Movies you've just watched

[EmperorIng]

Bad Milo



An absolute tribute to the Henenlotter canon

I'm amazed that Henenlotter is established enough to have a 'canon' to have people pay tribute to! I still kick myself for missing the chance to meet him in my neighborhood b-movie theater two years ago.

[drauch]

Just watched Frankenhooker tonight, actually! My buddy just got a job at Full Moon. I'll try and get all the skinny for the latest and greatest in tiny evil for us.

[options]

just watched Ong Bak (1) for the first time in a while, and it still makes my jaw drop. similar to The Raid in that there's a kind of "shock value" to seeing the fighting techniques (and their aftermath!) from this part of the world when you're only used to seeing Kung Fu-based flicks.

Ong Bak 2 on the other hand just left me slightly confused. was part 3 also on that grandiose high horse or did he bring it back to street level? what's Tony Jaa been up to lately anyway...?

[lilmanjs]

just watched Ong Bak (1) for the first time in a while, and it still makes my jaw drop. similar to The Raid in that there's a kind of "shock value" to seeing the fighting techniques (and their aftermath!) from this part of the world when you're only used to seeing Kung Fu-based flicks.

Ong Bak 2 on the other hand just left me slightly confused. was part 3 also on that grandiose high horse or did he bring it back to street level? what's Tony Jaa been up to lately anyway...?

Tony Jaa is doing a sequel to Killzone/SPL, yes the Donnie Yen movie and he's going to have some part in Fast 7.

[Mischief Maker]

Just watched Frankenhooker tonight, actually! My buddy just got a job at Full Moon. I'll try and get all the skinny for the latest and greatest in tiny evil for us.

Full Moon's still around? I thought the Asylum took over their niche.

[drauch]

My buddy's first impression wasn't a good one. They seem to definitely be on their last leg at this point, which kinda makes sense when all you've got at this point is Gingerdead Man VS Evil Bong.

[null1024]

Edge of Tomorrow.

Honestly? Fucktons better than I expected. I really didn't expect it to be any good at all.
First half was a bit hilarious, too. Movie really kicks in second half.

Also, as has been said, it's pretty much a video game styled movie, cut into specific stages that have to get cleared.
There's just enough plot is present to keep the movie interesting.

Spoiler

I have no idea how he ends up where he does at the ending.
Most every other inconsistency can be handwaved away by "he did it 50 times before, so you're seeing him do these parts perfectly right".
The entire ending doesn't make sense when you think about it, since he's lost the power. Sure, he's good at playing people [he's a PR guy, in the literal sense], and he knows enough about what happens to maybe convince the crew to join him, but it tugs at credibility more than the rest of the film.

Also, this movie has enough blue and orange to make me want to vomit. The entire last battle pretty much is in blue-orange vision. I'm actually trying to remember seeing other colors than those two and coming short.

[options]

Tony Jaa is doing a sequel to Killzone/SPL, yes the Donnie Yen movie and he's going to have some part in Fast 7.

never seen Killzone (I thought that was the name of some fps game, ha). I'll have to add it to the queue.

Fast Seven? wow. well, good for him. that alone might make me wanna actually check it out.

[Lord Satori]

Also, this movie has enough blue and orange to make me want to vomit. The entire last battle pretty much is in blue-orange vision. I'm actually trying to remember seeing other colors than those two and coming short.

Complaining about the colors seems kinda petty. Also the last battle takes place underwater. Of course it's going to be blue.

[null1024]

Also, this movie has enough blue and orange to make me want to vomit. The entire last battle pretty much is in blue-orange vision. I'm actually trying to remember seeing other colors than those two and coming short.

Complaining about the colors seems kinda petty. Also the last battle takes place underwater. Of course it's going to be blue.

No, blue-orange abuse in film needs to stop. There are so many other colors, you don't need to make everything pop maximally.

especially since its overuse kills actual color design in film, it's the lazy way out

Like, I at least remember there being other colors in Pacific Rim (which still abused the shit out of blue and orange contrasting).

huh, I could have swore the preceding sentence had the word 'in' between 'colors' and 'Pacific' when I first typed it

[Mischief Maker]

Just saw the Dracula Untold trailer.

I was actually getting really pumped at the start of the trailer, focusing on Vlad Tepes and his war with the Ottoman empire and being driven to become a vampire...

...and then we see him turn a cloud of bats into a giant fist and PUNCH the Ottoman army with nearly as much force as me slapping my forehead at the sight of it.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

That gave me a good laugh. Sounds shit!

[Skykid]

Brief Encounter

A little masterwork.

I think there was more content in that 126 minutes than in the last 126 air headed Hollywood shitpieces I've seen combined. Lean's directing and cinematography are excellent, and bar the husband who's not very good, the entire cast give superb performances.

It's all driven by Noel Coward's incredible script of course - it's all dialogue, all deliciously refined words, words, words. It's interesting how after twenty minutes you start to get past its quintessential Britishness and quaint old-world behaviours and just start to be absorbed by how more and more provocative the forbidden relationship becomes.

"It's awfully easy to lie when you know that you're trusted implicitly. So very easy. And so very degrading."

And that sub-thread in the background of the flirting tea room girls juxtaposed against the agonising shackles of the main characters. It makes you question why people limit themselves in such ridiculous ways.

I have no idea why it took so long for me to get around to it, but ah, film. I was good to be reminded it's an art form.

[Mischief Maker]

Also RE: the Dracula Untold Trailer:

The most important part when making a movie about Vlad the impaler is that it have NO IMPALINGS! Gotta keep that PG-13 rating! Just replace it with some moves from Bayonetta.

[null1024]

Thor: The Dark World.
Kind of expected better. I thought the Captain America film [not the newest one] was a better movie, and I had put that as the weakest of the current crop of Marvel movies.

First half was completely uninteresting, second half was barely okay. Has its moments.

At least Heimdall looked damn cool, and the battle above Asgard made me think of "what if Star Wars Episode 1 was a better film".


[edit]
Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Damn, that's more like it. Stretches credibility further than it has any right to, even for a comic book movie, but it's lots of fun. Good action, somewhat messy plot. Not as good as the first Iron Man or the Avengers, but it's in the upper fifth of the MCU films.

Spoiler

also -- somehow, I kept myself unspoiled and had no fucking idea the Winter Soldier was Bucky before going in, apparently that's common knowledge

[edit]
and one more
X-Men: Days of Future Past.

'S okay. Nothing special, better than most of the X-Men films still [other than First Class].
Okay-ish plot, but time-travel is full of bullshit, doing it well is a bitch.

[Vexorg]

How To Train Your Dragon 2: ****

Even though I never saw the first movie, I enjoyed this one more than I expected to. The flying scenes were done quite well, and although the aesthetics are quite different, I found myself reminded a lot of games like Panzer Dragoon by this. There are a couple of places where the CG feels like it breaks down a bit, but that's just a minor nitpick. Also, Toothless is just a really well-done character.

Spoiler

Must be awesome - to be a little kid, having grown up with the first move and the light-hearted cartoon series - to get a sequel this dark. All your favourite characters are now grown up and rugged and badass. I was thinking 'Empire Strikes Back' throughout the entire thing, to the extent that the rushed ending felt forced-on by executive meddling. They set it up for a great sequel: Stoik is dead, Toothless and the dragons have gone off with the bad guy, I was expecting it to end as Hiccup looks off into that sunrise, finally accepting his responsibility as chief. Sadly, the ending quickly and clumsily tidied everything up to the extent that I don't really care what the sequel will be about. (and I'm sure the will be a sequel.) There didn't seem to be an interesting loose threads.

This is also the first movie I've seen in a long while with kids full-on wailing through the sad bits.

Comments in spoller text:

Spoiler

It's a kid's movie, I don't think you could really pull off what you're talking about in that context (the target audience isn't exactly big on cliffhangers, even the Harry Potter series, which seem to be the closest thing you get to an epic "kids" series, doesn't really do that type of thing except in the last couple of books/films.) Although that isn't to say it would be unprecedented; For example, the third season of ReBoot got surprisingly dark after a couple of seasons of a relatively light show where little of consequence seemed to happen. I actually thought the ending worked reasonably well though; to me it seems to be much more about Toothless than Hiccup anyway, so it makes sense that Toothless would be able to successfully challenge the Alpha. Toothless really seems to be the character that defines the film, there just happens to be some humans there to give people someone to associate with.

[rapoon]

Enemy - A man (Jake Gyllenhaal) seeks out his exact look-alike after spotting him in a movie.

bit of a mind fuck. if you watch it, give it some time to resonate and see what comes out the other end.
Gyllenhaal carries the film and the depiction of Toronto through a nicotine stained filter creates a bleak, controlled atmosphere.

Incendies - twins return to an unnamed middle eastern country (Lebanon) to discover themselves and who their family is/was. fantastic movie but jesus-fucking-christ..... over 2 hours of immeasurable suffering. I try to avoid films like this. regardless, it's easily a 10/10 for me.

[chempop]

Edge of Tomorrow.

Honestly? Fucktons better than I expected.

Completely agree with this statement. My brother was in town and talked me into seeing it, not sure I'd have seen it in the theater otherwise, but I'm glad I did. I basically enjoyed the whole flick, though the supporting actress wasn't particularly compelling of a character. They could have developed more of a connection between their characters, but perhaps it was better that they didn't even bother. Don't expect anything on the level of Tron, Cloud Atlas, or Oblivion, but certainly more enjoyable than most sci-fi action movies recent years.

[DEL]

Edge of Tomorrow - Yup I agree, better than expected given the premise. The plot is virtually identical to Oblivion - Alien sitting in a pyramid & invading Earth.
I guess Godzilla next for me.

[Skykid]

Edge of Tomorrow - Yup I agree, better than expected given the premise. The plot is virtually identical to Oblivion - Alien sitting in a pyramid & invading Earth.
I guess Godzilla next for me.

My commiserations.

I'm surprised you guys are talking about Oblivion, Cloud Atlas and Tron like they were anything special. Tron was probably the most accomplished of the three, but even that had serious disappointments.

Edge of Tomorrow is a fine addition to those three: entertaining and stupid - but considering they're all leagues above Godzilla there's some saving grace in there.

I'd still say Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a better product than all of the above.

[Moniker]

The Grand Budapest Hotel (Amazon Instant Video)

Wes Anderson at his most Wes Andersony. The writing is impeccable, and although it's essentially a one man show, who could possibly turn their nose up at a one man show starring Ralph Fiennes? The direction is pure doll-house picture book, like Fantastic Mr. Fox, and to a slightly lesser extent The Life Aquatic, Moonrise Kingdom, and Darjeeling Limited. The style perfectly suits the subject matter, but if I'm being completely honest, Anderson's getting a bit too comfortable with an aesthetic that is wearing a bit thin. I hope Anderson's next outing features more dynamic camerawork.

The acting ranges from holy-shit-excellent (R. Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, and a brief Tilde Swinton) to surprisingly good (Jeff Goldblum) to good enough (Adrien Brody & Willem Dafoe). They're all accomplished actors (Goldblum excepted), and I figure if they were given a more prominent part in the script, they would have been as good as Fiennes. Gustav H. is a fantastic creation, and does more than enough to buoy the entire film. There's also the spectre of Naziism and Communism that gently pervade the film; turns it into something much more than a zany romp with an endlessly entertaining lead.

Must see.

/excessively formal review.

And then I needed more Ray Fiennes on tap, so rewatched In Bruges on Netflix. I'm positively gay for that movie.

[Ixmucane2]

Jersey Boys

A biography of the "Four Seasons", a famous pop band who began their career in New Jersey in the Fifties, and their lead singer Frankie Valli in particular; adapted from the musical of the same title. It follows a rather traditional pattern (struggling, success, problems, final serenity) with more discussions and breaking up and less concrete trouble than the average stardom story.
As usual for films about living people who are involved in the production, everything and everybody is better and nicer than one would realistically expect, including in particular criminal activities (funny theft, picturesque con men, nonviolent moneylending, helpful bosses, nobly recreational prostitution, etc.); love and sex remain mostly in the background (but not without suggesting than the Four Seasons might have enjoyed a lot of fans) and real events appear adjusted and embellished (a serious problems when feelings and motivations are important).
Great music, good actors, excellent scenes and costumes, some creative touches; not enough feeling, but doing a good job with this genre is very difficult.

[Skykid]

The Grand Budapest Hotel (Amazon Instant Video)

Wes Anderson at his most Wes Andersony. The writing is impeccable, and although it's essentially a one man show, who could possibly turn their nose up at a one man show starring Ralph Fiennes? The direction is pure doll-house picture book, like Fantastic Mr. Fox, and to a slightly lesser extent The Life Aquatic, Moonrise Kingdom, and Darjeeling Limited. The style perfectly suits the subject matter, but if I'm being completely honest, Anderson's getting a bit too comfortable with an aesthetic that is wearing a bit thin. I hope Anderson's next outing features more dynamic camerawork.

The acting ranges from holy-shit-excellent (R. Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, and a brief Tilde Swinton) to surprisingly good (Jeff Goldblum) to good enough (Adrien Brody & Willem Dafoe). They're all accomplished actors (Goldblum excepted), and I figure if they were given a more prominent part in the script, they would have been as good as Fiennes. Gustav H. is a fantastic creation, and does more than enough to buoy the entire film. There's also the spectre of Naziism and Communism that gently pervade the film; turns it into something much more than a zany romp with an endlessly entertaining lead.

Must see.

/excessively formal review.

And then I needed more Ray Fiennes on tap, so rewatched In Bruges on Netflix. I'm positively gay for that movie.

I loved it. Luckily for me I skipped so much W.Anderson the aesthetic and style was totally fresh. Perhaps a bonus.

Agree with your appraisal, although only Brody was a weak acting link, Dafoe can do no wrong (ever, he's just great.)

Bit what's this about Goldblum excepted? He's always been an extremely accomplished actor. Always quirky and exactly the same, but then so is Jack Nicholson and most other Hollywood creations. I wish there were more of the Blum in movies.

[Lord Satori]

With the exception of the above post, you've mentioned Godzilla in every one of your posts. I feel like I'm being baited.

[Vexorg]

Edge of Tomorrow: ***1/2

Reasonably watchable, but although it didn't devolve into complete nonsense in quite the same way Oblivion did, it still left more than its fair share of fridge logic in its wake (just don't think about this too hard.) I suspect that as soon as the DVD comes out someone will stick a video on YouTube adding QTEs to various sequences in the movie, and it'll probably end up on all the game blogs.

[evil_ash_xero]

Got around to watching some superhero movies.

Captain America: Winter Soldier was very good. I was a fan of the story it came from, so I was pleased. It had too much action in it, but it was good action. Glad to see a Marvel Studios film get a little darker than usual.

X-Men: Days of Future Past: Very impressed with this one. I think it's up there with the best superhero films. Amazing cast.

X-Men: First Class: Just got around to seeing this. I wasn't that interested in it, until I saw DoFP. It was a pretty darn entertaining movie. Elements could have been better, but I hear it was on a super rushed schedule.
Nice shot in the arm, after Last Stand and Origins.

That's that.

[evil_ash_xero]

Also, have you ever considered that your standards might be abnormally high?

Don't forget, fucking Mario Puzo, of "The Godfather" fame wrote the script for the Christopher Reeves Superman.

The script was pretty much changed completely. His name is just on it, for obvious reasons.
His original script was quite campy.

[ACSeraph]

Dead Alive

What the fuck did I just watch...

(Kung fu priest was incredible though)

[Moniker]

Bit what's this about Goldblum excepted? He's always been an extremely accomplished actor. Always quirky and exactly the same, but then so is Jack Nicholson and most other Hollywood creations. I wish there were more of the Blum in movies.

It's that his assumed persona as a quirky intellect is entirely unconvincing to me. It's somewhat similar to Woody Allen's, but where you can see a true mind behind the latter, I can't say the same of the former. Goldblum was best and most convincing in The Fly, Jurassic Park, and more recently in The Life Aquatic and Grand Budapest, but that persona is undermined horribly by Independence Day and his utterly lamentable two seasons on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. The illusion of great intelligence is sometimes convincing and entertaining, but when it isn't, it exposes the cynical facade present in all his work.

Sorta how I feel about Matt Damon w/r/t Good Will Hunting: an obviously average person trying to force himself into genius.

That said, when the stars align and he really is convincing, I love him to pieces.

Edit: Similar too are Dennis Miller's excessively esoteric and obviously artificial erudite "rants." Often entertaining, but you can see right through them.

[Xyga]

Dead Alive

What the fuck did I just watch...

(Kung fu priest was incredible though)

Hope for you it wasn't the censored US version!