I don't really expect much after the first JR which started nice but afterwards it felt like they only paid for a weak Direct-To-Video B-Action movie script. Completely forgettable without TC.

 

Imagine being in my shoes, living in a world with so many people who are always so, so wrong.

 

Tom Cruise isn't as big as Reacher is supposed to be, but he has the gravitas and don't-mess-with-me glare to pull him off.

I'm glad the first one did well enough to make a sequel, and Cobie Smulders is a good co-lead, but damn if Reacher doesn't spend half the trailer punching people. It's the action movie equivalent of putting all of a comedy's jokes into the trailer.

 

Yeah Reacher is supposed to be in the neighborhood of 6' 5" 240 pounds. Tom Cruise does have the attitude pretty much spot on though. I'd really love to see them adapt an earlier book and include his time with the MP's.

 

Do any of the books cover his time as an MP? I thought they started when he was already a drifter.

 

I think his time as an MP is only covered in flashbacks.

 

Yeah, been years since I read but I started from beginning and got about 4 books in.

He was a drifter from the go IIRC, shacked up with a deceased CO/friend's daughter which probably didn't last long past that book, lol.

 

One of the books was a prequel ('The Enemy'), dealing with an incident fairly late on in his career. IIRC, a couple of the books drag up old cases and acquaintances from his past, but that's the only one I know of that actually showed him as an MP, although I stopped reading them when I was still at uni.
Hugplx: two books. Offpage for most of them.

 

it's actually right in the middle — he served '84—'97, 'The Enemy' happens during and after New Year '90). source: finished the book today at 3 a.m.

For me, the book Reacher has quite different character voice than the Cruise Reacher, but I think Tom is better on-screen, more dynamic. Book Reacher has a feeling of less movement, some sort of stoicism and efficiency which works well in book, but not that well in movies — he sounds like much smarter and less B-like Steven Seagal.

 

The Enemy and The Affair both occur during his time in the military.

 

Just got back from The Purge: Election Year. That was a pretty entertaining movie, I recommend it.

Also, Elizabeth Mitchell is a qt.

 

Went to see Ghostbusters this afternoon. Pretty good fun - I wouldn't say it's a must see, but a worthwhile way to spend a couple of hours. Some of the humour was a bit forced, and the further it got into the run time, the broader the humour, but I still laughed a lot. A couple of effective jumps, entertaining setpieces. Plot was pretty thin, but eh.

 

While I'm not planning on seeing this movie in the theater, I'll probably eventually end up watching it on my PC.

 

Did your cinema suffer from the empty seat complex?

https://i.imgur.com/uhKcnEK.jpg

 

I literally cannot stop laughing.

 

Not really. It wasn't full, but pretty good numbers (for that cinema, anyway; it's a small three screen place that hasn't been modernised since the 90s, apart from 3D, so most people seem to prefer to travel a bit further afield to a multiplex.)

 

I'll second that ghostbusters is alright. The two "lead" ghostbusters, the jennifer anniston look-a-like and melissa mccarthy are meh, but the other two, the blond engineer and the unfortunate stereotype are pretty funny. Thor is the funniest character in the movie.

There are some unfortunate elements in the film. I felt they had too many moments which were basically pot shots at critical elements. Plenty of jokes about youtube commenters and virgins, etc. The ending fight scene is also very poorly edited. MINOR SPOILERS to follow. There's a moment where they finally show the final boss, and the final boss's final form, and almost immediately after that the ghostbusters are shown creating their final gambit. So the result is we don't get to see the final boss doing anything impressive before the film ends.

There are other odd notes, like two characters experiencing symptoms of exposure to ghosts, that seems like a huge plot important detail, but is ultimately cured in the next scene through little effort.

These are minor nitpicks though. It's a good movie overall.

 

Just got back from Star Trek. It was.... okay. Unlike the first two films, they didn't even attempt to do any navigation of the human condition, commiting instead to just full blown space action. They certainly did the action well...(dat hive battle)... but I don't think I can say the film was better off because of it.

It was sorely lacking in emotional conflict and cool scientific phenomena, and as such, it came of as the least Trek-y film in the trilogy.

Also, Elba was utterly wasted shouting all his lines and caked in stiff unmovable facial prosthetics

Still, overall, an enjoyable movie.

 

Comic-con trailers abound. My take on a few...

Trailer for Wonder Woman is pretty exciting. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them looks fun. Kin Arthur: Legend of the Sword seems... too complicated for an action movie. Justice League looks silly (that's not a good thing).

EDIT:
Doctor Strange, I'm not sure about. Magnificent Seven seems like a convenient cash-grab that could end up being good due to the actors taking part. I have no idea why another XXX is being made, but I'll watch it.

 

I was a bit sniffy about Star Trek Beyond when the trailers first came out, but I've got to say, I really enjoyed it. The plot was a bit thin, and they really need to do something more with their female characters, but on the whole I thought it was really good fun.