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Imperium is available to rent on AppleTV (maybe other OnDemand outlets, too).
DRAGONLORD'S 2016 MOVIE GUIDE
- Thread starter Dragonlordxxxxx
- Start date
Imperium is available to rent on AppleTV (maybe other OnDemand outlets, too).
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I was until I saw the trailer, which looks ridiculous, IMO.
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Ben-Huh is more like it; amiright?
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No, youre a millenial. No one expects anything from your generation.
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I'll have too look around for it. Thanks for the heads up.
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The Ben Hur trailer seems about on par with every other big screen CGI shitstorm movie, so I don't get it. Not enough robots or something?
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Sword and Sandal epics are dead these days, unless it's Game Of Thrones.
"Gods Of Egypt", "Exodus:Gods And Kings", "Clash/Wrath Of the Titans", "Conan The Barbarian", "Robin Hood", "Pompeii", "Hercules"...
Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb...
They keep making them for some reason though. Hoping to strike gold, and be the next Gladiator I guess.
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Yea it's really just hard to make movies in that time setting good. I watched Hercules simply because of the Rock and I enjoy the Hercules story.
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Those two aren't really Sword and Sandal movies.
Robin Hood has a medieval setting instead of a ancient greco-roman one. Although, since you bring it up, that movie suffers from the same problem as Ben-Hur 2016. It tries to add a layer of political substance to make it a more serious movie, but doesn't have the time or the skill to properly develop it and ends up detracting from the epic adventure side of things.
As for Conan The Barbarian, that's straight up Low Fantasy. And I will stick by my opinion that the 2011 movie wasn't as bad as people claim it was. It just suffered from comparisons to the Schwarzenegger movie, when it was sticking more closely to the tone of the original Robert E. Howard stories. The casting, the acting, the directing and the tone were on point. Momoa's Conan is considerably closer to the Conan of Howard's stories, both physically and in personality.
The problem was that the script needed more work. And I do mean a LOT of work.
Furthermore, I think that nowadays the ideal place to give Low Fantasy a legitimate try is in Netflix and the like.
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@JadeOwl As a Conanologist and big fan of Momoa, I liked Jason's depiction of Conan but you're right, the script was poor and shallow. The original Conan was so simple and basic, why try to over-complicate things with subplots and forgettable characters?
Conan is not "sword and sandals", I completely agree. I put it in its own category (which has not been done since then): fantasy opera. Think about it: less than a hundred words dialog, music driving every scene and the good ol' "you killed my father, prepare to die" premise. Of course, don't forget one of the best soundtrack ever composed (best for me, RIP Basil Poledouris).
Oh, how I long for this kind of movie but the time has passed...
Conan is not "sword and sandals", I completely agree. I put it in its own category (which has not been done since then): fantasy opera. Think about it: less than a hundred words dialog, music driving every scene and the good ol' "you killed my father, prepare to die" premise. Of course, don't forget one of the best soundtrack ever composed (best for me, RIP Basil Poledouris).
Oh, how I long for this kind of movie but the time has passed...
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MECHANIC: RESURRECTION
Genre: Action Thriller
Director: Dennis Gansel (The Wave, We Are The Night)
Cast: Jason Statham, Jessica Alba, Tommy Lee Jones, Michelle Yeoh, Sam Hazeldine, Natalie Burn, and Rhatha Phongam
Synopsis: Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) returns as the Mechanic in the sequel to the 2011 action thriller. When the deceitful actions of a cunning but beautiful woman (Jessica Alba) force him to return to the life he left behind, Bishop's life is once again in danger as he has to complete an impossible list of assassinations of the most dangerous men in the world.
________________________________
HANDS OF STONE
Genre: Biographical Sports Drama
Director: Jonathan Jakubowicz (Secuestro express)
Cast: Édgar Ramírez, Robert De Niro, Usher, Ellen Barkin, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Ana de Armas, Aaron Zebede, John Turturro, and Ruben Blades
Synopsis: Follows the life of Roberto Durán, who made his professional boxing debut in 1968 as a 16-year-old and retired in 2002 at age 50. In June 1980, he defeated Sugar Ray Leonard to capture the WBC welterweight title but shocked the boxing world by returning to his corner in the November rematch, saying 'no más' (no more).
________________________________
DON'T BREATHE
Genre: Horror Thriller
Director: Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead)
Cast: Dylan Minnette, Jane Levy, Stephen Lang, Daniel Zovatto and Sergej Onopko
Synopsis: A group of friends break into the house of a wealthy blind man, thinking they'll get away with the perfect heist. They're very wrong.
________________________________
THE HOLLARS
Genre: Comedy Drama
Director: John Krasinski (Brief Interviews with Hideous Men)
Cast: John Krasinski, Anna Kendrick, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Sharlto Copley, Charlie Day, Margo Martindale, Richard Jenkins, Josh Groban, Randall Park, and Mary Kay Place
Synopsis: Aspiring NYC artist John Hollar (John Krasinski) returns to his middle America hometown on the eve of his mother's brain surgery. Joined by his girlfriend (Anna Kendrick), eight months pregnant with their first child, John is forced to navigate the crazy world he left behind as his dysfunctional family, high school pals, and over-eager ex flood back into his life ahead of his mother's operation.
________________________________
SOUTHSIDE WITH YOU
Genre: Biographical Romance Drama
Director: Richard Tanne (feature film directorial debut)
Cast: Parker Sawyers, Tika Sumpter, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Philip Edward Van Lear, Deanna Reed-Foster, and Jerod Haynes
Synopsis: Chronicles the summer 1989 afternoon when the future President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, wooed his future First Lady on an epic first date across Chicago's South Side.
________________________________
THE SEA OF TREES
Genre: Drama
Director: Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Promised Land)
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Naomi Watts, Ken Watanabe, Jordan Gavaris and Katie Aselton
Synopsis: The film follows Arthur Brennan (McConaughey) trekking into Aokigahara, known as the Sea of Trees, a mysterious dense forest at the base of Japan's Mount Fuji where people go to contemplate life and death. Having found the perfect place to die, Arthur encounters Takumi Nakamura (Watanabe), a Japanese man who has also lost his way. The two men begin a journey of reflection and survival, which affirms Arthur's will to live and reconnects him to his love with his wife (Watts).
Genre: Action Thriller
Director: Dennis Gansel (The Wave, We Are The Night)
Cast: Jason Statham, Jessica Alba, Tommy Lee Jones, Michelle Yeoh, Sam Hazeldine, Natalie Burn, and Rhatha Phongam
Synopsis: Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) returns as the Mechanic in the sequel to the 2011 action thriller. When the deceitful actions of a cunning but beautiful woman (Jessica Alba) force him to return to the life he left behind, Bishop's life is once again in danger as he has to complete an impossible list of assassinations of the most dangerous men in the world.
________________________________
HANDS OF STONE
Genre: Biographical Sports Drama
Director: Jonathan Jakubowicz (Secuestro express)
Cast: Édgar Ramírez, Robert De Niro, Usher, Ellen Barkin, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Ana de Armas, Aaron Zebede, John Turturro, and Ruben Blades
Synopsis: Follows the life of Roberto Durán, who made his professional boxing debut in 1968 as a 16-year-old and retired in 2002 at age 50. In June 1980, he defeated Sugar Ray Leonard to capture the WBC welterweight title but shocked the boxing world by returning to his corner in the November rematch, saying 'no más' (no more).
________________________________
DON'T BREATHE
Genre: Horror Thriller
Director: Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead)
Cast: Dylan Minnette, Jane Levy, Stephen Lang, Daniel Zovatto and Sergej Onopko
Synopsis: A group of friends break into the house of a wealthy blind man, thinking they'll get away with the perfect heist. They're very wrong.
________________________________
THE HOLLARS
Genre: Comedy Drama
Director: John Krasinski (Brief Interviews with Hideous Men)
Cast: John Krasinski, Anna Kendrick, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Sharlto Copley, Charlie Day, Margo Martindale, Richard Jenkins, Josh Groban, Randall Park, and Mary Kay Place
Synopsis: Aspiring NYC artist John Hollar (John Krasinski) returns to his middle America hometown on the eve of his mother's brain surgery. Joined by his girlfriend (Anna Kendrick), eight months pregnant with their first child, John is forced to navigate the crazy world he left behind as his dysfunctional family, high school pals, and over-eager ex flood back into his life ahead of his mother's operation.
________________________________
SOUTHSIDE WITH YOU
Genre: Biographical Romance Drama
Director: Richard Tanne (feature film directorial debut)
Cast: Parker Sawyers, Tika Sumpter, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Philip Edward Van Lear, Deanna Reed-Foster, and Jerod Haynes
Synopsis: Chronicles the summer 1989 afternoon when the future President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, wooed his future First Lady on an epic first date across Chicago's South Side.
________________________________
THE SEA OF TREES
Genre: Drama
Director: Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Promised Land)
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Naomi Watts, Ken Watanabe, Jordan Gavaris and Katie Aselton
Synopsis: The film follows Arthur Brennan (McConaughey) trekking into Aokigahara, known as the Sea of Trees, a mysterious dense forest at the base of Japan's Mount Fuji where people go to contemplate life and death. Having found the perfect place to die, Arthur encounters Takumi Nakamura (Watanabe), a Japanese man who has also lost his way. The two men begin a journey of reflection and survival, which affirms Arthur's will to live and reconnects him to his love with his wife (Watts).
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Planning to see Mechanic Resurrection on Monday. I'd be interested in a review if anyone sees it before then.
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I'd be interested in what you think of it. Spoiler free that is.
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I'll let you know, bud.
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Critics' Reviews for DON'T BREATHE
Rotten Tomatoes: 87% approval rating (91 out of 105 critics like it)
Critics Consensus: Don't Breathe smartly twists its sturdy premise to offer a satisfyingly tense, chilling addition to the home invasion genre that's all the more effective for its simplicity.
Entertainment Weekly - Alvarez appears to have consciously toned down the gore from his blood-saturated Evil Dead remake, trusting unnerving visuals and foreshadowing what terrors are about to unfold. B+
New York Daily News - The type of edge-of-your seat thrills promised by its commercials, but also takes you into far darker territory than anticipated. 4/5
Empire Magazine - An intense, streamlined exercise in gruesome thrills, with a tiny glimmer of social context (it's all about the economy) which doesn't take away from the exciting struggle to get out of this house of horrors. 4/5
Rolling Stone - This is some weird, twisted s--t. Don't groan when I say Don't Breathe is a home-invasion thriller. Director Fede Alvarez is as good as it gets when it comes to playing with things that go bump in the night. 3/4
Richard Roeper - Don’t Breathe is an impressively photographed, well-acted, relentlessly paced horror film sure to sicken some and delight others with its twisted sense of humor — and its twisted sense of plot twists. In what is shaping up to a banner year for scary movies, this is another solid and memorable entry. 3/4
Rotten Tomatoes: 87% approval rating (91 out of 105 critics like it)
Critics Consensus: Don't Breathe smartly twists its sturdy premise to offer a satisfyingly tense, chilling addition to the home invasion genre that's all the more effective for its simplicity.
Entertainment Weekly - Alvarez appears to have consciously toned down the gore from his blood-saturated Evil Dead remake, trusting unnerving visuals and foreshadowing what terrors are about to unfold. B+
New York Daily News - The type of edge-of-your seat thrills promised by its commercials, but also takes you into far darker territory than anticipated. 4/5
Empire Magazine - An intense, streamlined exercise in gruesome thrills, with a tiny glimmer of social context (it's all about the economy) which doesn't take away from the exciting struggle to get out of this house of horrors. 4/5
Rolling Stone - This is some weird, twisted s--t. Don't groan when I say Don't Breathe is a home-invasion thriller. Director Fede Alvarez is as good as it gets when it comes to playing with things that go bump in the night. 3/4
Richard Roeper - Don’t Breathe is an impressively photographed, well-acted, relentlessly paced horror film sure to sicken some and delight others with its twisted sense of humor — and its twisted sense of plot twists. In what is shaping up to a banner year for scary movies, this is another solid and memorable entry. 3/4
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Critics' Reviews for HANDS OF STONE
Rotten Tomatoes: 44% approval rating (30 out of 68 critics like it)
Critics Consensus: Hands of Stone's strong cast and fascinating real-life story aren't enough to compensate for a crowded narrative and formulaic script.
Entertainment Weekly - It ... falls victim to too many trite boxing-movie clichés and is in way too much of a rush to cover too much narrative ground. It sometimes feels like you're watching it with a finger on the fast-forward button. C+
New York Daily News - It’s engaging, sure, with some fast-paced and capable fight sequences. Fists fly but feelings don’t. That’s one of the reasons the film’s not a knockout. 3.5/5
Richard Roeper - Hands of Stone is a rousing, well-filmed and solid (if at times overly generous to Duran) biopic with a bounty of charismatic performances, two of the sexier scenes of the year, some welcome laughs and a few above average fight sequences. 3.5/4
James Berardinelli -
Traditional and uninspired, it does an adequate job of relating Duran's story but falls short of providing an engaging cinematic experience. 2.5/4
Rolling Stone - True story of Panamanian boxing champ's rise and fall punches short but gives Robert De Niro a knockout role. But when Ramirez and De Niro go at it in and out the ring, Hands of Stone shows it knows how to dazzle and get in its licks. 3/4
Rotten Tomatoes: 44% approval rating (30 out of 68 critics like it)
Critics Consensus: Hands of Stone's strong cast and fascinating real-life story aren't enough to compensate for a crowded narrative and formulaic script.
Entertainment Weekly - It ... falls victim to too many trite boxing-movie clichés and is in way too much of a rush to cover too much narrative ground. It sometimes feels like you're watching it with a finger on the fast-forward button. C+
New York Daily News - It’s engaging, sure, with some fast-paced and capable fight sequences. Fists fly but feelings don’t. That’s one of the reasons the film’s not a knockout. 3.5/5
Richard Roeper - Hands of Stone is a rousing, well-filmed and solid (if at times overly generous to Duran) biopic with a bounty of charismatic performances, two of the sexier scenes of the year, some welcome laughs and a few above average fight sequences. 3.5/4
James Berardinelli -
Traditional and uninspired, it does an adequate job of relating Duran's story but falls short of providing an engaging cinematic experience. 2.5/4
Rolling Stone - True story of Panamanian boxing champ's rise and fall punches short but gives Robert De Niro a knockout role. But when Ramirez and De Niro go at it in and out the ring, Hands of Stone shows it knows how to dazzle and get in its licks. 3/4
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Mechanic Ressurrection was pretty mediocre. Even knowing what to expect as a cookie cutter Jason Statham flick, I was still disappointed. Jessica Alba was horrible. The fight sequences were stale and Statham managed to dispatch every foe with unbelievable ease. I'd wait to catch on rental.
I will say that Statham was in incredible shape for this pic, probably the best of his career. Starting to look his age though.
I will say that Statham was in incredible shape for this pic, probably the best of his career. Starting to look his age though.
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Dying to see this! Amy Adams is absurdly fabulous as always. She was a red headed supernova of grace and poise in Arrival (brilliant slow burn of a movie btw). Jake Gyllenhaal is still basking in that fiendishly marvelous post Nightcrawler glow. Tom Ford has a lot of potential.
