Trailer makes it look like one of those quirky emo indie flicks that I hate, like Me And You And Everyone We Know, etc. Is it?

as big a fan I am of the genre, based on nostalgia, even I was blown away by the "fist pump" aspects of this movie... it's very easy to be let down after so much anticipation to the release.

I think the audience was genuinely pumped and excited to see G win the fights, and that is really a very hard thing to create in a movie with in a movie with all the contrivance that associated with a typical monster movie.

perhaps the "jaws" build up had a lot to do with it as the finally was an epic release.

Only God Forgives

Decent Neo-Noir. Nice slow-eerie narrative pace, as the genre warrants. Solid music score. Meticulous camera and tone. Even the setting, Bangkok, and its detached/Buddhism feel contributes to the gruesome atmosphere. Ryan Gosling is simply made for Neo-Noirs.

That said, it still does not reach the height of a Drive.

Did you see it in IMAX? I got the shivers quite a few times from the battles between the monsters and the roaring of Godzilla. And not to mention the whole 3D experience just added a lot of value to the realism

Really surprised to hear that 3D added so much to the movie. I thought the lighting was so dark that the 3D would be atrocious. I guess I was wrong!

yup

Lets be honest about something here 3D was only actually good or barely decent for Avatar. Every movie since then they've simply made 3D to boost up ticket prices and make bootlegging more difficult, with zero improvement to the movie.

I personally think 3D detracts from movies but unfortunately it was the only option at the time and I have to keep taking off the glasses cause they irritate me.

Saw Captain Phillips. Really enjoyed it. Pretty intense stuff. Started tearing up at the end when he was asking his the nurse if his family knew he was OK.

Gravity tho

Dredd tho

Jackass 3-D. Toy Story 3-D, Avatar, Gravity...

This was another gripe I had. Why do so many VFX films stage their scenes at night? It makes it so hard to tell what is going on. I guess it's meant to hide imperfections but still annoying.

Same here. Watched it this weekend.

His inability to contain his emotions was very similar to how I felt when my daughter was born. Obviously a totally different situation, but I was bawling uncontrollably while I was taking pictures and following her around as the nurses got her cleaned up. I just couldn't stop and I knew I looked ridiculous. I was trying to stop crying, but I just physically couldn't. And it wasn't like just being misty - it was fully blown crying.

Watching that final scene made me think back to that. Phillips knew what was going on, he knew he needed to relax, but he couldn't. His emotions were just too intense.

I also wondered during the film how crazy it must have been to shoot the lifeboat scenes. I'm assuming it was a set, but still, some hard work and fantastic acting went into that.

It had the same impact on me. I thought it was the best movie of 2013 by a pretty wide margin. The rap scene was heartbreaking. I loved everything about the film.

Almost like a direct sequel to Weekend at Bernie's 2.

Not sure if this was what you were going for, but I'm pretty excited for Godzilla now because if it's 1/160th the quality of this movie it should be pretty stellar.

Destin Daniel Cretton is the sheee-it.

I dig your write-up. Short Term 12 is a special film, not a single stumble in the film.

just finished "high concept" a biography of don simpson.
holy **** that dude lived hard.
highly recommend.

been on a "Hollywood" non fiction binge lately n have to say nothing makes Hollywood seem more appalling then reading about Hollywood.

Didn't see Dredd or Gravity with 3D but I could see how it may work for a movies like that. But in my opinion I still think its a money grab and doesn't really add all that much.

Problem with 3D is that most movies aren't made with 3D in mind in which case the final versions are just reformatted to use 3D which adds nothing except higher prices. The few movies that were made expressly with 3D in mind (Jackass 3D) in those cases I'll admit I have a lot less problems and it does add a little bit.

Gravity definitely had 3D in mind

I would have walked out of Gravity if it wasn't in 3d.

I thought Godzilla was kind of boring, would see a different movie if I had it to do over again.

Days of Future Past tonight. Whoop Whoop

Watched 12 Monkeys last night for about the tenth time. I hadn't seen it in 5 years. It's fun seeing movies again with a different perspective (something Bruce Willis' characters points out in the movie) because different parts of a movie strike at you. This time, after living in Philadelphia for two years, I was surprised to see many important parts of the movie are in Philly. I also really liked the way the movie at the end made a connection with Vertigo (one of my favorite movies) and kept the connection through music for a special seen about one's identity.
The movie is a fantastic science fiction movie with perhaps Brad Pitt's best performance. It was a treat to watch it again, it was a special treat when my wife said to me after the movie "This movie is so good, I didn't remember it being good".

12 monkeys one of my absolute fav movies.

terry gilliam is so awesome.