Movies you've just watched

[Skykid]

I enjoyed Attack the Block even though it was very muddled in the expression of its heroes and anti-heroes, probably because I can relate to London estates and working class youth culture.

Shaun of the Dead is brilliant within its stratosphere.

Just watched Django Unchained again to purge the vapid trash that was Elysium from my soul, and boy, what a remedy. Honestly, could eat the dialogue for breakfast, don't even need the visuals. More Tarantino, I beg of you.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

Actually looking forward to Gravity.

[Moniker]

Saw The World's End at the theater today.

Probably my least favorite of the Wright-Pegg-Frost movies, but still fantastic. The film's gimmick took me by surprise. I don't really have a hometown to go back to, but I totally get the feeling they were going for. However, I did leave the theater thirsting for that final 12th pint...

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

In 20 years Edgar Wright will announce that Gary King was a blank all along, just like Blade Runner. The clues are there!

[Ixmucane2]

Riddick

Great beginning, with the titular character stranded on a lonely rock desert planet (compared to the one in Avatar, much more plausible geology and much less pretentious life forms).
Good in the middle section, after bounty hunters come looking for Riddick; his cunning plans to kill them off are among the most cunning ever seen.
Unfortunately, the badass cleverness ends when Riddick later joins forces with the bounty hunters against an horde of monsters for the heroic finale, resulting in a highly predictable ending and gratuitous combat (what's the point of cheapening the same lethal creatures Riddick used to duel with, using stone age weapons, in the first part, by mowing them down with automatic weapons, plasma rifles and grenades?).

Enormous amounts of well-made CGI effects.

[DEL]

^Did they even try to follow on with the Necromonger Universe in the excellent Chronicles of Riddick?

-----------------
I've just watched The Day After (1983). A 100% Rotten Tomatoes rated anti nuclear war film with Jason Robards, John Lithgow and a young Steve Gutenburg. Streaming for free on Viooz by the way.

Then saw The Colony with Larry Fishburne and Bill 'Game Over Man' Paxton. A Day After Tomorrow ice age plot, which quickly descends to the level of cheap Slasher movie. So Skykid would be disgusted with it.
He would be equally let down by The Breakout with Brendan Fraser - another cheap braindead Slasher.

Finished with World War Z. Exactly what I expected, a sick one World Govt (United Nations) promo flick with the Zombies being symbolic of the masses (us). Problem is ->The masses get gunned down en masse. An agenda film that I will list alongside V for Vendetta, the Dark Knight Rises and the Daddy of all 'real' agenda films The Hunger Games.

Thanks for letting me know about Elysium and Oblivion. I'll give them a miss.

[Skykid]

Then saw The Colony with Larry Fishburne and Bill 'Game Over Man' Paxton. A Day After Tomorrow ice age plot, which quickly descends to the level of cheap Slasher movie. So Skykid would be disgusted with it.
He would be equally let down by The Breakout with Brendan Fraser - another cheap braindead Slasher.

Not necessarily. Are they coherent? Do they have plots? Are they entertaining despite being commercial or marginally silly?

I'm not as critical about Hollywood guff as you might think, but I have to give the real gutter trash both barrels. The worst part about Elysium is its completely missed potential to be something halfway interesting, instead of painfully bone headed, tired cliche. It bears all the hallmarks of a director who doesn't know where he's gone wrong, but ploughs on fruitlessly like a bull in a China shop to meet producer expectations and deadlines, and ends up with a weightless load of poorly written drivel that's cut within an inch of its life. The camera is so shaky and the fight sequences so impossible to make out, the film should come with an epilepsy warning for flashing images.

Oh how I should have listened to Blackoak.

[charlie chong]

you can say what you want about elysium..that is your opinion.to call everyone who enjoyed it "brainless"
is just being a dick and hard not to take offence..
I personally think tarantino's dialogue is some of the worst contrived,unrealistic hipster bullshit available on this planet but i don't call you a moron..
i know you think your opinion is really important with your 13 k posts and all but trust me it will never make up for your small penis

[charlie chong]

also being told i have no brains by someone who couldn't even get a pad hack to work

[trap15]

lol unprovoked forum aggression

[Ghegs]

Settle down folks.

[lilmanjs]

The Dark Knight Rises
A good movie, and I'm sure I'm one of the few on here to not have seen it. I watched it, liked it but didn't think it was the most amazing movie like most people thought. Really well done movie and I'd see it again.

[Skykid]

lol unprovoked forum aggression

Don't even know why he thought I was talking about him in the first place.

The insecurity ever.

to call everyone who enjoyed it "brainless"

I didn't call them brainless.

also being told i have no brains by someone who couldn't even get a pad hack to work

I didn't say you had no brains. I wasn't addressing anyone.

The pad hack was completely fucked and I had to send it to Yosai who stripped it down and totally rewired it.

[jonny5]

Well everything has a category, and I'd definitely put Dredd in the smarter end of no-brainers, as opposed to Elysium, which is its polar opposite in every respect and resides in a category for people with no brains.

[Skykid]

Well everything has a category, and I'd definitely put Dredd in the smarter end of no-brainers, as opposed to Elysium, which is its polar opposite in every respect and resides in a category for people with no brains.

Ah I see.

It's just a generalisation over film quality and not directed at any one individual. I'm confident its not the first time someone has said halfwitted Hollywood movies are aimed at similarly graded audiences... they are, and that's why they make so much money.

Can't be walking on eggshells every time I rail on movies I just watched. Already spend too much time tripping over my tiny penis.

[CMoon]

Is it OK to enjoy a film for people with no brains??? (IE Fast & Furious 5?)

[Moniker]

The Executioner's Song (Netflix) and There Will Be Blood (Netflix)

The former joins the ranks of documentaries/dramatizations of real murders that skimps out on the truly interesting bit: why they killed. Tommy Lee Jones is superb, and Rosanna Arquette is insanely fucking hot (I mean really, no foolies, full-frontal perfect 10 material), but the meat is left out. The screenplay was written by Norman Mailer based on his book, and, based on my readings of other Mailer works, is similarly hyped-up bullshit. I'd rather take Tom Wolfe or Gore Vidal any day of the week. The performances are worth it, though.

PT Anderson's 2nd intimate character study needs no introduction. Watch it, you wankers.

Is it OK to enjoy a film for people with no brains??? (IE Fast & Furious 5?)

Ethically, I'd say so. Fast 5 and Starship Troopers are morally acceptable films. As for Transformers fans, if you can watch Shia LeBoeuf and not retch, you have guts of iron and should be lauded.

[Skykid]

Is it OK to enjoy a film for people with no brains??? (IE Fast & Furious 5?)

Definitely, some of them are pretty good fun.

[GaijinPunch]

Rosanna Arquette is insanely fucking hot (I mean really, no foolies, full-frontal perfect 10 material),

Finna get my 8 bucks worth out of Netflix... although I've always been partial to Patricia. At least in the 90's. True Romance. She was filthy... I've still not gotten laid in a phone booth in the middle of nowhere yet.

[Moniker]

Rosanna Arquette is insanely fucking hot (I mean really, no foolies, full-frontal perfect 10 material),

Finna get my 8 bucks worth out of Netflix... although I've always been partial to Patricia. At least in the 90's. True Romance. She was filthy... I've still not gotten laid in a phone booth in the middle of nowhere yet.

Actually that was Patricia (not Rosanna) Arquette in True Romance - tho, I agree with you that the phone booth scene was a definite formative moment in my sexual development. Rosanna Arquette is the piercing-loving wife of the Eric Stoltz drug dealer in Pulp Fiction. In Pulp Fiction, she was sorta hot, very amusing. In The Executioner's Song, she is fucking Helen of Troy.

Edit: Ah, GP, you actually understood better than I did. Nevermind, sir!

[CMoon]

When the hell did Hausu become one of my top 10 films? Something comes up every so often and I can't stop thinking about it. So worried about burning it out, but it gets better every time I watch it.

[GaijinPunch]

Actually that was Patricia (not Rosanna) Arquette in True Romance - tho, I agree with you that the phone booth scene was a definite formative moment in my sexual development. Rosanna Arquette is the piercing-loving wife of the Eric Stoltz drug dealer in Pulp Fiction. In Pulp Fiction, she was sorta hot, very amusing. In The Executioner's Song, she is fucking Helen of Troy.

Edit: Ah, GP, you actually understood better than I did. Nevermind, sir!

Well said.

[CMoon]

Speaking of people without brains, somehow I've managed to never watch Evil Dead (yeah, I've seen the other two.) It's streaming on netflix currently, and at least for me, this is like opening a bottle of scotch purchased 30 years ago--never completely out of mind, but the right time to experience it never occurred...until, well, just right now.

Anyway, what a fucking great movie. I haven't seen the other films from this series in years, but I love how it is just serious and amateur enough to work really well. Movies like this are a balancing act, and you push it too far in any direction and it doesn't work at all. The influence from Italian horror dominates the film, but Americanizing it into a cabin in the woods with a bit of Lovecraft thrown in works terribly well. Oh yeah, the special effects at the end are really awesome, but I'm a complete sucker for that shit.

I'll need to go back and rewatch the other two now.

[drauch]

Oh, wow! I wish I could go back in time and discover it just now. Still, I'll never forget the first time a few friends and I rented it in middle school. I specifically remember that all of a sudden nobody wanted to go upstairs and make popcorn!

Speaking of, I just picked up the new(er) Bluray for Evil Dead 2 (which is like the 5th upgrade I've done) off of Amazon prime for like 4 bucks. Looks absolutely gorgeous! Been a few years since I've watched that one. Possibly my favorite, hard to say. Starts off with a bang and never gives in!

[boagman]

Is it OK to enjoy a film for people with no brains??? (IE Fast & Furious 5?)

It absolutely is. I totally admit to wanting to be dazzled by explosions and ridiculous dialog every now and again...I'm even willing to cough up some actual cash for it here and there, if I'm really wanting it. Example: for all of the crappiness that is "Avatar", I still have *zero* regrets seeings it in IMAX 3D. Zero. The whizbangery of the special effects that Cameron brought to the table were just off-the-charts terrific. No one's done 3D better before or since, and it doesn't seem like they're even close. As a *movie*, though? Ugh..."Avatar" was beyond awful. Painful, even.

Still, there's times that you just want to see stuff 'splode and one-liners spouted and chicks in clothing (or not, I guess) three sizes too small for them and that Final Epic Climactic Fist/Gunfight From Hell at the end. No one ever needs to apologize for wanting to harmlessly waste their brains. "Rush Hour" was tons of fun for a reason, and definitely qualified for me.

[charlie chong]

When the hell did Hausu become one of my top 10 films? Something comes up every so often and I can't stop thinking about it. So worried about burning it out, but it gets better every time I watch it.

I've been watching hausu a bit recently as well.Such a strange film i didn't know what to make of it the first time i watched it 2 or 3 years ago.I remember laughing a lot and loving the visuals but being a bit befuddled.
Cliched journalists always describe films as being "on acid" but this is one film that lives up to that claim.Just on visuals alone this film has more artistic merit than most films could ever dream of.As far as weird trippy films go i would say this is up near the top along with jodorowski's el topo.

[GaijinPunch]

but the right time to experience it never occurred...until, well, just right now.

blotter paper or drops?

[CMoon]

but the right time to experience it never occurred...until, well, just right now.

blotter paper or drops?

Hahahayou son of a... no just a glass or two of beer. The movie didn't really need much help

I've been watching hausu a bit recently as well.Such a strange film i didn't know what to make of it the first time i watched it 2 or 3 years ago.I remember laughing a lot and loving the visuals but being a bit befuddled.
Cliched journalists always describe films as being "on acid" but this is one film that lives up to that claim.Just on visuals alone this film has more artistic merit than most films could ever dream of.As far as weird trippy films go i would say this is up near the top along with jodorowski's el topo.

There are surreal films that often don't seem to have much viability beyond their weirdness, and though there was a time in my life I was going out of my way to see any movie that was experimental or bizarre, I've found in reality that they don't have much staying power. I don't even want to try explaining why hausu is something more than a crazy psychedelic ghost story, but it works on several levels and for me has become quite enduring. That said, at this point in the game if I want to see a movie more than twice there must be something interesting going on there.

[charlie chong]

I don't even want to try explaining why hausu is something more than a crazy psychedelic ghost story, but it works on several levels and for me has become quite enduring.

I don't blame you on that front.I've tried describing the film to friends but I always feel that my words fall short of the actual experience it provides..

[DEL]

Skykid wrote;

Not necessarily. Are they coherent? Do they have plots? Are they entertaining despite being commercial or marginally silly?

I'm not as critical about Hollywood guff as you might think, but I have to give the real gutter trash both barrels. The worst part about Elysium is its completely missed potential to be something halfway interesting, instead of painfully bone headed, tired cliche. It bears all the hallmarks of a director who doesn't know where he's gone wrong, but ploughs on fruitlessly like a bull in a China shop to meet producer expectations and deadlines, and ends up with a weightless load of poorly written drivel that's cut within an inch of its life. The camera is so shaky and the fight sequences so impossible to make out, the film should come with an epilepsy warning for flashing images.

Oh how I should have listened to Blackoak.

"The worst part about Elysium is its completely missed potential to be something halfway interesting."
^Well that was exactly my point about The Colony and The Breakout - they had potential but degenerated into slashers.

As for the shaky-cam in Elysium, that is definitely one of my pet hates

Just watched Star Trek into Darkness. Pretty good film. Not awesome but pretty decent. (Not that I'm still noticing a trend - Into Darkness, Oblivion, Noah, The World's End etc.)

drauch wrote;

Speaking of, I just picked up the new(er) Bluray for Evil Dead 2 (which is like the 5th upgrade I've done) off of Amazon prime for like 4 bucks. Looks absolutely gorgeous! Been a few years since I've watched that one. Possibly my favorite, hard to say. Starts off with a bang and never gives in!

The Evil Dead II has long been one of my Top 5 films.