What movies have you seen recently?

[Blzer]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Olympus Has Fallen

I think Antoine Fuqua is getting better at shooting action movies. I was very surprised at the intensity that this one had, and how well the R-rating was fully taken advantage of on a pseudo-realistic level. A bit of CGI was out of place here and there, but otherwise this made for a kind of gripping film. It definitely had a Die Hard vibe going for it, yet you wouldn't knock it for its efforts and instead just praise the things that were done right. It was just missing Bruce Willis, a Christmas theme, and a true underdog theme (it had the redemption thing going for it, but not involving a love interest). The sell job really had to be in the acting though, and most of them were solid. I'm sorry I didn't see it in theaters when I tried to make a chance to, and I'll consider getting the Blu-ray the next $9.99 sale I can find on it.


White House Down

So I Redbox'ed both of these films and watched them back to back. I knew what I was getting into with this being a Roland Emmerich film, so eye-rolling moments were expected. This is an example of how downsizing this to PG-13 doesn't give you the same kind of intensity on film as the R-rating does, seeing that both films involved taking over the White House and killing people to get to the president. I thought the CGI here was just okay, but it was the green-screen effect in most scenes that was just terrible. Jamie Foxx was an unconvincing president in every shape and form, no matter who's directing or the style of the movie. What's funny is I can't get James Woods out of my head in Family Guy, so every time he was on screen and opened his mouth, I kept thinking of his cartoon self.

The "Oh brother" moments weren't as bad in this movie as they were in 2012, but it doesn't rank higher than The Day After Tomorrow for me. There are plenty of similarities here to Olympus Has Fallen as well, and the OHF wins most of the head-to-head battles in my opinion. Considering they came out around the same time I can't help but compare them, so if you had a movie to rent and don't mind a bit more bloodshed, I would pass up WHD for the other movie.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Gallow Walkers - Has Wesley Snipes in it, thought it would be at least decent, but no, it was stupid.

[KG]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Somehow my Netflix started recommending Scandinavian movies.

Ended up watching Headhunters & King of Devil's Island

Headhunters is about an art thief who poses as a recruiter for high-level positions. His motivation is his good looking wife who becomes involved with Jaime Lannister from the Game of Thrones. It's one of those puzzle movies that is a little slow at times but comes together at the end. There's a subtitle and English dub-over version. If you watch it go for the subtitle route, the English version is horrible with the readers showing little-to-no emotional range.

King of Devil's Island is about a teenager who gets sent to a boys Correctional camp. While there he challenges authority and eventually leads a rebellion which is ultimately squashed by the Warden (Stellan Skarsgard from the Dragon Tattoo). The boy was a former sailor so there's a running symbolic theme about a whale getting harpooned and refusing to quit. I thought it was pretty good and had a more realistic ending than Headhunters.

[Quint75]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Somehow my Netflix started recommending Scandinavian movies.

Ended up watching Headhunters & King of Devil's Island

Headhunters is about an art thief who poses as a recruiter for high-level positions. His motivation is his good looking wife who becomes involved with Jaime Lannister from the Game of Thrones. It's one of those puzzle movies that is a little slow at times but comes together at the end. There's a subtitle and English dub-over version. If you watch it go for the subtitle route, the English version is horrible with the readers showing little-to-no emotional range.

King of Devil's Island is about a teenager who gets sent to a boys Correctional camp. While there he challenges authority and eventually leads a rebellion which is ultimately squashed by the Warden (Stellan Skarsgard from the Dragon Tattoo). The boy was a former sailor so there's a running symbolic theme about a whale getting harpooned and refusing to quit. I thought it was pretty good and had a more realistic ending than Headhunters.

I thought Headhunters was a blast.

[55]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Aliens (1986)

No need for ten paragraphs here, we've all seen it. I like it even better than the first one.

4.75 out of 5 stars.

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

White House Down

So I Redbox'ed both of these films and watched them back to back. I knew what I was getting into with this being a Roland Emmerich film, so eye-rolling moments were expected. This is an example of how downsizing this to PG-13 doesn't give you the same kind of intensity on film as the R-rating does, seeing that both films involved taking over the White House and killing people to get to the president. I thought the CGI here was just okay, but it was the green-screen effect in most scenes that was just terrible. Jamie Foxx was an unconvincing president in every shape and form, no matter who's directing or the style of the movie. What's funny is I can't get James Woods out of my head in Family Guy, so every time he was on screen and opened his mouth, I kept thinking of his cartoon self.

The "Oh brother" moments weren't as bad in this movie as they were in 2012, but it doesn't rank higher than The Day After Tomorrow for me. There are plenty of similarities here to Olympus Has Fallen as well, and the OHF wins most of the head-to-head battles in my opinion. Considering they came out around the same time I can't help but compare them, so if you had a movie to rent and don't mind a bit more bloodshed, I would pass up WHD for the other movie.

I haven't seen this yet as i'm still on my X-Men project but it's the next modern movie viewing for me. Jamie Foxx is the president?!?

OH BROTHER......

I'll be going into it with an open mind but will be comparing to OHF as well since I saw that movie first.

[AuburnAlumni]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Only God Forgives.....


Words can't truly express how awful this abomination was.

[daflyboys]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Aliens (1986)

No need for ten paragraphs here, we've all seen it. I like it even better than the first one.

4.75 out of 5 stars.

Gotta disagree somewhat there. The original Alien was filmed so well. The lighting and sets made it that unique blend of futuristic and gritty/dirty present-day realism. The casting ensemble was superb and the unique element of the life-like robot was an surprise excellent addition. The "old" abandoned ship nest for the eggs also added that mysterious element that left you filling in the blanks for yourself at the time. With "Aliens" you had more of the campy element especially led by the way Paxton and Goldstein delivered their lines. Paul Reiser was a horrible casting move as well. He was too well known at the time as a comic stand-up/actor (sort of as bad as a casting move as Michael Keaton in Batman, imo). There were not really any more surprises in Aliens with so much revealed in the original......so it was up against the sequel let down. Maybe a 3.5/5 with "Alien" deserving a 4.5/5.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The best thing about both of those films is they are both top-notch and offer two completely different experiences. When you can go round and round over which two are the best not only in the series but in film overall it certainly says something about both. Godfather 1 and 2 can do the same.

[UWfan206]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Aliens (1986)

No need for ten paragraphs here, we've all seen it. I like it even better than the first one.

4.75 out of 5 stars.

Disagree. In my opinion the first one was better.

[Lieutenant Dan]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The best thing about both of those films is they are both top-notch and offer two completely different experiences. When you can go round and round over which two are the best not only in the series but in film overall it certainly says something about both. Godfather 1 and 2 can do the same.

Thank you.

Guys...one is a sci-fi suspense thriller, the other a sci-fi action film. Apples and oranges...

I am also pretty sure Aliens was the first of it's kind.

I love them both equally and it's a 'mood' thing for me, as each film fulfills a unique film craving for me.

Both excellent films. And yes, agree with the Godfather Parts I and II sentiment as well.

[daflyboys]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

I think it's gonna be more like Anchorman 1 and 2!

Spoiler

[DonkeyJote]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Gotta disagree somewhat there. The original Alien was filmed so well. The lighting and sets made it that unique blend of futuristic and gritty/dirty present-day realism. The casting ensemble was superb and the unique element of the life-like robot was an surprise excellent addition. The "old" abandoned ship nest for the eggs also added that mysterious element that left you filling in the blanks for yourself at the time. With "Aliens" you had more of the campy element especially led by the way Paxton and Goldstein delivered their lines. Paul Reiser was a horrible casting move as well. He was too well known at the time as a comic stand-up/actor (sort of as bad as a casting move as Michael Keaton in Batman, imo). There were not really any more surprises in Aliens with so much revealed in the original......so it was up against the sequel let down. Maybe a 3.5/5 with "Alien" deserving a 4.5/5.

Michael Keaton bad as Batman? Are you kidding me?!?!?! He was awesome in that role.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[daflyboys]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Michael Keaton bad as Batman? Are you kidding me?!?!?! He was awesome in that role.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Michael Keaton is Mr. Mom.... not Mr. Batman.

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Michael Keaton is Mr. Mom.... not Mr. Batman.

You might have a slight point there. I think Keaton was PERFECT as Bruce Wayne. His Batman was adequate, maybe even a bit stiff but you know what? I think that's a great way of interpreting the character as I think that's how a real life rich guy would be Batman. One aspect I liked about Keaton is that his Batman was pretty much even keeled and determined as opposed to Christian Bale who tried to be a force of nature what with that annoying gravelly voice and being all "I'm the Goddamned Batman!" in his persona. I also found that Bale was too busy being super serious with no room for other emotions. Yes, Keaton's Batman was pretty serious but I always got the feeling that he'd eventually lighten up at some point. His Batman looked like a guy who'd eventually have a Robin, Bale does not.