OH :P

BTW, back to top gun. I'm always talking about how nowhere where I live is. I just found out the great actor from the first Top Gun, James Tolkan, was born just a few miles down the road from where I live.

FernGully: The Last Rainforest - somehow missed this as a kid, which is a pity since I would've loved it. Still even watching it for the first time now I thought it was very enjoyable, especially visually with its silky smooth animations and wonderfully trippy artwork. I was worried that the story might be somewhat underwhelming, but that too was surprisingly effective. Very short and too the point I thought, with some clear parallels between it and Avatar.

I went solo and saw Solo: A Star Wars Story and it was good, but not as good as Rogue One. I didn't expect that either, have read and heard lots people being disappointed by it and that's part of the reason why I watched it before Deadpool 2. Better to watch a good movie before a great movie than the opposite.

Alden Ehrenreich is good at portraying a young Solo who (as tinyE said in a post about Top Gun 2) writes checks that his body can't cash. The other actors are perhaps better, but it's always easier to be more interesting when you don't have to carry the burden of the protagonist. I like the nods to old trilogy Star Wars and it's entertaining the whole way, but the movie lacks flow or an actual plot. It's just one heist gone wrong to the next one, trying to dig themselves out of the hole they made in the beginning.

Still, it was better than I thought it was, but the Emperor/fans are not as forgiving as I am.

I've just watched Money Heist ( La casa de papel). Maybe the best Netflix show ever. I can´t recommend it enough!

I was a bit disappointed that they didn't utilize NTW's character more in the movie. I loved her in the first one and would have liked to see more of her in this one. As it stands, she seems to be there only to provide a reason for the girlfriend to be there (and, as you noted, she seems to serve no real purpose).
More and more I'm thinking I may actually like it better than Rogue One. I guess it's because I was expecting it to be a real dumpster fire and was quite pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. While I expected Rogue One to be good from the outset. I'll have to see Solo again (once it's released on Blu-ray) and see if it holds up on second viewing.

I just saw Chapter 26, a dramatic story about Mark David Chapman and how he spent the last few days before he shot John Lennon. The title refers to The Catcher in the Rye, which had 26 chapters, and Chapman's obsession with that book. Jared Leto plays Chapman and Lindsey Lohan has a small part.
I think it's very good, although opinions vary. It made me want to read Catcher in the Rye again but I'll probably just read a plot summary on Wikipedia.
Thanks for posting this. I agree 100% so I don't need to write a post about Solo.
I would have also chimed on about Top Gun, but my opinion of it would...not be welcome.

No way is it better than Rouge One. Like I said in my thread, I liked it fine, but overall it's way too bland and low stakes to measure up to Rogue One. At no point is it as impressive and impactful as Rouge One's final battle or the first use of the Death Star. And even CGI Tarkin is a much better villain than... the guy from Solo whose name I already can't remember.

I don't think there was a 'main' villain in Solo, and I think that's intentional (or serves the story better). Solo's an outlaw on the run and getting into trouble with various organizations. So it makes sense there would be several candidates for the antagonist. Although IMO, the real villain is actually the organization behind Dryden Vos (i.e. that special cameo's organization), which remains more offstage.

I found the beginning of Rogue One to be drawn out and tedious though. Sure, Solo has its pacing issues as well, but I still enjoyed it a helluva lot. Rogue One was great, don't get me wrong (better than the movies in the main trilogy - but I also think Solo was better than them as well). Maybe it's because Rogue One was pretty much a known story (you knew how it was going to end and had a better idea of what the story was going to be than Solo). Like I said though, I'd have to watch it again. Likely the two of them back to back would decide it for me.

I just watched Babette's Feast and loved it. The food looked yummy except for the turtle soup.

Really, I think it's the exact opposite. Solo felt like a much more predictable film. Honestly I had very little idea of what the story of Rogue One will be other than that they steal the plans in the end. But I didn't even know who "they" are since they're all new characters. Or where they steal the plans from or how. Solo on the other hand was always going to have Han growing in some crappy place, the Kessel run and a short cut to explain the "parsecs" in the original movie, Han winning Falcon from Lando, a scene referencing "shooting first" (thankfully done better than I expected) and flying off with Chewie to further adventures.

And, though that was not planned, the trailers having a lot of shots from a version of the movie that didn't make it into the theatres, also made Rogue One less of a known quality. I almost think that every movies should shoot some scenes just for the trailers as red herrings.

Don't underestimate the turtle.

Thanks for that! :)

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

I found it enjoyable, but not as much as its predecessor. The last third or so felt pretty weak, but the film nonetheless still has its moments, including a very unexpected and annoyingly effective sad-moment with a brachiosaurus (i think - the 'giraffe' one). I definitely miss the slow buildup of the older movies though - in Fallen Kingdom within the span of the first 5 minutes you already get to see the 2 biggest 'monster' dinosaurs rampaging.

Blade Runner 2049

The original Blade Runner was and still is one of my favorite science fiction movies, and to say 2049 lived up to that might just be an understatement. Few modern films have left me entranced in the same way as this did. Technically beautiful, fantastic performances from the cast, and a story that feels like a proper sequel - calling back to the original but not just copying the story of the original. Can't say I had any problems with this one personally. Even the length, which I thought could be much, felt perfectly fine with no time wasted.

Considering how this turned out, it gives me hope for what Denis Villeneuve will do with Dune.

Billy Elliot

I'm currently back to listening T-Rex's and it is said that it featured prominently at this movie. I haven't got to chance to see it at its early 2000s hype and finally found out what an enjoyable movie it is. The political background about the union worker and the coal industry. Class divide and sexual awakening. Great performance by the future Tintin and Mrs Weasley. And the songs choice, not just only T-Rex's is great. Sure it has some weak points, but scenes like the Interview at the Royal Ballet School more than made up for it.