What movies have you seen recently?

[Blzer]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Horrible Bosses

Made it a blind-buy when I found it cheap at Best Buy ($12). This movie has some okay replay value, and wasn't bad, though wasn't the comedy of the year or anything.

Most characters were easy to like in one way or another, even the targeted bosses. Aniston was awesome in her role! Charlie Day's character was a bit of a toss-up... his acting made for some annoying moments that took me out of the moment, but on the other hand he had some excellent comedic timing. Jamie Foxx also had some gold scenes.

The good thing about a film like this is it doesn't have time to really fall off once it decides to pick up. There isn't time to involve drama or anything in a film like this, yet it isn't too slapstick to be ridiculously stupid like Date Night decided to be. It's engaging enough to decide to stick around and see what happens by the end, which wasn't rushed at all.

I saw the "Totally Inappropriate Edition" of this film, which is like over ten minutes longer, so I'll have to check out the theatrical version next and see if it helps take out some of the unnecessary raunchiness (pretty much in dialogue only) and will actually better the film. However, most of the stuff that I saw was okay in the movie as it was. I don't really see them removing any scenes, but just trimming the fat off some of them.

I'd recommend it either way. I don't think it will come home with anything in the fan's hearts, but the good cast helps support the granular script. I also thought that the picture was beautifully saturated, contrasting, and dealt greatly with dark tones.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Sucker Punch. Near perfect from a technical standpoint. Top notch audio and visuals.

The fighting sequences were amazing with well done CGI. The plot and everything else in the movie were meh.

If I re-watch it'll be just skipping to the fighting.

[goh]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

30 Minutes or Less

Decent I suppose. The problem was the sidekicks stole the show and the main characters weren't particularly intresting. Loved the ending. Could've done without the post credits scene. I just let it run because I liked the songs,didn't know there was one. Though I suppose that means in the end...

Spoiler

the bad guys actually won.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Despicable Me - I thought this was great. It surprised me in much of the same way How To Train Your Dragon did. The animation art wasn't the best, but I really liked the characters and thought the cast did an awesome job, especially Carell. Outside of the story and characters, the movie was also hilarious and often times felt equal parts James Bond, spy v. spy, Roadrunner, and surprisingly adult at times (I never would have imagined seeing a direct shout out to Lehman Brothers in a kid's movie). Great movie.

[Scott]

Despicable Me - I thought this was great. It surprised me in much of the same way How To Train Your Dragon did. The animation art wasn't the best, but I really liked the characters and thought the cast did an awesome job, especially Carell. Outside of the story and characters, the movie was also hilarious and often times felt equal parts James Bond, spy v. spy, Roadrunner, and surprisingly adult at times (I never would have imagined seeing a direct shout out to Lehman Brothers in a kid's movie). Great movie.

This is definitely one of my favorite animated movies.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[goh]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Another Earth

This one just felt special. I won't get into anything because I wouldn't want to spoil it. There were some really nice visual and audio tricks that tied into the story that made it better.

[WDOgF0reL1fe]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The Muppets! (The new one)

Amazing. Almost tear'd up at a couple points from pure nostalgia and awesomeness.

Cant wait for it to come out on blu ray

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

A couple movies with a theme kinda (two movies with names for titles)


Joe MacBeth (1955)

As you can imagine this was a modern take on the MacBeth play this time centering on a gangster.

Shakespeare (more-or-less) in modern gangster setting. Lily MacBeth pushes her husband Joe to rub out the reigning crime boss and become the new "kingpin" himself. Success is short- lived, however, as he confronts Lennie, a mobster whose father and wife are Joe's murder victims.

This movie is a bit of an odd duck with Paul Douglas playing MacBeth though really the role should've gone to a younger actor. Lilly MacBeth was played by Ruth Roman who was at once beautiful but deadly. There were a few shots of her where her looks could definitely kill. The rest of the cast was made up of European actors. You see, the movie was done in England with the two leads from the US and the rest made up of euro actors trying to sound American.

It didn't quite work out too well that way but a couple of those actors gave interesting performances. Bonar Colleano as Lennie was quite watchable and gave a lot of fire to his portrayal and Sid James as Banky was highly watchable. Unfortunately the rest came off being a bit forced and the movie suffers for it as well as some weirdly placed "Komedy!"

It was an interesting take on the tale and while it didn't quite work I thought it was at least watchable.

2 stars


Flaxy Martin (1949)

This is an interesting crime/quasi noir flick. It was definitely more in the B category but had a trio of good actors. Virginia Mayo played the character the movie is named after. Zachary Scott plays Walter Colby and Dorothy Malone plays Nora Carson.

Here's the summary:

Unscrupulous showgirl Flaxy Martin involves young attorney Walter Colby with mobster Hap Richie. A girl is murdered, with the evidence pointing to Flaxy, and Colby takes the rap and gets a 20 year sentence. San Malko gives Colby the clue to the real killer and, en route to prison, he escapes and is found by Nora Carson who shelters him. After escaping from one of Richie's gunmen, Walter heads for Flaxy's apartment, where she admits she double-crossed him.

That pretty much sums everything up

There are a couple things that nearly breaks the suspension of disbelief. It isn't quite stated in that summary but Colby basically takes the rap for the murder to shelter Flaxy and he'd find some way to take the heat off him because all the evidence points to Flaxy. That alone is just mind boggling. You see, Colby and Flaxy are having an affair under Richie's nose and are trying to go off on their own so basically I guess Colby was thinking with the wrong head? "shrug"

The other incident has to do with Nora as she finds Colby on the road as he's escaped and nurses him. So she keeps him at her place and the next day comes home finding out that he's being hunted by the police. Instead of calling the cops and such she STILL protects him and wants to help because she thinks he's a decent guy.

So yeah, some of the character motivations in this flick is a bit wonky which is a shame because the acting is quite good. Zachary Scott is pretty damn convincing as the gangland lawyer who wants out of the racket and who seeks revenge after finding out that he's being a patsy. There's shades of Lee Marvin's character in Point Blank to Scott's performance as he relentlessly goes to confront Flaxy. Flaxy of course is played up as a femme fatele who not only wraps her fingers around Colby but Richie as well. Virginia Mayo does a really good job vamping it up though for a movie named after her character she isn't seen much in it. Finally Dorothy Malone really shines with her farm girl innocence here.

So despite some wonky motivations the movie is quite watchable and the acting superb. I give this about 2 1/2 stars.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The Bourne Identity - Admittedly, it has been awhile since I've seen this. Since then I've reread the book and I don't think I've seen Identity since Ultimatum came out, but I've always held this as my favorite of the series. Watching it last night, I remembered it being better than what I thought it was. The cast is great, but the real stars are the fight scenes and the chase scene. The pen fight scene might be one of my favorite fight scenes simply because Bourne kicks *** with a 99 cent ball-point pen. The "fight" with Clive Owen is another favorite because its a cat-mouse game flipped on its head and smart use of the field setting.

The thing that really stuck out to me was the pacing during the middle as it seemed to slow down a little bit, including multiple recaps and some hand-holding. It's still a very good film, just not as great as I remember it being.

[fistofrage]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Eurotrip......I laughed alot, it was really funny. Scotty Doesn't Know!

[daflyboys]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Fargo. It's been a long time, but maintains its' brilliance.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The Bourne Supremacy - Other than two things, I have to say this is better than Identity. The fight scenes are slightly better even despite being less about strategy and intellect, but the intrigue is more interesting on the CIA/Treadstone side of things this time around. Brian Cox is great in this and fills the void of Chris Cooper as well as anyone could have. With that said, I don't enjoy the quick cutting style of this. I understand the purpose, but instead of making things chaotic yet still clear, its often just jarring for no reason. I know some people like it and its a nice way to cover up mistakes in shooting the action sequences, but the whole shaky cam + quick cuts creates more confusion than chaos for me. The action scenes did flow smoothly, but I just don't dig that style.

Also, I know with how she was portrayed in Identity that she was more of a burden, but I still don't like seeing Marie getting offed in the first 10 minutes of the movie. She could have been a useful character if written better.

[Beantown]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The Bourne Supremacy - Brian Cox is great in this and fills the void of Bradley Cooper as well as anyone could have.

I assume you mean Chris Cooper.

And if you've read the books:

Spoiler

The Conklin mis-handling in the movies in the main thing that I hate. I would've loved the Carlos the Jackal storyline to be worked in, but can live without it...but Conklin dying in the first movie instead of how it works in the books is really, really sad.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

I assume you mean Chris Cooper.

And if you've read the books:

Spoiler

The Conklin mis-handling in the movies in the main thing that I hate. I would've loved the Carlos the Jackal storyline to be worked in, but can live without it...but Conklin dying in the first movie instead of how it works in the books is really, really sad.

Ha yes, I forgot to go back and change it because I knew when I was typing it I was wrong.

And I agree with you about the books. The Jackal would have been very cool to see work out in the films (Hell you could have Identity itself be two movies), but the whole CIA/Treadstone stuff in the movies is very, very light and linear.

I'm not sure how I feel about Bourne Legacy. At first I thought it was going to be a reboot, but knowing its a sequel to the trilogy kind of kills any excitement I might have had for it.

[Blzer]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Fresh, have you seen The Bourne Ultimatum yet? Definitely my favorite of the bunch, though it seems that whenever I watch one of them again, I always call it my favorite. That said, Ultimatum is the most recent one I've watched.

Anyway, if you haven't seen it, Greengrass continues his eccentric shaky cam movement in the same fashion. If you didn't like it the first time around, you are going to be bugged with the first ten minutes of this film. Afterward, it feels more natural, and I wouldn't prefer it any other way. I thought Liman's directing worked well for Identity's story, but I wish if there was a way to be consistent with all three films, that would have been awesome.

I'm not feeling Legacy either, BTW. No Damon or Greengrass? Why bother?