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
@FuriousMachine Is Kingdom of Planet of the Apes a decent jumping in point for people who’ve never seen the prior films? I’m not speaking of me — I think I’ve seen all the modern trilogy — but I have a friend I’ve been trying to convince to watch them and it might be easier to convince them to see this new one instead of going backwards. Does it give a good synopsis and stand alone narratively?
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution Hmm... Difficult to say; I would say both yes and no. In terms of the story, it pretty much stands on its own, but the ghost of Caesar looms large and he is referenced quite a bit. This is set long after the previous trilogy and he is more a legend than an historical figure here, and while it is light on synopsis, it might not matter for your friend not to know the details of Caesar's rise and reign.
My gut tells me that it should be a fine jumping in point. There should be absolutely no issues following the plot and the story, but knowing that the movie is heavily referencing a character from the earlier movies might be distracting for them, leaving them to wonder what they're missing, without actually missing anything, if that makes sense?
EDIT: I also believe the movie is quite clear on who Caesar was when they reference him, avoiding any confusion with our real life historical figures, etc.
@FuriousMachine I watched Immaculate a few weeks ago. Is the actress relevant in some way? I had no idea who she was/is. I thought the film was relatively forgettable to be honest with you. So much so that I'm having a little trouble recalling the events of it. I do remember laughing at a few moments, not the makers intention, but I have a tendency to find amusement in inappropriate things! Not a bad film, just kind of ... 🤷
I finished up watching the Apes trilogy this morning. I have seen Rise many times, I have dragged people to the cinema to watch it and then showed it to everyone on blu-ray. Yet I loved Dawn and War more so. My wife accompanied me to the cinema to watch those ones, yet I only tore off the plastic from the blu-ray cases last night for them. Superb movies all 3 and now looking forward to Kingdom later this afternoon 😀.
@Malaise Absolutely agree with you; not bad but not particularly good either. I liked this take on "girl goes to Italy to become a nun and gets pregnant" better than the one in The First Omen, but that is pretty much the only advantage this one has over the latter. I too found a few chuckles in there and I liked the ending.
As for Sydney Sweeney, I had only seen her in Madame Web, which is a terribly bad movie with naught but terribly bad acting, but I thought she was perfectly fine in this one. Apparently, she was hyped quite a bit as the "next big thing", through no fault of her own, and now she is facing backlash with everyone trying to shout as loud as they can that she isn't "all that". So, just another case of a bunch of people being douchebags, in my opinion.
@FuriousMachine Yeah, the whole ramping up and ending sequence was pretty cool. I'd have liked to have seen something, but perhaps it's best my bloodlust wasn't sated in that instance. 😅
Ah, I've got you on Ms Sweeney's heightened relevance. And I 100% agree with your last couple of sentences. I tend not to buy in to hype of any kind and just take things as they come. Sucks that she's having to deal with the bs through no fault of her own. Good luck to her in her career, and perhaps I'll seek out this Madame Web. I do quite enjoy a genuinely crap film from time to time.
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