Movies you've just watched

[iconoclast]

I'm surprised you liked Snowpiercer more than Memories of Murder, Mother, and Barking Dogs Never Bite. I thought it was easily his weakest film. I still enjoyed it, but Chris Evans' terrible acting and some moments of absurdity really dragged it down for me (eg. the agent who's apparently the Terminator and the shootout from one side of the train to the other; my god was that stupid). Between Snowpiercer and Stoker, I'd rather have Korean directors stick to making films in Korea.

edit: I was just poking around on IMDB and noticed that Kim Jee-woon went and made some Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie as well. I also hadn't realized how much I liked him as a director, since everything he did prior to that was either great or excellent. What a waste.

[evil_ash_xero]

Yeah, I definitely liked it better than Memories of Murder and especially Mother. I know that a lot of people will disagree, but that's my opinion.

Never saw the Barking Dogs movie.

Also...are there any new good movies from Korea from the last couple of years? I tend to skip a couple of years, and then gather all the ones with buzz and watch them in a row.


....holy crap...I have over 4000 posts! I need to get a real life.

[iconoclast]

Barking Dogs was one of his first movies. It's a fairly eccentric dark comedy starring Bae Doona, so if that sounds appealing then I'd definitely recommend it. I thought it was great.

I'd be interested in some recent Korean recommendations, as well. The newest movies I've seen are Silenced (2011, excellent), Sunny (ditto), and Helpless (2012, meh). I've got Pieta (2012) and Cold Eyes (2013) in the backlog, but I haven't felt like watching either one yet. I'm also looking forward to Tazza 2 since the first one was great. Other than that, I'm not sure what else is worth checking out.

[rapoon]

Yeah, I definitely liked it better than Memories of Murder and especially Mother. I know that a lot of people will disagree, but that's my opinion.

Never saw the Barking Dogs movie.

Also...are there any new good movies from Korea from the last couple of years? I tend to skip a couple of years, and then gather all the ones with buzz and watch them in a row.


....holy crap...I have over 4000 posts! I need to get a real life.

Pieta (2012) and New World (2013) are both good.

Breathless (2008) "Ddongpari" is another. a bit obscure, can be difficult to find but it's fantastic.

[Skykid]

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes


Good sequel, better than I expected. Didn't suffer any for losing Wyatt as director, which after watching the bag of shit that was Godzilla, I'm starting to think was a blessing.

That said it's not quite as good as the predecessor, but close. Its main flaws are the underwritten human characters, all very one-dimensional and rigid. The main hero figure was a bland entity and the human elements ("I love you too") felt cliché and forced. I didn't even care for Gary Oldman much in this, primarily because his character was so thin and half baked.

But on the flip side the apes are wonderfully three dimensional, thoroughly outperforming their in-camera counterparts in every possible respect, full of depth and emotional resonance. Show stealers doesn't even cover it, they're one of the best CG ensembles yet created on film. Serkis' Caesar is untouchably brilliant, theatrically powerful, with arch enemy Koba almost on equal footing.

Really glad this revisit to a classic series is being handled so respectfully. Looking forward to the next.

[Khan]

So a few days ago I was flipping through the channels on my TV getting to the point where I knew I was soon going to fall asleep but then I found a real gem!

The Breakfast Club, as soon as I saw the description I darted downstairs grabbed some snacks and got ready for a trip down memory lane this was a movie i had watched in my childhood.

It always struck me how teachers were real bad ass back in the day, if you decided to be abusive or disrupt class you were shouted at or in some cases pushed out the class and repeatedly poked in the chest in full view of the rest of the students sitting and observing from afar, my best friend decided to come back in and sit down the grin was gone from his face and the look of defeat was in its place

Maybe its my age but I miss those days of teachers laying down the law and not being afraid of police prosecution, too soft we have become on children when they are out at 1am drinking cider at 13 years old or sitting in the back of the bus with some crappy grime music on their mobile phones playing and shouting and swearing at the top of their lungs.

[Kaiser]

After my date with Alien (1979), i'm hooked, this is the mother of all today's sci-fi movies, no, not a MILF, this is a movie, not a woman.

Where to begin, it's a movie where YOU KNOW it will go wrong, it's not of a question of whether it will, but when and why.
It's a movie that is tense from start to end, it's a movie that leaves you with no questions at the end, though this statement may be confusing to you, sci-fi movie without questions at the end? Any questions you possibly could have are irrelevant to the story or that don't enhance the movie. There is no bullshit in this movie.

The effects, I DIDN'T expect this for 1979, holy crap this is 10-15 years in advance. The ship design, the interiors, the shuttle, everything, is just perfect when it comes to aesthetics, pretty much the MAIN setup for future sci-fi movie designs.

I won't give away much to the story for those who haven't seen it, but it's straightforward, it's tense, it's suspenful, it can be creepy are you aren't sure of what will happen next, I gotta say, the plot twists were clever and the entire last 20 minutes are one climatic masterpiece, i'll only say one thing, survival of the instincts (and the fittest).

And the dreaded question, Alien, OR The Thing? I love them both equally. But having both fresh in my mind, I can make a comparison of sorts.

What Alien did better:
- The ending
- Music score
- Dialogue

What The Thing did better:
- Creepier alien design
- More tense atmosphere

Answer? Both.
Next up? Carpenter's original Halloween

[GaijinPunch]

So a few days ago I was flipping through the channels on my TV getting to the point where I knew I was soon going to fall asleep but then I found a real gem!

The Breakfast Club, as soon as I saw the description I darted downstairs grabbed some snacks and got ready for a trip down memory lane this was a movie i had watched in my childhood.

Dude... I assume everyone has seen this like 100 or 200 times unless they tell me otherwise.

What Alien did better:
- The ending
- Music score

Gotta disagree on both of these. The Thing might have the best Sci-Fi ending evar. Alien's music is great (and there's an interesting story behind it if you can find the making of, which is on the box set) but the pulsating, menacing score of The Thing sticks with me. I will say the dialogue in Alien is a bit more well thought out... but what do you expect from a sub-zero sausage fest?

[spadgy]

Lost Highway. I can't tell if I'm thrilled or annoyed. Probably both, such is Lynch's want.

[Ixmucane2]

Insidious

A good take on the haunted house premise; it falls into a common variant (what's actually haunted is the poor family) and it uses a standard plot (calling the ghostbusters), but there are a few interesting elements (adding possession into the mix, making the house somewhat haunted after all, introducing unobtrusive comic relief characters) and more importantly many good moments and images; it is scary in a very good way.
Characters are surprisingly non-stupid and, in fact, a bit too efficient and level-headed given their situation; it might be a form of overcompensation with respect to horror film standards.
The two main issues with the writing are the disappearance of the two highly superfluous younger children about halfway (they could have been put to good use in a slightly more complex plot) and the vagueness and plasticity of the "rules" about the spirit world and its inhabitants, which make the ending gratuitous rather than logically and dramatically justified.

Excellent sound effects and photography, which are more prominent than special effects (ghosts are very person-like, it's mostly make-up).

[emphatic]

The Yellow Sea - 4/5. Fuck me, this was intense.

[GaijinPunch]

Primer

Still not sure what happened.

[rapoon]

Primer

Still not sure what happened.

^ the most convoluted film ever made. i already have a headache.


duellists - got halfway and the guys are on their 5th or 6th fight and i have no clue why
they're fighting, so i just turned that shit off.

[BryanM]

Made the catastrophic mistake of watching American Godzilla: 2014 Edition.

Final Wars was bad, but by god, it had the audacity to bother being interesting. Why does Hollywood get to keep on making movies?

[CMoon]

Why does Hollywood get to keep on making movies?

Because Transformers 4 made more money than god.

[Skykid]

Made the catastrophic mistake of watching American Godzilla: 2014 Edition.

Final Wars was bad, but by god, it had the audacity to bother being interesting. Why does Hollywood get to keep on making movies?

I feel your pain. I hope you didn't make the same mistake I did and pay money for that one.

Why does Hollywood get to keep on making movies?

Because Transformers 4 made more money than god.

It's true.


Idiocracy:

Interesting little film from Mike Judge that explores an end game world where idiotic media has reduced the population of the globe to barely coherent morons. Basically like now but several stages more advanced.

There's hit and miss here. The message is there, but the point often isn't clear enough and some of the humour is flat. There's something slightly dated about his 90s vision of a media meltdown future and at 1:15 it's one of the shortest movies I've seen in years. It's enjoyable if only for the potential truth of it all, but only partly successful as a comedy.

[CMoon]

Yeah, Idiocracy isn't a great film, but damn, that message...

[BryanM]

To make the hurting subside a little, the upcoming plan is Cube before diving into Robocop 2014 Edition. It's not like I'm expecting to be floored... when you make a remake, it can only be better or worse than the original, and if the original's already good, well, you'd be far better off making a different movie with a similar vibe, no? But I don't expect to fall asleep halfway through. In the middle of the day.

I think I might want to become one of those douchebags that only watches indie flicks one of these days. Was trending to this earlier (remember how I was advertising the shitty Troma movies (Toxic Avenger, Sergeant Kabukiman NYPD, etc) they have for free on their youtube channel?), but while youtubing the trailer to the latest Banderas vehicle, came across a trailer for something way more interesting.

Even if it turns out awful, it'll be awful in a unique way. Bonus: It's a short film so it won't steal 7200 seconds of my life away.

I feel your pain. I hope you didn't make the same mistake I did and pay money for that one.

Nah, I know better than to support the terrorists. Esp. when the film's only draw was the dad from Malcolm in the Middle. Who did end up being the only human in the film who bothered to be even a tiny bit interesting.

Because Transformers 4 made more money than god.

No, that's not true. That's not possible. You lie you lie why must you lie.

;_;

[Skykid]

A billion dollars in 38 days.

I'm part of the problem this time around, although technically I didn't pay for the ticket.

[iconoclast]

I liked Cube. I saw a few people recommending it to fans of 999 since it has a similar premise, but I didn't think it was nearly as good (granted, it's hard to compare a VN to a movie). Still enjoyable, though.

[Lord Satori]

I liked Cube. I saw a few people recommending it to fans of 999 since it has a similar premise, but I didn't think it was nearly as good (granted, it's hard to compare a VN to a movie). Still enjoyable, though.

Oh god, that movie. (hope we're talking about the same movie) It had a sequel and a prequel. They were both pretty interesting, but it's overall conclusion is terribly underdeveloped and unfulfilling.

[Kaiser]

Continuing the classic horror marathon, Halloween (1978)

Honestly, this one also became a classic FOR me in my eyes, for many reasons.

One, Michael Myers, he's like the perfect slasher villain, silent, deadly and JUST kills, no bullshit, no dragging people's deaths, no emotions, classy and simple style of killing, just, a nightmare, plus I like how they referred to him as a Boogieman. All his appearances are a surprise, you just look out for him on screen to pop out.

Two, the music, my god, the music in this movie! Just two tunes, and variations, one being the main theme, one specific tune when he successfully murders people, which plays differently whether Michael's stalking, chasing, Laurie trying to look for him, it was perfect.

Three, Donald Pleasance's role was perfect, he was basically Dr. Frankenstein chasing his own creation, but this time, it's a doctor and a human monster, being exactly like this. Loomis was Dr. Frankenstein chasing his own most evil patient which happens to be nothing but a human monster.

Four, the suspense and the atmosphere, basically to say, it's leaking, this movie is unsettling as hell, it's music combined with mystery, creepyness, lighting, makes it work in a harmony.

Five, Jamie Lee Curtis played a believable role of Laurie, there was nothing hyperbolic about her role, it felt all perfectly natural, especially in last 20 minutes of the film which are by the way ANOHTER reason I love this movie, it's a shock after shock and it never stops until the credits roll.

I could go on and go on, but i simply, love this movie and appreciate it as the DEFINING slasher movie. Next up on my horror marathon list, i've got 3 choices, Exorcist, Suspiria and Halloween II (last one to be produced by Carpenter so might be worth seeing, just for the wrapup) AND MAYBE Halloween H20 Just for laughs due how bad it could be and Jamie Lee Curtis reprising her role.

[KindGrind]

I liked Cube. I saw a few people recommending it to fans of 999 since it has a similar premise, but I didn't think it was nearly as good (granted, it's hard to compare a VN to a movie). Still enjoyable, though.

Oh god, that movie. (hope we're talking about the same movie) It had a sequel and a prequel. They were both pretty interesting, but it's overall conclusion is terribly underdeveloped and unfulfilling.

The original Cube was entertaining because of the idea, but the acting was utter shit. Not enough to ruin the movie for me, but sure enough to notice and be irritated by it. The sequel / prequel were interesting on paper, but a disaster on film. With a better budget, these could have gone places...

[Skykid]

The Wolf of Wall Street


Absolute dynamite.

Scorcese at his finest, his best movie in years and years. It's got endless energy and the film making craft here is non-stop creative, engaging for every single one of its many minutes.

DiCaprio is as ever, first class, taking to the performance not only with gusto but unforseen comic knack, while the supporting cast is nigh-on perfectly tailored.

Above all else however (deep breath for how many times I reiterate its importance to film) the script is god tier. Terence Winter's screenplay never stops for air. The dialogue fizzes throughout, a poster child for bad language used for effect, and goddamn is it fucking hilarious.

And that's the one thing I didn't expect. There's a touch of 80s brat pack in here for sure, but Jesus this movie is funny. I was laughing the whole way through. It revels in ridiculous levels of drug, sex and debauchery, all with such fascinating sense of wit that it rises far above its subject matter in class.

It has hilarity, a bombshell blonde who can actually act, raucous characters and even more excessive events, and is full of tits. Yet as a piece of film making, the craft of its director and writer make it exceptional. I'd give it a stone cold sober 9. Would watch again.

Please don't go anywhere Scorcese, so good to have you back.

[iconoclast]

The original Cube was entertaining because of the idea, but the acting was utter shit. Not enough to ruin the movie for me, but sure enough to notice and be irritated by it. The sequel / prequel were interesting on paper, but a disaster on film. With a better budget, these could have gone places...

I was going to mention the bad acting, but it's been a couple of years since I've seen the movie so I wasn't sure if I was remembering it correctly. Glad my memory is still intact.

-

Most recently I watched A Fugitive from the Past (1965). It tells two interlocking stories involving a prostitute and a detective who spend a decade searching for a criminal who had a profound effect on their lives. It's methodically paced, but I was hooked after half an hour or so. Great movie.

[rapoon]

The Wolf of Wall Street


Absolute dynamite.

Scorcese at his finest, his best movie in years and years. It's got endless energy and the film making craft here is non-stop creative, engaging for every single one of its many minutes.

DiCaprio is as ever, first class, taking to the performance not only with gusto but unforseen comic knack, while the supporting cast is nigh-on perfectly tailored.

Above all else however (deep breath for how many times I reiterate its importance to film) the script is god tier. Terence Winter's screenplay never stops for air. The dialogue fizzes throughout, a poster child for bad language used for effect, and goddamn is it fucking hilarious.

And that's the one thing I didn't expect. There's a touch of 80s brat pack in here for sure, but Jesus this movie is funny. I was laughing the whole way through. It revels in ridiculous levels of drug, sex and debauchery, all with such fascinating sense of wit that it rises far above its subject matter in class.

It has hilarity, a bombshell blonde who can actually act, raucous characters and even more excessive events, and is full of tits. Yet as a piece of film making, the craft of its director and writer make it exceptional. I'd give it a stone cold sober 9. Would watch again.

Please don't go anywhere Scorcese, so good to have you back.

i couldnt agree more, it's some of the funniest shit ive seen. "....i'm not gonna let someone else fuck my cousin!"

if you haven't seen "after hours", scorceses other comedy(dark), check it out. it's not as funny... but it's still excellent.

[Skykid]

i couldnt agree more, it's some of the funniest shit ive seen. "....i'm not gonna let someone else fuck my cousin!".

That entire scene had me in tears. When he said if the kid was retarded he'd probably just drive up to the mountains and let him run free.

And a minute later they're smoking crack at a bus stop.

Was a riot. Loved it.

Will check out After Hours, I'm only missing a few in the Scorcese canon.

[Mischief Maker]

I liked Cube. I saw a few people recommending it to fans of 999 since it has a similar premise, but I didn't think it was nearly as good (granted, it's hard to compare a VN to a movie). Still enjoyable, though.

Oh god, that movie. (hope we're talking about the same movie) It had a sequel and a prequel. They were both pretty interesting, but it's overall conclusion is terribly underdeveloped and unfulfilling.

The original Cube was entertaining because of the idea, but the acting was utter shit. Not enough to ruin the movie for me, but sure enough to notice and be irritated by it. The sequel / prequel were interesting on paper, but a disaster on film. With a better budget, these could have gone places...

Cube's wordless opening 5 minutes were what made the film. Everything else was crap. It should have been a short.

[Stevens]

Detention. The one with Dane Cook.

I figured it would be complete shit, but it reminded me of a modern day take on Student Bodies. Didn't pretend to be anything it wasn't.

5 out of 10. 7 if high.

[Ixmucane2]

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Animated films, at least the good ones, have always been avant-garde because they are much less constrained than live-action cinema; more so in the last 10-15 years, since computer technology has blown away most issues of drawing effort. Imagination reigns, and ideas flow unobstructed: what films deal with ecological collapse and extinction as seriously as Wall-E rather than as an excuse for a certain kind of setting? What films feature exclusively highly damaged and psychotic characters like Bolt, without needing someone "normal"?

The first mind-blowing element about How to Train Your Dragon 2 is that the protagonist is a cyborg. When Hiccup first uses his wingsuit, he obviously considers it a part of his body, not a gadget; he uses his technology (and his dragon) to be more than human.
What's more important than the low impact of his enhancements, Hiccup isn't a freak, or doomed to end tragically or take a step back like so many cyberpunk characters: he has a good relationship with a high-profile girlfriend, everyone regards him as a leader, and at the end of the film he has more knowledge, more responsibilities and more dragons.

The other impressive aspect is the plot. How do you beat an enemy of great power? This time, with a pure and direct application of even greater power: in the ending battle there are no useless attempts at negotiation, conversion, heroism, cleverness etc. but only dragon versus dragon, and (with some help and support from his human friend) Toothless is the strongest.
This extraordinary lack of bullshit makes other more rhetoric moments unusually effective and sincere; the vikings are "good" not because they are the protagonist's faction, but because they and their dragons are all loyal friends, and they are contrasted as a society with the villain's unsustainable pyramid of intimidation and submission.
In these weeks of brewing world war, the political allegory overwhelms the traditional formation adventure.

Graphically excellent, particularly the bizarre scenery that is usually a meaningful exaggeration rather than gratuitous eye candy.