Movies you've just watched

[Xyga]

Ultimatum has one of the best 'normal fights' I've seen in a movie, martial arts stuff aside of course because there's way too many cuts for obvious reasons.
Thing is I hate when action movies have too many easy popcorn enemies à la Bond, so that noname (actually 'Desh') damn tough motherfucker hitman/assassin is very welcome.

[Mischief Maker]

Watched Armageddon a few days back during a flight. Incredible, was way better than anything I'd have expected out of Michael Bay. Definitely worth watching, probably a 4/5. Surprisingly emotional and twisty. Was expecting the 2h+ runtime to wear thin, but it really didn't.

They say alcoholic beverages are much more powerful in the pressurized cabin of an airplane.

[boagman]

Ultimatum has one of the best 'normal fights' I've seen in a movie, martial arts stuff aside of course because there's way too many cuts for obvious reasons.
Thing is I hate when action movies have too many easy popcorn enemies à la Bond, so that noname (actually 'Desh') damn tough motherfucker hitman/assassin is very welcome.

This is one (*just* one) of the major problems that "Legacy" has. All three "real" Bourne movies have actual enemies that, for the most part, do have a bit of story of their own. There are exceptions, but just about every Treadstone character (with the singular[?]) exception of the machine-gun-wielding guy who attacks them in the Paris apartment) has a bit of story, interaction, or development.

It should be said, in reference to the earlier question of whether I like the first Bourne movie better, one key aspect that I do, indeed, like better about the first movie is the lack of Shaky Camera Syndrome during action/fight scenes that follow in the second and third movies. I get annoyed with moviemakers (and it's not exclusive to this series AT ALL) that just edit and jerk the camera around so much that you honestly can't tell what the heck is happening, or more realistically: what the heck just happened. Fights are jumbled messes, and in the end, oh look, the main guy won. In the first movie, it was more clear, and in the ensuing movies, it wasn't nearly as clear. I think they made a mistake in this area.

But the writing and the acting? They're still spot-on for me. Except "Legacy", which was awful. Really awful.

[Skykid]

The Bourne movies are OK passable watchable forgettable spy thrillers with more reality-free superman antics than a James Bond flick.

The first is the best, the second two sporting similar level pros and cons. The shaky camera is absurd, not clever, and by the third movie looks as though it's been handled by a paraplegic with a chronic inner ear deficiency.

The writing and acting throughout range from OK Hollywood acceptable, to poor. There are no masterful moments of dialogue or performance. Matt Damon is 70% plank of wood, Paul Greengrass is a totally average director, and according to my brother, who worked on the third movie "he has no idea what he's doing, he just makes it up as he goes along", which is par for the course these days, so we won't hold it against him.

In all honesty they don't deserve much talking about once the credits are rolling.

[Mischief Maker]

I get annoyed with moviemakers (and it's not exclusive to this series AT ALL) that just edit and jerk the camera around so much that you honestly can't tell what the heck is happening, or more realistically: what the heck just happened. Fights are jumbled messes, and in the end, oh look, the main guy won.

Among the many achievements of The Dark Knight was a moment of accidental self-parody of Nolan's action editing when Batman kidnaps the Mob Boss from a nightclub and literally has a fight scene in front of a strobe light.

[boagman]

I get annoyed with moviemakers (and it's not exclusive to this series AT ALL) that just edit and jerk the camera around so much that you honestly can't tell what the heck is happening, or more realistically: what the heck just happened. Fights are jumbled messes, and in the end, oh look, the main guy won.

Among the many achievements of The Dark Knight was a moment of accidental self-parody of Nolan's action editing when Batman kidnaps the Mob Boss from a nightclub and literally has a fight scene in front of a strobe light.

Wow...I actually don't recall that! I'll have to watch it again in the future and pay more careful attention. Is that more towards the beginning?

[BIL]

No, it's towards the middle when Dent cocks the hammer because it's time 4 action / Bats kidnaps and then shoves Mafia Kingpin Giorno DeCoscarello DiLuigi off a roof. Great scenes, those.

Haha, it'd have been so rad if James Gandolfini had played the mobster (edit: he was in contention, also, god rest he soul) and gone off that ledge. Crunch might've been more of a hideous crack!

Among the many achievements of The Dark Knight was a moment of accidental self-parody of Nolan's action editing when Batman kidnaps the Mob Boss from a nightclub and literally has a fight scene in front of a strobe light.

Only decent fight in the entire movie too, lmao

[boagman]

The writing and acting throughout range from OK Hollywood acceptable, to poor.

I disagree entirely about the writing/script, especially in the third, but throughout the series, it's well-written, and I think they do a good job sussing out the characters.

And if you truly believe that the Bourne movies do more Superman schtick than James Bond movies, you really, *really* need to brush up on your full Bond library. Hyperbole, indeed.

[boagman]

No, it's towards the middle when Dent cocks the hammer because it's time 4 action / Bats kidnaps and then shoves Mafia Kingpin Giorno DeCoscarello DiLuigi off a roof. Great scenes, those.

Haha, it'd have been so rad if James Gandolfini had played the mobster and gone off that ledge. Crunch might've been more of a hideous crack!

Among the many achievements of The Dark Knight was a moment of accidental self-parody of Nolan's action editing when Batman kidnaps the Mob Boss from a nightclub and literally has a fight scene in front of a strobe light.

Only decent fight in the entire movie too, lmao

Well, I'm drawing a complete blank on it. I guess a rewatch is in order.

[BIL]

That is to say, as much as I enjoy TDK, its fight scenes are generally shitty and that's the least worst. It's a short sequence in which Eric Roberts pwns his date with a sullen putdown ("Can we go someplace we can hear each other talk?!" "What makes you think I wanna hear you talk..." "Whaaat?!"), before raising an eyebrow at the sight of Batman beltscrolling his way along a catwalk while punching various thugs. There is some sense of men being violently beaten instead of vaguely rubbed on.

[Skykid]

The writing and acting throughout range from OK Hollywood acceptable, to poor.

I disagree entirely about the writing/script, especially in the third, but throughout the series, it's well-written, and I think they do a good job sussing out the characters.

And if you truly believe that the Bourne movies do more Superman schtick than James Bond movies, you really, *really* need to brush up on your full Bond library. Hyperbole, indeed.

Exaggeration possibly, not hyperbole.

To give the Bourne movies their fair comprehensive dues, they're nothing special. Like a soap opera with more money and a cameraman on methamphetamine. Worth a watch if you have nothing better to do.

[S_Fang]

It covered the race and about how much of the race is actually the game (corruption) that goes on the rest of the year in order to curry favor with the other riders in order to win the race.

It's crooked as fuck and everyone knows it, so it seems fair. Kind of like if every character in a fighting game is broken in some way.

Typical of our nation: buy favours and votes in echange of perks since 1870.

[soprano1]

Poltergeist (1982)
For a horror movie, it sure has great comedy scenes, especially the ones with the eldest daughter. The little girl was creepier than the ghosts, and the medium with the helium voice was odd as hell.

[Mischief Maker]

No, it's towards the middle when Dent cocks the hammer because it's time 4 action / Bats kidnaps and then shoves Mafia Kingpin Giorno DeCoscarello DiLuigi off a roof. Great scenes, those.

Haha, it'd have been so rad if James Gandolfini had played the mobster and gone off that ledge. Crunch might've been more of a hideous crack!

Among the many achievements of The Dark Knight was a moment of accidental self-parody of Nolan's action editing when Batman kidnaps the Mob Boss from a nightclub and literally has a fight scene in front of a strobe light.

Only decent fight in the entire movie too, lmao

Well, I'm drawing a complete blank on it. I guess a rewatch is in order.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMiEhOkKVAs

[dan76]

Just sat through Gone Girl. Jaw-droppingly bad. Fincher is one of the most overrated directors of all time. 149 minutes of my life shat away.

[BrianC]

Saw Secret Life of Pets. Very cute and fun movie. The Minions short before it was hilarious, as well.

[Obiwanshinobi]

The Hunger (1983) with my mom. She found it "disgusting". Oh well.

[GaijinPunch]

Interview excerpts with John McTiernan

Slight spoiler: he hates modern blockbusters.

[Stevens]

With all this talk of poorly directed fight sequences I feel compelled to leave this here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHt6sYe9w9M

Not even the best fight in the movie either, that would be the six minute masterpiece which follows it.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Re-watched the beginning of Betty Blue (couldn't bear the whole fucker yet). I keep wondering what on Earth could have gone so wrong (off-screen narration is not nearly the worst of it).

[Skykid]

Interview excerpts with John McTiernan

Slight spoiler: he hates modern blockbusters.

On superhero movies:

"They’re making all the kids in the world think that they’ll never be important enough to have a film made about their life. And it’s a unique moment in the history of cinema, it didn’t used to be like this. A kid used to be able to learn how a man or a woman should act by watching films. Morals. Comics make heroes for businesses."

I do have a lot of respect for that man *sheds tear*

It's absolutely true what he says, and a topic unto itself; but to be brief there really are no 'real heroes' in movies anymore, or at least none with any ethical or real-world moral values. John McClane was indeed a big time cold-blooded murderer, but being an average joe nobody cares much about, you always felt he was putting his ass on the line and bullets in foreheads for the greater good and the safety of innocent people. He may have a hell of a body count to his name, but he's also an aspirational everyman character.

And, despite what some man babies are decrying as "toxic masculinity" because they were weaned on My Little Pony and feminists stamping on their nutsacks with stilettos, the likes of Rick Deckard, John Rambo, Indy Jones etc, did evoke encouraging role model virtues for young males.

[atheistgod1999]

The Mask (1994).

I bought the Blu-Ray on Amazon almost a year ago but hadn't watched it until now because I thought it was just an alright comedy movie; after all, how could the premise of a mask turning a guy into a real-life god-mode cartoon character possibly be that good?

Holy fuck was I wrong.

The effects blended in near-perfectly, characters were good, plot was well-paced, and most importantly: the movie was actually pretty funny.

9/10.

[Mischief Maker]

the likes of Rick Deckard, [...] did evoke encouraging role model virtues for young males.

Um... I mean yeah he was definitely a manly character, but I wouldn't call him a hero. And definitely not a role model! The climax of the movie is:

Spoiler

When malfunctioning killbot Roy Batty outdoes him at morality, showing a level of mercy that Deckard never would have, despite his own disgust over the job of Blade Running. Roy Batty showed more humanity than the human protagonist.

[Sinful]

The Mask (1994).

I bought the Blu-Ray on Amazon almost a year ago but hadn't watched it until now because I thought it was just an alright comedy movie; after all, how could the premise of a mask turning a guy into a real-life god-mode cartoon character possibly be that good?

Holy fuck was I wrong.

The effects blended in near-perfectly, characters were good, plot was well-paced, and most importantly: the movie was actually pretty funny.

9/10.

Yeah, and Cameron Diaz was smoking in her debut;


Her in that movie and Something about Mary was the hottest I remember Cameron Diaz being. Speaking of Cameron Diaz, I did enjoy her and Tom Cruise in Night and Day I seen somewhat recently.

[Skykid]

the likes of Rick Deckard, [...] did evoke encouraging role model virtues for young males.

Um... I mean yeah he was definitely a manly character, but I wouldn't call him a hero. And definitely not a role model! The climax of the movie is:

Spoiler

When malfunctioning killbot Roy Batty outdoes him at morality, showing a level of mercy that Deckard never would have, despite his own disgust over the job of Blade Running. Roy Batty showed more humanity than the human protagonist.

Yeah, Deckard is a bit of an antihero, but he put it all out there to ultimately save a girl who isn't real, who won't live, in the name of love. I'm not sure he's the perfect role model, but the lowliness and relatively meagre life of the character again presents a real world shmuck eventually coming to his senses and making right. There's something to be taken from that.

He didn't defeat communism like Rocky though!

[Leandro]

Deckard is an apathetic leading character as they come... There's not anything particularly admirable about any of his actions, and there has no need to be, either. The soul of the movie is contained in that very scene, and that's good enough.

----

Cameron Diaz was really breathtaking in the Mask, also reminded me of Salma Hayek beauty in From Drusk Till Dawn

[Vexorg]

The Secret Life of Pets: ***

Easily much better than Illumination's last film, the rather average Minions. Definitely a kids film (my wife and I saw it in a theater that was mostly full of kids), but I'm sure any pet owner who sees it will recognize the behaviors of their own pets in the various characters, and there's plenty of slapstick action to go around. That said, the plot was rather thin and the film was definitely on the short side (even with trailers and a Minions short at the beginning we were still out of the theater in about an hour and 45 minutes) giving it the feel of something that was meant to be more ambitious but either ran out of time or fell victim to cutbacks.

[xxx1993]

The Ghostbusters 2016 reboot wasn't as bad as everyone said. Hell, people in my theater found it funny because I heard them laughing. Especially when Patty starts attacking a possessed Abby and saying, "The power of Patty compels you!"

[atheistgod1999]

The Ghostbusters 2016 reboot wasn't as bad as everyone said. Hell, people in my theater found it funny because I heard them laughing. Especially when Patty starts attacking a possessed Abby and saying, "The power of Patty compels you!"

The only people who were in that theater were people who wanted to see it. No one who disliked the trailer was in that theater. In other words, everyone in that theater had the same taste in movies as you.

[cave hermit]

I have an irrational hatred of ghostbusters 2016 as well, but have you thought maybe these kinds of posts are part of why people dislike you?