So, I saw the PushSquare review of the Knuckles series and I was filled with disbelief and doubt. Is this franchise actually watchable?
The games were never my jam, but Sonic's been around since the good old Amiga days and I've always liked the character (how can one not like a superfast blue hedgehog with sneakers and an attitude?). However, I was convinced, absolutely certain, that the recent movies were nothing more than cynical and mediocre cash grabs aimed directly at kids who don't know better.
So, having had my preconceptions completely shook, I watched the trailer and when that produced some good chuckles, I relented and rented Sonic the Hedgehog
What I got was a fun, thoroughly charming, entertaining and even heartwarming movie that made me LOL quite a few times. I love it when I'm wrong about these things
Did anyone read about Paramount’s latest Earnings Call? Hahaha.
CEO “steps down” they bring 3 people in to replace him, then they have a 9 minute earning call, don’t take any questions and instead play the Mission Impossible theme on a loop.
Howard the Duck (Tubi) - I... Was not expecting to see duck boobs. Seriously, this is definitely pretty bad, but so much so that it's pretty hilarious (felt pretty decently high budget for a comedy as well. This was definitely a blunder). Still, ignoring the alien demon invasion aspect in the latter half, it could have maybe been salvageable if it stuck to Howard being a duck out of water in our world for more of it's runtime. This is the kind of project that should be a D+ MCU TV series (given the character is a tertiary peripheral existence in the GotG films). Tangently related to the overall brand, but not to the point where it's particularly important to film continuity.
Showdown in Little Tokyo (Blu-Ray) - Dolph Lundgren plays an L.A. supercop who has it out for the Yakuza, who are trying to get a foothold in the US (and whose leader killed his parents). Big on action, it's short, to the point, & pretty fun. I had actually caught this late night on HBO as a kid but never remembered the name or any of the actors, so I went about 2 decades without seeing it until now when I relearned of it. These old 80's/90's Hollywood flicks that deal with the topic/fear of Japan's growing economic/cultural relevance (at the time) might not always be the best representation, but as someone who was a Japan obsessed kid before widespread Internet adoption they were pretty much all we had outside of the occasional Godzilla marathon or whatever anime was airing on Cartoon Network at the time, so I have a bit of a nostalgic connection to them. Hope I can get around to seeing Rising Sun, Gung Ho, & Mr. Baseball in the future as well (& maybe discovering some I don't know of).
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
Saw The Fall Guy in the theatre yesterday and had a very good time with it. The story is paper thin and if you don't see the "reveal" coming a mile off you'll forgive me for thinking this is the very first movie you've seen
The cast is having a blast, though, and they're uniformly great. Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling have undeniable chemistry and are supported by a scenery chewing Hannah Waddingham and Aaron Taylor Johnson, who portrays a terrible actor brilliantly, as well as a scene-stealing appearance from Stephanie Hsu. There is a fun cameo at the end of the film and the post-credits scene has another one, which I guess was kind of expected.
The real stars of the show, however, are the stunts and the action set-pieces, which are quite inventive and often spectacular (as is only proper when a stuntman directs a movie about a stuntman).
I have never seen the tv-series this is based on, so I cannot speak to any nods to the source material, but this in no way hampered my enjoyment of the film.
Good times was had
Watched TMNT Mutant Mayhem and I was little disappointed. The animation style was really cool. The story was ok. Splinters "wife" was disgusting, and April was extremely ugly. I have no idea why they decided to make her so unappealing and in 2 moments disgusting. Maybe to be funny but it was not for me.
The fighting scenes were really cool. The model quality of the turtles however is SO much better than ALL of the other models and it is distracting. Like the only areas where the animators put any effort were the environments and the 4 turtles
At the end seeing them without their iconic mask wraps playing in the school was so damn weird! I was NOT a fan of it!
With that said I will watch the sequel because I am a TMNT fan.
Just got back from a screening of Immaculate, the new religious horror movie with Sidney Sweeney, and it wasn't half bad. At first blush it is very similar to the recent The First Omen, but this goes in somewhat of a different direction, and I found it quite a bit more interesting (I am being purposefully vague here). Both movies manage to build a decent atmosphere with a creepy setting, but this one relies a bit too much on some fairly cheap jump scares for my taste. Still, if you're a horror fan, this is far from the worst movie you can spend time with this year.
The Abyss (4K UHD Blu-Ray) - Watched the Director's Cut version.
After a nuclear sub goes down after running across an unknown craft, a nearby deep sea oil rig crew is contracted to go on a rescue/research mission before a hurricane moves in, but what they find will change their (& our) world forever.
Tense, gripping, mesmerizing, & beautiful are all feelings that come to mind. James Cameron is clearly a master of his craft when it comes to VFX, and despite a few moments showing their age, this was pretty much just as immersive as any modern special effects showcase (like the new Dune movies), that didn't feel nearly as long as it's 3 hour run time would suggest.
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
@MightyDemon82 Got my IMAX ticket for tomorrow evening
Was sceptical, but the overall early buzz seems positive, so I am excited! Absolutely loved the previous trilogy.
Watching Johnny Mnemonic, haven't seen it before but it is basically the last of us*
Keane Reeves is Ellie.
I wonder what the sequel would have been like.
Ralph Ineson as Galactus means people round the world will discover how great Ralph Ineson is. Literally everything he does, he’s brilliant in. I guess people here are more likely to know him from FFXVI though which I find wild, it’s always strange to me when British actors off the telly do games (Xenoblade having Linda off Eastenders is hilarious). Having a look at his filmography, they really do need to repeat Shakespeare Retold at some point cause they were brilliant. Glad I have them on DVD.
Saw Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes in IMAX last night, and I liked it a lot. It's not as good as any of the entries in the "Caesar" trilogy, but I feel it's still a worthy entry in the franchise.
Noa is a very interesting character and the movie shines when exploring the dynamics of the various factions and societies in the fledgling ape civilization. The first half is at times spectacular and the effects are amazing throughout (I joked that the animal trainers had done a great job training apes to ride horses and talk like humans).
The human element starts off interesting but falters a bit in the second half, as does the movie in general. I'm also not entirely sold on where the movie leaves us for any possible sequels; feels like it just sets up a retread of what we've already seen before.
Those are just minor quibbles, though, and I truly enjoyed it. Also, shout out to the excellent Kevin Durand and Peter Macon, who are the movie's MVPs in my opinion.
Great stuff
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