Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Kung Fu Yoga - Jackie Chan's latest reunites him with Stanley Tong, director of Supercop, Rumble in the Bronx, and The Myth. The film is essentially a sequel of The Myth, with Chan playing a Chinese archaeologist who is tasked with retrieving ancient Indian artifacts in Tibet. The adventure takes Chan to Tibet, Dubai, and India, where he must contend with the last descendant of a rebel army leader who wants the treasures for himself to restore his family name.

It's a hit or miss in my opinion. It has some good action but there is an overabundance of CGI at times as well as a finale that starts promising but ends in a WTH moment. On a scale of A to F, I give the film a C+. The big Jackie Chan fans will like it, but others might not like it overall.

Weary River - 5.5/10

It's silent, then talkie, then silent, then talkie.

It seems that every Oscar worthy performance has that one memorable "go for broke" scene. That scene is usually played at the Oscars as the desired "clip". Mark Ruffalo's performance comes to mind from last year's Spotlight. A decent performance until he explodes with emotional rage in one particular scene. Why bring this up? Well, Manchester By The Sea doesn't have any of those scenes. Casey Affleck doesn't go for broke and deliver an emotional powerhouse scene. Instead he grounds his performance in realism. Here is a guy who is clinically depressed for the rest of his life and Affleck plays it subdued and realistically.

Lee is a janitor in Boston and one day he receives a phone call saying his brother has died from heart failure. In his will, he wrote that Lee would be the legal guardian of his son, Patrick. But Lee doesn't know if he's responsible enough in this stage of his life to look after a 16 year old kid. He comes back to Manchester to look after Patrick and take care of funeral arrangements, upon his return, the demons of his past creep back up to haunt him.

One of the more depressing films of the year, the death of his brother is the least of his worries. Lonergan's script and direction are low-key and Lee's depressing past is told through flashbacks that correlate with the present. The tragedy of his past transforms Lee into a somber loner, not only withdrawn from family, but from life. The one thing that can be taken away from Manchester is how real it feels. Nothing in the film is played up for dramatic purposes, it simply has a depressing story to tell and it tells it.

Patrick, played by Lucas Hedges is a typical teenager, full of angst, depression, the desperate need for sex and aspirations to play in a band. His interactions with Lee are not so nice, but indeed are respectful. Their relationship is the centre of the film, it's neither strong nor weak, it's just a basic family bond. Michelle Williams has a small role as Lee's ex-wife, their relationship is almost non-existent and when you find out why, you can't help but feel for both of them in the situation. In one key scene, she clearly still loves him, but cannot be with him. They both hurt from this revelation but need to move on.

Manchester doesn't really have a wow factor. It's just a cold and depressing look at the realism of life.

__________________
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2017) -

While the other films in this franchise are not particularly good, they're at least enjoyable for what they are and somehow managed to maintain a consistent story and universe. That is not the case for the final instalment, which blatantly defies the continuity of the previous films, and has even fans of the series (like my room mate) calling it nonsensical.

If you took a shot for every cut in the first action sequence alone, you would die of alcohol poisoning within minutes. The camera is beyond chaotic, which shots so short you'll hardly be able to process what you're seeing, let alone make sense of it. I really was not expecting much out of this film, yet it somehow managed to disappoint me nonetheless.

__________________

I have fond memories of watching that series with my dad in my teenage years. They're no good, and I haven't seen the last two, but Milla kind of makes them worth watching.

City Of God
5/5

I don't mind the other films at all. They get stupider every time I watch them, but they're still a bit of fun. The room mate I mentioned really likes those movies (and Resident Evil in general, even including the novelizations of the games), yet even he thought this film was insufferable and dumb. So that's saying something haha.

sounds like Michael Bay's been at it.

Its funny that you mentioned Bay. My room mate had remarked in the theatre that the editing in Resident Evil: TFC makes the action scenes in Transformers look classy in comparison.

I've seen Annie Hall, Manhattan, Broadway Danny Rose, Hannah and Her Sisters, Match Point, Midnight in Paris, and Blue Jasmine. I've seen the first two more than once, but I currently have all of those films at either or (for some reason I have Broadway... at ). I do question how much of that is down to the baggage brought on by Allen as a person or if it really is down to the fact that these are just not the kinds of film I care to watch.

Then again, for point of comparison...

Lethal Weapon 3 -

__________________
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

I was thinking of the action scenes in TMNT lol but yeah that too

Both are probably true. Woody Allen does totally bring his baggage to his films. Even Orson Welles once complained about that, so you're in good company!

And Lethal Weapon 3,so not my kind of film.

Split (2017)

Well.....gotta admit I didn't see that coming. Avoiding the obvious spoilers for now all I'll say is James McAvoy kills it in this movie with the different personalities. Easily M Night's best movie since Signs, but Signs is still my personal favorite of his.

__________________
https://t.me/pump_upp

Ghost Dog (1999, 2nd or 3rd rewatch) +



A nice mix of action, drama and comedy. I still find this film to be very original and visually appealing. Whitaker's performance is appreciated. Soundtrack is also unique.

Attachments

 

__________________
"I may be rancid butter, but I'm on your side of the bread."
E. K. Hornbeck

Consumed (2015) -



Not sure what this was. Acting was ok. The end credits were informative. The rest did very little for me, but, at least I didn't turn it off. I guess it serves an educational purpose by trying to connect with the audience via emotional breakdown, I think. Possibly for an audience that would not take the time to watch a documentary or news segment on GMOs. Consumed left me confused, as to its motion picture purpose.

The classic, is she or isn't she a spy dynamic. Allied has great set pieces and the ground work for a suspenseful film, but it falls just short of that. Pitt and Cotillard aren't to blame, they play off each other extremely well. Zemeckis doesn't seem interested in building any sort of suspense and goes for a more character centric study. While appreciative, I felt like the film could have used a bit more balance.

The Paperboy (2012) +



A medley of messed up stuff, that's for sure. By far, my favourite Kidman performance, right down to the golden shower. Very good cast. I couldn't figure out where I recognized Anita from, then I checked and it was Macy Gray. I won't mention all the surprises from McConaughey and Cusack. What a film. Some great lines, too.

Charlotte Bless: [getting into the car] Close the windows, please, it'll mess my hair.
Yardley Acheman: Are you serious, I'm sweating like a pregnant nun back here.

Kung Fu Panda 3 - 7/10 - The first two movies were great, so of course I had certain hopes. I didn't expect it to be mind-blowing, but I had hoped it would be on par with the first two movies. However, it lacked a little in that department, but it still remained an enjoyable film.

The animation and voice acting remain fantastic, but everything else ranged from good to "meh". Seriously, it was visually beautiful, but some of the jokes landed flat on their faces, the dialogue could use some adjustments at parts, and the over-abundance of characters that were given some focus in the story may have hurt the film a little bit.

Even so, it's a great movie, worth watching with the kids if you have any, or with friends. Still not recommended to those who hate martial arts films (you monsters).

__________________
Coming in 2017: two short films and (maybe) another feature-length film. More details another time.

'I, Daniel Blake'

Ken Loach does it again. This was immensely powerful. And quite an infuriating watch, knowing that this is happening right infront of our eyes. There were political undertones and the human element of struggle to it was portrayed absolutely beautifully by Hayley Squires. She was the star for me. People have labelled it "depressing" - It's another film with tragic content, but I wouldn't call it "depressing", personally I don't find any art, music or film depressing, except for maybe UB40's cover of The Doors' "Light my Fire". Anyway I feel this is a massively important film and one which will be absolutely revered by critics and cinephiles in Britain for years to come. And further afield too I'd imagine. Life is unfair, but when it's needlessly unfair, people deserve a voice, help and change. 9/10

I'm sold on this.