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

Originally Posted by Kayla

@magerette. You're admitting you watched Anaconda? You're not panning it completely? Am I in some weird bizarro world where people can say anything they want…. no matter how socially unaccepable? Next you'll be saying you think Sean Connery is hot…. or that he can act. I haven't seen Anaconda (cause it' so bad), but I have this "friend" who said they wish they had just gouged their eyes out with a spoon instead of watching that movie…. a friend, not me.

Anaconda is exactly the same kind of movie as Godzilla vs Mothra—I doubt that's what they intended, but that's kinda how it worked out. You must approach it in that spirit. The special effects were barely adequate, the plot was non-existent, and the script was mostly pathetic. However, the cheese level was very high. Jon Voigt was actually pretty competent as the villain—there was no other attempt at acting in the movie.

Also bear in mind that being old, I once did think Sean Connery was hot, though not as hot as Peter O'Toole.

Saw Eagle Eye over the weekend. It's good entertainment if you can manage to keep your brain in neutral. The moment you start thinking about what's going on, it crumbles. Sure, action movies tend to nudge the real world into the passenger seat, but this one puts the real world on a bus heading the opposite direction. Fortunately, I was able to just go with it, so we had a good time. I'd be very cautious about recommending this one to anyone, though.

Saw a couple of 12-24 month old movie lately:

Sunshine:
Very good. An intelligent, calm, beautiful Sci-Fi movie. Similar to 2010. Highly recommended.

Die Hard 4.0, kiddie version:
Better than expected. Actually good popcorn cinema. The last serious action scene should have been left out, but the rest was fast and quite unsensimental. Good.

Smokin' Aces:
The first 75 minutes were great, the solution unconvincing. It´s an ensemble movie with lots of high profile actors. Feels a bit like an unconnected Ocean's 11 with hard & fast action scenes. Still better than average.

Ultraviolet:
Great visuals - both CGI and Milla Jovovich - but only a generic story. The action reminds me of The Matrix 2 & 3. I found it boring.

The Reaping:
Solid horror/suspense movie in the typical Rosemary's Baby / The Omen style. The good acting (Hilary Swank) and lack of gimmicky scenes make it better than average. It´s pretty tight. The movie tells its story and doesn´t waste much time with random stuff, which is positive IMO. Recommended for one time viewing.

Casino Royale:
Even better the 2nd time. One of the best Bond movies. Now if they would only dare to exchange 15 minutes of action against more acting, especially from the villains.

Originally Posted by Gorath
Smokin' Aces:
The first 75 minutes were great, the solution unconvincing. It´s an ensemble movie with lots of high profile actors. Feels a bit like an unconnected Ocean's 11 with hard & fast action scenes. Still better than average.

I couldn't possibly haved summed it up any better Gorath. I thought that movie was fantastic right up till the last 10-15 minutes. They tried too hard to give it a "twist" ending, and it backfired badly.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer:
This one is hard to describe. It's a bio-pic based on Patrick Süskind's famous novel about a murderer in 17xx France, who had no moral education. His one outstanding feature defines his life: He has a "perfect nose", for lack of a better word, like a few gifted musicians have the absolute pitch. He strives to find, collect and conserve the perfect odor, which he finds on young women …
This movie is beautifully shot. Camera work, sound and acting (Ben Wishaw, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman and a bunch of quite well-known young women as victims) are top notch. What it lacks though is suspense in the first half. Only in the 2nd half, when he really goes on a (off-screen) killing spree and the authorities try to stop him, it works as some sort of mainstream movie. The first hour is interesting because you never know what Grenouille will do, simply because he has no moral foundation for his actions. The storytelling is light-weight and sometimes even laconic. What's absolutely fascinating, and never before seen on screen in such a subtle way, is how the director (Tom Tykwer; Run, Lola, Run) successfully tries to make smell visible without aggressive use of special effects. The last 10 minutes are also very surprising, not to say almost surreal.
No rating. IMDB gives it 7.5/10 after 34,571 votes.

Bevery Hills Chihuahua
The Wild Dogs insisted on seeing this mutt. I think even their vote was "meh". Challenges "Journey to the Center of the Earth" for worst movie this year.

Originally Posted by dteowner
Challenges "Journey to the Center of the Earth" for worst movie this year.

I don't know dte, I'm not sure if anything tops Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I haven't been that offended in a looong time.

I agree that Indy4 was a stinker, but I believe it gets unfairly penalized based on trashing a classic series. I don't think opinions would have been quite as harsh if it was "Arizona Smith's Chilean Vacation".

Originally Posted by JDR13
I don't know dte, I'm not sure if anything tops Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I haven't been that offended in a looong time.

Either you see few movies and/or are very selective with what you see … Indy 4 was no worse than 'meh'.

Originally Posted by txa1265
Either you see few movies and/or are very selective with what you see … Indy 4 was no worse than 'meh'.

I'm proud to say that I am indeed selective of what I see, and I know how to recognize garbage when I see it.

Dte hit it right on the nose though, if KotCS was a standalone movie it would just be "poor", but when compared to the other Indy movies it's downright terrible.

Originally Posted by JDR13
I'm proud to say that I am indeed selective of what I see, and I know how to recognize garbage when I see it.

We saw the Clone wars commercia … um , 'movie'.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Dte hit it right on the nose though, if KotCS was a standalone movie it would just be "poor", but when compared to the other Indy movies it's downright terrible.

My kids got me the trilogy on DVD for Father's Day … so I dunno … but I think Crystal Skull is better - or at least no worse - than Temple of Doom. Still not great but I think everything *except* Raiders is pretty 'meh' at best (just watched Last Crusade again this weekend).

Originally Posted by txa1265
We saw the Clone wars commercia … um , 'movie'.

Thanks for the warning.

Watched Zeitgeist. Batshit crazy conspiracy stuff (actually worse than what I expected even after noting the promising keyword combination of "Bush + Bin Laden + Hitler" at IMDB) about how an evil cabal of international bankers are responsible for all wars and the lack of a gold standard as well as the Kennedy assassination is their wicked doing. The scariest part is that our Russian tenant (who we've been reluctant to discuss politics with due to not knowing her stance on situations such as Georgia and the Baltics) said that "it makes you think" Of course I couldnt keep my mouth shut when she asked what I thought about the thing, but had to tell her that it was entertaining but had some rather glaring holes in its web of conspiracy theories…

Originally Posted by txa1265
My kids got me the trilogy on DVD for Father's Day … so I dunno … but I think Crystal Skull is better - or at least no worse - than Temple of Doom. Still not great but I think everything *except* Raiders is pretty 'meh' at best (just watched Last Crusade again this weekend).

Speak of the Devil . Do you ever watch South Park? They did a hilarious lampooning of Crystal Skull in last nights episode. I guess I'm not the only one who thought Lucas "raped" the Indy legend with that movie.


*Edit 2* Here's a new link.

Was in "Happy-Go-Lucky" the other day.

It's a nice film, which is intended to show some sort of "snapshot" of the life of the protagonist called Poppy.

The end is quite drastic, and in my opinion the clear highlight of the whole movie/film.

But - the film just "breaks up" and ends shortly after that. Which is - as I heard - part of the filming style of the maker.

I think it's a nice film, almost no action, but often funny - and sometimes it makes one thinking.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1045670/

Just got done watching Aliens… again.

That is one movie, that when it comes on (usually on Fox Movie Channel quite often), I just can't stop watching it until it reaches the end. There are very few movies that I can't tear myself away from… but there's just something about Aliens that makes me watch it until the end no matter what.

Great Flick!

That one is marked by some excellent supporting performances. Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxson, Jenette Goldstein and Paul Reiser all did excellent jobs bringing their characters to life without turning them into caricature.

Went to see Burn after Reading yesterday, good film (although if you don't like the Coen brothers work you probably won't like this one).

Watched Audition w/ the Tigress the other night. Creeeped her out, great Jap'neez horror flick!

I caught the film, The War at Home two nights ago on IFC.

I actually missed the first half of the movie… but what I did see was very well done. All the actors were very convincing in their roles. It was quite a moving experience for me. I hope I can catch the entire movie sometime.