Movie Critics Thread

[shokwave2]

Just came back from watching 'The Dark Crystal' at the Astor.
Well worth watching on the big screen after all these years.

Check out Jim Hensons Creature Shop Challenge if you have not yet seen it. Its an American reality show were the winner gets a contract with the Henson Creature Shop. Its got the usual bitchiness and drama that all reality shows have. They team up and complete different challenges each week, usually making something within a few days.

In episode 2 they had to invent a new Skeksi from The Dark Crystal. They had 3 days to design and build, and then a puppeteer performed inside the creature for each team on a sound stage. Great episode.

[GoktimusPrime]

Just watched a Bollywood scary movie called A Flat. It's so weird... despite being this dark and serious scary film, it manages to put in no less than two Bollywood style musical scenes... the first one is rather sensual, but the second is really upbeat with music and dancing etc. And it goes on for a while, which really makes the spooky feel of the film feel disjointed. But I've been told that this is what sells in India, and that movies without a musical number tend to not do well, so I guess from a marketing POV it's understandable, but from a story-telling POV it's really quite campy and just stalls the plot during the whole scene like most of the supposedly funny scenes in a Michael Bay film. There's a third musical moment, but it's done better and fits in reasonably well with the scene of the movie (it works more like a musical narrative rather and goes with the flow of the story rather than stalling it).

The soundtrack also sometimes goes over the top in some places, and I think that for a movie of this genre, less would've been more. This movie would've been scarier if the damn soundtrack didn't give away every scary moment. Scary movies are spookier when you've got dead silence and suddenly something freakin' horrifying just jumps at you! The orchestra just does all this build up, so by time you see the scary thing, you've already braced yourself and it's just... well... not as scary. And some of the scary elements weren't terribly original either, but the story does have some nice surprises (particularly with the roles of the protagonist and antagonist) and builds well to its final conclusion.

Trailer

[1AZRAEL1]

The Killing Joke. Aces. I'll write up a better review when I can be bothered

Why not now. Well, there's plenty of spoilerific reviews online for those seeking them, so I will not say any spoilers. Sticks pretty damn true to the comic, padded out with extra story which worked well. A few easter eggs to look for too. One extra scene however will piss off alot of fans, and already has. Me, I didn't see anything wrong with it and even adds to character development.

Even before this movie was made, they knew there'd be backlash, can't please everyone. But a mate of mine, my wife and I all really enjoyed it and was great to see on the big screen. We also were treated with and introduction from Hamill about his personal back story a bit and how he landed the role ok The Joker in the first place

[shockNwave]

On the weekend I went to see Star Trek: Beyond and it's not as good as the previous two. For example, the villain (played by Idris Elba) just cannot compete with Khan and even comes across as comical at times. Overall this movie is good at best, mediocre at worst. I'm now looking forward to The Killing Joke which I know will be excellent.

[CBratron]

I thought the extra "prologue" in TKJ shifted the focus somewhere it shouldn't have.

TKJ was always about the Joker demonstrating to Batman that all it takes is one bad day to drive a good man insane. The good man, in this case, was Commissioner Gordon (and yes, shooting his daughter was just a plot device to Gordon's deconstruction. The feminists can sit down now). I was fine with fleshing Batgirl's character out with her kicking ass but that sex scene just drew attention to a romantic relationship between Bruce and Barbara, away from Jim's paternal relationship and demolishes Batman as a mentor

It's a tiny scene but Bruce Timm's shipping fetish has thrown the balance way off.
Skip the first 20 minutes if you think this would bother you.

[1AZRAEL1]

Personally I didn't see that scene as taking away from Gordon or Batman as mentor. I had no issue with the scene, but I knew a lot of people would

[Trent]

The Man from U.N.C.L.E

Loved it. I thought the casting was fantastic.

[UltimateGalvatron]

Rewatched Serenity yesterday. Such a great film for a great series. Its pretty disappointing that Fox cancelled Firefly, but that is a tale for another time.

Then I binge watched quite a few of the DC Animated Shared Universe movies, and I'm actually fairly impressed.

Justice League: War was alright, but I prefer the Throne of Atlantis, when they introduced Aquaman.

Justice League vs Teen Titans was good, not great, but I liked to the Titans back together again (not counting that Teen Titans Go crap.)

Finally I am part way through Batman Vs Robin, which so fair is pretty good.

[1AZRAEL1]

Watch Justice League Doom, another good one.

[DaptoDog]

Finally managed to watch Captain America Civil War this week. What a movie! First hour felt a little slow but the 2nd hour was all you could dream for. DC have a long way to catch up to match the quality of the MCU.