Topic: Rate the last movie you've seen

[Lithium]

Dear 'Pom Poko',

You kick ass.

Your friend,
Stogi

Transforming ballsacks.
that is all.


Japanese mythology is so awesome XD

[Ceric]

I didn't think Green Lantern was bad but, the thing about Green Lantern is that the Mythos are what you really get into GL for.  The companion DVD Cartoon they did for the movie was the Corp facing a current problem but, also telling stories of past deeds.  A movie like that be interesting.

Though some things don't translate well.  Take Watchmen, the movie is not nearly as good as the comic but, I honestly believe that Watchmen leveraged the medium so well that you couldn't really do it in any other medium correctly.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Ryan Reynolds is hilarious and that's exactly why he should stick to comedies. I can't take him seriously.

Which is why they need to fast track that Deadpool movie ASAP.
He can have his action, his "Superhero" and his comedy all in one.

[EasyCure]

Ryan Reynolds is hilarious and that's exactly why he should stick to comedies. I can't take him seriously.

I would normally agree but Smokin' Aces wasn't that bad, and the new movie he'll be in with Denzel looks decent..

[ThePerm]

I didn't think Green Lantern was bad but, the thing about Green Lantern is that the Mythos are what you really get into GL for.  The companion DVD Cartoon they did for the movie was the Corp facing a current problem but, also telling stories of past deeds.  A movie like that be interesting.

Though some things don't translate well.  Take Watchmen, the movie is not nearly as good as the comic but, I honestly believe that Watchmen leveraged the medium so well that you couldn't really do it in any other medium correctly.

I was disappointed in it somewhat. I loved the comics, but it wasn't a disgrace. I could see Watchmen being made differently. It tried to be frame for frame the same as the comic except the ending. It was good in the comics, but that's not the way to make a movie. If I did it I would change how the story is told without changing the story. I would have the squid/plant monster thing too. Someone like Paul Veerhoven would do it justice.

[Ceric]

I didn't think Green Lantern was bad but, the thing about Green Lantern is that the Mythos are what you really get into GL for.  The companion DVD Cartoon they did for the movie was the Corp facing a current problem but, also telling stories of past deeds.  A movie like that be interesting.

Though some things don't translate well.  Take Watchmen, the movie is not nearly as good as the comic but, I honestly believe that Watchmen leveraged the medium so well that you couldn't really do it in any other medium correctly.

I was disappointed in it somewhat. I loved the comics, but it wasn't a disgrace. I could see Watchmen being made differently. It tried to be frame for frame the same as the comic except the ending. It was good in the comics, but that's not the way to make a movie. If I did it I would change how the story is told without changing the story. I would have the squid/plant monster thing too. Someone like Paul Veerhoven would do it justice.

The movie can stand in its own right but, the layering that really makes Watchmen trying to squeeze that into a movie...  I could see it possiblly done in a TV Series because it could go longer and could have specific episodes dedicated to say the Comic in the Comic which is really about the Comic.

[Stogi]

Dear Studio Ghibli films,

I've been watching your movies over the past two months. And though I haven't watched all your movies (I have not scene 'Ocean Waves', 'My Neighbors the Yamadas', and 'The Cat Returns'), I feel like I have seen enough to write you this note.

Your animation is excellent. Let me get this out of the way now. The scenery you put your characters in are masterpieces. 'Princess Mononoke' comes to mind; there are so many instances where I wanted to pause the image to simply appreciate the art. As for your characters, no matter how fantastic, they have weight. It's really impressive. The portrayal of their emotions is also amazing. It's almost as good as Pixar who I think with 'Wall-e' has barely out done you. Still, your art style is what I enjoyed the most.

The settings in which the story takes place is also wonderful. One movie will be a simple farm, while the other will be in a make believe world with magic, dragons, and cursed beings. While very different, most of your movies had a familiar thread of concept no matter how whimsical or tempered. And I appreciated that.

Now to talk about the story of your movies. You start them off so wonderfully. Every movie I saw grabbed my attention within the first minute and made me say 'Wow' several times in the next 30. During the second act, you either focused on the story or the character relations, but had trouble doing both. Still, it was good and I was more than willing to see them through. Then came your third act where you almost always drop the ball. The story never convincingly ends in an appropriate way. It's either love this or love that, or a dues ex machina, or it just simply ends (as 'Porco Russo' did). Out of the 14 movies I've watched, the only movies I feel that actually ended well are 'Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind', 'Pom Poko', 'Grave of the Fireflies', 'Princess Mononoke', 'Castle in the Sky', and 'Only Yesterday'. (I would like to give special attention to the ending of 'Grave of the Fireflies' because it ended the most convincingly. There were no special tricks or mythology needed. It was perfect.)

So less than half of your movies left me walking away satisfied. It is a shame because as I said before, your characters, art and settings are so well crafted. If only the story could be to.

Still, I can't wait to see what you come up with next.

Your friend,
Stogi

[broodwars]

I've gradually started finding the Studio Gibli titles increasingly tiring to watch.  Their animation may be good, but the animators only know how to draw maybe half a dozen different characters.  I swear half their movies star the same girl with a slightly different hair style. 

And just about every Gibli film that involves Miyazaki has an overbearing environmental message.  Yes, Miyazaki, we get it.  You think mankind is evil, and the planet would be better off with them having as little an involvement as possible.  Guess what?  I don't care anymore.  I'm sick of every movie you do being about the evils of MAN!!!

And I actually thought Kiki's Delivery Service had a good ending, too.

[bustin98]

I don't think the message is mankind is evil, more like mankind doesn't stop to consider the consequences of their actions.

I love when hair kinda raises up when someone gets frustrated or iritated...

I kinda agree with people looking similar, but I think its part of the art style. How many other animation studios have put out so many feature length movies that feature so many people? I think the number of people they draw far out-strip even Disney.

[ThePerm]

its like lloyd kaufman and corperate evil, can one of his movies not be about it?

[broodwars]

its like lloyd kaufman and corperate evil, can one of his movies not be about it?

Something like that, I guess.  I have no problem with Miyazaki deciding to make an environmental movie.  He has beliefs he wants to get across, and that's fine.  The problem is that he just keeps doing it (without having anything new to add to his message in every subsequent movie), and with the exception of arguably Princess Mononoke it's all about how perfect nature is and how evil MAN is.  Mononoke's the only film I can think of that viewed MAN with a sympathetic (if still not accepting) light.  And with every new movie, he finds new ways to beat you over the head with the issue, often to the exclusion of fun.  We get it, Miyazaki.  You believe man despoils nature and is destroying the planet, which is terribly ironic when you manufacture movies made from materials from the planet that then fill landfills in later years.  Enough.  Can we just have a movie from you that's actually fun and not your personal environmental soapbox for the same preaching you've been doing since the 80s?

Then there's Howl's Moving Castle, of course, which decided to be a condemnation of the Iraq War at literally the last minute, but that's another bizarre story.   

There's good reason why my three favorite Gibli movies are Kiki's Delivery Service, The Cat Returns, and Porko Rosso: they're the only Gibli movies that aren't about anything special in particular other than having fun.

[SixthAngel]

I didn't think Green Lantern was bad but, the thing about Green Lantern is that the Mythos are what you really get into GL for.  The companion DVD Cartoon they did for the movie was the Corp facing a current problem but, also telling stories of past deeds.  A movie like that be interesting.

I really like Ryan Reynolds so I was looking forward to watching it.  I also know a lot of stuff about GL but don't read the comics.

I started it and the first 10 minutes was a voiceover telling me the entire backstory and this other bullshit.  I stopped right after that.

[Halbred]

@Broodwars:

Totoro! Don't forget Totoro! It doesn't really have an anti-man/technology, it's just a simple story about a two girls who are going through a rough patch and are befriended by adorable forest creatures. Also, the umbrella scene!!! Seriously, Totoro is one of my favorite movies ever. It just makes me so happy.

[broodwars]

@Broodwars:

Totoro! Don't forget Totoro! It doesn't really have an anti-man/technology, it's just a simple story about a two girls who are going through a rough patch and are befriended by adorable forest creatures. Also, the umbrella scene!!! Seriously, Totoro is one of my favorite movies ever. It just makes me so happy.

I've actually never seen My Neighbor Totoro, or Pom Poko for that matter.  I have to be in a very specific mood to watch a Studio Gibli film (the sameness in the art style and Miyazaki in general just deters me), and I just never got around to see those two films.

[TJ Spyke]

The Help - Heard it was a good movie, it exceeded my expectations. Great story, looks good, and I learned a new way to get revenge on someone. LOL
Mr. Hollander's Opus - About a struggling musician who takes a job as a teacher to save some money to let him concentrate full time on writing music, and ends up teaching at the school for about 30 years. Deals with a son who becomes 90% deaf and spends more time with the kids at his school than his own family. Very well done.
Dead Poet's Society - Slightly less good than everyone seems to say, but still worth watching. One of Robin Williams' better non-comedic roles, though the ending is so-so.
The Emperor's Club - Never heard of it before, but I liked it. It showed that some people are douche's all their life and never change.
Pleasentville - I like these throwback movies, and a nice showing for how some people are stuck in the past and will do whatever they can to stop society from progressing.

[ThePerm]

Fright Night(remake)-when I saw the trailer I face palmed, but $1.00 redbox at midnight when your bored makes things not seem so bad. This actually turned out to be pretty good, the beginning starts off pretty much the same, but it takes a left turn and gets good. 7.5/10. Its no Let the right one in, but its no Sub Species either.

[BlackNMild2k1]

All except for the face at the end... that was just horrible. You have to subtract .5 just because they thought that was good enough to not leave on the cutting room floor.

[ThePerm]

oh stupid new vampire face? Isn't it weird old style vampires on Peter Vincents stage are more pleasing to look at than knockoff Dusk till Dawn Fred Williamson face. Old style vampire fangs are something that ain't broke, so thus shouldn't be fixed.




if it works for nature it works for fiction, overdoing it wrong

a fucking sharks mouth will not fit in a human head.

[oohhboy]

Drive

A really surprising and a very enjoyable old school movie. While this movie doesn't undo that stain that is the Fast movie franchise and the countless stupid car movies, along with the equally stupid "culture" that spawned from it, it shows that yes, Hollywood can make a bloody good movie without CGI overload, tensionless car chases. The damn thing is that the trailer is full of complete lies and sells this movie as if it were a transporter movie.

The only thing I do have a minor issue with this movie is that the director was a little too heavy handed when it came to Ryan Gosling's character especially with those really pregnant pauses. They serve a really important function, but it's a little too much.

That said, this movie is golden. It has all the hallmarks of a Michael Mann without the ridiculous length, pretentiousness, sub-glacial pacing or the unnecessarily convoluted story lines. It's full of tension that knows when to release it and it hits like a truck to the face. It is a tight 100 minutes that always deliver. It plays with your expectations and bitch slaps you every time.

On a slight tangent, this is probably the first time that Christina Hendricks has ever been in an unappealing outfit. I mean sure you know that is her and she is still smoking, just ready to explode out with that amazing bodacious body of hers, but white trash is white trash, no body can make that work.

Sleeper Hit of the year.

[Lithium]

I've gradually started finding the Studio Gibli titles increasingly tiring to watch.  Their animation may be good, but the animators only know how to draw maybe half a dozen different characters.  I swear half their movies star the same girl with a slightly different hair style. 

And just about every Gibli film that involves Miyazaki has an overbearing environmental message.  Yes, Miyazaki, we get it.  You think mankind is evil, and the planet would be better off with them having as little an involvement as possible.  Guess what?  I don't care anymore.  I'm sick of every movie you do being about the evils of MAN!!!

And I actually thought Kiki's Delivery Service had a good ending, too.

Agreed. especially about the character design.  They're great for shutting your brain off and looking at the pretty animation or when you just want somthing light hearted that wont challenge you but ultimately you only need to watch a handfull of Ghibli movies to get the gist of it. Although Grave of the fireflies was pretty awesome.  (I dont think Miyazaki was involved it this so go figure)


also you should watch pom poko. It beats you over the head with an environmental message but it does it with such class. It's worth sitting through just for the Culture shock value XD

@Broodwars:

Totoro! Don't forget Totoro! It doesn't really have an anti-man/technology, it's just a simple story about a two girls who are going through a rough patch and are befriended by adorable forest creatures. Also, the umbrella scene!!! Seriously, Totoro is one of my favorite movies ever. It just makes me so happy.

don't click this link unless you want your childhood ruined. It's a pretty creepy urban legend about this movie.

[Stogi]

Lithium. That makes me like Totoro more. I need to watch it again.

[Ceric]

That doesn't surprise me really in the least.

[TJ Spyke]

Drive

I tried watching this a couple of months ago, and found it one of the most boring movies I ever saw. Not something I was into.

[ThePerm]

it sounds like TJ can't take slower paced movies, lay off the caffeine.

The Devils Double 8/10. This movie was cool. It could have been a 9 if it had less 1 dimensional characterization and better editing/transitioning. Its loosely based on an autobiography that was loosely based on real life. Its like the Prince and the Pauper, but more realistic and gangster. The acting was good, but the writing lacked motivation. The good guy was good the whole time, the bad guy was bad. You'd think he'd give into temptation a bit to keep it interesting, but no.

Holy Rollers 7.9/10 This was a good movie, not as cool. Similar themes. More realistic characters, less gratuitousness.

Good Neighboors 8/10. This was fun to watch.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I have The Devil's Double and Good Neighbors.

Been meaning to watch both of them. I guess they both just moved up the list.