Movies you've just watched

[Obiwanshinobi]

Look up some dictionary if you must know what I meant by vis comica; I don't think it can be given or taken - either you have it, or you don't. Ask any actor what's the most demanding task in this line of work and they just might answer - being amusing is.
Now, I doubt people who can't possibly be funny even exist, but I'm afraid this spark lies buried deep within certain individuals and I feel some actors, performers and their ilk struggle to bring it forth too despertately for their own good.

Eva (2011, Spain) - MUST see if I say so; one grenade of a movie. Granted, I got to watch it not expecting much (bought a cheap DVD on a whim) and part of impact it had on me is due to my age (for the same reason I find Frantic so touching nowadays), but all that really matters now is that it worked its charm on me.
Easily the most powerful "hard" SF I've seen in recent years.

[Lord Satori]

Saw 10 Cloverfield Lane. I liked it, but since the theater had the speaker settings tweaked to the point sounds that were loud in a specific way pierced your ears like a knife.

I feel like if they decide to make another one, it won't take as long this time.

[iconoclast]

Tetsuo, the Iron Man - Very good movie, but my favorite thing about it is probably its soundtrack. It's perfect. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z10AlFDQfY

Let's talk spoilers:

Spoiler

My interpretation is Tetsuo the salaryman is closeted gay or bi, the metal fetishist was actually his secret lover who he dumps for his girlfriend and a normal life, and the robot cancer is AIDS (possibly contracted through sharing dirty needles as symbolized by the self-surgery scene). By the time his ex-lover shows up with the news about the disease (arriving with a bouquet of flowers) Tetsuo's already infected his girlfriend (sewer drill). The bio-mecha tank at the end is AIDS personified, tearing its way through 80s Japan thanks to secret closeted relationships just like Tetsuo's.

That's... an interesting interpretation of the film.

I pretty much took it at face value.

Spoiler

Tetsuo runs over the Metal Fetishist and tries to dispose of the body, assuming he's dead. Shortly thereafter, he starts turning into some type of scrap metal monster. Orchestrating this transformation was the Fetishist's way of getting revenge, before they decide to team up and destroy the world.

But there could be something to what you're saying, considering some of the imagery.

[Skykid]

Look up some dictionary if you must know what I meant by vis comica; I don't think it can be given or taken - either you have it, or you don't. Ask any actor what's the most demanding task in this line of work and they just might answer - being amusing is.
Now, I doubt people who can't possibly be funny even exist, but I'm afraid this spark lies buried deep within certain individuals and I feel some actors, performers and their ilk struggle to bring it forth too despertately for their own good.

I know what vis comica refers to and I'll reiterate: if you think Steve Martin lacks comic power you don't really understand anything about acting and performance at all.

That said, being polar opposite wrong about just about everything is kind of your motif and I respect your unflappable determination never to let your standards break form.

Any response is appreciated as long as you don't mention Killing Zoe - that being the current thing you're on a trip about tying in to any and every non-related conversation of the moment.

Personally I'm dying to hear about why Die Hard sucks, and I think you'd be doing yourself a great justice by letting us know why. Please do give us the critique.

[Ixmucane2]

Hail, Caesar!

Good but not great.

The story of a slice of a few days in the life of Eddie Mannix, "head of physical production" (i.e. troubleshooter) for a Hollywood studio around 1951, and his troublesome actors and directors is quite weak, clearly reflecting a desire to fit together various examples of various film genres, of the sort of people who made them, and of what happened to them; the apparent main plot (Eddie recovers the lead actor of the almost finished worthless peplum Hail, Caesar!, who's been kidnapped by communist screenwriters) unravels back to business as usual for everyone, and the other plots are unimportant and unrelated.
There are still many good scenes (for example, the funny but philosophical discussion about the religious side of Jesus in Hail, Caesar!), good characters (starting from Mannix) and a coherent but weak general theme (reflecting on the artistic and social value of cinema from the point of view of the assholes making it).

Some horrible, worse-than-nothing grade CGI special effects. I guess the Coen Brothers are too old school, or too unfamiliar with complex special effects, or too attached to some delightfully over the top designs, to understand how and why certain things (e.g. water sprays) just don't look good without a high budget.

On the other hand photography is excellent (and very varied, with several movies within the movie and many indoor and outdoor locations).

[options]

Strange Days

first time seeing this. surprised and saddened to see it's more relevant now than when it was released regarding issues of police violence against people of color* and the police state-ization of American cities.

*

Spoiler

(on camera, no less)

[BIL]

The Hateful Eight I'm ambivalent on Tarantino. However, I adore classically brutal, indulgent spaghetti ala Leone/Peckinpah, Rope-style plays on film, and Carpenter's The Thing. So the usual comic book gore/snark and pop cultural signposting worked a treat here. Loved every minute, enormously overlong though it is. All cast were first-rate - particularly enjoyed Walton Goggins, being a fan of his from The Shield but never having seen him in a movie lead.

spoily spoily

Spoiler

Any other Thing fans feel like the ghoulishly distended howling when Sam Jackson and Tim Roth get blasted was deliberate? Took me right back to Outpost 31, that.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Strange Days

first time seeing this. surprised and saddened to see it's more relevant now than when it was released regarding issues of police violence against people of color* and the police state-ization of American cities.

*

Spoiler

(on camera, no less)

The police saves the day, though. It's ye olde "good tsar, evil boyars" li'l sweet tale in the end. Take note that

Spoiler

all civil servants who break any law in the movie get severely punished by dashing vigilantes first, then executed in public by fellows cops, humiliated

with their duty baton, taser and firearms, no less. So the healthy to the core conuntry and its people have cleansed themselves all over again.

Some horrible, worse-than-nothing grade CGI special effects. I guess the Coen Brothers are too old school, or too unfamiliar with complex special effects, or too attached to some delightfully over the top designs, to understand how and why certain things (e.g. water sprays) just don't look good without a high budget.

Have yet to watch it, but I would suspect these to be made poor-looking on purpose. I can't find the title of Neo-Noir-style comedy film starring Bryan Brown (I think) as private detective in 1st Century's Rome after Nero's demise, but special effects in that one looked like a parody to me so maybe the brothers' intention was similar here.

[Skykid]

Strange Days is such a piece of shit movie - the epitome of everything that sucked about 90s Hollywood - I've got no idea how the title can be mentioned with any kind of reverence whatsoever. It's awful.

[options]

didn't say it was particularly good, just that stuff it touched on was eerily timely considering the kinds of things happening in America right now. I didn't know what to expect before I watched it, but I wasn't expecting that. but I agree that it wasn't a particularly great film.

[MintyTheCat]

Watched HARDWARE again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDaFJ0K ... TdJx2ahNXQ

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099740/

And Dead & Buried:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082242/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

[GaijinPunch]

I own Hardware on BluRay. Nice one that flew under the radar.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I don't think much of the music it illustrates, but otherwise liked Brave the movie by Richard Stanley who directed Hardware.

[Mischief Maker]

Some horrible, worse-than-nothing grade CGI special effects. I guess the Coen Brothers are too old school, or too unfamiliar with complex special effects, or too attached to some delightfully over the top designs, to understand how and why certain things (e.g. water sprays) just don't look good without a high budget.

Maybe it was a meta commentary on current Hollywood and its over reliance on CGI. Whenever I see CGI blood in movies I'm dumbfounded. How can CGI work be cheaper than corn syrup and food coloring?

[GaijinPunch]

Maybe it was a meta commentary on current Hollywood and its over reliance on CGI. Whenever I see CGI blood in movies I'm dumbfounded. How can CGI work be cheaper than corn syrup and food coloring?

If you read the trivia on IMDB about No Country for Old Men, they claim they had to re-evaluate costs (or something like that) b/c the fake blood they used was like $800 a gallon.

[Ixmucane2]

Some horrible, worse-than-nothing grade CGI special effects. I guess the Coen Brothers are too old school, or too unfamiliar with complex special effects, or too attached to some delightfully over the top designs, to understand how and why certain things (e.g. water sprays) just don't look good without a high budget.

Maybe it was a meta commentary on current Hollywood and its over reliance on CGI. Whenever I see CGI blood in movies I'm dumbfounded. How can CGI work be cheaper than corn syrup and food coloring?

There is no blood; the worst offender is a pool dance number with Scarlett Johansson who doesn't appear wet (which might or might not be an intentional allusion to unrealistic non-effects) and a mechanical whale that makes copious ugly CGI water sprays, which wouldn't look out of place in Sharknado. I can't see how making water sprays by actually spraying water could have been difficult or particularly expensive.

[Ixmucane2]

Kung Fu Panda 3

The story is always the same (someone wants to conquer China by defeating kung fu masters), and it feels old and hastily told despite some twists and escalations (unlike his clearly doomed counterparts in the first two films, the villain is almost the greatest kung fu master of all time, and he takes Po from competence to transcendence).

I don't think Dragonball, with which there are many specific similarities, is a good direction for the franchise to go; at this point credible threats are reduced to dragons and other celestial beings. Or maybe badass wizards, but Marvel Civil War: Kung Fu Panda vs Dr Strange is an even worse direction.

On the other hand, art quality compensates screenplay weaknesses. Colors and lighting are astounding, and there is an excellent use of different graphical styles: CGI as usual, faux chinese ink drawings, flat shaded cartoons, etc.

Also, one of the best training montages ever, featuring a whole panda village.

[Vexorg]

A couple I saw this week:

Ant-Man: **1/2
Definitely one of the more average of the MCU movies, but still reasonably watchable as long as you aren't taking it too seriously. Overall, I thought the Honest Trailer nailed it pretty well for this one.

Zootopia: ****

Probably the best Disney animated film I've seen in a while, and considerably better than Big Hero 6 was in my opinion (and I actually liked Big Hero 6 too.) They take what should be an absurd premise and actually make it compelling. The setting of Zootopia is one of the better ones I've seen in a while. It makes the San Fransokyo setting of Big Hero 6 pale in comparison, and it makes the setting of Tomorrowland look like the dumpster fire that it was in comparison (but let us never speak of that movie ever again.) I'm sure Disney will milk the living daylights out of the franchise and run it into the ground soon enough, but for now they did a really good job with this one. If I had one complaint, the resolution of the plot felt just a little too recycled (see additional comments in spoiler text:)

Spoiler

To me, it felt like they borrowed just a little too much from the ending to Monsters Inc for this one. It works in context, but still feels recycled.

[EmperorIng]

Eraser

At this point Arnie had basically completely jumped the shark (or in this movie's case, the crocodile), but this was stupidly entertaining - a competent workman's Commando, with the 90s over-reliance of CGI. The movie felt ridiculous, even for a Schwarzenegger movie (a passenger plane pulling a U-Turn in a desperately dumb attempt to... ram Arnold to death?), and the one-liners were tacky, but the movie was exciting and fun, keeping pace with action set-pieces and comic relief. [EDIT: I also have to preen and give my praise to director Chuck Russel (dir. Elm Street 3, The Blob '88, and... The Scorpion King?!?!) as a local hometown boy who made good.]

I wonder if End of Days is worth a shot...

[BIL]

The Blob '88

Great little movie, that! Forms a nice informal trilogy of quality 1950s->80s horror remakes with The Thing and The Fly.

[Mero]

+1 for The Blob ('88). Haven't seen it in many years but I can still remember the memorable scenes. The 50's original is pretty good as well I seen to remember.

[S_Fang]

Watched The Untochables with my family and had a blast.
Despite being slightly fictionalized, the direction, the music (Morricone is such a genious) and the cast of actors made the vision a blast.

[MintyTheCat]

The Blob '88

Great little movie, that! Forms a nice informal trilogy of quality 1950s->80s horror remakes with The Thing and The Fly.

A definite favourite of mine. Very good good film.

[Opus131]

Carpenter's The Thing is one of those rare cases where the remake is as good if not better than the original. Howard Hawks was all about the characters and the dialog, and not so much about whatever the film was actually supposed to be (in this case, horror). So if you want a "comedy conversation piece", with witty dialogue and whimsical characters, you watch the original. If you want an actual horror film, you watch the remake.

[GaijinPunch]

Carpenter's The Thing is one of those rare cases where the remake is as good if not better than the original. Howard Hawks was all about the characters and the dialog, and not so much about whatever the film was actually supposed to be (in this case, horror). So if you want a "comedy conversation piece", with witty dialogue and whimsical characters, you watch the original. If you want an actual horror film, you watch the remake.

There's very little consensus in this forum, but just about everyone here has concurred at one time or another of what you just wrote. I generally watch this film about once a year, and am never less than amazed by it.

[GaijinPunch]

Pee Wee's Big Holiday

It was exactly as I hoped it would be. Very entertaining, full of creativity, and some good (albeit somewhat pedantic) laughs. One of the few reboots I've seen that is true to it's original form.

[lilmanjs]

Sabotage
What a messed up movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger as a DEA agent leading one of the best teams. Money is stolen after the main bust at the start. Lots of twists and turns but it sure was messed up with how everything kept going down. Hard to really say what its about without giving the entire movie away.

[Skykid]

The Revenant

It was ok.

Far too slow in places, it drew out a plot that was wafer-lite far longer than necessary to ever really grip the viewer beyond the opening thirty minutes where most of said plot occurs.

Best cinematography is a given, although the landscapes were a contributing factor in the win; but the technical virtuosity in the long takes was certainly well done.

The director unfortunately was a little self-indulgent with his artistry, with much of the movie feeling a little like an unabashed showcase of his technical talent, and less where the actual structural elements are created to draw you in.

No one gives a fuck about Oscars anyway - and rightly so - and if I were DiCaprio I'd be a bit pissed that they gave it for this role: the cliché epic Oscar award - rather than the genuinely inspired performances in Wolf of Wall Street or Django. He was still good and certainly took it in with physical gusto, but I feel as though he's demonstrated better versatility and range elsewhere.

Tom Hardy, again, never gets into second gear. Actually, the man seemingly doesn't have a second gear, and while not terrible, always seems more ego than craft and moments away from becoming unresponsive.

Some of the dialogue was pancake flat and there were parts of the backstory that were poorly written to a fault. Especially where DiCaprio reveals "I just killed a man who was trying to kill my son". What an unimaginative cop out that was.

Anyway, this one is worth seeing once if only in an IMAX, and for its visual beauty and bleak inhospitality. But if you're looking for something with motion and plot it might not serve you too well.

[neorichieb1971]

The Revenant

It was ok.

Far too slow in places, it drew out a plot that was wafer-lite far longer than necessary to ever really grip the viewer beyond the opening thirty minutes where most of said plot occurs.

Best cinematography is a given, although the landscapes were a contributing factor in the win; but the technical virtuosity in the long takes was certainly well done.

The director unfortunately was a little self-indulgent with his artistry, with much of the movie feeling a little like an unabashed showcase of his technical talent, and less where the actual structural elements are created to draw you in.

No one gives a fuck about Oscars anyway - and rightly so - and if I were DiCaprio I'd be a bit pissed that they gave it for this role: the cliché epic Oscar award - rather than the genuinely inspired performances in Wolf of Wall Street or Django. He was still good and certainly took it in with physical gusto, but I feel as though he's demonstrated better versatility and range elsewhere.

Tom Hardy, again, never gets into second gear. Actually, the man seemingly doesn't have a second gear, and while not terrible, always seems more ego than craft and moments away from becoming unresponsive.

Some of the dialogue was pancake flat and there were parts of the backstory that were poorly written to a fault. Especially where DiCaprio reveals "I just killed a man who was trying to kill my son". What an unimaginative cop out that was.

Anyway, this one is worth seeing once if only in an IMAX, and for its visual beauty and bleak inhospitality. But if you're looking for something with motion and plot it might not serve you too well.

If a movie serves me well I consider that a 10/10 movie. If it passes by 1-3 hours thats ok. Not many movies turn out to be anything but time crunchers.

[Skykid]

It's a solid 7.