What's The Last Movie You Watched? XIV - Part 14

[Max J Power]

Le Samuraï.

Awesome French movie. For some reason, it very much struck me as almost a companion piece to The French Connection (one of my favorite movies) in terms of visuals and thematic elements. Plus all or the use of silence and non-verbal storytelling was very much my thing too.

Great movie.

Moonrise Kingdom--9/10

Probably Wes Anderson's weirdest film. Whereas the others are more or less grounded in reality (except Fantastic Mr. Fox), Moonrise Kingdom has a more fantastic, dreamlike feel. And the jokes are really bizarre and unexpected. It's a warm, touching story in its own strange way.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy--8-8.5/10

Kind of hard to follow because it has a complicated plot, a lot of characters to keep tach of, and no info dumps, but it has a very good story. And of course, Gary Oldman was awesome. I think the complexity of the plot affected my emotional attachment to the characters, but I have a feeling that wouldn't be the case on second viewing.

 

[Figs]

3/5

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance...

Only thing that film was good for, is making a slightly updated version of the 'Nicholas Cage looses his ****' video on youtube. Basically just add the entire movie to the end of it.

 

[Marx]

The Amazing Spider-man 9/10

 

[Captain_Obvious]

First Saturday I spent home alone in a while - treated myself to some Batman.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Batman: Year One
Batman: Under The Red Hood
Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (blows my mind each time omg)

Watching Gotham Knights as I type.

 

[Metallo]

The Amazing Spider-man

7.5/10

About as good as the first Raimi film IMO. Better in some ways and worse in others. I think it exceeded my expectations though. I still had no interest in reliving the origin again but it was all executed so well the film eased those problems.

I think Andrew Garfield (And Friends) nailed Peter AND Spidey better than MaGuire. He's fine when there's no hipster bullsh**. Peters more social outsider than geek in this one but this one does just as good or better a job of showcasing Peters intelligence and Spidey gets in some great one liners. The suit looked pretty good since they were smart enough to keep it in shadows and night a lot of the time. I like the figure Spider-man cuts when it comes to his posture and physicality. The way he moves and walks and crouches and stands is pure Spider-man.

Emma Stone is a good Gwen Stacy. You get a strong sense of why anyone would fall in love with her. She's sweet but smart and funny. The character was shortchanged in the previous series and compared to Dunsts MJ I love her. Martin Sheen was a great choice as Uncle Ben. He plays it a little tougher than Cliff Robertson but only when it needs to be. Robertson was always a kindly passive old Uncle. Sheen chews Peter out when he needs it and when he dies I think it makes Bens death and Peters guilt stronger. And Ben dies trying to be the kind of man he's trying to teach Peter to be. "With Great Power..." is even more than words that he says in this one. He displays what he means. Sally Field didn't really register with me at first as Aunt May but as the film goes on she gets better.

The weak point of this movie is The Lizard IMO. Ifans is a great Connors but Lizard is a fail. Thats not his fault though. The design, the CGI, almost everything about him disappointed me. "Lizard Men" was short (thankfully) but Connors whole plan was ridiculous to me. A lot of superhero movies stumble and fall a bit when it comes to the bad guys big scheme. I would have preferred it if the movie was only about Peter chasing Uncle Bens killer and evading Capt Stacy and the police because I found myself enjoying that a lot. Speaking of Capt Stacy I loved Denis Leary in the film. They get the whole Flash Thomson/Peter rivalry/relationship dead on. Flash is a d*** but he gets humiliated. Except now even though its still a small role he has some kind of character arc. He even gets an interest that Flash gets in the comics.

Marc Webb excels at the character stuff but he doesn't handle action as well as Raimi. But even then he shoots some well choreographed action. A little to much slow mo for my tastes but its not annoyingly excessive. I think its used almost right. I also like the "tone" of the film. It feels the way I was hoping it would.

The "Untold" Story" was a bit of a bait and switch. The film barely goes into anything new that was hinted at during its promotion. It also tries too hard sometimes to NOT be the Raimi film. So much so that I miss some of the classic elements like the wrestling angle (though a clever nod is still left in there to all that). I liked the new take on Bens death and how Peter deals with it. Special effects were solid. the web slinging was good and I was very impressed with more practical stunt work. Loved the web shooters. And we get one of those classic web shooter moments near the end. The web slinging, swinging, and shooting are all well done. A great job is done letting you experience what its like to be doing it yourself. Some nice POV shots.

One problem that kept coming up was that all the events and character connections felt too convenient. Not just Peters fathers research but his connection to Connors. Connors working for Oscorp. Gwen working for Connors at Oscorp. Peter of course being Gwens classmate. It felt too convenient to me. I wish some of that stuff hadn't been as tied together as it was.

James Horner's music is serviceable. I can remember a little of it hours later but not much. I liked it during the film though.

All in all this was a solid film that was well executed overall.

 

[Panthro]

Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn (1987)

 

[DACrowe]

double

 

[DACrowe]

A delightfully charming movie. To Rome with Love is around Woody Allen's 40th film (probably somewhere between 40 and 45). I haven't come close to seeing them all, but I have seen a lot of them and this is exactly in line with what one would expect from his lighter, but positively entertaining side.

Following the surprise success of the great Midnight in Paris, it seems many thought he'd push himself to top it and audience expectations. That has never been Woody Allen. Every year he pulls out an idea from a drawer of them, throws together a screenplay and shoots it to see what he has at the other end of production. Lightning isn't likely to strike twice in a row. Still, this movie continues his strong streak since moving his productions to Europe and is hands down the funniest and most enjoyable movie I've seen thus far this year.

The plot is cut up into four or five short stories set around Rome that are intercut into a feature length. I found them all to be brilliantly acted, sharply written in terms of great dialogue and amusing, even if some, most notably Roberto Benigni's storyline, go on too long. Most of all I like seeing Woody channel some of the surrealism of his youth from films like Sleeper, Bananas, Stardust Memories and even The Purple Rose of Cairo. He uses his favorite Italian influences like Fellini to just incorporate crazy things like a middle class schmuck becoming famous for literally no reason than it makes for a fitting allegory for one of Woody's favorite punching bags--celebrity culture. Is Alec Baldwin in Jesse Eissenberg's head or is Jesse an anachronistic flashback to Alec's youth? Who cares. It's funny, it works and it viciously sends up pedantic pseudo-intellectuals (and actresses in general).

In a nutshell: It's what Woody Allen thinks Italy is: Good food, good wine, good music and lots of infidelity.

I know some critics and moviegoers are disappointed. But, it's a Woody Allen movie and you should never expect a masterpiece everytime. That makes the few that are even more pleasurable. As it stands, this was a great Sunday matinee and a breath of fresh air in a summer we've spent in big budget formula for the most part.

8/10

My thoughts.

 

[TX85]

(Commentary with Adam West&Brad Bird)
8.5/10

I still enjoy this so much,Half Batman parody&Half Batman comics adaption(Most of the 60's live-action show/toon&this movie was pretty accurate to the Bat comics of that time)!!

 

[Doctor Jones]

A delightfully charming movie. To Rome with Love is around Woody Allen's 40th film (probably somewhere between 40 and 45). I haven't come close to seeing them all, but I have seen a lot of them and this is exactly in line with what one would expect from his lighter, but positively entertaining side.

Following the surprise success of the great Midnight in Paris, it seems many thought he'd push himself to top it and audience expectations. That has never been Woody Allen. Every year he pulls out an idea from a drawer of them, throws together a screenplay and shoots it to see what he has at the other end of production. Lightning isn't likely to strike twice in a row. Still, this movie continues his strong streak since moving his productions to Europe and is hands down the funniest and most enjoyable movie I've seen thus far this year.

The plot is cut up into four or five short stories set around Rome that are intercut into a feature length. I found them all to be brilliantly acted, sharply written in terms of great dialogue and amusing, even if some, most notably Roberto Benigni's storyline, go on too long. Most of all I like seeing Woody channel some of the surrealism of his youth from films like Sleeper, Bananas, Stardust Memories and even The Purple Rose of Cairo. He uses his favorite Italian influences like Fellini to just incorporate crazy things like a middle class schmuck becoming famous for literally no reason than it makes for a fitting allegory for one of Woody's favorite punching bags--celebrity culture. Is Alec Baldwin in Jesse Eissenberg's head or is Jesse an anachronistic flashback to Alec's youth? Who cares. It's funny, it works and it viciously sends up pedantic pseudo-intellectuals (and actresses in general).

I know some critics and moviegoers are disappointed. But, it's a Woody Allen movie and you should never expect a masterpiece everytime. That makes the few that are even more pleasurable. As it stands, this was a great Sunday matinee and a breath of fresh air in a summer we've spent in big budget formula for the most part.

8/10

My thoughts.

I've only seen two of them and I don't really caree to see the rest.

Though I still loved Midnight in Paris and Match Point. I've heard those are Woody Allen films that even for people who usually don't care for Woody Allen.

 

[CConn]

You should at least try Sleeper.

 

[MMMMM...Pancakes]

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

 

[Nirvana]

Batman: Under the Red Hood

 

[Optimus27932]

Home Alone 2
Why Did I Get Married

 

[Figs]

You should at least try Sleeper.

t:

I enjoyed it, but then again I've become a bit of a Woody Allen fan in the past 10 or so years. I like his style of humor.

 

[DACrowe]

I've only seen two of them and I don't really caree to see the rest.

Though I still loved Midnight in Paris and Match Point. I've heard those are Woody Allen films that even for people who usually don't care for Woody Allen.

You liked Midnight in Paris and Match Point? Methinks you could try a few more.

Check out Annie Hall and Manhattan, his two best comedies, IMO. Also, if you like Match Point, you should try out Crimes and Misdemeanors.

I've seen probably 15-20 of them and most of them are at least amusing. But you should certainly see those above three.

 

[Nirvana]

Batman: Year One

 

[dude stannis]

Missing in Action

Glorious. Utterly glorious. It's a shame Joseph Zito never had much of a career after the 80's, he was a master of 80's cheese.

The second best Chuck film after his other Joseph Zito collaboration Invasion USA.

 

[nite-owl]

7/10

 

[3dman27]

mortal kombat anhilation

 

[nightwing06]

SAVAGES

Based on the novel by Don Winslow and Directed by Oliver Stone this tale of super succesful
marijuana salesmen and the woman they share,and the Mexican drug cartel they are at odds
with is quite entertaining until its conclusion.

Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson),is the zen/philanthropic brains behind the business and and Chon (Taylor Kitsch)
is the scarred,ex Navy Seal muscle.They share the lovely and loving plaything Ophelia (Blake Lively) they
live well and life is good,until a Baja cartel comes calling looking for a piece of the business.The guy's
say no to their demanding offer,the cartel kidnap Ophelia and then the fireworks begin.

Aside from a mainly empty Blake Lively who i enjoyed in The Town but in Savages not so much.
Her character just comes off far to vapid for me.
As Ben Aaron Taylor-Johnson does well as a man who is suddenly thrown into a world of violence
he must participate in.As Chon Taylor Kitsch is icy slow burn cool.
As Elena Sánchezof head of the Baja Cartel Salma Hayek is terrific.She goes from loving mom
to cold,and ballsy in 0 to 3 seconds.
As her henchman Lado, Benicio del Toro displays all the right amounts of brutality and skills a sociopathic
enforcer should.
As a tuned up,shadowy and on the take DEA agent,John Travolta is equally terrific and whenever he's on screen i
wish he had been given more to do.
I really loved the entire network the guy's put together to protect themselves From computer tech's to
ex Navy Seals who must try to outsmart and outgun the Cartel.

Some cheesy dialogue and an at times grating narration are a minus to the film.Oh and about that aforemen-
tioned ending.I wonder what reactions Savages received during test screenings.Was it the cause of
the ending delivered to the audience? As the film was reaching its end 2 ladies seated next to me exclaimed
"It better not end like this!!" So im thinking yes its likely about 100 people exclaimed the same thing which lead to the
ending.

In the end i still enjoyed this tale of the drug business and the paths it leads to which are quite deadly.

Scale of 1-10 a 7

 

[Duke]

The Living Daylights

8/10

 

[uniqueweasel]

3:10 To Yuma (2007)

 

[Doctor Jones]

You liked Midnight in Paris and Match Point? Methinks you could try a few more.

Check out Annie Hall and Manhattan, his two best comedies, IMO. Also, if you like Match Point, you should try out Crimes and Misdemeanors.

I've seen probably 15-20 of them and most of them are at least amusing. But you should certainly see those above three.

I keep hearing about those two, but they seem more... Woody Allen to me... then again I haven't seen his more Woody Allen type stuff so I couldn't judge.

We started watching Crimes and Misdemeanors at one in the morning on a Saturday at college. Not the movie of choice to watch at that time, so I'm gonna wait a while before I see that.