I finally watched Jurassic World. One of my friends loves Chris Pratt, and is a big Guardians of the Galaxy fan. So I finally broke down and rented it. I used to be a pretty big fan of the original Jurassic Park movie, the sequels not so much... lol I even read the book! But I talk with my friend pretty much daily, so he convinced to check it out... simply because Chris Pratt is in it. XD I was like... okay, okay... I'll check it out.

I actually really liked it. A lot of nice throw backs to the original movie too! Hit me right in the nostalgic feels. lol

Also, I haven't had the time to make a separate post about this, but Paul De Meo passed away on Feb. 26th. For those who don't know him, he and Danny Bilson were a bit of a writing team. They wrote the screen play for the Rocketeer, which is one of my all time favorite movies, and they also created Viper, one of my all time favorite TV shows.

I read about it on Joe Nipote's facebook the other day.

The Three Musketeers and The Man In The Iron Mask.

Two musketeers based movies. The 1993 version with Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Oliver Platt, Chris O' Donnell, Tim Curry, Rebecca De Mornay and Julie Delpy. Long before Pirates of the Caribbean Disney made this live action movie on the musketeers. Not the first and not the last either. I remember seeing this one at the movies even. Though the review on allmovie said it was too Disney, too fluffly and all that I disagree. I know I'm mostly on Disney's case about being to kiddie-like which it mostly is most of the time but the exceptions are becoming more and more. POTC, the Lone Ranger and also this musketeers movie is one of them. Despite being meant for kids this movie has it shares of battles and (though bloodless) violence. Still a pg-rated movie. Probably no more then a animated movie but there were a few brutal deaths in. Interestingly the dvd cover says the movie is meant for the age of 16. Anyway the movie itself was fun and it's always great to see a bunch of familiar faces. 3 stars.

The Man In The Iron Mask. Directed by Randall Wallace, starring John Malkovich, Jeremy Irons, Gerard Depardieu, Gabriel Byrne and Leonardo Di Caprio. This was actually the ending of a trilogy by writer Alexandre Dumas. The three musketeers now have aged by at least 20 or so years and seemed to have lost their former glory and living disillusioned lives. France is now ruled by Louie XIV and only D'Artagnan stands by his side. Louie is a young king who rules with iron fist making the nation unhappy and hungry. Raoul, the son of Athos is about to be engaged with the beautiful Christine but Louie has other plans and sends him off to war to have Christine all by himself. When Raoul dies, Athos swear revenge and the former three musketeers conjure up a plan to replace Louie by the Man in the Iron Mask.

This was less spectacular but it could've been more like Braveheart or something. Unfortunately this movie focuses more the love and romance of the century than on epic battles. It still had something but it was kind of slow and takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes. 2,5 stars.

Just so for the record: there actually was once a man in an iron mask. Not much is known though and the iron mask only became to be through the writings of Voltaire in the 17th century. The man in the iron mask wore actually a black velvet mask through his entire captivity. Nobody knows the true identity of the man in the iron mask.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_in_the_Iron_Mask

Good for you, Jedi.

I know of Paul De Meo. Very sad. He also worked on the Flash back in the day (Original series) & Trancers.

Justice League


So eventually got around to watching Justice League. In this DC universe ongoing chapter, a god-like being known as Steppenwolf attempt to steal 3 "Mother Boxes" scattered throughout the realms to use them as a weapon to take over the world as we know it. Gathering forces, Bruce Wayne & Diana Prince eventually realise that their new found team may not be enough to save the day and will have to find a way to bring back the man of steel...

I guess for someone who was a big fan of Batman, Flash & even Justice League America / Europe, i find it hard to find any familiarity here. Ben Affleck IMO is a poor Batman. Ezra Miller has completely missed the plot of who Barry Allen is. And with the overuse of CGI and the lack of civilian involvement make for a 2 dimensional watch.

I feel the director and screen writers have also missed out on a golden opportunity to capture the essence of what these characters are like in the comic books where Marvel has nailed it. So far, i have only been impressed with the Wonder Woman movie which captured the feel of the comics. You just have to wonder at the lack of depth involved in DC's directive path. No story line of the Justice Society, No Green Lantern, No Martian Man-hunter....Cyborg?? Seriously??!

To the naked eye, the movie will make for a fun popcorn flick but if its depth you're looking for and are well versed in the DC universe, you will be disappointed.

I give it 2.5 stars.

I think also adding characters who haven't had their own introduction movie yet was not a smart move. Having Christian Bale replaced with Ben Affleck was way too soon after the Dark Knight Rises. Though a lot of people say Affleck has the right bone structure in his face to be Batman. I thought it was a good attempt but it was nowhere near Avengers level yet. I think it was way too soon to have an assemble film on DC. Think they should've had at least two movies on their characters first before teaming up.

Last night, I have seen Ghost for the first time in a long time. Sam Wheat is a banker who moves into an apartment in New York with his girlfriend Molly. On their way home from a night in town, Sam is murdered in front of Molly's eyes. The next moment he sees Molly holding his dead body. Yet Sam is not ready to crossover as he begins to uncover a plot that involved the embezzlement of money in his bank. With the killer still on the loose, Molly's life is in danger and Sam turns to Oda Mae Brown, a con artist psychic who happens to own the actual gift.

Also one of these movies I saw as a kid. While it is PG-13 there are a few scary moments in it though as the movie blends supernatural thriller aspects in an otherwise romantic drama with touches of comedy and a bit of action. Great performances by all the actors: Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Tony Goldwyn and Whoopi Goldberg. Also keep an eye out on Vincent Schiavelli (Soft Touch) as a subway ghost. This movie gets a well deserved 4 stars.

Who wouldn't turn on the waterworks when you hear this?

Face/Off from John Woo, starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage.

FBI-agent Sean Archer has been hunting down Castor Troy the murderer of his son for the past six years now. After a final violent showdown on an L.A. landing strip he manages to apprehend Castor who ends up nearly dead after their last fight. Castor's brother Pollux has been arrested and send to prison. When Archer thinks he can relax they find out a biochemical bomb has been hidden somewhere in L.A. and will go off in the next few days. Since Pollux refuses to talk, the FBI devise a daring plan to get the information they need. Archer has to agree to have surgery and have a complete facial reconstruction to become Castor Troy and go to the prison where Pollux is being held to find out where the bomb is hidden. Meanwhile the real Castor Troy awakens from his coma and finds out what they had done to him. He forces the medical staff the perform the same surgery on Archer to become Sean Archer and find Castor Troy. With their lives switched a couple of bizarre events takes places as both men literally and figuratively takes over each others lives. Archer/Troy becomes a criminal while Troy/Archer becomes an FBI-agent.

A movie I had seen so many years ago, but hardly remembered it, except for a great prison action sequence. This movie showed Woo's abilities as a director and since this movie was I think his only one in which the studio's didn't interfere with, it is his best American movie yet. The action is spectacular, the script is pretty good and the performances are great. Maybe John Woo is exactly what we need right now. Unfortunately after the poor performances of Mission Impossible II, Windtalkers and Paycheck, Woo left Hollywood and returned to make movies in Hong Kong. It's way better then what he done before and better than Broken Arrow.

Imagine a MacGyver-Murdoc story in which MacGyver becomes Murdoc and Murdoc becomes MacGyver, physically. Now wouldn't that be interesting? Face/Off gets 4 stars.

Hostel.

Eli Roth's bloodfest on a couple of college friends who are travelling through Europe. In Amsterdam they meet a guy who knows a hostel in Slovakia that is not in the travel guide and where there is plenty of babes, booze and drugs. Paxton and Josh and Oli takes the train over there and check into the hostel where they almost immediately meet pretty girls who takes them out to the disco. They party all night and the following morning they found out Oli has disappeared. He's nowhere to be found and nowhere to be reached. The boys decide to wait another day before leaving without him. On their way out a Japanese girl approaches them who is starting to get worried about her friend who also didn't came back the night before. The boys go into town and are being harrassed by the local gang of kids when they notice a man who wears the exact same jacket as Oli did the night before. The boys become uneasy with these events and return to the hostel. Reluctantly they agree to go out with the girls again for one last night of party. Paxton becomes dizzy and accidently gets locked in the back room of the bar on his way to the bathroom. When he comes around Josh is missing. Fed up with the situation he makes the girls to tell him where his friends are and to take him to them. One of the girls bring him to an old factory building where he is taken by thugs and handcuffed to a chair. It turns out the building is used by people who gets paid to torture tourists for money in the most brutal ways imaginable. Paxton manages to escape and finds the Japanese girl that went missing the same night as Oli did. But being able to escape the building doesn't mean he's out of the country yet.

This movie is not for the weak of heart or stomach. This was also a guilty pleasure film when I was in high school. It's not that great and it's far from original. This movie is just a wink to the classic horrorfilms of the 70's like Texas Chainsaw Massacre but if you're in for a bloody horrorfilm this might just be for you. 3 stars.

Interesting nitpick: the movie starts in Amsterdam, but they don't speak Dutch at all in the movie, they speak German. Dutch is not Deutsch.

Hostel Part II.

Eli Roth's sequel to his first shocker and he flips everything around. Instead of three boys the movie now stars three girls and picks up where the first one left off. Paxton returns home to his girlfriend where he suffers terrible nightmares and his own fate. We end up in Rome and meet three art students who pretty much like the guys in the first movie are looking for some fun and end up in the same hostel. They are being set up and captured and brought to the torture/slaughter house where the highest bidder gets to torture and slaughter to loot. This time however the movie focuses also on two of the slaughters who are about to get into their first kill and how they feel about it. This movie however in my opinion felt a little more tame then the first and has a slower first half, which it didn't do any good. With sequels you expect more of the same, so I expected maybe more gore but not with this one. You might say it would give the movie more depth but it just takes way too long to get to the horror stuff. 2,5 stars.

Red Sparrow.

Dominika (Jennifer Lawrence) is a ballet dancer who sees her dancing career ruined after breaking her leg during a performance. With difficulty she takes care of her mother. Her uncle Ivan works in intelligence and recruits her to become an intelligence agent, leaving her not much choice. Her first mission was to seduce a Russian politician. The mission almost goes awry and suddenly she is being forced to work for intelligence or be executed. Afterward she is send to State School 4 to be trained. The training is hard and the focus lies on seduction. Despite resistance to some elements in training she is send to Budapest to meet a CIA-operative who botched his last mission in Russia when trying to found out who a man named Marble is. Dominika meets another sparrow who she needs to win her trust. A suprise visit for her uncle who demands results makes Dominika to play a complicated double game. She however gets a severe warning from her superiors and is send back to Moscow for interrogation. She denies everything and gets send back to Budapest to reconnect with the CIA-operative to gain his trust and find out who Marble is in order to get the needs for the medical care of her mother.

This movie was good, entertaining and thrilling but it sure is not James Bond. The movie is not very spectacular, no gun fights, no fist fights, no explosions. Spectacle makes place for a high dose of suspense but when there is violence it sure is brutal. A movie that reminds of Salt and the recent Atomic Blonde but which is way too long with 140 minutes and no big action sequences whatsoever. If it was 30 minutes shorter it would've been way more effective. In a movie that long I would've expected at least two or three fights and I really would've liked to see what present-day Russian intelligence agent is capable of in a fight even the main focus lies on seduction. The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service nowadays is called Sloezjba Vnesjnej Razvedki (SVR) and emerged out of the remains of the KGB.

The movie actually portrays what sort of training Maria Romburg received in The Wall. You might say Dominika is also a Ward of the State and becomes a sparrow like Maria. I wonder if the boys were called hawks. All birds of a feather. In the beginning I was actually wondering when the movie takes place but upon seeing flat screens the movie takes place in the present day though I think it would've fitted in the late 80's. Couldn't help but wonder, what if MacGyver met Maria earlier behind the wall? Or what if MacGyver was the CIA agent and Maria Dominika?

Unfortunately due the lack of action the middle part of the movie feels rather slow and becomes even a bit confusing if you don't pay attention. Great performances by Jennifer Lawrence, Mathias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling and Jeremy Irons. 3 stars.

Hostel Part III.

With a new director and a new location Hostel part III starts off with an interesting twist. The raw Slovakia makes place for the colorful Las Vegas where four friends: Scott, Carter, Mike and Justin goes on a bachelor party for Scott. The organization that auctions human beings on their site to be tortured and killed has now a branch in Las Vegas where people can gamble on the victims to make money.

The Hostel films seems to have understood that every movie should be different, even if it just means switching genders. While the boys in the first movie were meant to be sleazy, the girls in the second movie were meant to be more decent, both movies took their time and especially the second one seemed a little on the tame side. The third one pulls that straight. It's not overly gore but the last half hour or so raises everything up a good bit. This was clearly the better one despite it's low score. 3,5 stars.

Downsizing

A rather oddball of a movie.

Scientists discover a means of shrinking humans to just 5 inches as an alternative to overpopulation and soon dozens volunteer to go ahead with the procedure after discovering that it can aid financially. One such couple are the Safranek's. However when the choices are made for this rather different lifestyle, unexpected turns lead both of these people in completely new directions.

An interesting movie to watch and has a few surprises. The movie did not blow me away and yet was interesting to keep me curious.

I give it 3 & a half stars.

Then i saw the remade Murder on the Orient Express

Aboard the Orient Express several passengers make their way through Europe till an avalanche forces the train to stop and to further complicate matters, someone on board has been murdered.

Its up to the train staff and famed detective on board, Hercule Poirot to solve the murder before the killer strikes again...

The original movie had a great cast and so in keeping with standards, the new movie too boasts a good cast made up of Dame Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnny Depp & Daisy Ridley to name but a few.

Overall the atmosphere on the new one is better than the original but for an iconic movie that has lived through the ages, it is difficult to slap a reboot sticker over it and simply forget. Still an effective movie if you are patient enough and never saw the original, give it a go. I give it 3 stars.

Inside Out.

Usually I'm not that into animation but this one is a true exception. It always had intrigued me from the moment I heard about it: an animation film on emotions and depression. Sounded like something that was never done before. Riley is an 11-year old girl who has to move from Minnesota (oh yes and she's into hockey too) to San Francisco due to her father's job. She however doesn't respond very well to the move since she has to leave everything behind. Inside her mind her emotions, Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust are steering Riley's character. Joy usually leads her character but after the move Sadness gets into control and creates a core memory. In a struggle with Joy the core memories break loose and they both get sucked out of the headquarters leaving Anger, Fear and Disgust to steer Riley's character. Joy and Sadness end up deep in Riley's mind and have to try to find their way back to headquarters to fix everything so Riley's can become a happy child again.

I would've never thought an animation movie would get to me that hard. This movie was a first on a lot of things. Hitting the drama genre for one thing, dealing with a subject that barely ever gets touched in animation in general... I strongly recommend this movie: 4,5 stars.

I think I need to rediscover some of Pixar's movies. At least they're not so musical like the original Disney movies.

Maleficent.

Another live action Disney adaption based on the story of Sleeping Beauty but told out of Maleficent's point of view. Maleficent is born in the country of the Moors as a fairy and protects the lands from their neighboring kingdom. One day she meets Stefan whom she starts a relationship with. Years later the king assaults the Moors and Maleficent fights it off in a big battle. While the king is dying from his wounds he tells his people that however can kill Maleficent can marry his daughter and become the new king. Maleficent ends up injured by a man who becomes the new king. She swears revenge but turning the Moors into a dark kingdom and visits the christening of the kings newborn child: Aurora. She curses the child to sleep forever after her 16th birthday. The king tries to prevent it by having Aurora raised by three fairies in an insolated house until the day after her 16th birthday. The years pass while Maleficent kept watch over Aurore and starts to have mixed feelings about the curse as she starts caring for her. The king tries to ambush Maleficent and a final battle happens at the castle.

Despite a poor receiving, Angelina Jolie's performance has been praised and the movie was actually quite entertaining. 3 stars.

Bad Ass 2: Bad Asses.

The sequel to Bad Ass starring Danny Trejo and Danny Glover. They team up to find the killer of Frank Vega's protégé. Vega (Trejo) became popular in the first movie after fighting off a couple of thugs on a bus. Despite his old age a lot of people in the city are fond of him on how he takes on crime. Now Vega has bought a sports center to give the local kids a chance in life (just like the Challenger's Club). Manny, who might become a pro-boxer ends up dead and a huge amount of drugs is found by his body. So Vega teams up with his neighbor Bernie from the liquor store to solve the crime while the police can't do anything since they're dealing with a Argentinian diplomat.

A smalltime old school action movie that was very enjoyable. Not original at all but very good to see on a bored night. 3 stars.

Inside Out is such a cool movie!

I think Coco is the only Pixar movie that can be classified as a musical, so if you get into Pixar, and hate musicals, you should be safe with most of their films.

Needful Things.

Another Stephen King adaption that got destroyed by the critics but which in my opinion was far from bad. The movie had a fairly decent budget and has many familiar faces from both movies and tv-series including Ed Harris, Max Von Sydow, Bonnie Bedelia, JT Walsh and Amanda Plummer.

The story is about a shop called Needful Things who happens to have all sorts of stuff the inhabitants of Castle Rock once owned in their youths. The store owner Leland Gaunt however does not want money but a favor instead and starts to disrupt the peace in the quiet little town by using the residents themselves. Only Sheriff Alan Pangborn is happy with everything he has but once the bodies starts to pile up, he's getting worried about what is happening in town and starts investigating.

In all not a bad movie. Familiar faces and great score. Apparently there is an extended 3 hour version, I had to make do with the two hour version and it was the only version released on dvd.

Also keep an eye out on Shane Meier as Brian Rusk (Passages/Harry's Will), W. Morgan Sheppard as Father Meehan (check out his jump at the end of the movie), Don S. Davis as Reverent Willie Rose (also his jump was great), Frank C. Turner as Pete Jerzyck (MacGyver's Women/Halloween Knights/Back From The Dead), Bill Croft as Andy, a deputy (The Odd Triple/Deep Cover/High Control) and Tamsin Kelsey as Sheila the sheriff's secretary (yes, Lulu is in the movie and looking very good too). W. Morgan Sheppard and Don S. Davis shares scenes together. Bill Croft and Tamsin Kelsey are in a scene together. Kelsey has a great shot when she helps deputy Norris out of a mousetrap while Croft can't help but to mock him. Also Kelsey is visible in the movie's climax.

I would give the movie 3,5 stars. The story might be a little thin perhaps but I'm willing to see pass that as we have six guest stars of MacGyver in one movie. If only MacGyver was the sheriff and Murdoc Gaunt. It would only be weird to have Zito as a priest but what the hell...

Speaking of Stephen King, I was just watching the original It today. I didn't know this, but the kid that plays Georgie is Tony Dakota... the same kid that plays Tommy in Battle of Tommy Giordano. Looking back at the scene, oh yeah... it's definitely the same kid... but I'll never see that version of Georgie the same way again. lol

Indeed and Eddie's mother is played Sheila Moore (Ellen MacGyver) and the cab driver at the end is played by Jay Brazeau who we know as Mr. Zamora from the Gun and the general in Kill Zone. Frank C. Turner plays Beverly's father and Garry Chalk plays the coach who sends Eddie to the showers. Bill Croft also appears in this movie and Suzy Payne (Mrs. Wiley from The Visitor) also plays a cab driver. Again, six (well seven with Tony Dakota) guest actors in one movie. Though most of them show up very briefly.

As matter of fact I think the bridge where they enter Derry is the same one as in Needful Things to enter Castle Rock, so if it's the same location maybe it's not so odd that we see the same faces all over again in both movies.

There is also an interesting and funny Q&A with Tim Curry during a fan expo in Canada on his moment with Tony Dakota in IT.


Can't believe Tim Curry's health has deteriorated so badly. Apparently he suffered a severe stroke or something.

5 stars. Enough said.

Best film ever made, period.

Last night i saw Annihilation

When biologist Lena's (Natalie Portman) husband returns after disappearing on a top secret government mission, his health takes a turn for the worse and ultimately draws her into meeting psychologist Dr. Ventress, a person working for the same group that shows Lena the very thing her husband was investigating. A mysterious and growing zone that seems to defy all logic.

Lena soon decides that the only way to help her dying husband is to step into this unknown realm and find an answer...

It is quite exciting that Netflix are growing in their production values and increasing their content of original series and movies. This of course being the latest in their entry.

Although the film offers an interesting look at questions asked by scientists and others, I disliked the way the film was edited. It's a common thing I have noticed lately with movies such as Interstellar and Arrival, a constant back and forth in trying to pick up something from a characters past.

The best example of my kin d of editing would be Stargate the movie. Where you follow the characters into the unknown. This approach IMO works better because you feel like you're with them.

Was it a bad movie? No. I think it needs more than one watch and in trying to fully grasp what it wants to represent, requires you to be patient. It also stars intelligent characters among the not so intelligent ones.

However even that statement is questionable judging by the decisions made of some of the characters.

I give it 3 & a half stars.

Character making decisions are usually the wrong ones or else you don't have a movie. If they all make the right ones the movie might get boring.

Character making decisions are not what i am referring to. To give an example, its the kind of character that runs straight into oncoming traffic for a solution.

Has no one seen The Greatest Showman?

Definitely on my to watch list but not yet.

You mean the characters lack of common sense? Oh yeah... XD It's kind of a trend in movies to make their intelligent lead characters make some of the dumbest mistakes for the sake of "suspense". Unfortunately, it's a tad predictable, which makes it boring.

It's one of the reasons why horror movies aren't that scary anymore.

I remember being impressed with "You're Next" simply because the lead character is a survivalist and turned the tables on the attackers. Is it new? No, but it's often seen.

I like movies that don't insult the intelligence of the audience, but at the same time be balanced enough to not come off as pretentious and overly intellectual. I like to think, but not THAT hard. lol

Am I picky... yes... yes I am.

It is a great movie! And I love the soundtrack!!!!!!!

After making movies for over a century, you might think, everything has been done before. So how do you keep the ideas coming. No wonder there are so many reboots, yet I think there must be a vault somewhere deep in Hollywood with unmade scripts. Remodernize them if necessary but I think there are great stories that needs to be told instead of rechewed.

Tomb Raider.

The newest one which was nicely done. Loosely based on the 2013 game and for once they seem to have done it right. Richard Croft goes missing after he went looking for a mysterious island near Japan. Lara finds clues just as she's asked to sign the documents that would declare her father dead and make her heiress to the Croft fortunes. In Hongkong she gets a boat that would bring her to the island where she hopes to find her father. She is captured by the company her father worked with and is enslaved along with hundreds of others to find the grave of the Japanese Empress Himiko who allegedly had supernatural powers.

Like I said nicely done and already a bigger succes then the ones with Angelina Jolie. Also a couple of familiar faces like Dominic West and Walton Goggins and two British actors who I shall not name. You need to see it for yourself. 3,5 stars.

Last night i saw Train to Busan

This is a Korean movie about a man who takes his daughter on a speeding train to see her mother (divorced) when a strange outbreak starts to ravage the city. Soon passengers become affected and sides get chosen as the survivors on board the train do whatever they can to survive.

This was Korea's take on a zombie apocalypse movie which is quite effective and fun to watch. I enjoy Korean movies and have seen a vast improvement on their production over the years.

I give it 3 stars.

I saw that one a while back, it was a great movie. Koreans can obviously do a lot more then making revenge movies.

So true!

Tora! Tora! Tora!

Might as well call it the original Pearl Harbor movie. Only better. The movie is an American/Japanese production on the attack of Pearl Harbor. The American parts are directed by Americans and the Japanese parts are directed by Japanese and fully spoken in the language as well. The movie was considered a flop in America but was a big success in Japan. Honestly I don't know what's so flopped about it. It's an old movie yes and it's slow but it is interesting and the special effects are great. This movie deserves a lot better than what it received. I give it 3,5 stars.

Finally got around to watching Escape from New York. I'm a fan of The Thing, love that Snake Plissken influenced Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid, and I love the post-apocalyptic setting. You guys know my obsession with the Fallout franchise.

Sounded like it was my kind of movie! But, I felt it was kinda... flat. I'm not sure why, but I have a hard time understanding the hype. Regardless, I'm giving Escape from LA a go this weekend and see if I like that one better.