Starting the thread for this year! 1) Home – B+ There were some laughs in this one and it did keep me interested. But I wasn’t a fan of the Rihanna soundtrack, which I felt didn’t fit with the movie and Oh seemed like Sheldon in animated form. I have great respect for Parsons and his acting chops. I have never questioned the authenticity of his Sheldon Cooper, but I want to see him in something completely different and dramatic. 2) Next – C- This is an interesting plot, but Nicolas Cage’s acting kills this movie. First off, how does he bed Jessica Biel in one day? He just looks bored, not tortured or rebellious like the role calls for. Julianne Moore and the rest of the cast isn’t winning any Oscars either, but Cage sticks out like a sore thumb. 3) A Walk Among The Tombstones – A- I can’t put my finger on why I liked this movie. It is well shot and outside of the conventions of the clean as a whistle family and law enforcement officer going haggard to find the missing child, very similar to Hugh Jackman’s Prisoners. Liam Neeson is perfect as the tortured ex-cop and the murderers are truly psychotic. My only question for those who have seen this: do the murderers need a motivation as to why they were going after loved ones of drug dealers or can they just be psychotics? 4) Big Game – D+ How can a movie take Samuel L. Jackson and make him one of the wussiest President’s ever put to screen? You could laugh at this movie on the same level as Snakes On A Plane as it matches it improbably stupid scenes, but between Jackson spending most of the movie acting like a wimp and doing silly things, like claiming the Finnish kid’s ATV as “property of the United States of America,” it’s just painful to watch. Watch Victor Garber. He looks like he’s thinking: “I was in Titanic, Alias and Argo and now I’m doing this…”
Inside Out - BluRay - Rewatched this with the wife, she hadn't seen it. This is still so good, it had my wife crying. I cried when I watched it in the theater, so I already donated my sobs. This movie is just wonderful. Fantastic Four - On Demand - So I must be getting old, I actually enjoyed this movie. Listen, I'm not saying this is a good movie. It meanders, then is rushed, you can tell what was a reshoot vs what was originally filmed. Sometimes when you see an okay movie you say, "there is a better movie in there somewhere." Well thats not really true with this movie as is. I would be interested in seeing the original version of this movie, supposedly about an hour was excised by the studio, with additional reshoots. I really like the setup to this movie, made it feel real. I liked the cast for the most part and the back stories for the characters. Thing was fantastically done, even if Doom was incredibly silly. Even though this is the film version thats furthers away from the source material, I like it the most as a Fantastic Four movie.
1). Star Wars TFA...I will not spoil 2). Spy...They needed more Jason...they needed not to make this movie, but there I was, on the plane! 3). Sideways...Paul Giamatti rules 4). First 6 episodes of "Game of Thrones"...not technically a movie, but wow!!!
Star Wars TFA - Just ok for me. and yesterday... Jurassic Park - Still awesome. Wife had never seen it, liked it better than World. Three Men and a Little Lady - Not really bad, just very unnecessary. Radio Rebel(Disney TV movie)- Now we're getting to really bad. I suppose I'm not quite the target audience tho.
Hatefull Eight - theater - At almost 3 hours long, this is what you call a slow burn. There are tracking shots of snow that go on for several minutes. Some beautiful vistas of serious cold mountains, that linger fully in frame. Out of no where Tarintino starts to narrate the movie, then abruptly stops. Would have been kinda cool if it was the whole movie but just weird being a small portion of it. Some witty banter, probably the best Samuel L. Jackson performance in years. However not even close to Tarintinos best. However the score for this movie is out of this world great.
Stephen Fry: More Fool Me (2014) - Netflix Instant An Ideal Husband (1999) - Netflix Instant The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) - Netflix Instant Started off watchin' a talk/readin' of Stephen Fry, when he was promotin' his latest memoir. Since it was broadcast in theaters at the time, I'm countin' it. He refers to Oscar Wilde quite a bit, and I realized I'd never watched, as far as I know, any movies based off Wilde's work. So, I watched AIH the next night, and TIOBE last night.
Didn't I read that Merlot sales went down because of Sideways? I loved that movie too. Kind of one of those random movies that seems to stick with you for no reason.
Stephen Fry: More Fool Me (2014) - Netflix Instant An Ideal Husband (1999) - Netflix Instant The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) - Netflix Instant The Hateful Eight - theater Man on Wire - Netflix Instant Went to see the latest from Quentin Tarantino at an early bird matinee with my two oldest nephews yesterday. First trip to the theater this year! They agree with me that it was a good movie. My biggest issues were the narration that comes out of nowhere for no reason in the middle of it, and again in the next to last chapter, just to talk about what was bein' shown onscreen. It seemed as if Tarantino suddenly decided his audience was comprised of idiots. Watchin' the documentary MoW on Netflix now.
1. The Hateful Eight (2015) - 1/10 - ⍟⍟⍟½ I like this somewhere between Django Unchained and Inglourious Basterds, which I think is Tarantino's masterpiece. Walton Goggins and Jennifer Jason Leigh both give some amazing performances, and I really enjoyed the rest of the cast, too. They really should have kept Channing Tatum's role a secret. That was the only qualm I had with the film. The movie plays like a violent stage play. It's almost three hours, but I was so engrossed in the movie it barely felt like two.
Just curious does anyone on here use Letterboxd? If yes than I can post the link to my profile. I use it to keep a diary of films I see (and films I have seen) and I found it really useful last year.
1) Home – B+ 2) Next – C- 3) A Walk Among The Tombstones – A- 4) Big Game – D+ 5) Tomorrowland - C+ This movie is driven by its two female leads, Britt Robertson and Raffey Cassidy (as Athena). They trump the male leads, George Clooney and Hugh Laurie, both looking wooden with the exception of Laurie's big monologue about his intentions. Speaking of his intentions, the message of the human race being indifferent to our own demise and we do nothing to stop it has been done before, so has the emotionless robot who suddenly understands emotion because of one person as is the we can solve all our problems if we just believe. I know it's a Disney movie, but it's just a paint by numbers story with a cardboard villain.
Stephen Fry: More Fool Me (2014) - Netflix Instant An Ideal Husband (1999) - Netflix Instant The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) - Netflix Instant The Hateful Eight - theater Man on Wire - Netflix Instant The Walk - DVD The Martian - DVD Rented a couple of DVDs durin' my lunch break yesterday. Watched The Walk first, since it is the same story as the documentary Man on Wire only dramatized with Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the French wirewalker Philippe Petit. To be honest, I preferred the documentary. Followed that with Matt Damon on Mars. I enjoyed that one quite a bit, wish I could have gotten to it when it was in theaters. Saw a couple of other recent releases I wanted to see, next trip to the theater won't be 'til Kung Fu Panda 3.
Just came back from seeing The Revenant and I really enjoyed it. Leo was good at conveying that will to survive and you can really feel his emotion and struggle. I also really liked the cinematography and while some of the shots of trees and sky are a bit overindulgent, it was really beautiful to look at. I liked this movie so much more than Birdman. B+
Stephen Fry: More Fool Me (2014) - Netflix Instant An Ideal Husband (1999) - Netflix Instant The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) - Netflix Instant The Hateful Eight - theater Man on Wire - Netflix Instant The Walk - DVD The Martian - DVD Drumline: A New Beat - Netflix Instant Stephen King's Thinner - Netflix Instant Swamp Thing - HuluPlus Watched the low budget sequel to Drumline this evenin'. Basically the same movie as the first, but with a girl instead of a guy, and with less money, since they filmed it on a practice field, not in any actual stadiums. Nick Cannon & Leonard Roberts reprise their roles from the original, Cannon's Devon went on be an award winnin' musician while Roberts returns to A&T as the band leader. Watchin' Thinner via Netflix Instant now... - edit - Well, Thinner was suitably creepy, didn't care much for the end, though. Followed that last night with Swamp Thing, which was great for an '80s B Monster Movie. Can't tell if that's what they were gunnin' for, or just how it turned out, though.
Stephen Fry: More Fool Me (2014) - Netflix Instant An Ideal Husband (1999) - Netflix Instant The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) - Netflix Instant The Hateful Eight - theater Man on Wire - Netflix Instant The Walk - DVD The Martian - DVD Drumline: A New Beat - Netflix Instant Stephen King's Thinner - Netflix Instant Swamp Thing - HuluPlus Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension - DVD Sleeping with Other People - DVD Rented a couple of DVDs the other night from Hasting's. The latest PA movie was worse than normal. Who knew addin' actual special effects would make 'em worse? Followed that with what I think is the best updated version of When Harry Met Sally... Enjoyed the hell out of it, still thinkin' about it a few days later. Even has one of my new favorite lines, in response to the advice to just be yourself, "I don't think I like me well enough to introduce him to other people."
1. Joy: A 2. Lawless: B Joy was an intriguing film and one I'd have waited for DVD as nothing is really gained by seeing it in the larger format. However, I had a BOGO coupon and the wife was interested. Solid acting all around. Lawless: Upfront it states it's based on real events and later in the credits you realize it's based off a biography. Not sure how many liberties might've been taken for dramatic effect but this was a fun film to be certain! Kinda bummed to not be bringing my annual viewing history along for the ride this time into 2016. These new forums have a character max apparently.
I agree, Inside Out came out really well. There are a lot of way the story could have come out worse, but I think they deserve a lot of credit for balancing all the elements so well. It's been amusing to watch some of the behind the scenes stuff with the cast and crew, and seeing the effort they put in to make sure Joy would seem sympathetic without potentially being too overbearing or being too happy and wanting Riley to be that way. Same with Sadness, who has her good points despite her instinct to mope. The scenes where Joy realizes she and Sadness are two sides of the same coin is probably the best element of the movie.