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Movies You've Seen Recently |OT| July 2017

K

Krev

Unconfirmed Member
I thought A Ghost Story started decently enough but was derailed mid film, when the sparse style is derailed for an inorganic 'wanker explains the theme' scene that was downright unforgivable. It reaches too far in the latter scenes with a cosmic turn that ultimately muddles whatever the film had to say about grief, loss, ideas and time.
 
C

Cripplegate

Member
Krev said:
I thought A Ghost Story started decently enough but was derailed mid film, when the sparse style is derailed for an inorganic 'wanker explains the theme' scene that was downright unforgivable. It reaches too far in the latter scenes with a cosmic turn that ultimately muddles whatever the film had to say about grief, loss, ideas and time.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I liked the film, but I couldn't help but feel a stronger movie wouldn't stop for ten minutes to explain itself at length. That party scene was weird.

I didn't like the ending, either, because it's exactly the note (get it?) I thought it was going to end on, and the one I actually thought it was going to avoid after
the house is destroyed, and the journey through time begins... but then, no, the ghost doubles back through time just to get to the obvious ending
.

But like I said I still liked the film. Individual moments are wonderful, and I loved the music. The subplot with the ghost in the other house was adorable.
 
A

AngmarsKing701

Member
Hot Pursuit (2015) - silly and stupid af. However, I found that if you keep drinking tequila, it gets better. So by the end, when the credits are rolling and they're showing the bloopers, it's kinda amusing. There were also maybe two places during the film where I laughed. Okay three. Plus there was a lot of Sofia Vergara's cleavage, so that's another half point. And maybe a quarter point for Reese's.

2.5 / 5 would watch again if I'm as blitzed as I am right now
 
M

Messofanego

Banned
UrbanRats said:
Now for a remake with the Cruise Missile.

How did you and Christian Bale develop his character in American Psycho?
It was definitely a process. We talked a lot, but he was in L.A. and I was in New York. We didn’t actually meet in person a lot, just talked on the phone. We talked about how Martian-like Patrick Bateman was, how he was looking at the world like somebody from another planet, watching what people did and trying to work out the right way to behave. And then one day he called me and he had been watching Tom Cruise on David Letterman, and he just had this very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes, and he was really taken with this energy.
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giphy.gif

Cruise doesn't have a soul, so he would be perfect! No wonder he joined Scientology.
 
M

Messofanego

Banned
Ridley327 said:
A Ghost Story: A superb mediation on love, death, existence and pie. Yes, it's true: there is in fact an unbroken shot that goes on for a couple of minutes that is seemingly nothing more than Rooney Mara eating an entire pie while Casey Affleck, draped in a bed sheet with two eyes cut out, looks on. But what makes this such a dynamite scene is that for as silly as it sounds on paper, the context in which it occurs gives it an awesome power of real heartbreak, as if we've just peered a little too closely into the life of a woman that's suffering and a man who is utterly baffled at his current position. Told largely without dialogue (seems to be a nice summer for that, between this and Dunkirk), shot not only in full-frame but in vignetted full frame to appear as if it was a home movie and dealing with a scope that expands in truly unusual ways, on top of the whole "Casey Affleck is a bed sheet ghost" detail, one might be tempted to throw out "pretentious" as a descriptor sight unseen. But as it turns out, writer/director David Lowery definitely does not come across as the idiosyncratic for the sake of it here, displaying a great handle on the emotional core of the story as it weaves through its intriguing twists and turns without coming off as heavy-handed in their delivery. Indeed, this film respects its audience to be able to piece together its narrative in a minimalist way, giving you enough to be able to draw the lines in a story that soon stretches out to tackle some larger themes. Even the framing helps to enrich the focus of the film, boxed in to give a nice impression of intimacy without coming off as too claustrophobic. On that front, wow, is this a beautiful film: while not particularly showy, the photography provided by Andrew Droz Palermo is stunning throughout, turning the central location of the small home into a relic that seems stuck in time, with gorgeous low-lighting that makes it look better than its decidedly low-rent trappings suggest. With its steady hand, the film can often feel like a painting come to life, each image telling a story onto itself before we even piece it into the overall narrative. Combine that with a strong score from Daniel Hart, and the film is a real aesthetic delight that matches its storytelling strengths. For those with a taste for the unconventional, this represents a rather striking approach to the subject matter it explores, and it pleases me immensely that it's so successful at what it sets out to do. At the risk of a bad and obvious joke, it will undoubtedly haunt your thoughts long after it's over.
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As always, a beautifully written review. Can't wait to see the pie scene. You sure you're not a film critic or write for an outlet? Cause you easily could! 😉
 
B

Baroquemantic

Member
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Man, there sure were a bunch of montages and Sherlock Holmes-esque "I'm showing you what happens as I tell you" moments. They're very cool, like they were in Sherlock, but I think this technique was just a tad overused. Just a tad. I'd have preferred the movie to be longer with some of its contents expanded upon and given more love.

That said, I really enjoyed this movie. I think it's pretty awesome, actually. It was fun, had some decent humor, good characters, great action, and a fantastic soundtrack.

8.5/10
 
I

Icolin

Banned
The Amazing Spider-Man 2

This movie is so fucking hilarious. Maybe I liked it because I was drunk, but man this was awesome. It's so fundamentally awful and stupid.

That ending had me in tears. Who the fuck thought that was a good way to end a movie?
 
R

Randolph Freelander

Member
Movies seen for the first time this weekend so far:

Gravity - Enjoyed it. Need to watch it again soon on television (the first viewing was on my laptop).

Casablanca - I watched this one because I really enjoy When Harry Met Sally, and those characters loved and watched Casablanca. Good film. I've always wanted to do a deep dive into older films, and this might be a new starting point.

(Also watched, not for the first time: Back to the Future III (I and II were last weekend) and The Big Lebowski.)
 
G

Glass Rebel

Member
Baby Driver
Edgar Wright, 2017

Baby Driver starts like the perfect music video. Every cut, every motion, basically every visual element is perfectly tuned to the music playing. From the moment we see Baby waiting in the car to him getting his share after the heist, Wright manages to tell us everything we need to know about the movie and its titular character in two extremely concise and stimulating scenes. You think to yourself "How is this movie gonna keep this up for its entire runtime?"

Well, it doesn't, sadly.

Wright shows once again that he is a rare genius behind the camera and in the editing room. He uses every trick in the book to craft an audiovisual landscape that pulls you in completely and never lets you go. It's incredible how he manages to craft a movie around music with such an enthralling rhythm that still somehow feels organic. But that's also where my fascination begins and ends. Baby Driver's biggest misstep is perhaps peaking too early. Nothing in the movie comes close to the first two scenes and I found myself looking, longing for the movie to recapture that genius, to no avail. Ending on a high note might have made me overlook the issues I had with the movie.

My biggest problem is that most of the character relationships don't feel real. This is a trait of Wright films in general but their comedy sensibilities make them more tenable. In Baby Driver he eschews the comedy tropes in order to paint a darker world and tell a more mature story (not to say that the movie isn't funny at times) and it simply doesn't work for me. Debbie, a spitting image of Twin Peak's Madchen Amick, is simply a trophy for Baby to get at the end. Her escaping with Baby feels unearned. I would say uncharacteristic but no character emerges from behind the stilted dialogue she shares with Baby. Darling is merely a stereotypical accessory for Buddy that can die so Buddy can go after Baby's accessory (yes, Wright has a problem with women in his movies). Doc's sacrifice at the end is empty. The only relationship that does feel genuine is the one between Baby and Joseph, which is why it's so disappointing that they never get a proper resolution. Baby Driver's characters, more than ever before, feel subservient to the audiovisual trickery on display.

I've been a huge fan of Wright since Shaun of the Dead. Hot Fuzz is one of my favourite movies. I was happy to see him evolve even further as a filmmaker but sadly stagnate as a storyteller. In light of all of this, I cannot help but come away slightly disappointed. I still liked it.
 
TissueBox

TissueBox

Member
Baby Driver is best when Wright is at his best, but falters when evoking Tarantino and the Coens unfortunately. Still a very strong film, and one of the best of the year (with an edge over Dunkirk imo), that mostly just feels lacking in fulfilling the perfection it teeters closely towards. But at least now in future promos for upcoming projects marketing can tout them being 'from the guy behind Baby Driver...'
 
A

AngmarsKing701

Member
Baroquemantic said:
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Man, there sure were a bunch of montages and Sherlock Holmes-esque "I'm showing you what happens as I tell you" moments. They're very cool, like they were in Sherlock, but I think this technique was just a tad overused. Just a tad. I'd have preferred the movie to be longer with some of its contents expanded upon and given more love.

That said, I really enjoyed this movie. I think it's pretty awesome, actually. It was fun, had some decent humor, good characters, great action, and a fantastic soundtrack.

8.5/10
Click to expand...

All these King Arthur reviews with people liking the movie are getting me excited for it. I think it hits redbox in the next couple weeks.
 
R

Ridley327

Member
AngmarsKing701 said:
All these King Arthur reviews with people liking the movie are getting me excited for it. I think it hits redbox in the next couple weeks.
Click to expand...

Actually, since it's a WB film, I think they're one of the companies with a strict NO REDBOX FOR A MONTH policy regarding new releases.
 
R

Ridley327

Member
Messofanego said:
As always, a beautifully written review. Can't wait to see the pie scene. You sure you're not a film critic or write for an outlet? Cause you easily could! 😉
Click to expand...

I just really like writing at some length whenever I'm able to. To be honest, I feel like I don't have the proper discipline to do it consistently enough where I would want to look into turning it into a career, so I like keeping it recreational.
 
C

Count Dookkake

Member
Valerian is so effing beautiful, but ultimately feels like a comedy that isn't particularly funny. I suspect that it could be edited into a much better film.

Christ, Cara Delavigne might be the hottest member of our species.
 
M

Messofanego

Banned
Ridley327 said:
I just really like writing at some length whenever I'm able to. To be honest, I feel like I don't have the proper discipline to do it consistently enough where I would want to look into turning it into a career, so I like keeping it recreational.
Click to expand...
Fair enough. But you do churn out reviews quite frequently heh.
 
R

Ridley327

Member
Messofanego said:
Fair enough. But you do churn out reviews quite frequently heh.
Click to expand...

I try my best! Plus, it's good practice for October when I write my really, really detailed reviews for the horror movie marathon that I don't know what I'd do without.

Speaking of, I really need to get onto making my selections for that really soon. With my overall theme being the films of the 90s, I need to do more research for what was worthwhile since, well, the reputation of horror in the 90s is checkered, to put it mildly.
 
L

lordxar

Member
Ridley327 said:
I try my best! Plus, it's good practice for October when I write my really, really detailed reviews for the horror movie marathon that I don't know what I'd do without.

Speaking of, I really need to get onto making my selections for that really soon. With my overall theme being the films of the 90s, I need to do more research for what was worthwhile since, well, the reputation of horror in the 90s is checkered, to put it mildly.
Click to expand...

Yea it hit me that October is like two months out...trying to get a theme going...
 
S

Sean C

Member
Count Dookkake said:
Valerian is so effing beautiful, but ultimately feels like a comedy that isn't particularly funny. I suspect that it could be edited into a much better film.

Christ, Cara Delavigne might be the hottest member of our species.
Click to expand...
What it really needed was somebody other than Dane DeHaan as the male lead.
 
A

AngmarsKing701

Member
Ridley327 said:
Actually, since it's a WB film, I think they're one of the companies with a strict NO REDBOX FOR A MONTH policy regarding new releases.
Click to expand...

Where are you all seeing this movie? Amazon lists the blu-ray as available August 8th. The digital version is $20 and I'm thinking to wait for a rental version, but I don't see one anywhere.
 
R

Ridley327

Member
AngmarsKing701 said:
Where are you all seeing this movie? Amazon lists the blu-ray as available August 8th. The digital version is $20 and I'm thinking to wait for a rental version, but I don't see one anywhere.
Click to expand...

Rentals for digital copies don't go live until the day of the home video release. I don't know how successful that tactic has been in getting interested customers to buy it outright on digital, but that's the release pattern.
 
N

Nappuccino

Member
Finally watched John Wick 2.

Pretty damn good follow up to John Wick 1--I though there were some good improvements (the last act, for example, wasn't completely absurd), but I also felt that John Wick did a few things a little better. JW2 had some better character moments overall. I quite liked Common in his role. But, in 2, I grew a little tired of seeing John shoot dudes off screen, and other dudes getting way too close to John before even trying to fire. Not a big deal overall, but it seemed like they overused that element here.

Anyway, super on board for JW3--and here's hoping they get Charlize involved.
 
M

mariachi507

Member
Ridley327 said:
I try my best! Plus, it's good practice for October when I write my really, really detailed reviews for the horror movie marathon that I don't know what I'd do without.

Speaking of, I really need to get onto making my selections for that really soon. With my overall theme being the films of the 90s, I need to do more research for what was worthwhile since, well, the reputation of horror in the 90s is checkered, to put it mildly.
Click to expand...

I put a list together last month and ended up with 56 films. It's going to be tough to slim it down, but I've got to leave some good stuff for future marathons. I've put off watching many of the more well known horror offerings released in the past year so I've got that too look forward to (Get Out, Raw, Don't Breathe, and more). Good luck with the 90's, or as I call it "the shitty 80's".
 
G

Gastone

Member
King Arthur
Was expecting a huge mess since it was critically panned, but god damn i enjoyed this a lot. Sure, it has problems and i wish it was way more fleshed out, but i thought the Guy Ritchie take on it was energetic and fun. Some fantastic visuals as well. Fantastic score by Daniel Pemberton. Great fun

Get out
Was pretty entertaining. But a far cry from being scary or suspenful in any way.
 
K

kevin1025

Banned
Morgan

What.

The movie makes no sense. Morgan is shown to be violent, multiple times, and then
they try to break her free, where she is shown to be even more violent
. The illogical choices are nuts. When you have a perfect cast and don't use them even a tiny bit well, something is definitely wrong. It also doesn't dive into the importance of creationism, and what it means for life to create life; it rather make you try and care about something you can't care about. And the twist was so obvious, since it was weird that
Kate Mara was acting so stiffly
.

Oh well.
 
L

lordxar

Member
Rewatched The Invitation the other day which is still pretty cool.

Rogue One This was a proper Star Wars entry in every sense. Forget the last four, this is the real deal. Quite honestly I'd forgotten how the original trilogy felt to watch but seeing this brought all that back. Somewhere in all the marketing bullshit what made Star Wars great was lost. Amazingly amidst Disney pushing this franchise for all its worth they actually managed to turn out an original story that felt really, really good. I loved the cgi and loved the locations shown although they showed so many. The ramp up was damn good too. I think the early parts did a great job of setting everything up and none of it was boring for me. I think the entire runtime was perfect for showing a whole self contained story that still manages to set things up. Why can't Alien entries be like this...fucking Prometheus.
 
R

Ridley327

Member
The local vintage theater ran a program for four silent shorts accompanied by four different organists, so naturally, I had to be there!

Twenty Minutes of Love: An early Chaplin short, with a heavy emphasis on the "early" part. While it does boast some fun bits towards the end, there's a somewhat sinking sensation throughout that we're not dealing with a particularly likeable incarnation of the Tramp that makes it really hard to root for him as he's looking for love. On top of that, the progression feels rather sloppy and amateur; no doubt be attributable to the fact that this was Chaplin's first time behind the camera, but the end result doesn't gel together well at all. He would go onto to do bigger and certainly better things, and there is a lot of value in being able to see his humble beginnings as more than just an actor in front of a camera, but as is often the case, it doesn't make a film magically great.

Big Business: Laurel and Hardy pick a bad time to start selling Xmas trees, mutually assured destruction ensues. What's nice about this short is how much it lulls you into think that you've got it figured out from the onset, as the setup suggests going up and down LA for their Sisyphean business dealings, leading to some great gags. But once they start spending a little bit more time with a particular would-be customer, it turns the whole story on its head and results in an absolute riot of property damage and spectacle. The escalation is the real star of this, as the situation gets more and more ridiculous, with our stars and James Finlayson really going to town on one another, seemingly making cartoon renditions of a similar nature practically redundant with how much they were able to do here. It may perhaps be a bit morally dubious, as the overlying moral seems to be "spite makes right," but when everything is taken to such a comedic extreme, it's not hard to remember the pure entertainment value that this provides, making this a worthy winner.

His Royal Slyness: Hey, I've seen this before! I loved this one the first time I saw it on Hulu, but being able to see it in a theater with the live organ score and a crowd that was really into all the fun gags and charmingly bad behavior that Lloyd gets up to was a real treat.

Cops: So THAT'S where the famous "catch a ride" stunt came from! Buster Keaton never fails to impress me with both his athletic prowess and his comedic timing, both of which are in spades here with a seemingly simple setup of a man trying to impress a lady that winds up getting half the city on his tail. That we're dealing with such a massive amount of extras during the extended chase finale is impressive enough on its own, but Keaton is able to keep throwing new setups every step of the way to keep the laughs coming. Even the simpler situations prior to the climax kill, especially when it concerns a horse that has some troubles taking orders from our hero. Just a really fun story from beginning to end, and I was tickled pink with them saving just one more joke for the end titles that boasts a potent shot of dark humor to leave you with something more unusual than the ending as is was allowed to suggest.
 
A

AngmarsKing701

Member
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) - in a word, majestical. I've been so hyped for Thor: Ragnarok that I needed to get a view of Waititi's previous work. Found this one on Hulu and dove right in. Stunning cinematography, a story that has depth to it but also knows how to have fun. The whole War bit at the end was a bit over the top, and the way Waititi ended it kinda reminded me of Baby Driver. Almost as though he'd written himself into a box a bit and wasn't sure how to wrap it up. But the epilogue pulls it out of what I feared would be a tailspin.

4.5 / 5

Now even more hyped for Ragnarok.
 
K

kevin1025

Banned
Person to Person

This movie felt super New York. It's a separated film, told through small stories, but each story has its own meaning in the grand scheme of each person's life. One involves a watch, one involves a record, another involves one's self-realization, and another one's bad decision. Each has its worth, and that worth is what each character faces in this film. It has some really good moments, despite its slight nature, and was a very good time while watching. Abbi Jacobsen is the standout, as she is in anything she's involved with.

It also has one of the best bike scenes in a long while.
 
T

thenexus6

Member
The Neon Demon

Wanted to watch this for a while now but just let it slip. I thought it was pretty good, went a little weird at the end but has definitely left me thinking. The visuals are great, but man that soundtrack.. had it on repeat since watching the film.
 
R

Rei_Toei

Fclvat sbe Pnanqn, ru?
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large_large_ktwe3ff2lpcgbi4q7h.jpg
pop_aye_still_3_30432622483_o_h_2017.jpg


Pop-Aye (2017, Kirsten Tan, IMDb) Basically a rather chilled-out Thai road movie. But replace car with an elephant. Bored-out Bangkok architect meets up with elephant he grew up with on the country side and decides his mediocre city-dwelling life can bugger off and he has a new mission in life: bringing said elephant back to the countryside. I rather enjoyed it, felt very archetypical Thai, especially in the slices of life it shows outside of the city. Good balance between a grounded setting and some light magical realism. I've seen high praise for the elephant and rightly so. Its presence is so much more then a gimmick.
 
M

Messofanego

Banned
kevin1025 said:
Morgan

What.

The movie makes no sense. Morgan is shown to be violent, multiple times, and then
they try to break her free, where she is shown to be even more violent
. The illogical choices are nuts. When you have a perfect cast and don't use them even a tiny bit well, something is definitely wrong. It also doesn't dive into the importance of creationism, and what it means for life to create life; it rather make you try and care about something you can't care about. And the twist was so obvious, since it was weird that
Kate Mara was acting so stiffly
.

Oh well.
Click to expand...
Can you believe someone made a thread comparing Morgan to Ex Machina?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1335196

The gulf in quality is astounding. What a stupid and insulting movie. Right in line with other sci-fi movies where scientists act stupid like Prometheus and many more. Someone should make a list of how many sci-fi movies there are where the scientists act so stupid.
 
S

shaneo632

Member
Saw Berlin Syndrome the other night. Really solid suspense thriller with some great work from Teresa Palmer. It probably doesn't hurt that I'm madly in love with her, but there you go.
 
B

Boogs31

Member
Atomic Blonde

Thought it was a decent enough movie. The soundtrack was enjoyable and there were some impressive action scenes (especially the car chase scene). Charlize Theron is terrific as usual.

I didn't really get invested in the plot or any of the characters. I never felt like I was really pulling for any specific character to succeed. The music occasionally felt forced, almost as if the director went out of his way to make sure every scene had a song perfectly synched to go with it.

6.5/10
 
K

kevin1025

Banned
Messofanego said:
Can you believe someone made a thread comparing Morgan to Ex Machina?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1335196

The gulf in quality is astounding. What a stupid and insulting movie. Right in line with other sci-fi movies where scientists act stupid like Prometheus and many more. Someone should make a list of how many sci-fi movies there are where the scientists act so stupid.
Click to expand...

Haha, jeez. Definitely not a contest. Ex Machina took its time. Morgan literally starts with her gouging out a nice lady's eye (how could the movie possibly underuse Jennifer Jason Leigh?!). The Prometheus comparison is apt since Ridley Scott's son actually is the director, haha. Although I do like Prometheus for all of its massive faults.
 
D

duckroll

Member
King Arthur

This... didn't suck? I mean sure it's a videogame movie and it's very silly, but it was also pretty fun and totally a Guy Ritchie take on God of War meets Dark Souls with an Arthurian spin. Great cast, some really nice visuals, and the script was actually pretty damn funny. Not a terrible way to spend 2 hours. Jude Law was awesome and the soundtrack was fantastic. Lol.
 
S

smisk

Member
The Driver(1978) - Amazingly hadn't heard of this Walter Hill movie until Priscilla Page started talking about it on Twitter around the time of Baby Driver's release. Edgar Wright has also cited it as a huge influence on him.
This film holds up really well though, definitely got noir/western vibes from it. The car chase scenes are spellbinding, and Isabelle Adjani makes any film better. Definitely one to check out.
4/5
 
S

shaneo632

Member
Girls Trip - 5.7/10. Really surprised this reviewed so well to be honest. The cast were great and it did have some big laughs but it was also outrageously overlong at 2+ hours, the Serious Drama was excessive (complete with awfully on-the-nose piano music), and there were long stretches without laughs.

Wait for Netflix. It was better than I would've typically expected a movie of this type to be, but I think the reviews overinflated my expectations a bit.
 
N

NewDust

Member
Saw Atomic Blonde (nearly won a poster signed by Theron). Liked it probably more than most other will. Really dug the soundtrack, which has a "name that tune" quality to it. Sound design was also great, as was set design. While the story went a bit all over the place, at least it was more involved than "someone killed my dog".

4/5
 
A

AngmarsKing701

Member
NewDust said:
Saw Atomic Blonde (nearly won a poster signed by Theron). Liked it probably more than most other will. Really dug the soundtrack, which has a "name that tune" quality to it. Sound design was also great, as was set design. While the story went a bit all over the place, at least it was more involved than "someone killed my dog".

4/5
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Dat burn
 
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