Movies you've just watched

[GaijinPunch]

Big Hero 6

One of the finest superhero films ever; it does almost everything right, with some interesting new ideas.

• No supernatural or paranormal elements (with very vague hints of one or two possible slight exceptions), only exceptionally smart and resourceful people. Thematic coherence benefits greatly.
• Excellent science fiction, with a smooth combination of well founded real-world extrapolations, exaggeration and amazing superscience. All important, meaningful, and treated according to canonical stereotypes (for example, the villain could be defeated by an obvious, easily realizable large-scale application of his characteristic technology, but the heroes prefer a more adventurous approach).
• A firm stance against violence. In a certain important scene about halfway, seeing people who behave normally (restraining an irate companion who wants to kill someone) and realizing it's abnormal becomes an heartbreaking deconstruction of a century of films and comic books.
• An equally serious and positive treatment of death and bereavement, including thoughtful running gags.
• Stan Lee.
• A particularly fun main character.
• Beautiful action scenes, particularly the first flight over the city of Hiro and Baymax (which exceeds the feeling of exhilarating power of the fairly similar scene of skyscraper jumps in Sam Raimi's Spiderman).

I couldn't get over the horrible dialogue. It was beautiful in a lot of ways (most of what you said) but they should have hired a real writer.

[Dale]

2014 was a good year for movies, a lot of weird messed up stuff that I enjoy. This would be my top ten.

1.The Raid2
2.The Babadook
3.The Guest
4.Enemy
5.Xmen Days Of Future Passed
6.Filth
7.Under The Skin
8.How To Train Your Dragon2
9.The Honeymoon
10.Oculus

[Raytrace]

Is there a TV series thread? Anywya whether there is or not Imma talk here. I'm rewatching Nathan Barley - it is unbelievable how UNweird and shocking etc. it seems now compared to the actual world we are in now. Chris Morris and indeed Charlie Brooker are geniuses (genii?).

[GaijinPunch]

Is there a TV series thread?

Yes

I'm rewatching Nathan Barley - it is unbelievable how UNweird and shocking etc. it seems now compared to the actual world we are in now.

I watched the Pilot a year ago and need to finish it. It's fucking hilarious.

[Raytrace]

Is there a TV series thread?

Yes\

I'm rewatching Nathan Barley - it is unbelievable how UNweird and shocking etc. it seems now compared to the actual world we are in now.

I watched the Pilot a year ago and need to finish it. It's fucking hilarious.

The actual series is actually even betters and a bit different - but yes it is amazings (all of it).

[Raytrace]

I Love You Philip Morris was on TV two nights ago, overall I enjoyed it, but it was a completely different film to what I thought it was going to be, I thought it was gonna be about some guy dying of cancer but wouldn't stop smoking Marlboros or something o_O.

It was good, but I think Catch Me If You Can was a more enjoyable 'conman' movie.

[JBC]

The Equalizer.

Few nitpicks, lots of satisfaction.

Spoiler

There are so many things to kill bad dudes with in a hardware store.

[Vexorg]

I don't know if I saw enough stuff this year to do a proper top 10, but I'd go with my favorites for 2014 being:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy
2. The Lego Movie
3. How to Train Your Dragon 2
4. Edge of Tomorrow
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Other movies I liked: X-Men: Days of Future Past, Big Hero 6, The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies, Muppets Most Wanted

Movies I didn't like: Blended, Maleficent, Mockingjay Part 1, Godzilla

[GaijinPunch]

Shit I liked:

Boyhood - super dope
Interstellar - about as good as I expected (Which was a high bar - flawed, but ambitious and enjoyable)
Birdman - better than I expected. Some people didn't quite get this, but I loved it.
Gone Girl - Fincher will never do anything better than Se7en I'm sure, but this was good.

Shit I thought was overrated
Big Hero 6

EDIT: I don't think Coherence got a wide release until 2014, so I'll slap that in here. I rank it quite high.

[spadgy]

After watching Whiskey Galore the other day (further up this thread) I've made the effort to watch a few more Ealing Comedies.

Watched Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Lavender Hill Mob last night. Both superb. Alec Guiness is remarkable in both. He plays eight members of the same daily in the former, but I think is even more captivating as the everyman-turbned-master-criminal protagonist of Lavender Hill Mob. Watch them!

[BIL]

Caught "Kind Hearts" on a whim one afternoon last summer while my parent were visiting, we loved it. Same perfect balance of black humour and farce as The Ladykillers, the other Ealing comedy featuring Guinness I've enjoyed.

Incidentally, about the only time I watch television is when family visit from abroad. Almost makes paying the Big British Castle protection fee seem worth it. ^_~

[spadgy]

I love that you're calling the BBC the Big British Castle! Was that from my post above (I myself stole it from a radio show by some of my favourite comedians, 'Adam and Joe'), or is it nicknamed that elsewhere? (EDIT: Are in the UK BIL? I guess so, if you're paying your license fee. I always thought you were in the US. Quite possibly you know Adam and Joe, if you're based here) Either way, I love that more people also call it the Big British Castle, and I'd like it so spread globally that it becomes taken as fact that it is its name.

'British Broadcasting Corporation' is so bloody dull, anyway.

[Xyga]

So after going through the sword and sandals films of the 50's/60's, I've started rewatching the Jules Verne and HG Wells adaptations of the era.
There's good and bad stuff, but those painted landscapes, stop-motion monsters and steampunk elements, and old-fashioned characters have certain charm.
I don't maybe it's the dark, warm, lush and raw/innocent atmosphere of that near-forgotten past that seduces me.

Next I'm going to go through the difficult task of sorting the good and bad in the Sherlock Holmes adaptations.
Also I need more fantasy/dark fantasy stuff but it's tough to find great lists that aren't filled with recent blockbuster same-shit.

[BIL]

I love that you're calling the BBC the Big British Castle! Was that from my post above (I myself stole it from a radio show by some of my favourite comedians, 'Adam and Joe'), or is it nicknamed that elsewhere? (EDIT: Are in the UK BIL? I guess so, if you're paying your license fee. I always thought you were in the US. Quite possibly you know Adam and Joe, if you're based here) Either way, I love that more people also call it the Big British Castle, and I'd like it so spread globally that it becomes taken as fact that it is its name.

Yeah, nicked it from your earlier post - thought it was quite clever. I hop from one side of the pond to the other, but for now the UK is home. I get mistaken for a yank all the time IRL too. ;3 (been mistaken for a brit while in the states, come to think of it)

There's good and bad stuff, but those painted landscapes, stop-motion monsters and steampunk elements, and old-fashioned characters have certain charm.
I don't maybe it's the dark, warm, lush and raw/innocent atmosphere of that near-forgotten past that seduces me.

Reminds me, I watched Roger Corman's The Masque of the Red Death (1964) with Vincent Price the other night. Okay adaptation, minus a dated and histrionic psychedelic intermission. Best bit by far, besides Mr. Price, was a long shot of Jane Asher against a gorgeous matte backdrop, a stormy sky viewed from billowing curtains in dawn light. I love that sense of real stagecraft in old films.

Also watched The Babadook (2014). Not surprised it got approval from William Friedkin; the subtextual resemblance to The Exorcist is unmistakable, disease and decay in one's family and home being the real horror. It's similarly harrowing material, with a familiar air of encroaching doom. Unfortunately I don't think the director knew how to end things. The eventual eruption into outright terror is a little over-extended, but the final blurring of literal and illusory layers in the name of metaphor is outright clumsy. Reductive to an otherwise compelling dark drama that understands and employs the distinction between terror and horror. Still worth a watch, with the caveat that the chase is better than the catch.

[system11]

Left Behind - 1/10

I like to jump into films without much information - sometimes it bites me. This was described on the Amazon video app as an apocalypse film with Nicholas Cage. What it doesn't say is that it's a film aimed at 'people who follow a faith'. I feel violated having suffered it. The acting is so-so, the story ridiculous, some of the dialogue will make you cringe. I'm giving it 1 point out of 10 purely because of the tight shirt one of the air hostesses (Nicky Whelan) wears during the film. Avoid this at all costs.

[JBC]

I believe they tried to make a PC game out of the Left Behind series that was banned (?) sometime in the mid 2000's. A lot of folks felt it was insensitive for reasons I can't remember. I'm religious myself, but non denominational & with a more realistic, scientific concept applied to the how's & why's of our existence. That said, I'd never buy into that gas station media rack garbage. Looks like some fear mongering TV evangelist propaganda to me.

[Raytrace]

Gonna watch this bad boy now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX4td1XCkP0

[KindGrind]

Say Anything (1989)

Watch this on Netflix tonight, found it excellent. Reminded me a lot of a few of John Hughes' movies from that era, but I liked this one better than Breakfast Club or Pretty in Pink.

In the same vein, I think I liked High Fidelity and Almost Famous better, but Say Anything caught me off guard with its no bullshit depiction of family and dating. Found it quite refreshing, for a movie that's 25 years old. I had a greata time, laughed from time to time and found it just endearing.

Highly recommended!

[Vexorg]

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow:

Rewatched this for the first time in years this past weekend, and to be honest I have no idea what to think about it now. On one hand, the visuals are very well done. On the other hand, when you start watching it more than once it quickly becomes apparent that the plot is something of a mess.

[GaijinPunch]

Say Anything (1989)

Watch this on Netflix tonight, found it excellent. Reminded me a lot of a few of John Hughes' movies from that era, but I liked this one better than Breakfast Club or Pretty in Pink.

In the same vein, I think I liked High Fidelity and Almost Famous better, but Say Anything caught me off guard with its no bullshit depiction of family and dating. Found it quite refreshing, for a movie that's 25 years old. I had a greata time, laughed from time to time and found it just endearing.

Highly recommended!

Better than The Breakfast Club? Them's fightin' words.

[GaijinPunch]

I scoured the underbelly of China to get some 2014 closing words from Skykid, as he's experiencing an OT time out. I went to leather-daddy bars, transgender circuses, and even the strip mall. After finally finding him, I go this:

My movie of the year:

Wolf of Wall Street



Stuff I liked:

The Grand Budapest Hotel - Really superb stuff from Wes Anderson
Under the Skin - Weirdly wonderful
Fury - surprisingly good
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Wolf Creek 2 - Absurdly violent
The Signal



Hollywood crap that was better than I expected:

Xmen: Days Of Future Past
HG: Mockingjay Pt.1
Edge of Tomorrow
Maleficent
Transformers 4
Snowpiercer (technically not Hollywood and technically not 2014, but whatever)
Guardians of the Galaxy



Hollywood crap that was exactly as I expected:

Interstellar


Hollywood crap that was watchable:

Non-Stop
Expendables 3
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Spiderman 2
Into the Storm



Hollywood crap that was just crap:

Lucy
Robocop
Transcendence
Turtles



Hollywood crap that was unforgivably awful:

Godzilla
3 Days to Kill - Turned it off



Mild disappointments:

The Maze Runner - not enough Maze Running. Jarring finale.



Stuff I thought was overrated by everybody:

Interstellar - the film that finally outlined Nolan's systemic weaknesses as a director in crystal clarity
Raid 2 - Pretty disappointing. I didn't expect I'd have to fight through boredom
Guardians of the Galaxy - fun but still utterly disposable
Edge of Tomorrow - As above

[Ixmucane2]

Saint Seiya: Legend of Sanctuary

An interesting contemporary take on the old manga and animated series, with jarring cases of poor character animation (no motion capture?) but a good looking semi-realistic CGI style and excellent designs for character, hardware and scenery.
The story is a rather faithful compaction of the original, achieved by reducing the characteristic long speeches and fights to small samples, neglecting a number of popular but inessential characters and issues, and omitting details to the point of obscurity. I would expect Saint Seiya fans to feel teased and deprived, and new viewers to enjoy the film a bit more.
Few plot holes, some characteristically Japanese silly humour (often prevailing over the deadly serious heroic attitude of the characters).

[Raytrace]

Seriously why is no one watching this official only ever Irish Asian Martial Arts Film (Kenpo I think) :

Fatal Deviation - 1998 - set in Trim, County Meath, Éire.

Full film on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPne3Wh0lqk

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0488046/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Starring Jimmy 'Cement Jaw' Bennett:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3068100/?ref_=tt_cl_t1

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3068100/resu ... =nm_ov_res

Ok, it is extremely low budget (£8,000 Irish Punts at the time), and well the storyline isn't the most original; (guy comes back to town, bad guys are wrecking town, guy meets girl who likes him but she had history with one of the bad guys, bad guys kidnap girl, bad guys tell him he has to lose in an ultraviolent illegal tournament etc), but the thing is that I genuinely think the action scenes are done really well, well his kicks especially are incredible, especially when you consider I'm pretty sure they didn't even have the money to do any editing involving speeding them up etc. eheh :p. The gunfight scenes are pretty well done, also everytime they're doing a driving scene etc., you're just going, that's pretty real, because there no way they had enough money to make it genuinely safe :p.
There's actually one bit where the main guy crashes a car, and apparently he wasn't supposed to at all, the car does a full roll and everything and there's no rollcage in it, it shows it in the outtakes at the end, he's like stepping out of it, blood all over his head and he's all 'I'm ok lads' hahahahah.
Training montages in forests with monks playing Uileann pipes, someguy getting into an outdoor bath naked with a cowboy hat and shades on for no reason (maybe he was a big fan of the Fall Guy - these are just a few of the mad little scenes in it.

[BIL]

My dad's Irish and I linked him to the trailer as soon as you posted it, he immediately watched the movie with some fellow paddies and fucking loved it. I'll have to watch it myself tomorrow evening or bring shame upon the house.

YOU KILLED MOI FADDER. NOW OI'M GONNA KILL YOU!

[Raytrace]

Hahah it is no doubt pure lulz - the guy in it seems to be doing stunts and parts in Hollywood now so fair play to him, he is definitely very skilled. If you have even a passing knowledge of JCVD's films, you will find TONNES of references to them throughout, Bloodsport in particular is obviously a massive influence.
There is a torrent of it btw also if you want to watch in slightly better quality and there was a DVD release at some point, but I wouldn't be holding out for a BluRay release .

It's interesting also as a snapshot of rural Ireland in 1998, well I found that part interesting anywayz.

[SuperGrafx]

Cheech and Chong: Up in Smoke

Stupid movie.
No idea why this series is so popular.

[Aleksei]

Just watched Lust of the Dead on Netflix, its on Netflix, I can't believe its on Netflix, I can't believe I sat through it.

[LSU]

I don't think Coherence got a wide release until 2014, so I'll slap that in here. I rank it quite high.

Me too. Didn't know if I'd like it to begin with, but it really starts to pay off half an hour in and it really surprised me. Absolutely loved it.

[GaijinPunch]

Cheech and Chong: Up in Smoke

Stupid movie.
No idea why this series is so popular.

Different Era. The same reason dick head kids think we're weird for playing the games we do.

Me too. Didn't know if I'd like it to begin with, but it really starts to pay off half an hour in and it really surprised me. Absolutely loved it.

Less is more is hard to do in SciFi. This one pulled it off quite well.

[Raytrace]

Different Era. The same reason dick head kids think we're weird for playing the games we do.

I think also the notion of smoking weed was more controversial then so people thought it was 'cooler' than it probably really was.