Author Topic: Movies you've seen lately (Read 549849 times)

4wd · « **Reply #325 on:** July 07, 2014, 02:14 PM »

Repo Men always kind of reminded me of the earlier Race Against Time with Eric Roberts.

The switch being that when you don't pay your medical bills, they come after you for your organs.

When a man faces surmounting bills for his dying son's hospital stay, he enters into an agreement to sell his body for organ transplants to pay the bills. However, when he is advised that the doctors want to claim his organs immediately, he goes on the run.

Renegade · « **Reply #326 on:** July 18, 2014, 11:48 AM »

Saw #1 & #2, and now #3 is near ready!!

I'm really looking forward to this!

nosh · « **Reply #327 on:** July 26, 2014, 04:36 PM »

Phenomena - an 80s giallo starring a very young Jennifer Connelly. I found the origin of the word quite interesting, btw. -->

Spoiler

[wikipedia] :
Giallo (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒallo], plural gialli) is an Italian 20th-century genre of literature and film, which in Italian indicates crime fiction and mystery. In English, it refers to a genre similar to the French fantastique genre and includes elements of horror fiction and eroticism. The word "giallo" is Italian for "yellow" and comes from a series of cheap paperback mystery novels with trademark yellow covers.

I loved the locale, a boarding school near a small Swiss town. A high level of suspension of disbelief is required, if you like to nitpick about loose plot threads this isn't the movie for you. But it's exactly this kind of movie that creates an awesome atmosphere that's hard to find in regular, grounded to reality fare. Recommended for pure trashy fun, and a great atmosphere. I saw it off Youtube.

The girl in the opening scene is Argento's daughter.

Deozaan · « **Reply #328 on:** July 26, 2014, 05:21 PM »

I recently saw Frozen (2013) against my better judgement. I have no idea why it's such a hit. The lyrics were not very clever or catchy. Very little of the humor was actually humorous. They tried too hard to make Olaf the snowman this movie's comedic relief a la Ice Age's Sid the Sloth or Shrek's Donkey, but I personally didn't find much of anything he did or said to be funny. And while the woman who does the voice of the ice queen is a talented singer, I didn't feel that it fit her character or the movie very well. I really don't understand why "Let It Go" is such a popular song. It's not a classic, fun song that should be enjoyable to kids and adults alike.

Though there were 2-3 parts of the movie I found genuinely funny, most of the time I was just scratching my head wondering why people seem to like this movie so much, with its lame humor, lame lyrics, lame dialog, and generally lame plot all around.

I find myself more in agreement with these (paraphrased) words of a friend-of-a-friend's 4-year old son: "That movie would have been pretty good if she had died at the end. And if there was no singing."

I would not recommend the movie.

I also recently saw Despicable Me 2 (2013). From the previews I had seen last year, I wasn't too excited about the movie. It looked like it was just an excuse to have random "funny" minion moments. The actual film lived up to my expectations. I think they tried too hard to do more minion funniness, but it all just seemed too random; it was just for the sake of showing the minions doing hilarious things and had nothing to do with the plot. The plot itself was pretty weak. The whole movie seemed like just one big excuse to show off more minions and a couple of cute Agnes moments.

It's not as good as the first Despicable Me. But it was a decent waste of time.

wraith808 · « **Reply #329 on:** July 26, 2014, 05:48 PM »

I recently saw Frozen (2013) against my better judgement. I have no idea why it's such a hit. The lyrics were not very clever or catchy. Very little of the humor was actually humorous. They tried too hard to make Olaf the snowman this movie's comedic relief a la Ice Age's Sid the Sloth or Shrek's Donkey, but I personally didn't find much of anything he did or said to be funny. And while the woman who does the voice of the ice queen is a talented singer, I didn't feel that it fit her character or the movie very well. I really don't understand why "Let It Go" is such a popular song. It's not a classic, fun song that should be enjoyable to kids and adults alike.

Though there were 2-3 parts of the movie I found genuinely funny, most of the time I was just scratching my head wondering why people seem to like this movie so much, with its lame humor, lame lyrics, lame dialog, and generally lame plot all around.

I find myself more in agreement with these (paraphrased) words of a friend-of-a-friend's 4-year old son: "That movie would have been pretty good if she had died at the end. And if there was no singing."

I would not recommend the movie.

I also recently saw Despicable Me 2 (2013). From the previews I had seen last year, I wasn't too excited about the movie. It looked like it was just an excuse to have random "funny" minion moments. The actual film lived up to my expectations. I think they tried too hard to do more minion funniness, but it all just seemed too random; it was just for the sake of showing the minions doing hilarious things and had nothing to do with the plot. The plot itself was pretty weak. The whole movie seemed like just one big excuse to show off more minions and a couple of cute Agnes moments.

It's not as good as the first Despicable Me. But it was a decent waste of time.
-Deozaan (July 26, 2014, 05:21 PM)

I think both are a matter of taste. I liked DM and still liked DM2. Especially the storyline with the other agent. My daughter LOVES Frozen. It's her favorite Disney movie of all time. I think that it really is a girls movie.

Deozaan · « **Reply #330 on:** July 26, 2014, 07:31 PM »

I think both are a matter of taste. I liked DM and still liked DM2. Especially the storyline with the other agent. My daughter LOVES Frozen. It's her favorite Disney movie of all time. I think that it really is a girls movie.
-wraith808 (July 26, 2014, 05:48 PM)

Maybe I'm just becoming an old curmudgeon and I need to have a few children of my own to sway my opinion. But it's been a while since I really enjoyed a kids/family animated feature. Like... The Emperor's New Groove, or Shrek 1 & 2.

Renegade · « **Reply #331 on:** July 27, 2014, 11:00 AM »

^ I find Disney movies are almost as good as fart jokes. The older ones are better. New ones? Fart jokes are still better. I like fart jokes, but I don't take them seriously.

40hz · « **Reply #332 on:** July 27, 2014, 11:50 AM »

Salamander - a Belgian 12 episode TV series.

Movies you've seen lately

A Belgian Federal Police inspector investigates the heavy-handed cover-up of the unreported theft of the personal contents found in 66 safe deposit boxes at a private bank in Brussels.

Very entertaining political conspiracy police thriller doled out in a dozen 40-minute chunks. Perfect when you don't have time for a feature length movie. If you do have time, just watch a couple of episodes back to back.

Go into it completely cold for the best entertainment. Avoid trailers. Any details other than the above will contain spoilers.

(Note: English subtitled. No overdubs available. Screen dialog is in French and Dutch.)

Recommended.

lindberg · « **Reply #333 on:** July 30, 2014, 11:07 AM »

As I'm new here at Donation Coder, I'd like to present myself

by showing you what movies I recently have seen and really enjoyed too...

"The Pusher Trilogy". i.e. Pusher, Pusher II and Pusher III. Three stories about three different characters in the Copenhagen drug dealer/criminal world.

Here's a short resume (wikipedia)

Movies you've seen lately

40hz · « **Reply #334 on:** July 30, 2014, 12:54 PM »

The Conspiracy

Clever little faux(???) documentary that transitions rather nicely from the usual "found footage" to a pretty decent thriller. I found it really entertaining throughout - and even thought-provoking at times - despite how little is "new" in this picture.

The premise is simple. Two documentary filmmakers (a couple of semi-hipsters by the names of Aaron and Jim) are researching conspiracy advocates - not with an interest in finding what truths may lie behind the theories themselves - but rather to gain insight into the minds and backgrounds of the people who do believe in such things.

Movies you've seen lately

Movies you've seen lately

Things go smoothly until their single best subject, a man by the name of Terrance, suddenly goes missing...

Despite this all being nothing new, the way the film handles what follows makes it a very enjoyable experience. With maybe one or two original surprises along the way?

Quiet Earth's review made a good point about this sort of picture:

...The "found footage" movie that pretty much jump-started the whole trend that continues to this day is obviously "The Blair Witch Project", and a large part of that film's initial success was the cleverness of a promotional campaign that made it unclear whether or not "Blair Witch" was, in fact, an actual documentary. These days, audiences are way too familiar with this approach, and even the claim in a movie's titles of "Inspired by a true story" doesn't carry the weight it once did. But now, with "The Conspiracy", we get a very different and very welcome riff on the formula. We're obviously watching something that is basically fiction, but that's not the point. The real burning question under everything isn't "Did this really happen?", but rather "Could this, in some form, already be happening?", and director Christopher MacBride uses our uncertainty to weave a fairly disturbing tapestry. The decision to pepper Aaron's and Jim's fictional journey with a veritable onslaught of persistent cultural conspiracy artifacts is not only brilliant but genuinely unnerving, so much so that by the end you may want to immediately head to the books to try and separate the concocted from the documented.

MacBride does a really good job of ramping up a steady crescendo of tension, and in terms of pacing is clearly drawing inspiration from "JFK" and "All the President's Men" (which is referenced directly in one scene). One thing that struck me is that neither Aaron or Jim is particularly charismatic at the film's outset; both have a vaguely smug hipster bent, but by the end I'd done a complete turnaround, and this is to the filmmakers' credit. The fear of the ominous "They" certainly does bring us together and put aside our petty differences, at least for an hour and a half. And what the viewer does with the unease he or she takes from the theater is his or her own business, of course, so I won't try and turn a review into a forum for my own beliefs or theories.

But, "The Conspiracy" is guaranteed to provoke talk, at least in some circles, and regardless of whether or not it's a conscientious whistle-blower or a cynical, cash-in prank (for the record, I'm not sure either way) it's always good to keep this particular discourse alive. After all, the worst case scenario might not be true, and the world's awfulness is just relatively random. But what if it's not? Where "The Conspiracy" excels is in how it compels us to consider if any of us would actually want to know the truth, no matter the cost.

Good flick! Recommended.

Renegade · « **Reply #335 on:** July 30, 2014, 08:22 PM »

The Conspiracy

Clever little faux(???) documentary that transitions rather nicely from the usual "found footage" to a pretty decent thriller. I found it really entertaining throughout - and even thought-provoking at times - despite how little is "new" in this picture.

...

Good flick! Recommended.
-40hz (July 30, 2014, 12:54 PM)

+1

I just saw this the other day. I get a lot of recommendations from here, but came across this one through Mark Dice.

40hz · « **Reply #336 on:** July 31, 2014, 06:41 AM »

@Ren:

MilesAhead · « **Reply #337 on:** July 31, 2014, 09:52 AM »

^^ Hmm, perhaps Tiny Tim isn't dead? Just got a fantastic nose job and face lift?

Renegade · « **Reply #338 on:** July 31, 2014, 10:09 AM »

@Ren:
(see attachment in previous post)

-40hz (July 31, 2014, 06:41 AM)

XKCD is a lot of fun!

There are a lot of conspiracy facts out there, and conspiracy history, and conspiracy theories. The facts and history are often denied by people who simply refuse to accept reality. Which isn't very interesting - they're just foolish. (e.g. Gulf of Tonkin, The USS Maine, etc.)

But the theories are a lot of fun! There are some very good theories with mountains of evidence, but no smoking gun. Those are the most interesting, e.g. JFK.

Then there are theories with a bit of evidence, and a lot of speculation. These are even more fun!

In "The Conspiracy", they quickly mention a bunch of facts, history, and theories across the spectrum,

Mild "meta" spoiler - no details

then proceed to make up their own entirely new fictional "conspiracy theory". It was quite well done and very entertaining. They did a great job of it, and kept it up right until the ending credits rolled.

Definitely some very good writing there.

lindberg · « **Reply #339 on:** July 31, 2014, 11:21 AM »

Prisoners of war (Hatufim).

If you like "Homeland" this is the "original", and much, much better if you ask me. The Israeli low budget TV series "Hatufim" (Kidnapped) is the TV series that later was adapted into "Homeland".

Article in The Guardian

Movies you've seen lately

edit: fixed hyperlink mis-copy paste

tomos · « **Reply #340 on:** July 31, 2014, 11:33 AM »

If you like "Homeland" this is the "original", and much, much better if you ask me. The Israeli low budget TV series "Hatufim" (Kidnapped) is the TV series that later was adapted into "Homeland".

Article in The Guardian
-lindberg (July 31, 2014, 11:21 AM)

sounds interesting - I fixed the link here (an extra http at the end of it)

mouser · « **Reply #341 on:** August 04, 2014, 07:41 PM »

Guardians of the Galaxy: One of the best (and funniest) sci fi movie in years. Loved it.

40hz · « **Reply #342 on:** August 12, 2014, 12:47 PM »

You Are Here: A Meta Detective Story

A great little Canadian indy where I'm not 100% sure what to make of it - other than to say I like it. A lot.

"You Are Here" starring Tracy Wright (Me and You and Everyone We Know) is a Borgesian fantasy composed of multiple worlds, circling and weaving around each other in always unexpected ways. At the centre of this narrative labyrinth is a reclusive woman who searches for meaning in the mysterious documents that keep appearing to her.

Her investigation begins when she finds a tape recording of a man giving a bizarre lecture: calming and sinister at the same time, he instructs how to "get where you need to go". Is this a random find, or a message to her? Another strange document presents itself, and another... Swiftly her home becomes an archive brimming with enigmatic texts, images and sounds.

This is another one of those movies you'll either love or hate less than 10 minutes into it.

Paul Keith · « **Reply #343 on:** August 12, 2014, 01:20 PM »

A Netflix original documentary, "The Square" is a riveting, deeply human chronicle of the Egyptian protest movement from the 2011 overthrow of military leader Hosni Mubarak through the ousting of Mohammed Morsi in 2013. "The Square" premieres January 17, 2014 in all Netflix territories, and in select cities within the United States.

Spoiler: The film does not end well

40hz · « **Reply #344 on:** August 12, 2014, 02:09 PM »

Spoiler: The film does not end well
-Paul Keith (August 12, 2014, 01:20 PM)

Neither did the real thing.

4wd · « **Reply #345 on:** August 26, 2014, 06:15 AM »

Patrick - A remake of the paranormal thriller of the same name from 1978.

Though it followed the original very well while bringing it up to date, (eg. mobile phones, computers), I still prefer the 1978 version.

40hz · « **Reply #346 on:** August 26, 2014, 11:30 AM »

Sherlock - Season 3

Latest instalment in the BBC re-imagining of Doyle's supersleuth Sherlock Holmes.

The only other Holmes worth watching was the period and (mostly) canon correct Granada production which featured the incomparable Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes. If you want a near perfect realization of Doyle's historic Sherlock Holmes, look no further than Brett's performance. Mark it as "done" while you're at it. It doesn't get better than Jeremy Brett.

Which brings us to Sherlock.

Depending on where you stand on the Sherlock Holmes Canon, this is either one of the best - or one of the worst - Holmes treatments ever done.

IMHO it's the best to date. It borrows themes and moments from the original stories without directly copying any one. The twists that bring the technology and story elements up to our present time work quite well. And the stories are clever and well-acted. I think this series is a genuine addition to the ever evolving world of 221B Baker Street and it's most famous resident.

Recommended.

wraith808 · « **Reply #347 on:** August 26, 2014, 12:30 PM »

I watch the US version... Elementary.

I like both, but for different reasons.

I also like RDJ in the role in the movies. But that's, to me, on a whole different level.

40hz · « **Reply #348 on:** August 26, 2014, 01:52 PM »

^+1 on the RDJ movies. They weren't bad at all. First instalment storyline was far better than the second. But I still can't imagine what they were thinking when casting Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler. Seriously?

Elementary doesn't work for me. Tried liking it (oh how I tried!) - but I just couldn't. I really didn't care for the characterization and backstories for the lead roles. And a lot of the storylines seemed more like fanfic "alt" pastiches than anything else. The sort of things Holmes fans write on a bet after one too many drinks. It started out ok. But in typical American TV fashion, it just started getting sillier and more obvious and contrived as time went on. After several "Oh come on!" moments I gave up midway through the finale of the first season. Haven't been back. Tried the first episode of season two and chucked it. YMMV

(Note: Gentle Readers, some fellow Holmes fans I hang with positively LOVE Elementary. So don't put too much weight on my opinion of it. Be sure to check it out for yourselves.)

wraith808 · « **Reply #349 on:** August 26, 2014, 02:28 PM »

One of my favorite things about Elementary are the fact that they were not afraid to take certain parts of the mythology, and completely turn them on their head. And I love the primary actors.

here there be spoilers

and Irene Adler is Moriarty is Natalie Dormer- and the subsequent manipulations from behind bars to save her child- were great IMO. And I love the addiction storylines and Mycroft seeming less aware and intelligent... but being proven to be just as much more intelligent later as he is in the books... although I hated the part with him and Watson. That's the kind of thing you need in a reimagining IMO. You can do it without... but then it's just a remake.