solaris

Jesus Mary and Joseph!!#

Yeah WOM is going to be solid. This film is the definition of crowd pleasing.

Yeah Pratt carries this thing. His charisma is what sparks the film to the next level. BDH is good too, she deserves down bigger roles. I really liked the film. It's a solid slice of summer fun. It's not the second coming or anything, but loads of fun, and the dino action is all really well staged.

The more I think about it the more I really hate this episode: Stannis burning Shireen just doesn't tally. I don't have a problem (narratively speaking) with Shireen being burnt alive per se... it would be completely plausible, for example, for Melisandre to abduct her or just go ahead and burn her without Stannis' permission. But for Stannis to be complicit runs contrary to everything that the show has tried to establish about Stannis over the past season - that he loves his daughter and that she is the red line he will not cross. Contradicting that isn't complex character building - it's just bad/lazy writing and a cheap shock. Look, I get that GoT is all about serving us brutality with zero % chance of silver linings. It's one of the things I love most about the show. As distressing as I found Oberyn's death, it didn't feel implausible or cheap. This does. Even the Sansa rape scene that many hated made sense to me - whatever your issue with the way it's presented, there's no denying that Ramsay would rape Sansa. It's plausible. I can't really comment on anything else about the episode as this one scene has been upsetting me all day. At the very least, I commend D&D for creating something that has really, genuinely got under my skin. I just wish the context of the scene was different, and earnt. I'll stop rambling but the Forbes review sums up how I feel about this far more eloquently and succinctly than I could. http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2015/06/08/game-of-thrones-season-5-episode-9-review-the-dance-of-dragons/

Really not sure how I feel about this episode. Shireens death may just have overtaken Oberyns on the list of GoT scenes I never EVER want to watch again, just for the sheer upsetting horror of it. And it just doesn't make any sense at all... having a likeable character do horrible things is nothing new in GoT world, but this is something that would make Ramsay Bolton pause. I didn't buy that Stannis is THAT much of a fanatic to both his and Melisandres cause that he would stoop to this depth.

Totally unrelated but I saw Gwendolene Christie working out at my gym today. I'll try and post my rubbish instagram photo later. Also, I'm planning to get up at 4am on Monday morning (UK time) so as to have the shortest possible window for being spoilt about ep 9

Yeah they really saved a lot of the good stuff for this. The last 5 minutes were breathtaking.

Dayum... shit is gonna go down in Ep 10! Although...

Finally saw it. I have very little to add that hasn't been said elsewhere. Obvs loved it - purest adrenaline rush I've had at the cinema in years. And the world building is immense....I am now wikipediaing anything and everything to do with this film and the world it depicts. That, to me, is the sign of a great and memorable film.

Oh and Robson and Jerome were absolutely huge in the mid 90s..... My mum (and all mums across the UK) loved them.

This is really reminding me a lot of season 2... Its not so much that nothing has happened (or is happening), just that the sheer amount of abridging and streamlining has made each of the storylines feel small and unfocused. For the first time this season, there was a sense of urgency that's been missing. Will HBO ever sign off a longer season with more episodes? I know the budget is huge already, but I just can't see how they can continue to condense so much plot without losing focus (and quality). Even an extra 2 would give a lot of these plots precious breathing room.

Well that completely floored me. Beautifully understated and absolutely guy wrenchingly sad. Moore and Stewart are both flawless, and the final scene/exchange between them is perfect. A

I don't care what anyone says - 15 year old me was BLOWN AWAY by this in 1999. And not just for the twist, it's a genuinely gripping bit of storytelling all the way through. I know it's de riguer to bash Shyamalan these days, but there's no denying the skill and efficiency on display. And yeah, Toni Colette's performance genuinely broke my heart in this. A cast iron classic from a wonderful year to be have been a young movie geek.

This was on TV just the other day. I caught the back end of it. I was surprised by how unsentimental and unschmaltzy it was, particularly for the era. I must go back and rewatch the whole thing. My mum made me watch it when I was 9 or 10 but I don't think I enjoyed it all that much back then

I'm not a book reader, so to be fair I don't have anything to compare back to... but I do think it's a lot harder for the show to be coy about his sexuality. If it's heavily implied in the books, then by virtue of TV being a more visual medium it's pretty hard to suppress it. Also, HBO would probably be accused of a whitewash if they didn't make Loras 'openly' gay.

Pretty interesting interview with Benioff about changing Sansa's storyline from the books. http://www.ew.com/article/2015/04/26/game-thrones-sansa-ramsay-interview Loved 'High Sparrow'. Definitely the best episode thus far. I'm actually starting to enjoy The Wall storylines.

Tied between this and The Undiscovered Country for my fave ST film. I think this takes it just by virtue of being such a good ride. I have fond memories of discovering this at the age of about 11 on VHS and being completely blown away. The CGI genesis sequence is such a nifty little piece of effects work for its day. And I remember being genuinely upset when Captain Terrell turns his phaser on himself and gets vapourised. And this is hands down my James Horner score (before he started to plagiarise himself)

Yeah it kind of feels like a retcon

I blame piracy and a REAALLLLY dull first episode. Shame as the 2nd is so much better.

The big finale is definitely the highlight. In fact both the opening and ending action sequences are the best. Hulkbuster sequence was great too, not as good as Helicarrier scene from first film though (in terms of mid point action sequences).

So, a little context to start. I am (or rather, my company is) a client of Disney, so we were very fortunate to be offered a pair of tickets to the European premiere in London. This was my first premiere experience.... we were ushered through to the screens whilst the stars did their thing outside. It was a big corporate event so the premiere was held across a number of screens. After about 20 mins of waiting, Joss Whedon gave a brief introduction and then on we rolled. (Sidenote - I was hoping for one of the Chris's at least). https://instagram.com/p/1sNfSYzTZM/?taken-by=lambnich I'm trying to keep this as spoiler-free as possible. So... is it any good? Of course it's good - this is the golden goose of the MCU, people! Is it better than the first one? Nope, but it's still pretty damn good. If anything, this film will make you appreciate the lightning-in-a-bottle quality of the first Avengers. The closest comparison I can think of is Star Trek Into Darkness v ST09. It has a noticeably darker tone than the first Avengers, and definitely feels a bit overstuffed. The set pieces too (as impressive as they are) don't quite have the clarity that they did before. On quite a few occasions, I didn't know what was happening (and I say that as someone who is moderately versed in MCU-lore). And it lacks the same sense of zip & whizz that the first film had - it just doesn't quite move along at the same pace. All that being said, the more one tries to compare back to TA, the more disappointed you'll be. Taken on its own terms, it's a damn fine piece of blockbuster film-making. Ultron is a worthy and credible foe (James Spaders voice.... ) and the film is a technical marvel, forgive the pun. The final set piece in Sokovia is spectacularly well staged and realised. Other random thoughts: - The opening/pre-credits sequence is great. Joss Whedon has probably got a great Bond film in him somewhere based on that. - MVP - Hawkeye (whoda thunk it?). Although BW & Hulk are a close joint second. - LVP - Aaron Taylor Johnson - Hollywood please stop now. To be honest, none of the new additions to the team made much of an impact (including Vision sadly). Overall this delivers exactly what you'd want it to - massive (and massively entertaining) action sequences, and quips galore (although the Cap / 'Language' running joke gets tiresome pretty fast). From a BO point of view, I can't see this having quite the same repeat value as the first so I'm thinking slightly higher OW, slightly lower total (from a US Domestic point of view anyway). Internationally this is going to do silly numbers. Apologies for the very random & disjointed review - just wanted to let you know my thoughts as quickly as possible! FWIW, CA:TWS is my fave MCU movie. If I had to rank this at gunpoint right now, it would a close 3rd/4th after CA2 & the first Avengers (and possibly IM1, not sure yet). It's a solid summer blockbuster, and a fine entry into the MCU. Without wanting to spoil anything, it serves as a great bridge and gets everything set for the next phase.

Yeah same here. I don't wanna overindulge now only to have to 'fast' for another month. Plus I like the whole build up and buzz that goes with watching the episodes week by week. It's all anyone in my workplace talks about on Tuesday mornings anyway!

If FF7 can do $800m OS (or whatever it's going to end up doing) then this can do $1b. I'm thinking this can do $100m here in the UK alone.