Independent of message or politics, Do The Right Thing was a much better film than Boyz in the Hood.

I didn't love DTRT, but like 8/10.

It was original, which counts for a lot. Also compelling, and stylish without detracting from the story.

While I was grading papers, I watched the Nicholas Cage version of The Wicker Man, because I had heard how bad it was.

Holy cow I had no idea. I mean, Neil Labute wrote and directed this, you'd think it would be at least...normally bad.

I'm still trying to process how loony tunes this movie is. It's like a brilliant parody of what a bad movie would be...because it's immensely entertaining to see how tone deaf and completely insane the movie is.

The bear costume sequence is one of the funniest bits of cinema I've seen.

I find the politics of Do the Right Thing absolutely disgusting. And that feeling grows over time as I rewatch it now. I'd say it's way overrated but not worthless.

How bout when he pulls the gun cos the lady won't get off her bike?

Creed watchers - what age would that movie be appropriate for? (I have a 9 year old son and was considering taking him)

And Menace 2 Society was grittier still.

Inherent Vice - meh. Only reason I liked this is because I have some familiarity with Pynchon. I would expect most people to not like this at all.

Dom - how about He Got Game?

Inside Man was very entertaining.

Summer of Sam remains my favorite

I watched the first hour of this the other day and just quit because at that point I just didn't care whatsoever what happened next. I felt no involvement or curiosity and could not connect with any of the characters.

You missed Josh Brolin chewing on weed, very weird scene. It's a long country drive of a film, I can see it not being everyone's cup of tea. I think people either thought it was entertaining and interesting, or terrible. I thought it was ok, right it the middle. A lazy Sunday movie. I liked the book, but I've never read Gravity's Rainbow so apparently I've yet to read real Pynchon.

It's also incredibly hard to follow. Characters whisper a lot, random narration, stream of conscious dialogue, surrealism, etc.

It's like a bad Big Lebowski.

Oroku$aki - I only read Gravity's Rainbow and it was incomprehensible. But the themes in there permeated through Inherent Vice: paranoia, surreal encounters, sexual overtones, etc.

Embarrassed for those of you talking about "No stakes" in Creed. A young man trying to make a name for himself, trying to hide his past. His father he never knew overshadows him. He has so much to prove to himself. He has so much to prove to the world. He never had a father growing up. He begins securing happier things in life: father figure, girlfriend, success in boxing...but yeah "No stakes." It's a terrific film. Second best behind Rocky. Seems the parallels between Rocky and Creed flew over your heads. I feel bad for y'all.

Ya I read somewhere that it wasn't light reading. Inherent Vice was an easy, fun read. Some critic called it Pynchon-light fwiw.

One mild/short makeout scene (no nudity) and a small amount of language. I wouldn't have any issue letting my 10 year old daughter watch it.

Just saw this and thought it was great but then again I am a Rockyhaulic. It does parallel the original Rocky a lot. Especially the huge underdog who doesn't deserve a shot getting a shot. I found it utterly predictable but am fine with that because it is what I wanted and would have been upset if they messed up the formula. Wide open for a sequel too and coming up with Creeds kid a great way to restart the franchise. Since Hollywood has run out of ideas I'd rather see more of these than remakes of 90's movies.

I don't think it's out yet, but looking for a review of the new Tina Fey Amy Poehler movie Sisters including how suitable for teens/tweens. It's rated-R, but I still expect my 13 and 16 yo to be seeing it unless it's way rated R.

Next on my wish list is for John Lawrence to re-open the Cobra Kai Dojo.

Naw,I'd like Amy Schumer to give it a shot.

I loved Inherent Vice.

these are all decent movies, as is Malcom X, but I haven't had any interest in rewatching them since they came out. Jungle Fever is probably Lee's 2nd best.

Creed was pretty damn great; the direction in particular stood out to me. Really put the audience into the fights unlike anything I'd ever seen. And the exposition (there was a lot) blended very well into the flow of the story. Think this'll get an editing nod for sure, and he might even sneak into a Best Director nod if there's a campaign.

I didn't think much of Fruitvale Station, but am now a huge Coogler fan after this one.

Who is Dayani Cristal?

An amazingly touching and deeply moving documentary movie about the life and death of a John Doe illegal immigrant found dead and decaying in the desert of the united states in Arizona.

Narrated by Gael Garcia Bernal, the movie makes an attempt to put a name and history to this person which was only identifiable by a tattoo on his cheat... Daynai Cristal. Gael personally travels the route from central america to the desert of arizona.

In the final scenes we are treated to the humanity of this john doe, his history and what daynai cristal means to him.

An etremely touching movie in English and Spanish language... shot brilliantly with great attention to the cinematography.

well worth the time to watch.

omg

Oh goodie, now I get to post about this again. Keep an eye out for my hot take at the end.

k

So, the film is clearly inferior to Rocky Balboa, and I have a number of theories on why it's better reviewed (according to RT) and why people keep saying it's second best.

At the time that Rocky Balboa came out (2006), franchises making a comeback after being dormant for decades wasn't as big a thing as it is now. The sentiment around that film from inception to release was a huge "lol", and rightly so. The idea of a near-60 year old Rocky coming back was ludicrous, and there hadn't been a good movie in the franchise since 1976. That it came out and was good was stunning. It was good (or great if you really love the character and the first film), and the only flippant remarks that were made after release were by people who did not bother to actually see it, mistakenly thinking they were still supposed to pretend it was the stupidest idea in the history of film (which it was, until Sly managed to make it work). Or sometimes, you'd have the people who did see it and thought they were supposed to laugh at it the whole time instead of trying to engage.

Today, seeing old characters and franchises come back and continue is common, and nobody batted an eye about The Next Rocky. It was seen by people with more open minds, and deservedly was given a "thumbs up" by most people.

Better than Balboa though? No. You skipped that film or you are lying to yourself. TheCroShow makes a silly attempt at explaining why there are high stakes (and I'm sorry we got caught up on this point), but I could make the same types of statements about powerful character motivations in Rocky V and that doesn't turn it into a good movie.

The insinuation that the parallels "flew over [my] head" is also absurd. I've already detailed the parallels between the final fights and how Creed doesn't pull it off as well. Rocky Balboa was in a way a retelling of Rocky, with things warped around just a little bit to be about a 60 year old man instead of a 30 year old. Creed is also a retelling, but the problem is that it comes second, after another highly competent retelling already happened.

In truth, I think that Balboa and Creed are about even up to the final fight. They both have groaner moments, some questionable acting and writing, but are basically "good enough". (If you want to deny that Creed has many scenes of mediocrity you're delusional, completely fooling yourself - really.) Balboa elevates itself with a fantastic final fight, which I've already gone over. Creed does not stick that landing. It's a fine film but it's not the second best in the series.

[hot take]So on 2p2 and on the internet at large you have a large contingent of people who worship The Wire. People would very much like to see Michael B. Jordan, a Wire alum and a promising young actor, succeed. Because of how much they want to see him succeed, some are willing to overlook a mediocre performance and overrate a decent movie (apparently now "terrific", at least).[/hot take]

Latest Hunger Games. Always sad when a series ends, as the hype is always greater to me than the final movie. Same here, 7/10. Never read the books. Didn't like the last ten minutes, actually predicted what would happen. Boo.