What movie did you watch today?

Discuss the world of entertainment; movies, tv, journalism and radio.

Moderator: drizzle

ric
Posts: 10903
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:41 am
Location: yellow and pink
Contact:

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by ric »

Thor ragnorak 2017
Pretty sweet

drizzle
Awesome Vatican Assassin
Posts: 55482
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:55 pm
Location: where people throw ducks at balloons and nothing is as it seems

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by drizzle »

Shot Caller (aka that movie where Jamie Lannister becomes a nazi drug runner in prison) - Decent time waster but feels weirdly uncommitted to nailing down it's own premise. You never really get a good sense if Jaime is just doing what he has to do to survive prison and it gets out of hand, or he was always just a repressed criminal in yuppie clothes and prison let him become himself. The movie just kinda hangs in between the two ideas, like it can't make up its mind about it.
http://www.steadybloggin.com - some of these are my thoughts yo

User avatar
Comedy Quaddafi
Posts: 13515
Joined: Mon May 14, 2007 12:15 pm
Location: Southsea, UK

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by Comedy Quaddafi »

It (2017) - Not bad but this is a bit of a pointless remake. The clown isn't as creepy and some of the children are very bad actors. The fat kid in particular.

Wake In Fright (2017) - The movie was turned in to a miniseries. The lead is a bit dull and the movie doesn't recreate the tension of the original.

Happy Death Day (2017) - Fairly entertaining slasher with some cool scenes and decent use of its premise.
Whether to Jason of Philaflava or John Podesta, I will speak my fucking perspective openly
- MB

ric
Posts: 10903
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:41 am
Location: yellow and pink
Contact:

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by ric »

Justice League 2017
Cool shit. All the trappings of a super hero team up movie. I cried a lot actually. Ought to have been way longer. And really...dc seems to have abandoned the darkness that makes their shit so much cooler than the marvel shit in that way. That is my biggest criticism of this movie. Sure sometimes it feels too much like jamming shit in a scene and then zooming away to jam some more shit into some other scene to cut away etc etc. I mean sure lack of character development. It's honestly not a huge huge concern with me at this point though. The tone is though. It's just fucking wrong. Even though they do manage a nice medium. That's not where these characters are though. That's not where this world is. And that's one of the things I found disappointing with Wonder woman. And while a bunch of the images are really cool etc. A bunch of it is also prettt dumb. And some of it just looks bad. SPOILER like when batman is on the floor at some point his suit thing literally looks like untextured grey pajamas. Even when he stands up in that scene his shit looks like shit. It's weird. Did they not notice this? Was this intentional? Cyborg dude laughing it up with dad scientist at the end? Weird. Who cares. Dumb. It's like they're trying to dodge bad press. I will say though that little glimpse of green lantern if they keep that kind of understated minimalist thing up that could be fucking sick

Murder on the Orient Express 2017
Actually pretty damn dope. My heart leapt when the Scott free sequence ran at beginning credits. And of course it becomes immediately apparent that: this will be a beautifully shot movie. Definitely worth seeing. The acting is of course great. Branagh>>> Depp>>> the couple especially the chick >>. The movie rewards the attentive audience member. There is subtlety without losing its charisma which is hard. It is a really really good movie for what it attempts to do. It is held back a bit (just a little bit) by two things
1) while it adds to the poirot ethos and mythos in really cool ways it runs through some mechanical shit through the story. It's never a big problem. It's not clunky. The execution is great. But they set you up in the beginning to expect something fresh and then they don't follow through 100%. Which is fine. But that's just it: A) the story is just what you'd expect and B) in the expecting and the getting what you expect you sort of feel like youre there to just sort of watch things to look ahead. It's like Facebook for movies. Confirmation bias to make me feel good about myself for merely having watched it play out. And even though it's a reboot they already changed enough in cool ways that I'm just asking why not change more?

2) the end conclusion for the poirot character. Dude is established as someone who sees the world as black and white. Ok. Cool. But he gives that up in this case? I mean please. He offers to die (well fucking done by the way). He essentially chooses to try and forget about the case though? bs. Total bs. Holmes would do something like this and probably narrate it differently. The previous poirot may have done/did do something like this and (probably) narrate(s) it differently. But this poirot does not get that choice and I think the movie is a little scratched for it.
And as beautiful as it is I'm not sure the tone is 100% right for the dramatic arc or rather what the dramatic arc ought to have been. At this moment in time I find the build wanting.

blastmaster
King Duggan
Posts: 29461
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2004 2:51 pm
Location: Hang Gliding Off Motherfuckin Versace Sky Scrapers

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by blastmaster »

Why did you cry?

ric
Posts: 10903
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:41 am
Location: yellow and pink
Contact:

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by ric »

@blast
:lol: you know all those emotional moments. I cried like 10 times.

Spartan
Posts: 12800
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2004 9:29 am
Location: The Slaughtered Lamb
Contact:

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by Spartan »

6 Days (2017)
Great cast, but a bland retelling of the Iranian Embassy Siege. Who Dares Wins did it way better back in the day.

drizzle
Awesome Vatican Assassin
Posts: 55482
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:55 pm
Location: where people throw ducks at balloons and nothing is as it seems

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by drizzle »

John Carpenter's Vampires - A blindspot for me, I probably saw it when it came out but not since. Very mixed bag and probably the worst Carpenter I've seen, mostly because the script is extremely dumb and schlocky. James Woods is surprisingly bad in the lead, hard to tell if the character sucks or Woods is whiffing here or both. To Carpenter's credit he still directs the shit out of this mess but making it look good can only help so much.

Meyerowitz Stories - as far as dramas about neurotic artsy bougie Jewish family squabbles go, this is pretty strong. I like that Baumbach doesn't let Hoffman's character off the hook by making him likeable and zany, just an insecure self-absorbed dick who was a terrible dad.

What We Do In The Shadows - finally got around to this after loving Thor3. A lot of it falls more into 'good chuckle' territory rather than full on lolz and some of it feels a little forced in trying to stretch an idea that was better as a short into a feature, but I still enjoyed it a lot overall.

Johnny Handsome - one of the few Hill movies that never got a proper release during the DVD boom, randomly up on HBOGO in the correct aspect ratio. Not as good as The Driver or Hickey & Boggs but still worthwhile. Feels closer to the pulp fantasies of Streets Of Fire and The Warriors than to the grit of his two 'proper' noirs.

Hard To Be A God (the 1989 German version) - the 2013 version is an art-house masterpiece that abandoned a lot of the novel's themes and plot points for jaw dropping b/w compositions of blood, guts and filth. This old version stays a lot closer to the source material but has the general look, production values and budget of Beastmaster or some Z-grade post-apocalyptic fantasy like Bronx Warriors. Which actually kinda rules, and for all the bad wigs and cheesy effects it gets the point across surprisingly well. Herzog has a small cameo and I suspect might've been responsible for a few stylistic touches in the direction.
http://www.steadybloggin.com - some of these are my thoughts yo

ric
Posts: 10903
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:41 am
Location: yellow and pink
Contact:

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by ric »

The Green Mile 1999
Good stuff. Some of the production values are weak but some still hold up. Whatever. Love the story. I get something new from mcduncans performance most every time I watch it. I've seen this like 50 times. Same thing with Barry pepper. Also the old guy in the beginning feels off and the more I watch it the more annoying it is. Same for the old woman. Im not quite sure they shot the intro very well. The outro is better though.

User avatar
Comedy Quaddafi
Posts: 13515
Joined: Mon May 14, 2007 12:15 pm
Location: Southsea, UK

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by Comedy Quaddafi »

Better Watch Out (2017) - Decent Christmas-themed comedy-thriller.

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) - My favorite in the series. Each movie got better.

Hounds of Love (2017) - Grim Australian kidnapthriller. Not very memorable.

The Girl on the Train (2016) - I thought this would be some trashy fun like Gone Girl but this is mostly a very dull drama with some uninteresting thriller elements.
Whether to Jason of Philaflava or John Podesta, I will speak my fucking perspective openly
- MB

drizzle
Awesome Vatican Assassin
Posts: 55482
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:55 pm
Location: where people throw ducks at balloons and nothing is as it seems

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by drizzle »

3 Billboards Outside Of Ebbing MO - McDormand and Harrelson deserve all the acting awards for this and I liked their parts a lot, but the movie really does make some dumbass choices in the second half and the criticism of Rockwell's character is pretty well justified. I maintain that the other McD brother (the one who made The Guard, Calvary and War On Everybody) is the better of the two.
http://www.steadybloggin.com - some of these are my thoughts yo

User avatar
gusty wingers
Posts: 1081
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2016 2:42 am

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by gusty wingers »

Dutch - 1991 film with Ed O'Neill... Fucking awful
Bury me with the Sergio Tacchini on

ric
Posts: 10903
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:41 am
Location: yellow and pink
Contact:

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by ric »

Wonder 2017
that owen wilson julia roberts scar faced/space helmet kid family movie. just randomly saw this shit after hanging with my little brother.

was actually pretty good for what it is. there are some strange things that are just like laid in there...like some 11 yr old chicks scrap book. all out of place and shit. but whatever. i cried. so. you know. theres some redeeming emotional shit in here and the acting is fine. i dont know when is a good time to see this movie. date night? i mean maybe. boredom? ehh...not really. feeling introspective? maybe. family movie night? if your family likes to talk about their feelings in the whitest ways possible then i guess sure. this movie is basically for white people also. just make note of that. i mean everyone can get the message. but its like oh man....so white

User avatar
Comedy Quaddafi
Posts: 13515
Joined: Mon May 14, 2007 12:15 pm
Location: Southsea, UK

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by Comedy Quaddafi »

The Treatment (2014) - A serialkillerfilm where a tormented detective attempts to track down a pedo-ring. There's a handful of excellent crimefilms from Belgium and this is near the top of the list. The payoff is great and it is generally a wellcrafted movie.

The Double Lover (2017) - This is Francois Ozon reinterpreting Deadringer, a film which makes this one seem less fun than it could have been. But there is a lot of sleaze and some cool scenes to enjoy.
Whether to Jason of Philaflava or John Podesta, I will speak my fucking perspective openly
- MB

ric
Posts: 10903
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:41 am
Location: yellow and pink
Contact:

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by ric »

the kingsman 1 & 2
kingsman 1 pretty good. also good foray into the ultra-violent kill bill type vein

2 is ehh less good but still kinda cool. no real use talking about decisions here. as clearly these movies are not meant to be taken seriously.

ric
Posts: 10903
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:41 am
Location: yellow and pink
Contact:

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by ric »

Shape of water 2017
Pretty sweet. Wasn't 100% sure that's what it was going to be. But alas it was. Cool take on the genre but I feel like it just scratched the surface. I wish somebody would go deeper with this comicbook realism thing. In order to make this work the characters feel too one dimensional even though 3 dimensions were intended. A lot of stuff comes off as flotsam etc in my opinion which is really Guillermos Achilles heel. He seems to think audiences are drawn in by cheesy bullshit and he has problems presenting real substantial human drama as needing some frilly nonsense to grease the wheels. That's his whole viewpoint: frilly shit greases wheels. The only movie I can remember him doing where this wasn't the rule was pans labyrinth.

Secret life of Walter mitty 2013
Really liked this movie. Surprisingly funny. Went in thinking stiller was 100% abandoning the comedy. Not so. Made me cry. Good shit. Loved Sean Penn and his character. Story was predictable at parts but whatever. Perfect casting. Really liked Kristen Wiig too.

Benjamin Button 2008
Revisited. Hadn't seen it since theatrical release 2008.
Still affecting. I think about this movie a little bit actually. What I forgot and one thing I really love about this movie is that the Benjamin button character is so slow and relaxed. Excellent choices by Brad Pitt and Blanchett is really pretty damn good.

All the money in the world 2017
Plummer>>>> spaceys probable output here. Weird that he wasn't chosen first. I almost want to see what the other version looks like. The chick Williams(?) is real nice here. Wahlberg is nice here. Ridley>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
So much
Some great scenes in here.
Here's the deal with this one. It is good. They spent a short and supposedly hurried period of time doing alllll the Plummer scenes and there are a lot. Which opens film making up to the question of do these films really need to cost so much money etc? Everyone involved in this film was dope. So you can't necessarily just expect this kind of thing all the time but I mean freal...

Molly's Game 2017
First post movie credit is Aaron sorkin. Which makes a lot of sense because some of the annoying sorkinisms are all over this thing. That said Chastain is becoming my favorite actress. She's not exactly Blanchett or Meryl or Theron but she's up there with the Julianne Moores or Portmans of the world and moving up. Idris eats here too. These two form the core of the movie and Costner is a welcome satellite. This is a pretty good movie but in the hands of a better writer/director would've been better.
Last edited by ric on Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

drizzle
Awesome Vatican Assassin
Posts: 55482
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:55 pm
Location: where people throw ducks at balloons and nothing is as it seems

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by drizzle »

mother! - A Bunuel-type idea with Zach Snyder-type execution, has its moments but it's clunky and humorless and a bit smug. Really needed a lighter touch, the allegory is sledgehammered in. It's impressive that a movie this abstract and 'difficult' got a wide release, but that might be a symbolic victory.

The Foreigner - this was a nice surprise considering I wrote off Jackie Chan years ago. A simple premise elevated by strong polished execution. It's actually as much about Brosnan as it is about Chan, and it requires Chan to play an old man who's so hollowed by grief that he's barely even there anymore, and all this helps turn Chan's weaknesses (age and lack of actual acting ability) into strengths.

Beyond Skyline - Frank Grillo and Iko Uwais successfully fight aliens and budget constraints. An excellent b-movie with Corman-ish touches, what The Void was to horror this is to sci-fi action. Dumb in a fun freewheeling way, derivative of the right things, ambitious and gets a lot out of a small budget, surprisingly good sfx, throws in ridiculous shit that works, good cast, good/great action scenes, doesn’t drag. Top notch DTV content imo.
http://www.steadybloggin.com - some of these are my thoughts yo

ric
Posts: 10903
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:41 am
Location: yellow and pink
Contact:

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by ric »

Focus 2015
that will smith movie from a while ago about being a modern day con artist etc
kinda sweet. do i recommend it? date night movie. solo movie. definitely a mood thing as things are swanky. thats the mood. soft and swanky. mostly dark.
its just like...if your movie is named focus and its about con artistry and you dont really need to focus then youve missed the boat. there is still some focusy shit. its not like its devoid of meaning but i mean....the sting is still prolly the best con artist movie. anybody know any better ones? please reply.

ric
Posts: 10903
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:41 am
Location: yellow and pink
Contact:

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by ric »

Spy Game 2001
revisit. good movie. redford doing his thing pitt doing his young man chameleon thing catherine mccormick is dope. stephan dillane doing the A hole. tony scott rip. harry gregson williams doing another good middle-easty score. i like this movie. its hard to find on dvd nowadays.

silver linings playbook 2012
fucking hilarious movie. you feel the romance which is nice. lawrence cooper deniro tucker styles. jacki weaver is actually really really good here. despite the hate i think this movie shows deniro wasnt done at that point (if he ever was). i mean deniro is fucking hilarious in this movie. great writing if kinda predictable broad strokes. love this movie. if i remember at some point im gonna buy it.

User avatar
Comedy Quaddafi
Posts: 13515
Joined: Mon May 14, 2007 12:15 pm
Location: Southsea, UK

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by Comedy Quaddafi »

drizzle wrote:the allegory is sledgehammered in
Seems a bit unfair considering many people have quite different interpretations and in some cases no idea what they just watched. Even as I was sitting in the cinema I thought to myself it works perfectly as an allegory for third world immigration from a first world perspective (with Bardem as the pompous and naive liberal and Lawrence as the conservative witnessing her house/country collapsing), knowing full well that it wasn't the intention of course.

I think Aronofsky did us a disservice by telling us what it's "really" about, and tbh I didn't really get it before I read that interview, which is perhaps why your comment struck a nerve :lol:
Whether to Jason of Philaflava or John Podesta, I will speak my fucking perspective openly
- MB

ric
Posts: 10903
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:41 am
Location: yellow and pink
Contact:

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by ric »

drizzle wrote:mother! - A Bunuel-type idea...
...has its moments but it's clunky and humorless and a bit smug. Really needed a lighter touch,
...the allegory is sledgehammered in. It's impressive that a movie this abstract and 'difficult' got a wide release, but that might be a symbolic victory.
A) whos bunuel?
B) to me the camera work and the visual (and the acting) are the real genius shit here and the concept of the diamond. really like how that all happened and came together and what it was
C) yeah it is sledgehammered in but i took it as like when you read a good argument sometimes or a good book it seemed to me like hes revisiting a central point so that he can explore tranche x and then revisit that central point again to explore tranche y etc and then the line of thought/argument continues and he revisits a new point to explore tranche a and then revisits that new point to explore tranche b etc etc which i think has cool implications for story telling technique if people can find a way to not make it so tiring

drizzle
Awesome Vatican Assassin
Posts: 55482
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:55 pm
Location: where people throw ducks at balloons and nothing is as it seems

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by drizzle »

For the sake of argument, literally any interpretation of mother! would be heavy handed because the whole thing is heavy handed, regardless of whatever the intended point is. Aranofsky just assaults you with allegorical imagery for the entire running time, with a deadly serious tone and not a shred of levity or subtlety to be found anywhere.

But to keep it buck, when the movie shows an idyllic paradise being disturbed by a Man and his Wife, and then the Man's older son kills the younger son and leaves to wander the earth, and then later on the Creator at the center of this spoiled paradise offers his newborn son to his fanatical followers who kill and ritualistically consume the newborn in worship.... it's not really that open ended. The cyclical nature of the narrative is the only kinda clever idea here and you can see that coming a mile off too.
http://www.steadybloggin.com - some of these are my thoughts yo

drizzle
Awesome Vatican Assassin
Posts: 55482
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:55 pm
Location: where people throw ducks at balloons and nothing is as it seems

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by drizzle »

Girl With All The Gifts - This was awesome, snuck up on me as maybe one of my favorites of the year. Works as a genre movie, character drama, and smart scifi and does it all in a way that's understated but very effective. The lead girl was pretty impressive, nice to see my man Paddy Considine shining too. Not for nothing but also a better feminist movie than most other recent movies billed as such.

Justice League - Pretty big mess. Going from making BvS to making this is like nodding off while driving and letting your car drift into the wrong lane then suddenly waking up and realizing you're about to crash and jerking the wheel in the other direction and spinning out across the whole highway. It's not as bad as Suicide Squad, like BvS it has it's moments and I can see what they were going for with it, but at a certain point my gf looked up at me and said 'I just want this to be better' and that really nailed it. It's funny that the fairly routine Wonder Woman is a wildly superior modern DC release just by virtue of the shittiness of the other titles. I'd see the shit out of an Ezra Miller Flash movie done in the same tone he had here though. Also it's a shame the Momoa Conan franchise didn't take off because that's by far the best use of the dude if all his castings are gonna be various shades of Khal Drogo.
http://www.steadybloggin.com - some of these are my thoughts yo

Spartan
Posts: 12800
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2004 9:29 am
Location: The Slaughtered Lamb
Contact:

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by Spartan »

The Girl With All the Gifts is criminally underrated.

User avatar
gusty wingers
Posts: 1081
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2016 2:42 am

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by gusty wingers »

Will you guys be making some nice year end lists?
Bury me with the Sergio Tacchini on

ric
Posts: 10903
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:41 am
Location: yellow and pink
Contact:

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by ric »

in re girl with all the gifts; stared at this one on redbox for like 15 minutes and decided not to get it; ill check it out next time at the store maybe itll be in the box dispenser thing.

cloud atlas 2012
theres a pretty good core here but like everything else in this movie is fucking garbage with a capital vomit. the window dressing is horrible. this is like valerians lazy cousin who jumbles up a script and calls it 'star weaving' or some crazy shit.

production values are sometimes sweet and sometimes god awful. music is pretty cool.

ric
Posts: 10903
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:41 am
Location: yellow and pink
Contact:

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by ric »

cant stop wont stop 2017?
the diddy version of defiant ones (takes place over like 3 weeks or something)
some amazing (no homo) shit happens but in general this is as bloated and hubristic and delusional as it sounds
i didnt watch making of the band so i had no idea but now i see that dude is like really....basically the luckiest guy on the planet. ive never seen anybody say so much and mean so little in terms of like setting priorities and shit for their organization of people that are doing dudes bidding and a bunch of old has beens trying to act like its still 98
but obviously thats part of the legendary level of comedy going on so you know...i love it
favorite moments: diddy turns from man to super-man in about...20 seconds and yells at everyone else to join him
he blows his nose on money printed tissue paper

drizzle
Awesome Vatican Assassin
Posts: 55482
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:55 pm
Location: where people throw ducks at balloons and nothing is as it seems

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by drizzle »

gusty wingers wrote:Will you guys be making some nice year end lists?
not feeling super inspired this year but what the hell let's make a thread
http://www.steadybloggin.com - some of these are my thoughts yo

Tommy Bunz
Posts: 17474
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:02 am

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by Tommy Bunz »

Also cosign Girl With All The Gifts, checked it out after the last time it came up on the :phila: and loved every second of it, despite it being a rather blatant ripoff of The Last of Us.
Want an entire movie-length silent film about the pack of feral Lost Boys/Warriors gang.

drizzle
Awesome Vatican Assassin
Posts: 55482
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:55 pm
Location: where people throw ducks at balloons and nothing is as it seems

Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by drizzle »

Didn't know about that game but was thinking at how much it owes to the I Am Legend concept too.
http://www.steadybloggin.com - some of these are my thoughts yo

Post Reply