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[TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared]

(Is there another film with a similar premise and the same name? I feel like there is.)

Anyway, The Last Dance as Sky Cinema called it (also known as Sticky Notes for some reason) is a rubbish film about nothing that I just didn't get it.

It's something about a dancer coming home from being a struggling performer in Los Angeles to look after her dad (Played by Ray Liotta) who has cancer and who's kind of a nob head, who also has a much younger child who appeared from nowhere since there's no mother around, and its all about that and dealing with cancer.

Alright so. It's weird, it doesn't look very good, the acting is fine, but not great. It doesn't miss oppourtunities to see our main character Athena is states of half nakedness which is weird, the story was limp and didn't make much sense, and... it was boring. And there's not much worse than a film being boring, really.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

You should watch Double Toasted's review, mirrors your opinions quite closely especially the knowing of Baby Groot being cute and doubling down (or "quadrupling multiplied by 10!") aspect

It's funny, I'm usually a much bigger fan of superhero movie sequels because they're more propulsive without the baggage of establishing character origins, but the combative team dynamic of GOTG1 worked a lot more for me than the LA FAMILIA quipping of Vol 2. And, like I mentioned, the action scenes are nothing. Drax and Groot were way more fun bullying people in the first movie. Also, Fancy Clown nailed something I forgot to mention with the way characters vomit their emotions and backstories all over the screen non-stop. The way the movie gets into and out of those monologues just doesn't feel organic.

But still, I don't dislike it, just expected more. GOTG is one of the few MCU movies I feel has held up beyond the spectacle of the theater viewing, so I went into this one excited.

 

[Sean C]

The Sovereign are shown to be no more than "conceited douchebags" (until the end).

The Sovereign are completely in the right throughout the film, since the Guardians stole their stuff for no reason.

 

[ActWan]

Hi, can the amount / the "heavyness" of horror and shock moments in this movie be described without spoilering the excperience?
I'm asking because I'm unsure whether I can recommend watching it with me to my wife, as she would rather prefer not to watch movies with too much of these unsettling elements.

Also a possible problem: gore / graphic violence.

There's one very small "gory" scene near the end, but besides that it's ok on that front.
It's generally not that scary (and I'm a coward), mostly psychological horror and like 2 small jumpscares...the whole setting is just pretty horror inspired, and the only thing that is "shocking" in this movie. It can hit some soft spots with it's criticism I guess.

 

[overcast]

I didn't care for the first guardians. But I'll go watch the second one.. take my girlfriends little brother to get some cred

 

[Messofanego]

I assume that if i found GotG1 boring and annoying (for the most part, it had some moments) i'm not going to change my mind with the second one, right?

Not at all. GotG Vol 2 doubles down on everything from the first. I found most of the emotional moments contrived and predictable, not helped with the cloying music (now it's time for you to feel!). You know how like in videogames you see chest high cover and know it's going to be battle time? You know when the movie is going to try to go for drama exposition each time. Some of the lines are downright cringeworthy and unintentionally hilarious ("You're not friends", "You're right. WE ARE FAMILY"; "You were always trying to win and I just wanted a sister"; "WE ARE THE SAME!"). There are quite a lot of bad jokes, which I'm surprised by honestly considering James Gunn. Gunn has done better comedy and drama before e.g. Super.

I don't know why I can take Fast and Furious and not this where the artifice feels so obvious and I'm taken aback that I'm watching a very cliched movie. Probably because the action setpieces are boring and don't muster up any excitement in me by comparison, so I'm more aware of the structure. I swear there are like 4-5 villains, juggling from one to the next, which is fine I guess for a comedy-based movie where the villains don't need much weight but a lot of the drama didn't feel earned and felt more like marking a checkbox for revealing tidbits about characters, then moving on to the main conflict.

One thing I can unconditionally praise is the VFX and CGI, the worlds and backgrounds the 5 or so companies (WETA, Animal Logic, Framestore, Method, Trixter) did are constantly astounding but they're never explored in any detail so it's mainly eye candy as these actors go from green-screen set to set. Good wallpaper porn, though.

It's still way more enjoyable than Suicide Squad or Age Of Ultron, or Xmen Apocalypse as far as team-up superhero movies go

 

[Puck Beaverton]

I enjoyed Guardians 2 a lot. Yeah there is a surprising amount of bad jokes, but the humor feels way more like a James Gunn film than a Marvel film, and I overall think the best moments in Vol. 2 are better than the first. Almost makes me want to watch Infinity War.

Groot didn't annoy me, and that is all I asked for. Plus My Sweet Lord is a great song that I always love hearing.

 

[Glass Rebel]

I found most of the emotional moments contrived and predictable, not helped with the cloying music (now it's time for you to feel!). You know how like in videogames you see chest high cover and know it's going to be battle time? You know when the movie is going to try to go for drama exposition each time.

You perfectly articulated my thoughts here

about Manchester by the Sea, that is.

 

[MidnightCowboy]

You perfectly articulated my thoughts here

about Manchester by the Sea, that is.

Best movie of last year

 

[Puck Beaverton]

Best movie of last year

A 2016 with no Paterson, Moonlight, and The Handmaiden sounds like a hellish year.

 

[Glass Rebel]

A 2016 with no Paterson, Moonlight, and The Handmaiden sounds like a hellish year.

 

[JTripper]

Guardians 2 was ok. Honestly thought it was kinda forgettable even with one of the better MCU villains.

Comedy was pretty hit or miss, but I'm thankful that I never got tired of Drax, who was my favorite of the first movie, and his last line was a

Spoiler

great moment to end the movie on

. Rocket's comedy got slightly stale though, but his actions scenes are the best in the film.

 

[Boogs31]

Just watched The Raid: Redemption. The fight choreography was absolutely incredible. There was almost zero exposition except for a minute here or there so the action was pretty constant. With most movies that would get tiresome, but the action was so well executed in this it never did. Gave off similar badass vibes that John Wick did. I did have one issue with the fighting scenes. It seemed like on occasion when certain characters were laying on the ground in pain, that instead of kicking them and staying in the advantageous position, they would pick them up and allow them to be neutral again in the fight. I enjoyed the fighting so much though that it didn't bother me too much.

8.5/10

 

[MidnightCowboy]

A 2016 with no Paterson, Moonlight, and The Handmaiden sounds like a hellish year.

I haven't seen The Handmaiden, but I liked Manchester more than Moonlight. Paterson is great as well.

 

[overcast]

Best movie of last year

Yes

 

[Ridley327]

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2: Undeniably fun, but it makes the mistake of shooting for the moon with each assumed emotional payoff, no matter how unearned some of them might be. Some of that has to do with how much it spends time on setting up a lot of it, leading to a film that surprisingly lumbers around (particularly in the middle third and a rather protracted action climax that feels like it's an hour long) without much good reason than to give absolutely everyone something that's been eating at them. The more concerning element is how little you care about anyone outside of the core members of the Guardians, and it's an especially pronounced issue for one particular character that the movie decides to hang a lot of its bigger moments on that I don't feel worked at all, as there's just not enough to go on from what we know about them previously and revealed in this film to make any of the drama hit as hard as they intend for it to land. It's definitely not a bad thing to go in this direction, especially after complaints about the first film leaning too heavily on the more humorous side (one I don't really share, but I get it), but this is one of those situations where a little less would have gone a longer way. That all being said, the chemistry between the cast is undeniable and strong, and there's another choice soundtrack to go with all the sweeping vistas of the cosmos and other shiny objects (every cent is on the screen, that's for sure). As strange as it sounds, I think this would have been a bit better off if it was "more of the same," as the first film seemed a lot more sure of itself and its limits than this one did. There's certainly nothing wrong with stretching out your wings, but not at the risk of stretching too out thin of material to support itself.

Major spoiler stuff:

Spoiler

I just couldn't buy a single second of Yondu and his arc. He was a fun but thin character in the first film, and just dumping all of that shit on him right from the jump for a more dour incarnation didn't feel organic at all. It didn't help at all that it threw up such a massive death flag right away, which made it too obvious as to where things were going to be going by the end. Even his big action scene really wasn't more than a more pissed off version of what he did in the first film, and it felt unpleasantly sadistic at times with how overboard it goes with all of the crazy arrow spiraling setups.

 

[Discotheque]

Best movie of last year

Bless up. Emotionally devastating but also fairly humorous too. Casey Affleck in there was instantly one of my favorite performances of all time. Dude is too talented to have such a spotty filmography. Ghost Story sounds great though

Gonna see guardians on Tuesday. The first has its issues but it was still the mcu movie I liked the most in recent memory (its the only one I bought since iron man 1, and I've seen it a few times. So yeah it left a much more lasting impression than their other movies for me)

 

[Sean C]

Their Finest (2017): In the leadup to Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, we have Their Finest, a film about a bunch of Ministry of Information employees trying to make a propaganda film about Dunkirk shortly after it happened. There are a lot of strong individual elements, and I enjoyed it overall, but it has a very uneven mix of tones, and can't quite decide whether it's a comedy or a drama.

Spoiler

There's a really sharp turn into tragedy in the final twenty minutes that feels like it comes out nowhere, even if, on its own terms, it's well-executed.

Gemma Arterton is a real talent, and it's too bad that Hollywood has never figured out how to use her properly.

 

[Icolin]

Rise of the Planet of The Apes

So this was FUCKING awesome.

Haven't seen this since I rewatched it in preparation for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and I kinda forgot how fucking great this movie is; I never thought it was bad or average, but I didn't expect to be taken aback like I was when I watched this tonight. The way it's paced and how it spaces out revelations and big plot details while still being entertaining as hell is masterful. Also, I didn't expect to be as attached to the central characters as I was; the bond between Caesar and Franco's character felt really genuine and real (which I can't really say about the bond Franco and Pinto's character tbh).

The visuals, specifically the CGI, holds up quite well, although the final few shots of the trees looked a tad dated, as to be expected. Apart from that very, very minor nitpick and the meh relationship between Pinto and Franco's characters (which didn't hamper my enjoyment whatsoever but is lacking when I reflect on it after watching the film), this movie is flawless. Definitely a contender for my favourite movie of 2011, besides The Tree of Life (which will never be beat unless my eternal Malick boner subsides, which it hasn't since I saw Thin Red Line in the theatres).

Next up is Dawn of the Planet of The Apes, which I seem to have liked quite a bit, given that I listed it as my 3rd favourite movie of 2014, just behind Birdman (#1) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (#3) and just ahead of Boyhood, Interstellar, GOTG, Gone Girl, Whiplash, LEGO Movie, Nightcrawler, and Foxcatcher in my top 10. (Still haven't seen Darren Aronofsky's Noah, which, if it's anywhere near as good as Aronofsky's other movies, is a top 10 lock.)

 

[Timeaisis]

My biggest gripe with Guardians 2 was it decided to spend the entire middle portion on the film on exposition that only served to setup an unremarkable climax. I'm not a super fan of the first film, but it never wasted time and was constantly entraining.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

The new Apes movies are great. If not for Fury Road, they'd easily be my favorite blockbusters of the last decade, maybe more. Caesar talking for the first time is a top tier "hear a pin drop" theater moment, and the Ape cast is so badass in Dawn.

 

[Icolin]

The new Apes movies are great. If not for Fury Road, they'd easily be my favorite blockbusters of the last decade, maybe more. Caesar talking for the first time is a top tier "hear a pin drop" theater moment, and the Ape cast is so badass in Dawn.

You're speaking my language.

If War of the Planet of the Apes is as good as I think it's going to be, then the new Apes trilogy is going to go down as one of the best trilogies in film history, along with TDK trilogy, the Before... trilogy, LOTR, and the Cornetto trilogy (if that counts).

 

[brianjones]

idk i find the ape movies kinda forgettable even if they're somewhat fun in the moment

 

[AngmarsKing701]

idk i find the ape movies kinda forgettable even if they're somewhat fun in the moment

I liked the first one but the second less so. I'm debating whether to see War in theaters or wait for redbox

 

[Count Dookkake]

Just saw a screening of Karate Kill, the new flick from my pal Kurando Mitsutake, who was a bad guy in that show Heroes and previously directed the highly problematic Gun Woman. About a martial arts master who comes to America to save his sister from an internet snuff film cult, it's not quite as fucked up as GW, but it is still likely to offend the weak and nervous, as it is unremittingly sleazy and brutal. Despite the rough stuff, there are moments of solid humor sprinkled throughout. Asami pops up in a fun supporting role as a one armed assassin.

 

[UrbanRats]

You perfectly articulated my thoughts here

about Manchester by the Sea, that is.

I liked Manchester, but i agree that the soundtrack use was damn clumsy.
Beyond that the movie was really good though, and i'd say every dramatic bit felt earned, despite the detrimental soundtrack decisions.

Spoiler

BTW the best movie of last year, was Embrace of the Serpent.

 

[Discotheque]

The new Apes movies are great. If not for Fury Road, they'd easily be my favorite blockbusters of the last decade, maybe more. Caesar talking for the first time is a top tier "hear a pin drop" theater moment, and the Ape cast is so badass in Dawn.

Yep. Dawn in particular was the best blockbuster since the dark knight for me (until fury road came out no doubt)

Hyped for war of the apes and then the directors batman movie. This summer is looking great between war for apes, Dunkirk and baby driver. The best in years for summer action tbh.

WETA does such killer work on these apes. Should just preemptively mail them the best Visual Effects Oscar everytime a planet of the apes movie is out

 

[Double]

There's one very small "gory" scene near the end, but besides that it's ok on that front.
It's generally not that scary (and I'm a coward), mostly psychological horror and like 2 small jumpscares...the whole setting is just pretty horror inspired, and the only thing that is "shocking" in this movie. It can hit some soft spots with it's criticism I guess.

Thank you.
The jumpscares might be the dealbreaker here. Not sure how well they fit with the pregnancy of my wife ^_^

 

[Divius]

Was bored, made a list with my Favorite film of each year. Fun to do, but quite hard at a couple of years.

 

[Apt101]

For a Few Dollars More (nineteen seventy something): damn these old westerns were boring.

 

[Glass Rebel]

Marvel fucked up blowing their load with GOTG this year since the special effects award will go to Apes. I don't love them as much as Disco and Net_Wrecker do but they are damn fine films and the CGI holds up incredibly well.

 

[Messofanego]

Marvel fucked up blowing their load with GOTG this year since the special effects award will go to Apes. I don't love them as much as Disco and Net_Wrecker do but they are damn fine films and the CGI holds up incredibly well.

It's too bad the special FX in GOTG don't inform the story like they do in the Apes films, so they just amount to eye candy.

Valerian gonna be the same thing as GOTG, pretty but inert.

 

[Glass Rebel]

It's too bad the special FX in GOTG don't inform the story like they do in the Apes films, so they just amount to eye candy.

Valerian gonna be the same thing as GOTG, pretty but inert.

How do the special effects "inform" the story in the Apes films? Genuine question.

 

[Man with Knife]

For a Few Dollars More (nineteen seventy something): damn these old westerns were boring.

You're just lacking swag. Leone the GOAT of this Western shit.

 

[Fancy Clown]

For a Few Dollars More (nineteen seventy something): damn these old westerns were boring.

Not today, Satan

 

[Ridley327]

How do the special effects "inform" the story in the Apes films? Genuine question.

Without seeing them, I would assume that having fully emotive apes of the convincing variety is of the utmost importance in those films, as the story completely hinges on believing in them being tangible presences in those films. Similarly, the LOTR trilogy does not work at all if Gollum wasn't such a convincing wretch of a being.

 

[Glass Rebel]

Without seeing them, I would assume that having fully emotive apes of the convincing variety is of the utmost importance in those films, as the story completely hinges on believing in them being tangible presences in those films. Similarly, the LOTR trilogy does not work at all if Gollum wasn't such a convincing wretch of a being.

I mean, the same goes for everything that relies on CGI to craft a believable world and its inhabitants.

 

[Atraveller]

There's something about Bradley Cooper's delivery that made his every fight sounded like very forced fake fight. I couldn't pinpoint it exactly. Gamora's "hey look at us talking about silly things in combat" comments since the first movie didn't help either.

 

[Glass Rebel]

There's something about Bradley Cooper's delivery that made his every fight sounded like very forced fake fight. I couldn't pinpoint it exactly. Gamora's "hey look at us talking about silly things in combat" comments since the first movie didn't help either.

The moments where he gets a gun and goes "oh yeah" always take me out but the rest of his dialogue works for me in the context of him acting like a huge asshole all of the time as a defense mechanism.

 

[Atraveller]

The moments where he gets a gun and goes "oh yeah" always take me out but the rest of his dialogue works for me in the context of him acting like a huge asshole all of the time as a defense mechanism.

Oh I didn't mean it was his lines, it was the way he yelled. It felt like act-yelling with not enough emotion to back up his volume.

 

[TimHortons]

xXx: Return of Xander Cage

Didn't know a movie could ooze foreign investment. This is a straight up dumpster fire. Avoid at all costs. Worst movie I've seen in a long while.

 

[True Savior]

For a Few Dollars More (nineteen seventy something): damn these old westerns were boring.

what is this

 

[Fancy Clown]

Maybe my memory of Saving Private Ryan has been softened due to its ubiquity and influence in popular culture, but I had forgotten how much of a grinder this movie is. During the famous D-Day sequence I was a little unsure of the approach, as the voyeuristic camera work seems to linger on scenes of the human abattoir a touch too gleefully, but after the opening assault Spielberg's filmic approach to war begins to make sense. Because outside of the contextless cacophony of the cold open, the movie plays like one long dark night of the soul, as men are forced to justify what it means to take lives from others, and give up their own. This emotional weight recontextuizes all the senseless viscera and expose its purpose in that senselessness. How many of these lives are worth it for a mission? How many lives are worth it for one man? How many young men have leak blood into the hands of their brothers in arms as they
call out for their mothers? As it turns out, none of the killing is ever "worth it". But even in the nihilism of combat, as human beings are revealed as nothing more than meat and bone, the men of Saving Private Ryan are able to create their own meaning, fighting not for a mission or someone's life, but for the right to return home. An ambition to hold on to their humanity amongst the terror of the inhuman acts they've all been ordered to commit. In that sense the movie isn't about glorifying or condemning combat, but about the marvel of man's struggle, and triumph, to create meaning even in the most senseless of environments.

 

[lordxar]

Pod I've been meaning to watch this since one of the Halloween marathons and finally did. I loved the tension this has even though the characters are a bit annoying. The end was a bit too open for my tastes but overall I liked this quite a bit!

Navy Seals vs Zombies Not as bad as Yoga Hosers. Pretty shitty though.

Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl Someone in the Horror thread mentioned this so I watched it and I have to say this is a very perplexing movie. You get done and have absofuckinglutely no idea what just happened and you really want some answers...the problem is there isn't any. The movie is good and somehow wraps up satisfyingly but so damn open that your like wtf? I can't explain how that happens. I should be pissed at how this ended up but I'm wanting to dissect this and see if I missed something.

ARQ This is my kind of movie! I really like how they explore the Groundhog Day theme with more of a military type tale.

Blazing Saddles As much as I love Spaceballs I think this is Brooks' best comedy.

Prometheus Still a giant piece of shit. The story is terrible. Hey let's go explore an ancient alien world, take off our helmets, swim in alien goo, and play with alien snakes. Because what could possibly go wrong and how stupid of a movie can we make? Fuck it lets get shitfaced and make Prometheus. No one will notice.

 

[Divius]

Maybe my memory of Saving Private Ryan has been softened due to its ubiquity and influence in popular culture, but I had forgotten how much of a grinder this movie is.

Interesting read. SPR is probably (along Jurassic Park) the defining movie of my childhood to the point where I had to rebuy the VHS tape because the first one was just worn out. Probably my most watched movie of all time. But now it must have been nearly a decade since I saw it last. it would probably make a valuable rewatch for me where I'd also get a lot more out of it as an adult, assuming it holds up to my memory glorifying it.

 

[TheFlow]

Flow gets banned and this threads output drops by like 60 percent lol

and the shit posting increases by 60 percent as well ayye.

If you miss him so much, you can try reddit. I've started seeing comments by him in several subreddits I follow :|

speaking of shitpost lol

I haven't made a reddit post in more than a week..plus I only post in two subreddits 1.gunpla and 2.criterion. Omgkitty think before you post next time

I hope that shit's the reason he got banned

damn another shit post. please stay salty

got banned by MHWilliams in the attack on titan thread.


King Flow is back.

 

[brianjones]

For a Few Dollars More (nineteen seventy something): damn these old westerns were boring.

 

[Divius]

King Flow is back.

Surprised you didn't make 3 separate posts for those replies.

Spoiler

welcome back <3

 

[omgkitty]

Omgkitty think before you post next time

Kettle welcomes you back, Pot.

 

[Puck Beaverton]

Leone was a hack fraud tbh. How many times do I have to stare at someone's face or eyeballs before I get to the bang bang?