Movies you've just watched

[boagman]

"John Wick"

Not bad. Really elevated by its tertiary characters, I'd say. Now, Skykid's not going to like it, but it's really not that bad of a kill-'em-'n'-blow-'em-up movie. I don't think that Keanu does a whole lot to elevate it himself, but neither does he detract all that much from it, either. The role doesn't require all that much of him (in terms of acting), but better are the tertiary characters like Willem Dafoe, Lance Reddick, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, and for a bit of slight comic relief I guess, Dean Winters. Heck, even Randall Duk Kim makes a quick pop-in-and-say-hello appearance. If you're a fan of Adrianne Palicki, she serves her purpose here.

Nothing to get excited about, and the ending is a bit meh, but a well-put-together modern day shoot-'em-up. Perfectly watchable on the small screen at home. Functional, a bit friendly, and ultimately, not bad, but certainly not great. "Serviceable" seems a bit down on it, but it comes off to me as "pretty decent".

One thing that's way, *way* overdone: the music. It was shouting too much of the time, and quite frankly, it just took away from several scenes. Very watchable, though, at least the once.

[Skykid]

Now, Skykid's not going to like it,

It was a completely vacuous, substance-less, instantly forgettable, wholly worthless piece of shit.

[emphatic]

lol

[chempop]

I liked the first 1/3 of John Wick, then it turned into just another action movie.

God of Cookery (Stephen Chow): I watched the first half, very funny stuff, but not as piss-my-pants ridiculous as Shaolin Soccer or Kung Fu Hustle (or perhaps my sobriety has dampened my sense of humor). Netflix has a bunch of his other stuff now, so I’ll finally get to see his others

[iconoclast]

King of Comedy and Love on Delivery are my two favorite Stephen Chow films. I recommend those if they're on there.

[Skykid]

I liked the first 1/3 of John Wick, then it turned into just another action movie.

God of Cookery (Stephen Chow): I watched the first half, very funny stuff, but not as piss-my-pants ridiculous as Shaolin Soccer or Kung Fu Hustle (or perhaps my sobriety has dampened my sense of humor). Netflix has a bunch of his other stuff now, so I’ll finally get to see his others

His most recent, Journey to the West, is fantastic. Check it out.

Agree on Wick too. Its intrigue was all in the opening act. As soon as it went action it turned into a totally generic, MTV-style quick-cut action movie to metal guitar, with complete tonal failure of consistency throughout. More trash for the landfill, basically.

[system11]

The ABCs Of Death 2

As hoped, with 26 shorts from 26 directors across the world, there were some real gems in here along with some which were .. less good. I need to check the first one out now.

[MR_Soren]

Ant-Man. Was leaning towards Pixels because classic video games sounded much more interesting than a guy who can shrink. Changed my mind after reviews and word of mouth started spreading. I enjoyed it. The action was entertaining, there was some good humor, Michael Douglas was great, and the plot was concise and sensible. I was rather let down by Avengers: Age of Ultron, so I am glad Ant-Man was able to get me excited about the Marvel Cinematic Universe again.

[boagman]

Now, Skykid's not going to like it,

It was a completely vacuous, substance-less, instantly forgettable, wholly worthless piece of shit.

The world needs one of those, now and then. Again: not a great movie, but not one that pissed me off for having watched it, either.

[neorichieb1971]

The industry is full of those types of movies. The sad thing is, is that usually they are sequels of totally great movies which the audience would go and see based on the performance of its predecessor.

I don't think I've seen a decent success story in sequelitis for about 15-20 years.. someone prove me wrong?

[Skykid]

Now, Skykid's not going to like it,

It was a completely vacuous, substance-less, instantly forgettable, wholly worthless piece of shit.

The world needs one of those, now and then. Again: not a great movie, but not one that pissed me off for having watched it, either.

Made me really angry.

[Mischief Maker]

I don't think I've seen a decent success story in sequelitis for about 15-20 years.. someone prove me wrong?

Addams Family Values was completely superior to the original in every way.

Oh wait, that was 22 years ago, JESUS!

[boagman]

Made me really angry.

Then I think you went in looking to be angry about something.

[boagman]

I don't think I've seen a decent success story in sequelitis for about 15-20 years.. someone prove me wrong?

Addams Family Values was completely superior to the original in every way.

Oh wait, that was 22 years ago, JESUS!

Wait, it was? I've never actually seen the sequel.

[BrianC]

I don't think I've seen a decent success story in sequelitis for about 15-20 years.. someone prove me wrong?

Toy Story 3? How to Train Your Dragon 2? I'm not sure if I like the former better than the original, but it is a good sequel and a great movie in its own right. The latter I liked better than the first movie.

[Skykid]

Made me really angry.

Then I think you went in looking to be angry about something.

Of course not, I enjoyed the first 15 minutes.

I really don't want to talk about terrible trash movies today. There are just far too many floating around. Let's talk about some thing good instead.

Anyone seen the original The Ladykillers from Ealing Studios?

[BIL]

I remember loving that and also their "Kind Hearts and Coronets," saw 'em back to back. Farcical black humour with classically trained actors. Evil Alec Guinness! Almost made the license fee tolerable.

[neorichieb1971]

I don't think I've seen a decent success story in sequelitis for about 15-20 years.. someone prove me wrong?

Toy Story 3? How to Train Your Dragon 2? I'm not sure if I like the former better than the original, but it is a good sequel and a great movie in its own right. The latter I liked better than the first movie.

Good call on HTTYD2. Never seen the Toy story movies although I do own all 3 (Pixar junkie that doesn't like Toy story, at least in principle... perhaps time to watch it).

[Mischief Maker]

Addams Family Values was completely superior to the original in every way.

Oh wait, that was 22 years ago, JESUS!

Wait, it was? I've never actually seen the sequel.

Just watched it the other night.

The original Addams Family was about how weird the Addams were. Addams Family Values is about how weird everyone else is in comparison. It has a tone of high-farce that's better fitting than the original's.

You also get to see Joan Cusack play against type as a sexy man-eater.

[Some-Mist]

going to see The End of the Tour on Friday. pretty stoked!

also rewatched Take Me Home Tonight which is a fun little flick albeit cliche.

[Necronopticous]

I got dragged along to Mission Impossible 5. It was Mission Impossible 5.

[BrianC]

I got dragged along to Mission Impossible 5. It was Mission Impossible 5.

I don't even know what that means. Even the first Tom Cruise movie was a far cry from the original TV series (from what I have seen anyway).

[system11]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101366/

Now this was special. Just go and soak it up.

[the_last_shmupper]

I just watched Wing Commander last night because Netflix said I should. I was bored by the end and I think I've seen it back in 1999 too. I remembered nothing about it, so why not? Its interesting to see the game was a success with Mark Hamill and the guy that killed Kirk. The TV show wasn't a success. I think in this case, the casting was just too young for sci-fi, but I guess that it had to be with two guys fresh from the academy.

Before that I watched Starship Troopers for the 100th time and its still damn awesome. I've seen all of the straight to video sequels too.

I thought Mission Impossible 3 & 4 were good and maybe even 1 too, but its just been so long since I've seen it.

[Ixmucane2]

Bad Taste

Aliens (who look like humans for the usual special effects budget reasons) invade a coastal village in New Zealand for reasons that come as a shocking revelation about midway. Government sends in "the boys", and despite their clumsiness and inexperience they do a surprisingly good job at saving the world.

There are a lot of blood and splatter scenes, but it's mostly comedy that mocks traditional action movies with many exaggerations that sometimes border on the surreal. Some of the best scenes involve Peter Jackson with a SMG and Peter Jackson with a chainsaw.

Very fun, with bad acting contributing to the goofy tone and cheap special effects looking very cute (look out for the mechanical seagull).

[JBC]

The Equalizer is by no means a perfect movie, but gosh I've watched it four or five times now.

I also watched Ex Machina tonight. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it but it wasn't horrid & kept my interest throughout. Two major negatives are the title of the movie itself & the use of "I am become death". Pretentious.

The outcome was also predictable. I think I'll stick with Beyond The Black Rainbow.

[Skykid]

The Equalizer is ok just the once, but four or five times is absolutely mental.

Better than John Wick, but still utterly disposable.

[boagman]

Better than John Wick, but still utterly disposable.

Don't think I agree with that. I'd put them around the same rank. Neither is great, but they're both watchable. In fact, I'd probably give John Wick a slight edge.

[neorichieb1971]

I think the Equalizer and John Wick both borderline stupidness. Although its artsy and stylized I found myself wondering how far both movies were going to go in the realm of impossible odds. In the Equalizer he had the upper hand in the store when about 8-10 people were against him, yet even when there are one or two they are still fighting. In the real world a common sense person would just leave.

I watched BEAT on blu ray recently. Same premise, but at least the real outcome was inevitable and came to fruition.

[boagman]

I think the Equalizer and John Wick both borderline stupidness.

Oh, this is not in question. I'm not defending either one as being realistic or even possible. I'm talking about entertainment value, and I think that both are okay in that realm. Watchable, functional, and in some ways good, but overall, somewhat lacking. Denzel makes just about any drivel better, but he can't elevate Equalizer into something that it isn't. Reeves just basically isn't an actor...he's a pretty face who absolutely *needs* other great supporting actors around him, along with excellent writing/direction/production, to have his movie(s) succeed.

Having said that, both ring true in both of these movies.