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Movies You've Seen Recently |OT| Aug 2013

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Escape from New York + Escape from L.A. - Not as great or 'iconic' as I had hoped, but there's still fun to be had. It should have either been more funny or more serious, now it's just kinda neither. Kurt Russel is bad ass and there are loads of wacky characters spread throughout both moody and atmospheric cities. I actually thought the sequel improved on a lot of fronts compared to the first, but then they go and throw in ridiculous scenes like the basketball and surfing-car-jack ones . . . ***

Byzantium - Surprisingly decent. Then again, we know Jordan can handle his vampires. He especially nails the atmosphere, but in general doesn't really drop the ball anywhere. There are some hints towards a deeper backstory but it is never really explored as it stays safely on the surface of things, which is totally fine ***
The Conjuring - Like Insidious, not really my cup of tea but there are definitely quite a few tense scenes and some earned scares. It doesn't do anything new but it mostly works. ***
Jjakpae AKA City of Violence - AKA City of Spin Kicks. There are some really, really, really awesome well choreographed hard hitting fightscenes in this movie ***
 
Anyone seen Gangs Of Wasseypur ?

A 5-hour bollywood movie about a gang rivalry spanning over 60 years looks strangely appealing to me.
 
BaronLundi said:
Anyone seen Gangs Of Wasseypur ?

A 5-hour bollywood movie about a gang rivalry spanning over 60 years looks strangely appealing to me.
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Saw it and it's worth watching I think. Get's pretty ridiculous at parts but I think it stays entertaining throughout. The translation is pretty average though.
 
I know there are different movies made outside of the Bollywood genre, but isn't Wasseypur a Bollywood movie including song and dance scenes?
 
kurisu1974 said:
I know there are different movies made outside of the Bollywood genre, but isn't Wasseypur a Bollywood movie including song and dance scenes?
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Not in the traditional sense no. Some tongue in cheek song and dance during a wedding (maybe lasts 30 seconds) and use of songs in the background in some sequences but nothing like a traditional bollywood film. As a big part of the film is bollywood's influence on the general populace and the need for them to emulate that life, some presence of music makes perfect sense. The electronic and folk fusion songs in the background are a different issue though and I can imagine some people disliking them.
 
Watched Amelie again at uni today. They wanted to talk about mise en scene of course.


Been watching a few news related films lately. Broadcast News, The Paper, The Insider.
The Insider > Broadcast News > The Paper.
 
Nice to know I wasn't crazy in liking Europa Report, seeing others' reactions here.

BaronLundi said:
Anyone seen Gangs Of Wasseypur ?

A 5-hour bollywood movie about a gang rivalry spanning over 60 years looks strangely appealing to me.
Click to expand...

This is the one movie my relatives and friends constantly recommend to me as someone who grew out of the usual Bollywood dreck. I need to give it a go, now that I'm here in Pakistan ripe for a viewing party at night with my extended family :)
 
There's plenty of Indian cinema I've got to watch. The Rays, Sholay, &c. This looks like one of the more interesting modern Bollywood films, glad you mentioned it Lundi.
 
caught Wolf Creek on Sky last night, and I was so bored I watched it. The Aussie actor who played the psycho was surprisingly good but the rest is very forgettable
 
I finally watched The Raid: Redemption yesterday after hearing many good things but just being a bit lazy about getting round to it.

Well darn, if it isn't one of the finest action films I've seen in a very long time. The combat is like little else I can recall, and it all feels so brutal, so immediate and so real. You really get the sense that the characters are scrapping for their lives.

Brilliant film, I'd heartily recommend.
 
Leon Morin, The Sexy Priest: 8/10. I liked this a lot more than I thought I would (since it's earlier in Melville's career, and not a crime film). A lot of it is just the author ruminating on religious ideas through discussions between the two main characters, which I'm sure a lot of people would find dull, but I do not. Also Belmondo was just poured in to that Cassock mmmmmmm
 
Above the law (1986): Fantastic HK acton movie, yes, but goddamn is it brutal and merciless... so thumbs up for that, too!
Also Cynthia Rothrock kicks major ass.
 
Saw Lovelace today.

It was alright. Amanda Seyfried is a good actress. The movie oozed vintage 70's. From the film grain to the costumes.

The second half of the movie almost made me feel bad for enjoying Amanda Seyfried's beautiful breasts. The movie really goes from one extreme to another, and the true story ends up feeling fabricated
 
Just a random thought, but I find it pretty cool that sisters Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine are still alive. They've outlived so many people from they're era.

Olivia is almost 100.
 
Miami Connection - Holy shit this was amazing. Everything great about 80's action all packed into one awesomely bad nonsense movie. It's right up there with Revolt as far as bad 80's action goes. Loved it. Y. K. Kim should have become a huge action star.

Dragon Sound is my new favorite band.
 
Saw The Great Ziegfeld. The Academy was razzle dazzled into thinking this was good because of its pretty sets and numbers. I have no issue with movies taking a brake and focusing big portions to song or dance, other movies have done this very well (The Red Shoes, An American in Paris), but in most cases it needs to have some sort of context and not feel like a drag.

The main problem here is that there so little going on that making us sit through the full shows the characters are supposed to be watching becomes painful. Maybe it wouldn't as bothersome if the film wasn't 3 fucking hours of barely anything.

This is one of dullest, shallowest and most bloated Best Picture winners I've seen, it pretends to be deep near the end, but there was nothing there to begin with. 4/10
 
zkylon said:
yeah I don't think anyone likes the ending :P
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iirc it's better in the book.
I mean it's the same in that Boy meets and joins a man, who assures him he's a good guy, but in the book I don't think you actually see his family. The man just says he has them and Boy trusts him but he could easily be lying
 
Sydney aka Hard Eight from PTA. Kept being pleasantly surprised by the cast members that show up, Samuel L. Jackson, especially. Really liked the movie, really curious what all happens in the original 2 1/2 hour cut.

Philip Seymour Hoffman's (very) small role has to be my favorite part of the whole movie, though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5m6FrFsi8Y
 
ViewtifulJC said:
The Hobbit has it's moments, particularly the Game of Riddles scene and the cleverly staged action in the mines around it, but by and large I thought it was mostly mediocre. Zero interest in any more of Peter Jackson's overlong literary adaptations...but considering the box office gross I'm in the minority on that.
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I was even upset with the Riddles in the Dark scene. Bilbo was supposed to wander lost down dark tunnels for quite a while, and not happen to tumble down into Gollum's cave, which was altogether too-well-lit besides.

I've been meaning to rewatch the movie, but don't know if I'd enjoy it. Not excited for the sequels. There's only four months until the next one comes out, though, and I'm sure I'll go see it.

A Scanner Darkly - I watched this in the car, which is not a good way to watch a movie. That said, I wasn't particularly impressed. I wasn't sold on the animation, and overall the story didn't seem to have as much weight as it could have.
 
The Conjuring I found it pretty boring. It has a solid story that doesn't stray too much but overall it felt lacking to me. It was more of a feeling of "seen that done before" and there was nothing too original about the film. It actually made me want to go back and watch the Exorcist instead.
 
big ander said:
iirc it's better in the book.
I mean it's the same in that Boy meets and joins a man, who assures him he's a good guy, but in the book I don't think you actually see his family. The man just says he has them and Boy trusts him but he could easily be lying
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That sounds a lot better. The whole everything will be alright happy family picture it painted really felt out of place. Had they found a huge stash of food or something? lol
 
big ander said:
iirc it's better in the book.
I mean it's the same in that Boy meets and joins a man, who assures him he's a good guy, but in the book I don't think you actually see his family. The man just says he has them and Boy trusts him but he could easily be lying
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yeah that sounds way more fitting

t-ramp said:
A Scanner Darkly - I watched this in the car, which is not a good way to watch a movie. That said, I wasn't particularly impressed. I wasn't sold on the animation, and overall the story didn't seem to have as much weight as it could have.
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of linklater's rotoscoping stuff I liked waking life better

waltz with bachir is also really good if anyone enjoys rotoscoping
 
Both of these movies are from the same director as Mud, Jeff Nichols... Both of these movies are amazing. Oh and Michael Shannon is one hell of n actor. Jeff Nichols is hands down the most under appreciated directors in hollywood right now IMO

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shotgun_stories.jpg
 
After some research and consideration, I've watched my first Ozu: A Who's Who of the Tenements (Record of a Tenement Gentleman, the previous translation, is completely wrong). I really like it, though the main character's speech at the end feels completely out-of-place with the rest of the film. And it's a short one both in content and runtime—I chose it because it's his first post-war film, the first of two preceding the Noriko trilogy. Time to watch some more. ***/**

Oh, and I would and wouldn't recommend Simon's The Sunshine Boys. It's better than The Goodbye Girl, but mainly as a cohesive product and because it's a bit more ambitious. I don't understand why Burns got the Oscar either. Richard Benjamin's the funniest actor in the whole movie and he gets looked over—a shame. ***/**
 
Dragoon En Regalia said:
After some research and consideration, I've watched my first Ozu: A Who's Who of the Tenements (Record of a Tenement Gentleman, the previous translation, is completely wrong). I really like it, though the main character's speech at the end feels completely out-of-place with the rest of the film. And it's a short one both in content and runtime—I chose it because it's his first post-war film, the first of two preceding the Noriko trilogy. Time to watch some more. ***/**

Oh, and I would and wouldn't recommend Simon's The Sunshine Boys. It's better than The Goodbye Girl, but mainly as a cohesive product and because it's a bit more ambitious. I don't understand why Burns got the Oscar either. Richard Benjamin's the funniest actor in the whole movie and he gets looked over—a shame. ***/**
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I think it's funnier that they didn't translate it as something that sounded better in English even if it wasn't accurate. Like, An Autumn Afternoon instead of, originally, The Taste of Mackerel Pike.

An interesting choice for a first watch. Though, it's actually my least favorite Ozu. It felt a little preachy by the end, as you said, and it spent a lot of time on a kid who was probably supposed to be a lot more sympathetic than he ended up being. I also think his departure (pretty much right after this movie) from lower class social issues to more universal, existential issues made for more interesting films that also fit his minimalist visual style,
 
Currygan said:
caught Wolf Creek on Sky last night, and I was so bored I watched it. The Aussie actor who played the psycho was surprisingly good but the rest is very forgettable
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I love the first third of this one before it gets torture-y. some really great atmosphere.

also, Dog Day Afternoon
not sure why i had not seen it before. i probably have a long time ago, but it was good.
 
Watched T3 last night. Some amazing set pieces for the stunts. Overall though it felt a bit phoned in and too formulaic.

Would love to see a T5 with some original ideas.
 
Kilgore Trout said:
An interesting choice for a first watch. Though, it's actually my least favorite Ozu. It felt a little preachy by the end, as you said, and it spent a lot of time on a kid who was probably supposed to be a lot more sympathetic than he ended up being. I also think his departure (pretty much right after this movie) from lower class social issues to more universal, existential issues made for more interesting films that also fit his minimalist visual style,
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If that's your least favorite, then I'm gonna have a good time with this director. I don't have any trouble with the kid; what I find interesting is the idea that the widow has always had childish habits, and that it's possible she can empathize with the son's situation. The film's very interested in how Japan can rebuild, as seen through someone coping from loss and then having to play parent for a while. And the shots of Saigo's statue with the wagging dog are perfect.

I'm thinking I Was Born, But... next and Floating Weeds after that. But the next Japanese director I'm watching is Naruse.
 
blue jasmine

ehhh

blanchet was good but i mostly just found it tiresome and unpleasant

i liked andrew dice clay and bobby cannavale

lots of old people making amusing comments throughout the movie
 
Lots of old people watching this movie in general. My age demographic wouldn't take too kindly to anything from Allen other than the so-called classics, which they'd feel obligated to watch.
 
Messofanego said:
Nice to know I wasn't crazy in liking Europa Report, seeing others' reactions here.



This is the one movie my relatives and friends constantly recommend to me as someone who grew out of the usual Bollywood dreck. I need to give it a go, now that I'm here in Pakistan ripe for a viewing party at night with my extended family :)
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Europa Report was good. It's a bit reminiscent of Moon in its attempt to ground the film's concepts/plot in both actual and theoretical science. At first I was turned off by
the cartoonish LED sea monster, but it makes quite a bit of sense given the environment it evolved in.
The found footage approach was pretty cool as well. Not typically my bag of tea. It's one of the better new releases I've seen this year.

Should've watched it in theaters instead of my living room lol.
 
Manhattan - A few good laughs from Allen here and there and great dialogue, but overall I found it to be kind of boring. Though, Allen sure as hell films NYC like no one else. The walk home between Allen and Keaton after their second meeting really reminded me of the Before Trilogy and I can definitely see Manhattan being a huge influence on Linklater.
 
I saw Return to Oz yesterday in its entirety, prior to that i had vague memories of watching parts of it on tv (as a kid) and changing the channel because it was creepy.

Man is it ever awesome!, i loved it... it belongs up there with Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal and The Neverending Story IMO. Now i gotta hunt down Legend (tom Cruise), and Willow.
 
Saw The Fallen Idol. This film is proof that The Third Man was not a one off incident by Reed. It's clearly not at the same level, but it's great nonetheless and has one of the most vile moments I've seen on film (made more so by how casually it was treated). 8/10
 
eddfromtheriver said:
I saw Return to Oz yesterday in its entirety, prior to that i had vague memories of watching parts of it on tv (as a kid) and changing the channel because it was creepy.

Man is it ever awesome!, i loved it... it belongs up there with Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal and The Neverending Story IMO. Now i gotta hunt down Legend (tom Cruise), and Willow.
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Nothing is up there with The Neverending Story. Nothing. Legend and Labyrinth come close though.
 
Holy shit, I actually watched RIPD.

My review:

It's like someone read the Spark Notes of MIB before school and tried to bullshit an essay while playing really bad videogames and watching every last third of any recent summer blockbuster.

HOLY SHIT. So bad.


Btw, I really liked the Way Way Back.
 
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