What movies have you seen recently?

[Pappy Knuckles]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Haywire -I wouldn't exactly call this a good movie, but I found it enjoyable nevertheless. The action scenes had a bit of realism to them and it was interesting enough to keep my attention for the entire film. I'm not sure why they altered Gina's voice in the movie though. I don't highly recommend it, but it's watchable.

[DJ]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Haywire -I wouldn't exactly call this a good movie, but I found it enjoyable nevertheless. The action scenes had a bit of realism to them and it was interesting enough to keep my attention for the entire film. I'm not sure why they altered Gina's voice in the movie though. I don't highly recommend it, but it's watchable.

I believe it was done to make her sound tougher or more menacing. She talked about it in a few interviews leading up to the movie.

I had totally forgotten about this film. I'll give it a rent. Carano is easy on the eyes, and the action scenes from the trailers looked good.

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Been on a westerns kick lately so i've watched two of em lately. One is obscure as hell and the other is a hidden gem.


Rimfire (1949): If I wanted to be really snarky I would say this movie should stay in obscurity but that would be a bit unfair as there are some elements that make it at least watchable. This is clearly a B movie but what makes it interesting is that it tries to bring a noir element to the western genre even if it doesn't succeed very well with it. Here's the plot synopsis:

An undercover army officer investigating the theft of army gold shipments takes a job as deputy in a small town that's being terrorized by what they believe is the ghost of a gambler who was wrongly convicted and hanged for those robberies.

The gambler is a character by the name of The Abilene Kid and I have to tell you i'd prefer if this movie was solely about him rather than following the aftermath of his killing. The lead actor in this flick who plays the army officer is a guy by the name of James Millican who from what I gather was a familiar face but not one who usually got the lead role. You can tell he was a little out of his depth which probably explains why the movie pays more attention to the Abilene Kid and his exploits for about half the running time then shifts to the "main" story. The mystery of who the killer is was done pretty well and there are a couple red herrings that are plausible so it's not that easy to spot who the killer is. I for one thought it was on of the red herrings and was pleasantly surprised to see who it was that was doing the murders. Another aspect that was interesting was how the killings were dictated by a (I believe) poker hand with the cards corresponding to each victim.

In that sense the film was pretty clever but its downfall was the rather bland lead character and the over use of the "comedy" of Fuzzy Knight and Chris-Pin Martin who played very broad town idiots. The lack of any real action also hurts this flick and so it's only one of those flicks that if you somehow come across it in the cheapie bin (it's bundled with another movie) it's worth picking up for a couple bucks.

2 out of 5 stars.


Horizons West (1952): Now this is a hidden gem! It's directed by one of my favorite western directors in Bud Boetticher who is most known today for his series of westerns that he did with Randolph Scott. This movie was one of, if not the first western he did and it has most of the hallmarks that made his westerns unique. The cast is splendid too with Robert Ryan, Rock Hudson, Raymond Burr, Julie Adams (best known for being in Creature from the Black Lagoon) and James Arness. Here's the plot summary:

After the American Civil War, the brothers Dan (Ryan) and Neil (Hudson) Hammond return to their father's ranch H Circle in Austin, Texas with their friend Tiny (Arness). Greedy Dan does not adapt to ranching again and has the intention of raising a fortune of his own. He borrows one thousand dollars from a friend and plays cards with the wealthy Cord Hardin. (Burr) However he loses five thousand dollars and Hardin humiliates Dan. He recruits dangerous deserters to form a gang, and together they steal the cattle of Cord and other ranchers. Dan raises a large amount of money and returns to Austin, lying that he made a fortune in New Orleans. When Cord kidnaps Neil to interrogate him about his brother's business, Cord's wife Lorna (Adams) goes to the hotel and tells Dan what is happening at the ranch

That gives you enough plot to see for yourself if you'd be interested. First of all I have to say that the psychology of the characters is pretty interesting and while it's not revolutionary or anything you do get a good sense for what they're feeling and where they're coming from. Dan is a guy who got used to the excitement of the Civil War and just can't get used to the idea of ranching again and living off the land while Neil is a simpler guy who is perfectly content to keep the ranching business going. Robert Ryan does a great job of making Dan seem sympathetic even after he goes up against Hardin after losing the poker game and that's because Raymond Burr does a masterful job of playing the powerful A-hole type.

One of the strange things about this movie and it shows the psychological dexterity of the characters is that Lorna wants Dan but while Hardin is around he keeps his desires in check yet he breaks every rule in the book in order to obtain his empire. So one gets the sense that Dan is driven by the desire to make it big but is a gentleman in other ways which shows how complex he can be.

Unfortunately the other characters save for Burr don't really have THAT much to do. Rock Hudson is rather unsteady in his role but it kinda fits the rather naive and innocent Neil Hammond character while Adams is mainly there to ogle and be Ryan's woman. The movie does take a turn about midway through which I won't spoil but suffice it to say that the people of Austin turns against Dan and for good reason.

If you can find this somewhere I urge you to watch it as it's a fine film and Robert Ryan gives a very strong performance. I give this a hearty recommendation despite the last 3rd of the movie being kinda predictable.

[dickey1331]

Saw Think Like A Man yesterday. It was hilarious. Much funnier then I thought it would be. Highly recommend it.


Do you really care where I sent this from?

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

IP Man. Another very well done martial arts movie. Didn't feel like reading English subtitles so listened to the English dubbing. Great action sequences especially the last 3rd of the movie. Will probably watch the sequel tonight.

In Transit. Story line you've seen before. Family gets caught up with some bad guys. The pacing and development of the characters was good considering the type of movie this is. Definitely had me rooting for them. Worth a rental.

[SlimKibbles]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Hanna (2011)

Ehhhhhh.... This was a little bit too offbeat in style for my tastes and the meandering pace for the most part kinda bored me a bit. I can't say it was a bad movie but I can certainly think of a much better movie with a similar concept to this. (another European film which i'm sure many have already seen) I can at least say that Saoirse Ronan did a wonderful job in her part as the lead character.

I give this about 2 and a quarter stars.

If its any consolation I thought the movie was really good.

Agreed. I thought it was awesome.

I finally watched this on Saturday. I'm going to go with I thought it was a good movie, like FT said. I didn't even know Eric Bana was in it too. I thought the story was pretty plausible. I agree with you, SPTO, on Ronan doing a great job in the lead role. Cate Blanchett did a good job too. The only things that kind of bothered me...

Spoiler

How did the little boy, Miles, know that Hanna was going to Berlin? I don't remember her saying anything to him, or the family, about it. Also, when Hanna went back to Mr. Grimm's house at the end, why would Cate Blanchett's character go back there and even reach Hanna just after she arrives? It just seemed too easy like Blanchett's character was omniscient or something.

[Buckeyes_Doc]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Leaves of Grass:

Clever dark comedy, starring Edward Norton as two very opposite identical twins. If you are a fan of the Coen Brothers I think you will enjoy this. Directed by Tim Blake Nelson.

Hop:

Pretty good animated movie. The visuals were great.

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

I watched most of Crash last night, pretty good movie but I think it's a bit overrated in that it won Best Picture. Still some of the story arcs and the honesty in confronting racial issues was well done.

[Beantown]

I watched most of Crash last night, pretty good movie but I think it's a bit overrated in that it won Best Picture. Still some of the story arcs and the honesty in confronting racial issues was well done.

It beat Brokeback Mountain, Munich, Capote and Good Night, And Good Lick that year. It's a better movie than those four.

[Cabke]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Good Night, And Good Lick

Is that the "alternate" version?

[Beantown]

Is that the "alternate" version?

Yeah, It won a few awards a the AVNs.

[jfsolo]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

I finally watched this on Saturday. I'm going to go with I thought it was a good movie, like FT said. I didn't even know Eric Bana was in it too. I thought the story was pretty plausible. I agree with you, SPTO, on Ronan doing a great job in the lead role. Cate Blanchett did a good job too. The only things that kind of bothered me...

Spoiler

How did the little boy, Miles, know that Hanna was going to Berlin? I don't remember her saying anything to him, or the family, about it. Also, when Hanna went back to Mr. Grimm's house at the end, why would Cate Blanchett's character go back there and even reach Hanna just after she arrives? It just seemed too easy like Blanchett's character was omniscient or something.

I give the first 55 minutes of Hanna a 9, and the last 55 minutes a 4. Awesome concept, great start, but they lost their way and imploded in the end, IMO.

[bd007h]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Watched 30 Minutes or Less last night. Decent movie. However about 30 minutes in I asked myself

Spoiler

Why doesn't Jessie Eisenberg's character just have his friend call 911. The 2 crooks aren't monitoring him....

[Gibbz]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

It beat Brokeback Mountain, Munich, Capote and Good Night, And Good Lick that year. It's a better movie than those four.

I thought Good Night, And Good Luck was the best of that pack.

[Cabke]

I thought Good Night, And Good Luck was the best of that pack.

I would agree, but Munich and Capote were both great. That was a good year for movies. I've always thought Crash was overrated though.