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

I like Transformers. I like the animated stuff, I like the movies. Super sexy alien sentient robots, what's not to like about them? Just forget about the people and concentrate on what's important, though I also found the flicks really funny .
No. 1 had Ratchet and Barricade and Blackout, 2 had Sideswipe and Soundwave and Jolt, 3 had the Wreckers and Dino, just 4 was a bit ... well, it was a bit .. less ... funny. And it felt like three senseless movies made into one.
BUT it had Drift and Howl and Crosshairs. Loved Drift's short burst of violence when they entered Lockdown's ship .

Jaz said:

Just forget about the people and concentrate on what's important

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It's all very well asking the audience to do this, but it's what people have been telling the writers/directors/producers to do since the 1st one came out. I think it's about time the audience didn't have to make additional viewing mental complications to compensate for clueless direction.

Sorry to interrupt the Michael Bay-gasm ...

We finally watched 'Frozen' the other night. Well, I bought it on Amazon digital months ago for my 16 year old son when they went on a marching band trip to WashDC ... but my wife and I sat down and watched it with him. It was classic Disney, great fun, great songs, not quite up to Beauty and the Beast, IMO, but so much better than some of the newer ones and most recent Pixar stuff (like anything related to 'Cars')

I can honestly say that Transformers is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Needless to say, I didn't bother trying to watch the 2nd or 3rd movies.

I can sum up the biggest problem with them in just two words --> Shia Labeouf.

JDR13 said:

I can sum up the biggest problem with them in just two words —> Shia Labeouf.

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So if the lead actor had been someone you liked then the movie would have been exactly what you wanted?

MinorityReport said:

So if the lead actor had been someone you liked then the movie would have been exactly what you wanted?

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I don't think it is 'like' is is more 'if the leads weren't pure shit'. Megan Fox would have been better replaced with CGI, she is a total crap actor, and Shia has really never gone beyond Even Stevens regardless of aspirations.

MinorityReport said:

So if the lead actor had been someone you liked then the movie would have been exactly what you wanted?

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Yes, that must be what I meant.

Shia Labeouf is definitely a good reason to despise Transformers, but - for me - it's the script. That's pretty much the case with all bad movies.

Michael Bay has this excessive Hollywood thing where reality and plausible human behavior takes an instant second seat to shut-off-brain explosions.

Movies like Transformers and The Rock have similar scenes, more or less - where this is especially evident. In The Rock, Sean Connery has this urgent need to find his daughter and talk to her.

That's fine and we get that, right?

But what I don't get is how he can crash through the entire city in a very large military vehicle, smashing cars and killing dozens of innocent people in the process (obviously, you don't actually see anyone die) - but that's what happens when you obliterate cars and buses on your way.

He does this simply because he needs a moment away to see his daughter. That makes a lot of sense.

Now, I didn't last more than 20-30 minutes into the first Transformers - but good old Shia has this bicycle ride through the city at night where plausible behavior and logic went completely out the window. Thankfully, I've forgotten the details - but it was a horrible scene with a horrible actor.

Megan Fox is hot on an absurd level, though.

Some people have no problem with this extreme stuff - and they can, apparently, still relate to things that have no relation to reality - whilst the movie is trying to appeal to your brain and your emotions in other scenes.

I don't know how they do it - and I've never been good at playing stupid for Hollywood.

That's ok, though.

We all like different things for different reasons.

DArtagnan said:

Megan Fox is hot on an absurd level, though.

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Typical plastic Hollywood 'product' - random pretty girl with marginal talent who happened to have the 'right look' for someone to stick in a movie, and has had loads of plastic surgery. meh

For me, just like I want musicians who can play and singers who can sing, I would like actors who can act. And Megan Fox is to acting what Katy Perry is to singing.

txa1265 said:

Typical plastic Hollywood 'product' - random pretty girl with marginal talent who happened to have the 'right look' for someone to stick in a movie, and has had loads of plastic surgery. meh

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I don't really take much interest in what the media says about irrelevant people I've never met - but from what I've seen, she's absolutely stunning.

In the world I live in, people do all kinds of things to make themselves look good - and whether that's about expensive clothes, make-up or surgery it all comes out the same to me. It depends on the result.

That said, I'm pretty sure Megan Fox would be at least a 9 without surgery. Her eyes would pretty much take care of that.

I think I've heard her speak a few times - and she strikes me as an intelligent person.

For me, just like I want musicians who can play and singers who can sing, I would like actors who can act. And Megan Fox is to acting what Katy Perry is to singing.

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I'm not sure I've really noticed her acting. In Transformers, she was there to look good and she looked good and then some.

Then again, I don't go into these things having a problem with beautiful people. I like to give them a chance before using ignorant bias against them.

AFAIK, she's been somewhat outspoken against Hollywood - and accusing her of being designed as a product simply because she's beautiful is about as ignorant and absurd as claiming an iPad is relevant as a competing platform for the enthusiast gamer

It sounds like your fantasy design of the world extends beyond Apple

From what little I've seen of her, she seems to be a better actress than most in her visual category.

Also, I've heard Mickey Rourke praising her acting - and he's one of my favorite actors, and he's not exactly known for giving other actors a break. So, she can't be all bad.

DArtagnan said:

I think I've heard her speak a few times - and she strikes me as an intelligent person.

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I'm pretty sure it was someone else you heard speaking.

JDR13 said:

I'm pretty sure it was someone else you heard speaking.

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Could be, but she was definitely extremely hot.

Check out the IMDB quotes from her. I don't need to read more to realise she's smarter than most "products".

Again, I have the advantage of thinking for myself here.

Being honest in public without caring much about the response, is a good sign of intelligence and personal integrity from where I'm sitting.

Its bit funny since I had "debate" with friend recently about Megan Fox's hotness!

I think she is pretty good looking but I don't find her stunning or super hot etc. The best thing about her is her eyes! I think Scarlet Johansen is uber hot compared to Megan Fox! I think I will say I prefer Jennifer Laurence over Megan Fox as well :lol:

This might sound even more wired but the reason for me liking Scarlet Johansen and Jennifer Laurence over Megan Fox might be due to the fact that I liked some of the characters they played over the characters Megan Fox played in movies!

lostforever said:

Its bit funny since I had "debate" with friend recently about Megan Fox's hotness!

I think she is pretty good looking but I don't find her stunning or super hot etc. The best thing about her is her eyes! I think Scarlet Johansen is uber hot compared to Megan Fox! I think I will say I prefer Jennifer Laurence over Megan Fox as well lol

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It's pretty subjective

I would say that Scarlett is sexier - but she's not really what I consider beautiful.

Megan Fox is one of those rare women who're both very sexy and very beautiful.

Jennifer Lawrence has a nice body, but I'm not a big fan of her face.

As a kid, I loved the Transformers…hence my avatar. I watched the show, played with the toys and it is definitely a defining period of my childhood.

Therefore, when the movie was announced I was quite excited and went happily (and full of innocence) to the theater. There were two particular moments in the movie that I highly enjoyed: At the every beginning when I had the feeling of reliving the joys of my childhood…and when the movie ended when I thought "Thank God it is over!"

The movie is worthless garbage. Call me an elitist prick if you will but I have a hard time taking any adult serious who liked it and can say so with a straight face.

DArtagnan said:

I can watch movies about aliens, werewolves and small fat fantasy people - and yet be both emotionally moved and intellectually stimulated.

So, it's not so much the concept - but the execution.

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I absolutely agree.

I tend to like movies with a fantastical theme but they also need to show some level of depth, subtelty and intellectual stimulation. Unfortunately, they are quite rare.

Sure, it's nice if you can get everything at once from a flick, but there's the rare movie that caters to all my entertainment needs at once. Right off the top of my head I can think of ... well, no movie that managed to do that.
As I said, I like the Transformer movies for the transformers. I, too, would have loved to see a flick just about them and nothing else, but unless they make one, I will take the ones already filmed instead. I didn't mind Shia all that much - in fact, I even thought he was pretty funny, and he was sorely missed in part IV ... those humans featured there were pretty bland and uninteresting as a rule. Stanley Tucci stood out like a sore thumb in a sea of nothingness .
Megan Fox, well, I found her pretty cute in part I, but in the second movie she looked like one of those inflatable dolls ... not so cute anymore. Pity.

Did I mention that one of my favorite films is Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared Syn?

I always had a thing for Jessica Biel. But, well, all girls (and guys) are pretty in movies. Lighting and stuff

Jaz said:

Sure, it's nice if you can get everything at once from a flick, but there's the rare movie that caters to all my entertainment needs at once. Right off the top of my head I can think of … well, no movie that managed to do that.
As I said, I like the Transformer movies for the transformers. I, too, would have loved to see a flick just about them and nothing else, but unless they make one, I will take the ones already filmed instead. I didn't mind Shia all that much - in fact, I even thought he was pretty funny, and he was sorely missed in part IV … those humans featured there were pretty bland and uninteresting as a rule. Stanley Tucci stood out like a sore thumb in a sea of nothingness .
Megan Fox, well, I found her pretty cute in part I, but in the second movie she looked like one of those inflatable dolls … not so cute anymore. Pity.

Did I mention that one of my favorite films is Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared Syn?

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Yup, a lot of people are happy with subpar or mediocre films - just as long as they're "fun"

Which is good, as otherwise Hollywood would have to be a lot more bold and daring to get a return on their investment - and we couldn't have that

Europa Report. - loved it

Expendables 2 - liked it, kinda. Even for this style of film,with all the greats, they really had some just eye-rolling parts that i could barely stand.

Am i the only one who goes and gets something from the fridge everytime out of the blue a troubled ex-soldier character wistfully recounts how he and platoon were pinned down, and when the smoke cleared all his buddies were dead, as the music swells to a weepy cresendo of doom?

Doc of the Dead - zombies in popular culture from their first presentation in silent film to themcurrent "zombie boom". Good footage from the greats, romero, savini, nicotero, creator of the walking dead (forgot his name)

Animal Kingdom 7/10

Good film, good performances. A few slightly implausible events and a somewhat too familiar topic makes the film not great - but simply very good.

The Rover 8/10

This reminded me of another Guy Pearce movie, which happens to be one of my favorites - namely The Proposition - and it has a very similar intensity about it. The ending made it go from very good to great, in my opinion. Both of the leads impressed me a lot with their performances. Pearce has one of the most emotionally capable faces around - and Pattinson did a fantastic job playing an intellectually insecure and vulnerable man.