kauaioo

The Secret Life of Pets
I thoroughly enjoyed The Secret Life of Pets, it's so sweet and of course the main characters are *very* close to my own heart (I really, reall want a dog! :( ) I also loved that it was set in New York. I don't think this movie is as good (by that I think I mean adult-focused) as the likes of Shrek or Inside Out, but it's a good watch nonetheless.

The Magnificent Seven
I'm not a big fan of westerns so this was never going to be a favourite of mine. As re-makes go it wasn't awful, but it didn't stand out in any way. Performances were good, but not stellar; the settings were un-spectacular; the dialogue was fine but nothing fancy; the actiin scenes were fine...basically there wasn't anything special about this movie. Given the popularity of the original, this re-make was an ambitious task, but unfortunately it failed on all fronts.

Bridget Jones' Baby
I thought this was going to be rubbish, but it was actually great fun. It's not a patch on the first movie but it had enough to give us all a laugh and a decent opportunity to enjoy the character who has now become a household name.

War on Everyone
I hated this one! For me it was an attempt at a Tarrentino movie, without the genius of Tarrentino. The chemistry beteeen the characters just wasn't there, the performances were poor (I liked only one character in the entire movie!) and the plot was standard, predictable fare. The attempt to weave together separate storylines in a Tarrentino-esque way was a failure, and the dialogue between the cop buddies was flat rather than quirky and fun. Overall, I hated it and wouldn't find any reason to recommend it.

One line would do it: exactly like the other movies. Personally, I see that as a tremendous plus, I thoroughly enjoyed the other movies. Matt Damon can do no wrong, I love him :-) On the down side, there was less suspense in this one and no love interest so it's not quite as strong as the originals. The computer magic is a bit far fetched, but I'm very capable of turning a blind eye to that so it didn't bother me. The pace was the now-standard racy series of non-stop action sequences that our next generation seems to demand; I'm not a lover of this particular development but have come to accept it and lower my expectations accordingly. All in all, Jason Bourne was an enjoyable couple of hours, it's not as good as the originals but it's close enough to make it worthwhile. Once.

I have fallen behind on my movie reviews, so here's a catch-up:

Absolutely Fabulous
It was Ab Fab, it had all of the characters and the usual story lines, but I'm not a big fan of the show so it wasn't a fabulous movie for me. Joanna Lumley was great, and the cameos / mini-parts by all of the British stars were amusing.

Ghostbusters
I loved it! I laughed the whole way through the movie, top marks for entertainment value. I loved that the original Ghostbusters showed up, and of course some of the original ghosts (or balloon versions of them!). I actually liked the re-mix of the song, and they included a little bit of the original too. The female cast were (mostly) fantastic! I am not a fan of Melissa McCarthy, I don't enjoy her brand of self-deprecating fat humour and I was very pleased to see her play a different role, I had expected her to ruin the movie for me but it was quite the opposite. I wasn't a fan of the zany scientist Ghostbuster, she was wooden and didn't do it for me, but the other three rocked! There were lots of tongue-in-cheek references to other movies, from Jaws to Thelma & Louise and of course Thor! OMG, Chris Helmsworth was hilarious! They totally ripped the piss by making him a super hot but super stoopid assistant, and it was very, very funny. I loved it all, in fact I might go to see it again.

The Legend of Tarzan
Tarzan was great craic! The story line was reasonably good, and the bad guy was truly horrible and that always makes for a better movie. The animals were really well done, they were realistic and the human-interaction parts weren't really OTT. Samuel L Jackson was a good addition, he was quite funny throughout. Jane was a really good, strong female character who kicked and actually had a line something like 'oh you want me to cry out like a damsel in distress?! Go get f**ked' (of course it was more eloquent than that, but you get the sentiment). And all the while that I was loving the empowered, strong female character...I was counting down the moments until that shirt finally came off!! Tarzan...well, he's a work of art! His character was all about physical strength, jungle know-how and his passion for and determination towards Jane. He nailed it! He wasn't much of a conversationalist though. I really enjoyed the movie, but the character of Tarzan was flat and served only as a mechanism to hold the more interesting characters together.

Central Intelligence
Central Intelligence was very funny. It was extremely predictable, but this is not something I see as a fault. It wasn't trying to be a clever, plot-heavy movie. It was light and fluffy and it worked. Aaron Paul had a very small part in the movie, I always want more of him! The Rock was awesome! I didn't know he was so funny, and he seems to be very down-to-earth. There was great chemistry between the actors, and the out-takes at the end were very funny. I'm not claiming it's a Good movie, but I loved it and would certainly watch it again, it was very entertaining!

The Meddler
I only went to see The Meddler because I showed up for Central Intelligence, only to find out I had misread the timetable and it wasn't out yet! I hadn't seen any trailers, but given that Susan Sarandon was in it I thought it would be worth a watch. It wasn't. It was very disappointing and not worthy of Sarandon. The story was less of an arc than it was a straight line, that fell off a cliff at the end because they had run out of time and perhaps audience patience! The basic story line is that Sarandon's husband has died fairly recently and she moves from NYC to LA to live near her movie-industry daughter. Sarandon has no life of her own so 'meddles' in her daughter's life (the meddling is mostly phoning her 50 times a day and having long conversations with her voicemail). The daughter then promptly fecks-off to NYC for a work project so Sarandon is forced to develop a life in LA. She makes some friends and has a fairly jolly time. There's a love interest that she rejects at first, but then without much warning she changes her mind and decides to make a go of it with the love interest, her daughter magically flips a switch and now they're best buddies and she's suddenly over her husband and sprinkling him in the ocean. It's so abrupt and very unsatisfying, although I was so bored throughout that I'm not sure any ending could have saved this movie. Moral of the story? Read the movie schedule better next time :)

How To Be Single
While this was never going to be a critically acclaimed movie, it ended up being a little bit better than I had expected so I was pleasantly surprised. I wouldn't go so far as to recommend it, but it didn't completely suck.

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
I watched this ages ago but somehow managed to miss typing up my review - I thought it was a good movie, and very typical of Michael Bay. For some, this will mean it was too cheesy, for me...I loved it! I was quite happy to see the surviving soldiers slap each other on the back at the end, knowing they had secretly saved the world *again*. I loved the American-ness of it all, I don't have an issue with the American superiority complex; I might not always agree with their superiority, but it doesn't bother me. If it bothers you...it might irritate you in this movie. The story itself was about an elite group going in to an embassy (I think) to rescue people caught up in an attack / riot. The whole area erupts at night and it is very scary! I loved all of the action, it was very gritty and it was scary and it was gruesome. I think that war is gross and scary and completely alien to me, and I think it should be that alien to me so I like when it is presented as such. Of course, there is a line between presenting something gritty and making it entertainment, and presenting something gritty that is just too close to the bone and leaves me with nightmares. Thankfully, this movie was on the right side of that line. It made me think about war zones and the soldiers who put themselves in harm's way, but it also afforded me an opportunity to escape the brutality of that reality by making the movie about a team of practically super-human, elite, stuff-of-legend soldiers that makes me think that maybe, *maybe* it's just a movie and I don't have to be *too* scared. Anyways, big thumbs-up for this movie, well worth a look.

The Jungle Book is a great story so it's hard not to like the new movie, but I found myself imagining the 1967 original throughout and of course the new version doesn't come close. The specal effects in the Jon Favreu version are amazing, the animals are very realistic and the jungle itself is rich and colourful. It is quite amazing how far the industry has come, and it's such a shame that it's more or less taken for granted now. I can't even imagine what the future has in store, it seems impossible to think that the special effects can be improved upon but I'm sure the artistic and technical geniuses of the world are already developing the next big thing.

I feel bad for the kids of today (did I actually just say that?!) that most of them will never experience the original Disney movies, instead they will watch movies like the 2016 Jungle Book alongside Zootropolis and every other high quality annimated movie and they will all blend together over time and none of them will leave a lasting impression. Back when Disney released their original movies, The Jungle Book, Bambi,Snow White, Dumbo, they were uniquely Disney, they were the only (I think?) children's movies and so they carved out a very special place in cinematic history. I love that I got to enjoy these gems (albeit slightly later than some of the original release dates), and I love that they still occupy a special place in my heart. This new movie will never be that.

Leaving aside the unfair comparisson of Jon Favreau's movie to the 1967 Jungle Book, this movie is very enjoyable and hits all the iconic scenes and songs of the original. The voice actors are very good, Christopher Walkin as Louie was funny but Ben Kingsley as Bagheera stole the show. I thought the kid who played Mowgli, Neel Sethi, was excellent so who knows what's in store for him. Overall it's an enjoyable movie which is particularly good on the big screen, but it left me craving the original so if you own the DVD be prepared, I'm comin a beggin (you know who you are :)

I was skeptical about Sing Street when I heard it was an Irish movie, that really could go either way! Without knowing anything else about it, I went along and found myself being completely blown away by it! Sing Street is one of the best movies I have seen in a very long time, and I am so thoroughly delighted that it is an Irish production and indeed a quintessentially Irish story.

The protagonist is a young lad in Dublin in the 1980s who is moved from a private secondary school into the public school on Synge Street, which is in a rougher part of the city with a more colourful student body. He makes new friends through the formation of a band, Sing Street (I always give bonus points for puns). As the band experiments with its sound, we are taken on a nostalgic musical journey through the 80s, with the fashion, hair styles and eye-makeup to boot. There's a wonderful innocence to this journey as we see it through the eyes of a teenage boy who grapples with a teenage romance, schoolyard bullies, the idolization of his older brother and the turbulent relationship of his parents; no matter what obstacles are thrown in his path, he manages to maintain his childhood innocence and joie de vivre and the childhood optimism of the movie becomes infectious.

Sing Street manages to capture the essence of Dublin at that time, from the economic downturn to the strict Christian brothers to the roller-coaster of musical treats. There wasn't a moment of the movie where I wasn't completely enthralled, my only disappointment was when the journey ended and I found myself wanting to watch it again right there and then. The performances were excellent, the writing simple but poignant and the music a real treat for any lover of the 80s. Sing Street gets two whopping thumbs-up from me, I can hardly wait to watch it again.

I quite enjoyed Batman Versus Superman and I don't think it deserved to be slated as much as it was. I certainly had some issues with it, some big and some trivial, but overall I enjoyed the movied and I am looking forward to the next installment. But, now for the nitty gritty...

The lighting in the movie really bothered me, this is something I always hate about Batman movies. I could really do without the bat cave paralell as I don't think it adds anything to the movie. I hate squinting at the screen and feeling like I am missing half of everything, just turn on the fricking lights people!! I don't read comic books so I am not sure if this is how the artwork for Batman was done, maybe the comic book fans love this and it's just a reference that I am missing or enjoying wrong.

Ben Afflick isn't Christian Bale. Michael Keaton is my favourite Bruce Wayne; Christian Bale is my favourite Batman but Ben Afflick didn't even come close on either count. I also disliked Batman's suit, it was too big and bulky and awkward for my liking, as was the Bat Mobile, it was all pretty poor really. So far, I'm all for Superman in this particular fight. Oh, and Alfred sucked balls too!

The writers tried to cover far too much back story, the set-up should have been shortened a lot. I don't see why they had to include anything about Batman's origins (I'm really anti-bat in this!). They also laboured the reasons for Batman and Superman being at odds, and I don't feel that it was actually believable, and then it was over very quickly and suddenly they're on the same side again.

That's quite a lot of negativity so far, but I did actually enjoy the movie! I enjoyed the scene where Lois is in the desert and Superman comes to rescue her; I thought that was done well and I was emotionally invested. I enjoyed Bruce Wayne sneaking around the party and Superman overhearing his earphone, that was really funny. It's a pity there wasn't more of this, and more of them trying to find each other and more suspense leading to their inevitable fight. And of course I loved the whiff of Wonder Woman at the party, I just knew it had to be her and I was super excited!

I *loved* Lex Luther's son! He was super brilliant, the performance was great and the character was whacky and dangerous and I think there's plenty of scope there for future movies. I liked Lois Lane well enough, but I didn't love her. She hadn't got the vulnerabilities of Lois Lane. I have to admit that most of my frame of reference is formed from Lois & Clarke, The New Adventures of Superman (which is super awesome!). Of course there wasn't enough space to really develop the Lois & Clarke relationship as much as you would in a Superman movie, but they managed to show the depth of their love and I bought it hook, line and sinker, I *loved* it and wanted a whole movie focusing on them and allowing Lois to be developed more.

Really, the best part of the movie for me was Superman. I loved him! I have no idea who the actor is and in the trailers he was sidelined a lot, so it was a very pleasant surprise that he was so good. I enjoyed him as Clarke Kent, although it was a side of Kent we never really saw before; he never gets annoyed, he's always so happy-go-lucky, but because he's so angry at Batman we see a different side of him and that was interesting. I also loved that they cut to the chase and we jumped in with Clarke and Lois being together (the relief was palpable because I just can't go through the agony of that story line again, not after years of The New Adventures of Superman and waiting, waiting, waiting for it to happen!! (really I loved the torture every week, it was an awesome will-they-won't-they :) And, Superman in the bath...yummie! He really should get his cape off more often.

So, then there were fight scenes and I found myself enjoying them a lot. I think this was partly because the build up had been so slow and it was great to finally have some action! But they were good. And then Superman and Bat-ass were pally again and I was left wondering if their fight actually happened, it was over so fast and without consequence or much reflection. And then....

I still cannot believe that they killed Superman. I just think it is so wrong and should not have happened. I was really angry when this happened. One of the criteria by which I judge movies is their ability to elicit an emotional resonse and I certainly had one here so thumbs up for that, but major boo that it had to be a negative emotion. I saw the movie when it first came out, so a couple of weeks ago now, and I am *still* peeved that they killed him.

This review has been a bit disjointed - flicking between characters, ups and downs, little isolated pockets of good amongst a lot of bat-complaints. So while it may appear to be poorly constructed, it is in fact a good reflection of the movie itself becuase that's exactly how I felt it was: disjointed but with cool glimpses of Superman, an awesome Lex and a strong Lois & Clake love story that left me wanting more.

Triple 9 gets a triple yey from me! My only complaint about it was that it was a movie and not a tv series of 13+ hours. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and thought the performances were very strong across the board. I'd have liked to have seen more of Aaron Paul (Jesse Pinkman of Breaking Bad fame). Casey Affleck was a new discovery for me; He seems to be more talented than his brother, he portrayed a likeable good guy and with his less-Hollywood look he pulled it off so well. In my book, Woody Harelson always adds to a show, and Kate Winslet was simply unrecognisable as the cold-hearted Russian bitch we love to hate. It was only when Winslet's name came up on the trailer that I knew who she was, she gave a great performance in a very different role for her - let's just say if she had found herself on a sinking ship in this movie, I think I'd be hiding her lifeboat!

The movie did an excellent job of setting the scene, it created such a rich environment of gang warfare and police corruption, with glimmers of hope in the form of honest cops and family members that I was so disappointed to see it end so soon. Which reminds me of one criticism, the ending felt like they had run out of time so they wrapped it up too quickly and without that post-orgasmic pillow talk that every girl needs! I really think this would be a fantastic setting for a tv show akin to The Wire or Breaking Bad, so I shall live in hope of a tv spin off. Meanwhile, I might just re-watch Triple 9, I do love a good action / heist movie after all.

Yeah...I'm not convinced.

I had never heard of Dead Pool before, so I wasn't sure what type of character he was. I'm not sure, but I think I don't like him. I would probably like him if he was one of an ensemble, but a whole movie of him was a bit much for me to take. He's kinda horrible. He's got the wit of Iron Man, but none of the goodness or charisma. I know that he's not a super 'hero', but if he's not the hero, and the bad guy is certainly not the hero, who are we supposed to root for? His wit and crude sense of humour definitely made me chuckle, but it wasn't enough to get me on-side and really invest in the outcome. Of course I loved Colossus and the teenager-with-the-crazy-superhero-name, so they did bring me on-side more, but they weren't in it enough to salvage the movie overall.

Apart from the character himself, the movie was enjoyable. The slow motion, the flash backs and forwards, the music, breaking the fourth wall, the tongue-in-cheek gags, I loved all of it and special mention for the funny opening credits. And yet, when we add all those little bits together, what should have been a great movie just didn't do it for me! I think it tried too hard, maximum effort.

I watched this in Cineworld, Parnell St, somewhere I haven't been for several years. It was enjoyable to be back in an old haunt, and I was pleased that some of my old gripes about the place are no longer an issue. The main problem for me was always the long queues but thanks to the ease of online booking and the use of QR codes instead of actual tickets that aspect of the experience was much improved. The queues in the shop were abysmal, no change there. The seats have all been upgraded so the theatre itself was very pleasant, and the toilets were clean and surprisingly had toilet roll! Was it worth the €13 ticket price though? Only for this once-off trip down memory lane.

The trailers were worrying...there's at least three horror movies on their way so expect a reprieve from these posts for a while (I do *not* do scary). I had to keep reminding myself that zombies are never scary, zombies are hilarious. Thankfully, the trailers were nothing like the main event so I am optimistic about my sleep tonight!

Anyways, enough digressions! It. Was. Awesome! What's not to love? It was Pride and Prejudice. And it had zombies! I loved it; my girlfriends and I giggled all the way through. They managed to blend the two worlds together wonderfully. It had all the romance and dresses of P&P (they did the entire P&P plot by the way) so we were giggling and swooning and sighing and generally loving every minute. And that was blended with a total 18-yr-old gamer take on the story - hidden knives, regular swordplay, random encounters in why-would-you-go-in-there woods. It was done in a very Buffy-esque way, but it did lack a Spike.

The only real important matter, for any version of P&P, is of course....Mr Darcy! I had Lizzie's reaction to this Mr Darcy - I wasn't too keen on him at first (he's certainly no Colin Firth *swoon*), but as the story went on he really did grow on me. I liked him well enough by the end, but no, he didn't really do it for me in the way that Mr Darcy should. It will be extremely hard to get a better Darcy than Colin Firth, or Matthew Macfadyen, I love his Mr Darcy, but they could have gone less 1D than Sam Riley. Lily James was stunning as Lizzie, and Elizabeth Bennet kicked all kinds of live, dead and undead ass like the awesome character that we know and love. The whole cast performed well and didn't giggle once! I'd love to see the out-takes though, they must have had great craic making this one. I particularly loved the Darcy proposal scene - that really akward conversation, filled with misunderstandings on both sides. Well this time, the exact conversation takes place as they kick the $h!t out of each other, with some kinky button-popping thrown in for good measure.

There really should be more zombie chick flicks.

Spotlight is definitely a movie worth watching, but again it's not one that requires or benefits from the big screen. The entire cast was excellent, with Michael Keaton deserving a special mention. Of course the storyline is one that we are all too familiar with - the Church systematically covered up systemic child abuse and the rest of the city (police, families, lawyers, even journalists) turned a blind eye for decades. Perhaps audiences outside Ireland would experience more shock or horror at this revelation, but I don't see how anyone here could find anything surprising in this story. And so, as a movie designed for entertainment value, Spotlight was very good but lacked oomph. There was no new or surprising information revealed, and there was no satisfactory ending because unfortunately the Church is standing at the end of the movie!

I enjoyed the intricacies of how the journalists went about fighting the Church to get records un-sealed and how they finally exposed the story. I always enjoy seeing the journalstic process up close, it's something I am very fond of and often wonder if that would have been a satisfying and successful career for me. I also enjoyed some of the side characters, particularly one lawyer who was fighting on behalf of the victims against this seemingly inpenetrable wall of evil. I think that a story focusing on his efforts would have yielded a more emotive response.

While the movie lacked oomph, and indeed a satisfactory resolution, I found that it held my attention throughout and I did thoroughly enjoy it. I would like to experience watching this movie without knowing the truth of the systemic abuse and cover-up, I think if that were the case I'd be raving about it being the best movie ever! But, that's not the case and having an understanding of how widespread the abuse was, the movie just falls a little flat. It's still a worthy endeavour, and the writing and performances are so good that I would still recommend it very highly.