Firstly I absolutely LOVED writing this - only because of the person who came on here to complain these little ditties were too long. I am going to use the word count in full every time from now on. It made me laugh so much. I mean who cares what I write?!
First Man, The First (TV), Interstellar, even Moon and dropping back further Solaris, The Right Stuff these and many more are the extended and distant family of Ad Astra. Unfortunately when your family is as interesting and as compelling as these movies then you are already standing in some particularly big and dark shadows and there needs to be a lot in you to get out into the light.
Ad Astra tries hard, it really tries hard. After all it has Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones, although he now looks craggy enough to be a bonafide cliff face and throws in Donald Sutherland as the world’s oldest security detail plus a fleeting Liv Tyler because, well because it can I think?
With the unlimited potential of near-future space-travel and indeed colonisation at their feet the director/writers came up with a singularly strange and somehow uninvolving tale. Pitt is just a future Neil Armstrong, so dedicated, so single-minded, he bombs his wife out and then has to go on a frankly unlikely and long-winded trip/adventure to see his long-lost and feared dead father.
I’m not a science expert I was more on the art side of the coin at school so I do not profess to know the ins and outs of space travel and the mathematics and the physics involved but saying this even I could see the silliness inherent in the story.
Visuals of the huge antenna on the edge of space over the Earth was great, the terrible power surge and the ultimate investigation into it was the high point. From then on the trip was downhill. Much like Harrison Ford in the first cinematic outing of Blade Runner I was not a fan of the voiceover and to be honest, either make an audiobook or make a film. For a serious, adult, science-future film the logic-busting moments far outweighed any acting or visual thrills.
Without listing them there are some very silly moments. Do you know what the makers annoyed me with them, so here are a few.
The moment you have to travel to Mars to send a message to Neptune means that technology has gone backward in the future. The sneaking aboard the ship to Neptune in particular seemed to have been written and plotted by an over-excitable twelve-year-old that had a lot of sugary snacks. The hugely implausible incident that was there purely to give Brad Pitt an action hero moment later was frankly pathetic and insulting. The mystery of the power-surge was not explained and Tommy Lee Jones’ motivations seemed extreme to say the least. Without trying to sound superior or clever there was much on the screen that was somewhat childish.
The casting of the movie was strange, honestly tell me why Liv Tyler and Donald Sutherland were in the film and it was criminal to use Ruth Negga so briefly and then somehow make her look as if she had wandered in from another film set, she looked pissed-off through most of her scenes, hopefully it was acting but I would not be surprised if it is how she actually felt. There were some very poor supporting actors during the run time and if anyone can’t spot the worst one let’s just say computers should have replaced receptionists on the moon.
Now some very clever types will tell you this is not actually a science-fiction tale but a story of loss, redemption, regret and complicated dynamic behind driven people, well macho-men actually, and the never-ending conflict and confusion between fathers and their sons. All very good and actually not the first time and filmmaker has used a specific genre as a suit of clothes for the real story they want to take. Sorry but that is no excuse to ignore widely known science and facts and more or less abandon logic to drive home your story. In my view that is very lazy indeed.
All in all Ad Astra was a mess with just a few good moments. Science-fiction may seem to many to not be a serious topic and for nerds and kids but Ad Astra just shows how difficult it is. There was not even any monsters or aliens in this.
Watch the TV show The First at least the music is more atmospheric and exciting than this film.
I was actually looking forward to this film and felt let down by this poor lazy effort.
Pretty engrossing stuff.
I love the basement guy who plays chess.
There could be a whole tv show about that guy playing chess in the basement!
I don’t ever recall there being too many woman chess grandmasters.
Is this fiction? I don’t know. I don’t think I want to know.
Let’s see where this ends up. Will research on it after watching the whole series.
Well, now I see why this show is being talked about. Amazing start.
I have so much respect for Gunnhild. I never imagined I'd love her character this much when she came onto the show.
Allowing Instagram to Decide What I Watch While in Isolation
Day 1:
What an awful start to this experiment.
Shockingly bad performances, terrible editing, some of the worst dialogue ever put to screen and despite all that it still manages to be incredibly boring to watch.
Thankfully not another tired Taken clone. This one tries to be a bit more dramatic whilst having a few action sequences to bolster it.
It's a bit of a Rambo V in quality - ie. cheap and sombre. It does benefit from the relationship with the boy though.
It was okay. Predictable yet not boring. There has been worse put out by Neeson these last few years but you wouldn't watch this a second time.
6.25/10
The ending of this episode creates very strong feelings in me. I'm not sure if I'm angry, confused, irritated, offended, pranked or excited.
That kind of cliffhanger should not happen with a series where it's unknown, when (and if at all) it continues.
Additionally, it's too obvious that Mr. World is Loki (too many hints) and that he needs to sacrifice Tech Boy, while it was also too obvious that Shadow is just some kind of resurrection pill for Wednesday. Besides that, still no clue what Bilquis' mission is, where Gungnir has been or why Laura still seems to be somehow important even though it wasn't even planned that she survives Sweeney's murder.
Oh, and I still wish for a return of Mad Sweeney. Sad to say, but IMHO the show lacks his best character since he got pulverized.
I was planning on quitting this show after this but the way it ends is intriguing maybe I will give season 4 a try but will probably drop it.
STOP. GIVING. FILMS. WITH. MEDIOCRE. SCRIPTS. AND. CHARACTERS. A. GOOD. RATING.
There is no excuse for it in the 21st century. We know how to make coherent stories and good characters, and we should NOT FUCKING ACCEPT ANYTHING LESS.
You folks even admit it's got shallow characters and a nonsense story. That is not a 7-8, ,much less a 9. Five is AVERAGE. You have been normalized to not give anything below a Seven, and that is wrong and makes ratings pointless, and it makes YOU a consumerist goob.
Rant Over.
1/10 rating to compensate for all the noncritical consumerist trained monkeys.
:asterisk_symbol::asterisk_symbol:Random Thoughts on A F’n Random Film:asterisk_symbol::asterisk_symbol:
It’s a shame this version has none of the charm or wit of the Arnie original.
I blame Khal Momoa - he hasn’t the charisma at this point in his career to be other than a one-dimensional muscle-freak.
And even Arnie managed to raise a laugh - Jason didn’t even punch a camel!
Spudgun from Bottom gets his nose chopped off by a child and then is torn limb from limb by an angry mob!
(So pretty much what he was used to with Ritchie & Eddie then?)
Conan clotheslined a mounted man... with a battleship chain! :open_mouth:
I fully expected the coach to explode during the horsey chasing sequence. Very exciting - but quite ludicrous.
In an age before Oil of Ulay and Botox, the skin of the (many) stunning women looks incredible - must be those ancient heathen gods they worship and no artificial sweeteners.
Nathan Jones was a crap pro wrestler, a crapper MMA fighter, but at least an adequate monster-goon in fight scenes. Ditto Bob Sapp.
Queen Amidala really needs to lay off the hard drugs and emo music. But she is hot, in a worrying, Freddie-Krueger-style way... :rolling_eyes:
Atrocious! This movie is an abomination. People were moaning midway, some walked out. I don't know if Ron Howard was high when he made this or just didn't care or both, but I regret that I actually paid for this. And that's coming from someone who paid to see Under Siege with Steven Seagal and the Police Academy movies. Seriously do yourself a favor and skip this one. If you enjoyed Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons you will hate this one. Even more so you will ask yourself if this is even from the same people. All I can say is this. If something works please don't try to make it different just so because it's different. Have an idea! This was a total mess from start to beginning and the first 30 minutes where Langdon has hallucinations are barely watchable. Someone was clearly on acid. There is just no other explanation how an accomplished film maker like Howard made something as terrible as this. If someone has that flash thingy from Men in Black please send me a message. I need to get flashed. Twice. Just to make sure.
oh my god
fucking finally
this movie makes breach looks like a good film.... at least is not pretentious like this garbage.... WTF is happening?Who are allowing bad stuff like this to happen to begin with?
If you love movies and time or at least love being alive.
NEVER WATCH THIS....THING
As a big horror fan, and also a BIG Jeffrey Dean Morgan fan, i was very very disappointed with this movie! Soooo many plot holes, sooo much exposition... I was pissed :D Some caracters are very smart and put one-and-one together like immediately, and the other ones are just stupid as f***! xD From the first scene to the last one - you know how this movie will end.
Some decent and some lame jump scares... just... I mean you can watch this movie if you want, but i cant recomend it... 4/10
The real horror in this episode was that social media is a sickness and influencers will do whatever it takes to be famous, being blinded by the consequences. It could have been written way better, not the best episode. ultra cringey ugh
A new opening that turned out to be the closure for X-men from 20th Century Fox. It is a pity because the potential was there.
Makes me embarrassed that I actually followed this comic book series as a child.
I’m so sick of getting excited by watching the trailer and then being disgusted by the actual movie
Like a battery powered toy robot, it's noisy, flashy and doesn't stand still, but it just runs along its pre-programmed track until it ends predictably.
Sadly, however, this doesn't just run out of juice, it makes a hysterically bad exit...
It's hard to be moved by the couple at the center of the story when you really don't care about them.
"I don't ever want to hear about Murder House"
Me neither, kid. I'm glad they burned it down. Time to move on.
I was skeptical of the premise but this first episode quickly swept me into its sense of peril. Certainly worthy of continuing the journey. Please to see some quality casting choices.
Denis Villeneuve is the man!
There’s only one word that came into my mind after watching it: finally.
Finally, a blockbuster that isn’t afraid to be primarily driven by drama and tension, and doesn’t undercut its own tone by throwing in a joke every 30 seconds.
Finally, a blockbuster that puts actual effort in its cinematography, and doesn’t have a bland or calculated colour palette.
Finally, a blockbuster with a story that has actual substance and themes, and doesn’t rely on intertextual references or nostalgia to create a fake sheen of depth.
Finally, a blockbuster that doesn’t pander to China by having big, loud and overblown action sequences, but relies on practical and grounded spectacle instead (it has big sand worms, you really don’t need to throw anything at the screen besides that).
Finally, a blockbuster that actually feels big, because it isn’t primarily shot in close ups, or on a sound stage.
And of course: finally, a blockbuster that isn’t a fucking prequel, sequel, or connected to an already established IP somehow.
(Yeah, I know Tenet did those things as well, but I couldn’t get into that because the characters were so flat and uninteresting).
This just checks all the boxes. An engaging story with subtext, very well set up characters, great acting (like James Gunn, Villeneuve's great at accentuating the strengths of limited actors like Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa), spectecular visuals and art design (desaturated but not in an ugly washed out way), pacing (slow but it never drags), directing, one of Hans Zimmer’s best scores: it’s all here.
I only have one real criticism: there’s too much exposition, especially in the first half.
It can occasionally hold your hand by referencing things that have already been established previously, and some scenes of characters explaining stuff to each other could’ve been conveyed more visually.
Other than that, it’s easily one of the best films of the year.
I’ve seen some people critiquing it for being incomplete, which is true, but this isn’t just a set up for a future film.
It feels like a whole meal, there are pay offs in this, and the characters progress (even if, yes, their arcs are still incomplete).
8.5/10
Everything I wanted it to be and more. Perfectly cast and excellent soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. Epic Sci-Fi at its best.
Can’t believe Samuel L. Jackson is 72!
[7.7/10] I liked this. It start out a little bumpy, and frankly, it feels more like a Trekkie version of Star Wars: Rebels than anything we’ve seen from the franchise before. But there’s a lot of potential here. The mix of characters is strong, and while Dal is a little annoying in his quippiness, he has a lot of room to grow and mature. The animation is a bit rough in places, particularly the character designs and movements, but the ship-based set pieces are beautifully and even stirring.
It’s been a long time since Star Trek made something to appeal specifically to kids. This definitely fits modern young audience-focused sensibilities more than the 1973 Animated Series did. That means parts of it feel a little broad relative to what we grown-ups expect from Star Trek. But it feels like the series’ heart is in the right place here. While the Star Trek connection feels more like set dressing for a traditional action adventure series than a core part of the conception, I like the elements that Prodigy puts forward in the early going, and I’m curious to see where it (and Captain Janeway) will take them from here. Godspeed, kids!
I thought this double opening episode was a blast. Clearly taking cues from the Star Wars animated shows but that's not a bad thing to me. This was high energy and exciting with some good mysteries presented.
I like some characters much more than others. Rok is great, Zero is kind of fascinating. Gwyn probably has more depth than the rest of the characters put together. Dal was the problematic one, far too in-your-face, so it's a shame that he's ostensibly the "lead" role.
Visually this was glorious too. I loved a lot of the designs and use of colour.
The big questions for me:
- How did the Protostar get there, and what happened to its crew?
- The bad guy said he had been searching for the ship for a long time, but we've been told by the creators that this show is set only a few years after Voyager, so something doesn't entirely add up at this point.
- Similarly, how come there were so many Alpha Quadrant species here? Mysterious!
What the fuck is this shit?
If I switched my brain off (as some have suggested) long enough to enjoy this I'd stay that way. Or worse, never regain consciousness ever again.
A great movie with Matt Damon's acting on point(as an outsider) .Miss these kind of casual-watch movies of 2010's..A Nice introspective movie.
