The Scholars of Shen Zhou

Needed something relaxing, brainless and that I wasn't looking forward to much so watched The Gamers: Dorkness Rising. Premise: Lodge (Nathan Rice) is playtesting a new D&D campaign but his players, led by the arrogant Cass (Brian Lewis), keeping getting killed so they decide to recruit new players including Cass ex and newbie Noanna (Carol Roscoe) joins.

I found it quite fun, clearly a cheap movie so impact on some of the effects but cast (including Scott C. Brown, Christian Doyle and Jennifer Page playing the group) do a nice job with a sense of fun. The bits outside gaming are alright but it really gets going when the gaming begins, be it the OC battles between players and DM/each other and disputes or the IC stuff where it isn't afraid to be a bit silly. Some fun running jokes (like one player forgetting his character's gender), characters working their way out of trouble is enjoyable, slightly loses it's way during the big boss stuff but has a nice ending.

Had nice, fun time
6.0

Watched comedy adaptation of boardgames Clue/Cluedo Clue with three possible endings. Premise: 1954 New England, guests are greeted by butler Wadsworth (Tim Currie) and given a Pseudonym like Miss Scarlett or Professor Plum. Soon however there is a murder to solve and a body to deal with....

We saw this and thought might be fun seeing how one could make a film based on the boardgame. Starts a little slowly as they gather the group up, nice tension but Currie's early performance feels a tad off but once it gets going, the film was fun. Didn't have an atmosphere of mystery but it did leave one guessing as to why the killing happens, three endings are good , one or two nods to the game and one intresting moment on homosexuality . Mostly it was a comedy and it was an amusing film, good one liners, funny arguments, comic performances, a nice line in silliness and innuendo. They try to balance the characters but some are more enjoyable then others like the clueless Colonel Mustard (Martin Mull) and Miss Scarlett (Lesley Ann Warren)

Me: 6,0, Sis: 6.5

Tried It Follows but not sure if my state of mind or the film just isn't me but it just didn't click at all and was very quickly bored. I only gave it seven minutes which isn't fair and far shorter then my usual "giving it a chance" but everything just seemed off. I might give it a try at later point

I am a sucker for movies about food and cooking, and for anyone else who is, I would recommend Le Grand Chef. It's a Korean movie which is about a cooking competition mired in the proud legacy of the imperial chefs of the Joseon kingdom, full of intrigue, history, and great character moments. I highly recommend it even for folks who aren't interested in cooking, as the story is really intriguing and full of memorable scenes. Without spoiling anything, there were a few scenes which got me legitimately emotional.

Watched rom-com Mr Right. Premise: Martha (Anna Kendrick) discovers her boyfriend is cheating on her and is broken hearted, fearing she will never settle down. Then she meets and clicks with Mr Right (Sam Rockwell) with the slight issue that he is a hitman being pursued...

A film with good action for the hitman stuff but also mixing up with comedy and the graceful movement of Rockwell. As a comedy, it is an enjoyable, funny romp with comedy drawn from enjoyable baddie, Mr Right being a hitman, from friends like Sophie (Katie Nehra) providing a balance from the eccentric, enjoyable setpeices. In terms of romance, there is an issue that pops up infrequently enough not to ruin the film in that both characters are "eccentric" and Martha at fullblast (with Kendrick given an energetic performance) can be childish and annoying so combined it can be too much. However usually the film has a straight figure to balance them out or the hitman side of things acts as a restraint on one of them so the romance is usually nice enough.

Overall: Fun, amusing film
Both: 6.5

Tried The Girl on the Train, nothing particularly bad about it (probably the musical we watched instead was technically worse) but we didn't warm to it, felt like a film slightly too pleased with itself and characters seeming to have no understanding of how other people react. Looked good and a decent cast.

Watched Inspector Clouseau. Premise: Britain has been hit by a spate of robberies and the PM has lost faith in Scotland Yard so, to the fury of the police, he calls in help from abroad. The famed inspector (Alan Arkin as Sellers didn't like the script) is on the case....

Badly reviewed but in an afternoon where I wanted something simple and fun, worked well. I liked, bar one annoying scene where the inspector is extremely petty, Alan Arkin's Clouseau, plot not the most logical but I had fun with it, had fun with gadgets, luck, love life. It did flag in second half but still had it's moments and one or two jokes that stick in the head a few days later , film had nice sense of silliness.

Me: 6.0 Sis: 6.5

I watched Dunkirk the other day and enjoyed it. I'm a pretty big fan of war movies and it was one of the better ones I've seen in awhile. I thought they did a very good job making everything look authentic. The ships and planes used were mostly modified and repainted to resemble those from the WW2 era, and some in the movie were actually involved in the historical evacuation.
Apparently they actually screened this for some veterans of Dunkirk and received a thumbs up, although there were a few minor inaccuracies.

The action is well paced and constant. The feeling of desperation and hopelessness really comes off the screen quite well. Dive bombing Stukas with Jericho trumpets screaming must have been horrifying to the young men on the beach with no cover or defense. It was pretty jarring to me just sitting in a chair watching it.
The film is basically split into three perspectives: Land, Sea and Air. The aerial scenes with the Spitfires were by far my favorite and were very well done in my opinion. There was constant anxiety over the fuel situation just like at the actual battle.
The Land scenes were bit more chaotic and sometimes I had difficulty understanding what people were saying. Thousands of extras were involved but the main focus were on a couple of British soldiers looking for an escape.

I didn't feel any of the actors performances really stood out to me. But, they all did a solid job. I would probably have to say Mark Rylance did the best job in my opinion. He played a older British man who had lost his oldest son in the early part of the war. Along with his youngest son, they sail his yacht out of England to try to rescue as many men as they can. A lot of heroic efforts from the Brits as well as the French who tried to hold back the German advance.
One thing I found curious was that they never showed any Germans during the film other than a few blurry silhouettes. I thought some German perspective would have been interesting.

Overall, a good movie I'd like to watch again. If you like WW2 movies you should enjoy this one. 7/10

Watched mockumentry Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. Premise: Conner Friel (Andy Samberg) was once the star singer of popular band The Style Boyz with childhood friends Lawrence (Akiva Schaffer) and Owen (Jorma Taccone) but Conner left the band to strike solo as "Conner4Real" with his first single a big hit. We follow him and his entourage as he prepares for his much anticipated second album....

Slightly slow start then kicks into gear, providing a nice, enjoyable, amusing but not quite as good as it should be film. I admit that some of the references to the music industry (including it's CMZ segment) I didn't get at all but has some nice use of celebrity cameo's. Cast do a good job like Sarah Silverman as publicist and Tim Meadows as manager Harry but there are a tad too many characters. In terms of humour, about three really really good jokes, some nice enough ones and it provides a comedic atmosphere but too many jokes are heavy handed. In terms of music, they have a good beat, one or two nice songs (the Style Boyz ones are awful bar one) and it is brilliant watching how Connors has inadvertently created offensive songs, again it slightly messes the landing of the actual jokes in the songs with heavy handed clumsiness but one of the songs is hilarious.

It also tries to cover the sad elements with mixed effect, they make Conner a chap easy to like with some self awareness but success has gone to his head, there are glimpses of troubles beneath the stardom which mixes well with comedy. It makes some bad choices on paths to go down and when it tries to go a less comic end phase,the film sags as it is not quite enough to go for a straight ending phase.

Both: 6.5

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Watched Tim Burton (director) and Jane Goldman (director) adaptation of Ransom Riggs fantasy novel Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Premise: Jake Portman (Asa Butterfield) has grown up on his grandfather Abe (Terence Stamp) tales of fighting monsters and living in Miss Peregrine's (Eva Green) Home for Peculiar Children. Jake goes to visit the school but of course none of this could be true...

Works well when it focuses on the character, be it Jake with his loving grandfather (Stampd does very good work) or with his distant father (Chris O'Dowd), the authoritative Peregrine with Eva Green (once I got past the accent) doing a very good job and how she handles her charges, how the children react as individuals and a group to events, getting to know each other and so on. When it concentrates on that, the film goes along nicely and is fun, the film has some fun and inventive uses for the children's peculiarities.

It mishandles the romances and has a habit of dropping things. As an adventure, characters use their ability with some fun, there are some good oneliners from the big bad and one great scene but the baddie lacks a sense of threat, while the adventure doesn't engage as well as the other parts of the film.

Overall: Nice movie, would see a sequel.
Both: 6.5

I had the great pleasure of being able to watch My Neighbor Totoro for the first time last night, in cinema no less! It was part of a special cinematic Ghibli series that's showing throughout the year. It was cute, but man, it's such a different style of film to what we're used to nowadays.