Last Movie Watched

[adgy-san]

So i watched Ip Man 2, and Flashpoint last night.

You were were spot on with both Adgy. I thought they were both pretty entertaining movies. The Bruce Lee scene at the end of Ip Man 2 was funny, and that scene towards the end of Flashpoint where Archer gets hit by the car, flies into the air and Ma shoots him so ridiculous yet so awesome.

I'm glad you liked them.

There's a third Ip Man movie that's a prequel, but I haven't seen it and it's not Donnie Yen. I hear it's pretty good, though.

It should also be noted that the new Wong Kar Wai flick, The Grandmasters (which I just posted the new trailer for in the Asian film thread) is also about Ip Man, with Tony Leung in his role.

And I can't help myself but recommend you check out some of Jackie Chan's older movies if you get on a kick of this stuff. They're even better.

 

[notbob]

I'm glad you liked them.

There's a third Ip Man movie that's a prequel, but I haven't seen it and it's not Donnie Yen. I hear it's pretty good, though.

It should also be noted that the new Wong Kar Wai flick, The Grandmasters (which I just posted the new trailer for in the Asian film thread) is also about Ip Man, with Tony Leung in his role.

And I can't help myself but recommend you check out some of Jackie Chan's older movies if you get on a kick of this stuff. They're even better.

Netflix has a decent supply. I just added a bunch that had decent reviews. Dont know if they are any good or not.

The Man from Nowhere
Jet Li's Fearless
13 Assassins
Red Cliff
Wing Chun
Little Big Soldier
Legend of the Fist

 

[adgy-san]

Netflix has a decent supply. I just added a bunch that had decent reviews. Dont know if they are any good or not.

The Man from Nowhere
Jet Li's Fearless
13 Assassins
Red Cliff
Wing Chun
Little Big Soldier
Legend of the Fist

The Man from Nowhere -- Pretty damn good.
Jet Li's Fearless -- I liked it, but not as much as I'd been hoping to like it.
13 Assassins -- Badass
Red Cliff -- A little melodramatic, but I liked it.
Wing Chun -- Michelle Yeoh at her best
Little Big Soldier & Legend of the Fist -- I haven't seen these.

 

[Rob2716]

Prometheus - **sigh** Typical. Pretty to look at and that's about it.

 

[jerseydevil]

Ok. So I am known here for waxing poetic about certain things IN ADVANCE of seeing them. This was clearly one of those things. I BEGGED you to go see this. So yeah...I set the bar real high. And then LetTigerIn, whose opinion I respect, saw it and was unimpressed. An upper respiratory infection sidelined my ability to watch a near 3 hour flick...till yesterday. Were my expectations, set high and then self-questioned, met? Oh hell yeah, and then some. This was one of the most complex and yet engrossing movies I have seen in a long time. First off...it is one of the most beautiful movies I have seen. Wonderful storytelling, that while it spins in and out of different times/characters, NEVER loses you. This movie was an EXPERIENCE...a reminder of the power of movies. Just so lush...magic really. Even Halle Berry, who I dislike, could not derail my enjoyment. So many simple stories about love and loss...an they just wrap around each other to the point that you cannot help but admire the beauty of the juggling that unfolds before your eyes. Just really...an affirmation that movies can be better than a 2 hour commercial for happy meal toys and Jennifer Annistons ass. This movie MOVED ME. If you love movies, you NEED to see this.

 

[adgy-san]

Wreck It Ralph - Definitely the best animated film I've seen so far this year.

Skyfall - So ****ing good.

Nature Calls - Terrible. A small handful of laughs in the last 15 minutes does not make up for the completely not funny first hour.

Samurai Rebellion - Easily one of the best samurai films ever made. I love this movie immensely.

 

[LetTigerIn]

I agree with adgy-sama on both Wreck-It Ralph and Skyfall.

My opinion of Cloud Atlas will probably always be tainted from having read the book first. My advice for those who wish to do both and haven't yet read the book is to see the film first. I truly believe there is a better chance for one to love both by experiencing them in this order. I need to see it a second time a little longer down the line; but if I can try to remove my prejudice as best I can, there are still things about it that bother me as well as things I appreciated.

I did think it was beautifully photographed. I liked that they changed a lot about the book in trying to make a movie that made sense. I don't think it was entirely necessary to change the structure of the book (although the book's author David Mitchell, it seems, thinks otherwise), but I wasn't bothered that they did so, especially considering they actually changed the entire theme of the overall project.

I thought I would like the same actors playing different roles throughout, but I did not, because the make-up was terrible. That was a huge distraction to me. I did not like the change of theme to a seemingly more popular one. I found the dialogue too frequently terrible, either by being clearly the voice of the authors and not the character or by just being plain stupid.

I'm not sure if I'm assuming their intention properly, but I think the Wachowskis have it backwards in what to freshen up. I think they are trying to take a typical script and present it in a different way. The visual and editing styles of both Cloud Atlas and Speed Racer are commendable in their experimentation, but at the end of the day, they are crappy, banal scripts, IMO. I'd much rather see a distinctly smart and different story, even if presented in visual terms we have already seen; or, better yet, to see a film that is both distinctly written and uniquely presented.

Nonetheless, this movie is somehow going to get my money twice, and I can't say that about every movie I've seen this year.

 

[jerseydevil]

I hope you know I wasn't trying to diminish/dispute your opinion. It was simply a different experience for me. I have not yet read the book(so that may be a factor as you said). I get your point about maybe the story being oversimplified but for the serpentine style that it's presented in, that seems an almost necessary concession. The structure was enough to challenge the average filmgoer, if you threw in any more complications you risk losing the audience.

 

[LetTigerIn]

I hope you know I wasn't trying to diminish/dispute your opinion. It was simply a different experience for me.

I did not take what you said that way at all. In fact, I was honored that you respected my opinion. I just felt like I needed to present more information about where my head was at, so more people might want to take a chance on watching the film. I think some of the viewers will be disappointed, but I also think that some, or even many, will have at least a deep and enriching experience as you did. I really do think everyone should give this film a look and a chance, despite that fact I didn't enjoy it overall.

I get your point about maybe the story being oversimplified but for the serpentine style that it's presented in, that seems an almost necessary concession. The structure was enough to challenge the average filmgoer, if you threw in any more complications you risk losing the audience.

I still would have liked them to take that risk; but I'm gambling nothing, so that's easy for me to say.

Seriously, though, I hope more people give this film a chance. Like I said, I think that those who like it will really love it. Those who don't, well, you got a couple of hours of really pretty pictures. Personally, I think it's a longshot, but the potential payoff makes it a good bet.

 

[motalare]

For someone who was only old enough to see Page and Plant tour in the mid 90's, this was magic.

 

[adgy-san]

Jane Eyre - There are so many different movies of this story, goddamn. This one has William Hurt and Charlotte Gainsbourg in it. And a really little Anna Paquin. I liked it ok. It focuses more on the story than the Fassbender/Wasikowska version, but it lacks the atmosphere and technical quality of that one immensely. I'll take the latter version over it any day.

The Samurai Trilogy - Toshiro Mifune as Musashi Miyamoto, a real life samurai and renaissance man. All three flicks were pretty good, with moments of greatness. There were a couple giant fight sequences that I really loved and the climactic duel on the beach at sunrise in the third film was impressive as ****. I wouldn't put this at the top of my list of samurai movie recommendations, but they're worth watching for sure.

Heartbreakers - Sometimes you just watch a movie because it's on, has a great cast and it has a lot of cleavage.

The Night Of The Hunter - Quite possibly the best cinematography and use of lighting in a black and white movie that I've ever seen. Seriously. Great movie, too, but, holy crap, it looked amazing. Robert Mitchum is great in it as a preacher who murders a woman and terrorizes her children in pursuit of some hidden money. Loved it, and will be buying the Blu-ray next time someone is selling Criterions for half price.

Red State - Not bad. Michael Parks was ****ing great. Had some funny lines that remind you you're watching a Kevin Smith movie, but otherwise it didn't feel like one much at all. Just like with jersey Girl, I like seeing Kevin Smith step out of his comfort zone a bit, even if it doesn't completely work. Too bad he's giving up on the business (or so he says) after his next one.

You Only Live Twice - I was reading an article about Akiko Wakabayashi, the girl who plays the Bond girl Aki in the film and it made me want to watch this again. It's enjoyable in a ridiculous, kitschy way, but I don't care if I never see it again. Definitely a weaker entry in the Bond series.

Finding Nemo - I actually had not seen this before. Not even close to my favorite Pixar movie, but very enjoyable.

21 Jump Street - Pretty funny. I don't know that I'd buy it, but I enjoyed it and would watch it again.

Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance - You know what? **** you, I liked this movie. It's stupid and awesome in all the ways I expected from a Neveldine/Taylor flick. Idris Elba and Ciaran Hinds were ****ing great, chewing scenery and enjoying themselves like you don't get to see very often (because they're usually playing serious roles). Really, my only gripe with this, and it's a sizable one, is Nicolas Cage. There are times when his over-acting seems like it fits with all the bat**** crazy going on, but mostly it's just distracting and annoying. Put almost anyone else in that role and I would be buying this movie right now. As it stands I'm kind of glad I got to see it for free on a free Starz preview weekend, but I wouldn't have felt bad if I'd paid to see it in a theater, either. Also, Ghost Rider himself looked ****ing bad ass. They did so much right with this flick, I just wish it could have been someone else.

The Bad Sleep Well - Kurosawa's kinda-sorta Hamlet adaptation, with Toshiro Mifune as Hamlet, set in post-war Japan and focusing on a corrupt Japanese corporation. It's excellent. There's parts in the last 30 minutes or so that get a little melodramatic, but overall I loved it. Highly recommended.

 

[ketel&tonic]

I just got Thirst in the mail. Looking forward to it!

 

[DMAN3474]

I just watched the newest three musketeers, oh my was that a mess.

 

[BigBrown]

I really liked it. It's basically about three redneck siblings working as bootleggers during prohibition. Two of them are real strong, take-charge kind of guys and the third is meek but is trying to find his place. Some big-city deputy are trying to shut them down and they're obviously having none of it with some quite brutal scenes as a result. Tom Hardy stole the show, I loved his character and performance. Even Shia Labeouf was pretty good. Somethings felt a bit over the top and the ending wasn't quite a slam dunk but this is definitely a movie that I'd recommend.

 

[adgy-san]

The Quiet Duel - The second Kurosawa/Mifune collaboration, and, I think, the only one not yet released by Criterion. Which is a shame because the quality of this now out of print DVD sucks. But the movie was solid. Mifune plays a surgeon who gets syphilis while operating on an infected patient in WWII. He comes home with the disease, which was not easily cured at the time and had an immense social stigma attached to it. He breaks things off with his fiancee and just keeps on keeping on. Like I said, it's a solid movie and Mifune is great in it. If Criterion ever does get around to it, I would recommend it.

 

[chaingunsofdoom]

Catch-up post:

Wreck-It Ralph. Awesome.

Rise of the Guardians. Scary Boogeyman for kids under 10? Good start to hopefully more sequels.

Premium Rush. Watched on airplane last week. Good bike action but goofy cuts/on-screen arrows. An utterly bizarre story with a horrible "villain".

Cloud Atlas. Really good. Just too long though. Needed 30 mins chopped-off.

Oh and Skyfall. One of the best of the year.

 

[jerseydevil]

Catch-up post:

Wreck-It Ralph. Awesome.

Rise of the Guardians. Scary Boogeyman for kids under 10? Good start to hopefully more sequels.

Premium Rush. Watched on airplane last week. Good bike action but goofy cuts/on-screen arrows. An utterly bizarre story with a horrible "villain".

Cloud Atlas. Really good. Just too long though. Needed 30 mins chopped-off.

Oh and Skyfall. One of the best of the year.

Sadly Rise of the Guardians is a failure to the toon of Dreamworks is going to take a 50 million dollar hit on it from what I have read. I don't think it was advertised well and the general style of the characters is a little unpleasant.

 

[orpheus]

You know, I have never mean able to watch The Bad Sleep Well in it's entirety. Weird. I put in on occasion and about thirty minutes in, I lose interest. :/

 

[adgy-san]

You know, I have never mean able to watch The Bad Sleep Well in it's entirety. Weird. I put in on occasion and about thirty minutes in, I lose interest. :/

You should stick with it, Orph.

 

[chaingunsofdoom]

Saw Silver Linings Playbook today. Wow, it was good. I expect a few award noms for it.