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The Meg
It was fine, yet very predictable. Spoiler alert: if they've killed the shark with 30 minutes left of the movie... Oh, and I wonder what will happen to the evil, rich guy...

Hereditary
I don't get the hype for it to be honest. Yeah, it had it's moments, and for a horror film was very well-acted, but the ending was just f**king stupid and ruined it for me personally.

The Spy who Dumped Me
Exactly as expected: basically trash, but entertaining enough. I'm kind of over this whole thing of trying to be shocking in comedy films now though. It never is and just feels tired.

Crazy Rich Asian Men Taking Their Shirts off a Lot
I'd read the book and figured it would make a better film, which it did. There are some genuinely funny moments, and get that it's "important" in terms of Hollywood as a whole, but it's a fairly generic rom-com in most aspects. I f**king LOVE Constance Wu though, and the rest of the cast were very, very good.
 
The Predator
Shoulda been good, this. Shane Black directing a Predator movie, with a Marvel sized budget and the freedom to be as blood-spattered and sweary as he liked - everything was looking rosy. But sadly, it's a little bit sh*t. There are one or two moments early on where it shows potential, and I was starting to think that it might actually be quite decent after all, but nope. It all falls apart very quickly. There's no real focus on what sort film it wants to be, the story has no real sense of direction, potentially interesting characters are suddenly sidelined and forgotten about (Jake Busey's character, playing the son of his real dad's character from Predator 2, for example, what happened to him?) and certain plot elements are left unresolved (what was the point of the Predadog?).
Even some of the action sequences are choppy and disjointed - 'Wait, who was that who just got sliced in half?' 'Hang on, who's chasing who?'
The whole thing reeks of a film plagued by rewrites, reshoots, deleted scenes and production problems. Hardly any of the trailer actually ended up in the final film.
Nah, it was sh*te, just the latest in a long line of expensive franchise reboots that totally misses the mark. Expect an extended version/director's cut on dvd and download very soon.
 
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The Predator - I enjoyed this but it felt like something was missing and that some things had changed, very curious as to what the original cut would have been like.

Crazy Rich Asians - Loved this, usually not the biggest fan of rom-coms but I thought this was well written (if predictable in places) and it was nicely shot (However the outside shots of the white house her friend lives in has very pixelated footage). I liked the messaging montage and graphics when jumping around various locations, I also loved the Asian covers of Western pop tunes. One of the most enjoyable films of the year and it mainly takes place in Singapore which is the best.


Also saw American Animals on a flight. It had an interesting way of telling a true story by blending interviews with the actual people and the recreation of everything that happened. The way some parts were edited so the "character" would say a line but the person it's based on finished the line was neat. Unfortunately quirky film-making doesn't always make for a good film and at 2 hours this film sagged like no tomorrow, felt like so much of the story could have been cut out or shortened and we would have still got the same feelings.

Upgrade - I loved the premise of this film and I thought it worked really well, a shame it didn't really get a decent UK release.
 
The house with a clock in its walls - I really enjoyed this, had a very 80s/90s vibe with how dark it was yet still for families to enjoy. Reminded me of films like Gremlins (prob helped by the Amblin logo appearing at the start). Jack Black and Cate Blanchett were amazing and even the kid was great. The animatronic doll things were legit creepy. Only thing is, why was this not released closer to Halloween?

King of thieves - Another enjoyable film, the montages were interesting as they were intercut with older heist flicks. The cast were really good and I liked how grounded the whole thing felt (helped by it being based on a recent-ish true story).

A simple favour - I was intrigued by this film and I enjoyed watching it but there was something that didn't quite work for me and I can't pinpoint what it is.
 
A Simple Favour

I had zero expectations, but I really liked this. It was somewhat predictable in places, but had a good balance of being a decent enough thriller while actually being really funny. Anna Kendrick is just playing Anna Kendrick yet again, but Blake Lively was fab. I haven't really paid much attention to her before, but she was excellent in this.
 
Venom

It's rushed. It's messy.

But you are a goddamn liar if you watch this and say you didn't enjoy it. A mix of intentional and unintentional laughs, as well as Tom Hardy clearly having fun with the role, make this a simple and fun passing of time, helped by its shorter runtime and breakneck speed pacing.

Seriously, I can't help but just love how fun this is, even if it is flawed.
 
Saw A star is born last night on a big screen with a great audio system. Blown away by so much of the film, Bradley Cooper and Gaga were incredible. Both had such a great screen presence and chemistry together. Some of the direction was a bit off and some things are little rushed or ended up dragging (especially in the middle). I highly recommend this film, wouldn't be surprised to see it get all of the nominations during awards season.
 
peep said:
Saw A star is born last night on a big screen with a great audio system. Blown away by so much of the film, Bradley Cooper and Gaga were incredible. Both had such a great screen presence and chemistry together. Some of the direction was a bit off and some things are little rushed or ended up dragging (especially in the middle). I highly recommend this film, wouldn't be surprised to see it get all of the nominations during awards season.
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Saw it as well and agree with this pretty much. Of they could've cut 30 minutes I would've been very happy.

Venom

Apparently this is a hot take, but I hated it. Almost everything about it. It should be illegal for Tom Hardy to use his American accent. You can definitely tell they cut 40 minutes from the film, and it was hopefully the good parts. The cgi was offensive (especially the final fight) and the script was laughably bad. I've been told I just don't get it and I'm too critical, but that wasn't a good movie.

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I'm debating on whether Venom is actually worth my time at the weekend. I can usually trust critic Mark Kermode (don't always agree but can understand his viewpoint) and he said the first half is trash and then Venom appears and it sort of becomes "so bad its good". I don't have to pay to see films (unlimited card is great) - is it worth me checking it out?
 
Johnny English Strikes Again
I have a bit of a soft spot for Rowan Atkinson's Mr Bean character. It's odd because I don't find slapstick remotely funny, but the guy has the whole 'acting stupid' thing down to a T.
I mean, the film's garbage as expected and is essentially a rehash of the other two, with repeated jokes, cliches and stereotyping galore. But still... I couldn't help but enjoy it
 
peep said:
I'm debating on whether Venom is actually worth my time at the weekend. I can usually trust critic Mark Kermode (don't always agree but can understand his viewpoint) and he said the first half is trash and then Venom appears and it sort of becomes "so bad its good". I don't have to pay to see films (unlimited card is great) - is it worth me checking it out?
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I didn't pay either, subscription services are my savior, but i would say it's accurate. My wife was entertained (eye candy aspect) and a friend was as well, so I questioned my thoufgts as over critical, but nope, they are wrong. I will watch the unedited version, see if it is any better.

I wouldn't have paid for it, so if you aren't and have literally nothing else to do, why not?

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Game Night

Harmless stupid comedy. Had me laughing at the stupid. Nothing to write home about but if you like silly stupid, worth a watch.
 
Mutiny on the Bounty in Bradford at nine o'clock yesterday morning. An original 1962 Ultra Panavision 70mm print on the Cinerama screen, completely faded to pink with a whole bunch of splices and Slovakian subtitles.

I love celluloid, me.
 
So I ended up seeing 4 films on Saturday, Venom didn't make the cut.

Goosebumps 2: Haunted halloween - I grew up with the books and TV show and I liked what they did with the first film. I thought the trailers made this look rubbish and was frustrated they essentially rehashed the first one in a slightly different setting. That being said I enjoyed it, there were elements that made it feel different (I liked the whole Tesla thing). The monsters all looked great but were barely in the film so a little bit wasted. Overall it was ok, very watchable.

Small foot - I loved the concept of this film but I was a little annoyed when I clocked that the main human character is voiced by the very irritating James Corden. I was shocked this had some musical numbers in it and apart from the human talking over Under Pressure they were quite good. The film moves at a nice pace though and there were some story plot points that went in an unexpected direction. I liked it and I think it's a great kids film.

Bad times at the El Royale - Loved this, had some fascinating characters, brilliant cinematography and direction and had several character stories that unfolded in an interesting way. There are a few times where it gets a bit too slow but they are overshadowed by some great surprises which led to some excellent audience reactions (like the whole room going "Oh!" followed by laughter).

First Man - Went in with not feeling in the mood for something so serious but I did end up loving it. It is way too long for it's own good and towards the start the shaky cam is unnecessary and annoying but there are several outstanding sequences that left me on the edge of my seat and totally engrossed in the terrifying scenarios. The soundtrack and sound design are incredible, the moment leading up to the door being opened to the moon was breathtaking. So yeah while not perfect this film was great and I highly recommend.
 
Saw two films last week. Halloween (2018). I enjoyed this, some of the best moments were sort of spoiled by the trailer which is a shame. The little kid that is being babysat is hilarious, injected some great humour amongst some tense scenes.

Bohemian Rhapsody - This is enjoyable but sort of knowing the story in advance made it a little dull at times. The film is at its best when it's more about the music than Freddie. The whole recreation of Live Aid was amazing, they clearly threw all of the money into making that happen. If you don't like Queen then avoid but if you like them then you'll have a good time.
 
@peep I have to disagree about Bohemian Rhapsody. I certainly respect Queen's music but have never been a huge fan; however, I thought the movie was amazing despite it not being the type of film I'd ever normally go out of my way to see. I didn't know much about Freddie Mercury's story going into it so maybe that's why it was never really dull for me. I also found it very emotional and of course the Live Aid concert scene was incredible.

9/10
 
Ooo, I saw some more films at the weekend and forgot to post in here. First was Slaughterhouse Rulez which is an odd British film. It's a teen school comedy regarding class division but then it's more of a creature B-movie. I enjoyed it but it was odd, there were some very funny moments, I loved the practical creatures and the cast seemed to be enjoying themselves.

I followed it up with The nutcracker and the four realms which was another oddity. I enjoyed a lot of the visuals and liked a lot of the concepts happening but it felt like we spent zero time exploring the four realms, it was more just the castle and spooky forest times. Things moved at such a fast pace though that it's never boring but you also never get time to attach any value to anything happening. I did like the underlying story about dealing with grief. I think if you have any attachment to the Nutcracker ballet (of which I have zero) you'll have a bad time, I've seen a lot of complaints online of where they've "ruined" the story and characters. *shrug*
 
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