Movie Night (Official Movie Discussion Thread)

Tornado



PRAISE: There is a western vibe that flows throughout this film about a Japanese puppeteer's daughter who gets caught up with criminals when their show crosses paths with a crime gang. Capturing that western feel made the film a pleasure to watch. There are a multitude of characters, some with interesting looks and skill sets. The performances from Kōki, as samurai-sword-wielding teenager Tornado, and as her father Fujin ,Takehiro Hira, Tim Roth and Jack Lowden, are on point. There is a good familial balance in the story that displays how the lust for money in particular in this film in the form of gold can eliminate all logic and reason when it comes to choosing or not choosing family over everything. The choices that are made are riveting. It was fun putting together why characters were making certain decisions. The film reaches a certain point in which I asked should I be rooting for Tornado? But certain emotions from the character eliminated that question. Director and writer Director John Maclean makes good use of natural light,the darkness of dense forests and vast landscapes. I liked how the film builds to its inevitable ultra violent climax.

PROBLEMS: The film definitely needed and infusion of character development as to why some characters cared so much about each other it would have made the film more involving.

Scale of 1 to 10 a 7½
 
The Life of Chuck




PRAISE: Based on a short story by Stephen King this story three chapters in the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz tells a lot of hard truths about life,creation, love,like and the humorous moments blended in to all of the above. I enjoyed how the movie displayed the spontaneity of life and sudden connections with strangers. The cast is great, the actors all do well including Tom Hiddleston as Charles "Chuck" Krantz, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Marty Anderson, Karen Gillan as Felicia Gordon
Jacob Tremblay as Teenage Chuck and Mark Hamill as Albie Krantz.It was great to see Mia Sara again whom I haven't seen in anything since the short lived Birds of Prey TV series. The movie is constructed in such a way that I knew certain things were going to happen that I was looking forward to, so when the movie starts to slide into the repetitive its those aforementioned moments that brought me back into the story. Theres a moment in the movie that made me think of an old joke i used to tell about a local TV station: Even during the apocalypse they will still figure out a way to air The Three Stooges.The messages about what we think we are going to get out of a path we take in life because those thoughts were placed in us by someone we trusted and loved was one of the best moments in the movie to me. Of course there were a couple of moments that reminded me Stephen King wrote this and they were haunting. Still it's a good message of live every day throughout the movie.

PROBLEMS: The movie felt overdone to me at times especially by the time the last 30 minutes play out. With characters stating the same things and sure i know the movie was trying to display how we are all connected but it just felt repetitive.

Scale of 1 to 10 a 7½
 
RandomOne said:
Didn't see a thread for this but saw the trailer. It's freaky
Click to expand...

If you click on the prefix, it filters so that only that particular prefix shows

20250606_235139.jpg
 
Predator: Killer of Killers






PRAISE: The Predator franchise continues to thrive in the streaming service HULU. It not only provides something exciting and involving but also creative. The movie is divided into 3 chapters a Viking raider in 1841, a ninja and samurai brother in 1629, and an American squadron of fighter pilots in 1942 with various Predators drawn to warriors and battles. The animation is sharp for the most part and i praise everyone for all the hard and beautiful work put into it.There is a 3D look to some of it which I liked. The character stories and the characters themselves are interesting with some very cool settings. There's plenty of violence and gore as to be expected by anyone who watches anything under the Predator banner. Some great things are done with the music throughout the movie. There is some nice stacking in the films last 30 minutes that was truly involving as various predicaments are introduced. The producers and writers are keeping things interesting for fans and casual viewers of the latest Predator films.

PROBLEMS: There was definitely some plot armor here and there. The introduction of the chapters should have been done differently because after the first it just lead to predictable paths for a couple of characters.

Scale of 1 to 10 an 8



From the World of John Wick: Ballerina






PRAISE: When a movie manages to entertain even with a basic seeking revenge and to avenge plot that's really silver medal worthy. The story Eve Macarro takes on an army of killers as she seeks revenge against those responsible for the death of her father. I give high praise to Ana de Armas, for all the things she had to do physically in this film. I praise the movie for its unique kills and surprisingly fun and well choreographed and unique action sequences. The first hour is more of a character builder with some action and familiar Wick characters making appearances, but the second hour is truly no holds barred, yes that just happened action and then some. Even with some of the things that were given away in the trailer to pull audiences in this movie definitely rises above its basic paths.

PROBLEMS: It is pretty funny how the movie completely avoids some cliches but dives head first into several of them. I immediately started having flashbacks of the movie that starred Elsa Pataky in 2022 titled interceptor in which the very petite actress took on men over 6'5 when i watched Armas do the same in this flick. Unbelievable and definitely pushed the suspend disbelief meter to the max. Still this is a good action romp until John Wick returns....somehow.

Scale of 1 to 10 a 7
 
Rewatching 28 Weeks Later. Did not remember them having such a star studded cast, lol. Guess at the time they may not have been stars, but still.

Idris Elba
Jeremy Renner
Harold Perrineau (dude that fell in love with the stripper in The Best Man).
Rose Byrne
 
TheNightKing said:
Rewatching 28 Weeks Later. Did not remember them having such a star studded cast, lol. Guess at the time they may not have been stars, but still.

Idris Elba
Jeremy Renner
Harold Perrineau (dude that fell in love with the stripper in The Best Man).
Rose Byrne
Click to expand...
Where'd you watch it at? I've been wanting to rewatch the 2
 
Straw




PRAISE: I will always applaud Tyler Perry for tackling some subject matter in his movies and getting it right. The aforementioned can definitely be found in Straw a movie about Janiyah Watkinson (Taraji P. Henson) having a horrible day and then some and that's all I will say about that for now. The performance from Henson is very strong as a woman continually driven to the edge . The characters reactions to certain happenings are on point. I also enjoyed Sherri Shepherds performance as a bank manager one part of the calming ,stand by your side people in Janiyahs day . The other is Det. Kay Raymond portrayed with intensity by Teyana Taylor, she also has quite the intense walk. Perry nails it when he infuses messages about the health care system,media coverage of a tense situation, trauma and when your child is the core center of your life.

PROBLEMS: The first 30 minutes i was into the movie and definitely involved. I like most people can relate to a bad day in which terrible and hectic situations keep coming at you. But this movie reaches so many over the top levels in which characters overly could care less about Janiyah, people saying beyond sinister things to her and her being caught right in the middle of chaos that I turned to a family member who had watched most of the movie and said: Janiyah is just dreaming right?!? That's how far Perry goes in to the incredulous, digging so deep that all i can do is shake my head and say this has to be some crazy nightmare.

Scale of 1 to 10 a 6½
 
Dangerous Animals





PRAISE: As soon as the characters were introduced i started getting a 1989 Dead Calm movie vibe and that was a great thing but the fact that this movie is its own thing was great too. The story about Zephyr, a solitary surfer with a troubled past has come to Australia's Gold Coast but crosses paths with a killer who admires....possibly loves sharks. As Tucker, Jai Courtney does an excellent job here. In some scenes he just uses his eyes and I still didn't quite know what his sinister plans were when he was seemingly trying to butter up his victims. As Zephyr Hassie Harrison turns in a good performance and also a physical one making her character very believable. I liked how resourceful she was. There is plenty of violence and gore . There are a couple of suspenseful moments that really stood out. There are some great nods to well known surfer and serial killer movies. I liked how it was brought out that we sometimes go to our animal sides for the good and the bad.

PROBLEMS : If the movie had added one more story thread that I think should have been in the movie i would have given it another point. That critique is linked to a character that should have had more of a background at least the whereabouts of the character would have been appreciated. Some of the CGI sharks looked pretty bad actually looking animated in some scenes.

Scale of 1 to 10 a 7½
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top