Rate The Last Movie You Watched

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by Matthean

And this pretty much proves my point. There will be a decent amount of people oblivious to the first end credit scene. For those who have seen it and don't know the reference and why the dialog was used as such

Spoiler

Thanos

It's like the credits scene in Iron Man 2 when the agent went out to the desert. I had no idea what it was they found until I read about it later.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by WVUFAN

So you're not going to see the movie, yet you feel the need to bash it?

How very troll of you.

Yeah it is really, isn't it? Sorry if I'm a big party pooper, pooping on everyone's superhero parade. I just can't stand hype. And things that are so hyped are always so readily bashable too.
Granted this is not bashing out of nothing. There are many examples of how superhero movies are nothing but hype and for fans only.
But again, I guess there is a place in this world for that.

[JediKooter]

I'm not a super hero 'fan' other than maybe Superman, but, if you like entertaining action movies, the Avengers is a good movie. Not everyone likes action movies though, so I can see why someone wouldn't want to see it if they don't like those kinds of movies.

[Scoobz0202]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

There are many examples of how superhero movies are nothing but hype and for fans only.

You better not be talking about Dark Knight. I'll kick your ass!

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

Yeah it is really, isn't it? Sorry if I'm a big party pooper, pooping on everyone's superhero parade. I just can't stand hype. And things that are so hyped are always so readily bashable too.
Granted this is not bashing out of nothing. There are many examples of how superhero movies are nothing but hype and for fans only.
But again, I guess there is a place in this world for that.

Sure, most super hero movies aren't very good, but some are great.

Pretty much like most things.

[stevew]

The Sitter 4/10. I probably should have suspected this wasn't going to be good. But I got it from RedBox in the strength of it's trailer. RIP Fat Jonah Hill, you shouldn't have gone out this way. This movie is also comically short, clocking in at about 80 minutes. There really wasn't even enough plot to sustain that.

[molson]

Originally Posted by stevew

RIP Fat Jonah Hill, you shouldn't have gone out this way.

He'll be back.

[molson]

Birdemic: SHOCK AND TERROR! (Whatever out of 10)

I heard about this one on the "how did this get made" podcast (which someone here recommended, thanks to whoever that was). I found it on Netflix streaming, and watched it with the rifftrax. It's a very bad low-budget bird attack movie, but it doesn't have the charm, or the entertainment value, or even the production values, of The Room. If they had thrown in a dozen or so self-aware jokes, it would have been a lot like many bad college movies I saw back in the day. But as it is, even as a "bad movie that takes itself seriously", it fell kind of flat.

[WVUFAN]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

There are many examples of how superhero movies are nothing but hype and for fans only.

When it comes to Avengers, nearly 700 million in ticket sales will disagree with you.

And secondly, what's wrong with a comic book movie being made to appeal to fans of the comic book?

[Grover]

Originally Posted by molson

He'll be back.

I'm pretty sure he already is.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by WVUFAN

When it comes to Avengers, nearly 700 million in ticket sales will disagree with you.

And secondly, what's wrong with a comic book movie being made to appeal to fans of the comic book?

I know it won't appeal to everybody since people will write it off as a comic book movie, but I think there's enough there for the non-fan to still get it. It's just the comic book fan will get it a little more. I never read The Hunger Games, but it was a solid flick.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by WVUFAN

When it comes to Avengers, nearly 700 million in ticket sales will disagree with you.

And secondly, what's wrong with a comic book movie being made to appeal to fans of the comic book?

For the first point, the quality of the Avengers, if it is indeed a good movie on its own merits, makes it the exception not the rule. There have been a couple other superhero movies that were good movies, but only a couple. That is my point. hype over quality.

second point, there's nothing wrong with people seeing movies in a genre they love. Just own up to the fact that even though it is a genre you like that it might not really be a good movie. Like there haven't really been a lot of good fantasy movies until Lord of the Rings. There have been a few I've liked seeing but admit they weren't really good movies. Scifi too especially. I'm sure many scifi fans would see every star trek movie yet not admit when one it terrible on its own (if you replaced the words trek and all the character names). Sure these all can be guilty pleasures but never considered good movies. Is there a problem with it? In fact the more I hear about The Avengers, the more I am succombing to the hype and that it is definitely worth its entertainment value. I just fear it will be as boring to me as Spiderman and Iron Man 2 were. But one thing it has going for it, it is NOT an origins story (the like of which I find as part of the big problem with superhero movies...that and the silly tights )

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

You better not be talking about Dark Knight. I'll kick your ass!

I am not. Shockingly I have not seen that yet although I've been meaning to. Batman Begins is the prime example of a superhero movie that is the exception and is an EXCELLENT movie. I think Spiderman 2 came close. I kinda liked that one.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by JediKooter

I'm not a super hero 'fan' other than maybe Superman, but, if you like entertaining action movies, the Avengers is a good movie. Not everyone likes action movies though, so I can see why someone wouldn't want to see it if they don't like those kinds of movies.

sure I like action movies but they have to be good movies with a good plot, good story, good characters, good actors, good directors, etc. Gotta be more than a Michal Bay sucktastic explosionfest.

[CrimsonFox]

Have been watching some movies lately so I should rate them instead of babbling on about a movie I haven't seen.

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Pt 1 (6/10) - There were many parts of this I liked. The 6th movie actually was one of my favorites of the movies. This too had some really good scenes in it. But strangely there were things they changed they did not have to change. That irritates me. I mean I understand having to change some plot elements here and there to condense a story into a movie sized morsel but they did not have to do that here. (funny enough they had a few extra scenes on the dvd that they cut that would have helped in that dept) They broke the story up into 2 parts so that they could go nuts. And yet still they changed things. They seemed to drain anything that had emotion in it from the movie. Things happened too fast at times. I have only recently listened to the books on CD version of this so it was fresh in my mind and this movie more than others pointed out how much crap she(Rowling) just lifts from Tolkien it isn't funny. That said some things (like the explanation of the Deathly Hallows) were completely confusing in the book but were explained well in the movie. However the special effects in this movie in particular I found underwhelming. The capturing in the forest scene was kinda lame and completely shortcircuited. They could have REALLY gone crazy having a Greyback the Werewolf there. They've gone crazy on all their other characters over the years and for no reason they leave out Greyback? leave out a werewolf? Come on! (Although they compeltely screwed up Lupin so maybe they just gave up on things like that)The puffy curse on Harry was really underwhelming. Didn't make him look like he'd changed enough. The fight with Ron and Herione was a bit cut short. And they left out some really key things from the Malfoy Manor scene which I though were important to keep in to build how much the 3some worked together. It just didn't take enough time with things.

Any Given Sunday (5/10 & 10/10) - This movie is the best example of how a director can ruin a movie that didn't have to be ruined. It is actualy the best example of a football movie there is and the football scenes (and there are a LOT of them) are awesome! Only movie to put you on the field. But Oliver stone can't let a scene alone without having ADD. In fact this movie has ADD. Every nonfootball scene between two characters is interrupted frequently with what looks like old photos and old movie scenes and such. Oliver Stone, stop it! Bad Director! Just let your actors do the work for you! They do it very well (except for Cameron Diaz who sucks eggs...horrible casting). However, this last I just realized that the main football announcer was Stone himself. Neat! So the 5/10 is for most of the nonfootball scenes and the whole thing altogether, the 10/10 is just for the football scenes.


Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle - The best Stupid movie I think there is. TOtal guilty pleasure here. The Neil Patrick Harris scenes alone are worth the watch. I'll give it an 8 for the entertainment value but it's a conditional 8. Go into it knowing it's just a stupid stoner comedy

[Izulde]

I thought Batman Begins was terrible and a very boring movie.

Dark Knight was exceptional, however.

[Julio Riddols]

Dark Knight is just a good film all together, whether you like comic books or not. Ledgers Joker is still one of the best acting jobs I have ever seen, and probably always will be.

[sterlingice]

I'm still very annoyed at the Academy that it didn't give them a Best Picture nomination. That's most likely the best comic book movie any of us will see and if it can't get the recognition than we should just accept that nothing will and the Academy can only accept "excellence" if it fits into their narrow, predefined sphere.

SI

[Pyser]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I'm still very annoyed at the Academy that it didn't give them a Best Picture nomination. That's most likely the best comic book movie any of us will see and if it can't get the recognition than we should just accept that nothing will and the Academy can only accept "excellence" if it fits into their narrow, predefined sphere.

SI

i mean, they changed the rules based on dark knight. dunno what else you want.

[Matthean]

I can see The Dark Knight Rises getting a nomination this time around. I'm curious to see if The Avengers would since it is lighter fare.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Pyser

i mean, they changed the rules based on dark knight. dunno what else you want.

Considering the premise was "having it been nominated", I think that's the "what else (I would) want". That's basically saying, "Well, it wasn't good enough to get in the top 5 of movies we have but if we water down the field, then it's good enough. Besides, no one likes watching our award show because we only pick movies that are either character dramas or stuffy historical pieces or, if at all possible... BOTH!" Let's not pretend that move wasn't horribly self serving just to get people to watch because they can't help but only pick movies that appeal to a limited audience, rather than actually picking excellence across the board.

I didn't really have any problems with Slumdog Millionaire winning. I suspect it will be the first of many Bollywood-turns-American movies that make it big here over the next 50 years. It was unique and well done in all facets of the movie. It was a good introduction to Americans of a different culture's brand of storytelling that still resonated with us here.

Then let's look at the other best movie Oscar nominations. First off, I'll ask this question: can you even name the other nominations that year? If you're a big Academy Award fan, you probably can but it strikes me as being the equivalent of the baseball home run title each year where I could throw out 5 or 6 names who are usually in the top 10 and probably be right because the same types of hitters (or movies) always win, even if they start to blur together. I'll leave some space for you to think about it.




















The other oddball that year was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was something odd and different, I'll give them that. But was it good?

I really liked Frost/Nixon and, of the other movies I'll mention, it's easily the best. However, again, historical character drama. That's all the Academy has eyes for. If you can get that formula down, you may not get the little gold statue, but at least you'll get a nomination.

And that's where the silliness lies. All other genres of movie have to bring their A+ game just to get a nomination (Fantasy: Lord of the Rings, Sci Fi: The Sixth Sense, Japanese: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, etc) but you only need to be in the top 5 of the 10-odd historical character dramas made each year to have a good shot at the nomination because of the huge biases towards the genre.

So, the other nominations that year: The Reader, Milk (Academy only) and Revolutionary Road (Golden Globes only). Anything about those stand out to you less than 5 years later? How about 2008's Atonement, Michael Clayton, or There Will Be Blood? I'm pretty sure I could do this for the entire decade of the 2000s and come up with 20 mostly forgettable historical pieces out of the 50 movies nominated for the decade.

Now with the expanded field, they feel they can throw in a few other types of movies because they can justify a down-ballot nominee or two that is not standard (Inception, Up, Avatar, etc). And that's a good thing. But, at the end of the day, they could have just solved the problem by getting rid of some of the junk that is nominated and replaced it with the good stuff, not just broaden the field.

SI

[larrymcg421]

I would say Milk and Michael Clayton definitely still stand out today. I haven't seen There Will Be Blood, but it has an excellent reputation. I do agree The Dark Knight (and Wall-E) definitely should've been nominated that year.

[sabotai]

There Will Be Blood was a top 5 movie of the decade (IMO), let alone in the year it was released.

[terpkristin]

I watched Game Change, an HBO movie about the McCain campaign and Palin's place on the ticket. I thought it was quite well done but made Palin look crazier than she makes herself look.

I also watched Contraband on FiOS On Demand. It was a movie with Mark Wahlberg and some other people you'd recognize about smugglers. It was alright....some very unbelievable moments and some sheer stupidity, but it had some good action and was a nice diversion from reality.

/tk

[Grover]

Originally Posted by sabotai

There Will Be Blood was a top 5 movie of the decade (IMO), let alone in the year it was released.

This. One of my favorite movies of all time.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Grover

This. One of my favorite movies of all time.

Agreed.

I don't know that I'd put it in my top 5 or 10, but it is an outstanding movie (and I suspect it will hold up very well for a long time).

[Julio Riddols]

No one can deny the power of Daniel Day Lewis.

[ISiddiqui]

Another vote for "There Will be Blood" being one of the Top 5 movies of the decade. Just an absolutely brilliant character piece. I do really like "No Country for Old Men" but I thought "There Will be Blood" was robbed.

Furthermore, I also really loved "Curious Case of Benjamin Button". I consider it a modern day classic & its really sci-fi/fantasy when you think about it.

"Milk" I would argue is very influential, especially in light of what is happening these days. And it was extremely well done and powerful.

[Fidatelo]

For my money "There Will be Blood" was far superior to "No Country for Old Men". I never really understood the love affair with No Country, it just falls apart at the end and, for me, made the whole thing feel pointless.

[ISiddiqui]

To be honest, I think the pointlessness was the point (if you follow).

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

To be honest, I think the pointlessness was the point (if you follow).

I guess I could see that the pointlessness was the intent, but I still don't get the point.

[molson]

That was a great two years or so for movies. I didn't get too wrapped up in what was better than what and what should win awards, there was just so much great stuff, one right after another. I think once a film reaches that certain level of quality, it's really mostly personal preference that distinguishes them.

[sterlingice]

No Country for Old Men has the misfortune of being a Cormack McCarthy book, which means it's fairly pointless. To me, it plays like a slow 70s western movie but it's not deliberate like, say, "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly". I think that's the most apt comparison I can come up with, but if you watch them back to back, one just pales in comparison to the other, never mind that the classic is 40 years old and directing styles now are much more modern so the newer one should resonate more with modern audiences.

To my point above, however, there is some consensus on 1 of the movies ("There Will Be Blood") that I just flat out missed. However, the rest get some scattershot mention, at best, and could easily be on par with some other movies those years that didn't get a look because of genre.

SI

[molson]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

No Country for Old Men has the misfortune of being a Cormack McCarthy book, which means it's fairly pointless. To me, it plays like a slow 70s western movie but it's not deliberate like, say, "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly". I think that's the most apt comparison I can come up with, but if you watch them back to back, one just pales in comparison to the other, never mind that the classic is 40 years old and directing styles now are much more modern so the newer one should resonate more with modern audiences.

To my point above, however, there is some consensus on 1 of the movies ("There Will Be Blood") that I just flat out missed. However, the rest get some scattershot mention, at best, and could easily be on par with some other movies those years that didn't get a look because of genre.

SI

If it's the academy's job to try to predict which movie has the most "lasting influence", whose perspective should they use? There's plenty of people, older people mostly, for whom Dark Knight isn't even on their radars as a lasting movie, like There Will be blood isn't on yours.

[ISiddiqui]

I think that's because one of the films you mentioned everyone went "Wait, what?!" and focused on that .

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

No Country for Old Men has the misfortune of being a Cormack McCarthy book, which means it's fairly pointless.

Not sure if this needs a spoiler given the time since it came out... but

Spoiler

I've never been as disappointed by an ending to a film as I was by that one.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Not sure if this needs a spoiler given the time since it came out... but

Spoiler

I've never been as disappointed by an ending to a film as I was by that one.

+infinity. I really liked the film up to that point. After that, I wondered why it was loved so much.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Matthean

+infinity. I really liked the film up to that point. After that, I wondered why it was loved so much.

+2infinity.

[Julio Riddols]

Don't watch Martha Marcy May Marlene then. Talk about a shit ending.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

Don't watch Martha Marcy May Marlene then. Talk about a shit ending.

Totally disagree. I LOVED the ending to Martha Marcy May Marlene.

Spoiler

Whether someone was really following her at the end (or at any other point) didn't matter. The implication that no matter where she goes or what she does, she's always going to looking over her shoulder is a pretty powerful ending.

[sabotai]

I've been watching a good deal of German movies lately.

Die Welle - 7/10 - A high school teacher conducts a bit of a social experiment on his class to teach them about Autocracy. It gets a tad bit out of control.

Alles auf Zucker - 7/10 - a comedy about a pool player whose Jewish brother and his family visits him after his mother dies. Hilarity ensues as he needs to keep getting out of family business to play pool to earn money to pay off a debt or he'll go to jail.

Das schreckliche Mädchen - 5/10 - This movie gets a ton of praise but I thought is was just okay. It's about a girl who researches her town's resistance to the Nazis to find out that they didn't really resist as much as the townspeople claim.

Sophie Scholl: Der letzen Tage - 8/10 - Sophie Scholl and her brother were arrested by the Nazis for spreading anti-Nazi newsletters during WW2. Great movie IMO. I may have to redo my best movies of 2000-2009 to fit this in somewhere.

And a "weren't very good" rating for the following movies: Vier Minuten, Antikörper, Der Letzte Zug, Der Räuber, Aimee and Jaguar.

[Bad-example]

Priest - 6/10

I like Paul Bettany but this is just a basic action movie, vampires versus werewolves. Nothing special at all. The ending makes it ultra clear they were aiming for sequels. 6 might be a tad high.

[Julio Riddols]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Totally disagree. I LOVED the ending to Martha Marcy May Marlene.

Spoiler

Whether someone was really following her at the end (or at any other point) didn't matter. The implication that no matter where she goes or what she does, she's always going to looking over her shoulder is a pretty powerful ending.

Spoiler

What I didn't like about that is that it was known from the beginning she would be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life if she didn't get help. She probably should have just moved across the country. The fact that there was no resolution in the movie meant that it should have been a short film in my opinion. She never tells her family anything about what happened no matter how many opportunities she gets, and then it ends like that and it all seemed like an acting showcase rather than a story. I liked the ride, but the destination seemed to leave us right where we started.

[MrBug708]

Battleship - 8.5/10. It's a cross between Independence Day, Top Gun, and Transformers. Sure it's predictable and full of cliches but damn if it's nothing but entertaining if not for the action. I wondered how they would work in both a battleship as well as the game, but they managed to do it.

*Advisory, I usually like any movies I see to a point*

I dont usually watch movies more than once or twice, but this one will probably be on the watch over and over list

[Young Drachma]

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy - I think this is one of those stories where if I'd read the book, I'd appreciate it a lot more. Extremely well shot and well-acted, but not the kind of story that I feel like you can dive into faint of heart. You have to be really ready to sit, listen, watch and appreciate where things are going, how they're going to get there and have a taste for layered for European spy stories.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy - I think this is one of those stories where if I'd read the book, I'd appreciate it a lot more. Extremely well shot and well-acted, but not the kind of story that I feel like you can dive into faint of heart. You have to be really ready to sit, listen, watch and appreciate where things are going, how they're going to get there and have a taste for layered for European spy stories.

There was also a '70s 7-part BBC mini-series, so one can really digest that story at whatever pace they choose. Well, at whatever slow, British pace they choose.

[Groundhog]

Avengers - 9/10

Pretty much the perfect action movie. I thought there was a little too much going on in the first 3rd of the movie but it was needed to build up to that climax. Amazing special effects, some of the best I've ever seen, and Ruffalo was amazing as Banner/Hulk. Also didn't expect to see Cobie Smulders, and thought she did a great job.

[Bad-example]

I went through my on demand menu and wrote down some movies that look interesting. Any thoughts?

Cedar Rapids
Another Earth
The Kids Are All Right
American Psycho
Tree Of Life
Attack The Block
The Guard

[chadritt]

Originally Posted by Bad-example

I went through my on demand menu and wrote down some movies that look interesting. Any thoughts?

Cedar Rapids
Another Earth
The Kids Are All Right
American Psycho
Tree Of Life
Attack The Block
The Guard

ATTACK THE BLOCK!!! Its really cool, though i personally think it got overrated a bit simply by being indie and british.

[Groundhog]

Attack the Block was pretty awesome. I saw it without knowing anything about it.