[Movies] Talk about the last movie you saw 2: Electric Threadaloo

It's been a while since I've seen it, but I remember that movie being a pretty tight (meaning like, tightly plotted, not what the kids say) little crime thriller. I mean that in a good way, not dismissive. I also missed / temporarily forgot Raimi directed it until later too
 
The only thing you know about that movie is HURRY UP AND WATCH IT BECAUSE IT'S GREAT.

Seriously though, I didn't realize he was nominated for that. Cool.
 
Mystery, Alaska - It was...ok. Not really anything great. It felt like the director had trouble deciding what kind of movie he was making.

I did get a blu-ray copy of Dredd today, so there's that. :)
 
I couldn't handle how stupid everyone was. I mean, you have to be a little dumb to be a horror protagonist, but this was like letting lobotomy patients loose on a movie set.
 

North_Ranger

Staff member
Just came home from seeing Les Misérables with my folks. I admit, I cried when Jean Valjean died. And it takes a lot from me to start tearing up. For a movie. In public.
 
G.I. Joe: Retalliation Unlike Rise of Cobra was watchable, not much more, although you could see shades of them trying to make a G.I. Joe movie most of the movie is just a generic action movie. Most of the stink of the first is largely gone.
 
Don't get me wrong, I still think Drag Me to Hell was a horrible movie, but that had nothing to do with the style of the movie. I thought it was a thin plot with unlikable characters that ultimately didn't have enough humor to offset the lack of good horror a la Evil Dead 2 or Army of Darkness.
Drag Me to Hell wasn't awful in my opinion. But I have to say that not only was the ending completely obvious for the last 15 minutes of the film

Seriously. Who DIDN'T know that she had gotten the envelope with the quarter and was trying to pawn it off or battle a dead gypsy woman completely in vain? You know what had been a much better ending? If the boyfriend was dragged to hell instead, because technically he was the owner of the button.
 
Behind the Mast: The Rise of Leslie Vernon.
A Meta-Slasher film that is part mockumentary, and part traditional slasher.
Premise: A news crew follows the newest up and coming "supernatural" killer Leslie Vernon as he picks his victims and plots his revenge for deeds wronged him in the past.
It's quite clever in how it approaches the genre from a new angle. Many of the tropes of slashers are explored from the killer's point of view.
As Vernon explains: "Cardio is one of the most imporant things. I mean they are running away, and I have to look like I'm walking but still keep up with them."
There is a twist at the ending that becomes fairly obvious. The gore isn't sensational or anything. But the performances are great and the laughs strong.
 
G.I. Joe: Retalliation Unlike Rise of Cobra was watchable, not much more, although you could see shades of them trying to make a G.I. Joe movie most of the movie is just a generic action movie. Most of the stink of the first is largely gone.
Man, calling the new G.I. Joe movie watchable is a stretch. At least the first movie was fun. This was.....boring and schizophrenic.

They're both God awful for different reasons. The movie was joyless and that scene in Joe's kitchen where they're finding guns everywhere is maybe the worst scene in any movie, ever. Did no one in editing look at Snake Eyes there and think, this is it, this is the most ridiculous thing.

The only part of that loathsome mess I enjoyed was the whole ninja mountain scene, which felt like a completely different movie (one I would have rather been watching, except for RZA, who was beyond silly).
 
Behind the Mast: The Rise of Leslie Vernon.
A Meta-Slasher film that is part mockumentary, and part traditional slasher.
Premise: A news crew follows the newest up and coming "supernatural" killer Leslie Vernon as he picks his victims and plots his revenge for deeds wronged him in the past.
It's quite clever in how it approaches the genre from a new angle. Many of the tropes of slashers are explored from the killer's point of view.
As Vernon explains: "Cardio is one of the most imporant things. I mean they are running away, and I have to look like I'm walking but still keep up with them."
There is a twist at the ending that becomes fairly obvious. The gore isn't sensational or anything. But the performances are great and the laughs strong.
This is an excellent flick, IMO.

BTW, why did you spoiler that? It doesn't spoil anything in the movie.
 
Drag Me to Hell wasn't awful in my opinion. But I have to say that not only was the ending completely obvious for the last 15 minutes of the film

Seriously. Who DIDN'T know that she had gotten the envelope with the quarter and was trying to pawn it off or battle a dead gypsy woman completely in vain? You know what had been a much better ending? If the boyfriend was dragged to hell instead, because technically he was the owner of the button.
Except that was the whole POINT. It was one incredibly long joke because any audience member who knows their movies knows, knows, knows that there was a mix-up. That's why the ending is even more gratifying, ironic, and hilarious.
 
Watched the Avengers last night, it was good, but only because Scarlett Johanson is hot. Will watch again for more Black Widow awesomeness.
 

North_Ranger

Staff member
Except that was the whole POINT. It was one incredibly long joke because any audience member who knows their movies knows, knows, knows that there was a mix-up. That's why the ending is even more gratifying, ironic, and hilarious.
I think we may have different interpretations for those words, Nick ol' boy. Y'know, gratifying, ironic and hilarious? 'cause I don't think none of those apply to the ending of Drag Me To Hell.

But I guess it's already old news I seriously disliked that movie ;)
 
Watched a few movies today.

Green Lantern - It was okay. Nothing special, but not as awful as everyone says. The CG suit/mask was weird and kind of offputting, though. Dunno why they did it like that. Not something I'd make time to watch again, though.

Cabin in the Woods - Finally saw this, it's awesome. Loved the premise, loved the characters. Good, fun movie.

American Werewolf in London - Another good one. Abrupt ending, but it worked. Wish I'd seen this sooner.
 
Green Lantern - It was okay. Nothing special, but not as awful as everyone says. The CG suit/mask was weird and kind of offputting, though. Dunno why they did it like that. Not something I'd make time to watch again, though.
Yeah, I agree, the suit looked weird (although 90% of the problem was the mask). The movie itself was better than most folks said, but it had far to many problems to survive as a franchise, which is sad given the huge potential. Honestly, the space scenes were fantastic and easily the best part of the movie.
 
I completed my Netflix Sci-Fi two-fer with District 9. This kind of felt... a little flat to me. I liked the overt / crazy action scenes, but most of the themes and bigger picture stuff was a little too on the nose for me. I also thought it kind of felt like half a story / not fully fleshed-out enough.

ALSO, this isn't really a valid reason for disliking something, but I really didn't like the main character either.

But again, I wouldn't say I disliked it! I just didn't match the super crazy praise I had heard for it. The aliens / design of District 9 and all the tech was still pretty great.
 
Yeah, I agree, the suit looked weird (although 90% of the problem was the mask). The movie itself was better than most folks said, but it had far to many problems to survive as a franchise, which is sad given the huge potential. Honestly, the space scenes were fantastic and easily the best part of the movie.
I think the problem with Green Lantern was that it was too dense for non fans, and not dense enough for fans.

I actually liked how they reworked Parallax.
 
Watched Oz: The Great And Powerful:

Didn't like it. So many things to dislike.

1: The changes from the source material were pretty brutal.
2: All the female characters were vapid, empty, emotionally charged to the point of no intelligence.
3: I know James Franco was supposed to play as an overacting sideshow magician but it was overly hammy all the way through.
4: The visuals were way too focused on being 3D IN YOUR FACE that when watching it in 2D was just annoying.
5: Gotta make a love story right? Glenda and Wizard should totally hook up and cause Thedora to go crazy!
6: 1 Dimensional side characters there for zero effect. All of them were useless and there was zero emotional attachment to any of them.
7: So many parallels to Oz's real life situations (Porcelin Girl's walking, the monkey being his trained monkey etc) but with no real purpose.

I could go on and on, there was so little to like. I suppose I could mention a few things:
1: The film does set-up the original film's story and places nicely.
2: Seeing the originations of the Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion and Tinman were also nice. Even if it wasn't remotely connected to the source material it stayed well and close to the original movie's characters.
3: Mila Kunis killed her witchyness even if she was constrained by her terrible script.
 
I thought Parallax worked out pretty well, and Mark Strong seemed like a pretty good Sinestro from what little I know of the character. Goofy Hal wasn't bad, either. I think something just didn't click in the overall execution of the movie to make it all work well together. Mayber Mastermind wasn't the right fit for the movie, I dunno. More cosmic, less terran.
 
I thought Parallax worked out pretty well, and Mark Strong seemed like a pretty good Sinestro from what little I know of the character. Goofy Hal wasn't bad, either. I think something just didn't click in the overall execution of the movie to make it all work well together. Mayber Mastermind wasn't the right fit for the movie, I dunno. More cosmic, less terran.
The Sinestro part bothered me. I didn't mind the character for the most part. He seemed like he was being played very well, and considering the situation he was in I understood the majority of his decisions. Except one. Post Credit scene where he grabs the ring. I didn't see a reason for it. I didn't really understand. Sure he was going to do it out of desperation, but then the desperation was gone. The universe was saved. The danger done. Everyone was content and even Sinestro seemed to accept Hal into the Core.

Is it just me, or can anyone else imagine Sinestro shouting "YOINK!" as he grabs for the ring at the end?
 
Yeah, I mean I don't know why Sinestro goes yellow in the comics, but they didn't give him a reason to put it on in the movie after it ended. Just seemed out of nowhere.
 
Yeah, I mean I don't know why Sinestro goes yellow in the comics, but they didn't give him a reason to put it on in the movie after it ended. Just seemed out of nowhere.
That part was just sequel bait. If they had made another movie, I'm sure they would have had better reasons, a'la joker card at the end of Batman Begins.

In the comic, his thirst for nazi esque imposed order is what made him get ousted from the corps. He then found a yellow power ring and the rest is history. Originally in the comics, the only real reason the ring was yellow was because it was the green power ring's only weakness. It wasn't until much later that they added all the fear/parallax stuff.
 
I think the problem with Green Lantern was that it was too dense for non fans, and not dense enough for fans.

I actually liked how they reworked Parallax.
I can agree with that. Parallax worked just fine, he looked nasty. I think the real missed boat here was not having 90% of it set in space. Even the costume looked better in space. Have Hal go off, fight a huge battle, blah blah blah, at the very end have earth in trouble to set up the next film. That way the corp gets introduced well and we actually spend time with the Lanterns rather than a mediocre retread of the basic Here's Journey story.
 

fade

Staff member
The Two Towers

Okay, I have been reading the books to my 9 year old son. We just finished TTT and watched the movie yesterday. I have not watched it since it was in theaters. I bought the collectors box set DVD back when it came out, but I only ever watched the extras. Anyway, Fellowship was fairly close to the book, but TTT deviates quite a bit. And not just the Faramir thing that almost everyone universally hated. Things that caught my eye, especially since the book was very fresh in my mind were: Frodo and Sam arguing quite a bit, Frodo coveting the ring, Elves at Helm's Deep, Eomer being banished, Frodo and Sam being dragged to Osgilath where a freaking Nazgul sees him holding the ring--something that the book repeatedly says should never ever ever happen, or all is lost, Saruman directly possessing Theoden... There was a general tone difference from the Fellowship movie, too. This one seemed to be aimed at a younger audience than Fellowship, with things like Xtreme Legolas and poop jokes.
 
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