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Movie Walrus: LeVar Goes To The Pictures Part II - Electric Boogaloo... THE REVEAL
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8th place and 8 pts toReberetta
[Rec] 3: Genesis (2012)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1649444/IMDB wrote:A couple's wedding day turns horrific as some of the guests start showing signs of a strange illness.
Have I Seen It Before: No
LeVar's Approval Rating: 83%
Review:
The first [Rec] was submitted to my first Movie Walrus and I wasn't a fan, because I can't stand shaky-cam found footage type films, so needless to say I did not have high hopes for one of its sequels and was expecting much of the same as the one I had seen previously. Twenty or so minutes into this one though, I was surprised and relieved that they dropped the found footage gimmick entirely, and actually even when they were doing it in the first bit, there was a great meta moment where they took the piss out of themselves and one of the "camera-men" claims that shaky footage is unwatchable ; that self-awareness alone almost makes me forgive the first twenty minutes, which are indeed pretty unbearable. Once they dismiss the gimmick though, it transforms into a properly enjoyable zombie flick for the remaining hour and it was great fun altogether. The two lead actors, Leticia Dolera and Diego Martin, were likeable and easy to root for too, which often isn't the case with a fast paced zombie thriller. I can't overlook the first twenty minutes, which I wasn't a fan of, otherwise I'd be rating this a bit higher, but it came good in the end and shattered my preconceived notions, so a good choice overall.0 -
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9th place and 7 pts toaaronjennings
Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060278/IMDB wrote:The Daleks' fiendish plot in 2150 against Earth and its people is foiled when Dr. Who and friends arrive from the 20th century and figure it out.
Have I Seen It Before: No
LeVar's Approval Rating: 80%
Review:
I had seen the TV versions of The Daleks and Daleks Invasion of Earth with William Hartnell as Doctor Who, but had never watched either of the movie adaptations with Peter Cushing in the lead role. Now, its been quite a long time since I saw the TV serial of Daleks Invasion of Earth and I only have a vague recollection of it, but I don't remember it been anywhere near this good ; obviously they had a bigger budget here and a lot more action as a result, and there were more than a few changes made, but all for the better I think, and I really enjoyed this. You could take away the Doctor Who branding, and this is just a fun low budget sci-fi B movie, you wouldn't need to know anything about Doctor Who (I do of course, but it works well as a standalone film) to enjoy it, and I thought it was a blast. It was great to see a young Bernard Cribbins in action here too, especially as he goes on to have a substantial role in the modern era of Doctor Who. I enjoyed all the cast, although I'm not sure exactly how I feel about Peter Cushing as this version of The Doctor, and maybe that's just because I'm used to William Hartnell, but Cushing was also much younger at the time than the part he was playing here and the aged-up make-up is a little bit jarring ; a minor quibble in the grand scheme of things though. The score is also ridiculously upbeat and comedic at times which threw me at first, but once I got into it, it simply added to the B Movie Campiness of it all. Interesting choice, but it worked for me.0 -
7th place and 9 pts toosh
Clerks II (2006)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424345/IMDB wrote:A calamity at Dante and Randal's shops sends them looking for new horizons - but they ultimately settle at the fast food empire Mooby's.
Have I Seen It Before: Yes
LeVar's Approval Rating: 84%
Review:
Don't think I gave Clerks II enough credit the one and only time I had watched it previously. I had been a big fan of the first film and at the time I didn't think this sequel was a patch on its predecessor, so I may have disregarded it quite a bit. It may still not be as good as the first one, I genuinely can't say with any sort of conviction, as I hadn't seen either in fifteen years, but watching Clerks II now without Clerks fresh in my mind, it is incredibly enjoyable as a stand alone feature. There's the trademark juvenile humour that you expect from a Kevin Smith comedy, and there are some good laughs throughout, but its really the emotional crux of the film that makes up the last twenty minutes or so that stands out to me and elevates Clerks II from your standard (yet enjoyable) late-night shock comedy to something far superior. There's a message that Smith wants to convey in the emotional beats between Dante and Randall at the climax of the film, that I think he absolutely nails, and it's a sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with ; I can certainly appreciate the endgame messager here a lot more being fifteen years older and (dare I say) wiser than I was when I first watched it. Great choice, I'm not sure I ever would have revisited this sequel again of my own volition, so I'm glad to have re-watched it for the Walrus and had the opportunity to change what I thought was my opinion on it.0 -
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I'll be honest, the picture alone makes me want to watch itAlso Starring LeVar Burton wrote: »
I liked the first but haven't seen any of the sequels0 -
Also Starring LeVar Burton wrote: »Now, its been quite a long time since I saw the TV serial of Daleks Invasion of Earth and I only have a vague recollection of it, but I don't remember it been anywhere near this good ; obviously they had a bigger budget here and a lot more action as a result, and there were more than a few changes made, but all for the better I think, and I really enjoyed this.
Agreed 100%, although IMO the first movie is inferior to it's TV-counterpart
I'll happily take a mid-table on a movie you haven't seen before
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10th place and 6 pts toKolido
For a Few Dollars More (1965)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059578/IMDB wrote:Two bounty hunters with the same intentions team up to track down a Western outlaw.
Have I Seen It Before: No
LeVar's Approval Rating: 77%
Review:
Enjoyed this one an awful lot more than I expected I would, as I never really understood the adoration Clint Eastwood gets, I had always just found him fairly bland and unmemorable in anything I had seen him in. My opinion on Eastwood himself hasn't changed after watching this, I found him the least endearing thing about this film, and "perfectly fine in the role" is probably the highest praise I could give him, but that was all, he was fine. Lee Van Cleef on the other hand oozed charisma and stole every scene he was in from the beginning to the very end, and if the film solely focused on him as a protagonist, I'd be rating this slightly higher I imagine. I also really enjoyed Gian Maria Volonte's performance too, and his band of merry bandits were also great and memorable in their own right. The real hero of the film though has to be Ennio Morricone and his magnificent score, it captured the atmosphere and complimented the cinematography perfectly. I wasn't actually aware that the Dollars Trilogy isn't actually a trilogy until I looked into it before writing the review, and I like the fact that Sergio Leone never viewed this as a sequel, but despite that it's widely regarded and accepted as a sequel and considered to be the second film in the not-a-Trilogy Trilogy anyway even though its different characters to the preceding and following films ; I'm not even sure why, I just find that little bit of trivia interesting and it endears me to the film even more.0 -
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mustang shelly wrote: »Don't worry peeps, I have last place covered here
Maybe... Maybe Not... Nobody Knows...
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Joined in 6th place and 11 pts each toShaneUandElectric Nitwit
The Raid 2 (2014)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2265171/IMDB wrote:Only a short time after the first raid, Rama goes undercover with the thugs of Jakarta and plans to bring down the syndicate and uncover the corruption within his police force.
Have I Seen It Before: No
LeVar's Approval Rating: 85%
Review:
I had seen the first film and absolutely loved it ; to me The Raid is a perfect action movie. The thing I loved the most about the first one though is that the narrative and action are all self-contained and take place in the one setting, so I was never interested in watching this sequel which ventured out into the larger world to tell a broader and more complex story, it just wasn't something that really appealed to me. That said, I really did love this, despite not being on the same level for me as the first film was, simply for the reasons I already stated. The fight choreography and filmography were again absolutely superb and visually it was a feast. Iko Uwais and Arifin Putra in the two lead parts were incredibly compelling to watch, and I would've loved to have spent more time seeing them develop the bond they had, rather than having to rush through it to get to the next plot point of the story. It's actually my main criticism and ties in with the reason I wasn't keen to see them expand the universe (so to speak), I think everything needed more time to breathe for the film to really hit it out of of the park for me, because the story is great, just a bit rushed. It would've worked better as a TV mini-series where they could spend a bit more time on backstory for not just Rama and Uco, but all of the other characters like Eka, Prakoso, and the "Three Assassins" who all seemed like incredibly compelling characters with intriguing pasts, but there was so much to get through in the already lengthy two and a half hour run-time that there's no time to get any real context for those side characters which would've just moved everything up to that top level for me. Still really loved it and as I said visually it was a masterpiece, a great choice, and I'm glad a couple of people finally forced me to watch it.0 -
11th place and 5 pts toNecro
The Lego Movie 2: The Second One (2019)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3513498/IMDB wrote:It's been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: Lego Duplo invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild.
Have I Seen It Before: No
LeVar's Approval Rating: 74%
Review:
I had seen The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie before, but hadn't got around to this one yet. A lot of the novelty has worn off if I'm being honest, I remember seeing the first one in the cinema and I was taken aback by how unique it ended up being, and The Lego Batman Movie I really really liked too, since Batman was the best character in the first Lego Movie, and this one just didn't grab me in the same way. I still really enjoyed a lot of things about it though. All of the new songs were fantastic (The Lonely Island credits song was a personal favourite), but I didn't care for all the different versions of Everything Is Awesome ; I really liked the original version from the first movie, but it got to the point in this where all the different reprises started to grate on me. The meta humour was great again, plenty of jokes in their for the older audience. I also really liked the brother/sister dynamic that was the crux of the movie, and there was some really sweet moments that grew out of that, but I think they should've leant into it even more and actually spent a bit more time in the real world. The wedding storyline in itself was pretty decent and anything with Lucy, Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi, and Batman was a lot of fun. I didn't, however, care for the Emmet/Rex time travel stuff at all aside from one or two meta-gags, and that whole side of things felt a bit unnecessary and convoluted, and had a real whiff of "lets make sure we give Chris Pratt his own story strand so he has lots to do" rather than just letting it be more of an ensemble piece, and that's what really dragged the whole experience down for me quite a bit. Glad to have seen it, did enjoy it overall, so a good choice in that regard, but there were aspects that dragged it down for me.0 -
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Good pick Shane
I agreed with this, I wasn't too enthused when I heard there was a sequel coming, but I wasvery pleasantly surprised by the quality of itAlso Starring LeVar Burton wrote: »The thing I loved the most about the first one though is that the narrative and action are all self-contained and take place in the one setting, so I was never interested in watching this sequel which ventured out into the larger world to tell a broader and more complex story, it just wasn't something that really appealed to me
There's a great youtube video on the making of the car chase. It's amazing how they did it
Edit: here's a one minute version, there's a much longer one
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5th place and 12 pts toRikand
Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107144/IMDB wrote:"Rambo" parody in which Topper Harley leads a rescue team into Iraq to save Iraqi war prisoners and all of their previous rescue teams.
Have I Seen It Before: No
LeVar's Approval Rating: 86%
Review:
Parody and Spoof movies can be very hit or miss for me and I have a tendency to either absolutely love or completely loathe them, there's rarely much middle ground. Thankfully this fell into the former category for me, the majority of the jokes and gags landed perfectly for me, and there was some genuine laugh out loud moments ; the cameo from the Da was a big highlight for me. Wouldn't have the same affection for Charlie as I do for his big bro Emilio (who we'll be talking a fair bit about in a later round), but I can't fault the younger Sheen in the slightest here, his deadpan demeanour and delivery is what makes the film work so well, and I feel a lot of other actors would've gone over the top with the performance which would have killed the humour for me. The rest of the cast are brilliant too, great to see so many familiar faces, Valeria Golino being one of the stand-outs for me (don't think I have seen her in anything else before). A great choice, and definitely one of the surprises of the category for me, as I probably would never have chosen to sit down and watch this myself otherwise, which is really what you want from a Walrus ; discovering some absolute gems.0 -
12th place and 4 pts toAlfred Borden
Angels & Demons (2009)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808151/IMDB wrote:Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon works with a nuclear physicist to solve a murder and prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican during one of the significant events within the church.
Have I Seen It Before: No
LeVar's Approval Rating: 58%
Review:
I've never read or watched any of the Dan Brown stuff, but I recall the craze at the time where everybody and their mother were recommending Dan Brown stories because they were incredibly clever, but honestly the people who recommended it to me most were the sort of people who had difficulty tying their own shoes, so the more people told me to read/watch The Da Vinci Code or Angels & Demons, the more I never wanted to. Which is a long way of saying, I expected to hate this, but it was quite a lot better than I thought it would be. It's not even half as clever as it thinks it is though, is incredibly convulted, and I still certainly don't get the hype, but I was expected to be bored out of my mind for over two hours, and I wasn't. It was more than watchable, a huge amount of which boils down to my fondness of Tom Hanks and Ewan McGregor, both of whom are far from bringing their A Game here, but even when phoning it in it's hard to fault them. A bit of levity added in could've really increased my enjoyment, it was just a bit too sombre for my liking. There are some scenes and sequences that were very enjoyable indeed, but it never really wowed me or anything, and overall I'd describe it as "just fine".0 -
Also Starring LeVar Burton wrote: »5th place and 12 pts to Rikand
Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107144/
Have I Seen It Before: No
LeVar's Approval Rating: 86%
Review:
Parody and Spoof movies can be very hit or miss for me and I have a tendency to either absolutely love or completely loathe them, there's rarely much middle ground. Thankfully this fell into the former category for me, the majority of the jokes and gags landed perfectly for me, and there was some genuine laugh out loud moments ; the cameo from the Da was a big highlight for me. Wouldn't have the same affection for Charlie as I do for his big bro Emilio (who we'll be talking a fair bit about in a later round), but I can't fault the younger Sheen in the slightest here, his deadpan demeanour and delivery is what makes the film work so well, and I feel a lot of other actors would've gone over the top with the performance which would have killed the humour for me. The rest of the cast are brilliant too, great to see so many familiar faces, Valeria Golino being one of the stand-outs for me (don't think I have seen her in anything else before). A great choice, and definitely one of the surprises of the category for me, as I probably would never have chosen to sit down and watch this myself otherwise, which is really what you want from a Walrus ; discovering some absolute gems.
I will kill you until you die from it
What is Charlie Sheen up to these days?0 -
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4th place and 13 pts tothe purple tin
Ripley's Game (2002)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265651/IMDB wrote:A dying family man in need of money is persuaded to assassinate a European crime boss.
Have I Seen It Before: No
LeVar's Approval Rating: 88%
Review:
This was one that I really didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did. I've heard of the Ripley films, heard good things about them, but honestly the general premise didn't sound all that appealing to me, I thought it would be the type of film to crawl up its own arse becoming unnecessarily convoluted, and just not something I would have decided to ever watch myself. It was the opposite of all that though, the plot was kept fairly simple, it got in and told a good story with decent characters played by enjoyable actors, wrapping everything up nicely at the end. It had an old school feel to it despite its contemporary setting, at times reminding me of Strangers On A Train and the Hitchcock era of cinema, and that definitely appealed to me. John Malkovich and Ray Winstone were superb as usual, as was Dougray Scott (I knew the name and half recognised him, but wouldn't be able to tell you from what), and always great to see Lena Headey show up in a film too even if she didn't have a huge part.0 -
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Also Starring LeVar Burton 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 ) 0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxb9xzAaYjM
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