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

Crazies 10/10

When you think they can't innovate the zombie genre any more, they do. This is a great film. This has several things going for it. The zombie virus doesn't necessarily make them into rabid killers. It just makes people extremely unstable. It effects the memory, can make them slide into catatonic spells and make them make terrible judgement calls. And that's in many ways way more terrifying. Because it becomes hard to tell whether anybody is ever infected or not. A very interesting twist on it IMHO. And it's well played out.

Another great feature of this is that it takes place in one small farm community where everybody knows each other. So there's no masses of anonymous zombies. They all have a personal relationship to everybody. And since the zombies maintain a lot of their "humanity" throughout the disease it makes for a very interesting film. I've never seen a zombie film where a zombie who already has turned sacrifices themselves to protect their old friends. A great film.

The only part I didn't like was the bit when they were going to try to explain the disease. We've seen it a million times already in other films. Nobody cares anymore. We just want to get to the zombie action.
 
One of my Christmas presents was a DVD box set of "The Story of Film: An Odyssey." Not a movie itself, but a 15 part series on the history of film.

The narrator's voice is perhaps the most powerful sleep aid I've ever come across, but if you can set that aside, the series is an astonishingly in depth look into the art of cinema.

10/10
 
Keanu 7/10

This is the kind of movie that makes you chuckle. The two stars are fun to watch, the absurd story somehow works, and there are enough truly funny scenes to make up for its flaws. Overall, a decent comedy I wouldn't mind watching again
 
Arctish said:
Keanu 7/10

This is the kind of movie that makes you chuckle. The two stars are fun to watch, the absurd story somehow works, and there are enough truly funny scenes to make up for its flaws. Overall, a decent comedy I wouldn't mind watching again
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I normally think Key and Peele are pretty mediocre, not as good as Dave Chapelle whom they seem to have replaced on Comedy Central. This movie, though, was very funny. I agree it's probably a 7 and I agree I'd watch it again.
 
Bullet to the Head
5/5

The plot of this movie is straightfoward as a ... dum dum dum... bullet. Everyone gets a bullet in the head. Sometimes bullets in other places, but for some reason only headshots are lethal. The protagonist's favourite drink is a double bullet. And so on. The story is a really simple revenge story where a guy's partner gets killed, he teams up with someone from opposite side of the law, and together they work up the ladder as they seek revenge on the killers. This is basically Lethal Weapon, or any of dozens of 80s and 90s movies in that vein... not necessarily bad, but you have to set your expectations that there is nothing artistically surprising or clever about this one either.
 
Star Trek - Beyond... being remotely compelling.

This film was a bloody mess. Even ignoring the Star Trek label that this reboot shits on, it was a rabble of trash, loosely connected events, a villain who really isn't developed of adequately explained. The plot traps were random and nonsensical.

This makes Nemesis look like a movie a bit better than Nemesis.

1.5 of 4


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Jimmy Higgins said:
Star Trek - Beyond... being remotely compelling.

This film was a bloody mess. Even ignoring the Star Trek label that this reboot shits on, it was a rabble of trash, loosely connected events, a villain who really isn't developed of adequately explained. The plot traps were random and nonsensical.

This makes Nemesis look like a movie a bit better than Nemesis.

1.5 of 4


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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They're really squeezing every last drop of goodwill out of this. A tragedy to witness.
 
Agora 8/10

A film about the adult life of Hypatia. Why didn't they just call the film Hypatia instead of a name that hardly means anything to anyone? Who knows. It's an excellent period piece. If it wasn't historically accurate, they certainly had me fooled. And I'm talking about the way people behaved and what they did. Not the clothes. I'll get to that later.

This was a very interesting threshold time, between paganism being the dominant religion to Christianity being so. And all the conflicts surrounding it. The story is excellent. I love how they make Hypathia come across as a super nerd. Which the historical descriptions of her also suggest. All the moral issues are kept vague. And Christianity isn't made out as evil. And the pagans weren't made out as all good. Everybody was given a fair shake.

And the love stories are all very well played out.

The extremely basic philosophy did get a bit tiring after a while. A movie isn't the best way to explain philosophical concepts. And it was all painfully basic. But points for trying.

It should also be said that we're a bit fuzzy on most of the details of Hypathia's life. So they had plenty of space to be creative. So as far as historical accuracy, it's hard to criticise it. Except the clothes. We have good knowledge about the clothes of the time.

The clothes. Here's for one of my main hates when it comes to historical drama. Are you trying to depict yea olden days or are you LARPing? Who knew that ancient Christian thugs carried shotgun bandoliers? The more you know. I guess it helps the visual aspect of the film that the Pagans and Christians could be easily told apart. But it's not accurate. And the leather Roman armour. Is it really so much more expensive to buy a stage prop that at least somewhat resembles what the Roman legionnaires actually wore? In 391 Roman legionaries had gone back to Lorica Hamata (from Lorica Segmantata). It's chainmail. Stage prop chainmail is incredibly cheap. They're not even trying here. Costume design for a historical drama should NOT be a creative job. It's a research job. But then again, almost every historical production fuck this up. I only know one production where they gave a shit, the TV series Rome. They're unique in this. How sad is that? All the rest are LARPer movies. Including this one.

So all in all, very good historical drama about a fascinating lady living in a fascinating time.
 
Spotlight 9/10

This film about the Boston Globe reporters who broke the story of child molesting priests in the Boston Archdiocese, which ultimately led to the revelation of a massive cover up of widespread child abuse by the Catholic Church, isn't as compelling as All The President's Men, but that might just be because Boston's Cardinal Law didn't have a G. Gordon Liddy around to scare off troublemakers. What Law had was the loyalty of Catholics in key positions, people who were ready, willing, and able to protect the Church and hide the truth for a long, long time. The manner in which the full scope of the abuse was revealed is fascinating.

The cast is excellent. Keaton and Tucci would have been stand-outs if it weren't for the fact that everyone else is just as good. The storytelling is a bit spare, but that works to its advantage. It avoids making too much of its heroes and doesn't bother with taking cheap shots at its villains. All in all, a very good movie.
 
Helll Or High Water mwumff/10

Another mumbler. The 3 main characters mumble incomprehensibly for the first 15 mins, interspersed with over-loud music every time you turn it up to decipher the mumbling. We nearly bailed but they speak up as the plot develops and it turns into quite a decent movie.

Is it supposed to be realism? I've been to Texas and they didn't all mumble like that.
 
Canard DuJour said:
Helll Or High Water mwumff/10

Another mumbler. The 3 main characters mumble incomprehensibly for the first 15 mins, interspersed with over-loud music every time you turn it up to decipher the mumbling. We nearly bailed but they speak up as the plot develops and it turns into quite a decent movie.

Is it supposed to be realism? I've been to Texas and they didn't all mumble like that.
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I just leave the closed captioning on. Used to be just the Brits mumbled. Now the Americans are doing it too.
 
Necronomicon 7/10

Here's one I saw as a child. I had only the vaguest memory of it. It's a really nice little horror on the Cthulhu theme. This is "inspired by" rather than a Lovecraft story straight up. But I think this is the film that best catches the Lovecraftian atmosphere that I've seen so far. Minus the racism. This clearly isn't a racist film. It's three vignettes and a frame story all based around things that happen when people read the Necronomicon.

It's lovely. I recommend it if you're into this sort of stuff. I rated it low because it's not a great movie in all the standard ways. You need to really be into this stuff. Too many flaws to list. It's also dated. 90'ies style and 90'ies practical effects. The practical effects are really well made though.
 
The Mist 10/10

I found this film when looking through a list of films inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. Having seen it I understand the connection. It's very lovecraftian, in that the horrors are just beyond comprehension. The film is about a mist that suddenly envelops a little community and the suggestions of horrors that lurk in it. This is one of those classic, what's the most terrifying is what you don't see. And it also follows the horror rule that the humans are always worse than the monsters. They do that well.

And the ending

I think it's the darkest I've ever seen. Just had me floored



This is a very scary film. Characters are so-so. Not bad. But they don't really stand-out. I did love the sceptical New York lawyer. Well played. Also believable to have a rationalist who tries to explain everything rationally. It's completely believable.

The classic hero is a classic hero.

You may also recognise every single one of the actors from the Walking Dead, since the Mist director immediately after this became exec prod on the Walking Dead.
 
Did a classics run

Galaxy Quest 10/10

Oh, lord this film is genius. I want to erect an alter to the writers and worship them by sacrificing nubile virgins to their honour. I've probably seen it 20 times before this time. It never gets old. It's so brilliant in every way.

Spaceballs 10/10

Still holds up. Didn't think I'd like it as much as I used to. But I liked it more now. Mel Brooks is funny. There's some really good stuff here.

Idiocracy 10/10

Still holds up. Especially now when it's basically a documentary.

Dagon 10/10

Classic Lovecraft goodness horror. This one has all the creepiness you can ever desire. Don't forget to eat squid pasta while you're eating it. mmm... tentacles.
 
DrZoidberg said:
The Mist 10/10

I found this film when looking through a list of films inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. Having seen it I understand the connection. It's very lovecraftian, in that the horrors are just beyond comprehension. The film is about a mist that suddenly envelops a little community and the suggestions of horrors that lurk in it. This is one of those classic, what's the most terrifying is what you don't see. And it also follows the horror rule that the humans are always worse than the monsters. They do that well.

And the ending

I think it's the darkest I've ever seen. Just had me floored



This is a very scary film. Characters are so-so. Not bad. But they don't really stand-out. I did love the sceptical New York lawyer. Well played. Also believable to have a rationalist who tries to explain everything rationally. It's completely believable.

The classic hero is a classic hero.

You may also recognise every single one of the actors from the Walking Dead, since the Mist director immediately after this became exec prod on the Walking Dead.
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This is one of my favorite horror movies. Taken from a Stephen King short story.

I thought Marcia Gay Harden was great. "Expiation!"
 
DrZoidberg said:
Did a classics run

Galaxy Quest 10/10

Oh, lord this film is genius. I want to erect an alter to the writers and worship them by sacrificing nubile virgins to their honour. I've probably seen it 20 times before this time. It never gets old. It's so brilliant in every way.
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As a trekkie since childhood (TOS), I too love that film.

BTW,watching The Wrath of Khan as I type this.
 
Siren 10/10

this is a b horror movie, a creature feature even. thing is, it's a four star b movie. i watched it with my kinda boyfriend, who has a big feminine side - for both of us, it was twisted romance, not horror. he completely identified with the monster (a very tragic monster) and i with the guy who rescued her.
 
Finally saw Rogue One: 7/10

So, I'd long been awaiting this movie, really hoping that it might help get rid of the bad taste left after watching The Force Awakens. Overall, it was an enjoyable movie, but it had lots of faults, mostly revolving around the lack of character development. This is nearly a fatal flaw, given that by the end we are supposed to care for the characters and their mission, given their ultimate fates. It has a lot of the elements that you'd expect a decent Star Wars movie to have, but they really should have lessened the number of characters and spent more time developing only a few. The original Star Wars used archetypal figures, which makes it easier to understand their motivations without background, but in this movie, it simply wasn't clear what was really driving any of the characters to do what they did. And since we all know how it has to end, the film makers really had the responsibility to make it a good story of "how".
 
DrZoidberg said:
[...]

Idiocracy 10/10

Still holds up. Especially now when it's basically a documentary.

[...]
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Elitist! You're just jealous of America's greatness! Don't get mad at us because you foreigners voted for communofascism! We still have freedom over here, and America's gonna be great again! Get me some hookers! I feel like a peepee party! Yee haw! Praise Jeebus!
 
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