The Movie You Saw Last

[Dapper-Sama]

Watched Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels out of boredom about a week ago. It provided a hilarious, vulgar and awesome adventure. Only real flaw is that the plot's a bit hard to follow due to how many factions that are after the same thing.

[Mr. House]

Frozen. An absolutely delightful film, to tell the truth. Disney managed to take the soul of its Renaissance-era musicals, and modernize it in a tasteful way. Surely the best film Disney (Not counting Pixar) has made in a decade. Not any problems I can think of.

Edited January 5, 2014 by Mr. House

[Wazdakka]

Hunger Games.

 

Haven't watched a movie in months - this one made up for it. Enough said.

[Mr. House]

I almost forgot, Desolation of Smaug. It was fairly good, except one thing. One thing that ruined the film.

 

Elf-Dwarf shipping. Peter Jackson, WHY? Some filler was tasteful, but this-this made me want to punch something.

[Voltex]

I also just saw The Desolation of Smaug. Smaug was pretty amazing, but it's blatantly obvious in many sections that the filmmakers are stretching the material thin and are playing for time.

[shadow pridak money gang]

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. My sides.

 

-Tyler

[Velox]

Saving Mr. Banks. Pretty amazing film. Didn't really have high expectations for it before seeing it (hadn't seen any trailers), but man--turned out to be really great.

Edited January 6, 2014 by Velox

[Primis]

Summer Wars. Didn't think I was going to like this one that much, but it actually ended up being pretty good.

[dcresistance]

I'm actually watching The Departed right now. Has a bunch of big name actors in it (Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Leo DiCaprio, etc). Before that, it was Return of the Jedi.

[Mr. Cup of Fail]

The last Movie i seen was Iron man 3 (i didn't need it when the DVD came out) and it was alright.

[Vorahk1Panrahk2]

Last movie I watched last year: Tangled - I don't know what it is, but this really does get better and better every time I watch it. I can't even describe how much unadulterated joy it brings me.

 

Enchanted - It's that few-years-old movie about a Disney princess who gets cursed and sent to contemporary New York. Shenanigans ensue. Aside from the third act which was way too tonally out of shift with the rest of the film and some tensions that are resolved way too simply, this really is a great one. The music was absolutely fantastic, although at this point that's pretty much the norm for Alan Menken. And while it was initially jarring to watch her in such a bubbly role, Amy Adams absolutely nailed her performance as Giselle. I can't say for sure how often I'll be rewatching it (if at all) but it really is an enjoyable film.

 

Oz the Great and Powerful - First, the good: The Little China Girl is pretty much the most adorable character I've ever seen in any film period. She steals every scene she's in and between the CGI and voice acting was an absolute delight to watch. The second best thing about the movie was Michelle William's performance as Glinda, which while not anything spectacular, felt both faithful to the original MGM film and different enough so as not to be a complete copy. The third best thing were some elements of the third act which were genuinely entertaining.

 

Now the bad... which is basically everything else. Aside from Little China Girl and Michelle Williams I have to say this movie is utterly worthless. Despite being filmed more than 60 years ago, the original managed to have far better production values and better actors. James Franco was completely miscast as Oz, and while the other witch characters weren't necessarily miscast, their performances were all dull as dishwater. Mila Kunis, who normally seems great in her roles, is the worst offender since she did an incredible disservice to such a legendary character. Admittedly some of that has to do with the screenplay, which turned the Wicked Witch of the West into what is essentially a grownup teenage drama queen. James Franco as Oz is the second worst offender, who played the role in a way that made him one of the least likable leads I've ever seen. Although I guess the writing has to share some of that blame as well. And Rachel Weisz just looked bored the whole time. I think she might have been in on the joke.

 

So between terrible acting, bad writing, and bad direction, this film really just doesn't work on any level. It's not a prequel to the MGM film so fans of that one won't care for it. It's closer to the books, but not being a direct adaption won't make those fans care for it, and it doesn't work as a general film so neutral fans won't care for it either. It just... doesn't work. Except China Girl and Michelle Williams. They work, but they couldn't save the film.

 

But, hey, there's a light at the end of the tunnel! Once Upon a Time will apparently be doing an episode based on Wizard of Oz characters, and considering that show's track record, Oz the Great and Powerful will soon no longer be the worst portrayal of these characters in a major production (and yes, I am also considering Supernatural's depiction in that statement). Sam Raimi and the screenwriters should be breathing a sign of relief.

[Johnny Truant]

i watched Clerks II the other night

 

kevin smith's movies are so good

[Vorahk1Panrahk2]

So the movies I last watched were: The Sword in the Stone (Disney version), Ain't Them Bodies Saints, St. Nick, The Emperor's New Groove, and Frozen. Yes, I watch way too many movies and need an intervention.

 

But since I sort of ripped on Frozen in my last post, that's the one I want to talk about. I went to see it again because, as I stated, I usually get really into Disney musicals and the fact that this just sort of fell flat on me was... unusual. So I reasoned that I was just having a bad day and went to see it again to get a better experience. So the question is: Did I enjoy it more?

 

I can say with strong affirmation that the second time around was so much better than the first. I will even recant my statement that Olaf was annoying. The second time around I found him to be an often amusing side kick who, when the main character (and the audience) need it most provides some nice words of wisdom. I even enjoyed In Summer a lot more, though I still think it would have been left better as a DVD extra. I even enjoyed Beck's musical score much more, although I also stand by my belief that Menken would have been the better choice.

 

HOWEVER

 

I stand by the rest of my criticisms. The beginning is too frontloaded with the best songs, the pacing is too fast, and Fixer Upper is still the worst song ever released in an animated canon Disney musical. But this time I was fully aware of those criticisms, and when I tossed them aside and focused on enjoying the movie... I actually enjoyed the movie (egads!). I mean, yeah I'm guilty of 'leaving my brain at the door' which is something I really hate to do, but whatever, I got a good experience out of it. And, really, leaving my brain at the door is exactly what I do when I watch any escapist film. I never think to myself "Tangled would be so much better if the relationship between Gothel and Rapunzel was given some closure!" or "Pacific Rim would be so much better if these people could actually act!" Well, I mean, yeah I think those things but I certainly don't let them bother me. Why they did the first time around I have no idea. I guess I'm just being biased in choosing to enjoy this movie? I dunno.

 

Anyway, that was much ado about nothing so hopefully you didn't get bored reading it.

Edited January 12, 2014 by Vorahk1Panrahk2

[Mr. House]

Europa Report. Hard sci-fi, flabby characters.

 

That is all that's worth saying.

Edited January 13, 2014 by Rhaegar Targaryen

[Voltex]

The Usual Suspects. Easily has one of the greatest villains I have ever seen, and definitely one of my favorite films.

[BBBBalta]

I just got back from seeing Frozen and wow it was amazing like wow.

 

I don't think it was quite as good as Tangled, though.

 

 

I loved the music, the plot, the characters, the underlying themes of self-sacrifice and nobody being perfect and not caring what other people think of you. Everything just fit and came together so perfectly and wow I want to see this movie a hundred more times.

 

There were a couple things I think could have been improved, though. The first is the so-called "Duke of Weasel Town," whose personal plot received a very unsatisfying resolution. Why exactly did they decide to stop all trade with him FOR ALL TIME, again? He was built up at the beginning as this major villain, but he never did anything particularly ... villainous. He sent his goon squad to kill Elsa, I guess, but I mean, so what? It was pretty obvious that he did that because he - like about ninety percent of the people in Arendelle - thought she was the villain, an incredibly powerful, incredibly dangerous sorceress who had just frozen the entire region and fled into the mountains in fear of retribution. They can't really fault him for that, can they?

 

Besides, there's not really any way they'd have known that he ordered his guys to kill her in the first place. All he has to do is say that they decided on their own to attack and then later conspired to pin the blame on him - that is, if anyone suspects foul play at all. His goon squad could just as easily say they thought killing the source of the snow golem would stop the golem itself.

 

There's a ton more they could have done with the Duke as a character. Personally I'd have liked to see him built up as a villain even more than he was, to see more of his scheming and more of his motivation for doing so. I'd have liked to see steadily building tension between the supposedly-evil Duke and the supposedly-good Hans, ultimately resulting in the Duke being revealed as "good" (if misguided) when Hans was revealed as evil.

 

Another thing I'd have liked to see more of is the background of Elsa's power. This is one of the reason's I preferred Tangled - we know some of the history of Rapunzel's power, where she got it from, and so on. This aspect is much less clear in Frozen. It just tells you "Okay so she's got snow powers now she almost killed her sister and look now they're grown up." We get vague hints of the significance of Elsa's powers within the culture of Arendelle - the opening song warns one to "beware the heart of ice," the troll mentions that the power can come both as a gift and as a curse, and he knows how to treat Anna when she gets frozen as well as the dangers of the power itself to its bearer. Obviously people have had these powers before. But who were they? What did they do with it? If you're born with the power, how do you get it - is it something only the royal family has, or is it random? What specifically are the dangers of it, aside from the obvious "freezing everything" and the vague "turning evil"?

 

But honestly I see these two "flaws" as positive things - I was satisfied with the movie as it was and yet also have loved to see more. The movie easily could have been a half-hour longer and been all the better for it, in my opinion.

 

 

Edited January 19, 2014 by Baltarc

[Vorahk1Panrahk2]

I just got back from seeing Frozen and wow it was amazing like wow.

 

I don't think it was quite as good as Tangled, though.

 

 

 

There were a couple things I think could have been improved, though. The first is the so-called "Duke of Weasel Town," whose personal plot received a very unsatisfying resolution. Why exactly did they decide to stop all trade with him FOR ALL TIME, again? He was built up at the beginning as this major villain, but he never did anything particularly ... villainous. He sent his goon squad to kill Elsa, I guess, but I mean, so what? It was pretty obvious that he did that because he - like about ninety percent of the people in Arendelle - thought she was the villain, an incredibly powerful, incredibly dangerous sorceress who had just frozen the entire region and fled into the mountains in fear of retribution. They can't really fault him for that, can they?

 

Besides, there's not really any way they'd have known that he ordered his guys to kill her in the first place. All he has to do is say that they decided on their own to attack and then later conspired to pin the blame on him - that is, if anyone suspects foul play at all. His goon squad could just as easily say they thought killing the source of the snow golem would stop the golem itself.

 

 

Another thing I'd have liked to see more of is the background of Elsa's power. This is one of the reason's I preferred Tangled - we know some of the history of Rapunzel's power, where she got it from, and so on. This aspect is much less clear in Frozen. It just tells you "Okay so she's got snow powers now she almost killed her sister and look now they're grown up." We get vague hints of the significance of Elsa's powers within the culture of Arendelle - the opening song warns one to "beware the heart of ice," the troll mentions that the power can come both as a gift and as a curse, and he knows how to treat Anna when she gets frozen as well as the dangers of the power itself to its bearer. Obviously people have had these powers before. But who were they? What did they do with it? If you're born with the power, how do you get it - is it something only the royal family has, or is it random? What specifically are the dangers of it, aside from the obvious "freezing everything" and the vague "turning evil"?

 

But honestly I see these two "flaws" as positive things - I was satisfied with the movie as it was and yet also have loved to see more. The movie easily could have been a half-hour longer and been all the better for it, in my opinion.

 

 

 

 

While the movie is fairly problematic in terms of explaining who is in charge after Elsa exiles herself, we can assume that whoever that person is would have made a decision that Elsa is not to be harmed. So the Duke's orders to kill Elsa, being in direct violation of that wish, is certainly punishable. As for how they found out about those orders... you got me on that one.

 

And I think you might be taking 'Frozen Heart' a bit too literally. These guys were ice harvesters so it's probably not unreasonable that they might personify ice and icy conditions which can be very dangerous. Aside from that I think the song was meant more for foreshadowing and not relaying an in-movie cultural legend. As for the trolls, I just assumed that their knowledge of magic came from the fact that they themselves are magical creatures and, again, not from any in-movie cultural legend. I do agree, though, that an explanation of her powers (beyond the boring X-Men mutant gene idea) would have been nice, and I do think the film should have been longer for that and other reasons. But hey, that's what sequels are for. Get on it, Disney!

 

 

I dunno if it counts as a movie, but I watched the American Playhouse "Into the Woods" episode, which I think featured the original Broadway cast. Anyway, this is the first version of the story I've seen, and I have to say that I quite enjoyed it for the most part. I really enjoyed the comedic aspect of the first act, but I was really thrown off by the mood whiplash going into the second. Once I looked past that, though, the music was really enjoyable, and acting and singing was phenomenal, and I really enjoyed this particular take on the fairy tale genre. It was certainly far more enjoyable (not to mention more successfully subversive) than that other fairly tale mashup show Once Upon a Time.

 

Beauty and the Beast (1946) - While we're all quite familiar with Disney adaptations of children's stories and fairy tales, they certainly didn't invent them, and prior to their version I'm going to venture a guess and say that this one from Jean Cocteau was the more famous film version. And despite not containing any singing candles and dancing cutlery, there's still loads to appreciate from this early version. The special effects are quite remarkable for the time (there's a certain shot with a necklace that I can't figure out for the life of me how it was achieved), and the makeup effects used for the beast are remarkable. It helps that the actor was able to appropriately emote through all of it, giving a performance that was equal parts vile and heartbreaking. I also really liked the director's surreal approach the material, including the incredibly trippy castle with moving busts and disembodied (also moving) arms. Considering he's adapting a fantastical fairly tale it seemed far more appropriate than the 'realistic' attempts we've been getting in recent live action adaptions.

 

So yeah. Fans of early films should watch this. As should fans of fairy tales. As should fans of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, if only to see another great take on the material.

Edited January 21, 2014 by Vorahk1Panrahk2

[Voltex]

I saw American Hustle two nights ago. Best film of 2013 that I have seen.

[Mr. House]

Heavy Metal. Awesomeness distilled into an animated feature.

[Dark_Stranger]

Saw The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug over Christmas break. It was a solid middle installment, but the pacing was a little off in my opinion. As much as I loved Smaug, I wish they had given him a bit less screentime and spent a bit longer in Mirkwood or with Beorn, which were two excellent parts that seemed a bit clipped. It was still well worth seeing, of course, but it could have been a bit better.

 

More recently, I saw Solomon Kane, which was just awesome in every possible way.

[Hodor]

I'm watching Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare while I type.

 

Barring one actually unsettling scene, this isn't a horror movie, it's a Looney Toons movie that just so happens to be starring Freddy.

[Fighty]

Saving Mr. Banks. Best film of 2013 in my opinion. It was equal parts melancholic and hopeful, and was just a beautifully-crafted film.

 

Did anyone else think that 2013 was just a horrible year for blockbuster movies? I mean, I was super-excited about the lineup of triple-A titles going into the year, but most of them fell flat for me. Iron Man 3, Man of Steel, Thor: The Dark World and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug were all particularly disappointing (especially Man of Steel... what a load of rubbish). Catching Fire was the only one that met (and actually exceeded) my expectations, and it stands as the best book-to-movie adaptation I have seen since Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

 

Anyways, here's to hoping that 2014 turns out better.

[Vorahk1Panrahk2]

Saving Mr. Banks. Best film of 2013 in my opinion. It was equal parts melancholic and hopeful, and was just a beautifully-crafted film.

 

Did anyone else think that 2013 was just a horrible year for blockbuster movies? I mean, I was super-excited about the lineup of triple-A titles going into the year, but most of them fell flat for me. Iron Man 3, Man of Steel, Thor: The Dark World and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug were all particularly disappointing (especially Man of Steel... what a load of rubbish). Catching Fire was the only one that met (and actually exceeded) my expectations, and it stands as the best book-to-movie adaptation I have seen since Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

 

Anyways, here's to hoping that 2014 turns out better.

 

I suppose it depends on how you define 'blockbuster film', but yes. Although admittedly I'm biased because most of the blockbusters this year were for franchises that I have no interest in whatsoever (and thus haven't watched them). Even the franchises that I do like (The Hobbit, Frozen) or non franchise films that I was looking forward to (Pacific Rim) fell flat in a number of ways. Not that I didn't enjoy those movies, I did, but I also found them to be heavily flawed.

 

Anyway, since I'm here and posting:

 

Snow White and the Huntsman - I get that fairy tales were originally not the happy cheery things Disney gave us, but I'm still really bothered by this tendency for stories to get adapted in 'dark and serious' ways. Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast managed to stay close to its source material while still being an enchanting film, but this one managed to be neither close to its source material nor enchanting. I guess the VFX and production values were cool (borderline impressive), but with such a sluggish pace in the middle act I found it really hard to get enthralled by any of it. Add to that a half baked relationship between, well, Snow White and the Huntsman and there's really not a whole lot this movie has going for it.

 

It's also worth pointing out here that, despite all expectations, I did not find Kristen Stewart's performance to be all that bad. She was certainly more entertaining to watch than Charlize Theron who did nothing but ham it up for the camera the whole time. When Kristen Stewart gives a better performance than Charlize Theron, you know something is wrong. I'm not saying she was great, and her character change from damsel in distress to warrior queen was really unconvincing, but that's more of a script issue than an acting one. Even Hemsworth, arguably the best actor in the movie, was barely given any great material.

 

The Spectacular Now - Oh, hey, while we're on the topic of disappointing 2013 films, let's talk about this one. It's about a high school guy (Sutter) who falls in love with a high school girl (Aimee) on the eve of graduation. Basic 'coming of age' stuff. When I saw the trailer for this I figured I would be in for something special, and when the reviews poured out they seemed to confirm that. I love coming of age stories (Stand By Me, A Separate Peace) so I'm always on the lookout for a good one. But this... just wasn't it. To be fair, the movie did start off rather well, and was pretty good until the third act where it completely and utterly falls apart. It falls apart so bad that it's almost the quintessential example of third act problems. Sutter is a fairly unlikable character throughout the movie, and the writer drops lots of obvious hints that he's only dating this girl to make her feel special and not because he actually likes her. So he's an egotist, I guess. Wonderful. At the end of the second act the writer, in a way that is rather clever I think, gives a moment in the film where we think Sutter will finally start to understand how horrible a person he is. We expect him to change, and we want him to change because we want him to be with Aimee who, throughout the movie, is shown to be a really nice person. But he doesn't change. Throughout the third act he's still a horrible person to his girlfriend, and what's worse is that the end of the movie rewards him with such behavior. Apparently in the book Sutter has a less-than-happy ending, and I think someone goofed up by not giving us that one.

 

In addition to this unfortunate relationship, and this will sound really petty to some of you, I really did not like the film's portrayal of drinking and driving. This is something no one should ever ever do because I can kill you, or worse other people. Yet every time these characters get into a car they, even Sutter who always drives, are shown swigging from their stupid little flasks, and aside from one collision with a mailbox no consequences of driving impaired are shown. Maybe I'm being silly, but I really don't think driving while impaired should be portrayed as anything other than stupid, dangerous, and irresponsible. And in this movie it seems like no big deal. Admittedly Sutter's impaired state does, at one point, put Aimee in danger, but five minutes later and she doesn't seem to care at all. She still loves him despite the fact that he put her life in danger. That's not healthy.

 

I'll step off my soapbox there and just conclude by saying that this movie could have been really good, but it's positive portrayal of an unhealthy relationship grated me too hard. Now, I am in the minority here. Judging from review aggregate sites like rottentomatoes and metacritic everyone else loved it. But quite frankly I can't see how.

 

Short Term 12 - If you can look past the slightly off kilter third act and the pervasive shaky camerawork, this is an absolutely beautiful, poignant, touching movie that everyone should watch. And I'll just leave it at that.

Edited January 27, 2014 by Vorahk1Panrahk2

[Voltex]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

 

It was pretty good. I like Martin Freeman more and more every time I see him.

[CeeCee]

Fight Club. What a movie.

[Dapper-Sama]

The original Conan the Barbarian. A bit narmful at times, but altogether a good action movie.

[Laughing Man]

Lone Survivor

 

don't really like war movies but it was ok I guess

[Makuta of Time]

Instructions not Included. A good yet sad spanish film.

[Master Inika]

1980's Galaxina, starring Playboy model Dorothy Stratten, whom was brutally murdered that same year.

 

The film was a space opera parody. Galaxina is a robot on a galactic police ship who falls in love with a member of the human crew.

[T-Dawg]

LoTR The Two Towers, which I found to be extremely overrated with bland generic fantasy themes, not one of my favorite movies.

[Mr. House]

For me it was White House Down. It was a good popcorn flick, for all intents and purposes. But it was ruined by an overcomplicated plot and a cheap choice in villians.

[ToaJaller77]

The Internship.

[TheGeekIgnika]

In theater: The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug

 

At home: Monsters University

[Hodor]

Terrorvision.

 

It was exactly what I expected. A cheesy, fun b-movie that revels in the fact it was made in the 1980s (complete with overblown stereotypes).

 

Highly suggested if b-movies are your thing.

[Mare Tranquillitatis]

Cloud Atlas, on TV. It was a pretty good movie, not too much complicated. It has a bunch of good actors, quite well chosen in my opinion. Above all, Hugo Weaving. See him dressed as a nurse and you'll never look at Elrond the same as before.

[Hodor]

Watching Wes Craven's New Nightmare right now, about halfway through.

 

I love how it's actually creepy like the original Elm Street was, so far. Especially harkening back to how you didn't really get a good look at Krueger, which made the character terrifying.

[Toa Kayn]

The original Conan the Barbarian. A bit narmful at times, but altogether a good action movie.

The riddle...OF STEEL.

 

Anyways, the last full movie I watched was 'The Wolf of Wall Street' I can sum up the whole movie in 6

very, very short words...-kind of like the Great Gatsby-

 

The above statement is partly true, except TWWS has more "bad" things in it, a lot more.

[Hodor]

The Neverending Story.

 

I feel, if I saw this when I was a kid, I'd have more appreciation of it. As it stands now, while it's not terrible, the film had several problems- mainly how cheesy Bastion's acting was, even for child acting standards. I feel the pacing was a tad awkward during the middle, too. The scenes in Fantasia, though, were pretty creative.

 

I hear the book is all-around better, though.

Edited February 3, 2014 by iHodor

[Dapper-Sama]

Dogma. To go into specifics would break the rules here, so I'll say it was a fun homage/parody of organized religion.

[Toa Kayn]

I watched these a couple of hours ago and...wow..

(They count as movies don't worry)

 

What I can pretty much say is that they beat the new-ish CGI show by far. It makes the experience far better because of these key points.

 

• Battle Droids don't sound idiotic and keep dialogue to a minimal
• Clone Troopers communicate through hand signals and sometimes, but rarely, talking. Making them seem much more professional.
• Anakin Skywalker is much, much less of a whiny, annoying teenager and actually seems to be more mature than his movie counterpart.
• Obi-Wan in Clone armor.
• General Greivous cough explanation.
• Fantastic large scale battles.
• Great art style.
• Interesting lightsaber duels, which incorporate a lot of detail.

There are many other ways that make this cartoon a classic. But I don't want to be typing this all day

 

Anyways I recommend that any Star Wars fanatic watches this right away. 9/10. 1 point lost to all of the Jedi and Clones that die.

Edited February 7, 2014 by Toa Kayn