I went to the Cineworld cinema to see the latest instalment of the 28 Days Later franchise. A wasn’t really that interested in seeing this a few months ago. There’s only so much horror films bother me and I find them mostly stupid. But, over the xmas break I watched all the previous 28 Days films. I think they were on offer on iTunes or whatever Apple call their video store and I bought them remembering that 28 Days Later was a great film from the distant past. There were a few things I could remember about 28 Days Later that stuck with me – wandering around an empty London, dodgy army people and the final cottage and aircraft flying by. So, over xmas I watched the first three films. 28 Days Later is still amazing and for me was more a story about human survival and the human condition than being a pure zombie flick. The second film wasn’t great, standard zombie stuff. But 28 Years Later was amazing. An excellent film about humans and how they might react and cope post apocalypse.
So to the most recent film. The tide was very low as I drove the river road to the cinema. But I will say it seemed even lower a few hours later so I’m not really sure what’s going on with that. It was dark both times so maybe the reflections – how I judge the river level – were playing tricks on me. I really enjoyed this film and rated it 8/10 on IMBd afterwards. You should read this communication from the before-times to see how the rating system works.
The zombies were playing a secondary role in this film, much like the previous one. This was really a story about human survival and how things could go after a catastrophic event. What happens to an eight year old when everything they know is torn apart? What happens to a doctor when they lose the world? I really enjoyed this film. It’s really well made. It looks great. I will say there are some scenes of torture that seemed a little much but then nothing was explicit and the actual violence was mostly implied. Two people walked out of the cinema shortly after the barn scene. I think the inclusion of the scene is justified as it shows what the Jimmys are capable of.
The absolute best scene was with Dr Kelson pretending to be the devil and putting on a show for some visitors. The music first of all was perfect. I’ve been a huge Iron Maiden fan and to play Number Of The Beast loud and unapologetically while Dr Kelson sings and throws fire around was absolute film making at its best. I loved that scene. Stunning.
Spoiler Warning.
The final scene opening with a cottage and subtle views of a Landrover excited me. Probably because the first film was in my recent memory. It was great. I sat up straight and enjoyed it immensely.
This film is highly recommended for the humanity displayed, the cinematography and the overall story. Just excuse the torture porn.
I decided to have a cheeky midweek visit to the movie house. Of course I went to the Cineworld cinema at Rochester. It’s probably not the closest cinema to me but it’s the one I’ve been going to since the late 90s and the parking is free, the river is pretty and it’s not in Maidstone. While driving next to the river I noticed there were many birds sitting on the mudflats. So, I think this happens when the tide is about halfway. I’m not sure why this would be their behaviour, I’ll have to look into it. I would also like to point out that I haven’t seen this is daylight, I’ve only noticed it recently and in the dark so it could be something else entirely. I will post photos next time there’s so sunlight showing the scene rather than reflected street lighting from the East Kent side of the county
I like writing these communications after seeing a film as it gives me an extra way to interact with the film. I can react to something and wonder how I will explain that in my way in my words. I sometimes think that there’s a particular scene or phrase I need to remember as it was really something I wanted to write about. I expect I forget most of these as I don’t make notes in the theatre. I rated this film on IMDb and before you complain about the score you need to know there is a system and it is explained in this communication from 2014. I rated this film 4/10.
This was not a good film. I rewatched the first film before christmas and thought it was kinda ok. The story seems quite routine but it was visually stunning. I’m not sure what I would have rated it after seeing it at the cinema. Then I also watched the second film while wrapping presents and generally chilling out on christmas eve. I really didn’t like it. I stayed watching it because I had paid for it and I sort of wanted to see what happens at the end. That is the reason I went to see this current film. I could spend some time in a warm building where someone else is paying for the heat – the UK is currently in a cold snap – and it would finish the story off. I was NOT wanting to sit through over three hours of film.
The visuals had been done before and so I don’t think anything need be said about those. I’m going to concentrate on the storyline. It was shit. Derivative. Boring. Entirely ordinary. Borderline terrible. I hated it. The whole world knew how the story was going to finish by then end of the second movie. There might be a few minor details you wouldn’t have predicted but overall it ends how you expect it to end. The natives win the big battle. Everyone cheers. There isn’t a sense of loss over those who died in the battle. No discussion about the future. No plans to stop the sky-people. Utter shit.
This film also explains so much about the current state of capitalism on planet Earth. When leaving the cinema people should be thinking about how companies are tearing up the planet for the sake of money for the few. Because more money means more power and more power means more money. These ideas are a cancer to the long term efforts of humans and Earth as a whole. Just because this Avatar story is set on a planet a few trillion miles away [which was mentioned in the script but it’s probably not a correct number but there’s a definite CBA about fact-checking it] it clearly is meant to show the exploitation of other countries for the enrichment of our own. If you leave this film feeling slightly sorry for the natives and the creatures of that world then perhaps you should think about who the fuck you vote for at the next general election.
A few aspects of this film that made me super annoyed should be noted. The first thing, and that isn’t just this film but part 2 also was Jake Sully making his kids call him “Sir”. I am going to maintain that if you make your kids call you “Sir” then you are an arsehole. I understand that he is training them for war and he wants them to understand how to fight but be a human-fucking-being about it. They are your children. You are their dad. Let them call you dad. Oh, by the way, that’s not the only absolutely toxic masculine trait that Sully manifests. So much of this movie glorifies fighting and battle it’s an absolute testosterone fest. Absolute bullshit. Proper American grade wank fest of jingoism.
I was annoyed at the potential sacrifice scene that occurs about two thirds of the way through the movie. It was a logical move but man, they didn’t need to play it so Abrahamic. Let’s head out into the woods to slaughter a child for the sake of the future of the blues. If this film had any guts it would have killed that kid and dealt with the consequences of that. But it chickened out. The film didn’t want to face tough decisions. It wanted to glorify fighting for what you believe in against a much larger force, against the USA. Maybe this film was an analogy of the white invaders to the Americas causing death and destruction. I mean, it’s not that subtle really if it is that. I wonder if general white USA will notice?
While the blues fought off the sky-people do they really think that they are safe given the value of the natural resources on their moon-world? Of course you aren’t. Humans have such need for greed in the current system. We are burning our own planet because we can. We will burn it all down just so a couple of people can be extremely wealthy. Until the mega rich are prosecuted and sent to prison there will be no peace and no fixing of the problems of this world.
This film was not really disappointing. I wasn’t expecting much. It lived up to my expectations. I didn’t leave the film feeling despondent. There have been plenty of other films I’ve really wanted to be good but were utter shit. They left me feeling rubbish for ages. The Phantom Menace broke me. Alien – Prometheus did the same. Such excellent promise ruined by bad film making. I’ll leave you with one good thing about this film – The first time I looked at my watch was two hours into the over three hour movie. I didn’t get uncomfortable in my seat which happens when I am really bored. So maybe this film held my attention for most of its runtime.
I took a trip to the cinema to watch this film. It was the only film showing that I thought I could sit through. I had seen the trailer and even then I thought – huh a sports film but about table tennis, no thanks. But I went anyway. The tide was low along the esplanade as I drove in, I could see all the mud bank. As is customary I rated this film on IMDb after I watched and there’s a whole communication dealing with the scoring system.
I started out quite liking this film. There were some very strange opening credits but then it settled down into some serious table tennis. Eventually I got fed up though. WHY IS THIS FILM 2.5 HOURS LONG? I realised that Marty is a supreme cunt who is a selfish narcissist. What an absolutely entitled prick that man is. At around the two hour mark I was willing to give him my own money so he could get to Japan and end this fucking movie. I got to a point where I could see no redeeming features in Marty and that was it, the moment of realisation that I was watching this just to see how it ended.
I went to see the film Anaconda on Boxing Day. It was dark when I got to the cinema but I think the tide was fully in, there were wavy reflections right up to the wharf edge. I rated this film on IMDb and there’s a communication here explaining the rules of those ratings. I used to share my ratings to Twitter but that no longer exists – it transformed into a place of hate. So now I screenshot my ratings.
This film was kinda fun. The first half was slow and boring and full of Jack Black being Jack Black. The second half was more fun and had some genuinely funny parts. Jack Black was still playing Jack Black though. The film was too “meta” for its own good I reckon. But I enjoyed it.
I took a trip to the cinema at Rochester to watch a film. I didn’t know much about the film, but I think I did see a trailer for it recently. Normally before horror films you get a load of horror trailers and this one had a real mix of trailers so I still wasn’t sure what to expect once the film started. It was dark as I arrived and I couldn’t see where the river’s edge was. I could see loads of white round things on top of the mud flats that are at the riverbank. It was nice to see so many birds resting, I’d not seen that before.
After I watched this film I rated it on IMDb and you need to know there’s a whole system existing to make sure I’m consistent with my scores. You can read about that in this communication. I gave this film 6/10.
Well, this film was ok. I was curious about how they were going to resolve lots of the issues and I think it was well done. It’s good to see films and stories moving away from the mad-woman type of narrative and becoming more realistic. We all know that men are the cause of most of the problems in the world so hopefully we can get that message across in popular culture.
I took a trip to the cinema at Rochester to see Silent Night, Deadly Night. The river was low meaning the tide was out some distance. You can tell when the river is wanting water when the mud flats are entirely visible. I took a picture of the bridges that span the Medway at this point.
The Bridges At Medway Gap
After I have watched a film I rate it on IMDb. There is a whole communication about how the rating system works and you should read it. In the old days I used to post the rating on Twitter but I haven’t been a part of that “community” for over two years now. Although I do WhatsApp and Reddit I don’t do any other type of social media and I’m thankful for it. I am often waaay out of the loop on things happening in the village or locally but I keep myself to myself and most of these things don’t matter.
Silent Night, Deadly Night – IMDB Rating
I stayed in the theatre watching this film because I wanted to see how they ended it and not because I thought it was a good film. I do think the film was very dark and spent a lot of the runtime moaning about light switches and how modern life means we don’t have to wander around in the dark or use low powered bulbs. Maybe the darkness was a cinema error or maybe it was a deliberate film-maker’s choice but it was annoying. I’m pretty sure you can make a film scary without it being dark. Having said that I didn’t think this film was particularly scary. If anything it was a rather dark version of Judge Dread. There’s a lot of killing and the best bit was about halfway through when it was deemed important to the plot that a bunch of Nazis had to die.
I won’t be watching this film again and I won’t be recommending it to others. It wasn’t great. I know there’s a market for this sort of film but it isn’t me. You could make a really intelligent film with the same premise and it would be amazing, but I suspect it would also require courtroom scenes and as we know justice can take a rather long time.
I snuck out last night to watch the film Eternity at the cinema in Rochester. It was dark when I arrived and also raining a little so I don’t really know what was going on with the levels of the river Medway. I tried looking but there were reflections everywhere and it was not easy to tell where the edge of the water was. Other people from where I work were doing important customer relations so it felt a little cheeky to be heading out for the evening.
I rated this film on IMDb and for an explanation of how the system works you should read this communication. I rated this film 6/10.
I didn’t know what to expect with this film. All I knew was that it was about someone who had to choose between two men in the afterlife. I hadn’t realised this was a comedy and so when the first few laughs happened I was somewhat surprised but I leant into that and eventually there were times when I was the only person who found a particular instance laugh out loud. I don’t know why this happens I just think I sometimes find strange things funny. Overall I enjoyed this film, it was good fun.
Eternity had the overall feel of a film from a past era. It was kind, funny and just nice to watch. Also, and I think this is important, it wasn’t too long. There are way too many films out there going past the two hour mark. If you want to make a film that long it’s fine but you are playing with reaching the bum-seat-fidget limits.
I don’t know if Eternity would be a good idea. Who would want to spend forever in one place doing one thing. The great thing about life is that it changes, we learn from new experiences and we grow. Being stuck in a single place forever, that seems like hell to me. Bring on the void. Fortunately we know that stuff isn’t true and we can just die and be gone.
Sorry, back to the film. It was fun, well made and also good looking. There are the usual twists and turns in the plot as you would expect with someone having to choose between two people. The acting was good and I’m sure there were lots of little funny touches I missed in the background. The film was rated 15 by the BBFC with a written caution for “strong sex”. I don’t think I watch the same film they rated. There were two sex scenes, but the focus was definitely not on anything more than you would expect in something broadcast on TV during the day. I don’t know how they reached this rating.
After watching the recent film Nuremburg I was pondering a way of showing my IMDb scores on this site. In the long-ago I used to tweet my film scores and then I could embed those tweets within this site, giving a nice look and feel to the communications. However, I have deleted all tweets and so that no longer exists. I don’t do anything in social media really – I guess Reddit counts but I don’t post much, I just like looking at pictures of aircraft.
I scored the film on IMDb and then I wondered what scores I have given everything I’ve rated on that site. It turns out there’s a download data option for all my reviews. So, I now have an Excel spreadsheet with all the scores I have given. I still don’t really know what to do with that, unless I can create some sort of plugin viewer so people can see all the scores. Maybe I’ll create some overall stats to give some idea of what I think of all the films I’ve rated. I’ve also decided to rate the films I watch at home, mostly because I have found myself watching some shit film on Prime recently and can’t remember if I’ve seen it before!
I took a trip to the cinema to watch Nuremburg. I knew it was about the trials after the second world war but that is all I knew. I didn’t know who was in it or any other details. I watched this at the Cineworld at Rochester. I think the tide was really low as I drove along the riverside. I can’t remember now, I need to make a better point of looking and remembering on future trips to the cinema. As is usual I rated this film on IMDb after watching it, but to understand the ratings guide you need to see this communication.
I thought this was a very well made film. The acting was great and the story was what the story was. These fictionalised accounts of historical events need to be carefully made and I think this film did it well. Because I didn’t know who was in the film I felt some surprise at recognising Russell Crowe although that took quite a while for my brain to filter, I’m not great at faces. There’s also something about Rami Malek’s lower lip that bothers me and I feel bad for having those thoughts.
This film is very much a story warning us that it doesn’t take much for a society to fall into fascism. If we look at the USA now and also the rhetoric of some UK politicians it’s not beyond the realms of imagination to see that both these countries could be bad places. I would argue the USA is already a bad place – the leaders are carrying out a very clear agenda against many peoples. If Reform win more in the UK then the country is fucked. At the moment they are an amusing fringe of despots that have no ideas about organising or running large organisations. The sort of chaos that follows Reform could easily wreck the country if they gain more power.
It is an amusing fact that Germany in the 1930s looked to the USA to learn how to legally create a society where racism and prejudice were accepted. Germany in the 1930s was in legal terms the USA on steroids. The UK, while not objectively racist, has many issues because of it’s descent from a feudal society and there’s an acceptance in the UK that people are where they belong -those in charge should remain in charge. Imagine what the country could do if it was really a meritocracy.
Everyone should watch this film, or better still, learn how the Nazi’s managed to corrupt an entire people and get them to look the other way while they carried out a holocaust. We are so close to this happening again.
I went to see this film recently. I went to the cinema at Rochester (really Strood) and I noted that the tide was indeed quite high as I drove along the esplanade. I did rate this movie on IMDb but there is a trick rating system which is covered in this communication. In days gone by I would tweet the result of my rating, but all I can do now is say that it is a 6/10.
This film was perfectly enjoyable. There’s some grossness in the killings, a few bits of humour here and there and it looks pretty amazing. I wouldn’t go any further than that really. For me, the political message is more important and I know this is based on a book but the messaging hasn’t really changed in the forty years since the original film. Large media organisations do not have our interests at heart and they are corrupt.
I had some issues with the main character. He’s very quick to violence and it’s played as though he’s just angry. I’m not sure he’s a good character to have as the lead. But, when the revolution comes we will need a figurehead and I guess someone like that would work well. Also, I guess the chap is angry at the injustice and inequality in the world so maybe that makes it better. Remember people, government should be for the people.
