Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (10 Viewers)

[FreeBaGeL]

Total Recall.

I watched the director's cut, which apparently after googling was a good choice. In the director's cut they move back and forth on making him think he's in reality or still in recall. Apparently they scrapped that altogether in the theatrical version because they thought it was too confusing to the audience. I thought it was the best part of the movie and the best scene of the movie I believe was cut from the theatrical version.

Overall I thought it was a pretty decent action flick. 7/10. I was entertained.

And holy Kate Beckinsale. I'm a pretty big Jessica Biel fan but she was totally overshadowed here. Must be nice for Len Wiseman directing movies with his wife in them. "Yeah honey, for this film I'm gonna need you to have a suuupppeerrr tight body. You know, for the character".

 

[jdoggydogg]

The Man in the Iron Mask

Much like the cheesy Three Muskateers movie with Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland and Chris O'Donnell. Again we have an all-star cast featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gérard Depardieu and Gabriel Byrne. All these fantastic actors get to read #### lines such as, "Anne, to love you is treason against France. But not to love you is treason against my heart."

Oh, and did I mention we get to see Depardieu's ### more than once?

Puke-a-tronic.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Side Effects:

Ended up loving this movie. I think this was a case of knowing nothing about it and really liking the ride that it took me on. Thought it was going to be a Contagion-like paced movie from Soderbergh, but that was not the case. Rooney Mara was absolutely great in this one as well - probably the best I have seen her so far. My suggestion would be watching this one without reading too much about it - I think even the description on the box says too much. Not that I have seen many from this year, but so far it is the best movie I have seen from 2013. Highly recommended.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

The Man in the Iron Mask

Much like the cheesy Three Muskateers movie with Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland and Chris O'Donnell. Again we have an all-star cast featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gérard Depardieu and Gabriel Byrne. All these fantastic actors get to read #### lines such as, "Anne, to love you is treason against France. But not to love you is treason against my heart."

Oh, and did I mention we get to see Depardieu's ### more than once?

Puke-a-tronic.

I enjoyed this one but I agree it leaves a lot to be desired. I enjoyed the Chris O'Donnell one much more but almost solely because of Oliver Platt.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Caught Money Ball last night for the first time.

I must admit I enjoyed the movie. Didn't really need the whole Billy as a player and dad part of the story but I get why they did it. Would have a liked a hell of a lot more of the whole sabermetric part of the story - and I'm one of the guys that still doesn't buy into it 100% because there are intangibles and things that just happen in baseball - but the math in the whole thing is sound and has changed the game.

The cast did a decent job and I was surprised at how good the actors playing the players did - they didn't look absolutely awful as players and some of them even kinda looked like who they were supposed to look like - somewhat. Solid movie.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Side Effects:

Ended up loving this movie. I think this was a case of knowing nothing about it and really liking the ride that it took me on. Thought it was going to be a Contagion-like paced movie from Soderbergh, but that was not the case. Rooney Mara was absolutely great in this one as well - probably the best I have seen her so far. My suggestion would be watching this one without reading too much about it - I think even the description on the box says too much. Not that I have seen many from this year, but so far it is the best movie I have seen from 2013. Highly recommended.

Been looking forward to renting this one.

 

[jdoggydogg]

The Man in the Iron Mask

Much like the cheesy Three Muskateers movie with Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland and Chris O'Donnell. Again we have an all-star cast featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gérard Depardieu and Gabriel Byrne. All these fantastic actors get to read #### lines such as, "Anne, to love you is treason against France. But not to love you is treason against my heart."

Oh, and did I mention we get to see Depardieu's ### more than once?

Puke-a-tronic.

I enjoyed this one but I agree it leaves a lot to be desired. I enjoyed the Chris O'Donnell one much more but almost solely because of Oliver Platt.

Platt is always good, no doubt.

 

[Mr. Mojo]

Saw Seven Psychopaths

I loved In Bruges but this film was bad. Great cast but it wasn't very funny or clever and just got very dull in the second half when they got to the desert.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Saw Seven Psychopaths

I loved In Bruges but this film was bad. Great cast but it wasn't very funny or clever and just got very dull in the second half when they got to the desert.

Hated this movie for the most part. It's amazing how much love the movie gets.

I thought it did well when it tried to be funny. But too often, it was heavy-handed.

 

[biggamer3]

Just watched the Place Beyond the Pines.

Solid flick, but quite lengthy, should have been 20 minutes shorter. Great acting all around, dont want to spoil much but I didnt enjoy the last third of the movie as much as I did the first 2/3's.

 

[Daywalker]

Just watched the Place Beyond the Pines.

Solid flick, but quite lengthy, should have been 20 minutes shorter. Great acting all around, dont want to spoil much but I didnt enjoy the last third of the movie as much as I did the first 2/3's.

Because it's Ryan Gosling I will compare it to Drive. Not exactly a great movie but absorbing. Good rental. The last third was ruined by the Jersey Shore character.

 

[joffer]

Mud was really, really good

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Paper Boy. What a weird ####ed up flick.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Sanford & Son

Been re-watching this with the family, and this show still cracks me up. Redd Foxx was hilarious.

 

[Osaurus]

Savages

I was expecting a little more gritty drug syndicate action rather than the half arsed love triangle. The ending was not very good at all either. It's as if they couldn't decide which cheesy ending would be better so they used both. Meh

3/5

 

[VA703]

just saw Mystic River on IFC over the weekend. The movie was much better than I thought it was going to be.. Kevin Bacon, Sean Penn, TIm Robbins & Laurence Fishbrne; directed by clint eastwood. Good cast and a nice twist at the end. if you havnt seen it i recommend watching it.. i think theyre still playing it on IFC for the next month or so

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327056/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

 

[belljr]

So Magic Mike was on this weekend... Wife and I decide to watch it because it was given 4 stars on the guide.

I had low expectations but wow it was beyond bad, it was basically Showgirls : but with dudes.

It's over, and my way says who reviewed that movie, a horny sorority girl. Me all in one...

 

[jdoggydogg]

Behind the Candelabra

I couldn't make it past the 15 minute mark here. Michael Douglas' Liberace accent is too affected. Felt very forced. No thanks

 

[FootballDummy]

Behind the Candelabra

I couldn't make it past the 15 minute mark here. Michael Douglas' Liberace accent is too affected. Felt very forced. No thanks

It didn't get much better. The scene where Damon is screwing Douglas is something I could have done without.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Life of Pi

Dug it. I'm getting a bit tired of quasi "open" endings, but this one did it right. I was interested to see in reading around that my interpretation was one almost no one agreed on, so maybe I was doing it wrong. Either way, great visuals and the end wrapped brought all the weirdness together nicely.

ETA: 8.5/10

 

[KarmaPolice]

Not a great string of movies this past week:

Silver Linings Playbook:

Posted in the other thread, but thought this one fell flat after the first 1/2. Seemed to gloss over serious mental stuff they focused on in the beginning and went more for the rom/com angle. 6/10

The Collector:

Had all the torture and blood of the Saw and Hostel movies, but made less sense and really didn't have much to say. Concept got old after awhile since it was all just in one house. 4/10

Warm Bodies:

Interesting concept that could have landed in my sweet spot if it wasn't so clearly geared for the Twilight/Hunger Games demographic. Very surprised at the 80% on RT, although I guess it was original enough that I would probably tell people to watch it that I think it's targeted for. Need to look at Metacritic more - I think the 59 on there is more accurate to what this movie was. 5/10

The Guilt Trip:

Harmless movie that wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Had a couple laughs, had a little heart, but felt a lot longer than it actually was. 5/10.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Life of Pi

Dug it. I'm getting a bit tired of quasi "open" endings, but this one did it right. I was interested to see in reading around that my interpretation was one almost no one agreed on, so maybe I was doing it wrong. Either way, great visuals and the end wrapped brought all the weirdness together nicely.

ETA: 8.5/10

Curious what your take on the movie was - maybe put it in spoilers.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Behind the Candelabra

I couldn't make it past the 15 minute mark here. Michael Douglas' Liberace accent is too affected. Felt very forced. No thanks

It didn't get much better. The scene where Damon is screwing Douglas is something I could have done without.

Who would have thought that Douglas' affected accent was more awkward than gay sex.

 

[Daywalker]

Behind the Candelabra

I couldn't make it past the 15 minute mark here. Michael Douglas' Liberace accent is too affected. Felt very forced. No thanks

It didn't get much better. The scene where Damon is screwing Douglas is something I could have done without.

Who would have thought that Douglas' affected accent was more awkward than gay sex.

Not a Liberace fan but wasn't his whole persona an affect? I thought Douglas was the lone bright-spot in this one. Super famous gay-showman who is adored by older woman and dies of AIDS in the mid-80's. On paper sounds like a lot to work with. Thought they would have explored more how Liberace was able to stay closeted and how the public just had blinders on at the time. Similar to Freddie Mercury.

Instead we get a depiction of Liberace as a shallow man who follows his johnson around wherever it leads. The real burdens of living a closeted life and contracting HIV were just an afterthought.

 

[Encyclopedia Brown]

Continental Divide

An early 80's movie with John Belushi as a Chicago newspaper columnist who somehow ends up out in Colorado and meet-cutes a woman who studies bald eagles.

Belushi was only in his early thirties when this movie was made but he plausibly played someone fifteen years older. There was zero chemistry between him and the female lead (an Irishy looking Irish girl who looked disconcertingly like my mother).

Belushi's performance reeked of him trying to distance himself from the Bluto/Jake Elwood/SNL persona.

Despite all that, not a bad movie.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Behind the Candelabra

I couldn't make it past the 15 minute mark here. Michael Douglas' Liberace accent is too affected. Felt very forced. No thanks

It didn't get much better. The scene where Damon is screwing Douglas is something I could have done without.

Who would have thought that Douglas' affected accent was more awkward than gay sex.

Not a Liberace fan but wasn't his whole persona an affect? I thought Douglas was the lone bright-spot in this one. Super famous gay-showman who is adored by older woman and dies of AIDS in the mid-80's. On paper sounds like a lot to work with. Thought they would have explored more how Liberace was able to stay closeted and how the public just had blinders on at the time. Similar to Freddie Mercury.

Instead we get a depiction of Liberace as a shallow man who follows his johnson around wherever it leads. The real burdens of living a closeted life and contracting HIV were just an afterthought.

Speaking of Freddie Mercury, I hope Sacha Baron Cohen's Mercury movie will be good.

 

[Osaurus]

I watched Dark Skies yesterday on a flight. I really liked the suspense in it and the not over the top alien shtick. The one thing I couldn't shake is that I kept thinking of Josh Hamilton (the dad, not the baseball player) in the only other movie I have ever seen him in called Outsourced. It is about him going to India to maximize efficiency at a call center for a company that sells chat tchotchkes. I thought Dark Skies was okay. Going with 3.5/5

 

[biggamer3]

Saw French box office smash, the Intouchables (movie grossed over 400m worldwide, but very little domestically)

Moving and funny movie between a rich paralyzed white dude and a ghetto convict who becomes his caretaker and shows him happiness. Cliche galore, but for sure worth the watch.

 

[Mr. Mojo]

Saw Parker.

I usually like Statham but this was pretty dumb.

Payback, a similar movie with the same character, was much better.

 

[El Floppo]

Not a great string of movies this past week:

Silver Linings Playbook:

Posted in the other thread, but thought this one fell flat after the first 1/2. Seemed to gloss over serious mental stuff they focused on in the beginning and went more for the rom/com angle. 6/10

Dead on for me too. If they wanted to go mental-illness "ha-ha", they should have gone with more funny. I would have preferred a bit/lot more of the darker aspects of being something like bipoloar to be tied into the funny, rather than a "they're crazy" prologue with a rom-com follow-through.

 

[Sweet J]

I know this is for rentals, but whatever: Saw "Now you see me" last night. Enjoyable caper movie.

For those that saw it: I could have done without the final two minutes of the movie. It was essentially an ending for dumb people (especially dumb romantics). It felt tacked on, like target audiences were confused, so they had to do one last wrap up. Sooooo stupid.

Otherwise, I would give it a solid 7.5/10.

 

[Chaka]

Not a great string of movies this past week:

Silver Linings Playbook:

Posted in the other thread, but thought this one fell flat after the first 1/2. Seemed to gloss over serious mental stuff they focused on in the beginning and went more for the rom/com angle. 6/10

Dead on for me too. If they wanted to go mental-illness "ha-ha", they should have gone with more funny. I would have preferred a bit/lot more of the darker aspects of being something like bipoloar to be tied into the funny, rather than a "they're crazy" prologue with a rom-com follow-through.

Agreed that they turned what started off as a thoughtful film about mental disorder into something less than that. Still it was my favorite of the Oscar nominated films from last year.

 

[Drifter]

Finally saw Searching For Sugarman. What a great story and what a rare bird that Rodriguez is.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

Death at a Funeral (2007) The British original, not a Martin Lawrence trashy remake.

Hilarious. Loved every minute of it. Can't recommend it enough....9/10

 

[biggamer3]

Please tell me if the following films are worth the time to watch and rank them in the order of best to worst. (these are all in my que to watch)

LA Confidential

Eastern Promises

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

The Lives of Others (foreign)

Perks of Being a Wallflower

 

[KarmaPolice]

Please tell me if the following films are worth the time to watch and rank them in the order of best to worst. (these are all in my que to watch) LA ConfidentialEastern PromisesTinker Tailor Soldier SpyThe Lives of Others (foreign)Perks of Being a Wallflower

haven't seen tinker yet. I would rank them: 4, 1, 3, 5.

 

[El Floppo]

Please tell me if the following films are worth the time to watch and rank them in the order of best to worst. (these are all in my que to watch)

LA Confidential

Eastern Promises

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

The Lives of Others (foreign)

Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Lives of Others might be my favorite movie of the last 5 years. And watch the DVD bonus interview with the director if you can- amazing how much thought went into every aspect of making that. Far and away the top of the list for me.

LA Confidential is a lot of fun- completely worth your time. Easy #2.

I enjoyed Eastern Promises quite a bit, but a step below the other two.

I haven't seen Tinker Tailor or Perks, but would like to.see both.

 

[joffer]

Please tell me if the following films are worth the time to watch and rank them in the order of best to worst. (these are all in my que to watch) LA ConfidentialEastern PromisesTinker Tailor Soldier SpyThe Lives of Others (foreign)Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Lives of Others might be my favorite movie of the last 5 years. And watch the DVD bonus interview with the director if you can- amazing how much thought went into every aspect of making that. Far and away the top of the list for me. LA Confidential is a lot of fun- completely worth your time. Easy #2. I enjoyed Eastern Promises quite a bit, but a step below the other two. I haven't seen Tinker Tailor or Perks, but would like to.see both.

 

[biggamer3]

Please tell me if the following films are worth the time to watch and rank them in the order of best to worst. (these are all in my que to watch)

LA Confidential

Eastern Promises

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

The Lives of Others (foreign)

Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Lives of Others might be my favorite movie of the last 5 years. And watch the DVD bonus interview with the director if you can- amazing how much thought went into every aspect of making that. Far and away the top of the list for me.

LA Confidential is a lot of fun- completely worth your time. Easy #2.

I enjoyed Eastern Promises quite a bit, but a step below the other two.

I haven't seen Tinker Tailor or Perks, but would like to.see both.

thanks guys, actually pumped to see these first two films now.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

They are all very good...Perks is obviously the lightest, but I thoguht it was very well done

I'd say for the dramas:

Lives

LA

Eastern

Tinker

and throw in Perks when you need a palate cleanser

 

[Time Kibitzer]

Please tell me if the following films are worth the time to watch and rank them in the order of best to worst. (these are all in my que to watch)

LA Confidential

Eastern Promises

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

The Lives of Others (foreign)

Perks of Being a Wallflower

I'd rank them:

The Lives of Others

Eastern Promises

LA Confidential

Perks of Being a Wallflower

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

They're all solid films that I'd say are worth seeing, though I was pretty indifferent about Tinker Tailor.

 

[Time Kibitzer]

Am I the only one that thought 28 Days Later was really bad? No back story or reason for caring about the main characters is given at all? And the adult soldiers are in full Lord of the Flies mode in just 1 month, ready to rape the first civilians they see? And if the infected aren't eating humans or regular food, what are they eating? Seemed to me like the script/story was really underdeveloped, with there being a number of plot holes, particularly once they got to the military base.

 

[jdoggydogg]

I know this is for rentals, but whatever: Saw "Now you see me" last night. Enjoyable caper movie.

For those that saw it: I could have done without the final two minutes of the movie. It was essentially an ending for dumb people (especially dumb romantics). It felt tacked on, like target audiences were confused, so they had to do one last wrap up. Sooooo stupid.

Otherwise, I would give it a solid 7.5/10.

Took my son to see Star Trek, and he loved the trailer for Now You See Me. Is that movie appropriate for an 10 year old?

 

[jdoggydogg]

Please tell me if the following films are worth the time to watch and rank them in the order of best to worst. (these are all in my que to watch)

LA Confidential

Eastern Promises

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

The Lives of Others (foreign)

Perks of Being a Wallflower

L.A. Confidential should be your number one. Fantastic movie.

The Lives of Others is very good. I'd rank that number two.

Eastern Promises is a small drama/thriller that's well done. You'll probably like it if you liked David Cronenberg's A History of Violence.

Tinker Tailor is well made, but it's slow and kind of confusing.

Perks of Being a Wallflower isn't terrible. But it's one of those cute, self-aware teen movies that really bore me.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Am I the only one that thought 28 Days Later was really bad? No back story or reason for caring about the main characters is given at all? And the adult soldiers are in full Lord of the Flies mode in just 1 month, ready to rape the first civilians they see? And if the infected aren't eating humans or regular food, what are they eating? Seemed to me like the script/story was really underdeveloped, with there being a number of plot holes, particularly once they got to the military base.

I liked it a lot

 

[biggamer3]

Please tell me if the following films are worth the time to watch and rank them in the order of best to worst. (these are all in my que to watch) LA ConfidentialEastern PromisesTinker Tailor Soldier SpyThe Lives of Others (foreign)Perks of Being a Wallflower

L.A. Confidential should be your number one. Fantastic movie. The Lives of Others is very good. I'd rank that number two. Eastern Promises is a small drama/thriller that's well done. You'll probably like it if you liked David Cronenberg's A History of Violence. Tinker Tailor is well made, but it's slow and kind of confusing. Perks of Being a Wallflower isn't terrible. But it's one of those cute, self-aware teen movies that really bore me.

thanks, I really like a History of Violence.

 

[Time Kibitzer]

Am I the only one that thought 28 Days Later was really bad? No back story or reason for caring about the main characters is given at all? And the adult soldiers are in full Lord of the Flies mode in just 1 month, ready to rape the first civilians they see? And if the infected aren't eating humans or regular food, what are they eating? Seemed to me like the script/story was really underdeveloped, with there being a number of plot holes, particularly once they got to the military base.

I liked it a lot

Yeah after searching this thread, it seems the significant majority of people in here loved it, and most critics loved it too. Wasn't expecting to dislike it as much as I did.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Am I the only one that thought 28 Days Later was really bad? No back story or reason for caring about the main characters is given at all? And the adult soldiers are in full Lord of the Flies mode in just 1 month, ready to rape the first civilians they see? And if the infected aren't eating humans or regular food, what are they eating? Seemed to me like the script/story was really underdeveloped, with there being a number of plot holes, particularly once they got to the military base.

I liked it a lot

Yeah after searching this thread, it seems the significant majority of people in here loved it, and most critics loved it too. Wasn't expecting to dislike it as much as I did.

Is your review partially colored by zombie burnout? I really don't ever need to see another zombie movie.

 

[Time Kibitzer]

Am I the only one that thought 28 Days Later was really bad? No back story or reason for caring about the main characters is given at all? And the adult soldiers are in full Lord of the Flies mode in just 1 month, ready to rape the first civilians they see? And if the infected aren't eating humans or regular food, what are they eating? Seemed to me like the script/story was really underdeveloped, with there being a number of plot holes, particularly once they got to the military base.

I liked it a lot

Yeah after searching this thread, it seems the significant majority of people in here loved it, and most critics loved it too. Wasn't expecting to dislike it as much as I did.

Is your review partially colored by zombie burnout? I really don't ever need to see another zombie movie.

Nope, I can't even think of any other zombie movies I've seen besides I Am Legend. 28 Days Later just reminded me a lot of Danny Boyle's other film Sunshine, too many distracting plot holes, and whatever good was done in the first half of the film is made almost irrelevant by a terribly haphazardly done final half. At least Sunshine looked great, 28 Days Later did not, outside of the opening scenes in the empty streets.

 

[bosoxs45]

Once Upon A Time In The West

Not a huge western fan, but holy #### this movie was epic.

5/5