One of the best films that I've watched this year. Outstanding story, excellent period piece, perfect direction and cinematography, Stunning performance by Rosamund Pike, and of course Christian Bale. Strongly recommend.
Just watched the first two episodes. Billy Bob Thornton excels in this role. As to the plot - As they said in episode 1: The oil industry makes billions in a day, trillions in a year. The whole world will keep paying it as long as it is there and flowing. Thorton's role is to be the guy that keeps it flowing, overcoming obstacles and if necessary, removing them.
A film that is both wonderfully beautiful to watch, and dreadful in its plot. Yes, I get it: "New Rome" is an allegory of a potential downfall of America. Subtlety is lost as it is more punch-in-the-face with that info rather than through discovery. And the whole Shakespeare-even-more-relevant-today than 400 years ago is a way to go for some films,,, but this just peppers in Shakespeare when the need of a soliloquy arises, no matter which play from which it is lifted. Add a narration from time to time by Laurence Fishburne, and heck, why not throw in a greek chorus as well. The what-the fcuk-am-I-watching-here question comes up a lot. But still, Coppola turns this into something that you WANT to watch. A "Calligula" for the weird 2020's. Repulsed but intrigued concurrently. Like a Fellini film, focused on creating unique images. Not a film for this with a short attention span. Probably would be better with THC edibles, but it's already an acid trip in itself.
@raf - No. And, if you DON'T watch it , you will be better for it. The last Batman film dragged on and on, AND it was filmed with low lighting. The intent was to make it gritty and moody... but it really just made it too dark to watch. The only critical knowledge required going in is that Gotham had a huge flood, and as with most huge floods it affected the poorest neighborhoods the worst. "The Penguin" is really extremely well done. It's hard to believe that Colin Farrell is under all the makeup as "Oswald Cobb". The writing is first rate, and the actors excel. Here the dark and moody is the characters and the plot itself. You'll be binging through this in no time.
It was a good film. Recommend. Struggling to understand who you are is really part of maturing. Discovering who you are and remaining truthful to that is something that most can't do. (I would say that most humans are swept up in whatever sociological structure into which they were born, and rarely question what those around them are doing, or they themselves are doing.) This film really addresses the age old saying: If I knew THEN what I know NOW, things would be so DIFFERENT... But (if you watch the film) the real questions you will see is: Will it be different? Will you take that advice? In the end, it's a feel-good flick.
@Bohan - "why are they using 18th century weapons in this?" Actually, I think you meant why are thy using 15th or 16th century weapons. Did you expect light sabers? In this timeline, it has been 27 years since the zombie outbreak started. That means that manufacturing is non-existent, and new guns and bullets just don't happen. Since this show revels in the stupidity of mankind, then they go for anything that will work as a viable weapon. You don't need to reload a broadsword, ax or mace.
What is VR and what is reality? If you were a character in a truly massively advanced VR, would you know that you were NOT in reality? That is the question asked by this film. The answer is: who cares The flick was average at best..
Two Questions: 1) Why can't we sort by size? (toggle the column to change the order) 2) Would it be possible for you to have a Seeds/Leeches column? That would allow me to see if it is a waste of time to select (or not select) a version (ex: "criterion collection") if there are no seeds. Thanks!
As a zombie flick, this had all the usual tropes plugged in. Very run-of-the-mill flick, not very engaging. I was ready to slap a "2" on this, but then in the last 10 minutes, we have one of the main characters doing a slow transition becoming one of the undead. This was well done and quite original, especially for what had been a stinker of a flick up to that point. Actually creepy! So now: 4 stars. Still, not good zombie, but almost passible.
Not a bad zombie flick watch. A little slow in places. Also, the ending (possibly because of English dubbing) was not quite clear on the outcome. Still, good guys, bad guys, lines blurred... the usual zombie flick stuff.
It was OK. In-jokes and breaking the 4th wall make up 70% of the film. If you didn't watch the recent series "Loki" and know the back-story of the TVA, you may have a challenge keeping up. Morena Baccarin was really underutilized in this flick.
Another movie that had the potential to be good... but direction, writing, continuity, and budget killed it. Can you watch it. sure. and if you really don't pay attention it could be OK. But if you DO pay attention, then, it's just stupid.
If you want action, you get action. John-Wick-style, bodies-piled-high, action. Dominique (Oksana Orlan) is a 5'11" Ukrainian with automatic weapons and a severe attitude problem. Filmed in Columbia, with about 50% of the film in Spanish... even if you do not speak Spanish or watch the subtitles you will clearly understand the action. Could have gotten a better rating with a bigger budget and better writing... but they definitely did VERY well with what they had.
Outstanding story, excellent period piece, perfect direction and cinematography, Stunning performance by Rosamund Pike, and of course Christian Bale.
Strongly recommend.
As to the plot - As they said in episode 1: The oil industry makes billions in a day, trillions in a year. The whole world will keep paying it as long as it is there and flowing. Thorton's role is to be the guy that keeps it flowing, overcoming obstacles and if necessary, removing them.
Yes, I get it: "New Rome" is an allegory of a potential downfall of America. Subtlety is lost as it is more punch-in-the-face with that info rather than through discovery.
And the whole Shakespeare-even-more-relevant-today than 400 years ago is a way to go for some films,,, but this just peppers in Shakespeare when the need of a soliloquy arises, no matter which play from which it is lifted. Add a narration from time to time by Laurence Fishburne, and heck, why not throw in a greek chorus as well. The what-the fcuk-am-I-watching-here question comes up a lot.
But still, Coppola turns this into something that you WANT to watch. A "Calligula" for the weird 2020's. Repulsed but intrigued concurrently. Like a Fellini film, focused on creating unique images.
Not a film for this with a short attention span. Probably would be better with THC edibles, but it's already an acid trip in itself.
The last Batman film dragged on and on, AND it was filmed with low lighting. The intent was to make it gritty and moody... but it really just made it too dark to watch. The only critical knowledge required going in is that Gotham had a huge flood, and as with most huge floods it affected the poorest neighborhoods the worst.
"The Penguin" is really extremely well done. It's hard to believe that Colin Farrell is under all the makeup as "Oswald Cobb". The writing is first rate, and the actors excel.
Here the dark and moody is the characters and the plot itself. You'll be binging through this in no time.
Struggling to understand who you are is really part of maturing. Discovering who you are and remaining truthful to that is something that most can't do. (I would say that most humans are swept up in whatever sociological structure into which they were born, and rarely question what those around them are doing, or they themselves are doing.)
This film really addresses the age old saying: If I knew THEN what I know NOW, things would be so DIFFERENT...
But (if you watch the film) the real questions you will see is: Will it be different? Will you take that advice? In the end, it's a feel-good flick.
Actually, I think you meant why are thy using 15th or 16th century weapons.
Did you expect light sabers?
In this timeline, it has been 27 years since the zombie outbreak started. That means that manufacturing is non-existent, and new guns and bullets just don't happen.
Since this show revels in the stupidity of mankind, then they go for anything that will work as a viable weapon. You don't need to reload a broadsword, ax or mace.
If you were a character in a truly massively advanced VR, would you know that you were NOT in reality?
That is the question asked by this film.
The answer is: who cares The flick was average at best..
1) Why can't we sort by size? (toggle the column to change the order)
2) Would it be possible for you to have a Seeds/Leeches column? That would allow me to see if it is a waste of time to select (or not select) a version (ex: "criterion collection") if there are no seeds.
Thanks!
I was ready to slap a "2" on this, but then in the last 10 minutes, we have one of the main characters doing a slow transition becoming one of the undead. This was well done and quite original, especially for what had been a stinker of a flick up to that point. Actually creepy!
So now: 4 stars. Still, not good zombie, but almost passible.
Still, good guys, bad guys, lines blurred... the usual zombie flick stuff.
In-jokes and breaking the 4th wall make up 70% of the film. If you didn't watch the recent series "Loki" and know the back-story of the TVA, you may have a challenge keeping up.
Morena Baccarin was really underutilized in this flick.
Can you watch it. sure. and if you really don't pay attention it could be OK.
But if you DO pay attention, then, it's just stupid.
Dominique (Oksana Orlan) is a 5'11" Ukrainian with automatic weapons and a severe attitude problem.
Filmed in Columbia, with about 50% of the film in Spanish... even if you do not speak Spanish or watch the subtitles you will clearly understand the action.
Could have gotten a better rating with a bigger budget and better writing... but they definitely did VERY well with what they had.