Movie News, Reviews, and Discussion Super-Thread

[Phoenix Dark]

Centurion

Went in with high expectations and they were met. It's a very well done action film that's basically pretty simple - a group of elite Roman soldiers getting chased by a horde of Scottish warriors, including a badass hot chick. Fassbender is great in it, every battle - large or skirmish - is very well done.

I hope Neil Marshall directs more Game Of Thrones eps btw. He did the definitive, best ep imo (Blackwater)

[cool breeze]

Total Recall (2012) ...more like Totally Dull! Movie is a stinker.  I'm not against remakes at all but this is a witless and straight take on the idea.  It's like Repo Men, if anyone saw that.  The ending

spoiler (click to show/hide)

also does a "or maybe it was all a dream?!" thing.  Jessica Biel's character says something like "WOW THIS IS UNREAL! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!" and Colin Farrell looks up at a billboard that says REKALL on it. 

[close]

Ted ...allegedly a comedy movie.

Premium Rush ...almost, but not quite stupid enough.  At times it had that Torque vibe.  Other times it tried to be sincere or clever and fell flat on its face.  Overall it was pretty fun.  Michael Shannon hamming it up big time made it.

Hunger Games ...pretty OK movie.  Had a hard time distinguishing between the earnest and phony parts.  I guess this movie is for kids and it's all written in a certain way, but

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I was sure the entire relationship between catnip and peter was an act to 'trick' the system.  It's all so hokey.

[close]

  Got pretty annoyed that catnip never retrieved her arrows.  And there's crazy amount of exposition in the first half that doesn't really payoff in the second half.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

So, they establish that sponsors are incredibly important, and the tributes clown themselves out to gain appeal.  Maybe it happened with the other contestants.  catnip had the highest appeal and got two items, and we know that for one of them Woody Harrelson went around begging people to help her.  What was the point of all that then? did the sponsors pay for her jacket? or were those items at the start placed there by the sponsors? if so, it's a mad dash to get to them anyway and it isn't helpful. 

Woody Harrelson says that water is super important and dying from natural causes is the biggest threat.  That doesn't really happen.  kano kills everyone.  the black guy kills the knife girl.  the magic dogs kill the black guy.  I guess the berries and the bees count.  The bees were high in a tree and a direct result of catnip dropping them on a girl.  also, the black guy spares catnip for some reason.  it makes sense if he did it cause she protected the little girl, but he wouldn't have known that, so it doesn't make sense.  I guess he didn't want to kill people, although the goal is to kill people, and he just killed a girl before telling catnip "next time we meet, I'll kill you." but he was killed before then.  oh well.

At one point catnip tells peter to throw a metal ball thing and he initially refuses because his secret skill is throwing heavy objects, but he doesn't throw anything on the island.  He did showcase his ability to paint himself because cakes or whatever and he uses that on the island.  But in that case, he somehow escapes kano with an injured leg and manages to paint himself hidden and catnip finds him in like eight seconds because there's a streak of blood leading to him.  wtf, kano? they establish that he's been trained to win the game.  you cut a dude's leg with a sword, and he manages to escape? that's why I kept thinking peter was secretly working with kano to lure catnip to his location.

[close]

  That one dude had a cool beard.  lenny kravitz had glowing yellow eye shadow.  that woman dressed like a clown.  Toby Jones' hair.  They really made the 'civilized' world feel gaudy and that all was nice.

[Mupepe]

catnip

[Momo]

I don't think catnip's quiver actually ever lost arrow count. It was something I kept looking at and waiting to happen

[Verdigris Murder]

Also so did the Raid rip it off.

Probably yes.

Someone here posted proof that it was just synchronicity; I forget who, or in which thread.

Huh.

I watched enough of Taken 2 to decide it was shit. Neeson is plumper, and the fights are SERIOUSLY BADLY done.

My action films of 2012:

Dredd
Safe
Dark Shadows
The most recent Universal Soldier
Get the gringo

[Great Rumbler]

Dredd and The Raid were in production at roughly the same time, although Dredd's production was much longer. It was probably just a coincidence that they had some similarities.

[Bloodwake]

You like every movie, man.

If that were only true. Ugh.

[Bloodwake]

Django, this fucking movie

this.

what a crowd pleaser   see this in a group if you can

I second this. Christoph Waltz and DiCaprio are fucking great in this movie.

[Yeti]

Home Alone bothers me because they establish that Kevin's family can't call him because a tree knocked over their phone lines. But then Kevin is able to call to order a pizza, and call the police before ziplining to his treehouse.

[The Sceneman]

CHILDHOOD. DESTROYED.

anyways I re-watched They Live last night. Even better on second viewing. Movie is quickly becoming one of my favourites and my favourite John Carpenter film.

Soundtrack rules

[pilonv1]

Wreck It Ralph

Opened here two days ago, saw it tonight and really enjoyed it. Very basic Disney movie, but of course having a strong knowledge of the topic made it much more enjoyable, but it's also something you could easily take the kids to see and have everyone enjoy it on different levels.

Also some other shit I saw over the last month

Argo

Thought this was phenomenal even putting aside having a massive man crush for Ben Affleck. Just loved how the two parts of the story were woven together with completely different tones. And even though you know how it ends it still is incredibly gripping thanks to how they set up the characters and the writing.

The Expendables 1 & 2

Went into this expecting to hate them since I've never been a huge action movie fan, let alone Stallone fan, although I do like Statham, Willis and Li. I ended up enjoying them both and would probably go and see the third in at the cinema because of it. I think I liked the first as a movie more since the second one just seemed to want to blow it's load on cameos, even if they were awesome. The first movie had somewhat of a story, whilst the second one was hanging on by a thread.

[Great Rumbler]

So, apparently they're making hipster romantic-comedies in India now:

[Mupepe]

nice rack.

my nicca

(Image removed from quote.)

[Himu]

nice rack.

my nicca

(Image removed from quote.)

[Great Rumbler]

[Rahxephon91]

FUCK YES!

[Groogrux]

You are tearing me apart, Lisa!

[Joe Molotov]

wiseauface.jpg

[Great Rumbler]

[Diunx]

Man enough if enough! I'm gonna watch that motherfucker!

[BobFromPikeCreek]

The Hobbit

Pretty shitty I thought. As a spinoff of the LOTR movies it's just okay, but as an adaptation of The Hobbit it's AWFUL. The Hobbit is supposed to be a brisk, light-hearted little fish-out-of-water fantasy adventure novel. Not a bloated, crawling fantasy epic. That approach worked with the LOTR novels because THEY HAD THE CONTENT TO JUSTIFY IT. Barf. Awful movie.

[chronovore]

Les Miserables - Hugh Jackman is very good, the kid playing Marius is perfect, and Russell Crowe's dull, crawling voice more or less ruins Javert's songs, but is otherwise good in the role. He can act, he just can't sing well enough for the part. Amanda Seyfried is beautiful, but the woman playing Eponine is prettier and a better singer. Movie was great; I'll see it a few more times. For some reason, it felt like the audio was only coming from the front, no side or rear action -- I can't tell if the theater's speakers were malfunctioning, or if it was some weird artistic choice.

[Phoenix Dark]

Skyfall

Normally I can't stand Bond movies but this was fucking awesome. I'd say it's better than Casino Royale (which I also liked, overall) by far. The set (especially Shanghai) and action pieces were great, it was surprisingly funny, and the ending was great. It really beats you over the head with the "gettin' old" themes without anyone actually saying "I'm getting too old for this shit" though, especially the last stand of the climax. Which, while entertaining, did feel a bit too ridiculous in a Home Alone way lol

I wasn't sold on Bardem for much of the film, but eventually the role clicked with me.

[Phoenix Dark]

Yea haha. Still, dat helicopter was badass. I kept thinking "FUCK, someone make this a good videogame asap" 

[Phoenix Dark]

Yea that was stunning. Keep Nolan away from Bond (for now), let this guy direct again

Really the only legit bad scene to me was the Komodo dragon shit. That was typical Bond at its worse: cheesy and ugly. Everything else looked so good though.

[Cerveza mas fina]

The Watch: turdfest.

[Sho Nuff]

I also saw Les Miserables. Fantastic movie, but there were so many close-up shots that you could say the film was shot in 2nd person. I'll also say that the script's second-act problems are more obvious in a film compared to the stage version. Still, the songs were great. On My Own was probably my favorite.

Anne Hathaway killed it with I Dreamed A Dream, but I would have preferred Wolverine murdering Gladiator because he is super bad at singing

[Robo]

I liked when Bond leapt off that Komodo dragon's head.  That was so cool and funny and didn't look terrible at all.

[BlueTsunami]

I also saw Les Miserables. Fantastic movie, but there were so many close-up shots that you could say the film was shot in 2nd person. I'll also say that the script's second-act problems are more obvious in a film compared to the stage version. Still, the songs were great. On My Own was probably my favorite.

Anne Hathaway killed it with I Dreamed A Dream, but I would have preferred Wolverine murdering Gladiator because he is super bad at singing

Crow's singing sounded like it was emanating from the top of his mouth. Shat on every scene he was in.

[chronovore]

Watched Cloverfield finally. It was surprisingly good. In a theater, it probably would have made me motion-sick. On a 42" screen, it was just fine. The use of "found footage" with a high budget and good effects must have been a bit groundbreaking. Also, Odette Annable is so, so smangable. However, honestly, I found the first bit of the movie more confusing than I'd have expected. Somehow I thought the "main" cameraman had slept with the female lead, then I thought the male lead was... let's just say, I had my wires crossed and thought that people had been cheating on each other, and that they were going to work that thread into a monster movie. Happy to say, it is a significantly simpler and better told story than that.

The Watch: turdfest.

Dude. I wish I could have warned you away from this fecal pile. I like everyone in that movie, but it was just so, so bad. The best thing to come from it was freaking out a couple fellow boritos when I claimed it was the American remake of Attack the Block.

[Steve Contra]

I saw Skyfall.  Poor Daniel Craig must have shit his pants when he learned he had to act opposite both Dame Judi Dench and Javier Bardem.  Also, does Bond do any spying anymore, or is he just a dude who is a round when shit blows up?  Anyway, aside from Bardem and Dench it was pretty mediocre.

[Steve Contra]

Because the movies are kind of dumb?  I mean it's a well known fact at this point.

[Phoenix Dark]

Yea you'd think "James Bond" would be on every terrorist's watch list by now. I've long maintained that the best way to kill James Bond would be to inject his next shady, double crossing love interest with AIDS.

[Yeti]

That's kind of a long term solution, Bond always come along right at the apex of the villain's master plan for world domination. They need him dead or incapacitated now, not 20 years from now.

[Phoenix Dark]

But he's been fucking them over for 50 years! This plan should have started during the Roger Moore years

[Joe Molotov]

Or they could have just shot him in the head, instead of tying him to a laser or a bomb or something. But he's James Bond! You can't kill him. He'd just beat AIDS like Magic Johnson did.

[Mupepe]

Yeah, I watched John Dies At The End last night.  Very meh. 

[cool breeze]

But he's been fucking them over for 50 years! This plan should have started during the Roger Moore years

Daniel Craig is a Bond in his early years. Its been all but confirmed that James Bond is a code name for many different agents. Most of these Bond tropes were born in older times were exposition was key, and Skyfall was meant to honor the older and newer movies, basically celebrating all that is Bond. Does that answer enough of your questions?

well, actually (/dipshitnerd) Connery to Brosnan are the same person.  It's won't make sense if you ponder it but these movies are made for boring old men who wish they were exiting, so just roll with it.  Casino Royale was a reboot of the Bond franchise.

skyfall makes it confusing when

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bond takes out a DB5 from storage, complete with ejector seat and machine guns from Goldfinger.

[close]

[cool breeze]

you're better off.  liking the bond franchise is a curse, really.  doomed to a life of getting socks for christmas.

[ToxicAdam]

Saw Hook again for the first time in about 20 years. It was worse than I remembered and I thought it was mediocre back then.  It doesn't even work as a kids movie. As the action is shit and the storyline too convoluted for a kid.

Terrible casting choices drenched in Spielburgian schmaltz. The only redeeming thing was watching Julia Roberts completely fail when acting to a blue screen. The most shocking thing to me, was just how bad the special effects and sets were in this movie (especially for a Spielburg movie). It's hard to believe it came out during a time when Terminator 2 existed. 

[Phoenix Dark]

I liked Hook as a kid...

[Cerveza mas fina]

Rewatched Avatar and its still a melodramatic kids movie.

Every scene is clearly made to trigger this or that emotion and there is no suprise in the movie.

But there is something that makes you watch and watch and there goes three hours.

I cant put my finger on it. There is enough plainly to see stupid shit for me not to love it, but I cant hate it cause its appealing to some core emotions (in a super cheap and cheesy way).

Some of the dialog is so cringeworthy too, esp when jake scully tries to fly thay big bird thing he has some linea straight out of a bad video game.

[Mupepe]

Sounds like a James Cameron movie to me.

[chronovore]

Rewatched Avatar and its still a melodramatic kids movie.

Every scene is clearly made to trigger this or that emotion and there is no suprise in the movie.

But there is something that makes you watch and watch and there goes three hours.

I cant put my finger on it. There is enough plainly to see stupid shit for me not to love it, but I cant hate it cause its appealing to some core emotions (in a super cheap and cheesy way).

Some of the dialog is so cringeworthy too, esp when jake scully tries to fly thay big bird thing he has some linea straight out of a bad video game.

Just watch Disney's Pocahontas next time; at least there are some good songs.

[Rahxephon91]

Had a Pre-Nolan Batman marathon.

Batman-Tim Burton does what Nolan dosen't in that there is a specific look and feel to the movie. I mean i guess the Nolan movies do in that they feel more gritty and realistic. Thats cool, but the Burton ones have a way more moody atmosphere and cool look to them. I mean I like the cool matte paintings, kind of strange 1920's look of the city, and even the way the cops look. It's just kind of cool. Anyway the movie is just kind of fun and entertaining and it has better action scenes then any Nolan Batman movie. Batman also kills people and I like the focus on the fact that Batman is a freak and the Joker is competing with him. In that sense I don't think the reveal of him being his parents killers is that out of place since the movie is going for a "they are the same" theme. They had to create each other.

Returns-My favorite of these, because it's just so dark and strange. From the really horny Penguin, the dominatrix Catwomen, and freaking Christopher Walker, the movie is just a strange movie about incredibly broken people. Catwomen is really the best part of the movie. And the look continues to impress. These two are really the only ones that seem to come close to capturing the look of the Batman comics.

Forver-Well Nicole Kidman has never looked hotter. It's got some decent action scenes(1 that is really pointless)  that are better filmed then most of Nolan's Bat movies. Gothom city looks incredibly strange. I don't know, it's kind of Bad. The movie is unsure of it's plot and dosen't really do much with it's "Bruce is questing being Batman plot". I mean it kind of seems like he decides to stop being Batman out of nowhere. I mean they honestly tried with Robin and honestly Robin is ok. I mean he basically serves the same role JGL does in Rises and I liked the scene where he steals the Batmobile. It's dumb, but it's not as bad as Batman and Robin. It also has extreme drying.

Batman and Robin-It's just bad.

I've also recently watched:

Looper-Probably the best movie I saw all year. While it feels very big in idea, it's still a decent redemption story with all these big ideas as backgrounds for it. Really good.

Premium Rush-Just good old fun.

[Phoenix Dark]

[Rahxephon91]

What exactly is the plot of Batman Returns? Can you explain it in a paragraph? I won't argue that the film doesn't work from a stylistic standpoint, but the narrative was terrible.

The narrative isn't that great. I'm not quite sure why Christopher Walken's character really wants to make his power plant other then he is bad.

But anyway I'll try.

Shreck want's to build a power plant in Gotham, but it's not quite a power plant. Penguin was abounded by his rich parents and found and raised by the Red Triangle Circus who seems to actually go around and steal kids. Anyway, Penguin blackmails Shrek into helping him come above ground seemingly under the guise of looking for his parents. Meanwhile Catwomen discovers whats up with the Power Plant and Shreck kills her. The the movie really dosent explain how she keeps coming back and I guess expects you to just go with it because cats have 9 lives and shes Catwomen. Anyway her entire deal is that she is tired of being a victim in her bland life. There's some obvious feminist stuff with her lashing out against what I guess society has forced on her in her hohum life. Meanwhile Batman has been watching Penguin and Sherck and knows something is up and he also is falling for Catwomen as they both have a dual persona thing going on.   Anyway Sherck thinks he can use Penguin to vote out the mayor and make Penguin the mayor who will then vote in his power plant. Also they try and frame Batman for a crime because he is a "ally"(I think they say symbol of failed leadership) of the current mayor. Catwomen also wants in on their plan. Anyway the plan kind of goes heywhire. They kind of frame Batman, but he records Penguins gloating about his plan. Catwomen rejects the very horny penguin and so he "kills" her. Batman exposes Penguin and thus the mayor plan is screwed. Penguin starts his plan to kidnap all of Gotham's first borns, which was possibly his plan the entire time, because when he was at the hall of records and supposedly getting his parents information, he was actually writing down the first borns' of Gotham and his circus gang has a history of kidnapping. He tries to get Sherck's son, but Sherck gives up himself. Batman foils this plan. Then Penguin tries to use remote control penguins to missile bomb the city. Through the use of radio signal, Batman leads them all back to the Penguin's lair where a final confrontation happens. That leaves everyone dead, except Batman. And then maybe Catwoman as she has one life left.

[Phoenix Dark]

TLDR Tiger Woods

[Rahxephon91]

It's a pretty dumb plot.

[Rahxephon91]

The Burton Batmans are fantastically fun movies even if I prefer the Nolan Batmans. I really don't get this "you have to choose one definitive version" bullshit nerdlingers keep peddling, since they are both different and great for different reasons.

If we really want to talk about what is the best movie involving Batman, Mask Of Phantasm should be up there.

I haven't seen Mask of Phantasm since I was kid. I remember it being very good. I think maybe it's on Netflix streaming so I'll re-watch it.

I think the Nolan movies are better, but the Burton movies create some interesting looks and atmosphere. Plus I have nostalgia for them.

I do think Nolan is pretty bad at action scenes though.

[Bebpo]

Carnage

I like Polanski films.  I REALLY like Christoph Waltz, I sort like John C. Reilly (liked him more back in the P.T. Anderson drama days), but jeeeeez this was a waste of time.  Predictable, boring, shallow.  Truly unlikeable characters.  This movie was made for fast-forward 2.0 speed and even then it's a waste of 45 mins.

[fistfulofmetal]

Evil Dead full red band trailer:





edit. picked the wrong video. this is the full trailer ^^^

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[TakingBackSunday]

can't fucking wait.  initial news of the remake just pissed me off to no end, but this truly does seem like a spiritual successor to the first evil dead.

but no ash, right?  I thought the initial news was a girl would be ash

[Joe Molotov]

I'm cautiously optimistic.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Even though Diablo Cody co-wrote the screenplay, lawl.

[close]

[TakingBackSunday]

Last I read all her dialog and shit got thrown out.

Either way, I don't like the look of this. It's nothing remarkable and looks like a thousand other horror movies I can rent at the redbox. There's nothing that feels unique like the original and ESPECIALLY Evil Dead 2.

I also think the CGI looks super bad.

It looks just like what Drag Me To Hell looked like.  It's going to be mostly scary with lots of well-done camp.  Also I was of the opinion that most if not all of the effects in the trailers are practical ones, not CGI.

[fistfulofmetal]

I also think the CGI looks super bad.

where? I heard this and rewatched it again and could only see maybe 1 shot that was obviously cgi.

[Diunx]

I'm hoping for a simultaneous release over here, it's been a long time since I saw a horror film at the movies.

[Diunx]

Damn the redhead from Zero Dark Thirty is crazy hot dat mouth

[Great Rumbler]

Director: Malcolm D. Lee [Undercover Brother]
Writers: Pat Proft [Police Academy, The Naked Gun, Hot Shots: Part Deux] and David Zucker [Airplane!, The Naked Gun, Kentucky Fried Movie]

...

...

And this is what we get:

[Joe Molotov]

Danny Elfman am cry. :'( :'(