Movies you've just watched

[Skykid]

With a V is superb, in spite of a few weaknesses. The last great 80s action movie, made in the early 90s. Also McTiernan's swan song for quality.

I disagree about Django being too long, I could have done 30 minutes more!

[EmperorIng]

@Die Hard With a V:
I think I can always sit down and watch a movie with Jackson being angry for 90 minutes.

People kept on telling me how much I'd love Last Action Hero. Have to agree on the "swan song of quality." Last Action Hero has its moments, but man does its joke get old fast.

@Django:
I think I was burnt out on three "final battles" in a row. The movie felt like it was building up to an ending each time, and then it's Nope! Time for another round. Still, a great movie. It was also nice to see DiCaprio do something other than "neurotic East Coast man" for a change.

[drauch]

But yeah, totally fine for Tarantino to rip off everything under the sun.

Everything Tarantino does is entirely his own, and that includes what he chooses specifcally to borrow or tribute. I'm amazed you're so passionate about film but can't see the woods or the trees on what an outstanding filmmaker that man is. Have you seen Django Unchained?

Tarantino's woods and trees are like buying a pre-potted plant to stick in your garden. Someone already did all the hard work.

[GaijinPunch]

The third installment of Die Hard was great. One of the few sequels that lives up to (a close second) of the original... especially considering how bad the 2nd one was. Samuel L brought a lot to the table as well. I basically bought the box set b/c it was the same price as buying the 1st and 3rd. I got the two bad ones (at the time) for free.

[Volteccer_Jack]

What's wrong with Die Hard 4?

[Moniker]

But yeah, totally fine for Tarantino to rip off everything under the sun.

Everything Tarantino does is entirely his own, and that includes what he chooses specifcally to borrow or tribute. I'm amazed you're so passionate about film but can't see the woods or the trees on what an outstanding filmmaker that man is. Have you seen Django Unchained?

Tarantino's woods and trees are like buying a pre-potted plant to stick in your garden. Someone already did all the hard work.

If you decide to relegate Tarantino to the realm of pastiche, at the very least he's our own master of pastiche. A talent vanishingly few have possessed.

[EmperorIng]

What's wrong with Die Hard 4?

Parts were ok, but I won't go farther than that vague statement. In general, it lacks bite or edge, which is the fate of all big-budget PG13 action movies. Plus, fuck the "I'm a Mac" guy. What a loser. The movie is just sort of forgettable.

[Skykid]

What's wrong with Die Hard 4?

Oh my...

How long have you got?!

[boagman]

What's wrong with Die Hard 4?

Oh my...

How long have you got?!

Can't disagree with this. It's almost enough to make you never want to watch "Justified" because you think that Olyphant is ruined because of it. DH4 is nothing shy of a horrible *mess*. Really, really bad.

[President_Obama]

The intro music is enough to make you never want to watch Justified. Great TV, though. I have room in my life for one typically FX show since The Shield and I'd chose Justified over Sons of Anarchy any day of the week.
On topic - I rather like DH4, I'm not a DH fanboy. It's 1, 3, 4 & 2 for me.

[boagman]

The intro music is enough to make you never want to watch Justified. Great TV, though. I have room in my life for one typically FX show since The Shield and I'd chose Justified over Sons of Anarchy any day of the week.
On topic - I rather like DH4, I'm not a DH fanboy. It's 1, 3, 4 & 2 for me.

Okay, on topic: where does 5 fall?

Off topic: I'm a fan of "Justified", but this past season was nothing shy of disappointing. I'm kind of glad the upcoming season is its last for that reason. If the writing's going to be that bad, it's time to put it on the shelf.

[President_Obama]

lol I didn't know 5 existed.

[Skykid]

5 is better than 4, even though it's still largely complete trash and fails to do justice to the Die Hard name. 4 is the worst in the series by a respectable margin, mostly built of whiney teens, miscast silent Bobs, a complete lack of one-liners, a misplaced sense of urgency, a villain with zero menace, some shit about being an old man and not knowing about how to turn on light switches, and a sorely lacking motherfucker.

[Volteccer_Jack]

It's almost enough to make you never want to watch "Justified" because you think that Olyphant is ruined because of it.

No, I always thought he was ruined.

I can totally agree about it lacking edge, but I thought Kevin Smith was good and I actually think it's fine for teenage characters to be whiney and unlikeable. Adds to the realism.

I thought 5 was okay at the time, but it's proven to be totally forgettable. All I can remember is that it seemed like the heroes reacted to every problematic situation by jumping off of it, to the extent that they even killed the villain by doing that.

[Moniker]

Die Hard is the Sonic the Hedgehog of movies.

[EmperorIng]

But Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is actually a great game though.

[Moniker]

But Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is actually a great game though.

But a very sequelish sequel. Sonic 3+Knuckles is where it ramped up a notch. Knuckles is Sam Jackson, obviously.

[President_Obama]

Racist.

[Moniker]

Knuckles is purple, not black. Although he is ma nigga, str8 up.

[Lord Satori]

Purple? Are you colorblind or something? He's red! (unless his color is different in some regions?)

[Leandro]

Isn't Knuckles a rapper in the Sonic Adventure games? Yeah he is a brutha

[Moniker]

Purple? Are you colorblind or something? He's red! (unless his color is different in some regions?)

He's reddish, purple-ish, who gives a fuck. Eat shit.

[GaijinPunch]

If you want to know why DH 4 & 5 suck big balls, there's a review somewhere. In general though, for 1, 2, and even the 3rd, John McClane is the type of unlikable guy anyone can love. Politically leaning center-right, he is a tough cop with all the problems that you and I face: has to provide for a family, marital problems redefined, and of course the progressing receding hairline. That's the gem of the first installment: it's almost Zelda of the movies, in that you are the hero. Except in this you have an arsenal of one-liners worthy of a place in Top 5 Films Based on One Liners. In the 2nd and 3rd, he's still just a tough cop that gets caught up in a bad situation. Starting with 4, now as he's completely bald, he has become a bullet proof badass... and not in a good way. They seriously could have cast any action movie star and called it something different.

[BIL]

Does V really include a scene where McClane's now entirely bald dome reflects an unfathomably powerful orbital laser right back into the big baddie's fucking face, saving America once and for all? I still didn't bother watching.

[options]

the commentary track on part 4 has Bruce Willis talking about the original storyline/script for the movie and about how it was too convoluted a story to make into an effective film. something about reuniting with his estranged son before teaming up to stop blah blah blah...

BUT they eventually made it anyway: Die Hard 5. and all their reservations were well-founded; it was a completely forgettable, throwaway action movie. all I remember is that it was really bad—and in Russia.

[SuperGrafx]

I finally watched Skyfall on Netflix.
Not sure why I waited so long. Decent movie..ending was sort of boring though.

[Lord Satori]

I saw that awhile ago. I swear, it's almost worth watching James Bond movies just to hear the song at the beginning.

[lilmanjs]

I finally watched Skyfall on Netflix.
Not sure why I waited so long. Decent movie..ending was sort of boring though.

It was good up until you realized what the ending would be. Not the ending M should of had.
Nightfall was the last movie I watched.
Film Noir in widescreen! It was a little slow, but the story more than made up for it. On a camping trip the main guy in the movie helps out 2 thieves who crash their car and from then on he's on the run after they try to kill him. Great movie. Highly recommended.

[Ixmucane2]

Edge of Tomorrow
A rare example of a film that is actually much better than its trailers suggest: it is about repetition, and trailers cannot afford to be repetitive.
What's really good is the writing: there are great variations on the theme of reliving the same day over and over again, and they are told very well; there is the right place for beautiful action scenes, humour, and reflection; the plot makes sense (even at the end, when it devolves into a rather commonplace heroic suicide mission to save the world), the time loop gimmick is explained and exploited very thoroughly, all technology in use (the setting is in the very near future) is particularly realistic and low-key, the lack of significant plot holes is exhilarating.

Special effects are highly believable and realistic: most are things that could be actually built, with the obvious exception of the glowing major aliens.
Editing is another very strong suit, particularly all the cutting and skipping across different time loops.

[Skykid]

Edge of Tomorrow
A rare example of a film that is actually much better than its trailers suggest: it is about repetition, and trailers cannot afford to be repetitive.
What's really good is the writing: there are great variations on the theme of reliving the same day over and over again, and they are told very well; there is the right place for beautiful action scenes, humour, and reflection; the plot makes sense (even at the end, when it devolves into a rather commonplace heroic suicide mission to save the world), the time loop gimmick is explained and exploited very thoroughly, all technology in use (the setting is in the very near future) is particularly realistic and low-key, the lack of significant plot holes is exhilarating.

Special effects are highly believable and realistic: most are things that could be actually built, with the obvious exception of the glowing major aliens.
Editing is another very strong suit, particularly all the cutting and skipping across different time loops.

Jesus Christ, it's not THAT good. You make it sound like some kind of original masterpiece. It's better than average run-of-the-mill Hollywood, and credit where due, enjoyable enough - but not without myriad weaknesses. And it's teeming with plot holes.

From a few pages back:

Edge of Tomorrow

It's a good popcorn movie, mainly because, although nothing especially new, its groundhog day format is enough to make it entertaining for the duration. Of course, expect no intelligence and you won't be insulted - this is a screenplay as half-baked from a logic point of view as everything else in the Hollywood blockbuster category and subsequently chock full of utter stupidity that you need to calmly overlook.

Things like:

Spoiler

- The thinness of the time reset premise serving as a vehicle for an interesting movie format. "Oh look, these aliens can reset time and because you absorbed their blood, you can too - because human beings are very likely to be a symbiotic species with an alien race who look like Bob Marley's hair on liquid nitrogen.

- If the aliens can reset time and know Cage is coming, why don't they just reset time to prevent him reaching the Omega in the same way they reset time to win the war. That's surely the dumbest missing link in the movie, especially since they already acknowledged the Omega can find him by telepathy.

- How utterly unbelievable it is that Tom Cruise - a character who has been introduced as a deserter that will do anything to get out of combat, manages to convince an entire crew of soliders to fly with him to Paris on the very first meeting. Granted him knowing all their backgrounds might be a fancy trick, but abandoning base the night before the biggest conflict to fight alongside him at the Louvre - that bunch of dumbheads? No way Jose. They also managed to skip the part where they all magically got out of the base and commandeered a dropship.

Anyway, allowing yourself to look past the holes, stupidity, and inconsistencies usually present in such movies, there's fun to be had. The first twenty minutes are a bit oh dear-ish, but once the reset begins it becomes progressively more engaging.

Performance wise Cruise has got to this kind of serviceable level. He's not an actor as such, and never will be, but he can ably fit into a character role where you just accept him as Tom Cruise and is likeable enough. Emily Blunt was well cast aesthetically, but also quite bland and also just about serviceable.

Bar Bill Paxton the supporting cast are fucking atrocious - utterly useless - and served to highlight all the scripting weaknesses. It all feels so Aliens wannabee and all so mis-timed, poorly delivered and haphazardly written that it errs on embarassing. Script is one issue, but the acting, particularly amongst the generic rag tag squaddies, is appalling. The best way to describe it is like a portion of the Big Brother house winning a task where they get to be in a Hollywood movie, being dumped straight in and made to reel off lines. It's that amateurish.

The promise of the design and visual concept is baked up to about half its potential. It's really all about the suits and the bitch sword - remove those from the set and it would look pretty generic. The alien design is also average at best.

The combat and special effects sequences are good and there's a little tension here and there. I think it falls into that middle section where it's almost an inspiring fresh concept marred by formulaic Hollywood superficiality and thin scripting.

Not overly memorable but better than some, I'd recommend this on a no-brain entertainment basis. See it once (but please only once) and enjoy it for the gimmicky but engaging premise and big explosions. Additionally, the video game theory is undeniable, meaning there's an additional layer of intrigue for us pattern learning fruitcakes. That Cruise basically needs to learn enemy strategy to battle through the movie to defeat boss has clear parallels to gaming concept, and although it doesn't do anything especially more than that, it's still kind of nice play the game alongside him.