Movies, Movies, Movies.....

[daniellazarus]

I watched Total Recall and Oblivion last week and they were both awesome! Total Recall was much better than I expected, even though it did not follow the plot of the Piers Anthony novel or the 1990 version of Total Recall.

[rcjp]

Saw Elysium this last weekend. Not impressed. was ok but wouldn't pay to see it again or buy the DVD when it comes out.

 

I agree. It was OK, but that's about it which was a bit of a surprise as most of the reviews I'd read were a bit better. Positive score for Jodie Foster who I had never seen playing one of the bad guys before but managed to pull it off in a very convincing way.

[ImmelMatt]

Got Oblivion from Redbox last night. Wasn't too bad. It's a real testament to Tom Cruise's charisma to hold my attention by himself for extended periods of time amidst hackneyed writing and a hodgepodge script composed of almost every sci-fi plot twist ever devised up to date. Shyamalan would positively wet himself to have been able to make this post-apocalyptic movie and not another failed launchpad for Will Smith's son's star, but that's what happens when you screw up one too many times. But I digress.

 

Overall, it worked, even if it wasn't memorable or insightful in any way. I give it a B.

 

This also being the 25th film of 2013 I've seen, I'm ready to post what I think are the top 5 of the year so far of what I've seen:

 

1. Spring Breakers

2. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox

3. Monsters University

4. Evil Dead

5. 42

 

... I REALLY hope the rest of the year is better than what has come up to now. Really, really, really hope.

[_IntaMAN_]

^ Fashpoint Paradox is amazing, if there's something DC is really good at its their animated movie, huge DC comics fan and would prefer it to Marvel any day.

[Double0Kevin]

This also being the 25th film of 2013 I've seen, I'm ready to post what I think are the top 5 of the year so far of what I've seen:

 

1. Spring Breakers

 

Wow, I'm surprised you ranked Spring Breakers so high. Personally I found it to be one of the absolute worst movies I've ever seen. But I've never really been into the whole Drugs, Sex and Violence Indie films. Plus I hate almost everything James Franco has been in outside of Spider-Man.

 

For me my top 5 for what has been a mostly dissapointing year would be:

 

1. The Worlds End

2. We're The Millers

3. Monsters University

4. Man of Steel

5. Fast and Furious 6

 

It's surprising my top 3 are comedies as I'm usually very picky about my comedies, but this year those films were the best.

[molemaster43]

Here are my personal rankings for the year:

 

1. Star Trek Into Darkness

2. Man of Steel

3. The Wolverine

4. Pacific Rim

5. Iron Man 3

6. World War Z

7. Olympus Has Fallen

8. G.I. Joe: Retaliation

9. The Last Stand

10. A Good Day to Die Hard

11. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

[alilstronger]

I saw Insidious Chapter 2 last night at a preview. I am glad I did not pay money to see it. I did not like the first one and only went because it was free. The scenes just seemed so fake and the filming was bad in my opinion in some of it. The story line was all over the place and I was a little confused at times as well. It barely had any scenes that made me jump.

 

Of course they left the end open for another.

[ImmelMatt]

This also being the 25th film of 2013 I've seen, I'm ready to post what I think are the top 5 of the year so far of what I've seen:

 

1. Spring Breakers

 

Wow, I'm surprised you ranked Spring Breakers so high. Personally I found it to be one of the absolute worst movies I've ever seen. But I've never really been into the whole Drugs, Sex and Violence Indie films. Plus I hate almost everything James Franco has been in outside of Spider-Man.

 

For me my top 5 for what has been a mostly dissapointing year would be:

 

1. The Worlds End

2. We're The Millers

3. Monsters University

4. Man of Steel

5. Fast and Furious 6

 

It's surprising my top 3 are comedies as I'm usually very picky about my comedies, but this year those films were the best.

 

It's a really polarizing movie, but for me it just clicked in the most absolute perfect way. I've already talked about this movie more than any other movie this year elsewhere, so I won't go too much into detail here. The short reason is it's such a damning evisceration of YOLO culture and how removed from reality most young adults can be. While its surface is nothing but drugs, sex, and violence, its the motivations to those vices (or more the lack thereof) that makes this such a fascinating and poetic statement. I realize I may come off as pretentious with a statement like this, but its genuinely how I felt every time I've watched and rewatched it.

 

The World's End was a great movie as well and a wonderful cap to the Cornetto trilogy, though it felt they didn't quite know how to end it. It was also a little drier than the two before it and there's a limit as to how dry British comedy can be for me before it's not funny anymore.

[Double0Kevin]

^ Totally makes sense and I can see why people would like it. But I've never had any connection to the party culture that is in the film so with me there was no resonance.

 

As far as dry British humor, for me it can never be too dry. haha.

[molemaster43]

Now You See Me - This movie wasn't bad. It had a nice entertainment factor to it. The plot was a bit confusing at times, but, for the most part, was good. The movie was cleverly made. It had its moments of fun in it. The character development was pretty lackluster, though. I felt like I knew NOTHING about anyone in this movie. The effects that were used in this movie weren't anything great, but they were fine. Overall: 7.5/10

 

A good movie to check out once, but I don't think it is worth buying.

[alilstronger]

Saw Joseph Gordon Levitt's directorial debut last night called Don Jon - I believe it comes out to the theaters on the 27th.

 

Personally I did not like it because it was so in your face with sex. That is not my type of movie. However, it has a really good message and the acting was great. Joseph, Scarlett Johannson, and Julianne Moore all did a great job and the chemistry seemed to slow. The audience I saw it with seemed to really like it.

[Movieguy]

I recently re-watched my Blu-Ray of Re-Animator. Classic splatter film, 'nuff said.

 

I also recently saw Hatchet 2. I loved the original, and this one was just as dumb, and brutal, and over-the-top fun. It's played straight, but the kills are almost cartoonish in how crazy they are. It's an interesting juxtaposition.

 

Halloween is fast approaching, and I love horror movies. The more far out and gruesome, the better.

[Sir Clinksalot]

Watched a few movies over the last couple of weeks that I missed in the theater:

 

Star Trek: Into Darkness - I don't get why so many Trek fans hated this movie. I thought it was as great. Not as good as the first one but have there ever been 2 Star Trek movies in a row that have been good? (answer is no). I liked that they changed things up a bit from the original Khan movie but I'm disappointed we don't get Star Trek 3 - The Search for Kirk.

 

Jack Reacher - I enjoyed it, some good action, a good storyline and I really liked the Reacher character.

 

42 - Could have been SO MUCH better. Jackie Robinson's story deserves more time than what this movie gave it. That said, I think the casting of the entire movie was PERFECT, it just needed to be a longer movie and not blow through so many things so quickly.

 

A Good Day to Die Hard - Terrible, pointless and just even more Terrible.

 

Evil Dead - One I actually did see in the Theater. Just a fun movie. Not anywhere near as good as the original but it's a great horror movie. I did watch some of the extra's on the Blu Ray and all the main actress did was bitch about how hard it was. STFU.

 

Also watched a couple of campy horror movies on Netflix Instant last weekend:

 

Slither - A B-Movie with A-List actors. I thought it was fun, definitely worth checking out.

 

The Devils Rock - Another recommendation. An interesting story, some cool scares.

 

American Mary - Not really a "horror" movie, but really just messed up. But certainly recommended.

 

The Shrine - It was blech. Really not even worth watching on Netflix Instant.

[_IntaMAN_]

Just finished seeing KICK ASS 2 and it was pretty good, didn't live up to its predecessor, but I did enjoy it. The ending pretty much hints at a HitGirl spinoff as well. Only faults I saw was that the storyline was "rushed" a bit especially the ending, and that didn't appeal to me but other than that I liked it. 8/10

[ImmelMatt]

I saw Prisoners. It's been so long since I've gone to the movies and seen something that was made for adults and treats its audience as such, so I may have loved it a little more than it deserved. The first two acts were positively gripping but it leaned on cliches and some too-neat resolution in its third act. Fortunately, the acting was superb all the way through, especially Hugh Jackman. Easily the best performance I have ever seen him give.

[jray21]

Saw Riddick the other day. It was way too much like Pitch Black. I was really hoping for another Chronicles of Riddick style movie. Nothing great.

 

Insidious 2 - I thought the first one was pretty good and scary, but the second one wasn't really scary. It wasn't that great.

[ImmelMatt]

Just got back from Gravity. There's really not much to say about it other than go see it, and preferably in 3D. The movie speaks for itself. I have not seen a breakthrough in special effects to this extent since Jurassic Park. You will believe they filmed this entire movie in space. A gorgeous, gorgeous film with some of the best direction and cinematography I have ever seen. The tracking shots... oh my god, the tracking shots!

[Moose]

^Is there a lot of camera movement in the 3d? I'm a bit nervous about getting nauseous if I see it in 3d.

[cfc]

A friend of mine saw it, and she said motion sickness could be a problem for some people.

[ImmelMatt]

Everything is very clearly framed, but there is a LOT of movement and quite a few POV shots that are very disorienting (albeit they are intended to be as such)

[Moose]

Hmm. This worries me. :/

[Meteornotes]

Yeah, I'll be skipping the 3D version then. Sounds like I'll end up with a headache.

 

dt

[Philrad71]

Being that we are rapidly closing in on Halloween, I have upped our Netflix list to include some horror movies in addition to some Blu-Ray's I received for my birthday (Blair Witch, The Mist, & Children of the Corn).

 

Started off with Mama in Blu-Ray last night. I had not heard a whole lot about this movie, but was pleasantly surprised. Lot's of creepiness, special effects, sudden scares and overall good directing.

 

Sure the ending was over the top, but what horror movies aren't these days aren't? For a newer horror movie, I would rank this up there with Insidious...actually giving Mama the higher rating. It was definitely much better than I was anticipating.

[redmenace8]

Took a moment for myself today, and checked out Gravity in 3d. Blown Away. Visuals obviously incredible. Definitely somewhat disorienting at times, matching to some extent, what the characters are going through. I think done in a way that rides that line, just when things start to push, the director pulls back and stabilizes the shot by switching the perspective, then back again. This is no Cloverfield. For example, non spoiler territory, you have a nice shot of earth, like you would see in any other movie, but then it just envelopes you as if you were an astronaut and it is unsteady, I started to get the feeling of being in one of those rotating tunnels in a haunt maze, somewhat, but, then the shot changes. I could hear the older ladies sitting near me do a "woah" kind of reaction, which was funny. Going close up to the actors faces was usually how that feeling was moderated, where the extreme action was still going on, but you had a focus.

 

Anyways, very intense and fast paced, yet, with room for significant quiet moments-- very strong acting, a bit strong on the symbolic stuff for me, but I can let that go. One of the ladies next to me said, "I'm never going to complain about things going wrong in my life again." Well, that, and the movie should be Best Picture. I definitely loved the movie, too. I usually love SciFi anway, but this was special.

[alilstronger]

Took a moment for myself today, and checked out Gravity in 3d. Blown Away. Visuals obviously incredible. Definitely somewhat disorienting at times, matching to some extent, what the characters are going through. I think done in a way that rides that line, just when things start to push, the director pulls back and stabilizes the shot by switching the perspective, then back again. This is no Cloverfield. For example, non spoiler territory, you have a nice shot of earth, like you would see in any other movie, but then it just envelopes you as if you were an astronaut and it is unsteady, I started to get the feeling of being in one of those rotating tunnels in a haunt maze, somewhat, but, then the shot changes. I could hear the older ladies sitting near me do a "woah" kind of reaction, which was funny. Going close up to the actors faces was usually how that feeling was moderated, where the extreme action was still going on, but you had a focus.

 

Anyways, very intense and fast paced, yet, with room for significant quiet moments-- very strong acting, a bit strong on the symbolic stuff for me, but I can let that go. One of the ladies next to me said, "I'm never going to complain about things going wrong in my life again." Well, that, and the movie should be Best Picture. I definitely loved the movie, too. I usually love SciFi anway, but this was special.

 

I saw it too, yesterday. I absolutely loved it. Awesome on both Sandra's and George's parts. It is emotional yet not over the top. I felt for them and I like that when I watch a movie. The images are amazing! It is so worth paying the extra and seeing it in 3D.