Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (3 Viewers)

[Cliff Clavin]

Argo: Good... but best picture good? Maybe I was expecting too much because of the hype. Oh, and a little historical accuracy would have helped as well. I also learned that pretty much every single Iranian is hateful, cruel person. All in all, a solid US propaganda film. 3.5/5

Since when are films historically accurate?And I'd say the 2 minutes at the beginning put the anti-American hostility in the proper context.

Uh, call me crazy but films depicting a historical event should be historically accurate.

 

[Chaka]

Argo: Good... but best picture good? Maybe I was expecting too much because of the hype. Oh, and a little historical accuracy would have helped as well. I also learned that pretty much every single Iranian is hateful, cruel person. All in all, a solid US propaganda film. 3.5/5

Since when are films historically accurate?And I'd say the 2 minutes at the beginning put the anti-American hostility in the proper context.

Uh, call me crazy but films depicting a historical event should be historically accurate.

I agree that the chase ending was kind of laughable but, unless you want a 4+ hour film (at least), Affleck did a fine job on the other elements. You want it to be more accurate, go watch a documentary on the topic.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Argo: Good... but best picture good? Maybe I was expecting too much because of the hype. Oh, and a little historical accuracy would have helped as well. I also learned that pretty much every single Iranian is hateful, cruel person. All in all, a solid US propaganda film. 3.5/5

Since when are films historically accurate?And I'd say the 2 minutes at the beginning put the anti-American hostility in the proper context.

Uh, call me crazy but films depicting a historical event should be historically accurate.

They aren't.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

Argo: Good... but best picture good? Maybe I was expecting too much because of the hype. Oh, and a little historical accuracy would have helped as well. I also learned that pretty much every single Iranian is hateful, cruel person. All in all, a solid US propaganda film. 3.5/5

I don't think this was much of an exaggeration for 1980ish Iran.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Argo: Good... but best picture good? Maybe I was expecting too much because of the hype. Oh, and a little historical accuracy would have helped as well. I also learned that pretty much every single Iranian is hateful, cruel person. All in all, a solid US propaganda film. 3.5/5

I don't think this was much of an exaggeration for 1980ish Iran.

I get what both of you are saying, but even I noticed that it was almost cartoonish how every Iranian seemed to be. There were also choices made such as no subtitles in the market scene to purposely cause a heightened sense of fear. There were other lingering shots at the stereotypical Arabian man with beard and gun. Just seemed odd to me from a movie that set up both positions at the beginning of the movie didn't seem to care to take the time to continue that for the rest of the movie.

 

[KarmaPolice]

The Master.

You've avoided seeing this one. Trust your gut. Terrible. Phoenix was terrific though. Hoffman was fine enough. How does Amy Adams have three Academy Award nominations? Wallpaper.

Couldn't disagree more. It is not the best PTA movie, but anything he puts out is better than 90% of movies out there. The acting was great, tons of fantastic shots, and just overall a beautiful looking movie. Not as focused as a couple of his other films, but it has all of his usual obsessions in his movies - father/son dynamics, sex, power, rage, etc, etc. I thought it was one of the best movies of the year and 2 days after I watched it I am still thinking about it. 8/10

I'd probably give it a 9/10 myself, probably my 2nd favourite PTA film after Punch-Drunk Love. Though I can see why others would dislike it, as the film doesn't really go anywhere; there's no real climax or anything, just a measured pace from start to finish. And although the film isn't directly Scientology, there's enough allusions there from the script to the casting choices such that I wouldn't say it's not about Scientology. Though I agree with Daywalker in that I don't get how Amy Adams was nominated for that performance; she didn't have much of a presence, and I thought that was the entire point of the character, definitely felt miscast to me. Though I thought a lot of the supporting actor/actress nominations were undeserved this year.

I think Adams was strong when needed to be - ie the "sink" scene, but for the most part doesn't add much. I think she is a fine actress - not the best out there, I would start looking towards Chastain, Michelle Williams, etc.. before her, but she is good in other movies such as Doubt and The Fighter.

 

[Time Kibitzer]

The Master.

You've avoided seeing this one. Trust your gut. Terrible. Phoenix was terrific though. Hoffman was fine enough. How does Amy Adams have three Academy Award nominations? Wallpaper.

Couldn't disagree more. It is not the best PTA movie, but anything he puts out is better than 90% of movies out there. The acting was great, tons of fantastic shots, and just overall a beautiful looking movie. Not as focused as a couple of his other films, but it has all of his usual obsessions in his movies - father/son dynamics, sex, power, rage, etc, etc. I thought it was one of the best movies of the year and 2 days after I watched it I am still thinking about it. 8/10

I'd probably give it a 9/10 myself, probably my 2nd favourite PTA film after Punch-Drunk Love. Though I can see why others would dislike it, as the film doesn't really go anywhere; there's no real climax or anything, just a measured pace from start to finish. And although the film isn't directly Scientology, there's enough allusions there from the script to the casting choices such that I wouldn't say it's not about Scientology. Though I agree with Daywalker in that I don't get how Amy Adams was nominated for that performance; she didn't have much of a presence, and I thought that was the entire point of the character, definitely felt miscast to me. Though I thought a lot of the supporting actor/actress nominations were undeserved this year.

I think Adams was strong when needed to be - ie the "sink" scene, but for the most part doesn't add much. I think she is a fine actress - not the best out there, I would start looking towards Chastain, Michelle Williams, etc.. before her, but she is good in other movies such as Doubt and The Fighter.

I actually like her as an actress (and she's not hard on the eyes), I just thought her role in the Master would have been better suited to a woman with a more domineering presence.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Argo: Good... but best picture good? Maybe I was expecting too much because of the hype. Oh, and a little historical accuracy would have helped as well. I also learned that pretty much every single Iranian is hateful, cruel person. All in all, a solid US propaganda film. 3.5/5

I don't think this was much of an exaggeration for 1980ish Iran.

I get what both of you are saying, but even I noticed that it was almost cartoonish how every Iranian seemed to be. There were also choices made such as no subtitles in the market scene to purposely cause a heightened sense of fear. There were other lingering shots at the stereotypical Arabian man with beard and gun. Just seemed odd to me from a movie that set up both positions at the beginning of the movie didn't seem to care to take the time to continue that for the rest of the movie.

See, here's the deal: Iranians had great cause to hate America, as you know. I didn't see it as besmirching the Iranian characters as monochromatic hate mongers, I saw a people that could not forgive a country that backed a murderous, torturing dictator.

 

[wazoo11]

2014 contenders?Drooling over here.

The Bling Ring. The true story of celeb-obsessed teenagers who robbed movie stars' homes, starring Emma Watson and written and directed by Sofia Coppola.

Sounds interesting.

 

[Time Kibitzer]

Saw Michael Clayton recently, I thought the acting was great, but the story was pretty mediocre; was expecting better considering all it's Oscar nominations. Anyway I got a question about it, not sure if it includes any spoilers but I'll put it in spoiler tags to be safe.

Spoiler

What was the deal about the horses? Why were they there, and why did Clooney's character stop to get close to them? The only thing I could think of was that they were somehow associated with his kid's book, but I don't remember the kid ever mentioning horses.

 

[gump]

So, thanks to Apple TV and HBO GO, I'm finally getting around to watching The Wire.I'm 10 eps into the first season....started watching an ep a night....now I'm so addicted its been 5 in the last 2 nights. Great show obviously.I know every season is a different aspect of the Baltimore criminal or political landscape....what seasons are generally considered the best?

 

[Daywalker]

So, thanks to Apple TV and HBO GO, I'm finally getting around to watching The Wire.I'm 10 eps into the first season....started watching an ep a night....now I'm so addicted its been 5 in the last 2 nights. Great show obviously.I know every season is a different aspect of the Baltimore criminal or political landscape....what seasons are generally considered the best?

4,3,1,2 then 5.

 

[gump]

So, thanks to Apple TV and HBO GO, I'm finally getting around to watching The Wire.I'm 10 eps into the first season....started watching an ep a night....now I'm so addicted its been 5 in the last 2 nights. Great show obviously.I know every season is a different aspect of the Baltimore criminal or political landscape....what seasons are generally considered the best?

4,3,1,2 then 5.

5 is the press season, right? Still good, just the worst of 5 great ones....or clearly the worst?

 

[jdoggydogg]

Saw Michael Clayton recently, I thought the acting was great, but the story was pretty mediocre; was expecting better considering all it's Oscar nominations. Anyway I got a question about it, not sure if it includes any spoilers but I'll put it in spoiler tags to be safe.

Spoiler

What was the deal about the horses? Why were they there, and why did Clooney's character stop to get close to them? The only thing I could think of was that they were somehow associated with his kid's book, but I don't remember the kid ever mentioning horses.

I believe the tree near the horses is in a book earlier in the film.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Limitless

Despite some some problems, this was entertaining.

The voiceover was awful. Any time a voiceover is telling you what a reasonable intelligent person would have inferred anyway, it's superfluous.

 

[JZilla]

Identity Thief

My kids are watching this and it is obscenely stupid

 

[Mr. Mojo]

The Master.

You've avoided seeing this one. Trust your gut. Terrible. Phoenix was terrific though. Hoffman was fine enough. How does Amy Adams have three Academy Award nominations? Wallpaper.

Couldn't disagree more. It is not the best PTA movie, but anything he puts out is better than 90% of movies out there. The acting was great, tons of fantastic shots, and just overall a beautiful looking movie. Not as focused as a couple of his other films, but it has all of his usual obsessions in his movies - father/son dynamics, sex, power, rage, etc, etc. I thought it was one of the best movies of the year and 2 days after I watched it I am still thinking about it. 8/10

I'd probably give it a 9/10 myself, probably my 2nd favourite PTA film after Punch-Drunk Love. Though I can see why others would dislike it, as the film doesn't really go anywhere; there's no real climax or anything, just a measured pace from start to finish. And although the film isn't directly Scientology, there's enough allusions there from the script to the casting choices such that I wouldn't say it's not about Scientology. Though I agree with Daywalker in that I don't get how Amy Adams was nominated for that performance; she didn't have much of a presence, and I thought that was the entire point of the character, definitely felt miscast to me. Though I thought a lot of the supporting actor/actress nominations were undeserved this year.

I couldn't disagree more about PT Anderson whose film's only purpose are to bore and depress you for at least 2 hours. Yes he gets great actors and the performances are always good. But his movies, with a couple exceptions are terrible. The Master was horrible.

 

[bosoxs45]

about to watch It's Kind of a Funny Story this is an extremely under the radar flick that came out a few months ago. Zach Galifianakis, Lauren Graham, Emma Roberts and from the Daily Show Aasif Mandvi, seems like this should be a good flickhttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0804497/

Was a pretty decent flick, but there is not nearly enough comic moments since i was expecting Zach in a mental home to be hilarious.

The miscast for me was Emma Roberts. She is pretty but really a mediocre actor, imo.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Identity Thief

My kids are watching this and it is obscenely stupid

This looks horrible. I dont understand why so many people find Melissa McCarthy funny because she's fat and makes fun of herself for it.

 

[Kenny Powers]

So, thanks to Apple TV and HBO GO, I'm finally getting around to watching The Wire.I'm 10 eps into the first season....started watching an ep a night....now I'm so addicted its been 5 in the last 2 nights. Great show obviously.I know every season is a different aspect of the Baltimore criminal or political landscape....what seasons are generally considered the best?

4,3,1,2 then 5.

5 is the press season, right? Still good, just the worst of 5 great ones....or clearly the worst?

The ranking of the seasons is all fairly subjective, as all of them are great - and have their own focus that makes them different from the other seasons. About the only thing you typically wont see is people rank 1, 3, or 4 last. Season 2 is the most different from the others, and after only 1 season to compare it to, it sort of comes as a shock. I think generally its considered the least favorite, but not too long ago that was discussed in The Wire Thread here and plenty of people defended it. Once you finish the entire series, I think in retrospect it was great to have a different season like that. I would say 5 is my least favorite because the media angle isnt as good as the side focus of the other seasons and its the least believable due to some actions (namely McNulty), but the last few episodes of it and series finale are excellent. My personal rankings would probably be 3,1,4,2,5. The 4th and 1st seasons are tough for me decide which Id put as my 2nd favorite though.

 

[FootballDummy]

So, thanks to Apple TV and HBO GO, I'm finally getting around to watching The Wire.I'm 10 eps into the first season....started watching an ep a night....now I'm so addicted its been 5 in the last 2 nights. Great show obviously.I know every season is a different aspect of the Baltimore criminal or political landscape....what seasons are generally considered the best?

4,3,1,2 then 5.

5 is the press season, right? Still good, just the worst of 5 great ones....or clearly the worst?

The ranking of the seasons is all fairly subjective, as all of them are great - and have their own focus that makes them different from the other seasons. About the only thing you typically wont see is people rank 1, 3, or 4 last. Season 2 is the most different from the others, and after only 1 season to compare it to, it sort of comes as a shock. I think generally its considered the least favorite, but not too long ago that was discussed in The Wire Thread here and plenty of people defended it. Once you finish the entire series, I think in retrospect it was great to have a different season like that. I would say 5 is my least favorite because the media angle isnt as good as the side focus of the other seasons and its the least believable due to some actions (namely McNulty), but the last few episodes of it and series finale are excellent. My personal rankings would probably be 3,1,4,2,5. The 4th and 1st seasons are tough for me decide which Id put as my 2nd favorite though.

Rankings are subjective. Everyone's going to have a different opinion. Sometimes I would put 4 first, sometimes another season. In reference to the above quote, I would currently rank them 4,1,3,2,5. I think the one thing everyone agrees on the most is that season 5 was the worst. Which is odd, because it was the season that focused on what the series writer really considered important, it was basically his life.

 

[Kenny Powers]

So, thanks to Apple TV and HBO GO, I'm finally getting around to watching The Wire.I'm 10 eps into the first season....started watching an ep a night....now I'm so addicted its been 5 in the last 2 nights. Great show obviously.I know every season is a different aspect of the Baltimore criminal or political landscape....what seasons are generally considered the best?

4,3,1,2 then 5.

5 is the press season, right? Still good, just the worst of 5 great ones....or clearly the worst?

The ranking of the seasons is all fairly subjective, as all of them are great - and have their own focus that makes them different from the other seasons. About the only thing you typically wont see is people rank 1, 3, or 4 last. Season 2 is the most different from the others, and after only 1 season to compare it to, it sort of comes as a shock. I think generally its considered the least favorite, but not too long ago that was discussed in The Wire Thread here and plenty of people defended it. Once you finish the entire series, I think in retrospect it was great to have a different season like that. I would say 5 is my least favorite because the media angle isnt as good as the side focus of the other seasons and its the least believable due to some actions (namely McNulty), but the last few episodes of it and series finale are excellent. My personal rankings would probably be 3,1,4,2,5. The 4th and 1st seasons are tough for me decide which Id put as my 2nd favorite though.

Rankings are subjective. Everyone's going to have a different opinion. Sometimes I would put 4 first, sometimes another season. In reference to the above quote, I would currently rank them 4,1,3,2,5. I think the one thing everyone agrees on the most is that season 5 was the worst. Which is odd, because it was the season that focused on what the series writer really considered important, it was basically his life.

Rankings are always subjective, but I said that because Gump asked what seasons are generally considered the best, and Im not sure there's a general consensus on that. I wouldnt say there's a "worst" season of The Wire, because theyre all great. Some are just a little bit better, and I guess that would go to 1, 3 & 4 but as I said other people put 2 and 5 up there. I dont think 5 was as strong as the rest of the seasons overall, but the last third of the season are some of the best episodes of the entire series. I think the writing was just as good, its just the acting of the media people and interest they created wasnt as good as the dock workers, political side, or the kids.

 

[Daywalker]

Limitless

Despite some some problems, this was entertaining.

The voiceover was awful. Any time a voiceover is telling you what a reasonable intelligent person would have inferred anyway, it's superfluous.

Bill Simmons brought up how this movie could make for a great TV series. I'd be interested.

 

[whoknew]

Just saw Safe with Jason Statham. Awesome. Highly recommended.

Just watched this. Its extremely entertaining. Lots of action - almost nonstop.Citizen Kane its not, but for relatively mindless action - its great.

 

[Daywalker]

Just saw Safe with Jason Statham. Awesome. Highly recommended.

Just watched this. Its extremely entertaining. Lots of action - almost nonstop.Citizen Kane its not, but for relatively mindless action - its great.

Does Statham rail anyone in front of a group of Japanese tourists?

 

[Time Kibitzer]

The Master.

You've avoided seeing this one. Trust your gut. Terrible. Phoenix was terrific though. Hoffman was fine enough. How does Amy Adams have three Academy Award nominations? Wallpaper.

Couldn't disagree more. It is not the best PTA movie, but anything he puts out is better than 90% of movies out there. The acting was great, tons of fantastic shots, and just overall a beautiful looking movie. Not as focused as a couple of his other films, but it has all of his usual obsessions in his movies - father/son dynamics, sex, power, rage, etc, etc. I thought it was one of the best movies of the year and 2 days after I watched it I am still thinking about it. 8/10

I'd probably give it a 9/10 myself, probably my 2nd favourite PTA film after Punch-Drunk Love. Though I can see why others would dislike it, as the film doesn't really go anywhere; there's no real climax or anything, just a measured pace from start to finish. And although the film isn't directly Scientology, there's enough allusions there from the script to the casting choices such that I wouldn't say it's not about Scientology. Though I agree with Daywalker in that I don't get how Amy Adams was nominated for that performance; she didn't have much of a presence, and I thought that was the entire point of the character, definitely felt miscast to me. Though I thought a lot of the supporting actor/actress nominations were undeserved this year.

I couldn't disagree more about PT Anderson whose film's only purpose are to bore and depress you for at least 2 hours. Yes he gets great actors and the performances are always good. But his movies, with a couple exceptions are terrible. The Master was horrible.

You say his films are boring and depressing, I say they're interesting and thought provoking. I don't think I've disliked a single one of PT Anderson's films, the guy's easily among the best American directors going at the moment, imo.

 

[Daywalker]

The Master.

You've avoided seeing this one. Trust your gut. Terrible. Phoenix was terrific though. Hoffman was fine enough. How does Amy Adams have three Academy Award nominations? Wallpaper.

Couldn't disagree more. It is not the best PTA movie, but anything he puts out is better than 90% of movies out there. The acting was great, tons of fantastic shots, and just overall a beautiful looking movie. Not as focused as a couple of his other films, but it has all of his usual obsessions in his movies - father/son dynamics, sex, power, rage, etc, etc. I thought it was one of the best movies of the year and 2 days after I watched it I am still thinking about it. 8/10

I'd probably give it a 9/10 myself, probably my 2nd favourite PTA film after Punch-Drunk Love. Though I can see why others would dislike it, as the film doesn't really go anywhere; there's no real climax or anything, just a measured pace from start to finish. And although the film isn't directly Scientology, there's enough allusions there from the script to the casting choices such that I wouldn't say it's not about Scientology. Though I agree with Daywalker in that I don't get how Amy Adams was nominated for that performance; she didn't have much of a presence, and I thought that was the entire point of the character, definitely felt miscast to me. Though I thought a lot of the supporting actor/actress nominations were undeserved this year.

I couldn't disagree more about PT Anderson whose film's only purpose are to bore and depress you for at least 2 hours. Yes he gets great actors and the performances are always good. But his movies, with a couple exceptions are terrible. The Master was horrible.

You say his films are boring and depressing, I say they're interesting and thought provoking. I don't think I've disliked a single one of PT Anderson's films, the guy's easily among the best American directors going at the moment, imo.

So we got from those who loved it:"Beautifully shot"

2nd favorite to Punch Drunk Love

No real climax

:X

 

[Time Kibitzer]

The Master.

You've avoided seeing this one. Trust your gut. Terrible. Phoenix was terrific though. Hoffman was fine enough. How does Amy Adams have three Academy Award nominations? Wallpaper.

Couldn't disagree more. It is not the best PTA movie, but anything he puts out is better than 90% of movies out there. The acting was great, tons of fantastic shots, and just overall a beautiful looking movie. Not as focused as a couple of his other films, but it has all of his usual obsessions in his movies - father/son dynamics, sex, power, rage, etc, etc. I thought it was one of the best movies of the year and 2 days after I watched it I am still thinking about it. 8/10

I'd probably give it a 9/10 myself, probably my 2nd favourite PTA film after Punch-Drunk Love. Though I can see why others would dislike it, as the film doesn't really go anywhere; there's no real climax or anything, just a measured pace from start to finish. And although the film isn't directly Scientology, there's enough allusions there from the script to the casting choices such that I wouldn't say it's not about Scientology. Though I agree with Daywalker in that I don't get how Amy Adams was nominated for that performance; she didn't have much of a presence, and I thought that was the entire point of the character, definitely felt miscast to me. Though I thought a lot of the supporting actor/actress nominations were undeserved this year.

I couldn't disagree more about PT Anderson whose film's only purpose are to bore and depress you for at least 2 hours. Yes he gets great actors and the performances are always good. But his movies, with a couple exceptions are terrible. The Master was horrible.

You say his films are boring and depressing, I say they're interesting and thought provoking. I don't think I've disliked a single one of PT Anderson's films, the guy's easily among the best American directors going at the moment, imo.

So we got from those who loved it:"Beautifully shot"

2nd favorite to Punch Drunk Love

No real climax

:X

Beautifully shot, great acting (highlighted by a tremendous lead performance), interesting and intriguing story with fascinating characters, excellent score; not sure what more one could want from a drama film really The film has a deliberate pace, no real climax (imo), and doesn't overtly make it clear why some of the characters act the way they do, so I can understand why some would dislike the film and think it's boring, but it worked very well for me

 

[jdoggydogg]

Limitless

Despite some some problems, this was entertaining.

The voiceover was awful. Any time a voiceover is telling you what a reasonable intelligent person would have inferred anyway, it's superfluous.

Bill Simmons brought up how this movie could make for a great TV series. I'd be interested.

I agree.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I couldn't disagree more about PT Anderson whose film's only purpose are to bore and depress you for at least 2 hours. Yes he gets great actors and the performances are always good. But his movies, with a couple exceptions are terrible. The Master was horrible.

I bet that is his thinking the whole time - how to bore the masses most effectively. Not sure what your couple exceptions are, but doesn't he only have 5-6 movies? Curious to know which others you think are "terrible". I put PTA in the ballpark of Malick - I get why people don't like their movies - sometimes they meander, don't end well, have a deliberate pacing, etc. However, they are both insanely talented and two of the best at their craft working today. To call movies that are this well put together and filmed "terrible" is just silly. Like TK alluded to, I love movies like this because they are unpredictable, make you think, and I usually spend the next couple days thinking about them. I personally will take that any day over other good movies that I forget about the second I turn them off such as Argo or The King's Speech. Any art form needs balance, and I am glad there are filmmakers like Malick, PTA, Lynch, etc.. out there to push some buttons.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

Just wacthed "the Master" last night and thought it was great. Highly recommend. Phoenix and PSH are wonderful in it. Definitely thought provoking and beautifully shot. Was there more of a back story to Laura Dern's character?

 

[jdoggydogg]

I couldn't disagree more about PT Anderson whose film's only purpose are to bore and depress you for at least 2 hours. Yes he gets great actors and the performances are always good. But his movies, with a couple exceptions are terrible. The Master was horrible.

Ummmm no.

 

[Daywalker]

I couldn't disagree more about PT Anderson whose film's only purpose are to bore and depress you for at least 2 hours. Yes he gets great actors and the performances are always good. But his movies, with a couple exceptions are terrible. The Master was horrible.

Ummmm no.

Boogie Nights is a classic. Hard Eight is really good. Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love I barely remember.I have some doubts about PT Anderson because he ruined There Will be Blood by casting Paul Dano opposite DDL. Dano is ridiculous in that.The Master? For me the messaging was just not that fresh nor interesting.PT Anderson gets way too much respect for what he's put out there.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Young Adult - 5.5/10Yeah. This is Diablo Cody reaching catharsis by making fun of the Queen B's that likely tormented her in high school. 5 points of the rating go to Charlize Theron's looks. 0.5 points for the three chuckles I had.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Young Adult - 5.5/10Yeah. This is Diablo Cody reaching catharsis by making fun of the Queen B's that likely tormented her in high school. 5 points of the rating go to Charlize Theron's looks. 0.5 points for the three chuckles I had.

nailed it

 

[Mr. Mojo]

I couldn't disagree more about PT Anderson whose film's only purpose are to bore and depress you for at least 2 hours. Yes he gets great actors and the performances are always good. But his movies, with a couple exceptions are terrible. The Master was horrible.

I bet that is his thinking the whole time - how to bore the masses most effectively. Not sure what your couple exceptions are, but doesn't he only have 5-6 movies? Curious to know which others you think are "terrible". I put PTA in the ballpark of Malick - I get why people don't like their movies - sometimes they meander, don't end well, have a deliberate pacing, etc. However, they are both insanely talented and two of the best at their craft working today. To call movies that are this well put together and filmed "terrible" is just silly. Like TK alluded to, I love movies like this because they are unpredictable, make you think, and I usually spend the next couple days thinking about them. I personally will take that any day over other good movies that I forget about the second I turn them off such as Argo or The King's Speech. Any art form needs balance, and I am glad there are filmmakers like Malick, PTA, Lynch, etc.. out there to push some buttons.

Magnolia is probably the most self indulgent, overlong, manipulative film I've ever seen. There Will be Blood started off with a good first half then meandered into boredom and had one of the worst soundtracks I've ever heard . If you like meandering films with characters with no redeeming qualities, then fine, enjoy his movies. After The Master, I'm done with him.

 

[Statorama]

With better directing and some slight script tightening, "Snitch" could have been a very good movie. As it is, the movie is watchable and is easily the best work Dwayne Johnson has done.

 

[Chaka]

I loved Boogie Nights and enjoyed Punch Drunk Love and Magnolia very much. I found There Will Be Blood to be inaccessible at best and self indulgent at worst but DDL is so good that it made up for a lot of the problems I had with it.On my first try I found both Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix excellent in their performance but The Master as a whole was just boring. I need to watch it again but the fact that I fell asleep (twice), and I was completely sober, doesn't bode well for it IMO. Despite PSH and JP it just seemed meandering and pointless. I plan to watch it again today to see if it was just my mood last night.

 

[KarmaPolice]

The Bay:

Fans of the 'found footage' movies probably will enjoy this one. I thought it was quite well put together and had an interesting plot/message to it. Through the bonus features I learned that Barry Levinson was approached to do a doc about water supply for the bay, but he knew there was a Frontline movie about it already so instead came up with this movie instead. Very interesting use of a ton of different types of cameras and footage - security cams, phones, portable cameras, etc.. capturing what happened to the town over the July 4th holiday. Probably not the best movie, but I really liked where this could take the found footage genre. Would have liked it much more if not for the reporter narrating the movie, but still would recommend it for the fans of the sub-genre.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I loved Boogie Nights and enjoyed Punch Drunk Love and Magnolia very much. I found There Will Be Blood to be inaccessible at best and self indulgent at worst but DDL is so good that it made up for a lot of the problems I had with it.On my first try I found both Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix excellent in their performance but The Master as a whole was just boring. I need to watch it again but the fact that I fell asleep (twice), and I was completely sober, doesn't bode well for it IMO. Despite PSH and JP it just seemed meandering and pointless. I plan to watch it again today to see if it was just my mood last night.

Interesting - I would say that There Will Be Blood is the most accessible and straight forward of his movies, and probably Punch-Drunk Love the least accessible.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I couldn't disagree more about PT Anderson whose film's only purpose are to bore and depress you for at least 2 hours. Yes he gets great actors and the performances are always good. But his movies, with a couple exceptions are terrible. The Master was horrible.

Ummmm no.

Boogie Nights is a classic. Hard Eight is really good. Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love I barely remember.I have some doubts about PT Anderson because he ruined There Will be Blood by casting Paul Dano opposite DDL. Dano is ridiculous in that.

The Master? For me the messaging was just not that fresh nor interesting.

PT Anderson gets way too much respect for what he's put out there.

From what I picked up, Dano was not to play Eli. DDL being nuts and staying in character throughout the process evidently was pushing around the guy who was to play the preacher, and that actor couldn't take it. Dano was to play the brother at the beginning, but they had the idea of making him twins b/c Dano could handle the craziness. I thought I read he was only given a few days to get ready for the part of Eli too.

 

[bosoxs45]

Pineapple Express

Pretty funny. Mostly dumb stoner jokes, but I laughed several times.

 

[snogger]

Re-Watched "Less Than Zero" yesterday. I forgot just how dark and depressing a movie it is.. :(

Great "acting" ( ) on the part of Robert Downey, Jr.

James Spader does a good job as a slimy drug pusher.

Jami Gertz.. hmmm. There are points in the movie where you'd have to wonder how she ever got another acting role, it was that bad.. Yet there were other parts where she was good..

all in all, if you haven't watched it before I'd recommend it.. Just be prepared that this isn't your typical 80's "fun" party movie.

 

[Time Kibitzer]

Life of Pi

After reading reviews, I think this was the kind of film that loses a lot when not seen in a theatre. The movie was still visually impressive without the 3D, but apparently the 3D was used brilliantly and just takes the whole viewing experience to another level; which is kind of necessary since otherwise the film isn't very good. Once it was just the kid and the tiger on the boat, things got pretty boring. The story is pretty dumb, and it has

Spoiler

one of those endings that damages all scenes that came prior,

which really annoys me. Also, I'm really confused as to how this book is considered by some to be an "elegant proof of God" (quoting Obama there); as far as I can tell, the proof is just that you have to keep faith, which ain't much of a proof to put it mildly.

 

[jamny]

End of Watch was ok, not great. I'm kind of a fan of the shaky camera type of movie when the reasoning for it fits the story but I don't think it was neccessary for this one. A regular movie would have been better. Didn't really get too attached to the characters even though both leads did a good job. The Mexican gang was way too cliche. Worth viewing but I don't think I'd recommend it to many people. 2.5/5

 

[Quez]

Life of Pi - 6.5/10 - Castaway but Wilson is a Tiger.Hobbit - 7.5/10 - I liked it better than any of the LOTRsDjango - 7.5/10 Born Legacy - 6.5/10 - started out good but then turned into a boring chase scene the 2nd half of the movie. Just like all the others.

 

[Quez]

Middle Men - 7.5/10 - hidden gem. Bernie -6.5/10 - pretty funny, didn't realize was based on a true storyCloud Atlas 4/10 - I really wanted to like this film but it sucked. It was like Crash but never quite came together.Savages - 8/10 - original, good action packed movie. Travolta was good as a supporting guy.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Life of Pi

After reading reviews, I think this was the kind of film that loses a lot when not seen in a theatre. The movie was still visually impressive without the 3D, but apparently the 3D was used brilliantly and just takes the whole viewing experience to another level; which is kind of necessary since otherwise the film isn't very good. Once it was just the kid and the tiger on the boat, things got pretty boring.

This is still showing at a theater in the area and Id like to see it before its gone, because I also get the feeling Id be bored out of my mind if I watched it at home. Im kind of shocked this won an Oscar for anything besides effects or things of that nature, but I guess I should see it first.

 

[Kenny Powers]

End of Watch was ok, not great. I'm kind of a fan of the shaky camera type of movie when the reasoning for it fits the story but I don't think it was neccessary for this one. A regular movie would have been better. Didn't really get too attached to the characters even though both leads did a good job. The Mexican gang was way too cliche. Worth viewing but I don't think I'd recommend it to many people. 2.5/5

The shaky camera stuff wasnt used very much it seemed to me, and I thought it added something when used in a couple of the action sequences, so I didnt have a problem with it. I wouldnt disagree the gang was cliche, but that goes hand in hand with the film focusing on the development of Gyllenhaal's and Pena's characters, and the gang simply just being that with a bunch of unidentified characters basically. I thought Gyllenhaal and Pena were both excellent and Id recommend it just for that.

 

[bosoxs45]

Life of Pi

After reading reviews, I think this was the kind of film that loses a lot when not seen in a theatre.

I keep hearing the exact thing when asking my co-workers about Lincoln.