Change Your Image
![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjEwMzE2MDE3N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMTUwNzI5MTE@._V1_SY100_SX100_.jpg)
headbangingfilms
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Oppenheimer (2023)
A towering, triumphant, tragedy.
Christopher Nolan is the greatest single filmmaker of our time and here he shows exactly how well he has mastered his craft. The script for this film is immaculate. The cast is filled with A-list leading men and women, many of them in small parts with extremely limited screen time. The cinematography by Hoyt van Hoytema is breathtaking. The score by Ludwig Gorannson is stressful and beautiful at the same time. Cillian Murphy is a revelation as Oppenheimer, commanding the screen as the father of the atomic bomb. Robert Downey Jr. Gives the best performance of his career as Lewis Strauss. Emily Blunt is a standout as Kitty Oppenheimer, her own scenes often brilliant and powerful. The smaller roles in this cast are all great. Casey Affleck is incredibly unsettling when on screen, while Alden Ehrenreich is great. The standout performance of all of the smaller roles is Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock. This person, someone so important to the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, is often portrayed as this seemingly bi-polar, waifish, lost soul who drags Oppenheimer down. In this film, Pugh gives an incredibly nuanced performance, equal parts lustful and headstrong. Josh Hartnett is great, loved seeing him in a big film again. Rami Malik was great, really enjoyed him in this. Gary Oldman as Truman was an incredible portrayal; simultaneously the politician and the good old boy. This film should be the frontrunner for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Production Design, Best Sound Design, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Visual Effects (considering all of the SFX work was done practically!) Robert Downey Jr. Should win Best Supporting Actor, while Cillian Murphy should absolutely win Best Actor. One of the best historical epics I have ever seen 10/10!
1917 (2019)
A haunting, devastating, tragic masterpiece
While a technical achievement in its own right, this film is so much more. Very few films have captured the brutality and hopelessness of the Great War. More than that, very few films have achieved such a level of tension and dread while also demonstrating the coldness of war. If you know about the war and appreciate the struggle of those poor guys in the trenches, then this movie is heartbreaking.
When you think about it, Schofield may have survived this ordeal, but what are the chances he survives the war? What about the french woman and the baby? How likely is it that they survived? Understanding the reality of this war, makes this film such a sad and powerful tale. At the Battle of the Somme, 40,000 British soldiers were killed on the first day. On average during the war, 16 soldiers were killed every second for 4 years and 106 days; that comes out to 5,242 soldiers killed every single day.
It's hard for a movie to convey that kind of industrial carnage, and 1917 does well to show the senselessness of it all. These are two nations fighting one another for no reason at all. Germany and Britain didn't start this war, they just did a sizable portion of the fighting and dying. As a student of history, this film really got to me. The end of the film, with Schofield under the tree looking at his photo of his mother is just so powerful. The fact that it says "Come back to us x" may be worse. Does he make it home? That question makes this film so great.
We don't learn anything about him, he's just a soldier. The thing is, that's the point. He isn't one soldier, he's the embodiment of every single one of them on all sides. Schofield is the personification to all of those who fought in that bloody war. As a means to honor them, this film is brilliant. It should have won the best picture oscar for the 2019 film year, but it didn't. If you haven't watched this film, do so, if you haven't read about World War One, then you should do that too, it will give you a greater appreciation for this film.
9.9/10.
The Batman (2022)
An absolute knockout!
This film was absolutely fantastic, easily the best Batman portrayal i've ever seen. I still think Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" is the best Batman film, but this was really close to topping it. The film itself was like nothing I expected coming into the theater. Ii knew from following the development that it was a detective story, but I had no idea how true that was. This film is a true neo-noir masterpiece. Paul Dano as Riddler was incredible, Oscar worthy even. Robert Pattinson as Batman was such a good choice, he brings this darkness and this brokenness to the character that is so needed for this version of Batman to work in this film. Zoe Kravitz, Colin Farrell, and Jeffrey Wright all brought their A-game and it shows on screen every time they appear. John Turturro as Carmine Falcone was a brilliant choice, his few minutes of screen time bring a presence and a chilling gravitas to the role that really helps define what Gotham City has become in this film. The plot of this film is a dark, winding descent into the twisted underbelly of Gotham, one that at times it feels like even Batman can never escape from. The entire cast worked so well, the script was so tight, the cinematography was beautiful, the score by Michael Giaccino was stirring and breathtaking at times while haunting and unnerving at others. Matt Reeves nailed it with this film. I truly hope to see a sequel to this film. At the same time, I don't want one, because this is a move that can stand on its own as a cinematic achievement without the need for sequels. Matt Reeves' "The Batman" is easily one of the best superhero films ever made, but that feels like an insult to this film, because this film is so much more than that, this film is a neo-noir masterpiece that can stand up against the likes of Se7en and hold up for years to come. I truly recommend every cinema fan go see this astounding film and see it on the biggest screen you can!
9/10.
Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising's Image of Women (2010)
Sexist Tripe
This "documentary" is nothing but a sexist rant from an aging woman clinging to her sexist world view. She spend the first twenty minutes talking about how advertising creates this image of women's body's and how it tells men what to look for, as if men were brutish animals only focused on breeding their next mate and discarding them when finished using the woman. I was deeply insulted by how often she completely absolves women of any responsibility in differentiating what women see in advertisements, from what is reality. She makes it sound like women are powerless to stop themselves from comparing themselves to the latest celebrity on the cover of Cosmo. Not only is her argument ignorant, it's dehumanizing towards women, reducing them to a helpless victim.
Skip this crap and save yourself 45 minutes..
The Tomorrow War (2021)
A film about the importance of fatherhood
I'll freely admit that i'm a massive fan of Yvonne Strahovski and I've been following her career since she was on the TV show Chuck. This was a fantastic movie, I came in with high expectations, but I'd been told this was a popcorn movie, with very little depth. I don't know where people got that impression, the emotional depth this film exhibited in the second act was powerful. Two people struggling to deal with fathers who disappointed them in their past; two people desperately wanting to love and forgive their father, what could be more powerful than that? Yvonne's final moments, on that burning platform, where she knows she's going to die, was one of the most rewarding emotional payoffs I've seen in a film in a very long time. His grief over having to leave his daughter behind, knowing what a wonderful person she grows up to become is such a powerful moment. The script for this film was solid, the action was fantastic, the creature design was some of the best I've seen in years. The White Spikes are a brilliant design. Larry Fong's cinematography was superb, the atmosphere throughout this movie was filled with dread and fear, but not overly so. Lorne Balfe turned in a typically superb musical score, that accentuated the action and elevated the devastating emotional moments. The entire time travel plot line was brilliantly executed in this film; they sidestepped the paradoxical nature of two beings occupying the same moment in time, by ensuring that the only people traveling BACK the 2022, hadn't been born yet. At the same time, the only people being drafted to travel to the future were people who wouldn't be alive in 2051 according to the people from the future's records. That is a brilliant plot device and one of the most unique ways of dealing wth time travel I have seen in a long, long time. I am so pleased with this film, and am so glad to see a film talking about a topic as important as fatherhood. No topic is talked about less these days than the importance of fatherhood, so i'm glad to see a movie tackle that topic. I would gladly recommend this movie to everyone and anyone, such a wonderful blockbuster.
Final takeaways...
1. This film featured a stunningly deep, emotional subplot, that was very powerful.
2. Yvonne Strahovski shines in her role in this film and is the emotional heartbeat of this film. She deserves more leading roles in major motion pictures.
3. The execution of the time travel plot was brilliantly executed.
Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
Coming from a person currently in film school...
This is by far the worst Godzilla movie since 1975, yes worse then G-98. All of the characters are terrible except for Captain Gordon. The plot is a mess of pointlessly short monster fights and bad facial expressions. All of the "location" shots are terribly lit and poorly executed. The lighting is WAY to overexposed and the sound editing is dreadfully inconsistent. the Godzilla suit itself is a joke it looks like the Showa Godzilla took a sh*t. the monster action is bad and so obviously rushed that it takes you out of the movie. for a movie with a 19 million dollar budget this movie is a gigantic failure and personally GMK, Godzilla Tokyo SOS and Godzilla 2000 could have all been a better ending to the series, Tokyo SOS especially. The Music in this movie is so laughably bad and poorly executed that it takes away from the sometimes awesome effects scenes. The CGI is absolutely TERRIBLE for 2004. This movie had a ton of promise and I actually enjoyed it when I was a kid, but having just re-watched this movie i'm so disappointed.
Godzilla (2014)
Absolutely the best Godzilla movie since the original
I loved this movie and even with my super high expectations i was impressed especially when the first roar on screen and when he fights MUTO in the end. totally epic and completely worth the price of the tickets. all the talk about bad characters in the second act or that Aaron Johnson falls flat in his performance are totally wrong and unwarranted. this was the best written Godzilla movie since the original and no other Godzilla movie has more relatable characters. the Godzilla design is amazing and is not fat! my only critique is that Godzilla's fight with MUTO didn't go longer, now that's not to say it wasn't a good fight but i simply think that the ending could have been longer. all in all i loved it and i was giddy like a little school boy when he first comes on screen. any Godzilla who says they didn't like this movie needs to watch it again because it's just that good.