Threads commit Hara-Kiri at 10,000 posts? Ay caramba!
Well, we still need a thread for our movie adventures, so: I watched Zootopia and The Wizard of Oz with my niece today, and I enjoyed neither.
1 down, 9999 to go.
Yesterday I finally got to see The Iceman, and I have to say I found it a very interesting take on the 70s hitman movie. Michael Shannon of course playing his off-the-bat-weirdo self to bravour, but in general it had a few nice moments and didn’t get boring. At the same time, not all that memorable. I wonder how it stacks up compared to Black Mass, another one of those mobster era flicks I haven’t seen yet.
Edit: This was only my 256th movie this year 
Not even Officer Judy Hopps?
Alas no, not even Judy Hopps. 
It’s not a bad film by any measure - it would be incredibly short-sighted to suggest that it is - but, for me, director Byron Howard’s movies tend to skew towards little girls rather than aiming for a more general family vibe (he also made 2008’s Bolt and 2010’s Tangled). It’s excellently made, however. A sumptuously realised world throughout.
The Wizard of Oz’s credentials speak for themselves of course but again, it’s not a movie for me and in truth it never was, even when I was a kiddie myself. My wife however sang along like a grinning banshee to every word of every song. She bloody loves it. And my young niece - who’d never seen it - thought it was wonderful. So it’s clearly still got that old magic.
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What I enjoyed most about the Hopps character were the animated movements of her ears.
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)- This was alright, the actors portraying the security contractors did a fine job in this tense/action thriller.
Gods of Egypt (2016)-This was a complete mess- the script sucked, it’s poorly acted and the lame CGI was the worst i’ve seen. Gerard Butler’s movie career might be in jeopardy if he keeps making “shit” movies.
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THE MAN FROM UNCLE (2015, Guy Ritchie)
One of those recent re-boots of successful TV-series from the good old days (the Sixties mainly). After the popular and critical success of his Sherlock Holmes updates, Ritchie seemed to be the right man for the job.
Well, he was, and he wasn’t. This re-boot is well-crafted and elegantly staged, but it’s also typical PG stuff, aimed at large audiences, and we’re far removed from Ritchie’s Snatch and Smoking Barrels days. The film recreates the Cold War atmosphere with the help of a clever costume and set design and the opening scene, set on both sides of the Berlin Wall, is particularly fine, but if the opening is promising, the finale is a real let-down and most of what’s in-between, is too casual to create any real excitement. Ritchie still knows how keep things moving, and all in all this is a pleasant ride, but things used to be much spicier before he started dating Madonna.
With a story about a doomsday weapon and counter-counter-espionage this Man from Uncle is often closer to Bond than to the legendary TV Show from the Sixties (which, I suppose, was the small screen’s answer to Bond). Instead of telling the further adventures of Solo & Ilya, it’s meant to be a sort of prequel, explaining us how these two guys became the men from UNCLE. I liked Armie Hammer’s Kuryakin better than Henry Cavill’s Solo, but he’s been given an awfal fake Russian accent). Hugh Grant - of all people - is fun as Alexander Waverly, the one who’s responsible for bringing the Russian and American ace spies together, but Swedish actress Vikander easily steals the movie as the double-double-crossing Germn/British agent. She has quite a few accents as well.
Saw Besson’s Lucy last night. What a pile of shit. I mean craftsmanship wise it was interesting, but Luc Besson seems to be busy on the crap assembly line… and he has been for years now…
I liked it very much. Strange, but in a positive way.
The Shallows. Decent shark flick, but way too much obvious CG fx which ruined it a bit for me. Great supporting performance by Steven Seagull
Shark flicks are like Bigfoot flicks for me: Loads of 'em, but the good ones are RARE. I’d heard a lot of good noises about The Shallows prior to seeing it and I allowed myself to get worked up for this one, but although in the end it’s not a world-beater by any stretch, I think it’s right up at the better end of the shark films I’ve seen. I can’t think of too many shark pics I prefer (not including those I like in an ironic, so-sh*t-it’s-good way); Jaws obviously, but which ones after that? Open Water certainly, Jaws 2 maybe… struggling now…
A bit of a shark fan myself, so looking forward to The Shallows. Open Water certainly is a favourite, Deep Blue sea, The Reef, and Jaws of caws. Jaws 2 has good shark effects, but a lousy story. It should’ve been different, more compelling, but the original director and screenwriter were fired and Jeannot Schwartz - or whatever his name was - and Roy Scheider hated each others guts.
I remember a recent Aussie Shark pic about people being trapped in supermarket after a tsunami. Didn’t make much sense, but it was kinda fun. I forgot the title. Must be someting like Shark’s Go Shopping
That would have been Bait. Not too bad as far as I remember:
Shark! (1969), starring Burt Reynolds: reportedly so bad that director Sam Fuller renounced the final version and wanted his name taken off it. One of four Fuller films I haven’t had the nerve to watch yet.
Venom (1981) - This was a lot better than I thought it would be. Worth a look for fans of Oliver Reed and Klaus Kinski.
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That’s the one
The Reef! I forgot about that one, that’s definitely up there. Deep Blue Sea - hmm, I guess one would have to concede it’s at the superior end of things but it’s never especially “snapped my radish”, as the saying goes. I had it on DVD a million years ago, I lent it to someone else, they lost it, and I didn’t sink into a kill-crazy rampage OR bother to replace it, and I never usually lend my films out; I get kind-of anxious if people even look at my films sideways. So I simply couldn’t have been that bothered.
Yes, indeed. I DO like Bait - silly fun - but it’s simply not in Jaws/Open Water/The Reef/The Shallows’ class. IMO, of course.
Once you’ve seen Sharkansas Women’s Prison Massacre (Wynorski, 2015) or Three-Headed Shark Attack (Ray, 2015), a Burt Reynolds pic can hold no fear, my friend.
¡Madre de Dios! 
All intelligent people have guilty pleasures, and since we’re very intelligent here …