Last Movie Watched
- Thread starter adgy-san
- Start date
RoyalSubject
Prospect
I've been following this story of the West Memphis 3 since I saw the first Paradise Lost documentary way back in the 90's. I was one of the WM3's many supporters. I used to deposit money in their commissary accounts and send them books from their Amazon wishlists, so I was pretty excited to see this movie.
All in all, I thought it was a good high level account of what happened. I really liked that the movie spent a lot of time focusing on the families of the children that were murdered. A lot of that seemed lost in the shuffle while the WM3's supporters were fighting for their freedom.
santiclaws
I was in the pool!!
A Norwegian thriller starring Jayme Lannister. Damn good, entertaining flick. Pretty gritty and bloody, has a bit of a Coen brothers vibe to it. On Netflix streaming.
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santiclaws
I was in the pool!!
OK, I guess I'm in a foreign thriller mood lately and Netflix has a ****load of 'em. I'd never heard of it but it was a Netflix "recommended" based on stuff I liked. It's a terrific one. A French crime thriller which opens with a pair of cops who relieve a couple of mules of 10 kilos of cocaine. Unfortunately, our protagonist is recognized and the owner of the cocaine takes the cop's son hostage to make sure he returns the dope. The cop agrees, except returning it turns out a hell of a lot more difficult than he would have ever imagined. Real tight script, lots of twists and turns and the tension gets ratcheted up minute by minute. Not a dull moment in this one. One of the best action thrillers I've seen in a loooong time.
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B
BigBrown
Lurker
Some short and sweet reviews:
Noah
It's all over the place... It's like they tried to shoehorn an epic tale into an action movie when they could have made it slow, awe-inspiring and beautiful which Darren Aronofsky backed by Clint Mansell's music is perfectly capable of doing. They just had to have their action beats I guess. Noah swinging a staff like he's frickin' Donatello... Absurd. It has some good moments though, so it's at least watchable.
5/10
The Grand Budapest Hotel
I'm not a Wes Anderson fanboy by any means, I find he sometimes is more style than substance but this had both. Delightful, funny, exciting... Ralph Fiennes steals every scene.
8/10
Robocop (2014)
Did you like the classic Robocop? Take away the witty satire and the blood and voil?, there you have the new Robocop! Still decent even without those things, I guess that's a testament to how strong the original was.
6/10
Dallas Buyers Club
Solid drama, McConaughey is as good as we've come to expect lately. It didn't GRAB me like a truly great drama does but it's definitely worth your while.
7/10
Anchorman 2
A good, average comedy, a tier below the first. Loses steam in some parts. Good for a couple of laughs.
6/10
American Hustle
Interesting plot and looks great. I got a bit lost in the plot when I missed what they were saying in a couple of key scenes (bad hearing) but it's a very well made movie.
7/10
Public Enemies
At 2 hours 20 minutes it's long, boring and uneventful. They could easily have cut like half an hour out of it and no one would have missed it.
5/10
The Wolf of Wall Street
Awesome display of complete debauchery and excess. It's 20 minutes longer than Public Enemies but unlike that movie Wolf just keeps ramping up and goes by incredibly fast for its length. Might be my favorite movie that I've watched so far this year.
8/10
12 Years a Slave
Brutal drama. One of those movies you watch and feel horrified and miserable about. But it's good, really good.
8/10
Thor 2
It is what it is, a solid superhero movie with not much depth but what it is is fun. Did you like Thor 1? Yes? Then you'll like Thor 2. It might even be slightly better.
7/10
Oldboy (American remake)
I don't think it deserves to be as hammered as it has been by some, I think it's pretty decent, but the original is so much better there's no competition.
6/10
Noah
It's all over the place... It's like they tried to shoehorn an epic tale into an action movie when they could have made it slow, awe-inspiring and beautiful which Darren Aronofsky backed by Clint Mansell's music is perfectly capable of doing. They just had to have their action beats I guess. Noah swinging a staff like he's frickin' Donatello... Absurd. It has some good moments though, so it's at least watchable.
5/10
The Grand Budapest Hotel
I'm not a Wes Anderson fanboy by any means, I find he sometimes is more style than substance but this had both. Delightful, funny, exciting... Ralph Fiennes steals every scene.
8/10
Robocop (2014)
Did you like the classic Robocop? Take away the witty satire and the blood and voil?, there you have the new Robocop! Still decent even without those things, I guess that's a testament to how strong the original was.
6/10
Dallas Buyers Club
Solid drama, McConaughey is as good as we've come to expect lately. It didn't GRAB me like a truly great drama does but it's definitely worth your while.
7/10
Anchorman 2
A good, average comedy, a tier below the first. Loses steam in some parts. Good for a couple of laughs.
6/10
American Hustle
Interesting plot and looks great. I got a bit lost in the plot when I missed what they were saying in a couple of key scenes (bad hearing) but it's a very well made movie.
7/10
Public Enemies
At 2 hours 20 minutes it's long, boring and uneventful. They could easily have cut like half an hour out of it and no one would have missed it.
5/10
The Wolf of Wall Street
Awesome display of complete debauchery and excess. It's 20 minutes longer than Public Enemies but unlike that movie Wolf just keeps ramping up and goes by incredibly fast for its length. Might be my favorite movie that I've watched so far this year.
8/10
12 Years a Slave
Brutal drama. One of those movies you watch and feel horrified and miserable about. But it's good, really good.
8/10
Thor 2
It is what it is, a solid superhero movie with not much depth but what it is is fun. Did you like Thor 1? Yes? Then you'll like Thor 2. It might even be slightly better.
7/10
Oldboy (American remake)
I don't think it deserves to be as hammered as it has been by some, I think it's pretty decent, but the original is so much better there's no competition.
6/10
K
KingInTheWest
Lurker
I cleared some movies off the DVR this weekend.
42: Watchable, well-acted (outside of Harrison Ford's ridiculously distracting accent), but really lacking in intensity. Most of it was like an afterschool special, minus the scenes with Wash from Firefly and the ones with the Pittsburgh pitcher. Could have used more comedy, and I don't mean the part where the kid in the stands learns racism from his dad. Despite the nonstop soft lighting and triumphant music, the movie did succeed at finally getting me at the end when Robinson hits the home run to clinch the playoff spot. Bonus points for the use of Dr. Cox.
Oblivion: Really good (would have been even better without trailers spoiling one of the bigger twists), mostly made sense, exciting, mysterious, creative and mostly original, and solid acting. Extremely impressed by the design of all the futuristic buildings and vehicles - everything looked beautiful and like it could be real. Bonus points for the use of Jaime Lannister.
Bullet To The Head: Crappy, unoriginal, terribly written (containing some of the most ham-handed Basil Exposition moments I have ever seen), loaded with plot holes and featuring one of my least favorite ways to wrap a movie up quickly - one villain decides to kill all the others. I must have recorded it when I was recording every HBO Saturday night premiere. There is one great moment (two if you count Bobby Cobb playing an evil criminal who gets into a fight with Stallone), though - the axe fight at the end, which was almost worth sitting through the first 90 minutes. That fight was awesome, but I could have just watched it on YouTube I'm guessing. Bonus points for the uses of Mr. Eko and Khal Drogo. Triple bonus points for Bobby Cobb.
42: Watchable, well-acted (outside of Harrison Ford's ridiculously distracting accent), but really lacking in intensity. Most of it was like an afterschool special, minus the scenes with Wash from Firefly and the ones with the Pittsburgh pitcher. Could have used more comedy, and I don't mean the part where the kid in the stands learns racism from his dad. Despite the nonstop soft lighting and triumphant music, the movie did succeed at finally getting me at the end when Robinson hits the home run to clinch the playoff spot. Bonus points for the use of Dr. Cox.
Oblivion: Really good (would have been even better without trailers spoiling one of the bigger twists), mostly made sense, exciting, mysterious, creative and mostly original, and solid acting. Extremely impressed by the design of all the futuristic buildings and vehicles - everything looked beautiful and like it could be real. Bonus points for the use of Jaime Lannister.
Bullet To The Head: Crappy, unoriginal, terribly written (containing some of the most ham-handed Basil Exposition moments I have ever seen), loaded with plot holes and featuring one of my least favorite ways to wrap a movie up quickly - one villain decides to kill all the others. I must have recorded it when I was recording every HBO Saturday night premiere. There is one great moment (two if you count Bobby Cobb playing an evil criminal who gets into a fight with Stallone), though - the axe fight at the end, which was almost worth sitting through the first 90 minutes. That fight was awesome, but I could have just watched it on YouTube I'm guessing. Bonus points for the uses of Mr. Eko and Khal Drogo. Triple bonus points for Bobby Cobb.
L
lagwagon0
Lurker
Been awhile so here goes....
Plus One (+1): Creative low budget teen comedy/suspense/horror with a nice twist that felt a bit underdeveloped. Grade: B-
Alien Abduction: Mediocre low budget alien abduction flick about events surrounding mysterious lights and disappearing people. I can only take horrific acting for so long. Grade: D
The Sacrament: Well done found footage Jamestown-esque thriller that doesn't really provide the scares but worth a viewing because of the standout performance from the leader of the cult "Father". Grade: B
Lego Movie: One of my favorite cartoons of the last few years. Grade: A
Carrie (2013): Admittedly I haven't seen the original but I knew the plot and this was fine for what it was but it all felt pretty unnecessary to me. Grade: C+
Pain and Gain: I like Mark Wahlberg and The Rock a ton but this didn't do it for me. Mean spirited even while attempting to be funny and just didn't do it for me. Grade: C
Godzilla (2014): Bleh,so much moaning by Bryan Cranston throughout the first half of the film and then a lot of disappointment. Felt like I was watching the "Pearl Harbor" of Godzilla movies. I was extremely annoyed by how often the movie cut away right when the monsters were about to fight on-screen and this happened repeatedly until the very end of the movie. That being said, it was still competently done but I MUCH preferred Pacific Rim. Grade: B-
Exorcism of Emily Rose: Interesting to watch a court film based around the possibility of a demon possession and the arguments presented. Surprisingly well acted and worth a view. Grade: B
Croods: Underwhelming cartoon, it was cute enough but I didn't find myself laughing or even smiling at much. Grade: C+
Oculus: I like this type of flashback horror quite a bit and thought this well really done. Grade: B+
The Watch: I laughed out loud a few times and as long as you can stand Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller(which some can't), this is a decent comedy. Grade B-
Frozen: Not seeing the mass acclaim this got. Pixar has a library of movies that blow this away. Grade: B-
Plus One (+1): Creative low budget teen comedy/suspense/horror with a nice twist that felt a bit underdeveloped. Grade: B-
Alien Abduction: Mediocre low budget alien abduction flick about events surrounding mysterious lights and disappearing people. I can only take horrific acting for so long. Grade: D
The Sacrament: Well done found footage Jamestown-esque thriller that doesn't really provide the scares but worth a viewing because of the standout performance from the leader of the cult "Father". Grade: B
Lego Movie: One of my favorite cartoons of the last few years. Grade: A
Carrie (2013): Admittedly I haven't seen the original but I knew the plot and this was fine for what it was but it all felt pretty unnecessary to me. Grade: C+
Pain and Gain: I like Mark Wahlberg and The Rock a ton but this didn't do it for me. Mean spirited even while attempting to be funny and just didn't do it for me. Grade: C
Godzilla (2014): Bleh,so much moaning by Bryan Cranston throughout the first half of the film and then a lot of disappointment. Felt like I was watching the "Pearl Harbor" of Godzilla movies. I was extremely annoyed by how often the movie cut away right when the monsters were about to fight on-screen and this happened repeatedly until the very end of the movie. That being said, it was still competently done but I MUCH preferred Pacific Rim. Grade: B-
Exorcism of Emily Rose: Interesting to watch a court film based around the possibility of a demon possession and the arguments presented. Surprisingly well acted and worth a view. Grade: B
Croods: Underwhelming cartoon, it was cute enough but I didn't find myself laughing or even smiling at much. Grade: C+
Oculus: I like this type of flashback horror quite a bit and thought this well really done. Grade: B+
The Watch: I laughed out loud a few times and as long as you can stand Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller(which some can't), this is a decent comedy. Grade B-
Frozen: Not seeing the mass acclaim this got. Pixar has a library of movies that blow this away. Grade: B-
RoyalSubject
Prospect
I've been on a 80's and early 90's kick lately. I'm sure people have seen most of these so I'll skip the reviews.
Air America
Adventures of Ford Fairlane
Ghostbusters 1 and 2
Can't Buy Me Love
The Money Pit
Moving
The Dream Team
Point Break
Midnight Run
The Running Man
Overboard
Uncle Buck
The 'Burbs
Real Genius
Indiana Jones 1-4
Karate Kid 1-3
North Shore
Rad
Air America
Adventures of Ford Fairlane
Ghostbusters 1 and 2
Can't Buy Me Love
The Money Pit
Moving
The Dream Team
Point Break
Midnight Run
The Running Man
Overboard
Uncle Buck
The 'Burbs
Real Genius
Indiana Jones 1-4
Karate Kid 1-3
North Shore
Rad
santiclaws
I was in the pool!!
I've seen it before and just finished watching it again. This is one of those movies that is meant for repeat viewings because it just gets better every time you see it. I didn't really get this movie the first time, but this was the third or fourth time I've seen it and this time I enjoyed it more than any other. If you haven't seen it before, or even if you haven't seen it recently, see it. A modern masterpiece that has a dedicated cult following but still does not get nearly the recognition it deserves. A black comedy would be the best tag, I guess, but it really defies description. The dialogue and characters are far more important than the story (two hitmen hiding out in Bruges, Belgium after a job goes south). A little like "The Big Lebowski" in that the story is secondary and the movie gets better with repeat viewings. Brilliant writing with terrific performances by Colin Farrell, Ralph Fiennes and Brendan Gleason. If you can handle laughs with a significant dose of bloodshed, see it.
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K
KingInTheWest
Lurker
I got dragged to see Lucy this weekend. My ticket was free, but I still want a refund, because that was one of the worst things I have seen in a long, long time. I think I have to go back to when I got dragged to the first Transformers (obviously I have not seen any of the others, or any Twilight movies) to find a worse movie. The only reason it is better than Transformers is that the first 20 minutes or so, before Scarlett gains her powers, is actually tense and well structured. Then Scarlett is able to do pretty much anything, so there is no dramatic tension whatsoever. There are a few cool moments, especially her shooting at a door and then opening it to find the bodies of the guards who were waiting for her (she knew where they were because of her advanced echo location skills or something), but later on she waves people aside and makes them float in the air, and this is before she starts sprouting black tentacles and eating computers with them. Meanwhile, we have random inserted clips of animals and Morgan Freeman giving a speech on the ridiculous theories of what man could do with full use of their brain, because Luc Besson is trying too hard to make a dumb movie smart, but only making it dumber. After I left, I thought maybe there could have been a good movie made where Scarlett's character gets a little brainpower boost and has some skills but is still very stoppable, instead of her travelling through time to hang out with people in really bad monkey and Neanderthal makeup, but then I remembered I saw that movie, and it starred Bradley Cooper and was called Limitless.
Speaking of movies that were astoundingly awful, I watched Man Of Steel off my DVR. I am no longer displeased that Affleck will be crapping on Batman, because it don't matter when the same brain trust behind Man Of Steel is 99% likely to assemble a giant pile of crap again, making Affleck's contribution just a few grains of sand in the desert. The desert of crap. So we waste about 30 minutes with some ludicrous, meaningless prologue of Russell Crowe on Krypton, where these advanced civilization aliens wear ridiculous armor and can't be bothered to move to another planet when theirs is falling apart. Oh, and they ride giant dragonflies. THEY RIDE GIANT DRAGONFLIES. Zod gets imprisoned and the Krypton society manages to save him and his buddies while they all die themselves. Good job. Then we go to grown up Superman and every so often flash back to his youth in a failed and transparent attempt to make this film deeper than it is, also there is the occasional arty pretty shot in slow-mo with dramatic music that is ultimately meaningless. Then, after burning 30 minutes on that nothing at the beginning, boom, Zod is in town and on everyone's television, only he has a terrible internet connection with his broadcast despite being an advanced alien, and he is immediately demanding Superman surrender and the government is immediately caving even though they have no idea who this guy is and Superman is immediately going to him even though he has no idea who this guy is. The worst part of the whole movie, though, is the action scenes. While most Fast And Furious action scenes are created by storyboarding the results of having 5th graders play with Hot Wheels, the Man Of Steel action scenes were storyboarded based on kindergarteners smashing action figures together and into things. Over and over and over one guy jumps into another guy and they crash through a building or a tanker truck or something and CGI destruction ensues and it is meaningless and pointless because the super aliens are only hurt as much as the script needs them to be. And they keep doing this even though all they have to do to kill each other is snap a neck or stab their opponent. Meanwhile Zod has some female henchman who barely is a character and there is some big guy who I think is supposed to be a character (I remember there being three villains in the old Superman 2) but he has less of a character than the Bane in the Val Kilmer (or was it George Clooney) Batman. Also, the computer ghost of Russell Crowe shows up now and then to help out Superman and Lois Lane. Speaking of Lois Lane, Amy Adams is far and away the best part of the movie. Pure spunkiness, and as believable as is possible in such a total mess.
CHRISTOPHER MELONI DOUBLE FEATURE!!!
I also watched Wet Hot American Summer, which I had heard about for a long time. Yes, lots of comic actors who became more famous (also, Bradley Cooper) are in it, but other than that, it did not live up to the hype. It is a parody of summer camp movies that plays like a mediocre summer camp movie, while indulging the cast a little too much (I am guessing there was a lot of ad-libbing). Also, wearing tacky 70's clothes is not automatically hilarious, except for Ken Marino with that hair in those jorts. There is one moment of true insane hilarity as some of the characters go to town and score some weed and things spiral out of control, but that's about it. There are funny moments, but then there is Janeane Garofalo and the guy from Brooklyn South (I spent half the movie trying to place him) throwing stuff around for 5 minutes to show how stressed out they are like day-job waiters in a bad improv performance. And then at the end of the movie, I'm told the counselors were supposed to be in their late teens, when all the actors are probably close to or in their 30s. Huh?
NO WAIT IT IS A KEN MARINO DOUBLE FEATURE!!!
Exceeding my expectations was We're The Millers. It might try too hard to be wrong at times, but it has some very funny and reasonably fresh jokes precisely because of that angle, along with good comedic performances and lots of Ron Swanson. The ads really undersold the movie by not pointing out just how much Ron Swanson was in it. Also, the deeply underappreciated Kathryn Hahn, who plays his wife. Every second they are on the screen is comedy gold. Also, credit the writers for not giving into the temptation to go with the dark, twisted ending, even if they forget that the one kid does have a family.
JENNIFER ANISTON WAS ON FRIENDS THE SAME NIGHT AS ER WITH GEORGE CLOONEY AND THAT'S THE BEST I CAN DO BECAUSE THERE ARE ONLY TWO PEOPLE IN THIS NEXT MOVIE!!!
I guess no one told the Oscar voters that Gravity is just a genre movie dressed up in artiness. And by artiness, I mean unbelievably beautiful shots from start to finish and powerhouse emotional acting by Sandra Bullock. The silence of space was never used to such an impressive effect, making every word stand out and causing the viewer to focus even more on the incredible scenery. Clooney is Clooney, but it works perfectly. Such a great premise, because really, where else are you more screwed getting stranded than in space? There is not a one in a billion chance of someone bumping into you to save you. I liked how efficient it was, clocking in at only 90 minutes, nothing thrown in to pad it out to two hours. How did Sandra Bullock not win Best Actress? Was it because her performance has absolutely no 'look at me' to it? Also, I loved that body with the hole through its face. Ouch.
LONG AGO SANDRA BULLOCK WAS IN MURDER BY NUMBERS WITH A YOUNG RYAN GOSLING AND I SAW IT BACK WHEN IT CAME OUT BUT DON'T REMEMBER ANY OF IT WHATSOEVER!!!!
Speaking of movies with Ryan Gosling that I will eventually not remember any of whatsoever, Gangster Squad was entertaining and watchable enough. I've seen noir LA a hundred times, and this is not getting anywhere close to the neighborhood (or city, or county, or state) of LA Confidential, but the bold, vivid colors mixed in here and there with the gray were a nice touch and amping up the action to modern standards without getting too ridiculous (emphasis on 'too')made it reasonably exciting. Sean Penn was great as the villain, making him scary in a realistic manner. Not realistic - the endless shootout at the end, especially the part where Sean Penn gets past the cops at the front. Not sure how Josh Brolin continues to be offered leads, although he was solid enough. Also, Emma Stone.
GIOVANNI RIBISI WAS IN THAT AND MANAGED TO NOT ANNOY THE CRAP OUT OF ME FOR ONCE AND HE WAS ALSO IN LOST IN TRANSLATION WITH SCARLETT WHICH BRINGS US BACK TO DOH!
The end.
...Unless you count the 15 minutes I watched of Getaway, because when I flipped past HBO there was a subtitle declaring that they were in Sofia, Bulgaria, which is a place I may be touring in the near future. That crapsterpiece might be worse than Lucy, because it was wall-to-wall random car chasing, which could be entertaining, but not here because it was all random close-ups stitched together with not a single long shot to create any remote sense of geography. Not one. Shot of feet on pedals, close shot of car bumping into police car, close shot of car rushing past stuff, repeat all that three times, shot of police car crashing, repeat from start ten times. Eventually I muted it and attended to other business, but every time I looked up, it was the same endless, badly filmed car chase. Eventually Selena Gomez showed up, and this movie was filmed back when she still looked like she was 12, and so her presence as what looked to be the computer genius was just laughable. Someone tell Richard Linklater to pay Ethan Hawke more so he doesn't have to go slumming quite like this. Nicolas Cage should be in this movie instead, except I swear he made the same movie a year earlier and I really wish I had seen 15 minutes of that one instead because Nicolas Cage makes everything better.
NOT THE BEES!!!!!!
Speaking of movies that were astoundingly awful, I watched Man Of Steel off my DVR. I am no longer displeased that Affleck will be crapping on Batman, because it don't matter when the same brain trust behind Man Of Steel is 99% likely to assemble a giant pile of crap again, making Affleck's contribution just a few grains of sand in the desert. The desert of crap. So we waste about 30 minutes with some ludicrous, meaningless prologue of Russell Crowe on Krypton, where these advanced civilization aliens wear ridiculous armor and can't be bothered to move to another planet when theirs is falling apart. Oh, and they ride giant dragonflies. THEY RIDE GIANT DRAGONFLIES. Zod gets imprisoned and the Krypton society manages to save him and his buddies while they all die themselves. Good job. Then we go to grown up Superman and every so often flash back to his youth in a failed and transparent attempt to make this film deeper than it is, also there is the occasional arty pretty shot in slow-mo with dramatic music that is ultimately meaningless. Then, after burning 30 minutes on that nothing at the beginning, boom, Zod is in town and on everyone's television, only he has a terrible internet connection with his broadcast despite being an advanced alien, and he is immediately demanding Superman surrender and the government is immediately caving even though they have no idea who this guy is and Superman is immediately going to him even though he has no idea who this guy is. The worst part of the whole movie, though, is the action scenes. While most Fast And Furious action scenes are created by storyboarding the results of having 5th graders play with Hot Wheels, the Man Of Steel action scenes were storyboarded based on kindergarteners smashing action figures together and into things. Over and over and over one guy jumps into another guy and they crash through a building or a tanker truck or something and CGI destruction ensues and it is meaningless and pointless because the super aliens are only hurt as much as the script needs them to be. And they keep doing this even though all they have to do to kill each other is snap a neck or stab their opponent. Meanwhile Zod has some female henchman who barely is a character and there is some big guy who I think is supposed to be a character (I remember there being three villains in the old Superman 2) but he has less of a character than the Bane in the Val Kilmer (or was it George Clooney) Batman. Also, the computer ghost of Russell Crowe shows up now and then to help out Superman and Lois Lane. Speaking of Lois Lane, Amy Adams is far and away the best part of the movie. Pure spunkiness, and as believable as is possible in such a total mess.
CHRISTOPHER MELONI DOUBLE FEATURE!!!
I also watched Wet Hot American Summer, which I had heard about for a long time. Yes, lots of comic actors who became more famous (also, Bradley Cooper) are in it, but other than that, it did not live up to the hype. It is a parody of summer camp movies that plays like a mediocre summer camp movie, while indulging the cast a little too much (I am guessing there was a lot of ad-libbing). Also, wearing tacky 70's clothes is not automatically hilarious, except for Ken Marino with that hair in those jorts. There is one moment of true insane hilarity as some of the characters go to town and score some weed and things spiral out of control, but that's about it. There are funny moments, but then there is Janeane Garofalo and the guy from Brooklyn South (I spent half the movie trying to place him) throwing stuff around for 5 minutes to show how stressed out they are like day-job waiters in a bad improv performance. And then at the end of the movie, I'm told the counselors were supposed to be in their late teens, when all the actors are probably close to or in their 30s. Huh?
NO WAIT IT IS A KEN MARINO DOUBLE FEATURE!!!
Exceeding my expectations was We're The Millers. It might try too hard to be wrong at times, but it has some very funny and reasonably fresh jokes precisely because of that angle, along with good comedic performances and lots of Ron Swanson. The ads really undersold the movie by not pointing out just how much Ron Swanson was in it. Also, the deeply underappreciated Kathryn Hahn, who plays his wife. Every second they are on the screen is comedy gold. Also, credit the writers for not giving into the temptation to go with the dark, twisted ending, even if they forget that the one kid does have a family.
JENNIFER ANISTON WAS ON FRIENDS THE SAME NIGHT AS ER WITH GEORGE CLOONEY AND THAT'S THE BEST I CAN DO BECAUSE THERE ARE ONLY TWO PEOPLE IN THIS NEXT MOVIE!!!
I guess no one told the Oscar voters that Gravity is just a genre movie dressed up in artiness. And by artiness, I mean unbelievably beautiful shots from start to finish and powerhouse emotional acting by Sandra Bullock. The silence of space was never used to such an impressive effect, making every word stand out and causing the viewer to focus even more on the incredible scenery. Clooney is Clooney, but it works perfectly. Such a great premise, because really, where else are you more screwed getting stranded than in space? There is not a one in a billion chance of someone bumping into you to save you. I liked how efficient it was, clocking in at only 90 minutes, nothing thrown in to pad it out to two hours. How did Sandra Bullock not win Best Actress? Was it because her performance has absolutely no 'look at me' to it? Also, I loved that body with the hole through its face. Ouch.
LONG AGO SANDRA BULLOCK WAS IN MURDER BY NUMBERS WITH A YOUNG RYAN GOSLING AND I SAW IT BACK WHEN IT CAME OUT BUT DON'T REMEMBER ANY OF IT WHATSOEVER!!!!
Speaking of movies with Ryan Gosling that I will eventually not remember any of whatsoever, Gangster Squad was entertaining and watchable enough. I've seen noir LA a hundred times, and this is not getting anywhere close to the neighborhood (or city, or county, or state) of LA Confidential, but the bold, vivid colors mixed in here and there with the gray were a nice touch and amping up the action to modern standards without getting too ridiculous (emphasis on 'too')made it reasonably exciting. Sean Penn was great as the villain, making him scary in a realistic manner. Not realistic - the endless shootout at the end, especially the part where Sean Penn gets past the cops at the front. Not sure how Josh Brolin continues to be offered leads, although he was solid enough. Also, Emma Stone.
GIOVANNI RIBISI WAS IN THAT AND MANAGED TO NOT ANNOY THE CRAP OUT OF ME FOR ONCE AND HE WAS ALSO IN LOST IN TRANSLATION WITH SCARLETT WHICH BRINGS US BACK TO DOH!
The end.
...Unless you count the 15 minutes I watched of Getaway, because when I flipped past HBO there was a subtitle declaring that they were in Sofia, Bulgaria, which is a place I may be touring in the near future. That crapsterpiece might be worse than Lucy, because it was wall-to-wall random car chasing, which could be entertaining, but not here because it was all random close-ups stitched together with not a single long shot to create any remote sense of geography. Not one. Shot of feet on pedals, close shot of car bumping into police car, close shot of car rushing past stuff, repeat all that three times, shot of police car crashing, repeat from start ten times. Eventually I muted it and attended to other business, but every time I looked up, it was the same endless, badly filmed car chase. Eventually Selena Gomez showed up, and this movie was filmed back when she still looked like she was 12, and so her presence as what looked to be the computer genius was just laughable. Someone tell Richard Linklater to pay Ethan Hawke more so he doesn't have to go slumming quite like this. Nicolas Cage should be in this movie instead, except I swear he made the same movie a year earlier and I really wish I had seen 15 minutes of that one instead because Nicolas Cage makes everything better.
NOT THE BEES!!!!!!
B
BigBrown
Lurker
Nicely done :21smile:
Dr. Tran
Super Star
I just saw this on HBO and wondered what the big deal was about this film. I guess I'm not alone.
Dr. Tran
Super Star
I saw this too and I thought it was pretty good. Certainly better than gravity.
L
LetTigerIn
Lurker
I love Lucy.
It's possible my opinion was bolstered by low expectations going in. However, I'm ultimately happy to put it in the surprisingly smart action movies this year, and think it slips nicely into the Luc Besson canon.
santiclaws
I was in the pool!!
Continuing with my digging through the foreign offerings on Netflix streaming....
"13-year-old Sinikka vanishes on a hot summer night. Her bicycle is found in the exact place where a girl was killed 23 years ago. The dramatic present forces those involved in the original case to face their past."
Dark, disturbing and bleak. Lots of tension, but not of the "who is the killer?" variety. Stars a bunch of Germans you've never heard of. Decidedly not a formula Hollywood movie. Really, really good.
"13-year-old Sinikka vanishes on a hot summer night. Her bicycle is found in the exact place where a girl was killed 23 years ago. The dramatic present forces those involved in the original case to face their past."
Dark, disturbing and bleak. Lots of tension, but not of the "who is the killer?" variety. Stars a bunch of Germans you've never heard of. Decidedly not a formula Hollywood movie. Really, really good.
B
BigBrown
Lurker
A couple more, some of them being big movie franchises I hadn't watched yet:
Snowpiercer
As I said in the Sci-Fi thread, a cool and memorable movie. It has some flaws but makes up for them by being gutsy and different.
7+/10
The Hunger Games
I hadn't watched these but was pretty surprised that I enjoyed them, I expected them to be bland and constantly dealing with teen issues and while there's some of that it's not to the point of ruining it for me.
6/10
The Hunger Games 2
I liked the 2nd movie a bit better for some reason, the premise seemed to be a complete re-thread of the first movie but I found the old, jaded hunger games winners to be more interesting characters than the ones in the first.
7/10
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Had to give this a shot after I liked The Grand Budapest Hotel so much, maybe I was wrong about Wes Anderson? But no, it's just a bunch of quirky people rushing from one place to the next while being in a constant state of trying to be mildly amusing but not outright funny. It gets old quick.
5/10
Ender's Game
I've never read the books but I'm sure they're much better than this mess. It needed to be a mini series or something, the movie just has the protagonist jumping from place to place in his training, you barely get enough time to get used to his supporting cast before they're switched out when he graduates 15 minutes later and moves on to the next test. The only constant is Harrison Ford and he's just as dull as he's ever been, I haven't liked him in a movie since Air Force One and that was 17 years ago! There just isn't much to like here, anything you could potentially care about gets left behind with every move forward. You know nothing about the aliens, there's some pointless twist about a hero the last time they fought, a good chunk of the movie is dedicated to the equivalent of Quidditch and just like in Harry Potter you don't really give a crap about it. At least it's interesting to look at, special effects are top notch but the story just feels rushed. Oh, and the ending is garbage too.
5/10
Elysium
Should have been good but wasn't, that's what makes me mad. Premise is decent enough, solid actors, great sci-fi world and effects... it's a good recipe. Unfortunately the story was predictable and full of holes, the characters were weak and the message was heavy handed. Jodie Foster's character was especially uninteresting.
5/10
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Solid and forgettable. It's alright, keeps you interested... Didn't understand why Patrick Stewart was now alive when he died in an earlier film but he's back I guess. I'm struggling to remember anything good or bad. Not a fan of the time travel cliche of having everyone getting killed in a scene then just time travel back in time and everyone is fine again. When it's done as obvious as in this one you lose interest because you know the action and their deaths are meaningless. But overall not a bad flick.. wish Dinklage had a more interesting character.
6/10
The East
The story of an undercover agent infiltrating some hippie organization and, shockingly, in a twist no one expected, she starts to sympathize with them. Seriously though, it's not bad even if the story is somewhat predictable.
6/10
Calvary
Brendan Gleeson is awesome and really saves an otherwise pretty uneventful film. It's a bit of a "who dunnit" mystery but unfortunately I can't say I saw any real clues along the way. Maybe I'm just bad at it.
6/10
Captain America
I thought the backstory was quite good and interesting, once he's established as Captain America about halfway through the movie loses steam. They shoehorn in a villain and you don't really get time to care one way or the other about him before the final showdown. Very forgettable second half.
6/10 (bordering on a 5)
Captain America 2
Much better. Good action throughout, interesting twists for the most part, funny at times.. Black Widow and the villains (including Winter Soldier) didn't really do it for me but the overall arc of the story was good enough to keep me interested.
7+/10
Snowpiercer
As I said in the Sci-Fi thread, a cool and memorable movie. It has some flaws but makes up for them by being gutsy and different.
7+/10
The Hunger Games
I hadn't watched these but was pretty surprised that I enjoyed them, I expected them to be bland and constantly dealing with teen issues and while there's some of that it's not to the point of ruining it for me.
6/10
The Hunger Games 2
I liked the 2nd movie a bit better for some reason, the premise seemed to be a complete re-thread of the first movie but I found the old, jaded hunger games winners to be more interesting characters than the ones in the first.
7/10
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Had to give this a shot after I liked The Grand Budapest Hotel so much, maybe I was wrong about Wes Anderson? But no, it's just a bunch of quirky people rushing from one place to the next while being in a constant state of trying to be mildly amusing but not outright funny. It gets old quick.
5/10
Ender's Game
I've never read the books but I'm sure they're much better than this mess. It needed to be a mini series or something, the movie just has the protagonist jumping from place to place in his training, you barely get enough time to get used to his supporting cast before they're switched out when he graduates 15 minutes later and moves on to the next test. The only constant is Harrison Ford and he's just as dull as he's ever been, I haven't liked him in a movie since Air Force One and that was 17 years ago! There just isn't much to like here, anything you could potentially care about gets left behind with every move forward. You know nothing about the aliens, there's some pointless twist about a hero the last time they fought, a good chunk of the movie is dedicated to the equivalent of Quidditch and just like in Harry Potter you don't really give a crap about it. At least it's interesting to look at, special effects are top notch but the story just feels rushed. Oh, and the ending is garbage too.
5/10
Elysium
Should have been good but wasn't, that's what makes me mad. Premise is decent enough, solid actors, great sci-fi world and effects... it's a good recipe. Unfortunately the story was predictable and full of holes, the characters were weak and the message was heavy handed. Jodie Foster's character was especially uninteresting.
5/10
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Solid and forgettable. It's alright, keeps you interested... Didn't understand why Patrick Stewart was now alive when he died in an earlier film but he's back I guess. I'm struggling to remember anything good or bad. Not a fan of the time travel cliche of having everyone getting killed in a scene then just time travel back in time and everyone is fine again. When it's done as obvious as in this one you lose interest because you know the action and their deaths are meaningless. But overall not a bad flick.. wish Dinklage had a more interesting character.
6/10
The East
The story of an undercover agent infiltrating some hippie organization and, shockingly, in a twist no one expected, she starts to sympathize with them. Seriously though, it's not bad even if the story is somewhat predictable.
6/10
Calvary
Brendan Gleeson is awesome and really saves an otherwise pretty uneventful film. It's a bit of a "who dunnit" mystery but unfortunately I can't say I saw any real clues along the way. Maybe I'm just bad at it.
6/10
Captain America
I thought the backstory was quite good and interesting, once he's established as Captain America about halfway through the movie loses steam. They shoehorn in a villain and you don't really get time to care one way or the other about him before the final showdown. Very forgettable second half.
6/10 (bordering on a 5)
Captain America 2
Much better. Good action throughout, interesting twists for the most part, funny at times.. Black Widow and the villains (including Winter Soldier) didn't really do it for me but the overall arc of the story was good enough to keep me interested.
7+/10
K
KingInTheWest
Lurker
Last time I left off with Giovanni Ribisi and I noticed he was in another movie that had been sitting on my DVR for over a year, Contraband. And not only was he not annoying twice in a row, but he nailed a character that was completely different than the one he played in Gangster Squad. This time he was a trashy drug dealer with a trashy Louisiana accent. Kate Beckinsale was in the movie briefly enough that I didn't realize it was her until I saw the credits (also, she was blonde). It took me a little while to get into the movie, because I was expecting an action thriller, and it was more of a drama with some action. There's a good amount of clich? involved with the storyline (Marky Mark gets PULLED BACK IN to smuggling because his brother-in-law made a mistake and owes Ribisi lots of money, and Marky Mark is THE BEST THERE EVER WAS at it), but the movie did a good job of introducing me to something new - modern day smuggling where people take jobs on legitimate import ships and hide their goods on the ship. Both Marky Mark and the movie are solid. The most action-heavy scene, an armored car robbery in Panama, is pretty over the top, and I'm not sure why is there such an expensive painting being transported with such poor security in a dangerous part of town, but it was funny to see the cops just shoot everything that moves. The main climax of the movie, where Marky Mark outsmarts the authorities and Ribisi is great, though, and the tension of him being helpless thousands of miles away while Ribisi and his goons terrorize his wife works well.
MARKY MARK PLAYED A BOXER IN THE FIGHTER AND DANIEL DAY LEWIS PLAYED A FIGHTER IN THE BOXER BUT NEITHER OF THEM HAD TO FIGHT ROCKY DESPITE THERE BEING SIX ROCKY MOVIES AND I FINALLY GOT AROUND TO WATCHING THE SECOND ONE
Rocky II is basically just an extension of the first movie. Same opponent, same music, same working class Philly vibe, same random characters shoehorned in to various levels of success (including Frank Stallone, low on the success meter), same mostly realistic drama feel, same big fight at the end. It even starts right after the first one is over. The lack of originality weighs it down somewhat, even though on its own it is in the same league as the first movie. The only real new elements are Rocky learning how to blow his money on tacky jackets with a tiger on the back and us learning that ROCKY NEVER LEARNED HOW TO READ. Talia Shire continues to look terrified of her man, as she probably should be, especially when he first takes her back to his crappy little apartment. Having Philly get behind Rocky with the hometown fight and the kids doing the run to the stairs with him was so cheesy but it totally worked.
ROCKY AND APOLLO CREED SPLIT TWO FIGHTS THAT BOTH COME DOWN TO THE WIRE AFTER FIFTEEN ROUNDS OF PURE ACTION AND SOMEHOW THERE IS NEVER A THIRD FIGHT? THAT IS THE MOST UNREALISTIC THING OF THE ENTIRE ROCKY SAGA, AND INSTEAD OF FIGHTING CREED AGAIN HE FIGHTS HULK HOGAN AND MR. T AND SOME BLONDE ROIDED UP RUSSIAN STEREOTYPE BUT I CAN'T TELL YOU ANYTHING AFTER THAT BECAUSE I STOPPED PAYING ATTENTION
Speaking of blonde roided up Russian stereotypes, Pacific Rim was filled to the brim with lazy stereotypes and clich? plotting. Guillermo Del Toro wanted to play with fighting robots, so they concentrated on the visuals and effects and no one bothered with the rest of the movie. A disturbingly clean-cut Jax Teller LOSES HIS PARTNER AND QUITS THE GAME BUT THEY BRING HIM BACK BECAUSE HE IS THE BEST. THE BEST! The young punk thinks he is hot stuff and fights with Jax for most of the movie but then he learns to be a team player at the end. The government IDIOTS WANT TO SHUT DOWN THE PROGRAM BUT THE BOSS WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN. The TALENTED ROOKIE HAS THE SKILLS BUT DOESN'T HAVE HER HEAD RIGHT (at least it being a female is new). Despite the metric tons of clich?, despite the fact that I could give a crap about robots fighting monsters, despite the painful jokey portions of the movie with Charlie Day being Charlie Day and Hellboy going over the top, despite some serious logic problems (this robot sword kills the crap out of alien monsters - let's never use it until now! / these robots have to made of some super-strong metal to work - let's punch the alien monster with a fistful of hollow shipping containers!), I got into the movie after a while and did enjoy it quite a bit. The robot fights at the end were good, but the best two fights in the movie were the two between humans on their own two feet, which were both excellent. Jax, his partner, the hotshot and Max Martini were all pretty good. Idris Elba was a little too much with the yelling. Obviously the visuals were incredible. Bonus points for Max Martini and destroying Frisco.
AT LEAST THE CLICHE CHINESE TRIPLETS WERE PLAYING BASKETBALL AND NOT PING PONG (WHERE ARE YOU PLAYING PING PONG ON A REAL-WORLD SPACE STATION, GRAVITY), BUT BACK TO THE RUSSIANS
Still speaking of blonde roided up Russian stereotypes, Kick-Ass 2 was a lot better than I had been told. Mostly the same filthy-mouthed fun of the first movie, with some points deducted for the accompanying lack of originality. They try to put in some new material by having Hit Girl struggle to fit in at school, but it mostly feels like filler and her final victory over the mean girls is a cheat. The movie also has a huge problem with having no idea what its tone or message is. One minute the characters need to stop playing superhero and live normal lives and the next minute they are born to be superheroes and it bounces back and forth. One minute everything is silly and the next minute someone is getting stabbed in the neck. Also, the ability of the characters to fight varies between realistic and superhero movie quite often, basically as the plot dictates. That said, the movie is often hilarious and all the various superheroes and villains are creative and amusing, especially Jim Carrey and Mother Russia. Turk from Scrubs I just can't not see as Turk from Scrubs. There were turns of the plot I did not see coming, even if here and there people do things that are completely stupid (like the guy who gives McLovin' the vital information near the end). The action scenes were all quite good, making me think that they should just drop the fake realism and tone issues and just make a straight (but R-rated) superhero movie with Hit Girl destroying people.
NICOLAS CAGE WAS IN THE FIRST KICK-ASS AND HE MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER BUT EVEN HE COULDN'T SAVE THE NEXT MOVIE BUT THEN NEITHER COULD MARSHALL ERICKSON, ANNIE EDISON, OR ANDY DWYER
You what people have not been clamoring for? An alleged comedy where the generic characters are miserable for 90% of the movie. I think The Five-Year Engagement refers to how long it feels to watch the movie. There are some sporadic funny moments, and the end of the movie shows that Marshall learned something from being on How I Met Some Chick To Burn A Few Years With Until The Woman I Was Obsessed With Split Up With My Other Best Friend Because Deus Ex Machina, but it is not worth it getting there. The movie was so depressing I didn't notice that the sister was Alison Brie until the very end. The d-bag teacher is amusing, but I think the movie is secretly one of those mind-f experiments that Emily Blunt went all the way to Michigan to learn how to do. I don't want to know how many of my tax dollars go toward that, by the way. In a running gag, Emily Blunt's grandparents die one by one every time the wedding is postponed. HILARIOUS! At one point, Marshall loses a toe just so Andy Dwyer could later make two bad puns at his expense. HIGH COMEDY! Why does the little girl say "I'm Katniss" when she fires the crossbow in the commercials but "I'm Pocahontas" in the movie? I mean, besides because 50 times as many kids know who Karniss is. Bonus points for that stupid part where Marshall goes hillbilly native and makes his own honey because it allows me to end this with...
NOT THE BEES!!!!!!
MARKY MARK PLAYED A BOXER IN THE FIGHTER AND DANIEL DAY LEWIS PLAYED A FIGHTER IN THE BOXER BUT NEITHER OF THEM HAD TO FIGHT ROCKY DESPITE THERE BEING SIX ROCKY MOVIES AND I FINALLY GOT AROUND TO WATCHING THE SECOND ONE
Rocky II is basically just an extension of the first movie. Same opponent, same music, same working class Philly vibe, same random characters shoehorned in to various levels of success (including Frank Stallone, low on the success meter), same mostly realistic drama feel, same big fight at the end. It even starts right after the first one is over. The lack of originality weighs it down somewhat, even though on its own it is in the same league as the first movie. The only real new elements are Rocky learning how to blow his money on tacky jackets with a tiger on the back and us learning that ROCKY NEVER LEARNED HOW TO READ. Talia Shire continues to look terrified of her man, as she probably should be, especially when he first takes her back to his crappy little apartment. Having Philly get behind Rocky with the hometown fight and the kids doing the run to the stairs with him was so cheesy but it totally worked.
ROCKY AND APOLLO CREED SPLIT TWO FIGHTS THAT BOTH COME DOWN TO THE WIRE AFTER FIFTEEN ROUNDS OF PURE ACTION AND SOMEHOW THERE IS NEVER A THIRD FIGHT? THAT IS THE MOST UNREALISTIC THING OF THE ENTIRE ROCKY SAGA, AND INSTEAD OF FIGHTING CREED AGAIN HE FIGHTS HULK HOGAN AND MR. T AND SOME BLONDE ROIDED UP RUSSIAN STEREOTYPE BUT I CAN'T TELL YOU ANYTHING AFTER THAT BECAUSE I STOPPED PAYING ATTENTION
Speaking of blonde roided up Russian stereotypes, Pacific Rim was filled to the brim with lazy stereotypes and clich? plotting. Guillermo Del Toro wanted to play with fighting robots, so they concentrated on the visuals and effects and no one bothered with the rest of the movie. A disturbingly clean-cut Jax Teller LOSES HIS PARTNER AND QUITS THE GAME BUT THEY BRING HIM BACK BECAUSE HE IS THE BEST. THE BEST! The young punk thinks he is hot stuff and fights with Jax for most of the movie but then he learns to be a team player at the end. The government IDIOTS WANT TO SHUT DOWN THE PROGRAM BUT THE BOSS WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN. The TALENTED ROOKIE HAS THE SKILLS BUT DOESN'T HAVE HER HEAD RIGHT (at least it being a female is new). Despite the metric tons of clich?, despite the fact that I could give a crap about robots fighting monsters, despite the painful jokey portions of the movie with Charlie Day being Charlie Day and Hellboy going over the top, despite some serious logic problems (this robot sword kills the crap out of alien monsters - let's never use it until now! / these robots have to made of some super-strong metal to work - let's punch the alien monster with a fistful of hollow shipping containers!), I got into the movie after a while and did enjoy it quite a bit. The robot fights at the end were good, but the best two fights in the movie were the two between humans on their own two feet, which were both excellent. Jax, his partner, the hotshot and Max Martini were all pretty good. Idris Elba was a little too much with the yelling. Obviously the visuals were incredible. Bonus points for Max Martini and destroying Frisco.
AT LEAST THE CLICHE CHINESE TRIPLETS WERE PLAYING BASKETBALL AND NOT PING PONG (WHERE ARE YOU PLAYING PING PONG ON A REAL-WORLD SPACE STATION, GRAVITY), BUT BACK TO THE RUSSIANS
Still speaking of blonde roided up Russian stereotypes, Kick-Ass 2 was a lot better than I had been told. Mostly the same filthy-mouthed fun of the first movie, with some points deducted for the accompanying lack of originality. They try to put in some new material by having Hit Girl struggle to fit in at school, but it mostly feels like filler and her final victory over the mean girls is a cheat. The movie also has a huge problem with having no idea what its tone or message is. One minute the characters need to stop playing superhero and live normal lives and the next minute they are born to be superheroes and it bounces back and forth. One minute everything is silly and the next minute someone is getting stabbed in the neck. Also, the ability of the characters to fight varies between realistic and superhero movie quite often, basically as the plot dictates. That said, the movie is often hilarious and all the various superheroes and villains are creative and amusing, especially Jim Carrey and Mother Russia. Turk from Scrubs I just can't not see as Turk from Scrubs. There were turns of the plot I did not see coming, even if here and there people do things that are completely stupid (like the guy who gives McLovin' the vital information near the end). The action scenes were all quite good, making me think that they should just drop the fake realism and tone issues and just make a straight (but R-rated) superhero movie with Hit Girl destroying people.
NICOLAS CAGE WAS IN THE FIRST KICK-ASS AND HE MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER BUT EVEN HE COULDN'T SAVE THE NEXT MOVIE BUT THEN NEITHER COULD MARSHALL ERICKSON, ANNIE EDISON, OR ANDY DWYER
You what people have not been clamoring for? An alleged comedy where the generic characters are miserable for 90% of the movie. I think The Five-Year Engagement refers to how long it feels to watch the movie. There are some sporadic funny moments, and the end of the movie shows that Marshall learned something from being on How I Met Some Chick To Burn A Few Years With Until The Woman I Was Obsessed With Split Up With My Other Best Friend Because Deus Ex Machina, but it is not worth it getting there. The movie was so depressing I didn't notice that the sister was Alison Brie until the very end. The d-bag teacher is amusing, but I think the movie is secretly one of those mind-f experiments that Emily Blunt went all the way to Michigan to learn how to do. I don't want to know how many of my tax dollars go toward that, by the way. In a running gag, Emily Blunt's grandparents die one by one every time the wedding is postponed. HILARIOUS! At one point, Marshall loses a toe just so Andy Dwyer could later make two bad puns at his expense. HIGH COMEDY! Why does the little girl say "I'm Katniss" when she fires the crossbow in the commercials but "I'm Pocahontas" in the movie? I mean, besides because 50 times as many kids know who Karniss is. Bonus points for that stupid part where Marshall goes hillbilly native and makes his own honey because it allows me to end this with...
NOT THE BEES!!!!!!
adgy-san
PJ Harvey is God
I'm way behind on this.
Chef - Jon Favreau is a semi-famous chef, but the local bigtime food critic pans his work and he makes an idiot of himself yelling and screaming at the guy in front of people with cameraphones and starting a Twitter war. So he goes on a vacation with his ex-wife and son and re-discovers his love of making food. He starts up a food truck making Cuban sandwiches and they travel cross country and he learns to enjoy the simple things in life. Very enjoyable, low-key film from Favreau. You can kind of see where it's going early on, but it's smart about it. It's funny and it's got some of that heart-warming touch-y feel-y in it, but it doesn't feel overdone. I liked it a lot. No explanation as to why a guy like Favreau can pull Scarlett Johannsson and Sofia Vergara in the same movie, but if I can suspend my disbelief for Pacific Rim, I guess I can do it here, too.
Fast & Furious 6 - I must confess I've never been a fan of this series. I know people, am married to one, who enjoy it because of the ridiculousness of it all, but it's never done much for me. Ditto this one. I do enjoy making fun of it while watching, though, and I have zero problem watching the Rock in pretty much anything, so it was fine as a distraction. I am actually slightly looking forward to the next one, hoping that the addition of Jason Statham and Tony Jaa can do the trick for me.
Un Flic - Herman Melville's last movie, starring Alain Delon and Catherine Deneuve? Innnnnnnnnnnn. It's a somewhat standard cops and robbers story, with the twist of one of the robbers being good friends with the cop. It's interesting in that it's a very slow, deliberate film. There is very little in the way of excitement, but it's got a bit of a hypnotic quality to it. I liked it, but nowhere near as much as some of Melville's more classic stuff.
Got busy. To be continued...
Chef - Jon Favreau is a semi-famous chef, but the local bigtime food critic pans his work and he makes an idiot of himself yelling and screaming at the guy in front of people with cameraphones and starting a Twitter war. So he goes on a vacation with his ex-wife and son and re-discovers his love of making food. He starts up a food truck making Cuban sandwiches and they travel cross country and he learns to enjoy the simple things in life. Very enjoyable, low-key film from Favreau. You can kind of see where it's going early on, but it's smart about it. It's funny and it's got some of that heart-warming touch-y feel-y in it, but it doesn't feel overdone. I liked it a lot. No explanation as to why a guy like Favreau can pull Scarlett Johannsson and Sofia Vergara in the same movie, but if I can suspend my disbelief for Pacific Rim, I guess I can do it here, too.
Fast & Furious 6 - I must confess I've never been a fan of this series. I know people, am married to one, who enjoy it because of the ridiculousness of it all, but it's never done much for me. Ditto this one. I do enjoy making fun of it while watching, though, and I have zero problem watching the Rock in pretty much anything, so it was fine as a distraction. I am actually slightly looking forward to the next one, hoping that the addition of Jason Statham and Tony Jaa can do the trick for me.
Un Flic - Herman Melville's last movie, starring Alain Delon and Catherine Deneuve? Innnnnnnnnnnn. It's a somewhat standard cops and robbers story, with the twist of one of the robbers being good friends with the cop. It's interesting in that it's a very slow, deliberate film. There is very little in the way of excitement, but it's got a bit of a hypnotic quality to it. I liked it, but nowhere near as much as some of Melville's more classic stuff.
Got busy. To be continued...
adgy-san
PJ Harvey is God
R.I.P.D. - This was actually slightly better than I expected, but only because I expected to turn it off before it ended. Very wanna-be Men In Black, but without the same level of wit and charm. I do enjoy watching Jeff Bridges work, especially when he teeters on the edge of the deep end, so I wouldn't say it was as bad as the reviews made it out to be. But, it was extremely bland and in some ways, that's almost as bad as being terrible. Maybe. Sort of. I don't know.
Manhunter - I'd never seen this, despite it being a Michael Mann film. And it being an adaptation of Red Dragon. The movie is incredibly dated-looking. It's so 80's I half expected Culture Club to make a cameo, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it quite a bit. It's unfortunate that Brian Cox, who plays Hannibal here, doesn't get much screen time. His version of Hannibal is very different from Anthony Hopkins' and I think it would have been interesting to see what he would have done with the character because, man, I ****ing love Brian Cox. It's an effective, moody little movie and if you can handle the synth soundtrack and the clothes and hair, you might be surprised. It's no Silence Of The Lambs, but I think I like it better than Red Dragon.
Kick Ass 2 - Had it's moments, but I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as I did the first one. Which is also how I felt about the comics.
The Naked Kiss - Dafuq?! This movie is weird. It straddles the line between serious and parody so closely that I honestly have no idea which one it was meant to be. The opening scene is so bizarre that I was sure I was going to be watching an intentionally weird/bad movie, but the further I got, the less sure I was. It doesn't play it up the way you would think an intentionally bad movie was, but it never really feels like it's taking itself overly seriously, either. So I don't know.
I would say I enjoyed it, but I don't know how much. It's the kind of thing that I would love to show if I owned a theater just to gauge/watch people's reactions. I don't really do movie parties anymore, but if I did I would totally buy this for that. But just for watching it myself? Maybe if it's on TCM again.
Stray Cat Rock: Beat '71 - Finally. The only Stray Cat Rock film I'd yet to see because I couldn't find a bootleg with english subs. There's a Blu-ray set coming out in the UK soon, but when I saw this on eBay I snapped it the **** up. I don't care if it's a burned DVD that I'm paying $10 for. Gimme. The Stray Cat Rock series is a series of 5 movies that have nothing in common, other than they are all about gangs of youths in the early 70's in Japan and they all have Meiko Kaji and Tatsuya Fuji in them. Some of them, like Sex Hunter, are awesome. Others, like this one, are less so.
I'm pretty sure the biggest reason the previous 4 films have made it out as bootlegs with english subs is because of Meiko Kaji's post-Kill Bill popularity, so it stands to reason, then, that bootleggers might not be as interested in this one because she's barely ****ing in it. And because all the cool leather jacket motorcycle **** you see in the press materials is nowhere to be found in the actual film. Sigh.
What you get, then, is a fairly run-of-the-mill youth gang story, the kind that Japanese directors made a whole bunch of during this period. And it isn't terrible, but it's outshined by many of its contemporaries. Recommended only for obsessive completists. So: me.
A Bridge Too Far - 'Dat cast!! Pretty solid movie about a losing effort in WWII that suffers some from having too many characters that are hard to keep track of, even if most of them have recognizable faces. This is the kind of thing that would make a good mini-series nowadays. I liked it, but didn't love it.
Red 2 - I want to say this one wasn't as good as the first one, but I can't think of any reasons why, really. There's not much difference. It's fun, empty entertainment. I'd definitely put it above something like RIPD, but not too far.
Possession - Oh, you guys, the new limited edition Blu of this movie is soooooooooooooo goooooooooooood. Worth every penny. I hadn't seen it in a long time and was very happy that it was just as good as I remembered it being. So crazy and ****ed up and weird. So good.
Enemy Of The State - Hadn't seen this before. Pretty enjoyable. Interesting to see just how prescient it was. Would have liked to have had more Gene Hackman, but it was fun.
To be continued again...
RoyalSubject
Prospect
The Internship - As a software engineer by trade, I really liked this one. Overall, the movie is fairly formulaic, but the subject matter made it enjoyable. While it takes its liberties, it's one of the better representations of the tech industry to make it to film.
Oldboy (US) - Lame. Just plain lame. I spent an hour and thirty minutes getting sucked into the story only to be let down by an unbelievable end. I understand the original Korean ending is a little more cohesive and believable, but even that one just seems - meh.
Delivery Man - This one blew me away. The story was touching, and Vaughn knocked it out of the park. It was nice to see him do something beyond the fast talking funny guy he's fell into since...forever. (except for Clay Pigeons maybe) Probably my favorite Vaughn performance.
Now You See Me - Unfortunately, I did see you. The whole movie. The amount of times I asked myself, "What the hell is the point here?" was many. It seemed like the writer's tried to make the entire movie about misdirection, which works for a magic trick but not the plot of a movie.
Narco Cultura (Documentary) - I was equally fascinated and horrified by the phenomenon of nacrocorridos. Presents food for thought in comparison to the popularity of gangster rap in the US.
Fire With Fire - Run of the mill action flick. Worth a watch, but only as brainless entertainment.
Ali - Too much focus on his life with the Nation of Islam, not enough on his boxing. And way too long for it.
Jack Reacher - Quite surprised. I liked it a lot. Jack Reacher is a pretty awesome character. I even read one of the Jack Reacher books after watching this. I really hope they make more of the books into movies.
Red Dawn (2012) - Dare I risk losing my 80's Kid Club Card by saying that I liked this more than the original? The action was better. Playing up the "insurgents" angle was better. The original will always have a special place in my heart, but I just liked the remake more. Hollywood managed to get it right on a remake for once.
World's Greatest Dad - Never saw it before. Hard to watch given the current circumstances. Very funny though. I've shied away from independent comedies lately, but this one really delivered for me.
And continuing my 80's/90's kick:
Lethal Weapon 1-4
Bird On A Wire
New Jack City
Face Off
Plus, the requisite Robin Williams (RIP) revisits:
Death To Smoochy
Good Will Hunting
The Birdcage
The Fisher King
