Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Well....

Have I GOT a story to share with you.

And it goes like, a long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...

I did not planning to watched this today.

I had purchased tickets for IMAX 3D tomorrow.

Wondered into a cinema today to watch WONDER, and the timing was off... and was surprised that Star Wars is available today, and I had free tickets so...

I watched it today as well... I am a pig, I know...

So, how is this movie.

Okay, I have to admit, with it's pedigree, this movie is in a tough spot.

SO MUCH EXPECTATION is on it.

With that said, it did try very hard to PLEASE everyone, and it is THAT, which I feel is it's stumbling block...

The Good

Keeping the character, Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron character (it was rumored that this character, in the original script, did not survive the first movie), was a good call.

Making Mark Hamill's character Luke Skywalker, a more manic version of Old Ben Kenobi in the Desert Tatoonie again, also a good call.

Laura Dern's (hey you, lady from the first Jurassic park movie) Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo character, wow!

The first 10 mins of the movie, BRILLIANT!

The Bad

The Ugly


So, in short, how is this 2 hour and 30 minutes movie?

Really guys, would what I say here matter, you will watch this movie never the less.

With that, My Two Sen.

Just rewatched Star Wars in Imax 3D, not sure if there is much difference compare to the 2D version, maybe the Imax sound is better....

May not be.

I have a sneaky feeling that Benicio Del Toro's character, DJ would be more prominent in the next movie.

But then again, I could be wrong.

Franky, I thought Licence to Kill was terrible...

Having said that, I do remember BDT being in it

Cannot say if I am an expert in "botox hensem"....

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

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

The Thousand Faces of Dunjia (2017)

A lamentable mess.

Production quality: 8.5/10

Casting: 6/10

Script: 2/10

Produced by Tsui Hark

Directed by Yuen Woo Ping

What the heck guys... What the heck

Nuff said

My Two Sen

Really?

Never say never....

The Greatest Showman (2017)



Wow... What a show!!

2017 turn out some really good movie, especially in the end.

This movie to me is all about... rebirth

Hugh Jackman, had hung up his claws and once again proved to the general public how well rounded an actor he really is!!

Michelle Williams is pure light here. Great great actor. There really is life, after Heath Ledger.

Zac Efron... The kid, from High School Musical, is in a... Musical. He had literally grown up in front of everyone, a situation not for the faint hearted. Again, really really good in this movie.

The script is smart.

The music, brilliant.

Bravo, maestro Michael Gracey.

My Two Sen.

The Snowman (2017)

Norway...

Where extreme cold weather is... a way of life.

Having said that this movie, like it's plant life/weather, is rather... slow...

Things takes time to grow...

The story, characterization, the revelation... they all take time.

But having said that, the reveal is rather.... satisfying.

Why?

Because of the time it to reveal, you are... invested.

Moral of the story?

Patience my young padawans...

My Two Sen.

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Jan 22 2018, 10:43 PM

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)

Age... has caught up to me...

With Dylan O'Brien injuries in the initial shooting of the movie, delayed the launch of this latest installment of the trilogy, and frankly, whilst watching it, I really did not give a damn...


And to top it off, I still have NO idea, why they were originally put in the maze?

What the hell does the maze have to do with The Flare??? How does the Maze determine who is immune to The Flare!!!

WHAT!

THE!

HECK!

Again, it may boil down to me being old and cranky.

Seems to be doing well in the box office...

The most, I will give it a 5/10...

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Feb 1 2018, 10:14 AM

Guardians of the Tomb (2018)

Now, what can I say about this little "gem".

I can, without reservation, state, that this movie, is a textbook of how NOT TO make a movie.

Let us go through the list shall we?

1) Bad BAD script √

2) How to we make a bad script into something really really VILE. The Chinese was in Australia 2000 years ago. √

3) Worse casting. √

4) The production value of this movie is only slightly better than, lets say a high school production of Romeo and Juliet. √

5) We need to do a picture about China, Gobi desert, I know, lets shoot in Australia! √

6) With all the above, what else can we do, to make the movie even more unpalatable.... Oh, I know, hire an "unknown" director, Kimble Rendall √ & √

So, with what I have written, and you still what to watch this movie, it is your money.

I know I wasted mine...

I SHOULD HAVE SAVED THE MONEY FOR BLACK PANTHER!!!!!!

My Two Sen.

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Feb 1 2018, 12:06 AM

Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds (2017)

Binged watched on movies today.

After a mediocre movie and a really terrible one, I almost gave up on this (was exhausted) and am very glad I did not.

Chinese produced movie can learn aplenty from Korean production.

This is how movies are made.

You SERIOUSLY have a story to tell, and you tell it through the art form, call movie making....

A part from making the movie slightly too long, I have absolutely no other negative thing to say about this movie.

If you want a good and interesting (not your norm) movie, do yourself a favour, watch this.

My Two Sen

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone.

So.... You are 100% SURE, willing to bet your life on it, that I am of Chinese descend? Really??

Black Panther (2018)

Oh boy....

I am going to make comments here that is not going to be popular...

And the comments are, Americans are crazy...

Why?

Take Daniel Kaluuya for example.

He is in two good movies and suddenly, there is a paradigm shift at Hollywood. "black" oriented movies can be profitable!?!

For the record, Black Panther is a good movie, period.

The fact that the casts are mainly of native African descent, is besides the point.

They could have called it Brown Panther, and cast good actors of Philippines descend, and the movie would still have been good.

Oh, and also the recent shooting at a school (AGAIN!!)

So.... did I like the movie?

Yes, yes I did.

Is Chadwick Boseman good as T'Challa / Black Panther?

I think so. I mean, I think he delivered.

The "funny" thing about the movie is to make is not too "black-washed" they decided to throw Everett K. Ross (eg. Martin Freeman) so the Americans have someone they can recognize....

Truth to be told, Erik Killmonger (eg. Michael B. Jordan) almost stole the movie.

And have to also say, being the most advanced, technologically speaking, nation in the world, Wakanda is AMAZING.

I wonder who has better tech, Shuri (eg. Letitia Wright) or Tony Stark.

Maybe we will find out in the Infinite Wars.

I do see an... anomaly.... Let's say Disney is successful in buying 20th Century Fox.... So... Johnny Storm is Captain America and Johnny Storm is also Killmonger??

Yes, there are two mini trailer at the end of the movie, so please to not leave the cinema early

Not sure what else I can add to this

My Two Sen.

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Feb 17 2018, 11:31 PM

Monkey King 3 西遊記女兒國 (2018)

Okay, right off the bat, the production looks... more authentic

Monkey King 2 and terrible "architecture". Not remotely "silk road" like.

Weta is not involved with Special Effects, the new Special Effects team, has much better "Asian" sensibility, in term of Architecture.

I would not call it accurate, just more Asian-centric, which is most welcome.

The good thing about this movie, is they got the whole team back for the main character, that worked well in 2, but, for some odd reason, they did not interact like the previous movie... Which is weird.

And since Aaron Kwok had shown how he can channel Monkey King, here his performance is kinda... blah...

While in the book, the emphasis was on Tangseng, Zhu Bajie and Shaseng so they can learn about "unconditional love", here the love between Tangseng and the queen of the lady country was emphasized...

I am.... not quite sold on that

So, from a story telling point of view, I like the 2nd, 3rd and than the tragic 1st.

I cannot think of anything else to add

Will they make a 4th?

If this is profitable, you bet your bottom dollar...

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Feb 22 2018, 07:21 PM

Winchester (2018)

If you are note familiar with Sarah Winchester's history, a suggestion is to Google her.

The good thing about this movie is most of the effect is practical

The bad the beats are a little weak

When they work, they work and then they don't

As a horror movie, it does have a few suspense, and have to add, James Wan, the Spierig brothers is not.

My Two Sen

Tomb Raider (2018)

Warner Brothers cannot get a break...

This movie's in NOT produced by Paramount, like it predecessor.

Warner made this and it is...

I am getting ahead of myself

I was never a fan of the game.

The first two movies starring Angelina Jolie, were decent.

Alicia Vikander, to me, is a better Lara Croft.

Her angst is more... palpably

The first two acts are good and the third...

I blame it on the mcguffin.

For adventure movies like this, the mcguffin is important (may I remind everyone about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull)

Daniel Wu is branching out to Hollywood??

First Geostorm now this??

My final verdict about this movie?

Good try, can be better

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Mar 8 2018, 10:02 PM

Interesting term, over optimistic...

Makes me sounds like I am NEVER pessimistic!!

Erm.... which part did you have to rush out?

Please use spoiler