View Full Version : Confessions of a Self-Proclaimed Movie-Buff
Dorks ^^
Spoken from the man who has never seen Gone with the Wind, Sound of Music, National Velvet, or a Star Wars/Trek movie.
Here's my review of all Tolkien films: couldn't they just call in the big birds at the outset and save a lot of trouble?
RaceGrrl
01-02-15, 09:29 AM
Yep, I do wear my dorkship like a crown. :thumbup::gomer: And fwiw, I've never seen Gone With the Wind, National Velvet or Sound of Music either.
WickerBill
01-02-15, 09:40 AM
The eagles are very reluctant to help or interfere. They take a fair amount of convincing in both the Five Armies battle and the battle in front of the Black Gate.
They were called on to assist in the previous war with Sauron (when Isildur cut the ring from Sauron's finger) and declined.
But yeah, without context, it looks like you have a battle, lose a few dozen thousand lives, and THEN call in the wrecking crew?
The kids wanted to see the latest installment from the Night at the Museum franchise for NYE. Let's just say I watched it so you don't have to...
stroker
01-02-15, 12:00 PM
Saw "Into the Woods" last night. If that's a film version of what a Broadway Play is like, then I won't be in New York any time soon.
Clever lyrics, not a bad movie, but just not my thing....
Johnny Depp absolutely rocked the role of Little Red Riding Hood's Wolf, though... (who knew he could sing?)
Johnny Depp absolutely rocked the role of Little Red Riding Hood's Wolf, though... (who knew he could sing?)
Didn't he sing in that barber movie?
He's got spooky on lock down:
Edward Scissorhands.
Pirate movies.
Sleepy Hollow
Alice in Wonderland movies
Sweeny Todd
The Ninth Gate
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
I watch Fallon nightly, and I'm amazed at the multiple talents these actors/actresses have. And wish I had 1/10th the talent. For example, Russell Crowe doing Folsom Prison Blues on The Tonight Show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTcflrnQt74
:thumbup:
Who woulda thunk it?
Side note...I love me some Roots. :)
The kids wanted to see the latest installment from the Night at the Museum franchise for NYE. Let's just say I watched it so you don't have to...
Perspective...may not have been a good movie (never seen any of them, BTW). But, 1.) You were able to take your children to see a movie. 2.) You saw Robin Williams in one of his final roles. I just watched the PBS retrospective on Mr. Williams...just reinforced how amazing he was. A candle in the wind. :( Peace.
indyfan31
01-04-15, 08:10 PM
A Tolkien geek's review of The Battle of the Five Armies:
After seeing it four times, I am at peace with it. Things like:
- Elf / dwarf love story (with a non-book elf no less)
- Legolas and his daddy
- Legolas (and Galadriel, Elrond, etc) being there at all
- Alfrid's crazy amount of screen time
...don't bother me a whole lot. There is a lot of embellishment by Peter Jackson, but through it all I think the spirit is right.
Long story short, I liked it more than most Tolkien geeks did. And, I am sad to say farewell to Jackson's Middle Earth.
What did you think of it?
Saw it, and had the opposite reaction. Didn't like that Legolas got so much screen time. There were two moments of VERY bad CG, one with Legolas "climbing" stones on a collapsing bridge and the other involved someone riding a large mountain goat; it just looked cheesy. Lastly, the book is called The Hobbit and for 2 1/2 hours Bilbo pretty much stood around and watched everything happen. I got the feeling Jackson let things go to his head.
WickerBill
01-04-15, 08:16 PM
If it's any consolation, in the book, Bilbo is pretty much unconscious for the entire battle. He wasn't really the star of the last 1/3rd of the book either.
We saw Hunger Games Part Whatever last night. In the "battle of books stretched out into multiple movies in order cash in at the box office" Hunger Games wins over the Hobbit. It didn't feel padded out the way that the Hobbit films do to me.
On video we watched The Zero Theorem recently. I'm a big fan of Terry Gilliam so I wanted to see this even if the reviews weren't all that promising. The Zero Theorem answers the question of what would happen if you gave Terry Gilliam 10 million dollars and sent him to Bucharest to make a movie that revisits some of the themes of his best movie, Brazil. The answer is some great visuals, interesting ideas and characters, but not enough story to make it all hang together well as a movie.
http://www.ew.com/article/2015/04/16/star-wars-force-awakens-new-trailer
Second Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer released today.
We went to see Terminator Genisys last night. I enjoyed it a lot. It's not a great movie by any means but it's better than the last two films in the Terminator series (which I guess is not saying much). I enjoyed the way they used the "alternate time lines" idea to play on the events of previous films.
Emilia Clarke does a good job as Sarah Connor (if it's gotta be someone other than Linda Hamilton). I only expected Schwarzenegger to call her "Khaleesi" once or twice. I probably would have chosen someone else as Reese. Jai Courtney just didn't seem like a good fit. The chemistry between he and Clarke as Sarah wasn't there - although that may also have been the story and direction.
Schwarzenegger is Schwarzenegger. There's an explanation for his age in the story which I can buy although I don't know how it sets with the keepers of Terminator mythology.
Overall I give it a 3 out of 4. Movie critics have been less kind but Rotten Tomatoes says that 69% of movie goers enjoyed it.
datachicane
07-04-15, 04:33 PM
I saw Lambert and Stamp a couple weeks ago- very interesting stuff. I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about the early days of The Who, but it turns out I wasn't.
TravelGal
07-04-15, 05:16 PM
I wondered about that movie. It's been absolutely savaged here in LA. The Governator didn't make a lot of friends by the time his term ended. I figured the general public would like it. Glad you did. First returns show it not doing all that well across the US this weekend but we'll see by the end. Number spinning is the favorite pastime of the news media.
More on topic, a trip to Australia gave me plenty of time to see a number of movies. Lots of fun and fluff (The Hundred-foot Journey) but The Black Swan was a real winner. From 2010. Performances were astonishing. Lots of Swan Lake and excellent acting.
TravelGal
07-07-15, 02:17 AM
Since I'm cranked up about the subject, I thought I'd add that the reviews of the documentary on Amy Winehouse have been nothing short of glowing. Done by Asif Kapadia, who did Senna. Achingly real, as was Senna.
Insomniac
07-09-15, 04:56 PM
The #s weren't kind at the box office for Terminator, I thought the trailer during Jurassic World for it was good, but was shocked by the #s.
I saw Jurassic World and Ex Machina recently. Ex Machina was interesting and Jurassic World was most definitely entertaining. Chris Pratt is box office gold now, right?
I'm not sure what will be next up for me. Spy? I'm not sold on Ant-Man. Marvel may've found the point where having their name on it won't be a gigantic success.
Napoleon
07-13-15, 05:03 PM
I saw Lambert and Stamp a couple weeks ago- very interesting stuff. I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about the early days of The Who, but it turns out I wasn't.
I really would like to see that movie.
Napoleon
07-13-15, 05:06 PM
Since I'm cranked up about the subject, I thought I'd add that the reviews of the documentary on Amy Winehouse have been nothing short of glowing. Done by Asif Kapadia, who did Senna. Achingly real, as was Senna.
I have listened to two interviews with him about the film and it does sound very interesting.
Saw a couple of movies recently.
Whiplash - Very good, just not really my topic. Enjoyable, even if you're not a band geek.
Warning; has more f-bombs than most other films that are known for f-bombs. When they wrote the screenplay, I think they started with Carlin's 7 Words, and the rest is just filler. :)
Interstellar - McConaughey finally realizes that he's a damn good actor - he's reached critical pretentiousness. :yuck:
OK film. I knew that there would be some science lapses, but there are some outright logic errors and discontinuities. I still don't know what the resolution was. (no spoilers)
The director needs to start planning his comeback. I think it should take about 10 years or so.
Lucy - what the hell did Scarlett do to Hollywood? How did she get on the Black List? Was this movie and the one that she gets nekkid in part of her penance? Did she get soaked for alimony in her divorce? :confused:
stroker
08-03-15, 10:46 PM
Disappointed with Minions. So many squandered opportunities... Still need to see Inside Out.
datachicane
08-04-15, 07:52 PM
Whiplash was nicely done, particularly appreciated by my teenaged jazz-freak drummer daughter.
I saw the Amy Winehouse doc at the local arthouse a couple nights ago. I've usually got a low enjoyment threshold for self-destructing celeb bios, so it wasn't my first viewing choice, but...
I dunno if it was the quality of the music, her personality, the production values, etc., but I found myself wrapped up in the whole thing by the end. Sad stuff, pretty much the dictionary definition of daddy issues. I went right home and hugged my kid.
Also caught Mr. Holmes. A nice, tidy little film, more of a meditation on ego and identity than you'd expect from the genre, which isn't a bad thing. Sir Ian gave the sort of performance we'd expect from Sir Ian. X-Men movies still suck.
All of that aside, <SPOILER ALERT> once, just once, I'd like to see a film with both a bright and curious kid and bees where one doesn't turn out to be deathly allergic to the other. Really, is that too much to ask? Ten minutes into the film, kid, bees, yep, he's gonna be a goner. Heck, the screenwriter (I'm too lazy to look up his name) went through all of the trouble to write some nice bits of foreshadowing for various plot points, and the whole lot gets upstaged by a cliche. Maybe we shouldn't all split up when scary dude/monster/bear is chasing us around the backlot? Hey, lucky for us that evil bomb-maker thoughtfully color-coded his wires, I just use red for everything. Enough, already.
Said teenaged daughter dragged me to Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl , again at the local arthouse. She'd read the book and liked it, and started campaigning for it when it hit the theater. Said local arthouse proprietor does a great job of curating films (in a town that's probably not quite big enough for a decent arthouse), and I gotta admit it was better than I'd expected. Plenty of fodder for film-geeks didn't hurt, although my suspension of disbelief was harshed a bit by bright teenaged characters (lucky bastards, no bees in this one) who dig Werner Herzog and binge-watch Burden of Dreams. Of course, my kid had to go and harsh my righteously harshed suspension of disbelief by pointing out that she digs Werner Herzog, but I told her she's a mutant so that doesn't count. Dad of the year right here, that's me.
Lucy - what the hell did Scarlett do to Hollywood? How did she get on the Black List? Was this movie and the one that she gets nekkid in part of her penance? Did she get soaked for alimony in her divorce? :confused:
Both of those movies (I assume the other you're referring to is "Under The Skin") had the potential to be good movies. They had stories with potential and good directors. I can see where Johansson could have expected both of them to be good projects going in.
I enjoyed the book "Under The Skin" so the movie was a big disappointment. The critics loved it because it was one of those mishmashes of bizarre visual affects and long scenes with tedious music and no dialogue that film critics love. My feeling was that they spent all the money on Johansson and couldn't afford a cast, a proper adaptation of the book, or the special affects necessary to tell the story properly.
Both of those movies (I assume the other you're referring to is "Under The Skin") had the potential to be good movies. They had stories with potential and good directors. I can see where Johansson could have expected both of them to be good projects going in.
I enjoyed the book "Under The Skin" so the movie was a big disappointment. The critics loved it because it was one of those mishmashes of bizarre visual affects and long scenes with tedious music and no dialogue that film critics love. My feeling was that they spent all the money on Johansson and couldn't afford a cast, a proper adaptation of the book, or the special affects necessary to tell the story properly.
Yes, Under The Skin.
Both movies had a good premise to have Scarlett act like a robot. :gomer:
Any movie that is based on the "10% of brain" fallacy is a non-starter as anything other than a popcorn movie. I think that Lucy tried to be much more than that, but perhaps I was inventing my own deeper meaning whilst she was chained up to the wall. :p
Steve Jobs is flipping good. :thumbup: :thumbup:
Napoleon
10-26-15, 07:51 PM
I really liked The Martian.
stroker
10-26-15, 10:44 PM
I really liked The Martian.
+1
Maybe the best film adaptation of a book I've ever seen.
cameraman
11-09-15, 02:28 PM
Okay I was dreading the hatchet job that was obviously going to be the Peanuts Movie but I was instead very pleasantly surprised by how faithful to the original strip/shows it was and how overall just good it was.
If you're a Peanuts fan then I recommend the movie, it was very well done.
I went to the 2D version so I don't know how the 3D might change the experience.
TravelGal
02-18-16, 02:54 PM
Enjoyed The Martian and, based on cameraman's recommendation, watched the Peanuts movie. Just as he said, really fun and true to the original spirit.
Now, we just saw Furious 7 last night. It's on HBO now. (We don't get out much). That sent me looking for all the previous ones, some of which I've seen parts of, I'm sure. :gomer: I find: 2001 The Fast and Furious; 2003 2 Fast 2 Furious; 2009 Fast and Furious; 2011 Fast Five; 2013 Fast and Furious 6; 2015 Furious 7. My question is: what happened to 4? Is there one or did they decided to use "five" to refer to the stars and not the movie number? Or? TIA.
Insomniac
02-18-16, 04:08 PM
Enjoyed The Martian and, based on cameraman's recommendation, watched the Peanuts movie. Just as he said, really fun and true to the original spirit.
Now, we just saw Furious 7 last night. It's on HBO now. (We don't get out much). That sent me looking for all the previous ones, some of which I've seen parts of, I'm sure. :gomer: I find: 2001 The Fast and Furious; 2003 2 Fast 2 Furious; 2009 Fast and Furious; 2011 Fast Five; 2013 Fast and Furious 6; 2015 Furious 7. My question is: what happened to 4? Is there one or did they decided to use "five" to refer to the stars and not the movie number? Or? TIA.
It's actually #3. That's the one without Vin Diesel.
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
Fast & Furious (2009)
Fast Five (2011)
Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
Furious 7 (2015)
I saw Sicario last weekend and thought it was pretty good.
TravelGal
02-18-16, 07:26 PM
It's actually #3. That's the one without Vin Diesel.
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
Fast & Furious (2009)
Fast Five (2011)
Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
Furious 7 (2015)
I saw Sicario last weekend and thought it was pretty good.
That's what caught me. Thank you! Since I was not sure of the titles, I was looking under Vin Diesel and, of course, Paul Walker. :cry: Looks like they "drifted" pretty far from the original cast.
datachicane
07-05-16, 08:32 PM
I saw Swiss Army Man last weekend.
Given my snobbishly low threshold for lowbrow, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Very nicely directed, a number of genuinely touching sequences, and far, far too many fart jokes. About halfway through I finally caught what (I think, anyway) the director was up to, sort of a Pynchonesque 'the art is in your head' attempt to make the audience uncomfortable as a mirror for the main character's emotional state. Nicely done, that, but still too many fart jokes.
I don't want to give any spoilers, but there's something in the final sequence which makes it clear that this is a much, much darker film than would otherwise be apparent. I haven't seen any reviews pick up on it yet, which surprises me.
I've heard from friends that Spotlight is worth a watch.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spotlight_2015/
datachicane
07-23-16, 07:05 PM
I caught the new Star Trek Thursday night, with very low expectations. The idea of Justin Lin at the helm of what had already devolved to brainless megasplosionfests didn't do much for my enthusiasm. Star Trek was never exactly high art, but it felt like whatever redeeming qualities it had had been carefully refined out in exchange for mindless violence.
I gotta say- it wasn't bad. Still a megasplosionfest, still a frenetic pace that (to me, anyway) speaks to a lack of confidence in the writing to carry the story, an embarrassingly cheesy music sequence, but the end result was still better than most of its predecessors, straight back to 1979. Considering just how bad some of the Trek movies have been, that's not exactly setting the bar, but still...
If it didn't have a full Roddenberry-approved vibe, it at least acknowledged and respected it, something the last two outings pretty much wiped their feet on.
I caught the new Star Trek Thursday night, with very low expectations. The idea of Justin Lin at the helm of what had already devolved to brainless megasplosionfests didn't do much for my enthusiasm. Star Trek was never exactly high art, but it felt like whatever redeeming qualities it had had been carefully refined out in exchange for mindless violence.
I gotta say- it wasn't bad. Still a megasplosionfest, still a frenetic pace that (to me, anyway) speaks to a lack of confidence in the writing to carry the story, an embarrassingly cheesy music sequence, but the end result was still better than most of its predecessors, straight back to 1979. Considering just how bad some of the Trek movies have been, that's not exactly setting the bar, but still...
If it didn't have a full Roddenberry-approved vibe, it at least acknowledged and respected it, something the last two outings pretty much wiped their feet on.
Wrath of Khan. Period. :)
datachicane
07-24-16, 11:18 PM
Wrath of Khan. Period. :)
Well, yeah, obviously. I might even squint and rank this one as 2nd, mostly 'cuz I find 4 completely unwatchable.
I liked the first of the reboot series mainly because I thought it was respectful of the original characters while being new and fresh. I agree that the second was a bit too much of a CGI-fest. Haven't seen the latest but even George Takai objects to the Sulu switcheroo.
TravelGal
07-25-16, 01:43 AM
I liked the first of the reboot series mainly because I thought it was respectful of the original characters while being new and fresh. I agree that the second was a bit too much of a CGI-fest. Haven't seen the latest but even George Takai objects to the Sulu switcheroo.
Latest LA Times article says GT has accommodated to it, especially in view of the fact that Roddenberry was way, way liberal.
I liked the first of the reboot series mainly because I thought it was respectful of the original characters while being new and fresh.
Is today opposite day? :gomer:
'The Martian' was a much better Star Trek movie than 'Star Trek'. It is FUBAR from beginning to end. The only consolation is that in a few years Hollywood will throw away everything JJ Abrams "re-booted" and start fresh. :yuck:
Is today opposite day? :gomer:
'The Martian' was a much better Star Trek movie than 'Star Trek'. It is FUBAR from beginning to end. The only consolation is that in a few years Hollywood will throw away everything JJ Abrams "re-booted" and start fresh. :yuck:
Start fresh? The only thing 'fresh' in 'Hollywood' is on Netflix. :saywhat: :shakehead:
datachicane
07-25-16, 03:38 PM
Yeah, both Abrams-directed Trek films were pretty much dumpster fires. The first gets a bit of a pass with the whole alternate origin schtick, but the 2nd? Kirk relentlessly beats the crap out of a voluntarily surrendered, unarmed prisoner? Where do I even start with that one.
Not a Trekkie, but rotten maters has a good score for it. More looking forward to the new Bourne. :)
datachicane
07-25-16, 07:47 PM
More looking forward to the new Bourne. :)
Would that be The Bourne Redundancy?
:tony:
TravelGal
07-25-16, 08:13 PM
Would that be The Bourne Redundancy?
:tony:
:D Just watched the first four, including "Legacy" which doesn't even have Jason Bourne in it!! Saw one of the 10-minute "making of" about the new one and it looks good to me Bring it on.
TravelGal
07-28-16, 02:01 PM
This is the time of year we catch up on non-blockbuster movies. Freebies, in other words. The Walk. The 2015 Robert Zemeckis version of the story of the young guy (pun) who walked the wire between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. Footage of the towers, most probably from the 2008 French version, beautiful and sad. The story is plain but the walk itself is breathtaking. I was actually hiding my eyes. (TravelGuy was laughing his head off at me). :gomer:
This is the time of year we catch up on non-blockbuster movies. Freebies, in other words. The Walk. The 2015 Robert Zemeckis version of the story of the young guy (pun) who walked the wire between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. Footage of the towers, most probably from the 2008 French version, beautiful and sad. The story is plain but the walk itself is breathtaking. I was actually hiding my eyes. (TravelGuy was laughing his head off at me). :gomer:
Ya want fun? Try this shizz...
http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/skywire-live-with-nik-wallenda/videos/nik-wallendas-first-steps-above-the-grand-canyon/
I watched that live, and think I peed myself. ;)
:eek:
TravelGal
07-29-16, 02:46 PM
I remember NOT watching that. LOL. Says it's 1500 ft, which makes it about 150 higher above "ground" than the World Trade Center. But, it looks like a much longer walk. ??
FYI, Sully is a good watch. 80%+ on Rotten. :thumbup:
EDwardo
09-12-16, 09:15 PM
I just watched a courtroom drama called The Whole Truth with Keenu Reeves and Rene Zellweger. Not a great movie but entertaining and it had some good twists.
stroker
09-14-16, 08:49 PM
Anyone been to see "Hell or High Water" yet?
Anyone been to see "Hell or High Water" yet?
I hope Jeff Bridges doesn't fold like Tommy Lee Jones did in 'No Country for Old Men".
Napoleon
10-03-16, 01:34 PM
So I go and see Ron Howard's Beatles documentary this weekend and there is a video clip of teenage girls at their Hollywood Bowl show (likely 1964) and here is a still from the clip:
893
Go on....
RT click --> View Image Info, Associated Text.
She's not that old, is she?
thank you, wasn't appearing when I viewed on my iPad.
She wasn't the only one. 1966, Shea Stadium, Meryl Streep on the left.
http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s84/Zander_UK/untitled.jpg
Wonder if that appears in the film, which I really do want to see.
How was it?
Napoleon
10-03-16, 02:54 PM
She's not that old, is she?
She is 66.
The audio on my work computer is down, so I don't know what is said in this, but I gather from what I can read on line that someone (SW must say the Hollywood Bowl, but its most likely Howard's people) must have been going trough footage and realized that must be her, and got in contact with her with the question "did you see the Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl"
Near the end of this clip they play the Hollywood Bowl clip http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/sigourney-weaver-had-a-roadside-runin-with-the-beatles/2848253
Napoleon
10-03-16, 03:10 PM
Steve,
As to your first question, if so they do not identify her. SW they talk to in the film (but even without that the first thing I thought was "hey, that is Sigourney Weaver!"). Having said that the theater release has tagged on right after it 30 minute of the 50 minute Shea Stadium show film that was prepared. If that comes out of that film (which was not 1966 but 1965) then maybe.
Second question is tougher. If you are just a film fan and want to see something interesting, maybe you like it, maybe you don't. Me, I am a huge fan, which cuts two ways. I am very interested in the subject, but nearly all of the ground covered has been well covered in the past. There is a bunch of footage I have not seen and I think it gives you an appreciation on how soul crushing touring was for them at the end and why they walked away from it. There is a late film press conference where Paul is more or less augmentative with a reporter and you can see they had just about had it. For me it was worth seeing.
An aside...but on topic.
http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2016/08/28/198222742/vin-scully-recounts-the-beatles-escape-from-dodger-stadium-in-1966
:)
There is a bunch of footage I have not seen and I think it gives you an appreciation on how soul crushing touring was for them at the end and why they walked away from it. There is a late film press conference where Paul is more or less augmentative with a reporter and you can see they had just about had it.
They were young and rich. The idea that music was a job was lost on them.
Compare their attitude to the portrayal of James Brown in 'Get on Up'. That man was all business.
Napoleon
10-03-16, 06:58 PM
They were young and rich. The idea that music was a job was lost on them.
Compare their attitude to the portrayal of James Brown in 'Get on Up'. That man was all business.
You could not be more wrong when it comes to them. They had had an unbelievably heavy live show schedule for years and years and years. There is a reason that Malcolm Gladwell used them as a prime example in his book Outliers. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eHa9n4jbGw) James Brown never dealt with death threats and threatening behavior from a head of state, not to mention mass record burnings in the South such that they began to actually fear for their lives, which in retrospect is not insane in light of the fact that 14 years after they quit touring one of them ended up dead at that hands of a fanatic. By the way, they were rich because of their touring. They had the crappest record deal ever (a fact mentioned in the movie, but something that is pretty well know). Quiting touring was walking away from their biggest revenue stream at that time (I think at that time they still had 2 LPs to deliver under their existing contract, so they still had a ways to go before they could negotiate a fair record deal)
I understand. Not everyone is cutout for the music business.
They can't all be The Rolling Stones.
;)
EDwardo
10-04-16, 11:36 AM
According to Celebrity Net Worth, McCartney's net worth is estimated at $1.2 billion.
Ringo Starr's estimated net worth is $300 million.
It has been calculated that the overall size of George Harrison (estate) net worth today is as much as 400 million dollars
John Lennons' estate estimated to be $800 million.
The lads seemed to have done quite well despite giving up touring and breaking up.
When I was a kid, being left handed, I got to be Paul in the air band. Unfortunately the air bands' earnings came nowhere near these numbers.
I wanted to, I really, really did...but Rouge One was just meh. :( :\
OTOH, Patriot's Day was well done. Great cast with 6 Dregrees, Goodman, JK, and Marky Mark. :thumbup: :thumbup:
I wanted to, I really, really did...but Rouge One was just meh. :( :\
OTOH, Patriot's Day was well done. Great cast with 6 Dregrees, Goodman, JK, and Marky Mark. :thumbup: :thumbup:
I really enjoyed Rogue One. Yeah, I was probably just drunk on Member Berries (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM2zcv5AfaM) but it was a story that was always out there to tell and it was told with complete reverence to the originals. Yeah, some of it was predictable and pandering but it's like being dragged back to your youth for a couple of hours.
Speaking of which, we finally got around to watching "American Hustle" the other night. I enjoyed it. It's very well-told story with great characters and performances. One gripe is that it gives the impression that popular music in '78 was better than it was. Sure, good music was out there but most of the soundtrack is really from the early '70s.
I really enjoyed Rogue One. Yeah, I was probably just drunk on Member Berries (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM2zcv5AfaM) but it was a story that was always out there to tell and it was told with complete reverence to the originals. Yeah, some of it was predictable and pandering but it's like being dragged back to your youth for a couple of hours.
Speaking of which, we finally got around to watching "American Hustle" the other night. I enjoyed it. It's very well-told story with great characters and performances. One gripe is that it gives the impression that popular music in '78 was better than it was. Sure, good music was out there but most of the soundtrack is really from the early '70s.
Don't get me wrong. It was good, just not great...like skipping HS to see Empire and Ewoks greatness. :gomer: :D I could have also been colored a bit by seeing Patriot's Day first. I still hold Empire as the gold standard for SW flix like Wrath for Trek flix. :) And, unlike you, I didn't sleep out overnight for the first viewing talking to my MBs...
http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1184344-member-berries
:tony:
Great Scot. :eek:
http://youtu.be/PMW4Ad8fIF4
datachicane
01-17-17, 03:08 AM
Great Scot. :eek:
http://youtu.be/PMW4Ad8fIF4
Geeze, I remember that from the first time around. Burned into my psyche. :cry:
Back when young datachicane committed some particularly grievous offense, the punishment of choice meted out by his parents was the forced viewing of Donny and Marie, Clockwork Orange style. I'd beg to be grounded instead. I am not making this up.
Napoleon
01-17-17, 06:56 AM
I liked Rogue One.
the forced viewing of Donny and Marie, Clockwork Orange style.
Barbaric!
Also on the good side, I did get to see the trailer for the 50th iteration of Alien(s). :rolleyes: :saywhat: :irked: :shakehead: :gomer:
Napoleon
01-17-17, 10:00 AM
^^^
Mine had Blade Runner, a movie (the original one, that is) I still don't know if I have ever really made up my mind about.
^^^
Mine had Blade Runner, a movie (the original one, that is) I still don't know if I have ever really made up my mind about.
BR actually crossed my mind during the street scenes in One. I have the original on DVD. I refuse to watch updated/modified versions of films such as ET, SW epi 4, etc.). :irked:
Napoleon
01-17-17, 03:28 PM
I refuse to watch updated/modified versions of films such as ET, SW epi 4, etc.). :irked:
I am not quite sure what you are referring to by that. There is a difference between a remake (or a variant of the same, a reset) and a sequel with Harrison Ford appearing as the same character as in the original film.
I am not quite sure what you are referring to by that. There is a difference between a remake (or a variant of the same, a reset) and a sequel with Harrison Ford appearing as the same character as in the original film.
Referring to 'director's updates' like ET removing guns from the final scenes of ET. Lucas also changed the original SW movies (4-6) for re-releases.
Insomniac
01-17-17, 04:51 PM
Referring to 'director's updates' like ET removing guns from the final scenes of ET. Lucas also changed the original SW movies (4-6) for re-releases.
Disney will release the originals on Bluray at some point. Ohh the $$$.
"All is Lost" with Robert Redford. Pretty dang good.
"Bridge of Spies" with Tom Hanks. Also good.
"Transformers: Age of Extinction" with Optimus Prime. Garbage.
Disney will release the originals on Bluray at some point. Ohh the $$$.
Oh, no doubt. :irked: :shakehead: I have a love-hate relationship with The House of Mouse. :saywhat: You should see the stuff I monitor for WDW/DL updates...like $650/day (+tax) for private cabanas at WDW/MK. Back on topic...I upgraded to a connected BR player last year, and frankly, DVD is fine for me. :thumbup: I bought the box set for ET years ago, which has both the original and 'updated' versions. Spielberg butchered it. :(
I wanted to, I really, really did...but Rouge One was just meh. :( :\
It was really good.
There's no way that it could live up to the fanatics' expectations, but it came really close.
(not a spoiler, unless you never saw Ep 4 - the 1st movie)
I struggled with the end part, where there were 172 things that HAD to go right for them to succeed and only 4 of them did go right. But they succeeded anyway. That stood out to me as a detraction from the overall goodness of the movie.
Insomniac
02-02-17, 10:31 AM
:thumbup: to Hidden Figures. It's a good family/space/comedic moments movie.
TravelGal
02-02-17, 07:20 PM
:thumbup: to Hidden Figures. It's a good family/space/comedic moments movie.
It won the best motion picture cast award at the SAG awards. Beat out some pretty tough, and more heavily favored, competition. :thumbup:
Finally caught Race. Not as good as 42, but it was quite good. And that's not as a tOSU homer. :) #JesseOwens :)
The Man from UNCLE
The Nice Guys
The Lucky Ones
Good flicks. :thumbup:
The Man from UNCLE
The Nice Guys
The Lucky Ones
Good flicks. :thumbup:
But I question yer taste...you follow the 9ers. :gomer: :p
stroker
02-23-17, 11:30 PM
Has anyone seen Silence yet? It's been out for 8 weeks and hasn't hit town yet that I know of...:confused:
But I question yer taste...you follow the 9ers. :gomer: :p
Well, when it comes to being an expert on multi-million dollar failures that disappoint their audiences, I yield to the Gentleman from the rarely great state of Ohio. ;)
PS: Cutler. The 49ers are talking about hiring Jay Cutler as the new QB. :shakehead:
Well, when it comes to being an expert on multi-million dollar failures that disappoint their audiences, I yield to the Gentleman from the rarely great state of Ohio. ;)
PS: Cutler. The 49ers are talking about hiring Jay Cutler as the new QB. :shakehead:
Hey now, we deported Cleveburgh. :gomer: Good luck with the Cutler shizz. :gomer: (payback is a biotch for '82 and '89 SBs) Race was quite good and very enlightening. #trackandfieldnerd I ran all of the races Jesse Owens ran. Now I'm in the mode of getting the DDs ramped up for Beauty & the Beast live action and Cars 3. :D
Fergtos to add a #ElmoT shout. :)
Has anyone seen Silence yet? It's been out for 8 weeks and hasn't hit town yet that I know of...:confused:
Reviews are average at best....DVD queue. Many flicks hit targeted before their full release date.
Insomniac
02-25-17, 02:05 PM
Has anyone seen Silence yet? It's been out for 8 weeks and hasn't hit town yet that I know of...:confused:
I saw it. I thought it was interesting, but kinda long. Critics loved it for the most part, 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, 79 Metascore. I'm not surprised the audience scores are a little lower, 70% RT, 7.5 IMDB. I doubt it will show up now unless you have a theater that shows releases for real cheap knowing the audience is limited. It went wide in January, did horrible and was pretty quickly pulled (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekly&id=silence2016.htm).
I saw it. I thought it was interesting, but kinda long. Critics loved it for the most part, 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, 79 Metascore. I'm not surprised the audience scores are a little lower, 70% RT, 7.5 IMDB. I doubt it will show up now unless you have a theater that shows releases for real cheap knowing the audience is limited. It went wide in January, did horrible and was pretty quickly pulled (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekly&id=silence2016.htm).
Critics love Marty, but it just never had a wide release for the general public. Me thinks it was relegated to mostly artsy theaters.
And the winner is....Steve Harvey. :gomer: ;)
Went to see Logan tonight. Excellent. One of the best of the X-men series. Great performances by Jackman and Stewart. The R rating allows them to unleash the brutality of Wolverine's adamantium claws in a way that has mostly been hinted at in the rest of the franchise.
From the "showing the whole movie in the trailer" department, I hope Ghost in the Shell is as good as it looks. Will "Alien: Covenant" make " "Prometheus" better or worse?
I'm really hopeful for Dunkirk. Maybe it will wet people's appetite for more epic stories that aren't superheroes or science fiction. Not that there's anything wrong with those - I love them. But those seem to be the only kind of stories worth going to the movies for rather than just waiting for the video.
Insomniac
04-23-17, 07:03 PM
Fast 8 :thumbup: 2 hours of action entertainment. I'd like to be in the room when they're thinking this stuff up.
Fast 8 writers' meeting. ;)
http://youtu.be/TgfECRsyMDs
Insomniac
04-24-17, 09:31 AM
Fast 8 writers' meeting. ;)
:rofl:
We went to see "Alien: Covenant" last night. In preparation we watched Prometheus the night before. I pretty much stand by my original thoughts on that one. Like "Rogue One," I thought it was a pretty good prequel. It told a story worth telling, answered questions about the Alien universe, and was respectful to the original two. I was annoyed by the "scientists doing stupid things" method of advancing the story.
On review I was also annoyed by the crewman showing up all folded up at the ship and going on a rampage near the end. It seemed like a cheap stunt to cull more crew members and provide another action sequence. It was like The Thing suddenly crossed over to the Alien universe and it seemed to muddy the water about the whole evolutionary cycle of these Aliens.
So then there's "Alien: Covenant." In a word, "disappointment."
This film resembles an '80s slasher film more than anything. Except that it's supposed scientists instead of teenagers who are blundering around doing stupid things before meeting their not all surprising ends. Like so many other sequels these days this one seems to go through a checklist of what they think the audience wants. We gotta have a mother ship, a drop ship, a suspicious synthetic, half a dozen Alien penetrations, a handful of aliens bursting out of various places, some severings, and a couple of acid burns. All of this hung on a really flimsy plot advancing a development to the franchise story line that is not at all satisfying.
stroker
05-30-17, 07:23 PM
I finally got to see Europa Report last night. Pretty good for the amount of money they had to spend. I was unimpressed with Prometheus so I think I'll pass on the new one.
TravelGal
06-07-17, 09:45 PM
I just tumbled to the fact that the Los Angeles premier of "McLaren" will be at the Petersen Automotive Museum at 7 PM on June 24. $5 per couple and free for museum members. Parking $10. ($12 for the whole day if you need time to take any of the tours or see the museum itself.)
TravelGal
07-29-17, 07:21 PM
Anyone seen Dunkirk? I have not seen it yet but I am reading about the battles surrounding the evacuation. The common joke these days is that the French are cowards but apparently they fought well enough to save about 100,000 soldiers, having thousands of themselves captured because they held so long there was no time left for them to get away. It's from Wiki and we all know that may not be correct but I'm hoping someone here has more knowledge.
"The desperate resistance of Allied forces, especially the French 12th Motorised Infantry Division from the Fort des Dunes, bought time for the evacuation of the bulk of the troops. The Wehrmacht captured some 35,000 soldiers, almost all of them French. These men had protected the evacuation until the last moment and were unable to embark. The same fate was reserved for the survivors of the French 12th Motorised Infantry Division (composed in particular of the French 150th Regiment of Infantry); they were taken prisoner on the morning of 4 June on the beach of Malo-les-Bains. The flag of this regiment was burnt so as not to fall into the hands of the enemy.[43]"
Napoleon
07-29-17, 08:49 PM
Anyone seen Dunkirk? . . . The common joke these days is that the French are cowards but apparently they fought well enough to save about 100,000 soldiers, having thousands of themselves captured because they held so long there was no time left for them to get away.
I saw it this afternoon and really liked it.
The French coward thing has always been an enormous lie -it really is total BS. When the French have lost, it hasn't been for that reason.
By the way, in the film at the beginning one of the characters passes through a French defensive position, so for that reason and a comment at the end about then evacuating the French tells you that is who is holding off the Germans during the evacuation, but they go into no more detail then that (actually I don't think the words Nazi or German are ever even used in the film and no clear human is ever depicted for the enemy).
TravelGal
07-30-17, 02:56 PM
I saw it this afternoon and really liked it.
The French coward thing has always been an enormous lie -it really is total BS. When the French have lost, it hasn't been for that reason.
By the way, in the film at the beginning one of the characters passes through a French defensive position, so for that reason and a comment at the end about then evacuating the French tells you that is who is holding off the Germans during the evacuation, but they go into no more detail then that (actually I don't think the words Nazi or German are ever even used in the film and no clear human is ever depicted for the enemy).
I know I should see it on the "big screen" but travels will probably keep that from happening. Further to the above, I'm reading that the British Commander radioed that the operation was finished on June 3 and Churchill demanded that they return the next day to try to evacuate the French. They got 26,000 in that one day, leaving 35,000 behind.
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