Birdman.
Geez, that was good. It deserved every ounce of praise it was given.
Geez, that was good. It deserved every ounce of praise it was given.
[Movies] Talk about the last movie you saw 2: Electric Threadaloo
- Thread starter Dave
- Start date
fade
Staff member
McFarland, USA
Formulaic feel-good sports movie you've seen a thousand times, yet it still manages to squeeze a few beats out of your cold, jaded heart. You won't be able to stop yourself from cheering a little, and that it's based on real events makes it even more appealing. Surprisingly entertaining.
Formulaic feel-good sports movie you've seen a thousand times, yet it still manages to squeeze a few beats out of your cold, jaded heart. You won't be able to stop yourself from cheering a little, and that it's based on real events makes it even more appealing. Surprisingly entertaining.
While on the airplane I saw: Birdman, Whiplash, St. Vincent, Big Hero 6, This is where I leave you, and Gone Girl. St. Vincent and Whiplash were my favorite from the bunch.
Finally saw Man of Steel all the way through.
Holy shit it was bad. Not just disappointing. Not just "not a good Superman movie". It was bad. Overacting, clumsy dialogue, boring visuals, ham-fisted Jesus allegory, and voodoo shark exposition.
A "voodoo shark" is when the explanation for something that doesn't make sense somehow makes even less sense to the point of just being absurd.
Okay, so Kal'el gets his superpowers because Earth's sun in more energetic than Krypton's. Fine, that's classic. Weaker gravity? Um, okay, that means that since he'd be really weak for a Kryptonian, since he wouldn't be having constant resistance to his movements for his lifetime. The air is more nourishing? What? Does... does he absorb the nitrogen or something? There are contradictory problems here: either growing up on Earth gave him a startling array of super abilities, in which case he'd be way, way more powerful than the newly arrived Kryptonians (having been developing them for, oh, 30 years instead of an hour or two), or since he hadn't been building muscle under high gravity for his entire lifetime, he'd have been made of cardboard compared to the others, who spent most of their lives under Kryptonian gravity. In neither case should they have been exactly the same.
Holy shit it was bad. Not just disappointing. Not just "not a good Superman movie". It was bad. Overacting, clumsy dialogue, boring visuals, ham-fisted Jesus allegory, and voodoo shark exposition.
A "voodoo shark" is when the explanation for something that doesn't make sense somehow makes even less sense to the point of just being absurd.
Okay, so Kal'el gets his superpowers because Earth's sun in more energetic than Krypton's. Fine, that's classic. Weaker gravity? Um, okay, that means that since he'd be really weak for a Kryptonian, since he wouldn't be having constant resistance to his movements for his lifetime. The air is more nourishing? What? Does... does he absorb the nitrogen or something? There are contradictory problems here: either growing up on Earth gave him a startling array of super abilities, in which case he'd be way, way more powerful than the newly arrived Kryptonians (having been developing them for, oh, 30 years instead of an hour or two), or since he hadn't been building muscle under high gravity for his entire lifetime, he'd have been made of cardboard compared to the others, who spent most of their lives under Kryptonian gravity. In neither case should they have been exactly the same.
They did -try- to portray the Kryptonians as having lesser developed powers, but limit it purely to the ability to fly (and the ability to filter out super sensory input). The kryptonians don't fly, they leap, and only at the end during the battle between Zod and Superman does Zod show his growing mastery of his powers by being able to fly.
Mars Attacks
Yup, holds up. It's weird and stupid and every actor chews the scene like its Laffy Taffy. Just like I remembered. I love it.
Yup, holds up. It's weird and stupid and every actor chews the scene like its Laffy Taffy. Just like I remembered. I love it.
Nightcrawler is quite a ride. Reminded me a lot of American Psycho in the way Bloom interacts with the world around him.
Last edited:
fade
Staff member
The Usual Suspects
I own maybe 10 DVDs, and this is one of them. I let my 12 year old watch it, because it's pretty tame beyond a few F bombs and some headshots. He was bored. And then because he was bored, he totally didn't get the end until I explained it. Then he thought it was cool. You kind of have to pay attention. He did call Keaton as Soze before the fake reveal, which was good, but then he didn't follow the twist.
I own maybe 10 DVDs, and this is one of them. I let my 12 year old watch it, because it's pretty tame beyond a few F bombs and some headshots. He was bored. And then because he was bored, he totally didn't get the end until I explained it. Then he thought it was cool. You kind of have to pay attention. He did call Keaton as Soze before the fake reveal, which was good, but then he didn't follow the twist.
I don't think that I would have liked it as a 12 yr old either. What are the other 9 DVDs?
Let me guess:
1. SW
2. ESB
3. RoTJ
4. LoTR
5. TT
6. Jaws
7. Buns of Steel
8. Raiders
9. Temple of Doom
I'm more interested in finding out what the secret message from the Doctor says.
Cajungal
Staff member
I saw It Follows this weekend. I generally don't see horror movies in theatres, because it makes me feel too nervous and claustrophobic. This. Was. So. Good. Creepy visuals, excellent score, and the setting was perfect. It looks like it's set in the 70s except that one of the characters is always walking around with a little eReader. It also felt like an older horror movie in that it relied more on tension and psychological scares than crap just leaping out at you. Lots of interesting themes to think about. I'm still reflecting upon what I've seen and would like to watch it again.
Dave
Staff member
How fucking long was your flight?!?[DOUBLEPOST=1427730865,1427730733][/DOUBLEPOST]
The Best movie about woods is "The Woodsman"
fade
Staff member
Close. It's just 9 copies of Buns of Steel.
15 hrs each way: Newark to Bombay. We went for my wife's cousin's wedding. I can't sleep on a plane either. I don't want to get one another plane for a long time.
fade
Staff member
Yep, Ol' Quarter-Eye, they used to call him. Until he lost it. Now they just call him Fun Size.
This little indie horror flick has been getting a ton of really good reviews. I want to see it.
Fast and Furious 7
I've never seen any of the Fast and Furious movies before, apart from a few piecemeal glimpses from catching them on TV. But I didn't find this movie hard to follow, and it was awesome in every way.
And not gonna lie, it ended with a very touching tribute to Paul Walker that made me choke up a bit.
EDIT: However, if you do watch this movie, do not think about the plot too much. It has lots of holes in it, numerous enough and sizable enough to fit every vehicle seen in the series so far.
I've never seen any of the Fast and Furious movies before, apart from a few piecemeal glimpses from catching them on TV. But I didn't find this movie hard to follow, and it was awesome in every way.
And not gonna lie, it ended with a very touching tribute to Paul Walker that made me choke up a bit.
EDIT: However, if you do watch this movie, do not think about the plot too much. It has lots of holes in it, numerous enough and sizable enough to fit every vehicle seen in the series so far.
Last edited:
Uh-huh. People don't watch "Keeping up with the Kardashians" for the plot, either.
--Patrick
fade
Staff member
Birdman
I enjoyed it. I'm not certain it deserved quite the level of praise it got, but it was definitely better than most movies that come out in a given year. There is something mildly irritating about masturbatory movies, but then again, what makes the acting profession any less valid a subject than anything else? All in all, though, solid performances. I guess that's the grade I'd give it. It did the assignment as provided by the teacher, but doesn't really aspire much, either.
I enjoyed it. I'm not certain it deserved quite the level of praise it got, but it was definitely better than most movies that come out in a given year. There is something mildly irritating about masturbatory movies, but then again, what makes the acting profession any less valid a subject than anything else? All in all, though, solid performances. I guess that's the grade I'd give it. It did the assignment as provided by the teacher, but doesn't really aspire much, either.
I watched Interstellar again last night (second viewing). I really like this movie. It has String theory while simultaneously tugging on my heart strings. I skipped all reviews on here and elsewhere since I couldn't see it in the theater. I went to read some today; wow, people really hate this movie. It's a sci-fi movie. Eesh relax man. I don't get the hate at all. I think the bookshelf thing could have been handled differently and some other things could have done with some more explanation, but I really dug it.
Inception is a better film, but this is a close second for me.
I guess being a new dad is what did it for me. That was the only story line that resonated with me, and when Damon woke up and instantly started crying. The parenting stuff drove the story for me. When Cooper regretted his decision and was trying to tell his past self to not go (even if it meant humanity was lost), I totally identified with him. If I had the choice b/t my family and humanity, I'd pick my family. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
Inception is a better film, but this is a close second for me.
Frank and I loved it (though for me it took some thinking and realizing what was actually going on with the climax to get there). Saw it again with my wife, she loved it too. Don't worry, man, you're not alone.
Watched Interstellar tonight. It's a slow burn, but I really enjoyed it. That last hour is insane.
Little Shop of Horrors (the musical one): I remembered I used to watch this a bunch when it would come on TV, but that was probably 17 or 18 years ago, so I'd forgotten a lot of the movie, plus I'd never seen it without commercial breaks, so it all went by pretty fast. I fall into a weird place, because on some levels it's a good movie, on others it's really clumsy and not so good ... but overall I still like it a lot despite its flaws.
Wife did not like it. Especially hated the ending. Guess I shouldn't have shown her the director's cut.
Wife did not like it. Especially hated the ending. Guess I shouldn't have shown her the director's cut.
Is the director's cut the one with the actual musical's ending where Audrey II wins? Because I can see why someone might not like that, it's the definition of a Bad End.
It's not quite the musical's ending, but close enough. And yeah, it's the stereotypical director's cut, with things being darker. I know they had to shoot the happy ending because test audiences gave a thumbs down to the downer ending, which meant chopping nearly 20 minutes off the end of the movie and it really shows in the pacing. I prefer the director's cut version myself.
I didn't think my wife would care since she didn't seem too invested in the characters, and some of the lyrics in "Suddenly Seymour"make Seymour seem a little skeezy nearly 30 years later, but she still wanted to see a happy ending for Audrey even though she didn't like the movie overall.
Hot Fuzz showed up on Netflix. This movie is just so much Goddamned fun.
Watched Big Game last night. It's a fun romp. Samuel L Jackson as the president who gets shot down over Finland, and a little boy with bow and arrow has to save/protect him from the terrorists.
Don't expect deep pot or greatly thought out whatever, but it's full of cheezy Schwarzenegger-like one-liners (Yes, SLJ gets a "...motherfucker" line - "you have to cock it, motherfucker") and over-the-top action sequences.
It was glorious with the audience I saw it with (at a film festival so really active participating public with ooohs and aaaahs and applause and whatnot). It's great fun if you can accept the ridiculous of the premise, but the director etc took it and ran with it.
Don't expect deep pot or greatly thought out whatever, but it's full of cheezy Schwarzenegger-like one-liners (Yes, SLJ gets a "...motherfucker" line - "you have to cock it, motherfucker") and over-the-top action sequences.
It was glorious with the audience I saw it with (at a film festival so really active participating public with ooohs and aaaahs and applause and whatnot). It's great fun if you can accept the ridiculous of the premise, but the director etc took it and ran with it.
I think that movie gets better with repeated viewings.
It really does, this was my third time watching, I think. It's funny, though, the last hour basically feels like what I want the Deadpool movie to be. A shitload of action/cop/shooter movie tropes all smashed into one big delicious campy movie.
I feel the same way about most of Edgar Wright's work, like Scott Pilgrim and Sean of the Dead.
Speaking of repeating viewing, how does At World's End hold up? I've only seen it the once in theatre so far. I liked it, but it didn't have that same "I could watch this multiple times" like his other work.
Netflix has added The Babadook. Everyone says it's an excellent horror movie, so I know what I'm watching this weekend.