Avatar Way of the Water (2022)

13 years ladies and gentlemen.

We waited 13 years for this.

Is it worth the wait?

In a word, YES!

Go watch it.

You know you want to.

My Two Sen

I watched it at MBO Big Screen...

Quite good (Barco Laser Projector)

No access to IMAX at this point in time

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Life creeps onto you...

So does, apparently, good movies.

I put off watching this movie, because my assumption was it was going to be meh.

I am eating humble pie.

This is a bloody good movie.

Dreamworks had proven that they can turn fairy-tale (or Nursery Rhyme) on it's head and make it bloody entertaining and dare I say original!

2022 turns out to be a very good year for good movies.

This is the cherry on the pie, I kid you not.

If you have not watched this, please do, as I had stated, it is bloody good.

My Two Sen.

Sakra 天龍八部之喬峯傳 (2023)

I can think of at least 4 TV series and two movies based of this book.

Donnie Yen wears many hats in this one.

I have to say that the first fight scene is AMAZING!!!

Breathtaking really.

I have to mainly agree with the casting.

Because Donnie Yen is involved, the fighting scenes are a gamut of good to FREAKING AMAZING.

This is based on a well loved book.

This is where the movie stumble....

Many a people had tried to bring this book into a movie.

Namely

The Battle Wizard (1977) by Shaw Brothers the biggest Chinese cinema producers at the time. It was... funky. The emphasis is place on kungfu special effects instead of getting all the story into a movie.

Dragon Chronicles: The Maidens of Heavenly Mountain (1994) that was very ambitious and had Jackie Chan and Stephen Chow signed on for part 2 and 3 and have to add the movie was SOOOOOOOOOO far removed from the source material, movie goers avoided the movie like the plague (did not make money) causing the 2nd and 3rd movie to be scrapped.

So what I am trying to state here is that many a people had tried and not succeed to adapt this book to a movie.

The books concentrated on 3 main characters that was quite interwoven (story wise) to one another.

Isolating to only one character.... did not do the movie any favours.

The hardest sell is that movie wants to have an open mind about the artistic license it took with the story yet, if you are not familiar with the original story, you may not understand what had happened!!!

A catch 22 indeed.

Looking at the ending, they are hoping this does well do that sequels (about the other two characters) can be made.

We shall see if this movie does enough at the box office to justify that

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Jan 17 2023, 01:31 PM

I like Dragon Tiger Gate (2006)...

I actually have absolutely nothing negative to say about Puss In Boots The Last Wish. NOTHING! Will wonders never cease....

M3GAN (2022)

So I just watched this... and may want to throw my brand new Asus Zenbook into a trash compactor...



Computer, Internet and A.I. will be the end of us...

My Two Sen

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

For those who supposedly is waiting for this review...

I actually watched this in Thursday and did not think my reviews matter....

This is an expensive movie.

It is very unlike the first two ant-man movies.

They were of more personal nature and this took on the WHOLE quantum realm....

I actually enjoyed the first half of the movie.

What grated me about the movie was
My take is the second half of the movie wasn't an ant-man movie and... I actually lost interest...

Wakada Forever was not perfect, because of the situation the filmmakers found themselves in (the actor of the lead character passed away).

This movie has a very high aspiration and some what.... falling flat.

I don't think this is what you guys want to hear, I can only impress on you what is

My Two Sen

P.S. there are two end credit scenes

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Feb 19 2023, 09:48 PM

I do have to agree with you about that...

Her daughter had two kids in real life

Her really son was supposed to be in this movie and have to add during the production of the movie, he scene was film but due to script changes, he scene were eventually cut

Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)

This movie suffers from one thing and one thing alone....

Missed opportunity....

Why?

If only Warner Bros knew what to do with DC!

If only Walter Hamada knew what to do with DC!

If only after the merger with Discovery they sat down and planned this out instead of playing who has a bigger (male privates)!

It is so damn frustrating.

When Shazam (2019) was first release, it was the underdog and it was a hit!

Nobody apparently at Warner Bros expected that because a sequel was never planned....

They scrambled and hastily announced a sequel and then COVID hit....

And then Wonder Woman 1984 happened....

Zack Synder apparently had alot of input for the first Wonder Woman movie and was not involved in the second....

So Walter and gang apparently went into panic mode and shuffled things around.

Having your lead in a hugely invested The Flash movie proving to be more fruity compared with a entire warehouse of Fruit Loops did not help matter...

And I digress...

Many an eggs was put into the Black Adam and it was was release before this.

That was a mistake.

I fully blame Walter Hamada and the management of Warner Bros for this because they wanted to know if Walter-verse has any lightning in the bottle...

Alas no...

Back to this movie.

I like it.

I like it alot.

The kids were wonderful

Their heroes counterpart were also good.

The villians are my only qualm with the movie, namely

Other then that, I am god with the movie.

There are 2 end credit scenes.

Please go and enjoy the movie

My Two Sen

P.S. watched this at IOI City MAll 2 Imax Laser theatre.

It is me or are IMAX theatre shrinking in size....

The Laser Projecter is super good though

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Mar 19 2023, 09:32 AM

65 (2023)

I am on a roll!

I have been accused of being a Rotten Tomato "champion".

The truth is, I really do not visit the site at all...

Why am I on a roll?

I actually enjoyed 65.

I actually watched this before I watched Shazam Fury of the Gods, which I also like.

One week before actually.

I actually appreciate the way forest were depicted in the movie, that looked more "wild", more "primordial".

No I am no expert and can only express that the filmmaker were able to induce me into thinking so...

Very simple premise, how to survive crashing onto an very ancient earth. That's it.

I am not really an Adam Driver fan.

I thought he was decent here.

I was happy to had spent money watching this at the cinema.

Again, please do understand, the above, is just me two sen.

John Wick: Chapter 4

R.I.P. Lance Reddick (Charon)

This is a very long movie (3 hours plus).

A heads up, there is an end credit screen after ALL the end credits...

Story wise, the end is... logical.

Action sequences are OFF THE CHARTS! Almost something always happens in every scene.

I cannot even begin to fathom how the heck they manage to get the Arc de Triomphe scene!

Every John Wick movie, the universe it is set in grows, this is the biggest of them all.

Here are all my nick picking about the movie

Bill Skarsgård character Marquis is well done. He is turning out to be quite a chameleon. After a movie one of the audience while waiting for the lift exclaimed, he's got such a punchable face!!

I enjoyed this.

I can usually tell how a movie end half way in. I did not guess how they actually ended the movie. Kudos.

I enjoyed this.

Great that they got the circle story line completed.

To the censorship board credit, I did not notice any major cuts. Then again they are usually more liberal with violent scenes.

With that, My Two Sen.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

I was intrigued by the trailer.

And finally the movie is here.

Chris Pine as Edgin Darvis is actually good.

I was not sure about Michelle Rodriguez as Holga Kilgore, a barbarian!! She delivered.

I think that villians are best played by European. The really know how to bring the mean. I really like Hugh Grant as Forge Fitzwilliam and more recently the very face punchable Bill Skarsgård as Marquis (John Wick 4)

This was filmed in Iceland and it is truly spectacular!

I have several issues..

Apart from the above I found myself enjoying this.

I enjoyed this more than Shazam 2 and Black Adam.

My two sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Apr 2 2023, 05:56 PM

Renfield (2023)

I think it would be a far stretch for me to assume that many people here had watch Universal's 1931 Dracula with Bela Lugosi.

Why did I bring that up?

Well, for one, I had actually watched that and secondly, this movie can be seen as a sequel to that movie.

I was tickled pink when I watched this and the link was made to that movie.

This movie is a unicorn in Hollywood.

Why?

It is high concept and it is a comedic horror.

I challenge you to name another comedic horror that was made recently.

When Nicolas Cage appeared as Dracula, I was actually mesmerised!

When he appeared the second time in the movie, I was blown away by the makeup effect!

Nicholas Hoult's Renfield is GREAT!

The English actors are really chameleons... They just seem to slip into their roles.

I am the first to admit that I am not a fan of Awkwafina.

Whatever role she is in, she's Awkwafina.

Let's leave it at that.

I enjoyed this movie.

I love it, I really really did.

Please do not bring little kiddies to this movie...

Very VERY gore-rific!!!

My Tow Sen

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

I can use one word to describe James Gunn work in Marvel.

That word is consistent!

Marvel had suffered a few missteps.

One might even argue the planet on a whole is suffering from Marvel fatigue!

I argue otherwise.

I say we are sick of being served.... lacking a better term, crap!

Crap with whip cream and cherry on top at the end of the day, it is still crap.

James Gunn "supposedly" ignored Kevin Feige's suggestion during the making of this movie.
I think James had something to prove.

1). His initial firing from the project.

2). His skipping and hopping over to Warner/DC

In a sense, this movie is a "swan song", a complete story arch for

1) James feature directorial for Marvel

2) Chris Pratt as Peter Quill

3) Rocket you can now call me Racoon Bradley Cooper

I have to add, they were handled well.

I would suggest to Marvel that this is the way forward

Get GOOD creative on you project. See them thru!

Look at how inconsistent the Thor movies were.

The latest Ant-Man movie, the less said the better.

I am actually shuddering when I think about going to the movies o watch The Marvels (highly will skip cinema viewing)

Well made Marvel movie.

DO consider going to the cinema and watch.

My Two Sen

Evil Dead Rise (2023)

Yes yes, people who are familiar to my reviews may know that I love horror movies.

There is a sub-genre of horror I do not enjoy.

Gore horror...

The Evil Dead series ARE the definition of gore.

I draw the line for gore at Drag Me To Hell.

Boy, is this movie's gore way exceeds that.

Having said that, I did find the movie as a series does do original stuff.

Well more likely Director & Writer Lee Cronin introduces past concepts with it's own unique spin.

I give it points for that.

What evil did to the family is unforgivable.

Having said that it will not be evil if it did not do that.

If gore is your cup of tea, by all means, go watch this.

My Two Sen.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

Bar the second Venom movie, Sony's Spider-verse movies are showing Disney-Marvel the lost art of storytelling.

The origins story of Gwen Stacy/Spier-woman i great!

Hollywood's de-coupling with China is very displayed (in a good way).

I really like this movie.

There were parts I was concern about how long the movie was
I hope Sony can continue the great story telling.

I highly recommend this!

My Two Sen.

The Boogeyman (2023)

What a treat!?!

An actually scary horror movie!!!

I was kept at the edge of my seat.

I had squirmed.

I had shut my eyes.

I was concern for the characters in the movie!!!

Good job Rob Savage!!! I shall keep an eye out for your work!!

My Two Sen

A little bit different story wise.

Blackphone is evil by human.

This is evil by unseen entity.

I think this is similar to Lights Out. Not huge budget and have to add effective!

The Little Mermaid (2023)

Wow, no love for this movie here...

What a difference 34 years make.

Why did I say that?

When the animated movie Little Mermaid was release in 1989, it was make or break for Disney Animation.

Disney Animation had been floundering (get it, a character in Little Mermaid is called Flounder) since Wlat Disney's passing. Disney animation always made their animated movies, WITHOUT script. They continued to do so after Disney's passing. I believe Jungle Book was the last Disney animation Walt was involved it. So what came after Jungle Book (1967)?

The Aristocats (1970)
Robin Hood (1973)
The Rescuers (1977)
The Fox and the Hound (1981)
The Black Cauldron (1985)
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Oliver & Company (1988) (I did not even watch this... Not yet)

After The Black Cauldron many thought that Disney Animations days are numbered. Studio funds were reduced to the project put into Disney Animation products and if you had watch The Great Mouse detective, it looks more like TV movie rather than a feature animated movie.

Michael Eisner who was the head of Disney put his foot down and only greenlit The Little Mermaid (1989) project IF an actually script was written and used for the animation project.

It was a smashing success and a renaissance of sort occurred during the period for Disney.

Now we have the live action The Little Mermaid.

Most of the songs remain from the 1989 animation movie. Some are even expanded and new songs were written.

Why did I say what a difference 34 years makes?

When it was announce that Halle Bailey was to play Ariel in the live action movie, that news almost broke the internet (not is a good way).

It did not matter that Disney got

1) Javier Bardem as King Triton
2) Melissa McCarthy as Ursula
3) Disney spent 350 million dollars to product this movie.

They did not matter.

The public has spoken and before their even watched the movie, Halle Bailey, Ariel does not make.

I want to make things clear, I almost did not watch this at the cinema.

The general consensus out there is not good.

Unlike the rescue of the Disney Animation by the 1989 animation movie, this may end up losing Disney ALOT of money.

ALOT.

There are three new songs and one of them is actually very VERY good.

As for Disney prince go, Jonah Hauer-King is a very very good match to the animated Prince Eric.

Melissa McCarthy killed as Ursula

I can see where the money went in the movie.

In my humble opinion, some money could have been saved. Disney was over enthusiastic about the movie and over indulged in the production....

I did enjoy the movie.

The end was tweaked and I am still not sure if I agree with the tweak...

Overall it is actually a good live action adaption of the animated movie.

Do yourself a favour, go watch this with your love ones or little wants.

You will find yourself humming with Melissa McCarthy when she does the "Poor Unfortunate Souls".

I kid you not!!

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Jun 5 2023, 10:38 PM