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

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Thebobo

Lifer
Jun 19, 2006
18,592
7,673
136
I dislike anime as a general rule.
I dislike most "kids" movies.

Watched Howl's Moving castle as I had picked up a bluray of it for the woman a while ago when a bunch of stuff from that studio was on sale.
It was very good..
Every frame was a painting.
Lots of attention to detail.
So, for the art, and the technical anumation aspects, they more or less were perfect.

The story and voice acting were very good too.

Overall very solid film, big surprise to me. I give it a solid 8/10, maybe even close to a 9.


There is only one other Japanese animation which I really enjoyed to this level, and that was Grave of the Fireflies.

Love Howl's moving castle as well how about Spirited Away?
 

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,066
1,550
126
Love Howl's moving castle as well how about Spirited Away?
Haven't seen it to be honest. It has been suggested to me.
Also there is the movie 9 which I enjoyed.
I saw 9. It was great. Modern/Computer animated stuff is good, I like nicely rendered stuff with smooth framerates. Just not a fan of most Japanese Anime ... you know, the stuff that flows at like 5fps with almost no detail in most of the drawings .....
 
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DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,443
2,084
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i watched Mayhem - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4348012/reviews?start=10

i thought i was watching one of those "best films due to come out" videos on youtube, and instead it was the full film. Which is good, because after the opening scene, i was thinking to myself, "i really want to watch this".

Mayhem is a relatively low-budget film about a guy, an analyst working in a finance company, who gets shafted and fired because someone else made a mistake, but he gets the blame. Before he can be kicked out of the building, a SWAT team cordons them in because of some virus.
Guy then goes on a rampage against management and gets the girl.

Ok, a few things here. I laughed out loud several times, much more than my allotted weekly allowance permits. The film is really good for what it is, there is a section where it's evident they ran out of money so it has horrible lighting and postprod, but much of the film is reasonably polished, enough to draw you in.
The acting was good, for a comedy/action/drama, if somewhat over the top, but totally my style. The characters are fun and exaggerated and absurd, there is a bit of that Shaun Of The Dead vibe, but also a bit of Fight Club. The pacing goes slightly off during the middle of the film, but picks up again after not long.
Dialogue was good, direction was good, and the story was fun and entertaining, what more do you want.

7.9/10 oh yeah
 

Charmonium

Diamond Member
May 15, 2015
8,783
2,297
136
Travelers - Showcase (in Canada)/Netflix - 9/10

This is a really cool show about time travelers from the future trying to fix the things in the present that lead to their post-apocalyptic world. It's sort of a combination of 12 Monkeys and Continuum.

The second season is now airing live in Canada but the first season is available on Netflix. The second will be as well, probably in a few weeks when the live broadcasts conclude.
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,443
2,084
126
131. My Neighbor Totoro

did i say how much i detest studio ghibli already?

i'm sorry but i cannot relate to a 6yo girl who has a giant owl-like thing as friend. i'm also generally allergic to cute stuff, unless it has something to appeal to me, as Lilo & Stich does. i also did not really make an attempt to watch this properly, i tried a few of their films before and always felt this horrible feeling of repulsion every time, so when it came to this worldwide acclaimed masterpiece, i was already warned, and quit almost immediately.

no vote.

132. Incendies

apparently i watched this and voted it 5/10, but i cannot remember anything about it.

133. Ran

for ages, this was my favourite Kurosawa film. the sheer epic scale of the sets got me, but as i got older, it's less of what i want in a film, and more of what i thought i wanted. i've also grown out of the exaggerated acting, i don't think the shakespearian influences do this film any favours. kurosawa's "use of color" which was what the critics primarily lauded about this film, might have been interesting at the time, but it has been overshadowed by modern postproduction.

i should probably watch this again before i give it a vote/10

134. Judgement at Nuremburg

did not watch

135. Gold Rush

all i can remember is the cabin in the snow scene, and frankly it's only funny if you are 10yo.

charlie chaplin, no vote

136. Secrets Of Their Eyes

did not watch.

137. Inside Out

really bad superficial characters from the pixar money-making machine.

6/10

138. Howl's Moving Castle

have you ever watched Lupin III, the TV series? that was made by the same people who 20 years later made vomit-inducing films for the masses like Nausicaa and Totoro.

no vote

139. On The Waterfront

i've only watched the one scene which this film is famous for, and i wasn't impressed. it seems brando had a habit of doing this "i chew my words" thing even before The Godfather.

no vote

140. Bridge On River Kwai

now we' talkin. Instead of a set inside a fake car, we get a real bridge, a real prison camp. instead of "you should have looked out for me" (hardly a speech from someone whose life has been destroyed) we get Alec Guinness in his great interaction with the evil, but substantially misguided Colonel Saito. Instead of trying to spoonfeed me emotions, the film allows me to watch it and think my own thoughts. Not quite as epic as Lawrence Of Arabia, due to the inferior pacing, shorter and more limited story, and weaker soundtrack, but still enormously entertaining. Shame about the ending, there is no indication that Colonel Nicholson would lose his mind in his character development, he just seems to try to stop the bridge being destroyed because of a brain fart.

8/10

141. Room

ERMAGHERD, DRAMA.

no vote

142. The Seventh Seal

just like The Third Man, this is a film that i simply rejected. the christian-existentialist overtones do not touch me, and as they make up 90% of the film, the rest is hardly enough to fill the runtime.

6/10 for historical importance

143. Lock & Stock

again, guy ritchie movie, still today i cannot tell which scenes are from this film, and which from Snatch. that should tell you how i feel about his work.

6/10, unless you have never seen a guy ritchie film, in which case 7/10 for this and then 6/10 for all the others.

144. Mr Smith Goes To Washington

never seen it

145. A Beautiful Mind

grossly inflated vote, because it deals with "a sensitive subject". Note that we have not yet seen the amazing American Gangster, and yet here is his boring cousin, at a whopping 8.2 IMDb votes. Given the the only exciting things in this film are hallucinations, why stop at secret government plots? why not alien nazi dinosaurs? no, the plot has very little to do with the real story of John Nash, does not portray with any kind of accuracy mental illness, and serves only to amuse. Russel Crowe does a passable job, ignoring that his character changes personality in every scene.
mediocre film.

6/10

146. Casino

a film whose appeal is just to get more of that ol' Italian Mobster fix, doesn't match the quality of The Godfather, Once Upon A Time In America, or even A Bronx Tale. funny at times, but limited in scope. Essentially, it's built like a comedy, except it's got people doing evil stuff instead of funny stuff.
Joe Pesci's death scene is truly memorable, though.

6.5/10

147. Blade Runner

here it is .. at long last. the film that started it all. 84 places below the remake, one of the greatest films ever made. Essentially, blade runner is "what if Sam Spade was in the future", and i get that this might escape to people that do not like the original Hard Boiled classics that shaped this film. I've seen this film in at least 4 different cuts, and i am not ashamed to say, i like the voiceover version the best, because it fits with the classic style it was lifted from. I'm not trying to defend Ford's half-assed attempt (i had the fortune of watching it dubbed, which distinctively improves on the original), but the narration itself fits with the rest of the film. It's not even about what extra information the narration gives you, it's just about having that good ol' gumshoe formula.
The sets of this film are absolutely amazing. It just looks so shockingly real. Ford looks dumb in most scenes, but then again, that's his character. Hauer is the real hero here, the one with the character arc, despite the screen time, just like the Terminator is the main character of The Terminator, not sarah connor or kyle reese. The famously boring "enhance" scene is actually my favourite scene from the film (well, except the ending, of course), good ol' gumshoe does his investigation thing and he finds a lead. And i'm pretty sure you can see Zhora's tits at one point, which is always good when you are 14yo.

9/10
 

A Casual Fitz

Diamond Member
May 16, 2005
4,654
1,018
136
Lady Bird - 9/10

Usually not my type of movie but it hit really close being set in the early 2000s and in high school. Saoirse Ronan was great as the lead. I laughed, I... didn't cry but I'm sure a lot of people did in the pretty crowded theater.
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
62,381
8,130
126
Mindhunters (Netflix Series) - 10/10

I don't rate things with a perfect score easily. In fact it may be one of my first. This series came totally out of nowhere and I just happened to learn about it from a random web article. Holy crap is it good. Basic premise is that this is in the late 70's and the FBI is just starting to come to grasp on a growing trend of killings. They are reluctantly empowering a small "behavioral sciences" unit to go out and interview killers at prison. They are using those interviews to build profiling techniques to better predict behavior. The show is a great mix of 70's grit, excellent acting (Ed Kemper character...holy crap), and wraps that around the personal lives of these FBI agents, the cultural curiosity of serial killers, and enough plot to keep the series moving very quickly.
 
Sep 29, 2004
18,665
67
91
The Wrestler - 4/10

Dislaimer: I don't care about wrestling.

OK, my date and I had the same impression. What is so great about this movie? It was just boring and there was way too much time spent in the ring, especially at the beginning. I had no interest in the outcomes of the characters and I think the ending sucked. I was waiting for some epic ending to this movie to pull it out of the plot hell hole and I got nothing. I had no emotional attachment to the characters.
I thought the female love interest being a stripper detracted from the movie. The relationship with the leads daughter left me not caring. The build up to reconciliation with her sucked.
<- minor spoilers

The best parts of the movie were shown in the trailer and quite frankly, those moments in the movie itself had no emotional impact. The trailer was better because of the movie that accompanied it.

Was the acting good? Yes. That was the only positive.

Viewed on Sony 65" 4K TV from an HD Playstation stream. I have a 5.2.2 setup with dual 18" ported subs. The receiver made short work of upconverting the non Atmos/DTS:X source.

And yes, I expect to get crap for my rating.

AS a side note, I watched some videos of awards being handed out for the movie. Turns out that Axl Rose let them use Guns And Roses music for free because of the movie's budget constraints.

And as a side note, I think this would have been more interesting as a TV show, not a movie. This would have been a good Netflix TV show and I'm surprised that Netflix hasn't approached them to do it.
 
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DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,443
2,084
126
i remember watching, many years ago (1988 to be exact)

Moon Over Parador - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095654/reference

which came to my mind because i was thinking about The Great Dictator, and this film also has someone take the role of a dictator. Specifically, Richard Dreyfuss, a two-bit actor, finds himself in the quaint dictatorship of Parador, when the local strongman dies of a heart attack. His second-in-command, not wanting to lose his position, gets Dreyfuss to dress up like him, with hilarious results.

Totally a PG-13 comedy, in the style of Three Amigos or Spies Like Us. I enjoyed it more than i should have; would recommend for a laugh and a look back at how we were.

7/10 just barely
 

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,066
1,550
126
The Wrestler - 4/10

Dislaimer: I don't care about wrestling.
OK, my date and I had the same impression. What is so great about this movie?

I like it because it's dark and gritty and depressing. It's a well made character drama about coming to terms with decline. In Randy the Ram's case, he's too old and can't take the physical abuse. In Cassidy's case, her tips/income keep declining as the younger dancers are bringing in all the $$$. It's realistic and honest.

It was a good movie IMO, but, maybe it's not for everyone.
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,443
2,084
126
Also, i did watch Ikiru - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044741/reference

i'm gonna be honest, it wasn't easy to watch. The story of mr Watanabe, a director of a bureaucratic department in pre-war Japan. He's typical in his behaviour of bureaucrat, can't get anything done, everything is paperwork, excitement is wrong. One day, he finds out that he has cancer and has very little left to live. In this brief time, he realizes he has wasted his life, and wants to make a difference.
After some brief soul-searching, accompanied by a shady sidekick, he realizes he cannot change from being a bureaucrat, but at least he can be a good bureaucrat - he goes back to work, and starts to get things done.
This getting-things-done does not go down well with his colleagues, for whom slowing down any procedure is the very purpose of their existence. After Watanabe's death (there is a shocking jump in pacing here, the character is almost immediately removed after his arc) they bad-mouth everything good he has done, even at this funeral; and this is where the film really shines, in its attack on Japan's internal policies. Once the film makes his point, Watanabe is reintroduced briefly to muse on how life is brief and we should enjoy it while we can.

It's a well done film with some moderately interesting supporting characters (in a style vaguely reminiscent of Fellini) but not a film i would recommend.

7/10
 
Nov 29, 2006
15,599
4,050
136
For date night, I gave three options and my date got it down to two:
1) The Wrestler
2) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I think we both want a good movie and it doesn't need to be a romantic comedy. Neither of us have seen either of these. I also suggested What's Eating Gilbert Grape but I don't think she is interested.
Gilbert Grape is the best of those 3. Great film.
 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
94,663
14,929
126
The Wrestler - 4/10

Dislaimer: I don't care about wrestling.

OK, my date and I had the same impression. What is so great about this movie? It was just boring and there was way too much time spent in the ring, especially at the beginning. I had no interest in the outcomes of the characters and I think the ending sucked. I was waiting for some epic ending to this movie to pull it out of the plot hell hole and I got nothing. I had no emotional attachment to the characters.
I thought the female love interest being a stripper detracted from the movie. The relationship with the leads daughter left me not caring. The build up to reconciliation with her sucked.
<- minor spoilers

The best parts of the movie were shown in the trailer and quite frankly, those moments in the movie itself had no emotional impact. The trailer was better because of the movie that accompanied it.

Was the acting good? Yes. That was the only positive.

Viewed on Sony 65" 4K TV from an HD Playstation stream. I have a 5.2.2 setup with dual 18" ported subs. The receiver made short work of upconverting the non Atmos/DTS:X source.

And yes, I expect to get crap for my rating.

AS a side note, I watched some videos of awards being handed out for the movie. Turns out that Axl Rose let them use Guns And Roses music for free because of the movie's budget constraints.

And as a side note, I think this would have been more interesting as a TV show, not a movie. This would have been a good Netflix TV show and I'm surprised that Netflix hasn't approached them to do it.


You have never seen an owl have you? :D
Totoro is more cat than owl.
 

Perknose

Forum Director & Omnipotent Overlord
Forum Director
Oct 9, 1999
46,009
8,640
136
Went to see Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Saturday, but it was sold out at my local, smallish art theater, so we saw Lady Bird -- 5/10 instead. The critics seem to have loved this film, and there's nothing really wrong with it. It's well done for what is was, "A sweet, charming movie that captures the pain and joy of growing up with honesty and humor [in Sacremento, CA in the early 2000's.] It just didn't grab me, is all. If I were a better, kinder person I'd have given it a 7/10.

I'm not.

My response was no doubt skewed by wanting to see Three Billboards instead. As a harmlessly sweet housewife amongst the milling, murmuring crowd trying to snag the last few tickets to either said about Three Billboards, "I hear it's disturbing."

I certainly hope so! :cool:
 
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Zanovar

Diamond Member
Jan 21, 2011
3,446
232
106
Belle 2/10 Not my thang,Gf loved it.I sneakily listened to music and swigged the christmas gin.(i will replace it).

Afflicted 5/10 yawn.
 

Zanovar

Diamond Member
Jan 21, 2011
3,446
232
106
Gone: The Forgotten Women of Ohio.This real life docu left a sour taste in my mouth.* 8 episodes of people not doing enough.*shrugs*.
 

Ackmed

Diamond Member
Oct 1, 2003
8,476
523
126
Mindhunter 8.0. It is on Netflix and tells the story of how the FBI came up with a serial killer profiling system in the 70's. Interesting, intriguing, sometimes funny, and entertaining. Not something you have to see, but if you enjoy that type of thing it is pretty good. Should be a second season by how it ended, and some clues in the last few scenes if you're paying attention.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,387
5,255
136
The Punisher (Netflix) 8/10

Daredevil is by far my favorite Netflix superhero show. And the Punisher was just amazing in Season 2.

As a standalone series...hmm. I'm conflicted. Daredevil is a little bit larger than life, whereas they painted the Punisher show as...well, very relatable & realistic (aside from the fact that nobody can get stabbed or shot or beat up that many times & recover that quickly, but that's just part of the show's flow). It was good, but it wasn't quite what I expected. A little bit of Snowden, a little bit of Punisher, a little bit Bourne, all wrapped up in something that feels like it could actually happen IRL, which was an interesting way to do the show.

One of the biggest reasons I knocked a point off was because of tone, or the "flavor" of the show. I wanted them to continue the vibe I got from Daredevil, where you end the season and yell "I want a Punisher show!!!" at the screen. This was good, but it wasn't that, but not in a bad way, if that makes sense. So - different, but good. I think the Daredevil is still at the top of the heap, by far. They wrote Matt Murdock to be someone you could easily connect with & just did a great job all around with the story & everything. With the Punisher, it's good, but it doesn't give you that same level of connectedness that Daredevil does.

The Punisher is not exactly a super slow burn show, but the action doesn't really heat up until episode 11. 11, 12, and 13 are crazy. 13 is probably the most brutal thing I've ever seen. It makes The Walking Dead look like My Little Pony. I was happy with the ending, too...unlike say, Luke Cage, where it just kind of ends & ends in a dumb way lol. I'm curious if they will make a second season, as it felt very much like a single-season show, but I can see it being extremely popular, so I'd be interested to see what they would do in a second season. I know from the comics where they could go with the characters they included in the first season, but there would be some time between that & now, and afaik Netflix doesn't really publish numbers for shows, so we don't really know. But both the showrunner & main actor said they're both in if it continues, so there's a strong possibility of a second one!
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,443
2,084
126
here is a good example of something that must be kept in mind when reviewing films;

i watched Virtuosity - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114857/reference

a 1995 film with Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe, who a few years later will go on to star in the absolutely magnificent American Gangster. An actor doesn't have much control over how good the film will be or how hard it will suck; most of the time they don't even know what the film is like, until it's complete. And to complete a film, a large number of people, independently acting and thinking people, are involved, all of whom can influence how the film will look at release.
And Virtuosity sucks oh so hard. Denzel is good as always, but like in the insipid The Equalizer (which, i have sadly learned, is now being filmed for a second episode), you need to bring out the qualities of the acting for the audience to enjoy it, not suffocate it in a mass of mediocre supporting acts, bad sets, bad dialogue, and a really bad story barely worth of a Sylvester Stallone action film.
Crowe instead is just bad. Obviously, actors respond differently to a lack of a strong director (Brett Leonard, author of such masterpieces as Highlander: The Source and other works mostly rated 5/10 on IMDb)

it's bad, it's even cheesy, but it's vaguely entertaining. will do for a popcorn afternoon. 6/10
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,443
2,084
126
we went to see Kingsman: The Golden Circle - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4649466/reference

like Austin Powers, the second film is better than the first (and hopefully, the third will be a masterpiece). It's got more stuff of the same kind that the first had, better. It gave me the same kind of fun thrills that i got from the classic Roger Moore' Bond films i used to watch when i was a kid. The popcorn floweth and we laughed and we cried and we hurled.

The Kingsman's crew get wiped off the planet by an attack by a misterious villain; only Eggsy and Merlin remain, who must then seek help from their long lost brothers of the Americas. There's my beloved Julianne Moore (57yo and still totally f****able) and Elton John and Colin Firth and .. Michael Gambon (scrapin the barrel here), Halle Berry, Cara Delevigne's hot sister Poppy, Channing Tatum, and of course, the overinflated Jeff Bridges. Will our heroes succeed ? Will the villain capitulate? Will there be butt secs?

Find out today!

7.5/10 - much fun
 

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
I actually liked the first Kingsman better, but not by much. (I do agree that second AP film was better). The worst part was that they killed the dog off :/
 
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