NOW CLOSED ; List some movies you've watched recently. Theatre, rental, TV... and give a */10

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ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
I've seen night watch and day watch. I thought they scrapped end of watch altogether?

Of, that End of Watch. Ya, saw that. It was pretty good.

I'll tack on Byzantium for Netflix if it is still in fact on there. Awesome vampire movie.

I think you mean Twilight Watch and wut? (BTW it was combined into Night Watch).
 

n7

Elite Member
Jan 4, 2004
21,303
4
81
I'll tack on Byzantium for Netflix if it is still in fact on there. Awesome vampire movie.

Yes it is indeed an excellent vampire movie.

Second best in a rather LONG time only to Let the Right One In (Swedish one, not the American remake that i don't count since, while good, was highly unnecessary).
 

ControlD

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2005
5,440
44
91
Yes it is indeed an excellent vampire movie.

Second best in a rather LONG time only to Let the Right One In (Swedish one, not the American remake that i don't count since, while good, was highly unnecessary).

I just watched that a few weeks ago. Excellent movie.
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
33
86
Yes it is indeed an excellent vampire movie.

Second best in a rather LONG time only to Let the Right One In (Swedish one, not the American remake that i don't count since, while good, was highly unnecessary).
I will check that Byzantium movie out, then. My luck with vampire movies lately has been poor.
 
Sep 29, 2004
18,665
67
91
Yes it is indeed an excellent vampire movie.

Second best in a rather LONG time only to Let the Right One In (Swedish one, not the American remake that i don't count since, while good, was highly unnecessary).

Yup, agree 100%. The USA version pissed me off. It was fine until
they pulled the BS special effects at the end that just ruined it. Narrative matters and I realized that unnecesary special effects matter too for the opposite reasons.
 

GTaudiophile

Lifer
Oct 24, 2000
29,776
31
81
American Sniper - 9/10 (Theater Pre-Screening)

Another great movie by Clint Eastwood. Bradley Cooper performs the best role of his career. Sienna Miller makes her debut (for me) as a very capable actress in her vital supporting role. The movie is a must-see for Americans... and Texans.

I particularly appreciate how the movie sheds light on the whole PTSD issue. The man is a legend and a hero.
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
126
American Sniper - 9/10 (Theater Pre-Screening)

Another great movie by Clint Eastwood. Bradley Cooper performs the best role of his career. Sienna Miller makes her debut (for me) as a very capable actress in her vital supporting role. The movie is a must-see for Americans... and Texans.

I particularly appreciate how the movie sheds light on the whole PTSD issue. The man is a legend and a hero.
Definite must see for me since Clint Eastwood is directing it but I'll wait for streaming or rental to see it.
 

SphinxnihpS

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2005
8,368
25
91
Watched two awesome films I hadn't actually seen.

Election with Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick

Utterly not what you would expect.

Tideland with Jeff Bridges

Magical
 

sportage

Lifer
Feb 1, 2008
11,493
3,159
136
The Homesman - 5.0 / 10.0

Beautiful cinematography but that's where the good stuff ends. Acting and directing is fine but the editing and adapted screenplay borked this movie. Totally disjointed plot with confusing character development and dialogue. Not a must-see.

I totally disagree.
This was definitely a remarkable film.
I want and will watch it again, once released on DVD or BR or available for streaming.

Most of the negative reviews are from people expecting a Disney-like happy film about the wild west. Or some wild west fantasy.
Also, negative reviews because Meryl Streep had such a small part.
First of all, this is not a Meryl Streep film nor was it meant to be.
Streep made a small appearance playing a character, a character essential to the film, and extremely well portrayed by Streep.

BEWARNED, SPOILIERS ALERT.
But my spoilers just might add this film to your must-see list.
Definitely a must-see film.
Not only for the great cast, great acting, beautiful photography, but most of all the realistic and educational experience portraying life of the settlers, and their challenge with surviving prairie life under such unbelievably harsh conditions.

The film itself.
What struck me was the realistic portraying of the harsh life for settlers farming and living on the midwest prairie lands.
Farming under the most adverse of conditions.
Communities with only a handful of settlers.
The small community stabilized only by presents of the church, and the church as its only fabric keeping people somewhat civilized.
A wonder anyone actually survived this harsh life.

The few settlers living in this community had their need and desire for a wife to share this life. And with so few single women available, the settlers were forced to go east, back to somewhat civilized America, to seek out a wife.
Once married, as was the laws of society in those days, the wife had no choice but submit to the wishes of the husband.
Meaning, this newlywed woman had no choice but to follow her husband, trading away somewhat civilized eastern life for completely uncivilized prairie farm life under the most harsh adverse conditions.

It is no wonder that many of these new transplanted women simply could not survive mentally and physically under such harsh adverse conditions.
Thus, the basic theme of this movie.

And then you have great Hillary Swank.
Her character as a single woman living this harsh prairie farm life, something quite rare back then for a woman, her doing what was needed to survive under such adverse conditions.
A strong woman, true, but even the strongest of women had their breaking point trying to survive under that hard life.
Later in the film, sadly, we discover Swank's personal breaking point.

Some of the most shocking moments, most historical moments, concerned child birth as a woman during this hard life.
Take one scene, where the husband informs his wife the crops have failed.
A storm has turned their crop of corn into at best, feed for the cattle.
Meaning, limited food for this prairie family to survive the harsh Winter ahead.
Or the ground well for water and survival of both human and livestock, has dried up.
Again, further reducing the chances for survival into the Spring.

Pregnancy was seldom welcome under such harsh conditions.
With resources profoundly limited to raise any child.
The male child had value. Value in one day adding muscle to the hard life of farming.
The female child would not provide such muscle, thus had a disadvantage.

This explains two very disturbing scenes in the film, and two reasons many viewers just could not handle the historical fact with depicting prairie farm life.
And why some viewers gave negative marks against this film.

The two scenes?
One scene, a woman with a small child.
It is not clear if the child was a newborn that died at birth, or died later of some illness?
Possibly died of starvation, weakness, illness, or at birth?
Few newborns survived their first year of life.

So you have this pregnant mother, and remember there was no birth control in those days, the woman had no option but to bring the pregnancy to term, to only later watch her child die of starvation and or illness.
There you have just one factor with the prairie women losing their grip on sanity.
The scene? This mother carrying her dead baby to the barn, tossing the dead tiny corpse onto a pile of hay.
That pile of hay containing several other deceased and wrapped tiny corpse from previous births, births all victim of such harsh prairie life.

Or another scene, the mother clutching and suckling her living newborn, and that blank emotionless stare on the mothers face while she walks clutching her suckling newborn.
She walks outside to the outhouse, the toilet, and literally drops the crying newborn into the hole in the outhouse toilet.
Disposing of life as one might dispose of garbage.
Why?
Because the only option for this newborns mother was to either watch her child eventually starve, then become ill and die, or the mercy killing of a loving mother.
So this was her only choice.
To avoid her childs eventual suffering now, or witness the enviable suffering and death later.
Remember, no such thing as birth control existed back then.
A pregnant woman carried the pregnancy to term.
And with one dried up well of water supply, or one failed crop, meant eventual certain death for that child.
That was the harsh reality of life on the prairie, reason enough for driving any women into breakdown and insanity.

In this film, Hillary Swank takes on the challenge to transport three of these women that have lost all connection with reality, transport the three women back to the east and back into civilization and help.

Swank's character, a hard seasoned farm woman.
Alone and lonely, Swank's one desire is to marry.
To have a man to share her life. Any man. Any man at all.
The goal Swank attempts to achieve, marriage, but due to her hard crusty appearance and attitude none of the few available men in the area will consider Swank as a desirable mate.
The single men would rather travel back to the civilized east and seek more attractive desirable women to marry, then transplant their bride back into that harsh life of prairie farming.

Swank hooks up with Tommy Lee Jones.
A notorious character of questionable moral, Jones makes a pact with Swank with transporting the three insane women back to the east.
The three women, caged and physically chained like wild animals, in a box of wood on wheels.
With Swank and Jones as their only hope for salvation.

Facing hard challenges along the way.
Indians, starvation, environment, and in the middle of nowhere their stumbling upon a lonely hotel of sorts, and its shady inn keeper played by James Spader.
Spader, who has no desire with helping this band of rejects in need, heading east.
This oddball hotel located in the middle of nowhere, abundant with food and drink, but food and drink reserved only for its residents and for none other.
Turned away by force and by gun point, Jones and his group in need depart this oasis of hope.
Only later to return for the sole purpose of taking revenge against this unwelcoming oddball hotel and its oddball inn keeper.
Burning all to the ground, including residents.

Moving on...
It was a bit if surprise, yet really no surprise, when Swank in an obvious last ditch effort, an obvious personally humiliating effort, Swank tries to convince Tommy Lee Jones with her misguided logic that the two of them should become more than just wagon train partners heading east.
Swank then offers herself sexually unto Jones, in this humiliating scene, as if Swank was offering Jones a spoiled piece of meat.
With total lack of romance or physical attraction, and certainly lacking of any emotional desire, Swank convinces Jones to have his way with her. Or more so, her way with Jones.
With this frugal attempt by Swank and her desire to close some deal of marriage with Jones.

A Swank/Jones sex scene follows, similar to the disgust of picking a blood sucking tick off ones arm. With no change of heart after the sex, Jones fails to consider any possibility of marriage to this crusty hard woman.
This, the final Swank humiliation.
Swank, realizing her goal of marriage will never happen.
With the break of dawn, Jones finds Swank missing from camp, only to discover Swank having hung herself from a tree branch.
Swank, had lost all hope.
Never to marry, the fear and the hidden weakness of this otherwise strong woman.
Powerful scene, yet quite disturbing.

With Swank's death, Jones found no further desire to fulfill his commitment to deliver the three women east into safety.
Jones abandons the three women he thinks.
But very soon Jones discovered he is followed by the three women.
The first hint of remaining sanity, hopes of healing, from the three women.
They finally had realized Jones and Swank were trying to help.
With the women now pursuing Jones, Jones experiences a softening of the heart, and once again takes on the three women heading east.

That is where Meryl Streep comes in.
Streep is the wife of the minister, their final destination.
Streep will accept the three women into her home, and into the church, to provide healing.

This was a must-see film.
Great cast, acting, story line, absolutely historical, but possibly too realistic and disturbing for many to accept.

True, prairie farm life was near intolerable.
True, women had no idea of the life ahead when marring hard rugged prairie men.
True, women had no birth control and no options but to carry pregnancy to term.
True, prairie men desired their women give them male offspring, not female.
True, male offspring were considered an asset. Female offspring the liability.
True, survival always an unknown. Resources could be wiped out with a single storm.
True, resources were scarce, not to be wasted on unplanned births.
True, child rearing was a life and death decision for the mother.
True, the intensional death of a unwanted birth had no legal ramifications.
True, it was very common for women transplanted into prairie life to suffer mental breakdown.

While packed with the very best actors, great acting, beautiful photography, shocking theme, historical accuracy, still this film was able to deliver some humorous and lighter moments.
If you give it a chance, you will not soon forget this film.
 
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pcslookout

Lifer
Mar 18, 2007
11,926
146
106
Yes it is indeed an excellent vampire movie.

Second best in a rather LONG time only to Let the Right One In (Swedish one, not the American remake that i don't count since, while good, was highly unnecessary).

Let The Right One In will go down as a classic.

I didn't like the remake at all.
 

KeithTalent

Elite Member | Administrator | No Lifer
Administrator
Nov 30, 2005
50,235
117
116
Watched two awesome films I hadn't actually seen.

Election with Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick

Utterly not what you would expect.

Tideland with Jeff Bridges

Magical

I re-watched Election not that long ago. Awesome freaking movie. Still Alexander Payne's best film.

KT
 

NuclearNed

Raconteur
May 18, 2001
7,831
295
126
The Hobbit: TBotFA 7/10*

*really tired when I saw this last night, I'll probably like it better if I see it again

Probably not quite as good as any of the LOTR movies, but pretty close. If you hated the 1st 2 Hobbit movies, you might still like this one. The opening sequence with Smaug is heart-pounding. Lots of good scenes. My dad & I saw the 3d version, and I actually liked the 3D (I've never liked 3D before, not even in Avatar).
 

doubledeluxe

Golden Member
Oct 1, 2014
1,074
1
0
Exodus: Gods and Kings - 5/10

I am of the opinion that the Bible doesn't translate well to film due to the sheer absurdity of the whole story. However I'm giving it a 5/10 for entertainment value. No matter what you try with the bible (either book) it just comes across as batshit crazy and this bothered me and those I saw the movie with. Noah and Passion of the Christ suffered from the same problem.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,817
5,703
126
Exodus: Gods and Kings - 5/10

I am of the opinion that the Bible doesn't translate well to film due to the sheer absurdity of the whole story. However I'm giving it a 5/10 for entertainment value. No matter what you try with the bible (either book) it just comes across as batshit crazy and this bothered me and those I saw the movie with. Noah and Passion of the Christ suffered from the same problem.

sounds like it will be a good flick then, enjoyed both of those flicks.
 

doubledeluxe

Golden Member
Oct 1, 2014
1,074
1
0
sounds like it will be a good flick then, enjoyed both of those flicks.
Well opinions are like assholes.

What surprised me is that I saw these movies with religious Catholics and they all liked it less than me. Like I said I gave it a 5 for entertainment value. They didn't like them at all.
 

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
856
126
Exodus: Gods and Kings - 5/10

I am of the opinion that the Bible doesn't translate well to film due to the sheer absurdity of the whole story. However I'm giving it a 5/10 for entertainment value. No matter what you try with the bible (either book) it just comes across as batshit crazy and this bothered me and those I saw the movie with. Noah and Passion of the Christ suffered from the same problem.

The craziest stuff from "Noah" and "The Passion of the Christ" wasn't from "The Bible." Now you have a more informed opinion.
 

motsm

Golden Member
Jan 20, 2010
1,822
2
76
The craziest stuff from "Noah" and "The Passion of the Christ" wasn't from "The Bible." Now you have a more informed opinion.
I will never understand why people have such a problem accepting movies with a biblical story, but are fine with all of the exact same themes and ideas in fantasy movies. Especially when it's something like Noah, which is 100% a fantasy movie, as the director is an atheist, and would obviously have no intention of perpetuating the story as reality.
 

doubledeluxe

Golden Member
Oct 1, 2014
1,074
1
0
Passion of the Christ might be unfair of me to use. That was definitely more a product of crazy Mel. But Noah and exodus both retell the bible. At the end of the day it's the interpretation and translation to film that makes these movies unappealing. How do you portray someone talking to god or hearing voices as not crazy? This seems to be a perpetual problem for these screen writers. They seem to try to make god less angry in this latest movie with the visual representation but it just comes across as crazy on the big screen. They try to use science to explain gods work but it just does not work.

I just don't think the bible works well in the theater.
 
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