What movies have you seen lately? Now with reviews!Movies

[Diego440]

I'm pretty happy that they stayed as true as possible to the original story. Many sci-fi adaptations completely ignore the source material ("The Day the Earth Stood Still" / "Farewell to the Master") or mangle it beyond recognition (most anything by Philip K. Dick)... but this was very faithful.

Unfortunately... I quite agree that it didn't quite get past the 7.5 level, but it was pretty decent.

I honestly was liking it very much until the last 30 minutes or so, when it just got too weird... despite staying true to the book. But the book was weird as well, so it's not entirely the movie's fault.

Angel Heart (Alan Parker, 1987) -- I remember watching this movie when I was a kid and being very, very scared. It's about a detective called Harry Angel, wh has a new case, to find a man called Johnny Favourite. Except things aren't quite that simple, and Johnny doesn't want to be found. Let's just say that, amongst the period detail and beautiful scenery, it all gets really, really nasty.

It's great to see Mickey Rourke in one of the roles that made him appear like a good actor, even if at the time he was one of Hollywoo'ds nototiously bad boys. To be honest, this is a love-it or hate-it movie and it does seem a bit dated, especially in the narrative. The reason is that it's a completely 80s movie, from a time when the world was discovering a new visual language with video and happily experimented with it; the lighting, angularity of the shots, revolving fans to indicate tension, and the heartbeats in the soundtrack. Still, the movie carries an amazing energy thanks to the images in it, which stick to your mind for a time, and Rourke's acting really leads the movie wonderfully. A very evocative cinematography and set decoration make this movie memorable and the story is amazing.

After 25 years, it remains a memorable movie. 8/10

Hugo (Martin Scorsese, 2011) -- Set in 1930s Paris, an orphan who lives in the walls of a train station is wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton. Granted, the plot and the ambiance keep this movie interesting enough, but honestly, being directed by Scorsese, I was expecting much, much more in terms of plot twists and mystery. My other issue with it is that I was "lucky" enough to see this movie in a 55" LED TV, and I put lucky in quotations because though it's quite impressive to see a movie of this caliber and with this kind of high definition, I also got to see all the details and in many parts it was too obvious the SFX were at work and what we were watching wasn't really there. So for the most part, the movie was just too unreal for me and the whole technical side overshadowed the story. In the end I found it too cheesy for what I expected. 6/10

 

[Mac K]

Finally saw the Avengers last night, what an excellent movie, unfortunately it was in 3D, so the only good thing about that was Scarlett Johansson in 3D. I'd recommend it.

9/10

 

[shmogt]

Finally saw the Avengers last night, what an excellent movie, unfortunately it was in 3D, so the only good thing about that was Scarlett Johansson in 3D. I'd recommend it.

9/10

Unfortunately it was in 3D?

I watched Men in Black 3 yesterday and it was way better than I thought it was gonna be. The end was pretty cool too didn't expect that sort of twist and makes the whole series cooler now.

I also watched chronicle and it was interesting. It's about some kids who get powers and can basically do anything with their minds. Now that seems great and it is, but the way they got the powers was from this rock thing. You hear about this rock in the first like 5min of the movie than nothing is mentioned about it again. Just seemed like a cop out to give them an excuse to have kids blowing things up etc than not explain anything at all as to how it happened.

 

[Pebb]

Movie Title: The Raid

What I liked the most:

*How the movie was filmed.
*Action Scenes

__________________
My final rating: 4/5

 

[Diego440]

Brute Force (Jules Dassin, 1947) -- At a tough and overcrowded penitentiary, where violence and fear are the norm and the warden has less power than guards and leading prisoners, the least contented prisoner is tough, single-minded one who goes against the chief guard, a petty dictator who glories in absolute power. After too many fights within the penitentiary, an escape attempt scheme appears, scheme that has every chance of turning into a bloodbath.

This is one of the better prison movies made before the days of Clint Eastwood and the infamous Stallone vs. Sutherland one. Burt Lancaster plays the righteous wrongdoer in this movie about prison, escaping and doing what's right, with many scenes that leave you on the edge of your seat and with an apocalyptic ending scene. Still,l the movie didn't seem as engaging as what I expected, especially given the really good acting in it, but it just seems that it spent too much time building up for a 10-minute ending sequence. 6.5/10

The Purple Rose of Cairo (Woody Allen, 1985) -- In New Jersey during the Depression, a waitress and is searching for an escape from her dreary life. To her surprise, an actor walks off the screen of her favorite movie and into her life. There's only one problem: the actor isn't real. Meanwhile Hollywood is up in arms when they discover that other actors are trying to leave the screen in other theaters.

The storyline is unique and original, or at least it was slightly at the time, though I was reminded of Schwarzenegger's The Last Action Hero, when the actor joins the 'real' world, as I'm sure it's not the first time this has been showed. But still, it was well done here and I was surprised by it, making the movie part fantasy, as well as the usual comedy, drama and romance that happens in Allen's movies, despite him not being an acting part of this one. The movie explores the wants and the needs of 'real-life' people vs. the actors of the screen, yet despite it all, the movie didn't work that well for me. I mean, it's entertaining and funny, just not very engaging. I'd like to say I blame Jeff Daniels for it, but he's actually pretty good in it, and Mia farrow is a nice touch as well. My issue is with the ending of the movie, that left everything so inconclusive, yet I know it's a common occurence with Allen's flicks, this one apparently ends, then has a following scene where everything breaks up, and that I didn't like. 7/10

 

[Diego440]

Irma La Douce (Billy Wilder, 1963) -- In Paris, an ex-cop falls in love with a prostitute, and tries to get her out of that life by paying for all of her time, which turns out to be not so easy. This is probably one of the most underrated Wilder movies I've seen, and though it was starred by very well-known people, I hadn't heard almost anything from it. It's a movie that celebrates love but also jealousy in a very funny way, and it's supported by one of those witty characters that reminded me of Wilson, from Home Improvement, always giving awesome advice and philosophical tidbits to improve on the movie's message. Also, a trained eye can spot James Caan in his first ever role (as an extra). All in all, it's a light movie that is fun to watch, but gets a bit boring after a while, especially with all the Franch ambience, but the very American accents. Fun, if a little too long (at 147 minutes) and certainly very risque. 7/10

 

[Pyroboy8]

I saw Drive a few days ago and it was awesome! If you have not seen this movie you are missing out.

 

[f1reb1rd]

If it counts I watched Master of Disguise with my little brother. It was horrible.

 

[Pyroboy8]

If it counts I watched Master of Disguise with my little brother. It was horrible.

Hahaha

 

[jeffgoddin]

Arrietty. You can tell Miyazaki is starting to do less at Ghibli. Still beautiful and botanically accurate (which I like to see in animated movies), but a little simple for adults, which is frankly quite shocking for one of his movies, they usually work well for kids of all ages. Still, 8/10.

 

[Diego440]

I guess that's what you get when Miyazaki stops directing and limits himself to writing screenplays :/

I saw this:

Kansas City Confidential (a.k.a. The Secret Four) (Phil Karlson, 1952) --It's a well-crafted and absorbing crime-drama about an ex-con trying to go straight is framed for a million dollar armored car robbery and must go to Mexico in order to unmask the real culprits. It tells the story quite straight-forward but with plenty of interesting details and well-timed pace, in true film-noir fashion, complete with the perennial sense of danger and uncertainty ithat is effectively carried through the whole movie, right up to the end.

Despite the setup being familiar enough, the story is hardly predictable and just moves from one hazardous situation to the next, with very little pause, a young and mean-looking Lee van Cleef. Maybe the story has a couple of implausible turns, but it really doesn't matter. The movie is put-together well enough for a B-movie and holds up very well. 7/10

 

[Emptyone]

I saw Avengers yesterday, which is a fantastic two hours entertainment. Good battle scenes, a plot that made sense (in a superhero way) and well worth watching again. The plot may have been a little predictable, but the execution was superb.

Which brings me neatly along to my next film I saw today. Battle Los Angeles (2011) tries to follow in the line of Sci-fi films such as independence day, which was pretty good. This however, was not. It was thick with action, but thin with plot. Even the action wasn't that believable, and it was a chore to watch. So don't watch this if you can help it.

Finally, I also watched Mechanic today. Archetypal Jason Statham film, in which he plays an assassin, who is a mercenary for a group that kills for clients wishes. The film is reasonable paced, and has good action scenes. Obviously Statham is good, and the film has a clever ending. Would recommend, its quality 👍

And that's my reviews, hope they were decent

 

[TheCracker]

Finally, I also watched Mechanic today. Archetypal Bruce Willis film, in which he plays an assassin, who is a mercenary for a group that kills for clients wishes. The film is reasonable paced, and has good action scenes. Obviously Willis is good, and the film has a clever ending. Would recommend, its quality 👍

Is that Bruce 'Jason Statham' Willis you're talking about?

 

[Emptyone]

Is that Bruce 'Jason Statham' Willis you're talking about?

Yeah, that one haha. I guess I just saw action adventure and thought Bruce Willis ... I'll adjust it now

 

[terminator363]

Iron Sky

9.5/10

I found this extremely entertaining. The ending could have been better. Long live b-movies.

Edit: Well it wasn't really a b-movie, so long live whatever type of film it was .

 

[SuperShouden]

Killer Elite: Supposedly based on a true story of a group of assassins tasked with taking out a group of SAS who killed three sons of an Oman dictator, Killer Elite stars Jason Statham, Robert De Niro, Clive Owen, Dominic Purcell and Yvonne Strahovski. This is pretty much a typical Jason Statham movie, though: lots of action, a few explosions a couple car chases and Jason Statham kicking ass. While I thought the movie in a whole was good, there were a couple thing that were kinda...stupid. Like, if you're tailing a group of highly skilled, highly professional assassins, why would you expect the head assassin guy to go in through the front door? Especially when you've quite obviously set him up. Also...could some of those ear pieces be any bigger?

I do love that Statham is back in a Ford for most of the movie. This and the three brits were probably an homage to Lock Stock and 2 Smokin' Barrels.

I don't quite understand Yvonne's role in the movie. Yeah, she's Jason's girlfriend, but...why does he need one? I mean, does she really motivate him in anyway? I guess, she's used once to show Robert De Niro's skill as an assassin, but...why doesn't that need explaining? I mean, he's an assassin, and it's established in the first scene in the movie that he's good. I guess she's there for eye candy...kinda like she is in Mass Effect 2 and 3. Sure, she plays a slightly more important role in the Mass Effect series...but that's like saying Seven-of-Nine was an important character in the Star Trek Voyager series and that the REALLY needed to put Jeri Ryan in a skin tight suit. This romance is worse than the romance in Drive. In Drive, there was no point to it simply because you knew that he would never get the girl in the end...which made you go "But, if we already know that...why have the romance there in the first place." But in Killer Elite...Yvonne really doesn't help further the story at all...she's just there for filler. And, if a beautiful woman is going to be in a movie for filler...at least show her boobs, jeeze.

All in all, though, this was a pretty decent movie. If you like Jason Statham movies (besides Ghost of Mars and the Crank movies) then you'll most likely like this movie. A 4/5

 

[afbarnes]

I literally just finished watching Suckerpunch and I really enjoyed it, I think that the use of the fantasy worlds for Babydoll's dances was a very unique touch to the film also with the bland dull gray reality that the film is set in shows great contrast to the fantasy world where the "dances" take place is very similar to Tim Burtons "Corpse Bride" where the world of the dead is more colourful the the world of the living. As a whole I would definitely recommend this film. 9/10

 

[Sanji Himura]

Finally got off the can and saw MIB 3. Josh Brolin was brilliant as the younger K, but Will Smith has overstayed his welcome as Agent J. Tommy Lee Jones was just there for most of the movie, and the lady who played Agent O was a bit funny at times.

Overall, this was a movie that showed its age. Grade: C-

 

[Anathema]

Saw MIB 3 and The Avengers.

If I'd have to pick one, I'd pick MIB... I'm more into that kind of movie and stuff.

Both were good, though. I liked the Avengers a little more, but my love for sci-fi won out.

 

[Sanji Himura]

It wasn't the fact that MIB 3 was a good movie, it was, but I felt that if you are going to spend $7.50 on a movie that it is in 3D, it has better be a [censored] good one.

Most people are forgetting that MIB 3 is from a 12 year old franchise that starred the same actors. However, during that time, comedic tastes in America has changed to the point where the same jokes that were funny in 2000, are not funny today. I mean, hardly anybody was laughing in the showing that I went to during the chinese restaurant scene, and I thought that it had potential to be one of the funniest scenes in the whole movie. From there, things went generally down hill. I did not enjoy the movie in the theater at all, and the only saving grace from giving it an "F" flat out was Josh Brolin's performance as the younger K.

 

[Jacob]

Prometheus.

I probably had too high expectations for this, but it was a small letdown. Moderately scary, but more focused on other things than the "scariness". Not that there's anything wrong with that. But otherwise a pretty good and interesting film, but there were a few questions that were left unanswered. Good actors and good visuals result in a 7/10 from me, pretty enjoyable, but not a "must-see".

 

[Diego440]

Breakfast at Tiffany's (Blake Edwards, 1961) -- Struggling writer Paul Varjak moves into a New York apartment building and becomes intrigued by his pretty, quirky neighbor Holly Golightly. Holly's lifestyle confuses and fascinates Paul; in public she flirts through parties with a sexy, sophisticated air, but when they're alone she changes into a sweetly vulnerable bundle of neuroses.

A lot has been said about this movie, and frankly it deserves most of the praise it gets for the awesomeness of the shots, the glamour, Audrey Hepburn and the seemingly original plot, which has been repeated ad nauseaum since. Holly is the female opposite of James Bond, where all men want her, and all women want to be her, but the groundbreaking part of this movie is that the heroine is actually an eccentric lead, as opposed to the overpaid sex symbol that actresses like Marilyn Monroe were at the time, so Hepburn has a great role playing exactly the opposite of what people were used to at the time, and remaining loveable while doing so. It's also great seeing George Peppard in a role such as this one, especially when my generation was more used to seeing him wasting his years in the A-Team TV series.

The only part I disliked was Mickey Rooney's role as a Japanese neighbor, which frankly seemed too politically incorrect to be funny. All in all this movie is indeed too sweet and cheerful for me, but I think it works well because it also has a bit of cynicism playing a bit in it and a bit of idealistic optimism which work together to make the film so memorable. 7/10

Charade (Stanley Donen, 1963) -- A socialite woman is about to divorce her husband, only to find out he's been murdered after selling all of their possessions. All of a sudden she finds herself in the middle of a plot concerning four different people who are all after the same money. And to make it all worse, every one of the money-searchers start getting killed. The result is a very light and somewhat predictable movie filled with funny bits, eccentric oddities, exaggerated reactions, corny scenes and too gullible female characters. I'm frankly amazed at it scoring 8.0 in IMDb, but as one of the Grant/Hepburn movies, it's very enjoyable. Still, the plot is paper-thin and Hepburn's role is too dumbed down. The music by Henry Mancini is almost what drove this movie. 6/10

Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (a.k.a. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse) (Fritz Lang, 1933) -- A new crime wave grips the city and all clues seem to lead to the nefarious Dr. Mabuse, even tough he has been imprisoned in a mental asylum for nearly a decade. This was Lang's second sound film and a sequel to a famous movie of his, from 1922. The movie includes several genres which wasn't very common at the time, including cop drama, mystery and horror, which is filled with striking characters and images.

The movie also happens to be divided in three separate stories, which is also a glimpse into the type of genius that Fritz Lang was, with some amazing camerawork and very overwhelming editing work that jumps back and forth between scenes, interconnecting them. Also the movie has one of the first car chase scenes which, although a bit stupefying, is nothing short of amazing. The Detective Lohman character returns, having been present as well in Lang's 1931 classic M

What is equally amazing about this movie is that it was an allegory of the nazis rise to power in Germany and their future intentions, hidden behind a curtain and drawing a picture of a stronger-than-life leader. So much that the movie was censored by the government and was only shown in it's full form in Germany in 1951. The movie deals with themes such as free will, genius, madness and power, foreshadowing the great villains of so many other movies to come. This is also one of the first faux-horror movies in which the bad guy isn't seen, but rather implied and heard. 9/10

 

[astrosdude91]

Just got done watching The Hangover: Part II. It was on my brother-in-law's movie server. And since I've never seen it, but quite liked the first one, I figured I would give number 2 a shot.

Stu, Doug, Phil, and Alan are heading to Las Vegas Bangkok for Doug's Stu's wedding. They have a drink to start the night off, and the rest is a drunken mystery. They wake up in a hotel room with no recollection of the previous night, and Doug Stu's soon-to-be brother-in-law Teddy is nowhere to be found. The trio, now accompanied by a baby monkey, must scour Las Vegas Bangkok to locate Doug Teddy and figure out just what the hell happened last night.

As you can tell. The movie isn't much more than a rinse and repeat of the first Hangover movie, just with a few details changed. I could go through the whole plot like that, just changing minor details while keeping the same exact storyline. It all felt too familiar for my liking. And the comedy felt like a rehash as well. I laughed a bit, but it wasn't nearly as fresh and funny as the first movie.

4/10.

 

[Diego440]

Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005) -- A great documentary by Mr Herzog, about a devastating and heartrending take on grizzly bear activists Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard, who were killed in October of 2003 while living among grizzlies in Alaska. While I think Herzog did a great job in making this documentary and showing the life of Treadwell, I really can't sympathize with Treadwell, who seems to be on a high horse throughout most of his recordings, almost as much as his death made him become a martyr, though that's just something that comes across from listening to his friends talk about what he did. It's also great to see how Herzog actually comes out and says that he disagrees with this and that death and destruction are an unavoidable reality of nature. Fortunately, you don't get to see footage of the actual attack. In the end, the actual tragedy, in my opinion, is how much of the bear's habitat and living conditions were tainted by Treadwell and though I think it's amazing how he lived among the bears, I think he was looking to get killed and got what he deserved. Still, this is a great documentary. 8/10

 

[SuperShouden]

Snow White and the Huntsman - As far as fractured fairy tale movies go, this wasn't all that bad. The acting was great, the story telling was great, and the way the seamlessly combined Snow White and Sleeping Beauty...well...it wasn't really seamless, but it was still a nice touch. I will admit that this movie was about a half an hour longer than it needed to be, but I'm still not really complaining. The only things that bug me are:

1. Using famous actor's heads on dwarf bodies was WEIRD. Ian McShane's head was the size of his body....Seriously, it looked like a bunch of those stupid cardboard stands with the hole where the heads should be with all these big name actors in the holes. It was a cool concept, but it just didn't really work.

2. What the hell was with the Princess Mononoke scene in the middle of the film? I mean, it's literally the same scene where Mononoke meets the forest spirit and I believe it pretty much ends the same way, too. Why it was there, I have no idea. It didn't ad anything to the film. I mean, the enchanted forest, I can see as they had just escaped the dark forest. But...the Forest Spirit thing...especially since you DON'T EVER SEE IT AGAIN was rather...weird.

4.

Spoiler

When the dwarf dies, you get the feeling that you're supposed to feel sad about it, especially since they spent so long that one subject, but...you just met the character about fifteen minutes prior and he didn't get a lot of screen time, so when he dies you're just like. "Wow. That kinda sucks." But, there not NEARLY enough time to build the emotional attachment to him as the movie seems to expect you to.

5. The addition of the Sleeping Beauty did seem a little...tact on...but still not a bad scene and actually a clever way to extend the movie a little more.

So, in the end, the Princess Mononoke scene and the spoiler scene put this film at a 3.5/5 in my book. I think, though, a nice Director's Cut without the random Mononoke Scene (or at least shorten it.) and it'd bump it up to at least a 4.



Avengers: Yes, I've FINALLY seen the Avengers. And...it was an AWESOME movie. Lot of action, lots of really funny moments. The Hulk didn't seem too...cheesy. (Let's face it, doing a big giant green guy with the catch line of "Hulk Smash" and "you won't like me when I'm angry" is hard to pull off in a more serious tone...but this movie kinda does do that.) It would have been nice to see Wolverine and The Thing make cameos...but maybe for the Avengers 2. No real complaints other than I REALLY HATE Loki's character. Every time he comes on screen I just want them to rush passed it. But, there was a satisfying scene towards the end of the movie that is my favorite Loki moment. Go Hulk. 5/5

It's hard for me to give an action movie a perfect score just because it's an action movie...but the Avengers just hit all the good parts and I can't really make a good argument for why it SHOULDN'T receive a perfect score...so...

 

[shmogt]

I watched the girl with the dragon tattoo. Been planing on watching this movie for so long now but it's like 3hrs so I always either didn't have the time or just forgot. Finally both those problems went away and I got to see it. I gotta say it is nothing at all that I thought it was gonna be. I'm not even sure what I was expecting going in but it definitely wasn't a 50yr old crime case mystery. Yes that's right the whole thing is about a missing girl form years and years ago. It also has a court case thing going on which is how "James bond" meets the girl with the dragon tattoo in the first place. It all meshes pretty well together and was a really good movie. It's cool to see all the pieces of the mystery get solved. Only thing which I'm pretty sure I didn't miss but they never mentioned the tattoo at all. The girl had a dragon tattoo and that's like as far as it goes. Still really great movie.

 

[Diego440]

In The Loop (Armando Ianucci, 2009) -- The US President and UK Prime Minister fancy a war. But not everyone agrees that war is a good thing. The US General Miller doesn't think so and neither does the British Secretary of State for International Development, Simon Foster. But, after Simon accidentally backs military action on TV, he suddenly has a lot of friends in Washington, DC.

This is definitely an adult comedy that will have you laughing for a bit, as long as you can keep up with the confusing plot of English humor vs. American seriousness. The acting by most of them is great, with James Gandolfini as the US General and Peter Capaldi as the Prime Minister's aide, both playing opposite sides of the government representatives and both being superb at it.

In short, while excessively funny and hard to follow at times, it's an adult satire that may not be for everybody (certainly not for me), but too serious in its approach. 5.5/10

 

[SuperShouden]

Men in Black 3: This was surprisingly good. After the crappy second movie I went into MIB3 with low expectations. But, I was pleasantly surprised. Josh Brolin is the PERFECT young K, the aliens are creative...The only real issues I had with it were that some of the "aliens" were a little face-palmy. (viagrains? Glamouria? All fashion models are aliens? Really? That just sounds like something a 16-year-old would come up with. Granted, one of the writers for the movie has written for American Dad, King of the Hill and Beavis and Butt-head. So...) However, despite that....granted Avengers was a much funnier film....It don't know which movie is better, really. This movie really does hit all the good buttons. The negatives...are minor, at best and mainly have to do with Will Smith's character...but...in the end it works. Everything clicks and it FEELS like an MIB movie...the second movie felt like it was TRYING to be an MIB movie....3...feels like it actually is one. Like, if we did away with the second movie and just had the first and the second movies...it'd be fine. And they wouldn't have even had to explain why K is back because...who really cares why K is back? It wouldn't be MIB without K. 5/5.

 

[Diego440]

Hamburger Hill (John Irvin, 1987) -- One of the lesser known and better done Vietnam movies from the 80s, eclipsed by movies like Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, though very good indeed as well, and based on a real-life event, it shows the brutal lives of a squad of 14 U.S. Army soldiers battling for Hill 937, later dubbed 'Hamburger Hill' due to the enemy fire was so fierce that the assaulting troops were shredded like hamburger meat.

Contrary to the more popular Vietnam movies, this one doesn't ask so much the "What the hell are we fighting for?" nor does it question the morals, duration and issues of war. Rather, it presents the scenario of the group of men fighting and how the war and the battle brings them together. It remains a movie abut determination; to get on top of that hill, and all the political questions "don't mean nothin'". Action sequences are raw and gory, and all locations are massively depressing, making it great for a war movies, especially a Vietnam one. This is probably one of the great underrated movies of the '80s. 8.5/10

 

[shmogt]

Safe starting Jason Statham. If you have watched any of his movies you already know what to expect from this film. Tons of action, crime, shoot outs, and the list goes on. This time around he is a crooked cop/Russian mobster sort of thing. Truthfully the back story seemed kind of slapped together and I still don't fully understand how he got involved in this but either way there is a mob war with crooked cops. Also a super smart Asian girl who everyone wants but Jason wants to save more. Chaos the whole time with lots of random action scenes going down and I enjoyed it all. I think this was one of the better movies he has done. Entertaining the whole way.