Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (7 Viewers)

[Kenny Powers]

I enjoyed Greenberg. It's not great but it's enjoyable. I find that I generally enjoy the less over-the-top work of guys like Stiller and Sandler more than most of their big budget work.

For the most part, thats a great call.. As far as Im concerned, Sandler's best movies over the last decade were his dramas - Punch Drunk Love, Spanglish, Reign Over Me - with Funny People being more middle ground and his best comedyish movie since Big Daddy. Outside of There's Something About Mary and Meet the Parents, my favorite Stiller movies are definitely Permanent Midnight and (I believe) the recently mentioned in here, Flirting With Disaster. Looking at Stiller's resume, Im actually surprised he didnt do more Permanent Midnights, Greenbergs, etc but clearly the Madagascars, ####ers, Museums, Tropic Thunders, type of comedy were calling are probaby throwing him major loot.

 

[belljr]

Rocky Balboa

All of the Rocky movies are the same. This one was in line w/ the rest. I doubted it would be worth a crap...just as I did for all of the others. Then came the "rocky moment". We all know it. We all wait for it. We all love it. Yes, this is a great flick. I'm a better man for watching it.

Yes, I over did the review. I did, however, enjoy watching it.

3/5.

Disagree. The first was an incredibly well done film on every level. Rocky II was enjoyable but it is where the franchise started becoming a commercial enterprise. Rocky III was fun from a "I want to see some action" perspective, which it delivered, but everything after that was total garbage. But the original Rocky was a phenomenal film and should not be dismissed, nor categorized with the others in the franchise.

I liked Rocky Balboa - IMO it's the best Rocky film since the original. But I can see where those who like III/IV the best wouldn't like this one as much. It's a much quieter movie than those and there's not as much action.

I loved Rocky Balboa as well. Very retro to the vibe of the first one.

My rankings

1) Rocky

2) Rocky III

3) Rocky IV

4) Rocky Balboa

5) Rocky II

I refuse to acknowledge they ever made Rocky V. Insane how bad that movie was. A disgrace to the brand.

The best films:Rocky

Rocky Balboa

Rocky II

Rocky V (don't quite get the hate for this - it's more realistic than some others; maybe that's it)

Rocky III

Rocky IV

My Favorites:

Rocky III

Rocky Balboa

Rocky

Rocky II

Rocky V

Rocky IV

Regarding V - on the surface - it's not a bad movie. Throw in the horrible acting by the son and the horrible street fight to end it and yeah it sucks.

 

[bryhamm]

Salt: I love this movie

Black Swan: Why Lord................WHY??????

True Grit: Outstanding

Unstoppable: I think I've seen this movie several times before just under different names.

Tourist: Well written movie.

Unthinkable: good movie.

Watched Salt last night.

Ehh. 1.5 / 5

I usually suspend belief for the sake of actions movies but this movie was just ridiculous. Watch it and you'll see what I mean.

Jolie is hot as always --- if you are into Jolie that is.

I enjoyed the movie - although I agree that there's nothing believable here.

Watched Salt as well last night and I enjoyed it.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Last night I watched The A-Team.

The good: when it stuck to it's guns, it was a pretty good popcorn/action movie with some decent humor.

The bad: tried too hard to be Mission Impossible with everybody double crossing everybody and you don't know who the baddies are. Also some horrible CGI (ie BA hanging out of the helicopter)

Overall the bad started to bring down the good. If it stuck to what it was good at, it could've been a nice guilty pleasure flick, but as it is I don't think I'd watch it again. Still better than the likes of GI Joe and the Tranformers garbage. 5/10

 

[jamny]

The Unborn was horrible and The Fourth Kind had a couple of good moments but overall sucked too.

 

[TylerRoseFan]

Dear John

Not ashamed to admit that I don't mind The Notebook as far as romantic movies are concerned. But this was terrible, not just corny, but terrible.

1.5/5

It was terrible. Even my wife hated it.

 

[TylerRoseFan]

The Machinist

Staring Christian Bale. Holy crap!!!! How did he do that???? I mean, he lost so much weight he looked like a skeleton. Literally. How did his kidneys NOT fail him. Well, the acting was believable. The twist was decent. Overall a watchable movie. Not something I'll watch again, but still enjoyable.

3.5/5

 

[TylerRoseFan]

The Machinist

Staring Christian Bale. Holy crap!!!! How did he do that???? I mean, he lost so much weight he looked like a skeleton. Literally. How did his kidneys NOT fail him. Well, the acting was believable. The twist was decent. Overall a watchable movie. Not something I'll watch again, but still enjoyable.

3.5/5

Tn article about the weight loss

 

[hooter311]

The Machinist

Staring Christian Bale. Holy crap!!!! How did he do that???? I mean, he lost so much weight he looked like a skeleton. Literally. How did his kidneys NOT fail him. Well, the acting was believable. The twist was decent. Overall a watchable movie. Not something I'll watch again, but still enjoyable.

3.5/5

Believe he ate a can of tuna a day for months to get that body type. The really crazy thing is that he did Batman Begins immediately after so in a 9 month period he lost about 60 lbs, filmed Machinist, and put back on about 90.Also, Bale wanted to drop down to 100 from 110 lbs before they started filming Machinist, so he was willing to go even further.

Machinist is one of my favorites, maybe even slightly ahead of American Psycho on my Bale list.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Machinist is one of my favorites, maybe even slightly ahead of American Psycho on my Bale list.

American Psycho will always be my favorite Bale role. Here's how I'd rank them:1. American Psycho2. Velvet Goldmine3. The Machinist

 

[hooter311]

Machinist is one of my favorites, maybe even slightly ahead of American Psycho on my Bale list.

American Psycho will always be my favorite Bale role. Here's how I'd rank them:1. American Psycho2. Velvet Goldmine3. The Machinist

Never seen Velvet Goldmine, will have to check it out, don't know if I've even heard of it.I'm a big fan of the Brett Easton Ellis book of AP, which is probably why it didn't do quite as much for me as others, but it was still a great adaptation. The surrealism of Machinist just took it to another level for me.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Machinist is one of my favorites, maybe even slightly ahead of American Psycho on my Bale list.

American Psycho will always be my favorite Bale role. Here's how I'd rank them:1. American Psycho2. Velvet Goldmine3. The Machinist

Never seen Velvet Goldmine, will have to check it out, don't know if I've even heard of it.I'm a big fan of the Brett Easton Ellis book of AP, which is probably why it didn't do quite as much for me as others, but it was still a great adaptation. The surrealism of Machinist just took it to another level for me.

Velvet Goldmine is a fantastic movie. Bale's role is really simple. But it shows a side of his acting ability you don't see too often.

 

[Statorama]

Killers with Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl, thought it would be like a funny Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but besides Heigl's nice rack, this movie had few good qualities to go with a predictable and lame story line that was neither action nor romantic nor a comedy. 0.5/5 for Heigl's looks. Don't watch.

Movies where the setup contains women like Heigl being unable to get dates infuriate me.This movie also had the "woman treats a handgun like she was tossed a hot potato" scene.

 

[Statorama]

Machinist is one of my favorites, maybe even slightly ahead of American Psycho on my Bale list.

American Psycho will always be my favorite Bale role. Here's how I'd rank them:1. American Psycho2. Velvet Goldmine3. The Machinist

Good list. Liked him in "The Fighter" also. Just disappears into the role.

 

[Abrantes]

Can anyone give me your quick review of Southland Tales? I'm interested in watching it, but don't want another clunker like Sky Captain.

A godawful mess. The definition of 'throwing #### at the wall and seeing what sticks'. Some people do enjoy the lunacy of the whole thing, but I can't get on board at all. Too self-absorbed, and it doesn't help when I have people telling me that I should read the companion comic books to fully understand it. A movie that long shouldn't need more supporting materials to help the viewer make any sense of it. I lack the words to fully explain the dumbness of the whole thing.

 

[Sarnoff]

Believe he ate a can of tuna a day for months to get that body type. The really crazy thing is that he did Batman Begins immediately after so in a 9 month period he lost about 60 lbs, filmed Machinist, and put back on about 90.

Also, Bale wanted to drop down to 100 from 110 lbs before they started filming Machinist, so he was willing to go even further.

IIRC, he put on over 100 in the 9 months, with lots of muscle, to do Batman. Then the director said he bulked up too much, and had to drop 20-30 before filming began. Total yo-yo.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Machinist is one of my favorites, maybe even slightly ahead of American Psycho on my Bale list.

American Psycho will always be my favorite Bale role. Here's how I'd rank them:1. American Psycho2. Velvet Goldmine3. The Machinist

Good list. Liked him in "The Fighter" also. Just disappears into the role.

Looking forward to seeing that movie.

 

[Statorama]

I enjoyed Greenberg. It's not great but it's enjoyable. I find that I generally enjoy the less over-the-top work of guys like Stiller and Sandler more than most of their big budget work.

For the most part, thats a great call.. As far as Im concerned, Sandler's best movies over the last decade were his dramas - Punch Drunk Love, Spanglish, Reign Over Me - with Funny People being more middle ground and his best comedyish movie since Big Daddy. Outside of There's Something About Mary and Meet the Parents, my favorite Stiller movies are definitely Permanent Midnight and (I believe) the recently mentioned in here, Flirting With Disaster. Looking at Stiller's resume, Im actually surprised he didnt do more Permanent Midnights, Greenbergs, etc but clearly the Madagascars, ####ers, Museums, Tropic Thunders, type of comedy were calling are probaby throwing him major loot.

Really? I found Stiller's Greenberg character to be self-absorbed **** to the point of unredeemability. Just couldn't relate to that movie on any level.

 

[Time Kibitzer]

Killers with Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl, thought it would be like a funny Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but besides Heigl's nice rack, this movie had few good qualities to go with a predictable and lame story line that was neither action nor romantic nor a comedy. 0.5/5 for Heigl's looks. Don't watch.

Movies where the setup contains women like Heigl being unable to get dates infuriate me.This movie also had the "woman treats a handgun like she was tossed a hot potato" scene.

Those type of movies are usually (relatively) big budget films which I don't watch all that often anyway, but whenever I do see it in a movie it pretty much guarantees it's going to be bad.

I haven't seen the movie Killers, but just by looking at the movie poster it's pretty clear whats going to happen for the one and a half hour runtime.

 

[Gr00vus]

Saw The Cove over the weekend. Obviously a one-sided documentary type film, but I think this is case where there's really only one side to begin with. If you watch, prepare to be depressed and/or embarrassed to be a member of the species grinding this planet down in pathetically stupid and self-detrimental ways. Unless you're peens, in which case you'd probably consider it a comedy with a happy ending. I recommend it as a wake up call to a pretty bad state of affairs going on in the world, with compelling audio/video, but it's not a fun watch.

 

[RudiStein]

Finally saw District 9 the other night. Liked it a lot more than I thought I would.

 

[Chaka]

Saw The Cove over the weekend. Obviously a one-sided documentary type film, but I think this is case where there's really only one side to begin with. If you watch, prepare to be depressed and/or embarrassed to be a member of the species grinding this planet down in pathetically stupid and self-detrimental ways. Unless you're peens, in which case you'd probably consider it a comedy with a happy ending. I recommend it as a wake up call to a pretty bad state of affairs going on in the world, with compelling audio/video, but it's not a fun watch.

I thought the A-Team style group they put together to capture the footage of The Cove and the execution of their plan was very fun & entertaining.But no doubt it's a heavy trip.

 

[Gr00vus]

Saw The Cove over the weekend. Obviously a one-sided documentary type film, but I think this is case where there's really only one side to begin with. If you watch, prepare to be depressed and/or embarrassed to be a member of the species grinding this planet down in pathetically stupid and self-detrimental ways. Unless you're peens, in which case you'd probably consider it a comedy with a happy ending. I recommend it as a wake up call to a pretty bad state of affairs going on in the world, with compelling audio/video, but it's not a fun watch.

I thought the A-Team style group they put together to capture the footage of The Cove and the execution of their plan was very fun & entertaining.But no doubt it's a heavy trip.

True, it was also fascinating as well. But the inevitable climax that all of the prep work led up to, along with the other atrocities brought up along the way overwhelmed whatever entertainment I got out of the build up. I ended up feeling like a dirt bag for ever having watched an episode of flipper or watching a dolphin show at sea world.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I enjoyed Greenberg. It's not great but it's enjoyable. I find that I generally enjoy the less over-the-top work of guys like Stiller and Sandler more than most of their big budget work.

For the most part, thats a great call.. As far as Im concerned, Sandler's best movies over the last decade were his dramas - Punch Drunk Love, Spanglish, Reign Over Me - with Funny People being more middle ground and his best comedyish movie since Big Daddy. Outside of There's Something About Mary and Meet the Parents, my favorite Stiller movies are definitely Permanent Midnight and (I believe) the recently mentioned in here, Flirting With Disaster. Looking at Stiller's resume, Im actually surprised he didnt do more Permanent Midnights, Greenbergs, etc but clearly the Madagascars, ####ers, Museums, Tropic Thunders, type of comedy were calling are probaby throwing him major loot.

Really? I found Stiller's Greenberg character to be self-absorbed **** to the point of unredeemability. Just couldn't relate to that movie on any level.

I didnt say Greenberg is one of my favorite Stiller movies, I havent seen it. I said I wish he did more low key or indie type movies because all the ones Ive seen have been good and better than almost all of his box office fodder. I guess I'll find out what I think about Greenberg

 

[KarmaPolice]

Catfish:

Thought it was a fairly interesting story (now there are reports that it might have been staged?).

Not sure if anything was faked from the filmmakers' standpoint, but it did seem forced on their end. Seems just as weird for them to go so far out of their way to dig up what was going on. Most normal people would just call BS and stop talking to the people online, but that wouldn't have made their movie quite as interesting. Don't think they were quite expecting what they found when they did get to Michigan though.



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[RC94]

Has anyone seen "Machete"? If so, what did you think?

I am also wondering about "Legend of the Guardians".

 

[El Floppo]

Has anyone seen "Machete"? If so, what did you think?I am also wondering about "Legend of the Guardians".

Noticed there was a Machete thread a few days ago

 

[jdoggydogg]

Sherlock

I've only seen 20 minutes of this show on DVD, and it's already my new favorite series. Brilliant. BBC production where the Sherlock stories are re-told in modern England. Love it!

 

[hooter311]

A Prophet

Awesome foreign flick. Midnight Express meets Godfather. Holds up against other prison film heavyweights.

4.5/5

Bad Company (1972)

70's Western with Jeff Bridges as a fast talking, cut throat, thief. Kind of a 70's Young Guns. It's PG but there are things like kids getting shot in the head, actual animals being shot and killed, cats tortured, that sort of thing. Amusing to see Bridges and the "Other Jeffrey Lebowski" in a film 25 years earlier. Speaking of which, David Huddleston is awesome as Big Joe.

3.5/5

 

[Chaka]

A Prophet

Awesome foreign flick. Midnight Express meets Godfather. Holds up against other prison film heavyweights.

4.5/5

Saw this one recently. I was very impressed although French prison life seems pretty lax compared to what I have seen in American media like Oz & American Me.

 

[hooter311]

A Prophet

Awesome foreign flick. Midnight Express meets Godfather. Holds up against other prison film heavyweights.

4.5/5

Saw this one recently. I was very impressed although French prison life seems pretty lax compared to what I have seen in American media like Oz & American Me.

It wasn't as hardcore as either, American Me took place in Federal Prison in the early 80s though. I've seen every episode of Oz, about 30% of it was pretty close to the truth other 70% was pretty extreme/glamorized/ridiculous.The prison here would probably be comparable to a State Prison system here, which from my experience are ran like and resemble high schools. We're talking about France here, so it's probably pretty tame, especially compared to other European countries.

I would be terrified to go to prison in the U.S., I would be mortified to go in any other country besides Canada.

What boggles my mind about the current system in place here is how readily available things like cell phones and drugs really are, it's ridiculous.

 

[saintfool]

Sherlock

I've only seen 20 minutes of this show on DVD, and it's already my new favorite series. Brilliant. BBC production where the Sherlock stories are re-told in modern England. Love it!

this got good reviews on AV club. i was going to check it out for anyway if for no other reason it has martin freeman in it...

 

[jdoggydogg]

Sherlock

I've only seen 20 minutes of this show on DVD, and it's already my new favorite series. Brilliant. BBC production where the Sherlock stories are re-told in modern England. Love it!

this got good reviews on AV club. i was going to check it out for anyway if for no other reason it has martin freeman in it...

The show is so damned clever. Highly recommended.

 

[Time Kibitzer]

Saw The Devil and Daniel Johnston. It's an interesting documentary about an interesting person (especially when he was younger imo) named Daniel Johnston that deals with his music career and his accompanying craziness. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes documentaries and music (particularly folk music).

 

[jdoggydogg]

Saw The Devil and Daniel Johnston. It's an interesting documentary about an interesting person (especially when he was younger imo) named Daniel Johnston that deals with his music career and his accompanying craziness. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes documentaries and music (particularly folk music).

Very good movie, although I had seen enough after about an hour.

 

[Statorama]

Sherlock

I've only seen 20 minutes of this show on DVD, and it's already my new favorite series. Brilliant. BBC production where the Sherlock stories are re-told in modern England. Love it!

this got good reviews on AV club. i was going to check it out for anyway if for no other reason it has martin freeman in it...

The show is so damned clever. Highly recommended.

Always forget about this when setting up my "catch up with a series" marathon rotation.

 

[Statorama]

I enjoyed Greenberg. It's not great but it's enjoyable. I find that I generally enjoy the less over-the-top work of guys like Stiller and Sandler more than most of their big budget work.

For the most part, thats a great call.. As far as Im concerned, Sandler's best movies over the last decade were his dramas - Punch Drunk Love, Spanglish, Reign Over Me - with Funny People being more middle ground and his best comedyish movie since Big Daddy. Outside of There's Something About Mary and Meet the Parents, my favorite Stiller movies are definitely Permanent Midnight and (I believe) the recently mentioned in here, Flirting With Disaster. Looking at Stiller's resume, Im actually surprised he didnt do more Permanent Midnights, Greenbergs, etc but clearly the Madagascars, ####ers, Museums, Tropic Thunders, type of comedy were calling are probaby throwing him major loot.

Really? I found Stiller's Greenberg character to be self-absorbed **** to the point of unredeemability. Just couldn't relate to that movie on any level.

I didnt say Greenberg is one of my favorite Stiller movies, I havent seen it. I said I wish he did more low key or indie type movies because all the ones Ive seen have been good and better than almost all of his box office fodder. I guess I'll find out what I think about Greenberg

My bad. I'll be interested in your take.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Sherlock

I've only seen 20 minutes of this show on DVD, and it's already my new favorite series. Brilliant. BBC production where the Sherlock stories are re-told in modern England. Love it!

this got good reviews on AV club. i was going to check it out for anyway if for no other reason it has martin freeman in it...

The show is so damned clever. Highly recommended.

Always forget about this when setting up my "catch up with a series" marathon rotation.

Every time I watch a BBC series I toy with the idea of adding like 100 BBC shows to my Netflix queue. They rock.

 

[Bob Lee Swagger]

Page 5?

I watched Seven Samurai for the first time last night. Wow. Loved it, and loved reading about it even more.

 

[Chaka]

Page 5?

I watched Seven Samurai for the first time last night. Wow. Loved it, and loved reading about it even more.

Great film. An all time classic to be sure.I also really like the American version The Magnificent Seven, which has an incredible cast and is a really fun movie. It's highly worth watching.

 

[Bob Lee Swagger]

Page 5?

I watched Seven Samurai for the first time last night. Wow. Loved it, and loved reading about it even more.

Great film. An all time classic to be sure.I also really like the American version The Magnificent Seven, which has an incredible cast and is a really fun movie. It's highly worth watching.

The cinematography, especially in the action sequences, is what stood out to me most. There were just tons of iconic images: Kambei drawing back his bow in the rain; Kikuchiyo and Kyuzo charging; Kyuzo walking out of the fog with the musket; Kambei, Katsushiro, and Shiciroji standing beneath the graves of the other 4. The depth of field used in a lot of shots was also great, as were a lot of the long takes (Kikuchiyo spying on the bandits, for example).

I'll have to check out The Magnificent Seven.

 

[saintfool]

I'll have to check out The Magnificent Seven.

it's a fun movie even if it doesn't offer much more than standard hollywood fare. that's sturges for you though. there are some great characters in it - robert vaughn, james coburn, bronson, - but the most fun can be found watching brynner and mcqueen. this was the movie that was mcqueen's breakout role. he followed it with "the great escape" and mcqueen became the icon in it. his turn in "M7" is all about the little things that make a minor character leap to the fore.

 

[Todem]

Watched The Descent again (3rd time wathcing it)

Brutal. What a great horror movie. It will be a classic.

 

[TylerRoseFan]

Watched The Descent again (3rd time wathcing it)Brutal. What a great horror movie. It will be a classic.

I've been patiently waiting for it on my Netflix que. It finally shipped.....never received. Yesterday I look online and it was listed as shipped and returned. WTF? I never received it.

 

[Chaka]

Watched The Descent again (3rd time wathcing it)

Brutal. What a great horror movie. It will be a classic.

I thought it was decent but it didn't really speak to me because the premise is so odd. It isn't genre defining or trend setting, it felt like standard fare. I did like some of the characters though. And the director's cut ending was better than the theatrical release too.
It was okay, kinda fun and worth 90min if you're into that type of film.

 

[Time Kibitzer]

Natural Born Killers (Director's Cut)

Hated it. A couple of the parodies were pretty funny, the satirical critique of the media was pretty accurate, and the vast amount of symbolism was interesting, but those are about the only redeeming qualities of this movie filled with non-redeeming qualities. I thought the story was horrible, some scenes were idiotic in how things transpired, the frenzied pace of cuts was too much at times, and in general the movie was too over the top for my tastes. I've never seen a movie that glorified violence/murder as much as this one, not surprised in the least to discover that there have been 10+ real life copycat murders that have taken place in large part due to this film.

ETA: Also really enjoyed Tommy Lee Jones' performance as the Warden.

 

[SmoovySmoov]

Finished Part II of "My movie snobness would never have had me watching this film, but it keeps getting raved about in the movie thread, so I'll give it a shot" last night with Kick ###. After the crapfest that was Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, I was only going to give this one 30 minutes before shutting it off. Holy crap, this is like comparing the New York Yankees and your local little league team. Kick ### was funny, entertaining, and had several outstanding visual sequences. SPVTW has already been skewered enough by me, so I don't need to revisit. Anyway, if you ever have to come down to a choice between these two movies, it's Kick ###, and it's not even close. (4/5)

 

[Chaka]

Natural Born Killers (Director's Cut)

Hated it. A couple of the parodies were pretty funny, the satirical critique of the media was pretty accurate, and the vast amount of symbolism was interesting, but those are about the only redeeming qualities of this movie filled with non-redeeming qualities. I thought the story was horrible, some scenes were idiotic in how things transpired, the frenzied pace of cuts was too much at times, and in general the movie was too over the top for my tastes. I've never seen a movie that glorified violence/murder as much as this one, not surprised in the least to discover that there have been 10+ real life copycat murders that have taken place in large part due to this film.

ETA: Also really enjoyed Tommy Lee Jones' performance as the Warden.

I am not a fan either but I thought Rodney Dangerfield was an interesting choice for the abusive father. His presence alone, as an icon you can't look at without associating comedy, in such a dark role really lent itself to the psychotic/satirical nature of the story.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Looking at picking these up for the weekend:

State and Main

Paradise Hills

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Good? Bad? Meh?

 

[joffer]

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

big fan