Loveless (Russian 2017) – 7/10
A strong portrayal of unhappy family resulting in missing child. 2nd half of movie was about searching for him. Glad I’ve watched 3 good international movies in a month.

Star Wars: The Final Jedi – 6/10
As neutral movie goers. Just like TFA, I don’t enjoy this TLJ at all. I’m angry for Luke’s treatment in this movie. Snoke lol. Rey thumb down. Kylo ewww. I shall forget this movie as quickly as possible. On the other note, I watched this in MX4D and it’s much better than DBOX even though it’s still distracting.

4/10 movie for me.
Disappointing really. Felt closer to prequels than the originals

My Sister's Keeper (2009) - a powerful family drama....
Angels Sing (2013) - a delightful family movie... time for Christmas light...
The Bodyguard (2016) - another china movie....
Resident Evil: Vendetta (2017) - resident evil fans will love it...
Spectral (2016) - worth watching,, enjoyable..
Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars (2017) - good CGI, good action... for me not bad...

This post has been edited by Mickey C: Dec 25 2017, 09:10 PM

Bright - Another Frankenstory in the tradition of suicide squad. Really a big waste of time as too many plot threads to contain the bigger story it tried to tell. Just when you about to get where the movie try to be it shift gears to be something else. Thought those evil Elves really cool but in the end they don't matter. Will Smith days as triple A seems like a slippery slope with one mess after the other.

A Ghost Story - Not what you think it is.

Damn it really regret not watching this on the big screen last time around. If you think this is an update of the cheeseball "Ghost" then you are dead wrong. Instead a profound experimental cinema at its core. There are no straight traditional narrative sense and it just went full on Terrence Malick unexpectedly with flying colours. Not for the closed minded viewers but definitely refreshing for me to say the least. This movie a testament of Cassey Affleck as an actor as he is reduced to nothing to convey the nuances of his performance.

Actually, i quite like the movie...alto the plot is a bit weak, but it was fun to watch

hahahaha never was a BOLLY kaki in my life time (2 much HOLLY in my veins already) but i thinking of catching this one soon after somebody claimed it is the first hindi trailer ever 2 hit 60 million views

Lady Bird - Now I know what is all the fuss about.

This is a rare coming of age tale that full of heart and does not felt in anywhere manufactured. A breeze to watch and not bogging you down with the melodrama trappings you come to expect with this type of movie. You are instantly transported back in time when you are in your late teens. Your puppy love, your first fall out with your best friend, being an ass and even touch on your rebellious inclination with immediate family members.

Just bring back tons of fond memories. Saiorse Ronan just killed the role and how she might be in contention for another nomination. It's funny in a heartwarming way and not the usual teen comedy route. Every reality bites moment got balanced with a lighthearted life lesson you can relate to.

A definite Oscar nominee for Best Picture & Best Actress...

She has come a long way since 'Atonement' (that ending... *gulp* so sad) and 'The Lovely Bones'.

This post has been edited by defaultname365: Dec 28 2017, 01:16 AM

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Awesome and brilliant.

Under lesser film director and actors, this will be your cliche borefest. Filthy, vulgar, super funny, sad, unpredictable, lyrically snarky scripting, heart breaking, beautiful and more importantly fearless. It just challenge the status quo of doing the right thing at all cost. Its the next best thing to a very good Coen brothers film not made by them. Tonally its more serious than In Bruges but never lose sight of the dark comedy nature that you come to know of Martin McDonagh.

Frances McDormand gave a sublime performance and Sam Rockwell the beloved redneck racist cop proves he still has it. Really love this movie with the twisty plot development.

This post has been edited by 6so: Dec 28 2017, 12:19 PM

The Lucky One (2012) - Sweet romance...
47 Ronin (2013) - not bad at all, good samurai movie....
Oculus (2013) - Nasty horror classic....
Hacksaw Ridge (2016) - Powerful & emotional war movie...

This post has been edited by Mickey C: Jan 1 2018, 08:22 PM

She killed it in Hanna and Brooklyn too !

The Disaster Artist - The blind leading the blind.


Think the prospect of the awards worthy hype a little overblown. Initially thought it's in the vein of dramedy that had some nuances or thought provoking message trying to say. Instead it's a rather straight forward comedy of how whacky it can gets. A rather easy watch and it doesn't milk the scenes too much before it gets tedious. Decent watch and certainly you will get more milleage especially when you have seen The Room. An OK watch for me.

"Everybody betrayed me! I am fed up with this world."

Just watched 'The Disaster Artist'.

One of the best films from 2017 no doubt about that!

I absolutely loved it to bits... 30 minutes into it, I decided to watch 'The Room (2003)' until completion.

Hadn't laughed so hard in a loooooooong time.

Continued watching 'The Disaster Artist' and I have to say, James Franco's finest work to date, direction and acting. Absolutely point perfect. The last bit was brilliant it. There's also a post-credit scene that is a must watch.

HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

My suggestion: Do watch 'The Room (2003)' - - if you can bear it, you will appreciate The Disaster Artist tenfold more... And... you will laugh out loud.

Seen it, loved it. Frances McDormand is friggin brilliant here as well as Sam Rockwell. Hated the guts out of him but then later...hmm. Highly recommended. I love how they keep it 'obscure' even until the end.

Absolutely!

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

I am not alone...

I did not want to watch this, and the trailer did this movie, no favour...

Instead of a reboot, this movie is an actual sequel of Jumanji (1995), and what an homage it is!! (technically, there is a sequel already, namely, Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005), but that is another story)

So, does this movie suffer from the curse of the sequel (eg. does not live up to expectations)?

I can only answer in this way....

RIP

ROARING

FUN

So, like the 1995 movie, only, funner (I know I know, bad English...).

Okay, I know alot had be stated about Dwayne Johnson or Kevin Hart, for me, the most fun character in the movie is Jack Black's Bethany!!!

He

Was

AMAZING!!!

He actually earned my respect as a actor in this!!

So, you want a fun movie

Go watch this

My Two Sen

mali mali closing of 2017

Insidious: The Last Key (2018)

Oh boys....

This is a tough one.

I wanted SO much to like this movie...

Okay, here goes.

the first Insidious was.... Ingenious.

It took a very un-horror approach to make a horror movie.

Also, the Astral projection thingie threw people like me for a loop.

The second and third was good, not as great as the first, but each had new things to add to the "franchise".

Now, coming back to the fourth, I don't believe I am saying this, it suffers from sequel fatigue...

What do I mean?

It is difficult to make sequels because

1). People expect more and still remain the same as the original.

2). If it is to similar to the original, people will cry foul. (Kingsman: The Golden Circle, I am looking at you...)

Which brings me to quote the The Wachowski Brothers (Sisters?) said, "for a sequel to work, you really ought to expanse the universe of the first movie", which stuntman/director Chad Stahelski took to heart when he did John Wick and John Wick 2.

So... Leigh Whannell came back as the story and script writer, and I am not sure, is he suffering from writers fatigue? Why? The story is.... thin... Sound premise, but thin (he did not even give the Demon with key fingers any form of back story... EXTREMELY lazy...)

Director Adam Robitel did no favour to the thin script... His directions were so... uninspired (eg. going thru the motions??)

So... No positives.

Well, some...

Elise Rainier character is giving an origins.

And this, like Insidious 3, is the prequel to 1 & 2, the story does suggest a "Replacement" of sorts for Elise (if you remember, she passed on in the first one), if they do make Insidious 5, and the replacement has... potential.

As thin as the story is, it does loop to the first movie, making it a Tetralogy (four part movies, should they choose to retire the franchise).

I really cannot see anything else positive to say at this point...

Again, I was disappointed.

My Two Sen

Bleeding Steel <机器之血> (Mand - 2017) – 5.5/10
Not a good Jackie Chan movie. Have a few fine action moments. JC doing sci-fi, felt weird. Movie may be forgiving for some. Fans or old legs will probably enjoy. This movie needs a superhero in suit, not JC. Got big flying ship and bad looking villain in pain. JC first actor to act on top of Sydney Opera House.


The Liquidator <城市之光> (Mand - 2017) – 4.7/10
Lack of originality and average cast. Timid mind games. Promising first half build up, certain point it went downhill bottomless.


Tiger Zinda Hai (Hindi – 2017) – 7.1/10
One of the finest Bollywood in 2017. Top production quality and great action set pieces. High octane pure entertainment. For those uncomfortable with MTV music scenes rest assured there was only one scene during the movie but not only it was beautifully shot but melody is nice too. The only downside is that Tiger is almost invincible here. Barely have any difficult moment. The last Bolly movie ends 2017 in big bang. Only Eng & BM subtitles available.


Goldbuster <妖鈴鈴> (Mand – 2017) – 3/10
A mediocre attempt for directorial debut of Sandra Ng. Mainly target mainland market, despite her husband established director reputation. Kinda RUBBISH movie.


Ajin: Demi Human <亜人> (Jap – 2017) – 7/10
Immortal vs Immortal. What to do if both can’t die. Action-packed movie. If you read the manga or watch the anime you knew the result. The movie skipped most of the early chapter of character intro and start at lab torture chamber. Credit to Sato(Go Ayano) villain had the most runtime and stole most the scenes for being badass immortal villain.

This post has been edited by whatever06: Jan 5 2018, 03:14 PM

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) - ohhh,, snoke really tak guna lah.... not the best star wars movie...
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) - good entertainment, fun to watch. very high tech suit...

It's rather hard to do a sequel to Insidious as it goes further when the entire franchise's gimmick so far is to weave the timeline all over the place

That said, it's still open-ended, due to the cliffhanger ending we got in Chapter 2 where spirit Elise enters the house of a new family and seemingly shocked by what was haunting this one girl Allison(whom according to Specs and Tucker brought back many 'things' with her after being resuscitated from her coma) . I suppose the 5th film might be the last since there are no more things to explore from Elise's past (unless Chapter 5 decides to introduce more).

Demon story wise, I don't think they expanded on the Lipstick face demon as well, so hopefully Ch5 will be the ultimate showdown for all unsolved events, should it be the final one.

But overall, yeah. The plot twist was a bit of a let down in 4: