Author Topic: Movie News, Reviews, and Discussion Super-Thread (Read 5715229 times)

Dickie Dee · « **Reply #21960 on:** February 13, 2015, 02:55:56 PM »

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/boobs-booze-and-black-people-hair-a-very-thorough-review-of-black-or-white/Content?oid=21594370

Dickie Dee · « **Reply #21961 on:** February 13, 2015, 03:15:29 PM »

Hate posting thrice in a row but:

Enl · « **Reply #21962 on:** February 13, 2015, 04:11:24 PM »

I definitely recommend Honeymoon as well. I saw it a while back and thought it was a creepy little take on

spoiler (click to show/hide)

alien abduction.

[close]

I recently got around to finally watching Álex de la Iglesia's Witching & Bitching. I've been a long time fan of this director's takes on black comedy, but I did find this to be one of his weaker films. Even with all its craziness it feels pretty unfocused. Basically it seemed like he had a really fun concept of people trapped in a cannibalistic witch village, executes that idea wonderfully, but everything around it just feels shoved in without a clear idea on where to take those characters or threads. Despite its problem I still had a hell of a lot of fun with it especially in the later third when things just get balls out crazy (including a nice musical number!). I still recommend it, even if I feel it isn't up to par with his other films.

Great Rumbler · « **Reply #21963 on:** February 13, 2015, 05:29:55 PM »

You had me at "bleak Victorian horror", Mr. Del Toro.

Eric P · « **Reply #21964 on:** February 14, 2015, 07:30:39 AM »

Quote from: Enl on February 13, 2015, 04:11:24 PM

I definitely recommend Honeymoon as well. I saw it a while back and thought it was a creepy little take on

i'd edit that out for spoilers

Raban · « **Reply #21965 on:** February 15, 2015, 12:00:58 AM »

watched Fifty Shades of Grey with some friends today. I get the feeling I'll be one of the only people on this board who unironically sees this movie, but here goes...

I genuinely enjoyed this! I was expecting something hilariously awful, but it was actually much more hilarious than awful. I tried and failed to read the book, but this movie appears to distill the experience into a very beautifully shot, expertly scored film. The acting is hit and miss, but Dakota Johnson manages to be a lovably earnest lead to great effect for a good majority of the run time.

And of course, the sex. Your mileage may vary, but personally I found those scenes accomplished everything they set out to do.

Love love love. I'm only a little ashamed to admit I'm on board for the sequel

EDIT: I just found out that the DP for this movie (Seamus McGarvey) also did The Avengers. Not at all surprised. Both films have deliciously colorful cinematography.

HyperZoneWasAwesome · « **Reply #21966 on:** February 15, 2015, 12:58:05 AM »

if it helps take heat off of Raban I'll cop to enjoying the recent Jennifer Lopez joint The Boy Next Door. Which is a fantastically trashy, wonderfully stupid, irony-free throwback to the early 90's "Evil Fill in the Blank-Domestic Thriller" genre (Tenant - Pacific Heights, Nanny - The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Roommate - Single White Female, Secretary - The Temp, Cop - Unlawful Entry, etc).

In fact the film is so stupid one can't help but wonder if the people making it were aware of its lunk headedness. But I think not, because the thin veneer of clumsy artistic pretension precludes its self-knowing (and self-mocking) stupidity. That of course makes all the proceedings even funnier. This is the kind of film that critics write entertaining reviews of, podcasters gleefully rip apart, and I enjoy perhaps much more then I should admit to. But if I enjoyed it, doesn't that make it good?

A question of taste, of course. But for me, The Boy Next Door was the best utter shite movie I've seen in some time.

fistfulofmetal · « **Reply #21967 on:** February 15, 2015, 05:04:02 PM »

Kingsman is pretty great.

Cerveza mas fina · « **Reply #21968 on:** February 15, 2015, 05:07:25 PM »

John Dies at the End

Great flick, wish I watched this with my high school bud and a bud

Dazed and Confused

Watch this if you want to feel old, and to see Ben Affleck before he made it big.

chronovore · « **Reply #21969 on:** February 15, 2015, 06:27:08 PM »

Read the book, Lager. The book’s a breeze, has more detail and more laughs.

Flannel Boy · « **Reply #21970 on:** February 15, 2015, 07:34:17 PM »

Boyhood is worse than Jay Cutler. The movie is boring, and when it's not, it's cringe-worthy

spoiler (click to show/hide)

"Thank you for telling me that I could go to college and saving me White liberal Person."

[close]

I don't care that it's like life. If I wanted life, I wouldn't be watching a movie.

chronovore · « **Reply #21971 on:** February 15, 2015, 10:05:17 PM »

Haywire is pretty awesome. The fights are really great, and the editing is loving on the sequence instead of Bourne-jerky-cam.

Great Rumbler · « **Reply #21972 on:** February 15, 2015, 10:36:23 PM »

Haywire was one of those movies that came out during the Bourne rip-off craze that should have been just as dull as the other ripoffs, but somehow managed to be an exceptionally cool movie with some incredible fight scenes.

benjipwns · « **Reply #21973 on:** February 15, 2015, 11:00:15 PM »

Permanent Midnight
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

I didn't initially realize they were both going to be about TV writers with..."secrets" when I put them in queue.

Quaker · « **Reply #21974 on:** February 16, 2015, 12:47:26 AM »

Quote from: benjipwns on February 15, 2015, 11:00:15 PM

Permanent Midnight
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

I didn't initially realize they were both going to be about TV writers with..."secrets" when I put them in queue.

Now you just need Auto Focus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_Focus

benjipwns · « **Reply #21975 on:** February 16, 2015, 01:07:25 AM »

I actually watched that on TV (IFC or something) a few weeks ago.

I love Greg Kinnear. rip in peace U.S. Rake.

All three are pretty good movies, not great but good enough even if Clooney gets a little new director incomprehensible scene fuckery with shit near the end of Confessions. Wouldn't recommend watching them back to back to back though.

I think Surveillance was my favorite I watched this last week just because Bill Pulman was killing it so hard.

StealthFan · « **Reply #21976 on:** February 16, 2015, 02:14:50 AM »

Auto Focus owned. Loved it. Confessions...I like it. It's not great but it was entertaining. I think that and Good Night are Clooney's only good directorial efforts.

I saw a French action film called The Nest. It was awesome. Really cool stuff.

benjipwns · « **Reply #21977 on:** February 16, 2015, 02:56:47 AM »

The one part I didn't like about Good Night were where it'd kinda stop and be like "ARE YOU UNDERSTANDING THE POINT YET?!?" and so you got these weird little scenes.

The use of archive footage was a great idea, Permanent Midnight did that. Confessions did a tiny bit of it but more traditionally. Apparently at test screenings for Good Night people complained that the actor playing McCarthy was too over the top.

benjipwns · « **Reply #21978 on:** February 16, 2015, 02:58:56 AM »

Also, Clooney's best movie in any role (actor, director, etc.) is Three Kings.

Fight me to the death those who disagree and thus are factually wrong.

HyperZoneWasAwesome · « **Reply #21979 on:** February 16, 2015, 03:46:09 AM »

I would say that Straitharin and Ray Wise were both given career best parts in Good Night and killed the shit outta them. Good dang flick.

and Three Kings is a fine choice, but I'd say Micheal Clayton is at least a strong runner up.

benjipwns · « **Reply #21980 on:** February 16, 2015, 04:02:08 AM »

Ray Wise to me is from Reaper and Twin Peaks.

Vertigo · « **Reply #21981 on:** February 16, 2015, 07:54:04 AM »

Quote from: benjipwns on February 16, 2015, 02:58:56 AM

Also, Clooney's best movie in any role (actor, director, etc.) is Three Kings.

Fight me to the death those who disagree and thus are factually wrong.

I'd say Michael Clayton and Out Of Sight are high on his best roles.

toku · « **Reply #21982 on:** February 16, 2015, 08:48:33 AM »

My vote goes to Three Kings, Out of Sigh but I'll always have a soft spot for tribal tat clooney in From Dusk Til Dawn

fistfulofmetal · « **Reply #21983 on:** February 16, 2015, 09:02:46 AM »

Michael Clayton
Ocean's Eleven
Three Kings

dark house candidate - The American

Joe Molotov · « **Reply #21984 on:** February 16, 2015, 10:13:15 AM »

Fantastic Mr. Fox (furry enthusiast option)

Robo · « **Reply #21985 on:** February 16, 2015, 11:35:41 AM »

O Brother, obvs. But go ahead and be wrong if you like.

ToxicAdam · « **Reply #21986 on:** February 16, 2015, 12:53:46 PM »

I've never watched a Clooney movie and was blown away by his performance. It's always steady and somewhat understated. He's like a modern Cary Grant.

Madrun Badrun · « **Reply #21987 on:** February 16, 2015, 01:45:53 PM »

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #21988 on:** February 16, 2015, 02:03:57 PM »

Quote from: Mamacint on February 13, 2015, 03:15:29 PM

Hate posting thrice in a row but:

I want to be excited but...it looks like a Tim Burton flick...

Great Rumbler · « **Reply #21989 on:** February 16, 2015, 02:08:05 PM »

It doesn't have Johnny Depp or Helena Bonham Carter in it, so there's that.

chronovore · « **Reply #21990 on:** February 16, 2015, 06:13:20 PM »

Quote from: Great Rumbler on February 16, 2015, 02:08:05 PM

It doesn't have Johnny Depp or Helena Bonham Carter in it, so there's that.

Looks like Tom Hiddleston going down on Alice in Wonderland, so I'm in.

Eric P · « **Reply #21991 on:** February 17, 2015, 09:27:52 AM »

Why Don't You Go Play In Hell? A MILLION STARS. The latest from Sion Sono is a high concept violent as fuck black comedy that reads like a Tarantino Parody / homage played out through Japanese Cinema. A group of young filmmakers named the Fuck Bombers want to create movies that will put Japan cinema back on the map, but they grow old and never gain the success they want. The daughter of a Yakuza boss is a child "star" who will never break out beyond a popular commercials. The Boss decides that the only way to make his daughter a star is for the Yakuza to make a film themselves. A hanger on of the Fuck Bombers rescues the daughter but due to a filmic misunderstanding is thought to be her boyfriend. In a fit of kindness, she convinces her father to let him make the film for her. THEN. THINGS. GO. CRAZY.

Look, if you like films, you should watch this movie. It's fucking great. It's a comedy so it doesn't plumb the human experience they way that Love Exposure does, but it never fails to be entertaining.

chronovore · « **Reply #21992 on:** February 18, 2015, 12:12:30 AM »

LOOKS AWESOME. I’ll need to see if it’s playing in Japan still!

This came up afterward:

Looks like Paranormal meets Insane Clown Posse (Haunted Houses: How Do They Work?)

Brehvolution · « **Reply #21993 on:** February 18, 2015, 09:55:28 AM »

Gone Girl

While entertaining, I had some questions when it was over. Why was she able to play the kidnap story after her attempt to frame him for her death fell through? The investigator never had any questions for her like why was a shitload of her blood found in the kitchen? Was he in on it the whole time?

Joe Molotov · « **Reply #21994 on:** February 18, 2015, 11:14:45 AM »

Quote from: Brehvolution on February 18, 2015, 09:55:28 AM

Gone Girl

While entertaining, I had some questions when it was over. Why was she able to play the kidnap story after her attempt to frame him for her death fell through? The investigator never had any questions for her like why was a shitload of her blood found in the kitchen? Was he in on it the whole time?

I think it's more like everyone got the happy ending they wanted, so they chose to ignore the loose ends. The public was satisfied with the conclusion of the case, so there was no need for the cops to try to dig any deeper. (Note: I haven't seen the movie, just going off the book)

Eric P · « **Reply #21995 on:** February 18, 2015, 12:49:51 PM »

Great Rumbler · « **Reply #21996 on:** February 18, 2015, 10:04:22 PM »

New Alien movie with Neil Blomkamp as director is happening:

Quote from: http://www.ew.com/article/2015/02/18/new-alien-movie-works-director-neill-blomkamp?asdf

Neill Blomkamp, director of District 9 and the upcoming Chappie, has closed a deal with 20th Century Fox to develop a script for a new Alien movie.

Variety reported Wednesday that the untitled sci-fi film will be a separate project from Ridley Scott’s Prometheus 2, which is still in the works at Fox, and that the film will take place after that sequel.

EW confirmed with Fox that Ridley Scott/Scott Free will produce the Blomkamp-directed project, as well as producing and directing Prometheus 2.

Eric P · « **Reply #21997 on:** February 19, 2015, 09:44:14 AM »

does anyone here use letterboxd.com? It's essentially goodreads for films

Huff · « **Reply #21998 on:** February 19, 2015, 12:10:46 PM »

Draft day, while pretty meh, was way better than it should have been.

Great Rumbler · « **Reply #21999 on:** February 19, 2015, 12:19:25 PM »

Blomkamp is definitely on the short list of people I'd trust to handle a new Alien movie. But like you said, it's not there's really a downside here other than adding another disappointing Alien movie to the pile if things turn out bad.

Steve Contra · « **Reply #22000 on:** February 19, 2015, 12:20:37 PM »

Birdman. I liked the dedication to making the acting very theatrical, and Naomi Watts is still my waifu, but man what a heavy handed clumsy film.

Eric P · « **Reply #22001 on:** February 19, 2015, 01:26:41 PM »

Quote from: Steve Contra on February 19, 2015, 12:20:37 PM

Birdman. I liked the dedication to making the acting very theatrical, and Naomi Watts is still my waifu, but man what a heavy handed clumsy film.

i was thrilled from the technical perspective at first but the more distance i get from the film the more the flaws are apparent to me. i dig craft and process a lot so there is much here that appeals to me, but when i turn a critical eye to uh everything else it really starts to fall apart. i think i need to see it again

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #22002 on:** February 19, 2015, 02:16:25 PM »

Hard to get excited when one or both of these things will ruin it, like all modern Alien films

1) Studio meddling. Wouldn't be surprised if the budget process is fucked or tampered with.
2) Writing. Blomkamp is cool but what will the script look like? His art is nice (outside of the Ripley alien suit...) but I'll wait until I know who's writing.

Promethus was bad IMO. Started interesting but the bad script really degraded minute to minute. I'm tired of sci fi/horror films based entirely around characters acting distinguished mentally-challenged/making stupid decisions. Not to mention the plot holes. Trash...

HyperZoneWasAwesome · « **Reply #22003 on:** February 19, 2015, 02:55:34 PM »

at least Prometheus got The Counselor made, I'd consider that an upside.

(waits patiently for absolutely bonkers African crime noir from Neil Bloomkamp)

Great Rumbler · « **Reply #22004 on:** February 19, 2015, 04:40:43 PM »

Quote from: mojovonio on February 19, 2015, 02:24:37 PM

His wife is probably writing, she wrote D9 and Chappie.

Yeah, it'll almost certainly be either Blomkamp by himself or Blomkamp and his wife writing it.

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #22005 on:** February 19, 2015, 05:06:13 PM »

Quote from: Eric P on February 19, 2015, 09:44:14 AM

does anyone here use letterboxd.com? It's essentially goodreads for films

me. are we not friends on there? it rules

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #22006 on:** February 19, 2015, 05:09:51 PM »

Quote from: Steve Contra on February 19, 2015, 12:20:37 PM

Birdman. I liked the dedication to making the acting very theatrical, and Naomi Watts is still my waifu, but man what a heavy handed clumsy film.

There are definitely clumsy bits and the after the first 10 minutes, I wasn't sure I was gonna like it, but it grew on me. Something about Keaton's performance for me just always pulls it back together when it starts to lose itself.

toku · « **Reply #22007 on:** February 19, 2015, 05:31:04 PM »

Full expecting an Alien Resurrection situation here, especially if they're dead set on bringing back Ripley and co. Gonna be pretty as fuck with some cool tech but you have to be hella stoned to tune the story & dialogue out.

Knowing blomkamp too there's gonna be a lot of not so subtle shit in there about class divisions.

Eric P · « **Reply #22008 on:** February 19, 2015, 05:47:06 PM »

Quote from: CajoleJuice on February 19, 2015, 05:06:13 PM

Quote from: Eric P on February 19, 2015, 09:44:14 AM
does anyone here use letterboxd.com? It's essentially goodreads for films

me. are we not friends on there? it rules

yah i think we are

i'm home sick so i've been grinding out films all day

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #22009 on:** February 20, 2015, 01:35:57 AM »

Watched Foxcatcher this evening. Was very good and impressed by it. Movie had a great tone and feeling to it. Ruffalo nails his performance and was excellent. Tatum was okay. I think Carell was okay too, even good. I still think a lesser known actor playing that role would have been better though because its hard not to unsee Carell. That's probably not fair to him but that's the way my brain works.

It just felt like a nice slow rolling trainwreck that you knew was coming. A much better movie to me than say American Sniper to pull something at random. Which is not to say whether its actually realistic to what actually happened. Just that it doesn't really matter to me. It's a good movie first and foremost as compared to something like American Sniper which was just flawed as a movie.

Enl · « **Reply #22010 on:** February 20, 2015, 03:07:24 AM »

I guess this would be an appropriate place to put this. Rifftrax announced their Live line up for this year. Gone are the big budget cheese that they have been doing or the past couple of years (even though I ended up enjoying those), and now filled with all low budget greatness. Very much looking forward to seeing a new Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny riff.

The Room - May 6th
Sharknado 2 - July 9th
Miami Connection - October 1st
Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny - December 3rd

toku · « **Reply #22011 on:** February 20, 2015, 04:15:43 AM »

Rufus · « **Reply #22012 on:** February 20, 2015, 04:35:18 AM »

Never noticed the slight strabismus he has.

Great Rumbler · « **Reply #22013 on:** February 20, 2015, 09:14:16 AM »

Quote from: Enl on February 20, 2015, 03:07:24 AM

I guess this would be an appropriate place to put this. The Rifftrax Live announced their line up for this year. Gone are the big budget cheese that they have been doing or the past couple of years (even though I ended up enjoying those), and now filled with all low budget greatness. Very much looking forward to seeing a new Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny riff.

The Room - May 6th
Sharknado 2 - July 9th
Miami Connection - October 1st
Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny - December 3rd

iconoclast · « **Reply #22014 on:** February 20, 2015, 05:48:22 PM »

Quote from: Eric P on February 19, 2015, 09:44:14 AM

does anyone here use letterboxd.com? It's essentially goodreads for films

I do: http://letterboxd.com/iconoclast/

Why Don't You Go Play in Hell? is awesome. Probably my second favorite Sono film after Love Exposure, though there are still a bunch I haven't seen.

Brehvolution · « **Reply #22015 on:** February 20, 2015, 07:04:35 PM »

Quote from: Joe Molotov on February 18, 2015, 11:14:45 AM

Quote from: Brehvolution on February 18, 2015, 09:55:28 AM
Gone Girl

While entertaining, I had some questions when it was over. Why was she able to play the kidnap story after her attempt to frame him for her death fell through? The investigator never had any questions for her like why was a shitload of her blood found in the kitchen? Was he in on it the whole time?

I think it's more like everyone got the happy ending they wanted, so they chose to ignore the loose ends. The public was satisfied with the conclusion of the case, so there was no need for the cops to try to dig any deeper. (Note: I haven't seen the movie, just going off the book)

The movie made it look like he didn't want anything to do with her when he figured out what was going on. He knew she was a psychopath. When she came back, he slept in another room with a deadbolt because he was terrified. I only think he even went back in the house with her was just for media optics. If everyone was happy at the end, they didn't show it that way.

There were so many MRA triggers in this movie.

Joe Molotov · « **Reply #22016 on:** February 20, 2015, 09:40:31 PM »

Quote from: Brehvolution on February 20, 2015, 07:04:35 PM

Quote from: Joe Molotov on February 18, 2015, 11:14:45 AM
Quote from: Brehvolution on February 18, 2015, 09:55:28 AM
Gone Girl

While entertaining, I had some questions when it was over. Why was she able to play the kidnap story after her attempt to frame him for her death fell through? The investigator never had any questions for her like why was a shitload of her blood found in the kitchen? Was he in on it the whole time?

I think it's more like everyone got the happy ending they wanted, so they chose to ignore the loose ends. The public was satisfied with the conclusion of the case, so there was no need for the cops to try to dig any deeper. (Note: I haven't seen the movie, just going off the book)

The movie made it look like he didn't want anything to do with her when he figured out what was going on. He knew she was a psychopath. When she came back, he slept in another room with a deadbolt because he was terrified. I only think he even went back in the house with her was just for media optics. If everyone was happy at the end, they didn't show it that way.

There were so many MRA triggers in this movie.

I meant the public/cops/Nancy Grace all got a happy ending because they didn't look beyond the surface. Homeboy, of course, was straight fucked.

chronovore · « **Reply #22017 on:** February 21, 2015, 10:29:43 AM »

Quote from: Great Rumbler on February 15, 2015, 10:36:23 PM

Haywire was one of those movies that came out during the Bourne rip-off craze that should have been just as dull as the other ripoffs, but somehow managed to be an exceptionally cool movie with some incredible fight scenes.

It should get a ton of bonus points for not starting with an amnesiac hero. Sodenberg's direction and editing techniques were occasionally oddly distracting during this film. Sometimes it seems like he's mimicking a 7'0s spy film, other times French art films with heads talking straight at the camera, and some night shots which also seemed to be about mimicking '70s lighting limitations.

The film also gets a lot of points for not pointing out every single detail and explaining it for the audience. Many things are still unclear at the end of the film, and I appreciated that.

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #22018 on:** February 22, 2015, 01:16:05 AM »

I saw you guys talking about Whiplash so I wondered if it was any good and decided to watch it...

It was my favorite movie of the year. Wow. So good. Had an artsy side. A real side. A fun side. Two great performances. A fantastic ending. I didn't know who I was supposed to root for or if I was supposed to root for anybody.

It was by far the best thing I saw that came from 2014. To be fair I haven't seen a number of the top films of 2014 but I can safely say its about a billion times better than Boyhood or American Sniper. Big recommendation from me. Thanks for talking about the flick guys as I probably wouldn't have seen it for a much longer time without the talk.

Eric P · « **Reply #22019 on:** February 23, 2015, 10:04:16 AM »

http://modernhorrors.com/netflix-knows-horror/

Aside from Horns this is a solid list. I haven't seen a few of these but I've either added them to my queue or they were already there

but really, watch Honeymoon and Proxy. Both v solid films

News:

Author Topic: Movie News, Reviews, and Discussion Super-Thread (Read 5715229 times)