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The film Venom is an excellent adaptation of the titular anti-hero from the comics with plenty of fun moments for all who watch it. I Highly recommend it.

Venom – Okay. Paper-thin characters, predictable plot, and it takes way too long for the titular character to show up. But once he does, it has its moments. Certainly not a disaster, but moderately enjoyable. Terrible film though.

Beat the Devil – Huston, Capote, and Bogart? Surprised this was as boring as it was. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for it. A farce in the guise of a noir, I just couldn’t get myself to care.

Handman said:

Venom – Okay. Paper-thin characters, predictable plot, and it takes way too long for the titular character to show up. But once he does, it has its moments. Certainly not a disaster, but moderately enjoyable. Terrible film though.

And how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?

paja said:

4/5

It’s Hilarious!

It is

NeverarGreat said:

Galaxy Quest

Perfection.

+100

Free Solo (2018) - A fascinating and thrilling portrait of a man who, for some reason, loves more than anything doing the most surreally dangerous and exhilarating ‘sport’ I’ve ever seen. I don’t think you ever truly crack the surface of understanding why he does what he does, but you probably come to understand it as best as anyone can. Lighter (and maybe slighter) than one might expect, but that fits well with the subject’s disposition. B

A Star Is Born (1937) - For the time, a surprisingly frank and cynical portrait of Hollywood. Pretty great, even if the constant time jumps make the narrative shaky and the last half seems to mostly forget about the female lead. The remarkably wide range of emotions make it stick. A-

A Star Is Born (1976) - Easily the least of the “franchise,” though not really bad by any means. There are so many changes here to the formula of the story, which is good, but many feel half baked. What results is a pretty hectic tale that mostly works, but not fully. B-

A Star Is Born (2018) - This does what any good remake should do, which is take a less successful film (the 1976 version), and rework its best elements into something great. Things are firing on all cylinders here, taking bits and pieces from each iteration of the classic tale to make a believable and poignant modern rendition. The biggest addition here is a significant effort to make the male lead much more sympathetic than in the prior tellings. I think this works pretty well, they’ve found a good way to fully flesh out the character and make his story truly tragic, without just making him a straight hero and completely erasing the sloppiness and prickliness that makes his character complex and compelling. The other big addition does not work as well. To solve the recurring problem of the female lead’s story fading into the background during her husband’s fall, they’ve given her a conflict of her own - between her own authentic voice and the artificial image that’s been created for her to ‘succeed.’ It’s a great idea that fits snugly with the rest of the thematic narrative, but there’s a glaring, almost fatal flaw to it - it has no resolution. A pretty major error, which is the only thing keeping this from being a runaway victory in my eyes (most everything else here is fantastic, and I can’t wait to see what Cooper directs next and what Lady Gaga stars in). An imperfect story, but one that still very much worth seeing. A-

What Price Hollywood? (1932) - The unofficial inspiration for the whole Star Is Born canon. It’s actually hard to argue that all of the changes made in 1937 weren’t for the betterment of the story. Still, this is a pretty solid film, with some occasional flashes of dazzlingly stylish filmmaking. B

The Invisible Man Returns (1940) - Disappointingly rudimentary follow up to one of the best of the Universal Monster films. Seems to be missing a whole chunk at the beginning of the film that’d make me care about any of these characters. Still, the invisible effects are absolutely delightful. C+

The Old Man & The Gun (2018) - A seemingly effortlessly charming 93 minutes. B+

The Mummy’s Hand (1940) - A sort of non-sequel that ditches the spooky mystery of its predecessor for a more adventurous vibe. The only issue being, there’s about 50 minutes of first act, which allows for only about 20 minutes of Mummy action, which is unforgivably little. C+

Venom (2018) - There was a moment in this movie about halfway through when I thought it might actually turn into something not half bad. Venom has invaded Tom Hardy and has made his presence and intentions fully known. What a cool and new idea, a superhero who was in direct conflict with his eccentrically sentient powers. But the relationship between Brock and Venom is given mere lip service at best. Motivations in this film are practically nonexistent across the board, so I guess it shouldn’t have been a surprise to me that this dynamic was squandered and given a completely unearned resolution. Thankfully, Hardy’s frankly bizarre performance provides enough enjoyment to keep this whole affair from being a complete disaster. C

DominicCobb said:

Venom (2018) - There was a moment in this movie about halfway through when I thought it might actually turn into something not half bad. Venom has invaded Tom Hardy and has made his presence and intentions fully known. What a cool and new idea, a superhero who was in direct conflict with his eccentrically sentient powers. But the relationship between Brock and Venom is given mere lip service at best. Motivations in this film are practically nonexistent across the board, so I guess it shouldn’t have been a surprise to me that this dynamic was squandered and given a completely unearned resolution. Thankfully, Hardy’s frankly bizarre performance provides enough enjoyment to keep this whole affair from being a complete disaster. C

And how was the surgery, Mr. Lincoln?

DuracellEnergizer said:

DominicCobb said:

Venom (2018) - There was a moment in this movie about halfway through when I thought it might actually turn into something not half bad. Venom has invaded Tom Hardy and has made his presence and intentions fully known. What a cool and new idea, a superhero who was in direct conflict with his eccentrically sentient powers. But the relationship between Brock and Venom is given mere lip service at best. Motivations in this film are practically nonexistent across the board, so I guess it shouldn’t have been a surprise to me that this dynamic was squandered and given a completely unearned resolution. Thankfully, Hardy’s frankly bizarre performance provides enough enjoyment to keep this whole affair from being a complete disaster. C

And how was the surgery, Mr. Lincoln?

DuracellEnergizer said:

DominicCobb said:

Venom (2018) - There was a moment in this movie about halfway through when I thought it might actually turn into something not half bad. Venom has invaded Tom Hardy and has made his presence and intentions fully known. What a cool and new idea, a superhero who was in direct conflict with his eccentrically sentient powers. But the relationship between Brock and Venom is given mere lip service at best. Motivations in this film are practically nonexistent across the board, so I guess it shouldn’t have been a surprise to me that this dynamic was squandered and given a completely unearned resolution. Thankfully, Hardy’s frankly bizarre performance provides enough enjoyment to keep this whole affair from being a complete disaster. C

And how was the surgery, Mr. Lincoln?

This very much this

Rewatched Burn After Reading, and enjoyed it much more than the first time around.

ray_afraid said:

DominicCobb said:

Venom (2018) - …What a cool and new idea

wat. 1988 is hardly recent.
I guess I know what you mean though.

Yeah I mean in terms of superhero movies.

ray_afraid said:

DominicCobb said:

ray_afraid said:

DominicCobb said:

Venom (2018) - …What a cool and new idea

wat. 1988 is hardly recent.
I guess I know what you mean though.

Yeah I mean in terms of superhero movies.

Yeah, I was just being… I dunno… Kinda dickish I guess. 😉
Your review sounds like what I was afraid (and quite certain) that this movie would be. What a waste!

Yeah I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

By the way, did we ever get your take on Solo?

CHEWBAKAspelledwrong said:

Handman said:

Rewatched Burn After Reading, and enjoyed it much more than the first time around.

Ha! I loved it both times I saw it.

The first time around, I was trying to sympathize with at least one character and just got frustrated. It helps to know they’re all idiots, and I was laughing so hard.