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

[Bacillus anthracis]

It Follows

I heard this movie wasn't terrible, so I rented it.

And it turned out to be pretty good.

A murderous entity of some sort that takes varied, grotesque human shape begins to follow a girl after she has sex with a guy. Then, in order for her to get rid of the demon, she has to have sex with someone else. The problem is that if the demon catches up to that next person, then it comes back and goes after her again.

It sounds absurd and the story does have some pretty big holes in it. But it's well executed, the acting is good, the internal rules are strictly adhered to, the manner of camera work, and the score add up to a very suspenseful and creepy film.

There's also a strong element of tragedy. I would say why but it would really spoil the film. Okay, I'll just say that the film's concept of third party rape and the futility of staving off death is powerful. And that concept is strengthened by the main character and the people around her who are all believable individuals rather than The Party Guy, The Slut, The Jock, or The Nerd. So when bad things happen, you root for them.

It's not exploitative and there are very few unnecessary moving parts. It's spare and very creepy.

You're also never told why the entity follows, where it came from, or what the story is behind it. It's slow and relentless and no matter how far you go, it will catch up to you. And when you think you're about to find out why this is happening, they don't give it to you. For most people who saw this movie, they likely saw that as a big minus. But it has the effect of putting you into the mind of the characters. They don't know why it's happening either and so have no way to stop it. IOW, I thought it was a big plus. Of course if there's a sequel, which they did set up for, they'll have to reveal it and that will suck and I'll be back to complain about how the sequel crapped on the original movie.

7/10

 

[DrZoidberg]

Oh, and going back to the Asperger's thing: it doesn't really matter if one knows it or not because the character is ultimately portrayed as an example of flawed and vulnerable humanity.

Yeah, he's beautiful in his own fucked up way. By making him vulnerable they make him human. But I don't think they make him broken. He isn't portrayed as destructive or self-destructive. Just weird routes to happiness and personal salvation. And by having him as an aspie they make him believable. He can't handle intimacy. But he craves intimacy. So BDSM is a happy compromise.

Christian Grey's brokeness is a yawnfest IMHO. 50 Shades basically equates BDSM with mental illness or being the broken victim of sexual abuse. I have a hard time believing anybody can relate to that?

Whether or not she is fragile I suspect is a matter of semantics. I think the film tried to show how she was made stronger from the relationship. How the BDSM "healed" her. And that was the only point of that "craziness arc".

 

[Sarpedon]

saw the old "Devil's Advocate." 6/10

I give it that rating mostly for the very good art direction and for hitting the sweet spot in Al Pacino's acting ability: just the right amount over the top. Weakened nearly fatally by the weak leading pair and the ending. Also too long.

 

[Playball40]

Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 7/10 - If you liked the first one, there's a great chance you will like this one! Obviously I loved the first one.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Christian Grey's brokeness is a yawnfest IMHO. 50 Shades basically equates BDSM with mental illness or being the broken victim of sexual abuse. I have a hard time believing anybody can relate to that?

Whether or not she is fragile I suspect is a matter of semantics. I think the film tried to show how she was made stronger from the relationship. How the BDSM "healed" her. And that was the only point of that "craziness arc".

You have to remember that 50 Shades originally started off as Twilight fan-fic. If you think of the girl as a vampire groupie who's helping a monster find his humanity, the whole story makes more sense.

It still sucks, but it makes more sense.

 

[Toni]

Christian Grey's brokeness is a yawnfest IMHO. 50 Shades basically equates BDSM with mental illness or being the broken victim of sexual abuse. I have a hard time believing anybody can relate to that?

Whether or not she is fragile I suspect is a matter of semantics. I think the film tried to show how she was made stronger from the relationship. How the BDSM "healed" her. And that was the only point of that "craziness arc".

You have to remember that 50 Shades originally started off as Twilight fan-fic. If you think of the girl as a vampire groupie who's helping a monster find his humanity, the whole story makes more sense.

It still sucks, but it makes more sense.

Knowing adult fans of both Twilight and 50 Shades, I can feel safe in stating that the big attraction is the sex, not the storyline.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

You have to remember that 50 Shades originally started off as Twilight fan-fic. If you think of the girl as a vampire groupie who's helping a monster find his humanity, the whole story makes more sense.

It still sucks, but it makes more sense.

Knowing adult fans of both Twilight and 50 Shades, I can feel safe in stating that the big attraction is the sex, not the storyline.

Don't they make movies dedicated to sex these days that'd better present that portion of the film... say about 90% of it..

 

[prideandfall]

Ant-Man: 6/10

it was passable - if you're a film geek at all you can very clearly see the script and tonal problems that arose due to the change in directors, so from a purely technical standpoint it had some issues.
plot wise and such it was fine - i would compare it (mostly favorably) to Iron Man 2 and 3, in that it's a smaller film both in scope and ambition.
which on the other hand I actually find kind of impressive, that within their little cinematic world-building such a hue movie studio will still do that, instead of trying to make EVERY movie bigger and louder and such.
certainly not in the annals of great Marvel Studios movies, but it was enjoyable.

 

[James Brown]

which on the other hand I actually find kind of impressive, that within their little cinematic world-building such a hue movie studio will still do that, instead of trying to make EVERY movie bigger and louder and such.

I agree. It was refreshing to see a Marvel Superhero movie where the ending didn't consist of something huge and ponderous falling out of the sky, potentially killing hundreds of thousands but in fact not really impacting anyone in any way significantly.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Christian Grey's brokeness is a yawnfest IMHO. 50 Shades basically equates BDSM with mental illness or being the broken victim of sexual abuse. I have a hard time believing anybody can relate to that?

Whether or not she is fragile I suspect is a matter of semantics. I think the film tried to show how she was made stronger from the relationship. How the BDSM "healed" her. And that was the only point of that "craziness arc".

You have to remember that 50 Shades originally started off as Twilight fan-fic. If you think of the girl as a vampire groupie who's helping a monster find his humanity, the whole story makes more sense.

It still sucks, but it makes more sense.

I didn't think of that. Thanks.

 

[MarkW]

Gone Girl

7/10

A very technically accomplished movie, but one that left a sour aftertaste with me. I think that's probably due to the fact that the main characters were simply not likable people, and that I was not really impressed with Ben Affleck's performance as Nick. I did think that Rosamund Pike did an excellent job as Amy, although my enjoyment of her performance was attenuated by her character's unpleasantness and by what I thought was a significant plot implausibility (see below). I did, however, unreservedly enjoy Carrie Coon's performance as Nick's twin sister; primarily a stage actress, Coon was very impressive in her big screen debut.

About that plot implausibility (hidden spoiler):

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I found it a little unbelievable that a first-time criminal could concoct a scheme to frame her husband for her murder, and then revise it midway through to frame her one-time boyfriend for attempted rape, and have it work so perfectly as to completely fool the police.

 

[atrib]

Never Let Me Go
7.5/10

Set in a somewhat altered reality where human clones are bred only to serve as organ donors. The movie follows 3 of these donors from their early childhood through young adulthood, when they are called upon to start making "donations", and ultimately die in the process. I found the movie to be quite disturbing even though there is no violence or gore or coercion. Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield both did an excellent job. The ending is beautiful, and the last 10 minutes are well worth the slightly slow buildup. Unusual movie, and well worth the watch in my opinion.

 

[credoconsolans]

Gone Girl

7/10

A very technically accomplished movie, but one that left a sour aftertaste with me. I think that's probably due to the fact that the main characters were simply not likable people, and that I was not really impressed with Ben Affleck's performance as Nick. I did think that Rosamund Pike did an excellent job as Amy, although my enjoyment of her performance was attenuated by her character's unpleasantness and by what I thought was a significant plot implausibility (see below). I did, however, unreservedly enjoy Carrie Coon's performance as Nick's twin sister; primarily a stage actress, Coon was very impressive in her big screen debut.

About that plot implausibility (hidden spoiler):

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I found it a little unbelievable that a first-time criminal could concoct a scheme to frame her husband for her murder, and then revise it midway through to frame her one-time boyfriend for attempted rape, and have it work so perfectly as to completely fool the police.

Not that implausible.

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First time murderers Loeb and Leopold would have gotten away with murder had Leopold's glasses not fallen out of his pocket.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Big Hero 6 - Animated film centering around an electronic engineering prodigy teen, who must cope with some bad events that happen early in the movie. In general, the film is approximately 100% cliche, though still enjoyable. One of my major complaints is that the film goes well out of its way to create conflicts. In fact, the underlying plot around why the bad stuff happens at all is incredibly far fetched and could have easily been done without while still keeping to the plot.

For instance spoilers

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For instance, the big sad moment, the robot sacrifices himself, by using his fist rocket to boost two others out of a hyperspace (which takes us to the whole, there is frost on the ship in hyperspace, but the teen isn't dying in his suit?! issue). So a teen can build a super shield for a robot, but doesn't have the wherewithall to think that he can disconnect the fist rocket, then activate it?

or

Why steal all of the devices when he could have stolen a dozen, re-engineer them and build them? I mean, they did end up re-engineering and building more of them anyway.

Yes, it is an animated film, but it was getting Michael Bay over the top. The characters are nice and the film doesn't suffer from having any annoying characters. But the plot just had too many over the top things happening that could have been replaced with much more subtle, but still dramatic events. I feel the lazy overly dramatic manipulation took away from what was an otherwise enjoyable film.

2.5 of 4

 

[laughing dog]

On A Clear Day - 7.5/10

Nicely done small film with a predictable feel good ending. Story of a 55 year old Scottish shipbuilder who is lay off from work sends into the doldrums until he decides to train to swim the English Channel.

 

[credoconsolans]

Hansel and Gretel - Witch Hunters
5/10

I wanted to see this in the theaters, but I'm glad I didn't waste money on it.

Set in a quasi historical world - think of it as medieval steampunk in an alternate universe - there is no explanation for how they got all the toys to do what they do.

OK for late night viewing when nothing else is on.

 

[Daioh]

Zombeavers
5/10
Zombie beavers aka Zombeavers
Just let that sink in for a second
Honestly you could give it points just for the title
As for the rest of it...
The plot is serviceable if a little bare bones and slightly plodding at the start
If they got through the initial parts a bit faster and spent a little more time in the action pieces and expanding some of the core ideas this could have been a pretty good script as it has some good set pieces and solid humour (Although it does overuse the "Beaver" jokes)
The characters are neither good nor bad, I don't think any were really fleshed out but luckily none of them were annoying so that helped
And the acting was kinda hokey but no-one put in anything too terrible
And the special effects were the kind of cheap stuff you expect from a movie like this, but with a good use of practical effects to balance it out with
Overall I thought the movie was somewhat solid, if a little bit rushed and thin
It is the sort of movie that you could watch if nothing else is on

 

[credoconsolans]

Mr. Holmes
8/10

Ian McKellan is SUCH a good actor.

He ages in this movie from 65-ish to 93.

The plot follows 3 story lines. Holmes' last mystery which had serious repercussions for him, Holmes' search in Japan and Holmes' relationships with his housekeeper and young son.

I read the book A Slight Trick of the Mind before I realized they were making a movie of it. I realized they would have to make a lot of changes to the book, because the book is mostly the mental meanderings of the aged Sherlock Holmes and a majority of the book takes place in post-war Japan.

Then I saw the trailer which emphasized the goings on in England instead of Japan and a lot of

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feel good scenes with Holmes and the young boy of his housekeeper. In the book, Holmes barely interacts with the boy, doesn't spend much time with him, and the boy sneaks a look at Holmes last manuscript, he's not invited to view it or discuss it with him. The book's Holmes does not change who he is and as such the book is much more bittersweet and poignant. So the director did Hollywoodize the book and the ending and made the production and this Holmes

a lot more forthcoming and warm.

So, 2 points off for making a kindler, gentler Holmes and the above but the rest is well done.

 

[One]

Oh, and going back to the Asperger's thing: it doesn't really matter if one knows it or not because the character is ultimately portrayed as an example of flawed and vulnerable humanity.

Yeah, he's beautiful in his own fucked up way. By making him vulnerable they make him human. But I don't think they make him broken. He isn't portrayed as destructive or self-destructive. Just weird routes to happiness and personal salvation. And by having him as an aspie they make him believable. He can't handle intimacy. But he craves intimacy. So BDSM is a happy compromise.

Secretary is a favorite film of mine. I like telling people about the movie curious because people have this idea that this stuff is always about pain. It's not. 50 Shades is all about pain: Christian's pain and his desire to imprint it on someone the way he'd been imprinted.

Christian Grey's brokeness is a yawnfest IMHO. 50 Shades basically equates BDSM with mental illness or being the broken victim of sexual abuse. I have a hard time believing anybody can relate to that?

Yes, many people can relate to that in real life. To deny that there is also a propensity in the community for self-harm, depressive/anxiety/personality disorders, and abusive histories is to sweep such things under the rug. It's not a secret. It's just that nobody wants that label extended all across the board.

With that said, I found Christian's love interest to be the bore. There's always this thing with virgins without experience or knowledge, who know nothing about sex until a knowledgeable man leads them down the path. That's kind of lame.

 

[rousseau]

I saw American Gangster last night. It was one of those movies I figured would be pretty good that had slipped by me, so I picked it up at the mall a few weeks ago. As expected, it was well done, but there comes a point you're watching the same gangster/drug movie over and over again. Washington was great in it, though, and there was the odd shining point in its dialogue.