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Where did I say that 'the action is believable?'
Either way, are you questioning reality in a work of fiction that takes place in a reality of excesses? I understand someone argue about a fanciful element in a realistic narrative. John Wick is not, nor has he ever attempted to be, a realistic narrative. Johyn Wick's world is utterly absurd, with murderers inhabiting every corner. This alternative reality is full of absurdities. A normal human would certainly not come out alive from a situation like the one John deals with. But again, this is not a realistic film. At a certain point in Hard Boiled (1992) Tequila leaves situations that are impossible to escape unharmed. The same happens in certain moments of Die Hard, Die Hard 3 and many films of Jackie Chan. The Raid 2 is another example of absurd situations. All of these films I've cited do not try to be realistic, they overpower the absurd, so they're efficient at what they do. Physics does not have to be real, it's action of excess!
Either way, are you questioning reality in a work of fiction that takes place in a reality of excesses? I understand someone argue about a fanciful element in a realistic narrative. John Wick is not, nor has he ever attempted to be, a realistic narrative. Johyn Wick's world is utterly absurd, with murderers inhabiting every corner. This alternative reality is full of absurdities. A normal human would certainly not come out alive from a situation like the one John deals with. But again, this is not a realistic film. At a certain point in Hard Boiled (1992) Tequila leaves situations that are impossible to escape unharmed. The same happens in certain moments of Die Hard, Die Hard 3 and many films of Jackie Chan. The Raid 2 is another example of absurd situations. All of these films I've cited do not try to be realistic, they overpower the absurd, so they're efficient at what they do. Physics does not have to be real, it's action of excess!
Chance&Ru12 February 2017
Sin 1: Tossing out established canon.
The coolest bit of lore about the first movie is completely lost in the sequel. That alone is a sin you cannot redeem yourself for. In the original, it was established canon that John Wick was not a man to mess with. Even the main villain, respected and feared his abilities.
In John Wick 2, however, all of that is gone. Nobody fears John Wick. Nobody is afraid to take him on. His past deeds and reputation mean absolutely squat.
The new villain, never thinks twice about double crossing Wick. Every hit-man on the planet, and according to this movie they are every where, has no qualms about trying to take Wick out.
Sin 2: No main character growth In the first movie, we travel along with Wick as he avenges his dog and in the end moves forward with his grief. The video of his wife tells him to get up and move on. In John Wick 2, there is zero character growth. He is no different at the end of the movie as he is when it starts. Sure his circumstances have been altered, but as a character he has overcome nothing. That makes for a boring story.
Sin 3: Weak plot The original movie had a simple, but strong plot. Revenge. The plot of the sequel is weak, even by action movie standards. Wick has been called into service to kill a criminal, if he refuses he dies... but wait if he accepts, he also dies. The whole movie could have started and ended with the original premise of refusing the contract. It would have made more sense to refuse the contract and fight off the baddies coming to enforce the blood oath.
Sin 4: Video Game Bad Guys Wow. There is evidently a plethora of John Wick cannon fodder. They just keep coming, and there really is no logical reason why they do. The body count is so high that it becomes comical. The original had a big body count, but it was divided among 5 big action scenes and, for an action movie, seemed plausible. This one doubles the body count but there are so many, the coolness of each kill is lost in an over abundance of victims.
Sin 5: Invincible Superhero Hit by two cars, stabbed and shot numerous times and he just keeps on going. Must be seeing the doctor and getting pain pills, right? Nope no doctors in this one. That kind of logical realism may interfere with the killing of cardboard bad guys. At one point a fellow assassin, holds a pistol point blank in Wick's abdomen and fires a couple shots through him. No biggie Wick has another 42 bad guys to kill.
Sin 6: James Bond Gadgets I love the Continental, don't get me wrong, but the secret underground hit-man hosting hotel just goes too far in this one. Bulletproof suit coats that can be held up like Batman's cape to shield yourself from bullets? Silencers so quiet that two adversaries can have a shootout in a subway between bystanders and nobody knows even though bullet holes are being blasted into the walls around them?
Sin 7: Shallow Villains Yes there are the 140 plus cardboard video game baddies, but in the first John Wick, the main villain had a moral dilemma: turn over his son to save his own butt. The bad guys in Wick 2 have no interesting character motivation or dilemmas. The closest you get is Common's desire for revenge after Wick kills his client. And that was the most interesting bad guy on the screen. It is hard to believe the two movies were written by the same folks.
Sin 8: Soundtrack John Wick 1 had an unbelievable soundtrack that actually set the mood as he moved through the action scenes and the emotional scenes. This soundtrack just plain sucks. There is nothing memorable in it, and it does little to impart any emotion on a given scene.
Sin 9: Pacing Even the big action scenes in this movie are too long. In their desire to up the body count they went with longer action sequences. It really messes with the pace of the film. The first movie did a great job of dividing the action and keeping the viewer engaged. The longer these scenes go, the less believable they became which pulls the audience out of the moment.
Sin 10: Rehashing things that worked in the first movie There are some great scenes in the first Wick, and the director knew that so they tried to repeat them. This is a classic sequel mistake and unfortunately Wick 2 falls victim to this trope. You liked the interaction with Jimmy? We will get another one in there. Like the reload and kill? We will put a twist on that one also. It was great to see the pencil kills, that is how it should be done. Don't show us the same thing but different. Show us new, that may have been mentioned previously.
Making the next sequel look better then this one. The end of this movie sets up a very interesting plot for a third movie and almost everyone that walked out was excited to see it. That is wonderful, except when that movie actually sounds more interesting then the one you just watched. You should have just made that movie instead.
All in all Wick 2 falls short of the first one. Once again we are treated to an amazing movie whose sequel just doesn't capture the magic of the first one. I'm looking at you Red 2, Donnie Darko 2, Matrix 2, etc...
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Money Monster (2016) (George Clooney, Julia Roberts)
Really enjoyed the suspense and buildup throughout this movie. I love the storyline/premise of some poor guy frustrated by all the corporate greed and bringing to light just how easily corporations can get away with crime, and making them accountable for once.
8/10
Really enjoyed the suspense and buildup throughout this movie. I love the storyline/premise of some poor guy frustrated by all the corporate greed and bringing to light just how easily corporations can get away with crime, and making them accountable for once.
8/10
Darkest Hour (2017)
I'd ask anyone - there might be a great movie for someone else.. I figure since it's a movie forum, the best way to get a discussion going is when people see these movies at the same time, so that the memory/feeling is still there. Also a great way to maybe make a mention of the ones that fly under the radar.
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Nobody fears John Wick anymore...
Chance&Ru12 February 2017
Sin 1: Tossing out established canon.
The coolest bit of lore about the first movie is completely lost in the sequel. That alone is a sin you cannot redeem yourself for. In the original, it was established canon that John Wick was not a man to mess with. Even the main villain, respected and feared his abilities.
In John Wick 2, however, all of that is gone. Nobody fears John Wick. Nobody is afraid to take him on. His past deeds and reputation mean absolutely squat.
The new villain, never thinks twice about double crossing Wick. Every hit-man on the planet, and according to this movie they are every where, has no qualms about trying to take Wick out.
Sin 2: No main character growth In the first movie, we travel along with Wick as he avenges his dog and in the end moves forward with his grief. The video of his wife tells him to get up and move on. In John Wick 2, there is zero character growth. He is no different at the end of the movie as he is when it starts. Sure his circumstances have been altered, but as a character he has overcome nothing. That makes for a boring story.
Sin 3: Weak plot The original movie had a simple, but strong plot. Revenge. The plot of the sequel is weak, even by action movie standards. Wick has been called into service to kill a criminal, if he refuses he dies... but wait if he accepts, he also dies. The whole movie could have started and ended with the original premise of refusing the contract. It would have made more sense to refuse the contract and fight off the baddies coming to enforce the blood oath.
Sin 4: Video Game Bad Guys Wow. There is evidently a plethora of John Wick cannon fodder. They just keep coming, and there really is no logical reason why they do. The body count is so high that it becomes comical. The original had a big body count, but it was divided among 5 big action scenes and, for an action movie, seemed plausible. This one doubles the body count but there are so many, the coolness of each kill is lost in an over abundance of victims.
Sin 5: Invincible Superhero Hit by two cars, stabbed and shot numerous times and he just keeps on going. Must be seeing the doctor and getting pain pills, right? Nope no doctors in this one. That kind of logical realism may interfere with the killing of cardboard bad guys. At one point a fellow assassin, holds a pistol point blank in Wick's abdomen and fires a couple shots through him. No biggie Wick has another 42 bad guys to kill.
Sin 6: James Bond Gadgets I love the Continental, don't get me wrong, but the secret underground hit-man hosting hotel just goes too far in this one. Bulletproof suit coats that can be held up like Batman's cape to shield yourself from bullets? Silencers so quiet that two adversaries can have a shootout in a subway between bystanders and nobody knows even though bullet holes are being blasted into the walls around them?
Sin 7: Shallow Villains Yes there are the 140 plus cardboard video game baddies, but in the first John Wick, the main villain had a moral dilemma: turn over his son to save his own butt. The bad guys in Wick 2 have no interesting character motivation or dilemmas. The closest you get is Common's desire for revenge after Wick kills his client. And that was the most interesting bad guy on the screen. It is hard to believe the two movies were written by the same folks.
Sin 8: Soundtrack John Wick 1 had an unbelievable soundtrack that actually set the mood as he moved through the action scenes and the emotional scenes. This soundtrack just plain sucks. There is nothing memorable in it, and it does little to impart any emotion on a given scene.
Sin 9: Pacing Even the big action scenes in this movie are too long. In their desire to up the body count they went with longer action sequences. It really messes with the pace of the film. The first movie did a great job of dividing the action and keeping the viewer engaged. The longer these scenes go, the less believable they became which pulls the audience out of the moment.
Sin 10: Rehashing things that worked in the first movie There are some great scenes in the first Wick, and the director knew that so they tried to repeat them. This is a classic sequel mistake and unfortunately Wick 2 falls victim to this trope. You liked the interaction with Jimmy? We will get another one in there. Like the reload and kill? We will put a twist on that one also. It was great to see the pencil kills, that is how it should be done. Don't show us the same thing but different. Show us new, that may have been mentioned previously.
Making the next sequel look better then this one. The end of this movie sets up a very interesting plot for a third movie and almost everyone that walked out was excited to see it. That is wonderful, except when that movie actually sounds more interesting then the one you just watched. You should have just made that movie instead.
All in all Wick 2 falls short of the first one. Once again we are treated to an amazing movie whose sequel just doesn't capture the magic of the first one. I'm looking at you Red 2, Donnie Darko 2, Matrix 2, etc...
Chance&Ru12 February 2017
Sin 1: Tossing out established canon.
The coolest bit of lore about the first movie is completely lost in the sequel. That alone is a sin you cannot redeem yourself for. In the original, it was established canon that John Wick was not a man to mess with. Even the main villain, respected and feared his abilities.
In John Wick 2, however, all of that is gone. Nobody fears John Wick. Nobody is afraid to take him on. His past deeds and reputation mean absolutely squat.
The new villain, never thinks twice about double crossing Wick. Every hit-man on the planet, and according to this movie they are every where, has no qualms about trying to take Wick out.
Sin 2: No main character growth In the first movie, we travel along with Wick as he avenges his dog and in the end moves forward with his grief. The video of his wife tells him to get up and move on. In John Wick 2, there is zero character growth. He is no different at the end of the movie as he is when it starts. Sure his circumstances have been altered, but as a character he has overcome nothing. That makes for a boring story.
Sin 3: Weak plot The original movie had a simple, but strong plot. Revenge. The plot of the sequel is weak, even by action movie standards. Wick has been called into service to kill a criminal, if he refuses he dies... but wait if he accepts, he also dies. The whole movie could have started and ended with the original premise of refusing the contract. It would have made more sense to refuse the contract and fight off the baddies coming to enforce the blood oath.
Sin 4: Video Game Bad Guys Wow. There is evidently a plethora of John Wick cannon fodder. They just keep coming, and there really is no logical reason why they do. The body count is so high that it becomes comical. The original had a big body count, but it was divided among 5 big action scenes and, for an action movie, seemed plausible. This one doubles the body count but there are so many, the coolness of each kill is lost in an over abundance of victims.
Sin 5: Invincible Superhero Hit by two cars, stabbed and shot numerous times and he just keeps on going. Must be seeing the doctor and getting pain pills, right? Nope no doctors in this one. That kind of logical realism may interfere with the killing of cardboard bad guys. At one point a fellow assassin, holds a pistol point blank in Wick's abdomen and fires a couple shots through him. No biggie Wick has another 42 bad guys to kill.
Sin 6: James Bond Gadgets I love the Continental, don't get me wrong, but the secret underground hit-man hosting hotel just goes too far in this one. Bulletproof suit coats that can be held up like Batman's cape to shield yourself from bullets? Silencers so quiet that two adversaries can have a shootout in a subway between bystanders and nobody knows even though bullet holes are being blasted into the walls around them?
Sin 7: Shallow Villains Yes there are the 140 plus cardboard video game baddies, but in the first John Wick, the main villain had a moral dilemma: turn over his son to save his own butt. The bad guys in Wick 2 have no interesting character motivation or dilemmas. The closest you get is Common's desire for revenge after Wick kills his client. And that was the most interesting bad guy on the screen. It is hard to believe the two movies were written by the same folks.
Sin 8: Soundtrack John Wick 1 had an unbelievable soundtrack that actually set the mood as he moved through the action scenes and the emotional scenes. This soundtrack just plain sucks. There is nothing memorable in it, and it does little to impart any emotion on a given scene.
Sin 9: Pacing Even the big action scenes in this movie are too long. In their desire to up the body count they went with longer action sequences. It really messes with the pace of the film. The first movie did a great job of dividing the action and keeping the viewer engaged. The longer these scenes go, the less believable they became which pulls the audience out of the moment.
Sin 10: Rehashing things that worked in the first movie There are some great scenes in the first Wick, and the director knew that so they tried to repeat them. This is a classic sequel mistake and unfortunately Wick 2 falls victim to this trope. You liked the interaction with Jimmy? We will get another one in there. Like the reload and kill? We will put a twist on that one also. It was great to see the pencil kills, that is how it should be done. Don't show us the same thing but different. Show us new, that may have been mentioned previously.
Making the next sequel look better then this one. The end of this movie sets up a very interesting plot for a third movie and almost everyone that walked out was excited to see it. That is wonderful, except when that movie actually sounds more interesting then the one you just watched. You should have just made that movie instead.
All in all Wick 2 falls short of the first one. Once again we are treated to an amazing movie whose sequel just doesn't capture the magic of the first one. I'm looking at you Red 2, Donnie Darko 2, Matrix 2, etc...
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Huh. I seem to be on a roll with hooking Mom into anime. She really got into this one. She said many, many times that Shinji's dad was evil. She actually said she'd "let that thing get his evil butt and then fight it." When I told her how it's generally accepted that he's the worst dad in an anime, she was quick to say, "He is." That's funny. I like how the only other anime she's seen are Akira and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and she's so quick to say that. She was actually quick to show some sympathy for Shinji, unlike some others (a bunch of dumbasses really) who are so quick to dub him a "bitch." When he ran away and didn't come home, she said, "What do they expect when he feels like nobody cares about him?" It really pissed her off when he's in the plug pleading for help and about to burn up and his dad basically says, "No, just leave him in there," when Misato says to prioritize his safety and get him out of there. Mom's response? "That man is evil! He's pleading for help and asking them to get him out of there and they're just gonna leave him in there! He should beat his daddy's butt. (God knows how many times she said he should do that)" Oh, yeah, and towards the end when Dr. Akagi's saying, "There's no room for error," Mom just said right off the bat, "Shut up! Tellin' children that, a child and a clone child, 'There's no room for error.'" It's great watching movies with her, I'll tell you. Just watching her reactions ("Look at what he's doing!" when Tetsuo builds himself a new arm) is worth it. Dad, too, when he's not constantly working. I mean, just watching True Lies (anything really) with him and how he starts that crazy laugh of his when that Uzi starts tumbling down the stairs or how, during the last minutes of Poltergeist, he's so quick to point out that Steve actually says "Oh, s--t!" when that skeleton hits the windshield. We can't watch anything with my little sister, though. I mean, after we saw The 6th Day, she decided we weren't her family, but clones. She saw Candyman once, independent of us and kept saying, "Roaches come outta people. They come outta people's butts. It's on the movie Candyman." Yeah... maybe she should just stick to Mean Girls and Clueless. Our eldest sister, though, loves what she calls "killin' pictures" and I'm definitely letting her see Akira when she gets home in May. She'll like that for sure. My brother? Well, he and I used to watch First Blood and Above the Law (Okay, and Under Siege and Hard to Kill) all the frickin' time when he was still home. Okay, that's enough of that crap. I've gone way off the script, the point is she liked it and we'll see how she reacts to You Can (Not) Advance. I strongly suspect she'll enjoy it.
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Coco (2017, Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina)
A scintillating masterpiece of animation from Pixar. The ending alone is worth the price of admission (make sure you grab a box of tissues if you're a sentimental type
).
Last edited by this_is_the_ girl; 11-16-19 at 04:33 PM.
The last Jedi
Pathetic. Non stop chaos and clutter on screen but it felt like nothing meaningful happened. An assault on the senses.
1/5 one star for Carrie Fisher RIP
Pathetic. Non stop chaos and clutter on screen but it felt like nothing meaningful happened. An assault on the senses.
1/5 one star for Carrie Fisher RIP
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Coco (2017, Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina)
A scintillating masterpiece of animation from Pixar. The ending alone is worth the price of admission (make sure you grab a box of tissues if you're a sentimental type).
A scintillating masterpiece of animation from Pixar. The ending alone is worth the price of admission (make sure you grab a box of tissues if you're a sentimental type
).The story is more involved than the usual children's fare, and it even provides a surprise twist in the third act. The film has many musical comedy elements, including an award winning song, "Remember Me", along with other catchy songs, all written by Kristen and Robert Lopez.
The film's themes and some scenes would not be advised for kids under 10, but everyone of all other ages should be thoroughly entertained by this innovative animated film. I know I was.
~Doc
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The story is more involved than the usual children's fare, and it even provides a surprise twist in the third act. The film has many musical comedy elements, including an award winning song, "Remember Me", along with other catchy songs, all written by Kristen and Robert Lopez.
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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."
"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."
- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke
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I like "Coco" and all, but Sufjan Stevens was robbed.
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Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve, 2017)
Whoo, did I wait a long time to see this sequel or what. BR2049 was the most anticipated film of 2017 for me. I loved the original and consider it one of my Top 5 favorite movies of all time...I had heard a lot of great things about BR2049 and about Villeneuve's vision for the film...
But I have to say: I was underwhelmed by it. I'm not hating on it, and thank goodness it wasn't stupid, and let's face it, it could have easily been a cheesy sequel that dumped all over the original...But it didn't do that, in fact it paid homage to the original Blade Runner and to the original novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? I got a kick out of seeing Gaff (Edward James Olmos)...and I knew when I seen his hands working under the table that he was making one of those infamous origami characters. But boy was I surprised when I seen it was a sheep, ha! Loved that nod to the novel. And I loved that Atari sign, a nod to the original film...as was the Pris like character, Mariette (get it? mariette)...
But all the film had going for it was it's facsimile to the original. Nothing felt inspired, nothing seemed fresh or creative. I wasn't bored but I never really cared about anything I was seeing. It was all visually nice but felt like a quality painting that copies and original masterpiece.
I had expected an introspective-existential deep film, but I didn't see anything deep. The story line itself wasn't that interesting, and the characters for the most part had no soul. I mean Ryan Gosling as K was decent and I liked him, but there wasn't much there. No inner conflict, no self awareness awakening (even though that was the theme of the movie) I never felt, that K felt anything too deep.
Jarred Leto as Wallace was rather predictable. I swear he was doing an imitation of Weyoun from Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Only not nearly as good as Jefferey Combs did it. Oh, and not impressed with the recreation of Rachael. Was I suppose to believe that looked like Rachael? Not even close. Hell the shoes were even wrong.
Blade Runner 2049 paid due respect to the source material, but it lacked the feeling of 'world building' that Ridley Scott did so well.
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She liked this one, too. Not hard to see why considering this is where Asuka Langley comes in. They really nailed 14 when they wrote her. I mean, I don't know about anyone else, and this is probably why I don't understand some people hating on her, but I was just like her when I was 14. I was cocky, I thought I was grown, I thought I knew everything and I thought, "Hmph, I don't need anyone's 'help.'" I mean, her reaction when Rei says she doesn't eat meat, "Hmph! It's perfectly normal to eat other living things!" That's me when I was 14 and my little sister (back when she was a vegetarian; admittedly, she's actually the older of us and I just call her my little sister because I had to take the role of big brother due to her mental illness. Thankfully, she's doing much better now.) said, "If y'all eat meat, you'll eat me, too." I mean they nailed it. It's hard to imagine Mom being cocky and all of that with the way she is now but she said herself she was too when she was 14. Speaking of which, she's already itching to see You Can (Not) Re-do. Gotta run.
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Winchester (2018) - 2/10 Lazy, terrible horror, don't watch. And if you did, did you like it?
Life is Beautiful (1997) - 9.6/10 Beautiful, please watch this. And if you did, did you like it? lol
Fantasia (1940) - 6.5/10 Loved the short with the centaurs, loved the one with Chernabog, and loved the classic Mickey Sorcerer. Didn't care for anything else.
Life is Beautiful (1997) - 9.6/10 Beautiful, please watch this. And if you did, did you like it? lol
Fantasia (1940) - 6.5/10 Loved the short with the centaurs, loved the one with Chernabog, and loved the classic Mickey Sorcerer. Didn't care for anything else.
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Coco (2017, Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina)
A scintillating masterpiece of animation from Pixar. The ending alone is worth the price of admission (make sure you grab a box of tissues if you're a sentimental type
).
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Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve, 2017)
Blade Runner 2049 looked OK, and paid due respect to the source material, but it lacked the feeling of 'world building' that Ridley Scott did so well.
I agree with Leto's out of place character. He and his dialogue belonged in a corny space opera; not Brade Runna.
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