What is the latest movie you watched and what did you think of it?

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Originally Posted by IdolEyes787

I guessing that Michael Bay's direction consists entirely of two phrases, "Fuck subtly ,make it bigger" and "Get the second unit to shoot that".

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You forgot, "Pan the camera!"

Conan the Barbarino (2011)

After all the less than glowing reviews it was nowhere near as terrible as I thought it would be.

Probably it's saving grace is that ( somewhat incredibly) Jason Momoa makes a pretty decent Conan.So does the kid who plays his younger version .

Other than that not much to recommend.It tries to give a good mix of sword and sorcery and it does have it's (brief) moments but I felt the film never really captured the essence of Howard's Hyborian Age, being for all the blood and gore , much too PG friendly if only in attitude not execution.

I do get the feeling though that with a more engrossing story and a couple more memorable supporting characters they might have actually had something here.
As it is though not good,not bad but if you do decide to watch it at least you won't hate yourself for doing so.

Btw I'm a big fan of sword and sorcery/ sword and sandals stuff so I don't know if that made me more or less critical of this movie.

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Originally Posted by IdolEyes787

Conan the Barbarino (2011)

After all the less than glowing reviews it was nowhere near as terrible as I thought it would be.

Probably it's saving grace is

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greetz idoelyes you like conan barbarian, that's cool bro

Stop stalking me .Have I offended you or something?

Also get a life.

sorry if offended bro

I told you I prefer brah. All the cool kids at the gym say that.

So I have been watching movies lately, I just haven't gotten off my arse to review any. However recommending a 'gritty' movie to Megabyteme gave me a hankering for the same kind of film.
So I watched (again) Get Carter, no not the homogenised, neutered sad and pointless Hollywood remake, the real hard cunt british classic.

This movie has been called the quintessential British gangster movie and I would have to agree, all the elements are there, yet there is far more to this movie than that. There is of course Michael Caine at his most ruthless and menacing, but there are no 'good guys' and 'bad guys' in this picture, it isn't all black and white like an american movie needs to be.
The characters are all various shades of reprehensible, from vaguely dislikable through to thoroughly revolting human beings and they all seem to have the morals of slugs.

The backdrop too is depressing, a northern town in the mid-seventies was a depressing place anyway, unemployment was beginning to soar, but this movie manages to capture the seedy side so well, and there are many depressing moments in the movie that have nothing to do with the plot. The four people turning up for the funeral for instance (really depressing), the bad singer at the pub, or the bingo announcer talking in a monotone, all these things are cleverly woven into the story to give an overall feeling of a lackluster dull surrounding.

Even our hero Jack Carter is an anti-hero, he is a better class of thug but still a thug and utterly amoral to those around him, he is just slightly less distasteful than the people he is hunting for in an effort to find out why his brother died. Even the deaths of the 'bad' people are gritty and depressing, while the reason for Jack's revenge is a depressing and horrible one.

Yet for all this, and the fact that the action in the movie is very raw and believable, not antiseptic and prewrapped like a U.S. feature these days, you still feel emotion and are invested in the characters in this movie, even if at times it is disgust. Ultimately Jack is a rogue, but although amoral, he is a likable rogue in many ways, and you feel justified in what he is doing.

This is not a movie with a happy beginning, it does not get happier as the movie progresses and it has a very unhappy ending, yet it is far more riveting and believable than anything produced by Hollywood in years, I highly recommend this film if you have not already seen it.

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Originally Posted by Artemis

So I have been watching movies lately, I just haven't gotten off my arse to review any. However recommending a 'gritty' movie to Megabyteme gave me a hankering for the same kind of film.
So I watched (again) Get Carter, no not the homogenised, neutered sad and pointless Hollywood remake, the real hard cunt british classic.

This movie has been called the quintessential British gangster movie and I would have to agree, all the elements are there, yet there is far more to this movie than that. There is of course Michael Caine at his most ruthless and menacing, but there are no 'good guys' and 'bad guys' in this picture, it isn't all black and white like an american movie needs to be.
The characters are all various shades of reprehensible, from vaguely dislikable through to thoroughly revolting human beings and they all seem to have the morals of slugs.

The backdrop too is depressing, a northern town in the mid-seventies was a depressing place anyway, unemployment was beginning to soar, but this movie manages to capture the seedy side so well, and there are many depressing moments in the movie that have nothing to do with the plot. The four people turning up for the funeral for instance (really depressing), the bad singer at the pub, or the bingo announcer talking in a monotone, all these things are cleverly woven into the story to give an overall feeling of a lackluster dull surrounding.

Even our hero Jack Carter is an anti-hero, he is a better class of thug but still a thug and utterly amoral to those around him, he is just slightly less distasteful than the people he is hunting for in an effort to find out why his brother died. Even the deaths of the 'bad' people are gritty and depressing, while the reason for Jack's revenge is a depressing and horrible one.

Yet for all this, and the fact that the action in the movie is very raw and believable, not antiseptic and prewrapped like a U.S. feature these days, you still feel emotion and are invested in the characters in this movie, even if at times it is disgust. Ultimately Jack is a rogue, but although amoral, he is a likable rogue in many ways, and you feel justified in what he is doing.

This is not a movie with a happy beginning, it does not get happier as the movie progresses and it has a very unhappy ending, yet it is far more riveting and believable than anything produced by Hollywood in years, I highly recommend this film if you have not already seen it.

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You sure you didn't just inadvertently watch a season of Breaking Bad?

Other than that by comparing the original with the Stallone remake ,you get to see Hollywood do it's usual copout at the end , not giving the audience any credit and totally lessening the impact of the film.

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Originally Posted by IdolEyes787

Conan the Barbarino (2011)

After all the less than glowing reviews it was nowhere near as terrible as I thought it would be.

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Based upon this one review I decided to watch Conan and afterwords realized how artfully deceptive Idols wording was.
"Nowhere near as terrible" leaves a lot of room for crap and Conan oozes in to fill the available space.
Had Rob Schneider been cast as the thief, Conan would have been exactly as bad as feared.

Mamoa certainly does embody the archetype well (although I doubt he'll ever be the Governor of California), possessing the body mass, the hair and even unfettered access to Johnny Depp's man-kohl supply.
The other notable performance came from Ron Perlman, who plays "Wise Chin" (Conan's father).
The creepy witch daughter of the bad guy reminded me of Abby from NCIS (with a nod to Gary Oldman's Dracula)...kinda weird, actually.

My question about the story...
How come it takes Conan 20 years to find his arch enemy when everyone else seems to know exactly where he is and what he's up to?
Has he never heard of Google maps?

I came prepared with very low expectations, so was not filled with self disgust when it finished.
In fact, Conan shall from now on be my go-to reference example of "The Quiet Moment" in moviemaking.
The Quiet Moment is a favorite of screenwriters and is abundantly employed in Conan...Conan's birth scene (which opens the movie) is a perfect example of the trope.
Amidst a swirling battle, Conan's mother and father (The Chin!) have a quiet tender scene that ends with a birth- the flying arrows and rampaging attackers thoughtfully subside for the precious moment.
Conan's fresh born body is lifted skyward and not hacked to bits and set aflame as one might expect...because that would be totally logical and really fuck with the storyline.
The movie ends with a very similar setpiece moment as Conan and his ho take down the bad guy in his underground temple.
It's inevitable that the place will come thundering down...and it does, but it stops collapsing long enough to allow for the requisite faceoffs and rescues before finally tumbling into the ocean.
It's a geological formation with an exquisite sense of dramatic flair, possibly the most adroit acting in the whole film.

The copy I watched was truly wretched...very dark and horrible sound.
I don't expect a DVD rip would change my impression.

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Originally Posted by IdolEyes787

Btw I'm a big fan of sword and sorcery/ sword and sandals stuff so I don't know if that made me more or less critical of this movie.

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And yet you continue to deny yourself Game of Thrones.

As far as fantasy goes I like my protagonists to be as heroic as possible so sue me.

Btw I was originally going to put that Momoa was the one saving grace but then I figured fuck it , it's not like I'm Ebert and get paid for dong this.:idunno:

Fast and Furious 5 :)

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Originally Posted by ClaireGreen

Fast and Furious 5 :)

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porn usually makes me :)

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Originally Posted by mr. nails

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Originally Posted by ClaireGreen

Fast and Furious 5 :)

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porn usually makes me :)

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porn usually makes me :drool:

Seven Pounds
Liked... great story

The Transformers 3 It was very good I really enjoyed it

Captain America, is a good movie .)

Real Steel- Hugh Jackman, an adorable little boy, some robots and Kim Kardashian (I think).

So, how do you screw up a movie about fighting robots?
Well, you could ask Michael Bay but that would be taking the easy way out. Real Steels producers decided to go another route and simply graft robot boxing onto a generic Lifetime network plot.
Substitute a cheerleading competition or a 4H Club hog fair and you'd have the identical movie...that's how peripheral to the story the robots are.

There is not a single scene- for that matter, very few lines- that you haven't heard/seen before and the emotional tides of the movie are as predictable as they are trite.

The robot fights, which should be highlights, are brief and maddenly stupid.
The bad guys have Mohawks...really?

I like splashy setpieces, I can abide sentimentality, I'm all for simple entertainment...but Real Steel is just lazy and pointless.
It was good to see the Iron Giant again though, he's been quiet since his breakout starring role.

How Do You Know. It was just for fun with my girlfriend:P

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Originally Posted by yurferner

How Do You Know. It was just for fun with my girlfriend:P

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Did she happen to be a dyke in order to like softball more than redneck Americans?

Real Steel. Nice movie and entertaining... :P





we were born to succeed, not to fail:P

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Originally Posted by clocker

Real Steel- Hugh Jackman, an adorable little boy, some robots and Kim Kardashian (I think).

So, how do you screw up a movie about fighting robots?
Well, you could ask Michael Bay but that would be taking the easy way out. Real Steels producers decided to go another route and simply graft robot boxing onto a generic Lifetime network plot.
Substitute a cheerleading competition or a 4H Club hog fair and you'd have the identical movie...that's how peripheral to the story the robots are.

There is not a single scene- for that matter, very few lines- that you haven't heard/seen before and the emotional tides of the movie are as predictable as they are trite.

The robot fights, which should be highlights, are brief and maddenly stupid.
The bad guys have Mohawks...really?

I like splashy setpieces, I can abide sentimentality, I'm all for simple entertainment...but Real Steel is just lazy and pointless.
It was good to see the Iron Giant again though, he's been quiet since his breakout starring role.

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Thanks for confirming my suspicions clocker, after seeing the 2minute mini movie version (i.e. trailer) I was struck by that same old schmaltzy feeling. You have confirmed that they just wheeled out formula movie script #541 with fighting robots to give it some 'originality'.

The Hangover 2 BD RIP

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Originally Posted by Shahrukh

The Hangover 2 BD RIP

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Call me quick to judge but it only took five words for me to form an opinon of you.

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Originally Posted by Artemis

after seeing the 2minute mini movie version (i.e. trailer) I was struck by that same old schmaltzy feeling.

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"Schmaltz" is exactly the word I should have used.
I tried to work in "hackneyed horseshit"- because I'm a fan of alliteration-but it didn't make the final editorial cut..."schmaltz" works much better.

Note: With this second post about the movie, I've now spent more time on the script than the writers did.

The Way Back (2011)
In 1941 group of prisoners escape a Soviet gulag and attempt a 4000 mile walk to freedom.

I almost bypassed this movie as it seems to have gotten mixed reviews condemned as it is by some for lack of proper characterization.I though didn't have a problem with that as the movie really isn't ( to me ) about conflict but about more unity and indomitably and colouring of character was therefore far less necessary.
Character development or not , through the skill of director Peter Weir and the talent of the cast(Ed Harris,Jim Sturges , Mark Strong, Saoirse Ronan - someday she's going to be a major star) I still really felt for these people.

Other than that it's ,for all the scope and life or death situations, a very "quiet" movie which probably a lot of people looking for overt action will see as a negative. I again didn't as it made everything that transpires as the more significant and (perhaps) meaningful.
Unfortunately as much as I enjoyed everything up to that point, by far the weakest part of the movie is the end where Weir seems at a loss as to what to do to tie it all up properly on the required high note.Not that it was bad just very rushed and anticlimactic.

Otherwise I have nothing but good things to say about The Way Back.Peter Weir again demonstrates he is one of the most talented directors of his generation.

Thanks for the reminder.
This was on my radar months ago and I'd forgotten all about it.

And now I've watched it.
The Way Back is absolutely worth a watch despite some serious flaws.
As Idol mentioned, the acting is fine (Ed Harris has become the embodiment of "grizzled") and thanks to the involvement of National Geographic, the scenery is spectacular.

The story (and as stories go, this one is a corker) seems too big for director Peter Weir to fit into his movie.
The mindboggling scale of this groups journey required three major setpieces but Weir runs out of steam in the middle of the second and the third (the Himalayas in winter, no less!) is fleeting to the point of absurdity.
There were also jarringly abrupt time/location changes...at one point I was wondering if I was seeing the same film because I couldn't recognize anyone and they were suddenly in caverns instead of the snowy forest. It was weird.

It is a "quiet" movie by today's standards but it doesn't insult the audience and it's very nice to look at, so it's already better than most of the competition.

cant wait for a Way Back: Darkside of teh Moon

Just saw Paranormal Activity 3. The only thing entertaining was when the usher and cop came in the theater to kick out all the dumb ass teenagers that were acting like fools.

It was nowhere near as good as I was hoping it to be. I still haven't seen the first one though and most people I've talked to said it was the best of the three so I'll probably watch that next.

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Originally Posted by clocker

Battle: Los Angeles.

What an odd film.
Grab every cliche from a 1940's Hollywood war movie, replace the Nazis and Japs with aliens (who have slightly, but not overwhelmingly, superior weaponry and truly execrable tacticians*) and spice up the action scenes with today's de rigueur jumpy cutting...voila!, I give you Battle: Los Angeles.
It's competently produced and not terribly acted.
The CGI (which had to be extensive) is OK.
The aliens seem kind of crude and are mostly seen from afar or blurred by speed or smoke.

In many ways, B: LA is just a poorer, stripped down Independence Day with some Hurt Locker pretensions mixed in.
I didn't hate it but didn't feel engaged or even manipulated...it was basically rather boring.

*About the alien invasion...
If your goal is to siphon off our oceans, why the hell are you attacking our coastlines and engaging land forces?
Plop your weird alien asses down in the middle of the ocean- conveniently free of pesky natives- and start sucking away...it shouldn't take long (after all, it's mentioned on a background TV that the ocean levels are already falling measurably- a mere few hours after the invasion has begun. With whizbang alien tech like that, completely draining the planet should take maybe three weeks, tops) and your ground troops are spared losses storming assets you have no strategic interest in.

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A counterpoint.

Battle: Los Angeles: :mellow:

If some told me that they thought this movie was good my first two questions would be "Do you speak English?" and " Are you clinically insane?"

Not only does it seem to drag every hoary old War movie cliche up but it does it with such a total lack of believability that if someone told me that I was watching a parody and not a serious attempt at a movie then I would have no problem believing them.
I won't go as far as saying that the director is totally devoid of talent because obviously he has a real talent for bringing forth the very worst performances from his actors.:mellow:
Other than, that going by the old adage "if you can't say something nice,don't say anything at all" that about does it. :mellow:
Actually no, this move was so bad that the addition of Adam Sandler might actually have improved it.:mellow:

OK now I'm done.

wall street (the old one) it was really good!

watching second human centipede, so bad its good:D

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Originally Posted by rastafara

watching second human centipede, so bad its good:D

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The real irony here is that I would burn at the Cross anyone that is sick enough to enjoy that shit.

Johnny English Reborn is one hell of a hillarious movie. One of the funniest for me now :)

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Originally Posted by mholic

Johnny English Reborn is one hell of a hillarious movie. One of the funniest for me now :)

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Where do you buy your drugs?
I want some.

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Originally Posted by clocker

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Originally Posted by mholic

Johnny English Reborn is one hell of a hillarious movie. One of the funniest for me now :)

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Where do you buy your drugs?
I want some.

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http://i.imgur.com/5ParE.jpg

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Originally Posted by clocker

*About the alien invasion...
If your goal is to siphon off our oceans, why the hell are you attacking our coastlines and engaging land forces?
Plop your weird alien asses down in the middle of the ocean- conveniently free of pesky natives- and start sucking away...it shouldn't take long (after all, it's mentioned on a background TV that the ocean levels are already falling measurably- a mere few hours after the invasion has begun. With whizbang alien tech like that, completely draining the planet should take maybe three weeks, tops) and your ground troops are spared losses storming assets you have no strategic interest in.

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An interesting and point, and yet another example of Hollywood wanting us to suspend all brain function rather than just disbelief. The most magnificent example of this though must be Signs, where in aliens travel across the void of space to come to earth to take it over, yet although capable of galactic travel are incapable of getting through a wooden door ? Seriously ?
When you go off to invade someone, you usually take handy things for the invasion like weapons, and explosives and weapons (at least battle LA had weapons even if only slightly superior to our own ?).

Atlas Shrugged: Part 1
As if there will ever be a Part 2.
This dreary adolescent political wet dream was only brightened by the appearance of Quark (Start Trek: Deep Space Nine)- Yeah! He's really in it!- whose Ferengi wiles and charm briefly
made the rest of the actors appear awake.
If Sarah Palin was too complex, Atlas Shrugged has leveled down to assist...this is propaganda for flatliners.

Who is John Galt?
Don't fucking care.

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Originally Posted by clocker

Atlas Shrugged: Part 1

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Do you sacrifice yourself on purpose, some mission of martyrdom for the glimmer of hope that you've shielded others from the blast?

As attractive as martyrdom may be, the reason I watched was more prosaic...I couldn't talk shit about the movie till I'd seen it.
Besides, it's a very exclusive club, apparently nobody watched Atlas Shrugged as it flickered through a narrow release on it's way to the DVD bargain bin.

Atlas Shrugged was the first part of last night's Cognitive Dissonance Theatre, I followed up by watching Margin Call.
Margin Call features a much better cast (Stanley Tucci, Kevin Spacey and Jeremy Irons, et al.) who portray a trading house (Goldman, Lehman?) on the verge of failure.
It's remarkably free of techno-finance speak and tries to focus on the human side of the disaster although everyone in the film is a despicable cad.

Atlas Shrugged is ideology disguised as entertainment,Margin Call shows what happened when the ideology is made real.
In Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand asserts that The Producers-, i.e., The Rich- are held back by an intrusive government and the weight of the undeserving masses.
Margin Call is the logical progression of Rand's philosophy.

Of the two, Margin Call is the better film but that's saying very little.
It's pretty bloodless and calm given the calamity it describes.
Can't say I gained any new insights about the financial collapse, we've seen all this info before.
A ridiculously good cast makes it watchable but not memorable.

Atlas Shrugged is a peabrained (or should that be "Teabrained"?) philosophical wank fest that tries to pass itself off as a movie, its closest relative would be Battlefield Earth...which pretty much says it all.
It does have Quark though.

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Originally Posted by clocker

As attractive as martyrdom may be, the reason I watched was more prosaic...I couldn't talk shit about the movie till I'd seen it.

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I get that, but I found that I could bullshit about most terrible films (not having seen them) and pretty much stay on mark (though I would have had to known about the movie beforehand). It feels like the predictable direction of most bad ideas lends me that only advantage. Basically, I lie about seeing bad films and subsequently denounce them as bad films after having a near impeccable record of predicting how subjectively great/shitty I'll deem the movie. I don't watch many movies these days...