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gamemastereric
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Raging Bull (1980)
The blood-drenched, wife-beating world of Jake LaMotta.
Oh, you want to know what kind of film this is? This film was directed by a person who had just been on the verge of dying after a drug overdose. That is the kind of film this is.
Comparisons between this movie and Rocky are inevitable, but the differences are obvious. This is a much darker, aggressive film: There is nothing emotionally rewarding about it. It is not "almost too much". No, it is actually obnoxious.
Needless to say, not everyone will like it. It is not an emotionally attractive film, and many will find that they cannot relate to the incredibly violent, deranged character of Jake LaMotta. I would not be surprised if someone gave this movie a 1-star review because of how horrifically, frighteningly off-putting his personality is. In this film, he is both the protagonist and the antagonist.
Perception aside, let's look at the real meat of this movie.
The co-screenwriter stated that the issue with this movie was that it "has been done a hundred times before -- a fighter who has trouble with his brother and his wife and the mob is after him"
Yet this is considered one of the greatest movies of all time by many, despite the fact that so many people are turned off by the subject matter. Why?
This is, without a doubt, a filmmaker's film. If we take a detailed look at the cinematography, acting, editing, and dialog, you must ask the question: Honestly, Is there any question? It is, truly, some of the best you can expect to find in a movie. The technical skill put into this movie is mindblowing. This is why people like Roger Ebert are so captivated by this movie.
It is hard to say that this movie is fantastic because it is incredibly difficult to watch and is, by vote, not entertaining. However, it is a technical masterpiece, and from beginning to end, it is an excellently produced movie.
For most, this is not a fun movie. It is, however, a fun movie to analyze. Not a bad pick if you are looking for a professional movie, but not something you'd watch with family.
Inuyashiki (2017)
A bit bizarre, but this is an incredible show.
There are a lot of bizarre (sometimes nonsensical) moments that would confuse anyone in their right mind. Also, the CGI and animation can be a bit awkward at times. However, it was interesting seeing how the hero and the villain interacted with other people, and how their personalities clashed. The characters, the theme, and the overall plot were done very well.
It is a very good show and it is definitely worth watching, but it has some pretty trippy moments.
Mount & Blade: Warband (2010)
Great game with a lot of innovation, but very gamey
I have about 900 hours logged on this game.
The game is very innovative and offers a truly unique experience. However, after playing for a while it becomes apparent that the game really just feels and plays like a beta. Even though it seems like the game has a lot of variety at first, there is actually a very narrow, ideal way to play that forces you into an extremely repetitive cycle if you wish to play efficiently. The game tries to be tactical, clearly, but you can pretty much curbstomp everyone in the game by just spamming Swadian Knights. There is no actual tactical ability required; knowledge of what is overpowered and what is not determines how well you do in battles.
Oh, and you think sieges are going to be cool? Honestly, the way you win sieges is by throwing a ton of Swadian Knights into the meatgrinder that siege ladders are while you try to get into a good camping spot and just mindlessly hack at a ton of enemies.
And of course there's the fact that when you finish the game and unite Calradia, many bugs start occurring. Clearly, this game was not meant to be finished.
Honestly though, this is a great game, and I'm hoping that Bannerlord fixes its issues with balance. As I stated, it is a truly unique, innovative, and enjoyable experience. I would highly recommend getting mods though.
The Collective (2004)
Incredible
If you have ever wondered what mountain biking used to be like or you just want to see some old school heroes shred some dirt, this is the place to look. This movie (and its sequel Roam from 2006, which I can't seem to find on imdb) are nothing short of classics in the mountain biking community. The filming was done excellently and features many different environments.
The soundtrack is excellent. It is jam-packed with downtempo, punk, and underground hip-hop from the period, which helps to create a unique, cool atmosphere.
9/10. Definitely worth watching; one of the best MTB films ever made.
Shanghai Noon (2000)
A good movie with some oversights (spoilers)
If you make the assumption that this is going to be a funny, wild movie, then you are absolutely correct.
The movie is centered on the adventures of an imperial guard of the Qing dynasty in the late 19th century who travels to the new world with his uncle and some other Imperial guards in hopes of rescuing a Manchu princess.
Jackie as an Imperial guard could have been quite interesting: An imperial guard who holds the utmost loyalty to the emperor, but doesn't mind going out of his way to serve, even if it means disobeying his dismissive superiors. It is very unfortunate that we did not see more of Jackie in the forbidden city, as the intrigue and plotting that occurred in the forbidden city is a subject that could have very easily created an interesting opening with a lot more action and comedy. Instead, the movie uses Jackie's role as an imperial guard simply as a way of explaining why the plot progresses in the first place, and nothing more. This results in a shallow opening for the movie.
After the opening, the plot shifts the focus towards Owen. Owen's character is portrayed as an incompetent, naive bandit who loves money and women.
Owen does his role amazingly, but his role may not have been the best role to include to begin with. The main reason he is even really alive is because he is ridiculously lucky (a villain later asks Owen's character how he's even been able to stay alive, which I also must ask). The fact that Owen's character is essentially useless results in a character that feels very forced and underwhelming.
He practically gets carried around by Jackie's character throughout the entire movie until he ends up saving Jackie's life because Jackie's character, for whatever reason, decided that it was a good idea to publicly kowtow to the princess in the middle of the villain's compound -- while the villain was there, of all things. The only reason this ever happened, I assume, was to allow a transition so that Owen's character would finally become useful for something.
Jackie's choreography is wonderful, and in addition, some of the other actors perform solid choreography. The imperial guards, the princess, and the traitor all did very well. Unfortunately, the entertainment provided by this action is all undermined by several things in particular.
Saying the gun fights and standoffs are disappointing is an understatement. They simply could not have been any more underwhelming. This is part of the more broad problem that they handled Owen's fight scenes very poorly.
They also split up the action scenes too much, which only intensified the problems I just mentioned. It was very annoying having to switch from watching Owen's character standing there sweating nervously to watching Jackie go ham on some guys with chain whip techniques every 6 or 7 seconds. I was essentially just waiting for Owen's clips to end so I could keep watching Jackie fight, and that sometimes made me feel like I was only watching half of a movie. As I said before, they should have handled Owen's fight scenes much better.
But I've been talking about things that some other people might not care about. If you're just looking for a funny movie, then there are many people who would love this. I was originally recommended this movie by friends who were praising the comedic value of the movie, and I can't disagree with them.
In short, the comedy is present, but the action is sometimes very lacking. Sadly, this ended up not being anything too special. I still think that it is a 7/10 because it would be a shame to overlook the comedy elements, as well as the efforts of Jackie and some of the other actors.