Movies you've just watched

[soprano1]

I see they made a Three Stooges movie in 2012. Anyone here saw it?

[Ixmucane2]

The Hitman's Bodyguard

A shallow action movie for easily amused, attention-lacking people who are content with mildly witty dialogue and explosions.

Agent Roussel, the prettiest female Interpol representative in Europe by a wide margin (in this parallel reality Interpol appears to be a proper police force) has to deliver a witness (a contract killer with evidence against a dictator) from an English Interpol prison to the International Criminal Court, but due to a mole problem she needs to turn to an outsider for help: Bryce, her ex-boyfriend from two years before, a Bodyguard who brings the Hitman to the ICC alone. Most of the film features these two badass action heroes surviving relentless murder attempts and bonding together.

Apart from horrible, unrealistic characters, which are the solid foundation of a large edifice of silliness, the most irritating specific defect is the unchallenged assumption that Agent Roussel didn't move on: she readily allows Bryce back into her life after he simply clears the misunderstanding that caused them to split. Geographical liberties (like placing a subway in The Hague) and ridiculous ICC judge decisions (needed to justify the plot) fight for the second place. Action scenes are well shot, well designed, spectacular, and implausible.

[Ixmucane2]

Battle of the Sexes

From a true story: after founding WTA because of prize disparity between male and female players, famous tennis player Billie Jean King falls in love with her hairdresser and defeats retired male champion Bobby Riggs in an exhibition match in 1973.

It's hard to tell how much of the shown attitudes about homosexuality, gender inequality and some other things were historical, and how much a projection of the present-day sensitivity of obviously very liberal authors, but as a piece of biography it's a very well told story.

I was particularly impressed by how the flow of events and images makes feelings and thoughts fairly obvious, without needing clumsy dialogues. Great photography, very effective music (despite some overly popular, obvious songs).

[soprano1]

Meatballs (1979)
Very funny Bill Murray movie, never heard of it before.

[neorichieb1971]

Thor Ragnorok

Beats Guardians of the Galaxy. Highly entertaining, lots of humour etc. If you watch it at a cinema which has latest tech you can expect a lot of subwoofer action.

If this was your first Marvel movie I think some of the others would be disappointing. I only watch Marvel movies as my friend loves them and I'm his cinema partner, but honestly this was one of the better movies this year.

[Some-Mist]

Saw Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri last weekend at the Chicago international film fest.

If you're a fan of the McDonagh bros you know exactly what to expect. I think it was on par with In Bruges and The Guard and much better than Seven Psychopaths.

Primo cast too with Frances McDormand, Peter Dinklage, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Lucas Hedges, Kerry Condon etc..

Wish I didn't have a concert tonight because I'd be seeing The Shape of Water at the fest, but I guess I can wait for the wide release.

[Skykid]

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Disappointing. Lacks the noteworthy script and execution of the original, which was a surprise perfect blend of ingredients. Here those ingredients are recycled and redistributed in a long form style, but end up all sinking beneath the surface so that the highlights don't bang the way they did before. Vaughan, to his credit, has maintained the sense of irreverence that coined the original, and handled his actors consistently with the original - but the script is overblown and the US counterparts are less inspiring and interesting. There are some laughs here and there, but with the class metaphor absent there's not much else to tie it together except a few big sequences that snag under the weight of trying too hard.

[Ixmucane2]

It: Chapter One

A good adventure about children fighting a child-eating monster that looks like Pennywise the Dancing Clown.
How it doesn't stray into cheap horror movie situations and stylistic choices is particularly commendable. For example, there's about one proper jump scare and it is justified for special reasons, the many other appearances of horrible things are usually prepared with foreshadowing (e.g. strange movements, small details, red balloons) and/or intentional character action (e.g. a lot of door opening).
Special effects, the appearance of Pennywise in particular, are very good.

I'd have preferred a greater attention to symbolic elements, but it is still a valid adaptation of the first half of a great novel.

[Zen]

Saw Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri last weekend at the Chicago international film fest.

If you're a fan of the McDonagh bros you know exactly what to expect. I think it was on par with In Bruges and The Guard and much better than Seven Psychopaths.

Primo cast too with Frances McDormand, Peter Dinklage, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Lucas Hedges, Kerry Condon etc..

Wish I didn't have a concert tonight because I'd be seeing The Shape of Water at the fest, but I guess I can wait for the wide release.

This is the one that was part of the recent kurfuffle with Alamo Drafthouse?

Seven Psychopaths (2012) - Martin McDonagh, is a phenomenally bad film.
The Tarantino/Guy Richie dogs dinner that McDonagh serves up, is cinematic vomit.

Also, any director that willingly (and repeatedly) chooses to use Colin Farrel, is a fucking moron.

I seem to remember liking In Bruges (2008) but that was because of, well, Bruges of course and also Brendan Gleeson, a nice turn from Ralph Fiennes (even if it was a Don Logan)
and iirc, nice touches to the score.
The film is ruined though, by Farrel shitting all over the place.

[soprano1]

The Elephant Man (1980)
David Lynch movie based on Joseph Merrick, a 19th century Englishman who suffered from what we now call Proteus syndrome. Great performances (what a cast!) and practical effects, well woven story, good use of b&w film. It is a good movie indeed, well worth a watch.

[Zen]

The Elephant Man (1980)
David Lynch movie based on Joseph Merrick, a 19th century Englishman who suffered from what we now call Proteus syndrome. Great performances (what a cast!) and practical effects, well woven story, good use of b&w film. It is a good movie indeed, well worth a watch.

Perfect use of Hopkins. Fantastic film and (shields up ) the best thing Lynch ever did . . .

Spoiler

[Skykid]

I think it's arguably Lynch's best film - it's a great movie - but it just comes down to preference. I'd put Blue Velvet nearby for sure.

[Some-Mist]

Saw Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri last weekend at the Chicago international film fest.

If you're a fan of the McDonagh bros you know exactly what to expect. I think it was on par with In Bruges and The Guard and much better than Seven Psychopaths.

Primo cast too with Frances McDormand, Peter Dinklage, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Lucas Hedges, Kerry Condon etc..

Wish I didn't have a concert tonight because I'd be seeing The Shape of Water at the fest, but I guess I can wait for the wide release.

This is the one that was part of the recent kurfuffle with Alamo Drafthouse?

Seven Psychopaths (2012) - Martin McDonagh, is a phenomenally bad film.
The Tarantino/Guy Richie dogs dinner that McDonagh serves up, is cinematic vomit.

Also, any director that willingly (and repeatedly) chooses to use Colin Farrel, is a fucking moron.

I seem to remember liking In Bruges (2008) but that was because of, well, Bruges of course and also Brendan Gleeson, a nice turn from Ralph Fiennes (even if it was a Don Logan)
and iirc, nice touches to the score.
The film is ruined though, by Farrel shitting all over the place.

wow, I hadn't heard of that. It looks like fox films pulled three billboards from an alamo sponsored fest due to a sexual assault case within alamo? Probably a wise decision on fox's part since three billboards is basically about a mom trying to keep her daughters death + rape in the spotlight when it was seemingly pushed under the rug. For as heavy as the content is, it really does have a lot of laughs, but regardless it would seem out of place at a festival with such negativity surrounding it.

I'm not sure what he was trying to do with seven psychopaths to be honest, but in bruges (and now three billboards) are obviously the better works.
Admittedly, I'm not a Colin Farrel hater despite knowing he's generally disliked. I wouldn't say that he's amazing, but I didn't mind him in in bruges, the lobster, fantastic beasts, and the imaginarium of dr parnassus. And I haven't seen true detective yet
Luckily for those who aren't a fan, he is nowhere to be found in three billboards.

[soprano1]

I think it's arguably Lynch's best film - it's a great movie - but it just comes down to preference. I'd put Blue Velvet nearby for sure.

Thanks, Skykid.

Blue Velvet (1986)
The first hour was interesting, pretty standard stuff.
The next half hour was just mind boogling WTFuckery. That's a lot of fucks!
The last half hour stitched everything together towards the conclusion.
Yeah, pretty nice movie. Maybe it's time for Mulholland Drive, but Stranger Things S2 comes first.

[Mischief Maker]

The thing to know about Mulholland Drive was it was originally intended as a TV pilot that for some insane reason was not picked up, so Lynch appended an ending and turned it into a film.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I was at Costco one day and lo behold, they were selling brand new copies of the Criterion Collection Blu-Ray version of Mulholland Drive -- so naturally, I scooped one up for my Blu-Ray movie collection. Quite the usual Lynch at his best with WTF scenes and whatnot. The smoldering chemistry between to the two female characters in the bedroom scene is quite something to behold -- plenty of eye-candy indeed.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[soprano1]

The thing to know about Mulholland Drive was it was originally intended as a TV pilot that for some insane reason was not picked up, so Lynch appended an ending and turned it into a film.

Hmm, I see.

[emphatic]

Naomi Watts' performance in Mulholland Drive is so good. It's my favourite Lynch movie, maybe not the best one, but the one I'd choose any time.

[retrozar]

Naomi Watts' performance in Mulholland Drive is so good. It's my favourite Lynch movie, maybe not the best one, but the one I'd choose any time.

I feel like ive seen this movie but i cant remember it. Even after watching the trailer..

[lilmanjs]

Boo 2! A Madea Halloween
Usually the Madea movies are a mix of stupidity and a caring message. This was neither. A nicely done spoof on the old slasher horror genre of movies. Tyler Perry plays a father, and Madea, and her brother, and there's a few of the rest of the extended family in it. His teen daughter turns 18 and attends an underground/illegal party at a haunted lake where a dude killed a bunch of kids in the 70s. Cue up people getting killed at the party and such. Madea decides to head up there and save people as well. I loved the fact that they spoofed those Ring movies by having that girl show up out of nowhere at points in the movie. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Not the greatest horror spoof ever made, but worth seeing.

[Vexorg]

Police Academy:. **1\2

The first movie in one of those peculiar franchises that could have only been made in the Eighties, when an average film could manage to inexplicably clean up at the box office ($146 million gross on a $4.5 million budget, around $351 million on a $11 million budget adjusted for inflation) and get six sequels, a spinoff TV series and a toy-selling cartoon that lasted two seasons in weekday afternoon syndication. I am familiar with the series mostly from seeing the cartoon in the 80s, Which is why I was rather surprised to see that the original film is rated R (although to be fair, it was released only a couple of months before the PG-13 rating was introduced in 1984, and probably could have been made a PG even by modern standards by removing a couple scenes of nudity, some swearing and an innuendo or two. Surprisingly, there is little to no violence in this film.)

That said, I found it to be a rather average comedy that relies too much on exaggerated one dimensional characters, scattered pratfalls and a plot that completely falls apart somewhere around the beginning of the third act.

[Zen]

John Carter (2012) - Andrew Stanton

Jesus! This one gets a lot of hate, doesn't it? Where was all (any?) advertising/publicity? Also, lots of "critics" showing their absolute ignorance.

Fuck that. A little push-back against the bandwagoning is in order.

Having read A Princess of Mars long ago, I was wary of seeing it hollywood-ized.
Strangely, I had a blast with this (on its own terms). It has that adventurous innocence that we see so little of today.
Of course this and the original stories are ganddaddys of the genre, inspiring so many of the classic sc-fi that we hold dear today.


mini rant incoming:
Gave up on trying to figure out hollywood casting decisions long ago but:

What happened to the admirable lead (and unfortunately named) Taylor Kitsch? He made a fine John Carter.
I believe he is primarily a tv actor? That's unfortunate. This guy could have been Peter Quill in a darker version of Guardians of the Galaxy.
Or a more edgy J.T Kirk in a properly done Star Trek reboot (actually, I'll double-down on that; he would have made a fantastic Kirk)

Also, Lynn Collins, as Dejah Thoris, made . . . an impression.
Why wasn't a gal like this cast as Wonder Woman? She is facially and (with a bit more gym time) practically a living comic book character.



Instead the insect-limbed, vacuous-faced Gal Gadot got the nod . . . . Fuck off!


On the plus side: as a bonus we have the pleasure of seeing the eternal Ciarán Hinds as Tardos Mors.

All in all, John Carter (2012) has more soul and class, than all the Marvel type abominations combined. It also has more Star Wars vibe than all the new trash combined.
But, you know, we live in an age when kids absorb crass and made-up words like "Hogwarts" rather than the silken, authentic sounding "Barsoom".

We're fucked.

[Ixmucane2]

Thor: Ragnarok

I have the impression that an originally serious story about the end of Asgard was defaced with silly subplots and scenes, silly characters, silly dialogue, silly scenery and music, in order to imitate Guardians of the Galaxy as closely as possible. The problem is not that it isn't fun, but that the inherently heroic plot is incompatible with the general tone.
Maybe it's my fault for expecting depth and tragedy from a MCU film.

[emphatic]

Where was all (any?) advertising/publicity?

I've heard a story that they actually forgot to do the marketing campaign for it until it was near release and as a result, everyone responsible was fired.

I saw Thor - Ragnarök tonight with my daughters. I give it a solid 5/5.

Really liked all of the new characters
The Hulk was funny, but also showed heart
Running gags galore

Spoiler

"safe passage through the anus"

[Skykid]

Thor: Ragnarok
Maybe it's my fault for expecting depth and tragedy from a MCU film.

You expect "depth" from an MCU film?

You must be one seriously disappointed cinemagoer.

John Carter (2012) - Andrew Stanton

Jesus! This one gets a lot of hate, doesn't it? Where was all (any?) advertising/publicity? Also, lots of "critics" showing their absolute ignorance.

Fuck that. A little push-back against the bandwagoning is in order.

Having read A Princess of Mars long ago, I was wary of seeing it hollywood-ized.
Strangely, I had a blast with this (on its own terms). It has that adventurous innocence that we see so little of today.
Of course this and the original stories are ganddaddys of the genre, inspiring so many of the classic sc-fi that we hold dear today.


mini rant incoming:
Gave up on trying to figure out hollywood casting decisions long ago but:

What happened to the admirable lead (and unfortunately named) Taylor Kitsch? He made a fine John Carter.
I believe he is primarily a tv actor? That's unfortunate. This guy could have been Peter Quill in a darker version of Guardians of the Galaxy.
Or a more edgy J.T Kirk in a properly done Star Trek reboot (actually, I'll double-down on that; he would have made a fantastic Kirk)

Also, Lynn Collins, as Dejah Thoris, made . . . an impression.
Why wasn't a gal like this cast as Wonder Woman? She is facially and (with a bit more gym time) practically a living comic book character.



Instead the insect-limbed, vacuous-faced Gal Gadot got the nod . . . . Fuck off!


On the plus side: as a bonus we have the pleasure of seeing the eternal Ciarán Hinds as Tardos Mors.

All in all, John Carter (2012) has more soul and class, than all the Marvel type abominations combined. It also has more Star Wars vibe than all the new trash combined.
But, you know, we live in an age when kids absorb crass and made-up words like "Hogwarts" rather than the silken, authentic sounding "Barsoom".

We're fucked.

Andrew Stanton was a fine choice for such a film, and he exhibits the kind of old-school energy on-set that characterized former Spielberg, Zemeckis etc.

That said I think you're overdoing the praise a tad. John Carter didn't deserve the bomb when compared to the Hollywood dreck churned off the production lines around it (or these days, MCU); but it has issues. It loses the attention around the midpoint and drags toward the end. The lead looks the part but his acting ability is very average and he suffers from a case of the Paul Walker dopeys.

I remember feeling it started with more intrigue and momentum than it wrapped with, and some of it could easily have been left on the cutting room floor. I appreciate someone who has read the novel/s may appreciate it more (I haven't).

Otherwise it was a fairly decent old-school adventure movie.

[Zen]

I've heard a story that they actually forgot to do the marketing campaign for it until it was near release and as a result, everyone responsible was fired.

That's interesting.
Reading up on it now, it seems blame was flying in all directions. What I conclude from this, is the suggestion of some fairly complex machinations between Disney and director.
Didn't know anything about Andrew Stanton until now. He was the Pixar golden boy? That explains why some of the "alien" characters had a layer of "cute" applied to them.
I'm getting the impression that it was Disney's intention to geld Stanton by giving him enough rope to hang himself but I might be completely off the mark.
This New Yorker profile on Stanton https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011 ... -act-twist is interesting. It also contains infuriating info like this, re. Disney;

"It also nervously lopped “of Mars” off the film’s title, to lower the barrier between women filmgoers—who are famously averse to sci-fi—and Taylor Kitsch’s smoldering aura."

What a load of bollocks!
Also, the test screening/audience description is sobering.

That said I think you're overdoing the praise a tad.

Absolutely I'm shamelessly over-egging it.
Re. Andrew Stanton; With the Star Wars reboots basically in the past, I found myself wondering as I watched this film, enjoying its "old-school adventure" as you say, why Disney hadn't given a chap like this a crack at Star Wars? Perhaps that question is answered above.
Them again, Stanton might have applied his "cute = connection" paintbrush pretty liberally, which kinda brings us back to this;

Spoiler

[gbaplayer]

Flatliners (1990)
Nice movie, could be a little bit more creepier.

[Zen]

Pain & Gain (2013) - Michael Bay (re-watch)

Michael Bay? Marky fucking mark??
Yeah, well that's the price you have to pay to get in on the fun here. No pain, no gain I guess.

If you are familiar with any of the shenanigans relating to this story and or lifestyle you might well have a blast with the film.
Witness the real Dwayne Johnson and the real Mark Wahlberg.

Also appreciated the 90's posing music inspired ost by Steve Jablonsky. Nice touch and captures a palpable melancholy.

(conditionally) recommended

[EmperorIng]

I watched my first Jason movie last night while carving pumpkins. Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (well, I watched the first as a little tot - got about halfway through before I got too scared and ran away ).

I can already tell that this was supposed to be a more light-hearted take on the whole slasher franchise. Silly music, a number of goofy kills, comic-relief characters, and constantly self-aware dialog ("I've seen enough horror movies to know a guy standing on the side of the road wearing a mask is bad news!") take the edge off - I wouldn't say this is scary in the least. Very entertaining though, with nice sets, hot chicks (all end up dead) good makeup effects for Jason, and great score. The only complaint: what I watched on must have been censored (or maybe all the prints are like that), because nearly every kill is cut away right at the moment of dead or slashing. Boo!

Today is Poltergeist II, since i recorded that as well. I've been hankering to see it ever since I saw a few clips, marveled at the special effects, and learned that H.R. Giger designed the monsters! Even if it is lesser than its awesome forebear, it might still be worth a watch. Poltergeist III, though, I've read read belongs in the trash.

[BrianC]

The Innocents (1961) - Excellent movie that was extremely creepy without blood and gore.