Watched back Mr.Nobody after a long while

there's definitely a brilliance to that movie and a real struggle to deliver a somewhat coherent message about life and our place in this incoherent mess that the universe is , I found that pretty great. And I probably need to watch it again to go deeper into its meaning. But it still has some flaws , for exemple , it tries to justify its ending with scientific concepts such as entropy and the arrow of time but I can't help but feel that it is a bit far fetched .

Anyway , I still had an interesting time

Doctor Strange.

Benedict Cumberbatch as a fun, sardonic yet sympathetic fish out of water in a pretty kaleidoscope of Marvel action.
He also gets to play something of a similar role as Iron Man, as when he starts he is rich, arrogant though undeniably brilliant. After being damaged however he must rely on others to teach him what is right, except he goes looking for it actively, without a cent to his name.

Visually appealing, well cast (despite some controversy) and has a good story that will serve well in future films to come in the MCU. I'm actually looking forward to another Strange standalone, where they delve into more of the "weird stuff" they couldn't include here.

Rogue One.

I can safely say I enjoyed it and have so far seen it twice. There may be a third viewing in the future.
While some reviews I noticed after found it too dry for their liking, I appreciate the fact that they didn't make it a complete family film. They promised a war movie and they delivered. The fact that it is better than the Lucas-helmed prequels is more than enough reason to recommend it. For myself, I liked it more than The Force Awakens.

That said, I do want to address a few things, so...

Spoiler: show

CGI Peter Cushing and Carrie Fisher - holy fuck this can go either way. Leia is more convincing because you only see her face for a few quick seconds at the end. With Tarkin however it's pretty obvious they have a stand-in with digital alterations. Sometimes it looks absolutely convincing but when he talks, that's where you can see the seams. A nice concept for characters that existed around this chronology but it can remove you from the moment.
Lack of Darth Vader - I don't mind because he wasn't necessarily required throughout the movie. They saved him up and made his scenes stand out. To borrow a line from Tarkin, he was a statement, not a manifesto. And what a hell of a statement he made.
Like Force Awakens, there were a few cameos here and there but they were welcome. Another surprise however were shots lifted directly from the original Star Wars during the final battle. I later read after my first viewing that these were archival shots unused in any version of the movie but you could've fooled me (technically they did); these bits look perfectly integrated into the rest of the action.
Finally, regarding the two leads, Jyn and Cassian. I liked them both because they were damaged, jaded and pissed off. Considering the war scenario they're in, I don't expect them to be cracking jokes or showing warmth all that often. That's not to say they don't (Felicity Jones shares some very emotional scenes with Mads Mikkelsen) but considering this movie's tone, they played their parts exactly as they should. Naturally some won't like the grey areas as much but I think it was necessary and when those warm aspects do appear, especially at the end, they feel worth the wait.

Thread bump - another double feature.

Assassin's Creed - calling this one of the better movies based on a video game is being both generous and sadly accurate when you make comparisons. Its more sedate moments actually work best because those allow for suspense and immersion, whereas the action scenes fall prey to the trend of being a confusing slog. A few bad edits, a story that's barely serviceable and an anti-climactic ending don't help matters, either. In its favor though, it is well-cast and has a good (original) soundtrack. Fine if you try to ignore the source material but don't expect that much to begin with.

Hitman: Agent 47 - this one was just bad. More faithful to the lore of the games than the previous Hitman movie, yet less fun, less logical and far too jumbled in its action moments. The acting and storytelling are also too dry and dull to work, though admittedly it does have a few decent moments. Rupert Friend tries as 47 but I don't think he needed an American accent (especially as his English one peeks out occasionally and would have been fine). In the unlikely event they make another movie out of this game, I highly recommend jettisoning Skip Woods from the writers' room. I also recommend skipping this movie, unless you want to give it the MST3K treatment.

[EphelDuath666]

I'm currently watching all of Guillermo del Toro's movies with audio commentary by del Toro. Love this guy. He might just be my favorite director, definitely one of my favorites for sure. So very passionate and also quite geeky. You can tell that he really loves what he's doing and he's a real fountain of geek knowledge too. Kinda wish Hollywood studios had a little more faith in him. It's almost a crime when there's a year without a del Toro movie. In my opinion anyways, heh.

John Wick - Chapter 2. This pretty much continues from first one and kind of follows same pattern too, if you liked first then you most likely will like this one too. Also Keanu kind of fits for this kind of role perfectly.

Logan. Holy shit!!! This is THE Wolverine movie. Dark, gritty and violent, althought there is humor here and there. I like the idea that there is comic based movies that are made for mature audience, and as this one will surely be a box office hit I'm sure we'll see more of this kind of stuff. Dredd, Deadpool and now Logan, me likey.

I too recently saw Logan and was very impressed. It hit all the right emotional notes and gave us the true essence of the characters. Realistic violence and genuine stakes were also well-utilized.
I'd hold it up there with Deadpool as one of the best in the X-Men series, and as a great example of what a mature audience comic film should be. This warrants a second viewing.

[EphelDuath666]

Saw Kong: Skull Island in theater a few days ago and I have to say...'twas fun! Looking forward to Kong vs. Godzilla. And the Godzilla sequel will hopefully be good too. I rewatched the first one a while back and still felt underwhelmed. And it wasn't even the fact that Godzilla was hardly in it. But the movie could have used a better protagonist.

I wish J.A. Bayona had directed the first one. I was really hoping for a mixture of The Impossible (directed by Bayona) and Pacific Rim (directed by Guillermo del Toro who also produced Bayona's The Orphanage). You know, a great mix of drama and monster action with a great cast. I mean, Cranston and Binoche are great but...

...

Spoiler: show

they die pretty early in the movie and then you're stuck with Aaron Taylor-Johnson for the remainder of the flick

. So that's why, to me, Godzilla was a bit of a missed opportunity. Not bad by any means but also not great. So here's hoping that the sequel turns out great!

But back to Kong. I really, really liked it. Was it the best monster movie ever? Nope. But it's fun, has a great cast and really great special effects and action.

But back to Kong. I really, really liked it. Was it the best monster movie ever? Nope. But it's fun, has a great cast and really great special effects and action.

I saw it a few hours ago and agree with you. Kong: Skull Island does have its flaws, chiefly being familiar characters, predictable turns and an over-reliance on the soundtrack to highlight the 70's era. Then again, I like those songs so who am I to complain?
What's interesting is that they don't take Kong in the standard direction of his previous outings but make it a big, colorful monster brawl. Kong has a really cool design but the monsters he shares the island with are also memorable and inventive (love the giant spider). There's more of a horror element to this movie than the other Kongs, I find. Even Peter Jackson's King Kong, which did get fairly gruesome, almost pales in comparison to some of the nastier sequences here.
It pleased me to see that Brie Larson wasn't Kong's typical love interest, even though the two did share a few moments of intimacy. Samuel L Jackson and John C Reilly were probably the most fleshed-out of the cast, having great levels of crazy and contrasting motivations.
Even though you could say that the movie is basically a set up for the Godzilla showdown, it stands well on its own and delivers two hours of entertainment - exactly as it should.

[EphelDuath666]

I watched a whole bunch of Hitchcock movies lately. Pretty much all I have on Blu-ray, so that should be around 25. Most of them I had seen before. Really enjoyed them all. Well, Topaz was maybe the one that I enjoyed the least but still, I have to say that guy really was brilliant. The ones I enjoyed the most were probably Strangers on a train, Rebecca, Vertigo, Psycho, The birds, Dial M for Murder, Rear window and Shadow of a doubt. Excellent stuff.

Alien: Covenant

This warrants a second viewing right off the bat. My first thoughts however are that while it doesn't reach the heights of the first two Alien entries, it's better than Prometheus (or at least more entertaining). It answers questions while opening a few more, keeping with the existential themes of the last film.
It's arguably the darkest and most violent entry of the series so far, outdoing Alien 3 in terms of tone and even gore. I know Resurrection brought the blood but that was mostly cartoonish; Covenant is flat-out grisly.

Character development is roughly on the same level as Prometheus but since there's a bigger cast and this is a horror film, it isn't difficult to predict who goes. At least nobody was as overtly dumb in comparison to the former. I was most impressed with Michael Fassbender, who gives a powerhouse dual performance as Walter and David. Both Katherine Waterson and Danny McBride (who I never thought I'd see do something serious) as Daniels and Tennessee are also fine stand-outs.

The only real problem I have overall is choppy editing during some of the more frenetic scenes, as this can get distracting. There are a few predictable aspects which can hamper the thrills but I wouldn't say any of them truly bothered me as much.
A worthy entry to the series but could have been greater.

That being said, I wouldn't be doing my job as an Alien geek if I didn't follow up with a rant. Major spoilers included.

Spoiler: show

It is revealed that David created the Xenomorphs in a Faustian desire to be a god (or devil, as he quotes Paradise Lost to justify his actions).
While David's psychopathic desires to create an organism to replace mankind are one of the strongest aspects of the movie, I cannot help but recall one of the special features of Prometheus, The Peter Weyland Files.
In this section, LV-426 is specifically referenced as having a transmission of interest to Weyland, who noted it down for investigation after the trip to LV-223. Is this hint now negated?

There's also the hitherto unanswered question of what killed the fossilized Engineers in Prometheus, plus the fact that the Space Jockey in Alien looked about as fossilized as his fallen brethren; yet he had Xenomorph eggs in his cargo hold.
The Queen Alien doesn't appear in Covenant as the movie indicates the iconic main creature was perfected by a decade of David's experimentation. So how is it that the Queen and her eggs are on the downed ship on LV-426 that was transmitting its warning?

We also still have no justification of why the Engineers wanted to destroy Earth, as David massacred them upon arrival. The film introduces us an alien prototype called a Neomorph, a label that one could apply to the creature born at the end of Prometheus. I suppose I'm okay with not knowing why the Engineers made their choice but I would like to know if that first monster is going to be addressed in any way.
As Ridley Scott has stated he is working on an interquel, Alien: Awakening, I presume he is going to follow up the above queries. But while I do like ambiguity in movies, I really get the feeling of being teased by Covenant and this statement from the director.

Truly the only prequel I want to see is the one that bridges Covenant with the first Alien. I'll give Awakening a chance but the more I think about it, anything else would be excessive.

[EphelDuath666]

Alien: Covenant

This warrants a second viewing right off the bat. My first thoughts however are that while it doesn't reach the heights of the first two Alien entries, it's better than Prometheus (or at least more entertaining). It answers questions while opening a few more, keeping with the existential themes of the last film.
It's arguably the darkest and most violent entry of the series so far, outdoing Alien 3 in terms of tone and even gore. I know Resurrection brought the blood but that was mostly cartoonish; Covenant is flat-out grisly.

Character development is roughly on the same level as Prometheus but since there's a bigger cast and this is a horror film, it isn't difficult to predict who goes. At least nobody was as overtly dumb in comparison to the former. I was most impressed with Michael Fassbender, who gives a powerhouse dual performance as Walter and David. Both Katherine Waterson and Danny McBride (who I never thought I'd see do something serious) as Daniels and Tennessee are also fine stand-outs.

The only real problem I have overall is choppy editing during some of the more frenetic scenes, as this can get distracting. There are a few predictable aspects which can hamper the thrills but I wouldn't say any of them truly bothered me as much.
A worthy entry to the series but could have been greater.

That being said, I wouldn't be doing my job as an Alien geek if I didn't follow up with a rant. Major spoilers included.

Spoiler: show

It is revealed that David created the Xenomorphs in a Faustian desire to be a god (or devil, as he quotes Paradise Lost to justify his actions).
While David's psychopathic desires to create an organism to replace mankind are one of the strongest aspects of the movie, I cannot help but recall one of the special features of Prometheus, The Peter Weyland Files.
In this section, LV-426 is specifically referenced as having a transmission of interest to Weyland, who noted it down for investigation after the trip to LV-223. Is this hint now negated?

There's also the hitherto unanswered question of what killed the fossilized Engineers in Prometheus, plus the fact that the Space Jockey in Alien looked about as fossilized as his fallen brethren; yet he had Xenomorph eggs in his cargo hold.
The Queen Alien doesn't appear in Covenant as the movie indicates the iconic main creature was perfected by a decade of David's experimentation. So how is it that the Queen and her eggs are on the downed ship on LV-426 that was transmitting its warning?

We also still have no justification of why the Engineers wanted to destroy Earth, as David massacred them upon arrival. The film introduces us an alien prototype called a Neomorph, a label that one could apply to the creature born at the end of Prometheus. I suppose I'm okay with not knowing why the Engineers made their choice but I would like to know if that first monster is going to be addressed in any way.
As Ridley Scott has stated he is working on an interquel, Alien: Awakening, I presume he is going to follow up the above queries. But while I do like ambiguity in movies, I really get the feeling of being teased by Covenant and this statement from the director.

Truly the only prequel I want to see is the one that bridges Covenant with the first Alien. I'll give Awakening a chance but the more I think about it, anything else would be excessive.

I'll watch it on Tuesday. I sure am looking forward to it. I personalyl really liked Prometheus a lot and hope I'll like this one just as much, if not more.

Wonder Woman

Easily the best DCEU movie so far and a great film in its own right. The story is solid and well directed, the tone and colors are balanced and the cast is perfect.
Gal Gadot owns every second of her screen time and her chemistry with Chris Pine feels genuine. Unlike the most recent offerings of this franchise, there's real charm to be found alongside the action and spectacle. A few awkward jokes are exchanged but they suit the fish out of water premise of the story.

My only issue is the abundance of slow-motion in the action scenes. I know the other films have them but after awhile it gets a bit much. Oddly the finale also seems rushed, despite the film having an otherwise good pace. It is almost 2 and a half hours but doesn't feel too long. Character-wise only the villains seem underdeveloped but the main baddie warranted attention.

Spoiler: show

Ares was interesting counterpart, despite being familiar with his "doing evil for the greater good" mentality.
It was actually upon his reveal I realized I should have picked him out when his cover character was introduced,
but that scene was played so well that it didn't cross my mind at the time. Kudos for a good twist.

I still have my reservations regarding Justice League but I am pleased and relieved to see that Wonder Woman lives up to the hype and does her character, well, justice.

[EphelDuath666]

I still have my reservations regarding Justice League but I am pleased and relieved to see that Wonder Woman lives up to the hype and does her character, well, justice.

Well, I guess Joss Whedon will finish Justice League after Snyder hat to quit (for very understandable and sad reasons). No idea how much control Whedon has over the entire thing since he's kinda late to the party but I'm still hopeful. And I'm glad Wonder Woman turned out great and I'm looking forward to it too!

As for Alien: Covenant....I really did like it after all. It's not perfect by any means. But I still think it's at least as good as Prometheus. The Covenant's crew was certainly less amateurish than Prometheus's crew was (which didn't really bother me too much in Prometheus anyways) and although some of the cast was kinda forgettable, I really did enjoy Waterston, Crudup and McBride. OK, maybe Daniels (played by Waterston) was not as stong a character as Elizabeth Shaw was and maybe not quite as memorable. BUT I don't think that's a huge problem because the main character, in my opinion, is David anyways.

Spoiler: show

Yes, it was kind of predictable that David would eventually get off the planet and onto the Covenant by pretending to be Walter. You almost had to expect that as soon as you knew there were two of them and most definitely after David cut his hair and looked exactly like Walter. But it was still cleverly done. And I just enjoyed that this movie delved deeper into David's character and that I learned more about his motivations. I think it's refreshing that the antagonist happens to be main character and the most interesting character of the film.

Now, I read online that this movie suffers from bad CGI. I don't know which movie the folks making such claims have watched but personally I was satisfied with Covenant's special effects. If you wanna see some bad CGI, watch Batman v Superman. Yes, the aliens in this movie were CG animated but it's not like that was done poorly. Would I have prefered practical effects? Sure. But it's not like I'm gonna let something like that ruin a movie for me.

I agree that this movie doesn't answer too many questions. Actually, it answers hardly any

Spoiler: show

And I would have liked to get to know more about the Engineers, their motivations, etc. but on the other hand I do wonder what that would have looked like. David and Shaw arrive at their planet, the Engineers are clearly superior and the planet's full of them and they wanna kill the human race. I just don't see how they would have been too eager to have a conversation with David and Shaw. Maybe David has all the answers, maybe we'll get to know about them maybe we won't. AND of course there was a lot of backlash because many people didn't like the Engineer in Prometheus and wanted traditional aliens instead, which apparently did influence Ridley Scott's decisions. Well, I'm afraid you can't please everyone.

So yeah, I definitely enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next one.

John Wick: Chapter 2.
Very violent but entertaining continuation, picking up essentially where the first left off (and wastes no time doing so).
I rather enjoyed the exploration into the assassins' international network and how much greater it is than on the surface. The quality of tone and acting from the first carries over here, in some ways even better.
Some of the dialogue can get repetitive and a few times I almost thought I was watching a video game. The action in the first one was also like that but both films are still well directed enough that it didn't bother me.
Thumbs up and here's hoping the inevitable third will be just as fun to watch.