Last Movie Watched

[roenick]

Ok. I was worried. The first was a shock to the system. Came outta nowhere and was just so refreshing...well it made a couple bucks. So I went into this with trepidation. No more element of surprise, could this be sustained. Well, fear not. This is the rare time that a sequel is just as good as the original.

Now, temper that. You will be challenged early. The opening very very Roger Moore by way of XxX sequence will have you wondering if they may have gone too far to the cartoon side of things. Then after the next 30 minutes or so you just kinda go...YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP and it's all good. This is male fantasy/comic book at it's finest. dumb as **** but smart as ****. Everyone is terrific...especially Tatum(damn again????) in a glorified cameo...the world is saved...and an uncredited(?) STAR steals the show. Very much looking forward to the next.


Now, let me post this...

Friday Box Office: ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ Lassos Top Spot from ‘It’
http://collider.com/friday-box-office-kingsman-2/



Ok, Collider is now the Fox News of info sites. Dude clearly has a grudge and spends the entirety of a supposed BOX OFFICE REPORT grinding an axe.
I will say it now...Misogyny is the new scarlet letter. So easy to accuse without any proof. At some point all this damned white privilege, cultural appropriation, horse **** is going to get so damned confusing we are all just going to stop communicating verbally.

This movie starts out ridiculous and keeps saying hold my beer. Everything is EXAGGERATED. And a lot of it is, to use the proper vernacular...CHEEKY. WHITE MALE FANTASY . Oh, you mean like Star Wars???? And oh, I dunno...EVERYTHING. Sorry it doesn't cater to every special interest group in the known universe. And I know this because...IT'S A DAMNED FUN movie.

Why in heck does everything have to be so serious and have a special meaning nowadays??!! We need to stop taking ourselves so seriously and just enjoy things. That being said I saw this Saturday and we very much enjoyed it and almost as much as the first one. Well done to all on the sequel.

 

[jerseydevil]

Was lucky enough to score 2 passes for this in a Collider.com/ArcLight event.

Was Bone Tomahawk the exception, or the rule. Glad to say, Zahler scores another big surprise. As they talked about in the Q&A with VV after the screening, it's a slow burn, that never loses your interest. And it's full of surprise choices that would never survive focus groups, test screenings and the like. It's wonderfully low-fi, in that video store heyday Vestron Video kind of way. And, as you venture down the rabbit hole it spirals into some over the top ugly violence that magically straddles the line between cartoonish , and legitimately horrifying. And, like a good old beta max rental, it ticks all the boxes. A star, who seemingly is slumming, in Vaughn. A faded legend, parodying his legacy in Don Johnson, and a truly creepy b-movie Udo Kier type in...well Udo Kier. Sadly, this won't get a big theatrical release...because you really need to experience the 3rd act with a crowd. Even a primarily industry crowd had visible/audible reactions to the brutality.

A note about Vaughn, he sells this. It never loses credibility because of the silent rage and determination in his eyes, body language and imposing physicality. It's a transcendant performance that will alter your opinion.

The big tell that this was special, Kingsqueen, who is exceptionally patient and indulgent when I tell her, "trust me"...truly seemed to enjoy this. Telling you, this is a fine fine movie.

 

[roenick]

We saw this last night on $5 movie night at Regal. Wasn't bad and Cruise is pretty good.

 

[lagwagon0]

American Made: Solid, lets Tom be Tom while creating an entertaining tale "very" loosely based in fact. That being said, not one of my favorite Liman movies. Grade: B
Mother: I had an open mind but the pretentiousness of Aronofsky is mind blowing. Just was not for me. Grade: WTF
Lego Ninjago: Not sure who it's for, mildly competent action movie but little laughs made it feel out of place in the Lego universe. Grade: B-
American Assassin: Possibly the most formulaic, unsurprising action flick I've seen in ages. Easy watch but certainly not more than a rental. Grade: C+
Stronger: Love these well done biopics.Interesting story but pushed even higher by top notch acting across the board. Grade: A
Kingsmen: Golden Circle - Overly long and not as interesting as the first time around, but still an enjoyable popcorn flick. Grade: B
Brad's Status: Ben Stiller just loves to play these ridiculously self centered clowns. This movie really annoyed the crap out of me with little payoff after 90 minutes of Stiller moaning about everything. Grade: C-
Blade Runner 2049: What a visual masterpiece, loud and daunting (well worth a theater watch). Grade: A

 

[RockPile]

Used my MoviePass for the first time and it paid for itself on the very first showing ($10/mo vs $12 ticket price).

Saw Blade Runner 2049. 5/10

Not really a real ##SPOILER ALERT# but you may not want to read the following commentary if you plan on seeing it




The PK Dick book was relatively simple. Blade Runner was relatively simple. I felt like Villenueve tried to do too much and missed on the tone of the original. Call it something else and change the blade runner/replicant terminology and you have a decent,if long, flick, but this is the Blade Runner sequel. In my opinion it lost its way and Gosling plays the same wood-face that he is becoming known for in several roles. Sound effects were Arrival x5 and was as distracting as much as it was tension setting.

 

[roenick]

I watched this last night and am actually quite surprised it didn't make it in the theater. Sure Guy Ritchie moderned it up but I thought Charlie Hunam was a good choice.

 

[jerseydevil]

agreed. They blew the advertising too by hiding the Ritchie-est dialogue and accents. That being said, the movie does the typical 'let's blow our cgi budget' thing in the last act, but overall I was pleasantly surprised.

 

[roenick]

Saw this and was really pleasantly surprised. This is a good movie, well acted by all and has a crisp dialog.

 

[LetTigerIn]

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is one of my favorite films of the year. Quite possibly my favorite. I need to weigh it against a couple of other films in my head a while.

I had planned to make it a double feature movie day, but after seeing this one, I felt anything else would seem like a disappointment by comparison, so I skipped the second movie. I'm glad I did, because I ended up with a tasty Irish lamb stew instead.

 

[jerseydevil]

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is one of my favorite films of the year. Quite possibly my favorite. I need to weigh it against a couple of other films in my head a while.

I had planned to make it a double feature movie day, but after seeing this one, I felt anything else would seem like a disappointment by comparison, so I skipped the second movie. I'm glad I did, because I ended up with a tasty Irish lamb stew instead.

Saw this last weekend, completely agree with all but the lamb stew.

Is it just me, or do you almost want to see a sequel?

 

[LetTigerIn]

Saw this last weekend, completely agree with all but the lamb stew.

Is it just me, or do you almost want to see a sequel?

There's definitely investment there, so, yeah; but the key word to me is "almost," because being left with that longing is one of the strong points of the movie.

 

[LetTigerIn]

Gilbert — I enjoyed this documentary about Gilbert Gottfried. I'm not necessarily a huge Gilbert fan, but I thought it would be interesting to see the man behind the persona, and this movie provided more or less that, not in the usual sense, but in the sense that more of him is revealed in some of the moments that try less. It's not a must-see, earth-shattering documentary, but it was a worthwhile portrait. It's playing this week at Arena Cinelounge in Hollywood. Also available via various streaming services.

 

[santiclaws]

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is one of my favorite films of the year. Quite possibly my favorite. I need to weigh it against a couple of other films in my head a while.

I had planned to make it a double feature movie day, but after seeing this one, I felt anything else would seem like a disappointment by comparison, so I skipped the second movie. I'm glad I did, because I ended up with a tasty Irish lamb stew instead.

Saw the movie, sadly didn't get any lamb stew. Really, really good. Same writer/director as "In Bruges" and you definitely have some of the same juxtaposition of humor and really dark subject matter. Frances McDormand is superb as always, ditto for Sam Rockwell. Woody Harrelson continues to surprise with some serious acting chops, although I guess he shouldn't anymore.

 

[jerseydevil]

Saw this last night...I will save the waxing poetic for all the reviews that have done it better than I could. Besides, you all know I worship the man, so I doubt my opinion will be taken in good faith. All I can say is...go see it. Judge for yourself. It truly is fantasy at it's finest, and even if it wins all the Academy Awards, that will hardly be enough. The Q&A with Del Toro, Doug Jones and Michael Stuhlbarg was very insightful. The amount of research and prep work(and LOVE) GDT puts into a movie are impressive. This movie will hopefully get him the crossover appeal that has always eluded him. Saw it at the dome, and it looked lovely. This is a movie that deserves to be seen in a theater. Do yourself a favor.

 

[santiclaws]

Saw this last night...I will save the waxing poetic for all the reviews that have done it better than I could. Besides, you all know I worship the man, so I doubt my opinion will be taken in good faith. All I can say is...go see it. Judge for yourself. It truly is fantasy at it's finest, and even if it wins all the Academy Awards, that will hardly be enough. The Q&A with Del Toro, Doug Jones and Michael Stuhlbarg was very insightful. The amount of research and prep work(and LOVE) GDT puts into a movie are impressive. This movie will hopefully get him the crossover appeal that has always eluded him. Saw it at the dome, and it looked lovely. This is a movie that deserves to be seen in a theater. Do yourself a favor.

I liked it, didn't love it. It lacks... subtlety. The characters are a bit two-dimensional, too black and white. Not anywhere near the sublime genius of Pan's Labyrinth, IMHO. Also, it prominently features one of my personal pet peeves - actors pretending to speak a foreign language and being lousy at it. Michael Stuhlbarg did a really admirable job (my guess is that he speaks Russian at least a bit), but the guy playing his KGB handler was incomprehensible without subtitles. One thing I've always admired about "The Americans" - most of their "Russians" are actually Russian. Is it really that difficult to find a native Russian speaker to play a small part? I realize that affects a tiny percentage of the audience, but still. Have a little pride in your work.

Otherwise, the performances were very good. Micheal Shannon is a force of nature, as usual.

 

[chaingunsofdoom]

Watched "Mother!" yesterday. It was... interesting. Not something I'll need to see ever again.

 

[Bill Hicks]

Didn't want it to end. Awesome in every way.

 

[jerseydevil]

Pure magic. SEE THIS WITH AN AUDIENCE. You know when a movie threatens to go over the top...and just pulls out at the last minute?
This ain't that movie. Weird thing...they don't go real graphic. But it's pretty brutal nonetheless. Good cast...and good crazy Nic Cage. Opens in limited theaters/vod/on demand this Friday.

P.s. besides the twistedness, Taylor's wacky directing style and the reluctance to actually give any real answers makes for a really fun movie. Nic Cage is just the cherry.

Got to see a q&a afterwards at TLC Chinese and the man himself was there. Kinda cool to be a couple rows away from that much crazy.

 

[roenick]

Saw this. Oldman is amazing.

 

[LetTigerIn]

Mary and the Witch's Flower