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

[angelo]

A Charles Bronson oldie but a goodie which has been re-made but is not a patch on this original. The Mechanic also starring Jan-Michael Vincent who hasn't made anything of note for decades. Bronson's Mrs Jill Ireland was also in this as she was in a few other Charles Bronson films. The vintage is 1972 so I'm guessing that many of the actors in this crime thriller are dead by now. Still worth a watch even if it's the second or third or more viewing.
7.5/10

Jan-Michael Vincent used to be a raging alcoholic, which probably is what deep-sixed his otherwise decent career.

The lovely Jill Ireland, Mr. Bronson's wife, lost a terrible battle with breast cancer. She fought long and hard and was reduced to skin and bones using experimental treatments at the end. Very sad.

Mr. Bronson joined her in death in 2003.

Yes a very sad ending for Jill and Bronson was never the same after his loss.

 

[angelo]

Monday night they're repeating the mobster movie Goodfellas again with De Niro and Pesci. I have seen it but will watch it again.

 

[The Colourful Jester]

Both on the big screen.

Interstellar - 6/10. Can't see the grand visuals everyone else is seeing. But it did put me in the mood for 2001: A Space Odyssey now I'm home.
Pulp Fiction 8/10 - Great of course, but it did look blurry when the camera panned about.

 

[Warpoet]

Interstellar -- 8/10

*minor spoilers*

Christopher Nolan has proven by now that he's a very talented director, and while's he unquestionably skilled at entertaining audiences and creating impressive visuals, he has a lot of room to improve when it comes to storytelling and character development. The latter is almost non-existent here (who were half of those people anyway ?), and the storytelling is, well, a mess. Some of it is confusing and poorly explained (the soil isn't producing enough food to feed the earth, so society gets rid of all the scientists who might be able to do something about it? What? And the military is gone too? What?) and some of it is just ridiculous (washed up ex-pilot who hasn't flown in 10 years randomly shows up the day before the launch of a mission that is clearly humanity's last hope for survival? Sure, hand him the fucking keys without training him or giving him anything past a minute or two of background information). But in any event, it won't make a lot of sense to the average moviegoer.

Part of the problem was that the sound mixing was awful when I saw it, and I couldn't hear the dialogue over the music, but apparently others have had the same problem. But in any event, even though I think I grasped the main thrust of what was going and the final explanation that was given, it's pretty clear that Nolan is playing the same game he played with Inception: infinite layers of nuance and convoluted, branched-off, rapid-fire plot details, all of which probably make sense in the bigger picture. But it's not good enough just to have a complicated storyline that ultimately weaves together; the audience has to be able to understand it without writing a term paper on it. I'm frankly surprised Nolan gets away with this as much as he does. It's almost like people want to be left confused and forced to watch a movie multiple times in order to understand it; good for them, then, I guess. Inception still did well, and this has already broken the top 15 on IMDB's all-time list, just ahead of Inception.

While I think that's a bit much, there is a lot to like. Though it's not as entertaining as Inception was, there are some really impressive visuals and exciting sequences once things pick up. The performances from McConaughey et al are all quite good, and the soundtrack is a superbly effective mix of Zimmer's usual motifs, Koyaanisqatsi and 2001.

So, IMO, worth seeing despite being too long, needlessly muddled/confusing/pretentious and even silly at times, and there are definitely moments that will likely stick with you after leaving the theater.

 

[DBT]

Interstellar -- 8/10

*minor spoilers*

Christopher Nolan has proven by now that he's a very talented director, and while's he unquestionably skilled at entertaining audiences and creating impressive visuals, he has a lot of room to improve when it comes to storytelling and character development. The latter is almost non-existent here (who were half of those people anyway ?), and the storytelling is, well, a mess. Some of it is confusing and poorly explained (the soil isn't producing enough food to feed the earth, so society gets rid of all the scientists who might be able to do something about it? What? And the military is gone too? What?) and some of it is just ridiculous (washed up ex-pilot who hasn't flown in 10 years randomly shows up the day before the launch of a mission that is clearly humanity's last hope for survival? Sure, hand him the fucking keys without training him or giving him anything past a minute or two of background information). But in any event, it won't make a lot of sense to the average moviegoer.

Part of the problem was that the sound mixing was awful when I saw it, and I couldn't hear the dialogue over the music, but apparently others have had the same problem. But in any event, even though I think I grasped the main thrust of what was going and the final explanation that was given, it's pretty clear that Nolan is playing the same game he played with Inception: infinite layers of nuance and convoluted, branched-off, rapid-fire plot details, all of which probably make sense in the bigger picture. But it's not good enough just to have a complicated storyline that ultimately weaves together; the audience has to be able to understand it without writing a term paper on it. I'm frankly surprised Nolan gets away with this as much as he does. It's almost like people want to be left confused and forced to watch a movie multiple times in order to understand it; good for them, then, I guess. Inception still did well, and this has already broken the top 15 on IMDB's all-time list, just ahead of Inception.

While I think that's a bit much, there is a lot to like. Though it's not as entertaining as Inception was, there are some really impressive visuals and exciting sequences once things pick up. The performances from McConaughey et al are all quite good, and the soundtrack is a superbly effective mix of Zimmer's usual motifs, Koyaanisqatsi and 2001.

So, IMO, worth seeing despite being too long, needlessly muddled/confusing/pretentious and even silly at times, and there are definitely moments that will likely stick with you after leaving the theater.

That's a good summary. It's silly that they'd land in a 'shallow' ocean on a planet orbiting a black hole without considering the possibility of massive tides...which, no doubt, you could see from orbit (gosh, they are not mountains!). I enjoyed it despite it's flaws. 7/10

 

[angelo]

Interstellar -- 8/10

*minor spoilers*

Christopher Nolan has proven by now that he's a very talented director, and while's he unquestionably skilled at entertaining audiences and creating impressive visuals, he has a lot of room to improve when it comes to storytelling and character development. The latter is almost non-existent here (who were half of those people anyway ?), and the storytelling is, well, a mess. Some of it is confusing and poorly explained (the soil isn't producing enough food to feed the earth, so society gets rid of all the scientists who might be able to do something about it? What? And the military is gone too? What?) and some of it is just ridiculous (washed up ex-pilot who hasn't flown in 10 years randomly shows up the day before the launch of a mission that is clearly humanity's last hope for survival? Sure, hand him the fucking keys without training him or giving him anything past a minute or two of background information). But in any event, it won't make a lot of sense to the average moviegoer.

Part of the problem was that the sound mixing was awful when I saw it, and I couldn't hear the dialogue over the music, but apparently others have had the same problem. But in any event, even though I think I grasped the main thrust of what was going and the final explanation that was given, it's pretty clear that Nolan is playing the same game he played with Inception: infinite layers of nuance and convoluted, branched-off, rapid-fire plot details, all of which probably make sense in the bigger picture. But it's not good enough just to have a complicated storyline that ultimately weaves together; the audience has to be able to understand it without writing a term paper on it. I'm frankly surprised Nolan gets away with this as much as he does. It's almost like people want to be left confused and forced to watch a movie multiple times in order to understand it; good for them, then, I guess. Inception still did well, and this has already broken the top 15 on IMDB's all-time list, just ahead of Inception.

While I think that's a bit much, there is a lot to like. Though it's not as entertaining as Inception was, there are some really impressive visuals and exciting sequences once things pick up. The performances from McConaughey et al are all quite good, and the soundtrack is a superbly effective mix of Zimmer's usual motifs, Koyaanisqatsi and 2001.

So, IMO, worth seeing despite being too long, needlessly muddled/confusing/pretentious and even silly at times, and there are definitely moments that will likely stick with you after leaving the theater.

This directors all time favourite Sci_Fi movies was Stanley Kubricks 2001 A Space Odyssey He tried too hard to emulate that classic and failed.

 

[another1]

Dreamcatcher (2003) 7.9 Very nice alternate ending and raaaaaad directors cut wow

 

[KeepTalking]

Big Hero 6
8/10

For the 12 people who actually bought the comic book, this movie takes extreme liberties with the source material, but I don't expect very many people will care about that.

For everyone else, it's a rousing and adorable children's movie. The characters are all adorable, have interesting personalities, and the key characters have believable motives.

I don't have any of the actual Big Hero 6 comics, but I do have one better, Alpha Flight #17. This was the first actual appearance of Big Hero 6, before they got their own comic, and it is worth more than any of the Big Hero 6 books (the 1st issue variant of Big Hero 6 comes close), and is one of the most valuable books in my collection right now. I've been thinking about getting it graded, and selling it, but I think I might hang on to it for a while longer to see if the value goes up.

 

[James Brown]

Big Hero 6
8/10

For the 12 people who actually bought the comic book, this movie takes extreme liberties with the source material, but I don't expect very many people will care about that.

For everyone else, it's a rousing and adorable children's movie. The characters are all adorable, have interesting personalities, and the key characters have believable motives.

I don't have any of the actual Big Hero 6 comics, but I do have one better, Alpha Flight #17. This was the first actual appearance of Big Hero 6, before they got their own comic, and it is worth more than any of the Big Hero 6 books (the 1st issue variant of Big Hero 6 comes close), and is one of the most valuable books in my collection right now. I've been thinking about getting it graded, and selling it, but I think I might hang on to it for a while longer to see if the value goes up.

You aren't kidding. AF #17 is currently on a consignment for as much as $200 (who knows if it will actually sell for that, of course). The next issue in the series can be had for less than two bucks.

 

[blastula]

Nightcrawler

An excellent film noir about a disreputable fellow finding his true calling in a disreputable business. Jake Gyllenhaal will most likely score a Best Actor nomination for this one. The supporting cast is good, too, and the story is captivating. Fair warning, though: the main character is really creepy. The more I got to know him, the more uncomfortable I became watching him pursue his goals, so I can't say I actually enjoyed watching this movie. But it's very, very good.

8/10

Agreed, very disturbing character, from start to finish. Reminds of a bit of American Psycho, but doing its own thing. Rene Russo was good too.

Show

There is nobody lower than a bike thief. He was beyond redemption at that point for me.

 

[MarkW]

Man on Fire (2004 version)

7/10

Like many of Tony Scott's films, this dark thriller goes over the top more than once when it comes to believability. However, it worked for me in the end thanks primarily to Denzel Washington's strong lead performance.

 

[Underseer]

Big Hero 6
8/10

For the 12 people who actually bought the comic book, this movie takes extreme liberties with the source material, but I don't expect very many people will care about that.

For everyone else, it's a rousing and adorable children's movie. The characters are all adorable, have interesting personalities, and the key characters have believable motives.

I don't have any of the actual Big Hero 6 comics, but I do have one better, Alpha Flight #17. This was the first actual appearance of Big Hero 6, before they got their own comic, and it is worth more than any of the Big Hero 6 books (the 1st issue variant of Big Hero 6 comes close), and is one of the most valuable books in my collection right now. I've been thinking about getting it graded, and selling it, but I think I might hang on to it for a while longer to see if the value goes up.

Are you going to see the movie?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Man on Fire (2004 version)

7/10

Like many of Tony Scott's films, this dark thriller goes over the top more than once when it comes to believability. However, it worked for me in the end thanks primarily to Denzel Washington's strong lead performance.

My problem was it was too intense too quickly, which neutralized the intensity after a while. Granted, this is based on a true story, of which the accuracy of the events are unknown to me.

 

[KeepTalking]

I don't have any of the actual Big Hero 6 comics, but I do have one better, Alpha Flight #17. This was the first actual appearance of Big Hero 6, before they got their own comic, and it is worth more than any of the Big Hero 6 books (the 1st issue variant of Big Hero 6 comes close), and is one of the most valuable books in my collection right now. I've been thinking about getting it graded, and selling it, but I think I might hang on to it for a while longer to see if the value goes up.

Are you going to see the movie?

I will probably wait until it comes out on blu ray.

 

[Ford]

Snowpiercer

Gods I wanted to love this movie. Post apocalyptic, gritty train, Ed Harris, Tilda Swinton (I even got a reply to my Reddit AMA question from her) but it was just...meh.


Sorry, Chris Evans, but unless you are Captain America, you can't carry a movie. And dear John Hurt...can you please stop playing the wizened old man character? Thanks.


I mean, I liked the end

Show

where everyone dies

, but for some reason I couldn't help but thinking there was about a third of the movie missing. The edits were a bit jumpy.

 

[angelo]

Dinner For Shmucks starring Steve Carel as the shmuck. Zack Galifianakis and Paul Rudd. [Paul who?] This film had much more potential to be a better film than it was. A re make of the French film " The Dinner Game" but pales in comparison to the original French farce. Still worth a peak if you haven't seen either, but I would recommend getting hold of the original because even with test dialogue is far better. 5.5/10

 

[Philos]

Folks,

'Altered' by the director of the 'Blair Witch Project'. A tight film with the nastiest screen alien alive, and I've seen quite a few.

Alex.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Snowpiercer - 7/10

A pretty good movie railing against capitalist ideology in the form of people living in different sections of a train which holds the last survivors of humanity and those at the back trying to start a revolution to capture the means of production (the engine) from the elitists running it. A pretty good movie with some nice action and a fairly cool storyline.

Show

It did completely fall apart at the end, though, when the communist revolution ended up destroying humanity to culminate in the last two people alive getting eaten by a polar bear. That seemed to undercut the entire message that the rest of the film was going for.

 

[Shadowy Man]

...some of it is just ridiculous (washed up ex-pilot who hasn't flown in 10 years randomly shows up the day before the launch of a mission that is clearly humanity's last hope for survival? Sure, hand him the fucking keys without training him or giving him anything past a minute or two of background information).

To be fair to Nolan: his showing up wasn't "random" per se, and he was actually a former test pilot of that very spaceship.

 

[Shadowy Man]

That's a good summary. It's silly that they'd land in a 'shallow' ocean on a planet orbiting a black hole without considering the possibility of massive tides...which, no doubt, you could see from orbit (gosh, they are not mountains!). I enjoyed it despite it's flaws. 7/10

The wave did not look tidal to me. Looked more like a soliton, and you couldn't really set it up in water that shallow, so it wasn't technically as "wave". But I agree that despite some flaws, it had the depth and atmosphere to overcome them. Unlike Gravity.