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

[Tom Sawyer]

Oh ya, Glinda was completely fucking useless. She used her magic on occasion, so she clearly had power and could defend people against the Wicked Witches if she wanted to, but she just sat back doing nothing until Dorothy did everything and then wandered in and pretended that she was on the good guys' side.

Fuck that bitch.

 

[bilby]

Oh ya, Glinda was completely fucking useless. She used her magic on occasion, so she clearly had power and could defend people against the Wicked Witches if she wanted to, but she just sat back doing nothing until Dorothy did everything and then wandered in and pretended that she was on the good guys' side.

Fuck that bitch.

I believe her character is a metaphor for the USA, which at the time the movie was released, was making no attempt to bring her power to bear in the world war that was then raging.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Oh ya, Glinda was completely fucking useless. She used her magic on occasion, so she clearly had power and could defend people against the Wicked Witches if she wanted to, but she just sat back doing nothing until Dorothy did everything and then wandered in and pretended that she was on the good guys' side.

Fuck that bitch.

I believe her character is a metaphor for the USA, which at the time the movie was released, was making no attempt to bring her power to bear in the world war that was then raging.

I believe you are wrong. The characters in general are all portions of the United States.

 

[bilby]

I believe her character is a metaphor for the USA, which at the time the movie was released, was making no attempt to bring her power to bear in the world war that was then raging.

I believe you are wrong. The characters in general are all portions of the United States.

I believe that you shouldn't believe that I believe anything I say I believe, particularly if I start with 'I believe'.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Oh ya, Glinda was completely fucking useless. She used her magic on occasion, so she clearly had power and could defend people against the Wicked Witches if she wanted to, but she just sat back doing nothing until Dorothy did everything and then wandered in and pretended that she was on the good guys' side.

Fuck that bitch.

I believe her character is a metaphor for the USA, which at the time the movie was released, was making no attempt to bring her power to bear in the world war that was then raging.

Ya, it was pretty good how they whipped together an entire movie in two weeks. Before the advent of unionized labour, these things got done quickly.

 

[DrZoidberg]

I believe her character is a metaphor for the USA, which at the time the movie was released, was making no attempt to bring her power to bear in the world war that was then raging.

Ya, it was pretty good how they whipped together an entire movie in two weeks. Before the advent of unionized labour, these things got done quickly.

"The Glinda Conspiracy Theory
Thanks to the Internet, over the years many Oz fans have circulated opposing (and, of course, usually tongue-in-cheek) theories suggesting that Glinda the Good Witch might actually be the true villain of Oz. Some have pointed to the fact that Glinda gloats a bit too morbidly over the death of the Wicked Witch of the East, calling for celebrations and then actually taunting the witch’s sister. Then, of course, there’s the simple fact that Glinda, though she knows the ruby slippers will send Dorothy home, hides this fact from Dorothy and sends the unwitting girl off to do her dirty work for her, all so she herself can finally rule over the land of Oz. Interestingly, Oz the Great and Powerful seems to inadvertently nod to this reading a bit, in that in the new film the Wicked Witch of the East initially presents herself as a good witch, and sends the unwitting Oz off to kill Glinda the Good Witch."

The Internet delivers

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Doesn't Glinda put the proper heir of the throne into power in the books?

And Oz the Great and Powerful, symbolic of American Leadership, was anything but. The five go to see him, he gives them worthless accolades and everyone is happy as if something of worth has happened.

 

[Veritass]

Ya, it was pretty good how they whipped together an entire movie in two weeks. Before the advent of unionized labour, these things got done quickly.

"The Glinda Conspiracy Theory
Thanks to the Internet, over the years many Oz fans have circulated opposing (and, of course, usually tongue-in-cheek) theories suggesting that Glinda the Good Witch might actually be the true villain of Oz. Some have pointed to the fact that Glinda gloats a bit too morbidly over the death of the Wicked Witch of the East, calling for celebrations and then actually taunting the witch’s sister. Then, of course, there’s the simple fact that Glinda, though she knows the ruby slippers will send Dorothy home, hides this fact from Dorothy and sends the unwitting girl off to do her dirty work for her, all so she herself can finally rule over the land of Oz. Interestingly, Oz the Great and Powerful seems to inadvertently nod to this reading a bit, in that in the new film the Wicked Witch of the East initially presents herself as a good witch, and sends the unwitting Oz off to kill Glinda the Good Witch."

The Internet delivers

Then there is the fabulous musical "Wicked" where Stephen Schwartz dissects the whole "who is 'good' and who is 'wicked'" from a lot of interesting angles.

 

[MarkW]

Captain Blood

8/10

This 1935 film, which gave Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland breakthrough roles, still holds up pretty well today. Although it's not quite as adeptly paced and polished as some of the later Flynn/de Havilland romantic swashbucklers, it still offers some exciting action sequences and good chemistry between the two rising stars.

 

[DrZoidberg]

The Interview 7/10

Two journalists get the opportunity to interview Kim Jong Un. This is basically Team America World Police, but without the dolls. The joke here is that everybody important is stupid and immature. It's fun to see important people lose their shit completely over stupid stuff. This is not high brow comedy. This is the lowest rung on that ladder. Yet I laughed. I laughed out loud several times.

Yes, this is the film that North Korea hacked Sony over. That reaction just makes me wonder whether Kim Jong Un really is as insecure as portrayed in the film

edit:

This is an awesome picture
http://www.sketchoholic.com/uploads/userfiles/19773/6a93021db2_Kim-Jong-un-caricature-signed.gif

 

[DrZoidberg]

Spy (2015) 5/10

First half is really clever. Middle-aged woman is James Bond, and has to deal with a degree of bullshit that a man in the same situation wouldn't have. It makes all the common feminist points. They do it well and it's funny. There's also a theme about European culture. Which is actually pretty fucking funny if you're a European. While it is bizarrely over the top, they do hit the mark now and again. There's a core of truth in their which makes it work. It's not just American projections of Europe.

Second half of the film I think they just ran out of ideas. The scenes aren't working and it just runs out of fun.

 

[TSwizzle]

Fury, 7/10: Stars Brad Pitt and Shia LeBoef (sp) as WWII tank soldiers in Europe. A decent action movie most of the time with a couple of odd threads in it.

 

[C_Mucius_Scaevola]

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
About 15 minutes in, I remembered/realised that this was a sequel, and I should probably watch the first film first, so I dug out ...

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Splendid, if a bit far-fetched. Sure, it's a run of the mill story, nothing special in that department. But the apes were magnificent, throwing the costumed simians of the original series into a very dark shade. And despite the humdrum nature of the story, it's done very well by a cast who I'd never heard of, mostly, John Lithgow being the main exception to that. 8/10

I really didn't have to watch it before the sequel, though, as there isn't much of the story that spans the two movies except for Caesar's ascent to power, as I discovered when I went on to watch ...

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Once again, the apes stole the show, and once again I had no clue who most of the actors were, with only Gary Oldman being known to me previously. Again, not much in the story that was innovative, it being your typical post-appocalyptic struggle for survival and power (literally and figuratively), but with apes on one side of the struggle. And once again, I couldn't help enjoying it. Another 8/10.

4 hours well spent.

 

[Horatio Parker]

Tangerines

Estonian movie set during the separatist war between Abhkanzia and Georgia in the '90s.

An Estonian man, exiled in Abhkanzia, cares for two soldiers, a Chechen and a Georgian, enemies to each other, wounded in an action near his house. It's predictable that the wounded enemies eventually transcend their differences, but that knowledge doesn't effect the enjoyment; there are enough variations to keep it fresh.

In Russian with subtitles.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

Bad Words

This is a comedy about a 40 year-old guy who finagles his way into a national spelling bee for reasons that are eventually revealed. The spelling bee is for kids. If you can get past that premise then you'll like this movie because it's fucking hilarious. It delves into a little drama and is farcical, but overall, it's one of the best comedies I've seen in a long time.

8/10

 

[DrZoidberg]

Chappie 5/10

Detroit... sorry, I mean Johannesburg - in the future - is crime-ridden. A company called OCP.... I mean Tetravaal has developed a crime-fighting robot called RoboCop.... I mean Scout. Though Scout is very successful it is sabotaged by a robot scientist at Tetravaal who has made another police robot called ED-209.... sorry I mean Moose. They battle it out in the end. There's some bits in their about AI and how one of the robots gets a mind of it's own, consciousness. But it's not particularly interesting.

So a rip-off script, not particularly well executed, and well... utter bullshit. This is just badly written. No amount of polish could save this pile of turd. The other scientist, the one who did the Moose... ok, it's fun to see a scientist who's a ripped body-builder and a testosterone fuelled jock. That's a fun gimmic nice. But the guy is retarded. He's the dumbest brick in the world. He sabotages his companies number one product in order to fuck with another scientist at the same company. It's just a really stupid idea and it doesn't help the script. All the characters are paper-thin. This is a story driven film and the story is so fucking weak.

I'm a huge Die Antwoord fan which is why I suffered through this utter bullshit. Which is why I gave it a way higher rating that it deserves. I'm also a fan of Neil Blomkamp. For that reason I am now sad.

 

[prideandfall]

I'm also a fan of Neil Blomkamp. For that reason I am now sad.

afraid that i need to just come right out and say it: neill blomkamp is this decade's m. night shalayamamanamana, only without even the understated but overall pretty decent 2nd movie.
he's a one-hit wonder director, which is really disappointing considering how great his one hit is.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

Chappie...

Indeed, a big disappointment. It's one of those movies that has all the right elements for being good, but poor execution kills it.

Anyway...

Kingsmen: Secret Service

Is the premise ridiculous? Of course.
Is it utterly unrealistic? You betcha.

Is it still fun and awesome? Hell yeah.

I don't go in much for action movies anymore, mostly because over the top things happen that continually violate the internal rules of the film. A movie is unwatchable if it's supposed to be gritty and realistic, but has the protagonist doing backflips while gunning down three bad guys. This movie, does have stuff like that but it doesn't pretend to be realistic and it does adhere to the few internal rules it actually does have.

It's fun, and for the most doesn't take itself too seriously. Once in a while it gets serious and it's a drag on the film, but it comes back around toward the end.

Important Note: There is a fight scene in this movie that is so fucking awesome it's worth the ticket price/HBO by itself. Rarely will a scened evoke an out loud "Holy shit" from me, but this one does.

7/10

 

[Tom Sawyer]

In the Heart of the Sea - 7/10

The guy who wrote Moby Dick is visiting an old whaler to get ideas for that novel and is told about the time his whaling ship was destroyed by a giant whale. They do a very good job of setting the scene for the early 1800s and life aboard a whaling ship. It's exciting and engaging and the first scenes with the whale are über cool.

Show

The way that the whale followed them around the ocean and kept sneaking up on them again and again was way too Jaws 4: The Revenge. I get that they wanted to keep the whale in the movie, but it's whole thing was that it was protecting the pod from the humans who wanted to kill it, then it wanders away from the pod for months to jump scare these guys from time to time. WTF?

Gone Girl - 9/10

A guy's wife goes missing and it looks like he's the murderer, but he seems to have no idea what's going on. Great acting and a lot of cool twists and one of the creepiest endings I've seen in a while. Also, I think they pretty much nailed what it would be like to hang out at Neil Patrick Harris's house.

 

[beero1000]

The Ridiculous 6 - 0/10 (Full disclosure - I'm less than 10 minutes in)

As a reminder, this is the Adam Sandler movie that made headlines when Native American actors walked off the set in protest. I decided to take a look to see if it was as bad as I expected. It's so much worse. I would go lower if I could, but I'm not sure how to express how terrible this movie is.