Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (4 Viewers)

[snogger]

Went to see "Blackhat" yesterday.. Nothing ground breaking but was entertained.. 3 out of 5..

Kind of a strange movie at points in that there are many moments where there isn't any true action happening and yet at the same time no dialogue.

Seemed like the Director/producer wanted to make sure the movie hit a certain time length and couldn't figure out what the characters would say to each other while they are driving/flying.. so they just sat in silence and showed us the scenario..

 

[Zow]

Enough said

Re watched this. Really good movie. 4/5.

 

[Chaka]

They Came Together - GF's choice (she doesn't get to pick another movie for awhile). Hard satire on romantic comedies kind of in the vein of a Scary Movie but without quite as much scatological humor. I got what it was trying to do but my first legitimate moment didn't come until the last 5 minutes of the film (Michael Shannon cameo) other then that there was one other chuckle for me. It was just bad, which is a shame because it has a very talented comedic cast.

 

[Papa Georgio]

Who has seen the horror flick BABADOOK....getting a 97 % approval rating on rotten tomato

I've seen it. It's been a while back but I liked it. Setting and mood were excellent and enjoyed the acting.

 

[Zow]

Blended 2/5

Wife's choice. Sort of cute like 50 first dates, but just a completely terrible movie. I did laugh a few times though so if you just embrace that it's going to be a sandler crapfest, it could be enjoyable.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Watching the Neverending story with the kids. Not bad but not as good as I remember.

As good as ever.

In fact, never in my life have I seen The Nothing as far reaching as it is today.

 

[cstu]

Catching up from the holidays.

Get On Up - Very entertaining for a biopic, especially if you dig James Brown.

Inherent Vice - I've seen the raves here, but I just couldn't get into it.

The Drop - <_< A bar being used as a mob cash drop gets robbed. Decent acting, but

American Sniper -

John Wick - <_< So-so action movie with plot holes galore.

The Hobbit, 5 Armies - They really shouldn't have tried to stretch it out to 3 movies. I was bored for most of it.

Whiplash - <_< I don't get the love for being able to drum fast. I recognize it's technically difficult, but it's not entertaining to listen to.

Time Lapse - Camera spits out pictures of the future.

What We Do In The Shadows - <_< Mockumentary about a group of vampire roommates. Had some funny moments.

Predestination - <_< Just a weird time travel movie.

Fury - Nothing special, but an entertaining enough WWII movie.

A Walk Among The Tombstones - <_< I can't even remember what it was about. Probably Taken 2 1/2.

We have nearly complete opposite taste in movies.

 

[El Floppo]

I missed/avoided talk about Gone Girl, which we just saw. Found the dialogue and Afleck distracting in a bad way. Just couldn't get into this one.

Eta. Also kept waiting for some good Fincher moments, which never arrived.

 

[DaVinci]

Watched Gone Girl last night. I'd also avoided the talk and didn't have very high hopes for it (mainly because of Affleck). I was pleasantly surprised.

 

[joffer]

Elysium - what a festering pile of excrement. awful.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Catching up from the holidays.

Get On Up - Very entertaining for a biopic, especially if you dig James Brown.

Inherent Vice - I've seen the raves here, but I just couldn't get into it.

The Drop - <_< A bar being used as a mob cash drop gets robbed. Decent acting, but

American Sniper -

John Wick - <_< So-so action movie with plot holes galore.

The Hobbit, 5 Armies - They really shouldn't have tried to stretch it out to 3 movies. I was bored for most of it.

Whiplash - <_< I don't get the love for being able to drum fast. I recognize it's technically difficult, but it's not entertaining to listen to.

Time Lapse - Camera spits out pictures of the future.

What We Do In The Shadows - <_< Mockumentary about a group of vampire roommates. Had some funny moments.

Predestination - <_< Just a weird time travel movie.

Fury - Nothing special, but an entertaining enough WWII movie.

A Walk Among The Tombstones - <_< I can't even remember what it was about. Probably Taken 2 1/2.

We have nearly complete opposite taste in movies.

Thought the same thing when I glanced at the list, but that is what makes these threads interesting.

As a huge fan of Whiplash, I will say that stating that the movie is about fast drumming is on the lines of saying that a football movie is about running fast or a boxing movie is about punching hard. The whole point of the movie is summed up by 2 the non band scenes: the one with his family, and the one with him and his instructor. It reminded me a bit of Black Swan where it is exploring what it takes to be the best at something and if it is worth the physical and emotional toll even if it is just to have that one transcendent performance.

 

[jdoggydogg]

How to train your dragon with the kids. Funny, heartfelt and visually excellent. 9/10. Even if you don't have kids this is well worth renting and probably available in the bargain bin.

This movie and the sequel are both fantastic.

 

[jamny]

CBGB - It's a shame that this sanitized, feel good movie is what many will only know about the legendary club. Not that it was a horrible movie but it was such a Hollywood version of the venue. There was some good casting of the musicians but I would have rather heard actual live recordings from the club or have performers do the songs. Instead, they use the studio recordings which to me was a distraction. Cheesy cartoon cutaways/band title slides and too much focus on The Dead Boys. They don't even address the end of the club. I'm far from an expert on the place, having only been there a few times and actually had the chance to perform there one night (late 80's), so I did learn a bit from the movie but it just lacked the grit I expected from the subject and raced through it's history too fast, imo. 2.5/5 and that is probably generous.

 

[El Floppo]

CBGB - It's a shame that this sanitized, feel good movie is what many will only know about the legendary club. Not that it was a horrible movie but it was such a Hollywood version of the venue. There was some good casting of the musicians but I would have rather heard actual live recordings from the club or have performers do the songs. Instead, they use the studio recordings which to me was a distraction. Cheesy cartoon cutaways/band title slides and too much focus on The Dead Boys. They don't even address the end of the club. I'm far from an expert on the place, having only been there a few times and actually had the chance to perform there one night (late 80's), so I did learn a bit from the movie but it just lacked the grit I expected from the subject and raced through it's history too fast, imo. 2.5/5 and that is probably generous.

that was with David Thewlis, right?

I saw it a while back on TV... had much the same feeling as you. Waay too much Dead Boys (although I guess it was important to his story). Yeah- it was a dump.. just disgusting. But I got a sense of that from the movie.

and very cool that you got to play there.

####### Varvatos store now.

 

[El Floppo]

yeah... here's what I wrote:

CBGB... bio-pic about the club and Hilly Cristal. Made me wish I went there more, and was old enough to have gone there in it's prime. By the time I got there in the mid=late 80s it felt kinda... done. Saw the Rollins Band do an amazing show there in the mid-90s... but other than that nothing memorable. I guess like Cristal's life, there was a little too much dead boys for my liking. Lots of cameos, and some great casting for a lot of the bands (David Byrne in particular). Definitely interesting if early punk/new-wave is or was your thing, and did a decent job telling the story of the place.

 

[jamny]

CBGB - It's a shame that this sanitized, feel good movie is what many will only know about the legendary club. Not that it was a horrible movie but it was such a Hollywood version of the venue. There was some good casting of the musicians but I would have rather heard actual live recordings from the club or have performers do the songs. Instead, they use the studio recordings which to me was a distraction. Cheesy cartoon cutaways/band title slides and too much focus on The Dead Boys. They don't even address the end of the club. I'm far from an expert on the place, having only been there a few times and actually had the chance to perform there one night (late 80's), so I did learn a bit from the movie but it just lacked the grit I expected from the subject and raced through it's history too fast, imo. 2.5/5 and that is probably generous.

that was with David Thewlis, right?

I saw it a while back on TV... had much the same feeling as you. Waay too much Dead Boys (although I guess it was important to his story). Yeah- it was a dump.. just disgusting. But I got a sense of that from the movie.

and very cool that you got to play there.

####### Varvatos store now.

They definitely recreated the design of the club very well. Looked just like it, even the bathroom. :X

The production was just too polished. I would have rather seen like a docudrama (if that's what it's called) or some handheld cam type of movie. Something ballsy. And I like Alan Rickman but he really didn't add a lot to the role. I don't know, maybe he was dead on but it just seemed like a few other Rickman roles from the past. Same for Donal Logue, whose limited range is starting to show, imo. George Costanza's mom didn't help me stay in the moment either.

Yeah, we got to do a 4 song set at around 1am Monday morning...lol. Needless to say it wasn't a big crowd, but it was fun to play and I'm glad I can say I did.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

Why would anyone recommend this? I am *so* the target audience for this movie. I love documentaries and I really like movies that are dark and weird. You know how some movies are so profound they change you as a person? This movie was so gut-wrenchingly awful, I feel like I need a month of therapy just to recover. I regret watching it, and there isn't a soul on the planet I'd ask to view it.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Fast and Furious 6.

Yeah I'm not gonna lie.... i loved this movie. The opening montage with clips from the other movies was awesome. And Jason Statham in the post credits was just perfect. There is nothing wrong with this movie or franchise. They just get it.

 

[belljr]

Fast and Furious 6.

Yeah I'm not gonna lie.... i loved this movie. The opening montage with clips from the other movies was awesome. And Jason Statham in the post credits was just perfect. There is nothing wrong with this movie or franchise. They just get it.

5 and 6 might be the best 2 of the series

 

[Chaka]

Dear Zachary was rough on so many levels and I get your position jdogg but I am still glad I watched it. I am not the gratuitous train wreck type but sometimes I really appreciate feeling something on a deep visceral, almost primal level. Experience emotions that, god willing, I will never experience on a first hand basis. It helps me appreciate all the good fortune I have had because sometimes I just take it for granted.

 

[Chaka]

Lone Survivor - I found this to be a surprisingly engaging film. I was expecting a Hollywood style over the top retelling of the story, and the final combat scene was exactly that, but pretty much the entire film film up to that point was an honest account of the real story and it was very tough to see what our soldiers risk when they sign up.

 

[Chaka]

Perks of Being a Wallflower - I really liked this one and I don't agree with the criticism that the kids were too slick with their snappy dialogue (like a Sorkin project). There were kids pretty close to these types in my high school experience and felt authentic to me. I also am going to start paying attention to Ezra Miller projects in the future (the gay kid in this and Kevin in We Need To Talk About Kevin). He has some legit acting chops IMO.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

Why would anyone recommend this? I am *so* the target audience for this movie. I love documentaries and I really like movies that are dark and weird. You know how some movies are so profound they change you as a person? This movie was so gut-wrenchingly awful, I feel like I need a month of therapy just to recover. I regret watching it, and there isn't a soul on the planet I'd ask to view it.

Not sure i have cried as hard as i did watching this. I think my son was two or so when i saw this- i immediately went in to his room an curled up and fell asleep with him.

 

[cstu]

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

Why would anyone recommend this? I am *so* the target audience for this movie. I love documentaries and I really like movies that are dark and weird. You know how some movies are so profound they change you as a person? This movie was so gut-wrenchingly awful, I feel like I need a month of therapy just to recover. I regret watching it, and there isn't a soul on the planet I'd ask to view it.

Not sure i have cried as hard as i did watching this. I think my son was two or so when i saw this- i immediately went in to his room an curled up and fell asleep with him.

My type of doc as well but devastating to watch.

 

[EYLive]

Predestination - Wow, I'm blown away. Help me understand what I just saw. Spoiler tags would be appreciated for those that haven't seen it.

Spoiler

Girly John goes after the Fizzle bomber in the mechanical room, the bomb goes off but does minimal damage except burning John. He gets a new face and becomes the Ethan Hawke version?

Hawke doesn't want to become the bomber but doesn't listen to his future bomber self so he kills the bomber, then what? Does he become the terrorist he swore to stop because he made too many jumps and went crazy?

And Jane/John is "gifted" because she has recycles special DNA that allows her to make more time jumps than other agents?

 

[DaVinci]

Predestination - Wow, I'm blown away. Help me understand what I just saw. Spoiler tags would be appreciated for those that haven't seen it.

Spoiler

Girly John goes after the Fizzle bomber in the mechanical room, the bomb goes off but does minimal damage except burning John. He gets a new face and becomes the Ethan Hawke version?

Hawke doesn't want to become the bomber but doesn't listen to his future bomber self so he kills the bomber, then what? Does he become the terrorist he swore to stop because he made too many jumps and went crazy?

And Jane/John is "gifted" because she has recycles special DNA that allows her to make more time jumps than other agents?

Major spoilers.

Spoiler

Jane/John is special because she/he is a paradox. As I understood it: Jane/John went back in time, had sex with herself, gave birth to herself, got burned by the Fizzle Bomber, became Ethan version, went back and kidnapped his/her baby self, recruited his/herself to become an agent, and became the Fizzle Bomber.

 

[EYLive]

Predestination - Wow, I'm blown away. Help me understand what I just saw. Spoiler tags would be appreciated for those that haven't seen it.

Spoiler

Girly John goes after the Fizzle bomber in the mechanical room, the bomb goes off but does minimal damage except burning John. He gets a new face and becomes the Ethan Hawke version?

Hawke doesn't want to become the bomber but doesn't listen to his future bomber self so he kills the bomber, then what? Does he become the terrorist he swore to stop because he made too many jumps and went crazy?

And Jane/John is "gifted" because she has recycles special DNA that allows her to make more time jumps than other agents?

Spoiler

Major spoilers.

Jane/John is special because she/he is a paradox. As I understood it: Jane/John went back in time, had sex with herself, gave birth to herself, got burned by the Fizzle Bomber, became Ethan version, went back and kidnapped his/her baby self, recruited his/herself to become an agent, and became the Fizzle Bomber.

Cool, then I understood it properly. Horray! Trippy movie.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Dear Zachary was rough on so many levels and I get your position jdogg but I am still glad I watched it. I am not the gratuitous train wreck type but sometimes I really appreciate feeling something on a deep visceral, almost primal level. Experience emotions that, god willing, I will never experience on a first hand basis. It helps me appreciate all the good fortune I have had because sometimes I just take it for granted.

This is all reasonable. I just don't need too many reminders about how evil people can be sometimes.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

Why would anyone recommend this? I am *so* the target audience for this movie. I love documentaries and I really like movies that are dark and weird. You know how some movies are so profound they change you as a person? This movie was so gut-wrenchingly awful, I feel like I need a month of therapy just to recover. I regret watching it, and there isn't a soul on the planet I'd ask to view it.

Not sure i have cried as hard as i did watching this. I think my son was two or so when i saw this- i immediately went in to his room an curled up and fell asleep with him.

Hey, I sympathize. Can't get around the fact that after watching this movie, I felt nauseous.

 

[Osaurus]

The Babadook

Wasn't sure what to expect with this one, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Simple premise with not too many turns and good acting IMO. 4/5

 

[Chaka]

The Hangover III - Meh, whatever. Only worth it if you're a completionist.

 

[Drifter]

Yeah, Dear Zachary lingers for a while.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Watched a couple movies that disappointed me last night, one more so than the other.

Fury:

Ooof. Big, slow moving, dumb, cliche. I can't believe I would ever type this, but I think Shia Labouf was probably the best thing about the movie. There were a couple good parts - mainly the opening scene and the one tank battle in the middle. For me the movie screeched to a halt during a pretty dumb sequence after they take a town and meet a couple ladies. That coupled with the pace, dumb dialogue, and horrible last 25mins or so and I was glad when this one was over. 4/10

The Judge:

Some good performances and a lot of actors that I like. The movie was part family drama, part courtroom procedural, part thriller, part father/son movie, but that made the movie sort of a mess. Not sure if it ever really found it's footing as to what it wanted to be. RDJ playing another version of Tony Stark. Still worth a watch, and I would check it out again for the performances. 6/10 Btw, Vera Farmiga is just gorgeous.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

Why would anyone recommend this? I am *so* the target audience for this movie. I love documentaries and I really like movies that are dark and weird. You know how some movies are so profound they change you as a person? This movie was so gut-wrenchingly awful, I feel like I need a month of therapy just to recover. I regret watching it, and there isn't a soul on the planet I'd ask to view it.

Not sure i have cried as hard as i did watching this. I think my son was two or so when i saw this- i immediately went in to his room an curled up and fell asleep with him.

Hey, I sympathize. Can't get around the fact that after watching this movie, I felt nauseous.

I get what you are saying, and I think you have stated that you have lost your taste for movies that cause you to react this way.

Whatever the genre, I still try to seek out movies that will cause a visceral effect for me - be it movies like Dear Zachary, Martyrs, Irreversible, or Eraserhead. If I am crying, nauseous, sweating, etc.. that is a good movie for me regardless of the content. Granted these aren't movies that I want to endure every day, but I still like reminders that there are movies out there that can effect me this way.

 

[Drifter]

Edge of Tomorrow. Fun movie with big giant gaping logic holes as would be expected in a popcorn time travel flick.

Spoiler

The biggest one is that as soon as he stuck himself in the leg with the incredibly unlikely gizmo and found out the creature had holed itself up in the Louvre, he should have killed himself and started the day over fresh with that knowledge. I couldn't get past that. It's not like he hadn't done similar things thousands of times already.

 

[belljr]

The interview. I usually am a fan of these movies but I can see why they did the fake hacking bit

 

[belljr]

Edge of Tomorrow. Fun movie with big giant gaping logic holes as would be expected in a popcorn time travel flick.

Spoiler

The biggest one is that as soon as he stuck himself in the leg with the incredibly unlikely gizmo and found out the creature had holed itself up in the Louvre, he should have killed himself and started the day over fresh with that knowledge. I couldn't get past that. It's not like he hadn't done similar things thousands of times already.

Spoiler

i thought that was afte he "lost it"

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Edge of Tomorrow. Fun movie with big giant gaping logic holes as would be expected in a popcorn time travel flick.

Spoiler

The biggest one is that as soon as he stuck himself in the leg with the incredibly unlikely gizmo and found out the creature had holed itself up in the Louvre, he should have killed himself and started the day over fresh with that knowledge. I couldn't get past that. It's not like he hadn't done similar things thousands of times already.

Spoiler

That was the exact same one that really bothered me as well. It was so out of character. Every time he broke a fingernail they killed him to reset. Now when he's at his greatest danger (being captured but not killed), needs extra time to get to the Louvre (another day would help, right?), and has absolutely no reason at all to stay in the current timeline, they let it play out? Dumb dumb dumb.

I can usually overlook a lot of stuff in big dumb summer popcorn movies, but this one really irked me for some reason.

The other one that really bothered me was them having to spend like 400 days to try and find a way to get from the beach to the dam when they thought the creature was there. They couldn't just spend the ~5 days to figure out how to steal a chopper from the army base?

 

[FreeBaGeL]

The Hangover III - Meh, whatever. Only worth it if you're a completionist.

At least it was better than #2. Too Chow centric though. He's only good in small doses.

 

[Drifter]

Edge of Tomorrow. Fun movie with big giant gaping logic holes as would be expected in a popcorn time travel flick.

Spoiler

The biggest one is that as soon as he stuck himself in the leg with the incredibly unlikely gizmo and found out the creature had holed itself up in the Louvre, he should have killed himself and started the day over fresh with that knowledge. I couldn't get past that. It's not like he hadn't done similar things thousands of times already.

Spoiler

i thought that was afte he "lost it"
Nope.

 

[belljr]

Oh my bad

 

[leftcoastguy7]

The Theory of Everything: 7.5/10

Sad, but pretty interesting.

Caught this last night and I thought it was excellent. I liked Boyhood, but this is much more deserving of a Best Picture nod imo.

Also the guy who plays Stephen Hawking, Eddie Redmayne, certainly is deserving of a best actor nomination. He was so convincing trying to speak like Hawking that I wondered if they numbed his tongue or something.

 

[Chaka]

The Hangover III - Meh, whatever. Only worth it if you're a completionist.

At least it was better than #2. Too Chow centric though. He's only good in small doses.

That's not saying much.

 

[Zow]

The Hundred-Foot Journey 2/5

My wife and I love happy movies about wine and food (e.g. Tortilla Soup, Bottleshock) and this movie started out really well, but then it sort of took a weird turn where the protagonist turns into a bit of a jerk, the romantic interplay made little to no sense and took random turns, and the movie turned from a sort of feel-good cultural meshing to completely ignoring that part and it turning into an almost prodigal son story. Very disappointing.

And if my paragraph above made no sense -- good. That reflects the sort of annoyingly bizarre direction of this movie.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

Why would anyone recommend this? I am *so* the target audience for this movie. I love documentaries and I really like movies that are dark and weird. You know how some movies are so profound they change you as a person? This movie was so gut-wrenchingly awful, I feel like I need a month of therapy just to recover. I regret watching it, and there isn't a soul on the planet I'd ask to view it.

Not sure i have cried as hard as i did watching this. I think my son was two or so when i saw this- i immediately went in to his room an curled up and fell asleep with him.

Hey, I sympathize. Can't get around the fact that after watching this movie, I felt nauseous.

I get what you are saying, and I think you have stated that you have lost your taste for movies that cause you to react this way.

Whatever the genre, I still try to seek out movies that will cause a visceral effect for me - be it movies like Dear Zachary, Martyrs, Irreversible, or Eraserhead. If I am crying, nauseous, sweating, etc.. that is a good movie for me regardless of the content. Granted these aren't movies that I want to endure every day, but I still like reminders that there are movies out there that can effect me this way.

For me, this one hit me particularly hard because it was all real.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Masters of Sex

This is my new favorite show.

 

[EYLive]

The Theory of Everything: 7.5/10

Sad, but pretty interesting.

Caught this last night and I thought it was excellent. I liked Boyhood, but this is much more deserving of a Best Picture nod imo.

Also the guy who plays Stephen Hawking, Eddie Redmayne, certainly is deserving of a best actor nomination. He was so convincing trying to speak like Hawking that I wondered if they numbed his tongue or something.

As perfect a casting you could hope for in that role. He could have gone full ####### and still nailed it.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

300-Rise of an Empire

Not as good as the first one. Tried to too hard to be like it and not its own movie. I did like how they wove the first one into it though. The comic book blood and Matrix fighting is entertaining in a popcorn way. Glad I didn't pay for it but not upset I saw it.

 

[Gr00vus]

300-Rise of an Empire

Not as good as the first one. Tried to too hard to be like it and not its own movie. I did like how they wove the first one into it though. The comic book blood and Matrix fighting is entertaining in a popcorn way. Glad I didn't pay for it but not upset I saw it.

I like how they wove Eva Green into it. The rest was pretty forgettable.

 

[cstu]

The Hundred-Foot Journey 2/5

My wife and I love happy movies about wine and food (e.g. Tortilla Soup, Bottleshock) and this movie started out really well, but then it sort of took a weird turn where the protagonist turns into a bit of a jerk, the romantic interplay made little to no sense and took random turns, and the movie turned from a sort of feel-good cultural meshing to completely ignoring that part and it turning into an almost prodigal son story. Very disappointing.

And if my paragraph above made no sense -- good. That reflects the sort of annoyingly bizarre direction of this movie.

Made perfect sense.