Author Topic: Movies you've seen lately (Read 591866 times)

anandcoral · « **Reply #525 on:** August 24, 2015, 06:39 AM »

Watched "Edge of Tomorrow" yesterday.

The concept of the story hit me "live - die - restart". Isn't that we all have been doing with our WinOS all these years, install - use - reinstall. Did the director got the idea from Windows ?

Now MS is forbidding that. No more reinstall, as we will not have the CD or copy of the latest Win10 which will auto get updated to 10.0.12345677... , like Chrome.

Regards,

Anand

Renegade · « **Reply #526 on:** August 24, 2015, 11:15 PM »

^ The needle is in the arm...

40hz · « **Reply #527 on:** August 29, 2015, 10:01 AM »

Not quite a movie. But we get our Lovecraft where we can.

Nicely done webseries called Shadow Bound. Silent, and in B&W (as is fitting), and with plenty of low-tech cheesy special effects for that nice period vibe. Five episodes averaging 20 minutes each. Find it here.

Here's the trailer:

kyrathaba · « **Reply #528 on:** September 05, 2015, 01:18 PM »

I watched Phantom Halo (I think it came out in 2014) the other night. At first I thought it was gonna be a truly low-grade B movie. But it actually was pretty good. Two teens struggle to get by as their alcoholic, gambling father blows through whatever money they come by. Not 5-stars, but it has some life themes and morals that -- for me, at least -- made it not a waste of time.

bit · « **Reply #529 on:** September 09, 2015, 11:17 PM »

Cellular 2004 which was given a remake into the Hong Kong film Connected 2008.
Both are energizers with nonstop action that never gets tiresome.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #530 on:** September 10, 2015, 06:54 AM »

Cellular 2004 which was given a remake into the Hong Kong film Connected 2008.
Both are energizers with nonstop action that never gets tiresome.
-bit (September 09, 2015, 11:17 PM)

I haven't seen this film. So I have no idea if this review is on the mark. But generally this site is a good resource for Hong Kong movie reviews. I have read it for many years. It also has bios with pics of many HK and Chinese actors to complement sites like AsianWiki and d-addicts.

Edit: Also if you hate Wong Jing films http://lovehkfilm.com is the site for you.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #531 on:** September 10, 2015, 04:01 PM »

Los Ultimos Dias - A Spanish sci-fi movie where people cannot go outside anymore. This is a well-made movie, even you don't understand Spanish.

The male actors carry the story fine, for me the female lead character overdid it at the end. I guess the director banked on her 'pleasing-the-eye-ness' to get away with that end scene.
-Shades (August 03, 2013, 12:39 PM)

Makes me think of THX 1138. It has been so long since I watched it I forget the plot. But Robert Duvall had the lead. The cities are all underground and the police are robots. The first feature length film by George Lucas.

bit · « **Reply #532 on:** September 19, 2015, 06:48 AM »

Ultimate Door Knocker

tomos · « **Reply #533 on:** September 19, 2015, 09:15 AM »

Ultimate Door Knocker
-bit (September 19, 2015, 06:48 AM)

I especially enjoyed the doorknocker bit (no pun intended

)

tomos · « **Reply #534 on:** September 19, 2015, 09:18 AM »

I edited the first post and changed the thread title to "Movies you've seen lately"

(was previously "Movies or films you've seen lately" because where I grew up, movies are called films - but I realise this leads to confusion, as 'film' means something else to others than it does to me.)

bit · « **Reply #535 on:** September 19, 2015, 07:20 PM »

^Yes, it's fun to post the exciting ones that really reach out and grab your imagination.^^
skunk rescue by cop
human 'black & white' meets... ...animal kingdom 'black & white'

cops rescue another skunk in trouble (gosh-darn those tasty yogurt cups!)

cop frees baby skunk from yogurt container
(Yumm, yogurt! Oops! It's dark in here!)

bit · « **Reply #536 on:** September 20, 2015, 03:38 AM »

Cellular 2004 which was given a remake into the Hong Kong film Connected 2008.
Both are energizers with nonstop action that never gets tiresome.
-bit (September 09, 2015, 11:17 PM)

I haven't seen this film. So I have no idea if this review is on the mark. But generally this site is a good resource for Hong Kong movie reviews. I have read it for many years. It also has bios with pics of many HK and Chinese actors to complement sites like AsianWiki and d-addicts.

Edit: Also if you hate Wong Jing films http://lovehkfilm.com is the site for you.

-MilesAhead (September 10, 2015, 06:54 AM)

Ratings do matter, but I really enjoyed Connected and thought it was an xlnt film, and if I may say so, I think ^reviewer Kozo's long-winded rating fits himself more than the film.

Or, let's be fair, Kozo describes it as "perfunctory, and the acting is overdone with a capital "O", but the whole thing manages to work in spite of its own rampant stupidity. 'Connected' isn't quality, but it's fun."
Sorry to disagree, but the 'Connected' I saw was delightful, exciting, well-acted, brilliant, as I put it in an earlier ^post, an 'energizer' with 'non-stop action'.
Kozo comes across to me more like an amateur headhunter Performing Arts critic.
I get the feeling Kozo wants me to attribute to himself, the excellence of qualities he claims are so sadly lacking in 'Connected', b/c I've seen 'Connected', with good English subtitles, and I liked it no end.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #537 on:** September 20, 2015, 05:47 AM »

@bit it is too bad LoveHKFilm only updates a few times a year these days. It seems that many of the asian review sites have shut down recently. Kung Fu Cinema and Kung Fu Cult Cinema are both gone. LoveAsianFilm never seems to update anymore. They just change the picture periodically. The good old days of Hong Kong Cinema when Shu Qi was a teenager will never come again.

Afa LoveHKFilm goes it is not so much the reviews being right as done with humor. Also in addition to hating Wong Jing the site owner was an early Shu Qi supporter when she was being criticized for getting by on her looks and having no acting skills. She has come full circle from demonstrating her acting abilities to silence the critics to being so popular she can now "phone in" many of her parts. She is cranking them out to get the bucks. Approaching 40 she may as well while the looks last.

I was thinking of starting a thread of quirky Asian films, if I can think of more than two.

bit · « **Reply #538 on:** September 20, 2015, 07:45 PM »

@MilesAhead I don't know any of those websites you name, so I'm unfamiliar with them.
That would be a cool idea, any kind of an Asian films thread.
The way I often find good Asian films is to start with a good film I already know, and see what other films were done by the same Producer or with any of the same actors.
Or sometimes a film by a western company may be cloned by an asian one, or vice-versa, which often works out quite well.
Or I'll see a review linking to a trailer and then check it out with rotten tomatoes or asian wiki.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #539 on:** September 21, 2015, 06:58 AM »

@MilesAhead I don't know any of those websites you name, so I'm unfamiliar with them.
That would be a cool idea, any kind of an Asian films thread.
The way I often find good Asian films is to start with a good film I already know, and see what other films were done by the same Producer or with any of the same actors.
Or sometimes a film by a western company may be cloned by an asian one, or vice-versa, which often works out quite well.
Or I'll see a review linking to a trailer and then check it out with rotten tomatoes or asian wiki.
-bit (September 20, 2015, 07:45 PM)

I have started one here:

Quirky Asian Movies

I put "quirky" because they are often the most interesting. What you were saying about finding movies.. what I liked about the Stephen Chow films is he used an ensemble cast. The guy who plays a gambling promoter in one flick may be a soccer coach in another. Speaking of which, Shaolin Soccer is one of my all time favorite flicks. But you have to get the 112 minute version. Several of the American releases chop off the beginning where the soccer star takes a bribe to throw the match. Without that the whole basis of the plot is messed up. Also a very funny scene featuring the girl who sells the rolls at the street stand is cut out. They really butcher it.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #540 on:** September 22, 2015, 08:50 AM »

After (came out 2012) was a B+ movie that could have been grade A if it'd had better production/casting.

Though not a movie per se, I've been enjoying the sci-fi series "Extant", featuring Halle Berry.

wraith808 · « **Reply #541 on:** September 22, 2015, 05:27 PM »

Trust (2011)

Stellar cast, especially the lead actress. Very hard to watch at times, but a very good movie.

Excerpt from Review by Roger Ebert:

The bravest thing about David Schwimmer’s "Trust" is that it doesn’t try to simplify. It tells its story of a 14-year-old girl and a predatory pedophile as a series of repercussions in which rape is only the first, and possibly not the worst, tragedy to strike its naive and vulnerable victim. It’s easy to imagine how this story could have been exploited and dumbed down. It works instead with intelligence and sympathy. "Trust" doesn’t offer soothing solutions. Annie will survive, but has been damaged perhaps more by the aftermath than by the rape itself. The movie is merciless in depicting the methods by which pedophile predators operate; Charlie is the embodiment of evil. But society is lacking in instinctive sympathy and tact for Annie, and society isn’t supposed to be evil. Catherine Keener does a warm, unobtrusive job of loving and comforting her daughter, but that’s not enough — not when her husband grows more concerned with vengeance than with healing. It is all too tortuous and complicated. Liana Liberato does such a poignant job of showing how, and why. She has three scenes in particular where her wounded feelings spill out in words of anguish, and they are so well-written and well-acted that they’re heartbreaking. David Schwimmer has made one of the year’s best films: Powerfully emotional, yes, but also very perceptive.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #542 on:** September 23, 2015, 06:59 AM »

After (came out 2012) was a B+ movie that could have been grade A if it'd had better production/casting.

Though not a movie per se, I've been enjoying the sci-fi series "Extant", featuring Halle Berry.
-kyrathaba (September 22, 2015, 08:50 AM)

While checking out Extant on the CBS site I noticed they came out with Limitless. I enjoyed the movie. But it was yet another great premise where the implementation does not deliver all it could. Just from the trailers from the Limitless TV series I can tell it is an action show where somehow the guy's super intelligence allows him to do unusual stuff with his body. It does not make sense. Muscle stamina is built up through training. You do not become bionic just because you got smart.

A really super intelligent person would not be caught dead jumping in front of trains or down fire escapes. He would manipulate some Special Forces guy with big muscles into doing it for him.

But it still may be interesting to watch if I am smart enough to see it for free. The CBS watch online for $6 a month might not be such a bad deal except they explicitly exempt NFL games. The "all" in "all access" should be "quite a bit of the stuff we've got access but not the stuff you really want most.. for $6/mo")

Edit: apparently if you wait until the next day you can watch some stuff for free. Anyway I watched the Limitless pilot. It was interesting. Often the pilot is good even if the series isn't. I hope they have some good writers because it is an interesting premise. Are there any script writers left since Reality TV? Or maybe they are using the AI from writers long dead captured in some cave like Landru or something.

bit · « **Reply #543 on:** September 23, 2015, 01:53 PM »

Screen rez question for anyone please...
This show was user-edited (i.e. 'hard wired') to give quarter-screen playback.
It's built-in. How would I get it to show just the video in full-screen?

4wd · « **Reply #544 on:** September 23, 2015, 06:39 PM »

How would I get it to show just the video in full-screen?
-bit (September 23, 2015, 01:53 PM)

Via streaming?

Use VLC, Media->Open Network Stream->paste in Youtube link.

Go to Tools->Effects & Filters->Video Effects->Geometry and enable Interactive Zoom.

Movies you've seen lately

Click Hide to hide the controls after you're done.

Shades · « **Reply #545 on:** September 23, 2015, 06:58 PM »

Anyway I watched the Limitless pilot. It was interesting. Often the pilot is good even if the series isn't.
-MilesAhead (September 23, 2015, 06:59 AM)

Have you ever seen the unaired pilot of The Big Bang Theory?

It's unaired for a reason...

I saw recently the pilot of 'Lucifer'. That was an interesting one in my book. Can go either way, though.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #546 on:** September 24, 2015, 08:08 AM »

Anyway I watched the Limitless pilot. It was interesting. Often the pilot is good even if the series isn't.
-MilesAhead (September 23, 2015, 06:59 AM)

Have you ever seen the unaired pilot of The Big Bang Theory?

It's unaired for a reason...

I saw recently the pilot of 'Lucifer'. That was an interesting one in my book. Can go either way, though.
-Shades (September 23, 2015, 06:58 PM)

I haven't seen Lucifer. I'll take a look for it. Many times though the pilot is 90 minutes so minus the commercials you have time for a developed plot that is almost a feature length film. From then on it can be a stretch if the idea does not lend itself to variation.

I watched the episode one of Supergirl. I like comic book stuff but I don't know if I'll follow this one. Smallville was a total mess with your mind deal waiting around for some moron from outer space who couldn't figure out how to fly in 20 years when the bad guys from Krypton pop up under a yellow sun and just take off like birds. At least Supergirl didn't waste 3 episodes figuring out how to fly.
But one thing that irks me already is that they must not have paid the licensing fees to refer to "Superman" so they keep talking about "He' "Him" etc. when referring to Supergirl's cousin. Also I hate it when they just mess with supporting characters. Supergirl sees this muscular black dude new employee where she works. She gets all hot. Then we find out the black guy is "James Olson." I never liked it in the Bond films when Felix Leiter, Bond's CIA liaison, is a vastly different age, race, body type etc. in each film. But I carry on too long.

Of course it all begs the question why some super powerful being would let Earthlings tell him or her what to do. Smallville Clark would be OK in Miami since there are no speed limits on most of the streets downtown. But they will bust him if he changes lanes without signaling.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #547 on:** September 24, 2015, 06:21 PM »

I watched Lucifer. The guy in the lead role has some style. It could be amusing. I suspect two things will get on my nerves. One, the guy will end up being too much of a goodie two shoes. And Two, the black guy with the wings will get tiresome popping up for the tense encounter yadda yadda.

It might have been better on a medium with less censorship. Like HBO where Lucifer takes over The Sopranos or something.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #548 on:** October 01, 2015, 09:45 AM »

Ok. I have to admit I like Limitless. I watched the movie again, and watched the first two episodes on CBS online. There does seem to be more thought going on than jumping between cars. That's a plus. And it does have some humor. The Senator(tm) who is involved with the lead character is the lead actor from the Limitless movie. It looks like he is only in a few scenes though.

As series go this one looks like fun.

tomos · « **Reply #549 on:** October 05, 2015, 02:16 PM »

I watched a few good westerns lately -- can only remember the name of one at the moment though

but it was a good one -- High Noon (1952)

After a bit of research:
Gunsmoke (1953) was another good one.

Appaloosa (2008) I enjoyed, slow moving but worked well for me. Interesting exploration of a male friendship.

There's been some posts about Japanese films lately too:
Three Outlaw Samurai (1964) was a very good followup to the westerns. I see it's on YT

EDIT// sorry for all the edits