Movies you've just watched

[Ixmucane2]

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Above all, a well written fantasy movie that explores a bizarre premise: what if 18th/19th century England, upper classes in particular, had a severe zombie invasion problem?
The plot about the five Bennet sisters and other young people getting married is quite faithful to the original but, except for Elizabeth vs. Mr Darcy, slightly pushed into the background, while the adventure plot is commonplace and predictable (but cleverly grafted onto the original characters and situations); the strength of the film lies in the coherent combination of silliness, meaningful parody and action.

[neorichieb1971]

Sicario - Blu ray

Quite a good soundtrack and De Toro is good in it.. But thats it. Where the 5 stars came from I don't know. Waste of my money.


Goosebumps - Blu ray

I want to like it but its a weaker version of Spiderwick and most of the formula is already used in Spiderwick. Family moves, handsome son meets new beautiful girl next door, something is a miss and suddenly monsters are everywhere. Sound familiar?

[Xyga]

Run Silent, Run Deep (1958, b&w, R.Wise, w/ C.Gable and B.Lancaster)

Textbook but quite good WWII submarine movie set on the Pacific side of things.

It's no Das Boot, but it's better than Red october IMHO.

[Some-Mist]

hail caesar - 6/10 - probably my least favorite coen brothers movie. still funny and worth seeing but I wouldn't see it again - it felt even more pointless than the typical coen brothers movie (my favorites are probably barton fink, a serious man, and raising arizona).

the lobster - 7/10 - exactly what I expected... very dark comedy starring collin farrel, rachel weisz, john c. reilly, olivia colman, ashley jensen etc.. didn't realize it was by yorgos lanthimos who also did dogtooth. basically about a single person admitted to a hotel where you need to find a girlfriend within the allowed time limit or you turn into an animal of your choosing.

microbe and gasoline - 6/10 - michel gondry's newest film about two grade school "loser" kids who decide to build a house on wheels and go on a road trip. doesn't really stack up to science of sleep, eternal sunshine, or l'ecume des jours, but still a fun one to watch.

the mighty ducks 1/2/3 - classic/10 - watch these every winter and it always gets me right in the nostalgia.

[GaijinPunch]

hail caesar - 6/10 - probably my least favorite coen brothers movie. still funny and worth seeing but I wouldn't see it again - it felt even more pointless than the typical coen brothers movie (my favorites are probably barton fink, a serious man, and raising arizona).

Said to hear this... it's not done so well in the reviews. Usually that bothers me not. I quite liked Burn After Reading which got bad reviews (even here I think) but I found it hilarious. John Malcovich -- they need to get that guy in a film again. I've yet to see Inside Llewlyn Davis. O.o

[Some-Mist]

hail caesar - 6/10 - probably my least favorite coen brothers movie. still funny and worth seeing but I wouldn't see it again - it felt even more pointless than the typical coen brothers movie (my favorites are probably barton fink, a serious man, and raising arizona).

Said to hear this... it's not done so well in the reviews. Usually that bothers me not. I quite liked Burn After Reading which got bad reviews (even here I think) but I found it hilarious. John Malcovich -- they need to get that guy in a film again. I've yet to see Inside Llewlyn Davis. O.o

actually liked inside llewyn davis.

as for hail caesar, I might chalk it up to me not being in the right mood...especially since I went in not knowing what it was about and I had no idea what to expect. I loved clooney, tatum, and fiennes and I had a few good laughs, but for some reason I just wasn't feeling it. the person I went with fell asleep lol

[Squire Grooktook]

Inside Llewlyn Davis is great. Fantastic character study.

I love pretty much all their films. So yeah the Hail Ceasars reviews are disappointing.

[Skykid]

Mermaid





Stephen Chow's new movie, just broke opening gross records for a domestic China release this Chinese New Year. Unsurprisingly it took me three days to actually get a decent seat, and that's in a city overloaded with movie theatres.

Worth the hype? Yes. Thank god for Stephen Chow actually being a passionate creative because there aren't enough left in the movie industry. Once again independently financed, Mermaid is so stereotypically Chow the only real criticism you could level at it is that it doesn't do anything particularly new.

If you're looking for more of the same utterly insane, completely off-the-wall antics delivered with a special brand of perfect comedy craftsmanship, here it is.

Movie poster (large image in spoiler tag):

Spoiler

Most of the time I had to keep reminding myself how absolutely idiotic the entire thing was: A mermaid attempting to assassinate a rich businessman who had acquired the bay where they live and set up deadly underwater sonar to ward off marine life.

Slapstick abound, the antics are beyond even Shaolin Soccer loopy, yet crafted with Chow's characteristic attention to detail. It's often beautifully - and always highly creatively - shot, the editing is comic perfection, and he squeezes terrific performances out of his cast by sheer will and aggression. It's clear the CG is meant to be cartoon grade because Chow has enough money to afford ultra-realism but avoids it. Instead he sticks with the same Kung-Fu Hustle style effects he's always used to ensure the playfulness never tonally goes out of sync.

He's completely in touch with Chinese humour as well, still casting random people off the street to simply be themselves, to great comedic effect. In this case, the bungling mermaid grandmother. Elsewhere he parodies China's wealthy farmers and general money obsession quite poignantly behind the entertainment veil, and even has some kind of eco-message in there too.

There are a few skits in there that don't work in subtitling though! I thought the translator should have tried harder, and if I didn't have some Chinese language ability I may not have got them either. So for your reference, the scene where the girl is offering the businessman to pluck and eat chicken - "chicken" in China is slang for prostitute, hence why the scene is so funny owing to the misunderstanding. And in the scene where the rich woman tells her servants to "get out of here" (subtitles), they start rolling on the floor because Chinese use the word "roll" or "roll away" as equivalent to telling someone to piss off. The scene is just acted out literally as a joke, but you would have no idea based on the translation. There's also a lot of stuff about throwing large sums of cash at people to get them to go away or stop complaining, and while understandable for anyone, the subtlety is culturally bound, since it's tied into Chinese money politics between the rich and poor.

Finally, no Chow film would be quite right without a new female lead - something of a tradition. The girl who got the part does a fine job in the role and generally makes a fool of herself, as did her predecessors, for the virtues of comedy. But she's pleasing on the eye for sure.

Here's Chow with the finalists during the selection process (large image in spoiler tag):

Spoiler

In case you're wondering, no.7 got it:

[emphatic]

Can't wait to see it! I love Stephen Chow.

[Mischief Maker]

She's cute but goddamn #10!

[xxx1993]

Saw Deadpool!

[emphatic]

Deadpool. 5/5, GO FUCKING SEE IT.

[GaijinPunch]

Deadpool. 5/5, GO FUCKING SEE IT.

for realz?

[GaijinPunch]

She's cute but goddamn #10!

i'd eat her ass like a pizza.

[options]

Deadpool

I wouldn't go 5/5, but it was a lot of fun. some of the jokes hit harder than others, but the success ratio was good, especially considering the sheer number of 'em. the CG could've been a bit better, but I know they weren't working with the budget other hero flicks get. other than that, tho, solid--and refreshing. I left wanting more. Ryan Reynolds is perfect in this role.

[Skykid]

I only just realised the other day that Ryan Reynolds was in the X-Files for about 2 minutes (he gets killed in the pre-credits opener) in a really good season 3 episode.

Quite a few later-to-be-famous faces appeared in that show. Jack Black and Giovanni Ribisi are in the same episode together. Weird.



Spooky.

[GaijinPunch]

Quite a few later-to-be-famous faces appeared in that show.

Jack Black and Giovanni Ribisi are in the same episode together. Weird.

Yep, the electricity episode, yeah ? Always remember that. Cranston in Drive. Quite a few others I saw and commented on when I was watching Seasons 2-4 last winter.

[emphatic]

Deadpool. 5/5, GO FUCKING SEE IT.

for realz?

Fo' sho.

[lilmanjs]

Swift Sword (1980)

Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass on this junk. This is one of the reasons that makes me remember that for every great swordplay movie Shaw Brothers made, they probably had about 5 really bottom of the barrel ones. This one feels like 2 movies in one, but in the worst way. The fights are really well done, but after that, you have to suffer through some stiff acting, and sudden location changes. Guy gets pushed off a cliff and the bad guys think him to be dead, and then of course we go to an entirely different mountain range and totally different people who are not really introduced and takes forever to figure out what they have to do with the movie. Very pretty looking movie, but acting is awful and so is the editing. I can't believe I watched it all.

[Some-Mist]

Deadpool. 5/5, GO FUCKING SEE IT.

yea, it was very enjoyable.

the

Spoiler

baby hand

killed me.

[emphatic]

the

Spoiler

baby hand

killed me.

Spoiler

"it's gonna feel huge"

[Obiwanshinobi]

Though if you want a Hong Kong action movie that's straight-up with being a satire, check out Full Contact!

Any other recommendations? I just saw Infernal Affairs for the first time. I know... terrible. But living in Japan you have to go way out of your way to get that shit with English subtitles... easy for guys like us but I was lazy.

Duel to the Death.

[BrianC]

I saw It Happened One Night at the local theater (they show old movies on weekends with a free ticket for Gold card members) and I loved it. I have seen caricatures of Clark Gable in cartoons, but this is the first time I have seriously watched a movie with him in it (I may have seen Gone With the Wind and plan to see it, but it has been awhile). I loved him in it. Very enjoyable movie with some memorable scenes.

Not sure if it should be here on in the TV section since it is marketed as a TV series, but the block Columbo was in was labelled as a movie block and the episodes are movie length, so I'll post it here. I just watched the first Columbo pliot. It had some interesting differences from the main series (mainly Columbo dresses in a nice suit), but it was still very much Columbo (he still mentions his wife and says "one more thing"). The villain of the episode was played by Gene Barry (known for Bat Masterson), who did a nice job

Spoiler

as a cold and calculating villain

here.

[Vexorg]

Lethal Weapon 3 (TV edited version): **1/2

Ended up watching this on TV last night for lack of anything better on. Pretty standard buddy cop movie with a couple of decent action sequences punctuated by lots and lots of shouting (Seriously, I think 75% of the dialog in this movie is people arguing with each other.) Featuring a generic slicked-up "cop gone rogue" bad guy with a by-the-book bad guy plot and Joe Pesci slumming a year after his Oscar win as he plays against type in a role he really wasn't suited for (eventually he earned a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actor playing the character in Lethal Weapon 4), there just isn't much to this one.

And is it just me, or would the plot of one of these cop movies ultimately result in a mountain of paperwork if it had happened in real life?

[Mischief Maker]

And is it just me, or would the plot of one of these cop movies ultimately result in a mountain of paperwork if it had happened in real life?

I dunno, maybe watching the movie "Hot Fuzz" would provide the answer to that question.

[Some-Mist]

rewatched hugo last night after band of brothers episode 9 since a pick me up was required.

still loved it as much as the first time and very comparable to the children's book (that I read before I first saw it). having just made it through the full harry potter series, I was actually surprised at how many HP actors/actresses were in Hugo. also, a lot of other cameo's as well.

fun movie if you're in the mood for a lighthearted french kids flick. this second time through it felt/looked a lot like amelie too.

[Mischief Maker]

It was good, though it felt like a lot of connective tissue was missing. I suspect the extended edition DVD is going to be something special.

That said, Punisher: Warzone still reigns supreme as the ultimate anti-superhero movie in my book.

[Ixmucane2]

Zoolander 2

Many good lines and moments (like the murder of Justin Bieber), but the plot makes too much sense (turning out to be predictable) while at the same time having completely inappropriate serious elements.
Stiller and Wilson are still good, while Penelope Cruz isn't remotely fun.

On the whole, enjoyable but overdone, lacking the WTF factor of its predecessor.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Oh man I loved the first one so much, but al the reviews on rotten tomatoes said it sucked. Now you've given me back at least a bit of hope...

[GaijinPunch]

True Story: poor man's Capote. Go watch Capote.
No Country for Old Men: Still fucking awesome.