Movies you've just watched

[Skykid]

But he's such a useless actor. I can't unsee it.

[charlie chong]

you need to watch men at work skykid
charlie sheen occupies much the same space as gary busey,dennis hopper and michael moriarty in that they only seem to be able to play one intense flamboyant overacted character type.i am definitely a fan of all of them
if you want to see bad acting in a vietnam film then watch hamburger hill.

[Skykid]

I've seen HH, and remember only that it was pretty entertaining.

I like Gary Busey and Hopper (sometimes), but Sheen isn't an actor. He just doesn't know what he's doing. Martin Sheen - now there's an actor. He's awesome.

[emphatic]

if you want to see bad acting in a vietnam film then watch hamburger hill.

Seen Platoon Leader? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnHbVCzuofc

[spadgy]

I actually liked Sheen in that, it's my favourite Vietnam film by a long way, possibly my favourite war film.

I can't recommend a certain film enough for those with a liking for Vietnam and war films in general. It got a couple of things like a Sundance nomination on release in 1989, and then seemed to slip off the radar.

It's called 84 Charlie Mopic (called 84C Mopic in some regions), and seems somewhat underrated, and released only sporadically over the years. It's super low budget, and one of the very earliest example of the 'found footage' filmmaking style made famous by Blair Witch.

The title refers to a mission name ('Mopic' meaning 'motion picture') when a military cameraman is sent out with a squad in Vietnam to make a training video; things turn out rather dramatically. The whole thing is POV from one character, and as a result is very close proximity... near claustrophobic.

It's my favourite war film ever, and if you like Platoon, do give it a go.


I, meanwhile, watched Dial M for Murder last night. Doubt I need to say much about that one. Not many rooms in it.

[adanrmackey]

The last one I watched was the hobbit. It was good as expected.

[Moniker]

The Lady Vanishes (1938) [Netflix]

Just finished it. One of the few Hitchcock films I hadn't seen yet. Bugger was freaking prolific. Largely a very good whodunit, although a lot of the first half or so had a bit of the eerie psychological stuff we've come to expect and love. Script is very funny at times - I actually LOLed - and that's really saying something for a prewar film.

Throughout, there are definitely shades of the expectation of widespread war (given the date, this is probably planned and intentional). More and more interesting, now that I'm thinking on it beyond the plot resolution.

Anywho, do you really need an excuse or recommendation to see anything by Hitchcock?

[drauch]

I've always loved Hitchcock's more humorous features. Lady Vanishes and The Trouble With Harry are probably my two favorites for said reasons. Harry doesn't receive the love it deserves. A gorgeous dark comedy! Technicolor dreams.

[replayme]

Robocop (2013): pretty damn impressive actually. Much better then I expected it to be, especially after Empire's 2/5 review. Unlike a lot of traditional Robocop fans, I walked in wanting the film to be good. And it was thoroughly entertaining. Yeah, so what if isn't as violent, or as satirical. It's got Gary Oldman and Sam L Jackson in it. That's the only barometer I need. 4/5.

Dallas Buyers Club. Matthew M-whatsisname has really impressed me in his last few films. His cameo role in The Wolf of Wall Street was pretty good, and DBC continues his impressive run. As you may know, the film is centred around an AIDS victim and how he goes about prolonging his life. DBC has pretty good performances from all the main actors, and the story is also handled in an incredibly respectful way that pays tribute to all the people that lived (and died) through the AIDS epidemic in the 80's. 4.5/5.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

It's been said that the director of the Robocop (2014) flick didn't want to retread on the classic 1987 movie of the same name and takes a different approach/method to tell the tale. Sure, the original MPAA rating of an X was given to the '87 RC flick upon it's inital screening by the MPAA screeners...it had to be toned down to gain the more acceptable R rating for a nationwide theatrical release or else, it wouldn't be shown at most American theatrical chains whom absolutely refused to show such X-rated films anyways (with the exception of some art movie houses at that current point in time).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Skykid]

It's been said that the director of the Robocop (2014) flick didn't want to retread on the classic 1987 movie of the same name and takes a different approach/method to tell the tale.

If it's not a complete piece of shit I'll be extraordinarily surprised. Seriously, that trailer.

[shmuppyLove]

The Great Gatsby (2013)

Having neither read the novel nor seen any of the previous film adaptions, I quite enjoyed it.

I do want to read the book now though.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Gotta love the Phil Tippet stop-motion EFX with the ED-209 scenes. It never gets old.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Raytrace]

If it's not a complete piece of shit I'll be extraordinarily surprised. Seriously, that trailer.

I have to say this was definitely my original reaction (I was obsessed with Robocop when I was young), but as I've watched a few more
trailers, it does genuinely seem different enough to not really be treading on the original's toes much.

'You a college boy or something?
I bet you think you're pretty smart huh?
Think you can outsmart a bullet?'

[spadgy]

The Lady Vanishes (1938) [Netflix]

I've always loved Hitchcock's more humorous features. Lady Vanishes and The Trouble With Harry are probably my two favorites for said reasons. Harry doesn't receive the love it deserves. A gorgeous dark comedy! Technicolor dreams.

Nice to hear I'm not alone in getting on Hitchcock tip at the moment.

Having watched Marnie a couple of days back (and Dial M for Murder, but that's obviously a more renowned one) I'm currently feeling a real urge to catch up on some of his less iconic works. I'll check those out.

[Mischief Maker]

It's been said that the director of the Robocop (2014) flick didn't want to retread on the classic 1987 movie of the same name and takes a different approach/method to tell the tale. Sure, the original MPAA rating of an X was given to the '87 RC flick upon it's inital screening by the MPAA screeners...it had to be toned down to gain the more acceptable R rating for a nationwide theatrical release or else, it wouldn't be shown at most American theatrical chains whom absolutely refused to show such X-rated films anyways (with the exception of some art movie houses at that current point in time).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

My reply, and this applies to all reboots, is that if you didn't want your film to be compared to the original Robocop, you shouldn't have named it Robocop. You should have called it "Cyborg Justice" or something.

Ah! But then if you DIDN'T name it Robocop, you wouldn't have all those guaranteed ticket sales, would you?

So shut up and take it, bitch! It's not impossible to make a reboot that acquits itself well in comparison to the classic original, just look at John Carpenter's "The Thing."

[Skykid]

It's not impossible to make a reboot that acquits itself well in comparison to the classic original, just look at John Carpenter's "The Thing."

Not sure what you mean by "acquits itself" exactly, but if that's a positive nod toward The Thing reboot/prequel/remake, let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's pretty shit, all things considered.

[Mischief Maker]

It's not impossible to make a reboot that acquits itself well in comparison to the classic original, just look at John Carpenter's "The Thing."

Not sure what you mean by "acquits itself" exactly, but if that's a positive nod toward The Thing reboot/prequel/remake, let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's pretty shit, all things considered.

I mean John Carpenter's "The Thing" is quality compared to the original 50s classic "The Thing (from another world)." I figured it went without saying that the unnecessary prequel was complete and utter shit.

[spadgy]

It's not impossible to make a reboot that acquits itself well in comparison to the classic original, just look at John Carpenter's "The Thing."

Not sure what you mean by "acquits itself" exactly, but if that's a positive nod toward The Thing reboot/prequel/remake, let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's pretty shit, all things considered.

Are we talking about the 1982 one rebooting the 1951 one, or the 2011 being the reboot (and, in fact, like the many films based on the book I Am Legend, the various 'Thing' films are all separate adaptations of novella Who Goes There, rather than reboots, right?)?

Anyway, my waffling aside, I feel the 1982 one trumps the pretty excellent 1951 release, so I feel there is such a thing as a good 'remake', especially in the realm of adaptations. Perhaps it's reasonably arguable that rebooting something that was original IP as a film is less likely to produce quality results.

That said, tackling something as iconic as Robocop does leave me wondering... why not put the creative energy into something new? The answer, alas, is money, I would assume.

EDIT: Simultaneously posting with Mischief Maker, who has clarified my question in advance!

[Skykid]

It's not impossible to make a reboot that acquits itself well in comparison to the classic original, just look at John Carpenter's "The Thing."

Not sure what you mean by "acquits itself" exactly, but if that's a positive nod toward The Thing reboot/prequel/remake, let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's pretty shit, all things considered.

I mean John Carpenter's "The Thing" is quality compared to the original 50s classic "The Thing (from another world)." I figured it went without saying that the unnecessary prequel was complete and utter shit.

Ah sorry! Whenever I see the word 'reboot' I automatically think modern.

Yes, we're in agreement. I do very much like the 1951 original, too, although Carpenter's is just one of the best things ever.

[Ixmucane2]

The Legend of Hercules

Definitely a B-movie, with low production values.
Not cute low production values like, say, El Mariachi, the sad "we're many million dollars short of making a good job, so why bother?" kind of low production values. Or maybe diffuse incompetence, it's hard to tell.

A lot of the scenery and costumes are strange: horses with saddles and stirrups, a dress of what seems like a printed fabric, a helmet that looks like Sauron's one in The Lord of the Rings (and other even funnier ones), temples and altars and priests that I don't wish to spoil, perfectly flat opus incertum pavements of level and polished stones (and other fake-looking structures), and so on.

Long and confused fighting scenes, awkward love scenes (a normal spectator needs about 5 seconds to understand the whole depth of the affection between Hercules and his princess, why do they have to speak and kiss etc. so much?), excessive cruelty on the part of excessively evil bad guys written by someone missing the difference between Greek royalty and stock psychopath crime lords.
There are also very good scenes: Alcmene in bed with Zeus, some of the fighting, the rather original time-compressed battle at the very beginning.

Overall, the story makes sense regardless of bad moments: it's a straightforward hybrid of revenge, mutual conflict and coming of age, with Hercules kicking ass on his own but winning because he becomes proudly aware of his divine origin.
Compared to similar films, there is no pointless angst (unlike Perseus in Clash of the Titans), no supernatural BS (only some epic but ultimately limited help from the sky, again unlike Clash of the Titans), and no significant overcomplication of a simple plot about a simple character.

Without expecting too much, it might be worth a ticket. According to IMDB a 3D version exists, and the action scenes are highly optimized to look good in 3D.

[Skykid]

Skyline

Fucking abysmal. Twenty-minutes and done. Terrible, horrible casting, full of totally unlikeable, completely incompetent actors grinning their way around a non-existent script.

I don't have time like this to waste, so I'm saving myself an hour and ten minutes of life.

[GaijinPunch]

About Time

British romance flick about a young man that learns the men in his family can go back in time. It comes w/ only a handful of the usual paraodoxes of time travel, and the rules are figured and explained to the protagonist rather early on. But, it's not sci-fi so it didn't bother me that that whole thing wasn't fleshed out. It's a great date movie, complete with some awkward comedic moments that our British friends do so well. Hard to get over the main character being a ginger, but hey, hey has time travel on his side. I watched it on an airplane, but would have been satisfied w/ a download at home w/ the woman.

[lilmanjs]

The Gold Connection/Iron Dragon Strikes Back
I got this movie as part of a cheap boxed set from the old eastwest company. Found it used, and so I got round to watching a movie from it, and picked this one. Bruce Li, I've got a couple of his movies, but this one I find to be the best of his I've seen yet. The camera shots are quite good as well, which lends to the fight scenes actually being watchable and not a bunch of who's doing what like most from the 70s, and even some early 80s kung-fu flicks. Good action at that, though I won't spoil the ending, they did do a nice bit with a camera flash during the final fight. That ending came out of nowhere though.

[emphatic]

Assault On Precinct 13 (Original version) - 3/5.

I guess this must have been really awesome when it came out, but I don't think it has aged too well.

[Never_Scurred]

Watched Star Trek First Contact for the first time. Only bothered to check it out cuz a coworker heard be bitching about how much Nemesis sucked and suggested I give FC a chance. Its not nearly as bad as I was anticipating. Some stuff didn't make sense but it had a decent story and some interesting moments. Not nearly as bad as Nemesis, much better than Generations. The scenes with Picard and Data were a highlight of the film. Seeing Deanna Troi drunk as a skunk was kinda amusing and I laughed out loud when they brought in my dude Barclay---his episodes were my favorites. Don't want to see Insurrection, that one just looks boring as shit. It looks like every TNG episode I ever hated watching.

[Never_Scurred]

Skyline

Fucking abysmal. Twenty-minutes and done. Terrible, horrible casting, full of totally unlikeable, completely incompetent actors grinning their way around a non-existent script.

I don't have time like this to waste, so I'm saving myself an hour and ten minutes of life.

I liked it, visually, but I don't have much desire to watch it again. It was a decent popcorn alien invasion flick, better than I expected, and memorable in places, but nothing more.
2.5/5

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Watched This Must Be The Place. Really liked it. Sean Penn plays a Robert Smith type of character and hunts down an old Nazi. Probably the best movie I've seen in quite a while.

Also watched Robot and Frank. It was pretty decent too. It's about an old guy starts doing robberies with his robot home health aid.

[Lord Satori]

Just saw The Lego Movie. The story was pretty good (although the ending was a little on the sappy side), and the amount of detail was amazing! I can see why they made a video game out of it.

[Xyga]

Blue Is the Warmest Colour (Cannes Film Festival 2013 Palme d'Or).
Lenghty and sometimes clichéd, but God it's got the hottest lesbian sex scene in film ever (faked but still).
Well thankfully the movie isn't just about sex, it's a love story from beginning to end which feels fucking real, we've got nicely crafted filming and surprisingly good acting from young talents here.
No wonder the lead actresses said they went through Hell, the filmaker is a total maniac for details and the movie is obvioulsy a very 'personal' work.
Some Palme d'Or are complete crap, this time at least they picked something worthy of attention.