Which movie did you watch today and how would you rate it?

[Colonel Sanders]

Independence Day: 7/10

rewatched the original, with the same friend with whom i saw the sequel, since we both had the same thoughts about the original being pretty good and the sequel being... weird.
it holds up really well, with the CGI and such not looking too horribly dated most of the time.
yeah it's stupid and schlocky, but it's the fun kind of stupid and schlocky in a way movies just kind of stopped being by the late 90s.

I saw this back in the day when it was showed for the press. Everybody in that room all laughed non-stop from start to finish. Especially when it was supposed to be tension. That's a memory that has stayed with me. The critics hated that shit. As did I.

Agreed. Except for the special effects that were truly and really cool, it might be the most popular cheese bomb to ever explode onto America's collective, moviegoing face. It was also the movie that finally allowed me to indulge my hatred for Jeff Goldblum. God, what an annoying fuck that guy is.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

It was entertaining in a mind numbing, has a lot of explosions kind of way. What it lacked from the original was any kind ... point. The characters had no charisma, the storylines had no real plot and, even though the planet was about to be destroyed, there was never a sense that there were any real stakes.

One review I saw described it as if a 12 year old had written some bad Independence Day fanfic. That about runs it up. If you go in with absolutely no expectations to have crushed, you can have a good time but if you're looking for something which measures up to the original, this isn't it.

Also, the ending is the most hamfisted way to set up a sequel I've ever seen

 

[Playball40]

It was entertaining in a mind numbing, has a lot of explosions kind of way. What it lacked from the original was any kind ... point. The characters had no charisma, the storylines had no real plot and, even though the planet was about to be destroyed, there was never a sense that there were any real stakes.

One review I saw described it as if a 12 year old had written some bad Independence Day fanfic. That about runs it up. If you go in with absolutely no expectations to have crushed, you can have a good time but if you're looking for something which measures up to the original, this isn't it.

Also, the ending is the most hamfisted way to set up a sequel I've ever seen

Yup I agree. And unlike most of the posters, I loved the original. The bantering and one-liners were enjoyable to me. But the sequel? It was nostalgic, completely unoriginal story (I saw bits of Ender's Game, Dr. Who, StarWars and numerous others) which bugged me. Also, I don't think they 'needed' Hemsworth at all. Why didn't they let Dylan play that role? Ahh whatever - I should have waited and saved some money - but I got a really cool lanyard from it, so there's that.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

It was entertaining in a mind numbing, has a lot of explosions kind of way. What it lacked from the original was any kind ... point. The characters had no charisma, the storylines had no real plot and, even though the planet was about to be destroyed, there was never a sense that there were any real stakes.

One review I saw described it as if a 12 year old had written some bad Independence Day fanfic. That about runs it up. If you go in with absolutely no expectations to have crushed, you can have a good time but if you're looking for something which measures up to the original, this isn't it.

Also, the ending is the most hamfisted way to set up a sequel I've ever seen

Yup I agree. And unlike most of the posters, I loved the original. The bantering and one-liners were enjoyable to me. But the sequel? It was nostalgic, completely unoriginal story (I saw bits of Ender's Game, Dr. Who, StarWars and numerous others) which bugged me. Also, I don't think they 'needed' Hemsworth at all. Why didn't they let Dylan play that role? Ahh whatever - I should have waited and saved some money - but I got a really cool lanyard from it, so there's that.

All the new characters were generic and irrelevant. Not-Will-Smith and Not-Thor were just random pilots with cookie-cutter personalities, but they were well rounded and developed compared to everyone else who just ambled aimlessly around the set until the director let them go home for the night and I've already forgotten who they all were. Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum tried, but the script gave them almost nothing to work with. Data was funny in the comic relief role, but they gave him about twice the screen time they should have and it was starting to wear kind of thin towards the end.

I was also a huge fan of the original and I really wish we could have gotten something better to follow it up after a twenty year wait.

 

[Shadowy Man]

One review I saw described it as if a 12 year old had written some bad Independence Day fanfic.

But is that 12 year old a better screenplay writer than JJ Abrams? That's the real question...

 

[DrZoidberg]

Zoolander 2 8/10

I don't get the haters. This film is epic. Yes, it's retarded. That's the point. Yes, I hated myself for laughing. That was part of the fun.

 

[MarkW]

The Fugitive (1993 film)

9/10

While I can't say how true to the TV series this is, it is a very successful action thriller on its own terms. Harrison Ford is a solid lead but the film is stolen by Oscar-winner Tommy Lee Jones as the relentless US Marshal Sam Gerard.

 

[MarkW]

The Long Riders

9/10

Walter Hill's version of the story of the James-Younger gang is probably the best cinema version of the story ever. What seemed on the surface like gimmicky casting--having characters who were brothers played by actors who were also brothers--turned out to work very well. James and Stacy Keach are quite good as the James brothers, and even better are David, Keith and Robert Carradine as, respectively, Cole, Jim and Bob Younger. The Quaid and Guest brothers also appear and Pamela Reed is very good in a small role as Belle Starr. Ry Cooder's terrific score is another big plus.

 

[DrZoidberg]

The Do-Over (3/10)

An Adam Sandler movie about two losers who escape from their loser lives by stealing the identity of two others. It's supposed to be a light hearted feel good comedy. But the only thing that is good about it is when Adam Sandler is Adam Sandler. He's working the shit script as well as he can. And that's the problem. It's a gawdawful script, terrible dialogue and idiotic story. It's mindbogglingly bad. There are some beautifully crafted characters in this. All just completely wasted on this crap movie. The acting is top notch. So that's not the problem. Oh, yeah... it's a trope-a-thon. Prepare to not get surprised.... at all... about anything. The various twists are all... yawn.

 

[The Colourful Jester]

The BFG - 9/10. Great stuff, but can't capture the books magic though it does come close in many ways. May have benefited from extra time. Still well worth a viewing.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople - 10/10. It may have been seen all before, but I couldn't have cared less. The two leads were wonderful.
Independance Day: Resurgance - 7.5/10. Needed Will Smith. The first seemed alot more epic as well.

All in all, a good days viewing at the cinema yesterday.

 

[Thomas II]

The Long Riders

9/10

Walter Hill's version of the story of the James-Younger gang is probably the best cinema version of the story ever. What seemed on the surface like gimmicky casting--having characters who were brothers played by actors who were also brothers--turned out to work very well. James and Stacy Keach are quite good as the James brothers, and even better are David, Keith and Robert Carradine as, respectively, Cole, Jim and Bob Younger. The Quaid and Guest brothers also appear and Pamela Reed is very good in a small role as Belle Starr. Ry Cooder's terrific score is another big plus.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

Elizabeth

Meh.

It's about Elizabeth I and her various struggles with the Spanish armada and the treacherous Mary Queen of Scots. The costumes and makeup are first rate though, which kept me watching because the whole battle with the Spanish armada was gonna go down and I had to see how they were going to do that. Then the battle happened and I realized this movie is totally not current. It was made in 1998 and so the CGI or blue screen or whatever it was they used looked awful.

Anyway, the thing was kind of hodgepodge of story lines, with only one of them being well developed. Editing was likely the culprit here because the Spaniards were one dimensional bumbling clowns and so they were more irritating than intriguing. I kept waiting for Python to pop up and begin their Spanish Inquisition bit.

It was a very sleepy 5/10

 

[bilby]

The BFG - 9/10. Great stuff, but can't capture the books magic though it does come close in many ways. May have benefited from extra time. Still well worth a viewing.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople - 10/10. It may have been seen all before, but I couldn't have cared less. The two leads were wonderful.
Independance Day: Resurgance - 7.5/10. Needed Will Smith. The first seemed alot more epic as well.

All in all, a good days viewing at the cinema yesterday.

Sorry, but if you saw them yesterday, you are not allowed to post.

The thread title clearly states 'today'.

 

[prideandfall]

the neon demon - 2/10

this is kind of hard to qualify because it's not really a movie, it's more like "film" or "cinema" - it's images and sounds on a reel, but there's nothing that you can really compare to what one considers to be a movie in any real way.
it's art house fluff on a bigger budget, lots of long lingering shots and cinematography masturbation interlaced with occasional bits of incredibly stilted dialogue that don't form any sort of coherent narrative or plot structure.
as an arm chair film buff/critic i could pontificate on myriad issues on a variety of levels, but ultimately it's just 120 minutes of aesthetic self indulgence, definitely give this one a miss.

side note: it does however has one of the greatest trailers i've ever seen, in that the trailer manages to make this crap look interesting in a way the film never did.
but, still better than interstellar, so that's something.

 

[prideandfall]

swiss army man - 8/10

on the one hand this movie is easy to describe, but the effect of it is far more subtle and complex.
much like how 'thriller' or 'horror' or 'rom-com' are their own genres, so to can 'quirky' be one and this is definitely in that category, but in a good way.
unfortunately the only real way i can think of to relate what the movie is like is to compare it to a couple other movies that are also kind of obscure, such as wristcutters, the perks of being a wallflower, ghost world, and the like - not due to any comparison to the plots but to the overall feel of it being a quirky independent dramady that is very sincere and plays off of that extremely well.

if you enjoy absurdism, abstract meta comedy, and heartfelt oddball movies this is a real winner.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

It was entertaining in a mind numbing, has a lot of explosions kind of way. What it lacked from the original was any kind ... point. The characters had no charisma, the storylines had no real plot and, even though the planet was about to be destroyed, there was never a sense that there were any real stakes.

The only way this movie works is if the humans lose. Why is it that generally only horror films (and some westerns) can have the good guys lose?

One review I saw described it as if a 12 year old had written some bad Independence Day fanfic. That about runs it up. If you go in with absolutely no expectations to have crushed, you can have a good time but if you're looking for something which measures up to the original, this isn't it.

Also, the ending is the most hamfisted way to set up a sequel I've ever seen

This project was doomed from the get go. There was no proper way to follow up ID4.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

Ted 2

Low expectations always makes a movie better. I thought this was doomed to be turned off in half an hour, but I made it all the way through. It has some good laughs and earns points for being an R rated comedy that says "fuck" as much as it wants.

5/10

Cloud Atlas

This is the second time I watched it and did not finish it in as many tries. I don't know what it's supposed to be about or why they used white guys to play Asians.

3/10

 

[Tom Sawyer]

The only way this movie works is if the humans lose. Why is it that generally only horror films (and some westerns) can have the good guys lose?

One review I saw described it as if a 12 year old had written some bad Independence Day fanfic. That about runs it up. If you go in with absolutely no expectations to have crushed, you can have a good time but if you're looking for something which measures up to the original, this isn't it.

Also, the ending is the most hamfisted way to set up a sequel I've ever seen

This project was doomed from the get go. There was no proper way to follow up ID4.

While I doubt they could have ever recaptured what they managed to pull off with the first one, they could have done a lot more than they did. The characters could have mattered. The aliens could have been marginally scary and imposing. They could have come up with a crazy plan to save the day that they didn't rip off from the Phantom Menace ... and the Avengers ... and probably three or four other things.

I agree that they were never going to make this movie great, but they could have put in more effort and made it good.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Cloud Atlas

This is the second time I watched it and did not finish it in as many tries. I don't know what it's supposed to be about or why they used white guys to play Asians.

3/10

Capitalism is bad. There, saved you the need to watch it. And also that people are capable of love in spite of having shitty lives. It rests on a pretty lame gimmick. It's nice how it comes together in the end. But ultimately, meh. I think the problem is that this is a mainstream movie. They should have done it art house and just gone all in. This is a lame compromise that makes nobody happy.

 

[Playball40]

X-Men Apocalypse - ok so I know you X-Men purists will hate me, but I loved the movie. I will say that Apocalypse could have been done better (he just didn't scare - pose much threat). Also, they didn't delve into his power of persuasion which could have had some interesting implications BUT....overall, as one that has NEVER read the comics (so the movies and occasional X-Men Wikipedia is all I have to compare), I enjoyed the story, some of the characters; still love Peter's rendition of Quicksilver and the new kids version of Nightcrawler and if a movie makes me laugh, cry and feel nostalgic then it served it's purpose for me as an entertaining break from reality.

Also, it is the first X-Men movie my 14 year old daughter has seen (she has seen Deadpool and that's about it). She liked it so much she has now gone back and watched First Class, Days of Future Past and X-Men I. It's been fun sharing these moments with her (although I suspect this is more about her crush liking X-Men, than me.........but hey, I can kid myself for a while).