quinnox-1

I saw the (very good) trailer for this on IMDB, saw it was being released, and decided I would like to see it. It was hard to find, only two theaters, both good distances away, were playing the film. I thought me and a friend might be the only people seeing this in the theater when we sat down in the nearly empty theater. However, later on people started trickling in, and it eventually got a decent crowd, but I guess this movie is not being well advertised at all.

I'm not surprised, to be honest. This is a dark - very dark - movie, and other words you could use could be bleak and dreary and depressing. It's pretty much a childhood nightmare come to life. A boy lives in an old house with hermit-like and very weird parents, and leads a lonely and friendless life, where he is picked on mercilessly by bullies at school. And there is no hope or goodness or relief from the darkness whatsoever...

That said, its very good in creating an oppressively menacing and eerie atmosphere, and there are some good scares sprinkled throughout. Very good acting as well, and atmosphere for a horror movie. I don't like the big "reveal" though, and as always, think CGI effects tend to be weak, and not very well done at all, and detract rather than add to most movies. That said, its very well directed for a horror movie. But definitely not for everyone, with its artistic but nightmarish vision.

How to make an entertaining thriller/action movie, Cruise shows how its done. Very exciting new movie in the Mission: Impossible movies. Lots of superb action, and plenty of thrills and chase scenes, and femme fatale's as well.

Hollywood movies seem to have been in an artistic funk ever since the cancel culture censors took over. It's like, so many bad movies that have lost all sense of style, humor, and most of all entertainment factor in recent years.

That's why its such a treat to see an old fashioned movie like this one, that remembers the whole point that a movie should be foremost entertaining. Tom Cruise once again shows how its done. With an excellent cast, with Ving Rhames returning as the computer expert of the team (as cool as ever, but it does look like he has put on a few pounds) and a stern but devious CIA director Kittridge, who is an interesting character who has shades of gray.

There are also two new charismatic female ladies, one is Haley Atwell, who plays a master thief who trips upon a secret key that world nations will pay millions to get their hands on, and she is very good in the movie as a sleight of hand master and trickster, who might be a potential new member of the IMF team. She brings something "extra" to the film, like has a female James Bond type vibe to her, and its very impressive.

Another newcomer to the series is Pom Klementieff, who plays as "Paris", a deadly killer who is working for the evil side. She is ruthless as well as beautiful, and has some great action scenes.

I think she is outstanding in the movie, and am looking forward to what happens in future movies regarding her character.

With these two new additions to the cast, the movie clips along at a rapid pace, and doesn't feel long, even though its more than two and a half hours. That is always a sign of a good movie, when it doesn't drag at all. I would normally rate this an 8, but considering Hollywood's good movie drought has been going on for years now, I tend to want to give this movie a 9.

The new John Wick movie has a lot of good action scenes, with the first few being the best ones. But overall, the movie lasts a bit too long and overstays its welcome.

Other strengths are good acting in the roles by lead Keanu Reeves (but honestly, as usual - John Wick's character is a bit dull and child-like, and lacks pizazz) Laurence Fishburne returns from previous movies and is a cool cat, and other entertaining performances are newcomer Bill Skarsgard as the young and intelligent but evil Marquis.

My favorite performance though was by Donnie Yen as Caine. I really liked the way they wrote the character, as a sort of bad guy who still holds a conscience, and still has a sense of honor. The actor played this role extremely well, and I thought he definitely was the standout character, as well as the most interesting character and charismatic actor in the movie! Just stunning.

The settings are exotic and beautiful, and the film often is shot as you would see when playing a video game from above, which lends the cartoonish violence to be nicely taken in the appropriate tone.

The big negative is I do think the film lasts too long, and it did get tiresome near the end with too many almost seeming never-ending action scenes. That aside, its a very good entry in the movie series, though falls short of being the best one, in my opinion.

This movie, while better than most of the standard horror schlock being produced by Hollywood in recent years, at least is a throwback to the classic 1970s horror era. But it falls woefully short of actually being a good movie in its own right.

Its filmed in a nice style, with high class camera work and does a good job recalling the era, with classic 1970s cars and an era appropriate gasoline station, and other nostalgic items present from the 1970s, but after a promising start, the rest of the film takes place in a boring remote rural house setting. This is much more a black comedy than a proper horror movie, and it has zero suspense.

The actors try their best, but aren't given anything to work with, with bad dialogue, and no character development. The movie is also very slow paced, and when things do start happening, its too late, and even then, the action is pretty dull and forgettable.

It gets points for being a cut above many really bad horror films lately, but it would be a much better use of one's time to actually go watch a classic 1970s horror movie instead.

Don't believe the silly IMDB rating, this was not a good movie.

The UFO "reveal" is very silly and anti-climactic, and all interest is lost when that occurs. The only reason is gets 4 stars from me is the cinematography of an isolated California ranch, and the night time shots of the lonely ranch are also very well done, with appropriate spookiness and great atmosphere of the setting.

Otherwise, a silly and pretentious and non-scary, non-horror movie that will only please those looking for another mediocre "diversity" type movie. There are about a million more being made by Hollywood these days.

V/H/S is a horror anthology. I'm writing this review from the perspective of a horror genre fan, who has seen countless horror films. I think VHS has one great horror episode in it, near the start of the film, called Amateur Night, about some carefree young men on a night out, going to clubs and trying to pick up women. They meet a strange but alluring girl, who turns out to be much more than they bargained for. This is an excellent horror short/episode, with good suspense, good effects, and strong acting.

The only other story in the anthology worth watching is called Second Honeymoon, about a young married couple, who are on a road trip, and end up staying at a cheap, weird motel. This one had a slow start, but a very unexpected ending, which I appreciated and didn't see coming.

Unfortunately the rest of the stories are very forgettable and a waste of time. (including the opening story about some thugs who are given the task to break into an old spooky house to find and steal some videotapes - a mediocre setup to the film)

This leans much more towards satire and black comedy style of horror. Quite surprisingly good! A battle royale between the "elites" vs the "deplorables". I really liked how the filmmakers played around with the concepts of our current political zeitgeist, and its a lot of fun to see how they play with it, and provide a satiric commentary in the movie, targeting both sides. Both sides take hits, and also learn they have misconceptions about the other, and gain a newfound respect for their "enemy". A rare horror gem with wit, satire, smarts, and fun at the same time. The ending I absolutely loved, and thought it was exactly how it should have been.

"Hereditary" is total garbage. Don't be like me, and fall for the misleading advertising surrounding this turkey. This movie is not really horror, by the way, but much more of a "black comedy". Many of the scenes are done in such a way as to make you laugh on purpose. But the comedy is pretty bad, even allowing for the low standards of this genre.

I won't even go into the lame story - suffice it to say that its the usual setup for a horror film centered around a cursed or satanic-like family line. The story is superfluous to the movie, really, only serving as a way to setup cheap jump scares. Very cheap.

I was also not impressed by the actors performances. The mother of the troubled kids in the movie seemed to be trying way too hard, and was overacting like crazy. The weird little girl was one dimensional as can be, and was obviously chosen because of the unfortunate way she looks, (like an elderly person in a child's body)

The son character acted like he was 5 years old, even though he is supposed to be a high schooler. It was also very odd that he appeared to be swarthy or of Hispanic or middle eastern descent, when both mom and dad in the film were both very obviously white people. But I guess that is Hollywood these days, diversity trumps logic or even common sense!

3 stars -- only for some good cinematography of the outdoors in certain scenes. An awful, over-hyped garbage horror film, that lacks real scares or atmosphere, and is more of a black comedy, but where nothing is funny.

This movie is unexpected in its level of depth, for sure. I went to it thinking it would be a typical poker type thriller movie, and the advertising is a little misleading for the film, because I think it gives this impression. Instead, we get a complex and intelligent "deep" type of film, about important, meaningful things such as family relationships and how the past can have lingering effects on peoples lives, and lasting consequences. If you like drama type movies with lots of character depth, and a movie that has lightning quick dialogue - you have to always be paying attention - the movie assumes the viewer is intelligent and is not watching it for cheap thrills or for shallow reasons, if seeing it in the right frame of mind, you will find this to be a very interesting movie.

Liam Neeson is back, playing his "every-man" action star roles, and he is superb in this new movie. But not only is Neeson at the top of his game, but the story and pacing of the movie are stellar, and it really hooks you and keeps you wondering what new twists and turns will come next. The setting of the train is used to full effect, and really showcases how good drama and thrills are so evocative aboard a train, as other movies have also exemplified in the past.

Just amazing special effects and action, if you've ever thought that movies with great action scenes involving trains often seem to reach a higher level of electricity and excitement, then this movie will be right up your alley!

The conspiratorial plot is surprisingly well told - no spoilers - but the way they set up the mysterious villainous organization is excellent, without really giving anything away to the viewer. The way it keeps you guessing, and is, in a way, rooted in real world conspiracy theories, is pretty awesome. Can't wait for the hinted sequel!

Wow, I didn't see this coming! I had seen previews and since I'm a British mystery book enthusiast, I very much was interested in the movie. But my expectations were not very high, because of all the disappointing drek that Hollywood has been churning out in recent history. Hollywood seems to have been having a really rough time in trying to make good movies lately.

So I was very surprised at just how good this movie turned out to be. It's filmed in a very classical style, and reminds me of older movies, when they knew how to make good movies. Great atmosphere of a luxury train in the 1930s, and the train interior scenes are done in a way that doesn't feel cramped at all, like you might think. It all feels very natural.

The ensemble cast is excellent. My favorite characters and performances in the movie were Kenneth Branagh as the esteemed detective Hercule Poirot, Willem Dafoe as Professor Gerhard Hardman, and especially Michelle Pfeiffer as Caroline Hubbard.

I don't know what it is about Michelle Pfeiffer, but I have taken a real liking to her as she has become an older actress. I used to not like her at all when she was "young and hot", but now I think she is a really good actress and I'm excited to see her name in a film. Here, she is really superb playing a mature woman who still has a wild streak in her, and she almost steals the entire movie all by herself.

But Kenneth Branagh also gives a sterling performance, and I was very impressed by his portrayal of the detective Poirot in the movie. He was pretty amazing in how authentic the character came across as, and had a hell of a presence in the movie, basically anchoring the whole movie around his performance.

Willem Dafoe was solid, as usual, as a fine character actor. And he had a really good reveal type scene near the end of the film, I thought. That said, the acting from all the characters in the movie, both major and minor, was of a very high caliber overall.

The film's mystery is based on the famous Agatha Christie novel, which I must confess I never read. So, the entire plot was a surprise to me, and I have to say it was a damn fine mystery! I now know why this book is one of Agatha Christie's most famous mystery novels, its quite fantastic! I didn't see the solution coming at all, and even though I have read numerous detective books and seen a ton of mystery TV shows, the climax even surprised me, which shows just how special this mystery really is -- definitely written by a master.

My only real criticism is that the film is shot in 65mm, which gives the film kind of a fantasy, story-book like look to the whole film. A lot of the landscape shots especially looked fake and like CGI because of this.

I prefer the more realistic look that you get from normal 35mm film.

A minor complaint is the film feels a bit rushed to me, and maybe should have been half an hour longer. This is a very unusual complaint coming from me, because I don't like and often will criticize the too long running times of many movies these days. But this movie felt like it could have used another half hour to expand upon, and not feel so rushed.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys traditional style mysteries, it really is a must-see!

First off, this felt (at least) 3 hours long, but was only 2 hours, to my great surprise.

Ugh. Where do I begin. My friend dragged me to see this, I warned him ahead of time that it was directed by an artsy type director. We had seen another truly awful movie by this same director many years ago - Pi.

This movie is one of the worst movies of the decade, if not the century. It's painful to see how self-important, pretentious and eager this movie tries to be, as if its some sort of artistic film. It fails totally.

Jennifer Lawrence - what was she thinking? Worst career move in recent history. I just hope this movie doesn't end her career - yes, it is THAT bad. I really liked her acting and performance in the Hunger Games movies, but here, even her star power can't even barely make a dent in the utter awfulness of this film.

I can only say that watching this movie was an ordeal, and I'm shocked more people didn't leave the screening earlier, but like me and my friend, most stayed and watched it all the way until the bitter end, waiting for a miracle that it might get better - it never did.

The general look of the film is very good, and reminds us of some of the classic science fiction movies of the past. The Matrix films especially. That said, there is a feeling of being too generic at the same time. The film doesn't create anything new. More of a homage to some of those (much better) previous films.

Scarlett Johansson isn't good in the film. She looks very attractive and eye pleasing on screen, but with no personality. She has no charisma. Any fashion model type with a pretty face could have done this role just as well. She has no presence in the film. You can try and excuse it by saying she is trying to act robotic, but no, that is just a lame excuse. She must bring something to the table, instead of being a non-presence. She can't carry a film, not going by this example, at any rate.

I'm being very generous by giving it a 6, just because it has a few good action scenes, nice set design, and a few good one-liners said by some of the other characters. And the film does not feel too boring, but moves along at a good clip. Most science fiction fans will probably like and enjoy this film, even though its nothing special.

Matt Damon is back, and better than ever in the role of Jason Bourne. Incredible thriller, with a frenetic pace and bone-crushing action in another outstanding entry in the series by brilliant director Paul Greengrass. This movie is the must-see movie of the summer, in my opinion. I had high expectations going in, and this movie not only lived up to them, but surpassed them. From car chases to fight scenes, the action is exhilarating, non-stop, and very brutal and "macho" in the film, and Matt Damon obviously put in a lot of hard work on his physique in order to get into top shape for the movie. Matt Damon was born to play this character, he is truly amazing as Jason Bourne.

Other standout performances were the actors Vincent Cassel as the cold-blooded assassin, "the asset", and I especially loved the character Heather Lee (played by the wonderful Alicia Vikander). I thought she was one of the best characters in the film, besides Jason Bourne.

I loved this movie, and would put this as ranked second best in the whole series, only beaten by the masterpiece, The Bourne Ultimatum.

A couple minor criticisms are: there should have been a few more "quiet moments", my friend who saw it with me remarked that the music seemed to always be going and was loud throughout the film, and there weren't enough parts to catch your breath. The only other criticism is the story line is kind of simple and straightforward - not the most interesting story in the world, but it is serviceable to the great action. I can only hope this movie is the first of many sequels in the series starring Matt Damon and directed by Paul Greengrass, because these guys are an incredible team, who know how to make an outstanding action/thriller!

This was better than you might expect, and is worth watching. The best part of the movie is the pacing and how it manages to keep a high level of tension throughout the film. I also really liked how realistic the movie seemed - for most of it - and the no-nonsense showing of the super intense and high pressure conditions a 9/11 operator must work under.

Halle Berry is very good as the veteran operator, who, against her training, gets too deeply involved with a harrowing emergency call she receives. She then has to deal with the consequences of the aftermath, and her emotional state is deeply affected. Berry's especially good at showing this vulnerability and her human side here. When another emergency call comes in later in the film that echoes the previous one, she sees a chance for redemption.

The acting is very good from the large cast of characters all around. Every actor seems to be portraying a realistic character, and has good believable dialog.

The only major flaw is the ending, which was a letdown, and just too unbelievable. However, despite that miscue, which can be overlooked as its relatively brief, this is a good thriller. Another thriller that excels this one and has tension and suspense dialed up to the breaking point is "Breakdown", which I highly recommend if you like this movie.

Instead of this movie, another film covers the same kind of territory that this one does, and in a much more interesting and compelling fashion. "You're Next" is the movie I would recommend to watch instead.

This horror movie has both pretty bad acting combined with dumb and dull characters, and just feels cheap. The budget must have been low, and it shows. Compared to the far superior film, "You're Next", this movie pales in comparison. If you like routine slasher horror films with a lot of gore, then this will fit the bill. The one bright spot is the leading actor is pretty good. But if you are looking for something more interesting and with much higher quality across the board, then look elsewhere, such as my recommendation.

An unusual horror film with a lot of black comedy and a very good twist. What would happen if in a standard horror movie, the tables were all of a sudden turned? Excellent acting by all involved, and I really liked how it started out as a bog-standard horror flick and then became something else. Lots of (intentionally) very funny scenes and the black comedy bits are consistently funny. I was laughing out loud often throughout the film. Even though the film has buckets of blood and gore, it was not the centerpiece of the movie, like all too often many cheap horror films have as their focus these days. So the excessive gore didn't bother me, because of the light tone and black comedy themes of the movie. I would recommend this movie to hard core horror fans.

I'm a time travel and science fiction fan, but this movie was just way too preposterous and nonsensical to take. The plot is laughable, and its basically something you might catch on a really late night playing on the sci-fy channel, that kind of low-rent quality level. The only bright spot is the emergence of a new actress I had never heard of or seen before, the interestingly named Sarah Snook. She does a superb job with her character, and is much better than the movie deserves. I wish the whole movie had centered on her character, and then also had had a halfway decent story line too, instead of the ridiculous plot that is on display. 4 stars for her performance only, even though its wasted in a stinker movie like this one.

I was blown away at how good this movie turned out to be, and a sequel to a fine horror movie in its own right no less, which is rare these days.

The movie created a palpable and tense atmosphere from the outset, when a young innocent couple is stranded on the freeway when their car breaks down. The couple are now faced with surviving alone and unarmed in a big city full of thugs and killers on the prowl, when its the one night a year that all crime is deemed legal, including murder.

The sense of menace and atmosphere is prevalent throughout the movie and really well done, and the story is very interesting and exciting, as a group of innocent people must cope and try to survive a night of brutality and horror where there are no rules. There are plenty of thrills and twists and turns, and the movie creates a very real sense of chaos and danger lurking around every corner.

The setting of the cold and uncaring big city of Los Angeles is excellently shot, with great cinematography. The pacing is amazing and gripping. There is even a theme of redemption in the movie, it is not just a cheap and hollow typical horror film, with guts and gore as the only elements, like so many other lesser horror movies.

The Purge and its sequel have proved to be one of the best horror franchises in some time, by outstanding director James DeMonaco. I only hope he directs a third movie and that it lives up to the first two!

I was reading some other reviews with people saying how shockingly bad this movie was and I had the same reaction.

This was the most annoying movie I have seen in a long time. The lead woman character has this really annoying and nails on the chalkboard sounding voice, and she narrates long stretches of the movie with that horrible voice. It's not just the way her voice sounds either, her vocal style and the way she uses words compounds the offense and insult to the ears. I was thinking that instead of using torture, they could just put this actress's voice in the film on repeat with a loud speaker, and strap a terrorist suspect in a chair, and he would confess to anything within a half hour!

This movie is also very slow and boring, with the actors seeming to play their roles in a hammy fashion, not taking any of it seriously. It fits the movies plot though, because it is utterly ridiculous and contrived, one of those types of movie plots that no one would ever imagine happening in real life. 2 and a 1/2 hours of this was torture.

Saw this at a free screening. It turned out to be better than I expected. Johnny Depp plays a brilliant and eccentric scientist who is a leading expert on artificial intelligence, and when he is mortally wounded by an anti-technology extremist/terrorist group, he and his small inner circle of fellow genius scientists embark on an ambitious experiment that will test a radical theory of his.

The plot and overall story is pretty standard fare for science fiction, but it still manages to keep things interesting, with various echoes of other classic sci fi movies like 2001: A space odyssey in there as well. The visuals can be really striking at times, with long, brightly lit white hallways that seem to go on forever in an advanced scientific lab, and neat-o computer-like visualizations of cities. The best part of the movie is the last segment, with some really good twists. No spoilers, but the ending is particularly interesting and well done. There is a nice ambiguity and there can be different interpretations of the overall message of the movie. My friend and I disagreed on what the movie was ultimately saying, for example. It's no masterpiece though, but science fiction fans will like it.

Stay far away from this one if you are a horror fan and have seen more than a handful of horror movies. This is just another in a long line of modern horror movies from the past decade or so, where it is full of jump scares and bad CGI ghosts. Ugh. Dumb, boring, and about as non-scary as they come. The best part is the first third or so, with some actual suspense developed, but it never follows through and turns into a generic ghost horror movie from there. The actors all play standard parts, nothing surprising, but the little boy character was mildly amusing, as he always seemed to be scared out of his wits, no matter what was going on in the scene. They could be having a calm normal morning breakfast, and he was scared as heck! I didn't pay a cent to see this, saw it at a free screening, and I think I got what I paid for.

I became a Liam Neeson fan when he started his new turn as an action hero in the excellent thriller, Taken. But I think this newest entry in his recent action roles is more routine and by the numbers than what some of the enthusiastic response is giving it credit for. It is a "bog standard" action thriller aboard an airplane, and to me, it seemed a bit too goofy in places and overly contrived. It's not terrible by any means, but nothing special. I hope to see more interesting movies in this genre from Neeson in the future, because I still haven't seen any of his other action movies rise to the level of "Taken" yet.

As far as special effects and set design, the movie is strong in those departments. I think the movie is actually best in its first 3rd, there is a nice style and atmosphere built up, and the movie seems quite promising at that point. Then it slowly goes downhill at an increasing rate from there. By the time the ending rolled around I found it to have become very silly and a disappointment.

"Out of the Furnace" has an all star cast of current and former huge Hollywood names, but this movie feels very small, and more like a TV drama than a feature movie. It also has a glacial pace, and seems like a 5 hour experience, a real slog. The only bright spot is Woody Harrelson, playing an uber-hillbilly who is a down and dirty scumbag, he shows his usual great range when compared to his recent work as a very different character in the blockbuster Hunger Games movies. This movie is very pedestrian in the story line, with nothing that surprises you, and you know what will happen from a mile away. I would not be surprised if this bombs at the box office. Very dull.

I must say that Catching Fire blew me away in how good it was, I didn't expect this. I was not impressed with the first movie - The Hunger Games - but this sequel raises the bar significantly and its stunning at just how entertaining the film is, and very surprising what they accomplished here.

Jennifer Lawrence was phenomenal in the lead role, showing a great range of emotions and intensity, it was one of the best performances by a lead that I have seen in a long time. But this movie is full of great acting, with all the parts being played to a high level, and it goes along with a suspenseful and exciting plot, which draws you into the movie with ease and skill. I know I sound like I'm gushing, but it's just that kind of a movie, where you leave the theater excited and with an afterglow of having seen a first rate piece of film making. I can't wait to see the third movie, the anticipation is already building to see what happens next. I applaud all the actors and directors and special effects people, they really excelled and made quite a movie!