This can't be that bad I said to myself after a few beers one night, I'll throw it on since I like Guy Ritchie's movies... Nope, everyone was correct. The comments here, the 28% audience score on RT, although the 6% critic score might be more accurate than that.
It really is that bad, almost across the board and not even any redeeming "Oh maybe they mean it's so bad it's good", nope it doesn't even do anything close to getting into that bucket.
See the worst type of "bad movies" are bad comedies, because a good bad movie can be (unintentionally) funny but a bad comedy, by it's very nature can't be funny otherwise it's a successful comedy. This fails in both the comedy and the romance.
These are normally the types of movies that end up in my top 12 at the end of the year because these small scale, (not quite in this case) bottle movies are just my jam.
Genuinly great performances across the board, and not just the larger roles like Jocelin Donahue, Nicholas Logan, Richard Brake and Jim Cummings but even the smaller roles all really put 100% in, which always makes the movie feel more natural.
While some of the characters could have had a bit more complexity, I think then it would have leaned more into a Tarantino/Hateful Eight style, where I think what this movie was going for is that more "These are just regular people in an unusual situation" story.
Some great scenes, a really effective score and some really solid performances make this a surprise gem for 2024 for me. While it won't be a movie for everyone, I think those that enjoy smaller scale, tight movies will enjoy.
This show will not end up in your top 10 shows of the year, in fact you will probably forget about it once you have watched it but it's the type of show I put in the very easy to watch bucket. It's not complex or challenging, it doesn't make you think or struggle to follow. It's very simple and easy to watch.
It's the type of show that's akin to Law and Order or those crime procedurals, sets up a very simple problem with a couple of extra bits of information, often very predictable and ends with the good guys winning and the bad guys losing. A show that you can walk away from in the middle while making dinner or cleaning and you will not miss much, or if you do it will only take you 30 seconds to catch up.
I normally do watch a heap of the more complex and challenging shows, high concept sci-fi's and heavy dramas, but I normally offset those with either a fun light comedy or a show like this for when I've had a day where I just want to switch the brain off.
Not going to win any awards, or be in any top 10 lists at the end of the year, but I think there is still a spot for shows like this, at least in my rotation.
Great follow up to Shogun being set around 30-40 years after the show ends.
A solid entry into the romantic action comedy genre, solid fun action and comedic perfomances all around with that little bit of meta/BTS's of the film making industry without being too on the nose that some movies do.
The only real downside/issue I had was I felt some of the sequences and the movie overall was ever so slightly too long. But it was very minor, and I think all it needed to go from good/solid to great would be dropping maybe 10 minutes. Gosling's second stuntman/daredevil role and he nails it, while blending it well with his solid comedic timings without feeling like you are watching the same actor play the same role that some other Ryans in Hollywood are known for.
Always great to see some love for the stunt people in the industry and the credits do a great shoutout for the stunt actors that worked on this movie. The action while it does overstay it's welcome in a couple of sequences for me, is still great fun and a clever take on the action and stunts performed since the lead character is a stunt performer not some bad-ass superhero, so the choreography delivered that really well.
Solid fun movie you can see with mates or a date.
So I was fairly on the fence before seeing this, but Garland for me has a pretty good track record. So first off, I enjoyed it but I have a huge bias in that I do a lot of photography and while not war photography there is some very relatable things for photographers that other people might not fully appreciate.
However with that aside, I think there is a solid movie here that while not up with the best of Garland's portfolio certainty a solid entry. Great use of sound and lack of sound to express points, some really great perfomances, including Dunst in a role archetype I've not seen her in before, but genuinely solid across the board.
Some really striking visuals, using the foreground and iconography of America with backgrounds that you are used to seeing in the likes of Iraq invasion and Middle Eastern conflicts, which when coupled with the great use of music and sound design really created some suspenseful situations and others with heaps of unease.
While only having the simple message of "War is bad" I really wasn't expecting anything much more from the guy that gave us Dredd lol.
If I wanted to watch something with genuine hard hitting war messaging I'd go and watch The Zone of Interest again.
Solid movie, but might get bonus points if you're a photographer lol.
While like most of the western Godzilla movies, it's not in the same league as the Japanese ones especially the recent Minus One, it's still exactly what you expect and while I didn't love the previous entry this one I kinda enjoyed.
Very much a switch your brain off and enjoy the big monsters fighting, and grabbing a beer would not go amiss, Wingard seems to have figured out what these movies are and why people will go and see them. Big monsters go rawr at each other and then fight. The human stories are mostly kept to the sideline and just dropping in to explain or setup the next monster thing and unlike some previous entries they don't cut to human stories while you want to see the monster fight.
Dan Stevens absolutely nails/steals every scene he's in, and as a long time fan I hope this does get him some bigger main roles in future. Most of the other human performances were fine and they all knew what type of movie they were in. Wingard does bring back some of his stylish visuals when there is an actual set it's not just a CGI fest
While I had fairly low expectations walking in, walking out I was very much "yeah that was actually pretty fun". Won't be winning awards or in many "Top 10" lists at the end of the year, but I don't think anyone was really expecting that.
So this show had been on my radar for a very long time, so it was highly antipiated for myself personally. Unfortuatly while it had it moments, so much of what it did has recently been done elsewhere better, at least in my opinion.
The mysterious futuristic videogame element was done better in Peripheral, the invasion concept was done better in Invasion, the high concept scientific take was done better in Foundation, the general current day scientific stuff was done better in For All Mankind. Add those elements with the fact I really didn't feel much chemistry between the friends/romantic relationships and the CGI that was touted as a high point I thought looked quite bad compared to other sci-fi series.
I've not read the books (I own the first but held off on reading it until I watched the show) so maybe some of the issues I have with the writing are from the book itself, I'll find out later.
Overall I really did want to love this show, but it just didn't quite deliver on the scope, scale and impact I was hoping for. That said, maybe that was from some of my own antipiation levels so if you are just checking it out maybe you might enjoy it more than me.
This was what I wanted Drive Away Dolls to be, a much stronger film with a much more balanced take between the romance and crime elements.
The score and sound design is awesome, some greally strong perfomances almost across the board, two leads are phenominal and Ed Harris is nuts, The style and visuals are on point, reminded me of The Holdovers not in content, but just in the same nostalgia vibes from the 70's/80's without being nothing more than cheap nostalgia bait. There is a universe where this movie could have been a cheap notalgia bait movie, but Rose Glass made a story and characters that were interesting and compelling.
I think it will be forgotten by the time awards season rolls aroud, but Clint Mansell really did deliever a great score and I'd love to see his name pop up at the end of the year.
Red Notice: The Plane Heist.
"Well at least they didn't do the "Oh we also stole/swapped the thing" in the end" so not every trope in the book...
Epilogue "Surprise guys we actually stole and swapped the thing" -.-
The one thing I will give this movie is it's only 106 minutes, I feel if they tried to push it out to the 2 hour mark it would have made this go from "Eh I can toss it on while cleaning/background" to really quite terrible.
Who would have thought a tiny movie would sneak out, that is funny, but heartfelt, nostalgic but evergreen, depressive but hopeful release. Holiday movies that can balance both the positive feelgoods and the realistic less good feelings that sometimes come with the holiday period are rare to get right, but when they do it's always a gem.
I think this is a genuine contender to top 10 territory. I think it was the intent, but it worked where it felt like I had just discovered a movie from the 70's/80's from some random top movies list on the internet.
Amazing characters, where each one gets their moment, every performance from lead to single line appearance delivers and feels like it belongs. Dominic Sessa as as far as I can tell is a first credited role is incredibly impressive.
This movie reconfirms that Japanese cinema just gets Godzilla movies, this should not be overly surprising but with all the recent western movies it's easy to forget what a Godzilla movie can be.
This is a movie that somehow, where every western attempt has failed, makes you care about the protaganist/human story. I think the use of the flow of time genuinely gives the characters a chance to breathe and learn their stories which helps you care about what's happening.
And then the tension and dread and awesome score when they are building to the mighty Godzilla, you know the stakes and are somewhat invested in the characters survival. But there is still some great action sequences but they have a vastly different tone to the more recent western entries with almost feeling like less action is more, but also having more humans present and relevant increases the scope and magnitude.
Obviously it's one, if you can catch it on the big screen. I think if you love the western versions, you might not love this as much, but if you're in the same camp as I am where you enjoyed them fine enough but always thought they could be better, this is better.
Ok, 4 episodes in and the writing isn't improving. I maintain there could be an interesting story in there somewhere, but I don't think it's enough to make me keep pushing on with this one, which is disappointing and I was looking forward to this series.
While there is multiple larger stories at play, they don't really seem to mesh well together and only the one about beacons turning off and shutting down systems is of any interest to me, but the rocks and the companies and whatever that was in episode 4 just were not interesting to me.I get and like what they were trying to do with episode 4 with the entire episode being an origin/flashback, but the writing and screenplay just isn't working for me.
Multiple episodes with characters going from hating a character to liking and loving a character or vice versa within scenes with no organic flow of those emotional states, or being highly suspicious to completely trusting in the space of a scene.
Maybe it's the writing or screenplay or maybe the direction because I feel the actors are doing what they are being told/scripted to say and do and they are doing the best they can with the material they are provided.
Maybe if you're a fan of shows like The Ark it might be your jam, but I don't even think it measures up to sci-fi originals from 2015 like Dark Matter and Killjoys let alone anything more recent like The Expanse/Foundation.
I can say straight up this will not be a movie for everyone, but it really clicked for me. I would also say a blind watch is preferable in movies like this, I went in knowing almost nothing and if possible I think that's the way to watch the movie if possible.
For me it was incredibly immersive once established, with incredible sound design and score. The slow build of tension, unease and dread as things unfold. I'll admit, I've always been a fan of mediums that give the viewer the same amount of knowledge of whats going on as the characters have, and this nails that.
The premise has a whole has been done many times before, including this years Knock at the Cabin, but I've not seen that or read the book it was based on. But in relation to the other similar films, this takes the top spot for me.
While the ending itself is probably the weakest part of the movie for me personally because it answers just slightly too many questions a little bit too easily, the journey to get there was still worth the time and I think the ending might still work for others.
Continues to be weak writing and screenplay for me, the hinting at the bigger picture of other beacons shutting off, stopping resupply is interesting enough potential that I might give it 1-2 more episodes but it hasn't been a great start.
Feels much more like a traditional sci-fi channel original show from 10 years ago instead of the Expanse/Foundation level of shows that have been more recently. Hoping it does improve, because I love a good sci-fi show.
Finally a third act of a MCU movie that doesn't drag itself out far far too long. The shorter runtime on this is a legit thing that made the movie that would have been terrible, to a more neutral fine for me. All because unlike most recent entries, they trimmed it down nicely, if not poorly edited.
Fine movie, but carried for me at least by Iman Vellani's pure presence. When she or the Ms Marvel family was on screen it was a delight, and the rest of the movie was fine enough, although I really did enjoy both the intro sequence and training montage.
The CGI looks better than recent entries, albeit nothing too incredible but also not near the Disney forced crunch of Antman/MODOK. Pretty enough, fun enough and short enough that it was fine if not tonally all over the place lol.
Better movies out there this year that you should watch instead, but also worse movies.
I enjoyed this one quite a bit. While it doesn't bring too much massively new thematically, what it does it does well.
Complex, high-concept sci-fi with awesome sound design and score, that expects you to keep up.
It reminded me a lot of solid Japanese cyberpunk animes at time, but with it's own very distinct French identity for obvious reasons. The overall story did a few things differently than I was expecting, which I always enjoy. "Oh they are not going to do this are they" and then no, they actually don't.
I promised myself I'd watch more non-English language films this year and so far I'm yet to be disappointed.
The score and soundtrack were real highlights.
Complex melodrama with many different tonal shifts, some of which worked for me, others which didn't.
I think there is some great individual scenes and great performances but the overall flow didn't work as well for me as others. Only one character has any real growth, but I think that is one of the points. Playing on multiple tropes with commentary on Hollywood and tabloid sensationalism and the reality of true crime drama at its core.
Charles Melton and Natalie Portman would be the standout performances for me. There is an interesting story there, with as many layers as the characters themselves have and it certainly felt like a fresh idea it just didn't come together for me as much as I would have liked.
That said, I do expect there to be an audience for this that enjoys it vastly more than myself based on the audience at the screening I saw it at. I enjoyed it but not as much as others will I suspect.
I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting, but this movie was not whatever I was expecting.
An interesting film, that for me at least is in the upper tier of movies for the year (not quite the top tier but still up there) but I can say most assuredly it's not a movie for everyone. The only real way it's similar to John Wick is that it has some element of a revenge movie plot and the rest of it, the tone, the setting, the commentary, the style is very much it's own thing.
It's a much more slow-burn style of revenge movie as opposed to your John Wicks or The Equalizer. I think I'd put it more in the bucket with something like The Covenant, slow movie with action but the action is less the point and focus of the movie than other elements.
Performances are solid across the board, I enjoyed the writing and pacing as well. I think it's a movie that will find it's audience although probably not as large as Fincher's best works. But honestly, in a year where we get a new solid Fincher, Scorsese and Nolan I'm not going to complain too much lol.
So I think I liked this movie lol, the fact I have to say it like that should tell you everything you need.
I think the start is done really poorly, but once it gets into it and you know who the players and stakes are, it does have a decent flow and turns into a decent movie. I think Joe Manganiello does the heavy lifting of picking the movie up from being completely average to at least enjoyable enough to not regret your time with.
Many better movies out there from 2023, but also many worse movies as well. Not all of it works, but the things that do work, work well enough that I could overlook the things that didn't. Mileage may vary.
Another heavily courtroom-based drama/investigation and while I enjoyed the others that were released in the last several weeks, this one I think will stand out a bit more and receive more widespread praise as a film.
Basic premise, but infinitely more complex as it brings the characters to life with more detail as the story tells itself. Not afraid to leave things messy with ambiguity, but intentionally so to reflect on how trials, investigations and relationships work as opposed to poor filmmaking/writing.
I expect this movie to show up on a few top lists at the end of the year, and feature on way more "top movies you might have missed" lists. So if you enjoyed the other recent courtroom dramas, The Burial and The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, I would expect you to enjoy this one significantly more, although I could see some people being a bit put off but the ambiguity throughout the movie, so fair warning on that if you think that might be you.
Also I'll not at all be surprised if I see Sandra Hüller floating around for performance awards at the end of the year.
Pretty stock standard "based on a true story" courtroom drama with a bit of splash from the comedic sides and some solid performances, Jurnee Smollett and Mamoudou Athie standing out for me personally.
Solidly written, decently paced and if you enjoy courtroom dramas I don't think you will go too far wrong. If you don't enjoy them, this will not be the one to win you over. Certainly not on the level of the likes of A Few Good Men, Erin Brockovich or The Rainmaker but I don't think anyone should be expecting that.
Between this and The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial coming out at the same time, if courtroom dramas are your jam you have an unexpected double feature. Again, neither are probably going to light the scene on fire, but for a genre that seems to get a lot less of them than we did 20 years ago, I'll take it.
This is the type of movie where you will probably know if it's your jam or not based purely on the title and genre. If you like small-scale courtroom dramas you will probably enjoy it, if you don't you won't.
I really do like these types of movies, but never caught the original of this one, so it was interesting and compelling, thought I knew where they were going but it split slightly from expectations. Nothing too fancy, but a great platform for the actors to give long, detailed courtroom monologues. With Kiefer Sutherland of all people delivering the most impressive one and Jason Clarke taking runner up.
Also always a pleasure to savor one of the last performances of Lance Reddick.
This is a movie I'll be suggesting people see as much as I did Dungeons and Dragons, simply because it's a mid sized budget movie that's not that's not a sequel/spin-off/reboot or some existing IP. If you look at the top grossing movies of 2023 so far, there are only 2 other movies that are original IP out of the top 15.
For a (reported) $80m budget, the special effects/visuals alone put the majority of other big blockbusters ($200m+) to shame. While the main themes of the movie have been done many times before, and if you have seen a decent number of movies the broad strokes will be familiar, the detail and specifics of this movie make it an enjoyable watch.
While I saw claims that it's up in the leagues of Blade Runner and the like, I'd not put it up in that bucket. I would more put it alongside movies like Elysium and instead of one of the best sci-fi movies ever. I'd go with more of a "The best sci-fi since Dune in 2021", so best Sci-fi in the last few years is still something well worth a watch if that's your jam. Really solid sci-fi, looks great, some solid performances and cinematography.
Special shoutout for Madeleine Voyles who plays the kid Alphie, for a first time performance it was legit amazing. No "Kid acting" here. really top shelf performance for someone so new to the industry.
One of those movies that goes under most radars because Amazon does so little when it comes to marketing it's movies. I only found out it even existed because I saw it trending on Trakt, so thank you people for watching it.
With that said, I enjoyed it. I'm biased being a fan of most things NASA/space program based, but it was an interesting story, well told and paced. Based on a true story, so you will obviously see some things coming (if you're familiar with the space program) but since the focus is very much on the characters and their journeys it doesn't really hamper the story in any way.
Also refreshing to see Michael Peña in a bit more of a serious role with some depth and a space movie for Peña that is so much better than last years Moonfall lol. But not quite on the level of his first adventure into space with The Martian.
Honestly, I don't think you will go too far wrong to check this out if you generally enjoy NASA/Based on true story type movies.
What a gem of a small indie sci-fi, small in scope but high in concept. Really well put together with a lot of new faces both on screen and behind it.
One of those small movies where I get the middling average score because it's certainly not a film for everyone and people that like a bit more action or scale I could see not enjoying something this small and slow. Dialog heavy, but well written and reminded me of a more talking Upgrade in terms of small indie sci-fi. If you're a fan of those vibes, or like small scale bottle movies (not technically a bottle movie but close) this might be for you.
I think this show, while not the most incredible show you will ever see or anything. I think it will have the widest gap of expectations to the quality of show delivered for 2023.
The show is surprisingly good and surprisingly funny but not every joke will land for everyone. Anthony Mackie, unlike Altered Carbon and Falcon and the Winter Soldier, actually feels like he's having fun with the role that is often self-depreciating and most importantly everyone seems to know what type of show they are making. Season One does a lot of the world-building required, in order to have the show everyone expected in Season Two (if it gets it). Some fun action sequences, albeit not as many as people might expect, a lot of gore and ultra over the top violence that works because everyone knows what type of show they are making.
So yeah, ultimately probably not going to make my top 5/10 of the year for 2023 shows, but it did exceed my very very low expectations when I heard they were making this show.
Barbie was fun and legit had feminism and the patriarchy at it's core but sometimes was a bit heavy-handed for even me, but that part wasn't targeted for me and that's ok, and I think a huge amount of people will love it. Although honestly wasn't as kid friendly as I was expecting akin to The Lego Movie, with a lot more real world issues presented.
I think the highlights are the sets and visuals by Rodrigo Prieto, Greta Gerwig as director and Margot Robbie in the lead role, reminding everyone why she's so amazing after a couple of recent box office duds.
The fact that I used to have a housemate that used to sing an acoustic version of “Push” by Matchbox Twenty to girls had me laughing a lot. I'll tell you The Godfather is a great movie, but you can go and watch it yourself :P
I think there will be a very vocal minority that will hate this movie, and a large amount of people that will vocally defend it. While I did think there was 1-2 occasions the messaging was a bit too strong I can also happily accept that for some people it will be amazing to hear it put so bluntly. I also really think that a lot of the vocal people that hate this movie, might also be represented in this movie and might lack the self-awareness of that fact.
A strong movie and while I think Oppenheimer was the better "Film" of the Barbenheimer combo, I think Barbie will be more memorable to it's target audience.
This is another Mission Impossible movie, and by that I mean if you enjoyed the last 3-4 MI movies you should enjoy this. However, if you didn't like those, this one is not doing anything that will win you over.
I've enjoyed the majority of the MI series, and this one was more of that. Great cast, both legacy and new, great action set pieces, and great visuals with the only real negatives for me being the runtime being 20 minutes too long, although I've spoken to others who didn't feel that so your individual feelings might vary on that point and the actual "Villian/antagonist premise" didn't quite work for me.
I've always had no issue with the suspension of disbelief for these movies in the past, but could not quite get there with this one. Could easily just be due to my own personal biases and background though, or maybe everything will make more sense/work in Part Two.
But those two minor issues aside, it was an absolutely solid entry to the franchise and I'll be along to the cinema for Part Two when it releases.
What an absolute surprise gem, that I only noticed via the trending movies on Trakt.
The first two acts, are up there for me for the best comedy so far this year which was not at all what I was expecting.
Great visuals, a great story that added enough fresh elements to keep it interesting, even down the familiar setting with a slight variant, very funny first two acts, but still in line with establishing the characters, and a bit of heart.
In the 2023 movie season, we have had a lot of big expectation movies that have kinda fallen into "meh", not good, not terrible but kinda forgettable. So getting something like this, was unexpected and really enjoyable.
