Topic: Rate the last movie you've seen

[Stogi]

I always feel that books really should be made into series, similar to 'Game of Thrones'. Now most books won't have the depth 'Game of Throne' does, but there is a reasonable amount that eventually becomes constrained due to time.

The only movie that does a decent job with its time contraints is LOTR, and those Director Cuts are 4 1/2 hours long.

Hunger Games did a good job in the build up. It was patient, methodical, and to echo TrueNerd, dropped us into the world instead of trying to explain it (see 'The Last Airbender' the movie). Where the movie kinda loses itself is during the actual games. It's not patient anymore. Things get glossed over and the real world is barely touched upon, other than a character we've met reacting to what they are seeing.

Still, I think they did a good job, but you could tell it would be much better if they had 6 hour long episodes instead of 2 hours.

[UncleBob]

Agreed.  They made her a much more likeable character in the book.  Also, the book, written in first person - drew a lot of comparisons between her character and and Prim, thus cementing Katniss' desire to protect/love her.  The movie didn't really share that.

[broodwars]

I saw the anime film The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya a few weeks back, and if it seems that I waited a long time to talk about it...that's because I honestly forgot that I had seen it until a recent podcast reminded me of it.  It's that memorable.

I have very mixed feelings about the original Melancholoy of Haruhi Suzumiya TV series, mainly because it's a mediocre series that constantly threatens to become awesome with moments of brilliance...until it quickly counters those with episode upon episode of characters just talking to each other (usually about absolutely nothing).  For every episode where Haruhi's subconscious god-powers are destroying the fabric of reality with Miyazaki-esque giant monsters, there's an episode devoted to scrounging around town looking for a heater in the winter while characters complain about being bored.

The show's fallen on hard times over the years due to a spectacularly awful 2nd season (just Google the phrase "Endless Eight" if you want to know why), so this film was made to placate the fans of the original novels. Unfortunately, that's just about all this film will appeal to, because this is one of the most inaccessible films I've ever seen, one that not only references events in the series but also requires that you have near-photographic recollection of certain past events.  I also can't state enough how ****ING LOOOOOONG this animated film is, clocking in at over 2 hours 45 minutes in length with a story that could easily be told in 1 1/2 hours.  In case you're keeping score, that makes this the 2nd longest film in animation history behind one of the Captain Harlock movies.  It's largely boring, redundant (I think the characters spend a good 15 minuted discussing dimensional/temporal theory in regards to time travel), it wastes fantastic animation on the most trivial of motions while withholding it most scenes, and the movie ends in a total plot hole that the movie openly admits exists and doesn't really care to close.

Worst of all, though, is that the movie is just completely pointless.  There is a very important character development that sets the events of this film in motion and finally moves the overall Haruhi storyline forward, and by the end of the film that character development is rendered null and void.  I mean that literally: The character development is removed via time travel.  It just makes this incredibly-bloated film even more aggravating to watch, since it's like the film is openly throwing in your face that you just wasted nearly 3 hours of your life on boring trash.  And the only reason it's 3 hours long is because they transcribed the original novel page-by-page so as to not piss off the die-hard Japanese Haruhi fanbase.  This could have been a decent movie if it had an editor, but as it is it's just disappointing (like most of Haruhi).

At least the English dub is good, as usual, and those moments of great animation are pretty fantastic.  It's just a pity that a movie with an idea this interesting had to approach it in such a boring manner.  Back to the Future this is not.

[oohhboy]

I really liked Disappearance. I hated the endless eight, but the second season does drop in some very important/good episodes into the overall series. The series as a whole becomes a lot better if viewed chronologically, not by release date. The endless Eight BS is skippable as nothing but the last episode of that arc mean anything. The only episodes outside of the endless eight I honestly dislike are the 2 part arc on the island.

I view Disappearance as more of a proper 2nd season. While I agree it is quite demanding on the viewer, it's rewarding for the observant. Also this movie isn't about Haruhi, it's about Nagato and Kyon. The Haruhi series isn't directly about Haruhi, it's about the characters that surround her maintaining the masquerade. If it means they have to hump around town after a heater, that's what has to be done. Wiping out Haruhi's development was a necessity and only exists for Kyon/the viewer.

The attention to detail and the adherence to the novels is both a blessing and a curse. Even with just the first season , the Haruhi Universe has become extremely intricate. Diversion from the novels would require more work than sticking to them. That said, it's no excuse for the endless eight which only occupied a handful of paragraphs sucking down 5-7 episodes of time, effort and money only because the "second" season had out ran the books that is contained within the first season. They couldn't move forward as it would have stepped into Disappearance. The length was a necessity without cutting it in two kill bill style making it an even slower movie or applying western style pacing which would have destroyed the movie. The pacing is consistant with the TV series.

I really like how even they were with the animation. Virtually every show out there cheap out on the quite moments stacking the action scenes, which makes sense for budgetary reasons, but does produce a more uneven film. If nothing else, it makes the talk scenes a lot more interesting since it breaks aways from talking heads.

As for the plot holes, I am not too sure what you are referring to, but Disappearance isn't the end of the series. I haven't read the novels, but if the series hold true, they will come back to that one way or another. New/more Haruhi has been in flux since endless eight and the Lead VA daling with a brain tumour and a scandal. She appears to be alright and back at work.

Personally, not making more Haruhi is leaving money on the table. As long as they don't pull another endless eight, they should be able to pick right up from where Disappearance ends. I fully expect more in the future.

[ThePerm]

You're the lousiest poster on this site, Oblivion. You'd be perfect for a staff role.

upgrade!

[Miyamoto]

Game Change. 9.5/10.

[nickmitch]

Agreed.  They made her a much more likeable character in the book.  Also, the book, written in first person - drew a lot of comparisons between her character and and Prim, thus cementing Katniss' desire to protect/love her.  The movie didn't really share that.

I was actually thinking how the movie might've been better had Katniss been narrating the whole thing. I was frequently wondering what was going through her mind. The intensity of the situation had to be much more stressing than her face was showing.

[nickmitch]

My problem was that the sponsor system was never really explained. And there was a huge amount of time from the "earn sponsorship" plot point and the actual sponsor saving the character's life. And the girl eating the berries wasn't super obvious to me. Sorry if I wasn't paying enough attention, but this was another scene where the shakey cam was distracting, especially since it was a somewhat important plot point occurring in a very fast scene. And Catnip (or w/e the **** her name is) just says, "Dude!" and the guy just looks at her and says "I'm sorry, I didn't know!" He needed three words to make that clear. The movie took the time to explain the **** out of the hallucinogenic bees, but zero seconds on poisonous berries that the characters almost used to kill themselves and are again used to imply the death sentence put on the king of games beard guy.

actually the scene with the berries was spelled out (iirc). Dude was grabbing berries and she said "those are something something berries. eat those and you'll be dead in minutes". to which he replied "oh, I didn't know." and that all coincided with fox face having a hand and face full of berries.
of course that is all paraphrased as I don't remember the exact phrasing, but I'm pretty sure that's how it went down in the movie... but I could be remembering it wrong.

I really don't remember the dialogue from that scene at all. I remember she said the name of the berries and was yelling at him or whatever. And when I saw the body, I was thinking, "the hell happened to her?" I dunno. I hadn't brought a date to the movies in a while, so maybe I was a little more distracted than usual.

[noname2200]

I hope all you newly minted Jennifer Lawrence fans find some time to watch the actress in her oscar-nominated breakout role as the lead in 2010's Winter's Bone.

That's where I've seen her before! But yeah...I fell asleep during that movie. It's a terrible movie (the parts that I saw).

The parts that you didn't weren't much better, unfortunately. She's an awesome actress, but her breakout movie left a lot to be desired.

Anyways, also saw The Hunger Games, chipping in my two cents. It was good. Hardly a perfect movie, and the chemistry between the two protagonists was completely lacking (apparently that's intentional?), but I liked it nonetheless. Basically a better version of Battle Royale. Although if they go off to fight the evil repressive government in the sequel, I'm calling total plaigarism, instead of run of the mill plaigarism!

[Oblivion]

It wasn't explained well in the movie, but the "chemistry" between the two leads is supposed to be a show for the people watching the Games. They later fall in love for real, of course.

[noname2200]

It wasn't explained well in the movie, but the "chemistry" between the two leads is supposed to be a show for the people watching the Games. They later fall in love for real, of course.

I kind of guessed the first part, judging from the importance placed on playing to the crowd, but it's good to have it confirmed. Did the book ever explain the limits of the sponsoring system, by the by? Because otherwise the game seems unbalanced.

Erm, more unbalanced than having 18 year olds fighting 12 year olds to the death, that is.

Okay, I probably just answered my own question.

[UncleBob]

I kind of guessed the first part, judging from the importance placed on playing to the crowd, but it's good to have it confirmed. Did the book ever explain the limits of the sponsoring system, by the by? Because otherwise the game seems unbalanced.

Yes and no.  It's mentioned that stuff gets more expensive as the games go on, but I'm not sure if that means it's more expensive to send stuff or if the mentor can only choose to buy items from a particular selection to send in.

[Plugabugz]

So whats to stop people simply sending in rocket launchers, grenades and flamethrowers?

That would massively unbalance the game to anyone who got those.

[Halbred]

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil: Good, but it got old pretty quickly. Not enough Turdyk.

Win/Win: Paul Giamatti is one of my favorite actors, and this movie re-enforces that idea.

Melancholia: Did I already talk about this movie? Very slow-moving. I ended up not liking it.

Martha Marcy May Marlene: Goddamn, what a movie. VERY good, but disturbing at times. Elizabeth Olsen's FIRST ROLE. She's gonna have an incredible career.

[TJ Spyke]

It wasn't explained well in the movie, but the "chemistry" between the two leads is supposed to be a show for the people watching the Games. They later fall in love for real, of course.

Actually, I thought they made it quite clear in the movie. Katniss even seemed shocked and opposed to the idea and only did it because it would help get more sponsors.

[broodwars]

I recently rewatched the first Mortal Kombat movie, via the digital version I acquired from the recent game's "Komplete Edition."  It's silly and more than a little bit cheesy, but I was surprised at how well it holds up.  It's a shame this director went on to completely destroy the Resident Evil franchise, because this movie was quite good.  It's not my favorite game-based movie (that would probably be Silent Hill), but it's easily in the Top 3.

Now to deal with an earlier post I've been putting off replying to because I have to break it down:

The Haruhi series isn't directly about Haruhi, it's about the characters that surround her maintaining the masquerade. If it means they have to hump around town after a heater, that's what has to be done. Wiping out Haruhi's development was a necessity and only exists for Kyon/the viewer.

First, the character development I alluded to earlier was Yuki's, not Haruhi.  She has a major character development chronologically at the beginning of the story, and by the end it's completely wiped out to return the series to status quo.  Second, the story being focused on the characters around Haruhi would be great if these characters were the slightest bit interesting.  Even Kyon isn't fun to watch without Haruhi around to provide him wacky scenarios and absurd speeches for him to mock in his inner monologue.

The length was a necessity without cutting it in two kill bill style making it an even slower movie or applying western style pacing which would have destroyed the movie. The pacing is consistant with the TV series.

There is so much needless filler in the movie that you could easily cut this story down to fit a 90 minutes movie and lose nothing.  For instance, was it really necessary to have Kyon slumping around asking around for the missing Haruhi and freaking out for what at least felt (if it wasn't so long in reality) 30 minutes of screen time?  The movie goes to extreme lengths to depict every single interaction in the movie when it really isn't necessary, like when it spends 5 or so minutes on Haruhi looking for ways to get some school clothes so they wouldn't be bothered by the staff while in the school.  Was that really necessary?  Did all the characters really need to spend what had to be 10 minutes debating quantum causality in the most dry and boring way possible?  This movie could have edited out all the needless redundancy and come out a better movie.  If you want all the details, read the book.

If nothing else, it makes the talk scenes a lot more interesting since it breaks aways from talking heads.

"break away from talking heads?"  Are you kidding?  Half the movie must be characters just standing or sitting next to each other talking with their arms crossed.

As for the plot holes, I am not too sure what you are referring to

There are a couple that crop-up towards the end of the movie:

1.  The one girl (I don't remember her name) is apparently still an android associated with Yuki in the new timeline, despite Haruhi no longer being a god in that timeline and therefor there being no reason for the Universal Thought Entity to deploy observers to watch Haruhi.

2.  That battle sequence at the end ends with Kyon falling unconscious after being stabbed, with his future self and future others resolving the situation off-screen and presumably fixing Yuki.  Not only is that bad writing, but then the movie ends without the characters traveling back in time to commit those actions.  The movie acknowledges that this is a plot hole through Kyon's monologue, but it's really bad writing and feels unsatisfying.

Personally, not making more Haruhi is leaving money on the table. As long as they don't pull another endless eight, they should be able to pick right up from where Disappearance ends. I fully expect more in the future.

Well, I'd heard that the Haruhi franchise had waned so much in Japan thanks to Endless Eight that this movie was probably going to be the last Haruhi story animated.  They could make more, but as far as a I know so far they haven't announced that they will, and that's what I meant.

[Kairon]

Win/Win: Paul Giamatti is one of my favorite actors, and this movie re-enforces that idea.

100% agreed. This is the movie that finally got my Mom to like Paul Giamatti too so... Mission Accomplished.

Martha Marcy May Marlene: Goddamn, what a movie. VERY good, but disturbing at times. Elizabeth Olsen's FIRST ROLE. She's gonna have an incredible career.

I need to see this movie.

Recently I watched Immortals, which I expected to be a bad movie, but OMG the HATS that Mickey Rourke gets to wear! ROFL! And his lines! "The gods... the gods... the gods..." &D And then Zeus as the most severe "old wise man" ever when he starts deliberately making things HARDER for the hero! The story had interesting underpinnings but was ultimately confusing, non-sensical, and had very little meaningful character depth. I feel a little bit sorry for Frieda Pinto, who I had only ever seen before in Slumdog Millionaire. {Netflix Rating: 2/5)

Compared to Immortals, Wrath of the Titans was a GREAT movie! ... Okay, that's not saying much. But since this sequel wasn't directly mutilating my memories of the original claymation movie, I felt that it wasn't slaughtering as many of my sacred cows. (Thank GOD they killed off IO, Andromeda is the woman for Perseus and ain't nothing ever gonna change that) I think the sad thing is that they had some really capable talent in this movie, but the screen writers took pains to NOT spend ANY time on any sort of character development I guess. I mean, even extending the somewhat short-feeling movie just 10-15 more minutes would've done worlds of good for a character like Andromeda, especially with Rosamund Pike. Just ONE or TWO more scenes spent making us identify with the characters would've made this an honest to god "okay" movie. I have to say though, that I am personally giving this movie a bit of a pass because after the hatred I generated for its predecessor, this one had a very low bar to surpass and it did it handily. (Netflix Rating: 3/5)

Oh, and I'm still sad Alexa Davalos didn't get a chance to reprise her role. The modern day Titans movie are just INTENT on underutilizing their acting talent. (Netflix Rating: 3/5)

Speaking of Alexa Davalos, she's one of the actors in the ensemble drama/romance/comedy Feast of Love. @_@ I thought the movie was going to be a nice relaxing romance with Morgan Freeman dispensing sage advice to the rest of the ensemble cast, but Davalos is half of a whirlwind Romeo+Juliet couple who have several love-making scenes in the first half of the movie which ultimately caused me to close the blinds in the house. But the real center of the story is Greg Kinnear's character, who gets his heart stomped on MULTIPLE times. And then Morgan Freeman's character, instead of being self-assured, is wrestling with his own sense of guilt and loss when not watching all the young'uns make fools of themselves through love.

It's ultimately an uplifting piece, but thinking about it none of the characters get a get-out-of-jail-free card when it comes to the dangers and complexity of love. Not the movie I expected, still a movie I'm glad to have watched. (Netflix Rating: 3/5)

[Adrock]

Silent Hill
It's been a few years since I watched Silent Hill. It holds up pretty well and it's still my favorite videogame adaptation. The movie isn't without some issues. A few things are a bit confusing, namely the timeline. 30 years have passed since the failed sacrifice of Alessa and the events of the film but no one looks like they aged. Also, the movie doesn't really delve into the metaphorical Silent Hill which I suppose may have been too heavy for the average moviegoer.

Still, it's entertaining despite some cringe worthy lines and occasional lack of direction (at times, Rose insists on doing things or going places just because, not because something leads her there). There's isn't a lot of info on the sequel but I'm a little curious how they plan to bring Radha Mitchell and Sean Bean back without Jodelle Ferland, the character of Sharon Da Silva isn't even in it.

Lucky Number Slevin
Excellent movie. I feel like saying too much about this movie could potentially something. Highly recommended.

[broodwars]

Silent Hill
It's been a few years since I watched Silent Hill. It holds up pretty well and it's still my favorite videogame adaptation. The movie isn't without some issues. A few things are a bit confusing, namely the timeline. 30 years have passed since the failed sacrifice of Alessa and the events of the film but no one looks like they aged. Also, the movie doesn't really delve into the metaphorical Silent Hill which I suppose may have been too heavy for the average moviegoer.

Considering that the average movie-goer and critic apparently didn't understand the movie's story despite the lengthy exposition dump near the end that explained everything they need to know....yeah, I think the SH2-style metaphors would have lost them.  Apart from Sean Bean's character (who seems to exist merely as a point of reference and backstory) and some corny lines, I really like Silent Hill and it's my favorite video game film as well.  I really don't have a good feeling about the sequel, though, given that Christopher Gans isn't returning as the director and it's being hyped as a 3D movie.  Ugh.

[Adrock]

I remember reading that Sean Bean's character was added because studio executives balked at the mostly female cast. I'm not really sure why Christophe Gans and Roger Avery insisted on making the Harry Mason character from the original game female. Sean Bean could have easily played that role. Not that Radha Mitchell did a bad job; just seems like an odd change. It felt like they really just wanted the comparison between Rose/Sharon and Dahlia/Alessa to be more obvious.

I was a bit worried when I read that Christophe Gans wasn't returning but I hadn't heard of Gans before Silent Hill (Brotherhood of the Wolf is apparently good but I've only seen the 1st 15 minutes) so I'm willing to give Michael J. Bassett a chance. Gans did a good job but the aforementioned expository dump at the end is evidence of questionable writing and direction, the former being mostly Roger Avery's fault. A story shouldn't need that to make sense, especially narrated which is doubly cheating. If anything, I'm worried that Bassett tries to make the sequel too accessible, forgoing much of the mystery that makes Silent Hill such a cool franchise.

I don't mind the inclusion of 3D. It just seems like one of those things lesser known directors have thrust upon them by studio executives. Christopher Nolan can tell WB to suck it and make The Dark Knight Rises the way he wants because he earned that right and conceding 3D is worth more to WB than the backlash of dismissing Nolan for not complying. Bassett doesn't have that luxury but as long as he's more focused on making a good film and not throwing in 3D tricks, Revelations should be fine with or without it.

[Morari]

Martha Marcy May Marlene: Goddamn, what a movie. VERY good, but disturbing at times. Elizabeth Olsen's FIRST ROLE. She's gonna have an incredible career.

Boring. Nothing happens and there is no ending. Am I supposed to feel sorry for someone stupid enough to allow themselves to be brainwashed? No thanks.

[Plugabugz]

The Cold Light of Day - I'm not sure how this is Henry Cavill in an action movie when he didnt actually do any action. Bruce Willis did. Lots of running and shooting with a gun with infinite bullets and driving around, often badly.

Still worth watching to get an idea for Man of Steel next year.

[Halbred]

Martha Marcy May Marlene: Goddamn, what a movie. VERY good, but disturbing at times. Elizabeth Olsen's FIRST ROLE. She's gonna have an incredible career.

Boring. Nothing happens and there is no ending. Am I supposed to feel sorry for someone stupid enough to allow themselves to be brainwashed? No thanks.

I mean, I questioned that too. But seriously, cults EXIST. Certain kinds of people are drawn to them. I think that's one of the movie's big questions: who IS Martha (Marcy May)? I don't think SHE knows. That's the point.

Re: Silent Hill

I haven't seen it in a long time, but I really liked it when I did see it. I was really bothered by the ending. It wasn't clear at all what happened (were they in the Otherworld and never got out? Did they die? Does Sean Bean even care anymore?). I also hated the exposition at the end, almost as much as the exposition in "Shutter Island" (which literally has a chalkboard). But the creature effects were fantastic, and the use of music from SH3 was appreciated. As for a sequel, I've heard it's going to be similar to SH3, although, given the end of the first movie, HOW?

[Adrock]

My understanding of the ending is that Dark Alessa and Sharon merged at the end and Alessa was made whole again. The movie wasn't terrible clear on this but I think Alessa actually had powers which were magnified by her hatred after Christabella and the cult tried to burn her (rather than gaining powers after surviving the burning ritual). Anyway, Rose and the newly reborn Alessa (under the guise of Sharon) seem to still be in Silent Hill at the end of the film and that's the part I don't get. I have my theories (one being that Alessa chooses to stay in Silent Hill, a place where her power is most potent, and she remains there with Rose because, ultimately, she still wants a mother). I don't mind endings left to interpretations but it's hard to make a sequel that way. A sequel forces a single interpretation on an open ending which makes the open ending no longer left to interpretation.

Silent Hill Revelations stars Adelaide Clemens as Heather Mason who I'm assuming is just Sharon/Alessa. I don't really like when roles are recast but Jodelle Ferland still isn't old enough to play an 18 years old Heather. Like Silent Hill 3, The Order is the catalyst for the plot in Revelations and according to Christophe Gans, the cult in the first film was not The Order so, in the film series, there are 2 cults in the town of Silent Hill. The circumstances for Heather/Alessa leaving Silent Hill are unclear but it seems like Heather doesn't know she's Alessa though we can count on her finding out. Did Alessa/Sharon split herself in 2 (again) to evade The Order? Did she wipe her own memory? In any case, once she left Silent Hill, it seems like she found her adoptive father, Christopher Da Silva, and he raised her in the real world. That would explain how Sean Bean returns anyway. While on the run from The Order, Christopher changed their names to Harry and Heather Mason. That's my theory anyway.

[TrueNerd]

I saw an advance screening of CABIN IN THE WOODS a couple weeks ago. I bring it up now because it comes out tomorrow and I'm guessing there's a good chance a majority of the people on this forum will enjoy it.

I dunno if you've seen the commercial for this movie that sells it as a completely generic, cliched, straight horror movie, but know that it is not any of those things. This is a deconstruction of the genre, done with the utmost of respect and love. It is also hilarious. The basic set up (and this isn't a spoiler as it's more or less laid out in the very first scene ) is that there's this group of college kids going to a cabin for the weekend. Bad things are going to happen to them but there's also this group of scientists that are pulling the strings on the bad things happening at the cabin. Again, this is laid out in the first scene. First shot, even. I won't share more as the movie is constantly going to delightful places from this premise. There aren't really any twists, but I rarely knew where it was headed which was great. The final act is insane.

In short, CABIN is a ton of fun. If you like horror movies at all, you should watch this immediately.