Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (4 Viewers)

[Daywalker]

If you watch The Last of The Mohicans and Dances With Wolves as a double feature, you'll see that Mohicans holds up pretty well. I really enjoyed DWW when it was released. But re-watching it recently, it's terribly hoary.

I dont disagree, but youre also comparing a movie directed by Michael Mann starring DDL and Wes Studi to a movie directed by Kevin Costner starring Kevin Costner and Graham Greene...Almost apples and oranges.

If by 'almost apples and oranges' you mean apples and that fake plastic fruit that people use for decor, then I agree.Then again, Last of the Mohicans is the best and most perfect movie I've ever seen, so only an elite few movies are going to be comparable to it.

Dont know if Id go that far, but its way up there for me. Easily best Native American-centric movie ever and I cant see anything topping it.

The scene where DDL and the old dude and son are running along the side of the mountain ripping dudes up is one of the best movie scenes ever. If you don't get goosebumps then you must be dead.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

This all reminds me of when the ur-pokerwriter Mike Caro used five pages of one of the early issues of Card Player Magazine to delineate how the famous hand of 5-card stud in "Cincinnati Kid" between McQueen & Edw G Robinson could not have happened. Ruined one of my favorite movies for me.

This is more interesting to me than the Gladiator debate. I haven't seen Kid in forever - but have always loved it - and don't remember the details, but can you expound on why that poker hand couldn't have happened?

 

[wikkidpissah]

This all reminds me of when the ur-pokerwriter Mike Caro used five pages of one of the early issues of Card Player Magazine to delineate how the famous hand of 5-card stud in "Cincinnati Kid" between McQueen & Edw G Robinson could not have happened. Ruined one of my favorite movies for me.

This is more interesting to me than the Gladiator debate. I haven't seen Kid in forever - but have always loved it - and don't remember the details, but can you expound on why that poker hand couldn't have happened?

Tried to remember the specifics & but it's just been too long & im too old. An online search didnt yield much other than it might be available as part of Caro's "Book of Tells" now. Shame, it was fascinating. Havent seen the movie in 20 yrs but i do remember Caro's explanation spoiling it for me.

 

[hooter311]

This all reminds me of when the ur-pokerwriter Mike Caro used five pages of one of the early issues of Card Player Magazine to delineate how the famous hand of 5-card stud in "Cincinnati Kid" between McQueen & Edw G Robinson could not have happened. Ruined one of my favorite movies for me.

This is more interesting to me than the Gladiator debate. I haven't seen Kid in forever - but have always loved it - and don't remember the details, but can you expound on why that poker hand couldn't have happened?

Tried to remember the specifics & but it's just been too long & im too old. An online search didnt yield much other than it might be available as part of Caro's "Book of Tells" now. Shame, it was fascinating. Havent seen the movie in 20 yrs but i do remember Caro's explanation spoiling it for me.

LinkImplausible Play in The Cincinnati Kid? A play-by-play analysis of a highly unlikely poker hand

by Michael Wiesenberg | Published: Aug 23, 2005

Print-icon

One of the greatest poker movies of all time has long been unavailable for viewing. That changed recently with the release on DVD of The Cincinnati Kid. In addition to the movie, there's also a short that showcases the card-handling skills of gambler and magician Jay Ose, the man behind all the fancy card tricks in the movie. You also get two separate commentaries, one by director Norman Jewison and another by Celebrity Poker Showdown co-host Phil Gordon.

If you haven't seen the movie and intend to do so, or don't remember it and plan to refresh your memory, don't read the rest of this until you see it, because I'm going to give away the ending.

Some years ago, I wrote that while the movie is enjoyable, the climactic scene was totally impossible, and that the situation might never come up. The odds of the two hands appearing in the same deal are worse than 45 million-to-1.

Most of the times they might appear, they never get beyond second or third street, because one of the hands would fold. That is, a hand like the 6 2 would usually fold for the first bet. I also wrote that two expert stud players would never play those two hands as portrayed in the movie.

While upon seeing the movie again I do not change my assessment of the unlikelihood of the hands coming up, I no longer think that they would not have been played out as they were.

So, let's follow the action during "The Hand."

It's heads-up five-card stud. Lancey Howard, "The Man," has been steadily losing hand after hand to Eric Stoner, the Cincinnati Kid.

The Kid starts with the 10 up, and the 8 goes to Lancey. The Kid bets a nominal amount, something less than $100, and Lancey calls. This may seem a questionable play, but, in fact, Lancey has a card in the hole higher than a 10, so that is fairly straightforward for five-card stud.

The Kid then gets the 10 and Lancey gets the Q. With paired tens showing, the Kid bets $1,000. Lancey raises $1,000. After it's all over, Lady Fingers derisively says, "You raised tens on a lousy three-flush?" She may be echoing what is going through the minds of poker aficionados, but this is not an unreasonable play. He is at this moment representing a queen in the hole. He may well be planning to try to take it away on one of the next two cards.

On the fourth card, the Kid gets an ace and Lancey gets the 10. Showing 10 10 A, the Kid bets $3,000 into Lancey's 8 Q 10. "That's a reasonable bet," says Lancey, as he calls. Now, he has to change tactics. He can act as if he still has a queen in the hole. Why wouldn't he raise? Because in stud if your opponent has a board lock, that is a very bad play. That is, in five-card stud, one player can see the best his opponent can have and know that he has a lock. The Kid sees the 10 in Lancey's hand and yet he still bets. All Lancey can do is call even if he has a queen in the hole. We will find out later that he does not, but he can still represent one here by calling. But if he raises and the Kid has a board lock - which he would with the remaining 10 or an ace in the hole - the kid can reraise.

On the last card, the A arrives for the Kid and the 9 for Lancey. Showing 10 10 A A, "Check to the possible," says the Kid. Five-card stud wisdom is, never bet into a hand when that hand has only two possibilities: either it cannot call a bet or, with a perfect holecard, no matter how unlikely, it has one beat. Lancey now has 8 Q 10 9, four cards to a straight flush. Lancey bets $1,000. This vastly underbets the pot and is a somewhat strange bet, and yet, it fits.

"Call your thousand and raise what I've got in front of me." This is not the first string bet in the game. The whole movie is full of one string bet after another, despite the dealer, Shooter, announcing at the start of the big game, " … no string bets."

Apart from the string bet, though, the Kid's play makes perfect sense. There was no point in betting, because Lancey could call only if he could beat two pair. And if he could, he would raise. The safest play with just two pair is to check and call.

But does the Kid have better than two pair? Lancey seems to think so, as he says, "That ace must've helped you, Kid. Call your thousand … " Now, he pauses as he pulls out his wallet, and we have yet another string bet. "I'll raise you $5,000." He removes five bills from the wallet and tosses them in the pot.

Now, the poker is OK, and I'll get back to that in a second. But what about the conditions of the game? How could it be allowed for a player to bet what he's got in a wallet, the contents of which he has not until this moment revealed? In his commentary, Jewison says he did a lot of research in private games and card clubs. That may be, but I'll bet he never saw anyone who appeared to be all in pull out a wallet and reveal that his stack was actually twice as large as what he had started a hand with.

The Kid says, "I can get it."

"I know you can, Kid. I'll take your marker."

"Let's see it."

And Lancey turns up his J. He'd hit an inside straight flush. So, the Kid suffered a tremendous bad beat, made even worse when he reveals his own holecard, the A.

But it all makes perfect poker sense. Of course someone who wants to look like he has only two pair would check-raise with a full house. And of course Lancey would underbet the pot with a straight flush, wanting it to look like a cheap bluff.

And on fourth street, he also would call the $3,000 bet, because at that point, the pot contains more than $7,000 and he figures he can get another $7,000 if he hits: the $2,000 that each has left on the table plus the hidden cash in his wallet. That is, he's getting implied odds of nearly 5-to-1 on a 3-to-1 shot. There are nine diamonds to catch and three other nines, 12 cards out of 45 unseen cards, less than 3-to-1 against. Plus, he's been taking the worst of it in this marathon heads-up game and is getting tired. If he gets lucky and wins this hand, he can stop that pesky kid. It doesn't matter what the Kid has at that point. All the Kid is showing is two tens. Perhaps the Kid already has two pair or trips, but it's 14-to-1 against the Kid filling up. If he has two pair, one of his tens is gone and there remain one 10 and two aces; if he has trips, three aces remain. Lancey got superlucky, of course, to catch the inside straight flush when the Kid did happen to fill up, but he was still a money favorite on the draw.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Heroes are the soul of cinema - we want to know them, feel them in ourselves & wonder if we have any of their stuff inside us. When one richards with circumstance to better serve the film idol and puff his conquests, the real heroes who made them possible are diminished.

Maximus grieves for his family and longs to be reunited with them. Those longings seem very personal and universal to me

I'm not trying to convince you not to enjoy it. Just telling you why i dont and the negative impact i see that having on the way pictures of scale are made.

Same here. I'm not a fan of Forrest Gump, but I understand why people like it.On another note, however, I don't know how you could think that The English Patient, Dances With Wolves, Driving Miss Daisy and Rain Man are better movies than Gladiator. Re-watch Dances With Wolves. It's pretty bad.

DWW was pretty pathetic but, as one whose father has a Census Card, i'm more forgiving of Noble ***** movies than i should be. The 2nd half was almost as unforgivable as Gladiator, but it did not violate the first half quite as much. And i really liked the "lone in wilderness" aspect of the first half. That describes a hell of a lot more about what the settling of the west was like than most other western movies - would be something i'd love to see Mallick undertake.As to the others you list - i found them each charming & effective.

If you watch The Last of The Mohicans and Dances With Wolves as a double feature, you'll see that Mohicans holds up pretty well. I really enjoyed DWW when it was released. But re-watching it recently, it's terribly hoary.You didn't single out Crash. Here's a movie with no subtlety or nuance. Crash was a juvenile, cliche mess. I'd argue that both Crash and Gladiator had very basic plots that rely on some fairly obvious emotions. But with Gladiator, I didn't feel like I was being scolded.

Except for the Cheadle story line, I enjoyed Crash when i saw it. Wasnt disappointed when it won an Oscar because it was carrying on the work established by one of my favorite movies of the last gen, Grand Canyon, and Munich disappointed me & Brokeback literally sucked. Havent had a chance to revisit it - will let u know if i do.

Really? Munich? Munich is 10 times better than Crash. Crash was two hours that screamed, "Racism is bad! Really, really bad!!!"Brokeback was not a good movie. I really liked Ledger a lot. But Gyllenhaal? That fake mustache was ridiculous. And I didn't believe these guys were a couple. For a movie that gets a gay couple right, see Colin Firth in A Single Man.

It wasn't even that. It was juvenile and hypocritical while trying to be heavy handed. And it was racist:

"What, just cause we're black you think we're carjackers? Ha ha, we ARE carjackers!"

Tied for worst Oscar win ever with Shakespeare in Love, a movie that had no redeeming values except that it was about Shakespeare and starred pretty young actors and actresses spouting mindless drivel. I've never seen the English Patient, so I could be swayed, but it would have to be pretty bad.

I don't think you'd see The English Patient and think it was terrible. It's well made. But certainly not the best film in 1996. It beat out Fargo - which was nominated. And it also beat out a number of good movies that weren't nominated:Big Night

The People vs Larry Flint

Welcome to the Dollhouse

Trainspotting

Swingers

Bound

Bottle Rocket

Flirting with Disaster

The Long Kiss Goodnight

Lost Highway

Secrets & Lies

 

[wikkidpissah]

This all reminds me of when the ur-pokerwriter Mike Caro used five pages of one of the early issues of Card Player Magazine to delineate how the famous hand of 5-card stud in "Cincinnati Kid" between McQueen & Edw G Robinson could not have happened. Ruined one of my favorite movies for me.

This is more interesting to me than the Gladiator debate. I haven't seen Kid in forever - but have always loved it - and don't remember the details, but can you expound on why that poker hand couldn't have happened?

Tried to remember the specifics & but it's just been too long & im too old. An online search didnt yield much other than it might be available as part of Caro's "Book of Tells" now. Shame, it was fascinating. Havent seen the movie in 20 yrs but i do remember Caro's explanation spoiling it for me.

LinkImplausible Play in The Cincinnati Kid? A play-by-play analysis of a highly unlikely poker hand

by Michael Wiesenberg | Published: Aug 23, 2005

Print-icon

One of the greatest poker movies of all time has long been unavailable for viewing. That changed recently with the release on DVD of The Cincinnati Kid. In addition to the movie, there's also a short that showcases the card-handling skills of gambler and magician Jay Ose, the man behind all the fancy card tricks in the movie. You also get two separate commentaries, one by director Norman Jewison and another by Celebrity Poker Showdown co-host Phil Gordon.

If you haven't seen the movie and intend to do so, or don't remember it and plan to refresh your memory, don't read the rest of this until you see it, because I'm going to give away the ending.

Some years ago, I wrote that while the movie is enjoyable, the climactic scene was totally impossible, and that the situation might never come up. The odds of the two hands appearing in the same deal are worse than 45 million-to-1.

Most of the times they might appear, they never get beyond second or third street, because one of the hands would fold. That is, a hand like the 6 2 would usually fold for the first bet. I also wrote that two expert stud players would never play those two hands as portrayed in the movie.

While upon seeing the movie again I do not change my assessment of the unlikelihood of the hands coming up, I no longer think that they would not have been played out as they were.

So, let's follow the action during "The Hand."

It's heads-up five-card stud. Lancey Howard, "The Man," has been steadily losing hand after hand to Eric Stoner, the Cincinnati Kid.

The Kid starts with the 10 up, and the 8 goes to Lancey. The Kid bets a nominal amount, something less than $100, and Lancey calls. This may seem a questionable play, but, in fact, Lancey has a card in the hole higher than a 10, so that is fairly straightforward for five-card stud.

The Kid then gets the 10 and Lancey gets the Q. With paired tens showing, the Kid bets $1,000. Lancey raises $1,000. After it's all over, Lady Fingers derisively says, "You raised tens on a lousy three-flush?" She may be echoing what is going through the minds of poker aficionados, but this is not an unreasonable play. He is at this moment representing a queen in the hole. He may well be planning to try to take it away on one of the next two cards.

On the fourth card, the Kid gets an ace and Lancey gets the 10. Showing 10 10 A, the Kid bets $3,000 into Lancey's 8 Q 10. "That's a reasonable bet," says Lancey, as he calls. Now, he has to change tactics. He can act as if he still has a queen in the hole. Why wouldn't he raise? Because in stud if your opponent has a board lock, that is a very bad play. That is, in five-card stud, one player can see the best his opponent can have and know that he has a lock. The Kid sees the 10 in Lancey's hand and yet he still bets. All Lancey can do is call even if he has a queen in the hole. We will find out later that he does not, but he can still represent one here by calling. But if he raises and the Kid has a board lock - which he would with the remaining 10 or an ace in the hole - the kid can reraise.

On the last card, the A arrives for the Kid and the 9 for Lancey. Showing 10 10 A A, "Check to the possible," says the Kid. Five-card stud wisdom is, never bet into a hand when that hand has only two possibilities: either it cannot call a bet or, with a perfect holecard, no matter how unlikely, it has one beat. Lancey now has 8 Q 10 9, four cards to a straight flush. Lancey bets $1,000. This vastly underbets the pot and is a somewhat strange bet, and yet, it fits.

"Call your thousand and raise what I've got in front of me." This is not the first string bet in the game. The whole movie is full of one string bet after another, despite the dealer, Shooter, announcing at the start of the big game, " … no string bets."

Apart from the string bet, though, the Kid's play makes perfect sense. There was no point in betting, because Lancey could call only if he could beat two pair. And if he could, he would raise. The safest play with just two pair is to check and call.

But does the Kid have better than two pair? Lancey seems to think so, as he says, "That ace must've helped you, Kid. Call your thousand … " Now, he pauses as he pulls out his wallet, and we have yet another string bet. "I'll raise you $5,000." He removes five bills from the wallet and tosses them in the pot.

Now, the poker is OK, and I'll get back to that in a second. But what about the conditions of the game? How could it be allowed for a player to bet what he's got in a wallet, the contents of which he has not until this moment revealed? In his commentary, Jewison says he did a lot of research in private games and card clubs. That may be, but I'll bet he never saw anyone who appeared to be all in pull out a wallet and reveal that his stack was actually twice as large as what he had started a hand with.

The Kid says, "I can get it."

"I know you can, Kid. I'll take your marker."

"Let's see it."

And Lancey turns up his J. He'd hit an inside straight flush. So, the Kid suffered a tremendous bad beat, made even worse when he reveals his own holecard, the A.

But it all makes perfect poker sense. Of course someone who wants to look like he has only two pair would check-raise with a full house. And of course Lancey would underbet the pot with a straight flush, wanting it to look like a cheap bluff.

And on fourth street, he also would call the $3,000 bet, because at that point, the pot contains more than $7,000 and he figures he can get another $7,000 if he hits: the $2,000 that each has left on the table plus the hidden cash in his wallet. That is, he's getting implied odds of nearly 5-to-1 on a 3-to-1 shot. There are nine diamonds to catch and three other nines, 12 cards out of 45 unseen cards, less than 3-to-1 against. Plus, he's been taking the worst of it in this marathon heads-up game and is getting tired. If he gets lucky and wins this hand, he can stop that pesky kid. It doesn't matter what the Kid has at that point. All the Kid is showing is two tens. Perhaps the Kid already has two pair or trips, but it's 14-to-1 against the Kid filling up. If he has two pair, one of his tens is gone and there remain one 10 and two aces; if he has trips, three aces remain. Lancey got superlucky, of course, to catch the inside straight flush when the Kid did happen to fill up, but he was still a money favorite on the draw.

Interesting, but not it. Nice to see Weisenberg is still the front-running POS (an old Cali lowballer who only talked a good flop game - used to owwwwn in rail games him when he came up to Tahoe for Slim's Super Bowl of Poker) he always was. The original is much more detailed.

 

[hooter311]

Interesting, but not it. Nice to see Weisenberg is still the front-running POS (an old Cali lowballer who only talked a good flop game - used to owwwwn in rail games him when he came up to Tahoe for Slim's Super Bowl of Poker) he always was. The original is much more detailed.

I'm almost positive I've read the article you are referring to somewhere. What I noticed about CK, was that they clearly state "no string bets" in the pre-game rules, yet there are several made and they are never objected to.

 

[jdoggydogg]

It wasn't even that. It was juvenile and hypocritical while trying to be heavy handed. And it was racist:"What, just cause we're black you think we're carjackers? Ha ha, we ARE carjackers!"Tied for worst Oscar win ever with Shakespeare in Love, a movie that had no redeeming values except that it was about Shakespeare and starred pretty young actors and actresses spouting mindless drivel. I've never seen the English Patient, so I could be swayed, but it would have to be pretty bad.

I don't think you'd see The English Patient and think it was terrible. It's well made. But certainly not the best film in 1996. It beat out Fargo - which was nominated. And it also beat out a number of good movies that weren't nominated:Big NightThe People vs Larry FlintWelcome to the DollhouseTrainspottingSwingersBoundBottle RocketFlirting with DisasterThe Long Kiss GoodnightLost HighwaySecrets & Lies

Ah, I forgot about Big Night. Very underrated, I loved that movie. Lot of other good ones on that list.

Mrs. Dogg and I loved Big Night so much we bought the soundtrack. Great stuff.

 

[Dexter Manley]

Watched a couple of those Inception spoof trailers for Dumb and Dumber and The Big Lebowski last night, and could not stop laughing.

 

[Rick James]

Let's see....

Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part 2- Meh. I think this whole franchise, except for Azkhaban, has been all fluff. Finally glad it's over.

Horrible Bosses- Great R-comedy. Definitely the funniest movie I've seen this year.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part 2- Meh. I think this whole franchise, except for Azkhaban, has been all fluff. Finally glad it's over.

My 8 year old is not happy with these movies. They seem to be well made, but he's not pleased with the movies changing / deleting so much from the books.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

You didn't single out Crash. Here's a movie with no subtlety or nuance.

That's always the criticism I hear about that movie - but I always thought that was kind of the point. When watching it I figured that the movie's purpose was to show racist behavior from an "over the top" perspective. Of course in trying to tie together all of the various story lines, things became a little too convenient and perhaps obvious - but it never bothered me that much.I don't remember what it was up against that year, but would probably agree that it wasn't a strong canidate for "Best Picture".

 

[Kenny Powers]

Horrible Bosses- Great R-comedy. Definitely the funniest movie I've seen this year.

Looks great and a likely candidate for my favorite comedy of the year.

I havent seen any comedies yet from 2011, so Im sure some of these are flops, but on paper/based on trailers, I feel like there have been more solid comedies than usual (in no order): Hall Pass, Cedar Rapids, Your Highness, Everything Must Go, The Hangover 2, Bridesmaids, Bad Teacher, Horrible Bosses, The Change-Up, 30 Minutes or Less, The Guard, Our Idiot Brother, A Good Old Fashioned Orgy

Im sure Ive forgotten some movies from earlier this year and dont know about some for the end of the year, but good comedies have been few and far between IMO for awhile so this strikes me as a damn good year (assuming I think 3 or so are great and like around 10 of them).

 

[jdoggydogg]

You didn't single out Crash. Here's a movie with no subtlety or nuance.

That's always the criticism I hear about that movie - but I always thought that was kind of the point. When watching it I figured that the movie's purpose was to show racist behavior from an "over the top" perspective. Of course in trying to tie together all of the various story lines, things became a little too convenient and perhaps obvious - but it never bothered me that much.I don't remember what it was up against that year, but would probably agree that it wasn't a strong canidate for "Best Picture".

I understand. I don't enjoy movies that shout to me, "This is wrong! Extremely wrong!" I know when something's wrong, I'd rather figure that out myself.

 

[Dexter Manley]

Hangover 2

Saw this last night. It's basically the same exact movie as the first one except it's set in Bangkok. While I was fairly entertained, it's not nearly as funny as the first, imo.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Hangover 2Saw this last night. It's basically the same exact movie as the first one except it's set in Bangkok. While I was fairly entertained, it's not nearly as funny as the first, imo.

Enjoyed the first one, not at all interested in the sequel. The only way I'll watch it is if I'm high and it's free on HBO.

 

[Chaka]

Hangover 2

Saw this last night. It's basically the same exact movie as the first one except it's set in Bangkok. While I was fairly entertained, it's not nearly as funny as the first, imo.

Enjoyed the first one, not at all interested in the sequel. The only way I'll watch it is if I'm high and it's free on HBO.

In

 

[jdoggydogg]

Hangover 2

Saw this last night. It's basically the same exact movie as the first one except it's set in Bangkok. While I was fairly entertained, it's not nearly as funny as the first, imo.

Enjoyed the first one, not at all interested in the sequel. The only way I'll watch it is if I'm high and it's free on HBO.

In

 

[Rick James]

Horrible Bosses- Great R-comedy. Definitely the funniest movie I've seen this year.

Looks great and a likely candidate for my favorite comedy of the year.

I havent seen any comedies yet from 2011, so Im sure some of these are flops, but on paper/based on trailers, I feel like there have been more solid comedies than usual (in no order): Hall Pass, Cedar Rapids, Your Highness, Everything Must Go, The Hangover 2, Bridesmaids, Bad Teacher, Horrible Bosses, The Change-Up, 30 Minutes or Less, The Guard, Our Idiot Brother, A Good Old Fashioned Orgy

Im sure Ive forgotten some movies from earlier this year and dont know about some for the end of the year, but good comedies have been few and far between IMO for awhile so this strikes me as a damn good year (assuming I think 3 or so are great and like around 10 of them).

Hall Pass- did not see. heard mixed thingsCedar Rapids- Good movie. Ed Helms carries this one. Perfect role for John C. Reilly, too.

Your Highness- did not see. heard it was bad, all the funny stuff was in the trailer

Everything Must Go- be careful here, this isn't really a comedy. It's a good movie with a pretty strong performance by Will Ferrell, but don't go in expecting Ron Burgandy, or even Stranger than Fiction. It's not an all-out comedy

Bridesmaids- Really good.

Bad Teacher- pretty good, I don't like Cameron Diaz and the story was kinda dumb but it was worth seeing

Horrible Bosses- Like I said, best comedy of 2011. Colin Farrel destroys his part, and Bateman/Sudekis/Day are all great together.

The Change-up and 30 Minutes of Less look really good, I can't wait to see them. I haven't heard of the other 3, but thanks for the tip.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Your Highness- did not see. heard it was bad, all the funny stuff was in the trailer

I was extremely disappointed in this movie. Love Danny McBride. But there are only a couple of laughs here. And the best joke in the trailer isn't even in the movie.

 

[Socrates11]

Ip Man 2- As much as I liked the first movie, it seemed to me that it was missing something to make it a truly special martial arts movie as some have claimed. This movie had that missing something and more. Truly spectacular martial arts flick that morphed into a Chinese version of Rocky, and I mean that as a compliment. See this if you get the chance and enjoy the genre. 4.5/5

Spoiler

Nice little scene at the end with a young Bruce Lee. Icing on the cake.

 

[Chaka]

Ip Man 2- As much as I liked the first movie, it seemed to me that it was missing something to make it a truly special martial arts movie as some have claimed. This movie had that missing something and more. Truly spectacular martial arts flick that morphed into a Chinese version of Rocky, and I mean that as a compliment. See this if you get the chance and enjoy the genre. 4.5/5

Spoiler

Nice little scene at the end with a young Bruce Lee. Icing on the cake.

Interesting. I thought the first one was a more enjoyable film and the sequel was missing something.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Cedar Rapids- Good movie. Ed Helms carries this one. Perfect role for John C. Reilly, too.

Agree, but the movie was painfully unfunny.

 

[Steelnation]

Stranger with Candy

HYSTERICAL

 

[hooter311]

Cedar Rapids- Good movie. Ed Helms carries this one. Perfect role for John C. Reilly, too.

Agree, but the movie was painfully unfunny.

Just happened to pick this up at Redbox last night. I thought it was very funny, several of the scenes had me rolling and I usually try not to sit and laugh by myself at 2 am. Maybe it worked for me because I literally do the exact same thing, I'm an independent insurance agent from rural Wisconsin. My mentor was a lot like John C. Reily's character in many ways, which really added to it for me. I enjoyed this a little more than a very similar film, Extract. If you thought that was funny you'll probably enjoy this. Oh, and at him taking 17 clients with him, that's like $85 in agent level renewal commissions.

4/5

 

[bryhamm]

The Mechanic

The original is one the few Bronson movies I haven't seen. Statham has gotten incredibly stale to me, but I am a big Ben Foster fan. This was a huge miss. Plot was stupid and not in a good way.

2/5

Saw The Mechanic. Liked it mainly due to the 2 good leads - Statham and Foster. Yeah it was unrealistic at times but fun and had a good soundtrack.

The Mechanic. Jason Statham and Ben Foster.

I'd compare it to Shooter. Better then expected and delivers what it should. Worth checking out if you just want to veg out.

I'm with hooter on this one ... 2/5

 

[Joe Mammy]

Watched two surprisingly good horror flicks in the last week:

"Let Me In" - bullies and vampires in high school. As one reviewer at RT said, "yes, bullies are scary but kids who drink blood are even scarier!"

"Splice" - Recorded this on HBO and it was disturbing on so many levels but so very watchable and mesmerizing.

 

[gump]

The scene where DDL and the old dude and son are running along the side of the mountain ripping dudes up is one of the best movie scenes ever. If you don't get goosebumps then you must be dead.

It's like a 30-minute scene...starting with the killing of Duncan by Hawkeye....with the great soundtrack in the background...climaxing with the ###-kicking of Magua by Chingau####.Awesome, awesome scene.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

The scene where DDL and the old dude and son are running along the side of the mountain ripping dudes up is one of the best movie scenes ever. If you don't get goosebumps then you must be dead.

It's like a 30-minute scene...starting with the killing of Duncan by Hawkeye....with the great soundtrack in the background...climaxing with the ###-kicking of Magua by Chingau####.Awesome, awesome scene.

Stop it. You guys are reminding me of how PO'd I was that the Blu Ray for this great movie was such an abomination.

 

[General Malaise]

Watched about 30 minutes of the sequel to Wall Street last night. Might have been the worst acting display I've ever seen. I'd like to see somebody defend the acting ability of Shia LaBeouf. He makes Keanu Reeves look like Robert Duval. How on earth does he land roles in movies? If he came out of nowhere today, would he even make it on the cast of The Bachelor? He's horrible. I can't believe how awful that movie was and I just saw 30 minutes of it. It's tripe like this that justifies my absence from all blockbuster movies.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Cedar Rapids- Good movie. Ed Helms carries this one. Perfect role for John C. Reilly, too.

Agree, but the movie was painfully unfunny.

Clay Davis throwing out the Omar impression was the only funny part.

 

[Chaka]

Cedar Rapids- Good movie. Ed Helms carries this one. Perfect role for John C. Reilly, too.

Agree, but the movie was painfully unfunny.

Just happened to pick this up at Redbox last night. I thought it was very funny, several of the scenes had me rolling and I usually try not to sit and laugh by myself at 2 am. Maybe it worked for me because I literally do the exact same thing, I'm an independent insurance agent from rural Wisconsin. My mentor was a lot like John C. Reily's character in many ways, which really added to it for me. I enjoyed this a little more than a very similar film, Extract. If you thought that was funny you'll probably enjoy this. Oh, and at him taking 17 clients with him, that's like $85 in agent level renewal commissions.

4/5

I agree with KP. This movie missed on almost every level for me.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Stranger with CandyHYSTERICAL

The movie or the series? The series was brilliant, but I was disappointed in the movie.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Stranger with CandyHYSTERICAL

The movie or the series? The series was brilliant, but I was disappointed in the movie.

Has there EVER been a good movie version of a TV show?! *ducks phaser blasts*

 

[jdoggydogg]

Stranger with CandyHYSTERICAL

The movie or the series? The series was brilliant, but I was disappointed in the movie.

Has there EVER been a good movie version of a TV show?! *ducks phaser blasts*

The last Star Trek movie was decent.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Stranger with CandyHYSTERICAL

The movie or the series? The series was brilliant, but I was disappointed in the movie.

Has there EVER been a good movie version of a TV show?! *ducks phaser blasts*

The last Star Trek movie was decent.

i thought it was wonderful. have a hard time relating it to the TV version in any but the most basic way, though

 

[Chaka]

Stranger with CandyHYSTERICAL

The movie or the series? The series was brilliant, but I was disappointed in the movie.

Has there EVER been a good movie version of a TV show?! *ducks phaser blasts*

The last Star Trek movie was decent.

There have been several good Star Trek movies. Wrath of Khan is an all-timer.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Movies based on TV shows that were good (other than Star Trek):

The 1st and 3rd Mission: Impossible

The A-Team

The Fugitive

 

[Chaka]

Movies based on TV shows that were good (other than Star Trek):The 1st and 3rd Mission: ImpossibleThe A-TeamThe Fugitive

Do Saturday Night Live films count? Coneheads? Blues Brothers? Wayne's World?What about Borat?Monty Python?Muppets?Serenity.JackassNaked GunSimpsonsSouth ParkI enjoyed Mr. Bean's Holiday and Reno 911: Miami!

 

[joffer]

Last Star Trek was awful

 

[Kenny Powers]

Horrible Bosses- Great R-comedy. Definitely the funniest movie I've seen this year.

Looks great and a likely candidate for my favorite comedy of the year.

I havent seen any comedies yet from 2011, so Im sure some of these are flops, but on paper/based on trailers, I feel like there have been more solid comedies than usual (in no order): Hall Pass, Cedar Rapids, Your Highness, Everything Must Go, The Hangover 2, Bridesmaids, Bad Teacher, Horrible Bosses, The Change-Up, 30 Minutes or Less, The Guard, Our Idiot Brother, A Good Old Fashioned Orgy

Im sure Ive forgotten some movies from earlier this year and dont know about some for the end of the year, but good comedies have been few and far between IMO for awhile so this strikes me as a damn good year (assuming I think 3 or so are great and like around 10 of them).

Hall Pass- did not see. heard mixed thingsCedar Rapids- Good movie. Ed Helms carries this one. Perfect role for John C. Reilly, too.

Your Highness- did not see. heard it was bad, all the funny stuff was in the trailer

Everything Must Go- be careful here, this isn't really a comedy. It's a good movie with a pretty strong performance by Will Ferrell, but don't go in expecting Ron Burgandy, or even Stranger than Fiction. It's not an all-out comedy

Bridesmaids- Really good.

Bad Teacher- pretty good, I don't like Cameron Diaz and the story was kinda dumb but it was worth seeing

Horrible Bosses- Like I said, best comedy of 2011. Colin Farrel destroys his part, and Bateman/Sudekis/Day are all great together.

The Change-up and 30 Minutes of Less look really good, I can't wait to see them. I haven't heard of the other 3, but thanks for the tip.

This looks pretty similar to what Im thinking going in, except Im confident I'll like Hall Pass since its Farrelly Brothers, I think I will like Your Highness even if it is bad (hell, Land of the Lost was so bad I laughed a lot and kind of enjoyed it), and the others look like the strongest of the bunch. I was tentative for including Everything Must Go, as I left out a similar dramedy starring Seth Rogen and JGLevitt that comes out later in the year where JGL gets cancer, called 50/50.I still feel like Im forgetting a movie or 2 from earlier in the year, but oh well.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Cedar Rapids- Good movie. Ed Helms carries this one. Perfect role for John C. Reilly, too.

Agree, but the movie was painfully unfunny.

Just happened to pick this up at Redbox last night. I thought it was very funny, several of the scenes had me rolling and I usually try not to sit and laugh by myself at 2 am. Maybe it worked for me because I literally do the exact same thing, I'm an independent insurance agent from rural Wisconsin. My mentor was a lot like John C. Reily's character in many ways, which really added to it for me. I enjoyed this a little more than a very similar film, Extract. If you thought that was funny you'll probably enjoy this. Oh, and at him taking 17 clients with him, that's like $85 in agent level renewal commissions.

4/5

This sounds more in line with how it looks in the trailers to me than compared to most other FBG's thoughts in here, so Im still optimistic about this one. Not sure how much screen time John C Reilly gets compared to Helms, but Reilly is almost always great and Helms can hold his own in his own way.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Watched about 30 minutes of the sequel to Wall Street last night. Might have been the worst acting display I've ever seen. I'd like to see somebody defend the acting ability of Shia LaBeouf. He makes Keanu Reeves look like Robert Duval. How on earth does he land roles in movies? If he came out of nowhere today, would he even make it on the cast of The Bachelor?

I've said it before and I'll say it everytime Shia's acting gets brought up: go watch A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints

 

[hooter311]

Cedar Rapids- Good movie. Ed Helms carries this one. Perfect role for John C. Reilly, too.

Agree, but the movie was painfully unfunny.

Just happened to pick this up at Redbox last night. I thought it was very funny, several of the scenes had me rolling and I usually try not to sit and laugh by myself at 2 am. Maybe it worked for me because I literally do the exact same thing, I'm an independent insurance agent from rural Wisconsin. My mentor was a lot like John C. Reily's character in many ways, which really added to it for me. I enjoyed this a little more than a very similar film, Extract. If you thought that was funny you'll probably enjoy this. Oh, and at him taking 17 clients with him, that's like $85 in agent level renewal commissions.

4/5

This sounds more in line with how it looks in the trailers to me than compared to most other FBG's thoughts in here, so Im still optimistic about this one. Not sure how much screen time John C Reilly gets compared to Helms, but Reilly is almost always great and Helms can hold his own in his own way.

It's the J.C.R. you know and love and there is plenty of him, its obviously turned down a couple notches from his pairings with Ferrell, but its in line with the same kind of characters. Helms goes a little too over the top with the dork factor, but it is what it is. Red Forman was great too.As people mentioned, Wire fans have to see it for Clay Davis's performance alone.

 

[cosjobs]

Am I the only one with high anticipation For Captain America?

WWII movies are my favorite war genre and some of the Marvel movies have been quite good.

THinking about going tonight to a midnight show tonight.

I read or heard that 3D movies have 15% less brightness than regular. I think I appreciate the brightness more than the plastic glasses experience, so I'll save three bucks. win/win

 

[Kenny Powers]

I think Captain America looks like it has potential, though it looks weird seeing Chris Evans face shopped to an 8yr olds body. Hopefully he becomes the Capt. sooner rather than later.

...in other superhero movie news, I thought it was stupid to have another Spiderman, especially since the 3rd one blew, but Im actually intrigued based on the trailer since it would appear theyre taking the darker storyline route a la Nolan's Batman. That might just be want they want the viewer to think though.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

I think Captain America looks like it has potential, though it looks weird seeing Chris Evans face shopped to an 8yr olds body. Hopefully he becomes the Capt. sooner rather than later....in other superhero movie news, I thought it was stupid to have another Spiderman, especially since the 3rd one blew, but Im actually intrigued based on the trailer since it would appear theyre taking the darker storyline route a la Nolan's Batman. That might just be want they want the viewer to think though.

I think it is just so stupid to reboot Spiderman already. And they are going right back to the origin story? It's just a slap in the face. The only cool thing is that in this version Parker makes the webshooters.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Am I the only one with high anticipation For Captain America?WWII movies are my favorite war genre and some of the Marvel movies have been quite good. THinking about going tonight to a midnight show tonight. I read or heard that 3D movies have 15% less brightness than regular. I think I appreciate the brightness more than the plastic glasses experience, so I'll save three bucks. win/win

I wasn't crazy about the idea when I heard about it, but the art direction looks good enough to make me interested in seeing it - at least on video.

 

[Daywalker]

Movies I've watched lately:

Hall Pass- Better then I thought. Farrelly Bros. flick which they seem to underplay nowadays. Movie cracked me up but the usual gross-out scenes where the Farrelly Bros. try to push the enevelope did fail. B

Lincoln Lawyer- Just like the book. Pulp entertainment. Although I don't know why they pulled punches at the end. C+

Battle of Los Angeles- Came in with low expectations. Like movie of the week. Actually better then that. It's a popcorn movie. Enjoyable. C+.

A-Team- This is a movie that you will forget about within 48 hours. It wasn't horrible but unless you are watching if for free I wouldn't go there. D

How Do You Know- James Brooks movie. Type of movie that looks good on paper but just doesn't work out. Brooks and Nicholsan usually money. But this one didn"t work out. Came out just awkward. C-

Life as We Know It- Heigl and Duhamel have no chemistry. Very few laughs in this one. Just a complete mess. D+

My pothead friend said Limitless was awesome. We'll see.

 

[El Floppo]

So the newborn is up and fussy during my "shift"- the 2-7am graveyard shift. ... so I've started just throwing the tv on and seeing what's up. caught a few minutes of The Informant! and it looked promising. Should I try to find it another overnight and watch the whole thing?