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Movie Walrus: LeVar Goes To The Pictures Part II - Electric Boogaloo... THE REVEAL
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Electric Nitwit wrote: »11th - 74%
12th - 58%
That's a big drop off!
And it's gonna get droppier...
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aaronjennings wrote: »It should go without saying for books-turned movies, but as much as I enjoy the movies, the books are way better
(And yes, I can tie my own shoe laces )
So long since I wrote that review that I had to go back and read it just to get this reference... :pac:0 -
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mustang shelly wrote: »Don't worry peeps, I have last place covered hereAlso Starring LeVar Burton wrote: »Which brings us to our Top 3 and Bottom 3, who are (in alphabetical order)...
Arghus
cee_jay
Irish Aris
JP Liz V1
mustang shelly
Sawduck
And we'll make them sweat for a few minutes before diving into that...
I think it is me Shel0 -
13th place and 3 pts tomustang shelly
The Expendables 2 (2012)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1764651/IMDB wrote:Mr. Church reunites the Expendables for what should be an easy paycheck, but when one of their men is murdered on the job, their quest for revenge puts them deep in enemy territory and up against an unexpected threat.
Have I Seen It Before: No
LeVar's Approval Rating: 51%
Review:
Generic action movie is unsurprisingly generic. I'm sure I'm supposed to give a crap that all of these big name mumbling and slurred-speech action stars are all crammed into one film and lose my sh*t when they say their catchphrases from the movies they're best known for, but I really don't care all that much about most of them in general. I like Dolph Lundgren and Terry Crews, but they're hugely underutilized here. I'd be a fan of Jason Statham, but he's far better in other films where he gets to show his comedy chops a lot more, although he does have some decent moments in this. The Chuck Norris scenes I genuinely really really liked, especially the nods to the early internet memes based on Norris, but at the end of the day, it's just a cameo role he has in this film ; his scenes alone just about drag this film over the 50% point though. Stallone, Schwarzeneger, Willis, and Van Damme have made some cracking films in their time, but for me they're not selling points or a draw for me to watch a film, and they just did nothing for me in this. All that said, there's some good action sequences and I didn't dislike it, I just didn't particularly enjoy it either, and overal was just a bit indifferent to the whole experience.0 -
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3rd place and 14 pts toSawduck
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179933/IMDB wrote:After getting in a car accident, a woman is held in a shelter by a man who claims that the outside world is affected by a widespread chemical attack.
Have I Seen It Before: Yes
LeVar's Approval Rating: 93%
Review:
The majority of this film is absolutely flawless, and then there's the few minutes that feel shoe-horned in to tie in with Cloverfield, that prevent me from giving it full marks, because they just take away from the amazing drama and brilliance that makes up the guts of the story. I know the original script initially had nothing to do with Cloverfield at all and that that came much later when producers got involved and started tinkering around with it. It's an amazing film, I genuinely love it, everyone should watch it, and it's the greatest performance of John Goodman's career, its just that I find the "Cloverfield" elements somewhat jarring and they feel a bit like a toddler jamming a square peg into a round hole. Ultimately in the grand scheme of the film, it's a minor thing, and I'm only making a big deal out of it because it's the sole reason I'm not giving this 100% ; like watching a gymnastics performance that is truly breathtaking, and then the gymnast fecks it up and fails to stick the landing, so as a judge you can't give it full marks.0 -
Also Starring LeVar Burton wrote: »
I liked Two and a Half Men, a great ensemble cast that worked so well when Sheen was in it
I know there was allegations made about one of the Coreys and him and also he has HIV0 -
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14th place and 2 pts toJP Liz V1
Paddington 2 (2017)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4468740/IMDB wrote:Paddington (Ben Whishaw), now happily settled with the Brown family and a popular member of the local community, picks up a series of odd jobs to buy the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy's (Imelda Staunton's) 100th birthday, only for the gift to be stolen.
Have I Seen It Before: No
LeVar's Approval Rating: 50%
Review:
Two main thoughts ran through my head on a loop while watching this film, "they sent that poor little bear to prison on a shocking lack of evidence," and "I know this is a movie for children, but they are really downplaying what prison is like, not that I was expecting Oz levels of gritty portrayal, but they should use this opportunity to dissuade kids from becoming criminals, not paint prison like a rosy holiday camp". And honestly those two thoughts were my main takeaway from watching this. I had seen the first one at one point and remember quite enjoying it, but it wasn't especially memorable, and I had heard on several occasions that this was better than the first one and one of the best kids movies in recent years, so my expectations were probably a bit high going in, but even if they weren't I can't see myself viewing this film as anything but overwhelmingly 'meh'. I enjoyed Brendan Gleeson's performance, but didn't care for Hugh Grant's villainous portrayal, and nobody else stood out one way or the other, so it kind of balanced out. It was sweet and inoffensive, and that's about it ; I didn't dislike it, nor did I particularly enjoy it, it was just fine, very middle of the road, and thus it gets the ultimate middle of the road rating from me.0 -
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2nd place and 15 pts tocee_jay
Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2848292/IMDB wrote:After a humiliating command performance at The Kennedy Center, the Barden Bellas enter an international competition that no American group has ever won in order to regain their status and right to perform.
Have I Seen It Before: Yes
LeVar's Approval Rating: 94%
Review:
This is a great example of a sequel that builds on everything that they got right with the first one and they make it even better ; the songs are better, the comedy is better, the chemistry between the characters is better, the new characters introduced are perfect, and it all just works. Pitch Perfect appeared in my first Walrus and I gave it a total of 87%, which is a great rating, and the sequel just kicks everything up a few gears. Funnily enough, I only watched this over Christmas and I didn't think watching it again so soon would do it any favours and I feared there may have been diminishing returns, but I loved every second of it yet again, and it was just a joyous two hours once again, which is a great sign when re-watching something in such a timeframe. Elisabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins are beyond amazing in every scene they're in, could've easily watched ten hours straight of the two of them just bouncing off each other. All the returning cast members were great, the German villains were class, plus Hailee Steinfeld and Keegan Michael-Key were perfect additions to the cast for me as I'm a big fan of both of them. A pitch perfect choice indeed.0 -
Which leaves us with Arghus and Irish Aris as top and bottom of this round, both of whom opted for foreign language cinema, but who done it better is the ultimate question...
Oh and it's time to call back to just a few minutes ago, when this was pointed out...Electric Nitwit wrote: »11th - 74%
12th - 58%
That's a big drop off!Also Starring LeVar Burton wrote: »
And it's gonna get droppier...0 -
Last place and 1 pts toIrish Aris
Crimson Rivers 2: Angels of the Apocalypse (2004)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337103/IMDB wrote:Pierre Niemans faces the threat of the apocalypse while investigating a series of ritual murders.
Have I Seen It Before: No
LeVar's Approval Rating: 17%
Review:
What the actual f**k was that supposed to be? There's a couple of cool action sequences, that I genuinely enjoyed, shoehorned into this convulted drivel, and they elevate the film from completely unwatchable sh*t, to mostly unwatchable sh*t with two solid action scenes that just managed to convince me to award this film about 17% more than it deserves to get. Jean Reno and Christopher Lee are two top tier actors whose talents are completely wasted in this crap, and Benoit Magimel puts in a decent enough performance here that it makes me want to see how he fares in a good film that isn't a complete waste of time. It would be unfair of me to suggest that there's no plot at all here, because there is one, but its just stupid and poorly executed, and really just wasn't my cup of tea at all.0 -
1st place and 16 pts toArghus
Pusher II (2004)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396184/IMDB wrote:Tonny is released from prison - again. This time he has his mind set on changing his broken down life, but that is easier said than done.
Have I Seen It Before: No
LeVar's Approval Rating: 95%
Review:
Honestly if this didn't have "two" in its title and wasn't submitted into a Sequels category, I wouldn't have known it was part of a trilogy, because it's just a brillant standalone piece of cinema. I'm always a fan of Mads Mikkelsen in anything I've seen him in and while Tonny is about as far from the usual characters I've become accustomed to seeing him play, he is amazing as always, and the character is a fascinating lead. I was genuinely captivated throughout and was disappointed when it ended, even though I think it actually ended perfectly. There was a subtlety to the storytelling and the character journey that I really appreciated. It never got bogged down in detail or caught up in the minutiae, even though there's quite a lot going on it all just falls into place and happens around Tonny, rather than trying to shoehorn in infodumps and spoonfeed plot details to the audience, it had a natural flow and rhythm to it ; storytelling at its best basically. I don't think I've watched many Danish films, this and The Hunt (also starring Mads Mikkelsen) are the only ones that immediately spring to mind, but if all Danish cinema is at that level of quality, I really need to start watching more offerings from Denmark going forward.0 -
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9th place and 8 pts toSawduck
A Perfect World (1993)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107808/IMDB wrote:Kidnapped boy Phillip Perry (T.J. Lowther) strikes up a friendship with his captor Butch Haynes (Kevin Costner): an escaped convict on the run from the law, while the search is headed up by honorable Texas Ranger "Red" Garrett (Clint Eastwood).
Have I Seen It Before: No
LeVar's Approval Rating: 81%
Review:
Didn't know what to expect from this one at all, I think I had heard the name beforehand, but I had no idea what it was about or even what genre it was, and opted to remain in the dark until I hit play. I really enjoyed it, it's a great story and I was invested in the characters (well, most of them anyway, more on that in a moment) throughout, especially the two main characters Butch and Phillip. Kevin Costner is an actor who I remember getting a fair bit of stick for some of his roles, but I've always enjoyed any movies he's been in, but this is probably his best performance. T.J. Lowther was fine as far as child actors go, he didn't really stand out as a particularly good, but I wouldn't say he was bad either and for the part he was playing his performace suited the character he was playing. My only real issue with this film was Clint Eastwood's performance. I felt he should've just focused on the directing here rather than taking on a character role himself, he didn't have any chemistry with the rest of the cast, and he had great actors like Laura Dern and Bradley Whitford to bounce off of, but he just lacked any charisma or likability whatsoever, and his character annoyed me as a result ; I did mention in the last round that I don't really care for Eastwood in general. Thankfully the majority of the film is spent following Costner and Lowther, and I also enjoyed all of the other supporting characters along the way, so Eastwood aside, overall I really enjoyed it.0 -
Join Date:Posts: 49730
Also Starring LeVar Burton wrote: »Good news... No duplicates in this next round (the only round without any duplicates)...
Kicking off from the middle of the pack outwards, starting...
Wow! Maybe it's just me so
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8th place and 9 pts toaaronjennings
Baby's Day Out (1994)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109190/IMDB wrote:After three kidnappers lose the baby they have kidnapped, both the cops and kidnappers go looking for the baby.
Have I Seen It Before: Yes
LeVar's Approval Rating: 82%
Review:
This is one of those movies that I had on VHS as a kid that was battered and worn out from the amount of times it had been watched. It was a firm favourite of my siblings and I back in the latter half of the 1990s. I also haven't watched it since the late '90s, for fear it was one of those films that I had fond memories of, but wouldn't hold up well on a re-watch. I actually met Joe Pontoliano there a few years back and I was telling him how it was one of my favourite movies as a kid, and he said it was one he really loves himself because it's one of the few films he had made that he was able to show his own kids as they were growing up. He was also telling me that Verne Troyer (best known as Mini Me from Austin Powers) was the stunt double for the Baby in the movie (something I wouldn't have thought about when I was a kid), and that there was also a robot baby for some of the scenes, and I was really worried when I sat down to watch this that something like that would be glaringly obvious on this rewatch and take me out of the film, but it holds up remarkably well, and I had no reason to fear. I did notice the body/robot doubles once or twice, but they never looked out of place and its as enjoyable a film as I remember. A great trip down memory lane for me. The one big issue I did have with it, is that the part of Eddie was clearly written with Joe Pesci in mind, but he wasn't available or turned it down, so they gave the part to Joe Mantegna, and it just felt out of place for me… you have Joe Mantegna trying to play Joe Pesci, and it just doesn't work as there's only one Joe Pesci. The two twins who play the baby though were fantastic, they somehow give the character a big personality, and I'm one of those people who think all babies look the same and are boring until they can hold a conversation, so that's impressive for a couple of babies.0 -
10th place and 7 pts tothe purple tin
Hue and Cry (1947)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039478/IMDB wrote:A gang of street boys foil a master crook who sends commands for robberies by cunningly altering a comic strip's wording each week, unknown to writer and printer.
Have I Seen It Before: No
LeVar's Approval Rating: 73%
Review:
This one was a good bit of fun and had a pretty decent story, but they could've spent a bit more time establishing the antagonists, and fleshed the plot out just a little bit more. Some of the acting from the kids isn't great either, but overall I enjoyed it quite a lot. The thing I enjoyed the most is that it's filmed on location in London not long after World War II, and a fair bit of the action takes place in buildings damaged during The Blitz, which I thought was very cool to see and served as a unique backdrop to the story. Visually it's very pleasing and there's some nice action and stunts throughout as well. In terms of style, there were elements of Film Noir in there which I wish they had just leaned into completely, instead of veering more down the comedy caper route, but that's more of a personal preference moreso than any really gripe with the film, because what they did go for was well done and perfectly enjoyable in its own right. Definitely an interesting choice for the round, as this probably would never have been on my radar otherwise, so very glad to have seen it.0 -
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7th place and 10 pts toKolido
Cujo (1983)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085382/IMDB wrote:Cujo, a friendly St. Bernard, contracts rabies and conducts a reign of terror on a small American town.
Have I Seen It Before: Yes
LeVar's Approval Rating: 87%
Review:
If I'm not mistaken, this is the first adult horror movie I ever watched, at about age 11. Not sure if my Mam decided to let me watch it after endless begging or if I snuck the VHS into the house and just waited for the prime occasion to watch it when I knew I wouldn't be interrupted (most likely it was the second one), but I managed to watch it anyway, absolutely loved it, thought I was bad ass for surviving through an 18's Rated Horror, and I've always held it in high regard ever since. It's the film that instilled in me not only a love for the Horror Genre, but also prompted me to start reading Stephen King novels (again at too young an age to be doing so). It definitely has it's problems, it takes forever to get to the Cujo of it all, the kid is annoying and his screams are painful to the ear, and they spend a bit too long on Vic's work problems considering they're largely irrelevant, but I actually don't care and can overlook a lot of that stuff that I'd probably completely slate other films for because the rest of it is great and nostalgia covers all of the cracks. Haven't watched it in a long time, but it holds up much better than I had expected too. Great choice in what is unfortunately a hotly contested round, which means middle-of-the-pack is the best Cujo can do despite the high rating.0 -
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Also Starring LeVar Burton wrote: »
I saw it again a few years ago about a decade after seeing it last... I think there are definitely some scenarios you wouldn't get away with in a movie today. It really feels like a peak-90s movie 0
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