NEW: List some movies you've watched recently. Theatre, rental, TV... and give a */10

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DAPUNISHER

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worth it? i've never seen them.
They are a product of their time, so I cannot say how you will react to them. As a kid they were hilarious. Better off Dead aged well for the type of humor it is. I saw it over the holidays. CaddyShack is like comfort food for my brain. Impossible to separate them from the child I was when I watched them. I'd be interested in your opinion if you do watch them.
 

DAPUNISHER

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Yeah. Zoolander was brilliant.

When I first started that movie I thought it was dumb. But then I started paying attention. It was such good fucking satire, and I was laughing the rest of the way.
“What is this, a center for ants?”
 

DAPUNISHER

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A movie I was glad to see become a cult classic is Tropic Thunder. I love that flick. RDJ and Tom Cruise steal every scene they are in.

I watched a couple of JCVD movies the other night. We Die Young and The Bouncer. I thought both were good, simple, low budget character driven stories and I liked where he has gone as an actor. Neither are memorable or something worth a rewatch. But I'd give both a firm 6/10.

Cinderella Man. I'd seen this years back. The OG Rocky story. 9/10 I like most boxing movies, and this is head and shoulders above 99% of them. Few movies capture the great depression the way this did.
 
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DigDog

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Jun 3, 2011
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The Convert - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20113412/reference/

Decent film, about the establishment of the first trading posts in 1830s New Zealand, and associated Maori wars. Lots of positives, from the down to earth dialogue, and the excellent acting of the maori actors, but also many letdowns, from the extremely predictable story, to the fact that the subtitles *do not* translate the maori language scenes .. of which the film is packed with. Since I DO NOT SPEAK FUCKING MAORI, this has been somewhat of an obstacle.

Ex-soldier and now priest Thomas Munro arrives in his new parish of Epworth. He quickly understands that the settlement is in the middle of an imminent battle between Maori chiefs Aketarewa and Maianui, by chance rescuing the life of Maianui's daughter, (co-star) Rangimai.
There is a rather large (and slow) part of the film that covers the grief of Rangimai for her husband's murder, the friction with the settlement's populace, their murder of another Maori and the framing of a heathen Irish Catholic as the murder, and the ostracization of "witch" Charlotte, Munro's love interest. However this part leads to pretty much nothing, if not to show Munro that the Maori aren't the enemy.

After this the film descends into your typical Dances With Wolves But Without The Good Parts routine, leading to a rather formidable battle where antagonist Aketarewais defeated through the magical White Saviour tactics of Munro.

.. i wouldn't really recommend the film, the acting from the Maori actors was great, Rangimai (Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne)

anBn

was great, but wthout the subtitles the majority of the good stuff gets lost; sure, most dialogue takes place in a scene where there is a translator involved, but it's not the same thing. The story is well executed but ultimately bland and predictable. The production is good but nothing specific stands out.

my vote: 6/10
 

Dr. Detroit

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Sep 25, 2004
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Late Night With The Devil - 8/10 - Now streaming on Hulu

I really enjoy unconventional movies and this one succeeds. First few minutes was a great set-up and backstory which gave it a documentary feel and was a solid overview of what was to come. Really enjoyed the visuals of early 70's news stories.

And then the fun begins and just accelerates into the supernatural finale. OK, the last 5-minutes were a bit odd and didn't feel very satisfying.

Yeah - this one was solid and why I continue to enjoy the horror genre as it still brings fresh ideas.
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
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i watched

Better Off Dead (1985) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088794/reference/

Extremely PG-13 "comedy" starring the unfunny John Cusack, kept from being terminally lame by the presence of Curtis "Booger" Armstrong. Cusack is Lane Meyer, a high school loser who gets his gf stolen by the high school jock, and tries a series of self-improvement schemes to get her back, which all fail because he's kinda bad at everything.
The film is a nonstop of secondary characters that want to be edgy and quirky and satirical but given how PG13 the whole thing is, they just wind up being lame.
Might have been passable in the 80s but is nowhere near Porkys, or Weird Science, or .. well any of those films you've actually heard of before.

come on seriously, 5/10. The only good thing about it is i got a bitchin' song from E.G. Daily
 

Charmonium

Lifer
May 15, 2015
10,335
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Nobody - 2021 w/ Bob Odenkirk. 8/10

You don't get a real sense of it immediately but it blossoms into a very satisfying revenge movie.

It probably deserves a 9 but it's not going to be to everyone's taste. Of course if you like Odenkirk, it's definitely worth seeing.

Plus, you get a bunch of scenes with Christopher Lloyd (Uncle Fester in the Addams Family movie)
 
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Dr. Detroit

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2004
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i watched

Better Off Dead (1985) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088794/reference/

Extremely PG-13 "comedy" starring the unfunny John Cusack, kept from being terminally lame by the presence of Curtis "Booger" Armstrong. Cusack is Lane Meyer, a high school loser who gets his gf stolen by the high school jock, and tries a series of self-improvement schemes to get her back, which all fail because he's kinda bad at everything.
The film is a nonstop of secondary characters that want to be edgy and quirky and satirical but given how PG13 the whole thing is, they just wind up being lame.
Might have been passable in the 80s but is nowhere near Porkys, or Weird Science, or .. well any of those films you've actually heard of before.

come on seriously, 5/10.

So many great scenes like the Howard Cosell exchange students, the "I want my two dollars" paperboy, the self immolation dinner scene with the French food . It's "unconventionally surreal and utilizes absurdist humor".

It was one of my favorites in the 80's as its so unconventional.

Even IMDB gives it a higher rating than Weird Science (7.1 vs. 6.8).
 

DAPUNISHER

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So many great scenes like the Howard Cosell exchange students, the "I want my two dollars" paperboy, the self immolation dinner scene with the French food . It's "unconventionally surreal and utilizes absurdist humor".

It was one of my favorites in the 80's as its so unconventional.

Even IMDB gives it a higher rating than Weird Science (7.1 vs. 6.8).
His mom being the worst cook of all time. His little bro being a mad genius. I WANT MY $2! The mailman reading everyone's mail. And I don't know why you would focus on self improvement when his M.O. was failed suicide attempts. "Gee Ricky, sorry your mom's face blew up." was a direct result of one of his attempts to unalive himself.

Some movie are timeless, others are so deeply embedded in a particular period that they perhaps, cannot be properly appreciated outside of that bubble.
 

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
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Green Book (2018) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6966692/

My wife wanted to watch this one together, and I enjoyed it. This film could have been very dull and unremarkable if it wasn't for Viggo Mortensen in particular, but Mahershala Ali had some pretty decent moments in it too.
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
14,330
2,794
126
i watched

The Mule - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7959026/reference/

2018 Clint Eastwood / Clint Eastwood film based on the life of Leo Sharp, a WW2 vet and renowned horticulturist that due to money problems (and possibly loneliness) became an *extremely successful* Cartel mule, 90y white guy with a ford van wasn't being searched by traffic cops, mmk?
The film is primarily centered around the personality of this "old timer" and the differences with "the world of today". He treats cartel members as friends, has a sense of duty and responsibility, feels obliged to do well for everyone around him, and while the guy is no fool, he is heartbroken when faced with the callousness of modern life.

I don't feel there's enough here for a script. I felt the same way about Gran Torino too, and sure Eastwood is capable both as a actor and director, AND one of the few that does well when covering both roles, but between this, Flags Of Our Fathers / Iwo Jima, Gran Torino, etc there is a common thread of fairly superficial scripts. Not that the *themes* are superficial, but that they do not stretch well to nearly 2 hours. With the content this film has, the runtime should have been closer to an hour.

There's also the issue of horrendous miscasting of both Lawrence "Morpheus" Fishbourne and Bradley Cooper in minor roles as law-enforcement agents, and that those roles are almost exclusively relegated to secondary, external scenes i.e. "meanwhile, at the police station".

6/10. Current IMDb rating: 7/10
 

Dr. Detroit

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2004
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The Old Way - 6/10 (Now streaming on Hulu)

Nicholas Cage in a Western - This is a Western revenge formula we have all seen many times, so its nothing new, but it's got Nick Cage in it and its a Western so bonus points. End has a bit of a twist too.

Clint Howard, younger brother of Ron Howard, has a solid performance

The kid is cute, shes quite the psychopath, shes stoic. A solid casting choice.
 

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
25,873
24,215
136
Just started watching Upgrade on Netflix. Always been curious about this. But I'm 11 minutes in and I'm thinking I may be able to predict the overarching details of the behind the scenes twist going to happen

I'm guessing the guy he sells the car to in the beginning is the one that hacks his wife's automatic car and takes them where the injuries happen. Because he's probably going to install that new better brain into him that they just saw
 

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
25,873
24,215
136
Just started watching Upgrade on Netflix. Always been curious about this. But I'm 11 minutes in and I'm thinking I may be able to predict the overarching details of the behind the scenes twist going to happen

I'm guessing the guy he sells the car to in the beginning is the one that hacks his wife's automatic car and takes them where the injuries happen. Because he's probably going to install that new better brain into him that they just saw
Not gonna be this