Way back in the day, I made this thread and it went for pages and pages. I'm not sure what happened to it; it just sort of died, like a lot of old threads did, over time. But since we've got new blood in here, I figured I'd recreate it.
I'm a movie nerd, so I try to see as many as I can, new and old. Reviews and recommendations welcome in this thread.
I'll start with a few big titles that I've seen recently:
28 Years Later - Danny Boyle's sequel to 2002's 28 Days Later is a tighter, more entertaining zombie flick than that original film. This one doesn't focus nearly as much on characterization (and mostly ignores the first sequel 28 Weeks Later), but it's faster paced and probably a better ride if you're looking for an outright horror movie. Ralph Fiennes pops up about halfway through, and puts in a better performance than this material deserves (not unlike Cillian Murphy in the original).
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning - This was too long and the plot was incomprehensible gibberish, but you're not going to M:I movies for the plot. You're going for Tom Cruise being a crazy person and the set pieces. And this movie has all of these things in spade. If you liked the rest, you'll like this one. They say it's the "final," but I'll believe it when I see it.
F1 - Probably about 30 minutes too long and follows the Sports Movie playbook to a tee, but this is a wildly entertaning popcorn movie and a textbook Jerry Bruckheimer summer blockbuster. Directed by the guy who made Top Gun: Maverick a couple years ago, this one follows a similar blueprint: aging hotshot mentors a young upstart F1 driver, and learns Life Lessons while falling love. But forget the script; this one is about the racing scenes, and they're all doozies. I'd never watched an F1 race in my life, and was white-knuckling the arms of my seat. Check this one out on the biggest screen you can find.
Ballerina (or Wick With A Chick) - This wasn't necessary, but had some well-choreographed fight scenes.
The Phoenician Scheme - Wes Anderson's schtick is getting old. This thing has its share of little charms, but we get it, dude. You're twee.
Jurassic Park: Rebirth - This is the best Jurassic Park movie since The Lost World in 1997, but that's not saying much. It's about time for this franchise to go extinct. I'm not sure how much money they had to pay Scarlett Johannsen and Mahershala Ali to act scared and read stilted dilaogue for two hours, but it probably wasn't enough. My eight year old thought it was fun, but milage may vary.
Final Destination: Bloodlines - People cheat death, and then die in Rube Goldberg-ian ways. Over and over and over. If you've seen one of these movies, you've seen them all, but if you like one of them, you'll like them all. That's all I've got.
Sinners - One of the few truly original Hollywood flicks of recent years. Ryan Coogler's mix-and-match of genres (prohibition-era gangster flick, race meditation, action movie, sex romp, musical, vampire horror) is a wild melting pot of sweat-drenched insanity. There's really no way to describe this movie; I watched it in theaters first and walked away thinking it was a bit overrated and over-stuffed, but a second watch revealed a much more deliberate movie. Probably not for all tastes, but this thing is audacious and entertaining as hell. Michael B. Jordan has come a long way from The Wire to leading man, and there's a scene exactly halfway into the movie that ranks alongside the all-time greats. You'll know it when you see it.
I'm a movie nerd, so I try to see as many as I can, new and old. Reviews and recommendations welcome in this thread.
I'll start with a few big titles that I've seen recently:
28 Years Later - Danny Boyle's sequel to 2002's 28 Days Later is a tighter, more entertaining zombie flick than that original film. This one doesn't focus nearly as much on characterization (and mostly ignores the first sequel 28 Weeks Later), but it's faster paced and probably a better ride if you're looking for an outright horror movie. Ralph Fiennes pops up about halfway through, and puts in a better performance than this material deserves (not unlike Cillian Murphy in the original).
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning - This was too long and the plot was incomprehensible gibberish, but you're not going to M:I movies for the plot. You're going for Tom Cruise being a crazy person and the set pieces. And this movie has all of these things in spade. If you liked the rest, you'll like this one. They say it's the "final," but I'll believe it when I see it.
F1 - Probably about 30 minutes too long and follows the Sports Movie playbook to a tee, but this is a wildly entertaning popcorn movie and a textbook Jerry Bruckheimer summer blockbuster. Directed by the guy who made Top Gun: Maverick a couple years ago, this one follows a similar blueprint: aging hotshot mentors a young upstart F1 driver, and learns Life Lessons while falling love. But forget the script; this one is about the racing scenes, and they're all doozies. I'd never watched an F1 race in my life, and was white-knuckling the arms of my seat. Check this one out on the biggest screen you can find.
Ballerina (or Wick With A Chick) - This wasn't necessary, but had some well-choreographed fight scenes.
The Phoenician Scheme - Wes Anderson's schtick is getting old. This thing has its share of little charms, but we get it, dude. You're twee.
Jurassic Park: Rebirth - This is the best Jurassic Park movie since The Lost World in 1997, but that's not saying much. It's about time for this franchise to go extinct. I'm not sure how much money they had to pay Scarlett Johannsen and Mahershala Ali to act scared and read stilted dilaogue for two hours, but it probably wasn't enough. My eight year old thought it was fun, but milage may vary.
Final Destination: Bloodlines - People cheat death, and then die in Rube Goldberg-ian ways. Over and over and over. If you've seen one of these movies, you've seen them all, but if you like one of them, you'll like them all. That's all I've got.
Sinners - One of the few truly original Hollywood flicks of recent years. Ryan Coogler's mix-and-match of genres (prohibition-era gangster flick, race meditation, action movie, sex romp, musical, vampire horror) is a wild melting pot of sweat-drenched insanity. There's really no way to describe this movie; I watched it in theaters first and walked away thinking it was a bit overrated and over-stuffed, but a second watch revealed a much more deliberate movie. Probably not for all tastes, but this thing is audacious and entertaining as hell. Michael B. Jordan has come a long way from The Wire to leading man, and there's a scene exactly halfway into the movie that ranks alongside the all-time greats. You'll know it when you see it.
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