topbanner_forum
  *

avatar image

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

Login with username, password and session length
  • Thursday March 28, 2024, 2:19 pm
  • Proudly celebrating 15+ years online.
  • Donate now to become a lifetime supporting member of the site and get a non-expiring license key for all of our programs.
  • donate

Last post Author Topic: Movies you've seen lately  (Read 546990 times)

wraith808

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 11,186
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #675 on: December 12, 2016, 11:11 PM »
I found it similar to Ex Machina ... I'm sure there'll be at least another 4 or 5 movies on the same premise in the pipeline since they'll all want to jump on the bandwagon.

I can see that comparison.  But Ex Machina was well done.  This... wasn't.  It was as you said... a bandwagon jumper.

Shades

  • Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 2,922
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #676 on: December 14, 2016, 06:20 PM »
Dr. Strange

A new theater opened here in Asuncion a few months back, but hadn't time earlier to visit. Saw there this movie in 3D with excellent projector and audio. The 'LSD-inspired' scenes really worked for me in that theater. Plot-wise the movie isn't spectacular and a bit predictable, but it is well executed. I recommend to see this one in a better quality cinema, seeing it at home won't do it justice.

wraith808

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 11,186
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #677 on: December 14, 2016, 09:45 PM »
^ I really liked it.  I'm glad that Marvel is finally embracing magic.  I didn't find the plot that predictable- I didn't see the twist coming at all, personally.

MilesAhead

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2009
  • **
  • Posts: 7,736
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #678 on: December 15, 2016, 08:08 AM »
Dr. Strange

I used to read this comic book using the All-seeing Eye of Agamoto.. or something like that.  :)

This and Shin Godzilla are the two flicks I want to see in the theater.  Other than coming attractions I don't think I have ever seen a Godzilla flick in the theater.  The only Toho scifi flick I saw in the theater was The Mysterians way back when it was first released.  Cool flick.  The special effects were a lot of fun.  Lots of energy weapons and streamlined flying saucers.   :Thmbsup:

Edit: come to think of it, I also saw The H-Man in the same neighborhood theater when it was first released.  I remember feeling bad when all the H-Men were killed at the end.  The age old "fire kills 'em" solution common in many monster flicks of the time.



cthorpe

  • Discount Coordinator
  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 738
  • c++thorpe
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #679 on: December 15, 2016, 01:06 PM »
Picked up a copy of "Swiss Army Man" from the library.  Having a hard time convincing my wife to give it a go with me.  May end up watching it by myself, which is something I rarely do.

IMDB

Official trailer


cthorpe

  • Discount Coordinator
  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 738
  • c++thorpe
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #680 on: December 19, 2016, 11:06 PM »
Swiss Army Man was amazing.  Absolutely beautiful.  And it has the longest running fart joke I've ever seen.

Deozaan

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • ***
  • Points: 1
  • Posts: 9,747
    • View Profile
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #681 on: December 21, 2016, 03:55 PM »
I saw Suicide Squad.



It was OK. It assumed I had already seen Batman vs. Superman (which I haven't), so some minor details of the plot were lost on me. But my biggest gripe about the movie is that it introduced a bunch of random characters (twice!) that nobody has ever heard of and expected me to care about them without giving me a reason to. That and the plot was generally stupid from beginning to end.

Also, Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker is still my favorite. But that's just my opinion.




I also saw Rogue One.



I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about it. It was a decent film. Probably better, in my opinion, than the last 4 Star Wars episodic movies that were released (so 1-3, and 7). It had some really great moments, but also some silly/pointless moments. There were some things that happened that make no sense to me and as far as I can tell were never explained. They used CGI to resurrect or make young again a couple of actors from the original trilogy (episodes 4-6). The CGI was pretty good, but still not good enough to avoid the Uncanny Valleyw. I feel they did a good job of making Darth Vader feel menacing and powerful. But there was a weird moment in there where they had Vader make a CSI-like sunglasses-pun. Then again, maybe it was subtle enough that most people didn't catch it.

And, quite a bit of a spoiler here, so really don't click unless you've seen it or don't mind spoiling the ending:

Spoiler
Having watched both of these moves in the same day, I felt that Rogue One is the one of the two that should have been called Suicide Squad. Everybody dies! But it does give additional meaning and gravity to that otherwise throwaway line from Episode 4 when they say something to the effect of "Many lives were lost to get this information."

« Last Edit: December 21, 2016, 04:03 PM by Deozaan »

wraith808

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 11,186
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #682 on: December 21, 2016, 04:00 PM »
I saw Suicide Squad.

It was OK. It assumed I had already seen Batman vs. Superman (which I haven't), so some minor details of the plot were lost on me. But my biggest gripe about the movie is that it introduced a bunch of random characters (twice!) that nobody has ever heard of and expected me to care about them without giving me a reason to. That and the plot was generally stupid from beginning to end.

It assumed you'd seen BvS?  I didn't catch that, and so didn't lose out on anything from that.  Though I had a hard time seeing through the plot.  I didn't have the same problem with the characters, other than Joker.  For the hype, he was very inadequately used.

Deozaan

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • ***
  • Points: 1
  • Posts: 9,747
    • View Profile
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #683 on: December 21, 2016, 07:43 PM »
It assumed you'd seen BvS?  I didn't catch that, and so didn't lose out on anything from that.

I think so. It mentioned a few times things like "what if we're not so lucky next time?" which was a reference to Superman being super powerful, but benevolent. I figured that the general idea of BvS (AFAIK) is that Batman thinks Superman is too powerful and therefore must be stopped because no one should have that much power. And the general idea of Suicide Squad is "we need to stop people/things who are too powerful." So I guess I just assumed it was a reference to BvS because I haven't seen it and don't know what happens in it.

But as I said, these were very minor details of the plot.

As for the characters, the following is all my opinion, so of course very subjective:

Captain Boomerang sounds like one of the silliest supervillains ever. The movie gave no reason or information whatsoever why he was so evil and threatening as to be locked up with the likes of Harley Quinn or Deadshot. It also gave no indication of his "special abilities" that would make him an ideal person for the squad. He's a criminal who can throw a boomerang. Big whoop! That's even more lame than Hawkeye (who I think is pretty lame).
Slipknot maybe had potential, but obviously went completely unused, so we'll never know.
Killer Croc reminded me of some mashup of something from Spiderman and The Thing from Fantastic Four and the movie gave me no reason to care about him.
Harley Quinn was the only one of the group (not counting Joker as part of the group) who I knew of before the movie began and I didn't understand her role or her "abilities" in the film. Just because she's crazy doesn't mean she would survive combat (or "perform" it) any better than anyone else.
Katana was an unknown who was good with, you guessed it, a katana. But Deadshot could have easily shot her dead before she got to him, so what's the point of her?
Diablo was somewhat interesting but his character and backstory wasn't developed/revealed enough until too close to the end of the movie. Ultimately I didn't really care about him or his story outside of the small part it played in the film.
Deadshot was the only one who, by the time the movie ended, I felt I'd like to know more about and see a movie about. That said, I kind of feel the novelty would wear off pretty quickly if they tried a full-length film all about him.
The Joker was a joke.
Enchantress was a super powerful being whose actions largely make no sense.
Incubus was a super powerful being whose actions largely make no sense, and whose name I only know after having looked it up on IMDB.
Flag was OK, I guess, but I couldn't figure out what made him any more special than any of the other military folks.
Waller was OK, I guess, but I couldn't figure out why Deadshot, or anyone else, for that matter, didn't just smash/break/shoot/steal her phone/tablet and then kill her and Flag.

And if there was anyone else I forgot to mention, take that as a testament to how little of an impression they left on me.

So, for me, it was a movie of unknowns trying to ride on the hype of Joker as a good bad guy, but who actually barely made an appearance.

wraith808

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 11,186
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #684 on: December 21, 2016, 09:50 PM »
It assumed you'd seen BvS?  I didn't catch that, and so didn't lose out on anything from that.

I think so. It mentioned a few times things like "what if we're not so lucky next time?" which was a reference to Superman being super powerful, but benevolent. I figured that the general idea of BvS (AFAIK) is that Batman thinks Superman is too powerful and therefore must be stopped because no one should have that much power. And the general idea of Suicide Squad is "we need to stop people/things who are too powerful." So I guess I just assumed it was a reference to BvS because I haven't seen it and don't know what happens in it.

I thought that was a reference to Man of Steel, not BvS.  Especially since the other aliens that were there were just as powerful- but Superman was the one that survived.  Never put together that they could be referring to BvS.

As for the characters, the following is all my opinion, so of course very subjective:

It might be because you haven't read the comics?  Admittedly, with a cast that was this large, it was inevitable that some people would get the short end of the stick... I knew slipknot's position because of this.  And I do think that your complaint has merit beyond what you say- it's bad writing.  More than the BvS link, I thought this was the point where they relied on you already knowing the characters, though I'm not sure offhand of a better way to execute it in the time given.  They are doing a better job with Justice League, but I still give the credit to Marvel, as they were willing to give the major characters in the Avengers their own movies (for the most part), and not rush the project to market as DC is.  I'll go down your list interjecting what makes each special- at least the ones I know.  I also linked the names up to the wikipedia entries.

Captain Boomerang sounds like one of the silliest supervillains ever. The movie gave no reason or information whatsoever why he was so evil and threatening as to be locked up with the likes of Harley Quinn or Deadshot. It also gave no indication of his "special abilities" that would make him an ideal person for the squad. He's a criminal who can throw a boomerang. Big whoop! That's even more lame than Hawkeye (who I think is pretty lame).
There have been a few different incarnations.  The first had no particular background that would seem to make him villain worthy- other than the fact that he made his boomerangs, and they had varied effects, paired with the unusual nature of the weapon, made him a threat for Flash.  In Arrow (the TV show) they added the angle that he was Australian Special Forces, and an assassin.  So it was his skills with an unusual modified weapon and the ability to get creative with the effects that makes him dangerous.

Slipknot maybe had potential, but obviously went completely unused, so we'll never know.

Nah... he was used the same way in the comics.

Killer Croc reminded me of some mashup of something from Spiderman and The Thing from Fantastic Four and the movie gave me no reason to care about him.

The comparison you're probably drawing is between The Lizard (1963) and Killer Croc (1983), and the parallels are valid, but given more flesh in the comics, as the backgrounds are totally different.

Harley Quinn was the only one of the group (not counting Joker as part of the group) who I knew of before the movie began and I didn't understand her role or her "abilities" in the film. Just because she's crazy doesn't mean she would survive combat (or "perform" it) any better than anyone else.

Her ability is in all honesty chaos, similar to Joker.  Her inclusion is more a matter of her popularity in the comic medium, and her popularity there is driven by the fact that she is a relatable female character.

Katana was an unknown who was good with, you guessed it, a katana. But Deadshot could have easily shot her dead before she got to him, so what's the point of her?
You underestimate her, and the Katana.  She has great mystical powers from being tied to the Katana and all that have ever been killed by the sword.  When Flagg said she could take all of them out easily, he wasn't kidding.

Katana is a highly proficient hand-to-hand combatant and swordswoman, having studied martial arts as a child and later being trained by the samurai Tadashi. From her time with the Outsiders and Batman, she has also developed strong tactical skills.

Katana's Soultaker sword, along with its non-powered twin, was forged in the 14th century by Muramasa, whose swords were said to be cursed and make those who were evil commit evil acts. It sometimes takes the souls of those it kills, storing them inside the sword, where they can engage in limited communication with whoever wields it. These souls can be reincarnated by the means of a sacred ritual, under which they serve their summoner, even if it is against their will. In The New 52, the Soultaker is established as being the 'Sword Totem' of the Outsiders, meaning like the other totems it supposedly bestows immortality and enlightenment upon its wielder, although some like Green Arrow are skeptical of the literal truths of these claims.

Her powers are kept deliberately vague, pretty much so they can cast them to what they need them to be by the souls that are in the blade.

Diablo was somewhat interesting but his character and backstory wasn't developed/revealed enough until too close to the end of the movie. Ultimately I didn't really care about him or his story outside of the small part it played in the film.

He's quite similar to the Ghost Rider in form- another one of those where DC and Marvel cross.  He's cursed to be the host for a minor demon, and has pyrokinesis because of that.


Deadshot was the only one who, by the time the movie ended, I felt I'd like to know more about and see a movie about. That said, I kind of feel the novelty would wear off pretty quickly if they tried a full-length film all about him.
Deadshot, other than Bronze Tiger (they didn't show him for some reason), and of course Deathstroke (who they will have in the next Batman film).  They have had many different incarnations of him since the 40s, but the one characteristic that has defined him (that they took out) was that he has a deathwish and was a tragic character.

Floyd's parents were the most powerful people in his town, however, they were known to despise each other. Eventually Floyd's mother claimed his father had become "too abusive," prompting Floyd to kill him. When Floyd took the shot from his tree house, he missed and killed his brother, Eddie, instead. From that moment on, Floyd swore to never miss another shot again.

Probably his most defining trait is a desire to die in a spectacular fashion, this being his primary motivation for joining the Squad. He feels he has no reason to continue living, and, while he does not want to commit suicide, he simply does not care if he dies. Various reasons have been cited for this, but the most common thread in them is his parents' peculiar hatred for one another.

I liked the story in the movie... but it still took something from the character that I grew up liking- the original anti-hero long before Wolverine came on the scene.

The Joker was a joke.

Agreed.

Enchantress was a super powerful being whose actions largely make no sense.

I think her actions made sense, but they just didn't do a good job of conveying them.  Sort of like in the comics; they never really knew what to do with her.

June Moon was the host for an ancient god-like being (Loa related, but they didn't go there- she also didn't know this until near the end of her run in the suicide squad; she just thought that the totem had done something to her, and it was the totem that was her power).  They can't exist outside of their host, and it is possible for the host to resist them, but the more that the host uses the powers, the less control they have.  Waller captured her totem (her heart), and it could be used to destroy her.  Even after her brother (who was truly a god) protects her, and gives her access to his powers, she was still subject to her totem, just not as much.  But as long as she was under his protection, she ignored that fact, in favor of world conquest.  It gets sort of sketchy from there.

Incubus was a super powerful being whose actions largely make no sense, and whose name I only know after having looked it up on IMDB.
Incubus was the entity that was inside of June's brother, and more powerful than she.  They did an OK job of explaining this, I thought, if less than they should have.

Flag was OK, I guess, but I couldn't figure out what made him any more special than any of the other military folks.

They needed a handler.  He was it.  Nothing really special about him.

Waller was OK, I guess, but I couldn't figure out why Deadshot, or anyone else, for that matter, didn't just smash/break/shoot/steal her phone/tablet and then kill her and Flag.

Again, her position was that she did have the killswitch and was the power behind the throne, and that was the reason that they were just after her tablet with her alive, rather than dead.  If she wasn't in range of the tablet, their bombs go boom.  Not in range also means dead.  She's supposed to be very much a ruthless power behind the scenes type of person, that thinks several steps ahead of the opposition.


wraith808

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 11,186
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #685 on: December 21, 2016, 09:55 PM »
I also saw Rogue One.

I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about it. It was a decent film. Probably better, in my opinion, than the last 4 Star Wars episodic movies that were released (so 1-3, and 7). It had some really great moments, but also some silly/pointless moments. There were some things that happened that make no sense to me and as far as I can tell were never explained. They used CGI to resurrect or make young again a couple of actors from the original trilogy (episodes 4-6). The CGI was pretty good, but still not good enough to avoid the Uncanny Valleyw. I feel they did a good job of making Darth Vader feel menacing and powerful. But there was a weird moment in there where they had Vader make a CSI-like sunglasses-pun. Then again, maybe it was subtle enough that most people didn't catch it.

I saw it today (my Christmas gift from my  son), and I rather liked it a lot more than I expected.  The space scenes got that feeling that I had when I was a kid going in a way that the others  didn't.  The CGI on Tarkin didn't affect me (UV) as much as the other.  I liked the way that they tied up loose ends from some of the dialog in 4, and liked the way that they tied everything in.  It was also more ambitious and risky than I expected a Disney vehicle to be, which was a good thing.  And totally agree that they made Vader a lot more menacing- put back some of the menace that had been stolen from him in some adaptations of him.

Deozaan

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • ***
  • Points: 1
  • Posts: 9,747
    • View Profile
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #686 on: December 22, 2016, 01:39 AM »
I thought that was a reference to Man of Steel, not BvS.  Especially since the other aliens that were there were just as powerful- but Superman was the one that survived.  Never put together that they could be referring to BvS.

Well, I just had Batman vs. Superman (at least partially) spoiled when I went looking up information on June Moone. This is what Wikipedia says about the plot of Suicide Squadw:

Potential Batman vs. Superman spoiler
In the aftermath of Superman's death, intelligence officer Amanda Waller assembles Task Force X, a team of dangerous criminals [...]

So I feel I can safely say it definitely assumed I had seen Batman vs. Superman.

It might be because you haven't read the comics?  Admittedly, with a cast that was this large, it was inevitable that some people would get the short end of the stick... I knew slipknot's position because of this.  And I do think that your complaint has merit beyond what you say- it's bad writing.  More than the BvS link, I thought this was the point where they relied on you already knowing the characters, though I'm not sure offhand of a better way to execute it in the time given.  They are doing a better job with Justice League, but I still give the credit to Marvel, as they were willing to give the major characters in the Avengers their own movies (for the most part), and not rush the project to market as DC is.  I'll go down your list interjecting what makes each special- at least the ones I know.  I also linked the names up to the wikipedia entries.

I definitely haven't read the comics. Even so, most of the superheroes in the Marvel movies are characters I've heard of before, either from Saturday Morning Cartoons from my youth, or video games, or something. Besides that, I feel they did a poor job of introducing us to them in this movie. And I wondered why they introduced us to them multiple times. The opening scenes introduce us to a few of them. Then Waller is proposing her plan, wherein she introduces them to us again. Then they go check them out in person, where we are introduced a third time. Then bad things happen and the squad is finally organized. I didn't really care for it, but that's not to say I have any better ideas for how it could have been done.

Enchantress was a super powerful being whose actions largely make no sense.

I think her actions made sense, but they just didn't do a good job of conveying them.  Sort of like in the comics; they never really knew what to do with her.

Her actions make sense as far as her wanting to destroy humanity, but they don't make sense in the same way that Apocalypse's (from X-Men Apocalypse) actions don't make sense. These people have immense power and can kill in an instant or move/teleport to safety in an instant, but they leave themselves vulnerable and engage in hand-to-hand combat.

June Moon

I didn't even mention her because my first reaction to her part in the story was, "What kind of archaeologist discovers an ancient ruin and immediately breaks something?"

Incubus was a super powerful being whose actions largely make no sense, and whose name I only know after having looked it up on IMDB.
Incubus was the entity that was inside of June's brother, and more powerful than she.  They did an OK job of explaining this, I thought, if less than they should have.

I thought Incubus was her brother, and she gave him a new host. But aside from that, I still don't understand why--if he is an actual god, and she is only god-like--why does he do everything she says. And again, he can kill in an instant, and everything he touches--except the Suicide Squad--is immediately destroyed. I honestly can't remember if it ever came down to kicks and punches with the Suicide Squad (not counting the one obvious exception), but it still seems to me like he could have annihilated them instantly.

Flag was OK, I guess, but I couldn't figure out what made him any more special than any of the other military folks.

They needed a handler.  He was it.  Nothing really special about him.

That's how I felt, but the way Waller introduced him made it seem like there was something special about him, which I didn't understand.

Waller was OK, I guess, but I couldn't figure out why Deadshot, or anyone else, for that matter, didn't just smash/break/shoot/steal her phone/tablet and then kill her and Flag.

Again, her position was that she did have the killswitch and was the power behind the throne, and that was the reason that they were just after her tablet with her alive, rather than dead.  If she wasn't in range of the tablet, their bombs go boom.  Not in range also means dead.  She's supposed to be very much a ruthless power behind the scenes type of person, that thinks several steps ahead of the opposition.

Maybe I missed that part. I didn't remember them ever explaining that if she was dead or too far from it, they'd die. In fact, I'm pretty sure that wasn't an explicit part of the plot, because wasn't there a few minutes after her helicopter crashed that they weren't sure she survived? They certainly wouldn't need to wonder whether or not she was still living if they were rigged to explode upon her death.

This video is amusing, and makes good points (and has some spoilers):


holt

  • Member
  • Joined in 2015
  • **
  • Posts: 398
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #687 on: December 28, 2016, 01:42 PM »
All the Star Wars flix, including Rogue One. Here's the thought-provoker that still stymies me; if you had asked me at any time before today if I felt especially impressed by Carrie Fisher (as Princess Leia), or especially attached to her as a fan, I'd have answered, 'Not particularly, but yeah, sort of'. Even so, even in spite of this seeming lack of attachment to her memory, when I learned just a day ago that she had just died, something came over me, and within a minute or two, tears began to stream down my cheeks, and kept doing so for hours. I soaked a  paper towel.
Writing this today, the tears just came back and I still can't say why.
« Last Edit: December 28, 2016, 09:50 PM by holt »

mouser

  • First Author
  • Administrator
  • Joined in 2005
  • *****
  • Posts: 40,896
    • View Profile
    • Mouser's Software Zone on DonationCoder.com
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #688 on: December 28, 2016, 06:37 PM »
Those Jenny Nicholson videos are great.

holt

  • Member
  • Joined in 2015
  • **
  • Posts: 398
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #689 on: December 28, 2016, 09:15 PM »
All the Star Wars flix, including Rogue One. Here's the thought-provoker that still stymies me; if you had asked me at any time before today if I felt especially impressed by Carrie Fisher (as Princess Leia), or especially attached to her as a fan, I'd have answered, 'Not particularly, but yeah, sort of'. Even so, even in spite of this seeming lack of attachment to her memory, when I learned just a day ago that she had just died, something came over me, and within a minute or two, tears began to stream down my cheeks, and kept doing so for hours. I soaked a  paper towel.
Writing this today, the tears just came back and I still can't say why.
http://www.tmz.com/2016/12/28/debbie-reynolds-dead/
"Debbie Reynolds -- who rose to stardom in "Singin' in the Rain" and quickly became a staple among Hollywood royalty -- died Wednesday as a result of a stroke, TMZ has learned ... just one day after her daughter Carrie Fisher passed away ..."
I am beyond astonished. Here are some memorable Carrie Fisher quotes;
"There's no room for demons when you're self-possessed."
"Instant gratification takes too long."
“I shot through my twenties like a luminous thread through a dark needle, blazing toward my destination: Nowhere.”
“Actually, I am a failed anorexic. I have anorexic thinking, but I can't seem to muster the behavior.”
“Life is a cruel, horrible joke and I am the punch line.”
“You know how I always seem to be struggling, even when the situation doesn't call for it?”
“Sometimes I feel like I've got my nose pressed up against the window of a bakery, only I'm the bread.”
“Sometimes you can only find Heaven by slowly backing away from Hell.”
“I feel I'm very sane about how crazy I am.”
“No motive is pure. No one is good or bad — but a hearty mix of both. And sometimes life actually gives to you by taking away.”
“I quote fictional characters, because I'm a fictional character myself!”
“Having waited my entire life to get an award for something, anything … I now get awards all the time for being mentally ill. It’s better than being bad at being insane, right? How tragic would it be to be runner-up for Bipolar Woman of the Year?”
« Last Edit: December 28, 2016, 09:49 PM by holt »

panzer

  • Participant
  • Joined in 2008
  • *
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 941
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #690 on: December 30, 2016, 09:21 AM »
10 Cloverfield Lane

IainB

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2008
  • **
  • Posts: 7,540
  • @Slartibartfarst
    • View Profile
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Movies you've seen lately - The Day the Earth Stood Still + Enemy Mine.
« Reply #691 on: December 30, 2016, 09:35 AM »
This being Christmas and a time for the Christmas message of goodwill and love to all mankind, we - my daughter Lily (15 y/o) and son Brian (6 y/o) and I, watched two SF movies that reflected that message in their own uniquely different ways:
  • The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951 version). This is about a humanoid alien who comes to earth to warn the inhabitants that they must learn to be more peaceable or risk extinction at the hands of the aliens' robotic policing machines.
  • Enemy Mine This is about the friendship that develops between two mortal enemies - both being space fighter pilots - a human and a Drek lizard, who crash-land on a habitable asteroid in a science fiction  future.

At the end of the second movie, my daughter asked me whether I thought the US Democrats and Republicans would ever be able to coexist peaceably like the Drek and the human. I replied "Yes, but probably only in fictional stories".

panzer

  • Participant
  • Joined in 2008
  • *
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 941
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #692 on: January 03, 2017, 05:31 AM »
Happy Valley, Utopia, River, Trapped/Ófærð (all series)

panzer

  • Participant
  • Joined in 2008
  • *
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 941
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #693 on: January 03, 2017, 05:47 AM »
Kubo and the Two Strings

brotherS

  • Master of Good Ideas
  • Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • **
  • Posts: 2,260
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #694 on: January 04, 2017, 10:22 AM »
I saw Spectral (Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller). I enjoyed it! :)

"A sci-fi/thriller story centered on a special-ops team that is dispatched to fight supernatural beings."



nosh

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2007
  • **
  • Posts: 1,441
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #695 on: January 07, 2017, 01:37 PM »
Hell Or High Water (2016) - a slow-mid paced contemporary crime drama which has a gentle side to it. Great character development - it made me empathize with both sides. Even the minor characters were charming and stood out. The action is sparse but the few scenes it has were very well done. No hesitation in recommending this one.  :up:

wraith808

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 11,186
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #696 on: January 07, 2017, 05:26 PM »
I thought Incubus was her brother, and she gave him a new host. But aside from that, I still don't understand why--if he is an actual god, and she is only god-like--why does he do everything she says. And again, he can kill in an instant, and everything he touches--except the Suicide Squad--is immediately destroyed. I honestly can't remember if it ever came down to kicks and punches with the Suicide Squad (not counting the one obvious exception), but it still seems to me like he could have annihilated them instantly.


You are correct... I misspoke, as that's exactly what I meant.  And I thought you meant motivations, not literal actions.  Of course, if he'd done that, it wouldn't have been much of a movie.  But they didn't give any in-movie explanations.

panzer

  • Participant
  • Joined in 2008
  • *
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 941
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #697 on: January 08, 2017, 06:04 AM »
The Handmaiden
Train to Busan

nosh

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2007
  • **
  • Posts: 1,441
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #698 on: January 08, 2017, 11:56 AM »
Train to Busan was a good addition to the zombie horror genre. I liked the buildup but didn't think it was as exceptional as some people made it out to be.
I loved The Handmaiden - the locale itself was worth the entry price. One of the best movies I saw last year. 

tomos

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • ***
  • Posts: 11,959
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Movies you've seen lately
« Reply #699 on: January 09, 2017, 12:32 PM »
A search of this thread didn't show up Arrival.

I really enjoyed it :up:
trying to communicate with the aliens...
Tom