The Recommended Movies Thread

[sandman67]

GODZILLA

I dont usually mind when I find myself at odds with the opinions of the critics, but when I find myself at odds with Mark Kermode, who I usually am in line with, I do have a think. But I dont care if he rates it as one of the best blockbusters so far in 2014....I think its utter crap.

Yes I like the way it pays its dues and respect to the original Japanese GOJIRA films. Yes I like the way it brings back some of the great old touches like the radioactive death breath attack. But other than that it just sucks on so many levels. Its horribly filmed, with almost no big monsters crushing squishy cities segments. Its horribly filmed in that almost every action sequence is a murky dark mess filmed apparently at midnight down a mine on a power cut....even when the immediately preceding scene was at noon on a sunny street or beach. Its terribly scripted, with long turgid sections of sod all happening, and when stuff does happen its so predictable you already know whats going to happen three scenes before it does. The "humans" are a series of flat as a pancake two dimensional cut out set dressings just there to run around and screech or look serious....or in Ken Watanabe's case just constantly look soulfully into the distance like your puppy just died. The soundtrack is loud and blary, so much so in places it drowns out what cliched cack the actors are about to spout. Its also mindblowingly stupid from start to end, making absolutely no sense at all even when you suspend the disbelief for the monster premise. Put it this way, by an hour and a half my hand was creeping toward the mouse to click "close" and drag the file to the trash, where it did eventually go.

Nope. I hated it. I like the big daft B movie bubblegum daftness of the 1998 version, which looked better, was acted properly, filmed better, had better effects, and was a treat to watch. I like PACIFIC RIM, which was by far a superior film. I have even warmed up to CLOVERFIELD, despite the fact it used wobbly shaky hand cam found footage format.

This is just a mess from start to end, and I dont care if Mark likes it, I didnt. Watched it, trashed it, wish I could forget it.

Out and about in R6 rips with hard subbed chinese at the bottom and a watermark blur which dont detract....it looks bloody awful anyway so theres nowt to spoil.

Up to you....I give it three thbbbbbbts.

[richard]

EDGE OF TOMORROW

I'm not a big Tom Cruise fan and to be honest now getting weary of SciFi movies but this is a good one. Google for a full description.

Certaily 3 cheers for me. It's riveting and well acted IMO

[pharvey]

^ It's one I've been looking out for Richard - has had some very good reviews. Unfortunately (as is Godzilla - which I'd also like to see) only available as a "cam" on the download sites I have used/am using, so am waiting for decent copies to be available...

[richard]

My copy is a DVD rip and good quality but I can't for the life of me remember where from. Not Pirate Bay. May have been isoHunt

[sandman67]

PH Theres a R6 rip of Godzilla (aka Fleeting Glimpses Of Monsters In The Murk) over at VeeHD.

anyway, back to something worth a watch

THE LAST SUPPER

Great Chinese historical epic about the fall of the Qin dynasty around 200BC and the founding of the Han Dynasty.

Emperor Liu, first of the Han, is 61 and on his death bed, surrounded on all sides as all Chinese emperors were by a poisonous crowd of ministers, eunuchs and wives/concubines all jockying for power and position. Times of change are dangerous things in the Chinese imperial court, especially when a new dynasty is founded and its first emperor is gasping his final breaths. As he waits for the cold hand of death Liu reminisces about his life and rise to power from humble stock and beginnings as a rebel against the Qin dynasty. Meanwhile his wife, who has suffered because of his rise, settles old scores in that most imperial way....by stitching up and executing anyone who gets in her way.

As with most Chinese cinema its beautifully filmed and densely plotted, almost Shakespearean in its levels of Hamlet or Lear like melodrama. Lush sets and occasional light touches of CGI are spattered on occasion with the odd bucket of patent Kensington Gore, but the battle count is relatively low, and this is more a historical political drama about ambition, envy and bloody revenge. Its a wonderful bit of asian cinema and IMHO well worth a watch if you are a fan of the genre.

Out and about in lovely crisp rips - for torrent downloads look for "The Last Supper" and its variously dated 2012 or 2013, or head over to Alluc (http://www.alluc.to/movies/watch-the-la ... 86230.html) to watch an online streaming version (use the Direct Links list) with hard subbed English subtitles.

Three cheers and a solid keeper

[STEVE G]

As with most Chinese cinema its beautifully filmed and densely plotted, almost Shakespearean in its levels of Hamlet or Lear like melodrama.

It's ironic that Asian cinema is now producing excellent historic political drama and Hollywood is turning out bad versions of Godzilla!

[sateeb]

Not usually a big fan of Ben Stiller but I must say I enjoyed "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty".

Not laugh out loud funny but very entertaining. Good cameo from Sean Penn,nice to see him back on the screen. 'nuff said.

Loads of torrents out there.

[Homer]

Chef

Jon Favreau is best known for directing big budget movies (Iron Man, Iron Man2, Cowboys and Aliens and the upcoming Jungle Book) that open on 3000+ screens. An R rated comedy, Chef has a small story, small cast, and a small (not low) budget. IMDB summarized it as: A chef who loses his restaurant job starts up a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative promise, while piecing back together his estranged family.

Story is predictable, the comedy isn't. Tone makes or breaks films like this. It's not too sweet, the heartwarming stuff is played straight and low key, none of the characters are broken or antiheroes. They're just trying to find their way back home. Consensus is it works: 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Favreau wrote, directed and starred. Also stars John Leguizamo, Sofia Vergara, and a 10 year old boy you've never heard of. The supporting actors aren't too bad: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson and Oliver Platt.

[sandman67]

FOUR ASSASSINS

Neo-noir style action thriller with a very simple set up - an assassin team meets with one of its wayward members in his Hong Kong hotel room to talk through his reasons for messing up on his last job - with his life on the line should he give the wrong answers. The patriarch of the group is an old hand with a soft spot for his protege, and obvious disappointment in the other two younger members, but knows that the wayward son is somehow hiding something. As time ticks by, and the deadline call from the big boss approaches, will the anti-hero be able to talk his way out in a room overfull of testosterone and paranoia?

Its very simple, and concentrates on talk and the plot rather than loads of action, but I think it worked well. Miguel Ferrer is his usual slippery shady self as the patriarch and steals the show as always. I like the surprise way that its high on talk and low on action biff bang...makes a nice change to see someone try telling a story with narrative.

Well worth a watch for fans of film noir IMHO. Out and about at all the usual suspects in DVDRIPS

Two cheers. Not a keeper but well worth a watch.

[sandman67]

X MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

Marvel are having a proper stormer of a year, with a slew of blockbuster franchise pushers bringing the crowds in like an all you can eat steak n lobster counter in Vegas. This latest X MEN flick is rather clever in that it patches up the flappy ends of both the main franchise strain that ended apocalypse stylee in LAST STAND, as well as the "new" franchise arc of FIRST CLASS.

Sometime in the future the war against the mutants has resulted in a hellish world like a global Belsen, with 20 foot high hunter killer androids wiping out almost all mutants and a large slice of humanity that got in the way. So the only way to sort this out is to change the future by changing the past. Time to send the consciousness of good old Wolverine back to his old body back in 1972 to put together the now shattered original X Men so they can stop Mystique carrying out a hit on the man who made the original prototype androids. Sound like a bit of a rip off of Terminator 2 to you? Yeah.....well at least it does it with aplomb and a bag load of exciting biff bang a booms, and it has Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy to keep things rolling along with some A lister acting done right, as well as lovely old Hugh Jackman as the gravelly beclawed growler.

I love superhero flicks for what they are - bubblegum for the brain and candy for the eye, but when they start to rely on the time travel trope its usually a sign, like original Star Trek, that scriptwriting has hit a dead end and its jump the shark time. Not here thankfully - this is a very cool flick and the time travel plot works well.

Out and about in a WEBRIP with Korean hard subs (tagged KORSUB). Personally Id wait and soon the BluRay rips will be about. Definite three cheers, and a definite adamintine clawed keeper. I wont even deduct a bit for the usual stupid end of credits lead into the next flick scene which sets up for a stormer of a next outing for the FIRST CLASS cast.

[sandman67]

MALEFICENT

Disney have done a live action rework of their classic golden era animated feature Sleeping Beauty, using the "turn the story on its head" that was applied to Alice In Wonderland so well a year or so ago. The end result is excellent - truly a great flick for dads and daughters, or kids of all ages including stony hearted old Sandy himself. Usually I shiver when Disney get their claws into something, but of late they seem to have matured and dropped all the cutesy shmaltzy clutter and tweeness, and like the Alice rework this has a dash of darkness just under the pretty skin.

Angelina Jolie is the perfect cast for Malificent, the previously evil fairy godmother who in this rework turns out to be villain and hero alike, with a damn good reason to be a bit vindictive towards the supposedly good old king and his nipper. Even without the CGI enhanced razor cheekbones she would have slotted right in as a live action version of the famous animated villainess, but thank god the CGI and costuming only enhances that shoe in, and she still is a heartstopper.....even more so for an old goth like me. She also gets to show she can seriously act, with some Depp level no words face and eyes acting wonder. When she can tell a fairy tale and get a stoneheart like me to care and feel emotion that's acting. Call me weird, but the combination of her face, a cut glass English accent, horns wings and pointy ears, and swathes of cross cut black silk just do things to my nether bits no Disney film should. Rawrrrrrrrr.

I absolutely loved it - its well scripted, looks wonderful, and is a properly mature multi layered fairy tale for all ages. At one point it even had me with a lump in my throat and a sneakily deployed knuckle to the tear duct (Just got something in my eye angel....honest). While doing a major rework it pays its homage to the animated classic, and works on both levels as a homage and as an original work.

Its out and about in a reasonable R4 DVDRIP at the moment, so for normal viewing its good, but Id really wait for the higher rez BluRay Rips to come out to get the full eye candy effect. A definite three sinister sneers and a curse or three keeper all the way.

[zeitgeist]

I love superhero flicks for what they are - bubblegum for the brain and candy for the eye,

I, too, am a fan of superhero flicks especially after a re-watch of Watchmen recently. Searching the internet for superhero movies I discovered several I haven't watched previously...

Sky High - few years old now and a disney film, but don't that put you off, this is a fun, no-brainer with some funny moments and can be enjoyed by the whole family.

Chronicle - an excellent film, 3 high schoolers stumble across a strange object which gives them super powers. This really is a great movie, the main antagonist is excellent playing a moody outsider suddenly being possessed with power. IMO a must see...

[sandman67]

ZG

MYSTERY MEN is a favorite comedy superhero flick - well worth a watch and with some great laughs. VeeHD has a nice crisp 720p version on the system.

For a bit of Japanese style superhero madness that is truly eye boggling watch CASSHERN.

[richard]

MALEFICENT


Angelina Jolie is the perfect cast for Malificent, the previously evil fairy godmother who in this rework turns out to be villain and hero alike, with a damn good reason to be a bit vindictive towards the supposedly good old king and his nipper. Even without the CGI enhanced razor cheekbones she would have slotted right in as a live action version of the famous animated villainess, but thank god the CGI and costuming only enhances that shoe in, and she still is a heartstopper.....even more so for an old goth like me. She also gets to show she can seriously act, with some Depp level no words face and eyes acting wonder. When she can tell a fairy tale and get a stoneheart like me to care and feel emotion that's acting. Call me weird, but the combination of her face, a cut glass English accent, horns wings and pointy ears, and swathes of cross cut black silk just do things to my nether bits no Disney film should. Rawrrrrrrrr.

Great movie and nice twist to the tale. Jolie is very good but does nowt for my nether bits but there again I'm not a retired goth It is a bit of a tear jerker IMO but then again I'm a bit of a soppy Tyke at times and it's nice to lose ones self in fantasy in this big bad world.

I would have preferred it if Diaval had delivered the mother of all kisses as it looked as though he would. Obviously did not have the qualifications

[sandman67]

A couple of biff banga boom action flicks.....

THE EXPENDABLES 3

The third outing for the Expendables franchise sees Barney and the boys royally screwed over by an arms dealer who originally helped set the team up. As the team is either captured, put out of action or just packs it in, Barney struggles to get his revenge....blah blah blah. Really....how the hell did Barney get to the top of his merc game? He constantly seems to be a complete dipshit when it comes to detecting bad guys and spotting the fact his mate seem keen to do him over.

The makers are just getting lazy now.....seems like they just think throwing more of everything at the franchise and hoping some sticks is the way forward. More washed up ex-A lister action actors, more CGI exploding things and A Team style ridiculous shootouts..... duh! Even the character names are getting ridiculous....Trench Mauser for Arnie's Teutonic merc and Ying Yang for Jet Li? Come on....what next? A Scottish character called Jock Strap? A Brit called Tommy Gunn?

But one thing they seem keen to have less of is that sly humor and ripping on the genre that was in the first, then to a lesser extent in the second, and in this third outing is thin on the ground. The patent Sly sly digs and Arnie shnappy vun liner comebacks are as thin on the ground as tissue paper.

Its a stodgy mush of napalm, sweat and ham acting spread thick over a plot so hackneyed it limps through to the final inevitable rippling thews bashup between Barney and Mad Mel. By the end I was bored....and that says it all. Please....either just pack it in now, or sack the team and go back to the formula used in the first....a spectacular with some sly Sly digs.

watched and dumped. One cheer for the pretty chaos,



BRICK MANSIONS

When Heath Ledger died, he left behind as his swansong the unforgettable, chilling and downright loony tunes psycho Tom Waits like portrayal of The Joker. A benchmark performance in a brilliant film. Come on....when I say "Why So Serious?" what do you see? Heath in that shabby suit and messed up smeary clown face makeup leering as he waves a knife in your face.

Paul "Fast and Furious" Walker will have this remembered as his last on screen appearance.....a second rate (almost) scene for scene lazy ass remake of the hyper-kinetic French crime thriller DISTRICT 13. Its even got the original sodding Leito in it doing his parkour insane freerunning madness between kicking the stuffing out of enemies. If D13 were only available in subtitled versions I could sort of see why, as yanks seem too idle to watch a flick with subs....but D13 was released outside France in dubbed formats with English language soundtracks! Yes its a bit more Amero-centric and Hollywoodised, so looks a lot "cleaner" and more expensive, but if anything that just spoils it.

Anyway, if you have seen DISTRICT 13 there is no point watching this, and if you haven't do yourself a favor and just watch it instead of this remake. The original is better, and poor old Paul will only have this as his memorial. A sad remake. What a shame.

Two cheers as its actually quite good, but then its a remake of a classic so it looses one for cheating.



Both out and about at all the usual suspects including 720p versions over at VeeHD.

PS: BDRIPS and hi rez versions of Maleficent will now not be about till November so see it now, save it later.

chin chin chaps and chapesses.