Monday 28 October 2019

Movie review of Terminator: Dark Fate

Terminator: Dark Fate - 3/10

I tried to watch the new Terminator movie with zero expectations. I really tried. But it's hard for me cause I love Arnold Schwarzenegger a lot and he has always been my fav childhood action hero. Alas, it really is time for Arnie to stop acting in Terminator movies or they stop making Terminator movies all together cause Dark Fate pretty much sealed it for me.

Terminator: Dark Fate started on just fine. It was going on well despite some dumb scenes(will get to that later) and horrid acting. Linda Hamilton aka Sarah Connor's big entrance was not too bad and at this moment I was smiling to myself, thinking maybe Dark Fate might just be a proper sequel to T1 and T2. Well, all that went down the drain, the moment Arnie showed up, everything turned to shit. And I mean every fucking thing. From the plot, to the action, to the acting, it just became absolute rubbish.

I can't believe James Cameron approved, let alone produced this piece of shit, especially with how the story changed. Why the fuck would you change your fucking villains, from the infamous Skynet whom everyone knows to some shit called Legion? Cheebye, no other fucking villain company name to use ah?
And speaking of villains, Arnie's pivotal role, The Terminator. From the scary character in T1 , to the bad ass he was in T2, he has a fucking name now and it's CARL! Yup. They gave him a fucking name lah. And not just that, the pundei has a wife and kid also. Knn.
The dumb scenes I mentioned earlier was the killing of John Connor in the first 5 mins of the movie. Why? Just by doing that, you killed off the classic stories of T1 and T2. I was a little confused at the start but when the story unfolds later on, I realized that it was really a stupid move to kill off John and changing Skynet. So now you have new terminators, new villain company and of course a new resistance leader who goes by the name of Dani Ramos. The new John Connor. You also have Grace who is the protector of Dani. Grace is not a terminator, she's just an enhanced super human or some shit. Helping them out will be Sarah Connor.
Look, I'm all in with the girl power, empowering women and all. but if you want to make a movie empowering women, do something original. Not a sequel or remake of classic movies. That shit does not work. Haven't you learned anything from the last Ghostbusters or Ocean's 8? Idiots.

The acting is fucking horrible. Natalia Reyes (Dani Ramos) was just fucking painful to watch every time she is on screen. The moment she opens her mouth, I groan. Delivery of lines is just shit. I liked Mackenzie Davis( Grace), she was pretty cool in the action scenes but her lines were downright terrible. I dunno why Linda Hamilton is in this movie. She just looks bored and her acting is terrible. The scene she is sad sitting on a tree trunk was just damn cringe worthy. Gabriel Luna who is the new Terminator was pretty decent. Rev 9 or some shit, I'll just call him, the Mexican Terminator. I liked how he looks around, walks and talks. He ain't no Robert Patrick(T1000) but he's alright. Probably the only reason I am giving this garbage a rating of 3 is because of the Mexican Terminator and Grace. Well at least he was better than the Korean Terminator.

Surprisingly of all things, the CGI was terrible. In the day and age, it is hard to believe that the effects of the first 2 Terminator movies look so much better than the effects in Dark Fate. One example of shitty CGI is when the terminators come out from the beach.

All in all, Terminator Dark Fate was dreadful to watch. I have now fully given up on Terminator movies. Thanks to Dark Fate. For me, it will always be the first 2 and that's it. The rest all can fuck off and die. Was Dark Fate the worst of the series? It is a close second. Terminator 3, Dark Fate, Genisys and then Salvation. That's my rating for worst in the series. James Cameron can just fuck off and wait another 50 years to do his fucking sequel to Avatar for all I fucking care.

If you are a fan, do not watch this. You are only going to get high blood pressure and be very pissed. It is not even worth to watch it on a weekday. Fuck Terminator: Dark Fate.

Saturday 5 October 2019

Movie review of Joker

Joker - 9/10

As of right now, this is the movie of the year for me. Joker has surpassed all my expectations. Kudos to the director, Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix for this beautiful, thought provoking masterpiece. Todd Phillips pushed this to Warner Bros and DC for almost a year to get it done for a R rating which was brilliant. I still can't believe that Todd Phillips, a comedy director known for the Hangover trilogy and other comedies did this beautifully violent movie and he got his cinematographer, Lawrence Sher as well.

There are a lot of things I love about this movie. The pacing was slow and at first I thought, it was perhaps a little too slow. But it was well worth the wait for the complete transformation cause when you see Arthur turn completely as Joker in all his glory, it was just breath taking. The color and tone was colorful yet bleak and you can feel the sense of dread and repression.

I have to say, the cinematographer, Lawrence Sher had some really cool shots. There were quite a number of them which can be really good posters or wallpapers. I loved the subway,  the staircase shot and the hospital shot with the footprints. You will get it when you watch it. Absolutely brilliant. The way the cameras captured the acting was essential to the story telling of Joker.

Casting. Let's talk about the supporting actors first. Robert De Niro plays a character which is like a role reversal of King of Comedy and he played it to a tee. A fitting tribute, I might add. It was perfect casting him as talk show host, Murray Franklin cause besides the King of Comedy vibe, there was another iconic De Niro character tribute as well. Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under) was also great as Penny Fleck, Arthur's mom. And last but not the least,
Joaquin fucking Phoenix. Brother of the late River Phoenix. The cheebye Caesar from Gladiator. Johnny Cash from Walk the Line. And now Arthur Fleck from Joker. A very underrated actor who loves to choose weird or unconventional roles.
His portrayal of Joker will definitely be one to be remembered. To me it is up there, as a very close second to the late Heath Ledger.  The slow gradual transformation from Arthur Fleck to Joker was fucking amazing. Just notice Joaquin's eyes at all the pivotal moments. Just from that alone, you can see what a good actor he is. The crazy weight loss, and lines are a bonus. The most difficult part was the iconic Joker's laugh which Joaquin Phoenix mentioned was very tough. What was amazing was you can feel the pain and the anguish from the laugh which he created and it changes as the movie goes on. If he doesn't get any recognition or an Oscar for this, I'm very sure a lot of people are gonna be pissed. I sure will be as well, even though I think the Oscars are bullshit. This is truly acting at its finest. If a god like Robert De Niro approves  of Joaquin's acting, then you know shit just got real. Thank you Joaquin Phoenix.

Plot. This stand alone origin story is one of a kind. Don't think of it as a comic book movie. If all those comic book fans who are gonna hate this for not being true to the comic, I say fuck you and fuck off. There never was a proper origin story for the Joker to begin with and there have been several. So shut the fuck up and enjoy the movie. The good thing is Todd Phillips has said that it will not have anything to do with any upcoming Batman movies. And to be honest, I truly hope there will not be a sequel for Joker. As much as I want to see more of what Joaquin Phoenix can do with Joker, let's just leave it as it is.

I really loved the 70's feel. From the soundtrack to the set and costume designs. Another fitting tribute to an iconic 70's movie was Taxi driver. Another iconic De Niro character, Travis Bickle which was why adding De Niro into the casting made total sense. I really loved the reference a lot cos it has always been my fav " hand gesture". I even have the fucking poster of Travis Bickle doing it.

It was also damn cool of them to do a tribute to the late Heath Ledger's Joker. Ace in the hole and the police car bit. Solid.

All in all, Joker is a magnificent movie and you have to watch it in the cinemas. Well worth the weekend price as well. It has been a while since I have been this excited for a movie and will definitely be watching it for the second time.

Piece of advice when watching Joker, watch it without any disturbance. No food or with someone asking you 5000 questions about the fucking movie. Devil is in the details. Enjoy the experience. Send in the clowns.

Friday 4 October 2019

Movie review of It: Chapter Two

It: Chapter Two - 6.5/10

It: Chapter Two is a pretty decent movie and you have to watch the first one to understand what the fuck is going on. It's not the kind of movie where you can just watch the sequel without watching the first. 
I did enjoy Chapter One when I first watched it as I was curious on how it would turn out. Would it be as good as the mini series done during the 90's? Would it be as crazy as the book written by Stephen King who apparently was on cocaine when he wrote it? 
I was also apprehensive on how Bill Skarsgard would portray Pennywise the Clown cos Tim Curry did an excellent job in the mini series. Got to admit, Bill Skargard was fucking excellent and creepy especially when he does his eyeball thing and that wasn't CGI at all. The fella really could do that.

The casting for the kids in Chapter One was good. And the adults version of them were good as well in Chapter Two. The ones who stood out for me were Bill Hader, Bill Skarsgard and James McAvoy. Bill Hader and James Ransone (Eddie) had some funny lines and good chemistry. James McAvoy was perfect as adult Bill Denbrough. Even Jessica Chastain acted well. One of the funnier scenes, was the cameo none other than the master of horror himself, Mr Stephen King. That scene was hilarious.
Now all the scare scenes were done well and there were some creepy fucking scenes. One of my fav was the head scene. That whole scene was like a big tribute to John Carpenter's The Thing. Even Bill Hader said the classic line from The Thing. 

All in all, It: Chapter Two is a decent movie to watch but watch the first one for the full story. It isn't really a very scary horror movie but good enough.