Well, I really enjoyed that. The story is dark, convoluted, hard to follow, but the atmosphere is brilliant. And the quality of the production, recreating a village in France in the 60's (and 50's during the flashbacks) is really great. I'm a nitpicker, and i couldn't find a single anachronism in the entire show, even the plumbing was period. The only mistake I could pick was the title of the french cop which at the time in the french police would have been commissaire, not commandant though the cop cars he uses are from the Gendarmerie, a different cops corps, and in that case the rank was correct but he should have been wearing the corps' uniform while on duty. But apart from that little confusing bit, the recreation was great.
The ending though is a bit sloppy, bringing in Afre Woddard, to tie it all up in a scene assembling the main protagonists , has all the appearances of a lazy trick, but the slow burn of all that precedes, is reminiscent of some of the bests Chabrol movies, unearthing the festering secrets of a small town.
I honestly have no idea why all those bad comments. It's a science-fiction/action/adventure flick, it does not pretend to be anything else. So yes, there are lots of elements that come from other movies, and why not ? First of all it's a discarded Star Wars script, so of course, there will be that influence, but contrary to most of the complainers, I like that myself. It's sort of "if star wars was taking place in a parallel universe". The action scenes are great (and fie to the haters of slow mo), the suspense holds until the end. Right the romance part are a little on the nose and mechanical, but again, this is not "Love Story", it's a movie you watch for its visual and entertainment value, and on that front, I fill fulfilled. I read in one of the complainers comments that there was two more movies planned and I myself will certainly thoroughly enjoy those as I did part one and 2.
The story is bad, the acting is bad, the directing is bad, the special effects are awful, even for a mid 80's film, the score is mediocre. The entire movie is an excuse to display Brigitte Lahaie naked in a few scenes (as well as a bunch of other extras in a few more scenes). Given as the director was actually a a hardcore porn movie director, trying at the time to move into mainstream, and that he wrote the script, it's not at all surprising.
Lahaie, who was at the time starting to get mainstream roles, has the lead there, and is not entirely irredeemable but the poor directing and script made it impossible for her to make her character remotely insteresting.
That's a great movie, that came out a few months after the US supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, the 1973 landmark case that had allowed legal abortion in the US.
Seen in this light it does indeed serves as a grim warning for the return of illegal abortion rings and practices that lead to numerous tragedies when women couldn't safely terminate pregnancies.
The story itself is seen though the character of a housewife, Joy Griffin, played by Elizabeth Banks, who learns that her pregnancy could be fatal, due to a heart defect induced by it. She seeks legal recourse to be allowed to terminate it, due to exceptional circumstances, but is flatly denied by the hospital board, that allows that the baby has a 50% chance of survival, even if the mother does not. She then seeks other means to abort, and after a false start, meets a women ring, that allows her to safely abort. After this she becomes involved with the ring first by helping out, and then by taking other the procedures herself, going on until Roe v Wade happens
It's a story told in a subdued and melancholic way, that nonetheless punches you right in the guts. Elizabeth Banks does a magnificent job acting the evolution of her character, helped by a great cast of secondary actresses, chief among them Sigourney Weaver who play a hard boiled feminist, having fought all the battles of the time.
The cinematography by Greta Zozula is very good an₫ the atmosphere of the 60's is very well rendered, tip of the hat there to Jona Tochet for the production design and to Melissa Desrosiers and Julie Weiss for the costumes department (damn some of those 60's outfits were quite gorgeous).
50 years later, unfortunately that battle has to be fought again, and it's a damn shame !
I really enjoyed this fast paced comedy. The story is nonsensical in a good way, coincidences, quiproquos, misunderstanding all leading to laugh inducing scenes, one after another. Jennifer Aniston as a neurotic therapist is great as is Rhys Ians in the role of an aging womanizer. The rest of the cast in on point too. All in all a fun watch.
It's more slapstick comedy than rom-com. The story is not very good, but I did get a few laughs along the way.
There is something that i don't like about Adam driver, his demeanor, his usually wooden performance, and that's probably the reason i avoided this movie when it first came out.
However the story told here, was important and, even if the film itself was rather slow paced, it's a story worth knowing about. Of course we can hope the mistakes made by the CIA in the aftermath of 9/11 will never happen again, but lets face it, there will always be people in power willing to take the shortcuts, and use torture against their opponent, even in our so called democracy.
Unfortunately, I'm convinced the lessons these people learnt with the release of this report is not "don't do it again" but rather "get better at not getting caught with the hand of the cookie jar".
One thing to be said about Sidney Pollack : He delivered. Here, he's of course helped by a great cast, with Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn who do have a great interactions on the screen. The cinematography by Darius Khondji is also excellent, and we have seldom seen inside shots of the United Nations building. All in all a solid story, well served by a good cast of main and supporting actors. A good way to spend an evening :)
The acting was a little wooden, and the script could have used some polishing, but somehow the fun the crew had making that B movie seeps though to the screen.
Not exactly something you'll tell your grand kids about someday, but still a fun little flick to watch. my rating 6 and half :)
I liked it, it was pretty cute and heartwarming. Not Oscar worthy of course, but a really good little pass time. And you heve to hand it to Disney, they know how to cast child actors. All the performances of troop 57 were quite good :)
I watched the 1st Episode, not quite sure what to think yet. I'll say this though, for now I'm not very enthusiastic. The concept is original, I'll give it that, but the story and and it's development left me wanting, and quite frankly a bit bored. Granted it was only the exposure episode, we'll have to see how it gets later in the season. For now though it's a long way from other quality anime I watched.
Edit :
So, just finished the second episode, and no, I'm bored. I'm removing this from my watchlist
This is an undeniably slow paced movie, but the story is compelling and beautifully told. I found myself fascinated by the stark beauty of its cinematography and the realism of the decors, as well as enthralled by the tale of that woman, surviving for 30 years as a man in the then wild west.
If you have a chance to put your hands on it, I'd definitely recommend a viewing.
Very forgettable movie, hey, very forgettable franchise even, until I checked trakt, i had totally forgotten about last year's iteration of that, which I had seen and which didn't leave a trace in my memory. So it's mindless alright, I'm not sure it entirely qualifies as entertainment though.
I guess I'm just not the target audience. Yeah, yeah yeah, it's a feel good Christmas movie,, yeah yeah yeah, it promotes the sacrosanct family values over the selfishness of the poor rich self made man so alone in the world. What a bunch of sanctimonious crap ! The actors performances felt halfhearted, the script is not too bad if you like that kind of things, but the movie runs about 30 minutes too long, laying thick its "message".
Don't get me wrong I like a romance, some Christmas movies even, but apart from the superficial resemblance, Nick cage is no James Stewart in "It's a wonderful life" and Brett Ratner is definitely no Frank Capra. I'm giving it a 5, because it's Christmas and I feel generous :)
So, I've no idea what this has been voted down so much. Granted, it's not original material, Faraway Downs is a mini-serie version of Baz Lurhman Movie Australia But far away from being too long it does the movie justice. The cinematography is superb, the acting top notch, the plot very well written. I binged that in one session and wasn't bored for a minute. My only regret is that the character of Neil Fletcher as the villain of the story was a tad underdeveloped, even though his motivations are clear it would have been nice to see what brought him to it, but it's nitpicking on my part :) . So if you've got about 4 hours to spend i highly recommend you watch this :)
This show is absolutely riveting. Most of the episodes left me breathless.
Good animation is not rare, but brilliant one are not that many.
Everything in this is good, the story, the characters development, the animation, the editing, the action scenes, the music score, the voice acting.
I'm quite eager for a second season, though I'm wondering how the story will unfold for the characters, since Mizu will be in England, while Akemi, Taigen and Ringo are left behind in Japan. I for one would at least like to know what will happen with all of them..
In the meantime I'm giving this show a 10,because, yes, it's totally Ninja !
The intricate narrative structure of this episode is truly fantastic.
Not only is part of the past of Mizu revealed, but it's woven in a subtle pattern between Akemi's future, and the present, each feeding the other and revealing a wonderful tapestry.
This is a masterful tale, and I can't wait to see the rest
This show is very quickly becoming my favorite show of the year.
It has everything from a very good writing to impeccable performances by an extremely talented cast, down to the kids, an excellent cinematography, great costumes and decors, not to mention a heart wrenching story of love, loss, sex discrimination and empowerment of a woman who just refuse to let the patriarchy (and remember this happens in the 50s) dictate how she should live her life and fights back in all the ways she can.
It has all the makings of a single season show, but even if it does not get more, in itself it's gonna be a treasure to re watch over the years.
It's such a pleasure having Damian Lewis back in the show, Corey Stoll's performance, as good as it is, pales compare to his. He only has a few scenes, but gawd he is g o o d
@ 08:30 "Colt: Start the Citadel Challenge, version THX, Variable 1138" :grin:
This week was a treat, 2 main stories instead of one.The HOA main segment was truly horrifying, but the Check E. Cheese one was a hoot :)
(you can watch the Chuck E.Cheese here : https://player.vimeo.com/video/815931867?h=c3093f60ed&dnt=1&app_id=122963)
After the 6th episode; I'm really starting to find this show boring. The main couple has the chemistry of a wet mop, the Gib character is absolutely cringe, the teenagers are made of cardboard, the only things that mostly works is the will they/won't they between Maria and Luther and even that is wearing thin already.
Don't get me started on the computer screens. The action scenes are barely passable. This thing is on a fast track to the cemetery of failed TV shows and will not be mourned by many.
I spotted a very subtle goof @4:12 : The bottle of Bordeaux label wears a label 'Propiétaire Récoltant (owner-grower) - 69220 Lancié". The town of Lancié exists, and it's even the right zip code for it, but it's not in the region of Bordeaux at all, actually the wine produced there is a Beaujolais, and it's on the opposite side of France. The 'Chateau de la Valence' brand is completely fictional as is the 'Appellation Valence-Villages', and finally the capacity is listed at '150ml' (5.28 oz) , but a bottle this size contains 75ml, half that. It's a good fake for a half second display, but why go to the trouble of printing a fake label when any real one would have done it ? (and yes I'm nitpicking :laughing:)
You have to admire some attention to details in this show. That was filmed around 2013 and yet at 00:13:44 in a shot inside a New-York street, in a minor scene meant as a flash back 15 years earlier, so before September 11 2001, they digitally inserted the twin towers : https://prnt.sc/vGtBocEr4ssf. It's 4 seconds, they could have gone without and probably no one would have noticed, but this is real professionalism there
I have thoroughly enjoyed this season, the plots, counter-plots, the general imbecility of the protagonists vying for power and influence in the court, the cutthroat women and the general badassery of the queen, who to this day remains a character both admired and loathed.
That being said the show is greatly fictionalized and steers often far from the accepted historical facts in favor of more dramatization. I'm not begrudging it though, since it does make for a really enjoyable watch, but do not accept it as historical truth :)
A little annoyed by the continuity. At the end of the previous season, Brenda tells George that Hershel took all the chicken when he left and in this episode the coop is full.
I really enjoyed that movie, which bases (very loosely) its premises on the plot of 'Strangers on a train' (check at 00:11:54 what Eleanor is reading). I don't exactly get why it's classified as a comedy, if it's one it is more of a dark one, and none of the main protagonists are truly innocent. In support roles there is also Sarah Michele Gellar, the 'Headmaster' lines in a deadpan way, that's really nice, and Sophie Turner has a very small part, that is really good too :)
One of the characters sums up the plot perfectly at some point : "Listen, was all this a little crazy ? Sure. But I'm a teenage girl, we're psychopaths"
Also a big thumb up to Alana Morshead who designed the colorful costumes an to the whole make-up department (who conveys the character evolution though creative, if subtle, make ups (the eyeliner on Camilla Mendes character when she goes batshit crazy for example).
The feel good ending was a little disappointing, but in line with the comedic orientation of the movie (it could very well have ended in gore with very little effort :))
All in all it was a good watch and those 2 hours were well spent :)
Well, the CGI is poor, and some of the acting is a little wooden, on the other hand once you accept the premises, the story isn't bad (at least the first 4 episodes). So I think I'll give that show a chance and see where it goes, even though I'm clearly not the target audience :)
@finfan: a bit dishonest of you to quote out of context mmm ? The full quote on IMDb is:
Pratchett has said: "May I also add that the film 'The Return of Captain Invincible', which is a series of bad moments pasted together with great songs and a budget of fourpence, is also a regularly-viewed video in the Pratchett household."
Which is actually just the opposite of what you're putting into Pratchett's mouth.
The bad reviews don't do this movie justice. It's far from a masterpiece, but it sustains a nice suspense, apart from the reveal that Meeser (Frank Grillo) is the one who orchestrated the boat hijacking, which was pretty obvious from the start. All in all I wasn't bored, which is after all the purpose of mindless entertainment like this.
That being said, pairing Ruby Rose with a guy, her being very publicly gay, is probably a bad choice, or ask for a suspension of disbelief a tad to far. We're not in the 1950's anymore and gay actors shouldn't have to act contrary to their orientations (though of course that's their job, but still). At least there's no explicit sex scene, that would have been painful.
In conclusion : not worth a re-watch, but still not too bad a thriller
