Topic: Rate the last movie you've seen

[ThePerm]

despite its flaws, i really liked the new thing movie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2bsXC-uhXQ&feature=related

this is really screwed up though....this is what was cut out.

[Halbred]

What do you mean? The majority of those creatures were in the film--and I'm really impressed by how much of it was practical effects! The last critter, though, I didn't recognize that one.

[ThePerm]

They built most of the creatures with practical effects creatures, but they didn't use them. I'm sure it was some weird studio bullshit going on.  I defended this movie to death, but seeing the practical effects versions of the monsters makes you face palm. I would say only 40% practical effects made it in the movie, when it should have been 80%. Though while having a better realistic fidelity their movement is jerky. This is bizarre. Still a great prequel despite its flaws.

[Halbred]

I would bet money that the practical monsters were used as bases for the CGI models. It's also possible that the practical monsters were in long shots or close-ups. It's ALSO possible that the practical models were used a lot, but with lots of post-production CGI touch-up. Like the dude on the helicopter? Maybe?

But wouldn't that be an awesome job?

[broodwars]

I've been watching some Christmas-related movies lately, but I'm going to wait on posting about them until I've seen all 3 (Scrooged, Die Hard, and The Muppets Christmas Carol).  Notably, it's the first time I've ever seen Die Hard.

Considering some of you have been telling me to watch My Neighbor Totoro, though, it's really coincidental that today my sister (who knows next to nothing about the anime I watch) actually gave me the DVD of that movie today as a Christmas present.  So yeah, it looks like I'll be sitting down to watch that soon after all.   :

[Morari]

I've been watching some Christmas-related movies lately [...]

Go no further than Batman (1989]) and Gremlins (1984). Bar none the best holiday themed films ever.

[ThePerm]

I would bet money that the practical monsters were used as bases for the CGI models. It's also possible that the practical monsters were in long shots or close-ups. It's ALSO possible that the practical models were used a lot, but with lots of post-production CGI touch-up. Like the dude on the helicopter? Maybe?

But wouldn't that be an awesome job?

yeah, it sounds like a pretty neat job, It actually should be much less time consuming than it was in the 80s. Theres innovations that make mold making that much easier. IDK, hopefully when I get a camera soon I'll be able to make a low budget movie that looks like a million dollar movie. I spent most of my last 2 years of art school researching new materials to see how I could get things cheaper and I think If i had a big enough garage I could make something that looks just as good as Alien. The real balance is what you make practical, what you do digitally, what you you use models for. For low budget practical is the way to go, the cost of CGI has just skyrocketed and its no longer feasable. Im a proponent of CGI, but you know I just think its easier to do it for real. I'm not going to be able to get Weta or Pixar to do stuff for me, and anything less than that is going to be shitty on arrival.

[broodwars]

Alright, some brief impressions of some holiday-themed movies I've seen lately (some for the first time):

Scrooged - Man, I hated this movie.  I know it seems to be considered a "holiday classic", but I just can't understand why.  It doesn't come across as "funny", just mean-spirited and so desperate to try to make the audience laugh that it isn't actually funny.  I'm starting to wonder if I even like Bill Murray anymore, because the only movies he's in that I like are the two Ghostbusters films; Groundhog Day; and the seemingly-overlooked "What About Bob?"

The Muppet Christmas Carol - Still my favorite version of this story.  The music is pretty decent, and Muppeteering is great (as always), Michael Caine is great (as always) as Scrooge, and the film is very well-paced and fun to watch.  I was surprised to not see the "When Love is Gone" musical sequence during the film, though.  It must have appeared in some earlier home video release I've seen before, because apparently it was cut from the theatrical version and it wasn't in this version either.  It wasn't a great song and I can understand why it was cut, but it's weird that they left in the reprise of the song (where the lyrics are reversed) at the end of the movie.  Not my favorite Muppet movie, but it's up there.

Die Hard - This was a really fun movie, though in true 80s fashion it took a good 20 minutes to get there.  The dialogue was great 80s cheese, the villains' plot was fun to watch unfold (and it felt pretty original and clever), the action sequences were very well-staged (and reasonably believable), and Bruce Willis had some really good moments as the lead.  I didn't enjoy it perhaps as much as something like Terminator 2, but it does feel a good deal more clever than most action flicks.  Definitely recommended.

Die Hard 2: Die Hard-er - This was another fun movie, and I think it was slightly better paced than its predecessor due to not needing time to establish Bruce Willis' character.  The action sequences were just as enjoyable as the first movie's, though definitely not as believable.  The "ticking clock" scenario worked a lot better than I thought it would, as well.  The villains this time around were a disappointment, though, as their plot is pretty straight-forward and doesn't really have much depth to it.  The main villain was definitely a poor substitute for Alan Rickman.  I also have to take major issue with the movie's Big Twist towards the end, as it makes absolutely no sense (why would Bruce Willis still be alive by the point the twist was revealed?) and feels tacked-on.

I did have to laugh at how Die Hard 2 seemed to openly mock the implausibility of these events happening to the same guy around the same time of year as the first movie.  It's like the filmmakers were begging through the dialogue to let Die Hard 2 be the last in the franchise.  Unfortunately (given how "meh" I was on Live Free or Die Hard), they didn't get their wish.  I still recommend this movie, though.

[oohhboy]

Another good Bill Murray film you missed out on: Stripes. A classic comedy. It's absurd, it knows it, no scenery gets left unchewed. To be honest though, most, if not all, of Bill's truly funny films have been Harold Ramis written films so he really should get the credit.

Die Hard 2 was a patch job. They had a movie that had nothing to do with Die Hard before mashing them together. That's why Die Hard 2 makes no sense. Die Hard 3 is a much better film mostly because of Jeremy Irons. Unfortunately, the ending is terrible. There is an ending on the dvd that is so much better, the physics of it is a bit dumb, but the characters are spot on. 3 like 2, was also begging to end the franchise. Die Hard 4 , well less said about that movie the better.

[broodwars]

Another good Bill Murray film you missed out on: Stripes. A classic comedy. It's absurd, it knows it, no scenery gets left unchewed. To be honest though, most, if not all, of Bill's truly funny films have been Harold Ramis written films so he really should get the credit.

Hmm...I'll consider it.  I'd forgotten that that movie existed, and I've never seen it.  Sadly, it looks right now like Bill Murray peaked with Groundhog Day, and I don't have much hope for him in the supposed Ghostbusters 3.  He was easily the worst voice actor in that Ghostbusters game, and allegedly he recently vetoed the latest version of the Ghostbusters 3 script.

As for Die Hard 3, as I liked the first two films I'll probably check it out in the near future.  Jeremy Irons should be fun to watch, as fond of scenery-chewing as he is.

[ThePerm]

Bill Murrays humor is dry as ****, its not supposed to be outright hilarious. Its supposed to be cynical.

Scrooged is probably my favorite Christmas Carol version, but only because of the visuals. Groundhog Day is Murrays best movie, and i hear because of it Harold Ramis and Murray haven't got along since. This is probably why he doesn't want to do another ghost busters.

[Stogi]

Caddy Shack anyone?

[NWR_insanolord]

I don't think Caddyshack as a whole is a very good movie, but Bill Murray is great in it. All the parts with him or Chevy Chase or Rodney Dangerfield are great, and the rest of it is largely awful.

[broodwars]

I've never seen Caddyshack, but it's intrigued me for a while now.  I might check that one out as well.

Well, first things first.  Let's get a few family-related Christmas movies out of the way:The Santa Clause and The Family Stone (both of which I watched with the folks over Christmas).  However crappy the sequels got, the original The Santa Clause is a holiday favorite of mine.  It's cheesy and a bit campy, but juuuuust to the right amount so it comes off as sincere and charming (especially with how well the music is used in certain sequences).  It's also an original Christmas story with an interesting concept, something that seems rather rare with these kind of movies.  It's just an enjoyable, (dare I say) "magical" and harmless family movie that you can sit down and watch with whole family.  It's a pity that Disney ruined it all with the two horrible sequels.

As for The Family Stone, it's a movie with some serious problems that I felt was merely ok.  The ensemble cast seems very well-cast, but most of the characters don't really have anything to do in the story.  And the main male lead is a jerk that I never empathized with, no matter how hard the movie tried to make me.  The movie overall is like watching a less-crude version of Meet the Parents, and on that level it's alright.  It's certainly not a Christmas classic IMO, though.

The big movie I want to talk about, though, is one that I've been wanting to see for the better part of a month now.  Yep, it only took my evil sister from L.A. nearly destroying the family Christmas, but I finally managed to get the family out to see The Muppets.  Does it live up to the hype?  Oh hell yes.  I loved this movie.  It's a strong contender for my favorite movie I've seen this year.

I really only have two big problems with it: the first 5 minutes or so of the movie are very hard to get into, because it demands the audience to invest themselves in a bunch of characters new to the Muppet universe, and it relies WAY too much on the nostalgia of the original Muppet Show TV series.  Thankfully, the ice gets successfully broken 5 minutes into the movie after an increasingly cheesy (but good!) music number immediately ends with a well-timed 4th Wall Joke, and the movie never sags after that.  My other problem is that although I really liked the girlfriend character and thought she was really good in her song and dance numbers, she really didn't have a whole lot to do in this movie.  She just appears every now and then and kicks off an impromptu musical number.

Those minor issues, though, pale in comparison to what this movie gets right.  There is probably more sheer energy in the pacing, presentation, and acting of this movie than any movie I've seen in a long time.  The script is unapologetic in its pure joy, its love/respect for the Muppets (and Muppet history) and the golden age of Hollywood musicals.  The performances are excellent, the songs are great (if a bit random at times), the jokes are great if not altogether hilarious, and the way the scenes are staged feels so big and epic.  It's a movie that never feels like it's compromising or talking down to its audience.  It is very much aimed at older fans of the characters while still being very inviting to newcomers, which is very refreshing and frankly very bold of both the creative team behind it and Disney themselves.

The Muppets is a movie that knows its story is stupid and a bit silly with a strong influence by 1950s-style big-budget musicals, but it really doesn't care.  The movie feels very heartfelt in its message to not forget these Muppet characters, and it does so with obvious love for the franchise that doesn't come off like it's mainly concerned about the commercial implications of that.  There are few movies I would say are based on pure joy and enthusiasm, but this is one of them.  It may not appeal to you if you don't have some love for this franchise since it does play to nostalgia so strongly, but I don't see how anyone can walk out of this movie not happy.  Highly recommended, and I'd better be seeing some Academy Award love for this film come February.

[BranDonk Kong]

Faster - 6.5/10
I almost bought this BluRay a couple weeks ago and I'm glad I didn't (only $5 though). It was entertaining, but seemed to get worse as it progressed. The ending was mostly predictable, but I really think it would have been about 10 minutes longer, and finished the story. Meh. At least it started the Rock's return to kicking ass in movies.

[jrlibrarian]

Carrie: 7/10


The video quality isn't that great, but from what I remember, it sticks pretty well to the Stephen King book. I was also watching it on my Kindle Fire with the shitty wifi we have here, so that might be part of it. Ah well. Just remember kids: if you think your life sucks, at least you don't have to deal with the total assholes that Carrie had to go to school with.

[Ceric]

I just watched The Spy Next Door.  Its a Jackie Chan movie.  You get what you expect from a Jackie Chan Movie.  What makes this one sort stand out more is that there are a lot of jokes going on in the background and everything all the time.  There is almost always something going on.  I was delightfully surprised by this movie.

 

8/10

[BlackNMild2k1]

Tucker & Dale vs Evil

I've only seen the 1st 1/3 of the movie so far but LOF'nL
They take the campy teen in the woods horror flick and reverse it. It's stupid fun at this point.
*spoiler* roughly the 1st 25 minutes of the movie *spoiler*

Several College kids head to the woods for a long weekend camping trip. Along the way they run across some creepy country bumpkins who are headed the same way. The College kids mistake them for creepy locals who are out to kill them when they run into them at the local gas stop (Dale tried to engage them in conversation... it went horribly wrong) and flee off to their camping site.
After telling horror stories around a camp fire, they (college klids) decide to go skinny dipping in the lake nearby, where the "creepy locals" (Tucker & Dale) just happen to be fishing next to their "vacation" cabin that they bought to fix up (that's the whole reason they were out there). One of the college girls see them, freaks out, slips his her head on a rock and then fell in the water where Dale dove in after her, saved her life and then tried to notify her friends that he saved her. Her friends freaked out ran away and then band back to together to go rescue her.


*This is where the hilarity begins*


Tucker is out behind the cabin trying to cut logs into smaller pieces to be fed into the wood chipper while Dale is inside having breakfast with the college girl (they've become friends). The college kids fins the cabin and try to send one person up to go know on the door. At that moment, Tucker accidentally chainsawed into a bees nest and was widly running and swinging the chainsaw in an attempt to escape the bees. He turns the corner on the cabin and the college kid screams out ot run and flees for his life.
While being distracted by Tucker swinging the chiansaw like a lunatic and both of them running for his life (Tucker from the bees, College kid from Tucker), the college kid runs straight into a fallen tree branch and impales himself... RIP


The college kids think that the "Creepy Locals" murdered him and exact a plan of revenge..... hilarity continues.


I didn't get to finish it because I have to leave, but I thought I would share really quick before I go.

It's streaming on Netflix BTW
http://movies.netflix.com/WiPlayer?movieid=70129463&trkid=496624&t=Tucker+%26+Dale+vs.+Evil

Probably one of the few horror movies to be rated at almost 4 stars (3.75) that's streaming on Netflix.
I'll let you know how the last 2/3 are when I get a chance to finish it.

[Morari]

I just watched Tucker & Dale vs. Evil the other day. If you're a fan of horror flicks, then it's a hilarious must see.

[Glad0s]

Mission Impossible 4
9/10
 
Surprisingly good. Brad Bird did a fantastic job with the directing, and the acting was also really good for a movie of this type. The special effects and set pieces were amazing, and Michael Giacchino's score was great too. And yes, since Bird and Giacchino were involved, there was a bit of The Incredibles deja vu. Highly reccomended. Oh, and if you're a fan of Nolan's Batman films, it's worth seeing the movie in IMAX just to see the trailer on that massive screen. Holy crap, is it awesome.

[broodwars]

So by forum request, I have now watched two old Bill Murray movies I'd missed: Caddyshack and Stripes.

Caddyshack was a reasonably entertaining movie, though I have issues with the movie's pacing.  The first 40 minutes and the last 20-30 minutes are fun to watch and decently paced, but unfortunately the movie is 98 minutes long.  That middle 3rd of the movie is aimless and wandering (not to mention somewhat boring), and it leads to the film overall not having a very cohesive plot.  The film has a great cast, though, including a good performance by Rodney Dangerfield playing...basically himself.  I love Chevy Chase's performances when he was in his Comedic Prime, and he's likewise very good in this movie with his trademark understated sense of humor (often slipping in subtle wordplay or insults into normal dialogue).  As for Bill Murray, I thought he had a good performance as the lazy and somewhat-psychotic grounds-keeper assistant in a one-man war against a gopher.  Bill Murray works well when he's contrasting the personalities of the other characters in a given movie, and such is the case here.  A decent movie overall, though definitely not Harold Ramis' best work as a writer.

As for Stripes, I can concede that it's a much-better written movie than Caddyshack was, with a far more cohesive story, and that it's overall probably a better film.  However, I've seen this story about "a ragtag group of misfit soldiers who somehow come together to become the heroes that save the day" many times before and frankly done in a much more entertaining manner.  Maybe that's not fair to Stripes since it was one of the earlier films of that type, but I just didn't enjoy it that much.  It's decent, but it just didn't appeal to me.

As for the movies I'm thinking about covering next, I have to somehow force myself to get through My Neighbor Totoro.  I'm not going to sugarcoat this: I tried to sit down and watch that movie with my anime-loving best friend, and we both agreed that we hated the film after it's first 5-10 minutes.  That time is just little girls running around a house "squee"-ing at "mystical" Studio Gibli tropes, and that really doesn't appeal to me.  It was like when I tried to watch Ponyo a few years back.  We immediately stopped watching it, so now it's up to me to sit through it and see if it gets any more tolerable.

I also have some overlooked Disney films to rewatch (somewhat thanks to the Nostalgia Critic's Disneycember retrospectives), like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Rescuers Down Under, Mulan, and Tarzan.  I can say this about Hunchback: I rewatched the opening 5 or so minutes, and it's reminding me how much I really liked certain aspects of that film when I originally saw it in theaters (which is the only time I've seen it).

[Plugabugz]

Given Sherlock is back on British TV, i'm going to go watch the Guy Ritchie movie this weekend. See how that is.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Tucker & Dale vs Evil

I forgot to mention that I finished this movie later that day. Good stuff.
I gave it a 4/5 stars
  :

[Morari]

Given Sherlock is back on British TV, i'm going to go watch the Guy Ritchie movie this weekend. See how that is.

I'm sorry.

[Fatty The Hutt]

Saxondale 8/10. It's a British TV comedy with Steve Coogan as a former rock band roadie who is now in his fifties and running a pest control business. Not hilariously funny and sometimes a weird mix of broad and witty comedy but overall I really liked it. I think it's because I like the main character of Tommy Saxondale. He is charming in his own flawed way. I feel for him so I like the show. He is not a dick like so many main characters in TV comedies these days. He is actually a decent guy.