Largely a waste of time because it is just so generic and the acting & script are poor.
The lead, Dakota Johnston, is weak. She has limited emotional range and - though I'm sure she is a lovely warm human - is just not a good actress.
The script is as perfunctory as anything AI can create. No emotion, just hitting the necessary words to transmit a plot.
It isn't horrendous. It's just par for the course where Marvel are concerned now. I wouldn't rate it any worse than Shang Chi or Captain Marvel.
The 00s element is beyond pointless as it seems to be ignored for the majority of the film. It just exists to seemingly be pre-iPhone.
If the audience accepts popcorn, then you'll never be presented steak...
At a time where all rom-coms are now pretty bland and ridden with wokeness that the real story has no room to be breath, this was quite decent.
The only issue was the lead male actor being a poor casting. No chemistry. But otherwise the cast were very good and they delivered the humour well.
The plot is well-trodden. Devil Meets Prada with a Maid In Manhattan vibe, I suppose you vould say.
But the brother-in-law/sister duo were very good and the lead female carries the film really well. Maria Tomei is a class act.
Quite enjoyed it.
"a felonious monk" Top marks all round. :ok_hand::clap:
These film inspired plot lines are very enjoyable.
Christ almighty, what a catastrophic mess.
If you ignore that it is a remake, then it is an overblown, generic, piss-poor CGI laden, irredeemable, straight-to-streaming pile of crap.
Add in that it is meant to be a remake of a cheap-but-lovable 80s classic and it takes on a sinister twist.
Suddenly the lead character is a psychopath who kills for any old reason, not to mention waits until the bar he is hired to protect is smashed to smithereens before intervening, and is plagued with a sketchy set of morals.
And the equally homicidal nemesis this time isn't genuinely fearful, he's a cartoon steroid rooster with a terrible set of veneers. Oh and he can't act his way out of a paper bag. And he's playing himself - which is, in case you haven't worked it out, a total prick with an arrogance problem.
It's an insult to the viewers from start to finish. From the first "oh look I just got stabbed and the blade is sticking out of me, isn't that something" to the final killing spree with 180-degree changes of behaviour from all involved... It's just a pointless tedious exercise.
None of the charm of the original exists. None of the peril. None of the character.
Hollywood and Amazon should be rightfully ashamed.
Very emotional hearing the exchanges between the family, particularly Frank & Jennifer.
Helluva way to cheat us out of a real first kiss!
"unless you want it messy" pregnant woman and bathroom break request taken straight out of Die Hard. :blush:
Standard b-movie schlock. Cheap production, basic script, adequate cast.
Nobody's expecting Shawshank Redemption - and it sure isn't White House Down or Air Force One or one of the many similar themed movies - so if you know what you are going to get, go get it.
5/10 because it isn't trying to be anything it isn't.
Really enjoyed this season, which I hope is the first of many.
I'll be rewatching the films shortly because it has renewed my love for them.
If I had to nitpick I'd have cast someone a little closer to Mark Wahlberg purely for continuity sakes but otherwise there isn't much to dislike.
The subjects are very modern day despite the 1990s setting, which is like a nod and a wink to the audience.
But it rises and falls on John & Ted - and we have nothing to fear there. It is consistently funny, finds its feet proper around episode 4 and shows that there is plenty of life in the format.
Bazed through all the episodes in short time. Bring on season 2!
A quite enjoyable 90 minutes. Rises and falls on Pierce & Morena, but largely rises. They have a little to work with and make something quite sweet from it.
Jimmy Caan plays his role well and it is a touching final bow. There's not much for Gbenga Akinnagbe to work with but he does well with barely anything.
For what it is, I really quite enjoyed it with just a small lag in the middle.
Much as others have said - elements of dark comedy that bring Fargo to mind, the violence of Banshee.
Is it 100% successful? I thought the ending was too little for what we have just seen, personally.
But it's very enjoyable as it plays out. Worth the watch.
Love Tarantino. But what a chore this is to get through... In 20 years, I've tried twice before and this third time I've persevered.
Not looking forward to part 2 as this was bloated, uninteresting, self-indulgent crap.
The Easter eggs were fun. The story isn't.
His worst outing as wriyer/director by a country mile. And people "don't like" Jackie Brown....
I couldn't help but keep thinking of "Haywire". Another film with Fassbender playing a killer. Another film by a top-notch director that hit wide of the mark.
This is okay. It passes the time. It keeps your attention and leaves you feeling only mildly short-changed.
I wasn't a big fan of the ending... Illogical given what has transpired. And the internal monologue as narration means that this whole thing has got next to no rewatch value.
Up until the end, I'd have said that Fincher had outdone Soderbergh's efforts in Haywire. But I come out the other side of this now thinking Haywire is superior. It has rewatch value despite its many, many faults.
Fantastic driver, humble man, and a great ambassador for Britain.
Does him and his career justice.
It is always a pleasure to hear Sly. And it's always a pleasure to see him behind the scenes.
This is a fitting document to the relationships he has had with the silver screen, the writer's pad, his family, as well as fame and his own ego.
Overall however, I hoped for a treatment similar to 'Arnold' - chapters and more exposition. I would have liked one episode about the career and the other about the family man. This all felt a little quickly passed over.
And most noticeably, there was a melancholic tone to the whole thing. Though age means Sly is on the latter half of life's lap, he's nowhere nearing passing on. It didn't need to feel like the finality of a career for a man who is still so active.
Has a real vibe of Pretty Woman without the prostitution...
One of the better Jill Wagner films. Not least because she is absolutely stunning throughout this.
But though they rush the ending and the Noo Yoikers are a little comical, it flows well and there's a hint of chemistry to the leads.
I watched a great show this year "Special Ops Lioness" and was blown away by it. In fact, I watched it again straight after finishing. Proper tv for a change.
One character stood out to me and when I checked out the bio info on the actors, I was shocked to see that Jill Wagner had a long-standing career in Hallmark tv films.
Given how the casting would be such a contrast to her character of Bobby in Lioness, I set about watching one of the Hallmarks to see that contrast. I watched the first of the Mystery 101 series... Then proceeded to watch all of them. And I'm now working my way through her others.
She's a fine actor. A compelling presence onscreen and she raises the productions.
Out of all the films I've watched these last 10 days or so of hers, this is the peak so far. She's thoroughly charming, totally believable - and as predictable as you know these films will be - it's a well-paced highly enjoyable ride.
I am really pleased for Jill that she has been cast in a role that allows her to show her range outside of this genre. She was fantastic in Lioness and as an executive producer, I hope she is able to straddle both worlds going forward.
Between 1983 and 1997, Jim Varney gave us the Ernest anthology of films. This series was seemingly resurrected by Martin Scorcese, in this unofficially subtitled addition "Ernest Tap Dances On My Last Nerve For 3 Hours".
Come on folks, this is a Scorcese film. The man who gives us endlessly rewatchable films like Goodfellas, Casino, Wolf of Wall Street. Fantastic pieces of work that will last forever.
This is not such a film.
It is bloated. Poorly paced. Starved of any real emotions for much of its duration. And when the end comes to finally put it out of its misery, it lacks any punch. Much to the chagrin of the director who casts himself in an overly-wrought cameo.
It isn't a catastrophe. De Niro puts in a great day's work, Di Caprio is consumed by the role. There are plenty of fine actors around them doing fine work. It's just a mess of edits and lacking focus.
I struggle to see a great film in this even if the fat was taken off it. It just isn't a masterpiece in hiding. And that's sad because the bones of the story itself is well worth telling.
They say every great fighter has one great fight left in him. I wonder if we have seen that already from Scorcese and this is one fight too many...
Great to have a quality show like this back. Keep making these until there aren't eyes left in people.
Season 2 isn't a patch on the first... Admittedly I'm about 7 or 8 epsiodes in. But still, a lot of my time has been misused by the series so far.
Too many episodes given to side stories. Not enough of Rob and Ryan. Duration is all over the place.
But more importantly not enough football being shown. It should be mandatory for each episode to feature the league pursuit on the pitch.
I wouldn't say this was 1) worth watching or 2) well made.
It doesn't strike the right balance of showing Savile to be the monster he was and the plight of the young 'uns he was abusing. I know it is a difficult balance to show the reality of how it would have been and the times/locations/circumstances... But still.
If I were a victim, would i feel this was an adequate representation of what had been done to me...? I can't help feeling, no - resoundingly.
That said, Coogan does a good job in his portrayal which was an elongated impression for most of it.
If the BBC feels they have somehow vindicated themselves here. They have not.
3 things...
1) in this day and age, with all the woke snowflakes looking to be offended by every little thing, how the hell did this even get made?
2) Jennifer Lawrence is a beautiful woman. Not sure we needed a film like this for her to prove that to us or what her motivation for taking the role was...
3) it's just not clicking enough for it to be a full-blown comedy. It's hardly American Pie for this generation. It's a damning indictment of helicopter parenting and kids being overly sheltered these days though.
I won't remember anything about this film within a week. Except for the JL getting unnecessarily naked on the beach scene.
Slow, just too slow to be enjoyable.
The plot unfolds in the second half and the twists are well contained.
As well shot as it is, it lacks any real action or real thrills. It's too pedestrian.
It's okay. Worth the watch. Not great but not mediocre. It's fine.
What did we learn?
Alex is a vein tool and his dad is a free spirit. Mel is an entitled princess and her mum knows it all too well. Harry is a nice lad but his mum will cost him the competition. Billy will romp it home as the winner because his sister is a machine.
Okay so here's where it finds its feet... Best episode so far.
Watchable when you're in a comatose state and cannot reach the remote.
Absolute drivel though.
Some of the worst CG I've seen and, given it is 2013, it makes Iron Eagle - from the 1980s! - look good.
Olympus Has Fallen is the better version of this premise.
This one is almost drinking game material. Every time they show shitty CG, take a shot. And book your hospital room and stomach pump in advance.
"when she walks in a room, she still takes my breath away"
She'll do that.
So best show I've watched and anticipated weekly since Tulsa King... And TK was more because Sly is a legend.
This though... Taut. Dense. Paced. Intricate.
Loved every episode and I'll be rewatching all 8 this week coming.
To the gods that control the green lights, this show deserves a second season - minimum! Don't be idiots. Be smart.
TV for adults is hard to come by these days. Foster and nurture it.
What is it with movie studios....? Two films with broadly similar premises within a month or two of each other. For 30 odd years, they've done this.
Just watch The Covenant, it's the better film of these two.
This one is short on action and long on tedium.
4/10
2/5
