.... I wish!

Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015) -
Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015) -

Hobo with a Shotgun (2011)

Initially released as fake trailer, the movie appear in 2011. Rutger Hauer delivered his character well in the film, a homeless man with nothing to loose.

Some moments are a bit funny, a brutal & violence film

Quite entertaining, but not for everyone 6/10

Admit it, you got chosen for moderator because you like all movies, even bad ones.

LIFE
An imitation of Alien up to a point, but while Alien was a B-movie glossed up in absolute class, this is a B-movie glossed up to a schlocky sheen. And that's fine. It's a perfectly decent movie and entertaining through to the predictably kitsch ending (no, there won't be a sequel). The scene where the alien escapes is nerve wrecking and intense, rarely felt in mainstream cinema these days.

I admit nothing!!

You cannot make me...

Have not had a chance to go watch Life

LIFE was pretty entertaining, put me on the edge of my seat at times. Man, that plot twist at the end can be seen miles away haha.

Ghost in the Shell (2017)

This... is maddening.

This is very difficult to write.

Difficult because it got so many things right and at the same time so many things wrong....

What they got right

The production of this movie is OFF THE CHARTS (with a budget of 110 Million dollars)

There are two previous movie that gave me this "wow" factor, namely

1) Star Wars (1976) (Now known as New Hope) (George Lucas coined the term Used Technology)
2) Blade Runner (1982) (when it first released)

Now this movie used the concept of Used Technology to the next level! Bravo!!

The surprising representation of the character Aramaki (by Takeshi Kitano a veteran Japanese actor) wowed me. Kuddos!!!

What they did not

I will be crucified for stating this, Scarlett Johansson. I am very sure alot of you went to this to see her. I just thought she was so... awkward here. I don't think she was quite sure what she was doing and it shows.

I never read the original comics. My introduction to this material was thru the animation Ghost in the Shell (1995). So many of the action sequences in the animation ran rings around this live action movie. It is like DAY and NIGHT!!! Meaning there is NO COMPARISON....

And another signature of the animation is the soundtrack. From the first frame, the very unique soundtrack grabs you and never lets go until the last frame...

If I use cognac to describe the animations soundtrack, the soundtrack of this is.... drain water???

They did use the original soundtrack at the end of this movie, and again very diluted and too little too late...

So, this movie, is a disappointment...

Just my opinion

My Two Sens

Hmm - very surprised with all the things you mentioned they did wrong - it still gave you the wow factor - at least you were entertained somewhat...?

I thought the casting of Scarlett was very off-putting the first moment I saw her in the poster - confirmed my misgivings when I finally saw the trailer - awkward is an understatement..

Just judging from the trailer, I thought the hand drawn animation was miles ahead of whatever live action they can conjure. And you mention the music here is drain water?... they couldn't even get that right??

And.. don't you think the giant screen billboards on the bright neon buildings was homage/rip-off from 'Blade runner'? - they looked familiar..

They got the world right (Yes very bladerunner but done much much better)

They just got the showrunner wrong, which is sad.

They did not manage to out do the animation, that is the major kaka....

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

If this movie is any indication, Disney is going to have another monster year!!

Paramount, learn from the master of animation to live action.

This is an excellent movie.

Does it pay homage to the animation?

Yes t does.

Does it has more to say compared to the animation?

Yes it does.

New Songs!

Plot holes in the animation feature is filled.

Cast is Grade A.

What do I mean?

Kevin Kline.

Emma Thompson.

Ian McKelley.

Ewan McGregor.

Stanley Tucci!!!

OH MY GOODNESS.

And the sets.

Disney splurge. And they splurged well!

Not trying to be corny.

This is one BEAUTIFUL movie.

On That note

My Two Sen

Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu although unusual animation presentation finally concludes the trilogy and the battle is quite good too also most funny compared to last 2 parts. 7/10

The Night Watchman leaves many room for improvements. 5/10

Boss Baby
A no brainer mindless fun animation. This movie probably mostly aimed for the kids but with some adult jokes as well. It is super ridiculous and didn't make any sense whatsoever but still entertaining. The crowd I'm with seems to have a good time with the movie, kids and adults alike.

Swiss Army Man 8/10 - very very very random movie but the hidden meaning is very
Imperium 7/10 - drag in the middle and the ending a bit too rush

Before i go in to the review i will say that i've been a fan of Masamuni Shirou, the author of Ghost in the Shell and his other sci-fi gems, all the way back to the early 90's. I still have the 8 issues of the Dark Horse translated version of Ghost in the Shell somewhere in my house. So for those of you who haven't read the manga, it can be incredibly complex dealing from not just technology but also philosophy and politics which was missing from the movie. So the question is was it good?

Ghost in the Shell.

Ghost in the shell (GitS) is an adaptation if the anime (i'm going to say anime and not the manga here). And like most Hollywood adaptations, certain parts of the source material is usually changed to allow those who have not read/watched the source material to jump into a whole new world, especially since it's a complex one like GitS. That itself is where the movie crumbles apart from it's weak foundation where the the focus of the story in both the manga, shifts from it's vibrant complexed characters and world to focusing on the Major played by scarlet Johansson.

It starts of with the Major being the first successful, full bodied cyborg who is then drafted into section 9 (a black ops unit) run by a Japanese speaking section chief; Aramaki played by Takeshi Kitano. Some of you may remember him in many japanese gangster movies where he's usually typecast as the cold bad ass gangster boss (some may remember his in that funny variety show Takeshi's castle). In GitS, Kitano is once again typecasted to play the cold but bad ass gangster / section chief which is a curious choice considering that there wasn't much development of his character or any of the other characters in section 9 that include Batou and Togusa. They felt more like a facsimile in terms of appearence only and were more of a throwaway character than anything else. And whats up with the horrible haircuts? (Yes i'm looking at you Aramaki, what's with the wolverine haircut?) Which brings us to where it went horribly wrong with the movie.

One of the best things about the movie is, they've recreated colourful vision of the future. From up above the sky as the camera pans through colourful neon holograms that brightening the night life, while under all that there's the seedier side of things aka the slums. There is a certain division of equality in the the world as seen though the movies' vision of the world. However by the end of the whole movie, you'd notice that was this was more about style over substance. GitS tries hard to emulate it the raw action and look of japanese styled anime. In fact many scenes were being copied from the anime itself which is seemed lazy. Why bother to change the story and then ripoff the visuals from the anime?

The plot, while seemed underwhelming, did give us a glimpse of who the Major was before she was turned into a full cyborg which is interesting considering that the Major, in both the manga and anime, always had a mysterious background. Perhaps this was where it should have run, a new story immersed in a rich world, instead hanging on by the thread with its source material

Basically Ghost in the Shell (2017) was a dumbed down version of the both the manga and anime, which is understandable considering the its run time was 2 hours. GitS is definately not made for the fan however it's also a very weak introduction of GitS to newer audiences.

P.S. Why did motor bike scene remind me of Aeon Flux?

Better than mary poppins?

Boss Baby 6/10
It's surprisingly better than Beauty and the Ugly. Movie is decent a bit hilarious and light hearted. The guys beside me been laughing non stop I guess they enjoyed the movie pretty much more than me. If you have to choose between Boss or Beauty choose this and you'll have fun.

Extraordinary Mission <非凡任务> 7/10
From the director and writer of Infernal Affairs & Overheard what are you waiting for.... Movie wasted no time to tell it's story frame by frame very compelling to watch and movie has a lot of action too. Good performance all around and heck I didn't know all these China actor/actress at all.

the last china movie i ever watched OPERATION MEKONG very great also by dante lam of vampire effect and the viral factor shoot in KL which still wow me 2 this day

sad 2 say HK movie is dead being replaced by CHINA movie...gonna miss the post SHAW brothers era and the jackie chan original police story era surely

This post has been edited by skylinelover: Apr 9 2017, 05:02 AM

manage to watched it in HK big screen.

coming to Singapore soon.

Smurfs : The Lost Village
Movies made for the kiddies. And since I'm kinda kiddie at heart I also kinda enjoyed it. Full of lame and stupid slapstick jokes that will tickle say a 5 year old. But it doesn't felt boring to me and also the visual is quite pretty and amazing especially there's one part at the river scene. Really beautiful. My sister and her friends which is I would say an adult teen teared a bit during a scene at the end of the movie. If you have some time and money to waste, and don't know what to watch can give it a try.

The Void - Hellraiser meets The Thing

If you are a fan of practical creature effects...not a bad watch. As long as you don't go in expecting Guillermo Del Toro or Weta quality of effects, you may find something in this indie horror. The premise got a bit of shady cult group in a small town, human spawning grotesque creatures and a little HP Lovecraft cosmic horror. The big criticism of mine is at times it veer into fan film territory where they are still honing their filming skills. The acting is OK for what it is and not bad by any imagination. The story a little too big for them to pull off but for sure does not warrant to penalize them for trying something different. I will watch this anytime over those cash grab of "Conjuring" clones.