Haha i think hollywood new standard of 150 minutes are much better than bollywood 180 minutes Just like MI fallout

Bodied - Nothing like 8 mile.

Just don't expect this is anything like 8 mile although it has the same genre. If you are into the state of affairs of US, this is an anti-PC message movie of cultural appropriation to what is being offensive or not. So a hipster nerd thrown into a battle rap by accident. From there it went full hardcore on the art of first class spitting offensive insults to his opponents. The moral quandary exploring whether is there a line where it shouldn't be crossed. Mind you there are some ingenious bars on display and downright offensive. So you have this explicit battle raps in between where the white boy doing the stereotypical white privileged things without realising it. So it sorted the same old sports genre of a movie where the victory is about figuring who you are and what's your worth.

It's quite a fun movie to watch and the creative insults being thrown at each other is a blast to watch.

Christopher Robin (2018)

What a wonderful wonderful movie!

A GEM!!!

And it did WHAT at the box office (I am guilty too, did not watch it at the cinema...)??!?

An amazing family oriented movie.

Whimsical.

Magical.

And me, a non Winnie The Pooh fan, absolutely, positively falling in love with this work!

I told you it is magical.

The cast brought it.

The people behind the special effect (Pooh and Gang are a mixture of animatronic and CGI) did an amazing job. It is obvious that it is a labour of love.

The reason it did not make a killing at the box office is probably because of the onslaught of Paddington (2014 & 2017) and Peter Rabbit (2018), audiences had become... jaded?

I do have two peeves about this movie


My Two Sen

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle( available-December 7, 2018)
Director- Andy Serkis
Music- Nitin Sawhney
Cast- Rohan Chand, Freida Pinto.

Andy Serkis, best known for his motion capture work
(in this filmmaking technology, mapping actors’ expressions
onto computer-generated beasts) in films like
Gollum, Lord Of The Rings trilogy and Caesar, in new Planet Of
The Apes.

Adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.

A small human baby is found in the jungle.
His parents are killed by the man-eating tiger
Sher Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch).
A panther, Bagheera (Christian Bale) picks up the little boy and
leaves him outside the cave of a wolf family.
They decide to raise him as their own son.
A child they name Mowgli(Rohan Chand)

Shere Khan on the prowl and determined to make a meal out
of the man-cub at the very first opportunity.
Mowgli faces many serious threats as he resists suggestions
that he should return to the nearest man village.

There are some inconsistent visual effects.
Not everything works, what does is impressive.

Into the Spiderverse

Rating: Why are you not watching this yet?/10

The only cons I could think of is that Peni Parker/ Spider Noir doesn't get more development.

Seriously if you love all things Spiderman, this is the best one ever made. Also, be sure to stay for the best post credits.

Dude

You shoud be reviewing ralph 2 and spiderverse that is the hottest animation right now

Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

Mind-blown

Script writers Phil Johnston & Pamela Ribon knew how to "expend" a universe in the script.

Directors Phil Johnston & Rich Moore knew what to do with it.

First movie is about how Ralph & Vanellope became best friends.

And this movie answers the question, and than WHAT?

Easter Eggs galore (Y2K, Dial Up Internet Service??)

Product placement much (I have a funny feeling the movie's products placement, probably broke even the cost of the movie already!! )

I am at lost of words how to impress on you, how much I LUV this movie.

And the Disney princesses!!! And the odd one out from "the other" place

Funny, Entertaining & brilliant.

My Two Sen.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

In 2015, Sony did something ballsy....

They leased their movie character, Spider-man, back to Marvel/Disney, so the character, technically, not appears in the Marvel Movie universe.

Don't hate me if I got the above wrong...

Now, in term of technicality, they could still do spider-man "universe" characters, just NOT spider-man himself, hence the Venom (2018) movie.

Sony can also do Spider-man, but not live action spider-man movie,, which brings us to this movie.

So now, Sony can profit from everything.

Now, this animated movie is... out of this world.

Let me stay with the animation. Sony manage to creat a VERY distinct looking animation (reminds me of roto-scoping, Scan Darkly and Cell Shady-ing)

It is very distinct and it is VERY effective.

The makers of this movie seems very much in love with Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire's trilogy of Spidey.

Is Prowler supposed to be Marvel's answer to Todd McFarlane's Spawn (I have been out of the comic universe for a very looooooooooong time)

Great script. Great directing and amazing voice actors (no one particularly famous, but they did a great job)

Lots of surprises for me

I watch two very good movies today...

My Two Sen.

Can Jason Mamoa carry his own movie ? Check out the review here :

Aquaman (2018)

What a... spectacle!

I don't know how much money was spent making this movie, it must have been a obscene amount (according to imdb it is USD 160,000,000, and have to add, it looks to me much much more than that)!!

Okay, admittedly, I was a little skeptical, when Jason Momoa was cast as Aquaman, it sounded like a miscast for me (have you seen Aquaman in the comic?? He is BLOND for Pete's sake!!?!)

When Justice League came out, I was like okay, he did not suck.

How is he, in Aquaman's first solo outing?

He is... good!

His Polynesian/Hawaiian roots seems to give his portrayal of Aquaman, some... weight.

Let's talk about the source material for a minute.

Aquaman in the comic book is.... "very vanilla".

Even in Lego Aquaman, it makes fun of Aquaman "usefulness" in the League.

As mention, the Justice League (2017) movie, has all of DC's big three, namely Superman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman (yes, he is the third strongest character in the DC universe).

So, how do you make the character, relevant?

You make him an outcast.

The millennial will love that, and Jason Momoa "stands out" just by well, standing there.

This movie is NOT perfect, and have to add, it does make DC comics feel more adaptable to the movies.

They should not try to emulate the Marvel Cinema Universe.

They are their own material and have their own feel.

Wonder Woman (2016) and Aquaman (2018) have proven that.

Highlight of this movie is

1) Jason Momoa

2) Nicole Kidman (very little scene time, and have to add, she sold what little scene time she has to the max).

3) James Wan has a Patrick Wilson fetish? He seems to use him in everything he does!?! Aquaman list of villains are.... not household names, and have to add, Patrick Wilson sold his character Orm, like his life depended on it.

The not so good things about the movie

1) There are some plot holes between this movie and Justice League (2017) (this movie happens after Justice League)


So, don't like any negative I have mention above to impede you from watching this movie.

It is a good and entertaining movie.

And I hope, will encourage DC to make more.

Go watch it, you know you want to.

My Two Sen.

Hope it breaks the opening weekend box office this week

Yes, DC deserves a break.

Wonder Woman was "unique" enough to do it (first major lady super hero big screen movie).

Let's hope Aquaman has enough lightning in a bottle to do it as well (first water based super hero)

Bumblebee review :

TLDR : Good but not great

Super weird movie, got so many things inside this movie.
Few boobies with couple of sex scenes, lots of why this & that?

im super confused.

Bad Times at the El Royale - Strong beginning with weak ending.

Drew Goddard, the next big thing supposed to blew up but didn't happened. Here he is with a Pulp Fiction-esque movie that sees some legit Hollywood star power lining up to be in this film. 7 strangers with hidden agendas and identities converge in the hotel. So a train of twist and turn kept you glued to find out what's next. It plays a bit like a stage play with each character took their turns to show the why, what and how they are at this hotel. There's powerful chemistry between Jeff Bridges and Cynthia Erivo. That bar scene is some serious display of great acting. Then Chris Hemsworth appears where the whole movie derail itself. He is the weakest link to the whole ensemble cast. At this point Goddard wrote himself into a corner where the mystery became too derivative to be clever.

I would still recommend people to watch this for the not your usual Hollywood brain dead movies. The strong beginning and middle portion of the movie still one of the unique experience you can get. Maybe you enjoy more than I do about the ending.

Roma (on Netflix) was beautiful.

I guess no one really likes artsy film here

I loved it ... just a simple story, and it doesn't feel slow paced (eventho it is); I paused at one time when getting drink, found that 40mins had passed without me realizing it.
Every scene seems to draw the viewer in ... the compositions, the lightings, the camera movements, etc.

Initially I was looking for the director's famous long takes (after seeing Hideo Kojima tweeted that how did Alfonso Cuaron framed some shots), but then I found that the highlight of the film is how the director stages scenes with many people ... the holiday house scene, the wood scene, etc. ... it feels like the director gave everyone a specific direction what to do, no matter how small the character is ... which made the scenes look 'alive' with real characters.

Roma doesn't seem to have big moral story, I thought it was about poverty in Mexico, but no (there was glimpses into Mexican Dirty War in 1970s and the Corpus Christi Massacre) ... it's just a recollection of memories from the director's childhood life in Mexico; it's a poignant memory.

(Only caught two 'references' to the director's previous works ... Gravity (very obvious), and Y Tu Mamá También ... after reading IMDB trivia, oh, one part of the film also feels like Children of Men).

Although Roma isn't for everyone, everyone should try to watch it.

Roma - Netflix first tangible contender at Oscar.
At this point I would say Cuaron is crushing best film director, best cinematography and best foreign film for the Oscar. On a whole this is not a big movie with big messaging. Under the normal movie circumstances, this will be a full blown family drama focussing on the father and mother, but here the focus is on the maid instead. With just enough information for you to draw conclusion on what's happening in the household. Then the maid storyline is not an unique one but essential to seal the emotional payoff during the beach scene. By then either you are on-board or already left the hype train. A lot of time, film director like Tsai Ming Liang or Terrence Malick who dwells in arty naturalistic narrative can come off as pretentious. Here the shots does not overstay its course and pretty snappy to move to the next scene. You don't see a lot of those masturbatorial empty long shots of nothingness.

Having said that, adore the aesthetic and appreciate the pay-off of the storyline. Like it but not loving it like Cuaron's other output. Only wish we could watch this on a big screen for the full immersion factor.

We're in the future of movie entertainment!

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
https://www.netflix.com/title/80988062?s=i&trkid=14170286


The first live action interactive movie I watched ... heard of those interactive cinemas but never been to one ... this might be a first for streaming service.

Watched and reached two of the final endings (which the credits will appear with no options to choose another path) ... dunno how many 'true'/'best' endings are there? Not yet read IMDB or in-depth reviews/analysis, wanna avoid spoilers, in case still wanna try other paths ... talk about watchability / 'replay' values.

Yes, a movie that you can change a bit of the storyline by making choices when given decisions.

Feels like those (old) full motion video (FMV) games such as Phantasmagoria, Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within, Mad Dog McCree, The X-Files Game, etc. ... choose your own adventure books / gamebooks like Lone Wolf series, etc.

Don't know if can watch 'offline' or as normal video ... won't make much sense since got many branches/paths .... have to watch through Netflix app, website, Smart TV or consoles in order for the 10 seconds decisions making 'scenes' to appear (I used PS3 ... the controller will vibrate when it's time to make decisions). One particular choice/path made me LOL because it really breaks the 4th wall

This post has been edited by r2t2: Dec 29 2018, 04:01 AM

Roma
Rating: 10/10

Where do I begin. I think I have to separate my thoughts from two view points - - the story and the production.

The Story
I went into this movie not knowing anything except it was made by Alfonso Cuaron. I love his works because of his ridiculous attention to detail. "Roma" is no exception on this. To me, this has to be his most endearing and truthful film to date. By the end of the movie, I was left speechless as to how I experience humor, anxiousness, joy, pain, anger and relieve; a far cry from what I thought was going to be a 'artsy' film which wasn't going to be my cup of tea. The movie is told from the perspective of Cleo, a maid in the the neighborhood of Mexico City as she works for a middle-class family. There is a lot going on in her story; but it is NEVER told to you in plain form - - you literally have to discover and unfold the story on your own. That scene at the hospital was tear-jerking... and there were several other scenes that were real tearjerkers. Now every time I think of that scene with Cleo, I just feel... super upset. Not bad for first time actress Yalitza Aparicio, who is actually a teacher in training! I noticed her performance seem... very 'organic'. There were times that I went, "She can't be an actress". It just seemed too real.

The production
I think this movie will be used in film schools for years to come. This is why films are made. They tell a story. And "Roma" does that EXCEPTIONALLY well. Alfonso Cuaron's attention to detail is just something else entirely. These were stories from his memory during his childhood, and I noticed that too, e.g. a weird looking cycle going down the road and before we could see it up close, it cuts away; almost as if that was how Alfonso remembered it. When the characters quickly walk past a row of shops, you can actually see people INSIDE going about doing their activities. 'Pause' and you can unravel more details! This just happens over the span of a few seconds and I'd imagined it would have taken ages just to set it up. Another aspect that really worked was the camera itself - - seem to have a life of its own. It slowly pans across as if it can foresee an action is to take place. I can go on and on, but the same level of detail of the grand film "Gravity" is now compressed into this 'little' film. Small bits and details in the distance, reminiscence of "Children of Men" and even "Prisoner of Azkaban"... it is no wonder it took almost 4 months to film. The ending scene (no spoilers) apparently was done in 1 take in an actual location! I honestly thought it was a water tank. In a round table interview, Spike Lee spontaneously asked Alfonso "How'd you do it man". This film WILL WIN the Best Foreign Language film category at the Golden Globes, and for goodness sake please nominate this for Best Picture at the Oscars.

The Death of Stalin
Rating: 9/10
A terrific political satire film that will have you laughing in stitches. Amazing performances from the actors and the plot is based on the power struggle after Joseph Stalin's death. I had to Google afterwards to see if this was real because it was too hilarious (and at times dark) to be real. Highly recommended.

Tully
Rating: 9/10
Another stunning Charlize Theron performance. Watched this not knowing anything and it was really great. It's a movie about the hardships of motherhood and postnatal depression. She played a pregnant women to the absolute tee. I heard she gained 50 pounds for this role. The twist at the end was totally unexpected.

Searching
Rating: 9.5/10
Just when you think you have seen every 'type' of movie material... along comes "Searching". The story is about a father who goes all out to find his missing daughter. John Cho's performance is superb here. Heartfelt, thought provoking and VERY CREATIVE, with real world software used from Facebook, to Tumblr, to Instagram... if you have used the web and ever felt the creeps, this could just give you a bigger jolt. It's a stunning piece of work, one that I think is absolutely of the rarest forms. Highly, highly recommended.


Ghost Stories
Rating: 9/10
Ah ghosts... are they real, are they fake? This film asks you these questions. No, it really does. The plot revolves around a skeptic who goes on a quest to find out the truth about the paranormal. Without giving too much away, this is an exceptional thriller/horror ride that will leave you questioning your own existence at the end. We've all seen ghost films, but one that caters to both believers and skeptics? Now that's rare.

Chappaquiddick
Rating: 9/10
For fans of political thriller, this is an absolute must watch. With a great performance by Jason Clarke (I think this is one of this best films to date), the film is about the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident of Ted Kennedy. Another one of those historically based films that will make you want to Google search after its over. The Office's Ed Helms is here and he delivers a great performance too. Usually political films are dull/boring, but this is an exception. Great direction, great pace, and nail-biting until the end. If you know the entire story of the 1969 incident, then you may not feel much of the 'edge of the seat, what is going to happen!' stuff as I did, but it's still highly recommended.