Movie mini reviews

[spoodie]

While I really enjoyed Into Darkness I don't consider either of the new films to be proper Star Trek. I see them a exciting action films with a Star Trek theme applied. All the references were fun though, if somewhat silly in places,

Spoiler:

Spock's take on the famous shout was particularly funny

. Seeing the smashed moon in the shot of the Klingon home world was a nice nod back to The Undiscovered Country, my personal favourite.

If you want to do Star Trek properly you need to slow down sometimes. Have diplomatic relations with aliens that doesn't involve fighting, explore somewhere without running at full speed.

[Roman Totale]

I've never really been a Star Trek fan, but I really enjoyed Into Darkness. It is an action film though, and not what I suppose "traditional" Star Trek is really all about.

One bit really bugged me though. Scotty is talking about the hull breaching and being swept out into space - "I will freeze, I will explode and I will die!". Come on! This is the future where space travel is the norm, surely they know by now this doesn't happen?

Also, how Iron Man 3 should have ended:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUYW0JyzydA[/media]

[Thompy]

I was never a huge Strak Terk* fan. The episodes I liked most were actually the more tense actiony ones rather than the diplomatic dilemma ones, but they still had a good balance. Also, too much time inside 50's holodeck scenarios

This was the stuff:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECLvFLkvY7Y[/media]

New ones are alright I guess, but I'll never argue with anyone for being pissed off they changed the format so much.

*Genuine typo, will leave.

[Joose]

One bit really bugged me though. Scotty is talking about the hull breaching and being swept out into space - "I will freeze, I will explode and I will die!". Come on! This is the future where space travel is the norm, surely they know by now this doesn't happen?

It's not entirely inaccurate. He would freeze eventually, it would just take quite a long time. Long enough that he would already be dead. He could explode if he was silly enough to take a big breath, although I suppose it would be more an outward squidge than a kaboom. He would definately die though. Just not instantly.

I'm not sure I entirely agree with the furore around how the new films are too action oriented to be true Star Trek. A lot of the films are more actioney and ultimately resolved through violence and explosions. The difference was the old films had tv shows behind them reminding people that most of the time the Star Trek world is about diplomacy and science. The new films don't have that. If they were to do a new tv series based in the newly rebooted setting I suspect most people would shut up about it.

[Dog Pants]

I did some research into the effects of exposure to space for that standalone SLA thing I ran at a beard-bash. It was pretty interesting, in a kind of ghoulish way. I seem to remember your blood boiling because of the lack of pressure is one of your biggest concerns, and if you don't fart quickly* you run the risk of ruptures. Pete, take note.

*Which in space would propel you with an equivalent horse

[Joose]

Theres a reasonable sized section in the eclipse phase rule book about it too. Needless to say it comes up quite a lot in a game set in space.

[fabyak]

I did some research into the effects of exposure to space for that standalone SLA thing I ran at a beard-bash. It was pretty interesting, in a kind of ghoulish way. I seem to remember your blood boiling because of the lack of pressure is one of your biggest concerns, and if you don't fart quickly* you run the risk of ruptures. Pete, take note.

*Which in space would propel you with an equivalent horse

Doggers, I think you may have just stumbled upon the next form of shuttle engine. And it's sustainable, just make sure you take plenty of curry to feed Pete for the journey

[Thompy]

[Roman Totale]

Pressure is provided by your body's own circulation, so it would only happen if your heart had stopped (at which point it becomes moot). In space you'd die from asphyxiation - so although no one could hear you scream, you could have a Carradine Space Special before popping your clogs.

[Dog Pants]

Every cloud has a silver lining.

[Joose]

Pressure is provided by your body's own circulation, so it would only happen if your heart had stopped (at which point it becomes moot). In space you'd die from asphyxiation - so although no one could hear you scream, you could have a Carradine Space Special before popping your clogs.

Unless you take a big breath of air and are then explosively decompressed whilst trying to hold on to it, in which case there's a decent chance of your lungs bursting. Even then, it's not going to make you go pop, it's more a case of internal bleeding/you can no longer breathe even if you get rescued because your lungs are all fucked up. Apparently if you breathe out, close your eyes and curl into a ball you can last for about a minute before suffocating.

[spoodie]

You've got me reading about explosive decompression now. This is an interesting read, especially disturbing is the last paragraph before the the "Medical findings":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byford_Dol ... l_accident

[Roman Totale]

It's more like getting a bad case of the bends rather than an explosion. I read an article on it a while back - I'll dig it out when I'm back home.

[Dog Pants]

You've got me reading about explosive decompression now. This is an interesting read, especially disturbing is the last paragraph before the the "Medical findings":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byford_Dol ... l_accident

Yeah, I found that when I was reading about vacuums. Nasty.

[Thompy]

Seven Psychopaths

What a mad, erratic, bizarre but brilliant film that was. If you don't like films more about characters and less about plot then you might not think the same however. I think it apes the deft dialogue and black humour of Tarantino. It has subtle meta themes throughout which I can't really explain without spoiling it. It's nothing to make you scratch your head.

And it was funny (though that's a point contested by those that didn't like it), mostly carried by Sam Rockwell. In fact he carried the whole film. Not that the ensemble cast was sub par, far from it, Walken was great at playing Walken, but if he hadn't been there and his character was of a similar quality to the rest I wouldn't have liked it nearly so much. Farrell was not as good as in In Bruges, but he character was the straight one, I guess. Harrelson was Harrelson, so yeah whatever.

It has these brilliant switches from comedy to sincere brutality that caught me off guard a couple of times with a swift punch to the stomach. It does wane towards the end however, further backing up people's arguments that it has no narrative, but there's still a few choice moments in there.

So an odd one, but refreshing. I think the mid 7's it's getting are too low, so you know what, I'm going to give it...

[Mr. Johnson]

Pacific Rim (2D)

If you're looking for a film that doesn't bother with too much backstory and instead just adds more scenes of giant robots punching bioluminescent sea monsters in the face, you will fucking love this.

It's one that definitely benefits from a cinema visit so don't hesitate to go see it now, it's like they rolled Cloverfield, transformers and the 90's Godzilla film into one coherent film that doesn't suck.

[spoodie]

It's one that definitely benefits from a cinema visit so don't hesitate to go see it now, it's like a they rolled Cloverfield, transformers and the 90's Godzilla film into one coherent film that doesn't suck.

Some of the dialogue between the action scenes is a bit poor, but some is fine. And if you're a fan of Always Sunny in Philadelphia (which everyone should be) you'll enjoy seeing Charlie Day do his thing. Or you may be annoyed by his thing if you don't know who he is.

[Roman Totale]

The World's End

Preface 1: Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are two of the most finely crafted comedies ever made, and I love them to bits.

Preface 2: For whatever reason I have not been enjoying a lot of films lately. Iron Man 3, The Dark Knight Rises etc have all left me disappointed.

Moving on...

Part three of the 'Blood and Ice Cream' starts off with the now trademark foreshadowing. And herein lies the immediate problem. Whereas as the foreshadowing done in Shaun was very subtle and clever (I didn't notice the whole 'Bloody Mary and shots at the bar' until probably the 3rd viewing), this just smacks you in the face and tells you exactly what's going to happen from the get go. I honestly feel that it ruins the film - there is no suspense, and you pretty much know what's going to happen to all the characters within the first 5 minutes.

You know what? There's not actually that much more to talk about. I think I "laughed out loud" once during the whole film. Whereas Shaun and Fuzz were jam packed with clever dialogue and witty lines, this just seems to stumble from one scene to the next, invoking the ghost of the pub crawl almost too well.

Now you could blame my dissatisfaction on having too high hopes, which is why I prefaced as much. But I entered Hot Fuzz feeling the same, and it delivered bang on point. World's End does not. With the other two I struggle to pin down my favourite scene, but in this I have only one - a purely physical set involving a bar brawl (and to be fair Nick Frost looks fucking bad ass).

I haven't seen any other reviews, but I hope anyone else who has seen it feels the same - otherwise this means I have reached the stage that new things no longer appeal to me.

[Mr. Johnson]

I'll let you know when they finally release this here in two years or so.

[TezzRexx]

Try not to be too disheartened by new things, a lot of friends are saying the same. It's good, but poor by the standards of the other two.