Rate the Last Film You Watched

Treasure Planet is great, I really loved it since it came out. I saw a youtube video describing how difficult it was to get off the ground as well. That film is a labour of love.

Bonus to that, there was some CDs in cereal box that had treasure planet games and they were actually really good. I liked to play those with my brother, great free game.

Atlantis I thought the first half was really strong, and awesome characters; but in the second half I was a bit confused what was going on.
 
A couple more movies from my "purchased from Blockbusters in St Helier back when they were closing down" pile

Dream House
A thriller based on someone who survived an attack on his family thinking the family is still alive in his head , although the story was a bit confusing at times. One to go onto the pile to sell on (even for pennies)

Inception
I remember watching this in the cinema when it came out in 2010 (can't remember which cinema, or whom I was with mind). A good movie with multiple layers of dreams and visual effects.
 
31 Days of Halloween 2022!

Day XXX: Ebola Syndrome (1996, Herman Yau)

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Having seen The Untold Story (also from director Herman Yau) a little while back, this was a film of his that came up on my radar. It’s an unabashed, over-the-top and depraved Cat III exploitation film that doesn’t hold back, and Anthony Wong gives his all as the despicable lead. 3.5/5
88Films have done a great job in their blu ray of this excellent film with the uncut scenes inserted as I bought the US dvd years ago but without them only as an extra
 
Bonus to that, there was some CDs in cereal box that had treasure planet games and they were actually really good. I liked to play those with my brother, great free game.
I literally remember going mad for those cereal games back in the day; I don't know if they would hold up to the adult me but I just recall really hoping that I would get that one missing game needed to unlock the 4th game, I think it was called Ship Shape or something like that; I also recall really liking the PS1 game and even having that one isometric GBA game at one point; good times.
 
Heat (1995) - It's Robert De Niro vs Al Pacino and definitely something I will appreciate more if I rewatch it.

It’s got at least 6 plot lines running through the entire movie and while that should be confusing if handles them well. It gives the feeling the situation has spiralled out of control and something horrible is going to happen. Michael Mann does a good job balancing with the conflict, both cops or robbers showcase their multifaceted personalities through their relationships and it results in a tense and exciting ending. But I think I prefer Mann’s earlier film Thief. It’s not as complicated and doesn’t have the star power. But I just preferred that focus.

Split Second (1992) - Alistair Duncan was really funny in this. I liked the setting of a flooded London where everyone is wearing wellington boots while poking around crime scenes. It’s okay but it peaks in the middle and isn’t something I’d watch again. Although it does make me want to watch more crime films in either heavy rain or with severe flooding.
 
The Bad Guys

Or should I say... the average fellows.

Ok, I really wanted this film to be good, like, really wanted and there are parts of it where I can see a film approaching a level of good that I wish the rest of the film had; the trouble is that it is just loaded with cliche's, usually unfunny jokes and other issues that just drag it down from what otherwise could be a solid film.
I know there are plenty of people who do like it and that's fine, but for a fair number of reasons I personally didn't like it very much.

First off; the first half had my face rolling into itself with cringe, nearly none of the characters ever seem to behave in a somewhat sensible way, the jokes often make my eyes roll; oh and the film has fart jokes because of course it does, I am of a somewhat controversial opinion that these can be done right if they have something to say but here there is nothing being said other than haha flatulence funny innit.
Was the film devoid of being funny? not entirely, there are a few jokes that got a chuckle out of me in an ocean of jokes that were trying too hard for their own good though that might have been through just being so bonkers that I couldn't help but chuckle.

The film is loaded with trend chasing cliche's; villan with an accent just because, check, evil army of something cute, check, unconvincing inspirational speeches, check, protagonist having a fallout with his friends only for them to change their mind, check, there are more but I don't want to overload this post with cliche's; honestly Dreamworks are better than this, they used to set the trends not follow them.

The character designs however are actually really good; this is partly why I was hoping that this would be a great film and am still hoping that Dreamworks make a sequel with their usual Dreamworks sequel magic applied; my favourite character design belongs to Diane, especially during the second half of the film; not only are the character designs great but also, as is to be expected from Dreamworks, they are super expressive and could be genuinely great characters if the film only dialed down the silliness a fair bit; I am not saying that a film cannot be somewhat silly, I mean Kung Fu Panda for example is pretty bonkers at times but it balances it out with geninue dark moments, proper emotional scenes and villans to run away from, the last of which, this film does not have at all.

Oh boy; the villan, this guy gets on my wick, especially when he is trying to pretend that he is a perfect model citizen in the first half, his voice is really grating and he has an army of mind controlled guinea pigs, or hamsters I'm not sure, honestly I despise the minions, and this just screams of wanting to be the next minions to me; I suppose there is the fact that he was leading Wolf into a trap for the whole of the first half that makes him somewhat competent at what he does but I honestly can think of so many better Dreamworks villans, honestly writing this reminds me of how the film Megamind has a really good villan, and a really good protagonist to boot, watch Megamind it's great.

Mr Wolf kind of tries to play the society hates me so I'm bad trope but Shrek and Megamind both handle it so much better; with that said it does lead to one of the best things about the film IMO even if it has been done better before.

The second half is better, with more serious moments that show that there is indeed hope for this if it is to become a franchise, here we see Diane get a chance to really shine, which is great because she is easily my favourite character of the entire film, while I can remember all the other characters getting on my wick at one point or another, Diane simply didn't, she is the one sensible character in a film that has hardly any, not to mention how I almost never see any anthro vixen characters who are given a good role in the film/game/etc that they star in so I am glad to see that she was much more than an extra and a genuine part of the film; she pretty much kept the film somewhat afloat while nearly all the other characters were trying to sink it; also Diane never falls into the furry reminder trope, as far as I remember, unlike some of the other anthro characters so there's another reason why she is my favourite character in the film.

I do also see the potential that comes with how the anthro characters fit in with human society but I think the film should have explored that more because without an explanation of sorts, it does come across as somewhat strange; not only that but it is a potential gold mine for world building that I really hope is covered in any future installments, if there are any.

This one stings quite a bit because when I saw it was on Now TV, I jumped at the chance to watch it, I really believed, until I actually saw it, that this was going to be at least a solid film featuring a character archetype that I genuinely think can make for a great character if handled correctly but there are too many issues that hold the film back; I do like the character designs and am glad that my favourite goes to the one character with more than a modicum of sense but I cannot see the overall film as better than average when all the downsides are keeping it from being good.

Is there hope for this in the future; well, despite me not liking this film very much, yes, I mean it's Dreamworks, they usually can make good sequels out of films whether they're good or not, they made a really good sequel out of the painfully average Madagascar so anything can go but this film as it stands is held back by just how it takes too long before it starts to take itself seriously and that the jokes are rarely funny, how many cliche's it has as well as how trend chasing it feels at times, I am really disappointed with this one and I have to give it a.

5/10
 
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Vampire Gokemidoro aka Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968)
I had heard about this film as far back as the late 1990's, but never got around to watching it. I assumed it was a bog standard Japanese horror film of the era and went into it pretty much cold. Well, what an absolutely wild piece of cinema this is. It just veers from genre to genre. First up you think you're getting a completely over the top and melodramatic plane crash survival tale with sci-fi overtones. With a terrorist and an assassin on board the plane to boot! Then it morphs into a surreal and rather creepy vampire horror with apocalyptic themes thrown in. The special effects just add to the surrealness of it all. Oh, and there's anti-Vietnam war sentiments thrown in as well! Cast are pretty good too. Utterly bizarre and fantastic film. Cannot believe this was Hajime Sato's last film. Such a shame he was not given more opportunities to direct after this.
 
Kung Fu Panda

Just to end the last year on a high note; I decided to rewatch this absolute gem, primarily because it was the first Dreamworks film I saw last year and therefore the first one I saw in recent years.

This film is brilliant, there is so much going for it; the character designs, the fight choreography, the fact that it is pretty funny at times, not to mention the character development; as I did watch this one growing up way back in the day, nostalgia does play a part but as I said before, nostalgia can only go so far, this however has quality through the roof as well as nostalgia.

First off, the story; there is so much to like about this, there is so much character development and symbolism that it is hard not to like it, not to mention the small details that can be overlooked, like how that scene where Mantis was struggling to give Po acupuncture both subtly and effectively foreshadowed the fact that Tai Lung's pressure point strike would not work on him, things like this just make an already great film even better; not to mention just how much character development there is, we literally see Po start off as a clumsy noodle shop worker who is obsessed with kung fu only for him to literally become the dragon warrior and earn the appreciation of the furious five, who were highly skeptical to say the least up until the end, the training methods used are absolute genius as well; the fact that Shifu used Po's eating disorder as an incentive to train him was a brilliant idea and the fact that Po decides not to eat the dumpling he earned at the end just shows so much character development that really hammers home just how good the character development truly is.

The villan is not one to take lightly either, unlike the villan in the last film I rated, you do not mess with Tai Lung, he literally escapes from a prison built specifically to hold him and makes it look easy, not to mention how his motives are not exactly difficult to sympathise with, he is not a villan who is evil just for evil's sake, he has a backstory that is fleshed out in a way that is both detailed and succinct.

The pacing is on point; I don't remember any parts where I was bored, there is always something keeping me entertained, whether that be the humour, the action sequences or the aforementioned character development, this film remains rock solid throughout.

Is it perfect; no, not even Shrek 2 is perfect and if that film cannot be perfect then nothing can, this film does require suspension of disbelief to quite a degree in parts like the part where Po falls from around 100ft and survives, before having any training, this example is a part of the film's symbolism though so that kind of makes up for it.
The humour; while mostly funny, does have a few parts that are a little bit cringeworthy, nothing as bad as the jokes in The Bad Guys but just beware that not all the jokes hit equally.

The music ranges from pretty good to really good with a particularily good track being the one that plays during Po's training montage.

Visually it is great, the animation quality is phenomenal and the fight choreography is one of the best things about this film, as someone who is starting to make a game and planning to focus a fair bit on animation for some of the cutscenes, scenes like these are really inspiring to me.

Choosing to watch Kung Fu Panda was a great way to wrap up the last year; it is such a good film that sits very high atop the pantheon of great Dreamworks films, it's sequel is also really good but for somewhat different reasons, it is held back a little by some minor issues but those do not detract from the overall experience much, the character development is just so well thought out, the ideas are absolute genius, the characters are great and the fight choreography is just so well animated; the film was both a great way for me to get back into Dreamworks films and watching it was probably the best way I could wrap up 2022 before the new year fireworks began.

Score 9/10
 
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Is it perfect; no, not even Shrek 2 is perfect so if that film cannot be perfect then nothing can

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Sorry I'm not sure I get what the GIF means but what I meant to say in my own way is that there is no such thing as a perfect film; too many chances for something to go wrong, even slightly, a perfect film would have to have absolutely nothing wrong with it, not even a slight hiccup.
 
It was just a general speechlessness at anyone holding up Shrek 2 as a high benchmark as cinema. I mean, it's fine, but it's not Casablanca.
 
It was just a general speechlessness at anyone holding up Shrek 2 as a high benchmark as cinema. I mean, it's fine, but it's not Casablanca.

Ah yes that film where Bogie romances a woman young enough to be his daughter while she walks around in a specially dug trench to make him appear taller :p (yes it's a classic and I love it but I needed to burst your slight bubble of "serious critic" air a little) ;)
 
It was just a general speechlessness at anyone holding up Shrek 2 as a high benchmark as cinema. I mean, it's fine, but it's not Casablanca.
Fair enough, I haven't seen Casablanca so I can't compare the two, though to me personally Shrek 2 is one of the best films I have seen, for the reasons mentioned in my earlier review.
 
I find the comments funny about comparing Shrek 2 and Casablanca and stating no film is perfect - I disagree. First my favourite film Scarface is perfect for me as its 100% entertaining as are countless other films like Tenebre, The Long Good Friday et al but I’m not a fan of the Shrek films or the the overrated Casablanca and I don’t believe in any film being described as the greatest film ever made and an example of that is garbage like Citizen Kane which critics hailed for years - the new gfem is now Vertigo which is another film that’s excellent but these descriptions……
 
Casablanca is one of my favourite films but it doesn't have a thrilling action scene set to I Need A Hero.
So I can't prove it is actually better than Shrek 2.
 
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I'm an unabashed lover of Citizen Kane, which was amusingly the subject of maybe the worst mis-reading of a film I've ever seen though it certainly revealed a lot about the, er, critic himself

 
Kung Fu Panda 2

As with when I rated Shrek 2; there may be spoilers for the first Kung Fu Panda film, so if you haven't seen it, again, check it out, it's really good, and also stop reading here.

Just like the first film, Kung Fu Panda 2 is excellent, though what makes it such a good film differs quite a bit from it's debut title; the first film had tons of character development but the sequel doesn't quite live up to the original on that note; I mean Po is literally the dragon warrior now, he started off as a clumsy oaf in the first film and starts off as a kung fu master in the second, there is far less room to improve from that; there is still a fair bit of character development, but it's just not as good as in the first film.

Thankfully the creators knew this and took it in a different direction, focusing more on Po's past and what happened to his family, it's a fair bit darker than it's predecessor though it still makes time for it's signature humour that mostly lands, though like the first film, not all the jokes land equally, at least one of them was somewhat cringeworthy, actually a bit more than the first film's most cringeworthy moment but, compared to some titles by Dreamworks, it is still fairly free of this issue for the most part.

The story here is great; here we see the truth about Po's past and how he must come to terms with it; to top it off, the furious five get a bit of backstory as well and it's great to see how they now trust Po rather than dismiss him, this is still mostly Po's tale, just like the first film and the climax of the story would be the magnum opus of most other companies, though Dreamworks actually have better scenes under their belt which shows just how good their record generally is, the scene where Po find's his inner peace is one of the most impactful moments in a Dreamworks film, which is saying something considering their track record.

The villan, Shen is not to be taken lightly but I personally prefer Tai Lung as a villan, Shen often relies on his cannon that can "defeat kung fu" though I personally find this plot point to be rather daft; I mean, the cannon is heavy, it has to be adjusted and it takes a good few seconds to do so, besides the element of suprise that led to the demise of Master Thundering Rhino near the beginning, I cannot buy into the fact that a kung fu master cannot just move out of the way far quicker than the cannon can catch up, in fact Po literally does this towards the end and even uses his inner peace to throw back the cannonballs like they were hadouken's, if there is one thing that I can say in Shen's favour it's that Po does have to put in more elbow grease to beat him compared to how he made beating Tai Lung in the first film look easy but other than that I think the first film's villan is just a bit better.

The action scenes are still great but I personally feel that, outside of the climax, it is just a bit weaker than the original's, they're still great but they don't quite have the same impact so I just think the original mostly wins in this regard.

All in all I think that this film is brilliant, though I'm of the possibly controversial opinion that the first one is better by a small margin, with that said, the tonal shift towards the dark side of Po's past contributes to a powerful narrative that is light hearted and serious in all the right ways, despite a couple of issues it's still a great film and easily worthy of a.

9/10
 
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Shin Ultraman
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Having no meaningful experience with Ultraman as a franchise but a childhood love of Thunderbirds: this was delightful. It's got some of the same political commentary as Shin Godzilla, sometimes incredibly bluntly and even more overt, but the real focus here is on the introducing this legendary hero. And probably the most interesting aspect of the film is the structure. This is not written like a 2 hour film. It is written like a series of TV episodes with individual arcs and climaxes that build on each other with the budget and style of a full blown feature. It's had to describe but it results in the film having a ton of action, a lot of diverse action and it moves at a million miles a minute. I don't know if it is the style of director Shinji Higuchi or if it's the result of the multiple cinematographers on a project but it is consistently finding new angles and shots on even the most basic dialogue scenes. The reason I brought up Thunderbirds is because is this the type of movie I would have wanted for the franchise if I had ever considered it. Something that showed off all the best bits and didn't feel pressured to be more epic or conclude some major arc. Ultraman taps into a very specific nostalgic desire I didn't know I had.

Visually it's pretty incredible. I feel as if they colour graded the film in a certain way to give an aged look and better marry the CGI and practical effects. And the entire film aims to be something of a 60s throwback, which allows them to get away with some things but I think a lot of it works because Ultraman's design fits everything they try.

My only real problem with it is that the final scene is very abrupt. The story wraps up everything and the instantly cuts to credits. But besides that it was the first superhero film in years that got me to just be mentally chanting for the hero to triumph against the odds. Wonderful, will buy it if it comes out on Blu-Ray, really excited to see what this crew does with Shin Kamen Rider.

9/10
The theatre also messed up and showed the English Dub by mistake. So that was weird bit not a deal breaker.
 
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