Movies you've just watched

[Mischief Maker]

Casablanca is something I should have watched a long time ago. A real classic. I heard many of the lines before, but never seen the full movie. Bogart was excellent in it.

A key thing to keep in mind while watching this movie is that it came out while it was still an open question whether or not the US was going to get involved in WWII.

Thanks. That was one of the facts the person introducing the movie mentioned and it definitely helped me enjoy the movie more.

Well if you want another fantastic Bogart movie that benefits from side details, watch "The Maltese Falcon" and remember that this movie takes place during prohibition.

[BrianC]

Well if you want another fantastic Bogart movie that benefits from side details, watch "The Maltese Falcon" and remember that this movie takes place during prohibition.

cool. I have seen it recently. Excellent movie.

[Ed Oscuro]

Been meaning to see that one sometime.

Speaking of the "golden age," I saw The Rocketeer again - it's been so long that I had forgotten big stretches of it. I didn't really notice the somewhat cramped DVD presentation (16:9 area of the 4:3 area of a 16:9 screen, of course, yay) after a bit. I'm a bit baffled by most of the critical comments - the plot is the main thing that sticks out to me, with too many jokes and too much of an "origin story" angle when this would seem not to be the most interesting thing to do with the concept. Then again, that's arguably what makes it fun for many people, especially given its status as an intentional throwback to the good old days - and before the modern superhero movie formula caught on, for better or worse. The writing isn't totally bad - there's some great lines here, and a few period gags which work pretty well ("Hollywoodland" almost makes up for the incredibly off-target and simply bad "Neville Sinclair is going down in flames" scene). I don't think Campbell is miscast here, and his desperate waiter (well, desperate hero, really) routine is fun to watch, sort of - and people give Dalton credit for chewing up the scenery too.

[xxx1993]

Hardcore Henry is rather interesting, surprisingly. Wouldn't watch it for anything except ultra violence of course, although Sharlto Copley is excellent in it.

It's totally off the wall in premise, and I liked that; and totally un-hollywood in its FPP styling.

But most impressive is the budget... 2 million!! Unreal, it looks 50 times that. Just proves the efficiency outside of the wasteful Hollywood producer system.

definitely an unconventional flick. one of the most violent movies i've ever seen (particularly towards the end). Copley was awesome. enjoyed every scene with him. he reminds me a bit of peter sellers.

Hardcore Henry is quite possibly my personal favorite movie this year.

[NYN]

First time Dick Tracy.
Didn't do much for me overall, but I sure like some bits.
The prostatic faces of the mobster are very cool in a bizzare way.
Elfman is too close to his own work for Burton's first Batman. Music risis and I always expected some bat-shaped figure to crush through the ceiling window.
Madonna's a cold shower, tough. Best leave at that.
Some set pieces are almost to nostalgic to feel good.
The high mark for me anyway is Pacino's performance. His unflinching overacting is a blast and I was roaring with laughter. Thinking about it, I can't remember a originally comedic role of him. So his Big Boy here is the closest I ever came to see him like this.
These parts are sure fun.

[xxx1993]

I saw Independence Day: Resurgence! I don't care what the haters say, I actually thought it was a pretty good sequel. Now I'm gonna have to watch this every Fourth of July once it comes out on DVD and Blu-ray.

[atheistgod1999]

I saw Independence Day: Resurgence! I don't care what the haters say, I actually thought it was a pretty good sequel.

It must be easy to make a sequel that's "pretty good" compared to the original when I hear that the original is basically just an overrated CGI effects tech demo. Bet you're also excited for Fembusters next month.

Now I'm gonna have to watch this every Fourth of July once it comes out on DVD and Blu-ray.

Were you watching the original movie every July 4th (AKA our national holiday named "Independence Day"; 0/10 for the pun BTW) before now?

[xxx1993]

Yes, I do plan on watching "Fembusters" next month, along with Star Trek Beyond and especially Jason Bourne. And yes, I have watched the original Independence Day every Fourth of July before now.

[atheistgod1999]

Yes, I do plan on watching "Fembusters" next month, along with Star Trek Beyond and especially Jason Bourne. And yes, I have watched the original Independence Day every Fourth of July before now.

I bet if the movie titled "Ass" from Idiocracy were real, you'd watch that as well.

[xxx1993]

Yeah, I love crappy movies, so what? That's my thing. Besides, Ghostbusters isn't even my most anticipated movie for this summer. It's Jason Bourne. That, I'm looking forward to the most. Same for Mechanic: Resurrection.

[Obiwanshinobi]

First time Dick Tracy.
Didn't do much for me overall, but I sure like some bits.
The prostatic faces of the mobster are very cool in a bizzare way.
Elfman is too close to his own work for Burton's first Batman. Music risis and I always expected some bat-shaped figure to crush through the ceiling window.
Madonna's a cold shower, tough. Best leave at that.
Some set pieces are almost to nostalgic to feel good.
The high mark for me anyway is Pacino's performance. His unflinching overacting is a blast and I was roaring with laughter. Thinking about it, I can't remember a originally comedic role of him. So his Big Boy here is the closest I ever came to see him like this.
These parts are sure fun.

I'll say it again - 2002 Spider-Man was the first (and last to date) of those adaptations that (much to my surprise) worked for me (unless 1978 Superman holds up - I did not care enough to try re-watching it in times of internet). Dick Tracy did about as much for me as Hudson Hawk (both theatrically watched around the same time).

[GaijinPunch]

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

Saw this at a midnight showing here. Always forget what a long, dark tunnel this film is. Totally underrated, and misunderstood when it came out. The soundtrack is amazing.

[Skykid]

INDEPENDENCE DAY: RETURDENCE


A month ago I saw the original again:

Independence Day is as good as base-level Hollywood dreck usually gets. That is to say it's a competently handled 2.5 hour exercise in special effects and rhyming couplet cliché.

The script is appalling 70% of the time, with the remaining 30% being occasionally witty and knowingly amusing (newscasters broadcasting "Do not fire at the spaceship, you could inadvertently trigger an interstellar war" says it all really) and the Jewish humour is perfectly acceptable if you don't mind that kind of thing.

It's true the sentimentality is gag & worthy, the patriotism is appalling, and the "plot" developments are idiot-level absurd, but in terms of the handling of all this, it's perfectly fine.

Fast forward to 2016 and boy, how things have fallen. The first 30 minutes of Resurgence had me shifting uncomfortably in my seat as I was dealt blow after blow of horrific casting and performance, coupled with absurd scripting and mega plot nonsense, until I finally settled and took it as it was destined to be: a poor, unnecessary follow up to a movie that, for its time, was a special effects milestone of sorts, and not much else.

But that said, the original had a much better practice of pacing, settling on its characters just long enough for you to know who they are, and having some fun with them. Here the casting is a disaster bigger than a world ending alien spaceship:

WARNING: CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN HISTORY IS APPROACHING FAST



Wow, this woman took the cake. I can't remember the last time my jaw hit the floor for someone as awful as this. I watched in disbelief, thinking "This person got paid money to do this?" almost the whole time, before eventually laughing every time she was on screen or attempted to say a line. She's inaudible, beyond amateur (I've seen far superior amateurs) and frankly shocking.

Second to her would be this guy:

2nd PLACE



From his opening scene in the white house, you just know it's all wrong. And by that I mean the movie. I mean, this guy can't act for toffee. He smiles completely inappropriately and can't say a meaningful line to save his life. He's completely useless, butchers some of the dialogue they rehashed from the original, and is, for some inexplicable reason, meant to be walking in Will Smith's footsteps. Safe to say he doesn't: he's not even an ounce of the actor Smith is. And he's so gay. And I mean that both in a South Park "so gay" way, and that he may actually be a homosexual - I don't know. If he is a homosexual, all power to him, I hope he's out of the closet.

Either way, he's fucking shit beyond belief.

3rd PLACE



I did laugh my ass off at her Kamikaze scream toward the end (no spoiler). Safe to say, completely terrible, horribly bad, embarrassing etc etc. And she looks a lot better in this photo than she does in the movie.

4th PLACE



LOLOLOL Angelababy makes the Hallywood to appease Chinese paying customers, even though they're pretty sick of seeing her surgery face by now ("It's just make up!")
She doesn't even look Asian anymore, and in fairness, she wasn't the worst of the cast here - she was probably marginally better than the Asian-American guy who played her father. He was a joke.

As for the rest: Hemsworth actually handled himself fairly well. He's no Olivier, but I respect that he held his character in form, what little character there was - and of course Goldblum and Hirsch were the only actual actors in it. Oh, and Bill Pullman. He actually looked okay compared to some of the others.

Enough about acting though, what about the rest?

Pretty much complete shit. A lot of referencing the first movie, they wheeled out a near-death Robert Loggia for points, and generally speaking the cliche was maxed out here. The plot developments were less believable than the ridiculous plot, the dialogue was offensive at almost every turn, and handled equally so, and some of the CG was questionable.

Overall, it's not unwatchable. Some people in it, however, are. By the end I felt a kind of glimmer of what the first movie was about, but sans all the humour and knowing cheesiness. This was mostly a modern rehash with no real attempt to strike the notes that were worth hitting, and was mostly made from a manual. It feels uneventful and often boring, and afterwards I forgot I'd just watched a movie about two minutes later while using the restroom. "Oh yeah, I just watched a movie!"

The absolute best thing about it was:

Goldblum - 63 yrs old - looks absolutely amazing! Where's the fountain of eternal youth!
Judd Hirsch - 81! Jesus, he looks exactly the same as he did 20 years ago!
Pullman - 61! Great hair!


Some of these guys have done well where ageing is concerned. I was impressed.

[Mortificator]

Ouch! I liked the original Independence Day, but this new one sounds almost as painful as Godzilla.

Anton Yelchin's recent death got me watching a movie of his from a decade ago, Alpha Dog. I liked some of the performances - not Yelchin's - but I think the plot was hurt in being Inspired By True Events. Ben Foster's character, the most interesting, mostly disappeared for the second half and a final confrontation with Emile Hirsch's never materialized (probably because that's not what happened with the people their roles are based on).

[Skykid]

Finding Dory: First Pixar film I've really enjoyed since Toy Story 3. Not to say it's as good as the Toy Story franchise but it's right up there.

Same, although I haven't seen Monster's Uni and I heard it's great.

Saw Dory tonight and really enjoyed it. A little less creative than Pixar's finest, perhaps, but that's probably because they've established all their best punches a long time ago - not least with Finding Nemo. But it was great fun, glad I went to see it.

[Ixmucane2]

The Conjuring 2

From a true story, more or less. Ed and Lorraine Warren, professional ghost hunters, dive into the Enfield poltergeist case (London, 1977 or 1978).
The plot cannot avoid one of the common problems of stories involving real people: despite repeated and heavy-handed hints to the contrary, it's known that the Warrens are going to survive their English adventure without serious harm. Only their morale is at stake. On the whole, both main characters are too badass to have suspense and tension.

The supernatural elements are simple and coherent, with the right amount of unpleasant implications; scene by scene the film is appropriately scary but with a nice and unusual atmosphere of understatement and psychological stability (the enemy is clearly established as unusually powerful but unusually harmless).

Many nice touches, from the unhelpful ouija board to the creepy zoetrope. Great photography and nice special effects, consisting mostly of unnatural lighting changes, visions and stuff that moves on its own.

[NYN]

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Always forget what a long, dark tunnel this film is. Totally underrated, and misunderstood when it came out.

Dunno.
I've first seen this some time ago as a piece of Lynch, without any inside knowledge of the series.
And obviously I had no clue what it was all about.
That's fine enough for a Lynch, but is it good enough as a stand alone?
Last summer I closed the gab and watched the show and really enjoyed it.
So I watched Fire Walk again.
Made more sense, I guess. But I was robbed cold of the mysteria of Laura Palmer's last night on earth. That's a bummer somehow.
Maybe I'm torn.

[Some-Mist]

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

Saw this at a midnight showing here. Always forget what a long, dark tunnel this film is. Totally underrated, and misunderstood when it came out. The soundtrack is amazing.

I was gonna go to the music box to see that! but strapped and cash and had to pass on that and the midwest air guitar championship at subterranean

fire walk with me is fantastic if judged on its own outside of the tv series (though of course you need to watch the tv show first). It's also scared the crap out of me and was much scarier than I anticipated. fyi - if you didn't know, mark frost is releasing the secret history of twin peaks (book) in october which should be a good read before s3. I'm gonna try to rewatch the series, movie, and read the book before 2017.

[emphatic]

fyi - if you didn't know, mark frost is releasing the secret history of twin peaks (book) in october which should be a good read before s3. I'm gonna try to rewatch the series, movie, and read the book before 2017.

Hunt down a copy of Laura Palmer's Diary whydontcha. Well worth your time, at the both time sad and scary.

[Some-Mist]

fyi - if you didn't know, mark frost is releasing the secret history of twin peaks (book) in october which should be a good read before s3. I'm gonna try to rewatch the series, movie, and read the book before 2017.

Hunt down a copy of Laura Palmer's Diary whydontcha. Well worth your time, at the both time sad and scary.

I'll need to do that too. that's gonna be a lot of awesome twin peaks in the next half of the year

[Mischief Maker]

Just bear in mind that Twin Peaks, the first season at least, was meant as a satire of TV melodrama. Every implausible soap opera trope is jammed into the script then cranked up a notch and attached to jarringly inappropriate music cues. What's more the characters are watching the same show you are, that "Invitation to Love" show on their TVs. Then Lynch lost interest in the show and it all kind of unraveled.

There's no greater proof that Lynch didn't give a fuck than:

Spoiler

the fact that the entire character of Bob was created from a fuckup when a crew member accidentally got caught in the mirror in the pilot's closing shot.

[GaijinPunch]

Finding Dory: First Pixar film I've really enjoyed since Toy Story 3. Not to say it's as good as the Toy Story franchise but it's right up there.

Same, although I haven't seen Monster's Uni and I heard it's great.

Saw Dory tonight and really enjoyed it. A little less creative than Pixar's finest, perhaps, but that's probably because they've established all their best punches a long time ago - not least with Finding Nemo. But it was great fun, glad I went to see it.

Yeah, right on target. And I've not seen Monster's Inc. yet either. Perhaps I should.

Dunno.
I've first seen this some time ago as a piece of Lynch, without any inside knowledge of the series.
And obviously I had no clue what it was all about.
That's fine enough for a Lynch, but is it good enough as a stand alone?
Last summer I closed the gab and watched the show and really enjoyed it.
So I watched Fire Walk again.
Made more sense, I guess. But I was robbed cold of the mysteria of Laura Palmer's last night on earth. That's a bummer somehow.
Maybe I'm torn.

They showed it at this particular theater b/c it's one of the projectionists favorite films. He gave a brief intro saying, "I like it b/c it's not the show. I like it b/c it's not particularly funny. I like it b/c it's so dark". If you can't get behind those statements, you will likely be torn. It has a couple of cheesy moments but it has aged far better than the TV show (which I'm rewatching on Netflix). Not to say that the show isn't enjoyable now, but the soap opera elements are a bit too much sometimes. Movies with well thought out soundtracks go up several notches in my list as well, and this easily makes my top 10... just not sure where in there. Probably top 5 (as far as soundtracks go).

I was gonna go to the music box to see that! but strapped and cash and had to pass on that and the midwest air guitar championship at subterranean

It was worth it. Volume was cranked up -- and it was a 35mm print. Not some digital bullshit.

Note that Kanashimi no Belladonna is next weekend, and (drum roll) Mononoke Hime a few weeks later. Both subtitled.

fire walk with me is fantastic if judged on its own outside of the tv series (though of course you need to watch the tv show first). It's also scared the crap out of me and was much scarier than I anticipated.

Me too. Super creepy... especially since it's technically not horror, although could be.

fyi - if you didn't know, mark frost is releasing the secret history of twin peaks (book) in october which should be a good read before s3. I'm gonna try to rewatch the series, movie, and read the book before 2017.

Cool -- will check it out.

[Skykid]

Finding Dory: First Pixar film I've really enjoyed since Toy Story 3. Not to say it's as good as the Toy Story franchise but it's right up there.

Same, although I haven't seen Monster's Uni and I heard it's great.

Saw Dory tonight and really enjoyed it. A little less creative than Pixar's finest, perhaps, but that's probably because they've established all their best punches a long time ago - not least with Finding Nemo. But it was great fun, glad I went to see it.

Yeah, right on target. And I've not seen Monster's Inc. yet either. Perhaps I should.

It's great. Probably my favourite Pixar movie.

[lilmanjs]

Finding Dory
Yea, I know a few have posted about it here, but this was honestly to me a return to form. It didn't get totally stuck on one plot point like Brave did, and a couple others in recent years from Pixar. The little short before it was cute and sweet and well done. I liked that they mostly stuck with the same musical style as in Finding Nemo. Darker in nature than the first movie, and no mention of the butt, but was nice to see jokes that called back to the first movie and didn't feel awful. Great use of Sigourney Weaver in the movie as well!

[Durandal]

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/j ... ms-trilogy

The adaptation of the iconic videogame, first announced in 2014, is becoming a trilogy – but not for financial reasons, says producer Larry Kasanoff

Tetris, the 1980s video game about stacking blocks, is being made into not one, but three films, according to Empire.

Producer Larry Kasanoff is lining up a trilogy about the GameBoy favourite, which featured the simple but addictive formula of shuffling falling shapes into corresponding gaps.

“The story we conceived is so big,” said Kasanoff. “This isn’t us splitting the last one of our eight movies in two to wring blood out of the stone. It’s just a big story.”

Rumours about the narrative direction of a film about matching shapes have been tumbling through the internet since the project was first announced in 2014. Kasanoff says that speculation about the potential franchise’s content, including a prediction that anthropomorphised blocks will be going into battle, are way off target.

“We’re not going to have blocks with feet running around the movie,” he said. “But it’s great that people think so. It sets the bar rather low!”

No casting has been announced for the project as yet, though it’s understood that Kasanoff is looking to shoot in China and is planning to incorporate local stars. For now Kasanoff is not confirming which, if any, details have fallen into place. “No one has come remotely close to figuring out what we’re doing,” he said.

HOW THE FUCK

[soprano1]

Christ, why not just make a docu-drama or something of Alexey Pajitnov?
Speaking of which: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhwNTo_Yr3k

[atheistgod1999]

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/j ... ms-trilogy

The adaptation of the iconic videogame, first announced in 2014, is becoming a trilogy – but not for financial reasons, says producer Larry Kasanoff

Tetris, the 1980s video game about stacking blocks, is being made into not one, but three films, according to Empire.

Producer Larry Kasanoff is lining up a trilogy about the GameBoy favourite, which featured the simple but addictive formula of shuffling falling shapes into corresponding gaps.

“The story we conceived is so big,” said Kasanoff. “This isn’t us splitting the last one of our eight movies in two to wring blood out of the stone. It’s just a big story.”

Rumours about the narrative direction of a film about matching shapes have been tumbling through the internet since the project was first announced in 2014. Kasanoff says that speculation about the potential franchise’s content, including a prediction that anthropomorphised blocks will be going into battle, are way off target.

“We’re not going to have blocks with feet running around the movie,” he said. “But it’s great that people think so. It sets the bar rather low!”

No casting has been announced for the project as yet, though it’s understood that Kasanoff is looking to shoot in China and is planning to incorporate local stars. For now Kasanoff is not confirming which, if any, details have fallen into place. “No one has come remotely close to figuring out what we’re doing,” he said.

HOW THE FUCK

Can't wait to hear xxx1993's review.

[Lord Satori]

^

I liked it.

There you go.

Seriously, though. I can't imagine any way this is going to end up well. Are they even trying anymore?

[boagman]

"The Intern"

Wow. And I do mean *WOW*. Rarely have I ever seen such a saccharin-ey mess of a movie. That Robert DeNiro is now doing chick flicks is such a sad, sad thing. The only enjoyment I got out of this movie was the fact that I was watching it with my cousin and we were openly and actively making fun of so many ridiculous parts of it that we were able to entertain ourselves quite nicely. The movie simply acted as a delivery system for new, very stupid statements by us.

Don't watch this drivel. The story/script feels like it was written by Elmo from Sesame Street. All characters are strictly one-dimensional.

This is just plain *lousy*. Skykid would be absolutely right if he hated it.

[xxx1993]

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/j ... ms-trilogy

The adaptation of the iconic videogame, first announced in 2014, is becoming a trilogy – but not for financial reasons, says producer Larry Kasanoff

Tetris, the 1980s video game about stacking blocks, is being made into not one, but three films, according to Empire.

Producer Larry Kasanoff is lining up a trilogy about the GameBoy favourite, which featured the simple but addictive formula of shuffling falling shapes into corresponding gaps.

“The story we conceived is so big,” said Kasanoff. “This isn’t us splitting the last one of our eight movies in two to wring blood out of the stone. It’s just a big story.”

Rumours about the narrative direction of a film about matching shapes have been tumbling through the internet since the project was first announced in 2014. Kasanoff says that speculation about the potential franchise’s content, including a prediction that anthropomorphised blocks will be going into battle, are way off target.

“We’re not going to have blocks with feet running around the movie,” he said. “But it’s great that people think so. It sets the bar rather low!”

No casting has been announced for the project as yet, though it’s understood that Kasanoff is looking to shoot in China and is planning to incorporate local stars. For now Kasanoff is not confirming which, if any, details have fallen into place. “No one has come remotely close to figuring out what we’re doing,” he said.

HOW THE FUCK

Can't wait to hear xxx1993's review.

I usually don't watch movies based on video games. Resident Evil is a possible exception, however.