立方体 is Japanese for Cube

There's a fourth Cube movie? I never knew that! ... oh, it's a Japanese remake!

Several people find themselves in a cube of a room, with hatches on each of the six walls. They climb through several, finding some way to detect traps, and eventually find a way out... but finding there is a way out is different to actually getting out, and that's not what's on everyone's mind.

This is a very faithful remake, with minor changes to some traps, but still some very same beats. The characters get a little rearranged from the original, but still the same ideas. However, one character has definite Main Character Syndrome, and we get flashbacks, and he gets the arc of the movie.

I have no idea if they keep the prison naming scheme, and the ending is... a bit odd. I was initially against it, but then they did another scene and then "oh, okay then!".

Other than being over twenty years later with updated technology for effects, I can't say this is remake you need to see.

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Bug on ya

I can't say I recognise "this is a Yorgos Lanthimos movie", but ... this is definitely a movie that may as well be Yorgos Lanthimos.

Teddy and Don have a plan: kidnap an Andromedan and get them to start talks to get off the earth. So simple, what could go wrong? It's not like humans ever went wrong about things.

So this is mainly a two-hander, with some three-handed-ness. It's definitely Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone "talk for the movie" as the movie goes through different acts and different dynamics. Aidan Delbis is also there for a lot of it.

It's definitely weird. At times, I was "why isn't this an A24 movie?" and "did David Lynch do a pass on this?" but I guess that's what it means to be a Yorgos Lanthimos movie. Certainly he's decided to get Emma Stone on board with weird performances, so that's a pairing that might see more work.

Odd, and yet compelling.

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Woke Up Dodmon!

I wasn't sure I was going to be able to, but I saw this at the cinema!

It's a Church Parrish and it's Easter, so it's time for death... whoops! We are with a Father as he joins the new area, but has conflict with the current Monseigneur and several of the flock. Events call in one Benoit Blanc, but isn't mercy more important than finding the guilty?

Rian Johnson isn't shy about taking potshots at the church, but also he presents what the church wants to be, so while there is murder and deceit, it's not the end of everything that the church could be. (I'll grant it, even if I'm also a heretic.)

As ever, we get a hell of a cast, with lots of names I.. well, sort of recognised, if I couldn't quite place it. (And one or two people that we could do without.) I really hope Daniel Craig was wearing a wig, because that hair was awful.

I have no doubt I missed small things that will pick up once this hits Netflix, but I definitely got the big unsubtle things. And also guessed several plot points before they were revealed... but not everything.

While I'm glad I saw this on the big screen, it doesn't need to be, so if you missed it there, pick it up in a few days when it hits online.

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Shellby Orks

Why am I watching this? It wasn't until the end credits started rolling that I realised, oh this is a youtuber movie!

A group of youtube paranormal investigators goes missing, and the sister of the lead wants to find her. When a chap turns up, claiming to be involved, she gets more clues that leads her into investigating her sisters last movements. She finds something out, but something has found her.

So... this isn't really anything special. You can tell the beats before they happen, and the movie ends with over ten minutes of credits, a lot of which are kickstarter backers, because this is kickstartered! (Not by me.) And that youtuber who is behind this is... Chris Struckman... whom I recognise, but I can't name his channel at the moment.

There are some notable actors in here, with Keith David getting a brief cameo, and Michael Beach getting some actual scenes. The movie switches from being "documentary" into being a more standard movie, and there are sudden moments of budget with drone shots and not terrible creatures.

It's a mix of a movie that could have used another pass to smooth things over. It's fine as a first pic.

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Puzzle Mechanic - NO!

There's a puzzle mechanic in a point and click game I've seen twice now in two recent games, and no sir, I don't like it.

Behold this image:

(Image from this video.)

The part of the puzzle you are dealing with is in the green box. The other knight (and sometimes spears) come at you, either high, middle, or low, and you need to block appropriately.

How do you block? By the buttons in the red box. How do you press the buttons? By mousing over and clicking.

This wouldn't be so bad if you could actually press buttons on your keyboard, but nope, you need to move the cursor. And you aren't looking where the cursor is, because you are reacting to what is happening on the right.

If I had dedicated buttons, or is what just one option (for high or low, click or hold to change) then fine, I could concentrate on the green. But when I have to make sure I don't overshoot moving to the other button in time, sod off!

(It can become a long memory sequence of "high, middle, low, low, high,..." etc, but it's a long sequence, and I can't remember that long.)

Don't make this a new trend in puzzles, games!

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Labirent

Turkish thriller of a race to stop a terrorist attack.

Fikret is the leading officer who is trying to stop the attack, but he has a past of failing an operation before. He's still maintaining professionalism, running assets, and hunting down leads. He and his team manage to capture a few places as the movie goes on, but they are definitely barely keeping on top of things. Some luck, some planning... and some getting betrayed gets in the way of trying to stop the final attack.

To be honest, a lot of this is pretty standard fare. We get some good example of agents in the field, keeping an eye on things, and tracking people through the street, but there's nothing particularly notable about this attack that makes this movie stand out in that regard. There are some more personal touches with the lead agents and some of the people they deal with, which is probably what kept me watching more than "going into a room and grabbing people" (which happens a few times).

Decent enough, but nothing amazing.

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Prelands: Baddator

Sure, I could start watching Desert Bus, but there's a movie to watch!

Dek (I kept wanting to call him Derek... hi Derek!) is a Yautja who has to prove himself, so clearly the thing to do is to go after the creature that can't be killed. Makes sense to me! While there, he finds Weyland-Yutani is already there and littering the place with synthetics, so he has to pick up after them. After several encounters, we get the real final boss... Capitalism!

Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi gets a lot of acting to do with facial prosthetics, but does damn well. Elle Fanning get her own challenge with causing special effects nightmares with her legs. And the monkey from Lost in Space also gets a new role!

There is a lot of action in this (duh!) with most of it as learning for Dek to employ later. There are also comedy beats, so there is release as well as tension.

Enjoyable movie, good continuation of the Predator franchise.

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