Rate the last movie you saw

[Creeper]

Was watching something on Youtube about year or so prior to them releasing Avatar 2
He said when they brought the writing group together that many of the writers were brain storming about ideas of things they could do like new animals or fighting scenes and so on.
He said he stopped them and told them that they were first going to break down what made the first movie/story so successful. When the writers started talking about things they could do in the second story again he basically told them until they break down what made the first one a hit they would not be talking about what they could do in the second and if they continued to do so the would basically be fired.

The essence of his story was that he wanted to capture the magic of the story from the first one and not just look to what new scenes and animals they could come up with. To concentrate on the core story and not the bells and whistles.

That might be a good idea. However I think in doing so he just made the same movie just a different setting.
Evil bad guys come to take out your land, we must protect it. They just changed the land.

Who is kidding whom? The story of evil bad guys taking land from the peaceful innocent seemingly weaker people has been told a million times. We had Cowboys and Indians movies, cattle ranchers taking land from sheep herders, even cave men fighting each other over territory. Even the love story angle in the first movie has been done a million times. Romeo and Juliet anyone? The Avatar story wasn't new, other than the scenery and special effects. Both movies were about the visual splendor. The problem with the second movie is it was too long. Too much time was spent on the spectacular sea life. And honestly, the introduction of young ones into the story almost always kills a movie.

Plus, it is an overly cynical view of humans vs aliens. We are a species that worry more about a snail dart than our own planet, why would we be okay will killing off an intelligent alien species on another planet? I'd like to believe we are better than that. In fact, the reality is, the writers know the audience will side with the aliens. They know you will root for the aliens only proving we are not as evil as they make the bad guys seem, even for whatever natural resources they want to rob.

 

[big dog cowboy]

I watched that one a number of times as well when it first came out.

I need to watch it again as it has been a few months.

It is a fun movie just to see if you can catch all the toys and references in the movie. You can find something new each time you watch it

That's exactly the thing to watch for. It does seem like every time I watch I see something for the first time.

 

[DallasEast]

Spoiler

I found it strange that the kid could speak to the big weird whale,and without even joining his ponytail to anything.

Spoiler

The aquamarine biologist on the hunting team explained it by saying it was likely the species was more intelligent than humans. Ergo, they could comprehend sign language.

 

[Runwildboys]

Spoiler

The aquamarine biologist on the hunting team explained it by saying it was likely the species was more intelligent than humans. Ergo, they could comprehend sign language.

That almost explains how the animal could understand him, but not the other way around. It just would have been a little better to have that hair connection, even if it was just a jumpstart, IMO.

 

[DallasEast]

That almost explains how the animal could understand him, but not the other way around. It just would have been a little better to have that hair connection, even if it was just a jumpstart, IMO.

Spoiler

I believe the other way around was a form of telepathy. Not saying it was specifically that but I think that was Cameron's implied approach.

 

[John813]

Extraction 2.

8 out of 10. Good action flick. Scenes were well shot outside of a few bouncy camera shots when they were in the cars.

Simple plot. Not too much unneeded bs

Avatar 2 6.5 out of 10
Visually stunning. Same Ole plot. But this time with bad avatar villains wearing Oakley shades.
Can't wait for the 3rd one where... the humans are bad and this time Sully finds another native to team up to beat them.

 

[DallasEast]

The Flash (2023)

7.00 of 10.00

I'll repeat what I have said to a few friends and my son:

The first 20 minutes was fantastic. Sure. Erza Miller was goofy BUT the superpower of DC Comics' THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE was on full display. Plus, you got extra superheroing (is that a word?).

Then Ezra Miller's manic buffoonery turned my brain off.

Michael Keaton ended my seizure. I got really hyped seeing Sasha Calle as Supergirl and really REALLY hope her future project is not smoke-and-mirrors. Christain Bale is still my favorite Batman actor but Michael Keaton makes this movie as good as it is (and I am not saying that as an opinion).

There is plenty of action. All predictable.

The Nexus of Time scenes were a nice touch. Thumbs up.

Loved all the intertwining time paradoxes. Although the final one has a notable plot hole.

Glad that a certain obsessive actor finally got his cameo. huzzah.

And the last few seconds at the end was the final nail in Ezra Miller's coffin as far as I am concerned. Never want to see that actor play The <expletive> Flash ever again.

Ending credits cut scenes? Don't know. I got up and left the theater as soon as ^ that scene ended. And don't care. Please restructure a major DC character, James Gunn, and thank you.

 

[DallasEast]

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

6.75 of 10.00

Chloe Coleman, the young actress who played Chris Pine's daughter, gets a TON of work, doesn't she? It's like she appears in almost every movie I see.

The movie is advertised as a lighthearted entertaining adventure and it succeeds in my opinion. I would say the main cast members are well-rounded, both well-known and not so well-known. The story flows but is fairly tame from beginning to end. And the witty sarcasm made me chuckle regularly but I do not recall laughing a whole lot.

What I liked: Hugh Grant and Regé-Jean Page. Both actors enjoy good screen time but are absent for much of the movie. However, they steal each scene they are in. Justice Smith has a few moments as the group wizard that are slightly better than them though. Sophia Lillis seems to do well in any role, even if it is a supporting shape changing one. The special effects are good. Not great but good enough.

What I did not like: The so-called super scary villains. Ooo. Scary. Not. Probably just me but I thought Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez were sleep acting through their scenes at times.

 

[dsturgeon]

avatar 2

I liked it. I like the introduction to a new pandora ecosystem, and I enjoyed the short see battle. I thought it was a good sequel. It setup the 3rd movie well, but I don't see how a final battle could happen on pandora.

I had issues with some poor quality cgi scenes, and some weak plot threads, but overall it was not bad. The avatar CGI looks better in the forest and underwater. The out of water stuff seemed fake or not as good

I can't say it yet, but i think when viewed as a whole, the series of movies will be smooth, and run together well. The Navi on the run the whole time, but they come out on top. It will be similar to star wars. The rebellion was always on the run, but they come out on top.

 

[dsturgeon]

Maybe in the next one the human boy helps the marine turn to the other side

 

[VaqueroTD]

Yep! Watched it about 20 times so far.

Yes, agree with both of you. I rarely watch a movie twice and already seen Ready Player One, which is fairly new, 3 times. Just an enjoyable flick. On a side note, I saw Dunkirk and couldn’t believe the same guy played the old British ship captain, and the American programmer who designed the online world. Great actor!

 

[DallasEast]

The Little Mermaid (2023)

7.50 of 10.00

The movie tries living up to the animated original underwater world but does not quite match it in my opinion. it has pretty good CGI that flows smoothly with superimposed human actors but it never felt as 'aquatic' a setting to me as Aquaman live-action CGI looked and felt.

Halle Bailey is such a young beautiful actress, with a personality to match and a Broadway caliber voice. She delivers underworld but in some ways shone more on screen once she transitioned to the above water scenes. Javier Bardem made for a wonderful but overbearing fatherly King Triton. Melissa McCarthy was deliciously bad as the villainous Ursula. Both Sebastian the Crab (Daveed Diggs) and Scuttle (played by Awkwafina although I am not sure WHAT kind of bird that was) interacted extremely well with their live action counterparts.

The island scenes felt extremely genuine. I think the audience gets a true Caribbean island vibe. The main supporting actors playing island residents appear on screen like they have been there forever. Except for the queen. She did seem out of place.

The vibe is nowhere as strong with the Prince Charming of the movie. Eric, Eric, Eric. Dude seems a bit too stiff throughout. Speaking of Broadway, that is how his acting felt, like he was acting in front of a stage audience instead of front of a movie camera. And his singing voice is rough. The young actress, who played Ursula's human looking facade, did not have any opportunity of distinguishing herself on camera. In fact, her limited performance came across like she was a last minute casting choice thrown on set and did not get many scene shots. Kinda just blah.

Both the climatic Ursula and happily ever after scenes at the end of the movie are top notch Disney quality. Not sure how anyone leaving the theater, both child and adult alike, do not exit with a big smile and warm feeling in their chest.

Time for an avatar change...

 

[Runwildboys]

The Little Mermaid (2023)

7.50 of 10.00

The movie tries living up to the animated original underwater world but does not quite match it in my opinion. it has pretty good CGI that flows smoothly with superimposed human actors but it never felt as 'aquatic' a setting to me as Aquaman live-action CGI looked and felt.

Halle Bailey is such a young beautiful actress, with a personality to match and a Broadway caliber voice. She delivers underworld but in some ways shone more on screen once she transitioned to the above water scenes. Javier Bardem made for a wonderful but overbearing fatherly King Triton. Melissa McCarthy was deliciously bad as the villainous Ursula. Both Sebastian the Crab (Daveed Diggs) and Scuttle (played by Awkwafina although I am not sure WHAT kind of bird that was) interacted extremely well with their live action counterparts.

The island scenes felt extremely genuine. I think the audience gets a true Caribbean island vibe. The main supporting actors playing island residents appear on screen like they have been there forever. Except for the queen. She did seem out of place.

The vibe is nowhere as strong with the Prince Charming of the movie. Eric, Eric, Eric. Dude seems a bit too stiff throughout. Speaking of Broadway, that is how his acting felt, like he was acting in front of a stage audience instead of front of a movie camera. And his singing voice is rough. The young actress, who played Ursula's human looking facade, did not have any opportunity of distinguishing herself on camera. In fact, her limited performance came across like she was a last minute casting choice thrown on set and did not get many scene shots. Kinda just blah.

Both the climatic Ursula and happily ever after scenes at the end of the movie are top notch Disney quality. Not sure how anyone leaving the theater, both child and adult alike, do not exit with a big smile and warm feeling in their chest.

Time for an avatar change...

I have no skin in this game, but I've heard that the multiple ethnicities of the sisters seems forced. Did you get that feeling?

 

[DallasEast]

I have no skin in this game, but I've heard that the multiple ethnicities of the sisters seems forced. Did you get that feeling?

Forced? No. Triton, King of the Seven Seas, stated each daughter originated from individual sea kingdom. Seven kingdoms total.

All continents, except Antarctica, have indigenous populations, generally of differing ethnicities. The story is fictional but I did not find anything wrong with Triton having different looking daughters from around the world.

I took the differences in appearance as the King of the Seven Seas being a busy rolling stone. All of Ariel's sisters were cute but not as cute as her.

Like I said earlier, the person I saw as out of place was The Queen. The person playing one of her servants, actress Martina Laird, seemed to fit the appearance of the queen character than the actual actress playing the role. Then again, I have not thought about Eric in that way until your question. Up until now, I just considered him as a square peg jammed into a round hole lol.

Another thing, that has always bothered me in both the animated and live action films, is the bother/sister dynamic of Triton and Ursula. He's a merman. She is an octopus woman. Like... what the <expletive>?

 

[Runwildboys]

Forced? No. Triton, King of the Seven Seas, stated each daughter originated from individual sea kingdom. Seven kingdoms total.

All continents, except Antarctica, have indigenous populations, generally of differing ethnicities. The story is fictional but I did not find anything wrong with Triton having different looking daughters from around the world.

I took the differences in appearance as the King of the Seven Seas being a busy rolling stone. All of Ariel's sisters were cute but not as cute as her.

Like I said earlier, the person I saw as out of place was The Queen. The person playing one of her servants, actress Martina Laird, seemed to fit the appearance of the queen character than the actual actress playing the role. Then again, I have not thought about Eric in that way until your question. Up until now, I just considered him as a square peg jammed into a round hole lol.

Another thing, that has always bothered me in both the animated and live action films, is the bother/sister dynamic of Triton and Ursula. He's a merman. She is an octopus woman. Like... what the <expletive>?

I haven't seen it. I'm asking because I got the impression he was just a philanderer, and it was coincidental that they all just happen to be different. If that's the case, I would have preferred that he did it intentionally, so that the whole world was represented, as opposed to it seeming like a pc casting decision.

 

[dsturgeon]

Another thing, that has always bothered me in both the animated and live action films, is the bother/sister dynamic of Triton and Ursula. He's a merman. She is an octopus woman. Like... what the <expletive>?

Being bothered by chimeras is a very good instinict to have. Gaurd against becoming one yourself

 

[Roadtrip635]

Sisu
A Finnish WWII action movie about an old soldier near the end of the war that goes out prospecting in the wild and wants to be left alone. A lot of brutal action, some crazy moments with a simple but effective story. He's a tough old dude it was a fun movie and would like to see a sequel or prequel. 8.5/10

Evil Dead Rise
A departure in style from the rest of the Evil Dead franchise, it doesn't have that humor running through it and more of a straight forward horror flick. It was alright, didn't like it as much as the other Evil Dead movies, but better than than some of the recent horror movies I've seen. 6.5/10

John Carter
This is an older Disney movie based on the books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I read and loved the books when I was younger and had seen the movie when it came out, but couldn't remember much about it. I liked parts of it, most of the CGI was pretty good, the story and dialogue were alright, but the acting was really lackluster. It could have been pretty good, the script needed a little tweaking, but the leads should have been recast, no spark or chemistry. They just didn't have that on screen charisma a film like this needs. I would like to see this character re-booted at some point. 6/10

 

[DallasEast]

I haven't seen it. I'm asking because I got the impression he was just a philanderer, and it was coincidental that they all just happen to be different. If that's the case, I would have preferred that he did it intentionally, so that the whole world was represented, as opposed to it seeming like a pc casting decision.

lol @ pc decision. I thought you were implying girl power. And I have tried staying FAAAAAR away from those types of discussions since the Avengers: Endgame days.

 

[DallasEast]

Being bothered by chimeras is a very good instinict to have. Gaurd against becoming one yourself

umm... thanks..?

 

[Creeper]

Sisu
A Finnish WWII action movie about an old soldier near the end of the war that goes out prospecting in the wild and wants to be left alone. A lot of brutal action, some crazy moments with a simple but effective story. He's a tough old dude it was a fun movie and would like to see a sequel or prequel. 8.5/10

Evil Dead Rise
A departure in style from the rest of the Evil Dead franchise, it doesn't have that humor running through it and more of a straight forward horror flick. It was alright, didn't like it as much as the other Evil Dead movies, but better than than some of the recent horror movies I've seen. 6.5/10

John Carter
This is an older Disney movie based on the books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I read and loved the books when I was younger and had seen the movie when it came out, but couldn't remember much about it. I liked parts of it, most of the CGI was pretty good, the story and dialogue were alright, but the acting was really lackluster. It could have been pretty good, the script needed a little tweaking, but the leads should have been recast, no spark or chemistry. They just didn't have that on screen charisma a film like this needs. I would like to see this character re-booted at some point. 6/10

I liked John Carter. I don't know why it bombed. I have seen much worse movies.