Movies you've just watched

[Vexorg]

X-Men: Days of Future Past ***1/2

To be honest, the only X-Men movies I've seen are the first one and most recently The Wolverine (which was pretty much nonsense.) That said, I thought this one was decent, but still not up to par with the Marvel-produced films. In particular, it seems like they didn't bother making a very convincing version of 1973, it still felt too much like 2013 trying to pass itself off as 1973.

[Ruldra]

In particular, it seems like they didn't bother making a very convincing version of 1973, it still felt too much like 2013 trying to pass itself off as 1973.

Watched this yesterday, and yeah the movie doesn't feel at all like it's happening in '73.

Another thing that bothered me is how quickly things got resolved once Raven dropped the gun and walked away. The President just witnessed how much of a threat mutants are, no way he would just drop the sentinel project like that, even if Magneto was stopped by another mutant.

Despite that, I still enjoyed the movie.

[Vexorg]

Comments in spoilers:

Spoiler

They pretty much hand waved the whole thing away by saying Bolivar Trask was caught selling military secrets to foreign governments, which seems to have little to do with anything at all in the film. Then again, that could just be a convenient cover story anyway. Then again, it's possible Mystique could have had something to do with it, as she is seen breaking into Trask's files.

[Xyga]

Backdraft

I'm still impressed with the special fx in that movie, the final scene is pure Hell.

[spadgy]

Why did I leave watching a Marx Brothers film until I was 33? Recommend me some more!

A Day At The Races is one of my faves.

Finally watched this! Thanks for the tip; my favourite yet along with Duck Soup. I just cannot get enough of The Marx Brothers films. I must get some massive box set or something.

[emphatic]

Why did I leave watching a Marx Brothers film until I was 33? Recommend me some more!

A Day At The Races is one of my faves.

Finally watched this! Thanks for the tip; my favourite yet along with Duck Soup. I just cannot get enough of The Marx Brothers films. I must get some massive box set or something.

Thank YU! (I still can't get all the Thank YU's out of my head from that movie).

[gct]

I recently watched Rock and Rule (1983). Thanks, North American animation, but I wasn't really interested in seeing anthropomorphic mutant rodents doing it.

I'm not sure what to think of the rest of the movie. I found the pacing to be excruciatingly slow in some parts.

Also skimmed some parts of the original Heavy Metal. Not sure why it's so hyped up, although the robot sex skit was hilarious. A UFO drilling the Pentagon with a giant hole saw, LMAO.

[lilmanjs]

Niner http://vimeo.com/91581010
A nice movie about a detective who has to choose between helping out a teen who has lost her family on her sister's birthday, or try and mount a defense for his court case of something that happened before the events of the movie. Shot for less than $12,000usd and didn't know what to expect but came out enjoying the movie. Worth at least one watch for the soundtrack.

[Some-Mist]

watched 500 days of summer over the weekend and it was decent. pretty accurate depiction of "getting over" someone in a relationship.

Quite liked that one. One of the few indie films that I was able to get my gf at the time to see. I'd recommend 'Manic,' about a psychiatric ward for adolescents. Joseph G-L & Zooey Deschanel had great chemistry there, too, with JLG being a rage-case and ZD being a chronic depressive.

thanks for the recommendation. I'm surprised I hadn't actually heard of Manic but it sounds like something I'd enjoy

edit: crazy... it came out in 2001. seems like it was well before both of their movie acting careers really launched

[BrianC]

In particular, it seems like they didn't bother making a very convincing version of 1973, it still felt too much like 2013 trying to pass itself off as 1973.

In the same way Happy Days feels like the 70s trying to pass itself off as the 50s?

[CMoon]

Finally got around to watching Michael Mann's The Insider (1999.) I remember seeing the trailers in the theatre. Don't worry, give me 15 years and I'll eventually watch yr dumb movie! That said, The Insider is a great stuff; good acting, good camera work, good script, good pacing, etc. etc. I'm wondering if this is about as late as you can go with hollywood films before the whole system turns into dogshit.

The Insider is a HEAVY film that really plays with the idea that individuals can't make any difference at all, and we see the whole process of getting the truth out there destroying lives (cue Snowden). In this sense, it is not a 'fun film', but it is a really good film that keeps you entertained. Can't say when I'll need to see it again, but really glad I saw it.

Still need to see Mann's Heat and Last of the Mohicans.

[Skykid]

^ I remember it being watchable, but equally passable.

Best thing Mann ever did was produce Miami Vice. As a director he's seriously bunk, and tremendously overrated.

[boagman]

^ I remember it being watchable, but equally passable.

Best thing Mann ever did was produce Miami Vice. As a director he's seriously bunk, and tremendously overrated.

Oh, come *on*. "Heat" is wonderful entertainment. You're just being snobby for snobbiness' sake, now.

I certainly don't bow at the altar of Mann, but fair's fair: no matter what you may think of the guy who isn't Your Favorite Hollywood Producer/Director/Whatever, sometimes they'll still hit home runs, too. "Heat" is fantastic. "The Insider" is just fine. Mann certainly does have his strikeouts as well, but when he gets a hold of the ball, dude: that thing's *well* into the seats.

[CMoon]

Best thing Mann ever did was produce Miami Vice. As a director he's seriously bunk, and tremendously overrated.

Well fortunately we can have different opinions What I don't get is how on earth is Mann overrated? He's only ever done a handful of films but has a pretty long career. Most people haven't seen anything by him. Honestly, he's a director I wasn't even aware of for a long time, and even then I would say he has an understated style that doesn't appeal to a lot of folks.

Only place he seems overrated is here on the shmups forum. Maybe I'm missing something.

[Never_Scurred]

Manhunter was great, Heat was alright, but tooooooooooo damned long. What I don't get is how someone can love TDK, but dislike Heat. I mean, take away the two goofs in costumes and you pretty much have the same movie, stylistically.

[Skykid]

Heat is crap.

People love it though because dumb.

Credit where due, Manhunter is decent, forgot about that.

[Moniker]

Heat is crap.

People love it though because dumb.

Credit where due, Manhunter is decent, forgot about that.

Action is good. Mann has a way with larger-than-life sound, which was probably the only decent thing about the Miami Vice movie. Thief is very good as well. Last of the Mohicans was a critical darling, but he played that damned main theme so much I was clawing my ears out by the end.

Quite liked Public Enemies, although the romance sequences are groan-worthy. Ditto those in Thief.

[CMoon]

Yeah, I'd say Thief is my favorite movie by him. I do like The Keep but never tell anyone you fuckin' like The Keep

[Skykid]

Yeah, I'd say Thief is my favorite movie by him. I do like The Keep but never tell anyone you fuckin' like The Keep

I like The Keep for being unbelievably weird, and Jurgen Prochnow ftw. But it is shitty, for sure.

Have you guys seen the Miami Vice movie? It's a disgrace to the TV series he created. A way too old love interest in Gong Li, generally miscast and void of any soul whatsoever. It's a dark glossy plastic film, entirely without a stitch of directorial class or invention.

Makes my toes curl to remember I paid money for it.

[Moniker]

^ As I mentioned earlier, the only good thing about it was the sound. And it really was very good sound. Colin Farrell trying to do a grittier Don Johnson impression... bleh.

[Ixmucane2]

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Rather weak plot: time travel done wrong (with bullshit propagating along several timelines); few characters (a problem compared to the usual large ensembles of mutants), all behaving very predictably; implausibly good ending.
On the other hand, the scene where Pietro Maximoff shows off is worth the ticket and the ensuing plot hole.
Acting, costumes, scenery are a bit off (Xavier shouldn't look like a drug abuser, and Wolverine shouldn't look on steroids) but acceptable.

Godzilla

The irrelevance of humans in the monster business is so absolute, and their uselessness so completely pathetic, that characters are a bit irritating. It's strange, because the screenplay seems to make a special effort to suck in clever ways. For example:

• Nuclear weapons against Godzilla? Nourishing, maybe a token of friendship.
• The opinion of the kaijuu expert? Trust Godzilla.
• What's the appropriate way to preserve a kaijuu? Alive, close to a major city.
• A major character dies to make room for a more Hollywood-appropriate "hero".

However, the special effects are really good, acting is satisfactory, there are somewhat humorous moments. Almost as good as a "serious" kaijuu story can hope to be, but inferior to Pacific Rim in almost every way.

Maleficent

Rampant asinine revisionism turns a fairy tale into a pointless and dishonest sentimental drama. The backstory in the first part of the film starts rather logical, but given Maleficent's personality and power level it is a fit justification for a quick and brutal revenge, not for a silly curse. Then it departs from the old cartoon in the worst possible ways.
Only the scene, near the middle, in which the princess wanders around the castle to prick herself on a spindle (aware of her curse, in a half-trance) has a faint spark of truth in it.

[cj iwakura]

Saw Le Cercle Rouge. I loved how it all came together. Melville was a visual storytelling master.
Amazing heist. I'm not sure about how it ended, but maybe it was irrevocable.


I kind of agree regarding Godzilla, but at least I was surprised, seeing as how the trailers never mention

Spoiler

there are more than one monster. Shame about Cranston, he was way more interesting a protagonist than the soldier whose name I can't even remember. Speaks volumes, doesn't it?

[lilmanjs]

Three Resurrected Drunkards
A Japanese movie from 1968 that is about 3 high-school aged lads who go swimming on a beach, have their clothes stolen and are mistaken for Koreans. Doesn't sound like a comedy, but it sure is. And the movie restarts itself at one point for comedic effect. Heh, I really did enjoy this. worth at least a watch.

[GaijinPunch]

are mistaken for Koreans..

The horror...

[GaijinPunch]

^ I remember it being watchable, but equally passable.

Best thing Mann ever did was produce Miami Vice. As a director he's seriously bunk, and tremendously overrated.

I'm gay for Heat. Admit it - you are too.
Not been to impressed w/ the later stuff, but it's still not awful. I thought the Insider was fine. Saw it once. I'm not a Crowe fan though. The opposite, really.

Heat is crap.

Hollywood film where actual homework is done. The shootout scene used military tactics... so well it was apparently used as a training video.

[Skykid]

^ I remember it being watchable, but equally passable.

Best thing Mann ever did was produce Miami Vice. As a director he's seriously bunk, and tremendously overrated.

I'm gay for Heat. Admit it - you are too.
Not been to impressed w/ the later stuff, but it's still not awful. I thought the Insider was fine. Saw it once. I'm not a Crowe fan though. The opposite, really.

Heat is crap.

Hollywood film where actual homework is done. The shootout scene used military tactics... so well it was apparently used as a training video.

I'm not sure why that would qualify it as a good movie. Gus Van Sant did an admirable amount of homework to recreate Psycho shot for shot, and look how painful that was.

[boagman]

I'm not sure why that would qualify it as a good movie. Gus Van Sant did an admirable amount of homework to recreate Psycho shot for shot, and look how painful that was.

It's a terrific movie, on many fronts. Is it an absolutely perfect movie in all ways? Absolutely not. Want to jump on the "Pacino *way* overacts" train? Dude, spotted. Even with that, though, it's very enjoyable, and even his character (though wildly overacted) is acceptable.

The cast is nothing shy of epic, and they put on a show. Let's throw Pacino out for a second, but I don't hate him at all. DeNiro? Kilmer (when he was good)? Judd? Sizemore? Haysbert? Portman? All of them putting on very good, nuanced performances? And that's just the main folks! Azaria, Levine, Voight, Williamson...heck, even Trejo and Tone Freaking Loc are good (though some, like Azaria and Tone Loc, are good mainly for some needed humor).

The pace of the movie *works*. It's not a dumb guy movie...Keanu Reeves could not have played a role in this movie. The relationships between the characters, for the most part, is well-built (you can have exceptions like the Justine/Vincent thing, but again: most work). There's a lot of good stuff mined in the script, that's for sure.

When it happens, the action is fantastic. The main heist scene is about as good as you can do one.

I still say you're being snobby for snobbiness' sake in this case.

[Skykid]

I'm not sure why that would qualify it as a good movie. Gus Van Sant did an admirable amount of homework to recreate Psycho shot for shot, and look how painful that was.

It's a terrific movie, on many fronts. Is it an absolutely perfect movie in all ways? Absolutely not. Want to jump on the "Pacino *way* overacts" train? Dude, spotted. Even with that, though, it's very enjoyable, and even his character (though wildly overacted) is acceptable.

The cast is nothing shy of epic, and they put on a show. Let's throw Pacino out for a second, but I don't hate him at all. DeNiro? Kilmer (when he was good)? Judd? Sizemore? Haysbert? Portman? All of them putting on very good, nuanced performances? And that's just the main folks! Azaria, Levine, Voight, Williamson...heck, even Trejo and Tone Freaking Loc are good (though some, like Azaria and Tone Loc, are good mainly for some needed humor).

The pace of the movie *works*. It's not a dumb guy movie...Keanu Reeves could not have played a role in this movie. The relationships between the characters, for the most part, is well-built (you can have exceptions like the Justine/Vincent thing, but again: most work). There's a lot of good stuff mined in the script, that's for sure.

When it happens, the action is fantastic. The main heist scene is about as good as you can do one.

I still say you're being snobby for snobbiness' sake in this case.

I never offer an opinion for snobbiness, what kind of jackass would?

So far we have a well researched Heist sequence, usually cited by fans as being the film's high point (because it is, and probably the only one) and now the casting - niether of which have anything to do with directorial qualities, which Michael Mann largely doesn't possess.

Seen The Bounty? Superb cast. The film? Oh dear.

Heat isn't an atrocity of a movie, just half-baked, boring, plodding, with a lacklustre climax and two stars who had no chemistry (one of whom can act, the other barely).

You think it's a "terrific" movie? Game over. You need better education before accusing people of wanton snobbiness.

[Never_Scurred]

Anyone seen LA Takedown?
Also, anyone not surprised Nolan used this movie as inspiration for TDK?
Like I said, same damn movie.

[Skykid]

Anyone seen LA Takedown?
Also, anyone not surprised Nolan used this movie as inspiration for TDK?
Like I said, same damn movie.

Yes I've seen it, his directorial debut (made for TV iirc?)

Boring like watching paint dry.