Topic: Rate the last movie you've seen

[Adrock]

Tucker and Dale Vs Evil
I liked it. Nice reversal of horror movie cliches. The plot twist was unnecessary. Katrina Bowden showed incredible range as an actress in this movie. In 30 Rock, she pays a hot, naive secretary. Here, she plays a hot, mildy naive college student. It's nice to see her expand her horizons.

Tron Legacy
Having never seen the original Tron, I was surprised that I was able to keep up in this movie. I didn't know was that Tron was a character (I had always thought Tron was the computer world). That doesn't really matter because he was such a pointless character here and his sudden change of computer-heart came out of no where and with the worst line of the movie to boot ("I fight for the users!" /facepalm). I appreciated the movie for what it was. CG Jeff Bridges looked fine except when he spoke. A friend of mine considered Quorra in the real world a plot-twist. I didn't. I was more surprised that she made it out of the room and outside without Alan asking any questions.

True Grit (2010)
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I've never seen the original adaptation though I discovered that it's on Netflix so I saved it to my queue. Brilliant acting from Jeff Bridges (and the entire cast, really) but that's not surprise. Hailee Steinfeld, in particular, was exceptionally good. The horse trading scene stood out as especially excellent. I didn't know Matt Damon was in the movie until he showed up. The only fault I found with the movie was that the ending seemed rushed but that's usually how I feel about Coen Bros. movies.

The Assassin Next Door
Not bad, but nothing special. The ending is kind of a bummer. Olga Kurylenko was hot as usual.

Run Fatboy Run
I liked it even though it's one of those everything-works-out-for-the-best-in-the-end kind of movies. It worked out too perfectly even for a comedy though I'm glad the reunion was suggested instead of shown. I was wondering how they were going to explain how Dennis was going to run an entire marathon despite being a horribly out of shape smoker who only trained for 3 weeks since training for a marathon is like having a full-time job and it takes months to prepare for. The explanation made sense despite being a total cop-out.

Trade
Re-watched this movie a couple hours ago. I still like it. The events of the movie are a little too coincidental which shook my suspension of disbelief though it didn't take me completely out of the experience even the second time around. I suppose stranger things have happened. I became invested in the characters so I was a bit forgiving. This scene gets me every time. It's far more powerful in context so if you haven't seen the movie, I recommend doing so (it flat-out makes no sense otherwise). Trade isn't an exceptional movie by any means, but that scene has stuck with me for some 4 years and probably will for the rest of my life.

[broodwars]

Tron Legacy
Having never seen the original Tron, I was surprised that I was able to keep up in this movie. I didn't know was that Tron was a character (I had always thought Tron was the computer world). That doesn't really matter because he was such a pointless character here and his sudden change of computer-heart came out of no where and with the worst line of the movie to boot ("I fight for the users!" /facepalm). I appreciated the movie for what it was. CG Jeff Bridges looked fine except when he spoke. A friend of mine considered Quorra in the real world a plot-twist. I didn't. I was more surprised that she made it out of the room and outside without Alan asking any questions.

I liked Tron legacy as well despite its many, many writing problems and the slight creepiness of CG Bridges.  As for the line you find so awful, it's awful for a reason: it's a callback to the original awful Tron movie, where I believe it was something Tron said.

I've been watching some movies as well:

The Hunchback of Notre Dame - This was the first time I'd seen the movie since its original theatrical release.  I remember really coming away from the movie back then pretty indifferent, largely because of the incredibly obnoxious and unnecessary gargoyle characters.  Watching it now, knowing what I was in for, I actually really liked the movie.  Tony Jay gave one of his best performances in his long career as Judge Claude Frollo, and he really is the one piece that makes that movie work.  He's easily one of the best Disney Villains.  The animation is just great as well (it's really a shame how much thunder live action films have stolen from animated films through the use of CG, because the camera work in this film is fantastic and couldn't have been done in live action films of its time).  Finally, I loved this epic soundtrack when I was a kid and I still really like it now.  It's one of the few Disney musicals that actually feels natural in that format, with the only song that felt forced being...yes...the one that has the ****ing gargoyles singing, and even that song's not that bad.  It just doesn't belong in this movie.

As for the gargoyles, they didn't bother me as much this time around, but I still feel they really only have one good moment in the entire movie (that being the reference to the Wizard of Oz during the big battle sequence).  They feel like something forced on the movie by Michael Eisner because Quasimodo wouldn't be marketable as a Happy Meal toy.  Overall, though, I loved this movie and it's probably up in my top 5 Disney animated films (along with The Lion King, Beauty & the Beast, The Great Mouse Detective, and The Rescuers Down Under).  It's a pity this movie underperformed as badly as it did, because I'd love to have this movie on Blu-Ray, but that'll probably never happen. It didn't even get a good DVD release.

I also watched the Direct to Video "sequel" as well, and...yeah, the less said about it, the better.  It's not horrible IMO, but just spectacularly lazy and cheesy.  It looks like a long-lost episode of Gummi Bears, except nowhere near as good.

Somewhat under protest (I wanted to see The Adventures of Tintin, but the show times weren't cooperating with our schedule), I also saw Sherlock Holmes 2: Game of Shadows and it's...ok.  Most of what I found good about the first movie is still good in the sequel (Watson, Mrs. Watson, the action sequences, Holmes when he's not stoned, etc.), and everything I found bad about the first movie is still bad in the sequel (the frequent homosexual jokes, despite the fact that Holmes and Watson clearly aren't in any incarnation of the franchise.  Why can't Hollywood just let a good friendship be a good friendship? It's the reaction to Frodo and Sam all over again...).  I thought the writing was significantly weaker, but I'll gladly take this movie's Moriarty over the one in the recent Sherlock Holmes TV series .  Not a great movie and weaker than the first, but still enjoyable IMO.

[broodwars]

Finally, I also finally managed to sit through My Neighbor Totoro in its entirety, and I'm glad I managed to get past the utterly horrible first half hour because I thought the movie did improve over time.  Unfortunately, my big sticking point with this movie remains: this movie doesn't have a story, and most of the characters are completely pointless (was there any reason the obnoxious little boy that got so much screen time had to be in this movie?).  I don't mean that the story is bad.  I mean it simply doesn't exist.  The movie is just two girls going about their daily life and occasionally squeeeing at various Japanese mystical creatures and spirits.  To some extent, I'm fine with that because creatures like the Cat Bus and Totoro are very memorable and fun to watch on-screen (though the soot spirits were rather blatantly re-used in Spirited Away, but hey...Gibli recycles character designs every single movie, so why not creatures as well?).  I especially loved watching Totoro's exaggerated reactions to things, and how the movie would permit the slightest bit of wonder when he was on-screen.

Unfortunately, though, the movie waits 75 minutes (of a 90 minute movie) to attempt to tell a story with a sudden total tonal shift about the girls having a fight and thinking their mother is about to die of some mysterious illness.  That gets cleared up exceptionally easily, though, and the movie just...stops.  I suppose it was going for some message about the importance of family, but that feels really badly implemented because the characters are so bland and their interactions even more so.  When I want the main characters to get off the screen so I can see a giant blue raccoon do a butt stomp to test out a new umbrella, I think there are problems with this movie's writing.

As much as I think the movie totally failed about 2/3 of its running time, I do think there are things to like about this film.  That middle 1/3 where the kids discover Totoro and get a peek at the magic of the forest spirits is really cool.  I wanted to see more of that, because I really liked seeing those creatures interacting on-screen.  Like nearly all Studio Gibli movies, there's also a definite environmental message, but here I think it plays just fine because it's delivered in a very subtle manner.  Man isn't denounced as evil, and nature isn't sanctified as perfect.  The movie shows this family being respectful to the forest, and the forest in turn is protective and respectful back to the family.  That's subtlety sorely lacking in the other Gibli environmental movies.

Finally, as much as I make fun of Studio Gibli's criminal lack of creativity when it comes to character designs, they have always done one thing exceptionally well: child animation.  These are some of the most realistic-moving children I've ever seen in an animated movie.  They're clumsy, they have trouble shifting their weight as they move, they tend to climb over things more than casually walk or run over them, and when they find out that doing something obnoxious to other characters triggers a funny response they keep doing it.  The rest of the animation is only kind of "ok" IMO, and unfortunately this DVD transfer on the official Disney release looks like **** with all the film grain and color flickers, but the child animation looks great.

So I didn't like Totoro, but I think it has some redeeming values.  I just wish the writers had written an actual story to go with the interesting creatures.

[Adrock]

As for the line you find so awful, it's awful for a reason: it's a callback to the original awful Tron movie, where I believe it was something Tron said.

I figured as much... It's probably terrible in the original as well.

[Morari]

As for the line you find so awful, it's awful for a reason: it's a callback to the original awful Tron movie, where I believe it was something Tron said.

I figured as much... It's probably terrible in the original as well.

It's much better in context. The religious overtones of those who believe in and worship the Users, versus the authoritarian forces of the MCP is really what makes it memorable. You have to take into consideration just how large of a part Tron plays in the first film. He's not a throwaway villain like in Legacy, he's the secondary protagonist.

Legacy was alright. It did a nice job of updating the visual style, along with an awesome soundtrack. The writing was lazy and piss-poor though. It was largely a rehash of a better movie (Tron) with the idiotic gimmick of ISOs thrown in. You could feel just how dumbed down is was, how they avoided actually making parallels to technology. After all, it was that kind of high mindedness that made the original film such a failure. Given how much of a part of everyone's lives computers are nowadays, I don't think it should have been a worry.

I would have rather seen a plot gleamed from Tron 2.0 and the comic books. Make the antagonist a computer virus, who's slowing infecting and turning the inhabitants of the Grid into violent monstrosities. Hell, you could even make Clu the source of the infection if that's what you wanted. And if you really need Quorra, then make her an anti-virus... not some made up techno-Buddhist tripe.

The movie was a huge letdown. It was a great deal of style with very little substance. Perhaps the third film will be better, now that everyone has been caught up on the story with that Legacy rehash.

[Halbred]

Doesn't the chick in Hunchback have a huge rack (for a Disney movie)?

[TJ Spyke]

Indeed:

[Morari]

She's no Princess Jasmine...

[nickmitch]

I dunno, they're pretty comparable:


Could be the age difference.

[Ceric]

As for the line you find so awful, it's awful for a reason: it's a callback to the original awful Tron movie, where I believe it was something Tron said.

I figured as much... It's probably terrible in the original as well.

To put that line into perpective to Tron "The User" = God.  He's from the old system not the new one developed by Flynn where the movie takes place.  That line in Context is actuallly the equivalent of:  "I fight for God."  Its just as cheesy as when Religious Fighter say it.  If Tron was in our world he would be a devote <insert religion here>.  The change of heart is really him coming back to his religion that he has strayed from.

The original Tron has a very prevalent theme of religion in it.  The movie when viewed from that light is God being stranded in the Land of Man.  A theme that many movies have explored before.

[bustin98]

Tron Legacy has so many references to religion you can make a case for about any way to look at it.

[jrlibrarian]

It might be a coincidence (don't quote me on this), but according to my friends, Tron: Legacy absolutes apes the Mormon story of creation. Odd, huh?


The Perfect Score: 4/10
Yeah, what to say about this wreck? Cliched stereotypes (slutty hacker, stoner, dumb jock, semi-average guy, slightly better-than average guy, valedictorian), ludicrous plot, ridiculously forced messages (Don't do drugs! Don't steal! Be yourself!), all mixed together in an Ocean's Eleven style rip-off. The only thing saving this movie from being absolutely worthless is Scarlett Johannsen's performance, but even she can't help this one. Give it a failing grade.

[Stogi]

Paranormal Activity 3

First one was good. Second one blew. Third one delivers.

The story is the same except that the main girls throughout the series are just that...young girls. Some freaky **** starts happening when one of the girls starts talking to an 'imaginary friend'. The girls' step-dad just happens to be a video editor and sets up cameras all over the house. Enter the same **** we've come to expect.

Except this one delivers the fear. Despite the slow ramp up of doors slamming shut and things being knocked over, there is a genuine creepiness that unlike the others delivers in the end. I'm not talking about the story, I'm talking about finally sustaining that pinnacle of fear where all you can think is "This is great" or you feel uncomfortable enough that you can't help but pause it or at least think "I want to watch something else." There's plenty of jump scares (one of which is amazingly creative) and I honestly thought that would be it, so much so I almost turned it off early, but this one is the only one out of the series that finally brings the fear in the end. Unfortunately, it doesn't end with a bang but a whimper, but the journey there is fantastic. The last 20 minutes are awesome up until that last 30 seconds.

Is it a perfect movie? Not at all. There are questions that are left unanswered and things that don't make sense. Also, it seems a bit sloppy, even for a found footage type movie. Still I recommend it. Watch by yourself or with your girl - all lights off, sound turned up.

 

[Stogi]

A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas

I thought there was no way it could be as funny as Guantanamo Bay and I was right. Maybe I need to see it again completely obliterated, but I rarely found myself laughing, if at all. Disappointing.

[ThePerm]

Midnight in Paris 8/10 a totally enjoyable movie. One time I went to the theater to watch "Taxi to the Dark Side" thinking it would be like this movie. I hadn't watched any trailers so I didn't know I would be completely wrong. Its also a theater where you can drink, so I was like damn it. This movie was good though.

Don't be Afraid of the Dark 8/10, and it only gets that high because it totally reminds me of Eternal Darkness. The mansion layout while a typical movie mansion bears a striking resemblance to the one on ED. Oh Guillermo Del Toro your love of lord Cthulhu shines through this.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Had another Day @ the Movies tonite. It was pretty horrible....

Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol
Easily the best movie of the day and the first one we watched...
I've enjoyed all the MI movies so far so this delivered exactly what I expected from it.
No complaints.

Devil Inside Me
I would have said this was the boringest movie of the night.... but I might be lying. It's hard to say. Let's just say I fell asleep multiple times during all the slooow build up to amounted to a movie I feel like I've already watched. It's shot like a documentary and my girl was scared the entire time, but I just couldn't make it through it. But I also never made it through The Exorcist in one sitting either so I'm not surprised I didn't make it though this one either.

Underworld: Awakening
I am under the impression that this movie series would do much better as a TV series than a set of movies. I like the content and the world and Kate Bekinsale is as hot as ever, but you can tell they are gonna drag this out over as many movies as we will pay to go see. They should just strike a deal with FX or HBO and do an hour long episodes miniseries and run that for a few seasons. I would watch it. As far as the movie goes.... it an unlimited ammo frag fest. She had dual fully auto rapid firing pistols that never seem to run out of ammo... except this one time where it did... but then magically had unlimited ammo again mere seconds later.
I had no choice but to rank this the second best movie of the night.

Haywire
I watched this because it was getting some pretty good reviews and Gina Carino is pretty hot and can kick ass, so we gave it shot.... YAAAAAAWN. That was a mistake, we should have went and watched Contraband instead (Sherlock Holmes didn't fit into the schedule). Most of the movie didn't really make sense and they didn't really explain it till the very end, but that wasn't the issue. It was BOOOOORIIIIIIING!!! I actually busted out my phone in the middle of the movie and started playing Words With Friends. There are so many scenes where you are just watching the character on screen doing nothing special. Like a scene where Gina was walking down a street... no dialog, just walking.... they spent 2 minutes on this walking scene to set up that she was being followed by the guy across the street when it wasn't necessary. They could have handled that in 20 seconds and not 2 minutes. And I understand why they gave her a not so chatty character (she have a very masculine tone to her voice) but there didn't need to be so much silence. They did the same thing in Drive, but in drive it was still fun to watch and made sense for the character since he hardly ever talked.
Gina also fights like a sav in this movie, but the fights are also not all that exciting either.
I blame the director for most of this movies shortcomings and this movie tied with Devil Inside for the worst movie of the night.

[oohhboy]

You do realise Underworld is a vehicle to deliver Kate Beckensale's ass with a British accent in body suits to men of taste everywhere. Complaining about it is like being Adam Sandler in Click. The only reason he could complain about having her as his wife is that he is a closet gay, never mind that movie is **** anyway despite Walken.

Might be watch Sherlock or MI4 tomorrow. Don't know which, since we will be flipping a coin.

[Stogi]

I must be the only one who doesn't dig her look in Underworld. Pale, with short black hair and blue eyes isn't doin it for me. She looks much better as her normal self, with brown long wavy hair and brown eyes.






Can't hate on what she's wearing though.

[oohhboy]

The third picture is brokenish and isn't very good representation of her since it's filtered/photoshopped to hell.

I like the pale, it looks a **** load more natural than the first 2 pictures which look comically orange. I have to ask who spray painted that.

[ThePerm]

idk, i see an underworld trailer and its like "yeah, i've seen this Matrix vampire **** before", the series needs a facelift, it just has a dated look. It just looks like more of the same, thin plot, predictable action, style over substance, tired style.
I kinda hate that it is nearly faux black and white bluish chroma keying. They might as well grow some balls and go black and white.

[oohhboy]

I have given myself a day to think about the new Sherlock Holmes movie to cool off.

It's a good movie but it will not win any new fans. It's a little dumber, bigger, "more", even a little excessive compared to the first movie and they go a little too far with Holmes by giving him what is essentially a super power. The characters, the bromance, the cinematography, all excellent. The plot is little weak at times and that mostly related to Holme's superpower. The ending is something amazing that shouldn't have worked, but works so well.

While I wish the movie as a whole is more grounded, it is a thoroughly enjoyable watch. If you liked the first movie, go see this one, it's "More", if not, skip it.

[TrueNerd]

Haywire - Highly derivative (It's Bourne without amnesia), but Soderbergh shoots everything in such a steady, well composed manner that I didn't care all that much. There's not much going for it other than those action scenes, but there's enough of them where that's okay. It's also crazy that Soderbergh got the actors he did for this movie, (Hey look, Bill Paxton!) but I'm guessing it was quite a bit of fun for everyone involved. Fun fluff, I say.

Also a technical sidenote, but you can clearly tell this movie was shot on the Red camera, in a bad way. Soderbergh went digital years ago and maybe he likes how it looks all the time, but there were some shots in the daylight that just looked cheap. But again, it could have been an intentional choice on his part.

[Lithium]

Black Swan

This movie is really fucked, but awesome.

[TJ Spyke]

I could not disagree more, I tried giving the movie a chance but hated it. I don't see why it got so much praise. I was bored to death by it, found the story to be horrendous, and just did not enjoy it.

[Fatty The Hutt]

I wanted to love Black Swan but I thought it wasn't messed up enough. They explained too much.
 
I wanted her to ACTUALLY turn into the Black Swan. I was in for some Magic Realism to invade the story, or at least some ambiguity. Instead they copped out and made sure you knew that it was all just in her head.
 
Some good bits but overall, not satisfying.