What movies have you seen recently?

[godway]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

John Wick. Loved it. Was like a gift from action movie heaven that reminded you of how simplistic and cool that genre used to be when done right. I loved the cool fantasy crime universe it created within movie, too.

[RockinDaMike]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

John Wick. Loved it. Was like a gift from action movie heaven that reminded you of how simplistic and cool that genre used to be when done right. I loved the cool fantasy crime universe it created within movie, too.

Absolutely, I hope the sequel explores that world and the hotel more.

Sent from my Lenovo S860 using Tapatalk

[The JareBear]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

John Wick. Loved it. Was like a gift from action movie heaven that reminded you of how simplistic and cool that genre used to be when done right. I loved the cool fantasy crime universe it created within movie, too.

A lot of people I know didn't give this movie a chance because "Keanu Reeves has been crap after the matrix" according to them but this movie is surprisingly good. Fun action flick

[godway]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

A lot of people I know didn't give this movie a chance because "Keanu Reeves has been crap after the matrix" according to them but this movie is surprisingly good. Fun action flick

I can see that, Keanu has done a lot of crap, but he did a lot of crap before the Matrix too. His career is filled with really cool movies among his bad ones, the guy has done his fair share of good work that he rarely ever gets credit for.

I think people didn't give John Wick a chance because it was unheard of territory. They probably mistook it for one of Nicholas Cage's direct to DVD generic action flicks, since they didn't know any better from the trailers.

Everything today is either a franchise (Marvel, DC, etc), or a reboot/remake/sequel of some previously popular series (Mad Max, Jurassic World, Godzilla). John Wick was an original action movie, with a lead who's been pretty under the radar the last 5-10 years, and a supporting cast of awesome, yet not name people. There wasn't going to be much appeal to the mainstream, especially when the action genre no longer exists.

This is also what I loved about the movie, though. It is its own franchise now. It starred a bunch of awesome people in the supporting roles like Ian McShane, Adrianne Palicki, Lance Reddick, John Leguizamo, Dean Winters, Clarke Peters, etc.. It was refreshing to see Keanu do a movie like this, too, instead of going back in time and trying to parody himself like Arnold and Stallone have been doing for 10 years with all of their awful movies.

I'll bet John Wick 2 does a bigger opening than John Wick did. Word of mouth means SO much more today than it did 10-20 years ago. With streaming, internet, blu ray, dvd, good movies are going to find an audience.

[The JareBear]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Word of mouth is huge now. People leave the theaters on opening day and start tweeting/facebooking and that can make or break some movies.

I agree, the sequel should be great

[godway]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Word of mouth is huge now. People leave the theaters on opening day and start tweeting/facebooking and that can make or break some movies.

I agree, the sequel should be great

Absolutely. Works the same way with TV shows, too. Breaking Bad found a whole new audience through Netflix while they were heading into their final season(s). And that's something that would not have happened 10-20 years ago. That show could have been canceled 10 years ago. The Wire had to fight to stay on the air every season.

Now is a great time to be a creatively solid product, because the audience will find you no matter what.

I feel like John Wick is going to have an audience. You know why? Because you watch the Summer movie preview this year, and what do you see? Super heroes. Dinosaurs. Robots. And lots of CGI nonsense. Too much. John Wick is a movie that uses traditional stunt work and tough guy fight scenes. No hanging on wires in front of green screens there.

Mad Max was a huge success for being a blockbuster in the vein of old school stunt work/FX, John Wick is on a smaller scale than that, but same principle. I think with those two movies we might be seeing the return of real stunt work again.

[daflyboys]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Speaking of which.... Mad Max: Fury Road

That production was from one crazy *** mind!

Slight spoiler / no plot point ruined

Spoiler

When the old lady bikers showed up, all I could think of was:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/bIHF4rVTK4E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[The JareBear]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

So I finally watched Gone Girl. I had managed to avoid any and all spoilers about the film, which was great, my only preconceived notion was that the ending was a big deal of sorts to a lot of people.

My thoughts:

Obvious spoilers ahead

Spoiler

I think it is the perfect ending. Frankly, I think it is the only ending that works.

All movie long they both make references to not being "that couple," or stuff like "I thought we weren't going to be like that."

In the end, that is exactly what they are. They are your a metaphor for the average American nightmare. The whole "stay together for the kids" cliche embodied, except to the polar extreme. It furthers the Amy's character, and her brilliance, since this is the ONLY move that would make Nick stay. They reference the fact that Nick had a terrible father, and apparently this is bigger factor in the book than the movie, and the thought of him abandoning his child to be raised by her, a sociopath, a child he knew would grow up to hate him under her control, he couldn't bear it. The messed up'ness of the situation, how disturbing it is when all tied together, I think is very well done and effectively thought provoking. That chick also knocks it out of the park, whoever the actress is, as far as turning Amy into a world class calculated killer mastermind, she just really does a great job.

I don't understand were upset or unhappy with the ending. Let's look at the options:

A.) He turns her in, justice is served. That's pretty vanilla, honestly. That's the ending to 95 percent of other movies like this. The bad guy in prison. Amazing Amy pregnant in a cell. His child is born in a prison. That would have been way too easy a way out, IMO.

B.) He goes to jail. This would have been edgier, I would have accepted this. It would have had a "Silence of the Lambs" kind of feel knowing the maniac was out there still, not knowing what she would do next. This ending probably would have pissed people off too, this would not have been a feel good ending at all.

C.) The actual ending they give us. She's still at large, but he's proven innocent. He is confronted with a crazy, life altering choice. He chooses the baby, to continue with the sick game for the sake of being a father. I admit that it is slightly over the top that she gets away with it, you would think between her two scams there would HAVE to be a mistake, a missing link. Whatever tho

I like this story a lot because really a lot of the characters are unlikable. He's really a pretty crappy dude, in a sense. She's obviously a sociopath murderer. Desi is a creepball as well and basically was committing murder himself by willingly going along with her plan knowing Nick would end up on death row. Her parents are kind of bad as well, taking all her money and putting the couple in a tougher spot.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

My thoughts:

Obvious spoilers ahead

Spoiler

I think it is the perfect ending. Frankly, I think it is the only ending that works.

All movie long they both make references to not being "that couple," or stuff like "I thought we weren't going to be like that."

In the end, that is exactly what they are. They are your a metaphor for the average American nightmare. The whole "stay together for the kids" cliche embodied, except to the polar extreme. It furthers the Amy's character, and her brilliance, since this is the ONLY move that would make Nick stay. They reference the fact that Nick had a terrible father, and apparently this is bigger factor in the book than the movie, and the thought of him abandoning his child to be raised by her, a sociopath, a child he knew would grow up to hate him under her control, he couldn't bear it. The messed up'ness of the situation, how disturbing it is when all tied together, I think is very well done and effectively thought provoking. That chick also knocks it out of the park, whoever the actress is, as far as turning Amy into a world class calculated killer mastermind, she just really does a great job.

I don't understand were upset or unhappy with the ending. Let's look at the options:

A.) He turns her in, justice is served. That's pretty vanilla, honestly. That's the ending to 95 percent of other movies like this. The bad guy in prison. Amazing Amy pregnant in a cell. His child is born in a prison. That would have been way too easy a way out, IMO.

B.) He goes to jail. This would have been edgier, I would have accepted this. It would have had a "Silence of the Lambs" kind of feel knowing the maniac was out there still, not knowing what she would do next. This ending probably would have pissed people off too, this would not have been a feel good ending at all.

C.) The actual ending they give us. She's still at large, but he's proven innocent. He is confronted with a crazy, life altering choice. He chooses the baby, to continue with the sick game for the sake of being a father. I admit that it is slightly over the top that she gets away with it, you would think between her two scams there would HAVE to be a mistake, a missing link. Whatever tho

I like this story a lot because really a lot of the characters are unlikable. He's really a pretty crappy dude, in a sense. She's obviously a sociopath murderer. Desi is a creepball as well and basically was committing murder himself by willingly going along with her plan knowing Nick would end up on death row. Her parents are kind of bad as well, taking all her money and putting the couple in a tougher spot.

What annoyed most, including myself,....

Spoiler

Dude spent the last 1/3 to 1/2 of the movie trying to get away from her. Then, when finally given the opportunity he stays with her. After all that, really? Just left a bad taste in my mouth. It's like those movies where after all the action, the twist is that it was all just a dream.

That being said, I would recommend the movie. However, now knowing the ending, I have no impulse to watch (or buy) in the future.

[Bellsprout]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

I cried. Shut up. It was beautiful.

[redsox4evur]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Ted 2...Very good movie. Had some hilarious parts to it. And some mini-surprises as well. All in all good movie.

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

I'm not overly familiar with the Spaghetti Western genre (i've seen the Man with No Name trilogy and a couple others) so it's always good when I run into one that catches my attention and is actually GOOD.


Gentleman Killer (1967)


Apparently this movie is in the public domain so there are prints that range from terrible to fairly good. I happened to watch a widescreen print that was quite good to watch. The movie has a simple plot as a town that's on the US/Mexico border is in dispute as to whether it belongs to the US or Mexico. A bandit leader named Colonel Ferreres and his gang are menacing the town and trying to take the money from the bank headed up by a Mr. Morrison who plans to take the gold to El Paso with other men from the town.

Enter Gentleman Jo (Anthony Steffan) a real dandy of a guy who gets on the bad side of Ferreres and his men to the point that there's a near shootout at the saloon which was stopped by Captain Clay Reeves who has jurisdiction of the town for the time being. Apparently Jo and Reeves know each other and cooler heads prevail. Reeves ends up being killed later on after Ferreres and his men rescue one of their gang from the jail and it's now up to Gentleman Jo to keep the peace....


That's all i'll say about the plot. There's more to it but there are some twists and turns and an ending that isn't what you expect. Needless to say, this is a bit derivative but that's not necessarily a bad thing and it's probably one of those Spaghetti Westerns that neophytes like myself should see when getting into the genre. The copy I have is an english dub so one can't really tell how the acting is but generally Anthony Steffan is quite charming as the dandy who's actually proficient with a gun. Eduardo Fajardo plays Ferreres and boy, he really chews up the scenery in a good way. He almost seems a bit comical at times but just when you think the characterization is too over the top he becomes quite menacing. The character is clearly a bully and there's a subplot with one of his men being an insubordinate that has an unfortunate payoff for said insubordinate.

This was a pretty fun film to watch. There are some technical issues (one scene is supposed to be at night as you hear crickets but it's clearly shot in the day time) but one can overlook them as this is pretty entertaining. I felt it kind of dragged 3/4ths of the way through but the finale picks things right up and as I said the ending was a little surprising.

If you can find this somewhere and are a fan of Spaghetti Westerns I would recommend it. In fact, tonight I will probably be watching another Spaghetti which should be VERY interesting as it transplants the JFK assassination to the Old West. I will give a report of what I think of it tomorrow.

[GOBLUE_08]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Absolutely, I hope the sequel explores that world and the hotel more.

Sent from my Lenovo S860 using Tapatalk

The Underworld element is what made the movie really enjoyable for me. I saw it for the first time a few days ago and I missed the first 10 minutes or so because kids...So I didn't know Keanu was gonna be a bad *** like that. I thought he was just a regular dude.

[The JareBear]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

I cried. Shut up. It was beautiful.

This movie looks really really good. I bought the book after I saw the trailer for it a few days ago. Is it already out in theaters?

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The Price of Power (1969)

Now this was awesome celluloid spaghetti! As I said at the tail end of my last review this movie is basically the JFK assassination plot transplanted to the old west and for most of the movie that's just what it is but there's MORE! The president (played by Van Johnson but interestingly they used another actor's voice for the American dub!) is nearly killed on the way to Texas as the plotters try to blow up a bridge. A young man by the name of Bill Willer (Giuliano Gemma) saves the president from this fate. It turns out Willer was a traitor to the North during the Civil War and was tried/sentenced by said president. Willer has another purpose in looking out for the president as his father was killed by the plotters for trying to warn people about the plot.

The movie gets a bit complicated but needless to say there's a powerful cabal of Southern money men who want the president killed and has the Vice President under their thumb. You throw in McDonald, (Warren Vanders) the president's adviser playing both sides (the plotter and Willer) in order to save the nation from being plunged into another Civil War and you got yourselves a strong political piece with a revenge theme.

This is a very good film and one i'd give 4 1/2 stars to. I would've given it 5 stars but the way the ending came across rubbed me the wrong way so it drops a half star. You can find this movie on Youtube if you're interested. The copy I watched is a bit better than the Youtube copy but it's not bad in and of itself.

Highly recommended.