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

Page 456 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Status
Not open for further replies.

KeithTalent

Elite Member | Administrator | No Lifer
Administrator
Nov 30, 2005
50,235
117
116
I know you are a movie lover (as we mostly are here), but that begs an entirely different question. Why would you go see a movie to a new IP w/o watching the trailer first?

Director and cast. That's more than enough to get me interested. Most of my anticipated films for the year are due to who is directing them and I don't generally care what the subject matter is. Sometimes I will read a brief description, but not always.

All I know about The Revenant, aside from the director and cast, is that it's a revenge flick that happens in frontier country.

KT
 

A Casual Fitz

Diamond Member
May 16, 2005
4,654
1,018
136
I know you are a movie lover (as we mostly are here), but that begs an entirely different question. Why would you go see a movie to a new IP w/o watching the trailer first?

I see movies without seeing a trailer all the time. Sure, I've seen people on the news talk about The Revenant but I haven't seen the the trailer...
 

KeithTalent

Elite Member | Administrator | No Lifer
Administrator
Nov 30, 2005
50,235
117
116
Yeah I stopped watching trailers for things I am interested in a while back. They just started showing way too much in some of them and if I already know I'm going to see the film, then what's the point?

KT
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,512
29,098
146
I know you are a movie lover (as we mostly are here), but that begs an entirely different question. Why would you go see a movie to a new IP w/o watching the trailer first?

some trailers are terrible and reveal all of the major beats of the film.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,363
7,514
126
Just watched Dead Snow. 3/10. Cheezeball camp/horror. It's got zombie Nazis. What more could you want? Oh. Perhaps the 1.5 hours of your life back.
 

Perknose

Forum Director & Omnipotent Overlord
Forum Director
Oct 9, 1999
46,009
8,640
136
The Big Short -- 10/10 -- If you go see just one movie this year, make it this one. If you do, and rate it less that 10/10, be sure to detail where and how you think they could have made this movie better.

My buddy who saw it with me felt the exact same way. I have another friend, who, when I told him I was going to see it, said he didn't understand the whole real life episode. I tried to explain it to him and I thought I did a decent enough job, but he still didn't seem to get it. Now I'll tell him to just go see this flick.

It tells the story brilliantly and thoroughly, and does so while being first-rate entertainment all the way through. Fabulous!
 

KeithTalent

Elite Member | Administrator | No Lifer
Administrator
Nov 30, 2005
50,235
117
116
3 or 4 episodes, but each is 1.5-2 hours long.

I loved the first season of Luther, don't think I went beyond the first episode of the 2nd season. no real reason: burnout, maybe? It's still probably very good


I keep trying to watch more british shows, especially crime dramas, but I am noticing some obnoxious and somewhat disturbing/lazy common themes in all of them (past experience + recently trying to start The Fall and this UKHBO miniseries about some mom that goes missing in her car):

--Every unfamiliar male that every protagonist encounters, is pretty much a rapist. Don't talk to that jogger, kids--he's probably a rapist! And they are presented as such. In these worlds, it is never possible for a stranger to stop and say: Um, maybe I should call the police to help these lost kids? Nah--I'm gonna creep out on them!

--CCTV. I get that it's a fact of UK life and is actually a decent subject from certain themes, but when it comes to detective and crime stories, it's just a tool that is either exploited to the point that investigation is pointless because you just look at the video data or--surprise! there isn't video of that specific angle! ahhhh!
Also, it never fails that you spend an episode or so of flailing about before one brilliant cop finally announces, "Hey! We should check the CCTV!"
derp.

Well to your first point, I could see being annoyed by that. Depending on how it's handled it does not really bother me that much.

As for the CCTV thing, I think they have to add it in since it is ubiquitous in the UK and if it was not used/addressed everyone would be addressing it. It's like doing something about cellphones in horror movies.

American Sniper 4/10

Didn't click with me. The only things that I liked were a few seconds of helicopter flight, very well done indeed. Mostly it made me cringe, well alot and often. Even the romantic stuff didn't work for me, and I'm a romantic.

It's pretty terrible. Thought Cooper was ok, but the script was not great. Loved the fake baby though, that was amazing. Eastwood is such a fucking hack now.

The Big Short -- 10/10 -- If you go see just one movie this year, make it this one. If you do, and rate it less that 10/10, be sure to detail where and how you think they could have made this movie better.

My buddy who saw it with me felt the exact same way. I have another friend, who, when I told him I was going to see it, said he didn't understand the whole real life episode. I tried to explain it to him and I thought I did a decent enough job, but he still didn't seem to get it. Now I'll tell him to just go see this flick.

It tells the story brilliantly and thoroughly, and does so while being first-rate entertainment all the way through. Fabulous!

My review, posted elsewhere:

The Big Short - 8/10: I worked in the investment industry for many years and lived through our firm trying to survive the MBS and CDO nonsense, so am very close to the subject matter. Being so close to it made some of the "dumbing down" scenes a little painful, however I think McKay presented them in the most fun way possible. Most of the acting was great, specifically Gosling and Bale, and while the directing was a bit erratic, overall I found it extremely entertaining. The stuff they show in this movie is a lot of the reason I left the industry, it just took me a while get the balls to do so. Sadly I am positive nothing has changed in the years since this all happened, they just repackage the same crap and sell it under a different name.

My main issue is with the directing and some of the expository stuff. I do think they could have spent more time with certain characters; maybe by eliminating one of the other storylines. I would have loved more with Bale. It also did not do a great job of creating an emotional hook, which is fine with me if they would have ignored it completely, but they tried to shoehorn something in with Carrell's character and it just rang kind of false for me. Overall I really liked it though.

KT
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,512
29,098
146
As for the CCTV thing, I think they have to add it in since it is ubiquitous in the UK and if it was not used/addressed everyone would be addressing it. It's like doing something about cellphones in horror movies.
KT

Oh for sure. You can't really not use them--but I think that just makes for shitty crime shows coming out of the UK, whether or not you can fault the creators.

Rather than an investigation that should generally take about an hour or two--Hey, go get the video and let's charge the dude--writers are forced to hamfist some silly little conventions like a copper that has somehow managed a promotion up to inspector, yet still spends the entire first day or two investigating a crime before they remember to request the CCTV....because they need more content of the show? :D
 

Kyle

Diamond Member
Oct 14, 1999
4,145
11
91
Finally saw star wars today - 8/10 - solid
Hateful Eight road show a couple weeks ago - 9/10. Figures the 2 shows later that same day Tarantino actually was there to introduce...that would have been cool as I'm a huge Tarantino fan.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,402
8,038
136
The Big Short -- 10/10 -- If you go see just one movie this year, make it this one. If you do, and rate it less that 10/10, be sure to detail where and how you think they could have made this movie better.

My buddy who saw it with me felt the exact same way. I have another friend, who, when I told him I was going to see it, said he didn't understand the whole real life episode. I tried to explain it to him and I thought I did a decent enough job, but he still didn't seem to get it. Now I'll tell him to just go see this flick.

It tells the story brilliantly and thoroughly, and does so while being first-rate entertainment all the way through. Fabulous!
What I've heard of this makes me think it can be compared to Inside Job (2010) (which I thought was pretty damn amazing). Is that true and if so, how do they compare? Of course, Inside Job is a documentary.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,402
8,038
136
American Sniper -- It's pretty terrible. Thought Cooper was ok, but the script was not great. Loved the fake baby though, that was amazing. Eastwood is such a fucking hack now.
Fake baby??? You mean the baby they showed her having (IIRC, they had Cooper hand it to her) wasn't real? D:
 

Eos

Diamond Member
Jun 14, 2000
3,473
16
81
Wanderlust (2012) 9/10

It's full of people I really like. Aniston, Rudd, Åkerman, Alda, Marino, et al.

Not a super original story, but told very well. I recommend this to you all! ;)
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,234
136
The Revenant (9/10) was great. Everything I hoped it would be. The trailer did spoil something that would have been a neat surprise. :(

Only some minor nitpicks (unrelated to story) keep it from being perfect.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,512
29,098
146
Fake baby??? You mean the baby they showed her having (IIRC, they had Cooper hand it to her) wasn't real? D:

uh yeah. It wasn't creepily fake to you? This is the first case I have seen of anyone duped by that baby.
 

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
856
126
The Revenant was the rare movie I was excited to see that ended up being everything I expected it to be. 9.5/10

It's a more personal vendetta but it echoes Gladiator quite a bit without the cheese. Didn't feel the length at all. Biggest issues were things like eyes moving on dead people, outdoors [sometimes] sounding like indoors, minor continuity issues with objects you are specifically supposed to be paying attention to, some CG wildlife that's not as convincing as others, a very bad over-dub, and at least one person who fills a canteen by hopping into freezing cold water for no reason. :p

The settings are great, the acting is great, the characters are great, the cinematography is great... the whole thing is just great. I wish The Martian was this satisfying.
 
Last edited:

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,834
5,713
126
The Revenant was the rare movie I was excited to see that ended up being everything I expected it to be. 9.5/10

It's a more personal vendetta but it echoes Gladiator quite a bit without the cheese. Didn't feel the length at all. Biggest issues were things like eyes moving on dead people, outdoors sounding like indoors, minor continuity issues with objects you are specifically supposed to be paying attention to, some CG wildlife that's not as convincing as others, a very bad over-dub, and at least one person who fills a canteen by hopping into freezing cold water for no reason. :p

The settings are great, the acting is great, the characters are great, the cinematography is great... the whole thing is just great. I wish The Martian was this satisfying.

that is interesting to hear considering it was filmed outside in the elements.
 

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
856
126
that is interesting to hear considering it was filmed outside in the elements.

Like most any movie, environmental sounds, the score, and other sound effects are added in a sound studio or in post from sound libraries. That's how you get the awesome multi-channel audio you want without the sound of the camera driving on rails and the film crew scrambling to stay out of the frame.

It was only one particularly short and quiet part where I got the distinct impression that we were hearing unnatural indoor sounds but it definitely stuck out to me. The sound is otherwise amazing.
 
Last edited:

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,444
2,084
126
ok,

on the back of Perknose's recommendation
The Big Short -- 10/10 -- If you go see just one movie this year, make it this one. If you do, and rate it less that 10/10, be sure to detail where and how you think they could have made this movie better.

The Big Short http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1596363/reference

excellent film but, not quite 10/10.

pros :

actually captures the reality of wall street waay better than The Wolf OWS did.
christian bale is amazing.
almost everyone else is ALSO amazing.
the story .. well, it's real.

cons:

this film takes a ton of liberties with the editing, that i did not appreciate at all. when (halfway through) these stop, the film improves considerably. also did not like the constant fourth-wall breaking.
i'm sorry to say that steve carrell just doesn't do it for me. not sure if he think he's expressive, but to me he just looks like a guy staring ahead and acting all autistic.

also a minor subplot could have been left out as it adds nothing to the mix.

would absolutely recommend to everyone.
8.5/10
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,413
1,570
126
Lol, it was so obvious that the baby was fake.

I don't get it. Couldn't they have just borrowed a baby from a cast member? From a friend? Anywhere?

They had 2 babies - one was a no show, the other came in with a fever. Clint didn't want to wait so fake baby it was.
 

motsm

Golden Member
Jan 20, 2010
1,822
2
76
Watched Flesh+Blood, Paul Verhoeven directing, has a couple of interesting leading actors, and I generally enjoy the medieval setting. Unfortunately, I don't think this film ends up all that successful. In short, it's about a band of mercenaries getting revenge, they rape, then they attempt to rape, they kill and kill some more, then there's some plague. It had a few interesting moments, but on the whole I think it was unfortunately miscast, and the tone in general always felt a little off. I just don't know if Verhoeven's style works in the historical context of the story. It's not a bad movie, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it.

Also saw Pretty Baby, and did so not knowing about the controversy surrounding it. So to get it out of the way, a 12 year old Brooke Shields appears nude in multiple scenes. Shes playing the daughter of a whore, growing up in a whore house, who eventually falls in love with a photographer played by Keith Carradine. This is certainly an odd movie, as I went in expecting something like The Panic in Needle Park or Shame, where we see the dark emotional impact of the subject at hand. That really isn't the case however, as the movie plays out with an almost morally ambiguous tone. I'm still not sure exactly what it was trying to say really, but it was a very good movie. I was entertained through the entire running time, and I'm still thinking about it now, so I'd recommend it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.