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

Opoponax said:
Ford said:
I watched it on the plane. What was it we did to pass the time before streaming movies were available on flights?
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Books and sleep. Back around 2004 or so, my wife and I flew to Europe and brought a portable DVD player with us. It looked kind of like a laptop.

Anyway...

Avengers Infinity War

Great special effects, good action, good characters.

No suspense, and not much drama.
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No suspense? So the quick black dead end screens tossed in late to make the viewer wonder whether that was the end... didn't cause suspense?

It's eye candy. No one's actually dead, and all the superheroes killed will be brought back in sequels as long as execs believe it'll be profitable.
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Or if the actor doesn't want in any more. There has to be deaths to make this work.

I blame Sylvester Stallone. Without Rocky II, or any of its sequels, and without any of the sequels to First Blood, maybe lost or dead would have stayed lost or dead in the movies. But no, Rocky had to win and John Rambo had to go back to Vietnam to win that war, and from there on out, Rocky and Rambo were always going to win.
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Topper, The Fly, The Thin Man, and James Bond are the few franchises that come straight to mind about sequels or series. Then there was Jaws, Superman, and Back to the Future in the 70/80s. So leave Stallone alone. ;)

But I can't lie. I was entertained, and being entertained really does matter. So for pure entertainment, Thanos Not Really Killing Anyone Important gets a 9/10. For anything having to do with depth or serious artistic value, it's gets a 3/10.
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But were you really entertained or just entertained. We all know the story is half told once the credits go, but the intensity of the film was what made it a serious 2+ hour long rush of comic book action, without the comic book cheese.

Personally, I think Marvel Studios has spoiled people.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
Or if the actor doesn't want in any more. There has to be deaths to make this work
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Or they'll just get a new actor to play the part. And it'll work because superhero.

Topper, The Fly, The Thin Man, and James Bond are the few franchises that come straight to mind about sequels or series. Then there was Jaws, Superman, and Back to the Future in the 70/80s. So leave Stallone alone.
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Fair enough. I just like thinking about Rocky III and Rambo III because they were so awesome and awful. Take your pick of moments from Rocky III (Hulk Hogan as Thunderlips, Mr. T's unintentionally hilarious lines as Clubber Lang, Rocky and Apollo gay-celebrating in the surf, etc.). Rambo III was one of my personally favorite cinema moments because my best friend and I saw it in an empty theater when we were both 18, broke off our ass and renting rooms in some shitty house, and god, we fucking laughed so hard at the crazy over the top moments like when Rambo cauterizes his wound and the flame shoots through his from front to back.

Personally, I think Marvel Studios has spoiled people.
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Not me. I've never gotten superhero movies. I really like some of the writing that goes into them, especially the Guardians movies. It's really good. But as serious cinema? Nah. I suppose I could make the effort to seek out more artful movies, but I'm lazy, old, and Requiem For a Dream broke me years ago.
 
An art house Aussie little film made with a budget of 1.3 million dollars and starring Rachel Ward, [Brain Brown's Mrs] I rate it 5.5/10 simply because of what's achieved with such a tiny budget.

 
I caught fragments of this the other night Angelo, and let it go because it seemed a rip-off of the similar one with Brad Pitt (forgotten the name).

Which do you think was a better story line? Were they similar?
 
The Fate of the Furious 7/10

I don't know how these movies manage to get ever more preposterous with each installment, but they somehow accomplish it while still managing to be thoroughly fun to watch.
 
spikepipsqueak said:
I caught fragments of this the other night Angelo, and let it go because it seemed a rip-off of the similar one with Brad Pitt (forgotten the name).

Which do you think was a better story line? Were they similar?
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You're referring to the "Curious Case of Benjamin Button" of course. The Aussie version is not a patch on the Brad Pitt movie. But I think they just stole the idea, not the movie.

 
The Clovehitch Killer - 2/10
this was *supposedly* a taut low-boil thriller about a seemingly normal guy in suburbia who may be a serial killer... but aside from that being such a ridiculously overplayed and hacknied premise, this movie was like what would happen if kirk cameron decided to make a supposedly taunt low-boil thriller about a seemingly normal guy in suburbia who may be a serial killer.
AKA: it was insipid, it didn't understand that americana iconography in this setting is supposed to be used as poignant satire and/or subverted and so just took it seriously, it didn't understand that "is he/isn't he" is an important part of the genre, and that the reveal should be the film's dramatic climax.
basically it failed on every conceivable level for what it was trying to be, and ended up being utter dreck.

An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn - 9.7 what-in-the-almighty-fucks / eleventeen WHAT-IN-THE-ACTUAL-LITERAL-SHIT
this was one of the most utterly batshit movies i've ever seen... this was so completely fucking crazy i spent most of the film in something of a daze just trying to wrap my head around the idea that somebody wrote this screenplay and got people to act it.
great cast (aubrey plaza, jemaine clement, emile hirsch, craig robinson) and well produced, but it was looney tunes in a way i can only compare to early john waters films - it was like some arthouse indie from the early 70s that got made totally straight-faced on a modern production budget.
bizarre enough to defy categorization of good or bad - it was an experience to watch that's for sure, i'm glad that totally gonzo arthouse cinema like this exists out there and is still being made.

Thoroughbreds - 4.5/10
this movie desperately wanted to be a black comedy in the mold of Heathers or Cruel Intentions but falls victim to the trap of not being original enough or having enough of an interesting take on the idea to be worth much of anything.
competently done though and a handful of solid black humor moments, though it falls to predictable genre schlock at the end.
 
Bird Box

It's an apocalyptic movie about either demons or aliens who, upon being seen, cause people to commit suicide However, there is a very small portion of humanity that doesn't go insane, but does the demon's/alien's bidding by making others look at the demons/aliens. These baddies are escaped lunatics. The non-lunatics have to manage to make their way through the world blindfolded.

It's an interesting idea, and I didn't have much trouble buying into it. Ironically though, the viewer never gets to see the demons/aliens except through one of the lunatic's pencil sketches, most of which are inconsistent. It's as if the film's makers couldn't decide on a single alien, so they decided to take all the ideas they had and put them on the table--but not commit to any single concept. However, most monsters tend to detract from a movie unless you come up with something legendary like the original Alien or Predator. IOW, there's not much middle ground between iconic and meh when it comes to movie monsters. So it was probably a better choice to "show" the monsters the way they did.

Plot holes abound and reasonable questions are never answered though. For example, are these aliens or demons? Is it a religious event, or is it a space borne invasion? How come these entities can't or don't physically harm people? OTOH, maybe it's better left to the imagination of the viewer. It certainly doesn't hurt us to have to think about something rather than having it spoon fed to us. The monsters could've been demons or they could have been aliens, or it could have been a mass delusion brought on by some heretofore unknown solar or biological event. So in the end, not having the answers to those questions doesn't hurt, and may even have been a good thing.

Finally, most of what is bad about the film is largely offset by a really good cast, well crafted suspense, and atmosphere. The ending does take us to Lame-town, but the journey to that place is pretty good.

6.5/10
 
Bumblebee. 8/10

G1 Transformers for me always!

The movie is limited a bit by being a prequel to the Bay movies. There are a few continuity issues with regard to the Bay films, but I don’t mind. Wouldn’t mind a full reboot as it is. Starts off on Cybertron, big fight with the G1 designs. Finally Transformers looking like they are supposed to! Bumblebee is sent as an advanced scout to Earth. Arrives in California in the 80’s. Injuries cause him temporary memory loss, then he is found by the girl Charlie.

The film has good action, and is pretty funny at times. Some nice Easter eggs, like the kid next door reading a go-bots magazine. Hope they keep this director, and give him the freedom to do what he wants.
 
Ocean's 8 7/10

An entertaining little heist film that kept me interested in pretty much all the characters from start to finish. Everyone did a fantastic job with their parts. My only quibble is that the end felt too abrupt, as if there were story left to tell about this particular heist.
 
The Apartment - Yup, must be New Years, granted if I ever catch it while on TCM, I'll watch it then too. One of my favorite movies of all time. Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon, you can't go wrong. The film is actually quite small in scope, but it dazzles... movie-wise.

4 of 4
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
The Apartment - Yup, must be New Years, granted if I ever catch it while on TCM, I'll watch it then too. One of my favorite movies of all time. Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon, you can't go wrong. The film is actually quite small in scope, but it dazzles... movie-wise.

4 of 4
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Quite possibly one of Shirley McLain's best movie. She stared with Lemmon again in Irma La Douce.

This entertaining comedy finds disgraced former police officer Nestor Patou (Jack Lemmon) falling for beautiful Parisian prostitute Irma La Douce (Shirley MacLaine). Though Nestor becomes Irma's pimp, he can't stand the idea of her being with clients, so he devises a way to keep her all to himself. This scheme leads to plenty of trouble, however, and soon Nestor is forced to avoid his old law-enforcement peers in an attempt to stay with Irma and out of jail.

8/10
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
The Apartment - Yup, must be New Years, granted if I ever catch it while on TCM, I'll watch it then too. One of my favorite movies of all time. Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon, you can't go wrong. The film is actually quite small in scope, but it dazzles... movie-wise.

4 of 4
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Wow. That is one of, in not my favorite movie. I have it on DVD and I watch it every holiday season. Most people that I ask about that movie, have never heard of it, despite it winning numerous awards. I love old black and white movies. I love Jack Lemmon. I love movies based in NY City, probably because I grew up near the city. I love the message of that movie, the acting, the direction. It's nice to know that someone younger than me likes that movie.

The only other movie that I've watched that often is "Blazing Saddles", Mel Brooks best ever comedy. It never gets old, has a lot of great satire in it, in true Mel Brooks fashion. I watched it when it first came out in the early 70s and I watch it about twice a year when I want a good laugh.

I also watched the original version of "The Odd Couple" last week, with Jack Lemmon and Walther Matthau, directed by Neil Simon. Anybody like that one?
 
Deadpool 2, 7/10; A fun movie with plenty action and quick one liners and some funny scenes. Very entertaining.
 
southernhybrid said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
The Apartment - Yup, must be New Years, granted if I ever catch it while on TCM, I'll watch it then too. One of my favorite movies of all time. Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon, you can't go wrong. The film is actually quite small in scope, but it dazzles... movie-wise.

4 of 4
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Wow. That is one of, in not my favorite movie. I have it on DVD and I watch it every holiday season. Most people that I ask about that movie, have never heard of it, despite it winning numerous awards. I love old black and white movies. I love Jack Lemmon. I love movies based in NY City, probably because I grew up near the city. I love the message of that movie, the acting, the direction. It's nice to know that someone younger than me likes that movie.

The only other movie that I've watched that often is "Blazing Saddles", Mel Brooks best ever comedy. It never gets old, has a lot of great satire in it, in true Mel Brooks fashion. I watched it when it first came out in the early 70s and I watch it about twice a year when I want a good laugh.

I also watched the original version of "The Odd Couple" last week, with Jack Lemmon and Walther Matthau, directed by Neil Simon. Anybody like that one?
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Lemmon and Neil Simon are a good pairing as well, though Simon isn’t Wilder. However, I found Lemmon’s character too uptight and annoying in The Odd Couple. Prefer The Fortune Cookie and The Front Page.

Think I’ve seem two thirds of Lemmon’s films. I’m trying to find Inherit the Wind.
 
The Godfather and it's sequels. A local channel is showing one every night for the last 3 nights. As they're all around 3-4 hours long,
i'm betting many fans of the franchise are bleary eyed next day. G F 1, I'd rate 9/10-- 2, 8/10--3,--7/10.

Most probably De Niro's last great movies.
 
angelo said:
The Godfather and it's sequels. A local channel is showing one every night for the last 3 nights. As they're all around 3-4 hours long,
i'm betting many fans of the franchise are bleary eyed next day. G F 1, I'd rate 9/10-- 2, 8/10--3,--7/10.

Most probably De Niro's last great movies.
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You aren't giving Rocky and Bullwinkle any respect here. :D
 
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