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

[MarkW]

Tombstone

8.5/10

While not a classic on the level of John Ford's My Darling Clementine, this film about Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the O.K. Corral gunfight is a very good action western--surprisingly so, given that it was a famously troubled production, with screenwriter Kevin Jarre initially being tabbed to direct, then fired early in production and replaced by George Cosmatos. One positive about it is that the film simply looks terrific. Cinematographer William Fraker produced some gorgeous scenes, while production designer Catherine Hardwicke and the art and costume departments did a great job capturing the feel of what Tombstone, AZ was like at the time of the film--a boom town, still raw and rough in many ways, but also with big ambitions. Likewise, story-wise, the film does a good job of balancing the often competing goals of producing compelling drama and accurately representing history.

Another plus is the terrific cast. Kurt Russell, while he does not erase memories of Henry Fonda, is a very solid lead as Wyatt; even better is Val Kilmer as Doc, definitely the best screen portrayal of Holliday ever. One way the film gets the history right is to give Wyatt's older brother Virgil a prominent and distinct part (Virgil, not Wyatt, was the town marshal of Tombstone at the time of the famous gunfight) in the plot, and Sam Elliott gives a terrific performance. On the "bad guys" side, Powers Boothe (as Curly Bill), Michael Biehn (John Ringo) and Stephen Lang (Ike Clanton) are a formidable trio of outlaws. Also very good is Jon Tenney as the slick, glad-handing Sheriff Johnny Behan, while on the distaff side of the cast watch for Dana Wheeler-Nicholson (good in a thankless part) as Wyatt's common-law wife Mattie Blaylock, and Dana Delaney as the adventurous Josie Marcus, Wyatt's companion for over 40 years after he left Tombstone. Western fans will recognize Dobe Carey and Buck Taylor in smaller roles, and there's even a Billy Bob Thornton cameo.

A couple of imperfections hold it back from truly classic status. With at least twenty fairly significant characters, several of them get lost in the shuffle at times. Also, much of the final half hour is taken up by a pair of montage sequences of gunfights which have very little significance for the viewer, as we have no idea who, exactly, has just gotten killed.

Overall, a very good film that has held up well over time (you can probably guess that it's a favorite of mine).

 

[Bacillus anthracis]

Eden Lake

I'd passed up the opportunity to watch this movie several times, but the critical reviews were good, so I gave in.

Apparently the UK needs to leave the hostile hillbilly thing to the Americans. Americans know how to do it, the Brits don't. Here's how the film went:

Two super nice and stupid people go off for the weekend and piss off the locals simply by being there. Then the stupid couple does stupid things, and then more stupid things happen. Then the Brit-billies go about doing awful things to the stupid couple.

Done and done.

This was novel back in 1967 and elements of Normal coming into the territory of Abnormal where Abnormal is Normal still work today. But this one is a straight up reboot of a 1970s angry bumpkin flick--and poorly done at that.

I swear to Buddha that American critics must give non-American films an extra 5 rating points simply because the actors have accents.

2/10

 

[credoconsolans]

Internal Affairs

8/10

Mike Figgis's Hollywood debut is a solid crime thriller. You can probably guess from the title that the protagonist, played by Andy Garcia, is working for the "cops' cops." This one has a strong cast--Garcia is joined by Richard Gere, Laurie Metcalf and Michael Beach, among others--and a nice tone of moral ambiguity throughout. It's weakened only by a few overblown scenes and cliched plot developments.

This movie made me turn it off half way through and then watch the rest on a different day it made me so disgusted with human beings.

 

[credoconsolans]

Tombstone

8.5/10

While not a classic on the level of John Ford's My Darling Clementine, this film about Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the O.K. Corral gunfight is a very good action western--surprisingly so, given that it was a famously troubled production, with screenwriter Kevin Jarre initially being tabbed to direct, then fired early in production and replaced by George Cosmatos. One positive about it is that the film simply looks terrific. Cinematographer William Fraker produced some gorgeous scenes, while production designer Catherine Hardwicke and the art and costume departments did a great job capturing the feel of what Tombstone, AZ was like at the time of the film--a boom town, still raw and rough in many ways, but also with big ambitions. Likewise, story-wise, the film does a good job of balancing the often competing goals of producing compelling drama and accurately representing history.

Another plus is the terrific cast...

A couple of imperfections hold it back from truly classic status. With at least twenty fairly significant characters, several of them get lost in the shuffle at times. Also, much of the final half hour is taken up by a pair of montage sequences of gunfights which have very little significance for the viewer, as we have no idea who, exactly, has just gotten killed.

Overall, a very good film that has held up well over time (you can probably guess that it's a favorite of mine).

Love this movie.

Val Kilmer was robbed of an Oscar nod and win.

I watched it in the theater. People were all but literally hanging on the edge of their seats for every word that came out of his mouth.

Kudos to the script writers for sticking to history - the shootout was in an empty lot, not a corral, the sheriff Virgil was carrying a walking stick, not a gun, he did say, in trying to stop the fight, "I don't want that" and it was indeed Doc Holiday who all but started the fight when he cocked his shotgun.

They went too Hollywood in the romantic ending and making Josie Marcus' theater group too prominent in the script, but it was true to history in how theater groups would come to Tombstone which was rapidly building itself up in reputation as a cultural center along the lines of San Francisco and such classical artists were ballyhooed and feted.

A competing movie made by Kevin Costner was being done at almost the same time but Tombstone beat it to the theater - I saw both - and Costner's Josephine Marcus was much closer to the real Jewish actress/courtesan of history in being more on edge and dark and having to walk a razor's edge than Dana Delaney's bright, free spirited, upbeat hippie chick type portrayal.

Yeah, there was some bad editing and goofs, and the bad guys were bad and you knew they were because they wore red sashes to distinguish them from everyone else, but overall, a very good movie that sticks surprisingly close to history.

 

[Archimedes]

Aliens - 9/10

One of my favourite films of all time. Almost 30 years after it was released and it has aged extremely well. It's just a really tightly made action sci-fi thriller. It's pre-CGI and the special effects stand up really well in 2015. The only exceptions are some very dodgy looking green screen shots of the Dropship which are only short simple shots so don't distract too much, but by and large everything else just works well with old fashioned practical effects. Looks like film-makers had the sense to realise the limitations of the special effects technology of the time so just went for what really worked on camera. 2 of my other favourite movies of all time are also 80s sci-fi movies released within a year or two of Aliens - The Terminator and RoboCop, both of which have also aged well apart from a handful of awful stop-motion effects scenes that just make me laugh these days.

It was the director's cut I watched tonight and it was pointless in my opinion. The regular cut of the movie is much better paced and the scenes where we learn about the death of Ripley's daughter and the scenes of the colonists before the main events of the movie don't add anything to the movie. Just made the movie unnecessarily longer.

But a great movie overall. One of all time favourites.

 

[Underseer]

Aliens - 9/10

One of my favourite films of all time. Almost 30 years after it was released and it has aged extremely well. It's just a really tightly made action sci-fi thriller. It's pre-CGI and the special effects stand up really well in 2015. The only exceptions are some very dodgy looking green screen shots of the Dropship which are only short simple shots so don't distract too much, but by and large everything else just works well with old fashioned practical effects. Looks like film-makers had the sense to realise the limitations of the special effects technology of the time so just went for what really worked on camera. 2 of my other favourite movies of all time are also 80s sci-fi movies released within a year or two of Aliens - The Terminator and RoboCop, both of which have also aged well apart from a handful of awful stop-motion effects scenes that just make me laugh these days.

It was the director's cut I watched tonight and it was pointless in my opinion. The regular cut of the movie is much better paced and the scenes where we learn about the death of Ripley's daughter and the scenes of the colonists before the main events of the movie don't add anything to the movie. Just made the movie unnecessarily longer.

But a great movie overall. One of all time favourites.

Are you kidding?

The scene in which she finds out about her daughter sets up the whole movie.

With the context, we see that Newt is a substitute daughter for Ripley, who feels guilty for missing out on her child's entire life after promising to be home for her birthday. With the motherhood context, the story is about two mothers protecting their young, each convinced that the other's offspring has to die for their own to live. You can't get more visceral than that.

Without that one scene, the whole motherhood theme is stripped from the movie, and it's just another action movie in which the protagonist happens to be female.

I agree that I could have done without the extra scenes with Newt's family, but the scene in which Ripley finds out about her daughter is absolutely critical in my opinion.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Aliens - 9/10

One of my favourite films of all time. Almost 30 years after it was released and it has aged extremely well. It's just a really tightly made action sci-fi thriller. It's pre-CGI and the special effects stand up really well in 2015. The only exceptions are some very dodgy looking green screen shots of the Dropship which are only short simple shots so don't distract too much, but by and large everything else just works well with old fashioned practical effects. Looks like film-makers had the sense to realise the limitations of the special effects technology of the time so just went for what really worked on camera. 2 of my other favourite movies of all time are also 80s sci-fi movies released within a year or two of Aliens - The Terminator and RoboCop, both of which have also aged well apart from a handful of awful stop-motion effects scenes that just make me laugh these days.

It was the director's cut I watched tonight and it was pointless in my opinion. The regular cut of the movie is much better paced and the scenes where we learn about the death of Ripley's daughter and the scenes of the colonists before the main events of the movie don't add anything to the movie. Just made the movie unnecessarily longer.

But a great movie overall. One of all time favourites.

Are you kidding?

The scene in which she finds out about her daughter sets up the whole movie.

With the context, we see that Newt is a substitute daughter for Ripley, who feels guilty for missing out on her child's entire life after promising to be home for her birthday. With the motherhood context, the story is about two mothers protecting their young, each convinced that the other's offspring has to die for their own to live. You can't get more visceral than that.

Without that one scene, the whole motherhood theme is stripped from the movie, and it's just another action movie in which the protagonist happens to be female.

I agree that I could have done without the extra scenes with Newt's family, but the scene in which Ripley finds out about her daughter is absolutely critical in my opinion.

Interesting. Sounds like the director's cut of The Abyss, where you actually find out that the movie has an actual purpose and wasn't just an expensive underwater filming expedition.

 

[Horatio Parker]

Aliens - 9/10

One of my favourite films of all time. Almost 30 years after it was released and it has aged extremely well. It's just a really tightly made action sci-fi thriller. It's pre-CGI and the special effects stand up really well in 2015. The only exceptions are some very dodgy looking green screen shots of the Dropship which are only short simple shots so don't distract too much, but by and large everything else just works well with old fashioned practical effects. Looks like film-makers had the sense to realise the limitations of the special effects technology of the time so just went for what really worked on camera. 2 of my other favourite movies of all time are also 80s sci-fi movies released within a year or two of Aliens - The Terminator and RoboCop, both of which have also aged well apart from a handful of awful stop-motion effects scenes that just make me laugh these days.

It was the director's cut I watched tonight and it was pointless in my opinion. The regular cut of the movie is much better paced and the scenes where we learn about the death of Ripley's daughter and the scenes of the colonists before the main events of the movie don't add anything to the movie. Just made the movie unnecessarily longer.

But a great movie overall. One of all time favourites.

Are you kidding?

The scene in which she finds out about her daughter sets up the whole movie.

With the context, we see that Newt is a substitute daughter for Ripley, who feels guilty for missing out on her child's entire life after promising to be home for her birthday. With the motherhood context, the story is about two mothers protecting their young, each convinced that the other's offspring has to die for their own to live. You can't get more visceral than that.

Without that one scene, the whole motherhood theme is stripped from the movie, and it's just another action movie in which the protagonist happens to be female.

I agree that I could have done without the extra scenes with Newt's family, but the scene in which Ripley finds out about her daughter is absolutely critical in my opinion.

I like the scenes with the family. They serve to make Burke's character slimier. Great movie.

 

[TSwizzle]

Tombstone

8.5/10

While not a classic on the level of John Ford's My Darling Clementine, this film about Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the O.K. Corral gunfight is a very good action western--surprisingly so, given that it was a famously troubled production, with screenwriter Kevin Jarre initially being tabbed to direct, then fired early in production and replaced by George Cosmatos. One positive about it is that the film simply looks terrific. Cinematographer William Fraker produced some gorgeous scenes, while production designer Catherine Hardwicke and the art and costume departments did a great job capturing the feel of what Tombstone, AZ was like at the time of the film--a boom town, still raw and rough in many ways, but also with big ambitions. Likewise, story-wise, the film does a good job of balancing the often competing goals of producing compelling drama and accurately representing history.

Another plus is the terrific cast...

A couple of imperfections hold it back from truly classic status. With at least twenty fairly significant characters, several of them get lost in the shuffle at times. Also, much of the final half hour is taken up by a pair of montage sequences of gunfights which have very little significance for the viewer, as we have no idea who, exactly, has just gotten killed.

Overall, a very good film that has held up well over time (you can probably guess that it's a favorite of mine).

A competing movie made by Kevin Costner was being done at almost the same time but Tombstone beat it to the theater - I saw both - and Costner's Josephine Marcus was much closer to the real Jewish actress/courtesan of history in being more on edge and dark and having to walk a razor's edge than Dana Delaney's bright, free spirited, upbeat hippie chick type portrayal.

I loved Tombstone and have watched it several times. I haven't seen the Costner version but I think it I will give it a try.

 

[Archimedes]

With the context, we see that Newt is a substitute daughter for Ripley, who feels guilty for missing out on her child's entire life after promising to be home for her birthday. With the motherhood context, the story is about two mothers protecting their young, each convinced that the other's offspring has to die for their own to live. You can't get more visceral than that.

Without that one scene, the whole motherhood theme is stripped from the movie, and it's just another action movie in which the protagonist happens to be female

But we see the maternal themes of the movie without having to be told that Ripley had a daughter whose life she missed. It's clear from watching the regular cut of the movie that Ripley becomes a mother figure to Newt and is fiercely protective of her as a result. We learn all we need to know from what we see happening during the course of the unfolding of events onscreen. Knowing that Ripley had a daughter whose life she missed out on doesn't add anything to that for me.

The maternal themes of the movie are there to see without it having to be spoonfed to us via backstory.

I like the scenes with the family. They serve to make Burke's character slimier. Great movie.

My issue with the scenes with Newt's family the colonists is that is removes suspense from the movie without adding anything useful. When Ripley and the marines arrive on LV-426, we as the audience are as in the dark as them as to what has actually happened and we only learn about what happened as they learn what happened. Much more suspenseful that way.

Besides, Burke couldn't get any slimier as a character. We learn about how he deliberately sent the colonists to the derelict spaceship anyway in the course of the movie anyway, without being shown it explicitly.

 

[credoconsolans]

But we see the maternal themes of the movie without having to be told that Ripley had a daughter whose life she missed. It's clear from watching the regular cut of the movie that Ripley becomes a mother figure to Newt and is fiercely protective of her as a result. We learn all we need to know from what we see happening during the course of the unfolding of events onscreen. Knowing that Ripley had a daughter whose life she missed out on doesn't add anything to that for me.

The maternal themes of the movie are there to see without it having to be spoonfed to us via backstory.

I like the scenes with the family. They serve to make Burke's character slimier. Great movie.

My issue with the scenes with Newt's family the colonists is that is removes suspense from the movie without adding anything useful. When Ripley and the marines arrive on LV-426, we as the audience are as in the dark as them as to what has actually happened and we only learn about what happened as they learn what happened. Much more suspenseful that way.

Besides, Burke couldn't get any slimier as a character. We learn about how he deliberately sent the colonists to the derelict spaceship anyway in the course of the movie anyway, without being shown it explicitly.

Agree with the whole post.

Though I was disappointed with Ripley turning all motherly. What I liked about her in Alien was that she was the hero, and she wasn't the stereotypical woman character trying to save a lover or a child or a family, she was just trying to survive and remain a decent human being doing it.

By Aliens, despite James Cameron's habit of making strong women characters, it seemed that he didn't know what to do with an already strong woman character, so he had her grow in the direction of mother and would-be lover. I'm fairly sure heroes in movies who are men rescue children without needing to be turned into surrogate fathers. But that seems to be the only way producers think women characters can grow.

But in spite of all that, Aliens is still one of my favorite movies. I watched it recently again. It has aged well, the only thing I saw that dated it was the need of our heroes to "take a portable terminal" to patch in manually with a communications hub. Nowadays we'd use a computer network or failing take a "laptop" out to physically patch in.

 

[MarkW]

Hard Boiled/Lat sau san taam

8/10

Like every John Woo film I've ever seen, this one appeals to a certain audience. You have to be in the mood for a movie that's roughly one part male bonding between the leads (Chow Yun-Fat and Tony Leung here) and, oh, five or so parts high-octane action sequences, involving very high body counts and prodigious expenditure of ammunition. Whether that's to your taste or not, this is definitely one of Woo's signature films; I prefer it to any of his Hollywood films except, maybe, Face/Off.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Aliens - 9/10

One of my favourite films of all time. Almost 30 years after it was released and it has aged extremely well. It's just a really tightly made action sci-fi thriller. It's pre-CGI and the special effects stand up really well in 2015. The only exceptions are some very dodgy looking green screen shots of the Dropship which are only short simple shots so don't distract too much, but by and large everything else just works well with old fashioned practical effects. Looks like film-makers had the sense to realise the limitations of the special effects technology of the time so just went for what really worked on camera. 2 of my other favourite movies of all time are also 80s sci-fi movies released within a year or two of Aliens - The Terminator and RoboCop, both of which have also aged well apart from a handful of awful stop-motion effects scenes that just make me laugh these days.

It was the director's cut I watched tonight and it was pointless in my opinion. The regular cut of the movie is much better paced and the scenes where we learn about the death of Ripley's daughter and the scenes of the colonists before the main events of the movie don't add anything to the movie. Just made the movie unnecessarily longer.

But a great movie overall. One of all time favourites.

Are you kidding?

The scene in which she finds out about her daughter sets up the whole movie.

With the context, we see that Newt is a substitute daughter for Ripley, who feels guilty for missing out on her child's entire life after promising to be home for her birthday. With the motherhood context, the story is about two mothers protecting their young, each convinced that the other's offspring has to die for their own to live. You can't get more visceral than that.

Without that one scene, the whole motherhood theme is stripped from the movie, and it's just another action movie in which the protagonist happens to be female.

I agree that I could have done without the extra scenes with Newt's family, but the scene in which Ripley finds out about her daughter is absolutely critical in my opinion.

I don't buy it's necessity. All it needs is a mothering type to be mothering. Some people are suckers for big round eyes and small noses. There's no need to complicate a story.

 

[ZiprHead]

Some Like It Hot. This is a comedy classic in B/W. The late Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis best work on my humble opinion. I've watched this film at least a dozen times, and it gets better the older it gets.

I understand film critics voted SLIH as the greatest comedy movie of them all.

 

[MarkW]

Kill Me Three Times

7/10

This modestly budgeted black comedy/film noir doesn't offer a lot that's original in plot or characterization; we get standard film noir characters like the cheating wife, her abusive husband, her hunky lover, the sleazy PI/hitman hired to spy on her and them bump her off, and the local femme fatale wannabe. However, it's all carried off pretty competently, with brisk pacing and comic energy. Most of the latter comes from Simon Pegg (in the central role as the PI) and Teresa Palmer as that would-be femme fatale; Alice Braga (the wife), who is a favorite of mine, is also effective as a tenacious survivor.

 

[Thomas II]

 

[TSwizzle]

Kill Me Three Times

7/10

This modestly budgeted black comedy/film noir doesn't offer a lot that's original in plot or characterization; we get standard film noir characters like the cheating wife, her abusive husband, her hunky lover, the sleazy PI/hitman hired to spy on her and them bump her off, and the local femme fatale wannabe. However, it's all carried off pretty competently, with brisk pacing and comic energy. Most of the latter comes from Simon Pegg (in the central role as the PI) and Teresa Palmer as that would-be femme fatale; Alice Braga (the wife), who is a favorite of mine, is also effective as a tenacious survivor.

I was going to watch this last weekend but the reviews were so poor I decided against it.

 

[angelo]

Dressed To Kill. An older thriller starring Angie Dickeson. It doesn't look aged at all, and has you on the seat of your pants in parts.
7.5/10

 

[Archimedes]

Carlito's Way 8/10
The voiceover is really cheesy and could be done away with (one of my only complaints against The Shawshank Redemption) and the actress playing the love interest is a complete plank.

Apart from that I love this movie.

 

[MarkW]

3 Days to Kill

7/10

This is another one from that mini-film industry otherwise known as Luc Besson (who produced and co-wrote). There are a lot of elements here similar to other Besson films. The action elements are competently done, but what gives this one some distinction is the human element. Besson has frequently featured a father-daughter dynamic in his films (e.g., Taken and its sequels, Wasabi), but in this one Kevin Costner and Hailee Steinfeld bring some real life to their scenes together.