Last movie watched

[Undercover Monk]

actually pirates 2 was the first of a two-parter. Pirates was not originally going to have a sequel it just did so well the writers were forced to try and find a fe loose threads to tie it in to what really was pirates 2 part 1 and part 2

a better example is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Beloved book turned film split into two and how did they end the first part. With the death and burial of Dobby and Voldermort stealing the elder wand from Dumbeldore's grave.

Again you want the heroes to be tested at the end but to go on anyway. Hence Gandalf leaving Bilbo and the dwarves at the edge of Mirkwood and Bilbo forced to take what he has learned so far and strike out on his own is the perfect ending. I can almost hear the soaring score as Bilbo says goodbye
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The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning

[Jedo the Jedi]

Inception, for the second time.

So, I absolutely loved this movie the first time, and the second was no different. I remembered from when I saw it in theaters that I came away feeling I had missed something the first time around, so realizing I hadn't was a bit of a let-down. However, it was still an excellent movie.

First, I think the whole premise was a pretty cool idea. They did a pretty good job of creating an interesting world with different mechanics that maintained a pretty good cohesion. I feel like the subject was one in which there could easily be giant plot holes and contradictions, but I never really noticed any such thing.

Second, I think the cast was stellar, but that should be no surprise for a Nolan movie. I did notice in this second viewing that Tom Hardy's character and acting are somewhat understated. His role is actually one of the more vital ones for the story, but there's nothing really flashy about him. I think most people probably paid more attention to DiCaprio and JGL than they did to Hardy, and that's a real shame.

Third, I felt the ending may not have been super-surprising--obviously the whole film is more about DiCaprio's character than the job they pull--but I think it definitely caused some reflection. The ambiguity of the ending seems classic Nolan, and I spend my time wondering exactly who was incepted/inceived.

Finally, thank God we have a movie where DiCaprio isn't attempting an accent. This alone causes me to call this DiCaprio's best work. I really think he has grown into a much more solid actor since Titanic, but dear God, the man cannot do a passable accent to save his life.
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Paragon Tally: 18 mafia, 3 SKs (1 twice), 1 cultist, numerous chat scum...and counting.

[Death Mage]

It's not Sunday, I closed yesterday, but this week's movie was Total Recall (2012).

This movie had quite possibly the best setting I have ever seen. The scenery was amazing, the technology was great, it made sense (for the most part), and a lot of thought went into it. Seriously, I was in awe at just how visually appealing the movie was, and not in a hyper-clean Tron sense, but just in a believable level of detail sense. The action was good, though it had some flaws. There were some great nods to the original, and the set up was more believable this time. He actually has a reason to GO to Rekall, whereas the first movie was just "don't go there, I know someone who got labotamized by it." "Oh, ok. *goes anyway*". This time someone recommends it to him, hands him a business card, etc

However, MAGNETS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY.
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[Scurra]

[The Ragin' South Asian]

Re: Bruce Wayne's bankruptcy: So while a lot of the rest of the movie is pretty awesome, the parts dealing with the stock market and various corporate shenanigans isn’t merely implausible, it simply doesn’t make sense at all.

[Hitchhiker]

*agrees with RSA*

[Undercover Monk]

and a man dressing up to fight crime as a bat is riveted in historical fact

anyway saw the Campaign over the weekend. It was funny I laughed popcorn was good. unless you just want to see a funny movie wait til it comes out on dvd.
_________________
The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning

[The Ragin' South Asian]

[Zag]

When you write fantasy or science fiction, you're allowed a pretty significant suspension of disbelief for the primary theme of the story. You are not, however, allowed to abuse it for extra and unnecessary things. Characters, settings, and actions still need to be whole and self-consistent (perhaps in the extraordinary circumstances) or you just have crapola.
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[Jedo the Jedi]

Dogma: love it. Not much more to say.

Secret Window: I called the ending in the first ten minutes. The really funny part was my wife (who had already seen it) tried to tell me I was wrong so I would be surprised. She could have saved me 90 minutes.
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Paragon Tally: 18 mafia, 3 SKs (1 twice), 1 cultist, numerous chat scum...and counting.

[Courk]

[Jedo*]

No Country for Old Men: Classic Coen brothers. I think the motif of age is interesting, and Bardem's character is just riddled with creepy. If you like their movies, it's worth a watch.

The Last Supper: I think there is probably a religious movie of the same title, but this is a 90s' movie with Cameron Diaz. A group of grad students invite people to their house and they kill them if the guest cannot be changed from their extreme, rightist views. The topic is interesting as are the debates, though the movie does fall significantly flat in some of its execution. If you can watch for free like we did, it probably isn't a waste of your time.

Contagion: Maybe I'm crazy, but I am at the public library immediately after watching it. It does creep you out some from a hygienic standpoint, but I think the real strength of the movie is its depiction of how these things are handled, how they spread, and the public's reactions. Overall, a worthwhile watch.

[Jedo the Jedi]

The King's Speech: The real question here is why I didn't see this sooner. A very interesting depiction of King George VI. When I think of WWII and the statesmen of the time, I don't think of him, so seeing this story was really quite inspiring. The journey was enjoyable throughout, but my absolute favorite scene is when he watches part of Hitler's speech and his reaction to it. I felt this was very well-done contrast to establish the tone of the movie.
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Paragon Tally: 18 mafia, 3 SKs (1 twice), 1 cultist, numerous chat scum...and counting.

[The Ragin' South Asian]

Expendables 2 This is a what a movie should be

[Death Mage]

The Expendables 2

Probably the most fun movie to watch this year next to The Avengers. This is the one that has the scenes we were hoping for in the first one, namely, Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Willis all on-screen at the same time being action stars. It was awesome. The Chuck Norris bits were hilarious as well. (They even made a Chuck Norris facts joke!) The plot is pretty much paper thin, and there's a lot of typical action movie conveniences (like having just the right gear at the right time), and some extraordinarily cliche moments. But this movie is a parody of action movies, so it all works. Well worth a viewing on the big screen.

The Hunger Games

Wow. I was not expecting this movie to be this good. It was bloody amazing. Yea, it's not a new concept by any means (Battle Royale, Running Man), but I've never seen it done quite this well. There was a lot of good pre-game build up, and when the games finally begin, you see different characters using different tactics - good ones at that. Again, it has problems, like a very slow start, and some unrealistic moments, but watching this movie really makes me want to read the books.

And if this movie doesn't at LEAST get an Oscar nomination for it's sound editing, then there is something seriously wrong with the committee. This movie has the best use of silence I think I have ever seen.
_________________
* These senseless ramblings brought to you by Insanity™. If you just can't figure the dang thing out, it must be Insanity™.
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[Jedo the Jedi]

50/50: Ultimately, I felt the movie was a little bland. I think the topic was worth pursuing, and I think people really do experience life like that, but character development and writing didn't really draw me into the story. My biggest problem was with the therapist. She wasn't doing anything correct in her approach to him, and she couldn't have made it that far without somebody seeing those things and holding her up until they were fixed. She was the most unrealistic part.

The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo: This was the Mara/Craig version. Wow! The acting, the story, the writing! I have a soft spot for Craig, but Rooney Mara was just phenomenal. I was cringing during "those scenes" with her supervisor. The only parts where I was iffy were when she had sex with Daniel Craig--What was that about?--and the ending. Maybe the ending was being true to the book or something, but it felt like there was no motivation for it. Still, well worth your viewing time.[/spoiler]
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Paragon Tally: 18 mafia, 3 SKs (1 twice), 1 cultist, numerous chat scum...and counting.

[Jedo the Jedi]

Frost/Nixon: I really enjoyed this movie for its historical significance. I think they did a pretty good job of collating the actors and film from the time, and I think they stuck to the material pretty well. Both Langella and Sheen did remarkable acting jobs, with extra credit to Langella for capturing Nixon. The only thing I didn't really enjoy was the documentary bits. I don't think they really fit the film.

The Expendables: Similar to Death Mage's review of the sequel above, it's an action movie. You get what you expect. Anyway, it really excels for its genre. As I told my friend: if you like Die Hard, you will like this.
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Paragon Tally: 18 mafia, 3 SKs (1 twice), 1 cultist, numerous chat scum...and counting.

[Scurra]

Berberian Sound Studio

I don't really like horror movies. Good ones largely transcend their genre anyway, and bad ones fail to be frightening (usually because of too much "show".) But I have seen enough to be able to appreciate the loving care taken by those who seek to pastiche the genre (Scream) or make meta-comments (The Cabin in the Woods) - and, equally, the disdain for the audience which some also exhibit (Scary Movie.)

This falls squarely into the "loving care" camp, and does a good job of breaking its genre restraints. It's one of those films that you don't want to spoil because it's too good, but a vanilla recounting of the basic premise (a sound recordist gets a job at an Italian film studio because he is an expert on natural sounds and thinks he's going to be working on a wildlife film, but it turns out that they are a studio specialising in Argento-style giallo "slasher" movies) doesn't make it sound particularly exceptional.

But it is. It's a wonderful character study - Toby Jones plays the hapless soundman dropped into this alternative reality - blended with a lovely mix of humour and psychological horror: the idea that what you imagine can be worse than anything you can be shown is explored very cleverly, and the gradual dissolution of the barriers between fantasy and reality is nicely handled (think David Lynch on a good day.)

And yes, the sound design is utterly magnificent. If this doesn't win awards all over the place then there's something wrong. Because every sound has to be correct for the film to work in the first place, it matters that every sound is indeed right. And, inevitably, it makes you remember what an illusion film is, even the one you are watching.

Sure, it's not perfect - especially not the ending. But for style and surprise it's easily going to be in my top five for this year.
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_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Zag]

[Quailman]

Bernie

This movie is based on the true story of Bernie Tiede, a mortician's assistant who befriended a widow in a small east Texas town, eventually becoming her sole heir to the dismay of her son. It might help if you've ever lived in or visited east Texas - the Piney Woods region - to appreciate some of the dialect.

Jack Black plays Bernie, who sings quite a bit (and he's really good). Matthew McConaughey doesn't have a really big part. Shirley MacLaine plays the widow. I can't remember seeing her as anything but an unhappy old bitch in years, and she does a great job here.

I hadn't heard of this movie until it was in Redbox, but I'm glad I rented it.

[Death Mage]

I have been watching a whole host of bad B (and worse) horror movies released in large, cheap packs by Echo Bridge. Seriously, anywhere from 8 to 20 movies for $5.

They are indescribable. A few good movies now and then, many "so-bad-they're-good", some that try WAY too hard to be "so-bad-they're-good", and some that are just bad even beyond being entertainingly so.

Sometimes it's painful to go through them. Very, very painful.
_________________
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[Zag]

Ummm, then why do you do it?

[Jedo the Jedi]

I think his title explains it all.
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Paragon Tally: 18 mafia, 3 SKs (1 twice), 1 cultist, numerous chat scum...and counting.

[yevalent]

Gran Torino ...... hats off to clint eastwood for this amazing movie ...... a great director, actor

[Undercover Monk]

Finding nemo 3D

I forgot how good this was. Im a sucker for a well done animated film and I forgot how truly heart-breaking the scene where Marlin leaves Dory is. Im not a fan of 3-D but I think one of the few places it works is in computer animated flicks. This and Tangled remain the only times I have felt the extra dollars were worth it.
_________________
The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning

[Scurra]

Looper

It's been a good few years for high-concept semi-intelligent SF movies (i.e ones that don't fall apart until you actually think about them afterwards, rather than during because you can't believe how stupid the movie is Or, if you want to put it another way, good episodes of The Twilight Zone.) I wonder if the last-but-one intake of Hollywood greenlighters were actually participants in some Limitless-style experiment and they will all be reverting back to average intelligence any time now...

Looper is another to add to the list, although it doesn't really succeed. It is certainly very high-concept (assassins kill people who are sent back from the future, with their last victim being themselves) although that concept only supports about half the film and they have to come up with something else for the rest of it that isn't nearly so original. However, there are some horrible issues with the time-travel paradoxes created (the writers basically change the rules whenever needed to suit themselves) and the various twists don't all work convincingly, given that there's nowhere much for the story to go once all the pieces have been put in place. But for most of the running time you are willing to go with the flow.

Bruce Willis is pretty good, and Joseph Gordon Levitt manages to do a passable impression of a younger version of him; there are a couple of fairly convincing scenes between the two of them that are quite engaging, even though neither character is at all likeable (it's anti-hero vs anti-hero really.) But the rest of the cast is eminently forgettable; they come and go for plot reasons rather than anything else.

This isn't 12 Monkeys. Heck, it isn't even Inception. But it's a passable way to spend a couple of hours.
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Jedo the Jedi]

The Grey

Really, it's not a bad movie. It definitely feels very visceral, and that made it an enjoyable diversion. The failing of the movie is its attempts at philosophizing. I didn't feel like there was any clear direction in this aspect of the movie, but I could see how that might have been somewhat intentional. There are definitely no answers to the questions asked, and considering the topics, that's not so surprising.
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Paragon Tally: 18 mafia, 3 SKs (1 twice), 1 cultist, numerous chat scum...and counting.

[Death Mage]

Snakes on a Train
The 7 Adventures of Sinbad
2010: Moby Dick

Ah, Asylum, when will you ever make a movie that's good?

And yet, even these movies don't compare to a few others I watched this week:

The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, which, while horrible, I found to be quite watchable... compared to what I saw the day before, Killjoy, which may be the single worst move I have ever seen. And that's saying a lot.
_________________
* These senseless ramblings brought to you by Insanity™. If you just can't figure the dang thing out, it must be Insanity™.
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[3iff]

Skyfall

(minor spoilers included in spoiler tags)

The best Bond ever, went the tagline. Sounded promising. They lied.

There were parts that were good, for example the opening sequence before the credits appeared, but even at that stage there were too many implausible events. The storyline was poor with the initial reason for all this action being forgotten about half-way through the film. Perhaps it fell down one of the many plotholes.

The baddie was simply crazy. Was he trying to emulate the 'Joker'? Maybe so. A bond baddie needs more than just being crazy and shooting lots of people for no apparent reason.

The final battle was exciting but ludicrous Was it beyond his wit to ask for some modern weapons and a few agents/SAS to back him up? It turned into 'home alone'. As it happened, he dispatched the henchmen with little difficulty.

Finally, there was too much 'magic', where people went from A to B without any apparent explanation of how that happened.
The death dive and the baddie escape were just two examples.

The final reveal/twist was just cheesy.

[Scurra]

Skyfall reminded me an awful lot of The World is Not Enough, the 40th anniversary Bond film which was also a bit too self-indulgent with the nostalgia whilst trying to do some innovative things with the villain and with M.

Also, about half way through I too realised that I was watching a sort of remake of The Dark Knight which slightly undermined some of what they were trying to do.

It's certainly a pretty decent Bond film, and definitely the best Craig entry (Casino Royale is about half-an-hour too long and even this one outstays its welcome) but no, it's not "the best Bond ever."
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Elethiomel]

What's the best Bond ever?

[Scurra]

For me it veers between two, depending upon which I've seen most recently. At the moment it's On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Probably the worst actual actor playing Bond (if we discount very late period Moore - and that's only really because he is just too old rather than because he is bad) but almost everything else about it is terrific. But on another day it would probably be The Living Daylights. (For the record: Connery: From Russia With Love, Moore: The Spy Who Loved Me, Brosnan: Die Another Day*, Craig: Skyfall**)

*yes, I'm probably in a minority here. But it's got my favourite precredits sequence and my favourite car chase so I tend to overlook its other faults.
**but that may just be relief that it wasn't Quantum of Solace again.
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[3iff]

I also like "On her Majesty's Secret Service" and would rate it as probably my favourite. Telly Savalas as the baddie was great and Diana Rigg gorgeous.

I tend not to like many of the later Bond films although Casino Royale was pretty good. Quantum of Solace was dire but I've only seen both of these once so my appreciation of them may change...but only downwards for QoS.

Skyfall was too lazy in too many departments especially sticking to the realms of reality. Nice photography though.

[Jedo the Jedi]

The Living Daylights?! You British people are weird...
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Paragon Tally: 18 mafia, 3 SKs (1 twice), 1 cultist, numerous chat scum...and counting.

[Death Mage]

The Cabin in the Woods

Even knowing the gist of what it was and what it wasn't, the movie managed to surprise and entertain me, playing the tropes when necessary and twisting them when called for. A must-see for any true fan of horror movies, though I believe much will be lost for those who aren't.

Brave

Yet another fantastic Pixar movie. Though it bugs me how they show trailers that show off a few characters, but say absolutely nothing about the story. It's good to prevent spoilers and all, makes people go into the movie as a complete unknown... but it means we'll never know if it's another hit, or, well, Cars 2.
_________________
* These senseless ramblings brought to you by Insanity™. If you just can't figure the dang thing out, it must be Insanity™.
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[LordKinbote]

[Scurra]

Argo

I'm a big fan of 70s political conspiracy thrillers (stuff like Capricorn One, The Parallax View, All the President's Men) but for some reason, this one had completely escaped my notice until now. An absurd premise (the CIA attempts to help some US diplomats try to escape from Iran during the revolution by inventing a fake film which they plan to use as the diplomats' cover story) is not helped by a few too many superfluous subplots (the son, the housekeeper) and a frankly OTT finalé, although I will admit that it's successfully tense. It does pull off the mix of thriller and comedy very well though, and all the actors put in good work, especially the main CIA guy who looks uncannily like Ben Affleck in a silly beard.

As I said, I'm surprised I missed this genre entry, but as a ... wait, you're telling me this was made in 2012? And not only that, but it was based on a true story?! Hmmm...

Argo is a surprisingly odd film. It is very deliberately a loving homage to the genre I described, made as a period costume drama that gets all the details right, actually going so far as to treat the filmstock so that it looks as though it might be forty years old, even with some scratches. But it is done well enough that those details serve to convince you of the fake authenticity rather than as gimmicks. Meanwhile the very nature of it being based on a true story makes some of the fictionalised elements perhaps slightly more annoying than they should be - although the story is relatively unknown which means that the ending isn't a foregone conclusion, the drama that is added does become melodrama by the end.

And yet it was a terrific couple of hours which kept me engaged throughout. As noted, there were some shortcomings in the script but they do feel like carping rather than flaws. But it's easily one of my favourite films of this year.

Oh, and I was most impressed by the opening sequence which was honest enough to admit that the Iranian revolution itself was probably our (as in the US & UK) fault when you come down to it. Now I bet you wouldn't have heard that idea expressed in a "real" 70s movie.
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Death Mage]

[Jedo the Jedi]

Safety Not Guaranteed

I'm still a little in awe. I knew nothing about this before watching it, and I was pleasantly surprised. It seems to be a story about disillusionment, though it seemed to be about something else as I was watching it. I totally did not expect the ending. I know that doesn't say much about the movie at all, but I really don't know what could be said.

Anyway, I would give it an A-, so check it out. Hell, if you don't like it, you only wasted 90 minutes of your life.

Has anybody else seen this?
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Paragon Tally: 18 mafia, 3 SKs (1 twice), 1 cultist, numerous chat scum...and counting.

[Death Mage]

Final Destination 5. Critics LIKED this movie? Did any of them WATCH it? 'Cause, I gotta say, this movie failed in just about every aspect. Even worse 3D pok-in-the-eyeness than 4. Bad death scenes, misdirect, missing the whole "Rube Goldbergness" of the original AGAIN. *sigh* And they're going to make two more.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) "Now that we have access to CGI technology, and a higher budget, this is how WE would make the first movie now!" Money is not a substitute for passion. A lot of scenes this one redid were done better the first time around. There were some good bits though. And the original did have some flaws. This one does take a nice, dark tone, and it gets better near the end, but overall, I was less impressed with this one. But I think that may be becuase I've seen the original, and enjoy it. If the original series hadn't existed, who knows how this one would have been received. Probably not well in the modern cinescape. It just doesn't hold up with most modern horror movies, they've gone in a different direction lately.
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