Movies You've Watched Recently

TheMatt wrote:I only watch Crystal Skull.

But we were all playing so nice   

*nods in approval*

I was going to troll spiddy and say that the new Indiana Jones was WAY better, but then decided against it.

We don't really have a thread for upcoming movies so I have to say the Sly Cooper movie trailer looks great. So excited to see how it and Ratchet fare in theaters.

I really don't like the look of the character designs in the Sly movie, but I am glad it is getting a movie.

Didn't know there was a Sly movie.  Was it announced today?


Edit: Just saw the trailer on playstation blog, and it looks pretty amazing. I think the problem with the designs are that they're a little different, but still pretty true to the original. If it was a cartoon maybe it wouldn't look so off. Great humor in the trailer though. Back when I played Sly Cooper 1, I always thought it would make an excellent TV series. I'll take a movie though.

Yeah

Just edited my last post.

Just watched the trailer. Good thing they have a LONG time to work on those textures. It was a fun trailer though. I especially liked the transitions to the roto-scoped stills.

And now to look up this Ratchet you speak of...

Ender's Game is like someone watched Starship Troopers, took it seriously, and decided to write fanfic about it.

It's good if you imagine Harrison Ford acting soley based on whether or not he has lemon cake. His "hurt" look that worked for Han Solo looks more like someone took away his lemon cake. The shit eating grin that also worked for Han Solo looks like just had some badass lemon cake. I'm also pretty sure he wasn't wearing pants in half the shots and, at times, he was seemingly chasing a laser pointer just off camera.

I give a pass to tween book/movies like Harry Potter and Hunger Games, but this movie is exceptionally bad and a complete waste of time. There's more plot and emotion in Dolph Lundgren's Punisher than this movie.

Rewatched Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire finally (was going to go through all the HP movies fairly quickly, but got sidetracked). Both of these movies I was lukewarm on when I saw them because of the shit they changed. Removing Quiddich especially irritated me, I always loved that stuff and it was one of the best parts of Prisoner of Azkaban.

Still, Prisoner of Azkaban is one fucking great movie. It's just so well paced and while I still say movies are the wrong medium for this series (TV would do it justice so much better. Even games could do a better job) because so much needs to get cut, they did a fantastic job with getting right all the necessary parts. You want to punch Malfoy (and rewind when Hermione does it over and over again). There's very subtle but fun bits of humor, it withholds the right amount of information on Sirius Black then reveals just the right amount of new info at just the right times.

Then the dementors, holy fuck they did an incredible job with them. They're one of the instances where the movie just kicks the book's ass. The way everything freezes, the screaming Harry hears, and the special effects of them terrorizing people are so fantastic. Then once they go to Hagrid's hut, the movie just nailed the confrontation with Sirius Black perfectly. The book's still better, but that's a damn great adaptation of it.

Goblet of Fire though, what a fucking mess (spoilers ahead). So much stuff they botched in that. They let you know that some shady guy was behind everything then say "Oh it's Barty Crouch Jr" like it's no big deal. The book made you think he was dead and used that to make some real moments where you have no fucking clue what's going on, that Marauder's Map fakeout where Harry thought it was his dad, so fucking brilliant. The scenes showing him were just so unnecessary and took away from that mystery.

The movie was so rushed too. No Dudley eating that toffee that made his tongue grow super large, they show the Quiddich World Cup just to introduce Krum, but don't show them play, the third task was just Harry running through a maze without any of the fun obstacles in the book, and so many scenes where they just didn't have any fun with, they only kept them in to move the plot.

Also they completely fucked up Dumbledore. He's supposed to be this kooky old genius who's so calm so when he actually gets serious, you know he means business. And while he never was as good as the first two movies' Dumbledore, having him yell all the time and ask Harry if he put his name in the goblet in a way more resembling Snape was so out of character for him. He was at least Dumbledore in the other ones, here I don't know what he is. And this movie's so damn dark. The books and movies aren't dark enough in tone until 5 to warrant visuals that dark.

The book was solid enough where it wasn't terrible, but as adaptations go, it's a mess. There were a few things it nailed though. The first task was fantastic, Ron being an asshole was well done, the Yule Ball was great, the climax was perfect, and even though it was added, I love that bit where Snape keeps slamming their heads against the desk for talking during class. And Fred and George were great, but not as good as the book versions. I wish they pulled more pranks, they were fantastic in the book.

Onto Order of the Phoenix next. It was my favorite movie in the series and on par with the book even. Which is saying something because I'd only rank it and Chamber of Secrets (which I actually think is better than the book) as being on the same level.

Ya Richard Harris was just a perfect Dumbledore. Never even questioned him not getting it right. The fact that you even have to question Michael Gambon kind of ruins it.

I've always thought the special effects are crazy good in these movies. Like the dragon in Goblet of Fire. It's not like there's any crazy up close shots, but (just like not questioning Richard Harris) I never think about how the dragon isn't real.

The special effects are amazing. So watched Order of the Phoenix. That movie's still awesome. Does such an amazing job with Umbridge terrorizing the school, but in kind of a fun whimsical way. Also Harry Potter is so much better with Luna Lovegood. Her, Hagrid, and the Weasley twins were always my favorites so it made me happy the movies nailed all of them.

Then once again, the ending part is just perfect. No matter what any of these movies do wrong, they always nail the big confrontation at the end. My only issue with it is (spoiler) they just skipped all the anarchy when Dumbledore leaves. That was always my favorite part of the book and while Fred and George harassing Umbridge was fun, I wish they left in the two of them making a swamp and everyone including the teachers doing whatever they could to make her miserable. But that's just a small issue from it, otherwise this is still easily my favorite movie in the series.

I actually prefer Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. No disrespect to Richard Harris but he looked like he was fighting for his life in those first two films. I don't know how he would've handled what the role would've required in the later films. Then again, no one does.

Order of the Phoenix is my least favorite on a script level. Overall the films worked as adaptations because Steve Kloves made good decisions on what to include and what not do and OotP is the one film he didn't write. To be fair, in the case of OotP, deleting Harry's prolonged temper tantrum towards his friends upon reuniting was a smart choice. I also felt the Cho Chang character got the shaft in the film version.

I just really like how they really have fun with everything in Order. Like when Umbridge gets new authority they have a fun little montage, then there's the bit where they have all the attempts of catching Dumbledore's Army. It's just really fun and lighthearted, which was a nice change of pace after Goblet was so dark.

Cho did get the shaft though but I never liked her. Was disappointed she didn't get that sneak mark on her face for spilling the beans.

I was really disappointed how Order was the shortest movie of the 8, but the longest book. It's been a long time since I've read the book and watched the movie, but I remember reading the book right before watching the movie and being so very disappointed. It's my least favorite of the 8 movies.

My favorite without a doubt is Prisoner, I think that movie was so well made and what was cut worked and it is my favorite despite hating the new Dumbledore. I think the last 45 minutes of the movie are brilliant, and every scene with the dementors is top notch. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!!!" A very touching and beautiful scene that was.

I too cannot stand Dumbledore in Goblet, he is overly aggressive with Harry and has no sense of compassion that Dumbledore in the books had. He's always ornery, and they might as well had George Costanza play the part. There was way too many sexual innuendos, and Harry sitting in the tub with that egg was just weird. They did a lot of weird shit in that movie. Also, I agree with them showing the killer right in the beginning took out all of the fun that that books had.

A few weeks ago I watched the first movie with the intentions of watching the others, so I really need to get on that.

Just watched Pacific Rim this morning. Really fun movie. Kind of hard to screw up robots vs. alien monsters.

TheMatt wrote:Kind of hard to screw up robots vs. alien monsters.

Ha! Yeah it is.

I'm so glad I only read 2 Potter books so I can watch and enjoy the movies without any preconceptions. There may be a lot that I don't get, but again, it makes multiple viewings fun. The one where they introduce Luna was my favorite.

I bought the Prometheus blu-ray earlier and plan on watching it in a few. I think with this viewing I'm going to ignore all of the stupid shit and pretend the movie is playing out how everyone knows it should have. So everything they changed because they apparently hate everyone, does not exist. It all takes place on LV 426 and it ends with a crashed spaceship and communications beacon. And everything in-between is fixed accordingly. In my head...something makes me think this won't turn out well...

No amount of mental tomfoolery can save that movie...

I don't care what anyone else thinks, I still love Prometheus. I even love that ending, and knowing the reasons I love it probably aren't the same reasons it was made that way makes me love it more because like with the message of the ending it's something I don't really want an answer to.

I'll always wrestle with certain things about that movie but I still admire it.

In A World...

I admire Lake Bell. She comes across with a triple threat of beauty, intelligence and wit so it's no surprise that her directorial debut is impressive. One great touch is that its about the industry of voiceover artists. Bell is a struggling vocal coach trying to land a movie trailer voiceover gig when it's a male-dominated sector of the business. It doesn't help that her father is one of the most popular voiceover artists and he 1) is grooming a young, male successor and 2) doesn't believe (and barely supports) his daughter's attempts to land a job. Great cast, too: Michaela Watkins, Dimitri Martin, Rob Corddry, Fred Malamed and some nice cameos by Geena Davis and Eva Longoria (not afraid to poke fun at herself). One of the best comedies of last year.

RUSH

I didn't expect to like this. Ron Howard's directing career has had some great highs and low-fucking lows. This is one of his better efforts, benefiting from a good Peter Morgan script, stunning photography by Anthony Dod Mantle and a good cast led by Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl. I don't really care for auto-racing and yet the story of macho-asshole rivalry between James Hunt (Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Brühl) was captivating. Hemsworth's mug got the most attention on the films advertising and he's great but the movie ultimately belongs to Brühl. Attention must go to Alexandra Maria Lara as Lauda's supportive wife; Lauda initially is an asshole and meeting and marrying her centers him. Their relationship gradually shapes him into someone more decent.

Captain Phillips

Don't know why I put this off until rental. One of Paul Greengrass' best films and a reminder of how good an actor Hanks is. The opening scene between Phillips and his wife is badly written and acted for reasons unknown but after this scene, the whole movie continues that documentary-like approach that Greengrass has mastered over his career. Good choice to humanize the Somali pirates, too. Really intense throughout, especially the 3rd act. Hanks' final scene had me fighting back tears; it's pretty much the most convincing portrayal of a man who eventually gave up hope and is shell-shocked.

I saw Captain Phillips on a spur-of-the-moment decision, which I think was the best way to see it. Yeah, that final scene. It's ones like that which make me truly appreciate what actors can do better than ordinary human beings.

A Fistful of Dollars is on Netflix. I know Yojimbo used to be there too so that may be worth looking for. I'll hunt around sometime and see what Kurosawas and Leones/eastwood are left on Netflix and Prime. For now, everyone go watch A Fistful of Dollars.

Most of Kurosawa's films are on Hulu Plus. Yojimbo will definitely be there.

I watched Kick Ass 2 this afternoon. I didn't really care for it. It was kind of a mess. I had pretty low expectations, because it got good reviews... but Greenman liked it so much, I figured it'd at least be entertaining. Not so much... Pretty much any scene with Hit Girl was cool. Everything else, bleh.

Avid = Owl
greenie = Jackie Chan
T-wolf = Lee Van Cleef
Bret = 90210 Dylan
Mot = Ryan Gosling

Sorry I left the rest of you out. Kevin Spacey that shit!

What is "Owl"?

Yesssssssssssssssss. Happy with that.

Also I have been awful about watching new movies lately. I suck. You guys can help me pick my next one, will pick a random 3 off my list:

Cosmopolis
The King and the Mocking Bird
Adam's Apple

I win?!

Half Blood Prince was a little better than I remember it, and I already liked it quite a bit. OoP is still my favorite of the movies, but not sure whether it or Chamber is second. Definitely the funniest which I liked, Ron was better here than any of the books and Luna's always great. They kept just the right stuff from the books for the most part, but that one scene where Bellatrix attacks the Burrow felt so unnecessary. Favorite thing about it is how it feels like a school the most. They just act like teenagers and get into teenager issues, it's really well done. And the guy who plays Malfoy does an amazing job.

Also the first one where I can look at Emma Watson without feeling like a pedophile. Kind of weird since I was the right age when I first saw all these movies.