Movies: What have you seen lately - part 2 - Page 879 - The Lounge Discussion and Review on Literature, Arts, Culture

iamchampion · 11-05-2011, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ianlippert

The Cell kind of like Inception but better in some ways as it spends more time diving into the psychological aspects of the serial killers mind without muddling up the delivery with a bunch of complicated rules about levels and what can and cannot shock you out of the dream. Whereas Inception rushed you through the rules of how the system works in the first hour the director of The Cell let you figure things out on your own and therefore had a bit more time to let you acclimatize yourself to the plot in the early part of the film. I enjoyed the detective on the hunt for the serial killer part as much as I did the dream sequence parts. I really enjoyed the visuals and strangely found the directors use of slow motion totally appropriate at developing the other worldly feeling of the film. Unfortunately there is a little bit of deus ex machina to solve the murder mystery and much "in the nick of time" story telling ensues. By the end I was wishing the movie had more of the messed up visuals and less detective work. Also one of the few movies where Lopez was good although Vince Vaughn was merely passable. 7.5/10

In Time cool idea very poorly exectuted. I was very surprised to find out that this was the same guy that directed/wrote Gattaca. Where I felt Gattaca was a thoughtful well paced drama with a protaganist we cheer for throughout the whole movie, In Time had so many small things go completely wrong it felt like the director was having a hard time keeping it all together as his movie fell apart around him. There were just so many contrived and cliche moments in addition to the uneven delivery of timberlake. Sometimes we are supposed to believe in him as this run down ghetto survivor and sometimes as someone who can smoothly operate within the lifestyles of the ultra rich. From acting like an action star tough guy to a distraught loner in the face of tragic loss. I guess timberlake just doesn't have the range because he definately wasnt up to the task. There is one hilarious poker scene that had me and my friend quoting the Euro Rounders thread so there is that fwiw. 7.0/10 (-1 if you have no interest in sci-fi)

In time - 7.0/10? Are you serious? I wanted to walk out of the cinema 10 minutes into the movie. Robin Hood - Science Fiction Style? Poker scene was disgusting. What an insult.

Dominic · 11-05-2011, 06:29 PM

Captains

This is a doc written, directed and hosted by William Shatner, as he talks to the other actors who have played a captain in the world of Star Trek: Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Bakula and Chris Pine.

This is a fun, meandering little movie...it's not just sit-downs with the actors, but appearances at conventions, philosophical discussions, and more.

Definitely worth a viewing.

MSchu18 · 11-05-2011, 06:40 PM

^loved that... Shatner has once again reinvented himself... as a interviewer/specialty movie maker

vixticator · 11-05-2011, 08:33 PM

Wind is the best yacht racing movie I have ever seen! Ok, but seriously, it was enjoyable. The plot is about as standard as they come but forget about that this movie is all about cinematography and is gorgeous. Worth checking out. 7/10

Hanna is a sorta incoherent and silly. I was tired before I started watching it and zoned out here and there but eh I'll hold this against the movie which seems like a 4th rate Bourne or Salt type thing. Whatever. 4/10

Bridesmaids was different from what I expected, in a good way. It's been a while since I've seen a comedy with characters so richly realized, along the lines of The 40 Year Old Virgin. Damn funny too - racoons steal the show. 9/10

Soul Surfer is one of those inspirational family movies, so of course Dennis Quaid plays the father. It's not bad, isn't good either. 6/10

Incendies if not for being very implausible is a pretty excellent movie where twin siblings discover some shocking family secrets after their mother's death. 8/10

stu+stu · 11-05-2011, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dominic

Captains

This is a doc written, directed and hosted by William Shatner, as he talks to the other actors who have played a captain in the world of Star Trek: Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Bakula and Chris Pine.

This is a fun, meandering little movie...it's not just sit-downs with the actors, but appearances at conventions, philosophical discussions, and more.

Definitely worth a viewing.

William's the Shat!

Star Trek and Boston Legal (and his old campy flicks)

electricladylnd · 11-05-2011, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMa

Actually watched this last night. It is god awful. Comedy in general doesn't age well but this movie in general was really boring. For an action comedy flick it is just too slow.

Wow.

Curious to know what comedies you do like.

electricladylnd · 11-05-2011, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steamraise

Smokey And The Bandit

Not what I would call a great movie, but it's fun.

Jackie Gleason as Sheriff Buford T. Justice IS great.

"The first thing I'm gonna do when I get home is punch your mama in the mouth."

Radio conversation between Gleason and a local lawman,

local "The fact that you are a sheriff is not germane to the situation."

Gleason "The god damn Germans got nothing to do with it."

LOL, there are so many good quotes in that movie. Bufford T. Justice is such a great character.

BustoRhymes · 11-05-2011, 10:50 PM

Also really enjoyed Captains. Leave it to Dom to make a post about it.

Avery Brooks, the guy that played Benjamin Sisko on DS9, is the baddest mother****er. I really enjoyed when Shatner discussed the pain caused by the commitment necessary to being a leading actor in a Trek series. Shatner asked if Brooks had any regrets. Brooks answered that the past is true, and that's all. It's how we got to where we are today. Why regret that? It would be a waste.

I also saw Avery Brooks at a fantasy convention a few years ago. As you probably know, at panels several actors sit up on stage while fans line up to ask them questions. One woman came up and made a small statement about how important it is to be generous and give to others not as fortunate as you, which lead into: "So, gentlemen, since you are all so well off, would you please name for us the charities you favor and how much you regularly donate to them?"

The whole room went quiet, and after a second Brooks chuckled and said her thesis was appropriate, but it's more beneficial to think of how one can contribute by means that include things other than money.

ShortyTheFish · 11-05-2011, 11:09 PM

Do I really need to use a spoiler alert here? All right, all right...

SPOILERS

Quiz Show - For a movie that takes on a rather unexciting topic (I mean come on, who really cares about a rigged gameshow?), this film is shockingly dramatic. It also touches on some deep ethical issues without being too preachy. Robert Redford directed the hell out of it, and there wasn't one weak link in the cast (well, I did find Morrow's accent very tilting). It's a shame this movie had to be up against Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, and Shawshank Redemption for Best Picture, it would've won most other years and rightly so. 7/10

The Thing (1982 version) - Meh. I've never been much of a horror fan, mostly because there's maybe half a dozen directors in Hollywood history who knew how to do horror right. Thankfully, Carpenter was one of them. This film doesn't disappoint in its promise to scare you now and again. The ending was especially haunting because you just don't know who won. My main problem is that a few scares is all this movie is good for. There's no compelling story, there's no great performances, it's just John Carpenter saying "BOO!" As a horror, I like it. As a movie, not so much. 5/10

East of Eden - Talk about a book burning. I understand it's hard to turn 600 pages to 2 hours, but come on! The biggest difference I noticed is that while the book has a whole ensemble of characters, this film is pretty much the James Dean show. But he puts up an excellent performance as the emo-tastic Cal. Certainly helps to have the direction of Elia Kazan too (same guy who did On The Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire). I really feel like the two hours flew by and found myself enjoying it more than I thought I would. 8/10

Clovis8 · 11-05-2011, 11:24 PM

Lots o' star trek nerds itt!

ianlippert · 11-06-2011, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamchampion

In time - 7.0/10? Are you serious? I wanted to walk out of the cinema 10 minutes into the movie. Robin Hood - Science Fiction Style? Poker scene was disgusting. What an insult.

Ya like I agree it was a terrible movie but I found the idea some what interesting. Once I realized it was going to be terrible I just tried to enjoy it for what it was.

ianlippert · 11-06-2011, 12:37 AM

And for the record the poker seen was so absurd as to be hilarious.

vixticator · 11-06-2011, 12:54 AM

Describe the poker scene, always cracks me up how lol movie poker is written.

iamchampion · 11-06-2011, 05:42 AM

I can't really remember. This is just what I recalled. The flop was something like 9 7 Q. Justin T's opponent was holding QQ. He bets, JT calls. Turn is J. He bets, JT calls. River is 6. He bets, JT raises. Guess what JT has? 85 offsuit. I was rooting for at least KT. Btw, all this while, JT was drawing heavily against the odds. I think the turn's bet was like 800,000,000 into 1,000,000,000. He just wouldn't stop calling. It was totally absurd.

ianlippert · 11-06-2011, 08:26 AM

Ya it was basically the most donk thing you could do but what made it more absurd is that they weren't betting money but their entire life. Timberlake is probably like a 100:1 dog or more to dying in this situation, especially if he calls any kind of junk to the river like a .01/.02 fish. The least the writer could do was make it 72o then we would know he's joking, but the fact that this scene is supposed to be taken seriously made it all much more funny IMO.