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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jul 1, 2018 10:32:24 GMT
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Still not seen the Peter Jackson 2005 movie, but I do own it on DVD, anyway I picked up a dirt cheap copy of Skull Island as of recently and went in with hoping for a good time. Sadly it was just another big budget, special effect driven mediocrity with a poor plot and even worse characters.
Sure, King Kong looked impressive but I never cared for any of the main figures, specially Tom Hiddleston seemed very out of place, never any believable as an rugged Indiana Jones kind of hero, while Brie Larson as the fair maiden is not much better.
Samuel L. Jackson does his usual stuff, and John Goodman was along with John C. Reilly one of the very few beside Kong to really stand out of such a boring and dull crew of main characters. Sadly, Goodman does not last for long, and as with so many others he is written out in a very cheap and trashy way, like it was taken straight out of a b-movie.
All in all, as a monster/adventure movie I guess for those who loves a big "epic" showdown between CGI animated beasts will get theirs, but those hoping for a bit "deeper" plot-wise, will be surely left uninpressed.
5/10
Bad Girls (1994)
Another letdown was this poorly delivered action-western film which seemed to be aimed at the audiences of those loving films such as Thelma & Louise (1991) and the Young Guns movies. Here you have four beautiful ladies played by some of the my favorite 90s actresses, with Andie MAcDowell and Madeleine Stow along with Mary Stuart Masterson and Drew Barrymore in the main leads.
Also, James Russo, James LeGros and Robert Loggia is there as well, even though in very small and not so memorable parts that is.
The story and its characters are paperthin and you never really care much for neither of them, and the badly delivered romantic interest along with the whole revenge stories which takes place are sadly far too rushed and sloppy to make up for having such a promising cast there in the first place.
Loggia, specially is completely wasted here, while Russo is just a sad cartoonish villain and LeGros have not much to do either.
Of the far too many western movies I have seen from the 90s, this is without a doubt one of the worst, however it moves on very fast and I will never go tired of seeing MacDowell and Stowe in their prime, even if it means in not so impressive films.
All in all, a complete letdown of a saturday movie night.
4/10
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Post by lostinlimbo on Jul 6, 2018 6:29:31 GMT
Kong: Skull Island (2017)Still not seen the Peter Jackson 2005 movie, but I do own it on DVD, anyway I picked up a dirt cheap copy of Skull Island as of recently and went in with hoping for a good time. Sadly it was just another big budget, special effect driven mediocrity with a poor plot and even worse characters. Sure, King Kong looked impressive but I never cared for any of the main figures, specially Tom Hiddleston seemed very out of place, never any believable as an rugged Indiana Jones kind of hero, while Brie Larson as the fair maiden is not much better. Samuel L. Jackson does his usual stuff, and John Goodman was along with John C. Reilly one of the very few beside Kong to really stand out of such a boring and dull crew of main characters. Sadly, Goodman does not last for long, and as with so many others he is written out in a very cheap and trashy way, like it was taken straight out of a b-movie. All in all, as a monster/adventure movie I guess for those who loves a big "epic" showdown between CGI animated beasts will get theirs, but those hoping for a bit "deeper" plot-wise, will be surely left uninpressed. 5/10 It wasn’t too bad for what it was; fast moving popcorn monster entertainment. The only thing I found disappointing was the lack of creativity in the monster designs. When those bug creatures pop up from underground; talk about uninspiring. The giant spider sequence was one of a few things to standout. |
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jul 7, 2018 9:38:17 GMT
The giant spider was actually not that bad, I agree. It sure took me by surprise, but sadly that was pretty much it.
Overall, I was mostly left uninmpressed as I maybe went in with a bit too high expectations, much thanks to far too generous critics and their raving reviews of the film.
Fast & Furious (2009)
After the poor 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and the mediocre original, I did not go in hoping for much better by the fourth time, however it actually turned out to be maybe the "best" of the franchise, or those I have seen so far. Yeah, the plot and characters are still slim as hell, but this time I thought the more lighthearted comedic side was more toned down in favor of a more serious themed storyline, which came with some nice twists and turns along the way.
It is kind of "sad" this did not follow up directly to the first one, so one could have escaped what got stuck in between them, but I guess the main leads had other projects on their mind, or some other stuff which made it take a bit longer than usual to come up with another sequel.
I liked that there were more night sequences than day sequences as well, I always prefered night time in L.A. than daytime. It creates a whole other atmosphere, or so I think.
The action and stunts were superior to the ones from 2 Fast 2 Furious, which at times looked incredible cheap and more like some video game than a big budget blockbuster action release.
It also helped out much that both Uruguay and Brazil got knocked out of the World Cup yesterday, by France and Belgium. Cannot stand the sight of Suarez nor Neymar and have never liked any of them as national football teams, and now I am looking very much forward to Russia vs. Croatia and then of course England vs. Sweden.
All in all, I was in the right mood last night, and therefore my rating goes from a 5,5/10 and up to a very, very kind:
6/10
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jul 14, 2018 10:34:00 GMT
Fast & Furious Five (2011)
I still continue on with my journey through this massive box-office action franchise series, and even though I knew almost before the movie is getting started, that it will be just another "watch once, then never again", I have to admit that the further away of the first films I get, the better or more "satisfying" they end up as entertainment.
Part 4 turned out to be a bit of a surprise, as I thought it was tighter and better acted than in any of the other titles I had seen (well beside part 3, Tokyo Drift, which I have still not watched, yet).
Sure, with the fifth one, it continues to make things bigger and bolder, more action and larger names attatched to the screen.
However, again I thought part 5 stood out even better than the 4th when it came to comedy, chemistry, action, new characters, twists and turns, villains and when even Tyrese Gibson and Ja Rule actually comes off as "likeable", then you know someone did their job very well.
Another thing, and one where I am pretty sure it is of no "accident" that the ones I have enjoyed the most, are also the ones where Michelle Rodriguez is either in or have barely any screen time. I just can't help it, she is not exactly a "favorite" of mine and I am just glad she wasnt part of the team again this time around.
6,5/10
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Post by King Conan on Jul 19, 2018 22:15:24 GMT
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning 8/10.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jul 25, 2018 14:08:36 GMT
Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
Coming up after what I consider to be the "best" (Part 5) or most enjoyable of the far too many sequels, chapter 6 ends up in all the wrong directions, which I also have mostly bad memories of after having seen part 7 back in 2015. The stunts and action sequences which already by part 1 was ridiculously over-the-top (but in a more "mild" tone) is now gotten to a point where it feels and looks more like just another generic CGI dominated super-hero movie, and it just keeps on coming at ya, all the time.
Michelle Rodriguez is back, and I guess since I am such a big "fan" of hers, I should be even more annoyed, however this time around she was far away of being close to the most painful and terrible character on the screen. Tyrese Gibson is back to his old "self" from the below average part 2 and the chemistry which I thought worked well within the team in part 4 and 5 is now long gone.
The villain or villains is also pretty weak, and for me I think they should have ended it with part 6, as that is probably the closest this series came to creating a near "great" action movie.
5/10
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Post by lostinlimbo on Aug 6, 2018 11:27:02 GMT
So I finally got around to watching my copy of Out for a Kill (2003) and bah! I didn’t realise this was voted as one of Steven Seagal’s worst films until coming across a thread or two regarding his best and worst. So after watching it, I can see why. I was so bored, that it eventually became background noise as I did other tasks while tuning in and out. The premise is fine, but the execution falls flat. Seagal being half-ass mumbling his lines, providing the same nothing impression (looking constipated) every scene (be it from discovering priceless artifices to the sudden death of loved ones) and then when it came to the action he swipes around objects and his arms real fast to look like his giving it his all, but as usual the stuntmen along with the film editor are doing overtime to make “him” look good. Also some of the CGI was god awful... oh man, that bullet sequence!? Actually the whole archeology scenes at the beginning where Segeal’s professor (mmm I know) character is framed is laughably dumb. However the stupidity soon turns tedium making it a chore to sit through.
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Post by jamesbamesy on Aug 6, 2018 14:18:38 GMT
Last Action Hero (1993) - 7/10
What can I say? It's Arnie's most overlooked film about him as an action star and his fan, this kid gets sucked into the movie he's watching. It's very self-aware and there are constant jokes about action film clichés. With that, the movie is quite funny and there were moments I did laugh. Unfortunately, this is the most kid-friendly Schwarzenegger flick, as there's barely any violence, making it seem like they play it too safe. On the whole, pretty good, but far from any of his best movies .
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Aug 7, 2018 15:44:45 GMT
Last Action Hero (1993) - 7/10 What can I say? It's Arnie's most overlooked film about him as an action star and his fan, this kid gets sucked into the movie he's watching. It's very self-aware and there are constant jokes about action film clichés. With that, the movie is quite funny and there were moments I did laugh. Unfortunately, this is the most kid-friendly Schwarzenegger flick, as there's barely any violence, making it seem like they play it too safe. On the whole, pretty good, but far from any of his best movies . I am glad you enjoyed it, as it seems to be one of those movies which divides rather than unite the Arnie fanbase or even fans of the 80s and early 90s action genre. Agree that it is his most overlooked or maybe even the most underrated as I am always surprised when people bring it up as one of the "worst" movies of the 90s, and keep thinking to myself that "What if it had not become a box-office failure?", but instead ended up as just another Arnie blockbuster. I would easily put it among his top 3 films of the 1990s, even beating out True Lies (1994) which was great but Last Action Hero is the one among with Total Recall and T2 which I never get tired of seeing and still have the old Arnie "magic" kept alive. Also, Last Action Hero might come with one of the best soundtracks of the action/comedy genre, I mean it is one hell of good time and what I love most about it was how it pretty much ignored the grunge era (well, minus Alice in Chains) and instead had lots of metal and hard rock acts bangin' out some truly great classic tunes, such as: AC/DC - Big Gun, Megadeth - Angry Again, Alice in Chains - What the Hell Have I, Michael Kamen and Queensrÿche - Real World and Def Leppard - Two Steps Behind. |
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Aug 7, 2018 15:54:40 GMT
So I finally got around to watching my copy of Out for a Kill (2003) and bah! I decided to just look it up and see what I had rated it with, an I gave it a 3/10 but I really do not remember much of the plot anyway. So I guess it did not put up much of an good impression. Kind of "amazing" to see how he got a second chance of getting his act together with Exit Wounds (2001) becoming a hit in the theatres, then only less than 2 years later he is back to making DTV releases, but this time around way worse than anything he had done uptil that point and it was to be soon followed by an seemingly endless run of b-movies. |
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Post by jamesbamesy on Aug 7, 2018 19:20:12 GMT
Last Action Hero (1993) - 7/10 What can I say? It's Arnie's most overlooked film about him as an action star and his fan, this kid gets sucked into the movie he's watching. It's very self-aware and there are constant jokes about action film clichés. With that, the movie is quite funny and there were moments I did laugh. Unfortunately, this is the most kid-friendly Schwarzenegger flick, as there's barely any violence, making it seem like they play it too safe. On the whole, pretty good, but far from any of his best movies . I am glad you enjoyed it, as it seems to be one of those movies which divides rather than unite the Arnie fanbase or even fans of the 80s and early 90s action genre. Agree that it is his most overlooked or maybe even the most underrated as I am always surprised when people bring it up as one of the "worst" movies of the 90s, and keep thinking to myself that "What if it had not become a box-office failure?", but instead ended up as just another Arnie blockbuster. I would easily put it among his top 3 films of the 1990s, even beating out True Lies (1994) which was great but Last Action Hero is the one among with Total Recall and T2 which I never get tired of seeing and still have the old Arnie "magic" kept alive. Also, Last Action Hero might come with one of the best soundtracks of the action/comedy genre, I mean it is one hell of good time and what I love most about it was how it pretty much ignored the grunge era (well, minus Alice in Chains) and instead had lots of metal and hard rock acts bangin' out some truly great classic tunes, such as: AC/DC - Big Gun, Megadeth - Angry Again, Alice in Chains - What the Hell Have I, Michael Kamen and Queensrÿche - Real World and Def Leppard - Two Steps Behind. It is pretty underrated; I don't hear too much talk about it. But I still prefer Total Recall, T2 and True Lies in terms of his 90's films. I think it would be more memorable if it weren't a box-office failure, but still not as liked as his other movies. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2018 3:53:43 GMT
Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)
I thought it had a great premise and great action scenes, but there was too much unnecessary fluff in my opinion. In particular the scenes in the brothel and the romance subplot. I wish there would have been more focus on the action and the mystery, because it was great whenever it was handling those things. The characters could have used some work too. The movie was oversold to me, so that added to my disappointment a bit. The locations and effects were something else the movie handled well though.
6/10
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Post by Morgana on Aug 8, 2018 8:05:49 GMT
stefancrosscoeJurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 6.5/10. I thought it wasn't as good as the previous entries.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Aug 8, 2018 14:32:20 GMT
Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)I thought it had a great premise and great action scenes, but there was too much unnecessary fluff in my opinion. In particular the scenes in the brothel and the romance subplot. I wish there would have been more focus on the action and the mystery, because it was great whenever it was handling those things. The characters could have used some work too. The movie was oversold to me, so that added to my disappointment a bit. The locations and effects were something else the movie handled well though. 6/10 That is pretty much how I felt when I first caught hold of it on VHS back in late 2001/early 2002. Some terrific fighting and action sequences, and also the premise as you mentioned was very interesting but somewhere along the way it kind of got a little too "slow" and I lost interest halfway through. Re-watched a few years ago and still it did not grow on me and awarded it a kind 5/10. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2018 21:16:46 GMT
Speed (1994) 7.5\10
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Post by Toasted Cheese on Aug 10, 2018 0:42:32 GMT
 DEATH WISH II - 82' A simply presented, but violent, exciting, no-nonsense and straight to the point vigilante justice follow up to Bronson's original cult classic from 8yrs earlier. Director Michael Winner, still imbues his film with some directorial skill and style, though not as gritty as the first— this would be due to a change in setting from early 70's NY, to early 80's LA—and perhaps more exploitative. Excellent Jimmy— Led Zepplin—Page score, that works in well with the proceedings and is almost like another character in the film. |
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Post by Toasted Cheese on Aug 10, 2018 0:52:10 GMT
The Stone Killer (1973)This is a pretty good Charles Bronson actioner about a no-nonsense Dirty Harry-type cop on the trail of a plot to recruit Vietnam veterans to assassinate Mafia chiefs, to settle an old score. An interesting idea for a story, although you do have to pay close attention because it does get complex. Lots of exciting action sequences and great shootouts, and director Michael Winner often loves to show people taking long falls after they are shot. This includes someone falling down a stairwell, and another plunging to his death after shot out of a building window, even showing the body hitting the pavement (obviously a dummy, but the way they show it looks convincing enough). I have only seen this once and will need to re-visit. Because it involves cops and the mob, I didn't find it as interesting as the first 3 Winner Death Wish films, when Bronson— a citizen—is blowing away the scum off the streets, but it is still quite an interesting early 70's Bronson\Winner vehicle. |
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Post by Toasted Cheese on Aug 10, 2018 0:55:20 GMT
"Rambo: First Blood Part II"
Seven out of 10.
Gleefully over the top comic book nonsense with some serious themes. Good fun. Sly is in decent form and Steven Berkoff is a great villain. Love RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART 2 - 85' . It is my favorite, straight forward action extravaganza from the 80's. 9\10, because Stallone ain't perfect. 
1985 was a great year for action films.
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Post by Toasted Cheese on Aug 10, 2018 0:58:54 GMT
The Living Daylights (1987)Roger Moore has hung up his holster, so it's time for a new Bond, in the form of Timothy Dalton. I like TLD, because it's a great cold war plot, with several 00 agents being murdered and the blame is bein put on the new head of the KGB, Puskin and Bond is sent to kill him. Jeroen Krabbe is great as the double-crossing Georgi Koskov, Maryam D'abo is great as the naiive Kara Milovy, the film's Bond girl. Andreas Wisniewski is terriffic as Necros (even if he is a Red Grant clone.). Joe Don Baker, plays a good villain. He's great as Brad Whittaker. A solier expelled from the army and spends his days re-enacting battles in his war room. Great score from John Barry! Sad that this was his final Bond film. Not a fan of the theme song from A-Ha.
9/10 Theme song was crud, but they had a nicer song playing during the end titles, which might have served as the opening theme as well. |
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Aug 10, 2018 8:33:33 GMT
Sacrifice (2011)
Well, that was a bad one. Not unwatchable but still something I knew would be a long and mostly not so enjoyable ride for the next 90-95 minutes or so.
Anyway, Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as yet another b-movie cliche ridden "version" of Denzel Washington where he is portraying a sad and depressive Police Detective who has lost his family after a failed undercover "routine" job and is mostly tired of everything and drinks aways his life through a bottle of alcohol, (almost half of the scenes where Cuba is invovled, he is lying with his head on a table surrounded by empty alcohol bottles all over, just to point out how much of a sad and miserable figure he is) or looks just dead tired and worn out.
You never really feel much sympathy with him either, even though the director surely tries to stuff lots of sentimental flashback sequences and voice-overs all over the place, throughout the movie.
Christian Slater also appears, and on the Blu-ray cover, he is next to Cuba as the "main" lead, but I do believe he is only in for about a 5-8 minutes maximum, or maybe even less. Damn, when did these guys whom 18-20 years back was involved in some truly great films, and seemed to have the world in their hands for many years to come. Now they dump out these awful DTV/VOD trashy titles along with other former 80s and 90s greats like Val Kilmer, John Cusack and far too many I think.
But I guess the short answer is simply, easy money!
All in all, the movie suffers mostly not because of either Gooding Jr. or Slater, but the horrible "acting" by the villains. It is so bad and delivered in such a painfully and amateurish manner, they cannot have been making a hard effort by tracking down some half decent actors to do the parts.
But I guess also a lot of the blame must be given to the screenwriter and director as well.
3/10
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