Cinema - Comments / Reviews by Magic Marmalade

Cinema - Comments / Reviews by Magic Marmalade

« Member Page

Page 12 of 26 : Previous : Next :

Member	Item		Review/Comment
Magic Marmalade 26th Nov 2020		Cinema Joker (2019)	[YouTube Video]
Magic Marmalade 26th Nov 2020		Cinema Shallow Grave (1995) (1995)	[YouTube Video]
Magic Marmalade 26th Nov 2020		Cinema Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004) (2004)	[YouTube Video]
Magic Marmalade 26th Nov 2020		Cinema Hail, Caesar! (2016) (2016)	Something of a return to form for the Coens... but this scene is an absolute classic as good as anything they've ever done.... cracks me up :) ...Would that it were so simple! [YouTube Video]
Magic Marmalade 24th Nov 2020		Cinema Love Actually (2003) (2003)	Yes, A little immoderate of me I must admit... sorry about that. ...But I stand by the sentiment. It makes my toes curl so much I could feasibly hang from a tree by my feet!
Magic Marmalade 22nd Nov 2020		Cinema Love Actually (2003) (2003)	Rated 2/10 Ooooh I HATE this film!!! It fills me with a wretched pulsing fury of loathing and detestation for it's crass, moronic script writing, "characters", and mostly for the fact that a couple of the story threads could have been made into potentially great films by themselves, but are swamped in the rest of this s&t.. A steaming fetid turd of a perverted, over-sugared quasi -Hallmark card sentimentality that makes my eyes bleed, my ears clench and my anus twitch with rage so much I nearly lose a sofa cushion to the unknown! ...but as it happens, I find that that's quite cathartic, and I feel clean afterwards... ....And so I watch it every year :) (I shall be hating it doubly hard this year... I may even pop something!)* 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 14th Nov 2020		Cinema Smoke (1995) (1995)	Little lost gem from the nineties I'd like to see again.... just basically chatting in a tobacconist's, people coming in and out of the store... life.
Magic Marmalade 12th Nov 2020		Cinema White Men Can't Jump (1992) (1992)	Rated 8/10 Not sure how this stands up to political correctness these days... ...It was a bit edgy and controversial way back when it first came out, and there's the odd moment Woody Harrelson may now have cause to regret, but that said it is kind of the point of the movie, saying things that people ought not to say, both explicitly and by implication, in an unflinching, naturalistic way. It came out of the same time frame as Boyz 'N' The Hood, And Spike Lee's films like Do The Right Thing etc., and has that kind of feel and sensibility. But while I would venture to suggest that perhaps those others have begun to show their age a little, this still feels fresh, due to the razor sharp humour, lean and kinetic plot, and an absolute refusal to apologise for itself, in what it is.... it just goes with it. It centres on two basketball court hustlers with problems in their lives who team up to hustle everyone else... and each other, and the film just explores their relationship as they do so. Very funny in places, and generally good fun throughout. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 8th Nov 2020		Cinema Moonstruck (1987) (1987)	Still a nice easy watch... bit odd now in places, but generally a good rom/com, and a cosy comfort food of a movie.
Magic Marmalade 8th Nov 2020		Cinema Saturn 3 (1980) (1980)	Got around to recording this last night, having found it on a VHS tape :) Did a little reading up on it though online, seems it was a beleaguered production, and not the finished product anybody hoped for... Always liked Harvey Keitel's performance / accent... turns out it wasn't him, but an overdub! Crying out for a remake / modernisation, as the essential idea still holds up well.
Magic Marmalade 17th Oct 2020		Cinema Thor: Ragnarok (2017) (2017)	Finally found this on dvd in the charity shop while gathering some movies yetsreday, in anticipation of another lockdown, and watched it... (knew I just had to wait it out, and it'd turn up eventually! :) ...Does wrong foot you slightly based on previous instalments... bit more humorous and less taking itself seriously, but while this does add to the fun, it also, as you say HelBic detract a little at the same time. ...But still in the established mould of Marvel films, and now I understand why Avengers: Infinity War opens how it does... and I've seen the whole avenger story ark now...phew! Good fun though, and a solid, garishly coloured, 7 for me. (Good to see DC finally getting their mojo back now though, rather thanjust trying to be another Marvel, and do what they are doing... The Batman trailer looks good! :)
Magic Marmalade 28th Sep 2020		Cinema Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets (2017) (2017)	At last, a decent, recognisably Luc Besson movie, more in the spirit of The Fifth Element! Just three things to say about it though: 1. Dane DeHaan can't carry a movie as lead actor. 2. Cara Delevingne can... (Seriously... she's a surprisingly excellent actor!) and this film ought to be retitled after her character's name! 3. At the risk of being anyone's MeToo moment, gentlemen, please strap your jaws shut in anticipation of Rihanna's mind bending, and eye popping dance sequence!
Magic Marmalade 28th Sep 2020		Cinema Léon (The Professional / Léon: The Professional) (1994) (1994)	Rated 10/10 A Nineties masterpiece, later ruined by a "Director's Cut". Now I understand why this has not been getting any shows on terrestrial TV... ...Having come across the "Director's Cut" DVD that I had been so determined to avoid, for fear of ruining the experience of the original theatrical (US and elsewhere) version I was familiar with, I finally decided to bite the bullet, and see what was up with it... ...And it only served to confirm my worst fears. Leon, the story of a ruthless, yet lonely hitman with a very childish naivety, who crosses paths with an intelligent, yet overly precocious 12 year old girl, Mathilda, when her crappy family are killed by a truly terrifying, corrupt, psychotic DEA agent and his crew... (Gary Oldman in his scariest ever role (makes Dracula look like a swell guy!)) ...Leon takes her in, and a friendship begins to develop between them. Already, you can see the problematic nature of this arrangement, in that it gets you shifting uncomfortably in your seat, but that's OK, it's supposed to, as it plays on the audience's natural scepticism and cynicism in order to undermine it, as this, at it's heart, is really is a story about the recovery, and preservation of innocence in a corrupt and horrific world... both Leon and Mathilda finding in each other, the companionship that would provide this, all the while trying to evade Oldman's nutcase, hunting Mathilda in order to tie up the loose ends of his dodgy dealings... ...In the end, a kind of redemption is sought by both, and you find yourself sitting a little easier in your chair.... ...Until, that is, you see this "Director's Cut", which adds quarter of an hour or so of footage which completely torpedoes this fragile knife edge innocence, as Mathilda accompanies Leon on a few "hits" in order to learn how to become a "cleaner" like him, and the nature of their relationship goes a little too far the wrong way because of a couple of, admittedly dramatic scenes between them, and the Innocent nature of these characters is shattered from that moment on...effectively yanking the heart out of the movie, and making you feel grubby watching it. The other thing is, that by adding those extra minutes right in the middle of things, it's a while before you see Gary Oldman again, and his large, looming presence begins to slip from your mind, so his character is less menacing through having his impact diluted... and as for the ever brilliant Danny Aiello, his character is all but pushed out to the edges through this. In this day and age, This Director's Cut would never make it on to the TV, and rightly so. You are better off getting a masterpiece of cinema in the shape of the original theatrical cut on DVD, and chucking the tainted "Director's Cut" in the bin. Sometimes the Director himself does not know best. [YouTube Video] 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 18th Aug 2020		Cinema Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) (1997)	Rated 9/10 A great black comedy / rom-com... with hit-men! This is one I'm looking out for to get again on DVD, as it is great fun, and also, at the distance of some years now, notable for pre-figuring the Bourne Identity for an astonishingly realistic / brutal fight sequence. Basically, it centres around a troubled hit-man going back home for his school reunion of all things, where he confronts the girl he ditched to run off and join the army many years back, and all the people he used to go to school with: "And what do you do now Martin?".... "...er..." :) ...Unfortunately, his present occupation follows him back there in the shape of government officials, and and assortment of deranged fellow hit men, one of which, Dan Akroyd, is trying to get him to join a hit-men's union... or die. :) Great fun, and a bit of a nineties classic now I'd say. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 3rd Aug 2020		Cinema The Favourite (2018) (2018)	Rated 8/10 Post Period Punk Movie! This is a film with a real sting in it's tail, ...On the face of it, it seems like just another set piece period drama / excuse to get bodiced up and visit a country mannor / Oscar opportunity (which it turned out to be!) ...But there's happily, more to it than that, as it is odd in both tone and style. It probably sits comfortably on the shelf between the surreal Tilda Swinton movie: Orlando. Shot largely with fish eye lenses and having a dream-like hallucinatory quality, and also, having a caustic wit, is more in keeping with a kind of Withnail and I sensibility... lots of swearing, sex, and bad vibes as the chilling Rachel Weisz and the subtly scheming Emma Stone vie for the attentions of the tragically comic Queen's attentions in the shape of Olivia Colman. It's a doomed lesbian love triangle tragedy, which once it has won you over by being very funny in it's nastiness and absurdity, drops these surreal tactics in the final third to play it straight, and become just plain tragic and awful... a cunning tactic from the film-maker, that works to devastating effect. It has a modern punk-ish sensibility transplanted onto the period setting which jars and is refreshing to say the least. Great film. (In addition, this is capped off by a great end credits song, which sounds an awful lot like Elton John...Because it is! - I'd not heard this one before, but turns out, it's from his early album Empty Sky, and is called: Skyline Pigeon - However, this is not the version on that album it seems, but rather a Harpsichord version, which simply brilliant - don't know where that version is available on disc) 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 17th Jul 2020		Cinema Sixteen Candles (1984) (1984)	Aged badly. Some dodgy moments judged by modern standards, not Hughes' greatest by a long chalk.
Magic Marmalade 12th Jul 2020		Cinema Glass (2019)	Rated 7/10 A film with a lot to live up to... ...And doesn't quite get there. The final instalment - (spoiler... ah, everyone must know by now!) - in the Unbreakable trilogy, and which has to conclude and deliver on the promise of the second part: Split, which didn't have much expectation but exceeded all such bounds by some distance, so a couple of big cheques to cash in this one... ...And it is by this measure that it trips slightly, a very good movie on any other day, but those two overshadow it, and maybe overthought this one a little, and it lacks a little of the wow factor they had. The ending is certainly surprising, if more than a little disappointing, but I'll probably get over that with another viewing now I know what to expect. But a largely good film, if not the great film, the other two seemed to promise. As a trilogy though, probably among the best in the superhero area you can see, along with Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, and the first two Raimi Spiderman films (third one again, slightly letting the enterprise down). 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 10th Jul 2020		Cinema Avengers: Endgame (2019) (2019)	Infinty War was great, not least for the brave and shocking ending... ...but left this with too much to do, and I thought it was a bit messy, and didn't stand up to the previous instalment's promise. But, as with Star Wars... Thank God that's over with! ...Don't have to watch through endless credits at the back end of movies for snippets and teasers anymore, or be compelled to view every film in the franchise to know what's going on in the next. (I still haven't seen Thor: Ragnarok, so a couple of points passed me by, and didn't make sense... but once I have, I'll be done with Marvel franchisery :)
Magic Marmalade 3rd Jul 2020		Cinema Venom (2018)	Great subversive, gruesome fun super-anti-hero.
Magic Marmalade 3rd Jul 2020		Cinema The Invisible Man (2020)	Yes, it may have flaws now I think of it... But first time around it surprised me with refreshing original elements, and new ways to use old plot devices usually associated with this character... ... And made me come away thinking about all of that. Ending might have a n element of afterthought about it, or perhaps overthinking it - maybe it would have benefited from wrapping up earlier in the story after the first major twist. But certainly very well done, and largely unpredictable.
Magic Marmalade 30th Jun 2020		Cinema The Invisible Man (2020)	Rated 9/10 This is a masterpiece. Finally nailed the character of The Invisible Man for this generation. The real stars are Moss, the subject of Mr. Invisible's attentions. the cinematographer and director, who together, create that character of the invisible man. Big shocks, twists at well timed moments, bags of atmosphere and unsettling suspense and tension in a psychological horror that is almost perfect. Elisabeth Moss is being stalked and tormented by the invisible enemy, and can't convince anyone that his subtle manipulations are not all in her mind, making her think that she is going crazy... and probably making her so by virtue of this torture... ... #Me Too associations are likely to be made by the audience, and appropriately too, but there is even more than that going on here... Because of how it ends, I feel the need to go back and watch it again, uncertain if I just saw the movie I thought I just did, and it leaves it open to you as to whether you did... ...Difficult to see what the case may be, clearly :) 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 23rd Jun 2020		Cinema The Big Short (2015) (2015)	There is a particular brand of stupidity exclusively found in "smart" people... In fact, their inherent intelligence and education seems to be the source of this idiocy, as it blinds them all the more absolutely to realities that do not fall within the scope of their "knowledge". ...watch this to find out just how dumb smart people can be.
Magic Marmalade 14th Jun 2020		Cinema Ghostbusters (2016)	Rated 7/10 Despite the furore of the sacrilege of having rebooted the Ghostbusters t-shirt and mug business, this is actually a very entertaining film in it's own right. The fact that it was almost deliberately shunned and has gone the short route through to TV to recoup losses makes me predict it will probably get repeated showings, and more people will watch it over time, and conclude, in spite of what they expected (wanted to expect), it's a very good, funny movie that is generally liked, Perhaps the only real downside is that they tried to show too much reverence for the original Ghostbusters... constantly offering slavish nods to it - obviously in a vain attempt to appease them that could not be appeased. But the response means that this franchise is a dead duck, and now.... they are rebooting it again!!!! This new coming one looks more like a hazy romanticized JJ Abrams style Spielberg nostalgia kick... like Stand By Me meets Goonies with comedy ghosts, and more of a sequel to the original Ghostbusters films, judging by the trailer. But, wait and see though, I suppose. ...just a shame they didn't have more courage to go with this incarnation, and let them do entirely their own thing with it. 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 6th Jun 2020		Cinema Der Untergang (Downfall) (2004) (2004)	I don't know why, I thought this might be an appropriate thing to show on T.V right now :)
Magic Marmalade 5th Jun 2020		Cinema Color Out Of Space (2019) (2019)	Rated 7/10 Good old fashioned body horror / mind scrambler horror movie! Based on an H. P. Lovecraft story, and starring Nicolas Cage... (Each of these two names is probably a genre in themselves, over and above author and actor respectively) ...So that should tell you what you're in for to some extent! Basically, a glowing meteor falls from space, and lands on Nicolas Cage's rural farm, then weird colours begin to manifest all over the place, and some increasingly bizarre events start occurring, culminating in some gruesome body horror and psychedelic mind warping sequences. Fans of David Cronenberg movies will probably love it, as will John Carpenter fans (especially: "The Thing"), as this has that kind of good old fashioned horror movie effects thing going on that we all know and love, as opposed to too much CGI... and it has the look and feel of a Carpenter movie, only perhaps... more colourful!. Suspenseful, spooky and unsettling when it needs to be, mildly disturbing, and plenty of gross-out effects... everything you want from a sci-fi / horror movie basically! :) 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 30th May 2020		Cinema Unstoppable (2010)	Only now he's gone, do you realize what a master film maker Tony Scott was... long in the shadow of his brother Ridley, he's the film maker Roland Emmerich, Michael Bay, and Zach Snyder wish they were! The man knew how to make a top notch Hollywood movie. The others don't come close.
Magic Marmalade 30th May 2020		Cinema Anonymous (2011) (2011)	Rated 7/10 Roland Emmerich... eurgh! ..,conspiracy theory movie......Eurgh! .....Actually a well crafted movie, that's probably among Emmerich's best. (I lost interest after Stargate) It's about whether William Of Shakespeare was the real author of some plays that some of you may have heard of, or some other dude.... and it's about him. Just don't expect Independence Day style popcorn fare... this is Shakespearian wordiness and drama (with some light comedic moments from Rafe Spall). More like... Ivory Merchant of Venice or summat, :) 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 24th May 2020		Cinema 1917 (2019) (2019)	Rated 8/10 You get those movies sometimes that give the wrong impression of themselves in the ad campaign and marketing, and this is one of those. I think the reason I didn't look any further into it at the time is that it just felt like a band-wagon movie, cashing in on other recent war movies made to "commemorate" (not cash in on.. ahem) notable anniversaries regarding the two world wars. I just got the impression it was a paint by numbers war flick that someone at studio HQ said: "We need another one of those war movies to sell!" ...But thankfully, it's not. It's more than that, by being, in a very particular way.... less. As Henry's comment tells you, if you are expecting a massive epic scale set piece with thousands of extras fighting on the beaches across multiple story threads, then you will be disappointed, because this is instead, more of an Odyssey type of movie... ... or perhaps, an ordeal movie about two soldiers trying to get through to a front line position by morning, to deliver an order to stop an attack that would see swathes of British soldiers walk into certain death resulting from an enemy trap designed for this purpose. (Sounds a bit like Gallipoli doesn't it?) As such, it follows just these two as they go through all manner of horrors to get where they need to go... And it really follows them! The first twenty minutes are presented as one single shot close up to them as if from just one single, floating camera, and it barely changes camera angles after that... so you're right therewith them in "real time" (some liberties are taken with time, but most are accounted for with some plot devices) from field to front line. It feels, therefore, less epic, and more personal. More sweary, gruesome, and shocking in places than your average WW1 film (War Horse it ain't!) But certainly worth watching.. excellent film. 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 16th May 2020		Cinema Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) (2017)	I don't quite know how it's happened, but somehow I've managed to have seen all these Transformers movies without actually having intended to do so! The first one was great entertainment, but the next two or three were typical nonsensical, messy, garbage that Michael Bay is known for... not knowing who his audience is... making a film for a younger audience but with a bawdy, crass, ill judged humour that shouldn't be for kids, and won't impress adults either... But the last two, although with the usual, over-involved, convoluted, self-indulgent storylines, really raised their game again, to something like the quality of the first one, and are very entertaining... Adding Mark Wahlberg has, surprisingly, lifted it a bit, and the humour squared up a bit better. The thing that is really worth mentioning here though is young actress Isabela Moner's performance... real star in the making there... she acts rings around everyone, including Hopkins! - one to watch out for I'd say, and should be cast in everything you can get her in.
Magic Marmalade 9th May 2020		Cinema The End Of The Affair (1955) (1955)	Rated 4/10 This is not a Romance... It's an essay on romantic tragedy. I've not read the Graham Greene novel that this was based on, but I have read some of his work... ...And although this is said to have been based on his own experience, and the character of Bendrix based on him, if you were to take this as any measure, you'd say love or romance was not his strong point. The novel itself seems to be highly regarded as a tragic romantic novel, but this film, it's screenplay, the composition of the film, the direction, and even the lead performances are very clunky, cold, and unconvincing. Van Johnson effectively plays his character like Sam Spade in a stock Private Eye movie, and Deborah Kerr is as wooden, cold, and unsympathetic as you can get... at least, for the first half of the movie. Because that's how the film is divided, into two perspectives, the later one revealing certain facts that cast a new light on what you've just seen previously, but it would take a much better film-maker to make this work, as it jumps across years at a time, having realised it doesn't have the stamina to go into too much depth on passages it embarks on, as the dialogue is essentially what appears to be what Greene narrated in the book...Johnson basically delivers sermons at Kerr's face, about the nature of love, her love, their love, and the mystical and philosophical nature of love, while she stands mostly mute and expressionless. It does warm up a little when the ever reliable Peter Cushing has a little more involvement, and John Mills enters the scene as a Dickens character inspired Private Detective (Ironic) that Johnson hires to follow Kerr... both of these two bring a naturalness and warmth we know, but in doing so, only serve to highlight the extent of the wooden nature of Johnson and Kerr's performances and characters. Mostly, it's tedious, and other than seeing what other adaptations there are, and how well they do, maybe reading the book itself might be a better bet, as Greene is a much better writer than this weak film shows. But if you're looking for a swoony romance, look elsewhere, this is like reading the phone book. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Page 12 of 26 : Previous : Next :