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

Being stuck in Belgrade for a couple of days, figured I'd visit the film festival over here so I watched On the Milky Road and Manchester by the Sea, the latter being pretty good.

Moonlight is excellent from a technical standpoint (camera, acting), especially for an independent film, but act three has some serious problems.

I apologize for my ignorance, all the coverage I saw on the BBC or in the U.S. papers was about La La Land or Fences.

The man from U.N.C.L.E, it's about 2 years old now but it's an amazing movie

Went and saw "Logan"… it was nothing as good as the hype its getting…I would give it 7 out of 10. Pretty good movie, but has some drawbacks. Definitely not one of the best comic book movies of all time like some are claiming.

I watched a couple of movies this year:

Arrival
A good, serious sci-fi movie. Not Villeneuve's best work, but certainly worth watching if you don't need much action.
7.5 / 10

Sicario, by the same director
I found this one impressive. A cynical, somewhat realistic war against drugs. The structure is interesting. The scenes are played out carefully and then the film jumps ahead and leaves out the way from A to B. It feels slow, but the film has a lot of spectacular action. Very interesting, although not exactly mainstream.
Villeneuve's movies always look and sound great.
9

Rogue One
A lot has been written about the new Star Wars spin off. It's basically The Empire Strikes back plus a more harmless war movie and minus the jedi stuff. It's a bit uneven but it clearly delivers. Good entertainment. Hopefully Disney learns from it that mainstream franchises can have edgier products.
8

Allied
Pitt and Cotillard in a romantic thriller during WW2, directed by Robert Zemeckis. The first half tries to imitate Casablanca (-> still one of the greatest movies ever!), with as much success as could be expected. The second half is a spy thriller. The whole mix is uneven, with disconnected scenes, a weak script and an intentionally old-fashioned look. The actors are good, but they can't really save the movie. It's still mildly entertaining and has a few wonderful scenes for movie buffs, at points where you wouldn't expect them. Worth a one-time watch.
5-6

Fantastic Beasts …
Simply put, a waste of time. Compared to this both Alice films, to name something with similarly high production values, are Oscar material.
The whole movie looks like 200M bucks, but the script simply doesn't work at all. It takes a whole hour until things take off. The main actors are terribly miscast. The weakest Harry Potter movies were leagues ahead of this.
2

Underworld: Blood Wars
Like the last couple of them. Switch off your brain and enjoy the ride.
5

The Jungle Book
A serious re-interpretation of the novel. This movie is a triumph! The kid is great, the animations superb and the film much darker than the classic disney version.
9.5

Deadpool
A superhero trash movie. Good job.
8

Doctor Strange
Not as good as expected, but certainly one of the better superhero movies out there. The visuals in the action scenes are inspired by Inception. The Cumberbatch does his usual things. I hope they make another one.
7.5

Batman V Superman (ext.)
The extended cut is okay in terms of script and character development, but the f/x orgie in the last act ruins everything. The only good news is that Affleck is a good Batman.
4

X-Men Apocalypse
It's like B v S (ext.), just without decent character development. Watch the Quicksilver scene on YT and forget about the rest.
3

Suicide Squad
Quite entertaining, although it's a below average movie. Nothing works as it should, but somehow time flies. Let's call it a
6

Jason Bourne
The new film makes a convincing 5th place on the list of the best Bourne movies. It's a by the numbers Bourne movie with even more action and less acting by Damon. Nice action film, not more.
5

Star Trek Beyond
The best of the new ones. And the commercially least successful.
8.5

Ghostbusters (ext.)
Not as bad as I feared. Let's be honest, the old films weren't so great either. The reboot has juvenile humor, some nice scenes and great 3D f/x. It's quite alright.
6

Independence Day 2
As expected the second ID was bashed by the critics. Undeservedly so, IMHO. It's once a gain a variation on the same story, and all actors under 50 suck. But so what? The old guys have some great scenes and the film delivers what you expect. I enjoyed it more than the average superhero movie.
7

The Magnificent Seven
More action than western. Pretty standard stuff. Watch and forget.
5

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Typical Tim Burton material. Looks interesting, moves a bit slowly, has good actors. Good if you're patient enough.
7.5

The Accountant
Decent thriller with some interesting twists. Above average,
6.5

The Purge trilogy
1) Small home-terror film. 5
2) Better action, less terror, more budget. 6
3) Even more budget. Now maybe almost 8M$ . 6
So the whole trilogy is nothing special. A solid B category product you can have fun with once.

Alice Through the Looking Glass
Weaker than the last one and much less Johnny Depp because the Mad Hatter has lost his muchness. Now Alice has to help him get it back. Just MOTS on a slightly lower level.
5-6

The Girl on the Train
This is a Hitchcock stlye thriller about a woman who seems to be losing her mind because things are happening. Slow and careful build-up, good actors. Definitely a genre product, although a good one if you like this kind of movie.
6.5

Hacksaw Ridge
I couldn't connect to this movie. The fight scenes are very intense. The rest somehow didn't reach me. Everybody else seems to think it's very good. So no rating.

Now You See Me 2
MOTS, but not as good. Still nice entertainment though.
6

London has Fallen
This is an effective little action film with the usual twists. Don't expect more.
5

Jack Reacher 2
Unfortunately a failure. Still reasonably entertaining despite a weak script.
4

The Shallows
The Shallows is a good example how genre movies should be made. It's compact, to the point, intense and well acted. Shark against woman. 75 minutes including intro. And when the story is over the movie ends instead of dragging it on.
7.5

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
This is a bit similar to Blackhawk Down. Just a bit more low-key. Michael Bay's best movie in many years, simply because he resists the temptation to do his typical Michael Bay stuff. Recommended.
7.5

The Huntsman: Winter's War
Soul-less fantasy schlock. Really no reason to watch this.
4

Kubo and the Two Strings
Interesting animation movie. Has a couple lengths but also some very nice scenes. Worth a look.
6.5

Warcraft
Better than expected. Not that much action. A couple of impressive scenes. Warcraft fans will probably love it.
6

The Nice Guys
The best buddy comedy in years. Crow & Gosling connect well. The action could be a bit harder, but the dialogs are very funny. It's a shame nobody watched it.
8

Inferno
Moves much faster than the other 2 movies. Solid entertainment, but not a keeper.
6-6.5

Hell or High Water
IMHO this movie is overrated. It's a very slow moving western-thriller thing with a lot of room for the actors. Yes, quality stuff. Could have been more entertaining though.
6

Mechanic: Resurrection
Mediocre action film. Not remarkable in any way.
4

Eye in the Sky
This a good political / moral thriller in a realistic scenario. A terrorist in the middle-east has been targeted by a satellite. There are civilists near him. Should they fire a Tomahawk or not? He is building a bomb. Where do you draw the line? Quality stuff with Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman.
8

The Infiltrator
Pretty good undercover crime movie in the spirit of Donnie Brasco.
7

Criminal
Costner plays the anti-hero in an action film with slight sci-fi ideas. It's more interesting than your typical action thriller, although it's not successful on all levels. Let's give it a small bonus for good intentions.
6

Nocturnal Animals
Too art-sy for my taste. Two different stories, clearly separated. One drama, one crime. Solid actors and production values. I'm not 100% convinced, although there's nothing obviously wrong. Add 1 or 2 points if this is your type of movie.
5

Hardcore Henry
Finally a FPS as a movie. It's an excessive 90 minute ride. Non-stop action in first person view. Funny and politically incorrect, but a bit exhausting. Imagine Crank on steroids and in first person view. I love it. YMMV.
8

Captain Fantastic
I so wanted to like it, because Mortensen is as good as always, but I couldn't connect to it. Maybe I wasn't in the mood.
(3)

Thanks Gorath for the information - appreciated.

Originally Posted by Gorath
I watched a couple of movies this year:

A couple? Sadly I didn't watch all of them, only some and some others (exotic ones). But for those that were on the same menu, our tastes differ.

Arrival
A near masterpiece that tries to give answer on the state of current human mind through superb sci fi story. What would you do if you knew the ending? Would you go for a voyage, is it worth it? If this wasn't sci fi, it would be a boring drama with a question would you give a birth to a child you know will be sick for the rest of their life?
Cons why this isn't a masterpiece? Yea… Silly patriotism again and only one nation on the planet has "superhumans".
9/10

Doctor Strange
First half an hour is a bore, I already have (at least one) egocentric friend who gets out of control for no reason and can't stop. The movie opens up, Cumberbatch and Swinton nail their roles so much it feels like their lines were written exactly for them, with visual and sound porn there is a fruit for comic fans (timeshift solution). If the first hours wasn't so boring, it'd be the best comic2movie ever and a masterpiece. But…
9/10

Batman V Superman (ext.)
Near near near near… All near?
Superman and batman in this movie instead of being Santa Clauss finally became actual people with actual emotions.
I can understand the hate as this isn't an usual action flick people expect. This movie is a love song to fans of all comics and all superheros that ever existed, not just superman and batman. You might adore it so much you'll add it in your DVD collection or you'll hate it's guts so much you will want to forget it immediately. One thing is sure, this ain't mediocre product not Transformers clone.
To me this movie is a masterpiece. Why? Start reading comics already and you'll know why, and not those cheap kiosk ones.
10/10

X-Men Apocalypse
Milk'em rubbish. Two points for some decent acting and visuals, the rest is utter garbage. Save your money and skip this.
2/10

Jason Bourne
Disn't watch 4th Bourne, only first 3. This 5th one doesn't bring anything new, it's a decent sequel and you won't be bored. Awsome choice if you're searching for something to watch with friends, noone will say it sux.
6/10

Star Trek Beyond
If not for the plot holes and sillyness (how to almost get killed on edge of a mountain then climb all way down in mere seconds, how to find a working motocycle after 745634653 years, etc), this would be the best Star Trek movie ever. Erm, nah, sorry, they still can't reproduce Shatner/Nimoy charm. Scifi was never so much fun is the message in this movie and it succeeds to prove it.
8/10

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Wasted talent (Eva Green) and a story about dunno the name but Mordred from Merlin basically questioning himself what's he doing in this movie at all. More boring than grinding in MMOs. Skippit.
2/10


Well that's it. Many of those Gorath watched I just don't want to. Some I will go for eventually (Rogue one), some won't watch even if my life depended on it (Deadpool).

Originally Posted by joxer
Batman V Superman (ext.)
Near near near near… All near?
Superman and batman in this movie instead of being Santa Clauss finally became actual people with actual emotions.
I can understand the hate as this isn't an usual action flick people expect. This movie is a love song to fans of all comics and all superheros that ever existed, not just superman and batman. You might adore it so much you'll add it in your DVD collection or you'll hate it's guts so much you will want to forget it immediately. One thing is sure, this ain't mediocre product not Transformers clone.
To me this movie is a masterpiece. Why? Start reading comics already and you'll know why, and not those cheap kiosk ones.
10/10

Sorry, no joke there. It stroke me in all the the right spots.

Beauty & the Beast (2017)

Absolutely loved this - the classic songs were well done, with some great additions. The performances were also quite good throughout. I loved the additions, such as the Evermore song, the expanded secondary characters and interactions … pretty much everything.

Logan 7.5/10

Best superhero movie in a long time.

Rogue One 6/10

It earns a point for the ending, which I liked. The rest of the movie was entirely redundant.

Erm.. Logan I don't plan to see. Not in the near future at least. But…

Rogue One
Made only to milk fans, boring and worthless, it's ME: Paragon Lost with big budget.
bullshit/10

Rogue One happens to be my favorite non-animated Star Wars movie/show so far, right alongside the Empire Strikes Back.
Finally no focus on those unnecessary Jedi types. Finally no .
It had everything the - IMO totally unnecessary - Episode 7 didn't have, so let's make that a 8/10.

I thought Rogue One was pretty good, but I didn't care for most of the supporting cast. I was especially annoyed by the blantant racial stereotypes that seemed really out of place to me.

Looks pretty good actually. Reminds me very much of the book.


I also watched the trailer for Justice League, but something got lost among all the CGI. The Trailer for Baywatch on the other hand looked like lots of turn-your-brain-off-and-enjoy feel-good fun.

Won't watch it, the existing one is so good I don't see a reason for remake.

That other stuff… Maybe I got too old. Nothing excites me.
Wait a minute. Not true, I just rewatched FMA trailer and I can't be more excited. It's not me, it's Hollywood.

Originally Posted by joxer
Won't watch it, the existing one is so good I don't see a reason for remake.

I don't really consider it a remake since there has never been an in-theatre film based on it. The previous version was a 2-part TV mini-series. I enjoyed both the book and the mini-series, so I'll definitely be seeing the movie.

Knock yourself out.

Meanwhile…
The Girl with All the Gifts
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4547056/

Synopsis:

A scientist and a teacher living in a dystopian future embark on a journey of survival with a special young girl named Melanie.

A nearmasterpiece mustwatch. Do not read anything apart from what I quoted before watching, please!
Yea, kids are in but the movie is not for kids, so, careful who are you watching it with.

Originally Posted by joxer
Knock yourself out.

Meanwhile…
The Girl with All the Gifts
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4547056/

Synopsis:


A nearmasterpiece mustwatch. Do not read anything apart from what I quoted before watching, please!
Yea, kids are in but the movie is not for kids, so, careful who are you watching it with.

100% agreed. I forgot to include it in my list. This is one of the few good "serious" zombie movies. Feels fresh, intelligent, often surprising and well-made. Before I watched it I wondered how they got a legendary character actress like Glenn Close to play in a slightly underbudgeted Z-movie. Then it turned out she has a great role with a lot of screen time.
8.5