Rate The Last Movie You Watched

[Kodos]

I also thoroughly enjoyed Zombieland. I had a couple issues with it, but they were minor:
1. Not nearly enough zombies around
2. The power didn't seem to be out anywhere

Like I said, minor quibbles. Overall, very enjoyable.

[Karlifornia]

Paranormal Activity- 7.5/10

Glad I saw this, as it had been at the back (ok, front) of my mind for about a week. Whenever I hear reputable people saying how scary a movie is, my ears tend to perk up. I love movies that actually scare me. The Saw movies don't scare me. The 80's franchises, while holding some value, aren't really all that scary anymore (The original Halloween is still a great movie, though).

If I had to think about what movies actually scared me since I was a teenager, the list would look like this:

The Ring- Great atmosphere...had a couple of good "jump" moments (girl in the closet, anyone?), had a kid that talked to ghosts before it got run into the ground, and had probably the most chilling climax of any horror movie I can recall.

High Tension- Simply the best horror movie that has come out in the past 20 years, IMO. The ending is definitely subject to criticism, and I've heard some people say it ruins the movie for them. Forget the ending. I'm all about the buildup, and the title of a movie has never described it more accurately. If you like horror, you have to see this movie. It had me riveted.


Anyway, back to Paranormal Activity. It had my attention throughout, but it didn't truly scare me. The leads did a pretty good job at keeping the dialogue sounding real, and I never got taken out of the movie because of it. My complaints about the movie are as follows:

Spoiler

-There weren't many unexpected scares. We basically had to wait for them to talk during the day, and then get the good stuff when they were asleep. I was hoping to see more things happen while they were running around with the camera. Maybe even things that the actors don't notice, but the audience might see. The only time that happened was the rather hokey Ouija Board sequence.

-It followed a pretty steady pattern of escalation, and instead of getting caught off guard, it was just "what is it going to do now? Last time it just walked up" Then it would walk up the steps turn on a light, fade to black. Then it fucked with the sheets. It couldn't go back to just walking up the steps and turning on the light. It painted itself into a bit of a corner.

-The whole demon thing kind of rang cheesy to me. "It's happening again" doesn't have the impact of "What the fuck is happening?".

Did she just get possessed by a demon, or was she a demon the whole time? I'm guessing the former.

I thought the ending was decent. I'm definitely going to at least rent the dvd to see the alternate endings. I'm sure this will go into the pantheon of great scary movies for a lot of people. I'll give it this, it was scarier than most. It may stay with me the rest of the night, but by tomorrow any chills will be gone.

One awesome thing was that when my roommate and I got back from the theater, our front door was wide open. Our door has some trouble fully closing sometimes, but upon arrival we were both like "Haha...that's perfect to come back to".

[KWhit]

Karl,

Have you seen Quarantine? I thought that was pretty damn good. The beginning is pretty interesting, but kind of goes on too long. Not much happens for the first 15-20 minutes. Stay with it and it gets much better.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

On your recommendation, I saw this. Absolutely amazing and compelling documentary. It's kind of raw but I think that actually makes it more real. Without giving anything away, I'll say that it's nearly 3am and I can't sleep since I saw it. My jaw was wide open half the movie. I was sad, I was happy, it's a roller coaster ride of emotions that few movies have ever come close to hitting me emotionally.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father - 10 out of 10

If you want to cry for an hour, see this movie. Holy shit.

[Karlifornia]

Originally Posted by KWhit

Karl,

Have you seen Quarantine? I thought that was pretty damn good. The beginning is pretty interesting, but kind of goes on too long. Not much happens for the first 15-20 minutes. Stay with it and it gets much better.

No, I haven't seen that. Thanks for reminding me about it. I had wanted to when it came out, but it slipped my mind. I'll give it a rental.

[stevew]

Invention of Lying-6.5/10. It could have/should have been a lot better, but it had some very funny moments. My main issue was that I don't find Jennifer Garner attractive enough to merit leading woman status. Let alone, lusted after leading woman status. And also the plot was kind of thin, and they missed a lot of golden opportunities. Instead of focusing on the "oops I invented religion" part of the plot, I'd have maybe gone a few other directions. Another part, he goes into a casino and lies to win at games like roulette. Where they should have had him bluff his way in poker, which would have had to be a lot more funny than what they did.

This one should have been a 10/10 movie, and they fouled it off into the stands.


I'd like to see Ricky Gervais get a lot more opportunities in the states. And the amount of cameos he was able to get was very impressive, as well. I think it's worth renting.

[DataKing]

Originally Posted by DataKing

I saw Zombieland over the weekend, and have to agree with pretty much everything that's been said already. For what it is, it is done extremely well. This has replaced Shaun of the Dead as my favorite zombie humor movie.

I forgot to mention...if you're going to see Zombieland, be sure to wait all the way through to the end of the credits. You get a nice little reward if you do.

[Doug5984]

Observe and Report 0/10. It was painful to watch, it actually made Paul Blart seem funny...

[Groundhog]

Shaolin Soccer - 8/10
Funny and pretty awesome.

Kung Fu Hustle - 7/10
Funny and pretty awesome, but not quite as good as Shaolin Soccer, and a bit more serious in parts.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Shaolin Soccer - 8/10
Funny and pretty awesome.

Kung Fu Hustle - 7/10
Funny and pretty awesome, but not quite as good as Shaolin Soccer, and a bit more serious in parts.

Shows how different people see different things. I love Kung Fu Hustle, giving it a 8.5 or so but absolutely hated Shaolin Soccer, giving it a 2. I know Chow did soccer before Hustle but the production, comedic and acting in Hustle were far better, imo.

Karl, coming from someone as jaded as yourself, I would say that's a pretty good score for PA.

[Pyser]

year one

one star. zero plot.

[Schmidty]

I haven't seen it yet, but I'm pumped about watching "Black Dynamite".

[Lathum]

Couples Retreat 8/10- If you like Vince Vaughn type movie you will like this, if not stay away.

A funny aside, it was directed by Peter Billingsly.

[Swaggs]

Peter "Ralphie" Billingsly?

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

Peter "Ralphie" Billingsly?

I assume so

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

I haven't seen it yet, but I'm pumped about watching "Black Dynamite".

x2

[DataKing]

Stalingrad (6 / 10): I've been waiting all my adult life for a film that brings home the scale, feel, and ferocity of the conflict between Germany and Russia during World War II. Unfortunately I'm still waiting. I was really looking forward to Stalingrad since it's the same production team that did Das Boot, but I was left wanting. What could have been a really compelling story was unfortunately ruined by some pretty poor acting, to the point of distraction in spots. I found myself not particularly caring about any of the individual characters and whether they lived or died. That being said, the movie does offer a few bright spots as well. One battle scene and one other scene (when the Germans are attempting to escape the Russian encirclement) do a good job of making you feel just how desperate the situation was. One other thing that does come across pretty well (but would have been enhanced with quality acting) is just how "used up" the soldiers are by the end of the movie; physically, mentally, and emotionally.

If you're interested in World War II and the Eastern Front, it may be worth your time to give this one a look. But if the subject matter itself doesn't appeal to you, don't bother.

[Karlifornia]

8 out of 10 for Couples Retreat? Looks like someone is trying to get their name on the DVD cover

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

High Tension- Simply the best horror movie that has come out in the past 20 years, IMO. The ending is definitely subject to criticism, and I've heard some people say it ruins the movie for them. Forget the ending. I'm all about the buildup, and the title of a movie has never described it more accurately. If you like horror, you have to see this movie. It had me riveted.

Is this the French movie? It starts off with a girl in an insane asylum or such and then goes to a flashback? Two college aged girls go to own of the girls' family's house out in the rural country-side. A crazy ass giant dude shows up, kills the family and takes the girls hostage? That's as far as I got. I wasn't all that into it. Does it get better after that?

If you're talking horror movies in the last 20 years, I'd have to go with either "The Ring" or "The Descent."

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Is this the French movie? It starts off with a girl in an insane asylum or such and then goes to a flashback? Two college aged girls go to own of the girls' family's house out in the rural country-side. A crazy ass giant dude shows up, kills the family and takes the girls hostage? That's as far as I got. I wasn't all that into it. Does it get better after that?

If you're talking horror movies in the last 20 years, I'd have to go with either "The Ring" or "The Descent."

High Tension was meh. Ring was meh. Descent was solid.

I just watched Dead Snow. It's a Norwegian movie about kids attacked by Nazi Zombies. It's an entertaining watch, but not that amazing. Still good for some mindless fun.

[Karlifornia]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

High Tension was meh. Ring was meh. Descent was solid.

I just watched Dead Snow. It's a Norwegian movie about kids attacked by Nazi Zombies. It's an entertaining watch, but not that amazing. Still good for some mindless fun.

High Tension was wayyyy better than the Descent, IMO.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

High Tension was wayyyy better than the Descent, IMO.

The book by Dean Koontz was excellent. Oh, but the film makers denied the film had anything to do with the book.

[Pyser]

where the boring things are

4/10

[Neon_Chaos]

Red Cliff - (7/10)

If you're a fan of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms story, this John Woo movie will definitely tickle your fancy. If not, you might doze off in the 2:20 it takes for the movie to run its course.

[DeToxRox]

Zombieland: 9/10

Amazing, amazing, amazing. The fact it starts off with a zombie eatin' montage to "For Whom the Bell Tolls" is boss enough, then add in one of the best movie cameos ever and some great dialogue mixed in with your usual zombie killing greatness and you have a gem.

Cannot recommend this movie enough.

[heybrad]

Paranormal Activity - 9/10

Saw this last night and really enjoyed it. They did a great job of building up to the big finish. I'd say you need to see this in the theater with a fairly packed house to really have a good time. Lots of screaming going on in the theater.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

A Serious Man - 8.5/10

Big Coen fan here, and this was darkly darkly funny. Well acted by mostly unknown actors. Retelling the story of Job in a 1960's Jewish suburb of Minnesota.

[DataKing]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

High Tension was meh. Ring was meh. Descent was solid.

I just watched Dead Snow. It's a Norwegian movie about kids attacked by Nazi Zombies. It's an entertaining watch, but not that amazing. Still good for some mindless fun.

Where did you find Dead Snow? I've been looking for it but haven't found it on DVD yet.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by DataKing

Where did you find Dead Snow? I've been looking for it but haven't found it on DVD yet.

My buddy burnt me a copy. I am assuming he just DL'd it, but he works at a video store so he might have ordered it through there.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

Red Cliff - (7/10)

If you're a fan of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms story, this John Woo movie will definitely tickle your fancy. If not, you might doze off in the 2:20 it takes for the movie to run its course.

2:20? Man, I sat through the 4 hour Chinese version. Seriously, good luck to anyone making it through that cut without knowing much about RotTK.

[Groundhog]

Up - 9.5/10

Despite all the positive reviews I still didn't expect much from this one because the previews really didn't do much for me. Boy was I wrong. A great, sometimes bittersweet and touching, movie for folks of all ages.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

2:20? Man, I sat through the 4 hour Chinese version. Seriously, good luck to anyone making it through that cut without knowing much about RotTK.

I wish I'd gone through the 4 hour version.

This one was the US version release (coming to the States in November 2009) compressed like hell. Still, it was good enough.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

If you want to cry for an hour, see this movie. Holy shit.

I just looked up the real life story on wikipedia and I now feel I'm scarred for life. What an insanely tragic story.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

8 out of 10 for Couples Retreat? Looks like someone is trying to get their name on the DVD cover

shrug

it was very funny, some good LOL moments, let me turn my brain off for a few hours and had us talking about specific scenes as we were leaving.

All I ask from a movie is to be entertained and feel my $40 was well spent.

I don't need a movie to be some indie flick from Indonesia that 4 people have ever see to give it an 8. I just need it to get the job done.

[NewIdentity]

Surrogates 7/10

Nothing new here, but still a very enjoyable movie with a couple of nice twists thrown in. I enjoyed the PG-13 rating. Could have used a few more fat man in the hot chick body laughs.

Although I don't understand why there would be less crime with surrogates? Seems that crime levels would go through the roof if murder and everything else was always reduced to "destruction of private property". Like when he murders that guy in his living room; that case is probably a $50 fine and timed served.

[Neon_Chaos]

Taken - 9/10

Excellent action movie. They actually turned Liam Neeson into a bad-ass combination of Shaft, Bourne, and Bond. There aren't really any dull moments once the action begins... and you'll be rooting for Neeson's character all throughout the movie.

[KWhit]

The Host - 6/10

Korean monster movie. Pretty good flick. Not perfect, but there was a lot to like there. It's subtitled, which doesn't bother me. It's on Netflix streaming if you're interested.

[Kodos]

I think The Ring was the last truly scary movie that I've seen.

[DataKing]

Nuremberg (7.5 / 10): As made-for-TV movies go, this one was pretty good. As a courtroom drama about the Nuremberg trials (obviously), it had an impressive cast and a number of noteworthy performances. Alec Baldwin was rather 'meh' as the lead, and the romantic interest between himself and Jill Hennessy felt forced. But Christopher Plummer was excellent and Brian Cox was absolutely brilliant as Goering. He does a fantastic job playing Goering as a charismatic, yet unapologetic character.

The subject matter itself should not be foreign to anyone here, so no need to go into detail on that. But there are two things worthy of note. First, the movie does include real footage taken of the concentration camps by the allies as they were liberated, so fair warning there. Second, the premise behind the trials themselves is a significant part of the movie. The idea was not just to "round up the losers and hang them." Instead, and the movie goes into great detail on this, the idea was to make such activities as were performed by the Nazis during the war punishable by moral (if not international) law. The hope was to make sure that such things never happened again. Draw your own conclusions as to whether or not they were successful, but this one is worth checking out for history buffs.

[Honolulu_Blue]

While, not a movie I've seen, I didn't think this required its own thread. So...

They are fiming the (totally unnecessary) re-make of "Red Dawn" in Detroit. Between the tax credits available to filmmakers and the fact that Detroit already looks like a city that has been invaded by a hostile force, it's a good choice.

A large part of whatever they are filming is going on about a block from where I work. Over the last three days, there have been a number of sporadic explosions and sounds of small arms fire that can be heard (and sometimes felt) from my office. They also have made up one of the buildings across the way to look like the occupying force's (the Chinese) local police station.

I think I will head over and take a closer look during lunch.

[KWhit]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I think The Ring was the last truly scary movie that I've seen.

The Host wasn't really that scary. There were some cool parts though. I mentioned a post upthread that was fairly scary though - Quarantine. It was pretty freaky. It's on Netflix streaming as well.

Also, The Strangers was pretty good, I thought.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by KWhit

The Host wasn't really that scary. There were some cool parts though. I mentioned a post upthread that was fairly scary though - Quarantine. It was pretty freaky. It's on Netflix streaming as well.

Also, The Strangers was pretty good, I thought.

The trailer for "The Strangers" freaked me out. I'd like to see it at some point. Quarantine looked promising as well.

"The Host" was more a monster movie than a horror movie. I liked the beginning of the movie, while the family still together, because their interactions were great, but after they got separated (which happened pretty quickly), the movie lost a lof of its juice for me until the climax.

[Pyser]

sugar - 7/10

dominican kid struggles in the minor leagues in iowa. pretty awesome.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I think The Ring was the last truly scary movie that I've seen.

When I was in Japan I read a translation of the original The Ring novel. Man, let me tell you, the movies (Japanese and American ones) have NOTHING on the book. Creepiest thing I've ever read.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

While, not a movie I've seen, I didn't think this required its own thread. So...

They are fiming the (totally unnecessary) re-make of "Red Dawn" in Detroit. Between the tax credits available to filmmakers and the fact that Detroit already looks like a city that has been invaded by a hostile force, it's a good choice.

A large part of whatever they are filming is going on about a block from where I work. Over the last three days, there have been a number of sporadic explosions and sounds of small arms fire that can be heard (and sometimes felt) from my office. They also have made up one of the buildings across the way to look like the occupying force's (the Chinese) local police station.

I think I will head over and take a closer look during lunch.

This post made my night btw.

Love that they're making the Chinese the Baddies this time as well.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

While, not a movie I've seen, I didn't think this required its own thread. So...

They are fiming the (totally unnecessary) re-make of "Red Dawn" in Detroit. Between the tax credits available to filmmakers and the fact that Detroit already looks like a city that has been invaded by a hostile force, it's a good choice.

A large part of whatever they are filming is going on about a block from where I work. Over the last three days, there have been a number of sporadic explosions and sounds of small arms fire that can be heard (and sometimes felt) from my office. They also have made up one of the buildings across the way to look like the occupying force's (the Chinese) local police station.

I think I will head over and take a closer look during lunch.

That's pretty cool. I remember when Dark Knight filmed a few blocks from where I worked. Would walk down and see the Batmobile and other stuff. They had some cool stunts late at night.

Public Enemies was also filmed a block from my house.

[Groundhog]

I wasn't allowed to walk out the front of my building after finishing my shift one night because they were filming a helicopter scene looking down on the street for the first Matrix film, which I thought was pretty cool.

[Groundhog]

dola

And I tell you what, anyone who lives in Sydney and watches the chase at the end of that movie with Neo and Agent Smith will find it very amusing as the actors run past a familiar building, take a turn, and are suddenly 15 minutes down the road.

[Neuqua]

Everytime I drive down Lower Wacker I think about the new Batman films.

Oh, and I've seen the new Batmo-hummer.

[Chief Rum]

When I was attending Cal Poly Pomona, they shut down access to the distinctive administrative building on the campus (for those in SoCal, it's the big pointy-topped tower building you can see from the 57-10 interchange) for the film Gattaca.

Much of the movie was shot at the building, as its odd look was thought to look futuristic for the movie and was used as the "outside" of the housing complex Ethan Hawke and Jude Law stayed in.