Kind: Watches

watching a movie, television show, online video, play or other visual-based event
Watched Prometheus (2012) by an author from letterboxd.com
A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

I renounce my previous review. There is no cogent story here.

We’re invited to guess a lot of the motivations in this movie, especially regarding David, but any conclusions you might draw will only last a scene or two and then be completely upended.

Is this just a slowly unfolding plot, though? No, because, when you reach the conclusion and the character’s “actual” motivations are revealed, you’ll be able to track back and find them acting to the contrary.

Applying Occam’s razor, rather than conclude that this is an extremely complex and naunced story, with many philosophical meditations on existence, it’s baldly obvious this is just a bunch of preconceived set pieces/visuals/story beats, lifted straight off the studio pitch story boards, and pasted together with a “story” glue made of bullshit.

★

My review

Watched The Sum of All Fears (2002) by an author from letterboxd.com
When the president of Russia suddenly dies, a man whose politics are virtually unknown succeeds him. The change in political leaders sparks paranoia among American CIA officials, so CIA director Bill Cabot recruits a young analyst to supply insight and advice on the situation. Then the unthinkable happens: a nuclear bomb explodes in a U.S. city, and America is quick to blame the Russians.

Great story, thanks to the novel, but not a great film. Although I did like the far-right replacing the islamists!

★★½

My review

Watched Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018) by an author from letterboxd.com
It has been ten years since The Battle of the Breach and the oceans are still, but restless. Vindicated by the victory at the Breach, the Jaeger program has evolved into the most powerful global defense force in human history. The PPDC now calls upon the best and brightest to rise up and become the next generation of heroes when the Kaiju threat returns.

Woke up 8am Sunday morning, my 12 yo son was 10 minutes into this. Sat on the sofa and watched it to the end with him. We has great time. Five star life experience from a three star movie.

★★★

My review

Watched Goosebumps (2015) by an author from letterboxd.com
After moving to a small town, Zach Cooper finds a silver lining when he meets next door neighbor Hannah, the daughter of bestselling Goosebumps series author R.L. Stine. When Zach unintentionally unleashes real monsters from their manuscripts and they begin to terrorize the town, it’s suddenly up to Stine, Zach and Hannah to get all of them back in the books where they belong.

Watched with my 9 y/o. Neither of us have read any of the books so I am sure there was some fan service that was wasted on us, but we both enjoyed it and I had a lot of good laughs. In terms of “scares” there was just the right amount of tension to make it fun.

9 y/o decided that Slappy was easily the scariest thing in it.

★★★

My review

Watched Black Mirror: Mazey Day (2023) by an author from letterboxd.com
A troubled starlet is dogged by invasive paparazzi while dealing with the consequences of a hit-and-run incident.

Let’s be honest, the story is not even remotely close to what you’d expect from Black Mirror, is it?

But I liked it. It’s short and yet achieves as much as similar genre efforts, and more than some.

★★★

My review

Watched Deadpool 2 (2018) by an author from letterboxd.com
Wisecracking mercenary Deadpool battles the evil and powerful Cable and other bad guys to save a boy's life.

It’s not as funny as it ought to be. Josh Brolin is admirable playing the straight man without which I am not sure most of this would work.

★★★

My review

Watched Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) by an author from letterboxd.com
After his retirement is interrupted by Gorr the God Butcher, a galactic killer who seeks the extinction of the gods, Thor Odinson enlists the help of King Valkyrie, Korg, and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, who now wields Mjolnir as the Mighty Thor. Together they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.

Watched this for family film night. Drew some big laughs from the kids but…

I feel like this is a classic example of a film where none of the fun from the creative process actually translates into the movie. I often review films based on whether (I think) they achieve what they set out to do. Aside from making Mighty Thor pretty awesome, I am not at all sure what this movie achieves.

This is in stark contrast to Deadpool 2, which I watched later, which is similarly anarchic and unsubtle in its humour but does exactly what you’d expect.

★★

My review

Watched The Abyss (1989) by an author from letterboxd.com
A civilian oil rig crew is recruited to conduct a search and rescue effort when a nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks. One diver soon finds himself on a spectacular odyssey 25,000 feet below the ocean's surface where he confronts a mysterious force that has the power to change the world or destroy it.

This review may contain spoilers.

I dunno which version has the aliens threatening mankind with tidal waves but that bit is shit

★★★★ (contains spoilers)

My review

Watched Rye Lane (2023) by an author from letterboxd.com
Two twenty-somethings, both reeling from bad break-ups, connect over the course of an eventful day in South London – helping each other deal with their nightmare exes, and potentially restoring their faith in romance.

Had some big laughs with this. It is shot a bit like a student’s final project, where it feels like they’re going for extra credit, but I liked that for the most part. And I really enjoyed the tour of Brixton and Peckham. Made a nice change!

★★★★

My review