Where's that logic come from?

Saw Amazing Spiderman 2 and LOVED it. It's the type of superherop movie I've been wanting to see for awhile.
Sometimes in these superhero movies it feels like the filmakers are more interested in the human parts and leave the costume action for the money shots of the film, here it feels like the movie was about SPIDER-MAN, and feeling that Peter and Spider-Man are the same guy. Not here's a Peter Parker movie and he sometimes dresses up as Spider-Man when we need an action sequence.

Also I really liked how they made Spider-Man heroic here. He saves lives big and small, he actually tries to help Max and talk him down rather than swing in with punches right off the bat. He treats that kid with the wind turbine wonderfully. He tries to work at his relationship with Gwen, he wants to save his friend, ect. I got the feeling that his friends had more of the problem with him being Spiderman than Spiderman being the problem.

Electro was neat as hell. His background music was cool and it added a fun factor to his screen time. I reckoned it to thought balloons in comic, kind of what he's thinking while doing stuff and gives electric energy to his thoughts. I felt bad for him when he was human all the way up to him killing his first guy.

Felicia- God I hope we get Black Cat. It's a stretch, I don't hate MJ but I was rooting for Pete and Felicia to hook up back in the 90's cartoon. I good chunk of Spidey's problems would disappear if he hooked up with another superhero.

Gwen was ok. We had the theater to ourselves, so I didn't get to see any crowd reaction. My girlfriend was like '... ... did they just kill Gwen?' then when Gwen didn't wake up, ' That's bullshit'. They handled it well I thought. They set it up typical movie like, when the person comes to and makes a quip, but nope she stayed dead. Good for them.

Harry could have been handled a bit slower, but other wise alright. I still want to see THE Goblin costume with an actual Goblin Mask

One thing I really liked was the amount of villians. I know there's some rule there can only be so many characters to juggle, but I want to see a superhero movie with lots of villains popping up. Maybe a montage of the hero fighting his rogues gallery or something. And if they're setting up the Sinister Six...

All in all it felt like a Good Spider-Man movie. Lots of great effects. Great characters, Great action scenes. The pacing does slow down in places then picks back up.
It felt long, but they had to cram a lot of stuff into this thing, not only to tell it's own story, but to add to the first one and build up for the number 3. But very little felt wrong or out of place, however it does mean that some of the characters don't get time to develop as much.

They killed her, did the not?

Therefore, I proved my point.

Frankly, the movie should have ended with Peter at the tombstone at the very latest.

Movies are more expensive than comics, relying much more on mass appeal as comics are much more niché. Therefore doing something in comics doesn't necessarily mean it's gonna be done in a movie. And considering they're competing against Marvel studios, a behemoth mega hit who never kill of anyone of substance, I fail to see how you can physically not see how HUGE a move it was to kill off a major player we all adore in Amazing Spider-Man 2. Even if you don't like the character, the fact they did it and went through with it without turning it into an Agent Coulson or a Nick Fury should surely count for something.

But I did not want them to kill Gwen. Gwen is and always has been a superior character to MJ. Killing off Gwen in the comics was a bitch move back in the 60s and it is still bullshit to this very day. The only one who ever made up for Gwen dying was JMS when he brought her back in the form of a daughter. This was finally the chance someone had to make up for the cowardice Marvel did back then and they fumbled the ball and failed to not copy the motion.

Just watched Manhunter. Not a bad film at all. Definitely weird seeing somebody else play Hannibal Lector though. Honestly I think I liked it more than Silence of the Lambs. That's a bit unfair though since I haven't seen Silence of the Lambs in a long time.

The move itself is more important to me than necessarily the content, but the character was important. I'm just excited to see what this ends up shaking up, maybe we'll finally get a Marvel movie with actual tension and stakes.

Nah, the next Spider-Man movie will just be another set up movie for the one after it.

So like Winter Soldier was, then?

Hopefully if they ever introduce the symbiotes into the plot they do it slowly and set it up in a movie so it's not just crammed into one movie like Spider-Man 3. I love the movie but the stuff with Venom is pretty garbagey. It should've just been Peter dealing with the symbiote and Sandman (maybe Harry). Introduce Brock in that one and then in the fourth one (we're pretending so it's cool yo) introduce Venom.

But fuck Venom I want Carnage dammit!

I really only want Venom if Flash Thompson wears the symbiote for the long run. Eddie Brock is cool and all but Flash is a far more interesting Character.

Winter Soldier had its own story though. The movie had a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Plus, it was well written and full of character development.

TASM2 had a beginning and no ending. It was three movie plots shoved into one. There was very little character development.

So... The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Peter finally stopped using Bing and upgraded to Google, kudos to him.

Son of Batman - The biggest problem with this movie is they don't give you any time to sympathize for any of the characters as they are either generic or show no emotions. Damian is this kid that has not been given a real childhood and has only learned the ways of the League of Assassins. So instead of developing him with Batman teaching him anything, he yells at him once and then we are supposed to believe it made Damian do a complete overhaul in his personality. It just does not work for me. It was nice to finally see Talia featured in something for more than 5 seconds again, but at the same time, this is the worst incarnation of Deathstroke I have ever seen. His voice was bad and his characterization turned him into a complete loser. The voice for Ra's was also awful. As for Batman, there really isn't anything positive I can say about him either as he did very little and never truly won a single battle he was in. The best things about the movie was Alfred and then scene when Damian first encounters Nightwing. Aside from that, this movie is generic and forgettable. It seems like the new guys in charge of these movies prefer to just throw nonstop action into these things instead of giving the movie time to develop anything, even a coherent plot. I really want Bruce Timm back as they seem to be lost without him. At least it was better than War, but I give this movie a 6/10.

Police Academy - This was my first time seeing this movie and it had some really great bits in it, especially from the black dude from Spaceballs, but the movie could have been about 10 minutes shorter. Still, it is better than nearly every comedy released in the last 5 years, so I definitely give it credit for that. Overall, I give it a 7/10.

We'll just agree to disagree.

No, the ASM2 had one movie plot that had unnecessary extra kibble attached to the end for spin-off movies.

Yeah to say Amazing Spider-Man 2 had "very little" character development isn't even an opinion, it's just wrong. It was a very character driven movie, with set pieces taking a back seat - but the set pieces were still great. A risky movie for a mass appeal blockbuster but very satisfying for those who enjoyed the original like moi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qaUC6jErag

I think this video reflects a majority of the opinions I've seen on this movie.

I used to be really into Movie Bob a few years back, but his eventual "blow the positives out of proportion and brush over the flaws" approach to Marvel films, while spitting bile at superhero films made by other studios - even studios adapting other Marvel characters - got old fast. He's a great example of the critical bulletproofing I was talking about when it comes to Marvel Movies and critics VS a superhero film made by anyone else and critics.

Tenebre - Good film with some nice visuals and one of the bets murders I have ever seen. But it's weakened by a bat shit crazy ending and some characters that are kinda bad. 4/5

Deep Red - This was a great film. Easily the best Argento flick I have seen so far. Phoenominal visuals and a story that moves along quite well and helps make the mystery engrossing. However it is weakened by the killer's motive simply not being there. But...I can kinda forgive it through suspension of disbelief and just doing an assumption that I think is the reason. Plus the visuals and way the story moves really help bring it back up. 4.5/5

Yeah, I can see where you're coming from. Honestly, the Marvel movies haven't failed at a shared cinematic universe just yet and once it does, the critics will eat the Marvel movies alive with their criticisms. Movie bob with ASM2 is doing the inverse of what he does with the Marvel movies, overblowing the negatives and undermining the positives.

I'm still waiting on my god damn Venom movie though.

Aren't we all?

With all of this shared cinematic universe stuff that's been going on with the Marvel movies/ their crappy shows, I'm glad that Toei's universe is different. While the films/cinematic events of the previous year will lead into a Super Hero Taisen movie, I'm glad that they can wipe the slate clean after that and get some fun movies with worrying too much about straight universe continuity.

Although sadly I don't often find the Rider movies all that great, Wizard's was okay and the Shogun Medal OOO one was alright but I've not really enjoyed any of the others I have tried. The Fourze ones for example were especially awful.

The only Rider movies I've liked from the ones I've seen are Double's movie, Faiz paradise Lost,Blade Missing Ace (depending on my mood), Ryuki Episode Final and Movie War Megamax.

LOL. I just realized Toei and Marvel have the opposite problems. Marvel has great movies but a shitty Tv show. Toei has great Tv shows but shitty movies

I think W is the only show where I preferred the movies to the actual show, Skull <3

Only Rider movies I like are the ones I've seen. So Shin, ZO, J, Ryuki Final Chapter, and 555 Paradise Lost, Shin and PL being my favorites of the bunch.

Wolf of Wall Street

God that guy pissed me off so much. Oh and fucking Jonah Hill penis. Even if its just CGI, its someone's penis.

Days of Future Past. SPOILERS AHOY, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

There is something very delicious about Days of Future Past, featuring a multiple timeline narrative full of what ifs and existential pandering, a meld of the best of both worlds of superhero film.

One future is painted like another dark and gritty DC comics interpretation, where the bodies literally come by the truck load and we see our characters fall one by one. Alongside this is the past which is painted as a very Marvelesque like romp full of big chuckles and high concept pulpiness as rules are created to be stretched and broken, where military decisions involve building giant robots, and where you can travel through time but only your conciousness can be projected.

There are of course crossovers of tone and thematics, but it's enjoyable to watch a superhero film which manages to largely find a way to have the angst and the laughs run alongside one another, without interrupting one another's momentum in any big way.

It is also not going to be for everyone, as Singer approaches this film seemingly with the mentality of "well we've done this franchise to death, let's just throw it all at the wall and start again" but for me the results were glorious.

About the only creative decision I didn't care for is the choice to focus so heavily on Wolverine. I know that is kinda the whole gig of this franchise, but unlike other films, Wolverine doesn't drive the narrative here, he's just sort of well...there. Honestly most of the time Singer doesn't seem to know what to do with him at all and has seemingly injected him into almost every scene because it's been mandated as such not because he actually needs to be there, or actually has anything to do.

In general though, the First Class cast come across much better than any of the returning X-Men who are all mostly reduced to cameos. Although it is much worse for the majority of the new characters, who only really exist to be killed off.

The wise and kind Xavier from the future, is painted in stark contrast to who he was in '73, which was a man hooked on a drug which gives him his ability to walk, but takes away his powers. He's a mess, wallowing in angst and self pity, bordering on pathetic but he's just on the precipice of becoming the wheelchair bound father figure we've come to adore. The gorgeous Fassbender is looking his most dapper, dressed to kill in some of the snappiest 70s fashion choice. I wish he kept the fedora, it is much cooler than that stupid helmet. Then there is Jennifer Lawrence, stunningly beautiful and spending the majority of the film killing people with ridiculous flips while being quasi-naked. My kind of woman.

Perhaps the most daring decision though is how little action they put in this film. The action is largely self contained to opening, and closing moments and even then most of the action is set in the future as they can do what they like there. That isn't to say that the action we get isn't great, though. Honestly I'm hard pressed to pick a favourite moment.

The gleeful carnage in the opening moments as the futuristic Sentinels battle against Cable and Shadowcat's merry band of mutants, taking them down one by one is an excellent introduction to the stakes of the narrative. Equally Erik's break out, in contrast to the brutal future playing out at the same time, is just pure entertainment. The utter silliness of Quicksilver's methods to help them break out, and the way his powers are captured, is just incredible. Likewise although having absolutely no narrative logic, Erik's "I'm going to move a football stadium to the white house lawn" approach to world domination is hilariously gratuitous.

The best comic book film of the year? No, sadly not - that still belongs to Amazing Spider-Man 2 and that crucial emotional resonance - and it's probably not the best of the franchise either. However if you've enjoyed the X-Men franchise from start to finish - well minus Origins, no one likes that movie - then Singer has found the perfect excuse to get the gang back together, and this is one reunion tour which really knows how to please the fans.

Some people claim that in the wake of Nolan and Whedon's domination of the genre that the X-Men are no longer relevant but this movie proves just how relevant they are, how relevant they always were and possibly still will be if that after credits sequence is anything to go on. And it isn't a little worrying that such an on the sleeve parable is still relevant after doing the same dance so many times?

As an aside, I watched this in 3D and...save your money. I'm actually much more on board with 3D than I was a few years ago - probably ever since Dredd showed me the potential of the medium - but Days of Future Past adds nothing with it's 3D conversion other than a little greater sense of depth in some shots but what it does do is take a LOT away. The future is as dark literally as it is narratively, so dark in 3D in fact I was squinting to see what I was looking at in a lot of scenes.

Double Indemnity - This is one of the movies I was given for my birthday today and man, this movie was excellent. The story was incredible, the characters and acting were fantastic, and the use of shadows was down right amazing. I loved how the story progressed and Key's speech about the different types of suicides in the world was nothing short of brilliant. I'm giving this movie a 9/10 which is strange because I was not expecting to like it better than Touch of Evil.

Rififi - This was a very interesting and unique movie. I cannot say it is one I'll rewatch often, but the scene when they were breaking into the jewelry store was well done. I loved how there was no dialog throughout the entire thing. I do feel the movie dragged out a little bit longer than it needed to be, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. I give it a 7/10.

Rewatched Dredd over the weekend in 3D on my new TV. Review to follow.

Dredd was the film that made me believe in 3D. In 2012 I put it at number three on my best of the year list, and watching this again I believe this is a solid contender for my "favourite movies of all time" list. And although not quite a box office smash, the critics went wild for it and it's since become a cult classic with a home viewing release so strong a second film is now being considered. Yay!

Speaking specifically of the Blu-Ray, my TV has passive 3D so I cracked out my 3D specs just like when I watched this at the movies and my God did I have a great time. The 3D seems to lower the quality of the picture somewhat, but honestly a lot of the effects don't do well under HD scrutiny anyway so you may as well just kick back and enjoy those Slo-Mo sequences.

Although Dredd is basically one long piece of ultra violent pessimism, Olivia Thirlby's Anderson gives us a much needed reprise. Don't get me wrong, this is still Dredd's film and Karl Urban proves how great an actor he is again by giving us the Dredd we've always wanted on screen, but in the very nature of his character you can't really do a lot with him.

A character like Anderson on the other hand, is much more malleable, and although the story of a rookie thrown into a trial by fire and finding themselves through adversity is nothing original, it's the quality of how the cliché is used where the film shines.

This movie seemingly takes place over just a few hours and yet Anderson goes through more character growth than other characters have done in movies that take place over decades and the badass she ends up as by the end is glorious. Who says Anderson hasn't got it cut out to be a judge, huh? Huh?!

Some may be pretty disappointed, and fairly in my opinion, with the scale of the film. This is a British movie, and in terms of costs for us Brits this movie's price was ludicrous. For you US folks however, an action movie made for less than fifty million is probably considered "micro budget" these days. To get around the budgetary issues and to get as much money put into the action, Dredd quickly swaps the Mega-City for a Mega-Block and what this basically means is the whole movie takes place in the same three or so sets which are subtly redressed over and over again.

It doesn't break the movie or anything, but since Dredd isn't a household name in the US and they've come to expect certain things from the comicbook genre I can see a lot of the audience being disappointed that we're introduced very quickly to a world we barely ever actually get a glimpse at. The bigger disappointment with the locations for me though, is that despite the wonderful Slo-Mo sequences a vast majority of Dredd's native 3D filming is wasted with so much of the film taking place in such incredibly claustrophobic environments.

Now 3D is dying down as a novelty and filmmakers are trying to legitimise it, what I realised with 3D is the potential isn't in the money shots but instead in the depth it adds to a film. The lines between reality, and the movie, are only further blurred when 3D makes an image pop in dimensions that feel real to life but you don't ever really get a sense of that in a film made up largely of dimly lit, cramped corridors.

At the same time however, Dredd's set up works very well in context. Dredd and Anderson literally have no choice but to fight their way up 200 Floors of the Mega-Block which gives the narrative all the excuses it needs for constant, and unrelenting brutality. Dredd isn't a character that really works all that well outside of shooting things, so they found a pretty good excuse for him to basically shoot things for almost two hours straight.

With any other film, the complete lack of tangible plot might have killed it, but Travis and his team of writers make us realise that action can tell us information just as precisely as any doorstop novel, or Shakespearean piece of dialogue can. By the end I felt I knew Dredd and Anderson very personally, especially after we survived such an ordeal together, despite the film giving us barely any information on either of them.

Perhaps the only real disappointment is the lack of a tangible villain. Ma-Ma is our main villain, but despite being portrayed by the wonderful Lena Headey they honestly don't give her a lot to do and she feels wasted. About the most memorable thing about her is the way the 3D makes her scars look, and how they make her bad teeth pop.

Later in the film a bunch of corrupt Judges enter the fray, worn down by years of service that ultimately achieves nothing, but again they ultimately do very little and lack any real sense of memorability which once again takes a potentially awesome moment and ruins it. I don't think I've ever watched a film before where the goons provided more thrills than the actual villains with names.

Overall, watching Dredd in 3D in my bedroom, it wasn't ever going to compare to when me and my Dad went to see it in 3D in theatres towards the end of 2012. That said, after spending so long away from this film, it's blown me away all over again by being even better than I remember it being. Why is this not on your shelf yet?

Gundam 00 Awakening of the Trailblazer.

I loved this movie. Come at me haters!

But seriously, I'll have a super long post about it in the anime section once I finish up my long ass 00 summary.

Dredd is an incredible movie and feels like it is one of the comic's storylines.

Also rewatched The Last Stand - review also to follow.

With cinema taking a detour into a sea of 80s nostalgia I cringed a little, but films like The Last Stand proved that you can make a great film out of 80stalgia if you don't simply rely on that to carry the film on its own. At least, that is what I thought when I came out of the cinema in January of last year.

Over the course of that year it found itself from my favourite of the year to sliding off of my top ten all together. Watching it again, I think I made the wrong decision taking it off of my list and will be adding it back on as soon as this is posted. This is a damn fine movie that deserves to be on your shelf.

Critically The Last Stand's fun factor seemed to outweigh its pulpiness and managed to largely win out the stuffy critics who might have decried it otherwise. It's pretty rare for critics to accept a film for what it is trying to do, and not to compare it to things it could never compete against and was never intending to in the first place.

Speaking firstly about the Bluray, damn this movie is GORGEOUS. Crisp, clean image packed full of texture and detail, on my big ass full HD TV this was a joy for my eyes. It also helps that Jee-woon is a very strong visual director. Jee-woon clearly has a rich understanding of scene composition, all of the action sequences are really well staged and he knows how to add lots of personal style touches to his film, without rubbing your face in it. Honestly he had me the moment he unveiled an action sequence with a mostly steady camera where I could follow what was happening.

With the way the film was marketed, Peter Stormare chewing the scenery in the opening moments and Arnie being a giant cardboard cut out of himself it quickly establishes expectations of the film, that the film then focuses on deconstructing and full on ripping down for a very engaging experience.

The 80s actioner has largely been revisioned as a comedy genre, with all of its cheesy bombast and just well...the sheer 80sness of it all. It was never intended to be seen that way though, those films take themselves very seriously, for better or worse. The Last Stand however is pretty much the polar opposite, an oddly restrained action film with a heavy emphasis on character, and action sequences that are largely brief and self contained.

There is a whole other movie underneath the surface and between the lines here that only becomes more apparent the more you watch it, with a narrative of thematic depth not usually seen in movies like this. It's actually a very bleak film with a lot of emotional resonance and a firm anchoring in a movie logic reality.

Death is not a glorious thing in this film, it's presented as messy, painful and sad. 80s action films, for all their violence, existed largely in a Tom and Jerry world whereas The Last Stand, although still cartoonish in places, gives a much harsher sense of reality to it's action. Hell in the first fight Owens really gets to sink his teeth into results in his Deputy, Jerry, bleeding out on the backseat of his truck in a messy, painful and insanely bleak death for a character who up to this point was just a harmless comic relief character. I know a character always has to die to raise the stakes, but damn.

Most of the indulgences in the film are saved for the last stand which the film is seemingly named after, which is fine with me. Owens is given near superhuman abilities "don't worry it's just glass" he says nonchalantly, as he pulls a shard of glass out of his shredded thigh with barely a wince. I laughed out loud in the theatre, and I laughed out loud this time around too. Armed with "Vicky the Nazi-Killer" he's a hellish force of nature and after so much pent up angst, it's so nice to see the movie let loose.

This is also where Stormare gets to shine. His masterful scenery chewing is pretty out of place throughout the movie, but during the final action sequence he just gets so many great lines and seems to be having such a wonderful time (or is just high as shit, I really can't tell) that he is just so enjoyable to watch.

Other highlights include the numerous chase sequences in the movie, all made awesome by the gorgeous Chevrolet corvette zr1. A hilariously brutal kill with a flaregun and the brilliant Mrs. Salazar and her surprising moment of extreme violence, "Put the hurt on 'em, Ray!".

Probably the biggest disappointment is Jaimie Alexander's character, Sarah. Alexander is by far the best actor in this thing and she gets to be more than just the pretty face of the movie but during the point of the movie where she should get to be her most badass she gets a stupid romantic subplot dropped in her lap and that is the end of her importance to the movie. Because of course girl characters need to be kissing boys, rather than shooting guns, shooting guns is for men!

Ultimately, at the end of the day, The Last Stand was an excuse to get Arnie back to doing what he does best, spouting one liners while beating people to death with charm and charisma. It more than succeeds at that while also providing an above average production and a narrative slightly more thoughtful than you've probably come to expect from these sorts of films. Why'd I ever take this off of my best of 2013 list?

Mathilda, god damnit i want every single character in this movie dead except Mathilda and her teacher.

Both The Frighteners and Alien are very disappointing bluray releases. Did check out the pretty decent Blue Ruin though:

Jeremy Saulnier clearly has a rich understanding of how to make a quality product, on an indie budget. This film feels like a labour of love, and is as much a neo-noir as it is exploitation film as it is an art house experiment. That might sound almost impossible to have so many conflicting thematics sharing the same space but Saulnier has the talent to make it work.

Dwight is a man of few words and so bringing in an actor like Macon Blair who can tell so much through the physicality in his performance is a treat. His eyes betray his dialogue, and his eyes give the truths the dialogue is missing. Looking truly like an every man, it's satisfying that his moments of cool are restrained and natural within the diegesis. I really loved how, even in the violent climax, Dwight is still the same small and scared looking middle aged man, fumbling his way around words and a gun. The way this film makes us care for him, puts back in the punch the strained budget may not be able to add in itself.

Sadly it's everything on paper that lets the film down, or rather the lack of it. It acts like it has something interesting to say, stringing you along with a dense mystery and although we get our answers, the answers just aren't particularly satisfying. Even with a few curve balls thrown here and there. The film keeps you in the dark for way too long, and snuffs out any real potential of its third act developments in the process. You end the film feeling more jerked about than anything else.

Overall though Blue Ruin is a legitimately gorgeous movie that makes up for being so underwritten thanks to the incredible filmmaking talent of Saulnier, his camera and some fake blood. It's certainly worth seeing once, even if you never come back again after.

X-Men Days of Future Past

This was an amazing movie. Firstly, I love the new minor characters. Bishop, Blink and Quicksilver all had great action scenes.

The story was fucking amazing. They literally thought about almost every potential loophole in this story and covered it up in order to keep the plot going. I like Wolverine's development (although it will reset for the next movie), I like the future sequences with the X-men 1-3 cast, I love the action.

Also, did anyone notice that in that grainy 70s footage of Mystique and Beast, the suits looked really fake compared to the actual movie? I thought it worked the other way around LOL.

Also, Wolverine ass.

Days of Future Past is probably second only to ASM2 in terms of my favourite sueprhero flicks of the year (and my third favourite overall). Although Quicksilver was pretty superfluous to the plot, that breakout sequence was a highlight of the movie as was pretty much any sequence set in the future where the creators were free to do whatever they hell they liked without fear of upsetting status quo.

Wolverine was certainly the worst part of the movie for me though, normally the emphasis put on him pisses me off anyway, but this is the first time where the movie was made all about him and yet gave him absolutely nothing to do. Every time he was relevant, was a moment so painfully contrived it wreaked of studio interference.

Uh... what?

Considering Jaws had a from the grounds up remaster with about seven hours worth of extras (so its basically four films in one) Alien with its dated looking master and barebones extras is pretty inexcusable in my books. Even The Frighteners, which is looking pretty dated too and could do with a remastered touch up, at least came with a FOUR HOUR long making of.