What I've Been Watching: The Catch-All Film Thread

Well, I just saw the movie Kick Ass. It wasn't good or bad really. I know that this is a little outdated, but it was the one I watched most recently. I am excited that Date Night is out. I need to find it on DVD instead of Blue Ray though. I really want to see Despicable Me, but I don't know if I will get the chance. We shall see.
 
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Watched Inception. Good movie but I didn't really like the cast. I have a personal bias against Leonardo. Didn't really believe the relationship with Mal. Thought Ellen was possibly miscast (but I really love her as an actress). With all this dislike I still really liked it as a movie. It was more thought provoking than most films and left me thinking as I left the theater but was still fully entertained. Memento was ultimately a better film but this was still a fine piece of art.

This was also my first experience seeing D-BOX seats. We sat one row down from the seats and still got quite a vibrational experience from them which was really effective with this film. I think they wanted an extra $8 per seat which seemed a little much in my opinion. Anyone ever upgrade and find it worthwhile?
 
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Today I watched The Expendables.

The biggest newspaper here gave it one star out of five in their review, but I absolutely loved every minute of it. It is brutal and it is quite stupid, but it has some of that odd charm the best 80s action films used to have. Plus it wasn't deadly serious, lots of oneliners and dark humour- ;-)

Man they just don't make films like that anymore. Sly and the gang delivered what they promissed to 80s action fans. One of the most enjoyable summer films i've seen. Obviously this is not aimed for the humourless uptight drama fans :p
 
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Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

I've got to admit that we saw this because it was the only thing outside of Nanny McPhee 2 we thought would be OK for the Wild Dogs to see. Hugely pleasant surprise. There was a fair bit of adult-ish stuff in there, but it was all done in such a way that I think most of it didn't register. But, who cares about them?!? ;)

This was the funniest movie I've seen since The Hangover. The folks on this board should be able to appreciate all the videogame references, and most will probably have a flashback or two over the awkward geekdom setting, too. The soundtrack worked very well (supposedly, Beck did most of the writing for the fake bands), and a couple toons were really good (I put one up on the currently listening thread). The acting was surprisingly good for a bunch of nobodies with a couple "almosts". I don't know if any of the cast actually played their instruments, but they took enough of an interest to fake it very well if they didn't (that's a pet peeve of mine).

Overall, it struck me as a 90's/00's version of the 80's John Hughes movies that I loved so much. Do yourself a favor and give this one a shot. With the big sound and some of the spiffy graphics, it's even worth seeing on the big screen.
 
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Watched The Last Airbender with the kids.

The movie is based on the Avatar series. The kids liked the movie and I just liked some of the special effects, fighting scenes and the scenery of the Northern Water Kingdom. The acting was bad and the story was very thin and incoherent. The movie might as well have been in 2D as it being in 3D added absolutely nothing.

There is no real reason to go see this movie. Chances are there will be two more movies made (earth and fire) but hopefully not with the same director/writer/producer Shyamalan as he screwed this one up.
 
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Watched The Last Airbender with the kids.

I think here in Germany it has the title of "The Legend Of Aargh" … oh, no, different title, it really is "The Legend Of Aang".
 
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Requiem for a Dream, enjoyed it, though it's a dark look at the progression of addiction.

That's the only way to look at it, though, isn't it? ;)

Good film, but I think they went over-the-top with the mother and her experience towards the end. I don't know the intricacies of health care in the US - but it's for damn sure that wouldn't happen in this country.
 
Watched The Last Airbender with the kids.

The movie is based on the Avatar series. (..)The acting was bad and the story was very thin and incoherent.
Too bad. I'm a very big fan of the original animated series, Avatar - The Last Airbender, which was an all around incredible experience with high production values. The series got 9.3/10 on imdb - compared to a measly 4.3/10 for the movie. I had high hopes, but I think I'll give it a pass.

Still, the series is highly recommended! :)
 
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I just saw Paper Man and Triage. Both good films. Check 'em out I say. Paper Man reminded me of The Squid and the Whale in a good way.

Triage dealt with war in a different light than most war films. A bit refreshing actually. It did have it's short comings but I'd still recommend it.
 
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Oh yeah, just saw Inception too. Over rated and over hyped. If they would have cut out all the unnecessary action scenes and focused on the story I would have liked it more. It was trying way too hard to be the new Matrix.
 
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Curious Case of Benjamin Button, or the movie that wouldnt.f%^$.end.

Usually when most movies are wrapping up, I'm just really getting into it. It's rare for me to be eager for the end of a film, but this one couldnt have come sooner. It wasnt really a bad film, just about 45 mins too drawn out. I think my girl went thru an entire box of kleenex as well.

To make matters even worse, our connection kept cutting out (watched it on Netflix) and it extended the time I'd say another half hour or so.

Everytime I thought it was going to fade to black and the old lady was gonna finally just roll over and be done w/ it already, here comes Brad knocking on the door again. Just GO AWAY already! It'll be better for her, quit tormenting the poor woman and Jessica for that matter who was suddenly sniffling all over again just after she just got all cleaned up.

I know, they were in love, etc. I know it was all about the birth/life/death cycle thing, and it was probably a far more profound set of messages then what I gleaned from it. It was just too drawn out tho, especially the second half. Didnt I already endure this humble-bayou-bumpkin-denied-his-true-love thing in Forrest Gump anyway? I started getting serious FG vibes w/ all the similarities, tho I must say I enjoyed that movie more.
Glad we didnt see it in the theater
 
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That's the only way to look at it, though, isn't it? ;)

Good film, but I think they went over-the-top with the mother and her experience towards the end. I don't know the intricacies of health care in the US - but it's for damn sure that wouldn't happen in this country.

That was definately part of the satire this film is known for. I don't want to derail the thread too much. Yes, there are doctors in any country that overprescribe and/or don't closely monitor what they're giving out, but the extent of it was definately exagerrated for the sake of entertainment/creative license. I think part of the message is that addiction can strike any age group with perhaps the elderly being the forgotten demographic.
 
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That was definately part of the satire this film is known for. I don't want to derail the thread too much. Yes, there are doctors in any country that overprescribe and/or don't closely monitor what they're giving out, but the extent of it was definately exagerrated for the sake of entertainment/creative license. I think part of the message is that addiction can strike any age group with perhaps the elderly being the forgotten demographic.

Yeah, I get that - but I just don't think it was a good fit for the rest of the movie.

It was a downward spiral-thing, but I actually think it was pretty plausible for the most part, and they didn't actually need to go overboard with the satire bit. Didn't work for me at all, and it almost ruined the rest of the movie.

Maybe it's because I lost my sister to drugs, but I think a movie like that works better when it stays within the realm of reality.

That serves as a stronger warning, in my mind.
 
The Matrix Trilogy
Believe it or not just a week ago I didn't have the slightest idea what Matrix was.All I knew was that it was very popular amongst the computer people in the early noughties but I never got around watching it.

3 Full-HD movies and a couple weekends later I'm both impressed and frustrated at the same time.
Impressed because it was one of the most interesting movies I saw and frustrated because Revolutions failed to answer any questions and made everything more complicated.I already had to watch the second movie twice to fully understand everything but the 3rd was completely useless in terms of solving riddles.

A simple Google search revealed that I wasn't the only one who considered the last movie a let down,and I'm disappointed by the thought of what it could have been.
Still the original movie could stand on it's own as a brilliant masterpiece of a trilogy that fell short of it's potential,much like the 1st Godfather movie.
 
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Just watched Crazy Heart. It was entertaining. Jeff Bridges certainly did deserve the Oscar. At times too predictable. The film would have had problems with me to begin with as I failed to see Maggie Gyllenhal (sp?) was a costar. I find her utterly repulsive and unbelievable ever as a love interest (see: Dark Night Returns). Maybe it's because her brother's face sits atop her lovely figure?

Anyway, if you can get past Maggie, it's worth watching.
 
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I watched The Expendables.

It's a stupid macho movie. Typical 80s style: no story, mindless action, endless ammo, one-liners, lots of explosions.

I enjoyed it quite a bit. All the action heroes of the past together in one movie. The acting was solid, although only a few actors had a chance to shine in a scene or two (Rourke, E. Roberts). The action scenes are good, although they lack the sugar on top. The will to break the rules, if you want, or something to make them memorable. Plus there's not that much action. Stallone announced a 15 minutes longer DC, but I think he should rather have cut 5 minutes out.
The story is in line with the 80s homage. Logic is not a factor, decisions are made rather abruptly. But that's fine because the movie never promised more.

The Expendables is a nice retro movie with lots of big action stars and enough money behind. It's not extreme in any sense though. Stallone decided to play it safe. The action is violent but relatively clean, the one-liners aren't as macho as they were 25 years ago, and the amount of action is lower than expected.
The film is always entertaining and doesn't take itself too seriously.

Good popcorn movie. It's exactly as advertised, just less action and not really an instant classic. Certainly worth a look.
B-


Scene I liked most (mild spoiler, it's out of context):
Stallone and Jet Li drive in a car similar to the one in Sly's Cobra movie. Lundgren and a couple of other guys chase them through half the town. Li gets onto the back of the car. Lots of gun shots and crashes later the 3 famous guys end up in a storage building and duke it out - but a bit differently than one would expect. And with a different ending.

The guy with the most screen time besides Stallone is Statham, btw. Aaahnold and Willis only have the one scene you know from the trailers.
 
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Death Wish III

Totally. Awesome.

The epitome of way over-the-top 80's action & brooding 70's vigilante film in one crazy fever dream, this thing's a roller coaster of slain street punks. Hell, dead people in general - I ended up losing count but it had to be at least 200 people that get dusted in every manner possible. Men and women are shot, stabbed, burned, blown up, beaten, run-over, mowed down w/ a 50 caliber, a hilarious nail-in-the-friggen-skull by one of Bronson's little MacGyver devices he rigs up. I wanted to go play Disciples2 but I couldnt tear myself away. It has everything you want from an 80's action movie, and more.

1. - "Punk rock meets meets breakdance" looking street toughs who look nothing like real punk, or actual criminals. It's a 9 year old's vision of the criminal element, theyre absolutely hilarious.
2. - Love interest / kindly old man who befriends protagonist get either seriously harmed or killed. Hold on, time to go the next level of pissed-off!
3. - Everyone who gets shot that's not standing at street-level suddenly and inexplicably falls forward (even going over railings) to fall to their doom. Sometimes in slo-mo for added effect!
4.- Damaged cars instantly blow up real good **giggles deliriously*
5.- There's no ryme or reason to anything the criminals do, they simply tear shit up and harm people for fun. And they all jump around and cheer and high-five after they do it, like their team just scored a goal or something.

..and the leader has this bizarre reverse-mohawk, and makes all his homeys paint their faces w/ his symbol.

dw3fraker.JPG


It's just too fun, I laughed the entire time. 10 stars
 
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