Movies You've Watched Recently

pspiddy wrote:The extended/director/whatever Blu-Ray of Troy is pretty good. It's very subtle but noticeable. I think it's definitive if you're in the market for it as a film. If you want it to be more like the epic than the standard version you'll be as disappointed as the first time you watched it. If you can do what I do and watch it while thinking about the epic, you'll love it. (Exceptions include cringe-worthy added on shit and gloss-over acting)

Still can't decide whether this or 300 is more lady-porn. Probably this since it has tons of Brad Pitt constipated and Eric Bana and Legolas confused close-ups.

The director's cut made only slight differences but on the whole I think its the same movie. I liked it but didn't find it memorable. The movie clearly wanted me to like Achilles and I found him to be an asshole. Compelling, sure, but still a asshole. "Yeah, we just ransacked this city and killed and raped everything in our path but lets have a funeral for this one moody jerk."

Also, how is Sean Bean not dead at the end of this?

I was under the impression that the only resembling lady porn recently was Magic Mike and anything starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

I loved Assassination of Jesse James, glad you liked it avid. It's an absolutely gorgeous film to look at as well.

So...oscar reactions anyone?

12 Years a Slave proves how willfully ignorant western culture is about slavery. Of course it won because, besides native Americans, what else is easy to shit on and call "history"?

I only caught the tail end but can imagine how shitty everything else was. A circle jerk of congratulatory nonsense, no doubt.

When The Hobbit doesn't win Best Picture, I could give two shits.

Last year was meh for me with movies so I didn't really care what won. Made me wish I saw Wolf of Wall Street though. Still baffled how Gravity won so many special effect awards in the year Pacific Rim released.
Also I just don't think Ellen is funny

meh, I'm fine with Gravity winning all the special effects awards ever. I can't even begin to fathom how that movie was filmed. It must have cost a fortune

That's what I watched yesterday. I have to say, though, that I really didn't care for the main character. She was kind of annoying. It would've been better if her and George Clooney's character were combined. It's not bad but I was expecting a lot more from the director of Children of Men

Krubixcube wrote:Watched Frozen...meh. What happened to those Disney songs that got incessantly stuck in your head. All the songs in the new one feel like shitty vanilla pop. Also the story was schizofrenic and had no strong characters. And this is coming from someone who enjoyed Tangled. ENJOYED IT, MEN.

Frozen and LEGO have been sung incessantly in my home

Saw Hunchback of Notre Dame since it was on Netflix. Haven't seen it since a kid and didn't like it then, but it was pretty great watching it now. The music and scenery were especially incredible and Frollo might be the most fucked up Disney villain I've ever seen.

Meh, I think Gravity absolutely deserved visual effects. I think there's visual effects more in the "check out this cool animated sequence" and there's visual effects that are "Look how seamless/hard to notice these effects are" and Gravity is more the ladder and it does very very well in that respect. Not to say Pacific Rim wasn't impressive, but I've always been of the contention it's not about who wins the oscars, it's about who's nominated.

Also, Hunchback is SUPER dark. The main dude is actually evil, not disney evil but ACTUALLY evil.

I know, my jaw dropped when he tried burning down a house with a family inside because they may have helped some gypsies. That's stuff I expect Batman villains to do, not Disney ones. And I mean Batman villains in one of the grittier Batman stories.

I know!! The opening too. He's like "UGLY BABY, DROWN IT!"

Me: O_O

I get the sense when all the Disney villains team up for those specials, Frollo's like that guy at the party. The one they don't invite because instead of just letting them have their fun, he'd start stabbing, drowning, and burning all the heroes, and Maleficent and company would feel uncomfortable.

I skipped the Oscars like I have every year. Perception wise, it pits films (and their makers) against each other which just sounds nuts to me. And it doesn't change how I feel about any film, whether I've seen it or not. My feelings on seeing 12 Years A Slave hasn't changed: I'll get around to it someday but it's not a huge priority.

I find it more interesting to see where the trends of the industry lie. Since the academy is HEAVILY industry back it's fascinating to see where the money and influence is going. I am pessimistic like that.

Also, @volvo...hahaha. I can see it in my head.

Jafar: "YES, LET'S STOP HIM FROM REACHING TRUE LOVE HAHAHAHAHA!"
Frollo: "Yes, we'll send a troop of guards to his house and burn it down then rape his family."
Jafar: "...Holy shit dude."

Everybody with Prime clear your queue of everything; Spaceballs has arrived.

It's also on Netflix.

We need a "heads up" thread here for Netflix and Prime. The primary thread is cool for blu rays and dvds, but a sticky here would be cool. The permissions I have now are cumbersome so I admit to neglecting this part of the forum. I'd prefer avid or t-wolf do it. This part of the forum is lacking a few things that brilliant people like them could iron out. (Not me; the thought just triggered a "I think so, Brain. But this time you put the trousers on the chimp" moment)

I don't get the love for Spaceballs. I really don't. Some great gags here and there, sure, but overall? Very lackluster.

pspiddy wrote:We need a "heads up" thread here for Netflix and Prime. The primary thread is cool for blu rays and dvds, but a sticky here would be cool. The permissions I have now are cumbersome so I admit to neglecting this part of the forum. I'd prefer avid or t-wolf do it. This part of the forum is lacking a few things that brilliant people like them could iron out. (Not me; the thought just triggered a "I think so, Brain. But this time you put the trousers on the chimp" moment)

I'd be interested in doing this. I'd like to add Hulu Plus to the mix as well (or Crackle).

Thor: The Dark World

I'm pretty shocked by this one. Shocked by how anemic, by-the-numbers a sequel to one of the best (IMO) Marvel Phase One films turned out to be. Shocked by how obvious it was, from the forced attention it gives the fan-favorite, Loki, to the Iron Man 2-ish overall story importance (it doesn't really stand on its own but more of a set-up for upcoming Marvel films). People harp on Kenneth Branagh's Dutch angles for the previous film, but they're overlooking how visually interesting and well-directed that film was.

Ultimately, the fault doesn't lie with Alan Taylor's direction but the script, which gives its actors so little to work with. To me the dramatic intensity of the exchanges between Odin, Thor and Loki in the previous film (which were so strong that they felt like their own film) feel muted here. During the Thor-assisted Loki escape from Asgard, Loki is awkwardly given the role of comic relief and backseat driver; it felt wrong; the attention was more on CGI action scenes.

Certain cuts of the film took reportedly took away Malekith's backstory, so he makes for an uninteresting villain, no matter how hard Christopher Eccelston tried. Jamie Alexander's Sif also gets side-lined; I was expecting her to have more friction with Jane Foster and I can't tell if that material was cut or skipped altogether. Stellan Skarsgård acts nuts for the first half but changes halfway, in time for when the plot requires.

What did I like? Chris Hemsworth still shines in the role. Although the plot lacks that effective character arc from the first film, his Thor is still smarting from the events of the previous films and I found him both humble and heroic. Despite that escape scene, Tom Hiddleston is effective as Loki. There were times that it was hard to get a read on him in that you couldn't tell if he wanted to do the right thing, so I liked Hiddleston played that. Anthony Hopkins continues his charismatic streak as Odin. When personal tragedy strikes, his turn to stubbornness and anger felt organic and not forced. Rene Russo isn't in the film for long but she was wonderful, especially in her last scene with Loki. And despite some things, Natalie Portman works here. She made Foster's attraction for Thor convincing in the first film and while I didn't care for how slappy she was when they reunited, she and Hemsworth made the relationship work.

The final fight sequence between Thor and Malekith - where they're flying through different realms while brawling - was admittedly visually interesting and well executed. And Kat Dennings is always welcome to pull off much needed comic relief.

I just wish The Dark World was more self-contained, its story and characters more fleshed out.

Spoiler:

I fear that The Dark World's biggest problem is that its post credit scene has more impact with the Phase Two narrative progression than its main plot.

The Grandmaster

Visually breathtaking, well acted and a little unclear in its jumps through the timeline, this is very much a Wong Kar-Wai film. Perhaps my familiarity with the Donnie Yen Ip Man films have softened the impact this film could've had but upon further reflection, the edge this film has is with the character of Gong Er (Zhang Ziyi) and how Ip Man figures with her life. Of course, I've only seen the Weinstein Cut so I'm not sure how the original cut plays out with the relationship or with other supporting characters (such as the various martial art masters that challenges Ip Man). I did find the Ip Man/Gong Er relationship to be compelling.

The fight scenes are wonderfully choreographed and shot, though these days, when it comes to action scenes, I prefer long, wide takes of bodies in motion. I'm not saying the fight scenes here are incoherent or badly edited but its a reminder that filming them the way Kar-Wai does isn't easy and shouldn't be attempted by everyone.

I'm glad I finally got to see this. Maybe the 130 minute cut will be more widely available someday.

Apparently quite a bit was cut from the american release (all those boring dialogue scenes amiright?). I highly recommend checking out a longer cut if and when it becomes available.

I was still looking for some more swords and sandals-type action after finishing the Spartacus TV series and watched 300. I didn't like it as much as I wanted to, but it looked pretty damn cool.

Oh man, I remember I was obsessed with the first 300 when that movie came out. Stayed with my cousins for a week once right after it came onto DVD and we watched all the fight scenes every night. It was all anyone at school could ever talk about too.

I saw 300: Rise of an Empire with my cousins! Eva Green was great, and I can't help but get caught up in the ridiculous battles.

I guess this goes in here. I watched the Veronica Mars movie tonight. Made me happy. They might have gone a little overboard with trying to get a lot of cameos and stuff in there, but I liked the main mystery and the writing seemed on point. I missed you Veronica.

I watched Seven Samurai at last.

It was good and I enjoyed it. Time to not watch another film for god knows how many months.

Saw The Lego Movie. Don't see anything topping that for my favorite movie this year.

I kind of figured when the Lego Movie was getting good reviews that would be your film of the year. Seems like your type of thing.

Just finished watching Dr. Strangeglove. Loved it, felt like a super long episode of The Twilight Zone with a bunch of goofiness thrown in. Nothing too absurd, just what made it a lot more fun to watch.