BRIGHT - Will Smith, Joel Edgerton, Noomi Rapace. Future sci-fi? comedy? tongue in cheek? whatever, didn't work for me, got the kybosh after an hour getting the Golden Goose-egg on the Moizmeter.

GLITCH - Patrick Brammall, Emma Booth, Genevieve O'Reilly, Emily Barclay, Ned Dennehy, Sean Keenan, Hannah Monson, Aaron McGrath, Rodger Corser, Andrew McFarlane. 12 part Netflix series sees 7 dead people dig out of their graves, the Risen! Doctor Genevieve and cop Patrick try to keep this quiet but soon enuf, nasty types try to unrise them. We learn all the pasts of the risen and try to understand exactly how it happened. Not bad, a 3 1/2 on the Moizmeter.

moizmad wrote:
BRIGHT - Will Smith, Joel Edgerton, Noomi Rapace. Future sci-fi? comedy? tongue in cheek? whatever, didn't work for me, got the kybosh after an hour getting the Golden Goose-egg on the Moizmeter.

Definitely a slow starter that, but I enjoyed it.

moizmad wrote:
GLITCH - Patrick Brammall, Emma Booth, Genevieve O'Reilly, Emily Barclay, Ned Dennehy, Sean Keenan, Hannah Monson, Aaron McGrath, Rodger Corser, Andrew McFarlane. 12 part Netflix series sees 7 dead people dig out of their graves, the Risen! Doctor Genevieve and cop Patrick try to keep this quiet but soon enuf, nasty types try to unrise them. We learn all the pasts of the risen and try to understand exactly how it happened. Not bad, a 3 1/2 on the Moizmeter.

Watched that recently too. Pretty good, although very slow paced.

Kong, skull island.
Bit of a surprise this one. I didn't expect much but had a blast watching it.

MURDER ON THE CAPE - Normally I don't give a Golden Goose Egg to a movie I watched all the way thru, and I did somehow, but this movie is so bad it rivals Plan 9 From Outer Space. Terrible writing and the acting is abysmal, especially by the leading man who has no acting ability at all. I lost an hour and a half of my life last night.

A GHOST STORY - Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck. Congrats to anyone who makes it past the first 30-40 unbelievably boring minutes, I had my zapper in hand but somehow toughed it out for the rest of the beyond ridiculous story? It gets a 1/2 on the Moizmeter.

6 DAYS - Mark Strong, Abbie Cornish, Jamie Bell, Ben Turner, Aymen Hamdouchi. Terrorists take hostages in the Iranian Embassy in London 1980. Want Britain to demand the Iyatollah release a different tribe of Iranian prisoners held in Iran? Lots of luck there guys. 6 days of useless negotiations prove futile and a hostage is killed, trained troops go in and a small shoot-out ensues, 5 of 6 terrorists killed and hostages escape. The surviving terrorist served 28 years in prison and paroled in 2008. Way too much smoking getting a 3 on the Moizmeter.

VENGEANCE: A LOVE STORY - Nicolas Cage, Don Johnson, Deborah Kara Unger, Anna Hutchinson. Young mother is beaten and raped, bad guys set free, so Nicolas provides his own justice. A 1 1/2 on the Moizmeter.

THE SAINT - Adam Rayner, James Remar, Ian Ogilvy, and a cast of thousands, even Roger Moore! TV pilot filmed in 2013 in hopes of catching on and after 45 minutes it got the kybosh from me. A Golden Goose-Egg on the Moizmeter.

El Camino Christmas (2017)

Is this a new category of entertainment? The graphically violent Christmas movie? I am almost embarrassed to admit that I sat through this stinker.

THE OPEN HOUSE - Dylan Minnette, Piercey Dalton, Sharif Atkins. Financially challenged Mom and son move into sister's vacation home temporarily. Things start to go bump in the night. Items moved, strange noises, shadowy figure moving around. Then murders. Evidently writers didn't have any ending or explanation of the who or why so they just ended it leaving viewers up the creek without a paddle. A generous 1 on the Moizmeter.

THE GRAY STATE - Based on true event of middle-east war vet obsessed with guns and killing who has a plotless idea for a movie re a dystopian future? He slowly goes crazy and kills his wife, daughter and himself. A total waste of 1 1/2 hrs. getting a 1/2 on the Moizmeter. Some like it more.

THE 5TH WAVE - Chloe Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Liev Schreiber, Maria Bello, Maika Monroe. Aliens (the Others) in a huge space ship (which we only see once) invade Earth. Chaos ensues, Chloe's parents are killed and she protects her young bro. Production costs are spared when the aliens infiltrate the bodies of humans, so they look just like us and apparently they only have our rifles as weapons??? A small band of youths are left to save humanity and they just might do it as the aliens are dumber than a bagful of hammers. What did they do to Maria Bello's face? Some kind of make-up to make her look like the old hag of the swamp? Why, I ask you. I toughed it out giving it a 1 on the Moizmeter.

I whatched the series Witchhunter Robin.
It was an anime, but not in the style of an anime.
The people were very realistically drawn and there were zero anime cliches or stylistic things.
It reminded me a lot of Ergo Proxy but the story made far more sense!

I highly recommend this show. It was very clever and it has a lovely coherent design sense as well to the architecture and interior design.

The story was told in a very slow fashion, never revealing too much about what was going on, leaving a lot up to the viewer, but still giving you enough to go on. This anime had a lot of slow, quiet moments in between the action. Very brave of them to do that.

The characters were not superhuman Mary sues either… They could be injured, mentally, physically etc so you felt for them. Also no perviness!

Ok, what was it about? A girl comes from Itally to work for the local Witchhunters in Japan. They're a branch of police affiliated people tasked with rounding up dangerous individuals with ESP powers, who tend to use that power to kill. Those people are then taken away to a strange holding facility called “the factory”. No one knows what happens there. There are a lot of mysteries in this series, interesting characters and a lot of interpersonal politics. It was very well done.

BAD DAY FOR THE CUT - Nigel O'Neill, Susan Lynch, Stuart Graham, Jozef Pawlowski, Anna Prochniak. Irish farmer Nigel's mother is murdered by 2 intruders. He briefly saw them. Takes out his own investigation and zeros in on a real nasty woman (Lynch) and her associate Graham. Finds out motive was something his mother did to Lynch's father many years ago. I was puzzled why it took her so long to get mad. He deals with her then Graham sets trap, will he call police? You find out, a 3 on the Moizmeter.

THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX - Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Daniel Bruhl, Chris O'Dowd, John Ortiz. Future world desperate for energy finds space crew messing with a particle confusionator. I tried to follow along but I guess the paradox got me, no longer knew who was who or what was what. Then the beyond ridiculous ending, fetching a 1 1/2 on the Moizmeter.

THE RITUAL - Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier, Sam Troughton, Paul Reid. 4 pals decide to go on a hiking trip in very Romanian looking Sweden. Decide on a short-cut, which is anything but short. Realize something is lurking and find gruesomely gutted things hanging in trees, and soon a couple of them are a-hangin up too! Find group of weirdos who sacrifice folks to this horrible monster, ala King Kong. Will the hero survive to tell this tale? A 2 1/2 on the Moizmeter.

AMERICAN FABLE - Peyton Kennedy, Richard Schiff, Kip Pardue, Gavin MacIntosh. Young girl Peyton adores her father Kip, but her family on hard times farming and soon to be bankrupt, have joined forces with this weird woman who fights money-grabbing bankers, one of whom is held prisoner in farm silo. She befriends him and eventually saves him. Don't know what the law did to her parents but I think her banker pal will look out for her. A 2 1/2 on the Moizmeter.

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL - Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Sam Shepard. Michael and Kirsten's son has strange powers and is held by weird cult man Shepard. Michael kidnaps his son with the help of Joel and the chase is on. Something really strange about kids eyes and even the FBI seem to want this kid, but he is delivered to this place in Florida and apparently he gets to meet his own people? from outer space??? They never explained how he was born to normal earthly parents, a bit goofy getting a 1 1/2 on the Moizmeter.

moizmad wrote:
BRIGHT - Will Smith, Joel Edgerton, Noomi Rapace. Future sci-fi? comedy? tongue in cheek? whatever, didn't work for me, got the kybosh after an hour getting the Golden Goose-egg on the Moizmeter.

I saw a review of that, it looks pretty shitty.
It's a shame since the whole genre of fantasy creatures in the real life in the modern world has so much fun and potential, there are some fun fantasy books with that as the premise, it's a shame it was handled so badly.

UNLOCKED - Noomi Rapace, Orlando Bloom, Toni Collette, John Malkovich, Michael Douglas, Michael Epp. (alternate title: Do You Trust Anyone?) Poor Noomi is CIA and assigned, she thinks, to find terrorist cell about to release deadly air-born gas in London which will spread like wild fire. Soon she realizes that she doesn't even know who she's working for, no one seems to be what they seem to be. Never a dull moment with endless fights, gun battles and chases galore. Will Noomi figure it all out and save the world? A 2 on the Moizmeter.

NIGHTWORLD - Jason London, Robert Englund, Gianni Capaldi, Lorina Kamburova. Jason takes a security man job in Sofia, Bulgaria, and starts off OK but quickly heads downhill and gets dumber and dumber, hey that would be a good title for movie, wasting 1 1/2 hrs of my time, a generous 1 on the Moizmeter.

MUTE - Alexander Skarsgard, Seyneb Saleh, Paul Rudd, Justin Theroux, Robert Sheehan. Futuristic Berlin, somewhat Blade Runnerish, finds mute (childhood injury) barman Skarsgard looking for his lost love Seyneb. Sleazy underworld types employ 2 nasty doctors, Rudd & Theroux, for repairs. Seems one had affair with Seyneb years earlier which Skarsgard doesn't know about and might explain her disappearance. Somewhat long at 2+ hrs. and some roles seemed like filler time. A 2 1/2 on the Moizmeter.

Mute sounds interesting :)

I recently saw Love in a Cold Climate.
It's a sort of romance with some comedy… It follows the lives of 3 upper class English women from girlhood in the 1920s to married life and relationships during the war.
It was well written and very entertaining. Very well done in every respect. Even the direction :D
I recommend it highly!

I also saw an episode of Poirot. Can't recall which one but the contrast with the above project was palpable. It was also set in the 1930s but was certainly no where near as well written. The acting and direction were adequate. but the writing was sooo bad…
EVERYONE in the story was connected somehow, it was ridiculous. Maybe all Agatha Christie stories are like that? I never noticed before.
Stylised fiction is perfectly good, but with the realistic setting it doesn't make sense. It'd be better as a play.

ozoneocean wrote:
I recently saw Love in a Cold Climate.

Ah, the Mitford Sisters. Their real life stories are so amazingly crazy it makes soap operas look restrained and calm by comparison.

THE RIFT: The Dark Side of the Moon - Ken Foree, Katarina Cas, Monte Markham, Dragan Micanovic, Denis Muric. Team is sent to investigate the crash of a US satellite in Serbia. Then things get really stupid and somehow I toughed it out hoping for a miracle finish. No such luck, a 1/2 on the Moizmeter.

THE ZOOKEEPERS WIFE - Jessica Chastain, Daniel Bruhl, Johan Heldenbergh, Shira Haas, Michael McElhattan. 1939 Warsaw, Jessica & hubby operate the zoo, full of beautiful animals from around the world. Then Hitler's boys invade, animals are killed, city under seige led by Bruhl, who covets Jessica. She plays along while hiding many Jews in what's left of the zoo. Based on true story. A 2 1/2 on the Moizmeter.

DISMISSED - Kent Osborne, Dylan Sprouse, Rae Gray, Alycia Delmore, Chris Bauer. Teacher Kent gives brat Dylan a B+ but he wants an A. Brat starts messing with Kent's private life in retaliation. Hard to believe story gets a 1 1/2 on the Moizmeter.

Counterpart. I heard it was a good fix for missing breaking bad. No idea if it's gonna be that good long term but so far an interesting show.

“Your Name”
Anime movie.
Starts out with a sort of wish fulfilment body exchange, and you think it will be cliché upon cliché…
But it gets SO much better. A very touching love story, I recommend it highly!
I can't reveal details or I'll spoil it. WATCH IT!

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“Dead Leaves”
Japanese cartoon, but not anime in style.
This is a super crazy, insane movie with a very fast pace and lots of brutal, silly violence. Very “Putrid Meat” in style.
A man and a woman wake up naked in a wasteland with no memories. The man has a TV for a head. They both decide to get some clothes and go on a rampage… and that's what happens. They blast through the city killing police left right and centre, till they're both arrested and sent to a prison colony on the moon… it's a place filled with weird mutant prisoners.
And that's where the fun begins.

I've seen nothing but stinkers lately, so bad I can't be bothered to remember them. However this one was unusual and well worth a mention:
THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER - Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Barry Keoghan, Raffey Cassidy, Sunny Suljic, Bill Camp. Colin is a cardiologist who has a strange friendship with teen Barry. But we soon learn that Barry has a sinister motive involving Colin's wife Nicole, son Sunny and daughter Raffey. A few years earlier Barry's father died on Colin's operating table and Barry wants revenge. It's a weird scenario and offers no explanation of Barry's powers but held my interest all the way. A 3 on the Moizmeter.

“Leaning into the wind: Andy Goldsworthy” (2018). A documentary about Andy Goldsworthy, one of my favorite artists. Directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer Excellent movie.

Watched ANNIHILATION yesterday (directed by Alex Garland, starring Natalie Portman, Oscar Isaac, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson etc.). It had lots of stuff I usually like - weird sci-fi, exploration into the unknown, allegories about the human condition, its special FX are rather sparse but effective, it grapples with the radical otherness of aliens and how we would perceive or understand them (or if we even could)…

…but it was also somewhat disappointing, as it had a narrative framing which sort of explained too much to the viewer, dumbing it down and taking away from the mystery of it all. And it was also formally not as experimental/interesting as it should have been, given the subject matter and its clearly “artsy” and “intellectual” ambitions.

It was quite good, but really should have been better. Basically, it was a contemporary, pedestrian version of Tarkosky's “Stalker”.

Strangely, the most memorable sequence for me was what I'd describe as pure horror (rather than the sci-fi I came for). I'm not gonna spoil it, but there's a scene with a bear which is even more disturbing than the bear scene in The Revenant! D:

I watched Three Men In A Boat last night. It was the 1970s version with Tim Curry, Michael Palin and Steven More.
This is apparently the most faithful adaption of the famous Jerome K Jerome novel of the same name. It was adapted by the famous playwrite Tom Stoppard

I was quite disappointed. I've read the book and it was really quite amusing. The film follows it in such a boring, play by numbers way, ticking off the boxes, you know? This adventure, that one, this one, and that etc without giving any of the anecdotes real life or interest. It just like a tour bus visiting stops: take a pic of the sight and then leave.

The worst thing though was the sound. None of it was done one site the way they do in modern films now. It was all quite poorly done in a studio. It's flat, atmospherics are minimal and unconvincing and the voices often don't match their lips even slightly.

Good points: lovely period costumes, props and settings from the late 1800s. Michael Palin, Steven Moore and Tim Curry were all delights.