Movies you've just watched

[Stevens]

Armor of the Gods 2/Operation Condor, whatever you want to call it.

Not Chan's best work (Drunken Master 2), but an entertaining and fun Jackie style romp nonetheless.

[GaijinPunch]

I haven't been watching TV since the late 90s. So I pretty much missed anything from around late 90's onwards. Combine that with movies I missed from my time, and yeah. Lots of flicks to catch up on when I feeling bored like I am now...

Oh, shit -- you have some serious TV to binge watch.

Breaking Bad
True Detective
The Wire
Battlestar Galactica

...just to name a very few.

[Ixmucane2]

Two films where people with superpowers have an unusually marginal role (so marginal that in both cases details would be a spoiler).

Birdman

Riggan Thomson, a middle-aged Hollywood celebrity, formerly popular with his superhero role of "Birdman" (a winged flying guy, with a bird-like mask and a cheesy costume reminiscent of Nite Owl from Watchmen), goes to Broadway and tries to be recognized as a serious actor with his self-directed and self-written stage adaptation of What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver. The film covers the last few days of rehearsals, the premiere and the day after, rarely leaving the theatre.

Apart from the interesting depiction of modern theatre and stardom, the main attractions of the film are style and good acting. With very few cuts, the whole story is narrated as a continuous shot, with obvious, unrealistic time compression and dilation. Apart from Michael Keaton as Riggan, notable actors include Edward Norton as Mike the really good actor, Emma Stone as Riggan's daughter.

Italiano Medio

An unrealistic comedy, covering the whole spectrum of very funny, very silly, neither and both, about a very repressed left-wing intellectual (mostly sensitive to environmental issues and degrading TV shows) who becomes happy, socially well adjusted, and far more effective as an activist after taking a pill that makes him use 2% of his brain, turning him into an insensitive asshole. The parody of stories like Limitless, or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is obvious but secondary to the more general subject of becoming a different person.

Very uneven writing, as could be expected from a prolific author of rather hit-or-miss shorts: brilliant and less brilliant ideas are distributed quite randomly. For example, the satire of useless activists is both merciless and affectionate, deep and extensive enough to become a serious political statement, while the equally important satire of culturally degrading TV relies on shallow, repellent characters in aberrant situations. Good use of farts and scatological metaphors, bad use of recycled characters from shorts.

[GaijinPunch]

What did you think of Birdman? My life was on it's head when it came out so I didn't see it until recently. I had read a couple of reviews that said "style over substance" but I found that to be total bullshit. Even the supporting roles were strong (Zach Galifianakis anyone?) and now I love Emma Stone that much more.

[Leandro]

Just saw Nightcrawler. The main character was great and I had good laughs with it. 2 hours well spent

Weird, but obstinate and determined guy looking for a way to gain life starts supplying a sensationalist tv show with video footage of people in their worst moments. Good acting, great story, nice shots of a Red Camaro speeding into the night... I loved the movie

[Randorama]

Italiano Medio

Scopare!! Ecchecazzommenefregaame!

...never liked Capatonda, since his even his short sketches are uneven in quality, but I am not a fan of Italian comedians in general.
Besides, how can someone from l'Aquila appreciate someone from Vasto?

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Snowpiercer - Pretty crazy shit recommended. Don't think I'd ever want to watch it again though.

Flight - Denzel plays a drunk pilot. Okish.

[Sinful]

Watched the Riddick Trilogy yesterday;

The first time I seen the name was when advertised for XBLA or PSN. I was like "Is that Van Diesel? Why they make a game with Van Diesel?" Later when mentioning some science flick chit chat with my brother, he said "I seen the beginning of the a Riddick film and it locked surprisingly good." I was like "Riddick is a movie? So that's why there's a game about it." He said, "Oh yeah, there's a game about it too?"

Anyways, had the whole Trilogy downloaded for a few days now since my first batch of DL'ed torrent flicks, and I practically watched everything I DL'ed so far. So thought I'd watch it finally, despite not being a Van Diesel fan (me and my brother liked to make fun of him, his acting, his movies and especially the very bad one liners we seen as "I love this shit" being at #1, lol). But after watching the first movie, Pitch Black, I was quite surprised by it. "A good Van Diesel movie? Who'd of thought?"

Now I start watching the second one next, and notice the budget of the flick sky rise. Now it looks almost like a true futuristic sci-fi flick, giving me the Star Wars or Mass Effect vibe. Plus it took place on more then one planet. But the best part of the story is that a 1h02min, I pause the movie to take a hit of my brother bong, followed by a cigarette break. Knew one hit held in very long, with the second clearing the rush, would be more then enough since it was years and years since I smoked pot, lol. And man, was I right. I was so freaking lit up, like it was my first hit in High School and then ended up in the principle office totally paranoid and tripping balls, lol. But the best part was how the rest of the movie played out on this trip. All of a sudden the movie became so much more. Basically starting in that jail a bit before the tea cup scene. lol, the tea cup scene. Like I'm saying, the whole flick was quite the amazing trip and I couldn't tell you if the movie was only really great because of the weed, as I was so into it and it tripped me so out with the performance of the other actors and that conspiracy theme by the bad guys felt way deeper then it probably should of been, that freaking sun chase scene and so on. The supporting cast really had me convinced like never before too. Sad to see they wouldn't return in the 3rd one + the one that did return was so aged and not as cool looking in the third one where his role was very minor and only to bridge the flicks. Too bad it was such a long break (9 years?! What the heck?!!) till the third one. Anywho, despite being super high, I could still spot some cheese, as some of the posses by Van Diesel & that chick when they very briefly stop the action to show them together in an action pose, lol. But even that seemed alright to me at the time. Guess it was good cheese? And that chick was super hot.

Next I pop in the third flick, and by now the high is wearing of slowly, and I'm not 100% tripping balls anymore. Sadly. At first I thought the flick was totally disregarding the awesome 2nd flick storyline? But no, some very brief flashback scenes bridge it. It took me awhile to notice the whole flick was going to take place on that planet only, as well as noticing the budget cut. But considering the budget since I just wiki'ed it, it was done really well again + the new supporting cast seem great & unique enough too. So spirit of the second flick and the bad guy chit chat was just as trippy if I were to be just as high again, I'd imagine? This flick also reminded me of the good old days action flicks & cheese. Plus adding futuristic sci-fi stuff to any movie is like icing on a cake.


So yeah, I would like to hear some none "tripping balls" opinions of this Trilogy, and see if I was too high to see that these flicks suck or that the "high" actually did made me see the beauty of these flicks? Otherwise, I suggest to all to smoke as much as possible at the 1 hour mark of the second flick for one heck of a ride.

[Stevens]

Sinful - We have similar habits. I don't know about you, but I cannot play shmups messed up. At least not well.

Pitch Black is a great Sci Fi movie. I was pleasantly surprised when it was first released and still watch it once a year or so. It has aged well.

[JBC]

I loved Pitch Black but was really put off by the shift in tone to the second movie, which almost seemed to take place in a different reality than the first. It's not horrible if you are prepared for cheese. Riddick improved upon this, but was best in it's first half hour when he is alone & struggling to survive on a harsh alien world. I really wish the whole of the movie had been about this & left the cannon fodder mercenaries for the last 15 minutes. How very Metroid & original for film would that have been?

[Pointman]

Watched Sunshine by Danny Boyle again and enjoyed it just as much as ever. Scientific accuracy aside as an existential view on the reigniting of our most beloved star it is fantastic. Anything where the Sun features as an overwhelming deity that just commands respect is good in my books.

[Sinful]

Sinful - We have similar habits. I don't know about you, but I cannot play shmups messed up. At least not well.

Play STGs messed up? I can barely drive under influence of the pot. But I can sure drive perfect being power drunk. Still, can't do gaming with either, so not a fan of either.

[JBC]

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane. I had never seen it before. It was awesome.

[dspoonrt]

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane. I had never seen it before. It was awesome.

That's definitely a guilty pleasure I enjoy watching late at night while drinking a few beers. I also have a soft spot for Brain Smasher... A Love Story, another similarly cheesy Andrew Dice Clay movie.

[Sinful]

Limitless. Definitely a potheadview movie only. 100%. ie. Do not watch it any other way, otherwise you'll regret it. (Also don't read/watch what it's about. Go fresh)

Went to town for a bit yesterday downloading some more movies, since the only movies that I have that are very replayable were the Riddick flicks (watched all 3, 3x already). Mostly sci-fi related. Sometimes I'd check an actor here and there and end up with other movies I don't remember selecting in the first place. Going down in alphabetical of my fresh downloads, I spotted;

Clash of Titans. "What's this? Some mech movie?" I thought. Nope. Theme was good with Madusa & other freaks, but man did the movie suck. It's like the director went in it without a direction or any direction for the actors. So nothing was right + a lot of embarrassing cheese that makes you thankful you're alone watching such heap of un-salvageable cheese. So good thing I watch my flicks alone. Why did I download this? Spotted Jack from Riddick 2 in this flick, so why I had it downloaded. But her role sucked balls like everyone else's anyway. So please watch this movie alone if you have too. Or just not watch it.

I somehow spotted the Anchorman 2 flick name. Thought maybe I could watch a full comedy at one point? Well, maybe a good comedy. This movie is a total buzz kill with some really dumb & even extremely annoying skits. It was ruining my evening in front of the TV so I switched it to another flick before knowing if it'd get better. That other movie was, Limitless. And my day was made.

K, new day. Going to fire up that Vice movie after this post.

I loved Pitch Black but was really put off by the shift in tone to the second movie, which almost seemed to take place in a different reality than the first. It's not horrible if you are prepared for cheese. Riddick improved upon this, but was best in it's first half hour when he is alone & struggling to survive on a harsh alien world. I really wish the whole of the movie had been about this & left the cannon fodder mercenaries for the last 15 minutes. How very Metroid & original for film would that have been?

Yeah, you notice the different reality during the first cryo sleep scene in full dose. So this is were you take on the movie as a fresh slate to keep on enjoying it. It's not like the first movie at all (third one at least takes lots of elements from part 1). Again, it's more like some elements of Star Wars & Mass Effect mixed with... comic book/videogame story theme medium. Which is my fave medium for any story by a longshot. And these only work if the directors vision for the whole package and choosing and guiding the actors right too. Why I enjoyed Riddick 2 & 3 so much. I'm a comic book & videogame geek junkie first. So only accept this flick from a comic book view and enjoy the ride. And if you don't know the comic book view, read some comic books scans.

And you don't like mercs? I thought everybody loves mercs? It's all you ever see in comic books & videogames. And their acting and banter was in perfect character with lots of great lines coming out of them "Is there a name for this private little world of yours?" lol, that line was delivered perfectly.


You think the movie would of been better if it was all about that survival scenes? Maybe. But this movie basically wanted to recapture the first flick. And it does just that... you really must hate mercs then.

[Some-Mist]

backed Alejandro Jodorowsky's new film "Endless Poetry" which is a continuation of his autobiography which was partly shown in the Dance of Reality.

here's the link in case anyone else was interested

watched "The Double" yesterday which is a 2013/2014 film adaptation of Fydor Dostoyevsky's book of the same title, starring Jessie Eisenberg. albeit predictable, it was still a fun watch. The setting reminded me a lot of Gilliam dystopian films/Coen's "The Hudsucker Proxy"/Wes Anderson, but in a very dark manner with some subtle dark comedy.

[drauch]

This is when I think Kickstarter isn't used properly or manipulatively. I don't understand how Jodorowsky can't get producers, or hell, even fund it himself at 86 years old. His networth has got to be huge.

Also, a hearty LOL at this scheme: "Jodorowsky thinks that all money should be transformed into poetry. And so that is what he will do with this Kickstarter project. No matter what level you pledge at, Jodorowsky will exchange your pledge into his brand new Poetic Money (DINERO POÉTICO) and send it back to you. This money can't be spent on any material goods -- only on the poetry of the universe."

[Mischief Maker]

Also, a hearty LOL at this scheme: "Jodorowsky thinks that all money should be transformed into poetry. And so that is what he will do with this Kickstarter project. No matter what level you pledge at, Jodorowsky will exchange your pledge into his brand new Poetic Money (DINERO POÉTICO) and send it back to you. This money can't be spent on any material goods -- only on the poetry of the universe."

Lucky poets.

Then again, can't be any worse than working for Huffpo.

[Some-Mist]

my dinero poeticos are gonna be desk ornaments at work

I've only backed a few non-videogame based kickstarters which have all worked out surprisingly well.
Charlie Kaufman's stop motion film "Anomalisa"
Exivious - Liminal
David Liebe Hart's punk rock album

just waiting on the release of anomalisa now, but the updates have been pretty great.

edit: the last one, The Dance of Reality, was funded by seydoux, alejandro, and by fan donations too.. but it probably doesn't need to be kickstarted tbh

[Sinful]

Decided to check another flick by the Riddick director outside of that Trilogy to see if my hunch was correct in that he knows very well how to put his image of a story directly on the big screen + choose & guide the actors right + choose the best takes. Well, sadly buddy barely did any other flicks. Nevertheless, The Perfect Getaway seemed like flick to choose, and... I was right. The director has actual skills as a director. As in, how are all these dumb ass critics who do nothing but critic flicks as a living, not able to spot the most important thing in a movie? A director that can actually do these things. Plus you can always tell when the critics mess up with critic panned flicks that gain cult status fame with time. As in, yes, I quickly checked the wiki page of Riddick 2 and seen it was hardcore panned, yet gained a cult following in DVD sales and is the sole reason there are any sequels to begin with. Critics should be there to reveal hidden gems, like how they kept the Seinfeld show alive till it hit insane popularity. Oh well.


Decided to check another JJ Abrams flick to test his directing capabilities for the new Star Wars since I only recall seeing his two Star Trek flicks. The flick was Super 8 and only went in with the fact that it was a sci-fi flick. Then I see kids? But wait. These kids aren't like all other kids in flicks. ie. totally out of place, lol. These kids were actually chosen well and had proper direction to suit the directors vision of the flick. And the vision was great and very unique. Only problem is the overall story resolution & my mood for it + I'm not too crazy for too much emotions/drama in flicks. Still a great movie. So in conclusion, if JJ is really a big true Star Wars fan and his vision is in sync enough with how a Star Wars flick should be like, he'll pull it off... at least in the directing area. Overall story and how replayable the movie will end up is the other concern.

[Khan]

Watched

The Hobbit: battle of the five armies

A little dissappointed with this as I thought the action would be better but it just seemed very dull compared to the lotr trilogy. I dont know but personally I was expecting more from Gandalf being an amazing Wizard and the battle scenes were just meh. Also a dwarf and elf falling in love...ugh wtf.

TED

Watched this last night and thought id see what all the fuss was about and although there was about 3 times were i laughed out loud the rest of the movie was pretty average Mila kunis was hot as usual but Mark wahlberg getting whipped by an antenna across the ass was the highlight of the movie and the scene were Ted gets the job at the supermarket.

[Immryr]

watched "The Double" yesterday which is a 2013/2014 film adaptation of Fydor Dostoyevsky's book of the same title, starring Jessie Eisenberg. albeit predictable, it was still a fun watch. The setting reminded me a lot of Gilliam dystopian films/Coen's "The Hudsucker Proxy"/Wes Anderson, but in a very dark manner with some subtle dark comedy.

I went to see this when it was out in cinemas and I was very pleasantly surprised. I like the book a lot and really didn't think Richard ayoade would be up to directing something like this, so I went in with low expectations. On the whole I thought it was very good, but I'm sure there was one particular thing which bugged me about the film - this was a while ago now and I can't for the life of me remember what it was. Maybe I'll give it a rewatch.

[dspoonrt]

Decided to check another JJ Abrams flick to test his directing capabilities for the new Star Wars since I only recall seeing his two Star Trek flicks. The flick was Super 8 and only went in with the fact that it was a sci-fi flick. Then I see kids? But wait. These kids aren't like all other kids in flicks. ie. totally out of place, lol. These kids were actually chosen well and had proper direction to suit the directors vision of the flick. And the vision was great and very unique. Only problem is the overall story resolution & my mood for it + I'm not too crazy for too much emotions/drama in flicks. Still a great movie. So in conclusion, if JJ is really a big true Star Wars fan and his vision is in sync enough with how a Star Wars flick should be like, he'll pull it off... at least in the directing area. Overall story and how replayable the movie will end up is the other concern.

I think that the two new Star Trek flicks and Super 8 are all well done. What worries me is that Abrams wrote and directed the mediocre Mission Impossible 3 and once he got some money and acclaim produced Cloverfield, which I hated. Also frightening is the fact that he wrote Armageddon and Gone Fishin'. The man makes some great stuff, but he's a little hit or miss to be in control of Star Wars, for my tastes. That said, George Lucas already ruined the Star Wars franchise, so at this point none of this posturing really matters.

[KindGrind]

Big Trouble in Little China

I watched it a few days ago after 20 years of not having watched it, and I hated it. Found it barely watchable. Everything about it got on my nerves, and I couldn't finish it.

I finally got around to watch Interstellar last night.

I don't exactly know where to begin here. I think the movie is plagued with an overlong script with too much nonsense going on (I can suspend my disbelief, but you have got to help me out a bit), too much "tape-à-l'oeil" and very little that remains in the end. I think it really, desperately wants to make you think, but the only comments we had about it were pretty negative. A neat idea, I think, but they went all out and it didn't serve the film.

What hit me was the sheer unlikeliness of it all. Spoilers...

Spoiler

He hasn't piloted a space shuttle in years, goes there totally unprepared, hops on, makes it to space without a hiccup. When they start spinning to dock into the damaged, spiraling relay station I couldn't take it anymore, and the movie hadn't even started with it's biggest improbabilities. When they decide to drift to take advantage of the black hole's pull to slingshot back, send the robot over the horizon so it could relay the data to Earth, the "landing" in the Tesseract (Made by us! The amazing reveal!), I really felt like it was a very long 2h45 minutes. I didn't like how they spoon-feed you with the hows and the whys of their lifestyle in the beginning, mostly with the episode at school (Apollo missions faked to bankrupt Russia, etc.) The special effects were excellent, the music was perfect, the acting not bad at all from the leads. I didn't believe one bit in Matt Damon's character, his reversal and all. Also... Why Topher Grace?

I can't recommend it. Europa Report remains the best, new sci-fi I've seen this year.

[boagman]

Decided to check another JJ Abrams flick to test his directing capabilities for the new Star Wars since I only recall seeing his two Star Trek flicks. The flick was Super 8 and only went in with the fact that it was a sci-fi flick. Then I see kids? But wait. These kids aren't like all other kids in flicks. ie. totally out of place, lol. These kids were actually chosen well and had proper direction to suit the directors vision of the flick. And the vision was great and very unique. Only problem is the overall story resolution & my mood for it + I'm not too crazy for too much emotions/drama in flicks. Still a great movie. So in conclusion, if JJ is really a big true Star Wars fan and his vision is in sync enough with how a Star Wars flick should be like, he'll pull it off... at least in the directing area. Overall story and how replayable the movie will end up is the other concern.

"Super 8" was my movie of the summer that it was released in. I was absolutely taken with it, though I fully admit that that particular summer gave us basically *nothing* in terms of really good movies. "Super 8" was very well done, if (admittedly) a bit on the sappy side. I thought that the casting was major-league superior, especially in terms of the kids themselves. The movie may not have changed my life, or anyone else's for that matter, but it was absolutely terrific for what it was, and it came as a complete surprise to me.

JJ Abrams did a heck of a job on it, and I'm glad I spent money to see it.

[options]

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films

Checked this out based purely on my (previously-stated) love of Bloodsport, as that was the only film I knew they were responsible for. Little did I know...

Basically any American male born in the late 70s or 80s would probably get a kick out of this. (I only add "American" cuz I don't know how many of their movies went international, but there's cult stuff for days in this)

[BIL]

^ ROVELY stuff, that documentary. Even nostalgia aside it's a great story, but yeah... if you grew up with their films (or even grew up seeing their films' posters in the rental place) it's nirvana. Funny and brutal.

"Now, you look at the monkey and you can tell the monkey LOVE you, he love the boy, and the monkey is going 'HELP ME, HELP ME'"

"Is... is the monkey gonna talk?"

"We deal with that later."

[options]

Even nostalgia aside it's a great story

agreed. and yeah, I only know most of their output via posters/box art rather than the movies themselves, but my 'to watch' queue just got a lot longer.

[drauch]

I'm a huge Cannon fanboy, and yeah, I implore anyone to seek out the majority of their catalogue. I still need to see the doc myself, but it looks like it touches mainly(?) on the 80s stuff, which yeah, is primarily all gold. There's only a few stinkers amidst the giant output of insane stuff they made. The 90s stuff really starts to suffer the budget since they were going bankrupt, but there's still some gold in there like Norris in Delta Force 2 and Jeff Speakman in Street Knight. Damn shame, too, because Jeff Speakman could have been one of the greatest in brutal martial-arts/action films. He doesn't really have the onscreen presence as some of the big leaguers, but in the few good films he made he's probably at the top for just pure overkill, which is what I live for.

[Sinful]

Enders Game. Seen the trailer a bit back and really seemed like it would be bad with the one kid idea. But wanted to check it out to because it's a space movie and... well gee, Harrison Ford in another sci-fi flick? About time.

Anyway, just finished watching it and I was quite surprised. I recommend it.