Saw 47 Ronin. Entire first half of that movie was boring. The trailers overplayed it. >.>
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Saw 47 Ronin. Entire first half of that movie was boring. The trailers overplayed it. >.>
i've watched Hitman,ocean eleven, inglorious basterds
The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Pretty enjoyable, had the typical Wes Anderson borderline OCD flair that I've come to recognize. The characters were fun and lively, I recommend it.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
You know, that 2008 "movie" which was just four episodes of the show slapped together to get more money out of the people who somehow enjoyed the prequels. I've never seen the series, nor do I really plan to, so this is gonna be all kinds of not fun for fans of the show. And the "movie". And the prequels. And maybe anything Star Wars related that isn't Empire Strikes Back, because that was the only film I actually really liked. But now I'm way off topic...
I'll be honest, back in A New Hope when I heard about the Clone Wars I thought it was going to be something awesome like the Republic being invaded by clone hordes, not what it became; clones against robots in a war for which side could make me care the least because they're both made of disposable things. This "movie" tries to give personality to the clones, but it fails to get any reaction out of me... because, well, the prequel films don't mesh with this. If you jump from this to Episode 3, you don't get any of that; they're back to just being disposable. And that one bit where Anakin goes back to help some in what I can only assume was an attempt to make us think he's not such a bad guy... which is ruined by EVERYTHING ELSE we see of him in the prequel films that isn't him as a kid.
There's also a special place in my colon for the people who still assumed having the droids talk amongst themselves and try to have some kind of personality was a good idea. I don't know why they decided to keep the droids talking to one another in there when having a personality is so against the point of war droids, but hey. I guess they need something to do between being useless and even more useless because Jedi can just deflect their shots and cut them down faster than I'm sure somebody who likes the prequels will type a response trying to defend the savior, Lord Lucas, the one true messiah while also threatening me with the Force because Jedi is their religion.
So I have to ask; what exactly is the point of Ahsoka? I mean, other than being a fanservice character and giving people who do fan art and fanfics new fodder for their various uses, most of which I'm sure come from her over use of the term master. Is she there to try and make Anakin more likable by taking his place as the brash, overly confident, always rushing into things by not thinking character who you just want to punch? Which is kind of too late, since he was written so poorly and came off so horrible in the actual films that there's simply no way to salvage his character that, if you jump from this film to Episode 3, he's back to being the worst in the film. Is she an attempt to humanize Anakin, and make him seem less like a jackass by giving him something to care about? Is she there just to make me angry by being a snippy little brat who I have a hard time believing made it in the Jedi Order to this point with her attitude? But then again, Anakin made it and his response to everything was to whine, cry and lament that if only he were more power while still thinking Obi-Wan is jealous of his ability. Maybe that's the key; show us that he's more mature now by hitting us with a character who may as well have been Anakin in the other prequel films, only with a tube top. And breasts. And is orange. Actually, that just sounds like a modified version of second question, yet it may be the best answer. It would be a reason why he's so quick to accept her; makes him look better in front of the others... when he's not treating the war as a game.
As I said before, the Clone Wars were basically fought by two groups of disposable things. The prequels didn't give any sense of them having any real effect on the galaxy at large and this "film" follows suit. Anakin treats an assault on a monetary that will give them a supposed advantage as a game with the new Mary Sue character. The droids are idiots when talking to one another and cannot ever hope to be competent despite being machines built for large. They're simply a vague threat to everything not a Jedi, and even when taking part in something serious like battle they break into comic relief for no real reason. it's nowhere near as bad as Episode 3 was in terms of tone whiplash, but then I don't think anything could equal that.
But back to Anakin, this "film" tries its hardest to keep away from the brooding, dark tool that he was in Episodes 2 and 3, to the point where he's actually out of character with them. Perhaps if this were his character all along I, and so many others might have liked him more. He almost sort of feels like what he should have been from the start, and his interactions with Obi-Wan are nowhere near as painful and forced as they were in the other films. Perhaps the people who wrote this actually paid attention to what Obi-Wan said in Episode 4 and tried to write them properly, unlike Lucas who only took stuff from the original trilogy as a means to sell merchandise through nostalgia and thinly connect things through cosmetic ties and references.
There's also a Sith that seems to have a thing against Anakin, but for what reason I haven't a clue. Obi-Wan seems to know her as well and makes it sound like they've had numerous run ins, yet there was never any mention of her at all in the prequels proper, nor in this "film". At least with the orange girl they bothered to introduce her, rather than simply throw her in there and then act as though she always was there. But then again, the same could be said for clones like Rex and this other one named Oddball for some reason. Maybe she, like them, were characters from that other Clone Wars cartoon that I also never watched; instead of trying to give some kind of proper back story, or at least mention what her problem is, they just force in yet another lightsaber duel for the people who can only reach sexual release by watching people slap shiny energy beams together in highly choreographed dances. Then they have another one with no tension or impact because we know both characters are going to be fine.
That's the major problem with this "film", there is no tension. We know Obi-Wan, Anakin and Dooku are going to survive to go on to Episode 3. We know that no matter what happens, things will end the way they do in Episode 3... and we know that as the new character, the Mary Sue in a tube top is going to live. No named character is really in danger of anything at all. It's nearly 100 minutes of pointless filler in a story that has been torn apart and riffed on by people far more qualified and funny than me. It's fleshing out a story that, at the end of the day, will have no major impact on anything because we know how poorly it ends, and given that nothing of this is ever mentioned in Episode 3, has a canon status that is equal to the expanded universe. A status which has been destroyed by Disney to make way for their own trilogy.
At the end of the day, I cannot say I outright hated this film like I can the prequel trilogy. They seemed to try and make Anakin and Obi-Wan right, which is something that Lucas gave up on and wrote them so out of character that it seemed like even he didn't bother watching the original trilogy at all, or at the very least since their original release. Every other time he released new versions, I'm sure he fast forwarded over the parts where the characters talked to get to where he could shove more CGI nonsense in. At least when characters talked, it wasn't done in shot, reverse shot while Lucas sat in a chair with his coffee, it was more dynamic, characters seemed to have some emotion on their faces, there was action, movement. Things happened beyond sitting on couches or walking against a green screen talking instead of taking action. But it was also just like the prequels in that it was dumbed down, dumb action in a war between things nobody cared about, needless comic relief and so much use of a lightsaber that the whole awesomeness behind it has been utterly ruined.
I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry that they managed to make Anakin more in character to what he originally should have been, had more dynamic everything and had more emotional range with full CGI and not being the original creators than Lucas ever could with real actors and being the man who penned six films of full, proper canon. Maybe I'll laugh while I cry.
Cobra
What the eff did I just watch? Sobad.
Chronicle
I wrote a huge thing while watching the movie, but then realized that I would have to spoiler the entire thing, so I put that someplace else. But I will sum up the entire thing as such; an 8th grade syndrome power fantasy that mixes DBZ, Star Wars and found footage into a film that, while it had some serious potential, it was held back by the PG-13 rating to ensure a teenage audience, which meant that it couldn't have the kind of balls it needed to be a really amazing film.
And on the Star Wars bit, this is how Anakin should have been done in the prequel films to make him into an actually good character. Maybe these guys should have written Episodes 1-3, because they have a deeper understanding of how emotions interact with something kind of like The Force than Lucas does.
I really enjoyed watching it too, it was a typical Wes Anderson film that I really liked watching, only that the ending felt a little abrupt.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheRealSpiders
Don't judge me, but I watched Frozen over the weekend. It was entertaining for a family flick.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
I actually really liked that movie. TBH once I finished watching it I went and watched Tangled :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Josh
The 1980's Sylvester Stallone movie? All I remember about it was that crazy knife. We used to have it on VHS when I was a kid. I remember liking it, but so many things I loved as a child I've gone back and watched to discover they were really heaping piles of shit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gypsy
Cobra was great. It had the acting legend Brian Thompson.
I just finished watching the phantom of the Opera. Very entertaining for a film made at that time. Really got me in the mood to watch some silent era films. Got Metropolis in the same box set so I might watch that next.
Cobra was just crazy. I mean I like bad action movies, but it was just all over the place. But I mean........STALLONE WEARING SHADES AND KICKING ASS!!!!11one
Probably didn't help that I watched Tango & Cash before it which is a much better movie as these kind of movies go...
I feel like watching Hard to Kill.
YES! My favorite Brian Thompson role was the bug eater/familiar from Fright Night II.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stark
Anchorman 2, it was okay. Better then the first Anchorman IMO.
Ended up watching Die Hard 3 last night. Classic.
Ninja Turtles. Still great. Even if the dialog is a little cheesy but then I remember they're turtles living in a sewer and don't have much contact with the outside. Still think they did a great job with those costumes too. I still remember seeing it in the theatre and jumping around play fighting with a couple friends afterwards :lol
Classic!!! 4/5
Tango & Cash
Not as good as I recall. For a buddy cop movie for that time nothing beats Lethal Weapon 2.
Still a fun little romp.
2.5/5
Over the last couple nights I watched Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick. For being related they are basically completely different movies. Pitch Black plays much more like a thriller/horror movie of sorts. Both are decent provided you can get past Vin Diesel's acting.
Watched The Last Stand today. Went in with pretty low expectations so I was actually pleasantly surprised. It's completely ridiculous and if you get a kick out of/generally enjoy these kind of movies it's actually the best strictly Arnold movie since probably 6th Day.
Saw Captain America 2. Very good film would recommend. I personally thought it was better than the second Thor Movie, but that's my girlfriend loves Loki so she couldn't agree :P Any marvel fan should go see it to get their fix before the big hit this summer....
Spoiler warning:
Looking forward to watch it, my brother already watched it and liked it a lot. Will probably go tomorrow :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Stark
You won't regret it :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Cookie Monster
Can't wait to see it myself. Lots of good Marvel movies this year :nod:Quote:
Originally Posted by Stark
I have yet to see tangled.Quote:
Originally Posted by kirov
Watched "Hours" last night. It's about a guy whose wife goes into labor right before hurricane Katrina hits. Bad things happen, and he has to everything he can to care for the baby at all costs.
Actually, a pretty good movie.
Captain America Winter Soldier.
Fantastic movie, I can't recommend it enough. This is probably the best solo superhero movie I've watched. Better than the Bats movies. Yep, I went there.
As good as the best thriller (for those who wrongly may think this is just another superhero movie) and unmissable for those who are looking forward to watch the Avengers AoU. Hell, even the credits scene is great!
Warning for everyone planning to watch it, there are 2 post credits scenes :O
I didn't! Really good movie :nod: Feige and the guys at Marvel Studios know how to make their movies different and special one from another. The first one was an adventure movie for all the family, nothing too pretentious, just there to introduce the character as a major part of the Avengers plan. Now, Winter Soldier is much more dense, with less comedy and more political substance and intrigues for a more mature audience to enjoy it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stark
I have faith in Singer, I'm sure he'll do a good job. Not that convinced with Sony and Spidey.. hoping for the best but prepared for the worst :dread:Quote:
Originally Posted by Zaladane
And really looking forward to watch Guardians of the Galaxy. Avoiding any info on it too :wacko:
I can't watch movies like this any more. Maybe when my little ones grow up it won't be as bad. But for now whenever I see anything where a baby is in distress my paternal instinct goes into high gear and I feel the need to spear a sabre tooth tiger or something. Like I have to protect and feed a baby. It's weird. Never used to bother me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sprung
The Hobbit Desolation of Smaug
I waited until I got the blu to watch this one, after how the first one went.
Rating: CG orcs are lame + drags on x Peter Jackson is adding way too much crap to turn this into an LOTR prequel / it should have been two movies tops. It's not that these are too long (I can still watch the extend editions of LOTR and never get bored) it's that it feels sloggy.
The cartoon from the 70s is better.
Honestly, I wanted to love it, but I just liked it instead, kinda.
The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear
In all honesty, and this is going to sound weird, but the best parts of this film involved OJ Simpson. Because he has so little time in this and the first film, it seems as though whatever he does do shines brighter... and also because this film isn't as good as the first. It does a lot of the same stuff "plot wise", and thus is easy to compare. This film, like Airplane! II, would be better regarded if they weren't sequels, but becaus4e they are, they find themselves stacked against the originals and found to be lacking.
Face/Off
Rating: Ridiculous out of LOL
Cho Kamen Rider Den-O & Decade NEO Generations The Movie: The Onigashima Battleship
A movie with Decade in the title where he does basically nothing at all in the film other than to remind you that you're not watching something better. Decade shows up for about five minutes, fights the bad guys, then leaves without having done much of anything, which is better than Diend, who shows up for exactly one minute just to summon some Riders for the express purpose of being a massive jackass. No really, that was his whole purpose in the film; he didn't do it as a ruse to steal treasure, he just appeared to make things harder for the heroes for no reason and then left.
In true Japanese form, this movie is in love with folklore, the same old tired Oni are real and were once exterminated stuff that we've all seen about a billion times. It's also another go at the whole country folk and big city folk thing, because we'll never get tired of that little gem either. The only difference in all of this is that we didn't get what was explicitly a bow armed miko, just some girl in a skirt too short for the era with a bow who may or may not have been a character ancestor. And a gem of importance. Except this time around she didn't have it burned with her body and there's no time well. Just a time train. Because that's what Den-O is about, a time train. Sadly it's not the same thing Doc Brown made in Back to the Future Part III, it's just a standard bullet train that travels through time. Controlled by a motorcycle. So maybe not standard. And like everything time travel, things get stupid because NOBODY can do time travel right.
So the plot is that Oni were real, got shot full of arrows, humanity took over and will one day blow up the sun. Well, the sun bit isn't true... yet, but the oni bit was. Except there was an earthquake and this somehow tore open a time hole, because that's how that works, and now we have little brother Oni who looks like the most generic Oni ever trying to find the magic rock to bring out their trump card so they can not all die horribly. Meanwhile big brother Oni who has the longest hair outside of anime is just hanging out in a cave waiting for little brother. And this is basically the plot for the entire movie, all while the heroes job to the Oni because they're Oni and so are powerful. And can become Kamen Riders because why not.
So this stupid plot goes on for nearly an hour until finally the Oni get their trump card... a giant battleship that looks like it's a mix of 1940s big guns and 1800s steam ship. It also flies in the sky and can time travel because, you know, Oni are known to be masters of time manipulation. Then Decade and Diend show for their whole six minutes of whatever, one Oni is killed making the other go crazy because that's how all brother stuff goes in Japan... and then the next 20 minutes are mostly CG of, and this is amazing for how stupid it is, a massive time battleship fighting a time train. Complete with huge bombs riding the rails of the time train to blow it up. Then there's the big fight where the hero does alone in a minute what like half a dozen couldn't do together in about five, then the end.
All in all, another yawn inducing way too Japanese for its own good film. The whole ship vs. train bit was kind of neat, though way over the top, and cannot save the film at all. It's an hour and twenty minutes of my life I would like back... but sadly I don't have a time train to do so.
If only Doc Brown would return my calls...
Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker
Basically the point of this movie was to once again make sure we all know that Decade is the most super awesomest Rider ever. Except for W, who appears, kicks the crap out of the bad guy with ease, then leaves after two minutes. Then it's back to Decade being the most awesome.
Oh, and I guess to give more plot to a character who, as the series says, has no story of his own. Except this was a story about him. And his past.
Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider W & Decade: Movie War 2010
Basically the Deacde part was to show us that yes, he's still awesome and that for some reason they couldn't finish a show on TV, so we get a useless movie where they still say Decade has no story, but everything says that yes, he does. Then there's stuff about W which I skipped, because I don't care about W right now; there's a DRAMATIC CONCLUSION to see! Which was basically Decade and W trying to one up another on who is the most awesome. Then it ends with giving room for even more films featuring this character with no story while giving no closure to the events of the first episode.
Because screw Natsumi's world which, when we last saw it all the way back at the very start of Decade was burning and coming to a horrible end.
Stakeland.
It's like a zombie apocalypse, but with vampires. It's a Vampire Apocalypse.
And it was pretty good, bordering on great. Maybe even making it into my top ten vampire movies. One of those low-ish budget gems that slip by.
Got some catching up to do, so here goes....
MASH (1970) **** - I've seen this movie before, but it's been on IFC the last few nights and actually watched this sucker twice in a row. This is a fantastic movie.... it's darkly funny with a bunch of great characters, not to mention it's leagues better than the damn TV show. I don't hate the TV show by any means, but this movie is so much more clever and entertaining than anything the series put together in the 10 years in ran for. Just my opinion, but this movie is part of the "golden age" of cinema, when directors and writers were trying something new and going against the grain.
Born on the 4th of July (1989) **** - One of the best Vietnam based movies outside of Platoon and Apocalypse Now. In fact, this is probably the best of the bunch since it deals with the aftermath of the war and the horrors of a scarred "hero" trying to reintegrate into society. It's depressing, and outside of Magnolia, it's Tom Cruise's best performance ever.
The Doors (1991) *** 1/2 - So I've been on a bit of an Oliver Stone kick lately, and this was another movie I needed to see. I'd seen this back when I was in 4H, and totally didn't get what most of the movie was trying to say. I liked the Doors music, and thought Jim Morrison was cool at the time just because that was the thing to do, but I never really understood the movie. Watching it now I'm absolutely floored by Val Kilmer's version of him.... It's Val's best role (outside of Willow of course LoL), and it's a shame he was snubbed an award. He does sing the songs in the movie, and he looks so much like Morrison it's absolutely scary. Anyway, the movie is a total trip and takes a few viewings to really "get", but if you're willing it's totally worth the time. Not to mention it's wall to wall with Doors music, which if you like you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Thomas Crown Affair (1999) ** 1/2 - This is one of those slick caper movies that is a total product of its time in cinema. It's totally dated, and the real draw is a lame sex scene with Brosnan and Rene Russo (whom everyone wanted to see naked back in this time period), but yet it does hold the attention span. The build-up is pretty good, and the end result is actually pretty clever, so I'll give it that. If you can't see this for free on cable or other means, I wouldn't go out of your way to see it.
The Player (1992) **** - This is a fantastic movie - it's a total parody of Hollywood in the 90's, and how they went from "personal" movies to making the mainstream big budget bullshit that we have today that appeases all audiences and collects money. In fact, if you watch the behind the scenes stuff on this movie the director Robert Altman (MASH, Short Cuts, etc) talks about how he was ousted from Hollywood in the late 70's because of his style of movies - even though they were all box office hits - so he layed low for well over a decade and came back with this movie, which parodied Hollywood, and then a year later with Short Cuts.
Short Cuts (1993) **** - I'm not going to really say anything about this since the previous paragraph is a good segue into this. It's just a good movie about a myriad of people who's lives intertwine.
The 400 Blows (1959) **** - I'd been hearing about this movie since I had discovered the Criterion company. If you don't know Criterion, then don't bother, but I finally got around to seeing this movie. It's amazing something this intelligent was made in the late 50's. If you don't mind black and white cinema then you need to watch this. It was just released on BluRay with a buttload of extra content.
Amazing Spider-Man 2 :spidey:
Not a bad movie but way too conventional and kinda long. I love the character but I can't say I'm a big fan of this new reboot... Spidey is a Marvel character but this sure is no Marvel movie.
Yeah. If no one sees the movies and they tank maybe Marvel will get Spider-Man back. I heard Sony isn't going to enter negotiations until after Amazing Spider-Man 4 in 2018.
Oh god they're planning two more? :PP
Wasn't a fan of the first at all. Buuuut I'm sure I'll still watch the second at some point..
I didn't mind the first Amazing Spiderman, in fact it was a lot better than I thought it would be, but I still feel it's a little too soon for a reboot on this franchise. I'm not interested in the second, or third or fourth for that matter, but I'll watch them when they all hit the dollar bin at the local video store :wacko:Quote:
Originally Posted by Zaladane
Is anyone else burned out of from all these damn comic book movies or is it just me and RealSpiders? I'd like Hollywood to get back to making some some new stuff and not shit we need trilogies, or six-ologies, or fucking 9-oligies of. Just give me a good movie that doesn't have hooks for sequel bait, please.
I know that's a lot to ask, but I think it's fair.
Well hopefully Guardians will introduce something fresh but I hear what you're saying and agree to a point. The whole Avengers franchise keeps getting better with maybe the exception of Ironman 3. The new X-Men looks like it will tie the prequel/spinoff shit together which should be a dose of fresh air for us continuity freaksQuote:
Originally Posted by FlavaFlave
Batman has done well even though I'm biased against them vs Marvel. But money doesn't lie and they earned a fuck load. The second one of the modern movies was excellent.
I don't even know what I'm saying anymore and am drunk as fuck so I'll edit this tomorrow.
Until a Swampthing reboot....make mine Marvel!!!! :P
Not at all. Ideally, any good comic books reader would want as many good movies based on their favourite characters as possible. Hence how I said good movies, which fortunately it's what we are getting. Marvel Studios did a great job setting the new quality standard and the rest of the producers involved know people won't get tickets for sub-par/questionable products like some of the ones we had in the past decade.Quote:
Originally Posted by FlavaFlave
Plus, it's not that the superhero movies are being an obstacle for the movie companies to launch other kind of films. Hollywood industry is way too big to think that just because Marvel Studios, which didn't even exists some years ago, Columbia, Fox and Legendary are making some super hero movies, there will be no room for other projects to be approved.
I skipped the first one and honestly after reading this and strongly considering the source I have no interest in the second either.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cookie Monster
Recently went through the Robocop trilogy. Don't get all the hate the third one receives.
You're right, there's plenty of room out there, it just seems like there's another comic movie or comic sequel coming out every 4 to 6 months and I kind of feel like these types of movies are being used to the fit the bill of sci-fi/fantasy/adventure which is why we don't see more stand alone/new projects.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cookie Monster
Just to clarify, I have nothing against comic movies since we are at the point where they are well made and can give fans what they want, I'd just like to see a little more variety :wacko:
I think mainly because Peter Weller isn't in it, and the whole lame jetpack sequence. Oh, and PG13 probably didn't help either. I don't think it's a very good movie, but it is a lot better than that Prime Directives TV movie :wacko:Quote:
Originally Posted by Gypsy
Now that's a butchering of Robocop!
Yeah I mean, it's not as good as the first two. Said jetpack sequence is total rofl. But just as a movie I think it's fine. More or less average but needed to round out the plot with OCP.
The gore not being there didn't make a difference to me.