Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (2 Viewers)

[jdoggydogg]

Going to watch Oblivion this week. What should I expect?

A cool looking movie that you'll walk away from saying "not much new that I haven't seen before, but I still liked it."

Should I assume it's too much for a 10 year old? I was going to pre-screen it for my son.

 

[Homer J Simpson]

How's You're Next. Thinking of picking that one up.

was going to post some reviews tomorrow. watched this one over the weekend and thought it was dull. dont understand the high ratings for it.

I liked it quite a bit.

 

[KarmaPolice]

How's You're Next. Thinking of picking that one up.

was going to post some reviews tomorrow. watched this one over the weekend and thought it was dull. dont understand the high ratings for it.

I liked it quite a bit.

don't think you and I agree on movies much though.

it had promise at the beginning when they seemed to mix some dysfunctional family humor in, but after about 30mins it seems they abandoned that aspect and turned into a typical horror movie. few laughs, no scares, and one good kill. for me it would be a 4/10 = completely average movie that I didn't care for.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Dallas Buyers Club...solid film based on a true story in the mid-80's where Ron Woodruff (played by McConaughey) finds out he's HIV+ and is told he likely only has a month to live. From that point on, he does his own research and uses whatever means he can to best medicate himself, and once he finds the best medicinal regimen possible - one not being prescribed currently by Drs in the hospitals - sets up his own business selling the meds to other HIV patients. The script is solid, I wouldve liked some more details from the medical/medication perspective as well as the legality side, but maybe thats because Im in healthcare. Really it was solid all around, the cinematography, soundtrack, making it feel like 1985 Texas, but the big reason its worth the watch is for the acting. McConaughey's had a strong run of performances the last couple years that has totally changed my opinion of him as an actor, and with Buyers Club he has his best performance to date. Id be shocked if the Academy doesnt nominate him for Best Actor. Jared Leto also has a great performance as a tranny with AIDS, and once again Id be shocked if he doesnt get nominated for Best Supporting Actor. While not a lock like I think the actors should be, I wouldnt be surprised to see it get nominated for Best Picture...4.2/5

Well, considering they both won the Golden Globe for their respective categories yesterday, Id say they are locks for Oscar nominations. Wins? Id say Leto is more likely to win as Best Actor is more crowded with names than Best Supporting - and Oscar voters might still have in the back of their mind much of McConaughey's filmography prior to the last couple years. I havent seen any of the other movies/performances of those who are nominated, but Id be surprised if they were better than McConaughey and Leto.

I also doubt it factors into the minds of voters, and it probably shouldnt, but maybe his very good performance in Mud gives MM a bump for winning for DBC as well.

Isn't Mud eligible for the Oscar's his year? Or did I miss it last year?

Yeah, Mud should be. While I really enjoyed Mud, I thought DBC was overall more well made, and I think McConaughey's performance in DBC was without a doubt the stronger of the two.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I didn't feel like going back to quote whoever mentioned Insidious 2, but it was pretty bad. The story was all over the place. It was interesting to see them tie the 2nd film into the 1st, but still pretty weak overall. I was hoping for more suspense like the 1st one and it came up well short IMO.

2/5

I thought the first one was barely a 2/5 if that, pretty sure ill avoid this one.

 

[Kenny Powers]

The Place Beyond the Pines

I'm a big fan of Blue Valentine, so I was pretty excited about seeing Derek Cianfrance's new movie. There's plenty to admire here. The camera work is excellent, the score is haunting, and the acting is also good. But I don't know, this movie is a lot of depressing content for the entire 2 1/2 hours. I generally admire dark films. I can see why someone would recommend the movie, and there are certainly scenes I liked. But it wasn't for me.

Surprised you didnt like this. While many of the characters seemed to go thru stretches of depression (or close to it), I didnt find it to be depressing at all, and those types of moments felt totally natural given the various circumstances. Ironic you say that too because while I liked Blue Valentine, I think it was far more depressing. I have no interest to ever watch it again, and Im sure I'll watch Pines many times.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I, for one, have been kind of bored with the superhero movies that have come out the last couple years.

Thor: The Dark World, The Wolverine, Iron Man 3, The Avengers (yes, even this one) were all kind of same ol', same ol' to me.

One of the dudes on the Cracked podcast said this current genre of "serious" comic book movies will probably not age well when looked back on in 15-20 years.

I dont see why they wouldnt age well. Really, how many "serious" ones are there? Nolan's Batman Trilogy will undoubtedly age well IMO. There is Man of Steel which even now seems to have people who thought it was real good or real bad so not a stretch it wouldnt age well, popularity wise. Im sure there's some more, but overall they are few and faw between in the superhero genre.

 

[Homer J Simpson]

At this point I'd rather pound my #### flat with a wooden mallet than ever watch another crapfest based on a comic book.

Literally the only ones that I liked were Nolan's Batman flicks and the first Iron Man.

 

[biggamer3]

I see that Behind the Candelabra won another bunch of awards during Golden Globes. Did anyone watch it here and if so, any reviews?

 

[Kenny Powers]

Dallas Buyers Club...solid film based on a true story in the mid-80's where Ron Woodruff (played by McConaughey) finds out he's HIV+ and is told he likely only has a month to live. From that point on, he does his own research and uses whatever means he can to best medicate himself, and once he finds the best medicinal regimen possible - one not being prescribed currently by Drs in the hospitals - sets up his own business selling the meds to other HIV patients. The script is solid, I wouldve liked some more details from the medical/medication perspective as well as the legality side, but maybe thats because Im in healthcare. Really it was solid all around, the cinematography, soundtrack, making it feel like 1985 Texas, but the big reason its worth the watch is for the acting. McConaughey's had a strong run of performances the last couple years that has totally changed my opinion of him as an actor, and with Buyers Club he has his best performance to date. Id be shocked if the Academy doesnt nominate him for Best Actor. Jared Leto also has a great performance as a tranny with AIDS, and once again Id be shocked if he doesnt get nominated for Best Supporting Actor. While not a lock like I think the actors should be, I wouldnt be surprised to see it get nominated for Best Picture...4.2/5

Well, considering they both won the Golden Globe for their respective categories yesterday, Id say they are locks for Oscar nominations. Wins? Id say Leto is more likely to win as Best Actor is more crowded with names than Best Supporting - and Oscar voters might still have in the back of their mind much of McConaughey's filmography prior to the last couple years. I havent seen any of the other movies/performances of those who are nominated, but Id be surprised if they were better than McConaughey and Leto.

I also doubt it factors into the minds of voters, and it probably shouldnt, but maybe his very good performance in Mud gives MM a bump for winning for DBC as well.

Leto was in Dallas Buyers Club. Very deserving of an Oscar win.

I thought MM was great in Mud and DBC, but have a suspicion he won't win any Oscars until he (if he ever does) pulls offl a high quality non-southerner role. I think he'll need to demonstrate that kind of range to get to that level.

Thats an interesting point I hadn't really thought of, which may have merit as far as his chances go this year (IMO it shouldnt). It didnt occur to me either, but all of his roles the last couple years that impressed me - DBC, Mud, The Paperboy, Killer Joe, and to a lesser degree Bernie - he plays a southerner/texan in all of them. Even going back to stuff like A Time to Kill and Lone Star he's playing a southerner. While I liked him in movies where he isnt a southerner like Lincoln Lawyer, Frailty, Two For The Money, they werent exactly hard roles to pull off either.

Id also say its less the range he has - he displayed plenty in DBC - than getting past/making the viewer unaware of his accent.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I, for one, have been kind of bored with the superhero movies that have come out the last couple years.

Thor: The Dark World, The Wolverine, Iron Man 3, The Avengers (yes, even this one) were all kind of same ol', same ol' to me.

Disagree about The Avengers, it is just a superbly well done comic book movie.

I actually watched Avengers again last night and one thing I really appreciate about Man of Steel even more was how they handled the mass destruction in Metropolis. I mean there was no question that thousands of humans died during the final fight with Zod. And I really appreciate how Snyder chose to address that, I really hope the repercussions resonate into the next film. The Avengers, however, felt very sanitized even though the destruction of that final battle was on the same level. I mean they were just chilling eating shawarma at the end of the film, hilarious scene no doubt but it completely glosses over the human toll of the battle.

Because of that human element (I won't call it "dark") Man of Steel may get better for me upon repeat viewings.

Agreed. Of course they brought together all the solo superheroes, but I thought they did take it up a notch overall with Avengers. Not to say I enjoyed the storyline more than say Iron Man 1, but in general I thought it was pretty strong.

Agreed with your take on Man of Steel. I really liked it, surprised by so many middling reviews it got as well. Pretty well done all around, although Cavill aint the greatest actor or anything.

 

[Kenny Powers]

The Place Beyond the Pines

I'm a big fan of Blue Valentine, so I was pretty excited about seeing Derek Cianfrance's new movie. There's plenty to admire here. The camera work is excellent, the score is haunting, and the acting is also good. But I don't know, this movie is a lot of depressing content for the entire 2 1/2 hours. I generally admire dark films. I can see why someone would recommend the movie, and there are certainly scenes I liked. But it wasn't for me.

I've had this sitting in the DVR que waiting for the right mood to watch it

Don't hesitate because of my review. Just don't get into it in a bad mood.

I didn't think it was particularly dark but it was definitely not the film I thought I was going to get.

Not sure how I feel about the resolution either, it makes sense for one of them but I am not seeing it for the other.

Spoiler

The way Gosling's kid followed his path really didn't make sense for me. Clearly he comes from a loving, stable home it was just so odd that he would fall off the rails like that IMO.

Spoiler

I see what youre saying on Gosling's kid, but I didnt take it that way, and while it was a big decision, it didnt seem offbase to me. For one, think about how Gosling felt about Eva's now husband - none too happy. Maybe father like son, as the son knew he wasnt his real dad, but really it seemed like the son didnt have a strong relationship with his stepdad anyway. More importantly though, it seemed like the son really wanted to know about his real father, and his mother just dodged the question or lied all the time about it. So once he did find out - from someone other than her, and got more details - it endeared him even more to his real father. Made him want to embody him/carry on his legacy. Just having a "stable" home isnt everything

and like I said earlier in response to JDogg, I didnt find it dark or depressing at all really, and if for any reason, it might be because the ending is uplifting on multiple levels.

 

[Sarnoff]

I, for one, have been kind of bored with the superhero movies that have come out the last couple years.

Thor: The Dark World, The Wolverine, Iron Man 3, The Avengers (yes, even this one) were all kind of same ol', same ol' to me.

One of the dudes on the Cracked podcast said this current genre of "serious" comic book movies will probably not age well when looked back on in 15-20 years.

I dont see why they wouldnt age well. Really, how many "serious" ones are there? Nolan's Batman Trilogy will undoubtedly age well IMO. There is Man of Steel which even now seems to have people who thought it was real good or real bad so not a stretch it wouldnt age well, popularity wise. Im sure there's some more, but overall they are few and faw between in the superhero genre.

I think the basic point was something like "In 20 years we'll watch them again and wonder why a guy in a rubber suit with bat ears was talking to a guy in clown make up and we took it all as an important portrayal of real good vs. real evil. No joke, no irony, a dude in clown makeup was the face of true evil."

 

[Papa Georgio]

Dallas Buyers Club...solid film based on a true story in the mid-80's where Ron Woodruff (played by McConaughey) finds out he's HIV+ and is told he likely only has a month to live. From that point on, he does his own research and uses whatever means he can to best medicate himself, and once he finds the best medicinal regimen possible - one not being prescribed currently by Drs in the hospitals - sets up his own business selling the meds to other HIV patients. The script is solid, I wouldve liked some more details from the medical/medication perspective as well as the legality side, but maybe thats because Im in healthcare. Really it was solid all around, the cinematography, soundtrack, making it feel like 1985 Texas, but the big reason its worth the watch is for the acting. McConaughey's had a strong run of performances the last couple years that has totally changed my opinion of him as an actor, and with Buyers Club he has his best performance to date. Id be shocked if the Academy doesnt nominate him for Best Actor. Jared Leto also has a great performance as a tranny with AIDS, and once again Id be shocked if he doesnt get nominated for Best Supporting Actor. While not a lock like I think the actors should be, I wouldnt be surprised to see it get nominated for Best Picture...4.2/5

Well, considering they both won the Golden Globe for their respective categories yesterday, Id say they are locks for Oscar nominations. Wins? Id say Leto is more likely to win as Best Actor is more crowded with names than Best Supporting - and Oscar voters might still have in the back of their mind much of McConaughey's filmography prior to the last couple years. I havent seen any of the other movies/performances of those who are nominated, but Id be surprised if they were better than McConaughey and Leto.

I also doubt it factors into the minds of voters, and it probably shouldnt, but maybe his very good performance in Mud gives MM a bump for winning for DBC as well.

Leto was in Dallas Buyers Club. Very deserving of an Oscar win.

I thought MM was great in Mud and DBC, but I have a suspicion he won't win any Oscars until he (if he ever does) pulls offl a high quality non-southerner role. I think he'll need to demonstrate that kind of range to get to that level.

Hadn't thought about that but what about guys who made most of their hay playing New Yorkers or mobsters? Not sure how many have ever won an Oscar though.

 

[Papa Georgio]

Her

I've been on a small flurry lately of watching movies and this is my favorite of the bunch. Like it more than American Hustle, The Place Beyond the Pines, Gatsby, Catching Fire, and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (I really liked all of these btw). Some people will say it drags and is slow and I can see that but I highly recommend.

Loved the portrayal of the future in terms of the "look" of the movie. It wasn't over the top and very subtle. Some of the fashion had a little Clockwork Orange to it. The long crotched, high-water pants were a bit silly looking though.

 

[cstu]

I see that Behind the Candelabra won another bunch of awards during Golden Globes. Did anyone watch it here and if so, any reviews?

:confetti:

 

[jdoggydogg]

The Place Beyond the Pines

I'm a big fan of Blue Valentine, so I was pretty excited about seeing Derek Cianfrance's new movie. There's plenty to admire here. The camera work is excellent, the score is haunting, and the acting is also good. But I don't know, this movie is a lot of depressing content for the entire 2 1/2 hours. I generally admire dark films. I can see why someone would recommend the movie, and there are certainly scenes I liked. But it wasn't for me.

Surprised you didnt like this. While many of the characters seemed to go thru stretches of depression (or close to it), I didnt find it to be depressing at all, and those types of moments felt totally natural given the various circumstances. Ironic you say that too because while I liked Blue Valentine, I think it was far more depressing. I have no interest to ever watch it again, and Im sure I'll watch Pines many times.

As I said, I'm not surprised that someone would like the movie. But I'll ask you since you liked Pines: what is the point of this movie?

 

[jdoggydogg]

I see that Behind the Candelabra won another bunch of awards during Golden Globes. Did anyone watch it here and if so, any reviews?

I recall some very positive reviews in here. I found Douglas' affectation a bit too distracting. But don't let me sway you. I've read some glowing reviews.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Speaking of comic book movies, the always entertaining Kevin Smith did a fun review of Man of Steel on his podcast.

Long, but worth a listen.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I, for one, have been kind of bored with the superhero movies that have come out the last couple years.

Thor: The Dark World, The Wolverine, Iron Man 3, The Avengers (yes, even this one) were all kind of same ol', same ol' to me.

One of the dudes on the Cracked podcast said this current genre of "serious" comic book movies will probably not age well when looked back on in 15-20 years.

I dont see why they wouldnt age well. Really, how many "serious" ones are there? Nolan's Batman Trilogy will undoubtedly age well IMO. There is Man of Steel which even now seems to have people who thought it was real good or real bad so not a stretch it wouldnt age well, popularity wise. Im sure there's some more, but overall they are few and faw between in the superhero genre.

I think the basic point was something like "In 20 years we'll watch them again and wonder why a guy in a rubber suit with bat ears was talking to a guy in clown make up and we took it all as an important portrayal of real good vs. real evil. No joke, no irony, a dude in clown makeup was the face of true evil."

Well, i dont trust on our current youth 20 yrs from now much at the moment. but I trust them as parents are good enough to raise them on great action/superhero flicks when the time comes

 

[Time Kibitzer]

I see that Behind the Candelabra won another bunch of awards during Golden Globes. Did anyone watch it here and if so, any reviews?

Here's my mini-review.

Thought Behind the Candelabra was pretty good. Michael Douglas was fantastic as Liberace. Kinda thought Matt Damon was miscast, they should have had someone much younger in that role imo, but he was his old serviceable self. I remember reading some praises of Rob Lowe in his minor role in this, but I thought he was terrible and totally out of his league in trying to do what was asked of him.

Nothing really earth shattering, but definitely a solid and enjoyable flick imo.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

I thought Oblivion was pretty good sci-fi. Part of the premise doesn't necessarily make sense, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

 

[jamny]

At this point I'd rather pound my #### flat with a wooden mallet than ever watch another crapfest based on a comic book.

Literally the only ones that I liked were Nolan's Batman flicks and the first Iron Man.

Same here.

I watched the first Transformers and doubt I'll ever see the next two. I liked the very first Spiderman. I think unless you're really into the comics, the actual movies are very generic.

 

[KarmaPolice]

The Place Beyond the Pines

I'm a big fan of Blue Valentine, so I was pretty excited about seeing Derek Cianfrance's new movie. There's plenty to admire here. The camera work is excellent, the score is haunting, and the acting is also good. But I don't know, this movie is a lot of depressing content for the entire 2 1/2 hours. I generally admire dark films. I can see why someone would recommend the movie, and there are certainly scenes I liked. But it wasn't for me.

Surprised you didnt like this. While many of the characters seemed to go thru stretches of depression (or close to it), I didnt find it to be depressing at all, and those types of moments felt totally natural given the various circumstances. Ironic you say that too because while I liked Blue Valentine, I think it was far more depressing. I have no interest to ever watch it again, and Im sure I'll watch Pines many times.

As I said, I'm not surprised that someone would like the movie. But I'll ask you since you liked Pines: what is the point of this movie?

You didn't ask me, but it was one of my top 10 of the year.

I took it as a multigenerational look at how the consequences of a father's actions effect the sons. I thought it was 2/3 excellent and 1/3 was hampered only by one of the sons (honestly don't remember which).

 

[KarmaPolice]

Ended up watching 6 over the weekend - let's do a countdown of worst to first just for ####s and giggles:

Carrie:

Yep, about what I expected. Another remake that doesn't add anything except for some CGI kills. I love the first one, mainly because of the performances from Spacek and Piper Laurie. I still find the mom in the original terrifying. Sorry, I didn't by into Hit Girl as Carrie at all. Moore didn't do a bad job, but thought her take was more creepy and less scary. 3/10

You're Next:

Already talked about this one in this thread. Thought the first 20mins or so had potential - either with decent laughs with the dysfunctional family angle or a decent suspense/horror with the home invasion, but I thought it whiffed on both aspects. 4/10

This was a very rare weekend where I got to watch 4 movies that I thought were quite good.

Fruitvale Station:

Had a couple movies with similar ideas this weekend. This one follows the victim of the Fruitvale Station shooting on the day leading up to the incident. Came off as a fluffier version of a movie like Elephant. Not really a bad thing, it was meant to get a reaction out of the audience and have us think about the life that was taken that day, and it is effective. Note to filmmaker: when you want to make a movie that come off as a doc, don't use bright blue letters to splash each incoming text on the screen so we know what the message is or who is calling. 7/10

Spectacular Now:

Very good coming-of-age movie where a partier meets up with the quiet girl over the summer. A lot of my love for the movie had to do with the performance of the lead actress - hard not to fall for her and want her to be happy. My main knock on the movie was kind of what I had with Perks of Being a Wallflower - seems like they knew what the target age of the movie might be and seemed to back off a couple hard issues that the characters were dealing with. There are some serious issues touched on, but felt they were glossed over in the end. Still a good movie. 7/10

Blue Caprice:

Like the movie two up, we get the lead-up to nationally known crimes. This time we follow the man and boy who were the snipers that killed people around the DC area a few years ago. Liked the tone of this one more, and it had a little more edge to it. Even though we might still be left without answers, I liked that the filmmaker was willing to try to explore the 'why' behind these guys' motivations. Have to look at my list again, but this would be on the edge of my list for best of 2013. 7.5/10

Short Term 12:

This one vaulted into the 1op 10 of the year for me. It is about a group of of kids in a 1/2 way house inbetween foster families (that might not be entirely accurate) and the counselors in charge of them. Great performances all around and thought it was a pretty realistic look at what it is like to interact with teens like that - you have the moments of breakthrough clashing up against moments of great heartbreak. There was one scene that didn't quite work for me, but overall I thought the movie was great and it really sucked me into the lives of these people for 90mins. 8/10

 

[KarmaPolice]

Looking forward to this weekends movies too: Blue Jasmine, Captain Phillips, and In A World...

 

[KarmaPolice]

Also, seen this come up a lot with the comic book movies - 'serious'. Seen a couple people comment - jdogg, maybe others, about how there are too many that take themselves too seriously or are dark.

I have to ask since I disagree with that: which ones do you think that way about?

The few that come to mind are the Nolan Batmans, Watchmen, and the new Superman. I love the first 2 batmans and Watchmen, I like that Man of Steel tried it - it just didn't quite work for me. I would love it if more comic book movies tried to take a serious look at what they might be going through or what the consequences of actions might be. I get bored with them because instead of that we get right to the flashy CGI and 'funny' banter. Can't imagine if we came up with a list of comic book movies I would consider even 20% of them dark or serious. Of course I have been trying to avoid them more and more lately so I could be off base too.

 

[Chaka]

I, for one, have been kind of bored with the superhero movies that have come out the last couple years.

Thor: The Dark World, The Wolverine, Iron Man 3, The Avengers (yes, even this one) were all kind of same ol', same ol' to me.

I've been feeling like that for a while.

Even when I actually like one, it's usually half hearted. I haven't even watched Thor, Wolverine, Iron Man 3 or the newest Superman and Spiderman, and probably never will. Batman is still decent though. Avengers was ok. Seen one, seen them all, imo.

I liked both the new Super/Spiderman movies.

I've only seen the Avengers once because I was turned off by the fact that the final battle was a carbon copy of the one in Transformers 3.

Well maybe not carbon copy. Close enough...except that the one in Xformers3 was better.

You know, giant snake things attack our heroes in the middle of a metropolitan center.

Wow. I am just not sure what to say if you consider those two to be even remotely similar beyond being in a city.

And there aren't enough ">" to properly articulate how much Avengers > Transformers 3

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I guess for me the problem is that there simply have been too many superhero movies recently. They've all been pretty good but the formula of three set piece battles, each of increasing intensity and CGI debris concentration gets old.

 

[Chaka]

Also, seen this come up a lot with the comic book movies - 'serious'. Seen a couple people comment - jdogg, maybe others, about how there are too many that take themselves too seriously or are dark.

I have to ask since I disagree with that: which ones do you think that way about?

The few that come to mind are the Nolan Batmans, Watchmen, and the new Superman. I love the first 2 batmans and Watchmen, I like that Man of Steel tried it - it just didn't quite work for me. I would love it if more comic book movies tried to take a serious look at what they might be going through or what the consequences of actions might be. I get bored with them because instead of that we get right to the flashy CGI and 'funny' banter. Can't imagine if we came up with a list of comic book movies I would consider even 20% of them dark or serious. Of course I have been trying to avoid them more and more lately so I could be off base too.

I think the X-Men franchise has consistently had a more serious tone.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Caught Rise of the Planet of the Apes last night.

Better than the first Apes reimagining. I enjoyed the nods to the original movie series. I really liked the ending of how the earth was affected because just the apes rising is clearly not enough to alter the power of humanity so something else had to happen and I just don't remember if there was ever a clear direct reason in the old ones since the timeline jumped around so much.

 

[NCCommish]

I, for one, have been kind of bored with the superhero movies that have come out the last couple years.

Thor: The Dark World, The Wolverine, Iron Man 3, The Avengers (yes, even this one) were all kind of same ol', same ol' to me.

One of the dudes on the Cracked podcast said this current genre of "serious" comic book movies will probably not age well when looked back on in 15-20 years.

I dont see why they wouldnt age well. Really, how many "serious" ones are there? Nolan's Batman Trilogy will undoubtedly age well IMO. There is Man of Steel which even now seems to have people who thought it was real good or real bad so not a stretch it wouldnt age well, popularity wise. Im sure there's some more, but overall they are few and faw between in the superhero genre.

I think the basic point was something like "In 20 years we'll watch them again and wonder why a guy in a rubber suit with bat ears was talking to a guy in clown make up and we took it all as an important portrayal of real good vs. real evil. No joke, no irony, a dude in clown makeup was the face of true evil."

That's just ridiculous.

 

[jdoggydogg]

I thought Oblivion was pretty good sci-fi. Part of the premise doesn't necessarily make sense, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Is it too scary/bloody for a 10 year old?

 

[jdoggydogg]

The Place Beyond the Pines

I'm a big fan of Blue Valentine, so I was pretty excited about seeing Derek Cianfrance's new movie. There's plenty to admire here. The camera work is excellent, the score is haunting, and the acting is also good. But I don't know, this movie is a lot of depressing content for the entire 2 1/2 hours. I generally admire dark films. I can see why someone would recommend the movie, and there are certainly scenes I liked. But it wasn't for me.

Surprised you didnt like this. While many of the characters seemed to go thru stretches of depression (or close to it), I didnt find it to be depressing at all, and those types of moments felt totally natural given the various circumstances. Ironic you say that too because while I liked Blue Valentine, I think it was far more depressing. I have no interest to ever watch it again, and Im sure I'll watch Pines many times.

As I said, I'm not surprised that someone would like the movie. But I'll ask you since you liked Pines: what is the point of this movie?

You didn't ask me, but it was one of my top 10 of the year.

I took it as a multigenerational look at how the consequences of a father's actions effect the sons. I thought it was 2/3 excellent and 1/3 was hampered only by one of the sons (honestly don't remember which).

I dig. I'm not saying it's a bad movie.

 

[Chaka]

I thought Oblivion was pretty good sci-fi. Part of the premise doesn't necessarily make sense, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Is it too scary/bloody for a 10 year old?

Neither scary nor bloody.

Thought it was decent, better than expected but my expectations were very low.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Carrie:

Yep, about what I expected. Another remake that doesn't add anything except for some CGI kills. I love the first one, mainly because of the performances from Spacek and Piper Laurie. I still find the mom in the original terrifying. Sorry, I didn't by into Hit Girl as Carrie at all. Moore didn't do a bad job, but thought her take was more creepy and less scary. 3/10

I don't reject remakes on principal - especially when the source material is mediocre. For example, John Carpenter's The Thing took a good concept and made a masterpiece that was very original. But with the Evil Dead and Carrie remakes, I think remakes are pointless. These are classic horror films that really don't merit a remake.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Looking forward to this weekends movies too: Blue Jasmine, Captain Phillips, and In A World...

Really excited about Blue Jasmine. Captain Phillips looks awful, but I've read enough good reviews that I want to give it a shot.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I thought Oblivion was pretty good sci-fi. Part of the premise doesn't necessarily make sense, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Is it too scary/bloody for a 10 year old?

Not at all. There's a chance that he might not get the story in the end. But there's nothing scary or offensive about it.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

I thought Oblivion was pretty good sci-fi. Part of the premise doesn't necessarily make sense, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I remember when seeing this that there was a pretty big plothole/snafu in this one.

If I recall, I think it was something like...

Spoiler

The recorder is found in the crew section of the spacecraft. When listening to the recording, you find out that the crew section was ejected half way through, yet the recording continues on after that.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Also, seen this come up a lot with the comic book movies - 'serious'. Seen a couple people comment - jdogg, maybe others, about how there are too many that take themselves too seriously or are dark.

I have to ask since I disagree with that: which ones do you think that way about?

The few that come to mind are the Nolan Batmans, Watchmen, and the new Superman. I love the first 2 batmans and Watchmen, I like that Man of Steel tried it - it just didn't quite work for me. I would love it if more comic book movies tried to take a serious look at what they might be going through or what the consequences of actions might be. I get bored with them because instead of that we get right to the flashy CGI and 'funny' banter. Can't imagine if we came up with a list of comic book movies I would consider even 20% of them dark or serious. Of course I have been trying to avoid them more and more lately so I could be off base too.

To begin, I really like the Dark Knight series a lot. As for most other comic book movies, I like it when the movie is winking at you with the subtext, "We know this is silly." I think Punisher: War Zone does a good job at being self-effacing.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Caught Rise of the Planet of the Apes last night.

Better than the first Apes reimagining. I enjoyed the nods to the original movie series. I really liked the ending of how the earth was affected because just the apes rising is clearly not enough to alter the power of humanity so something else had to happen and I just don't remember if there was ever a clear direct reason in the old ones since the timeline jumped around so much.

I loved this movie. The Lithgow storyline was a bit much. But this is an example of a remake where I think the movie succeeds at being original while still being true to the source material.

 

[jdoggydogg]

I, for one, have been kind of bored with the superhero movies that have come out the last couple years.

Thor: The Dark World, The Wolverine, Iron Man 3, The Avengers (yes, even this one) were all kind of same ol', same ol' to me.

One of the dudes on the Cracked podcast said this current genre of "serious" comic book movies will probably not age well when looked back on in 15-20 years.

I dont see why they wouldnt age well. Really, how many "serious" ones are there? Nolan's Batman Trilogy will undoubtedly age well IMO. There is Man of Steel which even now seems to have people who thought it was real good or real bad so not a stretch it wouldnt age well, popularity wise. Im sure there's some more, but overall they are few and faw between in the superhero genre.

I think the basic point was something like "In 20 years we'll watch them again and wonder why a guy in a rubber suit with bat ears was talking to a guy in clown make up and we took it all as an important portrayal of real good vs. real evil. No joke, no irony, a dude in clown makeup was the face of true evil."

Ledger's acting is phenomenal. One of the most original characters ever created. So boiling him down to a guy in clown makeup is a facile argument.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Hasnt The Joker been a villain of Batman's in clown makeup for like 50+ years now? So weve already had a few generations finding no problem with it, dont see why the current/future generations would feel much different.

 

[Chaka]

Cloud Atlas - I didn't hate it. I thought it brought a lot of interesting things to the table even if it wasn't particularly well executed. A story like that really requires a deft story telling hand and they missed on a lot of elements that would have tied the stories together better but overall I still enjoyed it.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Cloud Atlas - I didn't hate it. I thought it brought a lot of interesting things to the table even if it wasn't particularly well executed. A story like that really requires a deft story telling hand and they missed on a lot of elements that would have tied the stories together better but overall I still enjoyed it.

This is such a weird movie. There are individual stories that are compelling and acting that works well. And then sprinkled in is stuff such as that embarrasing Hanks/Berry futuristic hilarity. I think the casting could have been the single biggest mistake this movie made. How can anyone watch those laughable Hanks/Berry scenes with all that gibberish and forget you're watching Hanks and Berry read gibberish? Casting unknowns in those roles might have made them far more beleiveable.

 

[Kenny Powers]

The Place Beyond the Pines

I'm a big fan of Blue Valentine, so I was pretty excited about seeing Derek Cianfrance's new movie. There's plenty to admire here. The camera work is excellent, the score is haunting, and the acting is also good. But I don't know, this movie is a lot of depressing content for the entire 2 1/2 hours. I generally admire dark films. I can see why someone would recommend the movie, and there are certainly scenes I liked. But it wasn't for me.

Surprised you didnt like this. While many of the characters seemed to go thru stretches of depression (or close to it), I didnt find it to be depressing at all, and those types of moments felt totally natural given the various circumstances. Ironic you say that too because while I liked Blue Valentine, I think it was far more depressing. I have no interest to ever watch it again, and Im sure I'll watch Pines many times.

As I said, I'm not surprised that someone would like the movie. But I'll ask you since you liked Pines: what is the point of this movie?

I agree with what KP already said in response to this, except in a more general sense: its point was how the decisions we make, as simple or harmless as they may seem at first, can impact you as well as the lives of others. The impact obviously varies, and I thought it also did a good job of showing that.

Spoiler

Of course there are more obvious things like Gosling's risky decision keep robbing banks lead to his death, but there are plenty more subtle ones. What if when Gosling met Eva he just left the carnival to be with her? If that happens, he probably has a long life of happiness with her, raising his son, a normal life where he would never even consider robbing banks. Or, going with how the storyline actually went Eva's decision to not tell her son about his real father despite his requests. To her, it probably didn't seem like something all that important, however it ended up being the foundation for her son deciding to leave and her losing him. Then there's Cooper deciding to go into politics, which lead to not much time being spent with his family, and a weak relationship with his son, which we see what that lead his son to become in the last act. There's plenty more, but you get what Im saying.

 

[James Daulton]

While not a rental, I see Riddick is available on-demand. I saw this in the theaters and enjoyed it very much. If you're only asking for a decent story and some good action, I'd recommend it.

 

[Sarnoff]

Hasnt The Joker been a villain of Batman's in clown makeup for like 50+ years now? So weve already had a few generations finding no problem with it, dont see why the current/future generations would feel much different.

The point the guy was trying to make was that this current crop of superhero movies (including the Marvel run) may not "hold up well". Certainly there have been portrayals of the Joker and Batman in general from the past that don't hold up well today. And certainly there are some great actors who did great work in movies that we find laughably bad today regardless.

 

[KarmaPolice]

While not a rental, I see Riddick is available on-demand. I saw this in the theaters and enjoyed it very much. If you're only asking for a decent story and some good action, I'd recommend it.

Riddick is a rental now.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Cloud Atlas - I didn't hate it. I thought it brought a lot of interesting things to the table even if it wasn't particularly well executed. A story like that really requires a deft story telling hand and they missed on a lot of elements that would have tied the stories together better but overall I still enjoyed it.

This is such a weird movie. There are individual stories that are compelling and acting that works well. And then sprinkled in is stuff such as that embarrasing Hanks/Berry futuristic hilarity. I think the casting could have been the single biggest mistake this movie made. How can anyone watch those laughable Hanks/Berry scenes with all that gibberish and forget you're watching Hanks and Berry read gibberish? Casting unknowns in those roles might have made them far more beleiveable.

Did you read the book?

I think they needed star like that so we recognized people better among the timelines.