movies What's the last film you watched? And rate it!

Cabin In The Woods 10/10 - I cannot believe I rated a horror movie that high... I never would've thought that any horror movie would be worth a 6/10, since most of them are garbage, definitely the worst genre of all films. But this movie was amazing... it was more than just a horror movie too, it seemed to combine elements of all genres, seemingly for the purpose of satirizing horror movie cliches. The humor in it made it worthy of a comedy award, and it's always nice to see satires do better than the movies they send up (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, for example, are way better not only as comedies, but as action and zombie movies respectively, just as Cabin is the best horror film I've ever seen.)

Joss Whedon does some incredible work and I respect him more and more after each project I've seen (Just finished every episode of Firefly and the film, Serenity.)
 
Looper, which will have people drawing out time continuum lines on napkins after they see it and try to figure it all out. Good film, 7/10.

Frankenweenie, which felt kinda stretched to fill a feature, still fun and dark. Not sure who the audience is. Damn sight better than Dark Shadows. 6/10.

gelder
 
Vanishing of the Bees. It has it's agenda. Give me more scientists talking about it rather than spiritualists and the like. But it's interesting. Maybe a 6 or a 7.
 
The Master-10/10
Absolutely spectacular. From the booming orchestra concerto over the epic opening shot of the ocean, to the intense "processing" scenes between manipulative Hoffman and animal-like Phoenix, to the penultimate scene in the desert, it is a triumphant examination of human's ambition, struggle for spiritual discovery and ultimate flaws.

Anderson went from being a raw, reckless Scorsese-like rebel (Boogie Nights, Magnolia) to what seems to be a more visionary Malick, almost a Kubrick of sorts. Like in There Will Be Blood, here he examines mankind and its conquests, failures and raw truth. He pushes Joaquin to a savage, frightening performance that absolutely scares the shit out of you, and has Hoffman play a wonderfully disturbing puppet master that drives out the animal from Phoenix's Freddie.

The most moving sequence of the film was the insane mental-reversal practices being conducted on Freddie, as he is forced to reexamine his life and go through repetitive, maddening activities, made beautifully operatic by Greenwood's epic score.

The film's only downfall is that it should have ended earlier. It goes on a bit too far with scenes that feel irrelevant and uninspired compared to the rest of this masterpiece, to the point where it feels as if the movie is bloated. But for the first two hours, The Master is fully confident, solid and a masterwork of cinema. The best film of the year, and no doubt one of the best so far this millenium. Legendary? Maybe so.
 
"End of Watch" - 6/10
I would give it a better score if not for the overly shaky camera work. I liked the story and the chemistry between actors. I understand that the shaky camera was intended to convey that the film was shot by the main character on a handheld camcorder. The two main problems that I have with that particular plot device is that it was WAAAAYYYYY too much shaky cam and that there were too many inconsistencies in coverage for me to buy into the suspension of disbelief required for the way the story was shot.

My primary gripe with shaky camera work as a means of conveying story is that, as human beings, while viewing something live we don't actually register all of the shakiness that the camera captures. Our brains automatically smooth out the action as we view it. This is called the Phi Phenomenon. Don't get me wrong, when done well (Saving Private Ryan), camera shake can transport the viewer deeper into the story. When done poorly, or worse, overdone, It jars the viewer and removes them from the experience.
 
Dredd - 5/10

I've been waiting all year to see this. Probably longer. I actually sprung for first-run tix for the first time in years to go see it.
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Saw the 3D version, and for lolz I tried out the d-box seats. (The 3D, as usual, was complete waste of bux. I just don't get it. The d-box seats were an even dumber idea, but at least I can say I've tried that whole gimmick out)

But back to the film - Dredd & Anderson themselves look the part, sure... but the world they live in just ain't there, nor is the core spirit of the old comic strip. As dreadful as Stallone's adaptation was, at least that tried to work in some of the satire & cognitive dissonance. This new film avoids any attempt at social parody and we're left with nothing more than an explosive action-packed Die Hard with stylised helmets.

The Judge suits look great, at a distance. Camera gets in close, and it's clearly visible we're looking at rubber suits. Especially the closeups on helmets and shoulder dec. While trying to make the armour look used & worn, it simply looks like the paint has rubbed off.

I'll catch it again at the dollar theater, when it hits, in 2D. It's an action movie; nothing more.

If I ever had a fantasy film to make, this franchise would be it. :(


Last Ounce of Courage - Can't give it a score ('cos it's both great and terrible), but can give my opinion.

Why is it great? It's an indie film that really knows its audience, and delivers what they need to hear. Setting aside the huge amount of v/o to set the stage at the beginning, it's very well written. Several arcs & stories going on, all of which wrap up neatly at the end in a manner guaranteed to please the audience. There weren't many dry eyes as this film came to a close. The film's not going to change any minds, but why should it - it's playing to those who want the message, and who're already headed in to hear it. Know your market. ;)

Why is it terrible? For starters... the sound is terrible. Really terrible. So terrible that afterwards, in the theater lobby, I overheard more than one attendee mentioning (that while they loved the film) how terrible the sound was. There was some terrible greenscreened plates, too. Lighting was pretty good, overall. Camerawork was pretty good, mostly, as well. There's a few odd bad spells (confrontation in the bathroom, where noone is in focus, including reflections!) and the image seems to pick up a lot of blues in the whites... but for the most part, quite good.

The bit which really made it terrible for me was the cartoon-cutout caricatures of some of the roles, as well as sweeping, generalised themes that are expected to be accepted at face value. "We fight over there because freedom!" - sorry, folks. Not good enough, in my book.

I'll stop there, 'cos a lot of the themes revolve around deeply personally held beliefs. :cool:

p.s. RayW, resize that friggin' image, por favor. This page is so wide I have to scroll sideways to find the textbox to type in. :hmm:
 
Zensteve said:
p.s. RayW, resize that friggin' image, por favor. This page is so wide I have to scroll sideways to find the textbox to type in. :hmm:
Click to expand...
You got it. :)
How do you resize a picture around here?


13 - 4/10
Despite an impressive cast and a potentially very interesting premise this show runs flat throughout.
It looks like an indie film through and through, and I don't know if that's a goal any one of us should actively aspire to. Like "Marcy May Marlene does Fight Club."
Meh.

Grimm's Snow White - 5/10 (Extra pity point for effort)
Just watching some variants on the Snow White meme.
Umm... it's a made for TV The Asylum production.
Despite CGI SFX effects that I would be impressed if I could make THAT ISN'T the standard anyone expects from someone trying to look professional.
I don't know who the market is for products like this. It's too violent for little kids. Teens don't care. Adults have better Snow White options to pick and choose from. So... Why do this?


Blade of Kings AKA The Twins Effect II AKA Chin Kei Bin 2 AKA Fa Tou Tai Kam (original title) - ??5??/10 I dunno. Too much culture gap for me to cross.
Despite the attractiveness and light acting of Hong Kong Cantopop stars Charlene Choi Cheuk-Yin and Gillian Chung Yan-Tung, impressive classic Jackie Chan vs. IP man Donnie Yen fighting, and some really nice wirework and CGI SFX the story just kinda bumbled along in what I can only stereotypically guess at what a decent Chinese demographic appreciates.
I have to say though, I am continually impressed with the product Chinese/Hong Kong directors are putting out. I think their entertainment industry is seriously geared up for toe-to-toe global filmmaking competition.

RayBonus!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSP4VCcvfC4
 
Halloween H20 6/10 - Nowhere near as much fun as I'd remembered. Still better than most (all?) of the other sequels.

ParaNorman 9/10 - Great, subversive animation... that might be just a little too "inside baseball" for the non-geek audience, and is certainly too scary for younger children.

The Green Mile 8/10 - Intended to watch a few minutes, got sucked in for the full 3 hrs. Masterfully done, if a bit superficial. Also, a little uncomfortable with the "magical negro" (to quote Spike Lee) aspects of the story. Still, very good movie.
 
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Young Adult - 7/10 - decent film, though it did lack in a scene that I thought was blatantly trying be a Todd Solondz scene. Great use of Teenage Fanclub though
 
Live Flesh - Second dip into my Pedro Almodovar boxset. I liked how the story eventaully came full circle and this was mirrored with the Buses and the Births that was very clever. It wasn't predictable but the reveal towards the end wasn't really a surprise. Some nice boobies in there tho. 7/10

Ivans Childhood - Something about Tarkovsky that simultaneaously sends me to sleep whilst blowing my mind. Freaky hypnosis going on I think. The images he commits to film are breathtaking. 7/10
 
Finding Nemo: 3D 8/10 ...Incredible movie, went to see it when it first came out... the movie itself deserves a 10/10, but ya know what? 3D FUCKING SUCKS!

I own the movie, and only saw it when I found out Hotel Transylvania wasn't in till the 28th.
 
Branded. B-

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1368440/

(Okay, technically not the *last* thing I watched, but the most recent in theaters)

I really, really wanted to like this movie, and to be fair I did like where they went with it. I was expecting a take on "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," but the concept was actually cooler than that.

Its problematic to get across though, and they have some moments where they clearly wrote themselves into a hole and just ignored it and keep moving forward with the plot points.

Went with a buddy who fell asleep in the middle which - even though he's more into action/horror/high stakes/big eye candy movies - is never a good sign. My score is probably biased because I really, really dug where they were going with the statement they were making. ;)
 
The Tall Man. Hmmm, I suppose it should get an 8. I feel an irrational resistance to giving a higher score to an apparently, largely panned film. Yeah, the twist...is it ridiculous? Maybe, maybe not. But I like it for being probably above average in the thoughtful department, as thrillers go. Also, quite beautifully filmed. So, if you have Netflix anyway, and it is on Netflix now, by the way, I recommend not overlooking it. And, nice to see Jessica Biel getting a chance to flex her acting muscle and show, perhaps, her greater range...which she does very nicely. I liked her muchly in this.
 
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