax. So although you'll appreciate Frank's jokes, and his heroics, you then have to sit through a load of lovey dovey shit with a bunch of bratty twats, joy! At least it's the loveable Biaggio who is saved, if Joe got bitten by the snake I'd have left him there.

As much as I loved Offerman's performance, and Frank's character arc, I still don't think the movie is really worth sitting through, which is a shame.

To the film's credit, it did portray post-traumatic stress disorder with incredible accuracy.

In what universe?

Just watched Pain & Gain.

Pain & Gain is Spring Breakers for idiots, but then Bay sorta fucks it up. You see the thing is, Spring Breakers was a fantastic movie, but Korine was so focused on making art and cared so little about anyone actually watching his art, he alienated pretty much everyone without a deep filmic knowledge in the audience. Bay tries his hardest to make Spring Breakers more accessible, by turning it into a comedy and placing absolutely nothing between the lines at all and for a time...it works, it works very well.

I know it's cool to hate on Bay, but I actually sort of appreciate just how much fun this guy wants to have with his audience, yeah his movies are often kinda stupid, and he doesn't care about grown men still collecting Transformers toys. But films should first and foremost entertain and he is an entertainer, and a good one at that.

The problems however arise, as the film moves from the first act and into the second. That is really where it clicks, our protagonists are deranged psychopaths. They are so stupid, they don't seem intimidating at all, they are just cute and fun to laugh at, but by the end of the first act swinging into the second, these men grow increasingly more desperate, and a dog backed into a corner will take the craziest measures to survive. And they take some pretty fucked up measures, while Bay still tries his hardest to play them for laughs, which makes it all the more unsettling.

Stupid people like safe movies, but what Bay reveals to his audience, just when he gets them comfortable, is that Pain & Gain isn't a safe movie. At least, not safe all the way through, Bay is actually willing to take risks. Compared to Spring Breakers Pain & Gain has the depth of a sheet of paper, but on its own merits as a popcorn flick for Average Joe, Pain & Gain revels in the moral grey. A world where brutal violence is played for all its messy brutality, but in a tone that suggests Bay finds violence hilarious, like an episode of Tom and Jerry but with all the gore left in, where people really get hurt and there are actual consequences.

And then, our psychopaths win. Sure their stupidity makes the whole thing come apart by the end again, so it isn't like evil wins the day, but for a time being evil reaps a lot of reward and I can imagine that for a while, Pain & Gain will probably alienate its audience as much as Spring Breakers did. Just not for as long.

There was an article from Psychology Today that analyzed Tony for symptoms of PTSD. I'll post a link after I get back from school.

The marvel cinematic universe

:lol

Just watched Upstream Color, it pains me to spell colour wrong.

Carruth gave purpose in his other directorial effort to make it as complex as possible, here, the complexity feels out of place. Is it a love story? A thriller? A sci-fi? A horror? I have no fucking idea. What I do know is it is slow, boring, and pretentiously panders to such extent that the movie loses all purpose and meaning.

I have no problems with art cinema, I have no problems with abstract cinema, but when it's so abstract it's barely cohesive then I'm sorry you can't expect me to honestly say it's good. The best art films provide more than pretty visuals, the worst think that is all they need.

And the saddest thing is, the narrative is so utterly simple you could have made this without all the pretentious waffling and it actually would have probably been a better film for it.

And there are rare moments where the fog clears, and it seems the movie is doing something special, but them movie itself seems so unclear on what it is doing that you can't help but wonder if you're so bored you're just creating your own narrative that the film deserves no credit for. Blah.

Nice. :thumb:

And the promised link: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...-in-iron-man-3

I kinda think you've missed the point with Iron man 3 Locke... Each to their own interpretation and all that though.

Just watched Hunger Games ,only because I've started a new job and as it's a new store we're going to watch catching fire as a treat for getting it all set up. Otherwise I probably never would have...

Now it's not a terrible film, but it's also not brilliant. Everything feels very... Minimal I guess. Like, they set things up that have no/little relevance later, or they just don't explain at all. Shot wise it's a mixed bag as well, I cba to look up who actually did it but I'd take a stab at they're fairly new and were almost trying to prove something. It's tone is also odd, with these eccentric colourful, heck almost cartoon characters in a frankly dark tale. The crowds in the Capitol tie with the cardboard cut-out like things in early FIFA/generic sports games for least realistic crowd.

Things that are going for the film? It does some decent cgi. Jennifer Lawrence. The drunken marketer guy, I liked him better drunk though. It's also clearly building to something bigger, so hopefully tomorrow's viewing will help a little (not that that's a good excuse...)

Of course I missed the point...

The point of IM3 is that it is pointless. It does next to nothing for the character. It ruins Pepper. It ruins any credible threat that could have been the Mandarin. And it just recycles the same plot from the previous two movies.

It's also boring, rubbish and the worst superhero film of the year.

:eyebrow How does it ruin Pepper? If anything, I thought that she was at her best in this film.

Man... you guys are making me feel badly about liking this movie. :lol

Don't be, it's Locke and Dr Kain. :lol They're our more...critical members. :)

I liked Iron Man 3, but that's probably because I'm not so emotionally invested in Iron Man. I thought it was a fresh take on the character, though I can see how fans of the comics might be offended.

The most entertaining thing is me and Dr Kain rarely agree either :lol

So I just watched Drinking Buddies.

It is nothing special, but it was kinda nice that the movie was so innocent. There was no malice between anyone, it just turned out that the two people perfect for one another are currently in other relationships, relationships that aren't bad, just not as perfect as they could be. It tries to be as real to life as it can be, avoiding all melodrama and even avoids a Hollywood ending, which some could perceive as the film lacking closure, but I felt it worked in context.

And the four central actors all have good chemistry, feeling like they hit all the right notes depending on who they are on screen with. Probably the weakest of the four is Jake Johnson. It isn't that his performance is bad, but apart from one blow out at the end, he's so lovely his characterisation is the closest the film comes to fantasy.

About the only problematic thing in the movie is pretty much everyone in this movie appears to be an alcoholic. But then the title is Drinking Buddies.

Personally, I thought the Mandarin twist was awesome. Did we lose a good villain? Not necessarily, but it is quite probable that we did. Until then, I'll just enjoy the movie.

I thought the twist was awesome too, I just didn't appreciate that it took almost two hours to get there and we still had like an hour of movie left after it.

One thing I will say, I never really adored any of the Iron Man movies, not even the first one. So maybe that's why Iron Man 3 wasn't that disappointing to me since I wasn't expecting much. I personally found it the most enjoyable of the three.

With a bluray release featuring 12 extra minutes of violence and character moments, I decided to make The Wolverine the first movie this year I'd watch again. Now let's see what a difference 12 extra minutes and a second home viewing make!

Although The Wolverine is quite low-key as far as superhero films go, the opening sequence is utterly spectacular if not utterly devoid of logic. The big difference with the way The Wolverine does its fights, is it plays it more like a martial arts film than a blockbuster. Less people getting thrown through walls, and more stylish, careful and beautiful choreography taking place in the smallest scale possible. Replacing the powers, for actual technique, is something that could only really work with a character like The Wolverine.

And that isn't to say there is nothing spectacular about Wolverine's action, the body count is high, the amount of people fighting at once is numerous and Logan takes the fight right through Japan, as he battles on top of a speeding bullet train, fighting yakuza, ninja, samurai, other mutants and mechs. May as well make use of your setting!

The only real criticism I have with the action, is with the portion of the movie where Logan gets his healing factor suppressed. It's an interesting novelty, but it's rendered purposeless in this film. Logan gets repeatedly shot, repeatedly beaten and just generally repeatedly hurt and just keeps coming. He seems so unaffected by the sheer of amount of damage he receives over this portion, minus specific scenes to show the damage, that he may as well have never lost his healing factor in the first place. And yes, I recognise he still has his adamantium skeleton protecting him, but he would have died from the sheer quantity of trauma, and if he survived that he would have died from the sheer amount of blood he loses.

Plus there is some uncomfortable, if probably not intended, racism. It seems every Japanese person Logan meets, whether it a prissy princess or a pretty boy on a rooftop, they all seem trained and skilled in some kind of deadly art. Plus, the evil genius behind it all, of course has to build himself a mech suit.

Still though, the action transcends pretty much all its problems in the characterisation of The Wolverine. Maybe it's forced, maybe it's clichéd but I don't care, Logan is a total fucking badass whether his healing is suppressed or not, this guy is pure win. And I love the way they play him like he's some mythical beast.

The Wolverine is a bit more of a grown up story. With most of the Marvel Cinematic universe involving a lot of brightly coloured heroes fighting over plot devices for unclear reasons, it's nice that The Wolverine is much more simple. Sure it has to soak up a lot more clichés along the way, but it actually makes The Wolverine feel more epic as it focuses on a complex tragedy about a powerful family, and how far people are willing to go for power and for life. This throws Logan head first into a fight that is way more complicated than it would initially seem. There is also a surprising amount of foreshadowing, which is clever and also totally obvious on the second viewing, it really makes the plot feel thought out, which is more than most superhero films can say.

One of the only complaints I have with this film is Jean Grey's cameo role. I understand that she is a key part of Logan's character, and this takes place after The Last Stand, but did we really need so many scenes of her stroking Jackman's hairy chest while wearing nightwear that she looks set imminent to fall out of? Yes Famke Janssen is hot, blah blah, but in an otherwise mature, adult superhero flick her inclusion feels unnecessary and gratuitous.

Well that, and Mariko. I know that Hollywood decreed that every film ever made should have a romantic subplot, but Mariko is a bad actress, and an even more boring character. The film grinds almost to a halt for her romance with Logan, a romance without humour or chemistry.

I much preferred Logan's dynamic with Yukio, once you manage to tune in to Rila Fukushima's broken, mumbled sounding English, she does strike some great balance with Hugh Jackman. Their dynamic, and friendship, as we see it grow over the course of the movie is one of the films highlights. Just a shame Yukio ends up vanishing for a decent chunk of the movie so they can focus on the lifeless romance between Logan and Mariko. Heaven forbid a Hollywood film only has one central male female dynamic that is platonic!

Another problem is the use of language. For the most part The Wolverine is a multi language film, two Japanese men don't speak to one another in English for the sake of the audience - sometimes the film won't even subtitle it, so you actually have to pay attention. For the most part. There are these random conversations where this is dropped, and for no reason at all, two Japanese characters will converse in English and it only stands out that much more because this isn't a consistent choice through the movie. It's just stupid.

Whether it comes from the wisdom of a repeat viewing, or those 12 extra minutes, I really enjoyed The Wolverine a second time. And if you perhaps couldn't get behind it the first time around because of how different it feels to its peers, I implore you to go out and unleash the extended edition!

One Piece Strong World - Wow, this movie was well worth the four year wait. It was great. I would say it is by far the best One Piece movie, but that isn't saying much considering its competition, but this was great. Characters did not go out of character (if that makes sense), the story was well told and fun, plus it as action packed. Not just that, but Ian Sinclair was amazing as Brook and I really hope Funimation has licensed the rest of the series so we don't have another year and a half wait between volumes (plus, so we can get to Brook's introduction). I'm giving this movie a nice 9/10 stars because it was great.

The Devil's Carnival - The first time I saw this, I hated it. I love Repo The Genetic Opera and wanted something like that. This time around though, this movie was much better but I still have some issues, specifically with the Kiss Me song. That scene just does not seem to fit at all with the rest of the movie and feels like it was there just to give Alexa a role. I do like the idea they were going for and the last 10 minutes of the movie are awesome (love the Devil's invasion song and the one during the end credits about the ship). I do still think the movie feels short changed though because it wanted to tell a story but 55 minutes is way too short to tell it. Overall, I give it a 7/10 this time, but still a little skeptical of where it is going to go.

I thought it just destroyed her as it made her boring. She was a woman who could hold her own without having any powers in the first two movies. Here, she just becomes Zelda with super powers.

Don't feel bad for liking it, I will still own it since it is canon in the movieverse.

I had no problem with the twist itself, it was what came after that I had a problem with. The movie spent 2/3rds with this great build up from a credible threat and then after the twist, it spiraled down hill into a predictable rehash of Jebediah and Hammer combined with every cliche known to man.