Gladiator

25 years later, could've been longer admittedly knowing this show.

I'm not entirely sure as to why I finally decided to watch this movie, and subsequently the sequel as well, but hey why not? That's basically the motto of this website! So Gladiator holy moly did this have quite a reputation, highly succesful film, won some big Oscar gold back when they had fucking standards, and clearly had a fanbase enough for a sequel, so what did I think of it? It was okay. I'm not gonna bash it too much, I just thought it was good. The story is very akin to the Moses story with some other recognizable elements thrown in, of a commanding general who gets in good with the royalty of Rome before being outcasted, his family slain, and he's sold into slavery to fight at the Colosseum while trying to get even with the new more antagonistic Emperor. It has some very good things going for it, despite the early ass 2000s effects it has a real grand scope and solid cinematography I mean Ridley Scott is a very visual director so I knew I was going to see some nice stuff. Shit oh my God, the sets and costuming are out of this world honestly, they put a lot of effort into the visuals here! The score honest to God is one of the best film scores I have heard in a hot ass minute and works beautifully with the scenes! The performances in particular of Joaquin Phoenix as this very Ben Solo-esque wannabe tyrant Commudus was one of the most engaging and interesting performances. Sir Richard Harris as Marcus Aurelius even though he's just in it for a bit just proves what a powerhouse actor he really is and the fact that he's an introspective ruler with higher aspirations for his country is refreshing to see! Another standout performance that I really never hear anyone talk about is Oliver Reed as Proximo who is the trainer of the gladiators and I cannot for the life of me explain why but he was magnetic to me on screen with glimpses of backstory, a bit of wisdom to part, and holds a unique position of power with ulterior motives of his own, like I was thoroughly enjoying his performance! Also have to shoutout Derek Jacobi who I'm just pretending was The Master in roman times with some nefarious goal in mind, he had that certain aura about him at times and I am thrilled everytime I get to see him act in anything really! Now you might be saying, but Dude what about Russell our main character and Connie as well? Huuuuge props to Connie for being a beacon of knowledge on roman times and history to the point where the crew was asking for advice on the production, that's a badass right there and yeah it was easy to care about her character when she's mostly stuck in the same room as her megalomaniacal brother. As for Russell...eh. I have never hated him as an actor but I didn't have much to work with, it's not your typical kill the despot to achieve vengeance for my family like the man just kindaaaa sortaaa does stuff with no end goal in sight, I mean maybe for the sake of killing Commudus but it feels not entirely earned or necessary. I like his ending, that was nice and gratifying at least. But while we're on the subject of negatives I gotta get my big complaint out now. The editing in this movie is slapdash at points, it started off effective in the first battle scene because war is disjointed, chaotic, and hard to keep up with.....but then it just kept fucking happening. Especially if people have a good length of dialogue, the camera just keeps cutting to random shit with no rhyme or reason and it did nothing but detract me from the story. Yet it's not always like that either, it has moments of clarity and focus as well so it's just confusing. I certainly did not walk in here to raze Gladiator to the ground and indeed it's not terrible in the slightest, but I am holding out hope for the sequel to be better. 2.5 stars, 7.5/10 from me.

Camelot

As a musical it might not be the best, but as a film it is worthy of praise.

Based off of the stage play of the same name, Camelot went through a few trials and tribulations before it came to cinemas in 1967 but I truly believe it is a great movie. The production values are high with sets that look as real as castles that the filmmakers actually shot at in Europe, the costumes are flowing and beautiful, and the star power gives the film a good weight. For me Richard Harris is my definitive King Arthur, many a time in days gone by a good friend of mine would debate with me in my english class that Clive Owen was the best King Arthur of the screen to which I strongly disagreed and said that Sir Richard Harris was the superior version, and every viewing of this movie only strengthens my opinion. Vanessa Redgrave does quite well as Queen Guenevere and while I take issue with the character, her performance and overall acting is very good. Franco Nero might be the best Lancelot I've seen, encapsulating the character's traits as well as physique, and while his singing voice might have been dubbed the acting from him is still very strong. Now the musical numbers I must admit are more miss and less hit, with only a handful peppered throughout the course of a 3 hour film but the way the film utilizes them are where it hits it's stride, the songs summarize who the character is at that moment in time. I Wonder What The King Is Doing Tonight shows that Arthur is a very shy king, not really knowing what to do with the throne and wishes he were doing anything else in life except being a king, C'est Moi shows how highly Lancelot thinks of himself, that he can do no wrong, has never lost a battle, and boasts a very vauntage opinion of himself. How To Handle A Woman expresses Arthur's conflicted emotions about Guenevere and how he doesn't quite know how to make her happy but soon comes to the realization is to simply love her in any way regardless. Which is very odd for a musical because every single musical I have ever seen the songs are either fun fluff that really contribute nothing or it's a character singing their feels in a way to where even a child can fully comprehend how they are feeling, but here without the musical numbers the film would not be affected much. It's a very emotional and morally complex film that is interesting drama because of these characters, we don't really need the musical numbers but simply the story. And once again the plot revolves around a love triangle between our three leads but truthfully the way they handle it is simultaneously brilliant and....bizzare. I'm sorry, as much praise as I can give this film I don't quite get why Guenevere falls in love with Lancelot, it seems more like something you need to read into than the film just telling you. He shows up, they sing a song about how everyone are horny immoral slags in the month of May, they meet and sort of flirt(?), then inexplicably she starts manipulating knights to fight Lancelot to....what exactly? Prove his worth? Does she just get all hot and bothered seeing men fight over her? I have absolutely no idea. But they become a couple and a not so subtle one at that because even Arthur knows but here is where the film gets brilliant. I love, love, love, like love ×1000 the morality system this movie sets up, might for right, violence is not strength and compassion is not weakness, and that revenge is utterly worthless, this is the reason why I will always choose Richard Harris! He is a civilised man in an uncivilized time, and his character moments and his for lack of a better word ethics, is what elevates this movie for me, he knows his wife, his queen is with essentially his best friend and for a brief moment he wants vengeance but he stops and thinks about their lives, their decisions, their own personal pain and he does not wish to harm them in any way because he loves them regardless. It reminds me of when the 12th Doctor tells Clara "Do you think that I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?", he looks beyond his own feelings throughout the movie and only tries to do what's right for everybody, those are qualities sorely needed in people today. It's really an amazing performance and he almost singlehandedly carries the film, I could talk about it all day and still not say everything I could ever wish to say about this character. It's a very forward thinking stance for a film made in the late 60s that can still be very much applied today, hell maybe even more so. I think, no I know I'm biased a bit towards this movie, and believe it or not this is the favorite film of my one of my favorite reviewers ever, and I could not more highly recommemd you watch his show if I tried. I heard about Camelot a long time ago by Linkara a cokic book reviewer with an online show Atop The Fourth Wall, and his passion and love for that movie left quite an impact on me and made me resolve to see it for myself and I couldn't agree with him more. He gives a quite powerful and very real statement as to why Camelot is his favorite film, and how it made him a better person. Very few times have I seen such moments but they stick with me to this day when someone just stops for a minute and really just sort of, lays themselves bare and speaks their heart as well as their mind. It's something I appreciate and my love for this film has only grown since I first watched it. The ending is kind of a downer ending, you really have no idea how the story for Arthur ends, I mean it ends with a glimmer of hope but nothing fully concrete which is again very much against films of that era in Hollywood let alone musicals. Musicals are pretty cut and dry when you get right down to it in terms of story, characters, and meaning, and really the only two I have ever seen with depth and this kind of ambiguity to them (that I personally have seen of course) is Camelot and Mary Poppins. Camelot and Marry Poppins don't have basic, plain, two dimensional characters where you know everything about them and how their stories will play out, they focus more on character than just spectacle and fun but they both have their moments, they really break that mold of musicals. They gave better stories than you expected them to give. I love this film, it's by no means perfect but what it does it affects me in a strong way, and I think it deserves more appreciation and love nowadays. 4 stars, 8/10, I am so glad I got to talk about this movie and we got one more before the end of the week. Give it a shot guys seriously.

Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets

I would definitely say this is better than the first.

Chamber Of Secrets does what every sequel should do, expand the story and characters while still introducing new elements into the world and overall having a better feel than the first. Granted the first story was a very basic story, more an introduction if nothing else but it turned out to be a pretty good film and was a massive hit at the box office. So now we have a better story with Harry returning to Hogwarts admist a rash of student endangerment after hearing tale of an illusive chamber built by one of Hogwart's original founders, leading Harry, Ron, and Hermione to find the location of the chamber and kill the beast within that is hunting down non-pure blood students before the school is closed. I know I give brief synopsis to every movie, but there's tons to talk about in every aspect for this film. Already the budget and effects have clearly been given a major upgrade, with more lavish sets, excellent animatronics, and better CG. I particularly like how we see familiar locations from the last movie but we get so many more new settings that we will see for movies to come. That's something I greatly appreciate about this series that I don't normally see, the continuity between films is probably the strongest I've ever seen in all my movie watching history. I like how the story goes a tiny bit dark and there's much more of a strong impending threat which permeates the entire film, as opposed to a threat that really only was near the end of the past film. It's great to hear the lore of Hogwart's and was something I loved even when I was a kid, and the aspects of the Chamber itself and the mysterious Heir of Slytherin are done brilliantly. The cast is even stronger in my opinion with all the returning students and teachers, a trend that will continue for many more movies to come. I think I'd mainly want to talk about story and character elements more than production and overall quality cause let's be honest these films are loved by almost everyone and each film is a standout movie in it's own way. You're not here for me to tell you to go see this movie, you're here to know my thoughts on the elements of each film. I don't think anyone has ever liked Gilderoy Lockhart and to be honest he's the worst DATDA (Defense Against The Dark Arts) teacher we have yet, but he did get a few laughs out of me near the end. I know J.K. Rowling didn't have everything planned out but the idea of a magic diary that holds part of someone and power over someone is a genius idea that evolves into something much greater as the films progress. I got to say that's pretty ballsy putting what is essentially a wizard slur word in a family film, I still kind of lose my shit when I hear Malfoy say that, talk about triggered! Not as much Severus this movie around but the bits he has knocking the hell out of Lockhart is cinematic gold in my eyes. I loooove the fact the Chamber Of Secrets is a full fledged set, and the fact we have a full on animatronic of a Basilisk is even more outstanding! Oh and we finally meet both Arthur and Molly Weasley, I adore them so much, I practically crush on Molly and Mark Williams is such a good actor and always will be Mr. Weasley in my eyes. Oh my God, I almost forgot to talk about Jason Isaacs, sweet mother of mercy that man is a fine actor and he is superb in this movie, we honestly needed so much more of him and I genuinely want to see more of him as The Grand Inquisitor. I'm sorry I'm just nerding the hell out over here but I just really had a grand time with this one and I cannot wait to see Prisoner Of Azkaban again. Another easy 4 stars, 8/10 again from me! Loved it, wonderful production values, great performances, deeper story, expanded characters, it's kind of hard not to like! I knew people though back in the day, who had um....issues. Major issues with the world of Harry Potter, and I just want to say I hope they don't exist anymore. Because they are the dumb and I for some reason gave them enough attention to argue with them. You just don't feed the trolls kids, take it from me. Just go watch the movie, it's wild, you'll love it!

Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone

It's been 84 years. What? It's only been 19? Well I still feel ancient!

I have not seen these movies in so damn long, we're talking almost a decade since I last watched every single Harry Potter movie. I will fully say I was born at the perfect time because I was 6 almost 7 years old when this movie came out but also Lord Of The Rings came out, high fantasy was everything I breathed for a good long while during this time in the early 2000s. I was very pleased this movie held up as good as I remembered it, I mean obviously there's something truly special here because look at the literal armies of Harry Potter fans in 2020. It's unreal what these movies did to the world at large and to cinema period. It's a spectacular start to one of the best and most beloved movie sagas of all time, and it really did get me in that mindset that I was seeing something magical even after all this time. I don't think I need to divulge heavily into plot because these movies are practically known from birth but for the uninitiated, a young boy discovers on his 11th birthday that he is in fact different from his truly horrible family and that he has magic in his blood before being taken to the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world where he meets friends, learns about the wizarding world, and comes across a threat from the past. I couldn't dream of better worldbuilding if I tried, every aspect of the magical world from wands, to broomsticks, the various details of Hogwarts, and so so much more is told damn near perfectly. It draws you in instantly from the first scene (I still want that Deluminator.) and you want to know more about the world, learn everything you can because it's so dang cool and so interesting. The characters are timeless with very good acting from such young kids and you grow to like them very quickly and get invested in their characters, but lest we forget true powerhouses of cinema as the instructors. Now I actually love Richard Harris as Professor Dumbledor just a smidge more than Michael Gambon (though of course I still adore Gambon's performance) and I was truly upset at his passing, I do see Dumbledore as a more sagely Merlin character with great wisdom and teachings though Gambon completely pulls off the most powerful wizard in the world edge. Maggie Smith is a joy as always and I'm so happy I get to see her all throughout the week. But best performance, the whole movie, hands down, maybe even the series, Alan Rickman. Hot buttery jam I love that man! No one knew what to make of his character for years in these films, least of all me, but there's no denying he has the best material to work with in the long run. I thought the effects were done very well, only using CG when absolutely necessary and while it's certainly not the best I've seen I'm gonna cut the film released in 2001 some slack for the computer graphics. But the sets, creature effects, optical effects, all done excellently. The music by John Williams is unbelievably good! Couldn't ask for a better score if I tried, and I will fight anybody on this but the best music in the whoooole series is the tiniest musical cue but sweet baby Yoda, the music that plays when Ollivander picks the right wand for Harry....aaahh! So good!! This is a great movie, I know the books were about halfway done when this movie began production so they had that foresight to implement exactly what they needed to tell in future stories. There is so many threads introduced in this movie that get paid off with each consecutive film, the MCU looks like f***ing omnishambles compared to this series, they had to make stuff up as they went along with only a rough roadmap and occasionally tie it in, this was carefully created so that each movie could build on the last and make a better experience. It really did change the culture of that time, my God you couldn't go anywhere without something Harry Potter related. I'll admit I was into it, I had dragons, owls, letter writing sets, and found my house on good ol' Internet Explorer (PS. I was a Gryffindor back then, but now I'm split between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.), though I never had a wand. I really, really wanted one but I never got one. We might need to fix that soon. Regardless, I was a huge fan then and I'm still a fan now, this is a great movie and I predict that each movie will only get better and better. 4 stars, 8/10! I'm sure this fandom will last for ages, and I am there for it man.