What movies have you seen recently?

[thaima1shu]

Re: What movies have you seen recently? Part 1

How awesome was it when Ironhide transformed up and over that screaming girl on the street as the rocket whizzed by in slow motion? That's probably the coolest time to ever heard your sub bottom out. It's so wicked!

I love playing that scene as a demo for what my sub can do. It's so incredibly powerful that I'm actually afraid it's going to do structural damage to my house.

[Rocky]

Re: What movies have you seen recently? Part 1

Just saw Hoop Dreams again about 14 or 15 years after first watching it.

It's as powerful movie as ever and still probably one of the most impactful movies an athlete could ever see.

[Jonesy]

Re: What movies have you seen recently? Part 1

Just saw Hoop Dreams again about 14 or 15 years after first watching it.

It's as powerful movie as ever and still probably one of the most impactful movies an athlete could ever see.

Yeah i loved that movie as well. It's not the sort of thing i want to watch all the time but it is very powerful and well made imo.

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently? Part 1

I just finished watching a movie on TCM called I Love a Mystery (1945) It's the first of 3 films that were made based on the radio series of the same name. This movie was quite excellent even though it was a B film. There's a real film noir feel to it and the mystery is actually quite compelling!

here's the summary:

Opening with a car crash and a decapitation, the story is told in flashback as Detective Jack Packard and his sidekick Doc Long become involved with a man who tells them that he will die in just such a manner in three days' time. Of course there is a large amount of money involved, and also an Oriental cult, mysterious women, a peg-legged man, and many deaths

The movie starts off pretty stilted with the radio drama type dialogue but it picks up and sucks the viewer into the mystery, twists and turns. A couple actors who would go on to bigger and better things are featured heavily in the film. The victim is played by George Macready who would go on to have a memorable role in the film Gilda. Macready gives his character the insanity that's needed for the part but it's done in earnest so as not to make it goofy.

The other actor who went on to bigger and better things is Nina Foch who plays Macready's wife who happens to be more then what she portrays herself to be when you first meet her. Let's just say she's not wholly innocent.

As for the good guy leads Jim Bannon as Jack Packard is sufficient and doesn't seem to be out of his element. I do feel that he had too much of a pretty boy look for a worldly seeming detective. Barton Yarborough as his sidekick Doc on the other hand wore a little thin by the end of the movie as he was the comic relief. Actually he reminded me of a cross between Don Knotts and Jim Nabors. I know that might sound bad but the character was well played. It's just the twang in Yarborough's voice that did that to me.

Overall quite a good programmer that has good material and is better directed then most movies of its budget.

3 out of 5 stars

[Blzer]

Re: What movies have you seen recently? Part 1

Edge of Darkness

I haven't seen too many Mel Gibson lead-role movies to be honest, strange as it seems because he is such a critically-acclaimed actor (as well as director). So now I get to see him take on an action-drama role past his prime in the same shoes that Bruce Willis fills these days.

Honestly, the title is misleading. The previews may make you think that you're looking at a film that just goes on the level of being completely bad-*** like Taken, but it's pretty far from it in fact. Ridden with a lot of dialogue and a small musical score mix that only takes place during the few action scenes, it was definitely a movie that promoted having heart but kind of failed to deliver on that emotional level from the get-go. As far as recent movies go, it had the determination of Taken, the agony of Shooter, the physique of Casino Royale, and the convolution of State of Play.

For a movie that starred Mel Gibson, IMO Ray Winstone (The Departed) stole the show. He has such a hard and heavy demeanor in a way that whether he's a protagonist or antagonist, you like watching him on screen. He doesn't just read the lines on the script, which was kind of the weak point of this movie. I mean it was very dialogue-heavy and definitely carried it from scene to scene, but as far as cheesiness goes, you can certainly find it in the dialgue. But when Winstone speaks, it simply doesn't matter. He's that good. He and Gibson pull off very convincing Bostonian accents (unless that's their natural accents, of course) and when they are together in a scene, it's like watching Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro together without their smirking brio overwhelming you.

But as I said, this movie is all a bit coiled. It seems that a revenge/mystery wasn't enough for the movie and they had to tie in a conspiracy within it to make it work. Unfortunately, the villains are never really on top of Gibson ever despite their plentiful lazy attempts to do so. How a police detective runs the town the way he does without any sort of backlash is beyond me, so I suppose if you can just sit back and accept that, all should be good
as you watch Mel strut around Boston with every bit of reign which he dictates upon others.

Without knowing it, you would know that this movie was either directed by Martin Campbell or Antoine Fuqua, just by the movie choice style and the consistency in tone and colorization within the movie. I must admit that I enjoy all of Campbell's work (who actually directed this), but the editing was a bit off and could have made for a shorter movie by about ten minutes. This movie had a fault of having a somewhat confusing scene and then the scene after it explaining what just happened from another perspective, like we always have to know where everyone is at during every part of the movie. It didn't seem to have to unfold that way in terms of character development, but at least they understood that they had a complicating script to work with and tried to clear the air as best as possible.

For a film with such adult-like tones in back-and-forth conversation and scenes, mixed with some light mild entertainment and short-cut action, it's hard to tell who would be most pleased by Gibson's latest addition to his resume. I'll say that I saw it once and that was enough for me. Just know that you're not going into this movie and hope that it's all about kicking ***, because Edge of Darkness has little to do with that. In a way the 6.8 overall score it has on IMDb is mostly deserving, but it's a bit harsh at the same time.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: What movies have you seen recently? Part 1

Scratch - its a documentary about turntablism/DJing and I thought it was really cool to watch and learn a little about it. A lot of those things are just awe inspiring to me.

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently? Part 1

Edge of Darkness

I haven't seen too many Mel Gibson lead-role movies to be honest, strange as it seems because he is such a critically-acclaimed actor (as well as director). So now I get to see him take on an action-drama role past his prime in the same shoes that Bruce Willis fills these days.

Honestly, the title is misleading. The previews may make you think that you're looking at a film that just goes on the level of being completely bad-*** like Taken, but it's pretty far from it in fact. Ridden with a lot of dialogue and a small musical score mix that only takes place during the few action scenes, it was definitely a movie that promoted having heart but kind of failed to deliver on that emotional level from the get-go. As far as recent movies go, it had the determination of Taken, the agony of Shooter, the physique of Casino Royale, and the convolution of State of Play.

For a movie that starred Mel Gibson, IMO Ray Winstone (The Departed) stole the show. He has such a hard and heavy demeanor in a way that whether he's a protagonist or antagonist, you like watching him on screen. He doesn't just read the lines on the script, which was kind of the weak point of this movie. I mean it was very dialogue-heavy and definitely carried it from scene to scene, but as far as cheesiness goes, you can certainly find it in the dialgue. But when Winstone speaks, it simply doesn't matter. He's that good. He and Gibson pull off very convincing Bostonian accents (unless that's their natural accents, of course) and when they are together in a scene, it's like watching Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro together without their smirking brio overwhelming you.

But as I said, this movie is all a bit coiled. It seems that a revenge/mystery wasn't enough for the movie and they had to tie in a conspiracy within it to make it work. Unfortunately, the villains are never really on top of Gibson ever despite their plentiful lazy attempts to do so. How a police detective runs the town the way he does without any sort of backlash is beyond me, so I suppose if you can just sit back and accept that, all should be good
as you watch Mel strut around Boston with every bit of reign which he dictates upon others.

Without knowing it, you would know that this movie was either directed by Martin Campbell or Antoine Fuqua, just by the movie choice style and the consistency in tone and colorization within the movie. I must admit that I enjoy all of Campbell's work (who actually directed this), but the editing was a bit off and could have made for a shorter movie by about ten minutes. This movie had a fault of having a somewhat confusing scene and then the scene after it explaining what just happened from another perspective, like we always have to know where everyone is at during every part of the movie. It didn't seem to have to unfold that way in terms of character development, but at least they understood that they had a complicating script to work with and tried to clear the air as best as possible.

For a film with such adult-like tones in back-and-forth conversation and scenes, mixed with some light mild entertainment and short-cut action, it's hard to tell who would be most pleased by Gibson's latest addition to his resume. I'll say that I saw it once and that was enough for me. Just know that you're not going into this movie and hope that it's all about kicking ***, because Edge of Darkness has little to do with that. In a way the 6.8 overall score it has on IMDb is mostly deserving, but it's a bit harsh at the same time.

Thanks for the review as this movie is On Demand and i'm thinking of renting it but it looked like a rote and by the numbers action flick. I'm glad to hear that it's a bit deeper though the whole conspiracy theory stuff makes me leery of it. I'll eventually watch it though.

[Blzer]

Re: What movies have you seen recently? Part 1

Thanks for the review as this movie is On Demand and i'm thinking of renting it but it looked like a rote and by the numbers action flick. I'm glad to hear that it's a bit deeper though the whole conspiracy theory stuff makes me leery of it. I'll eventually watch it though.

I don't really know if I want to call it a "conspiracy" of sorts though I know I used that word, but it's one of those movies (akin to State of Play as I said) where there's more behind the story than you think there should be, there needs to be, or there's wanted to be. It plays off a grander scheme of things rather than being subtle and only within the main character's ideals.

[WeLLWeLL]

Re: What movies have you seen recently? Part 1

Scratch - its a documentary about turntablism/DJing and I thought it was really cool to watch and learn a little about it. A lot of those things are just awe inspiring to me.

Good documentary.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: What movies have you seen recently? Part 1

It really is. I kept having to pick up my mouth off the floor watching Qbert DJ and how fast he was moving that fader and equalizers, totally unreal.

[marshallfever]

Re: What movies have you seen recently? Part 1

Kick-***: 8.7 Awesome movie. Just can't say enough about it, it was swell. I enjoyed every minute of it because it was entertaining throughout the entire thing

[Bellsprout]

Re: What movies have you seen recently? Part 1

The Ugly Truth: I want to stress right away that I had no say in this. I feel like that needed to be said. If I had say, we never would've rented something this god freaking terrible. Boring and terribly unfunny all the way through. Try to buy Gerard Butler in this kind of movie after seeing him kill people with no mercy in Law Abiding Citizen. Scratch that. Try to buy Gerard Butler in this kind of movie at all. He's laughably unfunny as the movie decided to litter itself with obscenities to try to keep the male audience somewhat interested. Didn't work. It felt forced, and it felt crass. Katherine Heigl's serviceable, I guess, as the lead. She's fun to look at, but not all that interesting a character. There are few positive things I can say about this movie. Actually, scratch that, too. There's nothing positive to say. From the opening second to the incredibly cliche even for a rom-com ending, nothing went right. If you're going to try to be a rated R rom-com, Heigl has to get topless to give this movie two redeeming qualities. That's the very least that has to happen. That didn't happen, so there's no reason you should ever watch this.

Oh, and apparently the dude at the video store told my aunt (family weekend at the cottage up north) that he liked this movie better than the other one we rented, The Hurt Locker. I lol'd.

[daflyboys]

Re: What movies have you seen recently? Part 1

Housesitter - Goldie Hawn & Steve Martin. Good comedy romp and the people that Hawn gets to play her parents are golden ... especially the dad.

[daflyboys]

Re: What movies have you seen recently? Part 1

Big Fan .... trailer good ..... movie not so mauccchhh. Slow. Listed as a black comedy which surprised me. Hardly that.

[Buckeyes_Doc]

Re: What movies have you seen recently? Part 1

Big Fan .... trailer good ..... movie not so mauccchhh. Slow. Listed as a black comedy which surprised me. Hardly that.

Agreed. I heard a lot of good things about it on here and I like Patton Oswalt but was disappointed in this. It bored me.