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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
The movie was actually slated to come out before the TV series but ABC had such a deep hole in programming that they fast tracked the TV series. I will agree that the tone and tenor of the 2nd season is largely based on the zaniness of the movie. I'm watching the show and listening to a Batman '66 podcast (The Batcave) so I get to watch a couple episodes and listen to a discussion based on them afterwards.
ANYWAYS.......
Madigan (1968)
How can you go wrong with a cop film with Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda and James Witmore among others? Well, you can't in my opinion. This was a very gritty and tough minded flick for the time. The production was actually a bit troubled as director Don Siegel clashed with producer Fred Rosenberg but those on the set actually got along well. The movie tells a couple main stories with the main one being Widmark's Madigan character and his partner botching up the apprehension of a killer and losing him AND their guns. They have 72 hours to bring the killer to justice.
We also get the story of Henry Fonda's pompous, hypocritical police commissioner Tony Russell who plays everything by the book professionally but behind closed doors he's cheating on his own wife! I got to give credit to Fonda for making a character that could easily be hated seem somewhat likable. The whole thing with him investigating the chief inspector and his best friend James Witmore was handled quite well. There's a great scene between the two as they go to a police officers graduation ceremony and Witmore is reminiscing about their friendship and careers.
All the characters have flaws, even Widmark's as he's cheating on his wife as well and is a bit of a neglectful husband but at the same time he actually DOES love his wife. No one here is "good or bad". There's an awful lot of shades of grey.
Great late '60s flick and one you should check out IMO.Member of the Official OS Bills Backers Club
"Baseball is the most important thing that doesn't matter at all" - Robert B. ParkerComment
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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
Ip Man 3. I liked the first 2 but the 3rd installment kind of disappointed me. Not saying it's a bad movie but it is forgettable and nothing to write home about. I thought Mike Tyson's role in the movie was pointless and he had no business being in the movie. lol
I gave it a 5.5 out of 10. Maybe 6 but that's max on my scale from 1-10.Comment
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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Holy Snoke! (see what I did there? LOL) This was a very good movie. It really captured the essence of the Original Trilogy but updated the pacing more for modern audiences however unlike Abrams' other updating of a classic franchise there is enough meat on the bone to make it a worthwhile story rather than just all whiz bang action stuff. (I credit that mainly to Lawrence Kasdan) I thought that while the story has many beats that are parallels to A New Hope it does so in a creative way that doesn't feel like a plain ol' rehash.
That being said, there were a couple things I didn't like for instance, I felt that Finn was treated too much like a complete joke for the first quarter or so of the movie to the point that it kind of felt like a negative stereotyping to me however the character and his portrayal is redeemed as the film goes along. I felt like Harrison Ford really brought down the film in some aspects as he really seemed too old and tired for the role. (as an aside I cringe at the idea of the just announced new Indiana Jones film with Ford reprising his role)
Spoiler
My last complaint has to do with the main villain of the film. He just seems a bit weak though I like his background and how he fits into everything. I just feel that he doesn't really have a motivation. It's hinted at a bit so i'm sure it'll get fleshed out more in the next film but as it is, he seems to manipulated rather than manipulative.
In the end, this is a great film that harkens back to the best of the Star Wars legacy. The new characters have a lot of great potential and the acting is top notch. I also really loved BB-8. That droid really has a lot of expressiveness and personality. I can't wait to see the next two films of this trilogy.Member of the Official OS Bills Backers Club
"Baseball is the most important thing that doesn't matter at all" - Robert B. ParkerComment
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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
Finally getting around to watching the fast and furious movies I need to see. I had seen the first 2 when they came out but hadn't seen any since. I skipped Tokyo Drift, but have watched the 2009 Fast and Furious and Fast 5.
Fast and Furious was pretty meh I thought. Nothing special.
Fast 5 had a few good action moments and some funny moments. The end of the train scene was pretty epic.
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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
Tokyo Drift by far has the best cars especially Hans Veilside rx-7.... So nasty. As far as I can tell most of the drifting was real too and that was real fun to watch.
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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
Zootopia - I thought this was great and easily one of the best computer animated Disney movies. I would even stack it up against the top Pixar films. It did a great job of mixing in larger societal issues and critiques with interpersonal and more intimate topics. The humor and "cameos" were all great and I can't wait to pick up the blu-ray.
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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
Spotlight
It seems that these hard-hitting true stories always seem to be eaten up by the Oscars. Not that they shouldn't be either, and I'm glad these are made because I don't hear about them until I see the films (or at least get the best possible account of what happened).
Needless to say, as powerful as the material was, the film wasn't a BP winner in my book. The digital photography was far too muted and overemphasized on the artificial grain, there was overacting in many places (Tucci remained spot on, though), and the music dictated the emotions I was supposed to convey rather than the material speaking for itself (with the exception of the Silent Night moment, which although there was music there was told in the perfect way).
It was a good movie, but I'm allowed to be picky if this thing also wins BP. I'm not against it winning it, but I just feel there's something I have to say about it. It was a rental for me for sure, and I'd only recommend others to view it for the historical account and not the quality of the film itself (I mean look, there's only so much you can do with this material and I think they did it, but that's where the acknowledgement should really be limited to).Last edited by Blzer; 03-28-2016, 02:07 AM.Samsung PN60F8500 PDP / Anthem MRX 720 / Klipsch RC-62 II / Klipsch RF-82 II (x2) / Insignia NS-B2111 (x2) / SVS PC13-Ultra / SVS SB-2000 / Sony MDR-7506 Professional / Audio-Technica ATH-R70x / Sony PS3 & PS4 / DirecTV HR44-500 / DarbeeVision DVP-5000 / Panamax M5400-PM / Elgato HD60Comment
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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
The Walk
Man, French people always sound angry.
It had this weird jolly vibe the entire time, that it made me suspect of even the rating of the film and who the target audience was. As I suspected, it was rated PG. There's nothing wrong with PG movies at all, but from the commercials I expected something more so on the morose end. I think the lightheartedness made it easier to watch this two hour project for, though.
The only real downside to this movie was I couldn't get JGL out of my head the entire time. That's all he was, he never transformed for me. That's not his fault (I actually think he did pretty well), but I didn't get to watch the life story of Phillipe Petit as a result, and instead only got a good JGL performance. Furthermore, this may be the first ever based on a true story film I have seen that did not end with some text captions of the events thereafter regarding the true story, or even a photograph of the real individual (this would have been a perfect film to do it with too since there are such photos). Kind of strange that they went off with that.
On the other hand, this film did really well with glorifying the twin towers in their own right, making them stand for something more than just a U.S. landmark of sorts. This was encapsulated by the last words of the film, but again, no text thereafter to remind us of anything in present day. No matter, just bizarre that was the case.
This certainly made my palms sweat when it wanted to, and I didn't watch it on the largest screen or in 3D. I can only imagine what that would have been like in a 3D IMAX presentation. I probably would have left the theater with a severe case of acrophobia. The director did right by doing just enough without scaring the children, and considering most all of us know the end of this true story, we were never felt to be in too much peril with Petit. I just can't believe this was actually done, and how much planning it actually took to make it happen. A marvelous feat that was well captured on screen, and recommended for those who are okay with a long buildup awaiting the final moments.Samsung PN60F8500 PDP / Anthem MRX 720 / Klipsch RC-62 II / Klipsch RF-82 II (x2) / Insignia NS-B2111 (x2) / SVS PC13-Ultra / SVS SB-2000 / Sony MDR-7506 Professional / Audio-Technica ATH-R70x / Sony PS3 & PS4 / DirecTV HR44-500 / DarbeeVision DVP-5000 / Panamax M5400-PM / Elgato HD60Comment
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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens I'm not a big Star Wars rah-rah guy. I did like the second one the best (as I think many did), or is that the 5th one? I came away from this one as it being nothing more than a mini-recreation of SWIV with a giant reunion party. Outside of that I didn't get real hepped up by the new female and male leads, the story seemed already done with just different spit and polish on it and the main villain lost me once his true face was revealed. About the only moment I liked was (pictured):
Spoiler
The Intern Second time seeing this and I did enjoy it the first time around. I had forgotten, though, what I now deem a cringe-worthy moment is when DeNiro's character and Hathaway's stay at home husband/dad happened to answer her at the same time with hubby/dad then exclaiming, "hey, we could be your sister/wives!" Gahd. First to have DeNiro chickified and then have 2 guys chickified together just rubbed me the wrong way. Plus, it was hypocrisy to have that scene in there, while at another time having Hathaway spout off on how there's no true men left in the world and that more guys today should be like DeNiro's character. This mini-promotion of the androgynizing of the sexes was a black mark on an otherwise good heart-warming movie.Comment
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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
The Visit
M. Night is definitely not back. This film is a step up from the last two or three he has directed, but in no way does it reach the tall bar of Sixth Sense or Signs (Your mileage may vary on those "classics"... I understand).
The big twist in this one is decent, if not fairly easy to see coming. Child actors normally annoy the hell out of me, but I thought both were pretty good.Comment
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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
My son and I took in Batman vs. Superman. I'm a guy who goes to the movies to be entertained and heck, a movie with both Batman and Superman in it was good enough for me.
I have let it go, but I do have to mention that I wonder if the movie would have gotten better reviews with Christian Bale? Just a thought.Comment
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