What movies have you seen recently?

[Chrisksaint]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

X-Men First Class

Fantastic movie, great performances all around. Would definitely watch again and can't wait until the next movie.

[Bmore Irish]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Killer Joe (2012) -

Matt McConaughey is a star in this one, and he plays his character excellently; I daresay shades of Patrick Bateman. To that point, if you enjoyed American Psycho, I recommend this movie to you. If that type of movie is repugnant to you, then you likely won't enjoy this one. I was enthralled, and almost feel bad for having enjoyed the watch so much.

I thought it was a masterful film in many ways, including the lead performances. Will watch again.

[goh]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The Sentinel
I wasn't expecting much but it was actually alright. It started out good,then got better with the usual horror plot twist,then kinda sunk for a while and got good again with more horror plot twist. Christopher Walken has a small part.

Eaten Alive
Nothing special but it hits everything on the "this makes a decent horror movie" trope list.

[MachineGunLotto]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Grown Ups 2- it was ok, didn't really laugh but overall a good movie.

[JazzMan]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

I went to The Conjuring Wednesday night with some friends. I don't know if it was because everybody else in the theater was screaming or if it was truly a scary movie, but I jumped quite a bit. I might actually be picking this one up when it comes out on Blu Ray.

[Bmore Irish]

Yea I just saw The Conjuring tonight, pretty damn scary. I jumped more than a few times. Plus the topic of content always creeps me out.

I get home I'm asked about the movie and I make a joke that hopefully the guy who lived here before us and died here is friendly. Of course no more than a minute later the power shuts off and comes back on about 30 seconds later . Gonna be a long night lol.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

[mestevo]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Enjoyed The Wolverine. Some stuff had me thinking it was going to go downhill towards the end, but overall I liked it.

Stay for a scene after the initial batch of credits.

[Kearnzo]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Evil Dead (2013) - Just picked it up on Blu Ray. Loved it in theaters, loved it at home. Not much to say that hasn't been said before. If you're in for a gorefest, this has all you need. Plus, it's funny watching the wife squirm.

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Godzilla/Kaiju movie review

Well it's that time again folks

King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

Now as a reminder I watched the Japanese version. As of a couple years ago there wasn't a US release of that version though you could pick it up and play on a region free DVD player or acquire through er "other" means.


Plot Summary:

Mr. Tako, the advertising head of a pharmaceutical company sponsoring a low rated television show called "Mysteries of the World", decides the show needs some spicing up. So he sends two of his staff, Osamu Sakurai and Kinsaburo Furue, to Pharoh Island to bring back some berries, called soma, noted for their non-addictive narcotic effect. He also wants the two to bring back proof of a giant ape named King Kong. As this is going on, a submarine collides with an iceberg releasing Godzilla, who was trapped there seven years earlier. When Osamu and Kinsaburo arrive at Pharoh, they not only find the berries but the giant ape. After a battle with a giant octopus, Kong drinks the juice that is made from the berries and falls asleep. While he is sleeping, the pair tie him to a raft and take him back to Japan. In the meantime, Godzilla is rampaging throughout the Japanese countryside. While in route to Japan, Kong breaks free and swims toward Japan and inevitably on a collision course with Godzilla.

Wow does this movie have some issues! First of all, the movie is helmed by the guy who directed the first Godzilla movie but he went in a completely different direction this time around and one that pretty much undermines the movie from a straightforward "enjoy it on its merits" viewing. The other thing is the pacing. The movie employs a ton of fadeouts and swipe cuts which make it a bit disjointed. It also doesn't help that the King Kong subplot moves a LOT faster than the slow, plodding Godzilla subplot so the movie is pretty herky jerky from that standpoint.

So how did the change in direction send this movie spiraling? Well instead of going for a dark and depressing atmosphere the director Ishirô Honda decided to go for a more lighthearted comedic style. This means that the allegory/social commentary was relegated to satire. This tact led to many of the human characters being complete buffoons! Basically the satire was based on commercialism and how it effects the media, business and people in general. Tako, from the very moment you first lay eyes on him is fuming and overacting while watching the TV show. He facially reminds me of Grouch Marx and a lot of physical mannerisms echoes that of a younger Jerry Lewis. So you already have one character who's completely out there.

Even the more serious character in Sakurai is saddled with a cartoon character of a sidekick in Furue who is basically your typical scaredy cat sidekick while they're out at Pharaoh island. Speaking of Pharaoh island, that section of the movie is the height of the silliness as they get captured by the natives who are played by Japanese in blackface! Their guide is a silly little man who tries to insure the safety of his compatriots but since that doesn't work Sakurai jumps in offering a transistor radio then they start giving out cigarettes to the natives, including a kid!

So yeah, there's a ton of absurdity in this flick which undermines a lot of the good stuff including the great Octopus attack/King Kong fight scene. That scene was pretty cool as they used 4 live octopi and with camera trickery made them look much bigger than they are which gave the scene a reality that would've been lessened with a prop monster.

So now to the stuff that REALLY matters Godzilla and King Kong getting it on! First of all, the prop/sfx people decided to make Godzilla look less threatening and even a little more reptilian. It's not the greatest look in the world but one thing it did was give Godzilla a bit more personality. He's not just a force of nature in this flick and he actually shows more than one emotion in this movie which is the beginning of the humanizing of Godzilla for lack of a better term. King Kong on the other hand looks like utter crap! It looks like they got the suit from some third rate costume store and the goofy look on his face makes him look a bit dumb.

They also took some liberties with these guys in that King Kong was enlarged so he could stand toe to toe with Godzilla which I can understand but then they make Godzilla, a monster who came out of the depths from radiation vulnerable to electricity while King Kong gets stronger from it. It's a cheap way to even the odds a bit. That being said, the final fight between the two is EPIC! It's definitely the best piece of action involving Godzilla so far in his history so if that's a harbinger of good things to come then i'll be very pleased however we're heading into an era where Godzilla starts to progressively get goofier so I dunno.....

One last bit of business here, despite all the flaws I really enjoyed the movie. the silliness does undercut a lot of things and the pacing is pretty effed up but it gives the movie a cheesy, drive-in movie quality that's fun. The movie also pretty much establishes the formula for future movies in the structure as we get the build up for each monster than they duke it out in the end.

I give this 4 out of 5.

[daflyboys]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Just got back from Pacific Rim and pretty much what most have said. If you don't take it seriously and just expect a fun, popcorn movie with some amazing CGI, that's what it is. The battle scenes were well done.

[ScoobySnax]

@SPTO - Have you ever thought about film critiquing? Seems like you have a true passion for film. I'm sure a blog from you would blow up after a while.

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

@SPTO - Have you ever thought about film critiquing? Seems like you have a true passion for film. I'm sure a blog from you would blow up after a while.

Yep maybe I should stop spamming this thread and sign up with blogger and do a film blog.

EDIT: Well i've started a blog. Nothing new just the Godzilla movies. I'm hoping to get allowance to put the link on my sig.

[buickbeast]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Just saw Mercury Rising on Netflix.

Summery:
Bruce Willis is an outcast FBI agent who is assigned to protect a 9 year old autistic boy who is the target for assassins after cracking a top secret government code that Alec Baldwin of the NSA is in charge of.

This movie was done in '98 and wow, talk about a movie ahead of its time.
Seems like this foretold the Patriot Act =/

7/10

[bigbob]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Sharknado
-7/10.

Speechless. Absolutely speechless.

There's not much else to say.

[Mo]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

I watched about 20 minutes of End of Watch.

Burn the rest in a fire.