Last movie you watched

[dude]

The Avengers

Never has a film that started off so infuriating, worked so hard and so successfully won me over to the point where I cannot wait to see it again. I got the shits with the opening because of all Marvel films, they chose Thor (The only Marvel film I dislike) to directly follow, then that Killer Elite scene happened and I was ready get up and leave....

Then the film because the awesomest thing ever. The interplay between the Avengers themselves was excellent. I want a Hulk and Iron Man buddy film. Or Hangover 3 to be about Iron Man, Bruce Banner and Captain America. The action was epic and grand scale. Michael Bay without the crappiness. Every character got respect, Fury finally got to shoot someone and show his grey morality, it never became a Daniel Ocean/Barney Ross type situation where the top billed actor gets all the love. It was just beautiful. Four years of build well spent. I think beyond opening on thin ice, the only gripes I have where Cap's terrible costume, which they never should've changed and the lack of Fury taking part in the final battle.

That post credit cameo? My God, THAT post credit cameo.

How I rank them now;

1. Iron Man
2. Captain America
3. The Avengers
4. Iron Man 2
5. The Incredible Hulk
6. Thor

[Hubbs]

Contraband

OK the first thing to hit me with this thriller is the excellent cast and subsequent excellent performances they all give, Wahlberg, Foster and Ribisi really come together and blend well giving really strong tense portrayals of their characters.

All three of the main cast are around the same age (almost) and I think it shows as they seem to effortlessly connect, almost like a small group of your mates working together. I think Wahlberg has nailed the average blue collar working schmo to a tea in recent films but he does tend to be the same character in everything he does, oh well.
The film isn't exactly super exciting but more of a slowish burner as Wahlberg basically needs to get his hands on a load of dosh to pay of some criminals which threaten his family, yeeeeah not tooooo original is it. His so called best mate played by Foster is of course in cahoots with the bad guys and is playing Wahlberg's character (not really a spoiler don't worry), Foster is so good at being low down scummy guys, makes you wonder huh.

Its sort of a heist flick but also more of your typical blackmail, smuggling, gang, mobster type thing which is sort of cool but slightly underwhelming also. The whole thing lacks bite, you really wanna see Wahlberg kick some ass and pop some caps in some asses but he never really does that. Ribisi is a really good junkie redneck in this and he needs a major whipping and you just want him to get blow away, you yearn for some gun action but it never materialises and it just feels like a chance missed.

It does get reasonably tense at times but it just ends all too softly when you really wanna see some quality retribution for the good guys. Solid stern decent performances yes, pumping film...no, could of been so much more exciting, hard to even say it was an 'action' film really, or thriller, kinda somewhere inbetween.

[NERMAL]

The Avengers

Never has a film that started off so infuriating, worked so hard and so successfully won me over to the point where I cannot wait to see it again. I got the shits with the opening because of all Marvel films, they chose Thor (The only Marvel film I dislike) to directly follow, then that Killer Elite scene happened and I was ready get up and leave....

Then the film because the awesomest thing ever. The interplay between the Avengers themselves was excellent. I want a Hulk and Iron Man buddy film. Or Hangover 3 to be about Iron Man, Bruce Banner and Captain America. The action was epic and grand scale. Michael Bay without the crappiness. Every character got respect, Fury finally got to shoot someone and show his grey morality, it never became a Daniel Ocean/Barney Ross type situation where the top billed actor gets all the love. It was just beautiful. Four years of build well spent. I think beyond opening on thin ice, the only gripes I have where Cap's terrible costume, which they never should've changed and the lack of Fury taking part in the final battle.

That post credit cameo? My God, THAT post credit cameo.

How I rank them now;

1. Iron Man
2. Captain America
3. The Avengers
4. Iron Man 2
5. The Incredible Hulk
6. Thor

Hulk. For the win. Yes, everyone else had their moments in the sun, but Hulk had the cinema in stitches. Several times. I'd call it a triumphant return to form for Whedon, and really can't see DC ever topping it.

And the cameo that literally sent shivers down my spine...(Wont even use the spoiler tag. Just see it.)

[Hubbs]

The Avengers

SPOILER WARNING!

Yep I'm using the original US title for the film and not the lame Euro version 'Avengers Assemble' which sounds like a cartoon, all because the powers that be seem to think we're all dumb enough to mistake this new film with another rather old TV series and its mega budget flop film counterpart. Deal with it.

So lets do this thing...the first MEGA blockbuster of the year, how does it fare you ask, well its pretty good says I, not quite as GOOD as I have been led to believe (hyper hype) but its good.

We all know the score so why review it, the 'backup' films to this entry were all solid to great films with most having their favourites, my personal fav is easily the Iron Man films. So with all the guys together for the first time the film does start at a slow pace...for quite some time its gotta be said, I was getting a little twitchy in my seat. Allot of dialog and pacing around very metallic looking military facilities with a whole load of comicbook sci-fi jargon I really don't understand haha. The team are introduced one by one and things feel familiar a they should, a quick bit of action from Black Widow doesn't help though as it looks tacky and stupid in a Milla Jovovich type of way.

Honestly the film didn't really kick into gear for me until we get our first Hulk moment on board that huge flying aircraft carrier thingy (a bit too G.I.Joe there?), this is our first team action and its good, its very good everyone looks good and the action is sharp, slick and clear.
For me the whole film is all about certain characters and how they come across in battle, in general all the team battles in this film are really very good, as said by many all the characters get their time to shine and no one is left in the cold but clearly some characters just work so much better.

The finale is a firestorm of cgi action and really does blow your balls off with non-stop Avenger ass kicking, its not even hard to follow either, you can see what's happening and there's no silly shaky camera to make you ill, its all precise. Best action from a character goes to Hulk for me with some earth shatteringly pumped destruction going on, they really nailed him good in this one, of course Iron Man gets second spot. The cgi overall is excellent but its not like we haven't seen this kind of thing before though its hardly ground breaking but it looks way better than the 'X-Men' 'Spider Man' 'Fantastic 4' films, I also liked the huge flying alien metallic dragon things, some nice design work there, the alien soldiers didn't look much (never got a good look really) but those big space dragons were ultra cool.

For me its all about Iron Man, easily the best character in the team, he looks fudging sweet, has great tech, the cgi looks best with him and Downey Jr is by far the best thing about this film. The guy carries the film when there is dialog with his witty comments and subtle sarcasm, the other players can't seem to put across the right angle, Ruffalo and Hiddleston are probably the best of the rest with Hiddleston giving Loki a slightly 'Joker-ish' play with his wry smiles.

As for the superheroes well they all look spotless, Iron Man as I said is my personal best and looks awesome, Hulk is a close second looking the best he's ever been here and actually appearing like Ruffalo facially so you can actually believe he transformed into this green monster, Loki hasn't changed much from 'Thor' and looks good whilst Thor also stays pretty much the same and looks fine. Now this is where I get picky folks, Black Widow (Johansson) looks sexy, a nice tight ass shot whilst she speaks with an incarcerated Loki I enjoyed muchly, but in this day and age her look simply doesn't cut the mustard anymore, its been done soooooo many times you think she could have been plucked from any number of films.
Captain America...what the hell did they do to his suit!? it was fine in his first film so why make it look so childish looking for this!? the hood part looks dreadful, thought so when I first saw pics of it. We all know of Fury so this leaves Hawkeye, probably the dullest looking character, I didn't like him.

Some niggles do come to mind, I wouldn't say its totally perfect but these maybe my own personal niggles hehe. Its clear Black Widow and Hawkeye are the weak litter in this film, neither really do a great deal and neither really look all that much to be honest, very dull. Hawkeye just seems like a silly character to use for this day and age, I know he's part of the original team but come on the guy runs around using a bow n arrow for Christs sake haha guns, guns, guns, knives, other worldly powers and super strength and this guy fires arrows! kinda funny really.
Plus he seems to be able to hit targets from high up without any consideration for weather, range, trajectory, altitude etc...it also takes him along time to actually run out, am I looking into this too much?.
Black Widow just doesn't really fit in the team for me, sure she's sexy and can fight but she carries two small handguns and that just comes across as rather pathetic in the midst of all out superhero war, like bringing a water pistol to a knife fight.

The other thing was Loki and his alien buddies, I presume Loki's exile was him falling into that abyss at the end of 'Thor'? how did he meet that alien race? how did he get to earth through the portal or get to the portal? and why does he even want to rule Earth? what does he get out of it?
I must also ask what the 'Chitauri' are exactly, when Iron Man downs the big mothership they all just drop, so are they robotic? or somehow connected to a central brain or something?. Trivial but hey that's how I roll.

So yes this film is very good and probably the best its gonna get for superhero team flicks and even superhero flicks to a degree, and when I say superhero flicks I mean superheroes which involve magic, sorcery, space, aliens etc...Batman, Blade, Punisher etc...are different beasts. I still wasn't blown away completely I must admit but for an eye popping mindless comicbook adaptation you can't really get much better, it does what its suppose to do with good cgi, good humour and great continuity from the previous films. Definitely a one off and historical moment as we get the first real superhero team movie, I can't see 'Justice League' topping it.

Ps. No need to stay right to the end of the credits, but don't leave straight away

[beckmen]

The Divide: Starts out good, with an opening credit sequence that pulled me in. But it doesn't take long to turn into a badly-scripted, boring, overlong, poorly-acted mess of a film. This is why I don't watch many movies anymore. It's two hours of my life I literally wish I had back. I would have turned it off, but wasn't the only one watching. D-.

[Hubbs]

Payback: Director's Cut (1999)

After seeing both films almost back to back I can easily say that, surprisingly, the original theatrical version for me is the better or most enjoyable.

There is actually a huge difference between the two films as most was re-shot for the cinematic release and changed completely. This director's cut goes back to a slightly darker approach and omits Kris Kristofferson as 'Bronson' completely and merely has a female voice (sounded like Kathleen Turner) in place, the first 15min or so is radically different and uses allot of flashbacks which were used as solid story for the cinematic version, 'Porter' doesn't kidnap 'Bronson's' son anymore because we don't even see 'Bronson' now and the ending is also completely different.

I don't like the way this was put together and I'm glad they went with the version they did, the story isn't as clear in this cut, not seeing 'Bronson' doesn't really work in my opinion as you don't really get a feel for just a voice and the ending is really quite an anti climax that cuts off flat with no real feeling of retribution served, most of bad guys live!! you feel almost cheated out of some kick ass.

The director's cut is a more sombre affair basically, slightly darker and with less pizazz, of course had we gotten this version instead I would probably be saying the version we all know is too in your face and not as subtle but we didn't so it is how it is.

Almost disjoined if that's possible for a director's cut and simply not as fun or satisfying as the theatrical version, its worth seeing out of curiosity but I didn't gel with it, plus they cut some of the dominatrix scenes with the gorgeous Lucy Liu as 'Pearl'...hell no!!

[Hubbs]

Masters of the Universe (1987)

Oh my how delicious is this piece of 80's panto, some of the best badly adapted hokey nonsense I've seen yet somehow its so damn good

Where to start! this really is your typical fantasy film of the era, every cliche every funny little niche is here as you would expect and the funny thing is it was actually meant to be a blockbuster. I have since found out there were many problems in creating this film and it does show some what, the film is really nothing like the original He-Man cartoon in any way.

Effects wise this sorta stumbles through with some interesting ideas, some of the makeup is actually quite good, 'Skeletor', 'Beast Man' and 'Saurod' all have pretty nice makeup appliances and costumes which fit the He-Man universe. Other effects are laughably terrible with some awful bluescreen work, nasty models of which most seem ripped straight outta 'Star Wars', faded poor laser blast effects and some of the most hilariously bad stunts and fight choreography you will see. Most kicks and punches clearly (and I mean CLEARLY) don't make their intended contacts lol!

The cast are actually a mix of decent character actors which is the funny thing, some of these performances saved the film and gave it cult status. Of course Langella as 'Skeletor' is the co de gra of cheesy villains with his snarling voice and bellowing cries lusting for power. For me the best and most amusing performance was James Tolkan as the no nonsense cop 'Lubic' with his sharp tongue, gotta love that guy and his baldness.
Along for the ride is steady character actor Jon Cypher, fantasy actor regular Billy Barty, Meg Foster as the quite sexual 'Evil-Lyn' in her lovely tight barbarian-esq outfit with luscious lips (oh yeah!) and last of all Courtney Cox, yes THAT Courtney Cox of 'Friends' fame and as you would expect she's still annoying as hell even back then.

So yes the film is practically a joke with its Punch n Judy style and completely awful effects, fights etc...but it has gained allot of notoriety for just that. Even when I saw this back as a kid I knew the film bared no resemblance to the original material, it always bewildered me why the creators thought to create new bad guys when there were so many rich villains to use, who the hell was 'Blade', 'Karg' and 'Saurod' suppose to be!? where was 'Trap Jaw' 'Tri-Klops' 'Mer-Man' or 'Man-E-Faces'? the same could be said for the heroes also. Then there was the question of who on earth were all these stormtrooper type foot soldiers clad in black armour that were an idea rip from so many films!?.

I have since found out they were stuck in so 'He-Man' could kill things without becoming too violent for the kids as He-Man wasn't suppose to kill. I can see that now but it still doesn't work right does it, I can't believe Lucas never sued frankly haha even with the almost identical ending to 'ROTJ'.

Its funny to look back and laugh, even more so to think films like this actually made it to the cinema and were meant to be big money spinners hehe. I actually love how the film just goes off on its own tangent completely ignoring the source material, its so far gone its brilliant in such a bad way. Gotta love 'Skeletor's' golden coloured horned silver foil battle mask getup when he transforms at the end which seems to be a rip off from 'Big Trouble in Little China'!, the way Tolkan swears oh and the fact 'Teela' seems to be wearing a thin thong if you look closely as well kids film?.

[SM]

Skyline - Passable effects reel.  Every other aspect was crap.  Script was terrible, the only character who was vaguely likeable was the hotel manager - did he even have a name? - plot was fairly non-existant, no attempt at an explanation for anything was made - even the District 9 ending.

[dude]

Rosemary's Baby

This is the best Polanski film I've seen yet. Just subtle creepiness, great performances. Gotta love the ending trolling the hell out of my conservative Christian friend.

[beckmen]

God Bless America: Pretty funny shit, although at times it does get pretty damned preachy. But entertaining nonetheless. Beware! Tastelessness abounds! C⁺.

Bobcat Goldthwaite was there for a Q&A and stuff. He seemed cool, open about questions, a good sport. It was cool just being in the same room as a celebrity I have recognized since my youth. Not sure it was worth the seven hours I spent in a car, but it was something to do other than sit here and fester.

[Hudson]

Skyline - Passable effects reel.  Every other aspect was crap.  Script was terrible, the only character who was vaguely likeable was the hotel manager - did he even have a name? - plot was fairly non-existant, no attempt at an explanation for anything was made - even the District 9 ending.

My dad actually ENJOYS the Sy-Fy channel's weekly movies, even the really shitty ones. He told me that Skyline was probably the worst movie he's ever seen. So...if he likes shit and hated that movie, it's probably pretty terrible.

I watched The Fighter finally. Pretty awesome movie but probably not as good as I thought it was going to be. Christian Bale is easily the best aspect.

[Hubbs]

21 Jump Street (2012)

Never saw the original TV series as it wasn't really on UK TV much as I recall so I'm unable to really comment on comparisons, but after reading up it does seem like this comedy is relatively close to the source material.

Basically some young looking dudes are put into a local high school to crack down on a drugs ring, the reason they are used for the case? they are young looking, pretty much the same deal as the TV show. Of course this film is akin to older films 'The Dukes of Hazzard' and 'Starsky n Hutch' in the sense that it mocks the original source and teen/cop flicks in general.

So in a spoof type way this is quite good, I found myself enjoying the typical piss taking humour as the two leads start off in high school themselves and move up into the police force together. You know what kind of gags and visual stunts to expect, a blend of 'American Pie' and 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop'  with a hint of 'Naked Gun'...and it works just fine.

For me the film started to wane from around the midway point though as the guys get emotionally attached to people they meet in the school (very predictably) and things start to get a bit mushy. You know whats gonna happen in the end, its very formulaic and cliched but it does put a smile on your face for sure. I've heard a sequel is planned but I really don't think that is necessary as this barely keeps its head above water if we are honest. I did like the two cameos in the finale though, nice touch.  

[Sebastian]

Rosemary's Baby

This is the best Polanski film I've seen yet. Just subtle creepiness, great performances. Gotta love the ending trolling the hell out of my conservative Christian friend.

My favourite movie in all categories hands down forever and ever. I watch this film at least once a year and always try to show it to someone who hasn't seen it before in the process.

[SM]

My dad actually ENJOYS the Sy-Fy channel's weekly movies, even the really shitty ones. He told me that Skyline was probably the worst movie he's ever seen. So...if he likes shit and hated that movie, it's probably pretty terrible.

I watched The Fighter finally. Pretty awesome movie but probably not as good as I thought it was going to be. Christian Bale is easily the best aspect.

I think a lot of that over the top Sy-Fy stuff with Tiffany and Debbie Gibson and megasharks and stuff isn't meant to be taken seriously.  At least I can't imagine anyone would.  I'd be surprised if the people making the film aren't in on the joke.

Skyline tried to take itself seriously, and ended up just looking really dumb.

[beckmen]

Marvel's The Avengers: Bad-ass. Whedon did a great job not only servicing all of the main characters, but also injecting just a shitload of humor and wit into the screenplay. The humor probably rivals all of the other Marvel films. The action was good, the acting was good. I think Ruffalo might be my favorite Bruce Banner. It felt pretty epic, as well in terms of pacing and length. Might be my favorite of the Marvel flicks so far, I'll obviously have to see it again to really decide. A.

Also, that post-credits scene (that I think you Euros missed) was hilarious.