what the hell with the thick lines ? that episode looked so cheap :(
That ending though. That ending.....
The saga continues. After a false fresh start, it’s Roger Moore’s turn to step into Bond’s shoes with Live and Let Die.
007 is tasked with solving the mystery of three murders across the globe, all MI6 agents. As ever this takes him all over the world and he meets bad guys, women, shoots guns etc etc. This is the eighth film in the series and we’ve learned by now that it’s not about what he does, it’s about how he does it.
Despite being superficially the same as the others, this is a genuine change of direction for the franchise. The camp tone that was so irritating in Diamonds are Forever actually works in Moore’s hands.
He’s the definition of nonchalant. While Connery was always ready, clenched fist and hand on gun, Moore gets out of danger with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. It sounds silly but he’s so good at it one can’t help but be charmed.
The other changes they make are more hit and miss. There’s no crazy villain trying to take over the world, just a gangster running a drug business. However, even with the apparent simplicity of the story it still manages to be overly convoluted.
Trying to ‘get real’ hurts the film too. The villains simply aren’t that threatening. Not that everyone should be Dr. No but it’s hard to imagine why they send Bond on a errand that frankly should be a matter for the local police.
The producers also clearly attempted a shameless cash grab by imitating the then popular Blaxploitation theme. Bondsploitation. It can be fun to watch at times for the fish-out-of-water value but mostly it makes the film feel too much of its time. No one really wants to see Bond tackling the ‘issues’.
There’s a lot of good though. Jane Seymour stands out as the ‘Bond girl’. She’s only 20 years old here and it really shows. She manages to lend a genuine vulnerable air to the role without hamming it up. However, it is slightly unsettling to watch Bond shamelessly try to screw a teenager using some rigged tarot cards. He’s only one step away from slipping a pill into her drink…
Also good is the theme tune. It’s the first break from a big band style song and it’s a true classic. McCartney still plays it live on stage.
There are some very slick action sequences in Live and Let Die. It’s a shame they are often swamped by really boring ones or just wind up being overly long and losing our interest.
The boat chase is the best example of this. It feels like it’s never going to end, we don’t really know why there even is a boat chase, never mind where it’s actually supposed to be happening (the Bayou I presume?). A shame, because it is punctuated by moments of true greatness. One of the boat jumps broke a Guinness world record. It’s ambitious footage spoiled by a very poor edit.
Live and Let Die has not aged well. It’s confusing and keeps trying to bring race into the plot for no reason. However, one can’t help but enjoy Moore’s performance and if this film does anything, it makes us want to see where he goes with the character.
http://benoliver999.com/film/2015/06/05/liveandletdie/
By no means the terrible film that many critics suggest, this is a rather generic action film, that was unfortunately hugely spoiled by the marketing, but is still a lot of fun. The plot as a standalone film makes little sense and ties itself into knots trying to explain a timeline that was already confused enough. Perhaps future films may explain some of the key questions raised, but ultimately the story shown here should work on its own, especially given the nature of the central villain and his importance to the overall story arc of all the Terminator films. Indeed, there is an interesting core concept created here in the identify of the central villain of the film, but the potential is largely wasted after the reveal in favour of a slight variation of the T-1000. That said, there is certainly a lot of fun in seeing elements of the timeline only hinted at in previous films as well as the recreation of various scenarios from the original film. The action sequences are all largely well done, apart from a terrible helicopter chase near the end of the film. Surprisingly, given his 12 year absence, the best part of the film is seeing Schwarzenegger in his signature role and it his relationship with Clarke's Connor that form the strongest character moments, despite treading similar ground covered in Terminator 2. Whilst Emilia Clarke does pretty well as Sarah Connor, Jai Courtney unfortunately is no Michael Biehn and his rather bland take on Kyle Reese makes it difficult to care about such a key character. Whether there will be any future films to take this story forward is uncertain - the biggest failing of all the Terminator sequels after Cameron's films is their efforts to continue a storyline that was essentially completed at the end of Terminator 2. But this film is a step up from the previous two sequels and there are hints that future films may explore other elements that don't simply rely on the Terminator as protector/killer.
I loved it but why did they make Videl so fugly?!?!?!?!
༼ つ ಥ_ಥ ༽つ
I hope Roshi gets many "interesting" DVDs soon.
James Bond number 5! No one can stop us now!
An American space shuttle gets swallowed by a mysterious other space thing. Tensions rise between the US and the USSR. Bond is sent to Japan to follow a lead and investigate further.
Oddly enough I reviewed this just over a year ago. It’s worth a read since I will be trying not to repeat myself here.
This was supposed to be Connery’s last film as Bond. He was allegedly tiring of the role and it shows. Not a surprise that he didn’t return for the next film.
In fact, everything about You Only Live Twice indicates that the franchise is beginning to show signs of fatigue. Yes, it’s a ‘bigger’ film but it pushes the boundaries of plausibility too far. There are so many gadgets and crazy things happening. It feels stupid rather than cool or entertaining.
Roald Dahl penned the script and was unable to base it on the book, because the book doesn’t actually contain much material! Instead, panicking about what to do, he wrote what can only be described as a Dr. No remake. The problem is, Dr. No wasn’t that long ago.
Ironically enough the film starts with MI6 faking Bond’s death so that he can fool SPECTRE, yet this doesn’t affect the plot at all. The worst we get is mild surprise from SPECTRE; hardly enough to warrant naming the whole thing You Only Live Twice.
There are a few memorable elements to the film though, notably the appearance of ‘Little Nellie’, Bond’s tiny gyrocopter he uses to recon the volcano. It’s also the first time we see SPECTRE-chief Blofeld, but this is a bit of a wasted opportunity as it turns out to be an anti-climax. I’m not sure it was a good idea ever showing his face.
The set design, although again reminiscent of Dr. No, is big and brash. Apparently the hollowed out volcano set at Pinewood could be seen for miles around. It’s also a little flimsy and lacking in depth. Looks great from afar, but when we get closer things are wobbly and bit rough around the edges. Some of the vehicles are clearly just painted tractors.
You Only Live Twice shows us that Bond films require a surprising amount of talent and care to do well. It tries to fly on a big budget and lots of explosions, yet ultimately fails to make an impact.
From my site http://benoliver999.com/film/2015/05/16/youonlylivetwice.html
As cheesy and campy as this movie is, it's so much so that you can't help but get wrapped up in nostalgia. From the characters, to the outrageous and over the top 80's effects this movie is perfect for a laugh. This is not going to be for everyone, but at only 30 minutes long it's worth the quick laughs!
Absolute genius. If you love comedy and 80's movies, then this is for you. I now know Kung Fu!
Excellent movie ! Brings back good.. and bad memories from the 80s!
The great thing about this movie is that it knows what it is, a mindless destruction flick, and rarely tries to be something more. Most of the effect are great, and the Rock... Is the Rock.
Absolutely recommended if you want to shut down your brain and have a lot of fun.
I don´t think "The Lost World" is on the same level as the first part. It´s just more of the same without being better in any regard. And the last 30 min where just too much, this was almost a complete other story within the movie. Didn´t like that at all.
This might as well be my favorite Marvel movie so far. Action, drama and comedy are balanced at perfection and it has a sky-high replay level. This movie is a game changer, and the Guardians will definitely claim their role as one of Marvel's most promising franchises.
Pros
+ Jaime and Bronn stuff
+ Jorah Mormont
+ Sparrows going HAAM
+ Stannis confirmed for greatest daddy ever
+Jon and Melisandre
Cons
- Littlefinger's plan gets dumber and dumber as the season progresses
- The sons of the Harpy shit
- Sand Snakes are somehow even bigger pieces of shit than they were in the books
- Still no Greyjoy brothers, Young Griff, Quiet Isle priest, or Quentyn (aka the best parts of the 4th and 5th books)
I had great hopes for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones after the let down of Episode I. I thought that it would get better but it ended up being even worse.
I was expecting to see how Anakin Skywalker developed his training and how he finally became a Jedi. I guess that would have been interesting to see. George Lucas was more concerned about creating one of the worst love stories in cinema! Anakin and Padmé's love story seems so forced! Their scenes together were supposed to be romantic but in fact they bored me a lot. Also their dialogues, well all dialogues in the film are absolutely terrible!
Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman had no chemistry! Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman are two great actors but this plot couldn't do nothing for their performances, poor guys. Hayden Christensen is just bad, very bad. They should have chosen another actor to play the role.
Yoda is still awesome!
Abe and gingsberg look the same. confusing
Even by The Following's standards this was a horrendous episode. I'm even kinda mad at the accumulation of bullshit thrown into this. Just how do you do it?!
very funny film, really good and a great directorial debut .
excellent, watch it with your ma!
I Love this show, it's about the Agents of SHIELD not superheros.. I don't know how the average person judges acting. But I totally got into the story line and how it tied into the movies. I suppose thats why season two is starting earlier..
I Love this show, it's about the Agents of SHIELD not superheros.. I don't know how the average person judges acting. But I totally got into the story line and how it tied into the movies. I suppose thats why season two is starting earlier..
"You'd have to be a Weather Wizard. Ooh, been waiting since week one to use that one". That's actually a nod to the comics. In the comics (just like the show), Clyde Mardon was the first to have weather powers (he developed the same rod Cisco did, although instead of cancelling the powers, it allow the user to have them) but he didn't use the name "Weather Wizard", instead, his brother Mark took the name.
And, it regards to Wells...
I Fucking knew it!. He's Eobard Thawne and he comes from the future and he's helping Barry develop his speed so he can 'charge' his speed force and be able to return to his time.
Just like the comics, Thawne wants to kill Flash and become to sole possessor of the Speed Force (That's assuming there's no other Flash after Barry)
Decent episode, but this Microsoft product placement's becoming ridicoulous. And I own a Lumia.
... and boredom reigned supreme
The main reason why I wanted to watch this was Kevin Spacey's name involved. I really like him, I think he is a fantastic actor and once again it was impossible not to like his performance in this film. Unfortunately Shrink was not as good as I imagined it to be.
The story is centered in the world of cinema. Hollywood is the land of dreams for the ones who want to be someone in that magical cinematic world. Dr. Carter is a celebrity shrink but he is dealing with some psychological problems too. He starts to loose his abilities to help others because he became a drug addict due to a tragedy in his life.
We follow a lot of different stories from patients that go see Dr. Carter and also stories of some people that are not his patients but have something to do with them. All are kind of connected even without knowing why. As the film develops we start to understand why they are connected but this was not done at the best possible way. There are a lot of messy things, things that are not explained the way it should be. A lot of questions are left in the air and I would like to have understood more aspects of the life some characters. At times the pace might not be the best.
At the end of the film we feel that the characters had some closure with their problems but it was not enough. We spent the whole film trying to figure it out some questions and that not helped to create a feeling for them. I think it was not engaging to the point that we really care about all of them.
The acting was good from all the cast, being Kevin Spacey's performance my favorite. He delivered a very strong performance and we can really feel his pain and struggle. In my opinion he was the best thing of the film.
I think Shrink had all of the elements to be a great drama but unfortunately things didn't go so well.
The movie is pretty much a satire about Hollywood world but is also about the rise and fall of a star. Times change, so movies change too. And the ones that in one day are the better the prettiest and the most famous in the other day could be forgotten.
The screenplay is very well written and the acting by everyone was very good. But Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond steals the show! She portrays the forgotten star from silent films, all she wants is to be famous again and that desire drove her to madness. We can really believe in her madness and she is pretty scary! A great performance from her.
Great classics like this will never get old. Need to see more from Billy Wilder.
