I Just Watched (Films)

[Achtung Englander]

Hamilton

Not a film as such, but I watched the recorded performance on Disney+ as I've heard nothing but praise for it.

That praise is well deserved - it's a bit good. Considering I've zero interest in rap or hip-hop, I was surprised how much I enjoyed the music as well as the story itself. It's sharp, witty, cutting and designed with exceptional intricacy.

I can't say it's for everyone. I can only imagine, for instance, that my parents would watch it and spend the entire time quizically wondering why George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are black. If you've no interest in American revolutionary history either it might be a hard sell. Still, for me it was an eye-opener to a genre I didn't think I'd like, so maybe it will pleasantly surprise others too.

9/10

I watched the first half and could not face the second. Overrated American drivel. Thanks to my other half who loves the theatre I have seen a lot of shows and this would have ranked as OK. 3 hours of non stop hip hop that goes 100mph. I probably got 60% of what was being said. The bit with King George III was the most interesting but from a historical pov I learnt nothing and from a musical pov I would rather watch something a lot better like Jesus Christ Superstar.

[Mantis]

I went to see it live with my girlfriend a year or two ago and thought it was definitely overrated. It does great things for adding an entirely new cultural spin on the standard musical format, but as a musical I thought it was fairly average. Still very enjoyable, but the song writing rehashed far too much from earlier songs in the show that I was a bit bored of it by the end. When it's good, it's excellent though, I really liked how well the rap and hip hop meshed in.

I've seen the US production on Disney + too and it's definitely not as good as the UK one. The UK actors were just outright better.

[Wrathbone]

Still very enjoyable, but the song writing rehashed far too much from earlier songs in the show that I was a bit bored of it by the end.

I don't claim to be an expert on musicals, but I'm pretty sure that's how most of them work. Cadence, and all that.

[Mantis]

I'm no expert either but I've seen a few (girlfriend is quite into them) and none of them were quite as bad as Hamilton in those terms. It's not just the references to previous songs either, the actual structure of each piece was really repetitive so a lot of songs sounded the same even when the subjects were totally different. Maybe it's just a byproduct of it all being so heavily hip hop inspired.

I would probably still recommend it as a show overall though as I did enjoy it.

[Raid]

The Black Hole (1979)

I remember watching this a long time ago with fond memories. Those memories have been rightfully quashed.

This tends to be seen as Disney's answer to Star Trek and Star Wars, but it began as an answer to the disaster films of the 70s such as The Poseidon Adventure or The Towering Inferno. It was in development for five years, which explains why it feels so aimless and pondering. It feels like it thinks it's thought provoking or deep, but there's just nothing to it except for light conversation and a puzzling ending with zero payoff. It doesn't even do well on a technical level - the effects are extremely dated looking. ILM were too busy to take this project on, and so you've got the same rear projection techniques that had been used for decades, matte paintings and ship designs that look like they could have been made on Blue Peter.

It's absolutely rubbish.

[Animalmother]

My only memory of the film is a robot with a spinning blade for a hand trying to kill a guy who holds up a book and it gets shredded. Scared the piss out of me as a kid.

[Raid]

Yeah, I remember that being absolutely horrifying. It's not, it's quite tame. I think my memory filled in the blanks a bit too well. Don't get me wrong, death by unshielded blender sounds like a pretty horrible way to go, but the book he holds up hides everything and it's just the sound that does the heavy lifting. It's also quite sudden; Maximillian is quite imposing and threatening throughout the film, but he just flat out murders someone with minimal buildup. In my head it was the final confrontation.

[Sly Boots]

I also recently re-watched this due to remembering having the absolute crap scared out of me by Maximilian... you can still see why he terrified a whole generation of kids, and the ending with him fusing with the doctor while surrounded by zombies of the damned is pure nightmare fuel.

I don't think it's quite as bad as Raid did, I'd still have it as a 6/10. I think it's main problem is I don't know who it's aimed at - it's too scary for kids (there's also the part where a 'robot's' mask is removed, revealing a zombified face), and too goofy for adults (like the main 'good' robots), while a lot of the dialogue is pretty dry and boring.

Ok, maybe 5/10

[Raid]

I agree with that criticism; it really doesn't know who its audience is. My guess is that they pivoted towards a sci-fi action adventure after the initial desire to do a disaster movie, and it has bits of both and they don't really work together. The dialogue is far too bland and none of the characters are compelling. It's not well acted either. Maximillian is definitely the best part of this, which is telling as he's an inanimate prop on wires and he's the only character that doesn't say anything.

[Rossell]

Haven't recently watched but going to have to as its come up in conversation - Twin Town. I love this film. So completely mad.

[Animalmother]

Venom

Stupid story with shit CGI but very enjoyable. I could watch more of this

[Hatredsheart]

Venom

Stupid story with shit CGI but very enjoyable. I could watch more of this

https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a3222 ... e-delayed/#

[Raid]

I also watched Venom this weekend; I wasn't impressed. Perhaps it works better for people who know the character more, but it really didn't feel like it was an alien symbiote. I didn't hate Eddie Brock, but it sorta felt like Tom Hardy was basing his performance on a perpetual drunkard which didn't feel very fitting. I know superhero films aren't exactly known for their realistic characters, but this went too far in the wrong direction. As such I didn't find the protagonist particularly likeable, and none of the other characters did much for me. They did that Marvel origin story thing of giving the antagonist a carbon copy of the protagonist's abilities, but they did it in the last ten minutes of the film. They also introduced the antagonist's world-ending plan minutes before the final confrontation, there wasn't any real buildup.

Basically I'm saying it was a bit crap, but then I'm so invested in the Marvel Studios way of doing this genre, that anything without that same budget or interconnectivity is fighting something of an uphill battle.

I also watched John Wick, finally, which I definitely enjoyed more. There's not much to it on the surface; some excellent choreography and minimal plot, but what I really enjoyed was the worldbuilding. It's more subtle than I'd expect from a film like this; the cleanup crew summoned with a code phrase, the rules of the hotel, the gold coins that form the currency in this secret world, they're all introduced for you to pick up on but not forced down your throat. I remained interested enough to want to see the sequels anyway.

[Sly Boots]

I also watched Venom this weekend; I wasn't impressed. Perhaps it works better for people who know the character more, but it really didn't feel like it was an alien symbiote. I didn't hate Eddie Brock, but it sorta felt like Tom Hardy was basing his performance on a perpetual drunkard which didn't feel very fitting. I know superhero films aren't exactly known for their realistic characters, but this went too far in the wrong direction. As such I didn't find the protagonist particularly likeable, and none of the other characters did much for me. They did that Marvel origin story thing of giving the antagonist a carbon copy of the protagonist's abilities, but they did it in the last ten minutes of the film. They also introduced the antagonist's world-ending plan minutes before the final confrontation, there wasn't any real buildup.

Basically I'm saying it was a bit crap, but then I'm so invested in the Marvel Studios way of doing this genre, that anything without that same budget or interconnectivity is fighting something of an uphill battle.

I also watched John Wick, finally, which I definitely enjoyed more. There's not much to it on the surface; some excellent choreography and minimal plot, but what I really enjoyed was the worldbuilding. It's more subtle than I'd expect from a film like this; the cleanup crew summoned with a code phrase, the rules of the hotel, the gold coins that form the currency in this secret world, they're all introduced for you to pick up on but not forced down your throat. I remained interested enough to want to see the sequels anyway.

Agreed on John Wick. As I've gotten older I've become less interested in watching pure action flicks, but this was a breath of fresh air, and the sequels maintain the high standard imo.

[Raid]

I don't think I've grown out of pure action films yet, but they have to really be exceptional to grab my enthusiasm. I can't be doing with that shaky-cam cut before every impact nonsense; you need real choreography and stunt work to win me over. I need to respect the scene, it has to be "real", in as much as that sort of violence can be. I've seen the kind of training and choreography that Keanu Reeves is capable of, which definitely added to my enjoyment of Wick (although I'm going off the behind the scenes stuff from the Matrix trilogy).