Movies you've just watched

[lilmanjs]

Shock Wave
Sure the CGI isn't as great as in Hollywood but it serves its purpose quite well when needed. Andy Lau puts on a decent performance in this as well. For an action blockbuster they did a pretty good job. A couple of shots stretch on too long, mainly police officers crying, but I enjoyed the movie. Mainly was interested in that The Silver Spleen, a youtube reviewer of Hong Kong cinema, said he had his biggest role yet. Also do like me some Andy Lau so it hit the spot. Sure a couple of things happen in the movie that are somewhat unbelievable, but what action blockbuster doesn't have those moments? Can't wait for my dvd copy to arrive.

[null1024]

Just saw The Hitman's Bodyguard today.
Man, what a corny movie.
It totally got a few chuckles out of me, but the entire time I was watching, the movie felt like... well...
...honestly, the only word that comes to mind is "shitposting". It was on my mind during the film, and it's still on my mind now that I'm home typing this.

It was like that. It was like the scriptwriter was shitposting, and the two main characters recognized that and played that aspect up fully.
Action scenes were fairly entertaining. Lots of violence with a little bit of slapstick and banter on occasion.
The plot is entirely a vehicle for the two to go place to place shit-talking each other and do the whole straight man style comedy duo routine while shooting a lot of people. It plays up Samuel L. Jackson's whole "motherfugga" thing a bunch.
Anyone who went into this expecting otherwise [really, it seems like a lot of people went into it with a much more serious minded attitude] will be disappointed. It mostly doesn't take itself seriously, but it does let a small handful of more serious moments stick [without being made too fun of], which I appreciated.

I'll really say that it was quite a bit more enjoyable than the reviews made it out to be, at the very least.
if there's one thing that pissed me off the entire time, it's the awful vaseline filter that was on the camera, that shit can fuck off forever, it looked disgusting

[BrianC]

Just saw The Hitman's Bodyguard today.
Man, what a corny movie.
It totally got a few chuckles out of me, but the entire time I was watching, the movie felt like... well...
...honestly, the only word that comes to mind is "shitposting". It was on my mind during the film, and it's still on my mind now that I'm home typing this.

It was like that. It was like the scriptwriter was shitposting, and the two main characters recognized that and played that aspect up fully.
Action scenes were fairly entertaining. Lots of violence with a little bit of slapstick and banter on occasion.
The plot is entirely a vehicle for the two to go place to place shit-talking each other and do the whole straight man style comedy duo routine while shooting a lot of people. It plays up Samuel L. Jackson's whole "motherfugga" thing a bunch.
Anyone who went into this expecting otherwise [really, it seems like a lot of people went into it with a much more serious minded attitude] will be disappointed. It mostly doesn't take itself seriously, but it does let a small handful of more serious moments stick [without being made too fun of], which I appreciated.

I'll really say that it was quite a bit more enjoyable than the reviews made it out to be, at the very least.
if there's one thing that pissed me off the entire time, it's the awful vaseline filter that was on the camera, that shit can fuck off forever, it looked disgusting

Pretty much sums up my thoughts on the movie. Not shakespeare, but pretty fun.

[gbaplayer]

War of the Planet of the Apes
Holy sh**! This movie is freakin´awesome. Great effects, very emotional story and a sad ending.
Really liked it. Was kinda expensive in the cinema (12,50€) but worth every cent.

[Zen]

Mr. Holmes (2015) - Bill Condon

A preposterous fan fiction wherein writer Mitch Cullin pretends a deconstruction of the famous consulting detective.

We are expected to believe that the great man lacked the wit to diagnose and treat his affliction before it took hold and failing that, did not take it upon himself to do what needed to be done.
This most uncharacteristic behaviour notwithstanding, perhaps the most egregious aspect to this film is its clumsy attempt at emasculation. Very "the current year", I must say.

This is not Holmes. This is lazy, indulgent melodrama of the lowest kind.

Trash.

[Stevens]

I thought Voltron was done well, myself, especially since the original was already flawed. Unlike most remakes, it actually acknowledges that the JP original of the show exists.

I'll actually defend Arrested Development season four:D

Weakest season? Sure, I don't think it was bad though. Not being able to get everyone together at the same time certainly contributed to this. However being able to watch the episodes in any order changes how you see several events unfold which is certainly the high point.

Of course this means you like season four enough to watch it more than once. Admittedly I've watched it far less than seasons one through three.

[neorichieb1971]

Life.

Was much better than Alien Covenant. Was original and the soundtrack was really spacey in the way "Sunshine" was.

I Didn't like the ending as I went to sleep afterwards with all sorts of bad shit in my head.

The next morning I watched Game of Thrones and that ending didn't exactly help matters.

[gbaplayer]

Terminator 2 in 3D
First time on the big screen. Awesome movie, my favorite movie of all time. 3D was pretty good also.

[kaicooper]

Terminator 2 in 3D
First time on the big screen. Awesome movie, my favorite movie of all time. 3D was pretty good also.

sombody plz confirm..that scene when Arnold grab john to his bike..did they edit the face
or still that van damme look like stunt?

[gbaplayer]

Terminator 2 in 3D
First time on the big screen. Awesome movie, my favorite movie of all time. 3D was pretty good also.

sombody plz confirm..that scene when Arnold grab john to his bike..did they edit the face
or still that van damme look like stunt?

What?

[Skykid]

Terminator 2 in 3D
First time on the big screen. Awesome movie, my favorite movie of all time. 3D was pretty good also.

sombody plz confirm..that scene when Arnold grab john to his bike..did they edit the face
or still that van damme look like stunt?

What?

He's asking if they CGd over the stuntman's face to look more like Arnie. Before it was clearly a double.

Either way every time I watch T2 it gets worse and worse. After the last time I won't be paying to see it in theatres.

[soprano1]

The Princess Bride (1987)
Wow! This movie was cool as hell, and that's all I want to say. Go watch it.

[Mischief Maker]

The Princess Bride (1987)
Wow! This movie was cool as hell, and that's all I want to say. Go watch it.

It's a classic. Worth owning for evenings when nobody has any plans and you need a movie just about anyone will enjoy.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I found the original Princess Bride novel awful. Not in the least because of my problem with fictitious countries set in "real" world. Always ill-boding.

Of the films watched for the first time lately, I'm most fond of Little Miss Sunshine (a gem of a cheap DVD). I could tell it was written by a male - same way I could tell the opposite about Juno - from just watching the movie. Those two seem bound to appear in one sentence due to sharing their timeframe, "cultural sphere", and - I think - the way of funding, but I consider Little Miss Sunshine much, MUCH less "Hollywood" than pretty much anything I saw coming out of North America. Like a Czech film produced in the US, or Boomerang Family done right. As if the makers got raised on a film diet rather unusual for the land.

The Woodsman & the Rain (2011, Japan) - can't say I disliked a single Third Window Films release I've seen. Quite the opposite.

[EmperorIng]

Little Miss Sunshine is a movie that I really enjoyed as a teenager, though parts of it come off as a little too saccharine now. That really shouldn't be taken as a dismissal, since I still find myself watching it for a while when it comes on television. I feel it has a bit more comic longevity than Juno, despite both coming out around the same time and having similar comedic styles.

The Princess Bride (1987)
Wow! This movie was cool as hell, and that's all I want to say. Go watch it.

It's a classic. Worth owning for evenings when nobody has any plans and you need a movie just about anyone will enjoy.

My local theater will have this play on a few weeks, which will be an excellent time to finally see this all the way through in one sitting.

Jumping on the RedLetterMedia bandwagon I watched Empire of the Dark. Despite its cool heavy-metal title, this is adorably schlubby. An overweight middle-aged department-store worker Steve Barkett decides that he should direct, star, and edit an occult action movie, and the results are predictably bad (reusing the same dude with jeans and caterpillar boots in a robe for various satanic henchmen a dozen times...). Despite having the physical attraction and charisma of your uncle, he artfully directs multiple women being attracted to him. It even has Richard Harrison of Godfrey Ho fame. Every time I see him in a movie post 80s, I am reminded that he blames his ninja movies for killing his career. No Richard, it's certainly not those z-grade Filipino movies, agreeing to play an evil devil-worshiping cult leader opposite of a Menards worker-cum-action-star - that didn't do you in at all.

Interesting tidbit is that the score is orchestral and done by a veteran industry professional John Morgan (well, I mean he worked on Starship Troopers 2, as well as doing other music work on Tiny Toons among other things, ha). His sound makes the movie sound like a Roger Corman flick from the 60s, when I think it sound should really be some trashy 80s synth rock. It gives Steve's vanity project an air of unwarranted narcissistic sophistication though.

[iconoclast]

The Woodsman & the Rain (2011, Japan) - can't say I disliked a single Third Window Films release I've seen. Quite the opposite.

I just looked up their releases, whoever runs that place has good taste. Vulgaria is awful though imo.

[Ixmucane2]

Dunkirk

Apart from background action (street shootings, Germans sinking ships, officers managing operations) there are three specific threads, mixed together with slightly irritating cuts backwards and forward in time: three Spitfires come from England to defend ships; leisure boat Moonstone is requisitioned by the English navy to carry floating jackets and contribute to the evacuation, but the owner and his sons pilot it across the Channel themselves; a young soldier (not surprisingly) tries very hard to reach England.

It's hard to see the reason for a film with a very simplified and Hollywood-tinted account of real history, no characters rising above the complexity and interest level of stereotypical specimens of their general category, and no story or idea to speak of. Good special effects? Great photography? Next level editing? Nolan is talented, but it isn't enough.

I rather disliked the music, for which I had very high expectations: although skillfully written and somewhat stylish on the surface it turns out to consist of very trite and traditional techniques (for example, acceleration and crescendo in many, many scenes where time is running out).

[kaicooper]

Terminator 2 3D
this movie just getting better and better everytime i watch
and yea finally all stunts faces fixed digitally in bike chase scene
all of them

[GaijinPunch]

The next morning I watched Game of Thrones and that ending didn't exactly help matters.

It was the only episode this season that felt like GoT.

[Skykid]

ALIEN: COVENANT

SPOILERS HERE IF YOU AIN'T SEEN IT


Strange movie.

It does some very basic things better than Prometheus, specifically the script, casting and actors are on the whole better than in its predecessor. Where Prometheus suffered horribly from some genuinely shockingly poor acting, daft dialogue, and bewildering casting choices, Covenant seems to consciously try to patch these faults.

But somehow it feels more anaemic in other key areas, and the style of film-making has sort of gone off of on a tangent that doesn't work particularly well for this type of film. Prometheus did better in terms of mystery and intrigue. It was a more engrossing plot, probably because of its origin aspirations - but it was also handled better for what it was.

Covenant suffers because of errors in several departments. I should note that the pace is simply too fast, and this isn't something Prometheus had a problem with. It's as though they're always trying to cram so much into the story that they seem to be doing everything at speed. Even the Alien, who grew to be enormous over the course of the original movie here turns adult-sized in about two-minutes flat. The confrontations with the Alien are all rapid fire sequences, a quick burst of bullets and then a dismemberment. The slow burning fear of the original movie is long gone; the death sequences here go from presentation of victim, confrontation with victim, to death of victim and discovery of body in almost no time at all, making the whole thing feel disposably action oriented. Even Cameron managed to handle suspense and plot development with more grace and fleshing out of the world, while still filling the movie with a similar amount of plot related content in an almost identical run-time without flitting between progress points at an overbearing speed.

That said, the beginning of Covenant is one of its best areas; everything up to the point where they land on the mysterious planet and all logic goes to the wind. Open the spaceship door without wearing masks, don't even consider biological contaminants, and of course, go fully armed. A peaceful colonisation crew wouldn't be right landing on an foreign planet without taking enormous assault rifles with them and somehow all being trained to use them. When they do encounter the foreign entities, they don't think twice about opening fire, which is totally at odds to the soft nature that the crew has demonstrated up to that point.

Is it a bad film? No. As Prometheus was, it's a decent B-style horror sci-fi movie in a genre that rarely has a moment of brightness anymore, but it's plagued by tonal errors and massively retarded plot devices. The fact that the first Alien species as we know it is borne from a Christian was a nice idea, but the Christianity of that person was so underwritten and badly thought out it just failed to resonate in any way. Mentioning that "he has faith" once or twice isn't quite the same as the boys in Alien3, or Paul McGann's lunatic religious fixation present in the work print version of that movie. If it was a little better rounded it could have had some weight, but like most of everything else, the underwritten personalities killed the opportunity.

There are also real elementary errors that bother me when I consider Scott as a seasoned director. Things like the shower scene... I mean come on, did you really need to play soul music over the sequence? Any director of horror/suspense who knows their basics is never going to clobber a scene like that: you simply shoot the scene minus the music, and use the sound of the water drumming the floor to blot out the sound of the prowling alien. Rushing water being the background noise as you see the Alien snake into the room, lurk in the shadows, and appear behind the glass pane is a far more effective vehicle for building suspense. In the end the scene was dumb, poorly executed, and like everything else, over in a flash.

It comes as no surprise that the only reason I'd be willing to watch the movie twice, as with Prometheus, is Fassbender. He's simply brilliant. His performances here elevate the movie whenever he has screen time, and he can make foolish plotting and dialogue sound beautiful and powerful by the sole virtue of his talent.

[Zen]

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) - Coen bros.

After losing faith in the Coens a while back, I put off watching this one. Well, faith restored (for the most part).
First, the film is exceptionally beautiful to watch. Every frame is a postcard. Gorgeous.
Second, the Coens really know how to use Oscar Isaac. Face, face and more face.
Any director that shoots the short, wide hipped Isaac in long shot, especially wile moving or, God forbid, running (think Rogue One) should be fucking shot.

I was worried about what the Coens insight and take on "music" would be in this film. I think that's what put me off watching it for so long. Need not have worried. Their understanding is nuanced, deep, and humorous. In fact, the whole film is like a song. Set to repeat until Llewyn learns his lesson.
Llewyn Davis has already "arrived" musically but he wastes his time on the conceit of "fame", with hilarious and tragic results.

In short, another Coen brothers masterpiece which, like all their best films, can be enjoyed once, or forever like a finely structured musical piece.

Also I have a feeling that the Coens have taken a fancy to Adam Driver. Their new John Turturro?

Anyone know who that older (Jewish?) gentleman who plays Davis agent is? I cant find his name. He fucking owned that (literal) coat off my back scene/schitck, the ending of which had me belly laughing.

[GaijinPunch]

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) - Coen bros.

After losing faith in the Coens a while back, I put off watching this one. Well, faith restored (for the most part).
First, the film is exceptionally beautiful to watch. Every frame is a postcard. Gorgeous.

Wow... we're in total agreement. What was the cause for the disenchantment, might I ask? My only irk w/ the film is that I thought it should have been shot on a vintage film stock. If the Coen Brother's are ballsy enough to remove a score from a film, they could have done that.

Anyone know who that older (Jewish?) gentleman who plays Davis agent is? I cant find his name. He fucking owned that (literal) coat off my back scene/schitck, the ending of which had me belly laughing.

I recall reading somewhere he died very recently... I believe this was his last roll.

Was it Jerry Grayson? Sorry, drawing a blank on what he looked like.

From IMDB trivia...

Last acting role of Jerry Grayson. Ironically, in this, his last film, his character Mel Novikoff is said to be frequently out of the office because he liked attending funerals.

[Zen]

What was the cause for the disenchantment

Burn After Reading (2008) was the main insult.
Tellingly it is the third highest grossing Coen brothers film, the highest being True Grit (2010), which puts it on a "shit list" right away tbh.

Was it Jerry Grayson?

Thats the guy! Cheers. What a natural.

From IMDB trivia...

Oh man, that makes the whole thing perfect and neat, in that unique Coen synchronicity type of way. What a trip

[emphatic]

The Hitman's Bodyguard. 3/5

Fun and action-packed.

[wgogh]

The Princess Bride (1987)
Wow! This movie was cool as hell, and that's all I want to say. Go watch it.

I did, early this year. Sometimes its nice to watch something thats just a good and fun old-fashioned adventure.

[Skykid]

One more thing I forgot to add to my Alien: Covenant mini review above regarding directorial errors:

Spoiler

Why did Scott make it so obvious from the get go that David had switched places with Walter? What a clumsy way to handle it. The twist was a great note to end the movie, but instead of being surprised about it, you were just waiting for the moment when the reveal was coming.

Back in the day it would have been done with far less obviousness in an attempt to fool the audience along with the cast. The fight between the androids should have appeared to have Walter winning outright, who then heads back to save the female lead from the jaws of death, just like Bishop did at the end of Aliens. Then we would have been fooled into believing Walter was the winner by comeback or some other scenario until the final moments.

Instead David, posing as Walter, did a long glance backward at his defeated foe for no reason, then just sort of ran up and climbed on board the ship with the others. On board he was slow to respond to replies and was gazing lovingly at the Alien through the monitors. There was no mystery at all about any of it!

It's another example of Scott's lack of directorial imagination.

[Stevens]

Serious question - What has happened to Scott? There was a time he was flawless.

[GaijinPunch]

What was the cause for the disenchantment

Burn After Reading (2008) was the main insult.
Tellingly it is the third highest grossing Coen brothers film, the highest being True Grit (2010), which puts it on a "shit list" right away tbh.

I liked both of those... True Grit quite a bit. Not so much as a Coen Brother's film though. It does feature one of their most commonly used elements - dialect - as it's main draw. Other than that, it's a western, and that's about what I expected (and got) out of it. Maybe it's the Texan in me, or the fact that my dad was always watching westerns that appeals to me.

Burn After Reading I went in with really low expectations. I'm quite shocked it was their 3rd highest ranking... I actually thought it was pretty underrated after immediately watching it, but remember I went in with most reviews saying it was bad. Maybe Malkovich carried it for me (he was by far the best part), but I thought the ridiculous nature of the whole thing was pretty charming. I did watch it on a plane though.

Almost afraid to ask: How do you rank No Country For Old Men?

Oh man, that makes the whole thing perfect and neat, in that unique Coen synchronicity type of way. What a trip

For sure!

[GaijinPunch]

Ironically enough....

Alien Covenant

Watched this on a flight last night. I'll largely just sign off on Skykid's summary, with not too many deviations. Some spoilerish stuff but I'm sure anyone that wants to see it by this point has.

Bad Stuff
- The nostalgia card hit very hard, and too often. These were the only things that made it feel like an alien film (lines thrown in, the original score, props here and there) but overall didn't really work.

- I thought the script/acting was really bad (with little exception), and definitely not a step up from Prometheus. I found people saying equally unconvincing space-things, and was just ready for Tennessee to break out into Kenny Powers and tell the Alien he was a fucking dick head.

- Just about any major scene we had seen in the trailer. (Initial infection, initial death, shuttle explosion, shower scene, banging head on glass scene, etc.)

- David beating Walter being expected, not surprising. The only surprising thing is that Skykid forgot to write it in his original review. It was really that bad.

- To add to the whole "The alien goes full adult too quickly" the chest burster scene was amazingly shitty, in just about every way conceivable (and that's ignoring the fact that the Captain was dumb enough to put himself in that situation). The alien was full grown but miniaturized (lazy). And basically knew that David was his maker so mimicked him? Lame... really lame. David is inhumane enough to turn on his maker and be hell-bent on destroying humanity, but the alien, perhaps the most violent creature in film history somehow knows that's his dad? I was lost long before this, but that was the point of no return. Good gravy.

- The aliens (both the precursor and the classic alien) look like shit. After 35 years, it's still painfully apparent that less is more.

Good Stuff:
- Fassbender (duh)

- Cinematography: I wouldn't go so far as to say the whole thing was shot amazingly, but after hearing a lot of films being 1.85:1 these days (GiTS...wtf?!), it's nice to see wide screen and the frame being used properly. The opening scene with Weyland being the most notable.

- It actually did try a couple of things new. I was ready for the remaining troops vs. David to be the 4th act the first two Alien films had, but it was just meant to be a twist ending. The twist I guess is that there was no battle.

- The "heroine", wasn't some bombshell hot chick. Neither was Ripley, but with cinema the way it is today, there's little reason why some barbie doll with huge fake tits didn't save the day. Did I like her? Fuck no, but it could have been worse.

So yeah, I didn't have to pay for this. Did it suck as bad as I thought it would? No, actually. But it did still suck pretty bad, for most of the reasons everyone has listed many times. Also worth noting is I went in expecting it to be a solid 4/10. It wasn't a total waste of time, but at the end of the film, I couldn't help but think the franchise is better off not knowing this origin. Finally, as stated, pacing wasn't that great, and TBH, it was just not all that scary nor exciting. Was it a horror movie? Was it an action movie? Fuck if I know, but it helped me pass the 3.5 hours on my flight, so I guess in that sense it fulfilled it's roll. Maybe I'll watch GiTS on the way back.

[Zen]

Serious question - What has happened to Scott? There was a time he was flawless.

I wouldn't go that far
I'll take a stab at an answer though. He, like most other human beings, simply did not know when to fucking stop.