Isherwood

This has very little to do with Paul Anderson's film series, and I have no idea how much it touches on the original Capcom subject matter. Regardless, as a standalone film, it definitely holds up. It definitely gets bonus points for the video game stylization, not only in terms of the visuals but also the plot structure and (somewhat unfortunately) the elaboration of the characters or dialogue speech. It still moves along at a solid pace and if I turn a blind eye to the fact that I won't even remember it in a few days, I can consider it a very decent action B-movie.

What bothers me most about this crossover series is the fact that the creators have sucked the soul out of two icons of horror sci-fi, leaving us with only a marketing product. It’s dressed up and packaged to attract the masses and neutered enough to hurt anyone drawn to the series with any sort of sympathy. The Brothers Strause understood the task perfectly, but in looking at the individual parts, they didn't understand a single one. And so they ride a wave of references (mostly to Cameron), which they intersperse with fashionable zigzags between the boundaries of correctness (dead children and pregnant women, an interesting kill list). The result is an unwanted B-movie dominated by... the Predator. His sovereign hunting instincts entertain about as much as the Aliens have been relegated to the role of expendable insects. I’d say that kids would be entertained, but my 13-year-old brother told me that it would be better to adapt the game than to create this... shit (I added).

I naively thought that with the passage of time, nostalgia would bring a more sympathetic aura to this film as well, but alas. The plot, which had the makings of a decent "bigger, more expensive, grander" sequel, was ultimately buried by Hopkins' routine direction. Where McTiernan reveled in the massacre of a military unit, Hopkins merely composes the images in a single-minded manner. A whiff of filmmaking invention comes at most in the references to Cameron. Danny Glover did a sharper paraphrase of Roger Murtaugh, and the rest is not worth talking about. I give it three stars for the hunter's arsenal, which I enjoy in a particular cult game.

I watched Predator again after about ten years. I can state without exaggeration that this film is more perfect than I thought. Even after all these years, a group of tough mercenaries hunted by an alien skull hunter captivates with a perfect atmosphere that benefits especially from the creeping voyeurism of the camera and Silvestri's unnerving music. Keeping a firm hand on all this is director McTiernan, who was one of the absolute best in the action genre in the 1980s... and went crazy in the 1990s.

For anyone who has ever wondered what a "pandemic after-party" would be like, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo provides us with a very (un)satisfying answer. This Spanish talent may not be able to perform miracles, but he is great at pumping up the film with dynamics, throwing out anything that even smacks of compromise, and spicing everything up with a good portion of a hopeless atmosphere. Accompanied by Murphy’s perfect music and with an ensemble of excellent actors (Jeremy Renner was born to wear the uniform on screen), it offers a high portion of adrenaline fun, culminating in several highlights. There are many criticisms that can be made about it, but the film is like a skilled chameleon, which you will admire all the more if you don't go see them in their pavilion three times a week.

This portrait of a perfectly brainwashed person can hardly be considered through traditional cinematic standards. On the one hand, we have the brilliant Tom Hardy, who fully defines the term "one-man show" and on the other, the director's annoying style of pseudo-intellectual storytelling. I’d have to see it again to properly asses it, but I don't want to. I liked it and I enjoyed it, but somewhere in the corner of my brain, it was pissing me off. I have to let it sink in. In any case, I haven't seen anything more contradictory since Kelly’s Southland Tales (though that analogy will seem a bit off to many). Edit: In the end, it’s an average film. Given what I said above, that’s a solid compromise.

The film’s about America and what it's really like. It’s a satire that escalates to the point of absurdity that chills. It still bothers me that some scenes are unnaturally there "for effect," but Sacha's courage simply forces me to give it a thumbs up (and a better review after my second viewing).

It's perfectly heroic, overwhelmingly pro-American, and predictable in detail. Yet given the ridiculous money spent on it, the director got it moving in a high-octane style that doesn't let up whatsoever. And when you cast Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, and Edgar Ramirez as uncompromising tough guys with guns in their hands, you can't go wrong. I’m very satisfied and it gets a strong 3 ½ stars from me. I will definitely watch it again, especially given its short runtime.

The first half is a decent pilot to a decent action sci-fi series, while the second half is a compilation of the following twelve episodes. It’s really too bad given the fact that McGuigan is one of the greatest talents of his generation. Not many people have such fancy visual treats (editing, cinematography). The biggest draw is probably just the fact that this is every pedophile’s dream come true - Dakota is fifteen, plays a thirteen-year-old and looks like neither age category. :) Beyond that, Chris is growing with every movie, Camilla looks pretty stupid, and Djimon is really starting to play his tough hunters all a bit too much the same.

Joe Wright signed his soul over to the Hollywood devil, who sensed his talent across the ocean, and the result is an ordinary tale of an unordinary friendship whose potential (or real-life preview) promised much more. The problem was already on the page, from which clichés and calculations stick out of every letter, and the work of destruction is completed by Wright's poetic direction, which shoots absolute blanks in the case of one brilliant homeless man. The love for music and the neighbor in need is nowhere to be found, only the hunger for awards and the tangible ovation of a touching audience. If it weren't for the central cast's performance, I would have given the film a worse review.